Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1918-02-06
JESUS SELECTING
His HELPERS

Golden Text; lie appointed twelve, that
they might be with Slim, and that He
might send them forth to preach Mark
3:14
LESSON: Mark s:7-s5: verses 7-19a
printed.
"a And l. sus with his disciples With
drew to the and great multitude
from Ciatife;s followed; and from Judea
(S1 and from Jerusalem and from ldu-
maea, and beyond the Jordan, and about
Tyre and Sftion, a great multitude. hear
ing what great things he did came unto
him. 90 And he spaSe TO his disciples
that a little boat should wait on hnu be-
cause of the crowd lest they should
throGg him: t101 for he had healed many !,
inSOfl5pch that SO many as had plaques
pressed upon fitm that they lotSht touch
him. (fIJ And the uncfean SPIRITS, when
Sc ever they behe!d him, fell down before
EiRf sefd cried, saying, Thou art the Son
OF (1ed (12) And he charged them much
that tf,cy should not rake him known.
G5) And he goeth up into the noun
tam. ard called unto htm whom he HIM
Sd woulc. and they went aaIo him. CD
And he appointed twelve, that they might
ne with urn, and that he might send them
forth to preach, (15) and TO have author
5ty to cast out demons; (l6) and simon
surnamed Peter, no and James the
son Oh Zcbqelee and John the brother of
James. and them he surnarned Boanerges,
which is Sons of thunder: (l8l And An
drew, and fh;tif. and Bartholomew, and
Matthew. ana Thomas. and James the
son Of 4AlpiraeCs and Thaddeus, and 81
the C4naH&ean. (t91 and Judas Is
CARROT. whe aisc betrayed him Afneri-
can Revised.}
The people Of our day do not believe in
Jesus because OF the miracles which he
performed so much as because Of his
character and abiding influence. The
greatest miracle IN connection with
Jesus is that after tive thousand years
his influence is many hundred fold
greater than that Of amy man living. Ii
miracles were necessary to draw the
people of his day 10 him it should not be
the Son of GCd, performed them.
The chief interest in this lesson gathers
about The selection Cd the twelve men to
be his helpers. John tells US how some OF
these nlen-4tHdrew and Peter and john
ard Philip. and Bartholomew #h0 is also
called Nathaniel. attached themselves to
Jesus at the very beginning of his pub
lie ministry. Then we have an account
of the call OF Peter ana Andrew, and
James and JOHN to be fishers OF men,.
WhSFeap0n they left all and followed him.
There appears to have been three stages
in the fellowship of these men with
Jesus. FIRST they simply believed that
he was The Christ, and followed him when
it was convenient for them to dc so. Then
they were called upon to be his disciples,
that is, learners, upon receiving which
cali they left their regular occGpa tons in
order that they might be with him con-
Stantly. In the present case, these men.
with others, are chosen OF him to be his
helpers in carrying forward his work.
This last stage In their fellowship with
Jesus was the most important. AS has
already been Indicated, disciple means
learner. Out of the company of his dis
cipleS, Jesus chose his apostles. Apostle
means one sent. These men continued TO
the last to be learners, but from this time
they We're to go, as sent by Jesus, to
help in carrying forward his work in the
world. They were to be preachers of
his truth, and were TO share his power.
If any one will take the pains To study
the various lists of apostles as given in
the gospels. he will discover that the
names OF Peter. Andrew. James and John
are always mentioned first. Within this
inner circle there was still more select
circle-Peter and James and John being
selected to share with their Master some
of his greatest experiences Peter is al
ways mentioned first and Judas Iscariot
last 1t would appear therefore, as ii
the places in these lists were suggest ed
by the standing of the disciples. We
know for instance, that Peter was their
natural leader and that Judas Iscariot
deserved the last place.
1t is interesting TO note that we know
nothing of one of those in the most Sc
Iect circle except that he was the broth
suffer TnartyFdOm. This was James, to
whom, with his brother. Jesus gave the
name of BoanergeS sons of thunder This
would indicate that they were OF an inn
petuouS nature. 1t may be that James S
inpetuosity caused him to be the first to
suffer Inartyrdom. The practical lesson
able Christian service and not occupy
large place i'm history; that he may be
one of the closest friends of Jesus Christ
and yet not be world famous.
There is an interesting thing brought
out in that portion of the lesson which is
not printed here. We are in the habit
of saying that Blood is thicker than
water" The interesting thing to which
reference is made is the truth that spirit
is thicker than blood. Some one told
Jesus that his mother and brethren want
ed to see him. Turning to the group of
his disciples he said: Behold my mother
and my brethreni For whatsoever shall do
the viii of God, the same Is my brother.
and my sister. and my mother" Spiritual
kinship is closer than blood.
'HTaboe look into the mirror of tins
and see yourself as your family or de-
pendsnts will see yoa If you don't take
out ten t.ousand insurance and get