The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1919-10-09

'oNAoit 4C-Pe n John be.
come workers for Jesus.
INTERMEDIATE TOPIC-The work Of
a disciple.
SENIOR AND ADULT roP1c-ways of
winning men to Christ.
!. Jesus Preaching In GaIilee wv. IA.
15).
The reason why he changed from
Judea to Galilee was the growing op
position to him. The fate Of John the
baptlst he accepted as foreshadowing
MS own death. The rejection of the
1orerunner meant the rejection of him
whose advent he heralded, Prudence
moved him to a more remote region,
where he would attract less attention
and be free from opposition. Besides
ms 1t gave less favored people an op-
p~ortunlty to hear the gospel, according
TO the prophetic word Elsa. Oh, p. It
1~oreshadowed the gospel to the Gen.
tiles.
l. What he preached ". 14). The,
gospel of the Kingdom Of God, which
meant the good news of the near an
proach Of the Kingdom of God, when
the rule of God as predicted by the
prophets would be realized. It should
De carefully noted that the gospel of
the Kingdom differs from the gospel
OF the grace Of God.
:. How he preached (v. 15), (1)
"Ihe time is fulfilled and the Kingdom
or God is at hand" This meant that
the time had now come for the appear-
ance of the Messiah and the establish.
ment of his kingdom. (2) Repent"
ms meant that the people Should turn
around, change their minds and atti-
tude toward Christ the King and nc.
cept him as their King. This is a mes.
sage which needs to be sounded out
today. People should be called upon to
repent of their sins. (3) believe the
gospel" Then, as now, men need to
believe the gospel of Christ's death for
thelr sins and resurrection for justiSca.
ton Il Cor. L :1-4; Rom. 1926.
u. Jesus Calling Disciples to Become
Fishers Of Men wv. 1920.
I. Who were called tvv. 16, 19). ST.
mon n Andrew, John and James. two
pairs of brothers. 1t is usually best to
render the Lords service in fellowship
in pairs. This is not only necessary
ior effective testimony, but for needed
fellowship on the part Of workers and
protection of the witnesses. These all
had previously been called to Christ
Tor salvation; they had become his dis.
ciples (John, 1:36-42). They are now
called to service. This is ALWAYS his
way. We r first called to be dis.
ciples, then called to have fellowship
with him in service.
2. From what they were called fvv.
16, 20). They We're called from nosi.
tons of definite service. God ALWAYS
chooses his servants from the ranks Of
the employed. The lazy man is not.
likely to have a call.
s. 10 what they were called ". ~.
To be Fishers Of men," They no
doubt had been successful fishers. The
qualities which made them good isher.
men, namely, patience, bravery to face
the storm and night, and perseverance
which led them to toll all night, though
no fish were caught, would make them
good fishers of men. 1t requires pa.
thence, bravery and perseverance to
win souls for Christ.
4. Their call to obedience wv. IL. 2O).
To obey meant sacrifice, painful seq
aration, to give up all business inter-
ests and leave their father behind. Re-
CARELESS of the cost, they yielded
prompt obedience. They gave up bust.
ness and home, not even inquiring as
to where their salaries were to come
from. They put their trust in him who
called them, believing that he was able
to supply all their needs.
5. Their reward ". 17). These fou
men have welded wondrous influence
In the world. Their names have he.
come immortalized. Had they remain
ed at their business they would onlv
have been humble fishermen. When
Christ calls let us promptly obey. for
eventually it will pay. It will WELD
hundredfold In this life, and eter.
nal life in the world to come.