Evening star., 1927-04-02

During the next three months we
will study 1.-THE Life and Letters of
Peter" who ranks among the greatest
men in Christian history. The les
sons will give us a bird's-eye view or
the career of the apostle whose emil
nence in the affairs of men was due
to his relation to Jesus and his work
as ''the structural engineer of the
Church of Christ" His name always
heads the list OF the II apostles. He
was one of the inner circle of three
that enjoyed the Masters confidence.
He was the leader in the formative
period of the church and is the CEN
trail figure of the first part of the
Acts.
Peters life grips men by its human
characteristics. Everybody finds in
the life of the Foundation apostle"
something that appeals to them. The
fact that the bold, aggressive and
courageous leader had the same weak
ness, grave faults and spasmodic inn
pulsiveness that characterize our own
lives makes the study of his life to
be one of great encouragement and in
Spiration to all the followers of the
Lord Jesus. The transformation
wrought in the life of Simon, who
was as changeable as a weather vane
until he became Peter, the man of
rock, just as the Master predicted, and
such "a character that the Savior
could build His church upon, should
encourage us with the hope of being
made like Christ.
Brayed GaIilean Dangers.
Our lesson opens with the COM
mencement of the Masters Galilean
campaign. After Johns Imprisonment,
Jesus left Judea, where he had sought,
with little success, to persuade the
leaders of the nation to accept Him
as the promised Messiah. The Lord re-
vealed His courage by turning His
face toward Galilee, where he had
been brought up, at the hour when
Johns life was in danger and the
forerunner's followers needed encour-
agement. The Master recognized the
danger that he faced but he knew the
spirit of the mountain
GERS. He did not hesitate to link
up His ministry with that of John the
Baptist by adopting the latter's slogan
in connection with the good news of
His message, declaring that the Mes
siah had arrived and calling upon all
men to repent, so that they could
enter the kingdom.
Christ quickly caught the ear of
the open-minded Galileans. His mes
sages enthusad the people, many of
whom had heard of Him from friends
who had been attracted to Him dur
ing His Judean ministry Some Of
Johns followers-in fact, the first to
accept Christ as the Messiah--were
residents of Capernaum that became
the Masters headquarters for His
Galilean campaign. 1t looked as If
He would stir the masses to that
extent, that the influence would be-
come so strong that it would force
the Jerusalem and Judean leaders to
accept Him as the Messiah. In that
hour the need of helpers impressed
itself upon the Lord Jesus, who was
not deceived by the tide of popularity,
for He knew that the end would be
the cross and He prepared for the
carrying on cf His work by seeking
disciples to matriculate in the school
of Jesus.
Peter Joins with Christ.
Johns disciples We're among the
first to help Him and acknowledge
Him when lie commenced to preach
in the synagogue, that the Roman
centurian had built for the Jews to
worship Jehovah, close to the Lake
Of Galilee. John had preached in
the sparsely settled places, but the
Lord entered the synagogues and
used the privileges open to the mem
bers of the congregation to preach
His Gospel Like His great forerun-
ner, the Master insisted upon the
people changing their lives and prov
ing their faith. He did not condone
the guilt Of any individual or let
down the requirements of righteous
ness prescribed in the ancient law.
His message Of Gods love. providing
unlimited grace, help and salvation
for all repentent sinners served to
encourage men and give them con-
fidence that they could make good.
Passing along by the sacred sheet
Of water, that appears to be about
II miles long and about 6 broad,
which the "'Talmud tells us that the
Sea of GaliIee was famous for it's
fisheries at that time. Jesus saw
two brothers washing their nets. He
knew them, for Andrew had brought
Simon to Christ immediately after he
had accepted Him as the Messiah
upon the recommendation of John the
Baptist. Jesus knew that beneath
that rough exterior, due to his work
as a fisherman, Peter had great
possibilities. He possessed skill, tact,
courage and patience in spite of his
weakness that He proposed to eradi-
cate by training Peter as His disciple.
In calling the two brothers the Mas
ter used His first parable, by prom
Using to teach them to become fishers
Of men.
They left their prosperous business
Immediately. 1t was an epoch making
hour for Christianity, when, without
haggling, hating or hesitating, Peter
left all 70 follow Christ His decision