Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1940-01-04

v. II. AnQ Jesus answered and
said unto him, Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood
have not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father which art in heaven" To
confess Christ really and truly is
the most acceptable expression man
can make. 1t so pleased the Master
that he said: Blessed art thou"
This confession was real because it
was the result Of a Christian exper-
fence, an inward revelation of God
and His love-
V. IS. "And I say unto thee, that
thou art Peter and upon this rock
will l build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.. -
Here we have Christ's plan of build
ing his kingdom as expressed in a
church. The big thing in the church
is not necessarily the sermon but
the true confession of Christ The
way to Christianize the world is to
produce men and women who by
word and deed confess Christ so
well that others will be attracted to
Him and will seek to know Him as
their personal Saviour The practi-
cal side of life is to take such an at
titude toward what is evil and to-
ward what is good that the stand
we take on all moral issues reflects
the life and character of Jesus
Christ Sometimes it is a silent con-
fession but just as effective as a
spoken word. All the forces of in
iquity can not overpower a true
Christian confession.
v. 19. "And I will give unto thee
the keys of the kingdom of heaven
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven" To
gives the authority of the church on
earth. Such authority is trust-
worthy so long as the teaching of
Christ are followed and the guild
ance of the Holy Spirit is honored.
V. 90. ''Then charged he his dis
ciples that they should tell no man
that he was Jesus the Christ" This
verse must be interpreted in view OF
the situation at that time, else it |
would appear that after his empha-
sis on Christian confession. He was
contradicting himself. There were |,
two phases in the situation: (a) |
some who thought of the Messiah in
terms of material kingdom would
make Christ king by force. CD !
Some so opposed Him that they
we're watching every opportunity to
kill Him. More time was needed
o establish His disciples as faithful
ho n hn
,an Jesus to show unto his disciples
low he must go unto Jerusalem and
suffer many things of the elders and
hief priests and scribes, and be
titled and be raised again the third
lay. The days of Christ's popular
ty were over. The fact is popular
ty does not count for much to
,hrist and His followers. The only
hing that counts is the doing of
,od's will Jesus here revealed two
reat principles Of faith: 1 that
esus is the Christ, the Son of the
living God; CD that by His death
Te is the redeemer of the world.
v. % "Then Peter took him
nd began to rebuke him saying, Be
far from thee, Lord: this shall
ot be unto you" Here is portray
d the human side of Peter. We all
brink from death and we do all in
ur power to stave off the death of
ur friends. 1t is often hard to see
he purpose of Christ, especially
hen death is involved. The COM
ION question of many who must
uffer and see friends suffer is:
Why is this?"
V. 23. "But he turned and said {
nto Peter, Get thee behind me !
atan; thou art an offense unto me: 9
Or thou savourest not the thing ,
lat be of God but those that be of ;
lan." This seemed like hard ;
aging. Christ did not classify s
eter with the recognized evil one, :
le devil. He was used by Satan in :
le vain thought of short cut
ethod of bringing in the kingdom, I