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THE CHRISTIAN NATION.
Vol. ei.
In the Sabbath
School
Lesson VII. November 15, 1914.
By Rev. Owen F. Thompson.
JESUS AND PETER.
Golden Text.—Let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest ho
fall. 1 Cor. 10:11'.
Lesson Text.—Mark 14:27-31, .'/:.
54. 06. 72.
Time.—A. D. oti.
Suitable Psalms.—14], iM, 39, 1.
Exposition.—The central thought :n
the whole lesson to me is that of being
offended at Christ. This offence
of Peter's and of the rest seems to
us to be so without excuse tbat we
IhpI that Christ ought almost to have
turned them down the next time they
came to him. But if you look into
your life in the same spirit that you
look into the lives ot these disciples,
you will find that there are many
times when you have been offended
at Christ and if he were to treat yoa
the same way that you would have
him treat these men you would be
turned adrift and Christ would go hii
way withoui your friendship.
Peter had assured Christ that he
would go through death at his side.
Christ knew Peter better than he
knew himself and he would deny that
he ever knew him before the cock
crew that day. It turned out that
Christ was right and Peter wrong but
in the defeat of that night Peter gained
new strength so that when other
trials came that were harder to meet,
he was able to meet them and come
through them with honor. He learned
to meet them in Christ. This one
he tried to meet alone.
It was a hard thing that the
friends of Christ should turn against
him. It was bad enough for his en'i-
out the way they had expected. Instead
of Christ becoming a king, he
mies to hate him when he was willing let himself be taken by the rabble of
to do so much for them, but for his men from the chief priests and be led
friends who had been with him during
all his ministry and who had gotten
so much from him and to whom
he had opened his heart, to turn
against him and leave him in his
hour of trouble it was one of the hardest
things that he had to bear.
When Christ told them that they
would all forsake him and leave him
alone, Peter tried to make an exception
of himself but Christ very bluntly
told him that he would be no exception
to the rest but would If anything,
be worse. Christ takes back
the worst ot sinners.
The world is often offended in
Christ today and we with the world.
They are not willing to follow hira
when they see that he is going into
a place of sacrifice or danger.
The world is offended at Christ because
he Is not what they want. They
want a Savior who will give them all
the blessings that come with salvation
and everlasting life and they
want one also who will wink at their
faults and let them do as they want.
They are offended at Christ because
he condemns them for sin. He condemns
them by his look as he did
Peter. What that look must have
meant to him. There would be no
anger in it, only sorrow and pain that
one who had followed so faithfully for
so long should turn back at the last.
That look opened the heart of the
-Master to an unfaithful friend. It laid
bare the heart that another had
struck.
How many times that look ot Cnrist
has offended sinful men ana womeu
since that time. How many times
conscience has burned in the hearts
of men because they knew that they
were standing face to face with the
Savior who died for them.
You remember how Peter was convicted
of sin by the look of the Master.
Christ did not look toward him
till he had denied him three times,
then he turned and by that one look
told him all that it meant to him for
his friend to turn against him. That
look was more than Peter could bear.
He went out and wept bitterly. But
if Peter had not been a child of God
it would not have affected him in that
way. It would have hardened him because
it condemned him of sin and
lie would have hated the Master like
Judas did when Christ told him that
it was in his heart to betray him.
lilveiy time your conscience .smitey
you. Christ has looked into your
heart. How does it affect you Does
it drive you away offended or does
it bring you to tears because you
see in the face of the Master the
hurt that you have caused. Does it
bring you back
These people were also offended at
Christ because they did not understand
the great purpose of his life.
They had thought of him as being an
earthly king and-of each of them as
holding a high position in the kingdom.
They were expecting earthlv
blessings and honor. It did not turn
away to be mocked and abused before
the world. It was so different
from what they had expected that
they turned against him and seemed
to think that they were mistaken in
choosing him as their leader. The'r
ideals were so much lower than those
of Christ that they could not_ understand
him. He was thinking of spiritual
things and eternal things and
they were thinking of the pleasures
of this world.
Their ideal was to rule over the
world with the sword and they did
not care any more for the number of
the dead as long as they were
enemies than the Germans or French
do in the war in Europe. Christ's
ideal was to rule over men by love
and to help those who were down and
oppressed. He tried to raise men
nearer God.
The life purpose of the world and
of you, if you are still of the world,
is to RISE. The life purpose of Christ
is to RAISE. You see the difference
at once and you can easily apply It
to your life and see whether you are
on the side of Christ or working with
the world.
The greatest man is not the one
who has learned to blow up battle
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