Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

god."am?"am?"am?"am's"am?"am?"with that subject. The chapter just before today's lesson, gives a descriptionof idols.. The British Bible Society, inits early work in Russia, tells this story:An aged Russian was listening to his sonas he read from Isaiah that marvelousdescription of idols found in the 44thchapter; the lad read about what a mandid with a tree: "He burneth part thereof in the fire,with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself andsaith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen thefire; and the residue thereof he maketh a god,even his own image: he fallethdown unto it, and worshipeth it,and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliverme; for thou art my The old mansaw the folly of idolatry, when he sawit in the hands of others. "O, wad somepower . . .The Return of the CaptivesIn their homeland, with their owngovernment,with God's law and theprophets, the Jews made no progress inrighteousness. They allowed God aplace, but not the place. Sounds quitemodern. Unanimously, we put God'sname on our stamps and coins. Certainly! We give God's name a place.That will be well, after we have given itthe place.In bondage, the Jews learned humility, and their dependance on God. Thenthe marvelous thing came to them. Godmoved in the heart of Cyrus to let themgo free without price or reward. Whenthey went out of Egypt, they took fromtheir unwilling masters, perhaps theequivalent of their unpaid wages. ButCyrus loaded them with wealth, andgave them protection and a commissionto rebuild their Temple and city. Noticethe wealth that they carried back withthem. (Ezra 1:7-11; This is what Cyrusgave to them. Then in chap. 2:64-70we read of what they already owned;servants, cattle, gold and silver.. Whereelse in history will we find recordedsuch generosity to freed men? Not inAmerica. Has God anointed a Cyrus forthe U.S.A.?PRAYER MEETING TOPICAugust 31, 1955Comments by C. E. Caskey D.D.GREAT QUESTIONS GOD ASKS:"Whom sayye that IMatthew 16:15.Scripture Reading, Matthew 16:15-28.Psalms:92Psalm 118, verses 13, 16, 19, 20, page285.Psalm 2, verses 1-5,page 4.Psalm 23, 1-3, page 53.Psalm 22, verses 12, 14, page 51.References: Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:10,11;John 1:29; 1:32-34; 5:32-37; Mark 1:23,24; 3:11, 12; 5:6, 7; John 4:25, 26; 9:35-37; Phil. 2:6-8; Col. 1:15-19; John 8:12.Quote other "Iof Christ, and alsoit might be interesting just to have thegroup open their Bibles at random inthe New Testament, and particularlyin the Epistles, to see how many versesthere are which tell us who Jesus is.This is the third in our series of"Great Questions GodAsks."Thisquestion is asked by the Lord JesusChrist about Himself. He had just askedthe disciples, "Whom do men say thatI the Son of man am?"They had answered that some said John the Baptist,others Elias, others Jeremiah or one ofthe old prophets. Then,as the Lord often did with general questions or subjects, He made the matter personal byasking the disciples, "But whom say yethat I (The "Ye" is emphatic,"Ye however, whom do ye say that IAlso the "Thou" in Peter's answer is in the emphatic position. Thepronoun and the article "the" are expressed and definite, "Thou art theChrist the Son of (the) God the livingGod."Perhaps in some meetings it will beprofitable to take up the question,"Whom say ye that I to studyhow it was answered both incorrectlyand correctly in the time of Christ? inthe centuries that followed? and how itis answered wrongly and rightly today?Note that in the time of Christ therewas none of the doubt of His actual existence which is found in more recenttimes, and neither was there any doubtof His greatness or His good character.The answers given would involve something miraculous about His origin, assomeone brought to life from the dead,or a divinely raised up prophet.Probably all of you, if you were confronted with the same question, wouldgive the right answer. Therefore inthese comments let us confine our thinking to the implications of the correct answer rather than taking up the incorrect answers of the Mohammedan, whosays Jesus Christ is a prophet (but notas great as Mohammed) and that Hewill come again; or of the Neo-orthodox,who teach that "The Jesus of history 5snot the same as the Christ of faith,"(Brunner "The Mediator," p. 184); orof the many others who deny His VirginBirth, atonement, and resurrection whileadmitting that He was a great Teacher.Peter gave the correct answer. Notethe subsistence of it: "Thou art theChrist.""Christ"The definite Messiah, the wordbeing the Greek equivalent ofthe Hebrew word "Messiah," and meaning "The anointed One." As to His nature, He is "the Son of the living God."That the early church believed in thedivinity of Christ is shown in the factthat the earlier heresy in the Churchwas the denial of Christ's humanityrather than of His deity.Note also the source of Peter's correct answer. True faith of Christ is arevelation from God. Jesus Christ toldPeter definitelythat flesh and bloodhad not revealed to him that Jesus ofNazareth was the Messiah the Son ofthe living God, but that the revelationhad come from God the Father Himself.Note third, the subsequent teaching ofJesus. The immediate lesson taught bythe Lord was about the Church and theblessingupon Peter and upon all whoshould make this confession of Christ.Does our correct and orthodox answerto this same question lead on to thebuildingof Christ's Church againstwhich the kingdom of Satan cannot prevail?The second subsequent lesson taughtby the Lord had to do with His sufferings and death. The cross has alwaysbeen a stumbling block,and always willbe. With Peter, men who have given thecorrect answer to the question of whoJesus Christ is will begin to say, "Notthis way, Lord." Surely the way of suffering and death is not the way! Wehave been right in WHO the Lord is, forit was divinely revealed, and we thinkwe are right in telling the Lord HOWHe should work, not realizing that theworldly wisdom we offer was promptedby Satan. Having given the right answer to the question, "Whom say yethat Iwe should willingly acceptthe way the Lord teaches though itinvolves taking up our cross and beingwilling to lose our life for His sake.One more lesson: the Lord's subsequent teaching continued. "From thattime forth began Jesus to shew unto hisdisciples, how that he must go untoJerusalem, and suffer . . . ,and be killed,and be raised again the third day."Peter's confession seems to have markeda definite change in our Lord's objective. Till then He was teaching who Hewas. "From that time forth" He beganto teach what He should do. Peter andthe disciples kept learning as long asthey lived. So our correct answer asto who the Lord is should open the wayfor continued teaching as to what Hedid, why He did it, and what He wouldhave us do.Prayer suggestions: Pray for the schoolsthat are opening,public schools andmission schools; pray for the grace tocarry out the resolutions made at summer conferences; and pray that, knowing who the Lord is we may follow Hissteps.COVENANTER WITNESS