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PETER CONFESSING.
FIFTH LESSON OF THE INTERNA
TIONAL S. S. SERIES, JAN. 29, 1888.
Comments by Ilev. William Newton, D. I>.
Text of Lesson. Matt, xvi, 13-28—Golden
Text, Matt. x, 32—Memorize Verses
24-28.
[From Lesson Helper Quarterly, by permission of
H. S. Hoffman, Philadelphia, publisher.]
Notes.—Cesarea Philippi, or Fanoas, for
merly dedicated to Pan, and supposed to be
the same as the ancient Leshem. It was en
larged and beautified by Philip, the tetrarcb,
and by birn named Cesarea, in honor of
C&sar Tiberius. It was called Philippi to
distinguish it from Cesarea Palestine. The
Son of Man, i. e., the Second Adam, the title
. by which Jesus always speaks of himself,
Bar-Jonah, L o., son of Jonas. This rock, or
this truth, concerning myself. Gates of hell,
i. e., the place of departed spirits—especially
evil spirits. Savorest not, i. e., dost not rel
ish or desire. Come after me, or be my dis
ciple. Profited, or what shall he gain by it.
Own soul, i. e., his own true life.
V. 13. We are now entering the second
division of the record of the public ministry
of Jesus. As the first commenced with the
attestation of the father to his sonship, Matt,
iii, 17, so this commences with a similar
attestation on the part of one of liis apostles,
Up to this time no such declaration appears
on the part of the people or of his disciples.
And it came in answer to his own question.
Jesus asked his disciples what tile people said
about him? Whom did they take him to be?
V. 14. And the answer was varied in its
tone. Some, probably the Herodians,
John the Baptist. They held that he was
risen from the dead, and so accounted for the
mighty works which Jesus wrought. Others
said he was Elias, or Elijah, while yet others
said he was Jeremiah, or one of the other
prophets. All gave him a high position;
while, probably, the popular judgment was
much lowered by the opposition of the Scribes
and Pharisees to belief in his Messiahship.
V. 15. But Jesus would not rest here. At
once he made a personal matter. “Who say
that^ln ^every such SESMSS
application is always the paramount concern.
In that line it is of small consequence to us
what others may think or say, but it is of in
finite moment to ourselves that we each one
think and speak the real truth about Christ.
V. 16. And Peter, moved with a sudden in
spiration, at once replies: “Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God.” It was a
glorious confession; radiant with the bright
est beam of the truth and instinct with its
mightiest power. Through tne ages it has
floated, banner like, at the head of the army
of the church, and underneath its folds the
battle has always waged with the most un¬
yielding severity. We note two points in
this confession, U .,
I. Its positiveness. There was no halting
in the march of Peter’s thought; no uncer¬
tainty in its tone; no reservation in its state¬
ment. It was clear, bold and ringing. There
was no paltering with it in a double sense.
“Thou art the Christ.” It was simple and
unqualified trutli.
V. 17. How clear, how distinctly lined it
was. It was not taught him by flesh and
blood. Man had not taught it to him;
neither had he wrought it out by a process of
his own mind. It was given him from above.
“My father which is in heaven” hath showed
it unto thee. <•
1. The title Jesus gives the church. It is
“My Church.” It is so in every regard. The
idea of it is mine. It was with me before
the world began. In the silence of eternity
it was with me. I saw it, and knew it, and
loved it from everlasting. The purchase of
it was mine. I gave myself for it. I bought it
with my blood. “I will build up my church.”
Every living stone laid upon the true founda¬
tion is my work. And the keeping of it is
mine. Unseen my hand shall be upon it, and
“I will keep it night and day.” It is all
mine.
2. The foundation of it. “This rock.”
“Other foundation can no man lay than that
is laid, which is Christ Jesus.” 1 Cor. iii, 11.
“Therefore thus saith the Lord God. behold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone, a precious corner stone, a sure founda¬
tion,” Is, xxviii, 16, and 1 Pet. ii, 4-7.
3. The builder of it “I will build,” etc.
He is both the foundation of his church and
the builder of it. On himself, as the sure
foundation, he lays each believer. There he
abides. Thence he receives the new life by
which as a living stone he grows up into a
1 holy temple in the Lord. With his own hand,
by his own spirit, ho imparts to each his own
life, and of all he says, “Because I live, ye
shall live also.”
4 . The safety of it. “The gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.” How can they»
If the church is his, if he is the foundation of
it and the builder of it, if he keep it, how can
it be otherwise than safe? Hell is hades, or
the place of departed spirits—especially here,
of evi i spirits. Gates were the place in
ancient cities where counsel was taken and
( public measures determined on. “The gates
G f bell,” therefore, mean all that the powers
• G f e vil can devise and execute against my
church. In the midst of it all the church is
safe evermore.
| V. 20. Jesus would activity not have against his enemies him be
j roused into undue
fore the time; but would'have every ques
j j tion concerning himself to bo worked out by
them under the quiet influence of his own
j bf e . They must judge from that in the light
I G f their own Scriptures,
| j V. Our 521-23. Lord's In prediction these verses of we his have: death;
Peter’s protest against it; and
Q ur Lord’s rebuke of Peter,
y. 24. Here follows the universal law of
the Kingdom. Peter did not want to admit
the thoughts of God about the Cross. He
had much pleasanter thoughts and schemes
0 f his own. And so he must deny himself.
And so must everyone who would be the
Lord’s disciple.
V. 25-28. TVe must remember that, as our
Lord spoke them, “life” and “soul” are ono
; and the same word. That “life” is used in
two senses—a higher and a lower; a bodily
and a spiritual sense—and that our true life
; or soul may be lost. And What will every,
thing else profit us if that is done? What
Shall we give in exchange for it? For that
will survrve when the Master comes again.
And what will comuensate for a lost soul?
GENERAL LESSONS.
1. The need of right views about Christ
Everything turns on this. As John Newton
says:
To Hy^otVour^tate and oursebeme;
2. The ineffable mystery of the Gospel is
just the inevitable necessity of the Gospel.
For, unless Jesus were man, he could not get
into the place of the Saviour. And if he were
not at the same time God, he could not save
us if he were there.
3. The soul is the equivalent of a man’s
self. Luke, therefore, points the equivalent
thus—“gain the whole world and lose him
‘ b «
soul, ^d detmnmes or the true the lire, state can its and tne destiny uoay witnn of th«
Revenge Among the Afghan*.
Badal, or revenge, is the soul of Afghan
life. All the history of Afghanistan, both
public and private, is one continued talo
of vendett p . However, it chances that I
have not m . my collection any song of
vendetta illustrating this side of Afghan
life in a manner sufficiently character- j
. . to deserve , quotation. . .. Suffice it to
istic .
say that vendetta is with the Afghans
what it is with the Corsicans, the Alba¬
nians, all primitive mountaineers; it is
hereditary and not to be prescribed. Even
on British territory the law is powerless
against the badal; it is one of the crimes
f or which no w itness will be found to
speak before the judge in kacheliri. There
is hardly an Afghan in the mountain who
has not a foe who aims at his head and
at whose head he aims. It happens not
seldom that an Afghan sepoy from Yag
histan—many Afghans from over tli«
border enlist in the native contingent—
asks for leave for private business; that
means that there is up there some wolf's
head which he lias to take. There is a
story of an Afghan sepoy, who, having
not joined his paltan in due time, com¬
plained bitterly of the iniquity of Ids
officer, w ho had dismissed him from ser
vice: “I had a duty of badal to perform;
I had a foe to kill. The scamp absconded
for weeks; what could I do?”—Contem¬
porary Review.
thiplfy Sfw* Items.
Have you had the mumps ?
What has become of the Champi¬
on Brick Yard Co.
Wm. M. Wisdom, Esq., and lady
were in the city Tuesday,
•
I Dept. Collector Moss was in town
i Monday visit to his family.
on a
! Farmers have done very little to
.
war( s tue new crop as yet.
Col. Jas. M. Mobley and his son,
of Hamilton, were in the city Tues
day.
Roland Russell, Esq., of Hamilton
was among his old friends here Tues
day. |
Miss Pauline Sledge has accepted
a position with Messrs Flournoy &
Allen.
The northern blizzards have not
struck us . The weather is quite
pleasant.
Mr. R. Spivey was in town Monday
. the of his branch business
M interest
at this place.
Things around Mayor’s court are
quiet. No arrests have been made
since Christmas.
W. O. Johnson dismisred
school Tuesday in memory to Mr. R.
A. White one of his best patrons.
The Misses Jackson, of West
Point, have returned home after a
pleasant stay with Mrs. L. L. Hardy.
I The Farmers' Alliance has wisely
*'"««. PO,>u.,r firm o. Flournoy
& Allen as their trading house at
^j s ' T)0Int 1 *
Judi/e U. H. Layfield has not sold
, * 1iS . ln . ‘ cr CSt . in the , tirm OI f Averett \ Cx «.
Layfield, but will continue in the
.. ,
mercantile ^ business.
Mr. lames White was som.nonetl
,
home from South Carolina to the
bedside of his father, arriving only a
few minutes before he died.
Rev. I. P. Cheney, of Hamilton,
filled his regular appointment at the
CJ in
The doctor is . •
Misses Ida Dunlap and Mary Moss
have bc'm visiting the former’s father
a few miles in the country. Mr. !
Dunlap has recently been quite ill.
The largest number of people per¬
haps that ever gath.red in Chipley
was Tuesday at 10 o’clock, a. m., to
witness the last sad rites of Mr. R A.
White. I
Mr. Elec Maddox, of Whitesville,
was in the city this week. Mr. Mad
dox is a highly respected and honor
ed citizen and has a host of friends
to w'elcome him here.
Mr. R. A. White carried a policy
0 f insurance for $ 2,000 on his life,
It is the duty of every man to carry
an insurance on his life for the bene¬
fit of his family if possible.
Mr. G. A. Pearce, our live fancv
grocer, has bought thirty acres of the
J. B. Hastey land in the city limit-.
He will turn some of his attentio i
to farming this year. May succe^
attend him.
Glass Brothers are undoubted v
se J ing little household necessity
cheaper than any one else. Jus 1
listen : 4 lbs. soda, best, 25c. 4 le;i l
pencils, 5c. 18 bars of best soap Hr
25c. 2 large nickel boxes bluii ‘d
for 5c. Other little goods com
pondingly cheap. Save money on
small things ; it amounts to som
thing. Our goods are put down 1 <
suit the people’s purse, so don’t f* ,.
g e t us.
Mr. R. A. White, one of our nio'.*
prominent citizens, died at his horn -
in this city Sunday and was burit- !
here Tuesday. In his death tl e
community sustains a great loss. He
was a noble, public spirited Christi .»' *
man. He was a consistent meml >
of the Methodist church at d
was a faithful member of ihe boa »< 1
stewards. Mr. White was born I r
Harris county and his whole life * .
spent here. He died at the age « :
45 years and leaves a wife and fix •
children to grieve his loss. The U
reaved family have the sympathy * »
the entire community.
A man who has practiced medicine
r^furlvtr ^ *
Messrs F. J. Cheney & Co. _G«
tleinen : I have been in the gene i
nrnrtir#* nf modiein mcaic,r, C Ior f most . 40 )
* .
a °d , would say that all ^
in my practlx.
and experience, have never seen t
preparation that I could prescri -
with as much confidence of SUCCt r
as I can Hall’s Catarrh Cure, mar
factured by you. Have pi escribed r
a great many times and its effect u
wonderful, and would say in concl
sion that I have yet to find a case • 1
Catarrh that it would not cure,if th
would take it accoiding todirectu ). :• .
Yours truly,
L. L. Gorsuch, M.l .
Office, 215 Summit St.
We will give $100 for any case « 1
Catarrh that cannot be cured w : -1
Hall’s Catarrh Cure. 'Taken initi
nallV.
F. J. Cheeney & Co., Props..
Sold by druggists, 75c. 'Toledo. <»
The enorinoiiM sale of Dr Bulls Con
^y rU p has developed tnany new remedi
‘*«t ihe people cling to the old reliable, »*r
Bu.ls Cough Syrup.
If you want lo wave money in y
foot wear and at the name time get t
class boots and shoes, call at the sign '
tbe hig Black Bear, Columbus, Ga. f »
buy from C. J. Edge.
'Ehere is nothing in tbe world more I*
tiful than a fine bea'thy baby. Keep r
by using Dr Bulla Cough 8ymp 25ct-» >
The Mm» la the Wo on.
How does the sailor know there i
man in the moon? » Because be has I. • m
to see (sea), mood states that wheneve 1
h«s a cold he takes Taylors Chen k h
Remedy of Sweet Gum and Mullein.