The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-12-08


here or, There for 10, THE KINGDOM OF
GOD is WITHIN YOU" duke II 20, zL.
Heal tie sick, raise the dead, cleanse the
letters, cast out demons. That is, exercise
the same miracle-working power which ye
see in me. This power, however, would
be conditioned on their own faithfulness
At later date mark oa8 we find them
asking Jesus why they could not cure in
sanity as he could and he teaches them
that the greater power comes by prayer
that is, by rising to the rarer heights of the
inner realm. We may modernize the in
struction which Jesus gave to the Twelve:
AS the Spirit is in you, you will dispense
saving health you will quicken the dead /;
you will cleanse the leprous you will bring
the world to sanity.
This healing power seems not to have
been long possessed by the Twelve; and
only Peter, after the departure of Jesus,
exercised it in the full measure (Acts 3 81
s:Is;o:32).
2. The Support of the Twelve,
VS.. 9, 10.
Freely ye rscetved, freely g7ve. Get y01
no gold, nor silOer, nor brass tn Jour
purses, no 7VaLlst for yonr journey,
neither taOo coats, nor shoes, nor staff,
for the la6oyer is qV0ythy eff his food
They are to go on their mission in entire
unselhshness. They are to dispense the
gifts of the Spirit as gratuitously as they
have received them. They are neverthe-
less to live by their work. They need pro-
vide no outfit Their girdles may be with
out gold or even the smallest brass coin ;
they need take no wallet for food; they
need take no change of clothing; neither
walking shoes, nor the symbolic pilgrims
staff All these things, or adequate sub
stitutes, will come to them. They are to
scorn every suggestion of using the mira
.e-working power for gain. They are to
depend for support on those to whom they
will bring spiritual benefit Not as mendi-
cants, not as recipients of aims, are they
to make their appeal They are to mod
estly share the temporal things of those
whose spiritual welfare they promote.
Their life-purpose is benefaction. They
have natural right to their food for their
service.-The Twelve were, by obedi-
ence to this wise advice, raised above anx
iety as to temporal things. They trusted
human nature. They trusted God. They
followed their Master.
3. The Divine Import of the
Mission of the Twelve,-vs. 1916.
Jesus tens those who are to represent
him in his bodily absence that they will be
subjects of suspicion and censorious judg
ment; therefore they must avoid every
possible appearance of evil. They are, on
coming to strange village, to seek''a home
only with the worthy,wit the reputed right
seekers and right-doers. With these they
are to abide during their stay in the viii
lage. They are not to take advantage of
the Oriental habits of profuse hospitality
Their time will be too valuable, their stay
in each place will be too short, for such in
dulgences. Custom will give them the
privilege of remaining three days in their
chosen tarrying place before they make
known their mission. This period may,
in most cases, suffice for the completion of
iOL.4 iAioa,uh
On entering a house they are to s.lutc i.
with the prophetic benedction, Peace be
unt0 this hOuSe. They are to do this in
such an earnest spirit,-as themselves tn
possessors and dispensers of true peace
that the blessing, if rejected by those To
whom it is in good will proffcred, will r.
turn to themselves. The scorn Of men
will but deepen their own inward serenity.
W'h0s0e7'er shall net rccei7e yen, nor
hear yony 70O1tts, as .ye go forfA Out ef that
houSe, or that city, shake eff tie duSf of
jour feet They may, such is the fortune
of all reformers, find houscholdcrs and
neighborhoods that will contemptuously
condemn them unheard. AS it had been
the custom for the rabbis, when their
counsel was rejected by household or a
city, on departing to symbolcally separate
themselves from such an house or city by
wiping their sandals of the last atom of
dust which may have been gathered in the
inhospitable place,-so Jesus would have
his disciples give this testimony against
those who, in rejecting their word, snned
against light.
PerfLy I say unto yen, II shall be more
folera6le foy Tire land at Sodom and G0
moy1dh in tie day Of judgment, Man for
that city. That is, the judgment that will
be visited upon such city, for its wilful
rejection of the Gospel, will be more dread
full than the judgment which of old came
upon the buried cities of the Dead Sea
Plain. This, in the light of subsequent
history, is not rhetorical exaggeration.
Disasters came to Galilee, because of its
i'll advised resistance to Rome, scarcely less
dreadful than those which came upon Jeru-
salem.-1ow far the visible calamities
might have been averted by the dominance
of the Gospel spirit in the Galilean com.
munity, we cannot now easily estimate /;
but it is in no degree uncertain that the
spirit of Jesus in the hearts of the people
would, through endurance, have turned
whatever temporal calamities came upon
them to spiritual benefit
The difficulties in the fulilment of the
mission of the Twelve are indicated in
these words of the Master: Behold, / send
yen f6rfh as sheet in The midst Of 7o0i0eS
Be ye therefore zOiSe as Serbenks and
harmless as d0VeS The enemies they
would encounter would be wolhsh They
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