Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-03-21

Lesson for March "a.
Golden Text.-"Pray We therefore the
Lord of the harvest. that he would send
forth laborers into his harvest. Luke
10: 2.
The Mission of the Seventy is the sub
ject this week-Luke 10: 10. The mis-
sion of the seventy was the mission of tho
swift-Hying evangel. They were not to
tarry, but to go, and as We go preach,
preach on the go.
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die"
To these seventy forward movement"
men the sole inquiry was, 'What are the
marching ordersy' They halted not 20
be stimulated by results. They spoke
their message and passed on, Christian
PEELED. If we can but gather inspiration
for simple, daily testimony, much of its
fruitage unseen, from this, ii will be well.
Two Christian women in Baltimore, going
forth on mission errands, approached a
poor, sick man. who much needed their
help, but. evidently resented it. They
left little leafet with him as they went
away, which he tossed aside. But IL
lodged where, some time after. rs he
turned in his pain, his eye lighted upon il.
do you want a friend?" it sail. eff
anybody needs friend" he groaned, lit
is l." He picked up the little tract and
read of the Friend that sticke,h closer
than brother" He must now have the
Bible, which his wife brought at his anx-
ious solicitation-and he presently had
Christ and his great salvation. So he
passed. Brother. sister, speak the mes
sage. Speak it in faith, in hope. in love;
and then leave it with God. He knows
how to bring to pass. Only SOW the seed,
diligently, prayerfully; God will take
care of it.
There's only one thing that should con-
Germ us.
To find just the task that is ours;
And then, having found it. to do it
With all our God-given powers"
Points in the Lesson.
"After these things" The time for an
aggressive evangelism had come. The
disciples had been instructed. The king
dom was prepared. Is this not the time
for us? THE Lord appointed other sew
enty, Also" Appointed means to desg
nate or set apart openly. For such pion-
eer work the Lord gives an open designa-
ton. There are certain men in every gen.
Grafton whom God seems to specially or
dain for advance work in the kingdom.
1t is so. in degree, also, in every COM
munity. God has his picked men for
picked work.
1.-Two and two" There is wisdom i'm il
divine wisdom. And much of human
comfort. Two souls in sympathy not only
help and strengthen each other, but make,
as it WERE the burner-tips between whose
points the light plays. 1t was before his
face" and only into those cities and
places whittier he himself would come"
There is no work where such care is need.
ed as in pioneering. Here let there be
ceaseless prayer. For unless it be before
his face and according to the Spirits d.
rection it will come to naught. We speak
thus because we have known of rash
movements into hazardous ground where
the disciple has not been prepared and
there was no clear voice saying go"
The dismal sequel has proven it to have
been of man rather than of God-perhaps
of Satan. 1t is indeed to God we must
look both for the labor and the laborers.
The special mission of the seventy was
evidently preparatory. They were TO an
nounce, as avant couriers, or heralds.
They were to get the people ready for
the Jesus who was just at hand. After
Ndiu was W COiic u hoIt
istry and the fuller proclamation of the
Christ of God. Doubtless in all our mis-
sion work. both at home and abroad,
there is some such proper division as this
There are those who go before as the
pioneers of the Gospel, carrying a flying
message, the kingdom of heaven is at
hand. After them come the ministers of
the cross who are to abide through, it may
be, days of hardship and suffering and
preach Christ by life as well as lip. And
yet it is not for us to say that this ex-
hausts the significance of the mission of
the seventy. Christ linked with all his
declarations regarding his advent into the
world the promise that he was coming
again, and here he expressly alludes to
the judgment to come. His earthly min
istry was but a preparation for his spir-
itua advent through the Holy Ghost
at Pentecost; so also his spiritual min
istry in and through his disciples, is de-
scribed as but preparatory TO his coming
again in personal, visible majesty, when
every eye shall see him and every knee
shall bow. What that second coming
may mean for this earth, where or when
its full brightness may be seen, il is not
for us to say. Only this we are to do. by
express command of our Lord, watch
And surely it were i'll both for the church
and the world that the preaching of the
kingdom that is nigh should be without
Christ's reiterant, Behold come quick
ly." Let us say humbly, hopefully, Even
so, come. Lord Jesus
Hints and Illustrations.
A lesson in aggressive evangelism. Ger
tainly we need it-both the lesson and
the evangelism. At Thessaonica on the
day the cry was raised. These that have
turned the world upside down are come
hither also" (Acts xviii, g. Lord send
them down this way, we need ouselves
turning upside down-upside down in or
der to be right side up, Europe was dead
and needed to be brought TO life. and it
is worth noting that the word for-upside
down here Is anastasis. meaning resurrec-
ton. These men were Gods resurrec-
tionists, sent to a dead world. And their
power lay in this, that they themselves
had been raised, as it were. from the dead,
to walk in newness of life Overturned
in order that they might overturn, over
powered of God in order that they might
be Empowered. May the Lord grant US.
more of their sort. We need them
What kind of men are needed for this
pioneer work? Evidently they should be
men who are intimate with Jesus. The.
Wesleys were such. Whitefield was of.
this sort. Here is the secret of aggressive