River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1910-04-07

specially his represent at1ves sent
forth-Apost1es. He sent these
two and two throughout Judea.
They had not the Fathers appoint
ment. They had not yet received
the holy Spirit from on high and
did not receive it until Pentecost,
some two years later. The holy
Spirit was not yet given, because
Jesus was not yet glorifed. (John
1897 But by virtue of the holy
Spirit without measure to Jesus at
the time of his baptizm, he con-
ferred upon these Apostles his
own special powers tn at they might
heal the sick, cast out demons,
etc. But their special mission,
like his own, was not that OF neal
ing physical ailments merely, nor
chiefly. They were to proclaim the
Lord Jesus to be the King, the long
expected Messiah, and to tell the
people that the time was at hand for
the establishment of his Mediatorial
Kingdom, in conjunction with their
nation. This message would be in
harmony with the expectation of all
the Jews. For Ger t'1ries they had
been waiting for the fulfllment of
Gods promise made to Abraham
that through them all the families
of the earth would be blessed. The
miracles of Jesus and the Apostles
were to call attention to the procla-
nation, "The Kingdom of Heaven
is at hand" (Matt. 3:2.) This
message, in harmony with that Of
John the Baptist, was expected to
arouse all the Isr aelites indeed"
and to attract their attention to
Jesus as the King. They were par
ticularly warned that their message
was not for the Gentiles, nor even
for their neighbors, the mongrel
people called Samaritans. True
Jews, and these only, were called
upon to make ready their hearts
and minds that they might be par
Elephants in the Kingdom and its
glories. Their message was only
to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.-V. 6.
They were to make no provision
for their journey-neither money
nor extra clothing. They were to
learn a lesson of absolute depend
ence upon the Master who sent
them forth. They were not to be
beggars seeking from house to
house. On the contrary, they were
to recognize the dignity of their
mission and service for God and
ambassadors of Messiah and were
to inquire in each village for the
most worthy, the most sanity, the
most holy people, because these
would be specially interested in
their ssage-whether rich or
| poor. And such of these as received
their message would be glad in
deed to treat them as representa-
tives of the King, whose Kingdom
they announced. Their stay in each
place was to be as guests until they
were ready to depart to the next
place. On entering into a house
they were to salute the householder
in dignified manner, advising him
of the object of their call. If re-
ceiyed peacefully, cordially, their
blessing would be upon the house.
Otherwise they were not to lose
their own confidence and serenity,
but to pass along and look for one
more worthy of the message and of
them as it's representatives. Those
receiving them would receive a bless
ing. Those rejecting them and
their message would lose a great
privilege.
Many wonder greatly why it was
proper for our Lord aud the Apos
ties to declare the Kingdom of Heav
en- at hand when, as matter of fact,
it has not yet come and, by the
Lords directions his followers still
pray, Thy Kingdom come; thy will
be done on earth as it is done in
heaven" The understanding of
this furnishes the key to the appre-
citation of much of the Bible that is
now misunderstood. We must,
therefore, outline the matter in
some detail.
For more than sixteen centuries |
Israel had been waiting for the full
fllment of Gods promise that they |
would become so great that through |
them the Divine blessing would ex-
tend to every nation. Our Lord |
through the Apostles signified that
Gods time had come to fulfill all of |
his promises made to the Jewish |
nat ION if they were ready for them.
To be ready they must be a holy |
nation. And to instruct them and |
prepare them their Law Covenant |