Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1912-09-05
LESSON FOR SEPT. 8
THE MISSION OF THE TWELVE.

iHe MISSION Or The
LESSON TExT-Matt. s:ss 10 lo:1s and
10:40 to Iii.
GOLDEN TExr-'He that receiveth
you receiveth me. and he that receiveth
me receiveth him that sent me.'-Matt.
1910.
The first verso Of our lesson IL q
vivid picture Of the life Of our Lord.
Going about from village to village.
he taught, healed and preached the
good tidings Of his new kingdom.
Why? Not only because of his com.
passionate heart as revealed In the
second verse Of the lesson. but also
as a proof Of his claims and. that be-
lieving ye might have life through his
NAME" John 20: 80. 81. This does not.
however. lessen tho force of this Sec
ond verse. for Jesus as the true Shep-
herd was indeed touched with q feel
ing Of our infirmities." Seeing tho
multitude thus without q shepherd. SO
faint and weary as to lay down and
knowing that his great work was to
be carried on by others after he had
finished" It upon Calvary, he makes
special provision by choosing the
twelve and telling them definitely how
to carry on his ministry.
Jesus realized that no one man can
minister to all others except as he
multiplies his personality in the lives
Of others. So 1t 10 that he gives the
church Of today a powerful example Of
how to answer the prayer Of verse 38
by his practical method suggested In
verse ! Of chapter 10. His vision OF
verse SO is the passion OF his life and
he intends 1t to be the passion of Jul
lives.
Disciples Restricted.
Following this introduction We nnd
q list of the peculiarly chosen ones
who are to be his ~vice-gerents after
his passing, and from verse 6 on we
find the charge he delivers to them.
There Is in this charge. first, the note
OF limitation, verses s to IS; secondly.
the note of warning, verses 16 to 20,
and thirdly the note Of comparison.
verse "a to the end Of this chapter
and including 1911. True, in this les
son we have only the first section, the
limitation together with the final
words Of the charge which In reality
amounts 10 a complete Identification
of his apostles with himself and his
life OF ministry.
Notice the grouping Of the names
Of these disciples. First the three
who formed that inner circle, Peter,
James and John, and with them An
drew. who first brought Peter to Je-
sus John 1:41). After these the
names are in groups Of two. and 1t
was as such they were afterwards
sent out, Mark 81. So we today are
not alone. Matt. 28: 20, Acts 1:8.
Let us observe the restriction placed
upon these disciples. They are to
minister not to the Gentiles nor even
the Samaritans. though Jesus did both
during HIS life. John a. and Matt.
1922, but not so these whom he now
Is sending, at least not till his work Is
complete and Israel has had its day
OF opportunity. After Calvary this re-
striction is removed. as We can Q
from the book Of Acts.
Another restriction is in the mes
sage and the method. The message
Is to be the good news Of the king
dom. They are to herald forth" that
1t is at hand. That the Messiah has
come. We are told that they are not
to force the acceptance Of their mes
sage. That in its proclamation they
shall receive all sorts Of opposition.
That they must look we'll to their
own character. they are to be as sheep
amidst wolves. they shall be hailed
before courts and ~potentates. but such
persecution shall be q witness against
their prosecutors for Ibis sake"
Bearing Of Disciples.
What Is to be their methodf First,
1t 10 to be that Of absolute depend
ence upon tho Father. 1t II true that
Paul labored with his own hands. but
at the same time he accepted the
bounty of the churches and urged that
such fruit might abound. Phil. 4:10.
Is. II. Jesus II here ~>teaching us the
other lesson that the "laborer IL wor-
thy Of his hire" Tho disciple IN 70
heal. The ministry of hospital. nurS-
ing and sodly physicians il a marvel
Gus fulhllment of this command. OBJ
serva> we'll the ministry of medical
missions. There 10 no greater inspi.
ration to the Christian church. What
Is to be the bearing Of these disciplesf
It 10 to be that OF dignity and self
respect, ZEE Luke 1876. :
While It ID true the disciple IL to
oner and not to force his message
upon the people. yet for Israel to re-
5ect was indeed worse state than
that Of 9odom and Q0mnrrah Thn