Evening star., 1918-03-30
By Rev. Hugh T. Stevenson.

For the past three months we have
been making an intensive study of the
first six chapters of the gospel of
Mark. While this account of the life
Of the Master is a brief one. it is
packed with truths and we can well
afford to stop and glance over the les
sons of the quarter. The outstanding
truth in the quarter is that Jesus
Christ spent His life ministering unto
the world about Him.
Paul. writing to the church at Philip
pi. exhorted the Philippian Christians
to have the same mind which was
also in Christ Jesus We may well
Judge Christ by His acts. Out of
mind which was singularly unself1sh.
and there could result but one kind of
life. The life of Jesus was the prod
uct of the purest. keenest mind of the
centuries. The thoughts of the Car
penter were above the petty traditions
and small disputes of provincial racial
ism. He was an ambassador, sent with
credentials, on holy mission. That
mission was the chief thought of His
mind Wherever Jesus was. He was
seeking to bring about reconciliation
between man and his God. 1t is be-
cause of the fact that as Christians we
must also realize our divinely appointed
task that we must obey the injunction
Of the apostle to "have this mind in
you which was also in Christ Jesus"
Let us realize the God-given task
which has been set before us. Can
man sit idly by and see a brute mall
treat defenseless woman or child?
Could America stand with folded arms
while a savage power struck at the
vitals of civilization? No more can a
real Christian study the lessons of
the past few months without coming
to a stern realization of the lofty ex-
ample which Christ has set before the
Christian church. From our first les
son of the quarter. we learned that
Jesus had come to take away the sin
Of the world. for, as John points out
30 vividly. Jesus was the Lamb of
God" If we believe that the Christ was
here upon earth two thousand years
ago to take away the sin of the
world" we must believe that as His
followers we have a share in that task.
Wherever the power of sin has a grip
upon human soul. there is the Chris
tian's duty and the Christians op-
portunity-
The ministry of Jesus was continual
tion of the work which had been so
ably started by John the Baptist. The
movement which had been started by
this reformer was the starting point IN
the public ministry of Jesus. The call
to repentance which had been sounded
in the wilderness by the Baptist was
taken up by Christ, who came with
new Interpretation of the gospel. And
almost from the beginning He brings
in human assistants. For the first
message almost is the summons to the
two pairs of brothers, Simon and An
drew, and James and John. to become
fishers of men, That task has been
a part of the duty of the Christian
ever since. For its execution we will
be held to strict accountability. What
would we think of the man who in
selfishness allowed a human being to
be drowned? Words of condemnation
could not be strong enough. Yet many
q professed Christian goes through
life totally obliyious to the call of
humanity and the Masters command to
be "fishers of men,"
We have seen Jesus as He spends
Sunday in Capernaum. 1t was not, a
Sunday of leisure, of meditation and
repose. For He found work to be done
There was the man afflicted with the
unclean spirit; there was Peters wife's
mother. who lay sick with a fever;
there were the sick of the city. These
appealed to the big heart and the SYM
pathy of the Great Physician. Straight
way, we read, He brought relief. 1t
will not take a long search to find
men and women in need of Christianity.
and there is something radically wrong
with the man or woman who has not