Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-28
Sunday School Lesson
Rev. Hugh T. Stevenson.

ceeded in arousing an interest in the
kingdom of God and in Christ Jesus.
Herod was disturbed by their work.
Seventy Sent Forth.
The success of the first missionaries
probably led to the Masters decision
to send forth the 10 over a much
wider territory. He developed their
interest in the peoples needs and called
upon them to pray that the Lord would
send forth laborers into His harvest.
Upon His last journey to Jerusalem
Jesus planned to pass through the
unevangelized section of Perea, so He
selected 20, whom He appointed to be
missionary evangelists, to visit those
places beyond the Jordan to prepare
for the Lords coming. He followed
the program that He had used in con-
nection with the missionary work of
the apostles, for He sent them forth
two by two
His personal directions to the 70
called for them to be guided by dozen
| imperatives. Jesus put first their duty
to pray. This is the first obligation
that we are called upon to observe in
connection with our service, as repre-
sentatives of the Lord Jesus. Prayer
| insured unity of endeavor and power
| to master the difficulties that He
warned them they faced They were
| to go to their designated fields and not
to be handicapped by any excess bag
gage or extra clothes. They were To
| omit the usual Oriental practice oil
| salutation for the Kings business called
| for haste. They were to accept the
| first lodgings that were offered and
pray that the home would be blessed
They were not to seek hospitality OF
entertainment. They were to make
| y,ho
coined the base of operations for Their
work Of healing the sick and proclaim
! ing the message of the kingdom of God
They were to shake off the dust of the
house that refused to welcome or lister
to them. because they were the repre-
sentatives of the Lord. They reported
their success had been greater thar
they anticipated upon their return.
Our Missionary Task.
The 20 are unknown to us by name
but their victories encouraged the
Master to commit to His followers the
task Of evangelizing all nations, enlist
ing all recruits and educating them Il
observe His commandments. Every
Christian has been appointed a mis-.
sionary by the Lord Jesus, who com.
mitted the task OF winning the world fol
Him to His people, just before HI
assembled to the place of all power anc
authority in Heaven and on earth. HI
promised them the gift of the Holy
Spirit to enable them to carry out Hi!
command to make disciples of all ma
tons. This is our supreme task.
| Commissions are now in various lands
where the missionaries of the Lore
Jesus have preached with marvelou!
success the gospel of the kingdom anc
healed the diseases of the people, study.
fF1o a Af 4.
be adopted to adjust the work of oul
various missionary organizations to tn,
needs Of the lands that have ALREADY
felt its liberating influence. We ar
not appointed to force Western civil
zation upon the great nations of thu
East. Our commission calls for ou
witnessing to the power of the gospe
to save and transform the lives of men
1t was the passion of Christ, Peter
Paul, John and all the apostles. TIL,
New Testament is a missionary product
Human history reveals the power ans
glory of the gospel reaching down int
the lives of sinful men of all races anC
lands, redeeming them, transformin,
their lives and character through thei
fellowship with Christ Jesus and Hi
church. Our hope for the peace, prog
ress and prosperity of the world has M
more stable foundation than the mis-
sionary work of the ambassadors O
the Lord who are proclaiming the mes
sage that the angels sang at tn,
Savior's birth, of peace upon eartf
to men, Of good will, through the &C
ceptance Of the salvation that Jesus ha
secured for all men who will accep
Him as their Redeemer and Lord Al
era of fraternity among all nations de.
Ponds upon our completing our mis-
Sionary task.