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First Evangelists
209
health. His voice was the first sound that many had ever heard, His
name the first word they had ever spoken, His face the first they had
ever looked upon. As He passed through the towns and cities, He
was like a vital current, diffusing life and joy.
The followers of Christ are to labor as He did. We are to feed
the hungry, comfort the suffering, and inspire hope in the hopeless.
The love of Christ, manifested in unselfish ministry, will be more
effective in reforming the evildoer than will the sword or court of
justice. Often the heart will melt under the love of Christ. Through
His servants, God desires to be a Comforter such as the world knows
not.
The disciples on their first missionary tour were to go only to
“the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” If the Jews would receive the
gospel, God purposed to make them His messengers to the Gentiles.
Therefore they were first to hear the message.
On this first tour the disciples were to go only where Jesus had
been before them and had made friends. Their preparation for the
journey was to be simple. They were not to adopt the dress of
religious teachers, nor use apparel to distinguish them from the
humble peasants. They were not to call the people together for
public service; their efforts were to be in house-to-house labor.
In every place they were to accept the hospitality of those who
would welcome them as if entertaining Christ Himself, entering
the dwelling with the beautiful salutation, “Peace be to this house.”
Luke 10:5
. That home would be blessed by their prayers, their songs
of praise, and the opening of the Scriptures in the family circle.
The message they had to bear was the word of eternal life, and the
destiny of men depended upon their reception or rejection of it. See
Matthew 10:14, 15
.
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“Behold,” said Jesus, “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of
wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
Christ did not suppress one word of truth, but He spoke it always
in love. He was never rude, never gave needless pain to a sensitive
soul. He did not censure human weakness. He fearlessly denounced
hypocrisy and iniquity, but tears were in His voice as He uttered His
scathing rebukes. Every soul was precious in His eyes.
The servants of Christ need to have close communion with God,
lest under provocation self rise up and they pour forth a torrent