THE KING’S BUSINESS
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the mountain side. There were twelve apostles, as there were twelve tribes. He knew them and they knew Him. They were to be with him for fellowship, for training, for witnessing. Their credentials to the people was their power to: cast out demons. Their preaching was to produce results; it was their main business. A noted ex-President of one of our largest theological seminaries remarked to some of us at the dinner table not long ago, that the danger today is that our seminaries ate turning out business managers of churches instead of preachers of the Gospel. The grouping of the twelve is interesting. Compare the lists as given in Matthew 10; Mark 3; Luke 6 , and Acts 1. Note the variations in the order. Bartholomew is usually supposed to be another name for Nathaniel. All the lists. begin with the name of Simon Peter and end with Judas Iscariot, “who also betrayed Him.” Five of them were from Bethsaida, one from Judea (Judas Iscariot), the others from various parts of Galilee. Simon and Andrew were brothers, so were James and John. If Salome was the sister of Mary the mother of our Lord, James and John werd His first cousins. See Mark 15:40; John 19:25. The apostles were a distinct and unique order, not intended to be perma nent. Peter was martyred during the reign of Nero, about A. D'. 67 or 68 . John died in Ephesus about A. D. 98. James beheaded by Herod, about A. D; 44. Tradi G OD is Sovereign. Christ is God. He does what He will: He is responsible to no one. It has pleased God to work out in this little world a program of His own. In the working of it, He needs men and women; boys and girls; so he chooses them; selects them. It is a great help to us in our Chris tian life to understand this great funda mental fact. Difficulties disappear when we realize this.
tion tells us that Philip laboured in Phrygia; Simon zealotes in Egypt and neighboring African coast; Thomas in India) Andrew in Scythia, Asia Minor, Thrace and Greece; Jude in Persia, and Bartholomew (Nathaniel) in Lycaonia, Armenia and India. We are not called to be apostles, but we are all commissioned to be witnesses and heralds of the Gospel. See Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1: 8 . Are, we fulfilling our commis sion? It is said that there are 200,000,000 more heathen in the world today than there were 100 years ago. And there are at least 70,000,000 more non-Protestants in the United States than there were 100 years ago. See “The Call' of the World,” page 21. “How can they hear without a preacher?” Rom. 10:14. There is said to be— One ordained Protestant minister in the United States to 626 people. One ordained Protestant minister in Africa to 81,575 people. One ordained Protestant minister in Korea to 133,608 people.- One ordained Protestant minister in Japan to 166,400 people. One ordained Protestant minister in South America to 181,741 people. One ordained Protestant minister in India to 232,050 people. One ordained Protestant minister in China to 471,200 people. Horton. First, we come to know Jesus as our Saviour; we come as sinners to Him for salvation. Hungry, we come for bread; thirsty, we come for water. Then, we come to know Him as our Teacher; we sit at His feet and learn of Him; we bear with Him the yoke and get the inspiration of His wonderful life. There grows up between us a friendship; He has a fellow-feeling for us. There is created an intimacy.
HEART OF THE LESSON B y T. C.
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