King's Business - 1922-11

1176 no work unfinished. The Master will travel this way tomorrow.” We have the same inducement to faithful service in the thought that Jesus is coming soon. “ I send you forth as lambs among wolves.” The world is a jungle filled with savage beasts of prey. The church is a little flock of defenseless sheep whose only protection is the shep­ herd’s care. “ Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” The rod is a heavy club to beat off the wolves. The staff is a slender reed to guide the feet of the straying sheep into green pastures and by still waters. “ Salute no man by the way.” Christianity puts no premium on discourtesy but Oriental etiquette called for prolonged and oft-repeated forms of salutation and the King’s busi­ ness required haste. “ Your peace . . shall turn to you again.” A gracious benediction is never lost. It does not fall to the ground between the one who gives and one who may reject it. It returns to the bosom of the giver. The glory of a house is in the guests who visit it. Manifold and rich are the com­ pensations of Christian hospitality! A suffering invalid restored to health is a better return for board and lodging than silver and gold. The disciples re­ turned rejoicing that even the demons recognized and obeyed their authority. The Master quietly suggested a safer and more enduring foundation for their joy. Can we say that this mission was merely temporary and local? Does it have no meaning or application to us? Is it not based on principles that 'are age-long and world-wide? We may be free from the literalism that would send a missionary to Africa without an outfit, but must we not admit that we have a commission and a program as specific and distinct as theirs? Are we not servants of and partners with Jesus? Do not demons fear and flee today be­ fore the matchless Name? Are not our names written in Heaven?

T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S V . 1. The Lord appointed seventy. This is the great abiding lesson that the employment of the Seventy by Jesus carries with it— that it is not to minis­ ters or ordained COMMENTS PROM officers of t h e MANY SOURCES church alone that Keith L. Brooks the duty pertains of s p r e a d i n g abroad among those around them the knowledge of Christ. To the whole Ghurch of the living God, to each indi­ vidual member thereof, the great com­ mission comes, “ Go thou and make the Saviour known.”—-Hanna. It may be the number seventy has reference to the number of nations enumerated in Gen­ esis 10. In that case, as the number of the apostles corresponds to that of the twelve tribes of Israel, the choice of the Seventy prefigures the evangel­ ization of the world.— Riggenbach. v. 2. Pray ye therefore. Do we thus pray daily, or are we merely content with working a little ourselves as though we could accomplish all?—-Taylor. Send forth laborers. The word in the origi­ nal implies the idea of urgency and haste. It is literally “ drive forth.”— Crit. Com. v. 4. Carry neither purse nor scrip. The central thought is urgency. Time is not to be taken to search for addi­ tional staves or shoes. They were to go in their ordinary sandals, with such staff as they might have or with none.— Scofield. All the instructions are in keeping with a brief and hasty pioneer­ ing mission, intending to supply what of general preparation for coming events of the Lord’s own visit afterward to the same cities would not, through want of time, suffice to accomplish.— Brown. Salute no man. There is such an amount of insincerity, flattery and false­ hood in the terms of salutation pre-r scribed by etiquette, that our Lord de­ sired His representatives to dispense with them as far as possible. If an Oriental meets an acquaintance he must

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