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is upon me because He h ath anointed me to preach th e Gospel to the poor, He h ath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to th e ^captive, and recovering of sigh t to th e blind, and to set a t lib erty them th a t are bound.” (Luke 4 :1 8 ). “ I m ust w ork th e works of Him th a t sent me while it is day.” (John 9 :4 ). “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save th a t which was lost.” (Luke 1 9 :10 ). He had been set a p a rt by the F a th e r ; He had set H imself a p a rt for th is chosen work. He came not to be m inistered unto bu t to m inister, and to give His life a ransom for many. Every disciple is called w ith th e same calling, “As my F a th e r h ath sent Me, so send I you,” (John 2 0 :2 1 ). “Ye shall be w itnesses of Me.” (Acts 1 :8 ). We are am bassadors for Christ. We rep resen t the cou rt of Heaven. We can never fulfill our destiny un til we recognize th is fact. W hat a mission of mercy was His and is ours! How im po rtan t to recognize it! (3) The D estination of th e Lord. “ The next towns.” .t This is the tru e m issionary evangelis tic sp irit— push on to th e towns be yond. Jesus set an example by press ing on to the unevangelized regions. He did not stop to convert Jerusalem . If He had waited un til the proud P h ari sees and subtle scribes had yielded to th e Gospel th e regions round about would have yielded no fru it. Had He ta rrie d a t Capernaum un til its people had given assent, Galilee would have been w ithout th e tidings of salvation. There was no prom ise then, and th ere is none now, th a t any city, or town, or ham let, is to be converted. Jesus did no t look for this. P aul followed His example— he pressed on. The whole known world appealed to his big heart, and he looked upon th e world as his parish. The regions beyond have a supreme claim upon th e church. As long as
brought the m u ltitude to the door. T h at is th e best news ever. That, is th e best story to tell a t any gathering. T h at is th e story to b reath e into th e ears of sorrow ing, suffering, sinful people. Know something definite about Him yourself, and then te ll it out! T h at is w hat the woman of Sam aria did, (John 4 :2 9 ). T hat is w hat th e demon-pos sessed man did, (Mark 5 :2 0 ), and th a t is w hat somebody did for you. Go and tell somebody— today! (c) T ake them to Jesus. Take them where they can h ear the Gospel of the divine Son of God— th e God m anifest in th e flesh. Take them by th e hand and introduce them to the Lord Jesus, whose h e a rt beats in sympathy w ith them , and whose power is unlim ited. There is no o ther place. He is th e only One. T h at is w hat th e four men did w ith th e pal sied man— took him to th e Lord Jesus and broke the roof open to get the poor fellow a t the feet of Jesus, (Mark 2:3, 4 ). You will find a g reat m issionary text in th e 38th verse: “Let us go into the next town th a t I may preach th e re also; for therefore came I fo rth ,” and the di visions of th e them e growing out. of th is verse are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th of th e outline given above; The Des tiny of th e Lord; The Destination of the Lord; The Delight of th e L ord; The Decision of th e Lord. The context shows th a t all men were seeking H im ; many anxious to see and h ear Him. Note the inducements to se ttle down: Crowds aw aiting Him— it would be pleasant and profitable to ta rry . Note th e inducements to go on: M ultitudes needing Him— people per ishing w ithou t th e word of life. (2) The Destiny of th e Lord— “F o r therefo re came I fo rth .” The purpose of th e coming of the Lord Jesus was th a t He m ight bear news of salvation. “W ist ye no t th a t I m ust be about my F a th e r’s business?” (Luke 2 :4 2 ). “The Spirit of th e Lord
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