The Hero

The First Evangelists

Picture: The First Evangelists 3TC 224.1

This chapter is based on Matthew 10; Mark 6:7-11; Luke 9:1-6.

The apostles had accompanied Jesus on foot through Galilee. They had walked and talked with the Son of God and learned how to work for humanity. As Jesus ministered to the people, His disciples were eager to lighten His work. They helped in bringing the suffering ones to the Savior and promoting the comfort of all. They watched for interested hearers and explained the Scriptures to them. 3TC 224.2

But they needed an experience in working alone. They still needed much instruction and patience. Now, while He was personally with them to counsel and correct them, the Savior sent them out as His representatives. 3TC 224.3

The disciples had often been perplexed by the teaching of the priests and Pharisees, but they had brought their questions to Jesus. He had strengthened their confidence in God’s Word and to a great degree had set them free from their slavery to tradition. When they were apart from Him, every look and word came back to them. Often when in conflict with enemies of the gospel, they repeated His words. 3TC 225.1

Calling the Twelve around Him, Jesus told them to go out two by two through the towns and villages. In this way, they could counsel and pray together, each one’s strength making up for the other’s weakness. 3TC 225.2

Evangelistic work would be far more successful if Christians followed this example. 3TC 225.3

The disciples were not to argue with anyone about whether Jesus was the Messiah; but in His name they were to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” 3TC 225.4

Jesus devoted more time to healing the sick than to preaching. Wherever He went, the people who received His compassion were rejoicing in 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 seen. As He passed through the towns and cities, He was like a vital current, spreading life and joy. 3TC 225.5

The followers of Christ are to work as He did. We are to feed the hungry, comfort the suffering, and inspire hope in the hopeless. The love of Christ, shown 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 wants to be a greater Comforter than the world has ever seen. 3TC 225.6

On their first missionary tour, the disciples were to go only to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” If the Jews would receive the gospel, God intended to make them His messengers to the Gentiles. So they were first to hear the message. 3TC 225.7

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 certain clothing to distinguish them from the humble peasants. They were not to call the people together for public meetings; their efforts were to be in house-to-house work. In every place, they were to accept the hospitality of those who would welcome them as if entertaining Christ Himself, entering the home with the beautiful salutation, “Peace to this house.” Luke 10:5. That home would be blessed by their prayers, their songs of praise, and their opening of the Scriptures in the family circle. The message they had brought was the word of eternal life, and the destiny of men and women depended on whether they received or rejected it. See Matthew 10:14, 15. 3TC 225.8

“Behold,” said Jesus, “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Christ did not suppress one word of truth, but He always spoke it in love. He was never rude, never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not scold human weakness. He fearlessly condemned hypocrisy and evil, but tears were in His voice as He spoke His sharpest rebukes. Every person was precious in His eyes. 3TC 226.1

The servants of Christ need to have close fellowship with God, or else when others irritate them self may rise up and they release a torrent of words that are not like the dew or the soft showers that refresh the withering plants. God’s servants are to fasten their eyes on Christ’s loveliness. Then they can present the gospel with divine tact. And the spirit that is kept gentle when dealing with difficult people or circumstances will speak more effectively in favor of truth than any argument, no matter how strong. 3TC 226.2

We Must Meet Opposition

Continuing His instruction to His disciples, Jesus said, “Beware of men.” They were not to put complete confidence in those who did not know God and open their plans to them, for this would give Satan’s agents an advantage. Human ideas often work against God’s plans. God’s servants dishonor Him and betray the gospel when they depend on the counsel of those who are not under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. 3TC 226.3

“They will deliver you up to councils. ... You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.” The servants of Christ will be brought before the great men of the world who might never hear the gospel otherwise. Having listened to false charges concerning the faith of Christ’s disciples, often their only way to learn its real character is through the testimony of those who are brought to trial for their faith. “It will be given to you,” said Jesus, “in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.” Those who reject the truth will stand to accuse the disciples. But the Lord’s children are to reveal the meekness of their Divine Example. In this way, rulers and people will see the contrast between Satan’s agents and Christ’s representatives. 3TC 227.1

The servants of Christ were not to prepare a set speech to present when brought to trial. The Holy Spirit would bring to their remembrance the very truths that they would need. The knowledge they had obtained by diligently searching the Scriptures would flash into the memory. But if any had neglected to acquaint themselves with the words of Christ, they could not expect the Holy Spirit to bring His words to their remembrance. 3TC 227.2

What to Do When Persecution Comes

The disciples of Christ would be betrayed even by members of their own households. “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” But He instructed them not to expose themselves to persecution unnecessarily. He Himself often left one field of labor for another in order to escape from those who wanted to take His life. So His servants were not to be discouraged by persecution, but to look for a place where they could still work for souls. 3TC 227.3

But whatever the danger, Christ’s followers must not hide their principles. They cannot remain uncommitted until they are sure it is safe to profess the truth. Jesus said, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.” 3TC 227.4

Jesus never purchased peace by compromise. His heart overflowed with love for the whole human race, but He never tolerated their sins. He was too much their Friend to remain silent while they were following a course that would ruin their souls. He worked to help people be true to themselves, true to their higher, eternal interest. The servants of Christ, called to the same work, should be careful that, in trying to prevent conflict, they do not surrender truth. We can never obtain real peace by compromising principle. And no one can be true to principle without stirring up opposition. Jesus told His disciples, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Their only fear should be to surrender truth, betraying the trust with which God has honored them. 3TC 228.1

Satan works to fill our hearts with doubt. He tempts us to sin and then to regard ourselves as too evil to approach our heavenly Father. The Lord understands all this. Jesus assures His disciples of God’s sympathy, that not a sigh is breathed, not a pain felt, not a grief pierces the soul, but the throb vibrates to the Father’s heart. 3TC 228.2

The Bible shows us God in His high and holy place (Isaiah 57:15), not inactive, not in silence and solitude, but surrounded by thousands of holy beings waiting to do His will. Through channels we cannot understand, He is in active communication with every part of His domain, including this speck of a world. God is leaning forward from His throne to hear the cry of the oppressed. To every sincere prayer He answers, “Here I am.” He lifts up the distressed and downtrodden. In every temptation and trial, the angel of His presence is near to deliver. 3TC 228.3

Jesus continued, “As you acknowledge Me before others, so I will acknowledge you before God and the holy angels. You are to be My witnesses on the earth; likewise I will be your Representative in heaven. The Father does not see your faulty character, but He sees you clothed in My perfection. And everyone who shares My sacrifice for the lost will share in the glory and joy of the redeemed.” 3TC 228.4

Those who would witness for Christ must have Christ abiding in them. The disciples might speak fluently on doctrines, but unless they possessed Christlike meekness and love, they were not representing Him. A spirit contrary to the spirit of Christ would deny Him. People may deny Christ by speaking evil, by foolish talking, by words that are untruthful or unkind. They may deny Him by shunning life’s burdens, by conforming to the world, by uncourteous behavior, by justifying self, by cherishing doubt, and by borrowing trouble. And “whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” 3TC 228.5

The Savior said, “I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” This strife is not the effect of the gospel, but comes from opposition to it. Of all persecution, the hardest to bear is in the home, the distancing of our dearest earthly friends. But Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 3TC 229.1

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” Christ will not fail to reward any act of kindness shown in His name. He includes the feeblest and lowliest of the family of God. “Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” 3TC 229.2

And so the Savior ended His instruction. The chosen Twelve went out, as He had gone, “to preach the gospel to the poor; ... to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind.” Luke 4:18. 3TC 229.3