But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Christ sent the twelve two by two on their first missionary tour to towns and villages to gain experience laboring without His personal presence under His direction. The lost sheep of the house of Israel were the Jewish nation in sin and error, whom He as their Shepherd came to seek and gather back to His fold. They were to go rather to the Jews first, giving them the first opportunity and first offer of salvation before Samaritans and Gentiles, and were forbidden for that tour to go into the way of the Gentiles or enter any Samaritan city. The restraint belonged only to that first experience, to spare the unready disciples discouraging controversy, to avoid arousing strong Jewish prejudice that would have closed the door to the Jews, and because the disciples themselves were still narrow and did not yet understand that the gospel was for all nations. The restriction was afterward enlarged so the same preaching of the kingdom at hand with power to heal sickness and cast out evil was to go to all nationalities throughout the world, and it stands as the pattern for seeking the lost now with preaching joined to healing.
First Sending and Wording
The command belongs to the sending of the twelve as representatives to do the work they had learned while with Him, needing experience in laboring on their own with further instruction. They were sent out two and two on their first missionary tour to towns and villages, on their first trial of laboring without His personal presence. That first journey was undertaken under His direction and not as warfare on their own charges.
The lost sheep of the house of Israel are the Jewish nation, described as lost sheep needing care. They are those in sin and error whom Christ as their Shepherd came to seek and to save, gathering them out from the bypaths and highways of sin and error and bringing them back to His fold.
Go rather means the Jews were to have the first opportunity and the first offer of salvation, with testimony brought to fellow Israelites before Samaritans and Gentiles. This order kept open the door of entrance to the Jews and protected the first opportunity to reach them, while the work was ultimately to carry truth to the whole world. If they refused to hear, the messengers were to go into new territory, and afterward they were commissioned to go into all the world and teach all nations.
The command restricted the first sending to Israel alone, forbidding going into the way of the Gentiles or entering any Samaritan city. The first offer of salvation through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth was thus to be made first to the Jewish nation.
This limited mission of the twelve differed from the later wider mission given to the seventy. The same kind of gospel work of preaching with authority to heal the sick and cast out devils was later given to the seventy, and preaching and healing belong together and are not to be separated. The twelve were sent only to the Jews in a temporary trial mission, but only later, when the disciples were better prepared to represent tender sympathy and the Samaritans were more ready to receive them, were the seventy sent to the Samaritans. The call proclaiming that the kingdom was near and calling people to repent and believe the gospel continued to the Jewish nation even after the crucifixion, but the nation rejected it and many persecuted the messengers.
Reasons for Temporary Restriction
The restraint belonged only to that first experience of attempting to labor without His personal presence, and was given to spare the disciples trial and perplexity and discouragement at the start. It kept them away from caviling religionists and Pharisees who would draw them into disputes and controversy they were not yet ready to meet. God’s plan was for the gospel to reach every nation, but the disciples needed a clearer grasp of that plan before beginning the wider mission.
Jewish prejudice against the Gentiles was so strong that going to the Gentiles or entering Samaritan cities at that stage would have provoked prejudice and closed the door of entrance to the Jews. If the disciples had gone to the Gentiles then, the Jews would not have listened to their message and the early work would have been greatly hindered. The priority to Israel alone was therefore practical and temporary, to avoid arousing the prejudice of the people to whom access was sought while the disciples were still learning.
The disciples themselves did not yet understand that the gospel was for all nations. They were still narrow and exclusive, leavened with the spirit of the Pharisees and with the theories and maxims of the rabbis, and were unfit to work for the Samaritans. Christ first gave them lessons to counteract this, such as the cleansing of the ten lepers where only a Samaritan returned to give thanks and glory to God, and only later, when the disciples were better prepared to represent His tender sympathy and the Samaritans were more ready to receive them, were the seventy sent to the Samaritans. As their understanding and sympathy broadened, Jesus prepared them to carry the message of His kingdom to all nations.
Israel was to hear first and to receive the first offer of salvation and the first opportunity, with the honor of first hearing a special and wonderful message of salvation. If Israel received the message, God intended Israel to become a messenger to carry it to the Gentiles. Those longing for truth would recognize the disciples as divinely appointed teachers, so that believers would have instructors after Jesus was gone.
The same principle holds now that the truth is to be proclaimed to all nations and kindreds and tongues and peoples, to all nationalities, high and low, free and bond, rich and poor. After the message had been given to the Jews, the disciples were free to proclaim the truth of reconciliation to all. Labor now must still accommodate circumstances and remove hindrances, being done in a way that will not arouse prejudice, so that access is gained and none are cut off from hearing.
Prophecy and Enlarged Commission
The charge to carry the gospel invitation especially to the Jews belongs to the last week of the seventy weeks, the final seven years from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34 allotted especially to the Jews. During that period Christ at first in person and afterward by His disciples extended the gospel especially to the Jews, directing the apostles as they went forth with the good tidings of the kingdom to go first to Israel as lost sheep and not to Gentiles or Samaritans. By that special Jewish work He confirms the covenant with many for one week. The invitation was later extended to the world.
The limitation to the lost sheep of Israel was only for the first missionary journey, when the twelve were charged to preach to Israel and not to go into the way of the Gentiles or into any city of the Samaritans until they had first borne testimony to the Jews. Keeping the first testimony for the Jews kept open the door of entrance to them, since beginning among Samaritans and Gentiles would have closed it and caused the Jews not to listen, even though the time had come for the light of truth to be carried both to the Jewish nation and to the whole world. Israel was thus given the first opportunity to receive Christ as Saviour and the honor of first hearing His message of salvation, a special and wonderful gospel for those in sin and error whom Christ as their Shepherd came to seek and save and gather from the bypaths and highways of sin and error back to His fold. If the Jews refused to hear, the messengers were then to go into new territory. After the message had been given to the Jews the restriction was removed and the commission was enlarged, so that the disciples were free and commissioned to go into all the world and teach all nations, proclaiming to all nationalities, high and low, free and bond, rich and poor, the truth of reconciliation through Christ.
That call to the Jewish nation did not end with the first tour, for Christ sent the twelve and later the seventy to proclaim that God's kingdom was near and to call people to repent and believe the gospel, and the call continued after His crucifixion. The nation rejected it. Many persecuted the messengers.
Gospel Work Commanded
The commission commanded preaching that the kingdom of heaven and of God is at hand and has come nigh, calling people to repent and believe the gospel through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth. The twelve were sent first to Israel as lost sheep needing care, and their mission in that setting was to preach that nearness of the kingdom and to minister to the people. That call to Israel to repent and believe that the kingdom was near was first borne by the twelve and afterward by the seventy, and it continued to the Jewish nation even after the crucifixion, though the nation rejected it and many persecuted the messengers.
With the preaching went power against unclean spirits and to heal all sickness and disease, expressed in healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, and casting out devils, giving freely because they had freely received. The same kind of gospel work of preaching with authority to heal the sick and cast out devils was later given to the seventy, for preaching and healing belong together in the ministry and are not to be separated.
Seeking the lost sheep means earnestly taking hold to find a wandering sheep, calling him to the fold and not leaving him until he is seen safely enfolded there. It is done in the Spirit that was in Christ and with love for one another as He loved, even to removing one personal wrong when others have done a hundred wrongs and humbly confessing it to open the way for weeping confession and putting wrongs away, because that barrier may be keeping away a soul for whom Christ died. The messenger's duty therefore requires leaving those who wish to keep him and going on to visit and teach others who need the truth, rather than remaining with those who have already heard it.
Jesus' own seeking shows the character of the work, for He sought the company of the lost and needy among Israel and did not avoid them or confine His visits and labors to a more intelligent and less faulty class to the neglect of the unfortunate. The lost sheep are the unfortunate, helpless, weak, erring, faulty, less favorably situated, poorest and most needful, especially those who are difficult to bear with and over whom Satan has more power through their weak unprotected points. He pitied just such ones and exercised His power and mercy to help such as needed help, without asking whether their companionship was agreeable or pleasant, and His example requires pitying love that goes to the erring, visits them, manifests interest and becomes familiar with them, helping those who stand most in need even when they have injured and tried patience to the utmost, without cloaking sin and without marking out a line they must come up to before charity is thrown over them.
The passage provides abundant sacred work for every soul, to be done in Christ's Spirit and in faith, with healing attributed to Jesus as the Healer while His followers do their part. The chapter is full of instruction for the work in the present time, guiding workers facing opposition and the dangers of their public work.
Pattern for Present Work
The command to go first to the lost sheep provides the pattern for those who hold present truth to do first among their own people the preaching, binding up, comforting and healing work described in Isaiah 61. The disciples were told to take their work first to Israel rather than to Gentiles or Samaritans, and that order makes Christ's direction the model for how the same kind of gospel work is to be done now. Preaching the gospel and bringing healing and help to those in need, with preaching of the kingdom joined to works of healing and deliverance, is therefore the present application of the verse.
That first work, sent under Christ's commission with His Spirit preparing the way, is the pattern for medical missionary work joined with the third angel's message. It was a first offer of salvation to the Jewish nation through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth proclaiming the kingdom of God come nigh, under a restraint from Gentiles and Samaritans that belonged only to that first experience to spare the disciples trial and perplexity. As a sanctifying and unifying work it carries blessings that should receive a welcome in homes. Faithful evangelists today are to do a similar work in every city missionaries enter by relieving suffering humanity, with students trained for medical missionary work making city dwellers acquainted with its truths, an experienced worker going with young workers to teach them how to labor, and acceptance of offered food or lodging to gain opportunity for conversation, explaining the Scriptures, singing Bible songs and praying with the family.
The instruction for the first missionary tour is the pattern for simple, loving house-to-house work in homes and family circles. Humble prayers and songs of praise help bring people to the truth, while the divine Worker brings conviction to hearts. Bible truth is to be presented in love and sympathy, reaching some not reached by pulpit preaching. Missionary work is to be taken up in different lines among neighbors and friends, sowing beside all waters, and by kindness to the poor, the sick and the bereaved an influence is to be obtained so that divine truth finds access to hearts, with no such opportunity for service left unimproved as the highest missionary work. This calls for appointing strong men to labor in great centers with many young men and women in humble manner, great ingenuity and thorough conversion, presenting the Word in tenderness that wins hearts with faith, hope and courage in His abiding presence, a work even more necessary now.
The lost sheep are God's scattered people in every place, neglected and needing books containing truth essential for this time, so many canvassers are needed to bring them that light. God's messengers are to seek out the scattered flock and carry the message swiftly as the work nears its close, taking missionary work beyond one locality into many places. Going from house to house means finding souls hungry for the bread of life, speaking words in season, asking if they love the Lord Jesus, and circulating books containing the precious light of present truth. Young men and young women are called by the Master to this work to meet the famine in the land for the pure gospel.
Seeking the lost sheep now means seeking erring Sabbath-keepers, poor backsliders who once knew religion, and those fallen away, to help them get right and bring them to Christ and let light shine. Their faults are not to be made conspicuous to opposers, but they are to be hunted up with pitying love and given the message of mercy without cloaking sin. Ministers whose hearts are filled with love are to minister to necessities and relieve sufferings to gain access, so hearts are touched and opened to hear of the love of Jesus. This follows Jesus, who sought the company of the unfortunate, helpless, weak, erring, faulty, less favorably situated, poorest and most needful, over whom Satan has more power, pitying and not shunning them, not confining His visits and labors to a more intelligent and less faulty class, not asking whether their company was agreeable, but exercising His power and mercy to help those most in need of help even when they injured and tried patience to the utmost, requiring visiting them, manifesting interest and love, becoming familiar with them, and helping without marking out a line they must come up to before charity is shown.
The work is to be done with earnest, unwearying fidelity by those bought by Christ's life and sacrifice, using entrusted human powers as sacred trusts for God's glory and others' good. It means earnestly taking hold to find a wandering sheep, calling him to the fold and not leaving him until seen safely enfolded there, in the Spirit that was in Christ and with love for one another as He loved. Those who belong to Christ share His plan as laborers together with Him, drawing people into the circle of His love into new, transformed life. This requires even removing one personal wrong when others have done a hundred wrongs and humbly confessing it to open the way for weeping confession and putting wrongs away unto salvation, because that barrier may keep a soul away. Little companies consecrated in body, soul and spirit, laying hold of the throne by faith and keeping in the love of God, are to speak with one voice in bidding their minister go so the vital current of His love is felt in good works, while each does individual work in home and family for one another, since none who has tasted God's goodness, mercy and love is excused from working for others; and as faithful stewards accountable for what ought to have been done, they are to carry truth to those perishing in sin, pray and wrestle with burden of souls, and go to regions beyond to establish churches in many places as hunters and fishers for souls rather than only sermonizing churches or repeating the call to those who already understand, which encourages the churches and educates the workers.
Christ sent the twelve two by two on their first missionary tour to towns and villages to gain experience laboring without His personal presence under His direction. The lost sheep of the house of Israel were the Jewish nation in sin and error, whom He as their Shepherd came to seek and gather back to His fold. They were to go rather to the Jews first, giving them the first opportunity and first offer of salvation before Samaritans and Gentiles, and were forbidden for that tour to go into the way of the Gentiles or enter any Samaritan city. The restraint belonged only to that first experience, to spare the unready disciples discouraging controversy, to avoid arousing strong Jewish prejudice that would have closed the door to the Jews, and because the disciples themselves were still narrow and did not yet understand that the gospel was for all nations. The restriction was afterward enlarged so the same preaching of the kingdom at hand with power to heal sickness and cast out evil was to go to all nationalities throughout the world, and it stands as the pattern for seeking the lost now with preaching joined to healing.
First Sending and Wording
The command belongs to the sending of the twelve as representatives to do the work they had learned while with Him, needing experience in laboring on their own with further instruction. They were sent out two and two on their first missionary tour to towns and villages, on their first trial of laboring without His personal presence. That first journey was undertaken under His direction and not as warfare on their own charges.
The lost sheep of the house of Israel are the Jewish nation, described as lost sheep needing care. They are those in sin and error whom Christ as their Shepherd came to seek and to save, gathering them out from the bypaths and highways of sin and error and bringing them back to His fold.
Go rather means the Jews were to have the first opportunity and the first offer of salvation, with testimony brought to fellow Israelites before Samaritans and Gentiles. This order kept open the door of entrance to the Jews and protected the first opportunity to reach them, while the work was ultimately to carry truth to the whole world. If they refused to hear, the messengers were to go into new territory, and afterward they were commissioned to go into all the world and teach all nations.
The command restricted the first sending to Israel alone, forbidding going into the way of the Gentiles or entering any Samaritan city. The first offer of salvation through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth was thus to be made first to the Jewish nation.
This limited mission of the twelve differed from the later wider mission given to the seventy. The same kind of gospel work of preaching with authority to heal the sick and cast out devils was later given to the seventy, and preaching and healing belong together and are not to be separated. The twelve were sent only to the Jews in a temporary trial mission, but only later, when the disciples were better prepared to represent tender sympathy and the Samaritans were more ready to receive them, were the seventy sent to the Samaritans. The call proclaiming that the kingdom was near and calling people to repent and believe the gospel continued to the Jewish nation even after the crucifixion, but the nation rejected it and many persecuted the messengers.
Reasons for Temporary Restriction
The restraint belonged only to that first experience of attempting to labor without His personal presence, and was given to spare the disciples trial and perplexity and discouragement at the start. It kept them away from caviling religionists and Pharisees who would draw them into disputes and controversy they were not yet ready to meet. God’s plan was for the gospel to reach every nation, but the disciples needed a clearer grasp of that plan before beginning the wider mission.
Jewish prejudice against the Gentiles was so strong that going to the Gentiles or entering Samaritan cities at that stage would have provoked prejudice and closed the door of entrance to the Jews. If the disciples had gone to the Gentiles then, the Jews would not have listened to their message and the early work would have been greatly hindered. The priority to Israel alone was therefore practical and temporary, to avoid arousing the prejudice of the people to whom access was sought while the disciples were still learning.
The disciples themselves did not yet understand that the gospel was for all nations. They were still narrow and exclusive, leavened with the spirit of the Pharisees and with the theories and maxims of the rabbis, and were unfit to work for the Samaritans. Christ first gave them lessons to counteract this, such as the cleansing of the ten lepers where only a Samaritan returned to give thanks and glory to God, and only later, when the disciples were better prepared to represent His tender sympathy and the Samaritans were more ready to receive them, were the seventy sent to the Samaritans. As their understanding and sympathy broadened, Jesus prepared them to carry the message of His kingdom to all nations.
Israel was to hear first and to receive the first offer of salvation and the first opportunity, with the honor of first hearing a special and wonderful message of salvation. If Israel received the message, God intended Israel to become a messenger to carry it to the Gentiles. Those longing for truth would recognize the disciples as divinely appointed teachers, so that believers would have instructors after Jesus was gone.
The same principle holds now that the truth is to be proclaimed to all nations and kindreds and tongues and peoples, to all nationalities, high and low, free and bond, rich and poor. After the message had been given to the Jews, the disciples were free to proclaim the truth of reconciliation to all. Labor now must still accommodate circumstances and remove hindrances, being done in a way that will not arouse prejudice, so that access is gained and none are cut off from hearing.
Prophecy and Enlarged Commission
The charge to carry the gospel invitation especially to the Jews belongs to the last week of the seventy weeks, the final seven years from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34 allotted especially to the Jews. During that period Christ at first in person and afterward by His disciples extended the gospel especially to the Jews, directing the apostles as they went forth with the good tidings of the kingdom to go first to Israel as lost sheep and not to Gentiles or Samaritans. By that special Jewish work He confirms the covenant with many for one week. The invitation was later extended to the world.
The limitation to the lost sheep of Israel was only for the first missionary journey, when the twelve were charged to preach to Israel and not to go into the way of the Gentiles or into any city of the Samaritans until they had first borne testimony to the Jews. Keeping the first testimony for the Jews kept open the door of entrance to them, since beginning among Samaritans and Gentiles would have closed it and caused the Jews not to listen, even though the time had come for the light of truth to be carried both to the Jewish nation and to the whole world. Israel was thus given the first opportunity to receive Christ as Saviour and the honor of first hearing His message of salvation, a special and wonderful gospel for those in sin and error whom Christ as their Shepherd came to seek and save and gather from the bypaths and highways of sin and error back to His fold. If the Jews refused to hear, the messengers were then to go into new territory. After the message had been given to the Jews the restriction was removed and the commission was enlarged, so that the disciples were free and commissioned to go into all the world and teach all nations, proclaiming to all nationalities, high and low, free and bond, rich and poor, the truth of reconciliation through Christ.
That call to the Jewish nation did not end with the first tour, for Christ sent the twelve and later the seventy to proclaim that God's kingdom was near and to call people to repent and believe the gospel, and the call continued after His crucifixion. The nation rejected it. Many persecuted the messengers.
Gospel Work Commanded
The commission commanded preaching that the kingdom of heaven and of God is at hand and has come nigh, calling people to repent and believe the gospel through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth. The twelve were sent first to Israel as lost sheep needing care, and their mission in that setting was to preach that nearness of the kingdom and to minister to the people. That call to Israel to repent and believe that the kingdom was near was first borne by the twelve and afterward by the seventy, and it continued to the Jewish nation even after the crucifixion, though the nation rejected it and many persecuted the messengers.
With the preaching went power against unclean spirits and to heal all sickness and disease, expressed in healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, and casting out devils, giving freely because they had freely received. The same kind of gospel work of preaching with authority to heal the sick and cast out devils was later given to the seventy, for preaching and healing belong together in the ministry and are not to be separated.
Seeking the lost sheep means earnestly taking hold to find a wandering sheep, calling him to the fold and not leaving him until he is seen safely enfolded there. It is done in the Spirit that was in Christ and with love for one another as He loved, even to removing one personal wrong when others have done a hundred wrongs and humbly confessing it to open the way for weeping confession and putting wrongs away, because that barrier may be keeping away a soul for whom Christ died. The messenger's duty therefore requires leaving those who wish to keep him and going on to visit and teach others who need the truth, rather than remaining with those who have already heard it.
Jesus' own seeking shows the character of the work, for He sought the company of the lost and needy among Israel and did not avoid them or confine His visits and labors to a more intelligent and less faulty class to the neglect of the unfortunate. The lost sheep are the unfortunate, helpless, weak, erring, faulty, less favorably situated, poorest and most needful, especially those who are difficult to bear with and over whom Satan has more power through their weak unprotected points. He pitied just such ones and exercised His power and mercy to help such as needed help, without asking whether their companionship was agreeable or pleasant, and His example requires pitying love that goes to the erring, visits them, manifests interest and becomes familiar with them, helping those who stand most in need even when they have injured and tried patience to the utmost, without cloaking sin and without marking out a line they must come up to before charity is thrown over them.
The passage provides abundant sacred work for every soul, to be done in Christ's Spirit and in faith, with healing attributed to Jesus as the Healer while His followers do their part. The chapter is full of instruction for the work in the present time, guiding workers facing opposition and the dangers of their public work.
Pattern for Present Work
The command to go first to the lost sheep provides the pattern for those who hold present truth to do first among their own people the preaching, binding up, comforting and healing work described in Isaiah 61. The disciples were told to take their work first to Israel rather than to Gentiles or Samaritans, and that order makes Christ's direction the model for how the same kind of gospel work is to be done now. Preaching the gospel and bringing healing and help to those in need, with preaching of the kingdom joined to works of healing and deliverance, is therefore the present application of the verse.
That first work, sent under Christ's commission with His Spirit preparing the way, is the pattern for medical missionary work joined with the third angel's message. It was a first offer of salvation to the Jewish nation through deeds of mercy and love and the message of truth proclaiming the kingdom of God come nigh, under a restraint from Gentiles and Samaritans that belonged only to that first experience to spare the disciples trial and perplexity. As a sanctifying and unifying work it carries blessings that should receive a welcome in homes. Faithful evangelists today are to do a similar work in every city missionaries enter by relieving suffering humanity, with students trained for medical missionary work making city dwellers acquainted with its truths, an experienced worker going with young workers to teach them how to labor, and acceptance of offered food or lodging to gain opportunity for conversation, explaining the Scriptures, singing Bible songs and praying with the family.
The instruction for the first missionary tour is the pattern for simple, loving house-to-house work in homes and family circles. Humble prayers and songs of praise help bring people to the truth, while the divine Worker brings conviction to hearts. Bible truth is to be presented in love and sympathy, reaching some not reached by pulpit preaching. Missionary work is to be taken up in different lines among neighbors and friends, sowing beside all waters, and by kindness to the poor, the sick and the bereaved an influence is to be obtained so that divine truth finds access to hearts, with no such opportunity for service left unimproved as the highest missionary work. This calls for appointing strong men to labor in great centers with many young men and women in humble manner, great ingenuity and thorough conversion, presenting the Word in tenderness that wins hearts with faith, hope and courage in His abiding presence, a work even more necessary now.
The lost sheep are God's scattered people in every place, neglected and needing books containing truth essential for this time, so many canvassers are needed to bring them that light. God's messengers are to seek out the scattered flock and carry the message swiftly as the work nears its close, taking missionary work beyond one locality into many places. Going from house to house means finding souls hungry for the bread of life, speaking words in season, asking if they love the Lord Jesus, and circulating books containing the precious light of present truth. Young men and young women are called by the Master to this work to meet the famine in the land for the pure gospel.
Seeking the lost sheep now means seeking erring Sabbath-keepers, poor backsliders who once knew religion, and those fallen away, to help them get right and bring them to Christ and let light shine. Their faults are not to be made conspicuous to opposers, but they are to be hunted up with pitying love and given the message of mercy without cloaking sin. Ministers whose hearts are filled with love are to minister to necessities and relieve sufferings to gain access, so hearts are touched and opened to hear of the love of Jesus. This follows Jesus, who sought the company of the unfortunate, helpless, weak, erring, faulty, less favorably situated, poorest and most needful, over whom Satan has more power, pitying and not shunning them, not confining His visits and labors to a more intelligent and less faulty class, not asking whether their company was agreeable, but exercising His power and mercy to help those most in need of help even when they injured and tried patience to the utmost, requiring visiting them, manifesting interest and love, becoming familiar with them, and helping without marking out a line they must come up to before charity is shown.
The work is to be done with earnest, unwearying fidelity by those bought by Christ's life and sacrifice, using entrusted human powers as sacred trusts for God's glory and others' good. It means earnestly taking hold to find a wandering sheep, calling him to the fold and not leaving him until seen safely enfolded there, in the Spirit that was in Christ and with love for one another as He loved. Those who belong to Christ share His plan as laborers together with Him, drawing people into the circle of His love into new, transformed life. This requires even removing one personal wrong when others have done a hundred wrongs and humbly confessing it to open the way for weeping confession and putting wrongs away unto salvation, because that barrier may keep a soul away. Little companies consecrated in body, soul and spirit, laying hold of the throne by faith and keeping in the love of God, are to speak with one voice in bidding their minister go so the vital current of His love is felt in good works, while each does individual work in home and family for one another, since none who has tasted God's goodness, mercy and love is excused from working for others; and as faithful stewards accountable for what ought to have been done, they are to carry truth to those perishing in sin, pray and wrestle with burden of souls, and go to regions beyond to establish churches in many places as hunters and fishers for souls rather than only sermonizing churches or repeating the call to those who already understand, which encourages the churches and educates the workers.