etween Israel and the other nations—the truth that “the
Gentiles should be fellow heirs” with the Jews and “partakers
of His promise in Christ by the gospel.” Ephesians 2:14;
3:6. This truth was revealed in part at the time when He
rewarded the faith of the centurion at Capernaum, and also
when He preached the gospel to the inhabitants of Sychar.
Still more plainly was it revealed on the occasion of His
visit to Phoenicia, when He healed the daughter of the
Canaanite woman. These experiences helped the disciples
to understand that among those whom many regarded
19
as unworthy of salvation, there were souls hungering for the
light of truth.
Thus Christ sought to teach the disciples the truth that
in God’s kingdom there are no territorial lines, no caste, no
aristocracy; that they must go to all nations, bearing to them
the message of a Saviour’s love. But not until later did they
realize in all its fullness that God “hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and
hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds
of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply
they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not
far from every one of us.” Acts 17:26, 27.
In these first disciples was presented marked diversity.
They were to be the world’s teachers, and they represented
widely varied types of character. In order successfully to
carry forward the work to which they had been called, these
men, differing in natural characteristics and in habits of life,
needed to come into unity of feeling, thought, and action.
This unity it was Christ’s object to secure. To this end He
sought to bring them into unity with Himself. The burden of
His labor for them is expressed in His prayer to His Father,
“That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in
Thee, that they also may be one in Us;” “that the world may
know that Thou has sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou
hast loved Me.” John 17:21, 23. His constant prayer for them
was that they might be sanctified through the truth; and He
prayed with assurance, knowing that an Almighty decree had
been given before the world was
20
made. He knew that the gospel of the kingdom would
be preached to all nations for a witness; He knew that
truth armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would
conquer in the battle with evil, and that the bloodstained
banner would one day wave triumphantly over His followers.
As Christ’s earthly ministry drew to a close, and He
realized that He must soon leave His disciples to carry on
the work without His personal supervision, He sought to
encourage them and to prepare them for the future. He did
not deceive them with false hopes. As an open book He read
what was to be. He knew He was about to be separated from
them, to leave them as sheep among wolves. He knew that
they would suffer persecution, that they would be cast out of
the synagogues, and would be thrown into prison. He knew
that for witnessing to Him as the Messiah, some of them
would suffer death. And something of this He told them.
In speaking of their future, He was plain and definite, that
in their coming trial they might remember His words and be
strengthened to believe in Him as the Redeemer.
He spoke to them also words of hope and courage. “Let
not your heart be troubled,” He said; “ye believe in God,
believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions:
if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there
ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
know.” John 14:1-4. For your sake I came into the world; for
you I have been working.
21
