lvation, 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
