J.C. Ryle's devotional thoughts on the Gospel of Luke. Section 61. Jesus sends out the 72. Luke 10, verses 1-7.

After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways. Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor script, nor shoes, and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the Son of Peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it. If not, it shall turn to you again. and in the same house remain eating and drinking such things as they give for the laborer is worthy of his hire go not from house to house

The verses before us relate a circumstance which is not recorded by any other gospel writer except Luke. That circumstance is our Lord's appointment of 70 disciples to go before him in addition to the 12 apostles. We do not know the names of any of these disciples. Their subsequent history has not been revealed to us. But the instructions with which they are sent forth are deeply interesting. and deserve the close attention of all ministers and teachers of the gospel.

The first point in our Lord's charge to the seventy disciples is the importance of prayer and intercession. This is the leading thought with which our Lord opens his address. Before he tells his ambassadors what to do, he first bids them to pray. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Prayer is one of the best and most powerful means of helping forward the cause of Christ in the world. It is a means within the reach of all who have the spirit of adoption. Not all believers have money to give to missions. Very few have great intellectual gifts or extensive influence among men. But all believers can pray for the success of the gospel and they ought to pray for it daily.

Many and marvelous are the answers to prayer which are recorded for our learning in the Bible. The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James chapter 5 verse 16 Prayer is one of the principal weapons which the minister of the gospel ought to use to be a true successor of the apostles he must give himself to prayer as well as to the ministry of the word Acts chapter 6 verse 4 he must not only use the sword of the spirit but pray always with all prayer and supplication Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17 and 18 This is the way to win a blessing on his own ministry. This, above all, is the way to procure helpers to carry on Christ's work. Colleges may educate men, bishops may ordain them, patrons may give them wages, but God alone can raise up and send forth laborers who will do work among souls. For a constant supply of such laborers, let us daily pray.

the second point in our Lord's charge to the seventy disciples is the perilous nature of the work in which they were about to be engaged he does not keep back from them the dangers and trials which are before them he does not enlist them under false pretenses or prophesy smooth things or promise them unvarying success he tells them plainly what they must expect behold he says I send you forth as lambs among wolves These words, no doubt, had a special reference to the lifetime of those to whom they were spoken. We see their fulfillment in the many persecutions described in the Acts of the Apostles. But we must not conceal from ourselves that the words describe a state of things which may be seen at this very day. So long as the church stands, believers must expect to be like lambs among wolves. They must make up their minds to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated by those who have no real religion. They must look for no favor from unconverted people, for they will find none. It was a strong but true saying of Martin Luther that Cain will murder Abel, if he can, to the very end of the world. Do not be astonished, says John, if the world hates you. All who will live godly in Christ Jesus, says Paul, shall suffer persecution. 1 John 3 13 2 Timothy 3 12

The third point in our Lord's charge to the Seventy Disciples is the thorough devotion to their work which he enjoined upon them. They were to abstain even from the appearance of covetousness or love of money or luxury. Carry neither purse nor bag nor shoes. They were to behave like men who had no time to waste on the empty compliments and conventional courtesies of the world. Greet no man along the way."

These remarkable words must, doubtless, be interpreted with some qualification. the time came when our Lord himself at the end of his ministry said to the disciples he who has a purse let him take it and likewise his bag Luke chapter 22 verse 36 the Apostle Paul was not ashamed to use greetings the Apostle Peter expressly commands us to be courteous 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 8 But still, after every qualification, there remains a deep lesson beneath these words of our Lord, which ought not to be overlooked. They teach us that ministers and teachers of the gospel should beware of allowing the world to eat up their time and thoughts and to hinder them in their spiritual work. They teach us that care about money and excessive attention to what are called the courtesies of life are mighty snares in the way of Christ's laborers and snares in which they must take heed lest they fall.

Let us consider these things. They concern ministers especially, but they concern all Christians, more or less. Let us strive to show the men of the world that we have no time for their mode of living. Let us show them that we find life too precious to be spent in perpetual feasting and visiting and calling and the like, as if there were no death or judgment or life to come. By all means let us be courteous, but let us not make the courtesies of life into an idol before which everything else must bow down. Let us declare plainly that we seek a country beyond the grave and that we have no time for that incessant round of eating and drinking and dressing and civility and exchange of compliments in which so many try to find their happiness but evidently try in vain. Let our principle be that of Nehemiah. I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down. Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 3

the fourth point in our Lord's charge to the seventy disciples is the simple-minded and contented spirit which he bade them to exhibit wherever they tarried in traveling about their master's business they were to avoid the appearance of being fickle changeable delicate livers or hard to please about food and lodging they were to eat and drink such things as were given them they were not to go from house to house Instructions like these, no doubt, have a primary and special reference to the ministers of the gospel. They are men, above all, who, in their style of living, ought to be careful to avoid the spirit of the world. Simplicity in food and household arrangements, and readiness to put up with any accommodation, as long as health can be preserved uninjured, should always be the mark of the man of God. Once let a preacher get the reputation of being fond of eating and drinking and worldly comforts, and his ministerial usefulness is at an end. The sermon about unseen realities will produce little effect when the life preaches the importance of the things that are seen.

But we ought not to confine our Lord's instructions to ministers alone. They ought to speak loudly to the consciences of all believers, of all who are called by the Holy Spirit and made priests under God. They ought to remind us of the necessity of simplicity and unworldliness in our daily life. We must beware of thinking too much about our meals, and our furniture, and our houses, and all those many things which concern the life of the body. We must strive to live like men whose first thoughts are about the immortal soul.

We must endeavor to pass through the world like men who are not yet at home and are not overly troubled about the fare they meet with on the road and at the inn. Blessed are those who feel like pilgrims and strangers in this life and whose best things are all to come. you