Let's be turning to Luke chapter
10. Luke chapter 10. Our Lord, in
the last chapter especially, we've seen Him faithfully and
diligently instructing the Twelve. He's been preparing them to know
that He's going to Jerusalem where He will be betrayed by
the hands of wicked men that will take Him and crucify Him.
And He has been preparing them, setting their expectations of
what it will cost them in following the Lord. And he's been correcting
them and instructing their various errors, which they held. And so he's been teaching them
and training them very diligently in preparation for his departure,
his death, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem for his people.
And it says now in Luke 10, verse 1, after these things, after
these instructions, after this teaching and preparation, the
Lord appointed other 70 also, and sent them two and two before
his face into every city and place, whither he himself would
come. is making these 70 here partakers
of his spirit. He's giving them of his spirit
for the work of the ministry. And there's a picture of this.
This is not out of the blue. This actually, we've seen this
in the Old Testament when the Lord instructed Moses, choose
out, pick 70 men from among the elders of Israel because I'm
going to give them of your spirit. that they may help minister and
serve the people. He said, I will take of the spirit
which is upon thee and will put it upon them. And then they were
helpers of Moses in the governance of the people. And so, these
70 here, with our Lord, these would have been men who were
constant hearers of Christ's doctrine. They were witnesses
of His miracles, and they believed Him. They believed that this
Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And
so these were men of whom Peter would later testify in Acts when
they were choosing out an apostle to replace Judas. He said, these men have accompanied
with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among
us. And so these would have been
men, most likely all of them would have been there from the
showing of John the Baptist unto Israel all the way to seeing
our Lord's resurrection, to being witnesses of his resurrection.
And so the things that are taught here by our Lord, they first
and foremost concern gospel preachers. But I want to encourage you that
they're for all of us to hear because you that are in the body
of Christ are partakers and in the fellowship with our God in
this ministry of the kingdom. You're all partakers of this. You're of the body of Christ
and all members contributing and participating in the work
of our God to teach his people, to give his people, to instruct
his people in the salvation of God, making known, manifesting
the mystery of God through the word preached. You're all partakers
in that, brethren. You're all contributors. You're
all part of that body with our Lord in ministering the Spirit
unto the people of God. Now, some of the things that
are said here in their plainest meaning concern the commission
which was given to these 70 men. But there's things that we may
glean here from this. and see how it applies to us
today in preaching the gospel. Now to begin from verse 1, I
want to give you three observations which are true of gospel preachers
and the ministry of the gospel. So let me just read verse 1 again.
After these things the Lord appointed other 70 also, and sent them
two and two before his face into every city and place whither
he himself would come. So first our Lord appointed these
men and that word appointed means to reveal, to show that which
was hidden, that which was not seen. It wasn't known or seen
that these men would have a part in the ministry until Christ
showed it, until he brought it forth. And it's a word used to
speak of those who are elected to an office. appointed to an
office. There's a showing forth that
this is the one who's been appointed to that office. Well, when the Lord used it with
Matthias, he was appointed to take the place of Judas. It's
also the root word is used with John the Baptist. He was kept
hidden until the time of his showing unto Israel. It's that
word, the same root word. And so the Lord still appoints
men to the ministry. I remember when I was about 19
or 20 and working as a painter, I would talk to the other young
men that were hired by our same employer and I began to have
an interest in Christ. And I would speak a lot of the
Lord Jesus Christ to these men. And I remember one of the young
men who was a little older than I was, but he said, yeah, I thought
about being a preacher once. And I just looked at him like,
What? Because to him, it was just a
motivational speaker. He just wanted to make people
feel good about themselves and motivate them in that sense.
But he had no interest in Christ and knew nothing of Christ. And so the Lord appoints his
pastors. He's going to show them Christ.
He's going to teach them the doctrine of Christ. Our hope
is Christ, because that's who we preach. We minister Christ
to the people. It's of His work. That's the
hope that we have is in Christ, not about feeling good about
ourselves and our decisions and choices in life. That's not it.
It's Christ. It's Christ. He is salvation,
and we believe Him. Then second, We're told that
he sent them out two by two. And what this says to us is that
none of us is a loner. Any of you that have seen the
raising of sheep know that sheep are gathered in flocks. They're
not happy. They're not meant to be alone.
Sheep are meant to be together, and that's what the Lord does.
He's assembled a body. He's put a body of sheep together,
a flock together of his people. And so what we see in that is
that the Lord has purposed it. None of us has all the gifts
and is able to meet the needs that we have. He's dispersed
these among us that we would function as a body. My hand picks
up things and brings food to my mouth. My eyes see things. My ears hear things. My tongue
says things, right? My feet carry me to certain places,
and then inside there's organs that are doing things that I
don't know anything about. They're just working the way
they're supposed to work. So it is with the body. So it
is. The Lord has given to us various
gifts. Some are more forward and seen,
and others are hidden. But all of it is functioning
as a cohesive body to the praise and glory of our God. And that's
what we see in being sent out two by two. As a preacher of
the gospel, I still need the aid. I'm encouraged by you, by
the things you say. I appreciate your prayers. I
appreciate the things that you do. And that's meant to be that
way by God, so that we depend upon one another in the same
way that your body depends upon itself. When my hand's cold,
I hold it and I warm it. And that's how we function as
a body. We take care of one another as
a flock. And then third, we see here that
our Lord sent these men before his face into every city and
place, whither he himself would come. And so these men were literally
sent out ahead of where Christ purposed to go. And they would
preach the word of the kingdom. They would declare the kingdom
in preparation to prepare the hearts of the people for the
visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we do
today in the preaching of the gospel. We declare what Christ
has accomplished, knowing, praying, believing that Christ is going
to visit his people, that he's going to come and make that word
effectual to your heart, to bless you in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's gonna be by the preaching
of the gospel that the Lord will visit his people and lay it to
their heart. minister that word, sow that
word in your heart. Paul said in Romans 10, how then
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how
shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they've not all obeyed the
gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. And so that's what the Lord has
purposed. He sends that word before his
face where he purposes to come and to take that word and bring
forth that which he purposes, that word to bring forth and
to accomplish in his people. It says in Titus 1.3, God hath
manifested his word through preaching. Through the foolishness of preaching,
he makes known the mystery unto his people. That which is kept
hidden, which we cannot know by nature, he makes it known
to his people through preaching and giving them understanding
of those words. Again, in 2 Timothy 1.10, Paul
told Timothy that God hath brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel. This is how he makes known to
you what he has accomplished and done. This salvation of God is a mystery
to the natural man, but it pleases God to make it known to the people
through preaching. It's like when he fed the 5,000,
he set them down. and then dispense the food. And
that's what he does. He sets his people down where
there's not a debate and talking back and forth. There's a hearing.
There's a hearing. And there's a receiving. And
there's faith met with that word by the grace and power of God
to hear that word in spirit and in truth, to worship God in spirit
and in truth, not by the things you do or don't do, but by the
grace of God given to you freely. without your works, without your
flesh, to rejoice and worship God in spirit and in truth under
the hearing of that word. And so when the Lord sends his
word, almost without fail, it's because there is a people there
that he intends to save and to bless and to feed and to nourish. And he'll plant that word there
because he has a people there. and he has a people like we see
here. Now, as we go to the next verses,
two through 16, there's eight instructions. There's an outline
of eight instructions that the Lord gives these men that I wanna
show you, which I believe that I wanna show you what it means
for us today in the ministry of the gospel. So verse two. Therefore said he unto them,
the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye,
therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers
into his harvest. So first, our Lord states this
fact. The harvest is great, truly is
great, but the laborers are few. And what that What the Lord does
is he presses upon the heart of his pastors and of his people
that there is a great need. There is a great need in the
world. The sons and daughters of Adam
are ruined by the fall. We are bankrupt in ourselves. We don't know the true and living
God. We have no understanding. We're
in darkness and depraved. concerning the things of God.
We're ignorant concerning the things of God. And so the Lord
makes us to know that there's no man on the earth that does
not sin. There is no man on the earth
that understands. There's no man on the earth that
is righteous and does good. No, not one. We're ruined by
the fall. And we're undone. And Christ
says, if you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your
sins. And stand before holy God in
judgment, having no covering. no covering for our nakedness,
no covering for our sin. We'd stand before the holy God
who sees and knows all things without a righteousness, without
a covering left to ourselves. And so he makes us to know that
the way the people are gonna know his salvation, the way the
people are going to have a covering is through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he sends that gospel out
in order to declare to the people what he has done. The salvation
is accomplished. Salvation is provided freely,
abundantly in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he publishes that
word. And his people are made to hear
that word. They're made to hear that word
and to believe Christ. Not that they do anything, but
he makes it effectual in their hearts to know the good news,
to know that the works are finished. And faith is wrought in their
hearts by the gift of God to hear, to receive, to believe
the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's the ministry, brethren. And he presses that on us because
that's the need. There's a great need in the earth. Men and women need to hear this
gospel because this is how it pleases God to bless his people.
So he presses that on our hearts. And second, he says, pray ye,
therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers
into his harvest. And what the Lord is teaching
us there is that if we would serve God, if we would honor
Christ and honor our God, if we would serve the needs of men
and women, sinners, who have no hope of righteousness in themselves,
if we would serve them, we must be men and women of prayer. We
must seek the Lord about these things because it's in prayer
that the Lord instructs us. He uses prayer to bring us to
see our need of Him. to seek Him for these things. And it's He that, it's our God
who gives us that heart of prayer, who puts this prayer upon our
hearts, and He teaches us through that. He begins to instruct us
where we hear it, that there's a need. There's a need of salvation. And we see Isaiah, who, seeing
the glory of the Lord and seeing that need, said, Lord, here am
I. Send me. Send me. And so he instructs
his people through prayer by making us people of prayer. And it's through prayer that
we that we are instructed, it's through prayer that we accept
our limitations, we accept those struggles which He's given to
us, and it's through prayer that He enables us to bear the dangers
and the toils and the difficulties of the ministry. It's through
prayer that He makes us willing, willing to serve the true and
living God, to lay aside the things of this world to go and
serve the Lord in this calling. And so prayer is something that
every one of us engages in, as believers, that God would send
the dying into their sins, that he would send those that are
dead in trespasses and sins the remedy of salvation. Because
we know ourselves, we know our own hardness of heart, We know
those that we love and care for that don't hear. We know there's
a need. And so he presses that need upon
us to be of prayer, to seek the Lord, send them the word, Lord.
Help them to hear when that word is sent. Help them to receive
and believe it. And so in that sense, even you,
brethren, I'm commanded to pray for you. And he gives me a desire
to pray for you. And whether I know your needs
or not, I know you have needs. And so it's a delight, it's a
joy for me to pray and I'm to pray. Just as he said to these
men, pray ye. He's telling them that are going,
pray ye that the Lord send laborers to the harvest. And so when I'm
preparing, I'm praying, Lord, help me because I'm just a man
like you. I have no abilities myself. I can be hard and cold and indifferent
myself. But Lord, bless your people,
visit your people, gather your people, and bless this word too. their hearts. And it's the Lord
that does that. He gives that spirit of prayer. And so that's a worthy complaint
to ask the Lord that he would send forth laborers to the harvest. Then third, he tells us, expect
trouble, expect difficulty. And he says it this way in verse
three, go your ways. Behold, I send you forth as lambs
among wolves. That's That's dangerous for the
lambs. You know, I just got some chicks
recently and I had to put, before I let them out into their little
space, I had to put netting over it and secure that fence in that
area very tightly because I have cats. And they like the look
of little chickens running around. And you can imagine wolves love
the sight of little lambs in the field because they have no
protection. They have no protection. And
so our Lord saying, expect that if you serve the Lord, there's
going to be trouble. There's going to be persecution. There's going to be difficulties
in serving the Lord. so that we see the need that
we have of Christ. If we're going to preach Christ,
we must expect to be treated the way Christ was treated by
men of this world. And they despised him. And they
hated him. And they took him and put him
to death. And our Lord says, the servant
is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they'll
persecute you also. They're going to do it. Expect
it. Expect it. The Apostle Paul tells us that
we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of heaven.
It's going to be through tribulation. It's going to be through trials.
You may not always recognize persecution, but there's going
to be difficulties. There's going to be hardships. There's going to be strippings
and fastings and difficulties in various ways. He said, no
man should be moved by these afflictions. For yourselves know
that we are appointed thereunto. He appoints these things on purpose. And it's good, it's good to see
our weakness, that we might find our strength and our all in the
true and living God. It's necessary. And so, the offense
of the cross is the same in every age, really. It's any time you
give God the glory, any time you declare that salvation is
of the Lord, and it's not of man, and you despise the works
of man, and you exalt what Christ has done for the salvation of
his people, there's going to be someone that is angered by
that, and annoyed by that, and they're going to reject it. And
then they're going to reject you in that same thing because
you're giving God all the glory. I saw recently Martin Luther
said it this way, Cain will murder Abel if he can to the very end
of the world. And that was the first murder
was because God loved Abel. And he received Abel's sacrifice,
which was Christ. He came in the blood. And Cain
tried to come with the works of the flesh. Cain was a religious
man. He was very proud of what he
did. And he brought it, and God didn't
receive his works, but rejected them. And so Cain persecuted
Abel, because God loved Abel and received him. And all Abel
did was come in the blood, trusting in the blood of Christ. And because
God despised Cain's works, Cain hated Abel. And that's true in
every age. It's not you that they reject,
it's Christ that they reject. Though they'll cast aspersions
upon you and say mean things to you, it's not you that they're
angry with, they're angry with Christ. They don't want to hear
Christ. He said at the end there in Luke
10 verse 16, he that heareth you, heareth me. If they hear
you, it's because they hear me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth
me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. And what our Lord's saying there
is there's not other ways to worship God. There's not other
ways to come to the true and living God. There is one name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It is by the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so we must continue to exalt him and hold up Christ the ensign,
Christ the banner, Christ the light, If men and women are to be saved,
it's going to be in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so don't turn from that just
because people don't want to hear it, because oftentimes from
the unlikeliest of people, they will hear it and they will believe. And so you just be faithful to
preach Christ and leave it to Him to make that effectual in
their hearts, but be faithful to preach Him in spirit and in
truth. And then fourth, he tells us
that he's going to provide for us. And in the beginning of verse
four, he says, carry neither purse nor script nor shoes. In other words, the Lord will
provide for his word. And the way we see him providing
for his word is he blesses his people. He provides for you and
then gives you a heart to provide for the Word and to provide for
the ministry. And we saw this a little earlier,
but He gifts you. He gives you gifts and abilities. He gives you a desire. He gives
you a willingness to serve in the capacity that you're able
to serve. And so he does that to provide
for his word to go forth. to be preached and to be proclaimed
and to be heard by those who sit in darkness and those who
cannot hear it. And so he does it in order to
make it effectual. And we're gonna see it as a functioning
body. He said in Romans 12, verse four
through six, for as we have many members in one body, and all
members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body
in Christ. and everyone members one of another,
having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to
us. Whether prophecy, let us prophesy
according to the proportion of faith. And that proportion is
in whatever capacity he's given you to serve and minister through
prayer, through attendance, through giving, Through encouraging words,
whatever it is, he's given you his spirit to be used in the
body for its edification, for its provision, to meet the needs
that are there. Whether you know they're there
or not, he gives you that heart. And it's going to be just like
the body, the way the body functions. Fifth, he tells us that we must
be men and women of purpose. He said at the end of verse four,
salute no man by the way. And what that communicates to
us is a sense of urgency or a sense of haste in these things that
were not to be slothful, that were not to be forgetful, that
were not to be negligent of the things which need to be done,
but that we do those things with diligence according to what he's
given us to do. And so we're on a business. I'm
very mindful when preparing the word that the business which
he's given me to do concerns an eternal age for your very
souls. And it's not me that makes the
difference, but he's given me an interest in these things to
see his word effectual, to see his blessing of you, his people,
to comfort you and to help you in these things. And so I don't
want to see any of us come short of the blessings of God in Christ. And I know he makes it effectual.
It's that he gives us care. and concerns us with these things
for the good of his people. And then sixth, he says, verse
five, and into whatsoever house ye enter, first say peace be
to this house. And so that's true of any private
home or public place where the word is to be preached, first
say peace to this house. And what this says is that our
ministry really is a word of peace. It is a ministry of peace. We are declaring unto the people
what God has done in providing satisfaction for our sins, a
covering for our sins, a means by which we may be accepted and
received of God, and it's through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's what
he has done for us, brethren. It's a word, a ministry of peace. You know that when Christ rose
from the dead, and John tells us that the disciples, first
the 11 were gathered together behind a closed door for fear
of the Jews, that Christ came and stood in their midst and
said, peace be unto you. And then when Thomas was with
them, all 11 together, the same thing, they were behind closed
doors and Christ appeared unto them and said, peace be unto
you. And that is the word. You that
hear this word, it's a word of peace whereby you may approach
unto God and that God would hear your prayers. and receive you
unto himself in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. All who
believe Christ, all who trust Christ, are received of the Father. He will not reject any that come
to him trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. All who believe Him shall
find life and peace, happiness and joy forevermore in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's not playing games. All who
believe Him shall never be ashamed. All who believe Christ shall
be received of the Father because He gives it to them. If there's
faith there, it's because he's manifested that faith. If there's
hope in Christ, it's because He's given hope. If there's love
for God, and love for Christ, and love for His Word, it's because
God has given that love to them. And He draws His people to Himself
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, we tell men of their
sinful condition, we tell one another what we have are ruined
in the fall of Adam. We declare that. We make that
known. We speak of the wrath of God
against wickedness and unrighteousness. That you may hear the word of
promise. That you may hear the word of
peace which God has provided abundantly, fully, to full satisfaction
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this, brethren, is a ministry
of peace. You know, every epistle, except
for just very few, but every epistle written begins with something
like this. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with
God through Christ. Without Christ, there's no peace.
But in Christ, there's nothing but peace. There is peace. Listen to this joyful news in
Colossians 1. 19-21 It pleased the Father that
in Christ should all fullness dwell. Isn't that peace? Our God has not sent us on a
hunt. We're not looking for a peace
here and another peace over there. It's all found in one, even the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's our salvation. And having
made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile
all things unto himself, by him I say whether they be things
in earth or things in heaven, And you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind, in dead religion, in dead works,
in darkness, in ignorance, you that were cut off from these
things, yet now hath he made peace with you and brought you
near to himself in Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ, He's
reconciled us by Him. And so He teaches us this to
make us to know it's not by your works. Don't trust what you've
done. Don't trust in what you are in
yourself. Believe Christ. Trust Him. Come to the Father in Jesus Christ
the Son and you have life. You have life in and by Him. The more we look to ourselves
and what we're doing, the less peace I have. I have no peace
when I'm looking at me. If you're honest with yourself,
there's no peace there. But the more we look to Christ,
the more confident we are, the more at peace we are in Him. Because we know that his word
of promise to us is that all who come to him in the blood
of Christ, they have forgiveness. They have life. It's a testimony. It's a manifestation of life
in you. That's why you come to him, because
he's given you life. And if the son of peace be there,
your peace shall rest upon it. And if not, it shall turn to
you again. And I'm sure you've seen this,
when you tell another of the gospel, you'll know if there's
peace there. Because they'll either believe
it, they'll receive it, and rejoice in it, and want to hear more
of it, or they'll find some fault with it. They'll usually bring
something else up, but what they're doing is they're rejecting the
gospel. They don't want to hear that.
That's not what they want to hear. And so they'll bring something
up, they'll change the subject, or they'll oppose it outright,
but that's because there's no peace there. It's death unto
death and them that perish, but it's life unto life and them
that live by the grace of God. Then seventh, he tells us to
receive their hospitality, verse seven and eight, 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,
and into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you. each such
things as are set before you." In other words, they're supplying
your need for supplying their need in preaching the gospel.
They're just providing for you, even as you've provided for them
in preaching the gospel. Eighth, he tells us, to bring
to bear upon the people this gospel. That's how we heal the
sick that are therein. It's through Christ. We're broken. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. And the healing for your soul
is Christ. Christ crucified. Preaching that
gospel. That's your healing, brethren.
Telling them that the kingdom of God has come nigh unto you. In other words, we're making
known through this word what Christ has accomplished. I'm
not telling you what you need to do to get yourself saved.
I'm declaring Him who saves His people. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the work is finished from before the foundation of the world.
God has given His word and kept His word of promise in fulfilling
all things necessary for us in Christ. The table is set. The feast is provided. And He
calls His people to come to that feast, to come to the fountain
filled with the blood of Christ, and be plunged in that fountain
that your sins may be covered and put away forever. And all
who believe in Christ, all who trust Christ, have that forgiveness. If He's showing you Christ and
you're in need of Him, it's because He's given it. He's provided
it. It's done in Christ. And so verse
10 through 12 there, it says, in whatsoever city ye enter and
they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of
the same and say, even the very dust of your city which cleaveth
on us, that is your fleshly works which you trust in, we do wipe
off against you. Notwithstanding, be sure of this,
that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for
that city." And all those cities that he lists there, Chorazin,
Bethsaida, Capernaum, they were all cities in the region of Galilee. Those people heard the words
of Christ more than any others. They saw the miracles of Christ
on there more than any others. And they rejected and refused
him. And he says, The Sodomites of
Sodom and Gomorrah will have a more tolerable day of judgment
than those which hear Christ and want no part of Him. It will
be more tolerable for them. But he that heareth you, heareth
me, he said. Preach the gospel, trust God
to make his word effectual in the hearts of his people. He's our confidence. He's why
we go and continue and provide for this ministry, that his name
be glorified in the hearts of his people, that he call them
out of darkness and assemble them together in his body to
bless you, to provide for you as it is this day in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.