This morning's lesson will be
taken from Luke chapter 10, verses 8 through, or 9, I'm sorry, verse
8 through 16. Let's read these verses together. Luke
chapter 10, verse 8. And into whatsoever city ye enter,
and they receive you, Eat such things as are set before you,
and heal the sick that are therein. And say unto them, the kingdom
of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city you
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, we do wipe off against you. Notwithstanding,
be ye 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. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida, where the mighty works have been done in
Tyre and Sidon, which had been done in you. They had a great
while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it should
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for
you. And thou, Capernaum, which are
exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. He that heareth
you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth
me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. Now, ministers of Christ, their
mission, their message, their methods, and their motives is
what these verses are all about. And this is the subject of the
verses before us. And I wanna say this at the outset
of the lesson this morning and say it as clear as I know how.
Whenever, doesn't matter when, but whenever, wherever, and to
whomsoever our Lord and Savior is about to come in saving power,
mercy, and grace, He will send a man to that place and to that
person preaching the gospel of Christ. This is God's chosen
method of grace and he will not sway from it. He will not move
away from it. Now turn with me and let me show
you what I just said in the scriptures. Turn with me to James chapter
one. James chapter one and verse 17. These apostles always stated
these facts about the ministry right at the outset of their
epistles. Listen to this, James chapter one, verse 17. He said,
every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. It doesn't originate with us.
It doesn't come from us. It doesn't come from this world.
It comes from above, and it cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom, now watch this, is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. How did that happen? God's sovereign
will. of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of
his creatures. Wherefore, or for this reason,
my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to
speak, and slow to wrath. You see, it's not a matter, when
folks are opposed to the necessity of gospel preaching, I go somewhere
and I preach and I make that statement and boy, they bow up.
Well, that's not my experience, blah, blah, blah, and on and
on it goes, different things they say. They rebel against
it as God's chosen means of salvation. And they start talking about
me limiting God. You're limiting the power of
God when you say, It's necessary to hear a gospel preacher. No,
sir, I'm not trying to limit God in anything. God has limited
himself. God is unchangeable. There's
no bearableness with God, not even a shadow of turning with
God. And when God ordains something,
that's the way it is. It never changes. There's no
reason for it to change. There's no reason, God's all
wise. He don't make mistakes and then
learn from them the way we do. He declares the end from the
beginning. And from ancient times, the things that are not yet done,
saying my counsel will stand. What counsel? The counsel that
determines everything. You and I, Paul said in Ephesians
one, We gained an interest in these things, being predestinated
according to him who worketh all things, now listen, after
the counsel of his own will. And of his own will begat he
us with the word of truth. You reckon God's gonna make an
exception to that? Be all right with me if he did,
but he's not. And he says that over and over
and over. Here's another one. Second Thessalonians
2.13. Paul said he talks about antichrist. He talks about men who would
not receive the love of the truth. And then he says this, for this
cause God gave them over to believe a lie, to strong delusion, to
believe a lie and then be damned for believing it. God just left
them alone. This what you want? Go ahead,
go ahead. Turned them over to themselves.
Romans 1 said he gave them over to a reprobate mind. But he said we're bound, 2 Thessalonians
2.13, we're bound to give thanks always to God for you brethren,
beloved of the Lord. Because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief of the truth. We're unto. For this cause, he
called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We don't share in his glory.
What he's talking about here is we obtain the benefits of
it. We obtain the knowledge of it. We understand what this glory
is and who it's for. And then one more verse, if you
will, nailed down this thing of gospel preaching in 1 Corinthians
3, 5. Paul said he's a steward of the grace of God. He's a steward
of the gospel. And he goes down to verse 5 and
he said, Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos? But ministers
by whom ye believed. Now watch this. even as the Lord
gave to every man. Now does that sound like the
Lord didn't provide the means of your hearing? No, it's exactly what he's saying. It's exactly what he's saying.
All right, let's look at their mission. Gospel ministers, that's
the subject of verses eight through 16. What is the mission of every
true gospel minister? We hear of missionaries. I really
don't care for that term. Actually, the biblical term is
evangelist. They're evangelists, and even
pastors are told to do the work of an evangelist. Evangelists
are those who go to a new group, like I'm going down here and
preaching to this little group down in Lake Charles. And even
though they've been gathered there, I'm doing the work of
an evangelist. They have no pastor. But what is the mission of every
true gospel minister? Well, first of all, to go where
the Lord sends him. In Romans chapter 10, when he's
talking about the necessity of hearing the gospel, He goes down
and he said, and how shall they preach except they be sent? If they're called of God and
they're ambassadors of God, then God sends them. They don't just
sit and mull around together and say, I tell you what, you
go to Africa, I'm gonna go to France. No, that's not how that,
God sends them. How shall they preach if they're
not sent, if God don't send them? Men's attitudes will change when
they discover that preachers are sin of God. Now, there's
no in between in this thing. You're either listening this
morning to a man's sin of God, or you're listening to an imposter,
one or the other. There's no middle ground. No
middle ground. And you have to make up your
mind, and the only way you can know if I'm a man's sin of God
is the message I preach. Am I bringing His message? Does
that message ring true to your heart? Does the Holy Spirit allow
you to worship God when you hear what I say? Do you keep coming
back with an appetite? That's how you know if a man's
sin of God. And if they're not, then their words are no more
than personal convictions and personal opinions and what the
old writers called doctrinal persuasions. But when God sends
a man, he equips that man, he reveals his son in him. That's
what Paul said. When it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal
his son in me. Why? That I might preach him
among the heathen. We have a clear message from
God and we can speak dogmatically because we know what we're talking
about. We know what we're preaching. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. That's a pretty good statement.
Pretty good statement. So what is the mission of gospel
preachers? They go where the Lord sends
them and secondly, they go to serve God's interest in the souls
of his elect. Let me show you that in our text.
Luke chapter 10 and verse 9. He said, you go into this city
and this city receives you. Open arms. Somebody in that city
comes out and says, we know that you're a son of God and we want
you to come into our house. You can stay here as long as
you're here to minister In this place, you stay with us and we'll
feed you and we'll take care of you. You don't worry about
anything. You just bring the message. Bring the message that
God sent you with. And he said, when you get there,
verse nine, you heal the sick, now watch this, that are therein. You don't go all over the place
healing the sick. but to heal the sick that are
therein. What you talking about? What's
this therein talking about? Talking about where they're received.
Where they're received. Where God's preachers are received
and cared for, God gives divine healing. Not so much in body,
though he does from time to time for this reason or that. But
he's talking about a healing in their minds and hearts the
minds and hearts of his people. Those Pharisees looked down on
Christ because of where he was. And you know what he said? The
whole need not a physician, but the sick. The sick. He's the great physician. He
alone can heal your infirmities. And I'm talking about infirmities
of heart and infirmities of mind. In Isaiah 1-4, the Lord said,
O sinful nation, Talking about Israel. A people laden with iniquity. A seed of evildoers. Children
that are corruptors. They've forsaken the Lord. They've
provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They've gone away
backward. Why should you be stricken anymore? You'll revolt more and more.
The whole head sick and the whole heart faint from the sole of
the foot. Under the head there's no soundness in it, just wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores. They've not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with thorn. Except, verse nine, Isaiah
one, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small
remnant. We should be like Sodom and should
have been like unto Gomorrah. God had a remnant. And there
he sent his man, and he healed their infirmities. God said,
now come, come let us reason together. Though your sins be
like scarlet, he said, I'll make them white as snow. I'll make
them white as snow. That's the kind of healing that
he's talking about. And God has a people out there,
and he's ready to heal their infirmities. And the means have
already been ordained, called, and sent. They're already in
place. And they will be recognized,
these ministers, when they come, they'll be recognized as His
ambassadors are received. And as they're cared for. And
then the healing process begins. God's ministers are sent to minister
to God's interest in the souls of His elect, and then thirdly,
Does God always send them where they shall be received? No. No. Not always. Luke chapter 10, verse 10. But
into whatsoever city you enter, and they receive you not. You
mean God's gonna send them somewhere where they ain't gonna be received?
Yeah. Yeah, he will. Been there and done that. It's
not a pleasant experience either. But he said, you just go your
ways, and you go out into the streets, and you tell them you
ain't even gonna take the dust from their city with you. You
gonna shake it off as a testimony against them. But now watch this. The same
thing that was true of that city, what did he say of that city
where they were seated? He said, you tell them the kingdom
of God is come now unto you. Well, what does he tell them
when they're over there shaking the dust off their feet and they
wouldn't receive them? The same thing. You know this
for sure. The kingdom of God is come now
unto you. Tells them the same thing. Turn with me to Ezekiel chapter
three. Let me show you something over
here. We're talking about gospel ministers. sent of God, equipped
of God. The Bible said obey them which
have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for
your souls as they that must give an account that they might
do it with joy and not with grief. In Ezekiel 3.17, our Lord calls
such men watchmen. Now look at this. Son of man, I have made thee
a watchman unto the house of Israel. Therefore, hear the word
at my mouth and give them warning from me. When I say unto the
wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou givest him not warning,
nor speakest to warneth the wicked from his wicked way, to save
his life. The same wicked man shall die
in his iniquity, but his blood will I require from thy hand." Boy, I tell you, that's a solemn
statement. Paul did this at Antioch to the
Jews in Acts 13.40. He said, lest that come upon you which
is spoken in the prophets. Behold, ye despisers, and wander
and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which you
shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. He warned them. He warned them. They were rebelling against his
word. They wouldn't receive him willingly.
They wouldn't rejoice in what he was saying. They got jealous
over the multitude, and Paul gave them warning. He gave them
warning. And there's places we're sent
that will not receive us or care for us. They have no interest
in what we preach or what God sends us to do. They think preachers
are on the shelf. I can just get one anytime we
want one. I was told that just a few years
ago. I was told that. Oh, we know
two or three men who'll come down here and pastor our church.
And I said, well, you don't need me. You don't need me. I'll just go back where I come
from. You go get that man. Go get him off the shelf. God's
preachers ain't on the shelf. If he intends to show you mercy
and show you grace, he's gonna send you a man. Send you a man. They have no interest in what
we preach or what God sends us to do. And to all such, our Lord
says, notwithstanding, be sure of this, the kingdom of God has
come down to you. What is the kingdom of God? What's
he talking about, the kingdom of God? You say to those who
receive you, the kingdom of God come down to you. You say to
them that despise you, the kingdom of God come down to you. What's
he talking about, the kingdom of God? Well, it's the realm
over which he's king. Over which he's king. It's such
as submit to his rule. Has to do with his authority
being established in the hearts of men. The kingdom, the Jews
believed, would be established in the physical, like under David
and Solomon, and they'd have boundaries, and they'd have cities,
and they'd have rulers and governors and kings and all of this. It
was a realm. over which Israel claimed as
a nation. It was established in the physical.
But the kingdom of God, our Lord says, cometh not with observation. It comes and you don't even see
it. Those people who rejected him, who wouldn't have anything
to do with him, he said, the kingdom of God cometh. They're
like, what? He's a madman. What in the world
is he talking about? The kingdom of God cometh not.
The means of God establishing his kingdom in your heart was
right before your face, and you didn't want it. You didn't want
it. They were looking for a man to
rally the multitudes and defeat their enemies and bring the nation
of Israel back to its former state of glory. But in Luke 17,
20, it says it comes not with observation, and in verse 21
of that chapter, he said, The kingdom of God is within you. It's within you. You remember Pilate looked at
Christ and he said, are you a king? Are you a king? And he said,
well, that's what you're saying. That's what you're saying. The
kingdom of God is within us and the reign of God in his church. is a reign of grace. Romans 5,
21, listen to this. That as sin hath reign unto death. How does sin reign unto death?
It reigns in your nature. It reigns in your mind and it
reigns in your heart. That's all you can think about.
All you can think about. Even so, he said, might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. How does it reign? Reigns in
head and reigns in heart. Kingdom of God is within you,
within you. The way this kingdom is established
is through the preaching of the gospel. Listen to this, Romans
6.16. Know ye not that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to obey his servants ye are to whom you obey,
whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness? Who's your king? Ain't that what
he's saying? Who's your king? You serve in
one or the other. You serve in one or the other.
Oh, but he said in verse 17, God be thanked, you were the
servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart, what? That form of doctrine which was
delivered you, all myself. God sent somebody to tell you
the truth, and you believed him, and God set you free. He set
you free. Being then made free from sin,
you become the servants of righteousness. How are we made free from sin?
Well, we're made free from the penalty of it. Free from the
penalty of it. Your sins and iniquities, God
said, I will remember no more. You're free from the penalty. We're free from the power of
it. Sin's power is in deception. It's in deception. We're deceived. He said there's coming a time
when you think you do God a service when you kill one of his servants.
That's how sin works. It deceives men. And sin's real
power is in the mind and heart. And that's where the ruling power
is exercised. It's kept there, our Lord said,
by a strong man armed. What's he armed with, lies? He's
armed with lies. Try to tell the truth to an Arminian,
to a man with a false profession of faith, another Jesus and another
gospel by another spirit. Try to talk to him, see what
he does. He'll start throwing lies out at you just because
he don't know the truth. He's a strong man armed and he's
armed with lies and falsehood. Strong delusion. But he said,
when a stronger than he comes upon him, he takes from him all
his armor, he takes all his lies, all his deceit, he takes it away
from him. How does he do that? He shows
him the truth. Shows him the truth. And the kingdom of God comes
now unto you every time God's servant brings his gospel to
you. And then lastly, I want us to
take heed to the outcome, or at least be warned. He tells
us concerning such places as will not receive God's ministers,
that it'll be more tolerable for them in the day of judgment. Be more tolerable for Sodom and
Gomorrah than for them in the day of judgment. You think religion
is a step up? It's a step down. to step down. He tells us that had these ancient
cities heard what they heard and saw what they saw, they had
a great while ago repented in sackcloth and ashes. And then
he tells them this, and I'll close with this. He that heareth
you, heareth me. Well, I'll just wait on the Lord
to speak. He has, if I'm his servant. He said everything to
you he's gonna say. If God speaks, he'll speak to
the servant. Just as he spoke to his son,
he'll speak to the servants of his son. These ministers, and
that's what the Lord tells them. And really and truly, they don't
despise you. They despise him that sent you. And he said, he that despiseth
me despiseth him that sent me. You hate God. That's why you
won't receive it. All right. Thank you.