If you'd like to follow along
with me, you can turn to Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. And these verses that we're going
to read, these first seven verses, they chiefly concern those called
of God to preach His gospel. But though they concern men like
myself and these other pastors, evangelists, all those who would
preach the gospel in our day, they have an application to all
that believe. Just as it's fitting for me to
learn what it is to be a preacher, an ambassador of Christ, it's
for you to know the same thing. Otherwise, how you gonna know
if I am a man called to God? How you gonna know when a man
comes here that he's called of God after I'm gone. So these
things have an application on both sides, if you will. So let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 10, verses one through seven. After these things, the
Lord appointed other 70 also, that is besides the 12 apostles. And he sent them two by two before
his face into every city and place, whether he himself would
come. Therefore said he unto them,
the harvest truly is great, but the labors are few. Pray ye therefore,
the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labors into
his harvest. Go your ways. Behold, I send
you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor script,
nor shoes. And he's not telling them to
go barefoot here. He's just telling them don't take an extra pair
of shoes. If you go to the other accounts, they'll kind of fill
in the blanks a little bit. But he's telling them don't bother
with a purse, or a script, nor shoes. and salute no man by the
way. Don't dawdle. And into whatsoever
house ye enter, first say, peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there,
who's there? That's Christ. That's Christ. If the spirit of Christ, if the
knowledge of Christ is in that house, 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.
That is, if the Spirit of Christ is there, and their reception
of you is good, and they care for you, and they're gonna take
care of you, they're interested in what you have to say, remain
there. Eating and drinking such things
as they give. For the laborer is worthy of
his hire. Go not from that house. Now let's
begin here. After these things. What things? What things? After telling them
he must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die. He told them point blank. None of them actually believed
that. None of them did. It comes out later on that They
still thought he would go to Jerusalem and then that's where
he's going to be revealed, this man like Moses, this man like
David or Solomon, this great man like Elijah is going to be
revealed, you know, and he's going to turn things around for
the nation of Israel. They just couldn't get shed of
that idea. But he tells them he's got to
go to Jerusalem and suffer and die, and the third day rise from
the dead. And after these things, he's
talking about after demonstrating his determination to go without
distraction. He's going to go. He set his
face like a flint. He wasn't going to be deterred.
He's talking about after he corrected some common errors among his
disciples, arguing about who's going to be the greatest in the
kingdom of God and so on. And then after these things,
he's talking about after showing them what was required of them.
What's required of them. You know, the scripture said,
he that hath much, much is required. You say, boy, that man, he knows
a lot. Well, then a lot from him is
required. And then he's talking about after
exposing their pride and ambition and after correcting their censoring
spirit. Here was some people and they
were doing work in the name of the Lord and because they weren't
part of the Twelve, they were going to forbid them to do anything.
The Lord said, leave them alone. And then after rebuking them,
about their foul spirit of vengeance, they were gonna cause fire to
rain down on that city, Jericho. They wanted fire to
rain down. And then it's also after the
master had commanded their wholehearted devotion to him. Every God called preacher must
be taught of God how to be a good steward of the manifold grace
of God. He's to live a life worthy of
example to all that believe. Does he ever feel like he comes
up to the mark? I can only answer for myself,
but I can tell you no, no. I always feel short of that,
always, inadequate. Paul said to the Philippians,
in Philippians 3.17, he said, brethren, be followers together
of me, and mark them which walk so, as you have us for an example. And I don't care how pure the
water is, I don't like to drink from a dirty fountain. My dad
used to stop in Portsmouth, Ohio. We'd be on our way down to Kentucky
to visit his parents, and we'd always stop there because there
was a spring. And over time, they had fitted
that spring into a water fountain, and it just naturally come up
and run all the time. But everybody and their brother
came over to that fountain. I'm telling you, that's the filthiest-looking
fountain you've ever seen. But he'd get the water out of
it, you know, but I couldn't make myself drink out of it.
And when you see a preacher who just lives like the devil and
don't care about anything. You wanna drink that water? I
don't care how pure that water is that's coming out of his mouth.
It's a deterrent for me to drink. And that's what our Lord's talking
about here. You've got people here and they're
looking at you. It takes a revelation of God
for them to understand what you're saying. But if you really want
them to listen, don't be a corrupt fountain. Walk honest among them. Be an example of what you're
preaching. It's important. It's important. Good behavior
is required of all believers, but especially in those who represent
him before men. We're ambassadors from Christ. Men sent to represent him and
bring his message to dying sinners. In being rebuked by the Lord,
we learn how and in what spirit to rebuke others. In being corrected
by the Lord, we learn how and in what attitude to correct. After these things, these men
were not novices, that's what he's telling us. They were not
novices, they were taught of God. And then secondly, It says
here that he appointed other 70. And chapter nine begins with
the calling of the 12 apostles into the ministry. And I think
that's what he's talking about here. When he says other 70,
he's talking about other than the 12 apostles that he'd already
called. But what I want you to see here
is that they were appointed of the Lord. How shall they preach the scripture
said, except they be sent? They have to be sent of God. And preaching is the means used
by the Holy Ghost to bring about the new birth. Now I tell you,
a lot of people, a lot of people don't wanna, they won't bow to
that. They'll disagree with me on that,
but the scripture's clear. Clear, in 1 Corinthians 5.15,
Paul said, for though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ,
you've had a lot of people, get their two cents worth in, you've
had a lot of people tell you this and tell you that and lay
down things that are true. Though you had 10,000 instructors
in Christ, yet have you not many fathers. Now listen to what he
says here. For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten
you through the gospel. That's pretty clear, ain't it? You want to fight against something,
fight against that. Argue with that. The gospel of
Christ is the very seed of regeneration. In 1 Peter 1, verse 23, listen
to this. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Did you know Jesus Christ is
identified in the scripture as the word? As the word. He's the subject of it, he's
the reason for it, he's the true understanding of the written
word. And then in verse 25 of 1 Peter, listen to this. But
the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word
which by the gospel is preached unto you. That's that. semen
that he talks about in verse 23. James chapter one verse 18, of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth. There's three
verses and I can take you and show you 10 more. And he did this that we should
be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. new creation in
Christ Jesus. Long story short, everything
in the ministry is beyond human ability to do. No man, no man,
I don't care who he is, I don't care how intelligent he is. His IQ could be above Einstein,
it doesn't make any difference. Everything in the ministry is
beyond human ability, everything. First of all, I don't know where
to go. Do you? Let's say God called you to preach,
Jesse, tomorrow. Where would you go? You wouldn't
have a clue. You wouldn't have a clue. God
has to work his providence and open those doors. I don't know where to go. You
have to wait on the Lord. Secondly, I have no power to
begat. I can sow all I want to. I can't
begat a child of God. If God don't go with me, there
ain't gonna be no children. And thirdly, I'm dealing with
things hidden from those to whom I preach. Been hidden from this
world for generations and generations. Gospel truth must be revealed
to us and in us. Paul wrote some things over in
Ephesians chapter three, and he said this. He said, whereby
when you read, when you read what I just wrote, you may understand
my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men as it's now revealed unto
his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Listen to this,
1 Corinthians 2.7. But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery. A mystery, even the hidden wisdom
which God ordained before the world under our glory. For I
have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things that God hath prepared for them that
love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by spirit. By spirit. And no man in his right mind
would undertake to do those things without being sent of God. I'll tell you a good example.
Peter saw the Lord walking on water. That sea had not been
calmed yet. It was a raging torrent. Their
ship was about to go under. They were desperate, and these
were experienced mariners, and here they are, and they're out
on this sea, and it's dark, and the only time you get a sea is
when that lightning flashes, and the lightning flashed, and
you look out there, and here's the Son of God walking on the
water. And Peter said, Lord, can I come
out there with you? Now you think he would have just
saw the Lord and stepped out on that water? Ain't no way.
But the Lord bid him to come. And he walked on that water.
He got out and walked on that water till he took his eyes off
Christ. No man, if he understands What
the preaching of the gospel is about would undertake this thing
without the Lord's bidding. He'd be a fool. He'd be a fool. No man would ever take the hand
of a dead corpse and expect him to rise, except the Lord said
to do so. And neither would any man go
into the ministry without the calling of his Lord. Are you
with me so far, what I'm saying about gospel preachers? He appointed
other 70, and then thirdly, I want you to see their mission. They
were to go into every city and place whether he himself would
come. The thing about gospel preaching
and preachers is that they're not only sin of God, but Christ
himself will follow their preaching. Where are you gonna find him?
Where two or more are gathered together. God had called a man and he's
teaching them. He's teaching them. Christ said,
this is where I'm going. Where I send them and where they
preach, that's where I'm going. That's where I'm going. I'm gonna
attend that ministry. Luke chapter 10 and verse 16,
he said, he that heareth you, heareth me. They're ambassadors. When our
ambassador goes over there with a message, he's taking the message
of the president of this country. He's representing this country
into whatever land he's in. And it's just like the president
himself standing there telling them these things. He don't speak
of himself. He speaks the message that he
was given. He's an ambassador. And that's
what our Lord's telling them. He that heareth you, heareth
me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me, and he that despiseth
me, despiseth him that sent me. When and if God sends a preacher,
you're hearing his ambassador. How you hear, what you think,
how you act, and how you treat him is a reflection on the Lord
who sent him. You're not so much doing it for
his account, though if you love him you will, but you're doing
this understanding that this is God's ambassador. How I treat
him is how I treat my Lord. Would you listen to your Lord?
Then listen to his ambassador. In the book of James it said,
be quick to hear, slow to speak, Everything that's said doesn't
require a comment. Be slow to speak, think about
what you're hearing, mull it over, chew on it for a little
while. Be quick to hear, slow to speak, now listen, and slow
to wrath. Where Christ is purposed to visit,
he sends his messengers. And they carry God's good tidings
of peace. And where they're lovingly received,
their peace rest in that house. And then fourthly, I want you
to see this, a shocking statement. He said the harvest is truly
great. I want you to think about that.
Just let that sink in. The harvest is truly great. Boy, it don't seem like it sometimes,
does it? Can't see that wheat growing,
can you? You look out there and all you see is weeds. All you
see is weeds. But the Lord said the harvest
is great. It's great. And this much I know, his elect
are a number that no man can number. Does that mean there'll be a
multitude that we cannot calculate? Yeah, I think so. I think you
can say that. But I don't think that's what
he's talking about here. They are a certain number, a
fixed number, a great number. They're a particular number,
all of whose names have been written and sealed in the heart
of our Savior. And I believe he's telling us
here is that we don't know how many there are, but it's enough
to know that they constitute a great number. He said the harvest.
Who's telling you that? The Lord of the harvest. Now
he said, don't you go out there and start pulling up tares. You
don't know what to pull up and what not to pull up. But when
he tells you the harvest is ready, now we can go to work. Now we
can go to work. My brother told me one time,
if I believe what you believe, that God has an elect people,
that nobody else on earth is gonna be saved, that Christ died
for them and no one else. He said, I wouldn't bother to
preach. And I said to him, it's because I'm assured that he's
gonna save somebody, that he's gonna intervene in the lives
of somebody, and give eternal life to somebody, that I do preach. Because I know where man's at. I know where man's at, and apart
from God's intervention, man can't be saved. He tells you
where you're at, he tells you what it is to be under sin, unrighteous. None that understandeth, none
that seeketh after God, and none good. So what are you going to
do? Just talk them into a profession
of faith? What are you going to do with
people who don't understand and who are not going to seek after
God? The carnal mind's enmity against God, it despises God,
despises His authority, despises His word. If I believed God had done all
he could do and the rest was up to me, I'd go hide somewhere
in a hole. That's what I'd do. You mean to tell me God done
all he can do and now it's all up to me, he's risking on me?
No, not hardly. Not hardly. If left to themselves the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. It'd be
a fruitless effort. But it's a great thing in my
mind that God should be willing to save any, let alone a great
harvest. What a wonder, what a wonder. But they're ripe, he said, for
the harvest, a great harvest. And then fifthly, he said, but
the laborers are few. All right, so we'll just start
some programs. We'll build some seminaries.
We're going to rally the troops and call for as many volunteers
as we can find. No, sir. That ain't what he said
to do. Not what he said to do. And I'm going to tell you something.
That's proven to be a disaster in time past, men trying to do
that very thing. So what should we do? What will
you do when I'm gone? My time's getting short. What
are you gonna do when I'm gone? I don't have many years left,
if any at all. So what will you do? Listen. Listen to what our Lord said. Luke chapter 10, the middle of
verse two. Pray ye therefore that the Lord
of the harvest that he should send forth labors into his harvest. You want a man sent of God? Ask
God. Ask God. And wait on him. Wait on him. Pray the Lord of the harvest.
And this whole business is of the Lord. It's his creation. He's the potter. It's his field,
his crop, his purpose. And the husband man doesn't leave
it up to laborers to hire more laborers. The Lord of the harvest
takes charge of that. And if the Lord don't send one,
equip one, and bless one, you certainly don't want to appoint
one yourselves. You talk about being miserable,
you be miserable. Pray ye therefore the Lord of
the harvest. He knows where to send them and how to train them
how to work in his heart and in theirs. And then here's the
sixth thing, a shocking reality. Go your way, he said, go your
way. He said, I'm sending you forth
as a lamb among wolves. My friend, the hatred of God
by men has not disappeared, but Satan knows how to disguise it
and make people believe that they're producing a righteousness
by not feeding you to the lions. Don't be fooled by their quietness.
They hate God. They hate his son. And they hate
anybody that'll bow to his sovereign will. And they'd feed you to
the hogs and heartbeats. But God restrains them. He restrains
them so that we can fulfill our calling. But don't ever be mistaken
when he sends you out, but he's sending you right out where the
wolves are. And I'll tell you, it's a frightening thing from
a preacher's standpoint. It's a frightening thing for
me to take my family and children and go where the wolves are.
Huh? A frightening thing. And then lastly, there's some
requirements. He said, don't bring your purse
with you. Don't bring a script. Don't bring
extra shoes. And don't dawdle. Don't dawdle. What's that mean? That means
throw caution to the wind. If God called you, go. There is no other consideration.
Just go. Abraham, get out of there. He
left. You know what scripture said?
Not knowing where he was going. Get out of there. Throw caution to the wind. God will provide for every preacher
he sends. And if he comes to a house and
they won't provide and they won't listen and they won't bow and
they don't welcome him in, shake the dust off your feet for a
testimony against him. You don't even want that dust
on your feet. Even the dust of that city is
corrupt. Shake it off your feet as a testimony
against them and go where you are welcome. He'll work in the
hearts of a multitude or a handful, but in both he'll provide for
his messengers. There's going to be a house there.
And they're going to take you in, and your piece is going to
abide in that house. And our Lord says to us, don't
go house to house. You're not beggars. Get those
little handouts, you know. Open that little plastic chain
purse, get you a nickel or something. Comparative-wise, I'm telling
you the truth. I've been there and done that.
We're not beggars. We're not beggars. The king sent
us. But there gonna be a house there
that'll take you in. And if they don't receive us,
you have the testimony of God against them. May the Lord enable
me to do these things and for you to see them in the proper
light that we both might honor his blessed name in what we're
doing.