I often hear preachers talk about
the churches they pastor, use personal possessive pronouns,
my church, my ministry. I hope you never look upon the
minister of this assembly as the minister of this man. Matter of fact, I don't even
commonly refer to our congregation as our church, not even ours.
Usually refer to it as our family. We're in this thing together. And there's no way on this earth
that I could give myself to the work of the ministry and preaching,
studying, writing, going from place to place to preach the
gospel without you. Couldn't do it. Just couldn't
do it. And so I hope that you, when you think of the work that
God has given us, think of it in that regard. We are laborers
together in the cause of Christ. And it may be that this is one
reason why our Lord often gives instruction in the scriptures,
particularly in the New Testament, in the common teaching of the
gospel, with regard to the work of the ministry. We are given
three distinct epistles, 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus, that
deal specifically with the work of the ministry, and yet certainly
those are not epistles written just to preachers. They're written
to you, who believe, as are all other portions of scripture.
And we have before us this evening, in Luke chapter 10, our Lord
sending out the seven dead, two by two, to preach the gospel.
I began preparing this message last week while we were in Illinois,
and I knew when I finished things for Sunday I couldn't possibly
get done with everything I wanted to preach to you Sunday morning,
and so I finished the message today. And I believe it's a message
you and I both need. Read with me verses 1 through
7. After these things the Lord appointed
other seventy also. and sent them two and two before
his face into every place whither he himself would come. 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. Go your way, 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 you 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."
After these things, always give thoughtful consideration to the
context. After the Lord Jesus had told
his disciples plainly that he must go to Jerusalem and there
be delivered into the hands of wicked men, that he must go to
Jerusalem to suffer and die as our substitute. After he had
steadfastly set his face to go up to Jerusalem, and after he
had corrected some of the errors that his disciples had shown,
and showed them what was required of those who follow him. After
exposing their pride and ambition, he taught them the necessity
of humility as a little child. If we would follow Christ, let
us, like the humble child, be quick to hear his word, quick
to take his rebuke, slow to take offense, quick to forgive. Let us not be ambitious, but
as little children, following him. And then our Lord corrected
them for their censurous spirit. It is a terrible tendency of
human flesh. I don't understand it. I know it. I just don't understand
it. But it is a terrible tendency of human flesh to isolate. Isolate. We want to keep cutting
ourselves off, particularly in the religious world. People keep
drawing circles tighter and tighter and tighter. They don't want
to stand in a circle. And these disciples are corrected for doing
just that very thing. We do not in any way compromise
the gospel of God's grace by warmly embracing any who profess
faith in our Redeemer. If many women believe the gospel,
if they profess to believe the gospel, I'm not talking about
going out and embracing all the religious world, you know better
than that. But I am saying this, if we would follow our master,
we ought to be gracious and kind and we ought always to receive
those who profess faith in him without doubtful disputations,
and we ought to receive them upon the basis of what they profess."
In other words, we must not set ourselves up as the judges of
men. We must not do so. Does that
mean we're not to judge and condemn homosexuality and perversion? Nonsense. Does that mean we're
not to judge and condemn false from true? Nonsense. Does that
mean we're not to judge and condemn that religion of this age which
is nothing but Babylonian will worship? Nonsense. What it does
mean is this. I can't possibly know what's
in Bob Potts' mind. I just don't know. And if that
man professes faith in Christ, it is my privilege and my responsibility
to receive him on the basis of his profession. So we can inspect
fruit. No, you can't. You've got to
John De Scythe. You just don't know. Our Lord said, let the
wheat and tares grow together. Because sure as you start pulling
them up, you'll jerk up the wheat and leave the tares. He said,
let the sheep and the goats graze in the same pasture together.
You can't separate them. He will. We'll take out the sheep
and hang on to the goats. We'll do it every blooming time.
And our Lord taught his disciples, said, don't you cut yourself
off from others. Men, just because he's not from
my number and my group, that doesn't mean he's not one of
us. And then our Lord rebuked those disciples. for wanting
to call down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans who refused
to receive their Lord. That looks at first to be something
noble, doesn't it? When you look at Peter, there's
something noble about Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane jerking
out his knife and going to work on the high priest's servant.
There's something noble about him willing to risk his life
to defend his Lord. And yet our Lord tells him plainly,
says, Peter, you put it up now. You don't know what you're doing.
You don't know what you're doing. And when we attempt to castigate
men and bring down the fire and wrath of God upon men, we're
just totally out of place. We're totally out of place. We
preach the gospel. We serve our master and we leave
judgment to him. Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord. Leave it to him. Just leave it to Him. And then
our Lord again declared His mission in verse 56. He said, I didn't
come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And I thought about that just
a little bit ago sitting here. And you remember when our Lord
breathed on His disciples and gave them His Spirit, and He
said, as the Father had sent me into the world, so send I
you. What'd the Father send Him for?
The Father sent him to save his people. What is sinning for? And I'm telling you, my brother
and my sister, our Lord Jesus has sent us to save his people. He sent us to speak his sheep. He sent us to fetch out his own. He has sent us to call out his
own. That's the function of a gospel
church. That's the function of a local
church. And if we lose sight of that, we lose sight of everything.
We have no purpose for existence in this world except for the
preaching of the gospel, for the building of God's kingdom,
for the gathering in of God's elect, for the comfort and edification
of his saints. And then our master demonstrated
again the necessity of wholehearted consecration and devotion to
him. Now after these things, the Lord
Jesus sent out 70 men in pairs to preach the gospel. Luke here
records for us an incident that is recorded by none of the other
gospel writers. He here describes our Lord's
commission of the 70 to go before him into every place whithersoever
he himself would come, preaching the gospel of his grace. We don't
know who these men are. Their names are nowhere given.
We know nothing of the subsequent histories of their labors. We
don't know what happened as a result of them going where they went.
Luke doesn't tell us. And I'm kindly glad it doesn't. Kindly glad it doesn't. We don't
need to know. We don't need to know. What we
need to know is what the Lord taught them. And what we need
to learn is what these men learned at the lips of the master. The
instructions he sets before these 70 men in these seven verses
of inspiration are very, very instructive words indeed for
our souls. Now I understand these things
are primarily written to gospel preachers, primarily to these
first 70 preachers, but it is a terrible mistake And we do
our souls terrible disservice if we tend to think, well, these
things are for pastors and elders and missionaries and teachers,
but there's nothing here for me. The fact is, what our Lord
requires of his servants, those who preach the gospel, he requires
of his other servants who do not preach the gospel. granted
pastors, elders, teachers, missionaries, are to be examples to the flock.
Paul urged Timothy, be thou an example to the flock. God's servants
ought to, in all things, be exemplary of that which is required and
expected of believers. Those who preach and teach ought
to, by their lives, by their example, exemplify devotion to
Christ, exemplify their hearts being set upon heaven. But what
God requires of preachers, turn to 1st and 2nd Timothy and read
them. Turn to Titus and read it. That
which God requires of an elder or a bishop, same thing requires
of Bobby Estes. Very same thing. Exactly the
same thing. And those things are expected
of all who believe. If you are a believer, one of
Christ's disciples, man or woman, redeemed by blood, forgiven,
justified, accepted in him, then this word from God is for you.
Now let's look at verse one, and then I'll show you the lessons
taught in these seven verses. I read to the men back in the
office in 2 Corinthians 5.16, Christ died for us, that they
which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him that died for them and rose again. Oh, God give me grace. to live for him. That's what
this passage is all about. All right, look at verse 1. After
these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, others besides
the twelve apostles, and sent them two and two before his face
into every city and place whither he himself would come. These
seventy men were appointed by the Lord Jesus himself to preach
the gospel. Now the word appointed here is
a word that's used in only one other place in the New Testament.
It's used in Acts chapter 1. It means to show, to show by
demonstration. It has the idea of opening up
something and there, you see that? Opening it up, what you
couldn't see otherwise and demonstrating it. It's essentially the same
word that is used in Luke chapter 1 in verse 80 when it speaks
of John the Baptist and the day of his showing to Israel. So it's talking about more than
just an appointment. It is an appointment to office,
an appointment to a work that is manifest in an open way. Those who are called and gifted
of God to preach the gospel are made manifest to his church and
people by the gifts of God upon them. So that that man who is
appointed to the work, that man who is appointed to be a preacher,
that man who is appointed of God to be a missionary, has specific
gifts qualifying him for the work and his gifts are demonstrated
clearly and distinctly by God's good providence. So that those
men who are sent of God to preach the gospel are not men who merely
crave the work, they're not men merely who want to do the work,
but they are men whom the Lord God distinctly gifts and makes
manifest that he has gifted them to do the work of the ministry.
Those men appointed by Christ to preach the gospel were sent
by him in pairs, two by two. They were sent in pairs because
two are better than one. If one falls, the other will
raise him up. They were sent in pairs because believers need
one another. We go about this work, but we
go about this work not as freelance fellows working on
our own, but rather we go about this work together. Preachers
need one another, they need one another's encouragement, one
another's aid. Believers need one another, one
another's encouragement, one another's aid. Sheep, all sheep,
are social creatures. You find sheep, unless they're
sick, always together. They're always together. You
find goats wandering here and there, but sheep, they're always
together. When they lie down, they're together.
When they graze, they're together. When they move from place to
place, they're together. And so it is with God's people.
We are his sheep, the sheep of his pasture. And our Lord did
not merely send these men out like we might send a child outside
to play. The words in verse 2, sent forth,
are unusually forceful. They mean to send force, to send
forth with force. To send forth as if to push out. You know, mamas, when you take
your children and you've been cleaning the house and you want
to get them out of the way, you don't just say, go outside, you
kind of push them outside. That's the idea. It's a strong
word. Why does Luke use that particular
expression? He did so because of this fact. Though every proud heart loves
attention and wants to be in the spotlight, lots of men want
to stand in the pulpit and preach. Lots of men want to wear the
title of pastor or preacher. That being said, nothing will
ever cause a man, word to God I can get folks to hear this,
And I pray I have heard it and will hear it. Nothing will ever
cause a man to give himself to the work of the gospel. Nothing
will ever cause a man to go forth as a laborer, not as a loiterer,
but as a laborer in God's vineyard, except the constraint of God's
omnipotent grace and the irresistible call of his grace to this work. Bible colleges, seminaries, mamas
and daddies, churches, personal ambition, other preachers make
multitudes of men sinners of pulpits. But only God Almighty
makes a preacher. Only God Almighty. I trust that I can be used of
God to aid men, to help men, to instruct men, to teach men,
to comfort, to assist men, but I can't make a preacher out of
anybody, and nobody else can. Only God can send forth laborers
into his vineyard. You see, many run who are not
sent, and those who run without being sent always run in vain. But those whom Larry Heath pushes
out the door, that's the idea. Those he sends forth, never run
in vain. They never labor in vain. I told someone just recently,
I don't remember who it was, one of you men, we were talking.
I don't know why. It's astounding to me that I'm
still surprised at what God does. Why should we be surprised that
God honors his work? Why should we be surprised that
God does what he said he would do? He said, so shall my word
be that goes forth out of my mouth. It shall not return to
me void, empty, meaningless, useless, vain, but it shall accomplish
that which I please. It shall prosper in the thing
whereto I send it. And this is not a word just to
preachers. Hold your hands in Luke 10 and turn to 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15. This is how the Apostle Paul
encourages us as believers, as a congregation. He says it to
the church at Corinth and he says it to the church here in
Danville. Verse 58, in the prospect of eternity, in the prospect
of Christ coming again and gathering his people to himself, in the
prospect of everlasting glory, the glory of Christ and the glory
of all his saints. The Apostle says in verse 58,
therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast. unmovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know
that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." All right, now
back here in Luke 10 again. Here's the most astounding thing
I have to deal with as a preacher. and the most astounding
thing I have to deal with as a believer, the most weighty
responsibility I have, the most awesome, awesome realization
I have. Those men sent forth by Christ
into his vineyard, that's you and me, are sent before his face, before his face. David Burge,
we walk before his face. Not the faces of our wives or
of one another, but his face. Not the faces of the world, but
his face. I cannot imagine a more awesome,
more sobering, more weighty thought. We labor not before the faces
of men, though we must never forget that we live before men. But it is not man's approval
we seek or should seek, but rather we labor before the face of God. All that we do, we do before His face. Sometimes I get the haughty,
arrogant Godless thought that now I've worked hard and I've
got something, I've done something. It's not too hard to impress
Sam Wall or Don Fortner, but we're laborers before it. let
us strive then to live and walk and work as laborers before his
face. And be sure you don't miss this
next line. After these things the Lord appointed
other seventy also and sent them to and to before his face into
every city and place whither he himself would come. Forceful
as those words are in the English translation before you, the original
is even more forceful. Luke is quite literally saying
this. He sent these men out to preach the gospel into every
city and place into which he was about to go. In other words,
wherever the Son of God goes, He sends men to preach the word. He does not come to men, but
by the word. He does not speak to men, but
by the word. He does not visit men, but by
the word. Turn to Titus chapter three,
chapter one, rather. Chapter one, verses one through
three. Titus chapter one. Paul, a servant of God, And an
apostle, a messenger of Jesus Christ, according to the faith
of God's elect, just one faith, all God's elect had the same.
We believe the same gospel. And according to the acknowledging
of the truth, which is after godliness, godliness, the gospel
of his free grace, in hope of eternal life, which God that
cannot lie promised before the world began. Now look at this,
verse 2, verse 3 rather. But half in due times manifested
his word, look at this, through preaching. You met me at the
door the other night. Said, I don't know how you got
that out of there. Through preaching, that's how
God manifest his word. That's how he makes himself known,
through preaching. Which is committed unto me according
to the commandment of God our Savior. Look at Hebrews chapter
four. Hebrews four. There are a good many who have
the idea somehow God will bypass his ordained means and save sinners
apart from the preaching of the word, apart from the gospel of
his grace. Nothing is further from the truth. Hebrews chapter
4, verse 12. The word of God is quick, powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even through the dividing
of the sun to the soul and spirit, and joints and marrow, and is
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Now look
at verse 13. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight. But all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Now there's
only one way on this earth, verse 13, to make any sense in the
context of verse 12. Or verse 12 in the context of
verse 13. And that's this, Larry. The Lord Jesus comes by his word
to me. And he exercises judgment in
the hearts of men by his word. He speaks to men by his word.
So I said, well, don't you believe a man can do just fine if he
just reads the Bible? If I thought that, I'd quit preaching
and give you Bibles. That's exactly right. That good Samaritan, I
mean, that Samaritan, I'm sorry, that Ethiopian eunuch on his
way on the Samaritan Road, when Philip spoke to him and said,
do you understand what you read? He said, I can't unless the man
shows me. Somebody's got to show me. Does that mean that preachers
are like priests? They come and they give you the
word. No, not at all. You care for
your soul when you search the scriptures. But you search the
scriptures and seek the instruction from God at his mouth, in his
place, by his word. Now then, turn back to Luke 10.
Let me show you the importance of it. Verse 16. If the Lord Jesus is pleased
to speak to you or to me by the gospel. We dare not receive the
grace of God in vain. I get, I try not to always show
it, but in traveling like I do, folks are always full of religious
expressions and religious cliches, and you get done preaching, especially
the ones who deem themselves Theologically astute. They've been studying the Bible
for six or eight weeks and they have learned it from cover to
cover and they've got this thing down pat. They know it all. They've
got all their boxes lined up and everything neatly fixed in
this little box and you get done preaching. Well, Brother Don,
you gave me some things to think about tonight. I didn't give
you anything to think about. I gave you something to hear. Something to receive, and you
dare not receive it in vain. You dare not play games with
it. Look at verse 16, Luke 10, 16. And I'll leave it for you to
decide. If I speak for Christ, if God Almighty Rex Bartley speaks
by me to your heart, this word is appropriate. And only you
can determine that for yourself. He that heareth you, he says
to thee seventy, heareth me. He that despiseth you, despiseth
me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sinneth. Now, that's true of each of us
as we hear the word. And that's true of us collectively
as we proclaim the word. God Almighty has given us the pillar, to be the pillar
and ground of truth. He's given us the torch, the
flame of the light of divine revelation. He's given us the
gospel of his free grace to carry in this world and to carry through
this world and to proclaim in the generation in which we live.
And it is our responsibility, it is mine as a preacher, it
is yours as a congregation, it is yours individually and mine
individually, and it is ours collectively to proclaim the
gospel of God's free grace as fully as we possibly can wherever
God gives opportunity in this generation in which we live.
We're not responsible for the past. We're not responsible for
the future. We're not responsible for what
God gives somebody else opportunity to do. But we are responsible
for what God gives us opportunity and means to do. I'm responsible
and you're responsible to proclaim the gospel of his grace. And
our Lord says, you do it with divine authority. Men reject
the gospel we preach. They haven't rejected us. They've
rejected Him. Men reject Christ. They didn't reject Him alone.
They rejected the triune God. Men reject the message of the
gospel. They're not rejecting the word of a man, but the word
of God Almighty. And by that word, they shall
be judged. All right, now let me wrap this up, and I'll show
you four lessons clearly taught in these verses. I've deliberately
spent the bulk of my time there, but I want to give you these
lessons. Number one, if we would serve Christ, if
we would honor God, if we would serve the souls of men while
we live in this world, we must do something other than work.
We must do something other than labor. We must do something other
than put our shoulders to the task. We must do something other
than engage our hands and our feet. We must be a people of
prayer. The very first thought that our
Lord Jesus gives as he sends out these 70. These 70. The very first word. The very
first word. Pray. Pray. Pray. It's impossible to preach without
prayer. It's impossible to serve God
without prayer. It's impossible to do anything
for Christ without prayer. Prayer is the most powerful weapon
we have with which to live and serve our God in this world. It is written, the effectual,
fervent prayer of a righteous man. What on earth does that mean? I don't even pretend to know
a great deal about prayer. I do know that most everything
I've read and heard about prayer in all my life as a believer
and beforehand is just dead wrong. It's not talking about how much
time you spend on your knees or even if you pray on your knees.
sitting or standing, it doesn't matter. He talks about the effectual,
fervent prayer of a righteous man. He's talking about a man,
a woman, made righteous before God, doing business with God Almighty
continually on the basis of Christ's righteousness. He was in dead
earnest. about the things of God, the
iterist. And that man, that woman, as
he calls on God continually, does so effectually. When our hearts are undivided, when our desires are single,
and therefore God, we'll have what we want. Prayer is the one
thing every one of us can do. Pray
that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into
his vineyard. The harvest is great. And there
are lots of religious folks and lots of folks standing around. Time to get folks to look at
them. I remember Brother David Burge saying one time, Involved
in a religious situation, we were out in California, said
everybody's up there acting like pimps on the street. We got out
of church, come to me, show you what I've got to say. But laborers, men and women,
willing to do anything they can for the cause of Christ. They
are few. They are few in the pulpit and
out of it. All right, second, look at verse
three. If we would follow Christ and serve his cause, if we would
proclaim his gospel, we must be prepared in this day, as we
go through this world, to live as men and women in constant
peril. Go your ways. Go your ways. In Matthew 28, when our Lord
gives the Great Commission, as it's commonly called, he says,
go ye therefore, as to what's translated in English. Quite
literally, he says this, as you're going. That means, Rex, as you
go through Lexington tomorrow about your business, as you go
about the business of living over there in Bergen, as you
go about the business of doing the things God and his providence
has put in your hand to do, preach the gospel. So that your labor, your life,
your work is not primarily for all those things connected with
work and labor as men consider it. But make it your life's business
to preach, to promote, to declare the gospel of God's grace. That
doesn't mean get out and buttonhole everybody. That doesn't mean
to get out and see who you can get to make a profession of faith.
That means that you go about your business doing the business
of the master. He says, go your way, go your
way. He knows what way he sends you.
Go your way and as you do, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Now lots of people have a persecution
complex and they think they're being persecuted because they
act like jack donkeys. That's not what he's talking
about. If you act like a mule, you will be treated like a mule.
If you are contrary, you needn't expect anybody to treat you otherwise.
But the fact is, as we live in this world and seek to live graciously
and kindly, and seek to do good to men, the offense of the gospel
has not ceased, and it's not going to cease. It's impossible
for Abel to come before his brother Cain and worship God on the basis
of a substitute, declaring he has no righteousness, no acceptance,
no access to God, except on the basis of what somebody else has
done for him. His very act of worshiping God
infuriates that man over there, his brother Cain. who presumes
God's going to accept him on the basis of what he does. Isn't
that amazing? Hey, look at you, you plan to
bring God to your turnips? You're going to hell boy! That's
not him. He just worshipped God, that's
all. He just trusted Christ. It's not a matter of pointing
the finger and shaking it at somebody. It's just a matter of believing God.
Proclaiming the gospel of God's free grace. And Cain was infuriated
by it. Ishmael was infuriated by it. Martin Luther put it well. He
said Cain will murder Abel if he can to the very end of the
world. And you needn't expect your family,
your friends, your sons, your daughter, unbelieving wife or
unbelieving husband to in any way be at peace with you for
your whole life. contradicts all they hold dear
in religion. It ain't gonna happen. And thirdly,
verse four, if we would serve our God and
the souls of eternity bound men and women, we must be people
of purpose. Carry neither purse, nor script,
nor shoes, and salute no man by the way, or what strange Does
that mean a man ought not carry any money in his pocket? Does
that mean a fellow ought not wear any shoes? Does that mean
a fellow ought never to say hello to anybody? It's not what our
Lord's saying at all. What he's saying is this. Don't
allow yourself. Children of God, don't allow
yourself. Pastor, don't allow yourself
to be encumbered with trivial, meaningless things of this world. into whatsoever house you enter,
first say, peace be on this house. First business, make Christ known. And if the Son of Peace be there,
you'll know it. Your peace will return, rest
upon you. If not, it'll turn to you again. One more thing, I'll quit. If we would live in this world
for the glory of God, and lead others to do so, We must be men and women who
are plainly gods. Just plainly gods. 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. We must strive to live. Indeed,
we must strive to be men and women whose first thoughts are
about Christ, his glory, heaven, eternity, our own souls, the
souls of others. These are matters of first primary
importance. Now, I trust that I can say this
in such a way that you understand how I'm saying it and take no
offense. I say it to myself. and to you. I'm embarrassed for myself and
I'm embarrassed for you. When politics, the things of
this world, a ball game, an opinion, an opinion, what somebody says, or what you say, or I say, evokes from us more excitement,
more enthusiasm, more zeal, and more care than the glory of God,
the gospel of his grace, and the souls of men. Let's turn to Colossians 3, and
I'll send you If you then be risen with Christ,
are we? Bless God, Bobby, I am risen
with him. I am risen with him. Seek those
things which are above. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. God will take care of everything
else. Where Christ sits, on the right
hand of God. Now look at this. Set your affection, all your affection, not affections,
affection. Bind up your heart and set it
on things above. On Christ, his glory, his kingdom. not on things on the earth. You see a little child pick up
a dandelion, and they're just so excited with that dandelion,
just so, oh, first time they picked one up and just play with
it, and they're so happy with that dandelion. But then they
start to breathe and taste them, but that dandelion's gone. They
just squall. You pick them up and pat them
on the back, kind of laugh inside. How foolish to set your heart
on that which is gone with the wind. Don't set your affections
on things down here, but on things that are above. For you are dead
and your life is hid with Christ in God. And when he comes, When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear
with him in glory. And all the dandelions in the
world won't matter a flip. They just won't matter. Father, O God, by your Spirit, set our hearts upon Christ. set our hearts upon Christ. Amen.