The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Psalm 55cast your cares on the Lord, He will sustain you, used to open worship
1 Listen to my prayer, God. Don’t hide yourself from my supplication.
2 Attend to me, and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and moan,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me.
4 My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest.
7 Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness.” Selah.
8 “I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm.”
9 Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her.
11 Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets.
12 For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.
13 But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend.
14 We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.
15 Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is among them, in their dwelling.
16 As for me, I will call on God. Yahweh will save me.
17 Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice.
18 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned forever, will hear, and answer them. Selah. They never change, who don’t fear God.
20 He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.
21 His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
22 Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.
1 Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place, where he was about to come.
2 Then he said to them, “The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest.
3 Go your ways. Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
4 Carry no purse, nor wallet, nor sandals. Greet no one on the way.
5 Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’
6 If a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.
7 Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house.
8 Into whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat the things that are set before you.
9 Heal the sick who are therein, and tell them, ‘God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’
10 But into whatever city you enter, and they don’t receive you, go out into its streets and say,
11 ‘Even the dust from your city that clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that God’s Kingdom has come near to you.’
12 I tell you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.
13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.
15 You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
16 Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
18 He said to them, “I saw Satan having fallen like lightning from heaven.
19 Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you.
20 Nevertheless, don’t rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.”
22 Turning to the disciples, he said, “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.”
23 Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that you see,
24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from Luke 10:1-24, part of First B Jackson's ongoing Harmony of the Gospels study. Pastor Carl walked through Jesus sending out 72 others ahead of him, their return, and the joy Jesus himself expressed at the end of the passage. A story about his uncle Kenneth grounded the whole thing in what that kind of mission actually looks like across a real life.
What was said
Jesus appointed 72 people, in addition to the 12, and sent them out in pairs ahead of him to every place he planned to visit. Pastor Carl pointed out that the word for "appointed" comes from the same Greek root as the word for workmanship in Ephesians 2, the idea being that Jesus made them what they are for this task. They were not going on their own initiative or in their own strength.
The instruction to carry no money, no bag, no sandals, and to greet no one along the way was not about being impolite. Pastor Carl read it as an expression of urgency, and he noted that cultural greetings in that part of the world and that period of history could be elaborate and time-consuming. The mission was pressing enough that there was no room for dilly-dallying.
When they entered a home, they were to offer a blessing of peace. If the household received it, they were to stay there and not move from house to house. Pastor Carl connected this to his own experience as a missionary in Mexico, where bouncing between hosts left everyone worn out. Staying longer meant more conversations, more questions answered, more that got understood.
The cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, places where much of Jesus' ministry had been concentrated, come in for a sharp warning. Because they had seen the most, they were the most accountable. The message did not change whether a place received it or rejected it. The kingdom of God had come near either way.
When the 72 came back full of excitement that even demons had submitted to them in Jesus' name, Jesus told them not to make that the thing they rejoiced in. The thing worth celebrating was that their names were recorded in heaven. Pastor Carl described what follows as Jesus' own joy, a moment where Jesus rejoices greatly in the Holy Spirit and praises the Father for revealing these things to people of humble, childlike faith rather than to the self-assured wise.
Pastor Carl told the story of his uncle Kenneth, a Vietnam veteran who had lived hard for a long time, was eventually brought to faith after watching his own son's life change, and spent his remaining years as a committed, if sometimes blunt, believer. The story was told as a real example of what it looks like when the message of peace reaches someone and takes hold. The sermon closed on the beatitude from verse 23: blessed are the eyes that see what the disciples were seeing, things that prophets and kings had longed for and never witnessed.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
The pastor described the 72 being sent out as lambs among wolves, and Leon Morris called that position one of 'danger and helplessness.' Where in your own life have you felt that kind of helplessness in trying to live on mission, and what did you lean on?
Jesus told the 72 to stay in one house rather than moving around, and Travis connected that to the value of extended time with people over shared meals and conversation. Who in your life right now might God be calling you to invest that kind of unhurried time in?
Speaker 2Good morning, church. I guess it's about that time. Hey. Would you stand with me? And we'll sing.
We'll begin by worshiping in song, and here's a a psalm to lead us into worship. It says, cast your cares on the Lord. This is Psalm 55, by the way. Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you. We're gonna sing.
He's our sustainer and strength. He will never let the righteous be shaken and we will not be shaken we're
Speaker 1gonna sing
Speaker 2but it comes right from this song. Let's start by singing Jesus firm foundation. Alright. I'll firm our foundation.
Speaker 1Hey, man. How are y'all? How is everybody? Okay. Alright.
Announcements. Here we are. Monday nights at first week. Carl, what's up?
Speaker 2We're on. Dinner brought to you by Domino's Pizza tomorrow night. Also, we are in Mark chapter six. This is where Jesus is rejected in his hometown, but he also sends out the 12. We're seeing what what does faith and and unbelief look like in this chapter.
It's it's really good. It's very eye opening. So know that you're invited. 06:00 down the hall, meal, music, message tomorrow.
Speaker 1At the same time as Awana is happening in this room, Awana starts off in here, moves all over the church. Kids Club, we're pouring scripture into the hearts and the minds to get to the hearts of the kids. Connect Hour happens between services. Connect and we have two services. So we don't want to become two different churches.
So we're Connect them between and Monday Night Kitchen Help two is needed. If you want to do that, you can sign up in the fellowship hall. I don't think we've pushed this enough. I don't think we've mentioned this enough, but we're mentioning it again right now. This is for guys.
It's the word retreat. Dollars 200 is the cost of the trip. If you think, I can't go because I can't pay for it, let us know. Scholarships are available. February 23 through the '26, so it's coming up.
Please, please, please, guys, consider it. And you can contact Matt Lutzeman if you want to know more about it. He's got his e mail address up there. But if you contact us, we'll get you in touch with him. It should be a transformative experience.
And if you're kind of going through winter doldrums right now or you're just feeling like, I really need kind of a kick start, brothers in arms sort of thing, that may be just the thing for you. If adventure is your deal, this may be just the thing for you. This is happening straightaway. This is like next weekend, January 20 through the twenty second, Old Faithful Christian Ranch. It is $100 per adult, 75 for kids.
We really kind of need to know if you're coming straightaway. So that's happening at Snowmobile Retreat up to Old Faithful Christian Ranch in Island Park. It's great. There is a community Bible study meeting here, Wednesdays, ten to twelve Deb Buckingham is teaching in that study. It's a great collection of ladies right here.
I think that they're going to move from the fellowship hall it looks like they're going to have to move from the fellowship hall into here soon. But it's happening somewhere here. If you show up Wednesday, 10:00, we'll put you where you need to be. More details on the website. Goodness gracious, young adult Bible study.
Aaron Anderson, would you stand up and wave? Hey, hey, that's Erin Anderson. Young Adult Bible Study, 06:30 location changes. That will be on Sunday nights. So Tanya and I have hosted that one at times and other folks in here hosted at times.
If you want to be a part of that, contact Erin, you could just go to that gal that just waved afterwards. There's a ladies fellowship, Thursday, six p. M. This is Sisters Saved by Grace, right, in the fellowship hall. All ages are welcome.
It's good. It's good. That group prays for each other and loves each other dearly, and they get together often over some sort of food and the word. So that's great. Congregational meeting, that's two weeks from today, is between services right here in the sanctuary.
We do this once a year. Unless there's a special one called, this is our time where we get together. And we've got quite the lineup this time. So between services two weeks from today, congregational meeting. And that's it.
Does anybody have one that I've forgotten or haven't emphasized enough? Does anybody need to stomp their hands and wave? No. No. Seeing none, would you all stand with us and we're going to sing, God so loved.
Could you mute my mic and my face while
Speaker 2God, thank you for your self giving, others focused love. This profound love that you are are pouring out on us and this invitation to come just as we are. But God, you do the work after that. You do the work of changing and transforming. And so Lord, I pray that you would do that good work in us.
Say we're created for good works that you prepared for us in advance. God, would you do that in and through us as we meet with you. In Jesus name. Amen. You can have a seat for This is the worship through giving part of the service, and I'll invite the ushers to come forward.
We're gonna sing the goodness of God. What a great thing to sing of. From Psalm eighty nine one, it says, I'm gonna sing of the Lord's great love forever. God, may we do so. I'll make your faithfulness known through all generations that every generation would hear of God's faithfulness.
Before we sing, Ray, would you pray?
Speaker 1Sure. God, thank you for this morning to gather in your name, Lord. I thank you for for waking us up this morning with breath in our lungs and, Lord, joy in our hearts. I pray for your sustaining power, Lord, that you would be bringing us along, that you'd be bringing us along, that we would really be declaring how amazed we are in awe of you. Lord God almighty, I pray that you would transmit your transforming power through those you have transformed, to others who are without hope or others who are lonely or others who are wandering, Lord.
I pray that you would bring people into the, the kingdom of God, the family of God, and I pray that it would be a a joyful experience for all. In Jesus' name, Lord, I ask you to bless this offering to do your will in your way. Whatever that may be, would you direct us? Amen.
Speaker 2Let's sing it together. I love your voice. In darkest night, you are ghost like war. Let's sing that chorus. All my life, you've been faithful.
All my life, you been faithful. And all my life, you have been so,
Speaker 1And it's time for Children's Church downstairs. Isn't it good to hear that? Good gracious. Look at them. Amen.
God, I hope you will center our hearts on your word and on your transforming power, Lord, and pointing us toward your joy. Amen. I'm just returning home from a trip to Georgia for a funeral. And I've been out of the saddle here for a week. I get super nervous when I miss a week.
So if you all would, pray for me, I'd appreciate it. This is the passage, Luke ten:one-twenty four. We're back to our Harmony of the Gospels study. And Matthew, Mark and Luke mentioned the sending out of the 12, and I think that Carl is talking about Mark's version of the sending out of the 12 tomorrow night. But Luke's version, he tells in Chapter nine of the sending out of the 12, and then he talks about in Chapter 10 about the sending out of others.
And so this is to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So therefore, you all plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Well, you all most of you all have been around for a while. I know this is sort of a church with a missionary heart. I mean they hired a missionary to be the pastor.
And there's a missions committee that's very, very active, and there's stuff going on all over the world. And outside of that, we've got people doing stuff all over the world that, honestly, we don't even know about because it's the mandate, the Great Commission mandate is very, very real. And I'm looking forward to this passage. I like it. I like it because it gets to the end, it gets to Jesus' own joy.
Jesus' own joy. I think we see a lot of pictures of Jesus' drawn face and his his passion, you know, on the cross and that sort of stuff. But to see Jesus with a big smile praising God at the end of this passage is great. Thank you, Brad, for last week. Thank you for the passage on abiding in Christ, Brad Yates, from last week.
Was great. We go. The harvest is plentiful, but the labors are few. Going forward, going forward. Therefore, plead with the Lord.
So this is the mission and message, the first 12 verses first 10 verses and then kind of takes a turn. I'm just going to go with these little headaches to help us along. Are four of them. Now after this, the Lord appointed 72 others. Now some of you all are reading in your Bible with me, and it says 70 others.
I won't argue or arm wrestle over it. This is a long standing debate as to whether this is true. Some people see Jesus is sending out 72 as like Moses appointing 70 to go out. Then there were two that remained in the camp, so 72. In between the Hebrew Old Testament and the Septuagint version of that, it went from 70 to 72 and we're not absolutely sure exactly why.
That's the Old Testament passage. In this one, most commentators go with 72. I'm going go with 72 because that's what the new American standard says. But after this, it's either 35 or 36 pairs, right? Now after this, the Lord appointed 72 others and the others, these are folks that were not of the 12.
This is in addition to it. In Luke, we just heard about the 12 last chapter, and now we're hearing about others. So 72, I already mentioned that. He appointed, same word, same word that he used when he was naming and commissioning and appointing the disciples. So he appointed them.
I used this slide the last time we discovered it. That's the Greek word right there, and those are all the definitions for it. Isn't that ridiculous? Sometimes the simpler a word is, the harder it gets to define, right? I mean, Bill Clinton's it depends on what the definition of the word is, is.
It really does depend on what the definition there is. But epoiesin, this means he appointed or he commissioned. But I like the fact that it's based on poieto, which sounds like poem, workmanship, poema, to make or to do, something that Jesus made or did. He made them what they are. That's that's good.
That's something to hold on to. We are not by ourselves without his power. We are not really appointed, right? But Ephesians two, we hear eight and nine all the time. It's by grace that you're saved, it's not of yourselves so that no one should boast.
It's the gift of God. For we are his workmanship, poiema, created in Christ Jesus for good works. He's got stuff that he has for us to do, which he prepared ahead of time so that we would walk in them. So that's good. He appointed these 72 others and he sent them out in pairs.
Now he'd sent the disciples out in pairs too. He sent them out ahead of him. This is interesting. In the passages when Jesus sent the disciples out, it says he sent them out, and then I love this that Jesus went into their own cities. He went into their hometowns.
But on this one, it says, he sent them out ahead of him to every city and place where he himself was going to come. Jesus is sending out people. He's got 35 or 36 pairs of people going ahead of him, and now he's gonna go after them. Can you imagine the blitz that, that takes? He's got all these people spreading out and then he's going to bounce around between all the places that they're going.
They are going ahead of him in some ways like John the Baptist went ahead of him as a forerunner. They go in and prepare the way ahead of time. But he's coming along behind them. And he was saying to them, to these others, he's saying to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. That's sort of an old analogy.
It's not unheard of in the Jewish intertestamental silence where they wrote about themselves is that there was a great harvest that would come in for God. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. In order to bring the harvest in, you need people to work. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest. Pray earnestly.
Plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. I love the agricultural references. If you have ever been around a farm when you're doing all of the other stuff, you can kind of get by with a skeleton crew. But when it's time, when the stuff is ripe, you got to get it out of there quick. So the harvest is plentiful.
It's time. Wait until the harvest, he says in John. But the laborers are few. Plead with the Lord of harvest to send laborers out, so pray earnestly. And I think this goes on to today.
A summary is pray earnestly that God would be sending out more workers to live on mission for him. And notice I didn't say more missionaries. I think we've we've elevated missionary status sometimes to a pedestal that is probably not good, not healthy for us or for the missionary. Anytime we divide, every single one of us has a mission to live out for him. So pray earnestly, that God would be sending them out.
And I think part of the sending out is recognizing your call, recognizing the people to whom you are to minister, right? So pray earnestly that God will be sending out more workers who live on mission for him. Go, behold. Look, all. That's what behold means right there.
Look, you all. Look, you all. And then it's an active imperative. Right here, it is an imperative. In the Great Commission, it's as you are going participle, right?
It's I think it has imperatible force, but it's still as you are going, be doing these things. This one says go. It's an imperative. Technically, it's progressive action. Be going, not just once, it's always.
Be going out. Look, all, going out. And then what follows that, I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves. I've seen a lot of T shirts in the past few years about lions, not lambs. Jesus is sending us out as lambs, and he's clear about it.
To his disciples, he says sheep. They might be a little bit more mature. They've been with him longer than these seventy two, maybe. They're sheep, but they're still sheep. I'm sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves.
Leon Morris, in this little commentary right here, he had something to say about this. And I thought it was good, I thought I'd share it. They go to no easy task. Lambs in the midst of wolves are in no enviable position. The simile points both to danger and helplessness.
God's servants are always in some sense at the mercy of the world. And in their own strength, they cannot cope with the situation in which they find themselves. That's good. So that's Leon Morris. Ray McDaniel says this, it also points to utter dependence on a great shepherd.
Right? Helplessness and being a lamb, right? Danger. Yeah. It's danger and helplessness, but what the lambs and the sheep depend on is the great shepherd.
So carry no money belt, no bag, no sandals, greet no one along the way. We actually hit the carry no money bag, no bag, no sandals in the passage with the disciples. He's saying, you need to depend on God for this journey. You've got to depend on him. And it's an urgent task.
Actually, greet no one along the way, when I see that, I just go, I know. I don't like that. So is God or is Jesus, God, right here, saying, greet no one along the way like he's exhorting them to be impolite? It can't be that, right? I don't think he's exhorting them to be impolite.
Is he saying don't dilly dally? Yes, I think he's saying don't dilly dally. Is he saying stick to the task? He's saying, yes, stick to the task. But I think what he's no doubt, he's expressing urgency in the mission.
He's saying, be going about this. Look, all, be going. And as you are going, be making disciples. Be teaching them to obey all that I've commanded you. He's expressing urgency.
Now if that still sticks in your craw and you don't really like the exhortation to impoliteness. Think about this. Some cultural salutations can be elaborate and time consuming, especially in the East at this time, right? So it would not just be a, Hey, how are you? And just kind of a nod to the head and keep walking.
I just got back from a funeral in Georgia. I can attest to the cultural salutations being elaborate at times and time consuming. I've got some witnesses in the back. There's some folks from Columbus, Georgia, right back there. Yes, it's not just, hey, how are you?
And nodded the head, it's like, I haven't seen you in forever. Let's talk about everything that's happened since you left. Greet no one along the way. We've got a bunch of people that that need this message. Whatever house you enter, first, start off with peace being to this house.
You go in and take a shalom blessing with you, a blessing of peace. And if a man of peace is there, then your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. It might not be the most peaceable experience for you to bless them with peace and then get agitation back, aggravation, all kinds of hostility. If not, it will return to you.
You can walk on. He's going to get into that in a minute. Stay though. If you give that blessing of peace and the man of peace welcomes you in, then stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, whatever is set before you, for the laborer is deserving of his wages. I'm not saying that you all have to take a vow of poverty to follow after me.
You can have meals and you can have a place to stay and you can do that on this mission. You'll be deserving of your wages. It's not an easy task that you're doing. But you have to trust me and I'll provide for you through people of peace. Do not move from house to house.
Isn't that interesting that he says that? Hang with the one that you hang with. As long as you're in that town, stay with that one. This is a missionary story. We would occasionally get invited when we were missionaries in Mexico.
Hey, come up to wherever, Peoria, Illinois and come stay with us. And we'd stay with them one night, stay with someone else the next night, stay with someone else the next night. And by the time you got back home, you're like this, like what's coming next? I I think it's partially for their sake, but I think the other thing is, you know, Jesus spends time with his disciples. And you can have a conversation over dinner, and you get a certain amount said and a certain amount understood.
But if you have a conversation over dinner and then into the evening and then everybody is at peace and you wake up the next morning, you have breakfast and you talk with them, that's a lot more that gets said, right? That's a lot more that gets understood. And the longer you're with them, the more questions they might ask and the more things come to your remembrance. So don't move from house to house. Whatever city you enter and they receive you, you eat whatever is served to you.
Oh, the missionary stories about this one. I've got a quick one. Buddies of ours, Matt and Megan Cox went on a trip and they ate something, they're not sure what. They said it looked like blood, I'm not sure. But it also had things floating in it that looked like eyes, but they're not sure.
And it was something that was set before them as a delicacy and they just barely were able to stomach it there, right? And so they invited the same folks eventually back to their huts to their house. And when the folks got there, they just had ham sandwiches. And after the people left, they had hosted, they're cleaning up around the house, and they found half a ham sandwich stuffed up under a couch cushion. Eat whatever is served to you.
Do what do go ahead, but allow for your host to be gracious and accept it graciously. And heal those who are in it who are sick. Do what you can for them. Jesus has given them the authority to heal. His miracles have authenticated his message and he's sending them out like lambs among wolves, but he's also given them his authority to be able to heal.
And say this to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. Now, at this time, you know, Jesus being near to them physically is a part of that, but he's saying that allowing someone in in peace and allowing their message. The kingdom of God has come near to you. Whatever city you enter and they do not receive, your time takes a turn here. Whatever city that you enter and they do not receive you, you can go out into its streets and say, even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, we wipe off and protest against you.
Yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near. Oh my. Isn't that something? The message is the same in ten nine and in ten twelve ten eleven. The kingdom of God has come near.
Now you either are going to accept it and bring it in to your home with peace, or you're gonna reject it. But the message is the same. Message is the message. I say to you, it'll be more tolerable on the day for Sodom than for that city. Wow.
So have we heard this before? Yeah. When Jesus sent out the 12, we heard almost exactly that same thing that there are going to be those who accept, there are going to be those who reject. Paul says later, there will be those who will listen to you again later. But they're going to either accept it or reject it, the message doesn't change.
Oh, and this is what follows that, the doom of the Galilean cities. Woe to you Chorazin, woe to you Bethsaida. For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, which are not places that are of strong Jewish background, they are not places that should have had head start with the with the gospel, right? Woe to you, Cozzin. Woe to you, Bethsaida, which there were disciples from those places.
There were there was a lot of ministry in those places. For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon and the judgment for you. Y'all really, really ought to know better. And you, Capernaum, which is where Jesus made his kind of home base for most of his ministry.
You, Capernaum, you will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You'll be brought down to Hades. That's heavy. Have we heard that before? We have.
When he was delivering the message through his disciples. Ten sixteen, the one who listens to you listens to me. These are the 70 can you imagine gathered around pep rally right before they're sent out? The one who listens to you listens to me. You all carrying my message.
I've appointed you. I've made you the angels, the messengers, the ones that will carry this message. The one who listens to you listens to me. The one who rejects you, rejects me. Don't worry about it.
They're going to reject me. You all will see it. We're six months less than six months out from the cross at this point. But the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me. That's it's a matter of eternal life or death.
Eternal. But the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me. You're carrying the message that leads to salvation. Return of the 72. This is them getting back from their mission trip.
Now the 72 returned with joy. Amen. Amen. They went out. They carried the message.
They healed the people. Oh, let me just let them tell it. Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. It's amazing what happens in Jesus' name. We're so excited about this.
They return with joy. And he said to them, I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I've given you authority to walk on snakes and scorpions and authority all over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Oh. I don't usually claim that authority right there.
I'm not a steak handling Baptist. But he he did say, I I have made you into this. I've given you authority to walk on dangerous things, snakes and scorpions, and authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. I hear in that a little bit of Psalm 91. Do you all hear that?
Psalm 91. Psalm 91 is actually the one that Satan in the temptation in the desert, he used Psalm 91 with Jesus. And he was saying, oh, you he won't even let you. Just read out of the Bible. This is good.
Okay. All right. Here we go. Sorry. He he who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the almighty.
And I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust, for it is he who delivers you from the snare of the trapper. And it is he who delivers you from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you may seek refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night or the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence that stalks in the darkness or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
Thousand may fall at your side and 10,000 at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord my refuge, even the most high your dwelling place and no evil will befall you nor will any plague come near your tent. For he will give his angels charge concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands that you do not strike your foot against a stone.
You'll tread upon the lion and the cobra. The young lion and the serpent will trample down. You will trample down because he has loved me. Therefore, I will deliver him and I will set him securely on high because he has known my name. He will call upon me and I will answer him And I will be with him in trouble, and I will rescue him, and I will honor him with a long life, and I will satisfy him and let him see my salvation.
I think he's pointing to eternal life because certainly there are people who have witnessed for God's kingdom and have been cut down. Right? We see that. This Martin Luther King weekend. Right?
Man. Yeah. Nevertheless, Jesus says, don't rejoice in this. Don't rejoice in this that you can tread upon the viper. I actually know somebody really, really well who got bit by a snake on a mission trip, by the way.
Yeah. I wouldn't recommend it. Ask me later. Nevertheless, don't rejoice in this. Don't rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you.
It is pretty awesome. And I can understand your joy, but don't rejoice in this. The good thing, the thing that you need to be rejoicing about is that your names are recorded in heaven. You have relationship with God Almighty through Christ his son. That's something to be joyful about, that you are connected to God Almighty.
Your names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and then that leads immediately into Jesus' own joy. And here it is. At that very time, he rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit. Jesus rejoices greatly. I love this.
It's so just ebullient. He's at that very time, he rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and he said, I praise you, father lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent. Now he's been arguing they've been arguing with him. He's been speaking the truth the whole time to the pharisees and to the sadducees and to all these different isms all around him. And he says, I praise you, father, lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, but you've revealed them to very infants.
Yes, father, for doing so was well pleasing in your sight. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. You have to have childlike faith to come to him. All these things have been handed over to me by my father. No one knows who the son is except the father.
I mean, they've been one since forever, literally, eternity past. No one knows who the son is except the father and who the father is except the son and to anyone and anyone to whom the son determines to reveal him. Okay. That's a that's a this is nobody knows the father son, nobody knows the son except for the father. That's a little tight circle, the Trinity, right there.
There's Holy Spirit involved in that, but that's a tight circle. But then he says, and then to anyone to whom the son determines to reveal him. Who is that? Anyone who receives the message of the ones that he sends out. That's an expanding circle, the ever expanding circle.
That reminds me of Psalm 67. I won't read that one. It gets bigger and bigger, though. That's who the Son of God chooses to reveal himself to, is the ones who receive the message, who are people of peace towards his messengers. So what is it that brought Jesus joy?
I think that it's that they came back having done what it was that he sent them out to do, and they had all these stories, and they were amazed to see it. So turning to the disciples, he said privately, blessed are the eyes that see the things you see. There are things that you'll see in and it's not you don't have to be a preacher, pastor, teacher, evangelist to see these things. If you are living on mission for God, you will see things individually yourself that you would never have believed would be true. Right?
You'd never you'd just go, wow. That's crazy. That's an absolutely transformed life. I've got more time than I usually do at this point. I've got one more verse.
I'm going tell a story. I went home for a funeral with my uncle, Kenneth. And I've told some of you all this story. I apologize if you've heard it from me directly. But I when I do funerals here, I usually have known somebody I've been here ten point five years full time.
So with the summers as intern, twelve point five years is how long I've known the people of this church. But when I do a funeral for somebody that dies at 95, I've only known them since they were 83. You know what I'm saying? And I've done some for young folks too. But even then, if someone passes in their early 20s, I've known them since they were 10.
But I might not have known them very well because they're kids. Uncle Kenneth, though, when I went home, I've gone from home twenty two years. And I knew him way back when. I knew him as the guy I knew his military history. He was a Navy riverboat guy during Vietnam.
He did two tours of duty voluntarily because he enjoyed the job. Yes. And he would come across the table and pop you, is what he called it. And he was a bad dude. He was a scary dude in a lot of ways.
And when I was little at family reunions, I remember him being loud and boisterous and wanting everybody to listen to stories. And it was kind of when he was around, it was a little bit like, what's going to go? What's going to happen? I haven't seen him for twenty two years. And so inside So you all know my talking all the time about the ditches.
All of you all, if you've been here for a long time, there's a legalistic ditch over here and there's a licentious ditch over here. I'd say Uncle Kenneth was squarely in the licentious ditch for a long time. And not the greatest father, not the greatest husband, couple of marriages, couple of divorces to the same lady. And something happened with his son that caused him to go and grab his son and get him up and get him out of the situation he was in and bring him to our little hometown and kind of drop him off and keep on working. And then his son got saved.
He walked the aisle. He accepted Christ. His life began to transform. And then his dad, my uncle Kenneth, came back, and he got saved. He walked the aisle.
He came forward and he could not deny that God had been after him basically his whole life and he had been rejecting him. And then his life transformed. Now I will say, he jumped out of the licentious ditch into the legalistic ditch, and it's a common path. When he got over here and this one, he began to preach. I mean, literally, began to preach.
Anytime anybody gave him a pulpit, he'd do it. It was hard for him to ride down the interstate without reading his Bible, and he drove a lot. Texting and driving is not a new thing. He was reading the text of scripture as he's riding down the interstate. And he I'm not saying that's bad.
It doesn't matter who you are, that's bad. But reading the Bible is not bad. But I mean, he just went whole hog. I accidentally or my cousin, his son accidentally left a tape of mine, a cassette tape, Houses of the Holy, it's two record set, by Led Zeppelin in his car. Oh my goodness.
He came in the living room of a house I grew up in, and I was sitting there and his son was sitting there and my cousin Cindy was sitting there. And my brother made me promise not to tell this at the funeral, you all be quiet about it, people on the Internet are not even listening. I was on the receiving end of a sermon about the evils of rock and roll music and all the demons that are in that stuff. And he said, I mean, he when he was in Vietnam, and after he got out, he was exposed to Agent Orange. He did a lot of drugs.
He had seen demons pop off pages and come out of speakers and things like that. He's very, very much that way, sensitive to that sort of thing. And when he heard that music, it took him back to a place he didn't want to be. Well, I've never had any painful association with it. I grew up in church my whole life.
I never had thought the music was good, but I didn't really care about the message. Boy, that was not good for him. And he started preaching. I was in the living room, so was my cousin, so was my other cousin. And my dad and my brother happened to be in the back of the house.
There's no way out of the back of the house. They climbed out of a window of the back of the house not to come through the living room and be on the receiving end. So that's what I remember of Uncle Kenneth. But he was absolutely steadfast in his belief. He just was kind of briskly and hard.
It was difficult. Well, mean, he's not perfect, but he is forgiven. And he was a loving father of his son, and it transformed him. So he gave me my first job. He gave my brother his first vehicle.
He was very, very generous, very kind. And there was a family in an unfortunate situation, a mother and four children who had been abandoned by the dad. And my mother knew the family very intimately, and she expressed it to her brother to be praying for this family, and he did for over a year. He prayed for the family, had never met him. And then he met and married this lady, and he was a faithful, loving husband and father for twenty six years.
And that was what the funeral was about. How great he was. How good God was. Yes. And we sang actually the goodness of God.
We sang that. One of his daughters sang that. The transforming power of Jesus is amazing. And I would say it's an urgent task for those of us who carry that message forward to be offering the peace that God gives. Uncle Kenneth was at peace.
He became really close friends with the pastor that I grew up with from zero to 14 years old who's been back at that same little church for the last eleven years, and he preached encouragement from God's word at that funeral. And my uncle Kenneth was a Pentecostal. When he went over, he went over. He still sensed the spiritual realm very, very real in his life. And he got to be friends with a blessed 89 year old Southern Baptist pastor that they just loved each other.
He did the funeral and his daughter did the eulogy. And then I was able to tell what I just told y'all, not the part about the climbing out the window my brother made me, promise not. But God, right? But God, these folks out in these villages that had no real hope, didn't know what was going on, were gonna be visited by emissaries of Jesus and they would have the chance to accept or reject, and it makes all the difference for eternity what you say with that. Blessed are the eyes that have seen the things that you see.
For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you see. This is the messianic inauguration. This is the time. Prophets and kings have been praying for this, and they wanted to see the things that you, simple folk, are getting to see. And they didn't see them.
And they long to hear the things that you hear, and they didn't hear them. I'm so overjoyed that you are receiving the message. What brought Jesus joy then is what brings Jesus joy right now. It is when believers are praying earnestly, and God Almighty is sending out workers to live on mission for him here, there, and everywhere. People of peace accepting them and his message and the nearness, the entry into the kingdom of God.
Amen. Can we get the band back up here? Would you all stand with us? God, I pray that you would transform lives, that you would give us a part in somebody's story, that you would bring us into the place, Lord, where we're ready to go out and utterly depend on you like lambs among wolves. Amen.
Amen. The benediction is from, Romans fifteen thirteen. So I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with all joy and peace because you trust in him. And then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Lord, would you give us the joy that you felt at your mission being accomplished?
Day by day, may we look and go with that message on our lips and motivating everything that we do. In Jesus' name, amen.
