Scripture referenced 4 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Luke 10:1-24 primary passage for the sermon, Jesus sending out the 72
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.”
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Keep this verse
Ephesians 2:8-9
cited repeatedly to distinguish salvation by grace from works, then connected to poiema and being created for good works
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, that no one would boast.
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Psalm 91
read in full as background to Jesus granting authority over snakes and scorpions, and noted as the psalm the devil used to tempt Christ in the wilderness
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day;
6 nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made Yahweh your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place,
10 no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
11 For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands, so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and cobra. You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
16 I will satisfy him with long life, and show him my salvation.”
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Romans 15:13
spoken as the benediction about God filling believers with joy and peace through the Holy Spirit
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This week Pastor Ray returned from a funeral in Georgia and brought a message from Luke 10, walking through Jesus sending out the 72 and what that commissioning means for the church today. The core of the sermon was about urgency, dependence on God, and the joy that comes when people receive the gospel. He closed with a personal story about his uncle Kenneth, whose life was dramatically changed after coming to faith.
What was said
Jesus sent out 72 others in pairs ahead of him into every city and place he was about to visit. Pastor Ray pointed out that the word translated "appointed" carries the same root as the Greek word for workmanship, the poiema of Ephesians 2. Jesus did not merely give them a task. He made them into something, messengers shaped for the purpose of carrying his message forward.
The instructions he gave them were built around two things: urgency and dependence. No money belt, no bag, no sandals. No lingering greetings on the road. Pastor Ray was clear that Jesus was not telling them to be rude, but to stay on task. The harvest does not wait, and they were being sent as lambs among wolves, which Leon Morris' commentary described as a picture of both danger and helplessness. That helplessness, Pastor Ray said, points directly toward dependence on the Great Shepherd.
When they arrived somewhere, they were to speak peace over the house. If a person of peace was there, that peace would rest on them. If not, it would return. Either way, the message did not change. Whether a city welcomed them or drove them out, the word was the same: the kingdom of God has come near. The rejection of the messenger is, Jesus said, the rejection of the one who sent him.
The 72 came back full of joy, amazed that even demons had submitted to them in Jesus' name. Jesus met their excitement by redirecting it. He told them not to rejoice in the spiritual power they had exercised, but in the fact that their names are recorded in heaven. Knowing God, loving God, serving God, those are the things worth celebrating, not the dramatic results along the way.
Jesus himself then broke into what the text describes as great rejoicing in the Holy Spirit. Pastor Ray paused on that image, noting that we rarely picture Jesus overflowing with joy, but the scripture shows it plainly here. What brought him joy was that the Father had revealed these things to the humble rather than the proud, and that the disciples were seeing and hearing what prophets and kings had longed for. That same joy, Pastor Ray said, is what the going-out of the gospel still produces.
He brought it home through the story of his uncle Kenneth, a Vietnam veteran who lived a hard life, came to faith, overcorrected into legalism for a time, and eventually found what Pastor Ray called "the good old gospel way." Kenneth spent his later years in friendship, in prayer, and in a marriage he entered only after praying for his future wife for a year before he ever met her. The transformation was real, even if the road was uneven. The gospel still works, and seeing that work with your own eyes is exactly what Jesus said blessed are the eyes that see.
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.
- Pastor Ray described the 72 being sent out as lambs among wolves, with Leon Morris saying that points to both danger and helplessness. Where in your own life have you felt that kind of helplessness, and what did depending on the Great Shepherd look like in practice?
- Jesus told the 72 to greet no one along the way, which Pastor Ray interpreted as urgency about the task rather than rudeness. Are there things in your own life that feel like legitimate relationship but are really just dilly-dallying away from what God has called you to do?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 8,772 words
Speaker 1Hey, man. How are you all? How's everybody? Would you stand with me? We're going to sing a bright, peppy number, maybe sing some folks in from the vestibule or maybe run them off, who knows?
Join with me and we'll try.
Speaker 2There's within my heart a melody. Jesus whispers sweet and low. Fear not, I am with thee. Peace be still in all of life's ebb and flow. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing keeps me singing as I go.
All my life was wrecked by sin and strife. Discord filled my heart with pain. Jesus swept across the broken strings, stirred the slumbering cords again. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing keeps me singing as I go feasting on the riches of his grace resting beneath his sheltering wing always looking on his smiling face that is why I shout and sing Jesus Jesus Jesus sweetest name I know fills my every longing keeps me singing as I go though sometimes he leads through waters deep trials fall across my way though sometimes the path seems rough and steep see his footprints all the way Jesus Jesus Jesus sweetest name I know I'm the last. They
Speaker 1don't have another one. We're going to sing this one solo, and we're going to sing a little special part. And sing with us, if you know us,
Speaker 2Soon he's coming back to welcome me far beyond the starry sky. I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown. I shall reign with him on high. Join us. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every care and every longing of my heart.
Keep me singing as I go.
Speaker 1Amen. Thank you. I heard you hinting at it over there. That's good. Take time to be holy.
Hymn number six fifty six.
Speaker 2Take time to be holy speak off with the Lord abide in him always and feed on his word make friends with God's children help those who are weak forgetting nothing is blessing to seek take time to be holy the world rushes on spend much time in secret with Jesus alone by looking to Jesus like him thou shalt be thy friends and thy conduct his likeness shall see take time to be holy let him be thy guide and run not before him whatever be tied in joy or in sorrow still follow thy lord and looking to Jesus still trusting his word take time to be holy be calm in thy soul each thought and each motive beneath his control thus led by his fear to fountains of love thou soon shall be fitted for service above. Amen. Y'all can have
Speaker 1a seat. Got a few announcements. A lot of announcements actually. Lots of stuff going on. Monday nights at first b.
Tomorrow night, Carl is talking from the book of Mark about Jesus sending out the 12. Now today, I'm talking about Jesus sending out the 72, but he's talking about Mark's rendition of sending out the 12 at Monday nights, meal, music and a message. It's supplied by Domino's Pizza tomorrow night. Come on out for it will be like youth group for big people. How about that?
Connect Hour. Monday nights and Connect Hour, we have volunteers that provide the meal between services, a little bit of snacky type stuff, and we have folks that provide the meal on Monday night. If we don't, it gets to be Domino's night. So if you would come sign up, we'd appreciate it. The word retreat.
I don't feel like we've emphasized this one enough. The word retreat is for guys, for men. It is February 23 through the '26. The cost is $200 per person. But if you feel like I would love to go, but I can't really afford it, I'd love to go, but let us know.
There are scholarships available to pay your way. Information and registration is available at firstbjax.org. You can talk to Matt Lutzman if you'd like to or you can get in touch with me and I'll get you in touch with Matt. But this is a transformative experience. It's something that if you are thinking, I just don't know exactly what to do, I don't know exactly how to go about leaning into God.
This is what word retreat is supposed to be about. And so they'll start out on the twenty third and twenty sixth is a Sunday, and it'll end up here. So I'm planning on going. I'm planning on preaching that Sunday too. That might be a little much.
But the plan is for them to start there and then come here. It's over in Ryrie, Rigby, somewhere right around in there. And it looks like a fun time. Word Retreat, February twenty three to twenty six. If adventure is your thing, guys, this is the Men's Snowmobile Retreat is happening next weekend.
So people have been signing up and registering and paying here lately, but that's next weekend, January 20 through the twenty second, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It's good. This is always fun. It's a good time to get together and hang out, eat together, get up in the morning and just be together. Sledding is optional.
Some people bring cross country skis and do that instead or other snowshoeing, that sort of thing, if that's your thing. But it is fun time. That's next weekend. If you want to get in on that, let us know soon so they'll have enough food for us when we get up there. Ladies' Fellowship is happening Thursdays in the fellowship hall.
They've been calling the Sisters Saved by Grace. It's a really, really good study of gals that love one another and they eat together and they pray together and they study God's word together. All ages are welcome. It's down the hall, 06:00 on Thursday evenings. There is another study for women on Wednesdays, ten a.
M. To twelve p. And I think that they're going to outgrow the fellowship hall and be moving into the sanctuary here. If they didn't this week, they probably will next week. So if you come on Wednesdays at ten, it will either be there or here depending on how many folks show up.
But it's an eight week study. If you would, you can get in touch with them and let them know you're coming. That's good. We'll do that if you get in touch with us. Another.
This is young adult Bible study. Do you all know Erin Anderson? Some of you all probably know Erin. Erin comes over the hill to work and she comes over the hill to lead this. But since she lives over in Driggs, this is a traveling adult Bible study, young adult Bible study.
So they ask for hosts, and Tanya and I are sometimes those people. And some of you all are those people sometimes too. They'll come in on Sunday nights and sit from 06:30 or so, eat a meal, usually provided by the host family, and then study the Bible together. They're reading books together and having a good time. If you wanna be a part of that, either by being in attendance or by being a host family, get in touch with Aaron, (208) 200-3746.
This is kind of fair warning of a congregational meeting coming up two weeks from today. It'll be between services. So if you normally attend the eleven and you want to attend this meeting, it's not going be after this service. It will be between the services. It will come early.
Congregational meeting. We've got quite a lineup. We've got a plan this time of kind of some of the summary stuff that needs to be said about last year and some stuff to vote on going forward. So January 29 between services. Is that it, Blake?
The greatest thing. The end of the announcement is the greatest thing. Would you all stand up? Nobody else thought that was funny.
Speaker 2The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you. The greatest thing in all my life is knowing you I want to know I want to know the greatest thing in all my life is knowing the greatest thing in all my life is loving you the greatest thing in all my life is loving you I want to love I want to love you more the greatest thing in all my life is loving you the greatest thing in all my life is serving you the greatest thing in all my life is serving you I want to serve you more I want to serve you more the greatest thing in all my life is serving you.
Speaker 1I think I say this every time we sing that. It says the greatest thing, and then it says knowing, loving, and serving. But honestly, to know God is to love him, and to love God is to serve him. So the greatest thing in my life is knowing, loving, and serving you. Amen.
In moments like this, we'll probably sing this one twice.
Speaker 2In moments like these I sing out a song I sing out a love song to Jesus in moments like these I lift up my hands I lift up my hands to the singing
Speaker 1Let's sing it again.
Speaker 2In moments like these, I sing out a song. I sing out a love song to Jesus in moments like these I lift up my hands I lift up my hands to the singing
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward, and this is the time we call the worship through giving. So the operatory time today. Would you just pray with me for God's blessing on this?
Lord, I I thank you for the time set aside that we can come together and praise your name, Lord. I also thank you for a time set on the first day of the week when we get together, Lord, and we set aside our resources for you to use as you see fit. Lord, make your will and your way known to us, Lord, so that we may use these resources, blessed and multiplied by you to do kingdom work. I pray, Lord, that you'd do your will and your way among us in our hearts, and that it would reflect your glory to the world around us, from this little place right here in Jackson, Wyoming to the very uttermost parts. In Jesus' name, Lord, we ask your blessing.
Amen. Amen.
Speaker 3I'm thankful we are here this morning worshiping the Lord. Amen. There is a beautiful promise in the Psalms. And honestly, the more we understand our promises in our savior, the more the sweeter the journey in this beautiful planet earth gets to be. I'm thankful for that.
Pastor, you wanna say something?
Speaker 1When did you just tell him to stand up when we get through with this song? Okay. So I was communicating to Blake that I am actually singing on this one. Usually when I play bass, I don't sing. But we're going to sing through it one time.
It's a first verse, second verse, first verse chorus, second verse chorus. We're going to do that once. And then I'm going say, all right now. And if you all would stand and sing the first verse, it's fairly familiar, but we hope to have words on the screen too. And then we'll sing through the chorus together.
We'll close it off with a tag. Thank you.
Speaker 2What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see and I look upon his face the one who saved me by his grace. When he takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land, what a day, glorious day that will be. There'll be no sorrow there. No more burdens to bear. No more sickness, no pain.
No more parting over there and forever I will be with the one who died for me. What a day, glorious day that will be what a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see and I look upon his face the one who saved me by his grace. He takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land. What a day, glorious day. This is y'all's time.
It will be. There is coming a day when no heartache shall come. No more clouds
Speaker 1Thank you, fellas. That's fun.
Speaker 2All right. So I
Speaker 1am just return I mean, I've been back all week, but I'm just return. I came back Monday this past week from a trip down to Georgia for a funeral. I mentioned it to you all beforehand, a little about my uncle Kenneth and kind of the transforming power of God in his life. But I'm thankful for Brad being up here to kind of fill in last week. What a great job he did.
And I'm thankful for the it's amazing that we can watch these services wherever we are. Like Internet access, I can see this. And I saw last week's services really, really great. Today, we're going back to our Harmony of the Gospels study. And this is in Luke.
It's not shared in Matthew or Mark, so we're just going with Luke. Now, in Matthew and Mark, we see Jesus sending out the 12. You know, the 12 disciples. He appoints them, commissions them, sends them out to go ahead of him and to carry the message of the kingdom to the cities and towns around. And Jesus, at the very end of that, I love this, I've never seen it until I studied it this time, it says, and when he sent them out, he went into their cities.
Isn't that cool? For a for a missionary, I mean, I knew that this church had a missionary heart because they hired a missionary to be the pastor. Right? And there's a very vibrant, strong missions committee. There are a lot of international folks that come to church here.
And there are people who have served in foreign lands and are with us weekly. God cares about everybody to the very uttermost parts. So the harvest is plentiful. There are plenty out there that God is reaching out to. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
So therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his field. I wanna say, going forward, that's what Jesus is doing now. Time wise, in Jesus' earthly ministry, we're within six months, probably four and a half months or so of the cross at this point. So that's something that's in view. And he has already sent out the 12.
And actually Luke says he sent out the 12 in chapter nine. And in chapter 10, it sends out the mission and the message. I've got four of these little headings like this. It's actually Leon Morris' little commentary. I I just liked his headings.
I'm using them to go to verse 24. We've got four of these. The mission and the message is what it begins with. And it says, now after this, the Lord appointed 72 others. 72 others.
Now, it doesn't say disciples right there. He's already sent out the 12 disciples, and I'm sure that these were also disciples, but it wasn't that appointed 12 that have been with him so long. Right? This is an a wider group of people. After this, the Lord appointed, 72 others.
The 72, some of your translations are going to say 70 right there. And there is there are a couple of different reasons for this. Some people, when they read it and say, why would he send 70? Or 72 for that matter. Why does that number matter?
And a lot of people see that when Moses appointed elders, he appointed 70. But there were two extras that stayed back in the camp, so therefore 72. The difference in the Hebrew Old Testament and the Septuagint Greek version of the Old Testament, it was somewhere in that time period where it went from 70 to 72. If it's mimicking the Moses elders situation, maybe, doesn't have to, could be anything. He can do it and we not really understand exactly why.
Some people see 70 as there were 70 translators for the Septuagint. There were 70 in the Sanhedrin. I don't really know why. My version, NASB says 72, that's what I'm going with. If you read 70, don't let it throw your faith, okay?
Whether it was 35 pairs or 36 pairs, I'm not sure which it was. We'll ask when we get there, but I'm not certain of that. But I'm I'm confident in the in the scripture. The Lord appointed. This is this is operative.
This is the verb here. After this, the Lord appointed 72 others. Now, it's the same word that was used when he appointed the 12. When he named the 12, called them, appointed them, commissioned them, however you wanna look at it. It's the same word.
This is he appointed them, the commission of the twelve. I did that in August, I think, here. And this is the definition of that word. Isn't that ridiculous? So it seems sometimes that the simpler a word is, the harder it is to define, right?
It means more things. This one, epoiesen, is based off the word poieo is the verb or poiema, you all have heard before. It's what? Poem, workmanship, craftsmanship. He appointed is a good translation, but it comes from the verb poeo that means to make or to do.
To make something or to do something. Jesus did something in their life, and he made them emissaries, messengers, angels in a way that carry a message. So he appointed them. This is the poie o poiema. This is probably this is what I always think of when I hear the word is poema.
We are his workmanship or craftsmanship. Jesus made us. We were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Now, if you go back to Ephesians two eight nine as we repeat over and over and over again in our tradition. It is by grace that you're saved through faith, and that's not of yourself so that no one can boast, but it is the gift of God.
It is the gift of God. Works don't save you, but we are his very workmanship. We're created Christ Jesus for good works that he has prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. I think that's important to remember. When he appointed these 72 others, he sent them out exactly the same way that he sent out the 12.
There were six pairs in that 12, and there are 35 or 36 pairs here. And he sent them how? He sent them ahead of him to every city and place where he himself was gonna come. They did not have a media blast, Internet blast. They could not email, spam people.
They could not hit them with billboards. So he sent out 35 sets, probably 36 sets to go out into the surrounding areas and prepare for him coming to town. Now think about Jesus being one guy that can be in one place at one time. After having emptied himself, being found in nature as a man right here. And he's going to follow behind up on 35 sets of people that are going out.
That's pretty wild to think about what kind of schedule he's keeping in the next four months, right? Four point five months. He sent them out ahead of every city and a place where he himself was going to come. They were in a way acting as his forerunners as John the Baptist had. He was preparing the way for the Lord.
And he was saying to them, to this group of others, the harvest is plentiful. It's not a new analogy. We've seen this actually. In Jesus' time, it would have come around. Mean, it's an agricultural society.
When they're talking about the harvest, a lot of prophets had spoken about this already. And the folks who had the advantage of having the Old Testament Testament to the Jew first, right? They would have recognized this metaphor. It's so beautiful to think that the harvest is out there and it's plentiful, but the laborers are few. I was more sawmilling than farming where I come from.
We did more cutting stuff down like trees. And there's not a specific time of year you do that year round. But when time comes for the harvest, if you've been able to plant by yourself with just you and your family, and you've been able to weed with just you and your family, And you've been able to fertilize with just you and your family. All of that stuff is growing on the clock, right? And it's going to all be ready at the same time.
You need more hands. You need more hands. And so he's saying harvest time is here. It's plentiful. But the laborers are few.
So therefore, plead, plead with the Lord of the harvest. It's his field. It's his harvest. Plead with him to send out laborers into his harvest. Pray for more help, right?
If you're onboard, pray for more help. If I had to summarize it, I'd say pray earnestly, all of us, whether you feel that you are a missionary or not. I would argue with you if you say you're not. Pray earnestly that God would be sending out more workers to live on mission for him in whatever it is that you do. Pray earnestly that God would be sending out more workers to live on mission for him.
We sometimes, whether it's clergy, laity, or missionary and everybody else, we tend to put people, missionaries, on a pedestal in the church, I think. And we really ought to all be living on mission, whatever it is that we do. So pray earnestly that God would be sending out more workers that live on mission for him. Go. Behold.
Actually, these are both imperatives. Both of them are. Look, y'all, is what behold means. It's second person plural. I'm not just back from Georgia and doing that.
It really does. Look, y'all. Y'all be going. It's a command in the present active tense. It's y'all just have this be the way that you're going.
Now if you look at this verse, it's no doubt about it an imperative. The Great Commission is go ye therefore. The verse go ye therefore. That's actually participle. As you are going, be teaching people to obey all that I've commanded you.
That's important. This one flat out says, I'm commissioning y'all to go. Listen up y'all. Be going, but I'm sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves. In the past two or three years, I've seen a lot of shirts that say, lambs, not lambs.
Are you sure about that? Jesus never sends us out as lions. But he sends the disciples out a sheep. Maybe they're a little more mature than these 72 because he says little sheep for these guys. I'm sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves.
Leon Morrison, I mentioned his commentary already. I read a bunch of things this week, but I really liked what he had to say about this. When considering lambs in the midst of wolves, he says, they go to no easy task. Lambs in the midst of wolves are in no enviable position. The simile points both to danger and to helplessness.
Can you think about that for a minute? A lamb among wolves. 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.
So that's Leon Morris. Ray McDaniel said, it also points to utter dependence on the great shepherd. Right? If you are helpless and in danger, you have to be looking to the Great Shepherd to protect and guard and provide for you, to lead you beside the still waters. Right?
Carry no money belt. No bag. No sandals. And greet no one along the way. We we've covered the carry no money belt, no bag, no sandals.
I think that speaks to utter dependence on God also. Making the preparations for the journey. Should missionaries still be raising money if they said this? This was a specific place, a specific time where he's saying to them, listen, there's not a lot of time left to get this out, and I'm following behind, and I'm coming along behind you. Just go.
Carry no money belt, no bag, no sandals, depend on God. Greet no one along the way. Oh my goodness. Greet no one along the way. When I saw that, I just thought, how am I going to explain this one?
Greet no one along the way. That for for me, probably, just being me, is Jesus exhorting them to be impolite? Really? Greet no one along the way? Not even a tip of
Speaker 2the hat or a nod of
Speaker 1the head? You're just gonna walk right past people? Is he saying don't dilly dally? I think he's saying there's an urgency here. Don't dilly dally.
Be about to work. There is a task that has to be done. He's sticking to the task at hand. So I think he is saying that. It seems to me he is expressing urgency.
He's already forecast the mistreatment by the scribes, by the leaders. And he's already let them know, whether they knew it or not, he's already let them know that it's coming. And it's coming for them too. It seems he's expressing some urgency. Another Leon Morris quote.
He says some Eastern salutations could be elaborate and time consuming. I just changed it to some cultural salutations can be elaborate and time consuming. Trust me, I just got back from a trip to Georgia for a funeral. Walked Okay. By the house on the way to church.
I stopped at a friend's driveway, and it was a, hey, man. I hadn't seen you in forever. You only come home for funerals when I see you. I just wonder who died. How long you been gone?
Twenty two years. And tell me everything that's happened since you left. Yeah. I was almost late for church. It is elaborate and time consuming.
It just can be. He's saying, go about the task. Be be about the task. He's not exhorting them to be impolite, but don't dilly dally. Whatever house you enter because they're going to different cities where they're, you know, they're not from there.
Whatever house you enter, first, let it be known. Say this, peace be to this house. Shalom. God's peace be on this house. And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him.
Ain't that good? God's given them authority. He's given them peace. And he's saying, you can spread this. If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him.
My first trip to Mexico, met a guy who's pastor of a Methodist church down there. He let us sleep on the floor of the Sunday school rooms while we built this school. You know, we didn't have a volunteer dorm at the time. And then in that week, I felt called to stay, so I stayed. But he talked to a couple of people in his congregation in Lacero and Minerva Puente put me up for the next two and a half weeks at their house.
They were people of peace. And it was pretty great. This says if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it'll return to you. You'll you'll have peace again.
He might kick you out, but you'll have peace again. Stay in that house. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer is deserving of his wages. That's stay in that house eating and drinking whatever they provide, whatever is set before you. For the laborer is deserving of his wages.
Had a I'll tell it a little bit. For laborer is deserving of his wages. He said, this is going to be hard work. It's not going to be easy. And you are dependent on God, but he's gonna provide through people for you.
And just take what it is that they give humbly, graciously, for the laborers deserving of his wages. Don't move from house to house. Don't be moving around. You find a person of peace, stay there. Imagine these guys that have been following Jesus for some time and knowing certainly more about Jesus than their hosts.
And they have a meal with them and then they have to go. That's that's a that's That's like, well, that's great. I told the first service, we've been invited to come up to speak, which I did not do at that time very much. But when we were in Mexico, we get invited to come up to Peoria, Illinois and we spent one night at one house and one night at the next house and one night at the next house and one night at the next house. We do it for seven days in a row.
We got home. Were like, where in the world have we been? It's hard. They were all believers. In this case, they weren't though.
In this case, they're just getting the message about Jesus. Think about this. If you spend time for a meal and then you go somewhere else and you spend time, you know, you eat breakfast by yourself and then you if you spend that time and you're there in the home with them, they have time to ask questions and open up what's disturbing their own peace. And you have a chance to inject what calms your heart and what gives you peace. Don't move from house to house.
Stick with the people of peace. And whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat whatever is served to you. Matt and Megan Cox, some good friends of ours. They were with Missions Aviation Fellowship in Venezuela until Hugo Chavez decided all missionaries were CIA agents and kicked them all out. That's the truth.
He not that they were CIA agents. Let me back up. They were missionaries. And they were flying new tribes missionaries into the jungle mainly. And he said he and his wife had a chance.
This was earlier than that. They had a chance to go and eat with people. And their host family fed them something that they did not recognize, and it was something that looked kind of like blood and eyeballs. And they didn't really know what it was, but it was set before them and it grossed about something horrible, but they prayed and ate whatever was set before them. And then to reciprocate because they were living in this place for a time, they invited the same folks to their house.
And they just had ham sandwiches, just ham sandwich, little mayo, a little mustard. And when the folks left, they looked under the sofa cushions and found half ham sandwiches. I just think that's great. Whatever city you enter and whatever if they receive, you just eat whatever is served to you. Be gracious and thankful and receive whatever it is that they give you.
And heal those in it who are sick. Now, they've been given Jesus' authority in his name, and you see the results of this where they're gonna tell Jesus what happened. He's given them authority to heal those who are sick and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. This is for the people who are accepting you. Now, verse 10 takes a bit of a turn.
Whatever city you enter in, they do not receive you. You can just go out into the streets and say, even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, wipe off in protest against you. We brought peace, but you've rejected it. Yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near. You you recognize that in verse nine, the kingdom of God has come near to you.
And in verse 12, the kingdom of God has come near. It's the same message. Whether they accept it or reject it, the message does not change. The kingdom of God is right here. It's available in Christ.
Be sure of this. And I say to you, Jesus says to them, and to us, it'll be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that city. We know what happened to Sodom. So have we heard this before? Yes.
When Jesus sent out the 12, he said basically the same thing. Whether it's the 12 or the 72 or the congregation of the Lord that's going forward, the church triumphant. You're either gonna be accepted or you're gonna be rejected. Paul adds that you might have a time like you did on Mars Hill where I'll hear more from this guy later. People might put you off for a while.
Thirteen to sixteen is about the doom of the Galilean cities. Now we've heard this before too. Woe to you, Chorazim. Woe to you, Bethsaida. Now many miracles had occurred in you at Jesus' hand occurred in had the miracles that occurred in you occurred in Tyre and Sidon, those folks would have repented long ago sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, which are outside of the common Judea, Jewish background folks. These are Gentile folks mostly. It'll be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. Y'all really ought to know better, people. And you, Capernaum, Jesus made his home, where we see lots of his miracles performed, where we see lots of his message shared.
You, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? No. You'll be brought down to Hades because of your rejection. Ten sixteen, he says to those others, the one who listens to you, you're my message bearers. The one who listens to you, listens to me.
It's just like if I were stating the message. The one who listens to you listens to me. The one who rejects you, rejects me. He's already told them that crucifixion is coming, not in those terms, but he's already told them that he'd be mistreated, abused, and killed, and would rise again. The one who rejects you rejects me.
Servant's not better than his master. You can expect that there will be those who reject you. The one who listens to you, though listens to me. The one who rejects you, rejects me. But the one who rejects me, rejects the one who sent me.
That's eternal life versus eternal death right there. The one who you're going out and giving opportunity for people to embrace the eternal life that God offers. But if they reject me, they reject the one who sent me. So this is the return. They went out and they did that just as he had said.
And when they returned, it says, now the 72 returned with joy. Amen. Ain't that great? Came back. It's no boring missionary moment when somebody comes back having seen what God can do.
Right? The 72 returned with joy, and they were saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. Even the demons are subject to us in your name. He told them in my name, you're gonna do great things. Even the demons are subject and Jesus said back to them, I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
I saw it happen. He vaunted himself and was thrown out. I saw him fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I've given y'all authority to walk on snakes and scorpions, and authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. That one, I see in that some reverberating of Psalm 91 in there that and actually, Psalm 91.
Psalm 91 is the one that the devil used in the wilderness to tempt Christ. Right? Just read it. Okay. Here it is.
Just read it. Here it is. Here it is. I'm gonna read the whole Psalm. It's in 16 verses.
He who dwells in the shelter of the most high will abide in the shadow of the almighty. 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 from the deadly pestilence. And 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 of the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence that stalks in darkness or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A 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.
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 of your ways. Do you hear in that the defenselessness and the danger and being surrounded on all sides? And he says, he's the one that's gonna sustain you. Trust your great shepherd. Trust your provider.
They will bear you up in their hands that you do not strike your foot against a stone and you will tread upon the lion and the cobra. The young lion and the serpent, you will trample down because he has loved me, therefore I will deliver him. This is a quote from God. Because he has loved me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high.
Because he has known my name, he will call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him with a long life. I will satisfy him and let him see my salvation. Amen.
Psalm 91 is a good one. Now, we know that people who are we know that there are people who earnestly serve the Lord and and know him well and articulate the message well, and still they're cut down sometimes in the prime of their life. I think this weekend is Martin Luther King weekend. And, woah, man, It's hard to see, you know, the shots ringing out in Memphis in 1968. But he was the message was the same.
He was carrying the message, faithfully carrying the message, and the message carried on. And he carries on with life eternal. We have a very short and limited view, but God is offering promises for those who will go out into the harvest fields to do the hard work as lambs among wolves. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this. Oh, this is good.
This is really good. So they come back and they're saying, you wouldn't believe it. It's so great. Even demons respond to us in your name. In in your name, with your authority, we saw the things that we've been seeing you do, we've been doing.
And Jesus says, don't rejoice in this. That's not the thing to get all excited about, that the spirits are subject to you. That's not the that's not the exciting thing. This is the exciting thing. Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.
That your names are written down in the lamb's book of life. Knowing you, Lord, is the greatest thing. Loving you, serving you. Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. And that brings Jesus joy.
So this is the close. Jesus' own joy. I I think that a lot of times in art, we see gentle Jesus with his, you know, blessing and very calm, or we see Jesus in the agony of the passion, beaten, bruised. But seldom do we see Jesus just overflowing with joy. And we see it in scripture right here.
Verse 21 says, 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've hidden these things from the wise and intelligent. God resists the proud. And you've revealed them to infants. We have to enter like a child, faith of a child.
We have to enter in humility. Says, you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent. You reveal them to infants. Yes, father, for doing so was well pleasing in your sight, And all things have been handed over to me by my father. No one knows who the son is except the father, and who the father is except for the son, and anyone to whom the son determines to reveal it.
Ain't that good? I mean, Jesus and the father had been forever throughout time and memorial all the way back to eternity past, and they knew each other really, really, really well along with the Holy Spirit, knew each other really well. And then this great time, the inauguration of Jesus' messianic time, he says, and anyone to whom the son determines to reveal him. The message that they carried was his message. Miracles authenticated that message.
To whom does the son of God reveal himself? Anyone who receives the message of the ones he sent out. That that's something to be joyful about. That's something to be happy about. That we can still be a part of the going forth of this message.
So what brought Jesus joy in that day? I think he says this right now. Turning to the disciples, he said to them privately, blessed are the eyes that are seeing the things that you see. All of the prophecies and all of the longings, blessed are your eyes. He said to them privately, blessed are the eyes that see the things you see.
For I tell you this, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you're seeing, and they didn't see them. They looked forward with great expectation, but they didn't see them. And they wanted to hear the things that you hear. Direct instruction from God himself that you hear, and they didn't they didn't hear them. That brought Jesus joy that the time had been fulfilled and that they were experiencing the very kingdom of God, the advance of the kingdom of God.
So what brought Jesus joy then? I think we can say with pretty good certainty is what brings Jesus joy now. It is when believers praying earnestly that God Almighty would be sending out workers to live on mission for him. In everything that they do, in whatsoever your handfast do, you do it serving the Lord. Believers praying earnestly, and God Almighty sending out workers to live on mission for him.
People of peace accepting the man and his message of the nearness of the kingdom of God. The message doesn't change. It's right here. And what it takes is receiving the message. Now, rejection is still possible.
We're still living as lambs among wolves. But this is what brings Jesus joy that the gospel still works. I've got seven minutes left. I I told you all the story of my uncle Kenneth a couple weeks ago before I left, and I abbreviated it down. I've got one story that I told the first service I didn't tell you all.
Transformation in my case, doing this, I grew up in church since nine months before I was born. I've been in church my whole life. And it's Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. I've done that. Some of you all are pastor's kids, you know how that goes.
My life, I didn't see dramatic transformation at one time, probably until I moved to the mission field and found the end of myself. But I have seen adults that come to Jesus and their life is absolutely transformed. The funeral in Georgia consisted of the pastor of my little church that I grew up in. From zero to 14, he was my pastor, and then he's been back there for eleven years. He served this little church for twenty six years over his life.
He's 89 years old. He became really good friends over the last four or five years with my Uncle Kenneth. The dramatic transformation that happened to my Uncle Ken, he had been a rough guy. I said that a few weeks ago. He'd been in the Navy, on a riverboat, in Vietnam.
He loved what he did there so much that he volunteered for a second tour and did that more, doubled his efforts there. And then when he came home, he was rough. He said, I would come across that table and pop somebody. He said that pretty often. Pretty rough guy.
Not a great dad, not a great husband. And then at some point, he went through a difficult time. He brought his son from South Georgia up to where we live, dropped him off, and his son got saved. He walked out. He was transformed.
His life was changed. And then a few weeks later, I told you all this. Kenneth came forward, gave his life to Jesus, and he was dramatically changed. Six months later, he's a missionary in Guyana. It's pretty healthy leap.
He went to a seminary out in Tulsa and became a Pentecostal pastor. Like, that's a dramatic transformation from the guy he was. Spiritual things were very real to him when he was a licentious guy. He was in this ditch, I'd say, for a pretty good part of his life. And then when he came to Jesus, he overcorrected.
And he came into a legalistic ditch. I'll tell you the story. My brother made me swear I would not tell this at the funeral. But he didn't say anything about today.
Speaker 2So
Speaker 1I once left a tape. Actually, I think my cousin Kevin, his son, left my tape in his car. And when he got in and he turned the radio on, he heard Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy. And when he heard it, it has a painful association. Rock music had a very painful association for him.
And he said, that's the devil's music. And he crushed it. He threw it out the window. He came into the house. I was sitting in the living room of our house.
Kevin was there with me. My cousin Cindy was there with me. My dad and my brother were in the back of the house. Toby's back in the back. Daddy's in another room.
And uncle Kenneth came in and he said,
Speaker 2here's $20 for that tape. I'm gonna pay you for it. I destroyed your property. I don't want
Speaker 1you to ever get another one. Don't be listening to that devil music. He had a very real experience, like I said, for his time with drugs and other stuff. He had seen manifestations demons that he could describe very, very acutely. And when he became a believer, he wanted to put an end to all that sort of stuff.
And so he was preaching, I mean a sermon to me, to Kevin, and to Cindy. Such that in our little house, we have two ways in on this side of the house, no ways out from the back of the house. And my brother and my dad climbed out the window to avoid the sermon that was going on. Now, when I'm here as pastor, I get to see people. I've been here ten and a half years, twelve and a half if you count the internships.
And I've done funerals for people here, but to know Doyle for the last ten and a half years is not to know Doyle. And I know that. So I tend to at funerals here, used I usually say, I'm gonna do the encouragement from God's word part of this. I'll preach. But I gotta have somebody else that can do the eulogy and tell me who they are, who they were, who they have been.
For Uncle Kenneth though, have the opposite thing. I've been gone for twenty two years. What I remember of Uncle Kenneth is my dad and my brother climbing out the window. Even though he's a believer and I know that he was. I have no doubt about it.
He was hard to be around. Both ways, he was hard to be around. But you know what? Twenty six years ago, twenty seven years ago, he heard about a situation that was difficult. There was a lady with four kids who had been abandoned by her husband.
And he heard about her from my mom who was a good friend of hers. And he started praying for this lady. And he prayed for her for a year before he met her. And then when he met her, they began to court and then date, and then they married. So twenty six years ago, he married Beverly and raised the kids as if they were his own.
For a time, Kevin actually came back and lived with them in the house. My cousin that I remember that was there for the sermon. And uncle Kenneth got out of both ditches and hit the good old gospel way. He became really close friends with that pastor that I mentioned. So brother Don did the funeral sermon portion.
One of his daughters did the eulogy and just it was all so wonderful. And then they let me do the graveside. And doing graveside is kind of like batting cleanup, right? Everybody else is getting on base, but then you got a chance right there. You finish it off.
And so with all his high school friends and all the other people, I was able to say, you know, but God who is rich in mercy, when we were dead in our trespasses, he offered life. And it's a message that still can be accepted today and is absolutely transformative if you will accept it. And he did. And I was just so delighted to hear that. I pray that in Jesus name, you've heard a message that leads you to the peace of salvation.
And if you already have that peace, that you'd be able to share it with other people and that you'd see, like Jesus said, that your eyes would see somebody transformed. That brings Jesus joy to see with your eyes and hear with your ears what people have longed for. Would you stand with me? We're gonna sing one more. Breathe on me, breath of God.
Without God breathing life into us, without his spirit breathing into us, we have no hope. But with it, there's joy unspeakable and full of glory. Would you sing with us?
Speaker 2Breathe on me, breath of God. Fill me with life on you that I may love what thou dost love and do what thou wouldst do. You have his authority. Breathe on me breath of God until my heart is pure. Until with thee, I will, one will to do and to endure.
Breathe on me breath of God till I am holy thine until this earthly part of me goes with thy fire divine breathe on me breath of God
Speaker 1Amen. And now for the benediction from Romans fifteen thirteen. I pray that God, who is the source of all hope, 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, make it so.
May we reflect your glory. Amen.
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