A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 25
"Bringing Joy to the Lord's Heart"
Luke 10: 1-24
Luke’s Gospel account is the only one that
tells of the sending out of the seventy. It is also the only version that describes their
joyous return and victory over the forces of darkness.
These seventy men are not called apostles but they are still sent “apostello” with a commission to represent the
Lord. Today’s passage reminds us that
with salvation comes the responsibility to join the task of sharing the good news with
those who have not yet heard. Some will go great distances, others will share with friends
and neighbors, but we are all called to do something. Jesus did not leave the ministry to
just the twelve. Neither does he today leave the ministry only to those who are pastors or
staff members.
Something that is particularly powerful to me in this passage is that in verse
twenty-one, Luke says Jesus “rejoiced” upon hearing the report of the results
of mission of the seventy. This is the only place in scripture where this particular word
is used to describe the emotions of Jesus. It is mind-boggling to me to realize that we
have the capacity to make God rejoice by our faithful ministry.
This
morning I want to look at “How Can I Bring Joy To The Lord’s Heart?”
(vv. 1-4)
”After these things the Lord appointed seventy
others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He
Himself was about to go. (2) Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but
the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His
harvest. (3) Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. (4) Carry neither
money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.” Jesus recruited seventy additional soldiers for
duty on the frontline. We are not told their names and we do not know how or when Jesus
selected them. But we do know that when Jesus called they were ready to go.
Jesus tells the
seventy that there is much work to do, but not enough people to do the work (v.2), "The harvest truly is
great, but the laborers are few.” He
also tells them that this evangelistic mission will be dangerous (v.3), “I send you out as lambs
among wolves.” Jesus knew that they would face opposition and danger in
preaching this new message. He also conveys a sense of urgency to the mission by telling
them to travel light (v. 4).
“Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor
sandals; and greet no one along the road.” When
he says, “greet no one along the road,” Jesus is not telling the disciples to be rude to
people, he is warning then against engaging in the Jewish custom of long and elaborate
time-consuming greetings when meeting people on the road. He is telling them to get on
with what they have been called to do and not let anything turn them aside. “Don’t
live cluttered lives or get so caught up in the social whirl that we forget the spiritual
purpose of our existence!” Jesus
goes on to say in verse seven, “and remain in the same house … do not go
from house to house,” that
is that the disciples are not to go from house to house socializing. We need to realize
that the urgency of carrying the message of Jesus has intensified not diminished with the
passage of time. In fact the principles of traveling light and urgency of the task are
timeless.
I think that there is an important principle inherent in this passage that
immobilizes us today from spreading the gospel. It is the notion that there is just too much work to do
in God’s mission field, and I am only one person what difference can I make. There is
no way that my efforts will make a difference. That notion is false.
“I recently read about an old man, walking the beach at
dawn, who noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the
sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked what he was doing. The answer was that the
stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. ‘But the beach goes on for
miles and miles, and there are millions of starfish,’ countered the man. ‘How
can your effort make any difference?’
The
young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves.
‘It makes a difference to this one,’ he said.” [Leadership Journal. From www.bible.org
/illustrations/f/f-07.htm]
Jesus instructed these disciples, and in turn all believer’s, to ask God to
send out more laborers (v.2), “… therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers
into His harvest.” The first thing to do is pray. Why must we pray,
because this is the Lord’s work? What is impossible with men is possible with God. If
there is going to be a great reaping of the harvest it will because of God. The harvest we
want is impossible with us. The new birth is a miracle. It is based on God’s power.
It is through prayer that we will gain the
compassion we need to see the harvest as it truly is, it is through prayer that we
will see that there is great potential in the harvest and it is through prayer that
we will ask for the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers.
In the days of Christ’s ministry on the earth the laborers were “few” and
they still are today. How can we ask God to send forth someone else without first saying, “Lord,
send me?” It is impossible to pray regularly for
the salvation of a loved one, a neighbor, a friend or a co-worker and not be moved to do
something. We cannot help but be moved to be the “someone” that God would use.
It is impossible to earnestly pray for the Lord to seen laborers into the harvest and not
make ourselves available to be a part of the answer. When we pray that God would send
someone we place ourselves at His disposal to be one of the workers in reaching the lost.
In the text we see that the ones who he had commanded to pray for laborers became workers
themselves.
The message itself was simple, twice, once in verse
nine and again in verse eleven, the disciples are instructed to convey the
message that “the
kingdom of God has come near to you” please
underline in your Bibles that phrase in verse nine and verse eleven. The message then and now, is of God’s
kingdom, that is “His right to rule our lives.” Jesus the King is
coming! God’s kingdom is very near. The kingdom of God is to be understood as near as
the daybreak is imminent at the close of the night. Those
who accept Christ not only be come a part of the kingdom of God but the kingdom of God
becomes part of them. They not only enter the Kingdom of God but the Kingdom of God enters
them.
Beyond
A Call That Needs To Be Answered There is -
2. There Is A
Consequence That Needs to Be Considered (vv.
13-16)
"Woe to you, Chorazin!(Ko-ra’-zin) Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works
which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago,
sitting in sackcloth and ashes. (14) But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at
the judgment than for you.”
Jesus mentions the name of two cities, Corazin and Bethsaida, which refused to turn
to God as examples of the cost of the rejection of God. Capernaum in particular is pointed
out for judgment in verse fifteen, “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought
down to Hades.” Capernaum was mentioned so often in relation to
Jesus that is was called “His own city” (Matthew
9:1). It was here that Jesus performed several of his miracles. It was here that
Jesus’ major teachings took place. Capernaum had seen the miracles and heard the
teachings but had not responded in faith. This cities demonstrate that there is a cost for
rejecting Jesus; that is to be brought down to the depths literally Hades. In other words,
the consequence of rejection is eternal. What is at stake is the eternal destiny of every
person who hears the gospel. The gospel does not just involve a casual, private religious
expression of opinion, just one option among many. It is a revelation of God of the one
way to Heaven.
The central
truth here is that the more we know of God’s truth, and the more we see Him move,
the more we will be accountable for. Since the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and
Capernaum had received such convincing proofs, they are held to greater account for what
they had seen.
Jesus
completes his thoughts in verse sixteen by saying, “He who hears you hears
Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me." The point for us to remember is this, “Don’t take it personally when people reject God’s
message. He’s the one they are criticizing and rejecting not you.”
It must be said
that unfortunately, sometimes the Gospel in rejected because of the obnoxiousness or lack
of love with which it is presented. People sometimes reject Jesus because of
Christian’s, may that never be true of us.
There
is a Consequence That Need To Be Considered and -
3. There Is A Joy That Needs To Be Tempered
(vv.
17-19)
We don’t know how long the seventy were gone, where they went, or how people
responded in each place. But we do know that verse
seventeen reports the high spirits they returned in, “Then the seventy returned
with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." The disciples were overjoyed that have been used as instruments of
God’s power.
In verse eighteen he says to them, "…
I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (19) Behold, I give you the authority to
trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall
by any means hurt you.”
Although I believe that
Jesus speaking in retrospect of the fall of Satan from Heaven in time past, he is also
saying “When I
saw the force of darkness defeated through your ministry I am reminded that Satan is
already defeated.” And
I believe that Jesus would say to us today, “I see Satan fall like lightning from Heaven when our church makes
its Faith Promise commitment for missions for the coming year and sends it to missionaries
around the world.” “I see Satan fall like lightning from Heaven when the youth
take a mission trip and work to build a church building in Mexico.” “I see Satan
fall like lightning when the church gathers for worship and you invite a friend.”
“I see Satan fall like lightning when you cheerfully welcome the new person who comes
to church.” “I see Satan fall like lightning when you forgive the one who has
wronged you.”
In verse nineteen, Jesus in
figurative language tells the seventy that they had authority over spiritual enemies
illustrated by “serpents
and scorpions.” This truth later revealed by John (1 John 4:4), “…He who is in you,
is greater than who is in the world.” There is a Joy That Needs to be Tempered by
remembering that spiritual highs and emotional victories will come and go but
Verse twenty is a marvelous verse, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to
you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
The Lord cautions them to not go on rejoicing only over the outwardly spectacular
victories but rather to rejoice because their names are written down in heaven. The verb
here is perfect tense and means “they have been written and they stand
written.” It is a statement of assurance. Here is the real cause for joy. In
fact for continual joy, Jesus uses a present imperative (chairte) to make the point. John further reveals in Revelation 20:12-15,
“And I saw
the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book
was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works,
by the things which were written in the books. (13) The sea gave up the dead who were in
it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each
one according to his works. (14) Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the second death. (15) And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast
into the lake of fire.”
The disciples need to remember that while it is true that will be with the Lord forever, it is not because of anything they have contributed but because of his grace. They must never forget that they are not fundamentally different from those to whom they are carrying the message of the gospel. And Neither Are We !!!!!
There is a Grace That Needs to Be Remembered and –
In verse
twenty-one we read, “In that hour Jesus
rejoiced in the Spirit and said,” Jesus is
genuinely excited literally it says that he was “thrilled with joy.” As I said in the
introduction I find it mind-boggling to me to realize that we have the capacity to
make God rejoice by our faithful ministry.
Jesus’ joy makes Him break into a
prayer of thanksgiving. ".. I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to
babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”
The reasons for his rejoicing are two-fold. First, that the truth did not
go only to the “wise and (prudent) intelligent” but is something that any humble heart can
receive. When Jesus says in verse twenty-one that he is thankful to the Father that
He has “… hidden these things from the wise and prudent,” he is not rejoicing because sinners were blind
to God’s truth, for God is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9). He rejoiced because the
understanding of that truth did not depend on natural abilities or education.
One of the gravest forms of spiritual deception is the idea that superior knowledge
or intellectual capacity gives one a spiritual advantage. One day all wisdom, all power
that has been exercised by man and all human cleverness will pass away, and the remaining
truth will be that we are loved by God Himself and His love goes on and on.
Secondly, Jesus rejoiced to be the revealer of
the Father. Having praised God for revealing himself to children, Jesus now praises
the Father for making Him the source of revelation. In
verse twenty-two Jesus says, “All things have been delivered to Me by My
Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except
the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."
Write these references in your margin (john 1:14, 18 and Hebrews 1:1-3). John says
of Jesus in John 1:14 & 18, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us
and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and
truth…..(18) For no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in
the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” The word translated “declared”
is literally (exegeted) thus Jesus is the explanation of the
Father.
The writer of Hebrews
says in (1:1-3) that, “God who at various times and in different
ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, (2) has in these last days spoken
to us by His son, whom he has appointed heir of all things through whom he made the worlds
(3) who being in the brightness of his glory and the express image of His
person….” What is God like? Exactly as Jesus has revealed
him.
In verse twenty-three He then turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed
are the eyes which see the things you see; (24) for I tell you that many prophets and
kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear,
and have not heard it."
What facts were true then, that are just as true if not more so today?
· The world is perishing with Christ.
· Jesus is coming soon.
· There is a great territory to be covered, a
great harvest to reap.
· The need for reaching many as quickly as
possible with the gospel is urgent.
· Jesus
is Still Sending Are You Going?
There Is A Call to Be
Answered
There Is A
Consequence That Needs To Be Considered
There Is A Joy That
Needs To Be Tempered
There Is A Grace That
Needs To Be Remembered
There Is A Privilege That Needs To Be Contemplated
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