The Mission & Ministry of God's Men, Part 2

of your leading us that we might be true followers of you. We thank you for the promises in your word and we thank you that we can believe and trust all that you say and do and ask that you guide us today as we look once again into the perfect law of Liberty in Jesus name Amen. Luke chapter 9 is where we are today the first six verses Luke chapter 9 the first six verses mark a transition in the ministry of Jesus Christ our Lord a transition because in this chapter we're going to see him set in his face to move toward Jerusalem he has been involved in the ministry now for about 18 months since its inception back at his baptism and now he is on the downward trend and he knows that soon he is going to die and so this transition comes at a great point because what he wants to do is to reach the Galilee region one more time he's going to do that by sending out the 12 he's going to do that by empowering them with the gospel as well as special supernatural powers that they might might validate the message as they preach it and so this transition comes at a very crucial time in the ministry of our Lord later on he will send out another 70 and yet in this chapter he sends out the 12 let me read the first six verses to refresh your memory will briefly review last week and then cover the remaining five points in your outline alright verse number one Luke chapter 9 and he gave the 12 together or called the 12 together excuse me and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing and he said to them take nothing for your journey neither a staff nor a bag nor bread nor money and do not even have two tunics apiece and whatever house you enter stay there and take your leave from there and as for those who do not receive you as you go out from the city shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them and departing they began going about among the villages preaching the gospel and healing everywhere what we have is the mission and ministry of God's men and this mission and ministry in part becomes part of our mission and our ministry as God's men as God's women we are used and called by God to spread the good news of the gospel by understanding the mission and ministry of these men then we better understand our identity as children of the Living God and our responsibility to carry on that mission and ministry that these men these men began to do here in Luke chapter 9 we told you that this is the part of their life where they now experience their internship they will go out they will come back and they will learn from their experiences and this becomes a vital training part of their ministry and we told you last week that the first characteristic that mark these men and their mission is that they went out to proclaim the kingdom of God the man of God the woman of God proclaims the kingdom of God they proclaim the salvation of God and these men would go into the city and they would preach the good news of the gospel we talked to you about this last week and they would go out and preach about the forgiveness of God the grace of God the mercy of God the kindness of God the goodness of God they would say that the king has arrived we have come to present the kingdom they were good to go out and present the kingdom of God to do that there had to be a king and so they would introduce Jesus the Messiah as the king in so doing they would compel people to be a part of that great kingdom to preach the gospel of repentance as we saw last week when we read Mark's account they went out proclaiming the kingdom of God they went out preaching repentance and they wanted people to understand how imperative it was to be a part of the great kingdom of God now Matthew's account tells us these words Matthew chapter 10 same account just different book it says this verse 5 these 12 Jesus sent out after instructing them saying do not go in the way of the Gentiles and do not enter any city of the Samaritans but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and as you go preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand he tells them don't go to Gentile cities don't go to the Samaritans go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel go to the people of God go to Israel first they need to know the truth of the gospel I came to save them from their sins and that's exactly what they did because Israel was to be the mechanism in which the Messiah was to be spread and Israel was to be that conduit so people would know the truth of who the Messiah is but Israel failed and thus the church would then be born and God set Israel aside for a time being but one day he will raise them up again and he will use them specifically during the tribulational period to once again spread the good news of the gospel there'll be two witnesses one like Moses one like Elijah Revelation chapter 11 there'll be a hundred and forty four thousand Jews twelve thousand from every tribe that will present the gospel according to Revelation chapter 7 and they will be marked specifically by God and they will not die during the tribulation many will die but the hundred and forty four thousand will not die because when you come to the end of the book of Revelation the hundred and forty four thousand are standing on Mount Zion so they got preserves every one of them plus there'll be an angel that flies around in midheaven we told you last week that God didn't have to use men to spread the gospel that was his choice he could have done it any way he chose to but he chose to use people like you and me ordinary people like the disciples that they might spread the good news of the gospel so principle number one is that the man of God understands his mission when he proclaims the kingdom of God number two when he portrays the compassion of God when he portrays the compassion of God listen to this verse 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing now this is unlike anything we can ever imagine remember now that they had to go out and represent Christ and Christ empowered them Matthew's account says it this way it says verse 8 heal the sick raise the dead cleanse the lepers cast out demons freely received freely give these men had power to raise the dead these men had supernatural power given to them by God to validate the message that they would give you see in order for the people of Israel to understand that these 12 men were preaching the same gospel that the Messiah preached they had to be endowed with special gifts to validate the message as Jesus the Messiah would use his powers to validate his messianic credentials and so these men were endowed with that same kind of power they would heal the sick they would raise the dead they would cast out demons unlike anything we can ever conjure up in our minds these men did the miraculous because that's what God had designed them to do look what it says in verse number one of Luke 9 he called the 12 together and gave them power and authority over all the demons not some of the demons not certain kind of demons but all the demons so these men had power over all demons all diseases and even death that is miraculous that is the sign of an apostle we know that because over in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse number 12 it speaks to us about the signs of an apostle it says the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance by signs and wonders and miracles the signs of a true apostle were that they had power listen carefully over all demons all diseases and even death that's a sign of a true miracle worker that's a sign of somebody who understands their mission in ministry and that's what these men were given now we know that they were given this power to validate their message because people had to know that they were sent from God today that message that we preach is validated by the Word of God we know that because as time went on in the book of Acts the miracles diminished tremendously by the apostles so much so that Paul who had the ability to raise the dead that Paul who had the ability to heal the sick left people in certain cities sick because he wasn't given listen carefully he wasn't given the power just to heal everybody who was sick he was given the power to validate the message that's important to understand these men had this miraculous power because others who saw them had to associate what they did with Jesus Christ and the message they give they were true apostles because they could do the exact same thing that Jesus did and this was a tremendous sign to the lost sheep of the house of Israel very important but this is about compassion it's not about power they would portray the same compassion that Jesus portrayed think about this for a minute Jesus wanted to prove himself to be God right what better way to prove yourself to be God than to stand at the edge of the Sea of Galilee and part the Sea of Galilee and let people go to the other side on dry ground would that not prove that Jesus was God to all those in Israel sure it would absolutely what of Jesus was was to go to to Mount Tabor and look at Mount Tabor and with his own word move Mount Tabor from Galilee to Jerusalem that would be pretty powerful wouldn't it just to pick up a mountain and move it to Jerusalem that would prove he was miraculous that would prove he was God right but you see the essence of the Messiah is not just to show power but to portray the compassion of his heart to people that's why he healed those who were sick that's why those who are blind could see those who are who are deaf could hear that's why those with leprosy were healed that's why he raised the dead to show his compassion and his love for people and that's why the second point is very important you go to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom but you also go to portray the compassion of that King so people will know that you are a representative of that King you have the same kind of heart as the King has you have a heart for lost people you have a heart for people's miserable condition you see that's our Lord so many times we forget that remember 1st Timothy 4 verse number 10 says that God is the Savior of all men especially of those who believe in other words God is the deliverer of all men especially of those who believe I believe that the Bible says that God delivers every single man every single day if that God saves every single man every single day not that he saves them in terms of regenerating them but he allows them to live for instance the wages of sin is what death right but you're all here today you all sin yesterday probably even today some of you might be even sinning right now I don't know but you're still alive right that's because God's a Savior of all men he's a deliverer you have unsafe friends are they alive yeah they're alive they're still they're still hanging around giving you a hard time and God because he's a Savior of all men in a physical sense in a temporal sense in an earthly sense they're still alive the rain falls on the just and the unjust that's God showing his grace and mercy to an unbelieving world right the sun shines on the just and the unjust you see our God is a Savior he's the deliverer by nature that's who he is people need to understand that our God is not like a false God who is who terrorizes man and those who represent God are not like false teachers who abuse man and use men for instance listen to these words over in Mark chapter 12 verse number 38 and in his teaching he was saying beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like respectful greetings in the marketplaces you ever known a religion that's even today where those who in authority wear long ropes and they like to show and be respected in the marketplace hmm the Word of God's never outdated first 39 and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets who devour widows houses and for appearances sake offer long prayers these will receive greater condemnation Christ is speaking about false teachers he's speaking about those who like to put on the show they they devour widows how many how many widows do you know how many women do you know who give their money to all these TV preachers thousands upon thousands of dollars because that's what they're there for that's what those TV preachers do they want to devour widows income they want to suck him dry oh they would never go out in public and say that but it's characteristic of false teachers because they don't have compassion on the souls of man they don't have the heart of the Messiah see that's why he went from place to place healing people that's why the book of Jeremiah says that God wept over the world that's why in Luke chapter 19 Christ wept over Jerusalem that's why in John chapter 11 he wept at the at the at the tomb of Lazarus why would Jesus weep at the tomb of Lazarus if Jesus knows that he's gonna raise him from the dead anyway I mean you think he'd go hey don't worry about it I got all the control Lazarus come forth he'd come out everybody'd be happy but why is he weeping at the at the at the tomb of Lazarus because he sees the effects of sin he understands the effects of sin people get sick and die because of sin if it wasn't for sin nobody would ever die but the day you eat Christ God said way back in Genesis 3 the day you eat you'll die and man's been dying ever since some die sooner some die later but man's been dying ever since and so God is as a deliverer as a Savior is going to save man is going to show his heart he's going to show his compassion he's going to show his mercy and his grace and his love and his goodness every single day that an unbeliever lives because the Bible says remember in Romans chapter 2 verse number 4 it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance remember that the goodness and kindness of God that leads man to repentance it's when the sinner wakes up and says I deserve hell I should be burning in hell right now but because of the mercy and kindness of God I'm still alive and I want to give my life to him because he is so good to me when I am so unworthy and that's what the heart of these men was to portray and so they would proclaim the kingdom of God and they would portray the compassion of God and number three they would put their trust in God we understand the profile of these men because he puts his trust solely in God listen to what Jesus says he said to them take nothing for your journey neither a staff nor a bag nor bread nor money and do not even have two tunics Matthew's account verse 8 of chapter 10 says heal the sick raise the dead cleanse the lepers cast out demons freely you have received freely give in other words he says I want you to trust me I don't want you to take your bag I want to take your money I don't want you to take two tunics Mark's account says just take a mere staff a mere staff don't take two just take one sometimes you take one as a walking stick and sometimes you take a smaller one to beat off animals and maybe even robbers no just take one don't take two shirts take one shirt that means you got to do laundry every day that's tough don't take any money with you well how are we gonna live don't take any bread with you don't take the bag that holds the money or the bread don't take those things with you well how are we supposed to eat how are we supposed to to get any money you see how easy it would be that you go to town and say I have the power to raise the dead you want your son raised to the dead how much money do you have I'll raise him for the dead for you I can do that for you you got somebody sick I tell you what you give you write me a check you write me a check and all you need for that check is is Matthew it's all the address you need just Matthew and all and I'll heal your your sick wife or your sick son or your sick daughter you see freely you have you have received Matthew 10 8 freely give you're not in it for the money God's men are never in it for the money they're in it to demonstrate their complete trust and reliance upon God his power and his sovereignty this this is testing time for these men when you go I want you to put your complete trust in me I don't want you to trust your money I don't want you to trust your staff I don't want you to trust the fact that you got clothes I don't want you to trust the fact that you have bread I want you to trust only me you depend solely on me so I'm gonna put you in a situation where you have to do that we don't like those situations I recall way back when I was leaving the East Coast and making my way to the Midwest to go to seminary I was traveling out there wondering how I was gonna pay for my seminary education because I had no money but I knew God had called me to to further my education and to go to seminary and I knew that I'd have to work and put my way through seminary I just never knew how it is I was gonna pay the bills for seminary and all the books and everything else and so I arrived in Winona Lake, Indiana and I I got my apartment and I went to go register for my classes and I walked up to to write a check with very little money in my account because I didn't have a lot and I said well how much do I owe and the registrar said you owe nothing I said well how could that be I just arrived just last week I'm here to pay my bill I need to register for my classes I need to pay my bill how much do I owe she says you owe nothing your bill has already been paid I said really yeah it's right here paid in full it said semester one I said what what can I can I put a down payment down on the next semester so she turned the page over I said oh sorry that's been paid in full too I said really well how about the semester after that one she turned the page over up that's been paid they've all been paid I said who paid them the lady said we have no idea we receive cash in the mail with your name on it for your schooling well I was a little excited about going seminary I thought man God must really want me here I mean God supplying money God must want me to get an education so I worked hard I paid attention in class didn't get straight A's but you know you can only do so much with what you got right and so I you know I did what I could because I knew that God was supplying and God was doing a great work God wants you to trust him and so many times we don't want to put you put in that situation isn't it interesting if you go back to Luke chapter 22 go back to Luke 22 later on in the ministry of Christ listen to what Jesus says to his men in Luke 22 Luke chapter 22 verse number 35 Luke 22 verse number 35 he said to them when I sent you out without purse and bag and sandals you did not lack anything did you in other words God supplied all their needs and they said no nothing he said to them but now let him who has the purse take it along likewise also a bag let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one and that unique God didn't want them in that situation forever but he wanted in that situation to learn to trust him so that down the road they would continue to trust him you know God puts you in situations so that you will lean completely upon him we saying leaning on the everlasting arms right the choir saying about learning to lean upon Christ but we don't like to do that because that means that we have to abandon all and trust him and that's just a very uncomfortable position to be and and and the Lord saying look this is what I want you to I want you to put all your trust in me I want you to believe in me I want you to know that this ministry this mission that I have given to you is specific for you and to prove that to you freely I've given you this power freely I've given you this message now you go out and proclaim it with this power and I will supply every need in other words you do exactly what I say and you have to take no thought for tomorrow and that what Jesus said in Matthew 6 seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things the things that we worry about the things that we're anxious about what we will wear it what we will eat those kinds of things where we will live Christ says I'll take care of all those things but you seek first my kingdom you seek first my righteousness and I will take care of everything else that's why Jesus said in Matthew 6 take no thought for tomorrow but boy we're always thinking about tomorrow but we're thinking about next week we're thinking about next year we're worried to death about tomorrow and Jesus says don't think you have no guarantee you have tomorrow you have no guarantee you have lunch today you have no guarantee that we're going to end at 1015 you have no guarantee of anything around here okay but we think that we do and Jesus says take no thought for tomorrow because each day has enough trouble of its own you're gonna trust me today you're worried about tomorrow and not trusting me today you have to learn to trust me today and you do that by seeking first my kingdom and my righteousness and I'll take care of everything else Jesus says to these men you go you proclaim the kingdom you do what you're called to do and you exercise the power that I've been given to you guess what don't worry about your bag don't worry about your bread don't worry about your money don't worry about your tunic or your shirt don't worry about your staff I'll take care of everything that you need you just be faithful to do what I've called you to do folks that's a great lesson for us isn't it we learn that lesson and that's why Jesus has you here today not by accident but by divine appointment so you learn that lesson so the man of God the woman of God who wants to fulfill the mission and ministry that God's men fulfill he or she proclaims the kingdom of God he or she is going to portray the compassion of God he or she will put their trust completely in God alone for all things number four he or she will pattern contentment in daily living will pattern contentment in daily living listen to what it says in verse number four whatever house you enter stay there and take your leave from there in other words when you go to the house maybe somebody invites you in to stay and you get there and you know the beds not very comfortable and there is no hot water and there is no soap and you don't like your living conditions don't leave stay right there I want you to be content with such things as you have don't look for a better place you see that's what false teachers did false teachers would go from city to city and they would go from house to house and once they received the money that they wanted they would go to the next house until they got the money they wanted then they go to the next house no Christ says when you go you stay you stay put they couldn't stay in inns because inns were like brothels so they had to go to people's houses and they had to be invited in and once they were invited in no matter what the living conditions were they were to stay there until they left that city or left that village they were to pattern contentment so many times we think we deserve better than we get don't we this isn't good enough you ever been on vacation went to a hotel paid for your accommodations you got there didn't like it what'd you do complain to the manager this is unacceptable I don't like the way my HBO doesn't work my ESPN doesn't work there's not enough shampoo here the bread squeaks the people next to me are too loud we want a new room or go to a hotel and yet Jesus says to these men when you go to the village you invited in you might go to a place you don't like very well they might have some kids that are too noisy stay put don't go anywhere just be content with such things as you have godliness with contentment great game Paul says right you need to learn to be content where you are you know so many times we are not content with what God has given to us are we and our lack of contentment demonstrates to God a very ungrateful heart a very ungrateful spirit so many times God just says you know if you just learn to be content with what you have things will be so much better for you but you see in the back of our minds somebody told us that we deserve something better you deserve a better marriage than that you deserve to drive a better car than that you deserve a better house of that you deserve better living conditions of that you deserve better clothes and that you deserve something better than that come on now you are a child of the king you deserve the best sometimes we just think that we are better than what we really are and we think we're kind of high and mighty we're too good to settle for something not as good as the Joneses have and yet God wants us to learn to be content in whatever state we're in so he tells the man when you go to the village you get in the house stay there don't leave stay there till it's time for you to leave that city and when you leave then you go to the next place but don't go from house to house to house to house demonstrate contentment with where you are and then he says practice discernment this is number five practice discernment he says this verse five and as for those who do not receive you as you go out from the city shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them now listen to Matthew's account of this same scenario Matthew 10 verses 13 to 15 and if the house is worthy let your greeting of peace come upon it but if it is not worthy let your greeting of peace return to you and whoever does not receive you nor heed your words as you go out of the house or that city shake off the dust of your feet truly I say to you it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in that day of judgment than for that city those are strong words I mean Sodom and Gomorrah they they were incinerated the fire and brimstone falling down from heaven and Jesus says to them very clearly you need to understand that when you go into a city and you present the gospel and you validate that message with signs and wonders and miracles and they refuse when you leave you need to shake the dust off your feet which in Jewish culture was a sign of disdain was it was a sign that was damaging to those who saw you do that that's important because you see Jews when they would pass through Gentile country when they would pass through Samaritan country before they would enter their land once again they would take off their sandals and dust off their feet as a sign of disdain for that country or for that land so as not to bring that dirt into their land so as to defile their precious land see now Jesus is saying to these men I want you to treat the Jews as the Jews treat pagans in so doing you're telling the Jews they're no better than pagans and you do that by dusting your feet because you show them that it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that Jewish city who heard the message and saw the miracles folks that's tough that's really hard nosed that God would tell his men to make sure that they had a visual expression left for those people to see that they would understand the condemnation that would come upon them Paul did the same thing in Acts 13 verse number 51 when he shook off the dust from his feet to prove that those whom he spoke to would face serious condemnation and serious judgment this does not mean that when someone rejects the gospel or does not express interest in the gospel because many won't that we automatically tell them that they will be incinerated like Sodom and Gomorrah because we are to plead with people to come to Christ right we are to plead with people to give their life to Christ but the Bible does say in 1st Corinthians 16 22 let him who does not love the Lord let him be accursed right the Bible says in 2nd Thessalonians 1 7 & 8 that retribution will be dealt upon those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of God so we do know that and that's why the principle is practice discernment to make sure you make the wise wise action so people will know the truth these men had a very short time they had less than 18 months they had about a year to infiltrate the villages of Galilee they didn't have a lot of time left time was short people needed to hear the truth which parallels with us because we don't know when Christ is going to return so time is short and then motivates us to share the gospel because we know that Jesus is soon going to return and therefore we want people to know the truth before he does return and so we compel them to give their life to Christ but we also assume Brisbane shared this morning we also tell them that listen if you don't respond to the gospel you are in danger the fires of hell you are in danger of being consumed in hell for all eternity who's gonna tell them that we don't right you tell them the truth and these men were compelled to speak the truth Matthew's account in Matthew 7 Christ did some very interesting words he says in verse 6 do not give what is holy to dogs and do not throw your pearls before swine lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces that's a very interesting verse because that which is holy is the meat sacrifice to God you wouldn't take consecrated meat that's designed to be sacrificed to God that you would lay your hands on and ask for the forgiveness of sins you wouldn't do that and throw that to some dog now dogs in in in the days of Christ we're not domesticated animals like they are today they were ferocious vicious beings and so we have to be careful to understand that you wouldn't take that which is consecrated to God and give it to a dog would you know that would be blasphemous you wouldn't take your precious pearls and jewels and put them on a swine would you why because that swine has no interest in your jewels they could care less no matter how you dress a pig a pigs a pig right I don't care how what it looks like on the outside you still good bacon for breakfast the bottom line is is that you can't cast your a holy meat before dogs or pearls before swine why because they don't respect the treasure they don't respect the pearl they don't respect the gospel there comes a time in our gospel presentation when presenting the gospel is like casting pearl before swine it's like throwing consecrated meat before dogs they could care less about the truth and the treasure of the gospel it's interesting that the Bible equates the gospel with a precious pearl in Matthew chapter 13 because that's what it is that's why you practice discernment there are going to be some people who treat the gospel as if it means nothing to them it's absolutely valueless to men it means nothing to them they could care less about it so therefore you practice discernment how long will you cast your pearls before swine you won't offer consecrated meat to dogs will you comes time to make a decision about how long that causes for discernment and that's where God gives you wisdom as to what you should do next that's important and these men were given this responsibility so these men like us are to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom we are to portray the compassion of the king we likewise are to put our trust completely in God alone for everything as we do we're to practice or pattern contentment in the place he puts us and we are to practice discernment in our gospel presentation and number six we are to promptly obey the commands of God do it quickly it says in verse number six and departing they began going out among the villages preaching the gospel and healing everywhere they did what Jesus said they followed the command of God they promptly obeyed the directions that God had given to them that should be our response right to promptly obey to do what God says because our mission and our ministry really hasn't changed oh we're not going to go around raising the dead we're not going to go around healing the diseases of people because we don't need miraculous power to validate the message we are preaching we have God's completed word that tests the message that proves the message and yet we are to portray that same kind of compassion for those who are lost and we at the same time are to put our trust completely in God alone for everything at the same time we are to pattern a life of contentment accepting what God has given to us and saying yes Lord I am content with such things as I have all the while practicing wisdom discernment as we present the gospel and doing it quickly promptly obeying the commands of God let's pray father we thank you for today in the graciousness you have toward us we thank you for these men and what they modeled we realized Lord that you empowered them greatly and they went from village to village doing exactly as you had designed I pray father for us that we would be like these men we promptly obey the commands of God we would do what you've asked us to do we'd serve you with a pure and holy heart I pray for those who are here today that might not even know who you are I pray that today would be the day of their salvation they would experience new life in Christ pray in Jesus name Amen