The Seventy Sent

Our most gracious heavenly father what a great joy it is for us to gather together today and worship your precious name. Thank you Lord Jesus that we can know for certain where we will spend eternity based on what your word has declared. And I pray for everybody in this room that Lord they would know for certain that they died tonight they would spend eternity with Christ. I pray father that we would come to understand you more today as we study your word. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Turn with me in your Bible if you would to Luke chapter 10.

Luke chapter 10. I was asked about a couple of weeks ago how long that we were going to be in the gospel of Luke. And I said as long as it takes me to cover every single verse in that gospel. And after I covered every single verse in that gospel I could probably go back and preach that same gospel and preach every sermon differently based on the fact that there is so many truths that the Bible speaks to us about when it comes to understanding our Lord Jesus Christ. And once again today we begin to get a greater glimpse of God and his plan his purposes and how it is he wants to to use us in a great and mighty way.

You know as we have been studying the gospel of Luke we have seen that that our Lord demands that people come to him on his terms and his terms only. You can't come to Jesus on your terms. You can only come to him on his terms and he has spelled them out very clearly in the scriptures. He said in Luke 9 23 if any man come after me he must deny himself he must take up his cross and he must follow me. That cross bearing will be a daily experience. The Lord says these are my terms if you want to be a follower of me.

And we think about that and we say well who would really do that? We know that he had the twelve who followed him but one of them was a counterfeit Judas. But how many people would really really follow him? I mean after all when we get further in Luke, Luke chapter 13 the question is asked are there only a few being saved? The demands were so stringent. The call was so serious that few people had truly committed themselves to the Christ. And as we go through the gospel of Luke we begin to ask ourselves is there anybody really truly being saved?

And the answer to that is yeah there is. And we're going to meet seventy of them today. Seventy on top of the twelve. That makes at least 81 because we know that one of the twelve was a counterfeit. But remember in the future in Revelation chapter 7 the Lord is going to brand 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from every tribe and they will become his witnesses during the tribulation period. During the time of Jacob's trouble. During the time in which the great tribulation happens on this earth. And those 144,000 Jews will come to saving grace because there are two witnesses.

One like Moses and one like Elijah spelled out for us in Revelation chapter 11. And those 144,000 Jews will come to saving faith because we know that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by a word about the Christ. And so they will hear a word about the Christ it will come from those two witnesses. And those 144,000 Jews will be saved. And there will also be an angel that flies around in midheaven. There will be three vehicles in which God will use in the tribulation to reach the world. 144,000 Jewish evangelists.

Two witnesses in Revelation 11. One like Moses and Elijah. And an angel that flies around in midheaven telling people to fear God and to worship his name. And when you come to Revelation chapter 14 you come to Mount Zion and you have 144,000 Jewish evangelists standing on Mount Zion. And in Revelation chapter 14 it tells us that these are the ones, listen carefully, who followed the Lamb. I love how it is the Lord put that. It doesn't say they followed the Lord or that they followed Jesus or they followed God.

It says they followed the Lamb, listen carefully, wherever he would go. So there was an unequaled commitment that these individuals had. Unparalleled. Because they were totally sold out to serving the Lamb of God. They followed the Lamb. Remember back in Revelation chapter 4 there was a vision of that Lamb. A Lamb as if he had been slain. The symbolism is very clear. There were these evangelists who followed the one who had been slain for them. Because they knew. They knew what it meant to deny themselves, to take up their cross daily and follow the Lamb wherever he would go.

Jesus never called for half-hearted commitments. Jesus disdained the half-hearted. They repulsed him. That's why he would always look for ways to present the gospel in the strictest measures. To weed out the half-hearted. To weed out those who truly weren't committed to serving him. And that's why there was those three disciples we talked about last week. One was a scribe. He said I will follow you wherever you go. Well all right. Jump on the bandwagon. We want you. If you follow us wherever we go, we want you to follow us.

And Jesus said well foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. Now the Lord knows the heart of all men. Because he's God. He's omniscient. In John chapter 2 it says that he did not commit himself to many people who believed in him. Very important. There were many that believed in him but he never committed himself to them because he knew their hearts. A lot of people today believe in Jesus don't they? You ask him if they believe in Jesus.

Oh I believe in Jesus. I believe that Jesus is God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross. I believe in Jesus. But Jesus never committed himself to them because he knew their hearts. He knew their hearts. And so Christ answered, helped raise a barrier in this man's life. The barrier of materialism. He would not let go of what he wanted because he was a scribe and he wanted comfort and he wanted the things that the world had to offer. And Jesus said if you follow me, let me tell you something, I can't guarantee you anything in this life that'll make you want to follow me today.

Because you got to deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me. So Jesus on the heels of that will say to the next man, hey how about you? You come follow me. And he he scrambles around and says well okay but permit me first to go bury my father who wasn't even dead yet if we saw last week.

Because he wanted to go home and to wait to claim his inheritance. Because he heard the words of Jesus. And he knew that if the son of man had no place to lay his head, if he was able to gain his father's inheritance, he'd at least have a room to stay in when he traveled with Jesus. And Jesus made it very clear to that man when he said allow the dead spiritually to bury the dead physically. You go and proclaim the kingdom of God. We saw that God would raise the barrier of passivism because this man wasn't really ready to follow Christ.

And Jesus says you better do it follow me today for today is the day of salvation. And then there was another man among the Christ's. Oh I'll follow you. I'll follow you. But permit me to go home and say goodbye to my mommy and my daddy. Because you see he was concerned about how his family would respond to his following Jesus. And Jesus said to him no man having put in his hand the plow and turns back is fit to be a part of my kingdom. Sentimentalism was the barrier. Family was more important to him than God himself.

You can't come to Jesus if your family is more important to you than Jesus is. You can't. Made it very clear. You can't come to Jesus if your money is more important to you than Jesus. You just can't. In fact you can't come to Jesus if there's anything more important to you than Jesus. You just can't. And that's why he said if any man come after me he must deny himself. Refuse to associate with himself any longer. He's fed up with self. He's fed up with his ambitions. He's fed up with his own purposes.

He's fed up with his own desires. He's fed up with his own drives because all that's leading nowhere. He realizes that he has nothing and he falls down on his face before God and cries out for mercy because he realizes that everything he has means nothing to Jesus. He wants Jesus more than anything else. Nobody was ever saved who did not want Jesus more than anything else. If you're here today and there's something you want more than Jesus you are not a child of God. Doesn't make any difference what you say.

Jesus says to you the birds of the air have nests and foxes have hole but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.

If something's more important to you than Jesus he says listen have you put in your hand the plow and you keep looking back you are not fit to be in my kingdom. You have no place with me. Jesus says I want it all or I want nothing.

Jesus doesn't say you know I'll die for a part of you and maybe down the road you'll give me more of you. No. No. Salvation occurs when you give your life wholeheartedly to Christ. Unreservedly to Christ. It's all or nothing and that's what Jesus's message was and that's why the question would come in Luke 13. Are there only a few being saved? Yeah. There is only a few and that's why he will say in our text the laborers are few. See that? There's only a few laborers because there's only a few in the kingdom.

See? So you beseech the Lord of the harvest that he might send the laborers into that harvest because there's only a few of them. So to get more laborers you got to send the ones that are among the few so that the few then will become more than just a few but more than that. Jesus is concerned about people and their fascination with him because think about it. Most people are fascinated with Jesus. They're fascinated by Jesus. They're fascinated by the words of Jesus. But it doesn't mean they're forgiven by Jesus just because they're fascinated by him.

Because those who are fascinated by him and those who are false professors of him were the ones who became furious with him and cried for his blood. When you read the Gospels you begin to understand Jesus and all that he said. That's why it's so important to study the life of Christ and the message of Christ so you begin to understand whether or not you have truly said Lord I am yours and you are mine whatever you ask I will do with no questions on my part because I want to serve you and you only.

In our story today we will see 70 that were that way. At this point there has been 12. 11 of the 12 truly as we have seen and know because Judas was a counterfeit. There were others along the way but here there are 70 that are commissioned. 70 that are appointed by God, chosen by God, and sent by God to proclaim a message that the kingdom of God is near unto you. You can read that in Luke 10 verse number 9, Luke 10 verse number 11. That's their message. And by the way that's our message. There is a king, he has a kingdom.

Would you like to be a part of that kingdom? If you do you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow the king of that kingdom. That is the message of salvation. It's not if you do we'll just believe in Jesus and you'll get into the kingdom. That's not the message. It is deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him. Salvation demands repentance. Repentance requires severance. Severance manifests itself in obedience. And obedience is clearly recognized in my allegiance to Jesus. That is somebody who is truly saved.

That's somebody who truly knows Christ, who's a genuine believer. And that's these 70. These 70 that Jesus speaks of. And over the next several weeks we will see their commission. We will see their motivation. We will see their proclamation. We will see their admonition. And we will see their jubilation. And we will come to realize where true joy lies in those who have truly denied themselves, take up the cross, and follow Christ. Because those are the ones who are truly joyous people. And then we will see, having seen the commission, having seen the motivation, having seen the proclamation, the admonition, the jubilation, we will then see the celebration of the Christ.

We will see what causes Christ to rejoice and to celebrate. All in the first 24 verses of Luke chapter 10.

It's a marvelous passage of scripture that unfolds for us the reality of our ministry today. And how it is God wants to use people like you and me today. This becomes very valuable to us. All scripture is valuable. All scripture is crucially important to all of us. But today, as you see the Word of God unfold, you will begin to understand what God requires of you. The motivation from the inside. Because it's about proclaiming the kingdom of God. And there's no training to these 10, these 70, excuse me.

Nowhere do you see their educational expertise. Nowhere do you see a class on evangelism or how to handle the cults when you go out. None of that. None of that. Why? Because it's all internal. It's all from the inside out. It's all motivational from the inside of the heart. It's all what's on the inside that counts, that causes me, that propels me to share the message. And I want to give you those five characteristics this morning. Hopefully I can give you those five characteristics this morning.

It might take me to the afternoon. But hopefully I'll get them through. Let me read to you the Luke 10 verses 1 to 4 is all we're going to cover today.

Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes, and greet no one on the way. The first thing you see is their commission.

Right? You see their commission. It says, now after this, after what? Well after Luke chapter 9. In Luke 9, the first several verses, he commissioned the 12.

Remember that? He sent the 12 out to proclaim the gospel. And they would come back and report the great things that happened. And then Jesus asked the question, who do men say that I am? You've been out preaching in the villages. You've been out healing people. You've been out casting demons out of others. You've raised the dead. Tell me, who do people say that I am? Well, some say you're Jeremiah. Some say you're Elijah. Some say you're one of the prophets. And then Jesus asked that infamous question, but who do you say that I am?

Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then Christ goes in that long exhortation about his death, his resurrection, burial, his resurrection. And then he says in Luke 9, 23, if any man come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. If you want to save your life today, you'll lose it tomorrow. You're willing to lose your life today, you'll gain it tomorrow. And then he says, some of you will see the kingdom. Some of you, not all of you, some of you will see the kingdom and all of its glory.

Some eight days later, Peter, James, and John went up on that mount and saw the glory of the Lord transfigured before them. This was the high point of his earthly ministry. This was the culmination of his earthly ministry and his men seeing him for who he is. They have come to the point in the ministry, and they've said clearly in unison, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. We know who you are. There is no doubt in our minds that you are God's Messiah. That's where Christ wanted his men to be.

He wanted them to understand him. They did. So he unveiled himself to Peter, James, and John, came down from the mountain. There was a man who was demon possessed, or a son who was demon possessed. They couldn't cast the demon out. The other nine could not. So Jesus did. And then he gave them a lesson about mercy and a lesson about humility. And then he gave us the illustration of those three disciples, those would-be followers of Christ, but did not commit their lives to following him. After all that, the Bible says, the Lord appointed 70 others.

The word appoint used one other time in the New Testament, Acts 1, verse number 24, where it says that God appointed Matthias to replace Judas. This was a divine appointment. Folks, I want to let you know something. Your salvation is a divine appointment by God. And when God saves you, the Bible says in John 15, 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you.

Don't think that you had anything to do with this. This is all about me. I chose you, right? And the Lord chose these individuals and appointed them. And then it says he sent them. He sent them. Don't think for one moment that if you're born again today, that Jesus did not appoint you for your salvation and that he has stopped or stopping or holding you back from going to represent him. If he's appointed you, he has sent you to be his representative. He has sent you to be his preacher, his teacher.

He has sent you because he has appointed you simply because he has chosen you. He commissioned them and he sent them out two by two. Two by two, why? Well, if you read Ecclesiastes 4, it talks about the mutual support and the mutual strength that happens when there are more than one, there are two together. But really it's Deuteronomy and the law of God. I think it's Deuteronomy 15 or Deuteronomy 19, excuse me, where in the mouth of two or more witnesses, everything will be confirmed. He sends them out two by two because they were to be a confirmation of the message they were giving to those that would hear it.

He commissioned them. He appointed them. He sent them. And from that commissioning comes a motivation that must be in each of us that manifests itself in five ways. Number one, with sympathy and pity for the lost.

The Bible says, and he was saying to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The laborers are what? They're few. Why are there few laborers? Because there's only a few in the kingdom. That's why. The harvest is huge. The harvest is huge. And there's only a few laborers. And this tells us about the sympathy and the pity that Christ has on the unbelieving world, because this is the first time Jesus said this.

Before he commissioned the 12, in Matthew's account, it says this. Turn back with me if you would to Matthew chapter nine for a second.

In Matthew nine, it says this. And Jesus was going about all the cities and villages, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness and seeing the multitude. He felt compassion for them. He felt pity for them. He felt sympathy for them because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, here it is. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

You see, what was the motivating factor for Christ to tell them about the hugeness of this harvest? It was his pity. It was his sympathy for the lost. And that marked the ministry of our Christ. There's great compassion on the heart of the Lord for those who do not know him. You can read about it in Matthew chapter 14, verse number 14, Matthew 15, 32, Matthew 18, 27, Matthew 20, 34, Luke 7, 13, Mark 1, 40 and 41. There was deep pain. There was agony in the bowels of our Christ. In his inner being, there was actual pain due to the fact that there were people who were distressed and downcast.

They were like sheep without a shepherd. He was pained by the that there were so many false leaders, so many false teachers. Oh, there's only a few laborers because there's only a few being saved. But there are many false teachers. There are many false shepherds and they are leading my people astray. They are leading them down a primrose path to hell, and they need to know the truth. And our Lord felt pity, sympathy, and compassion for them. And so he would tell them, oh, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Now, what's the harvest? The harvest is not the harvest of John 4, the harvest of the gospel. The harvest is the judgment of God. How do we know that? Simply because the Bible tells us that. Matthew chapter 13, it tells us in the parable of the wheat and the tares, that the wheat and the tares will both grow together until, verse 30, the harvest. And in the time of the harvest, I will say to the reapers, first gather up the tares and bind them in bundles and burn them up, but gather the wheat into my barn.

He talks about how the tares will grow alongside of the wheat, and they'll look just alike until the end of the age at the harvest. And it's the Lord who is the judge of that harvest. The Bible says over in verse number 40 of Matthew 13, therefore, just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send forth his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire. In that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as a son in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. There is a harvest of judgment that is coming. You can read about it way back in the book of Joel. Joel chapter three, verse number 12, let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat.

For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come tread for the wine press is full. The vats overflow for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. There are multitudes in that harvest. The harvest is huge and people are on their way to a fiery furnace. Laborers are few but the harvest is huge. You can read about it in Revelation 14 when the judge Christ himself comes and he swings the sickle.

Representative of the wrath of God coming down at the harvest time in judgment upon wicked man. The mass of humanity is moving toward a worldwide judgment. There's coming a time where the mass of humanity will be sentenced to eternal damnation and Christ has compassion on them because he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Isn't it interesting that our Lord is sovereign? He knows the plan of God. He knows those who will be saved and those who won't be saved and yet he has deep pity and sympathy for those who are a part of the huge harvest that will burn forever in a place called the lake of fire.

He has compassion and mercy toward them. So important and so he's motivated by his pity. They too should be motivated by looking at the harvest through judgment and the very few laborers that are there in the mass of humanity that's marching toward the lake of fire to be judged by the ultimate judge Christ himself. And then he says this and this is so interesting. He says, therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Did you understand that? We know that the Lord is the executioner.

We know that and Jesus says there's a vast amount of humanity who's on their way to judgment. So what I want you to do is to beseech the judge, the Lord of the harvest, that's me, beseech the judge to send out laborers into the harvest of judgment. Send out laborers into the harvest to save people from me. See salvation is about being saved from God. Did you know that? Salvation is about being saved from God as judge. We listen to guys on TV and say, you know, you need to come to Christ because he's going to help you with all your anxieties, all your stress.

He's gonna help you with your depression. You come to Jesus and he'll take care of those things for you. And I want to say, no, no, no, come to Jesus and you will be depressed and you will have anxiety and you'll have all kinds of stress. You come to Jesus because you need to be saved from your sin. You preach the gospel because you want people to be saved from God as judge. He is the executioner. Put it this way. The executioner was executed so that people would be saved from his execution. That makes sense.

The executioner, Christ the judge according to John 5, was executed at Calvary so people would be saved from execution by the one who executes that judgment, Christ himself. You see the pity, the sympathy, the compassion of our God. And what does he do? He says, because there is pity, there then comes entreaty. There comes that beseeching. There comes that begging. There comes that pleading with God. And what do you pray for? You pray for more laborers. Lord, I pray that you would raise up more laborers because there are so few of them.

Raise them up to send them out to this mass of humanity that's on their way to judgment. That somehow they might hear about who that judge is and be saved from their execution. That entreaty only comes because of my pity. That's it. Because of my sympathy, because of my compassion. I see the world as Christ sees it. I see the world as distressed and downcast. I see the world as sheep without a shepherd, wandering around looking for which way to go, but having no solid answers. But Jesus is the one who gives those answers.

So Jesus says, pray to me and ask me for more laborers in order to save people from me. That's what he says. And then, why does he say that? Because unless there's a preacher, they're not gonna hear, right? They can't hear without a preacher. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word about the Christ. So unless there's a preacher to tell them, they're not gonna get saved. There is no other way to be saved unless you hear the truth about the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And with that, and with that, I know my time is gone.

I know it's gone. But it's okay. It's okay. Because it's not lunchtime yet. It's really only brunch time. So think of this as your brunch this morning, your spiritual food. Listen carefully. If there's pity and sympathy, there comes an entreaty to the Lord of the harvest, which then comes an urgency, an urgency. Jesus says these words, go your ways, present imperative.

Go and keep going. Go, go. You see, when you begin to pray to the Lord of the harvest, you beseech the Lord of the harvest, that he might send forth laborers into his harvest. You, by praying, put yourself in the process. See that? Why is it people, listen, why is it people don't have a burden for the world? Simple. They don't beseech the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into the harvest. Because if they did, they would automatically put themselves at the disposal of Christ to be used for him.

But there are so few people with that evangelistic zeal, it's because they refuse to do what God said in Luke chapter 10. Beseech the Lord of the harvest that he may send forth laborers into his harvest. See that? There comes this sense of urgency. Go now.

Go now. Go your ways. Go and keep going. Don't stop. Do what you're supposed to do because you're going to proclaim the message of Messiah. Today is the day of salvation. Not tomorrow. Today. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, this is the day of provocation. Today is that day of salvation. Listen carefully. If there is sympathy, if there is pity, there comes an entreaty, a beseeching to the Lord. If there is that entreaty, there comes an urgency to go. And if there's an urgency, there then comes a tenacity to continue on.

A tenacious spirit to keep on going. Listen to what Jesus says. Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. That is Jesus's recruiting tool. That is Jesus's motivational speech. This is how Jesus gets you revved up for the ministry. I send you out as lambs amidst the wolves. Well, who's going to do that? Oh, oh, oh, yeah. Those who denied himself, take up the cross and follow him. Those who haven't done that, that motivational speech does not apply to them, right? Because it doesn't motivate them.

But those who have denied themselves, they're motivated because their lives don't mean anything anyway, right? I've denied myself. I'm going to take up my cross daily. I'm going to follow Jesus wherever he goes. I'm going to be like those 144,000. I will follow the lamb wherever he goes. He says, okay, I send you out as lambs amidst the wolves. We're like, let's go. Because we understand that there is a harvest of judgment, a mass of humanity going to face their executioner. And I have beseeched the Lord of the harvest that he might send forth laborers into his harvest.

In doing so, I put myself in the process and there becomes this urgency and with it a tenacity. And over and over again, Jesus would say these words. It's over in Matthew 10, verse number 16. He said the same thing to the 12. Remember that? Matthew 10, 16. He said, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves, but beware of men for they will deliver you up to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues. And you shall even be brought before governors and kings for my sake as a testimony to them and to go to Gentiles.

But when they deliver you, do not be anxious about how you or what you will speak for it shall be given you in that hour of what to speak. It goes on to explain further on down in Matthew chapter 10. This was Christ's motivational speech. This is how he got his people, those who had denied themselves and taken the cross and followed him, revved up to serve him in ministry. And yet, we know very little of that kind of suffering. There is suffering in this world today that we know nothing of here in America.

The Western media has shielded us from all of those things. And yet, Nina Shea in her book, which states in the lion's den, she wrote that millions of Americans pray in their churches each week, oblivious to the fact that Christians in many parts of the world suffer brutal torture, arrest, imprisonment, and even death. Their homes and communities laid waste for no other reason than that they are Christians. The shocking untold story of our time is that more Christians have died in this century simply for being Christians than in the first 19 centuries after the birth of Christ.

They have been persecuted and martyred before an unknowing, indifferent world and a largely silent Christian community. And of all of them, we know not their names, except there is one. There is one 10-year-old girl. Her name simply is Namarta Nayak, 10 years of age. And on August 26, 2008, Hindu extremists burned a home belonging to a Christian family where Namarta was staying. She and her siblings hid in a small bathroom. As the attackers left, they planted a bomb in a dresser. And while the little girl surveyed the destruction, the bomb detonated and burned her face.

Namarta also had shrapnel wounds on 40% of her body. Her family carried her to a hiding place in a forest and then moved to a refugee camp in Orissa, India. World Net Daily reported, Hindus have offered money, food, and alcohol to anyone who murders Christians and destroys their homes, especially pastors. Thousands of homes and churches have been destroyed and Christians have been forced to flee the violence. Many have been doused with kerosene and torched after refusing to renounce the Christian faith.

Despite Namarta's permanent disfigurement, she has a message for Christians. Remember now, she's 10. Here's her message. We forgive the Hindu radicals who attacked us, who burned our homes. They were out of their minds. They do not know the love of Jesus. For this reason, I want to study so that when I am older, I can tell everyone how much Jesus loves me. This is my future. The world has seen my face destroyed by the fire. Now it must come to know my smile full of love and peace. I want to dedicate my life to spreading the gospel.

She's 10. She's already denied herself, taken up a cross, and followed the Christ. What would you do if you were in her shoes? How would you respond? Tenacity. I send you out as lambs amidst the wolves. To the Christian, that's exciting. To the non-Christian, it's not. Where are you this morning? Does that excite you? Does that fire your soul because you're willing to do what Christ has asked you to do? Sympathy. Sympathy, entreaty, urgency, tenacity, then dependency. If there's sympathy, listen, if there's pity for the multitudes, there is entreaty then to the Lord God.

I beseech the Lord in the harvest. If there's entreaty, there's urgency to go. If there's urgency, there is tenacity to stay. If there's tenacity, there's dependency because you can't do without Christ. And the Lord said, carry no purse, no bag, no shoes, and greet no one on the way. I need you to solely depend upon me for everything. He said the same thing to the 12. He says it now to the 70. The unique thing about the ministry of Christ to these men is that this, he never changed the message from the 12 to the 70 because he never changes the message from the 12 to the 70 to you and me.

Same message, same responsibility. He wants us to depend upon him. You have to because you can't make it without him. You can't go as a lamb amidst the wolves unless you are dependent upon God himself to follow him, to serve him, and to honor him. Folks, I want to let you know something. We got a lot of people who play Christianity today in America. They're just playing with Jesus. Either going to church. They're the kind of people who are in church and maybe it's you today, you're sitting there thinking, boy, I hope this thing surely gets over soon.

It's those kind of people who are playing at Christianity. They have no interest in the things of God. They don't want to hear about what God says.

They just want to get on to the next thing. Lunch is more important to them than the Lord God himself. Those people are playing with Jesus. They're not saved. They don't know Christ. People who know Christ, hunger for him, love him, adore him, worship him, will give their lives for him, will serve him no matter what. Is that you? Only you can answer that. Let's pray. Father, thank you Lord for today and the chance to spend a little bit of time in your Word. Pray you go before us that we might truly serve you with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind, all of our strength.

Thank you for these 70 because Lord, it tells us that there were a few, but boy, they were committed. They were deeply committed because they denied themselves, took up the cross and followed the Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.