God Is Near

Let the dead bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom.

What is it that keeps us from being a laborer? Are we making ourselves ready to be sent? Are we designed to see the work and, again, just the key, powerful presence of God, the Lord of the harvest? He is calling and sending. We rejoice today that we can pray to God, our Father, in the name of the Son, We can pray earnestly for more laborers. We want you to encourage them to come tonight as we pray for the Collins as they're going out. I don't like the mission philosophy or the typical missions message. You should either go or send. That's a false dichotomy. You should be going and sending. We shouldn't think evangelism only happens if I get on a plane and go somewhere else. Evangelism should be happening at your place of work. Evangelism should be happening in your neighborhood, among your family. The great commission for every Christian is to make disciples. Guess what a disciple does? Makes disciples. We should be going about with the intention of praying. Lord, make me a laborer. Lord, help me be a faithful witness here. And then we pray that as we see faithful witnesses here, we would see God sending them where the gospel is not heard. A couple of easy prayers that we should be doing. Easy, regular prayers. One, pray for more laborers. This comes from the text. Pray that the children of this church would be so moved by the gospel, would be so moved by the way they're seeing evangelism, that they would want to be laborers. Pray for our children to be laborers, specifically. Two, these are just prayers that Paul gives us. Colossians 4, pray for open doors. We've been praying for the Collins that the door will be open to Singapore. We're praying right now that that door would be open quickly and fully. Pray for open doors for ourselves. Pray that God would give us the opportunity. It would just be obvious when a neighbor's asking us just the right question to present the gospel. Pray for open doors for gospel ministry. And thirdly, from Ephesians 6, pray for boldness. Pray for boldness to proclaim the gospel That would be offensive. We already have a clear instruction. The commission is that we are praying, and now he has the commission, go your way. He's sending them. Verse three, go your way, behold. And again, when Luke uses the word behold, we're supposed to really focus in, he's getting our attention.

Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

Doesn't that sound exciting? This is not the kind of speech that simply, you know, just rally the troops. The Lamb of God is speaking. Remember, He's turned His face to die. He has turned His face to Jerusalem to be the Lamb of God who purchases for Himself a people, us. For the joy set before Him, He was willing to suffer. Now, we see He's sending us out as lambs. It's a dangerous work. As a Christian, we hear that lamb and we realize there's a vulnerability to the gospel ministry. There's a difficulty in the gospel ministry. But understand that the God who spoke creation into existence, the God who spoke, it is finished on the cross and destroys Satan's power. The God who spoke and declares, your sins are now removed forever, he's sending us a lamb and he's with you. You have all authority with you. The one who has all authority, he's the one sending you out. There is a vulnerability, there is a danger, there is suffering involved. But the God of all power commissions you and he promises he'll be with you. If they did not feel vulnerable enough, let's look at verse four.

carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

Now, this is a time-stepped commandment. I'm thankful that as we send missionaries along, we try to fill their money bags. We should be thinking about that. He never misses a good pitch. There's a beauty that from 3 John, we're supposed to want to support. This is an unusual time where Jesus is saying, I'm headed to Jerusalem. There's a quickness. The reason it says do not greet, if you're in this culture, a greeting could take an hour. No, there's an immediacy. Don't delay on the road. There's an urgency. Don't grab anything. Don't try to take anything for your own provision. Go, get into a town, and just trust that when you find someone who will receive you, they're going to take care of you. There's the urgency of what Jesus is doing. He is on the road to Jerusalem. Go before him. The greeting no one is not be rude. It's you've got something more urgent. Here, as we wrestle with what this means for us, just remember the great commission from Matthew 28. The clear command is to make disciples as we're going, as we're baptizing, teaching them. There's a labor that still has the urgency. There's a labor that there's people dying, going to hell without knowing who Jesus Christ is. Verse five, he gives more specific instructions, again, for this particular kind of mission.

Whatever house you enter, first say, peace be with this house, and if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you and remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you.

They're going in, they're giving a greeting, and if somebody receives them, that's where they're gonna stay. And they make that a simple outpost for that town until Jesus comes, and if that town will hear Jesus is coming and receive it, Jesus will come and be received. Now, as we look here, this passage has been used for what I think is a really dangerous missions philosophy. It's the rapid growth movement. And that particular philosophy is pretty prevalent. A missionary goes into a town, they find somebody who will hear the gospel, believe it, and all of a sudden they're a pastor. And then you move on and you try to find someone else to receive it and they become a pastor. And I want to say there's a great desire there to all the people who don't know the gospel, we want urgency, we want to keep moving on. The problem with this is missions organizations that use this philosophy, they claim to have planted hundreds of churches in cities. The reason we promote and sponsor folks like Mark is he has a grand vision to plant 17 churches among a people of 27 million people. 17 churches for 27 million people. But the goal there is that they're established churches. They're faithful churches that are able to support a ministry, that are able to train up young men, future pastors. The danger I see in that rapid movement is, I don't know if we went into that city, we could find one of those churches. I don't know if we could go and hear the gospel in one of those churches. If we were to go to one of the 17, we could find it. We could hear the gospel. Even more pressing, the police find those churches. And when those churches have the police visit, they just go to another location and keep doing what they're doing. They persevere. They're built up and ready to persevere in the proclamation of the gospel as lambs among wolves. That's the kind of church planting we want to participate in and see. Should we long for some kind of rapid growth? Yes, that's called revival. We pray for it. You do not create it. Revival happens the same way that church planting happens. As God's people are being faithful and trusting Him, obeying Him, proclaiming Him, churches are planted and revival takes place. We do not try to create it. One more point here on stewardship. Luke actually quotes from what Jesus says here in 1 Timothy 5.18. He gives a particular instruction to provide for those who preach, setting aside the financial means to care for those who preach. I'm gonna appreciate this passage. In a couple of weeks, you'll appreciate this passage. Brian, one of our elders, he has a very demanding job outside of this church, and he's going to open the word for you on March 13th, and he's a great communicator, a great teacher, a good preacher. But for him to do that every week with a job, do you want to do that? I don't think so. It's difficult. But to set aside the funds so that someone can set aside the time and energy it takes to study God's word, disciple, and preach. Thank you. Thank you. It's a great honor, it's a great privilege. It is how the gospel continues to be built up and labors are sent out. I believe it's an essential aspect of the way churches are supposed to multiply. As we go, we're making disciples. Here, there, the message, verse nine, If you go into this town of people that receives you, you're dependent upon them, you're gonna make that your place and you're gonna proclaim that gospel, the kingdom of God has come near you. Now we have to look at this warning section.

But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you,

beginning in verse 10,

go into its streets and say, even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless, know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

" The same message is proclaimed. Peace be to you, the kingdom of God is near you. The kingdom of God is, truly the king is taking steps on a road towards your town, and you've rejected him, and he's going to go move on to another town. It's better for Sodom, the city known for being just absolutely judged, condemned, destroyed by God's wrath for their evil. It's better for Sodom than for the town who would hear Jesus is coming and reject him. Israel is compared to Sodom in numerous places in the Old Testament. The people blessed by God, promised by God, cared for by God, carried on by God, they act like the nations. He continues to make other warnings. These are warnings for us to heed. Look at verses 13 to 15.

Woe to you, Jerusalem, Bethsaida.

Notice the comparison. The two Gentile towns in Capernaum, three Gentile towns. Contrast it with Tyre and Sodom. The Jewish people, they're blessed because they have the word of God, the Old Testament. They have the promises of God that should have made them prepared and ready to recognize the Savior when he comes. He's declaring if the same things that have been done in your towns, Jewish people who should have known what was going on, if they were done among the Gentiles, they would have believed. We have to ask the question, is seeing believing? According to this text, yes and no. The Jewish people who saw the Messiah with extra information to know who he is, they rejected him. That the God who holds out his hand all day long to an obstinate and stubborn people, you see where that passage comes from. He's given them his word. He's done these great deeds and they still reject him. And then the Gentiles, if they would have seen this in this other possible world, he says they would have believed. There's a way in which we wrestle with, it is God who helps his people believe. But the main weight here, the weight here, if you're not a Christian, is the responsibility you have to believe. The weighty responsibility. If you're here, you're hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone in this room is a sinner. We have all refused to give God the one thing he deserves, and that is our worship. He is righteous, and he will judge every sin. And the only way we can be forgiven of that sin is that he sent his son to die on the cross for our sin, to be punished for our sin, to be judged for our sin so that we're no longer judged. Then he rose again to give us new life, to proclaim new life to us. And he's gonna come back and he's gonna judge everyone according to their sin unless he was judged for our sin. The only hope we have for forgiveness is believing in Jesus. The warning here is, do you hear that and you're gonna put it off another day? Do you hear that and you think, well, I've got something more important to do, maybe another time. You're gonna hear that and one day be faced with the judge. The last declaration of this passage helps us who desire to be laborers see the grand authority in the commission.

The one who hears you hears me. The one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.

If you're not a believer, there's a way to hear, receive, and there's a way to reject. There's not some middle road. You believe or you reject. For laborers, notice here, the reason it is that when they hear you, they hear Jesus is only if we're actually proclaiming him and his message. But notice there's a string. There's us, there's Jesus, and there's him who sent Jesus. There's the Father, the Son, and us. We're part of the grand strategy of God to renew his creation. We're brought into the mission of God to labor. For the God who created us and saved us, what a privilege. The string there. The father who sent his son to save us, we're now part of that mission that we get to proclaim him who saved us. It makes us being sent out like lambs. A glorious calling. We can participate in the mission of Jesus. We can participate in the suffering of Jesus. How do we do this? We hear that call, pray for more laborers. Pray that we would be ready to be laborers. Pray that we would long to be laborers. Pray that we would long to go and proclaim Jesus. Pray that we would recognize the Lord of the harvest has a great harvest and I can be sent with the power of Christ to participate in that. One of the clear dangers is trying to present Christ in a way that is accommodating. This is the goal of Christian labor. Exalt Christ and he will draw his people to himself. The goal is just to make Christ known. That's what it means to go out and proclaim him so that when they hear you, they're hearing Christ in his message. We're not trying to be creative, we're trying to be Faithful. The second point, that was all receive the commission, go. They reject you. They're really rejecting Jesus if you're proclaiming him. Go and be part of that grand mission from the Father as a laborer. Our second point, receive Jesus' assurance. Receive Jesus' assurance. And this is 17 through 20. The commission was 1 through 16, now the 72, they return, and notice there, they return with joy.

Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.

We can go over to Genesis 3.15, where God himself promised Satan, you will be crushed by someone born of Eve. Here we see Jesus, the serpent crusher. the one who has authority over demons. He's given that authority to his own disciples, those who are proclaiming him. They recognize they don't have an authority in themselves. They recognize they don't have this kind of power. They see that it is in his name they're able to do this. And they have joy recognizing this is the fulfillment of privacy. This is an amazing opportunity. Notice his response. Verse 18, Jesus says,

I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

That could be a reference to when Satan fell according to Isaiah 14, when he rebelled against God, similar language there, or it could be him actually affirming when you were acting presently, when you were denouncing demons presently, I saw Satan fall. Either one works, I'm not sure which one it is. The assurance that Satan is defeated is what's clear.

Behold, I've given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, nothing shall hurt you.

Oh, lamb out in the wolves, all authority is with you. Nevertheless, verse 20, this is where it gets interesting.

Do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you. but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

Here we see him turning aside. Yes, this is a great power, it is a great authority, it's true. It's something unique and amazing. But there's something greater to rejoice in. Your names are written in heaven. There's a grand assurance of his salvation. God himself has written your names in the book of life. God who called you from before the foundation of the earth, the God who sent his son to die for you, the God who has given you his Holy Spirit, it's secure, it's written, it's final, it's absolute. We can easily and joyfully rejoice in ministry success and ministry joys when we see people repent and come to Christ. But I believe Jesus here is pointing in the right direction. The ultimate rejoicing is that we know Jesus. The ultimate rejoicing is that we are written in the Lamb's book of life. Christian, how often to rejoice in this position and assurance. It's too easy to get caught up in just finding joy in what's right in front of you. ministry is joyful. There's a great amount of rejoicing. It's very easy to get caught up in the kind of enjoyments, seeing people come to Christ. The problem is if all we're doing is rejoicing in what God is doing, there's difficult times. There's difficult times where you see people rejecting Jesus. The joy we have is that we cannot be separated from the love of God. The joy we have is that what He has done for us is final. We are blessed with many who are seeking to do mission work, many who are gifted, a lot of very gifted and able believers. My warning to you is to believe that that gifting is the most important thing about your calling. The most important about your calling is the call to godliness. the character that God requires for his people to be faithful laborers. The amount of folks who flame out in ministry, the amount of folks who bring a disrepute upon the name of Christ, they were very gifted. They were very able. But their abilities went beyond their character. What God requires of his laborers first is godliness. What the church needs most from leaders is godliness. This is what our joy is in. God has saved us. He's sanctifying us. He's changing us. The most important thing I want to see in somebody who wants to be a laborer is that they love the Lord their God with all their heart. Then, then you're able to be used. Notice here, Our third section, our third point, receive his blessing, receive his blessing. The word rejoice keeps pushing in this section. And this is where it gets somewhat challenging. We've gotta wrestle with this.

In the same hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.

The only time that's actually said, Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit in this particular way.

I thank you, 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 such was your gracious will.

I don't believe wise understanding is the same as Proverbs 1.9.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

I believe this is wise understanding in the age of advanced degrees. The wise understanding of those who boast, we know everything. Now we can tell you what's right or wrong. No, God's hidden himself. Jesus, who just sent them out to proclaim the gospel, is praising God that he hid the truth and that it was his gracious will to do so. Notice that the little children, we talked about this earlier, this culture did not look up to children. The children were not yet really contributors to society. They were seen as kind of secondary. The little children are those who come with nothing. The little children are those who can't boast of some great gift or talent to bring into the kingdom. No, they're the ones who just simply hear the word and believe. It does not take any kind of advanced degrees to hear the gospel and believe it. It takes humility. It takes a recognition. I'm a creature. My creator's speaking. I'm a sinner. My savior is speaking. There's no amount of figuring out the gospel. It's God who makes himself known. Even more specifically, look at verse 22.

All things been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father.

There is an exclusivity. Only God makes God known.

Or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

We have two weighty truths here. If we go back up to verses 10 through 16, if you reject the message, you are held responsible for it. If you believe the message, God has given you the grace to believe. If you reject it, you are held responsible. If you hear the gospel, if you hear the truth and you reject it, you will be held responsible. And if you believe it, praise be to God. He gave you the eyes to see. He gave you the heart to believe. These two truths we hold together. There's exclusive access. The father who sent the son who sends us. Only the son makes the father known. Only the father makes the son known. Let's just be very clear. Muhammad does not make God known because he doesn't know him. Joseph Smith does not make God known because he doesn't know Him. They deny Jesus the Son. The Father has sent His Son. The Son is the true revelation of God. We now get to proclaim Him who is the Savior. Do we understand how simple and wonderful this is? Hey, I've met the Creator. Would you like to know Him? I now understand because God has spoken that we have a sin problem and there's a solution. Jesus Christ came to die. We just didn't know him. There's nothing mystical about this. It's what God has declared. I mentioned those other false teachers because we're supposed to test the spirits and the spirits declare that Jesus descended. He was existent, he descended and took on flesh to die for us. Laborer, you do not have the power to make someone else see Jesus. You do not have the power to make someone else see the Father. You have the commission to faithfully declare what he said. The mission is just to repeat. Don't be creative, just repeat. What Jesus said, just say. The danger is when we feel like we've got to help Jesus reach this generation and represent him in a new way. No, we need to make Jesus known and he draws his people to him. If we're not presenting the real Jesus, he's not gonna really bring anybody to himself. Be faithful. The beautiful call here, lambs that are gonna go out with this commission, lambs that are gonna feel vulnerable, lambs that are gonna think, what can I do to make this more palatable or acceptable? The joy is that God who has authority, who saves you, invites you into his mission to just proclaim the same truth that saved you. Notice the blessing at the end.

Then turning to the disciples, he said privately, blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desire to see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear and did not hear it.

Now he turns to the 72 and now to the 12. I don't know why. I believe at some level we could go to Ephesians three in that we know that the church is built on the apostles and the prophets who have made known now the mysteries of God's will. When we see the word mystery in scripture, it's mysteries known, mysteries fulfilled, mystery revealed. It's not mysterious anymore. The blessing is that the disciples, these 12 men, are getting to see things that others long to see. Peter, in his first epistle, actually says

angels long to look into these things.

The whole Old Testament, we embrace here progressive revelation. The whole Old Testament was God making incredible promises and prophets and angels wondering how in the world is this gonna work out, God? They longed to see and didn't understand. And then Mary's told, you're going to conceive God's own son. And then he proclaimed the gospel. and then he died, and all these things came clear. The beauty of what this is revealing to us is what a privileged position we live in. If you want a Bible, you have what God has said and how he's fulfilled it, from front to back. What a position we have that we don't wonder how God is going to make this salvation work that he promised to Abraham and to Moses and to David. No, we know how he fulfilled it. Here this morning, that same Lord that made those promises, he's the Lord of the harvest that invited you into that harvest, who saved you to be part of his people, and now says, I am with you. Go and proclaim the message that saves sinners. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you did not remain silent. We thank you that you continue to pursue a people that rebel against you. You continue to hold out your hands to a people that are difficult, that murmur, that we've been those people. We thank you that we can confess our sins in the name of Christ and we are forgiven. We pray that you would stir up within us a desire to be obedient, a desire to be a laborer, a desire to train up our children to be laborers, a desire to see Christ known here in this church, in this city, in this state, across the world. We thank you, Father, for saving us and now even sending us out in the name of your Son to proclaim him. Help us, Lord, to be faithful. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us stand and sing our sung response, finding joy that our hand, our names are written in heaven before the throne of God.