TEXT: Luke 10:1-24

SUBJECT: Luke #41: Happy Days!

Do you ever wish you lived in the days of the Bible? Wouldn’t it be great to see the Red Sea parted, to hear the wisdom of Solomon, or to walk out of the fiery furnace alive and well? I’ve often felt this way. Have you?

If you have, let me tell you as politely as I can: your feelings are stupid! Not only has God chosen to put you at this time in history, but this time in history is the best time to be alive! Not because of running water or penicillin, or other things that make modern life easier--but because of what the Lord Jesus Christ is doing—in our time.

That work began when He was on earth, living as a Man among men. And now, at the Father’s right hand, He’s still at it. The work He did then, He’s still doing. The disciples who helped Him then are all dead now, of course, but others have risen to take their place. The others are you and me who have the great honor of belonging to Christ and sharing in His work.

The good He did in today’s story He could have done all by Himself—in fact, that’s pretty much what He had been doing. But He’s starting to delegate authority, to give His disciples something to do for Him and for their neighbors. What they were called to do—and see and enjoy—is now your responsibility—and your privilege.

The passage is a long one, made up of several parts. My commentators divide it into two, three, and four sections, but it seems to me there’s only one story here. And what a story it is!

It begins with an assignment. The Lord tells seventy disciples to go out in pairs to all the cities and villages He plans to visit in the next few months.

The number seventy was full of symbolism—a symbolism not lost on the disciples. When Israel came out of Egypt, there was one man in charge: Moses. He was the Mediator of the Old Covenant, the one to stand between God and His People. But as time wore on, Moses wore out. The work was too much for one man. So, seventy elders were chosen to help him with it. And now, looking at the great work before Him, the Lord turns to another seventy men to help Him do it. They weren’t elders or big men in Israel, yet they were chosen by Jesus Christ, given a share of His Spirit, and put to work.

The Lord’s work must be done in the Lord’s way. He tells the men exactly what to do.

They must do three things: heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the Gospel. Do the works ring a bell with you? They ought to, as they’re the very things the Lord Jesus Christ has been doing! They’re not only working for the Lord, but they’re doing the Lord’s work. What He’s been doing for two or three years, they’re now doing. And with the same results.

The work needs to be done right. The Lord has set a perfect example for them, of course, but—in case they haven’t been paying attention—He spells it out for them. This is how they’re to do His work.

1. Be hopeful.

The Lord has not come to redeem a handful of sinners, but to save "a multitude that no one can number". His witnesses, therefore, ought to speak up with confidence—with the hope that the Gospel will melt the heart of stone and turn the worst sinners into the holiest saints.

The seventy knew it could do that because it had done it to them! What kind of people did the Lord hang out with? For the most part, it wasn’t with religious people, but publicans and sinners. If the Gospel had saved them—many of them—then why should they despair of it saving many others?

Charles Spurgeon felt this way about the Gospel. He once said,

Do you witness to sinners with that kind of confidence? Not confidence in yourself, your presentation, or your answers, but in the Gospel and in the power of your Lord to save the ones you’re talking to?

Or, are you more like the starving salesman who begins his pitch with these words,

The Seventy were to preach in hope because there were sinners all around them and a Savior both able and eager to save them.

2. Be realistic.

The work was way too big for seventy men to do. Even if they were fully devoted to Christ and amazingly efficient in their use of time. They couldn’t cast out ever demon, heal every disease or reach everyone with the Gospel. They needed to feel their inadequacy—and pray hard for help,

I’m deeply grateful for the work we’ve been able to do in the former Soviet Union. A small church helping thousands of pastors with good books, and they, in turn, reaching ten of thousands for Christ. But what are "tens of thousands" in a nation of "hundreds of millions". And this is only one country! Think of the billions all over the world who haven’t heard the Gospel. And don’t limit your thinking to remote and exotic places! Think of the people in your neighborhood who are living "Without God and without hope in the world".

The errand they were sent on was very small compared to the Church’s mandate today. Yet even that was far too much for them to do. They needed a realistic view of their work.

If the sheer size of the work wasn’t enough to sober them up, then they also had to know that not everyone would be enthusiastic about it. Some people would reject the Message and abuse the ones who carried it. The preachers would be ignored, laughed at, excluded, and persecuted. They had to be realistic. The work is great, but it isn’t easy.

1. Be dependent on God.

The preachers were working men and working men deserve to be paid—"The laborer is worthy of his hire". But they weren’t to raise support before leaving on their mission and they weren’t to charge a fee while on it. They were to simply go, trusting God to meet their needs.

The mission sounds romantic, but I suspect it was terrifying to the men who went on it. They were poor men, with wives and children to support. How would their families eat if they took time off work to preach without a promised salary? To make things scarier, they lived in the age of debtors’ prison! If you can’t pay your bills, you can work out a deal with your creditors or have your wages garnished or declare bankruptcy and get out of them altogether. But these options were not open to the seventy preachers. If God did not provide for them, they’d face starvation and jail time.

That’s the kind of trust it took to obey the Lord Jesus Christ and preach to the cities of Israel. And the kind of faith it takes to serve Him now.

4. Be content.

The preachers would not stay in hotels and eat at restaurants. They were to be entertained by families in every town. Some of the families would be poor, set a meager table, and have only the floor to sleep on. The disciples were to accept the offers and not be on the look out for something better. They hadn’t come to town to get something, but to give something. They weren’t in it for money or status, but for the salvation of those who heard them.

Ministry is about other people, not yourself. If it’s about others, be content with what you have. If you need inspiration, look to the Lord Jesus Christ who was content with far less than He needed.

5. Be serious.

To reject the disciples’ message is to reject Christ. To reject Christ is to reject God. To reject God is to bring down a terrifying judgment on yourself. Without being full of themselves, the seventy had to make this clear to the villages who heard them. If the people rejected them, they were to shake off the dust of that city and tell them,

Sodom was notorious for its wickedness. God rained fire and brimstone down on that city for its sin. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities, famous for their pride and idolatry. Their best known character was Jezebel. The cities were annihilated by armies from the East, sent by God to punish them for their evil ways.

The Jew shuddered at the names. Yet—the Lord says—had Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon heard the Gospel you’ve heard, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. Like Nineveh they would have cried out for mercy. Like Nebuchadnezzar, they would have humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God.

By turning a deaf ear to the Lord and His disciples, they were proving themselves worse than Sodom and bringing down upon themselves a punishment that fit the crime.

As far as they could do it, the disciples had to make their people understand the gravity of the situation. God is playing for keeps. Receiving the Gospel brings life. Rejecting the Gospel brings death—an eternal death to which words like "lake of fire, bottomless pit and outer darkness" don’t do justice.

THE REPORT

After receiving their marching orders, the seventy march off to the cities and villages of Israel. We don’t know how long they were gone, but after some time, they came back to the Lord—overjoyed with the success they had had!

No man can match a demon for cunning and power. Yet these men—ordinary guys—were mastering the unclean spirits right and left. The power had left them giddy—they never thought they’d be doing this! But now they were. There’s not a trace of pride in them, it seems, but they’re truly thankful for the power Christ has given them to do good.

What the men have said is true—Demons are subject to them in Christ’s Name. But they couldn’t see the big picture. The Lord could: casting out demons means the devil’s kingdom has fallen!

When the disciples saw demons leave men possessed by them, the Lord saw

By the Word of Christ, the devil has been evicted from his place of power. His throne has been overturned; his rule is broken.

This fulfills the prophecies of Daniel.

In chapter 2 of that Book, Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a magnificent Image made of four different metals: the head is gold, the shoulders are silver, the midsection is brass, and the legs are iron. The Image seems secure until a little rock hits it on the toe. The rock seems like nothing, but it stays at it. Before long, the rock grinds the Image to powder and grows into a mountain that fills the whole earth.

The king has no idea what his dream means, but God reveals it to Daniel. The Image stands for the kingdoms of men—all of which are inspired by Satan. The first kingdom is Babylon; the next is Medo-Persia; then the Greeks and finally the Romans, an Empire as unbreakable as iron. Yet in the days of that Fourth Empire, God sends His King to break it to pieces and to take the Lordship that belongs to Him alone.

In His first coming, Jesus Christ did just that! He was born a king—not in name only—but also in fact. His Rule would bring all others to an end. And here—in the short-term mission of these seventy unnamed men, the Rule of Christ was established by the wreck of Satan’s kingdom.

When His enemies accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan, the Lord set them straight:

The Lord is so struck by the magnificence of what’s happening, that He turns to praise God for it. He thanks Him for revealing these precious things to "babes". Not to the educated men of His age, the leaders of religion, the men with money and power and influence. It’s not they who first knew of the Kingdom, but these ordinary men, the men who were naïve enough to simply believe what He has told them.

He closes the conversation by reminding these men of how fortunate they are,

Kings and prophets were the great men in the history of Israel. Probably every man there had his own favorite—Abraham, David, Isaiah, and, of course, Moses. Yet these men—as favored as they were—never saw Satan fall from heaven and never saw the Kingdom of Heaven set up on earth.

But the men who were with the Lord have seen both! These fishermen and carpenters and tax collectors have seen things that Solomon would have traded all his riches to see! What did they see? They saw the King of Glory!

What they saw that day was nothing compared to what they would see in the next few months. Soon, they’d see the King crucified for the salvation of sinners, raised to life on the Third Day, ascend to heaven where He would take the Throne of David, and pour out His Spirit at Pentecost, making His Kingdom more than Israeli, but making it what it must be: worldwide.