#67 Lu. 9:1-6 JESUS SENDING OUT THE TWELVE Introduction: This text deals with the sending out of the twelve to preach the kingdom of God to the nation of Israel. God has a message for each one of us in this passage of Scripture. I challenge you to look and see what God is trying to tell you. I. Jesus giving His apostles power and authority V. 1, "Then he called his twelve disciples together..." The twelve disciples referred to here are the twelve who were associated with Him on a daily basis during His earthly ministry. There the same twelve whom Jesus ordained as apostles back in Luke chapter six. (V. 1), "...and gave them power and authority over all devils..." Jesus gave these twelve power and authority over demons. The word, power, here has to do with might and strength. Jesus gave them strength that is mightier than that of demons. This power is a power not of their own selves. Rather the power actually belongs to the Holy Spirit which dwelt within them. That is, he dwelt, at least in eleven of the twelve and apparently was available to in some way to the one which He did not indwell. The word, authority, here in this verse has to do with one's right to do certain things. In this case, Jesus gave them the right to command demon spirits. The right to command demons actually belongs to God, but He gave the apostles the right to command demons and He gave them the power to enforce their commands. You and I have no right to command them and we have no power to enforce our commands if we should try. (V. 1), "...and to cure diseases." Jesus also gave the apostles power and authority to heal all manner of diseases. That is, he gave them the power to miraculously heal all manner of diseases. II. Jesus giving His apostles a message to preach V. 2, "And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God..." The apostles were told to preach the kingdom of God to the people of Israel. That same message is called "the gospel" in verse six. To preach the message of the kingdom of God is to preach the gospel. To preach the message of the kingdom of God is to preach that God is King. It is to preach that God is the Supreme Ruler of the universe. To preach the kingdom of God is to preach that God, the Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, foresaw man to be a sinner and that He desired to save lost man. To preach the kingdom of God is to preach that God the Father promised to send a Messiah-King to save man. To preach the kingdom of God is to preach that God has sent Jesus to be that Messiah-King, that Savior of men. To preach the kingdom of God is to preach that all who wish to be saved should trust in Jesus, the Messiah-King, the Christ. To preach the kingdom of God is to preach that all who get saved should also follow their King in baptism and should pledge their allegiance to Him as their Lord and King. That is, they should let Him rule their lives since He is their king. (V. 2), "...and to heal the sick." Luke again mentions that they would heal the sick. It should be understood, however, that this is a secondary part of their work. Healing the sick was not their chief objective. Preaching the kingdom of God was their objective. Healing was secondary to their preaching. Yet healing of the sick was to aid them in preaching the gospel of the kingdom. The healing of the sick was to convince men that God has sent these men and their message was the truth from God. Particularly the healing of the sick was to convince men that their message about Jesus being the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of men, is the very truth of God. They were to tell men that their power to perform miracles came to them directly from Jesus. Therefore, this would serve as evidence to all that Jesus is, indeed, the Christ, the King of Israel, the King of all the world, and the Savior of men. III. Jesus giving His apostles restrictions V. 3, "And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece." They were instructed not to take with them the supplies which they would need for their journey. They were to go throughout all Israel and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, but they were not to take the supplies which they would very obviously need. For instance, they were to take to staves. According to Mark they could take one staff but no more than one. They were to take no scrip. A scrip was a bag for carrying supplies such as food, money and other articles. They were not even to carry the bag. They wee to carry no bread. The word, bread, is used here to mean food of any kind. They were not even to carry enough food for one meal. They were allowed to carry with them a coat, but they were not allowed to carry an extra coat in case something happened to one. These apostles were to learn to depend on the Lord to supply their need. They were to go out not knowing where their next meal was coming from except to know that the King who had sent them out would provide for them some how some way. They were to learn to depend on Him to supply their need. They were also to learn to depend on the people to whom they ministered. They were to depend on the Lord, but the Lord was not going to supply them manna from heaven on a daily basis. The Lord would use people to supply their need. It might have been easier for them if the Lord had intended to supply them manna from heaven. That way they would have been depending directly on the Lord without other human beings being involved. It might have been easier to think, "The Lord is going to supply my needs" than to think, "The Lord will use some of these people to supply my needs." What I am saying is that it would be easier to trust the Lord than to trust the people. But they were to learn to depend on the people to supply their need. They were also to learn to teach the people to supply their need. They were not to suppose that the people would automatically know that they were supposed to supply the need of these preachers. They were supposed to tell the people that the Lord whom they preached expected them to take care of their need. I can testify that this is not easy to do. But that is what the apostles were to learn to do and that is what God did want the people to do. God wanted the people to take care of these men. Now this may, at first, seem to be an imposition on the people. But let me tell you that it was not. It was not an imposition on the people. The people were not being taken advantage of in any way. Many of these people had been desperately ill until these apostles came along and healed them. Many of them had loved one who were healed by these apostles. Many of the people were lost and hell-bound until the apostles came along and preached the gospel of the kingdom of God to them. What I am saying to you is that God used these apostles to give a lot more to these people than the people gave to the apostles. The people were not being taken advantage of. They were getting the better end of the deal. IV. Jesus giving a rule about dwelling with others V. 4, "And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart." In whatever home the apostles first dwelled in a city or village they were to continue to abide there until they left that city or village. They were not to leave that home for one with better accommodations. In other words, they were not to start looking about for a home that could supply them with better and richer accommodations and provide more sumptuous meals. They were to learn to be content with what the Lord had supplied them. Perhaps one lesson that preachers should learn from this is that we should be content with the pastorate which the Lord has given to us. We should not always be looking for one with a bigger and better parsonage and a bigger salary. V. Jesus giving a rule of conduct for when they were rejected V. 5, "And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them." If a city or village should not receive them and hear their message, then they were to move on to another place where they would be heard. Somebody would receive them. Somebody would be willing to hear them and glad to support them. As for the city that would not receive them, they were to shape the very dust of that city off their feet as they left the city. God would use this act as testimony agaist the people of that city in judgment. Matthew said that it would be more tolerable for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in judgment than for that city. Let me tell you that there is a terrible judgment awaiting those who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are terrible consequences awaiting those who reject the men whom God has sent to preach to them. All who reject these men, except they later repent, reject the Lord and they will rue the day in which they have rejected the Lord. VI. The apostles' obedience V. 6, "And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where." The apostles went throughout the land preaching and healing in every city and village where they went. They stepped out by faith and were obedient to the Lord's commands. Many people were healed. This was a joy both to the people and to the apostles. Later they would report in to Jesus and they would joyfully report to Him about those whom they healed. Many would believe the gospel which they preached and get saved. This was an even greater joy both to the people and to the apostles. VII. The day in which we live We live in a new day and under a new commission. We live and operate under The Great Commission. We are to preach the gospel to the whole world and to every creature in the world. Men and women throughout the world are still sinners and the great majority of them are still lost and hell-bound. In spite of their sin God still loves these people and wants them to be saved. God would have all men to come to repentance and salvation. Those who are lost in sin still have a marvelous opportunity to hear the gospel and to be saved. They can avoid the fires of hell and go to heaven instead. What a wonderful opportunity that is! But there is a terrible judgment awaiting all who reject the gospel. They will most certainly rue the day that they rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ. All who do believe the gospel and who do get saved should seek Scriptural baptism at the hands of a Scriptural church and should become active members of that church. They should make Jesus the King of their lives and let the Lord have His way in their lives. Conclusion: As the apostles preached the gospel to Israel, even so I have preached the gospel to you. The decision now rests with you. I am asking you to come in the singing of the invitation hymn and let Jesus be your Savior and King.