Beyond the lowly

Intro:

Setup:

— Today, we are going to explore how God used the rough and tumble normal people to advance His Kingdom (rule and reign)

— To setup this story, in the previous chapter Jesus first sends out the 12 but only to the Jews, so that represents the 12 tribes.

— Then only in the gospel of Luke do we see Jesus sending the 70 (There is some debate on wether the number was 70 or 72, but most scholars believe that 72 was a copying error)

— But either way, since the 12 represented the gospel of the Kingdom going to the Jews, the the 70 represents the gospel being preached to the 70 nations as spoken of in Gen 10,

— It is also similar to how God had Moses gather 70 leaders so God could put “some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you.. “ Number 11:17

— What was interesting is that 2 people that didn’t make the meeting got the same power! 26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” 30 And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

— So, Moses wasn’t bothered by 70 men being empowered by the Spirit.. because then Moses can enjoy the effects of multiplication.. Same with Jesus.. He preaches this idea of multiplication, of releasing of empowering..

Luke 10:3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 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. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘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.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

TEXT:

Luke 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Father’s Will

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “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.

Prayer

Story: WE see Jesus rejoicing in the Holy Spirit along with the Father.. The whole Godhead is joyful. When you know what gives your parents joy, you try and repeat it.. My dad loved slapstick.. He grew up with Laurel and Hardy, the three stooges, even Charlie Chaplain.. If he had any say when we rented a movie, it would be a title with Jerry Lewis (not the singer..) Or we would watch reruns of late night shows with Carol Burnett and Tim Conway.. I still can remember my dad in tears laughing at some of these scenes.. I got some of them, but not the way he did!! But to know my dad, is to know what makes him tick! So, when we see the Godhead rejoicing, we might not “get it” at first either!

transition

I was studying the text and praying on the “Big idea” of this message, there are so many themes we can draw from this story… We’ve got the Kingdom of God and the power that is associated with it, we’ve got “delegating” we’ve got unity.. men going two by two, we have the concept of evangelism and spiritual warfare.. Trusting God with resources.. ETC. There were so many avenues I could go down, or cover all of them.. But I’ve also been reading CS Lewis “mere Christianity” something that came from a collection of radio talks he gave in the aftermath of WW2. The chapter called “The Great sin” of which he was referring to pride. And it was then, I see that a big thread through this story is how God advances His Kingdom using regular “lowly” humble people..

The big idea here is that what brings God joy is:

Those who humbly receive the Kingdom of God: and here is what is true about them

1. Obey the simple commands of Jesus

— I want to think this through for a moment, Jesus is asking people to go with no change of underwear.. No pocket change.

— I’ve been broke before, you know, relying on that spare change floating in my car.. but this is on purpose!

— Intelligent people, people that would be above the task would look down on this mission. This would be nonsense. This doesn’t make practical sense to not have enough supplies for the journey!

— “Jesus, get back with me when you have a real plan together”

— These guys just simply went. There is nothing better than simply hearing what Jesus says, reading what the bible says, and just doing it. Like Nike but different.

— ++James 1:25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

— The Lord had me go on staff at a Baptist church and sit under a pastor by the name of Dave B. That was a problem for me growing up in a pentecostal church.. The Lord confirmed it, and it was such an awesome experience

— One of the things that happened there is they had a group of men gather and ask a Spirit Filled believer to “speak in tongues” and they took notes! This is a BAPTIST church, filled with scientists and engineers and highly educated people.. The reason? They said, “there’s something to this speaking in tongues thing, and so we want to learn about it!” There was no flash, no hype, just hearing the Word of God, and by His grace living it out!

2. team up with others

— The reason Jesus has two go is because to a Jewish person facts couldn’t be attested to without a witness deut: “in the mouth of two or three witnesses let a charge be established” so they were finishing each others sentences! They HAD to be in agreement about who Jesus claimed to be!

— For them to be a team they HAD to have humility..

— When Paul addresses the Romans in Ch 12 he heads up the section on the church operating like a team with all of their disparate gifts with:

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

— When we have pride (which isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less”) we might be inclined to think, “I can’t get any value from this person,” or, “I would do it better”

— If thoughts like that were running through their heads the mission would be compromised even before it began!

++Phil 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

3. Experience the power of God

— It was obvious that the mission was a success!

— The men came back telling tales of how “even the demons are subject…”

— Now Jesus’ response to this has a little more going on then meets the eye..

— When He says “I saw” that may not be the best translation.. The tense of this verb, is better captured by translating it “I was seeing.” Luke understood each exorcism by the seventy(-two) as demonstrating the defeat of Satan.

— So, when the Gospel is advanced, when Jesus is preached, when people put their trust in Jesus, the enemy falls again and again..

— We walk in authority and power, and this power is God’s and God’s alone! We don’t take credit for it. This isn’t done in a pastors name, or a miracle workers name, or a prophets name, this is done in the name that is above every name, JESUS.

— We also walk in power to heal!

— Story in the Philippines about the YWAM team gathering around and praying for a boy that was nearly deaf and he was fully healed in front of the villagers.

4. Receive the message of the Gospel

— The mission that Jesus sent the 70 on can be likened to is a military delegation from a superior fighting force offering terms of peace

— The fact they came back rejoicing says the delegation was successful. And the recipients of the terms were agreeable to the terms! GOOD NEWS

— A story I just came across was 1 Samuel 25, Before David was made king, he was gaining power and he and his men served guarding property owners from marauding bands stealing crops etc. So, David sent a delegation to get supplies as payment.. But Nabal did not take them seriously and then insulted them.. The problem is David’s team was entitled to payment.. So they started to move on Nabals property to take him out, but Abigail, Nabal’s wife had a different disposition. She understood that Nabal could humbly submit to David’s fighting men and have peace, or it was just simply over. DEATH.

— For us, the Gospel message is the message of Peace. The Peace accords are incredibly lopsided in that, the powerful fighting force, the glorious and Holy God in the person of Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. All we have to do is believe and receive the news that Jesus died on the cross..

— Unfortunately, there are people that will be like Nabal and refuse the message of peace and the terms of peace to their own demise! But the church is like Abigail, offering our life in simple surrender to the King so we might live! She also is a good example of someone who intercedes on behalf of those we love such as our unsaved friends and family and coworkers..

5. Share joy with God

— Church, God is not willing that any should perish!

— There’s a two way rejoicing throughout the scriptures in SALVATION.

— Paul speaks to the Romans about not being caught up with what food you can eat or not, Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

— David talks about salvation and how it relates to joy.. Psalm 13: 5  But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

— And in all the parable of lost things being found (Coin, sheep, son) Jesus tells us what that is speaking to is people being saved and He says, Luke 15:7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Application

— Jesus is coming soon! How should we prepare? Be HUMBLY ENGAGED WITH THE THINGS OF THE KINGDOM

— When He comes, He’s looking for a faithful humble teachable church that obeys what He says

A> In light of being people of the Kingdom, how should we think about voting?

— First of all, our democracy is not the end all be all. We are citizens of Heaven first and foremost

— It is possible that some of us are OVERLY engaged as if all our hope is pinned on the outcome this current voting cycle. There’s a danger in putting too much of our hope and trust in things that change, and not putting our hope and trust in the One who never changes..

— It is also possible that we are not engaged enough. Our government gives the people a chance to have a say.. We have a moral obligation if we have any “power” as infinitesimal as it is to use it..

Gal. 6:10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Vote on Morals Prov. 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.— In this election cycle, I do believe that there are moral considerations

— Abortion, (there’s grace if you have had one)

— Some of these transgender issues such as trying to remove parents from being involved in surgical decisions, pushing agendas on children in school etc. are reprehensible

2. Protection

— It is incumbent on leaders to keep their people safe

— In my voting I consider issues re border and lawful entry into the country

— Our defense is something I think about, our geo political interactions. Our posture on the global stage.. I want my kids and grandkids to be safe if I can help it..

3. Housekeeping

— Keeping a good budget, managing our resources..

— Maintaining law and order etc..

These things are important, but remember, we are citizens of HIS KINGDOM FIRST. The Kingdom of Jesus is what transforms hearts!

B. Communion

Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

— Jesus showed us the way of humble obedience.

—++ Phil. 2: 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

— Bring up LINDA and ANDREW to lead us into Communion..