WWUTT 2373 Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two (Luke 10:1-12)

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Jesus sent out 72 disciples into the surrounding towns and villages to preach the message of the kingdom.

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Whoever received them, received God, but whoever rejected them, rejected God, when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our

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Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .utt .com.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the gospel according to Luke, we start chapter 10 today with Jesus sending out the 72.

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And I'm going to start out by reading all 23 verses here, which covers this whole mission. So Luke 10, 1 through 23, hear the word of the

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Lord. After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

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And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

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Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

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Go your way. Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

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Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.

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But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages.

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Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.

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Heal the sick in it and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.

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But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,

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Even the dust of your town that clings to your feet, we wipe off against you.

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Nevertheless, know this, that the kingdom of God has come near. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

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Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

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But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you,

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Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

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The one who hears you, hears me. And the one who rejects you, rejects me.

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And the one who rejects me, rejects him who sent me. The seventy -two returned with joy, saying,

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Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw

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Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 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.

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

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In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you,

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Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

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Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my

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Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the

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Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

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Then, turning to the disciples, he said privately, Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

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For I tell you that many prophets and kings desire to see what you see and did not see it and hear what you hear and did not hear it.

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And that's the account of Jesus sending out the seventy -two. We'll see how far we get with this today, and then we'll finish the rest of it out on Monday when we come back to our study in Luke.

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So this chapter begins just like chapter nine began. I don't know if you remember that from a few weeks back, but at the start of chapter nine, how did that begin?

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Do you remember? Jesus sent out the twelve. You have the sending out of the twelve apostles there at the start of chapter nine.

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And here at the start of chapter ten, you have the sending out of the seventy -two. Now at the start of chapter nine, with the sending out of the twelve, as I had mentioned to you at the beginning of that chapter, you had this back and forth through the chapter where Jesus would give an instruction to his disciples, and then there would be something revealed about Jesus.

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And the paragraphs would go back and forth that way. Here at the start of chapter ten, this is near the beginning of Jesus turning in the direction of Jerusalem, if you'll remember that.

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So this would have been in verse fifty -one, chapter nine, verse fifty -one. When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

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So now the ministry that he's doing here on earth is turning in that direction of him heading to Jerusalem, where he's going to be crucified, of course, buried, risen again, and ascending to heaven.

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That's what is meant by the days drew near for him to be taken up, that he would be taken up out of the presence of his disciples and back into the presence of the father.

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So as part of this mission, as he's now heading to Jerusalem, he is sending out the seventy -two.

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Now there's a bit of a language variant here at the start of chapter ten. So Luke ten one says after this, and that's after the various teaching that we had there, especially

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Jesus visiting Samaria there at the end of chapter nine. So after this, the

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Lord appointed seventy -two others and sent them on ahead of him two by two and every town and place where he himself was about to go.

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Now, where's the language variant? Well, if you were to read this in the Legacy Standard Bible, you would see at the very start, it says after this, the

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Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him. So the

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ESV has seventy -two and the Legacy and some other translations have seventy.

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So you'll have some translations will say seventy -two. Others say seventy. You'll find that scholarship is pretty divided over this.

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There are some that will argue that it's seventy. Some will say seventy -two. And it's difficult to know what the earliest manuscript tradition was.

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The King James Bible, the New King James, the New American Standard Legacy, as I mentioned, these will all say seventy and some of the more recent translation.

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Well, Legacy is a recent translation, but even some of those like the NIV, the CSB, the

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ESV, they will have seventy -two at the very start here. I'm going to make an argument, though, that it's probably seventy.

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I think seventy is most likely, even though I'm reading here from the ESV. I'm going to side with those translations that say seventy.

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And what would be my basis for that? I'm not a New Testament scholar. I don't read some of the earliest manuscripts.

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So on what basis would I say that I think the evidence points toward it being seventy?

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Well, because in Genesis chapter ten. So here we're in Luke ten. You go back to Genesis ten and you have the table of nations.

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And how many nations are listed there in Genesis ten, do you think? Yeah, it's seventy nations.

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So I suspect that there's some sort of parallel here between Luke ten and Jesus sending out seventy disciples and then

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Genesis ten and the reference to the seventy nations as given there in the table of nations.

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Jesus sends out the twelve and they're only supposed to go to the lost children of the house of Israel, he says to them.

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He sends out the seventy two or the seventy rather, and they go two by two into various towns.

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But this is going to represent how the message of the kingdom is actually going to go out into all the nations.

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That will be the commission that he gives to his disciples at the end of the gospel of Luke. So now that he's he's now in the direction of heading to Jerusalem, he's closing in on the last leg of his earthly ministry.

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What we'll get to in Luke twenty four, after he rises from the dead and he commissions his disciples to go out and preach, they're supposed to go out and preach the message of repentance into all the nations.

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So this kind of has a foreshadowing to that regarding seventy disciples that are going two by two into all these different towns that Jesus is eventually going to go to himself.

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So thirty five different towns, since you have them in pairs going to these different places.

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He sent them into every town and place where he himself was about to go. So we go on now to verse two.

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And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

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There are many who are ready, whose whose hearts are ready to hear the message of the kingdom, believe it and come into the kingdom of God by faith.

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But there needs to be more workers going out there to preach the gospel so that many will hear the gospel and so come to faith and live.

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That is the same kind of missional call that we could give to the church today. The harvest is indeed plentiful.

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We've got places on earth that haven't even been haven't even been visited by any missionaries yet.

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There is a plentiful harvest of people ready to hear the gospel of Christ.

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But we need to have more workers that are willing to go out. Maybe you're not going to go out on the mission field, maybe not cross an ocean.

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Perhaps you will. And if it is God's will for you, that he would impress upon your heart that you would go abroad to share the gospel with those who still need to hear it.

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But there are certainly people in your own town, in your own community, even in your own family that still need to hear the gospel.

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We've talked about this a little bit, too, when we were in chapter nine. Don't withhold the message of the gospel from someone, especially if you are worried or concerned about their opinion of you.

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Then you fear man instead of God. But know that it is only by faith in Jesus Christ through the preaching of the gospel that anyone is saved.

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And as the Apostle Paul talks about in Romans 10, how will they hear unless someone comes to them and preaches to them?

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Romans 10, 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. So we could still hear this same charge today, that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

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Therefore, Jesus says, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

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So not only go, but even pray that more would go. And then if you know somebody who is going, somebody who's out there, somebody who aspires to go, pray for them, help them, help that mission in whatever way that you can.

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And then we become co -laborers in that sense on the mission field that others may hear the gospel of Christ and come into his kingdom.

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Verse three, go your way, Jesus says, behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

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Now, of course, there's going to be many out there, opponents to the kingdom of God that would try to devour those who come with that message.

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That's certainly going to happen. That is the promise that Jesus gives in all of his gospels saying to the disciples, remember that when they hate you, they hated me first.

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That one more specifically is particular to John. But this labeling them as lambs, calling them lambs,

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I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. The disciples are not going to go out and forcefully convert anybody to the faith.

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And I'm hearing more and more of this come up, even in reformed Christian circles. It's really astounding that there are some

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Christians who believe that an age will come in which we will be converting them by force.

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We're going to have control over the government and the government. Now, the government of a

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Christian nation will force people to become Christians. But that is not the method of evangelism that our

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Messiah has called us to. We are to be lambs in the midst of wolves.

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We're not forcing anyone at the edge of the sword, whether we're mounting up some sort of crusade or we're taking control of the government.

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This does not create genuine converts. The heart is not changed with a sword.

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The heart is changed. Well, let me put it this way. The heart is not changed with a physical metal sword.

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The heart is changed with the spiritual sword of the spirit. And that's the word of God.

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Again, faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

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And so, Jesus sending them out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Jesus' disciples are not the devourers.

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We are going out in kindness, in love, patiently enduring evil, the way

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Paul puts it in 2 Timothy 2 .25, knowing that God is doing the work of changing hearts, of converting sinners to himself.

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We preach the gospel. The Holy Spirit does the work. And that's the work we do as lambs, as lambs that have been sent out by God in the midst of wolves to preach the message of the kingdom.

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They are going to bite and devour or even attempt to bite and devour. That's not the way that Jesus' disciples are to be.

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Now, on this mission, their focus is to be upon Christ and his word.

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And so Jesus says to them in verse four, carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals and greet no one on the road.

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Doesn't mean that they went barefoot. It just means they couldn't take an extra pair of sandals with them and greet no one on the road.

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Don't be sidetracked in the journey from where it is that I'm sending you to go. The mission is not people along the way.

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The mission is the people of the towns that they are going to, which again, Jesus was going to be visiting soon.

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So he's sending them ahead of him. Whatever house you enter, verse five, first say, peace be to this house.

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And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.

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A son of peace would be someone who has found peace that comes with salvation.

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So if they listen to the message of God, they have peace in their hearts, peace with God.

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Previously, they were at enmity with God, but now through faith in the one who is being proclaimed in these disciples message, talking about Jesus, talking about the message of the kingdom, when they have come to hear this word and come to believe they're a son of peace, they have been, they have made peace with God through faith in the gospel.

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That goes for any one of us. When you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you have peace with God.

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As Paul describes in Philippians four, a peace that surpasses all understanding.

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It's beyond human comprehension because it is a peace with the divine and a peace even in knowing that our sins are not held against us, but we have everlasting life with God forever in glory.

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We are all sons of peace. We who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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If a son of peace is not there, then your peace will return to you.

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So when you make this proclamation, peace be to this house, if there isn't anyone peaceful there, then the peace that you have proclaimed will come back to you.

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The peace of God will be upon you. He will reward those who were persecuted or not loved for the sake of the gospel.

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Verse seven and remain in the same house. Jesus says, eating and drinking what they provide for the laborer deserves his wages.

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By the way, that statement itself right there. Luke 10, seven is quoted by the apostle

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Paul in first Timothy five, 18. So we have a new

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Testament book quoted in another new Testament book. There are some skeptics out there that will say the gospels were never quoted anywhere else in the new

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Testament, and that's not true. The apostle Paul quotes exactly that line in first Timothy five, 18.

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It's the only place that it appears. The only place that line appears is in Luke 10. So Paul is then quoting it in first Timothy chapter five.

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So then continuing on, do not go from house to house, Jesus says. So they're not floating around from person to person and taking advantage or taking those people for granted, but rather they stay in one house and let the persons of that of that house care for them and show them hospitality.

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Verse eight, whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.

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Again, because the laborer is worthy of his wages, but also they pay compliment to their hospitality, the person who shows hospitality receives reward in that the person receiving the hospitality indeed receives it.

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So then going on, verse nine, heal the sick in it and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you.

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Whatever house receives you, heal the sick that are there. Now, once again, this demonstrates that the mission they are being sent on, they're being sent with the same kind of authority that the apostles were being sent with back in chapter nine.

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When Jesus sent out the 12, he gave them authority to heal the sick as well. So these 70 also have the authority to heal the sick and proclaim the message of the kingdom of God to them.

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Verse 10, but whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, even the dust of your town that clings to your feet, we wipe off against you.

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Sorry, that that clings to our feet, the dust of your town clinging to our feet, we wipe off against you.

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And that's similar again to what Jesus said to the 12 back in Luke nine, saying to them that if they won't receive you, kick the dust off your feet because that is on them.

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If they would not receive a messenger of the kingdom of God, then their blood is on their own heads.

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Verse 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.

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So for those who will receive a messenger of the kingdom to hear that statement, that the kingdom of God has come near.

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What a great compliment, what an honor that is, how they would rejoice in hearing such news that the kingdom of God has come near to this place.

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I am a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. I get to become a citizen just being where I am.

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That was such a joy for the person who heard such a blessing, but to those who did not receive the kingdom, it would still be said to them that the kingdom of God is near, but that would not be good news.

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That would be the promise of judgment because when God ushers his kingdom into this world, it means he's going to remove all of those who were enemies of that kingdom.

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Those who do not repent and come to faith in Jesus and therefore become citizens of the kingdom of God, they will be regarded as enemies and they will be destroyed when the kingdom of God comes on that day.

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Verse 12, I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

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Why is that? Well, in this particular case, you've got the very son of God that is in their midst.

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The city of Sodom didn't get that privilege. Whatever town they go into performing these miracles,

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Sodom didn't get to see miracles like that. The only sign from heaven they got was the fire that rained down upon them and so those who saw such signs and wonders, yet they did not believe it's going to be more bearable on the day of Sodom than it will be for that town who would not receive a messenger of the kingdom of God.

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So once again, the charge must be upon us that we understand the importance of sharing the message of the kingdom with others.

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There will be people who will reject us, but that will be on them and the judgment is going to be greater upon those who heard the message and did not turn from their sin and believe it.

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That all of the evidence was there, an understanding of their sin, a need to turn from their sin to the

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Lord Jesus Christ and live. That offer was given to them and they denied it. They rejected it.

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And so the kingdom of God still comes near to them, but comes near to them in judgment rather than in deliverance and in promise.

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We can rejoice in knowing that we have the promises of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

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For those of us who are in Christ, what great news it is that the kingdom of God is near.

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And I, for one, cannot wait until that day that we will be in that heavenly kingdom forever with our

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God in glory. Heavenly father, I pray that we would rejoice every day in that good news that we have heard, we have received, we desire to walk in knowing that we've been made citizens of the kingdom of God.

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May it be reflected in our very lives. That promise has been given to us by faith in Jesus Christ.

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And I pray that we understand the urgency to share the gospel because the kingdom comes near to everybody, to those who do not believe the coming of that kingdom means their destruction.

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So give us boldness, give us courage, even to talk with those that we love, acquaintances, people that we're around all the time, because it's only by faith in the gospel that they will be saved.

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We'll be hated for it, but let us rejoice and be glad as the scriptures tell us, for so they hated the prophets who came before us.

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Thank you for sending the message of the kingdom to us that we may hear and believe and so be saved.

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Christ's name we honor, in his precious name we pray, amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

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Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.