Chapter 64

“Be Sure of This”

“And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell. He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.” (Luke 10:8-16)

            Luke alone was inspired by God the Holy Spirit to record the event describe in the first part of this chapter. He tells us of the Lord Jesus sending out seventy unnamed men into the cities into which he was about to come. These men were sent with the message of his grace, sent to preach the gospel, because he was about to come to these places himself (v. 1).

            You can mark this down: — Whenever and wherever, to whomsoever the Lord Jesus Christ is about to come in saving power, mercy and grace, he will send a man to that place and to that person preaching the gospel. This is God’s chosen, ordained method of grace; and he does not depart from it.

“Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.” (vv. 2-7)

      Let’s pick up the narrative at verse 8. These nine verses (vv. 8-16) contain lessons we need to lay to heart and remember, as we seek to serve Christ and the souls of men in this world.

Simplicity

            The first thing to be learned from these verses is a lesson commonly ignored, despised, and neglected in the religious world. We have before us in verses 8-11 a very clear display of the simplicity of the gospel.

            How I wish men understood this, especially those men who are preachers! — The gospel of God’s free, sovereign, saving grace in Christ is the most profound thing in the universe. It is a mystery of such depth and wisdom that the angels of God desire to look into it. It is such a wonder that we shall spend eternity learning its wonders (1 Corinthians 15:1-3). The gospel is a mystery of infinite proportions; but the preaching of the gospel and the faith of the gospel, believing Christ is a matter of utter simplicity (2 Corinthians 11:2-4).

            When our Master sent out these seventy men, he gave them a very plain, simple, singular task. They were sent out to serve the souls of men, not to be served by men. — “And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick that are therein” (vv. 8-9). He taught his servants to live modestly, be easily satisfied, and to heal the sick. It is the responsibility of all who are sent of God to preach the gospel to heed these instructions. Preachers who seek wealth and luxury are repugnant. God’s servants live upon the generosity of God’s people, and rightfully so; but God’s servants refuse to enrich themselves, even when given the opportunity to do so. Gospel preachers serve the souls of men. They do not seek to be served by men. Faithful men seek to heal the needs of those they serve. They do not seek to be “well healed” by men.

            Next, the Master says, “And say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” — These men were sent out to proclaim a very plain, singular, vital message to eternity bound sinners. — “The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” They were required to preach with great simplicity and plainness of speech, to preach with boldness and confidence, urgently pressing upon their hearers the claims of Christ, the sovereign Lord. Gospel preaching is always confrontational. It always demands the surrender of rebels to Christ the Lord (Luke 14:26-33).

Rolfe Barnard used to say, “Preach for a verdict.” He meant by that that preaching should always press those who hear us to do something (Come to Christ. Repent. Devote oneself more completely to the Savior, etc). As my old Homiletics’/Pastoral Theology professor used to tell us at the opening of almost every class, “Where there is no summons, there is no sermon.” Preaching is not feeding people religious, doctrinal facts, but setting before needy souls the riches and glory of Christ, demanding faith in and surrender to him What is preaching? It is expounding the Scriptures, testifying of our experience of grace in the kingdom of God and persuading sinners to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:23).

      Would to God preachers would quit trying to reason men and women into faith. Sinners cannot be reasoned into faith. They can be reasoned into religion, but not into Christ. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual. If we would do good for the souls of men, we must preach the gospel of Christ with simplicity and boldness.

            We must not be discouraged, or turned aside from our great work because some refuse to believe. See what the Lord’s instructions are in this regard in verses 10-11. — “But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,” Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” (Read Romans 3:3-4.) The first lesson is this: — The preaching of the gospel is a matter of singularity (We have but one message — The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.). The message is to be preached with deliberate simplicity. And it is to be preached with sincerity, earnestly seeking the salvation of God’s elect.

Sovereignty

            Second, in verses 12-15 our Lord Jesus gives us a tremendous display of divine sovereignty.

“But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had a great while ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.”

            Here our Savior shows us that the Lord God almighty, in his wisdom and sovereignty, hides the gospel from some and reveals it to others, as he will. In other words, he has mercy on whom he will have mercy; and whom he will he hardens. I know this is the meaning of our Lord’s words here because he tells us so in a similar passage in Matthew 11:20-27.

“Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”

            Does this mean that man has no responsibility for his own soul? Certainly not! Read Matthew 11:28-30.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Responsibility

            The third lessons taught in theses verses is this: — If you go to hell, it will be altogether your own fault, your own doing. Many foolishly imagine that any talk of man’s responsibility implies some ability in depraved, spiritually dead sinners; but that is not the case. It is the responsibility of all who hear the gospel to believe the gospel. If that declaration does not fit your theological system, you should scrap your system, not the Word of God (Proverbs 1:23-33; John 3:18; 16:9; 1 John 5:10).

            The wages of sin is death. There is not a soul in hell that raises his proud head and declares to the Almighty, “I am damned because I wanted to trust you, I wanted to believe on Christ, but you would not give me grace, you would not give me faith, you would not save me.” Rather, the damned are everlastingly tormented by the fact that they are justly damned because of their willful unbelief.

            Without question, the most abominable evil in this world is unbelief. Unbelief declares that God himself is a liar (1 John 5:10). That means that if you go to hell, you will have no one to blame but yourself! You are responsible for, and you shall be held accountable for every gospel sermon you ever heard, or could have heard, for every ray of light you have despised, and for every witness of truth you have spurned.

God’s Ambassadors

            Here is a fourth lesson. It is found in verse 16. — Faithful gospel preachers are God’s ambassadors to your soul. The Lord Jesus declares, “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.” That is exactly what the Apostle Paul asserts in 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:1. Faithful gospel preachers, men sent of God to declare his gospel are God’s ambassadors, God’s representatives, by whom God speaks to your soul. They are to be heard, received and treated as God’s ambassadors (Isaiah 52:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:7, 17).

Don Fortner

Listen to sermons at FreeGraceRadio.com