The Gospel Series Part 8b

PRIVATE LESSONS ON LOVING SERVICE AND PRAYER

Commissioning of the seventy (Lk 10:1-6)

Lk 10:3 Meekness is a requirement, even though Jesus has also warned them about the hostility they will face ("I send you out as lambs among wolves"). There is no room for "lambo" or attack sheep in the body of Christ.

Remember lambs are perhaps the dumbest animals alive. God doesn't need the brightest or smartest, just people with a willing heart to serve.

Lk 10:4 Trust in God for provision. Though they will face hostility, God will provide for them. "Where God guides, God provides". Too often we worry about how we will perform a task, yet we can be assured if the Lord has given an assignment, He will provide the skills and provision necessary to carry it out.

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You. (Psalm 5:11 NKJV)

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD Than to put confidence in princes. (Psalm 118:8-9 NKJV)

Lk 10:7 They are to rely on the hospitality of the people for their food and lodging. Looking ahead in this chapter to the parable of the good Samaritan, we see an important point: there are sins of commission (stealing, adultery, etc) and sins of omission (failure to help someone in need). The priest and Levite didn't do anything wrong, it's what the failed to do.

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17 NKJV)

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18 NKJV)

Lk 10:8 "Whatever city you enter ... eat such things as are set before you" - One of the reasons I'm not a missionary! I've heard of the stuff they have to eat, and it doesn't sound too appealing to me...

Lk 10:9 "heal" - the present imperative active.^[1] It's a command, and more than that, it's a command they had no power to carry out! Once again, where God gives commands, He provides the means necessary to carry them out. When God gives us a impossible command, do we think of our resources and shy away, or do we go boldly forth, knowing God will give us the means necessary to carry it out?

Lk 10:12 Why would it be better for Sodom in the day of judgement than for a city that rejected them? Because Sodom was a pagan city, probably without any prophet to warn them of their perverse practices. These people had a messenger proclaiming the truth, and they rejected it. "To whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48)"

Lk 10:16 They are ambassadors for Jesus. Rejecting them is the same has rejecting Him.

Return of the seventy (Lk 10:17-24)

Lk 10:17 They were probably surprised.

Lk 10:18 Two ways to think of this verse:

Jesus was watching them and saw them casting out demons.
Jesus is referring back to the past when Satan fell. In other words, He is asking them why they would be surprised, since Jesus was there when Satan was kicked out of heaven.

But this is also a warning for them - a warning against pride. It's easy to become prideful as the Lord works through you, but it's the sin of pride that got satan in so much trouble to begin with.

Lk 10:19 The context of this is service. It is not a blanket promise. See also Mark 16:17-18

Lk 10:20 Casting out demons is no big deal - God created them, God can do what He wants. But salvation? Quite a miracle. Man got himself in such a predicament that only the death of the creator Himself would extricate him from it.

Lk 10:21 The Gospel is not rocket science. You don't have to be Einstein to understand it.

Lk 10:24 We are in the same position today! All the church before us was looking ahead to the end times - the times we now live in. It's not a time to be afraid, it's a time to be joyful!

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7 NKJV)

Story of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37)

Lk 10:25 "lawyer" - someone who studied the mosaic law.

"tested him" - this was not a sincere inquiry.

Lk 10:26 Jesus knew he wasn't sincere, so He answers with a question of His own.

Lk 10:28 If you can obey the law, OK. But there is no way you can - that's the point of the Sermon on the Mount. The purpose of the law is to show us we can NEVER be righteous on our own and to drive us to Jesus. (Galatians 3:24)

Lk 10:29 He wanted to do the minimum required by the law and no more. But instead of this response, he should have responded with a statement about his inability to keep the law.

Lk 10:30-37 The priest and Levite, by not helping, were guilty of a sin.

Two denari is about two days wages (roughly $150)

Jesus' visit with Mary and Martha (Lk 10:38-42)

Lk 10:38-42 Compare service and fellowship with Jesus. When we serve, it shouldn't be a burden or problem for us - if it is, we shouldn't be doing it! As we exercise our gifts, it's a natural thing we do without thinking about it.

The church in Ephesus worked hard, but yet Jesus had this stern warning for them:

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent. (Rev 2:4-7)

Lesson on how to pray and parable of the importunate friend (Lk 11:1-13)

Lk 11:1-4 Jesus gives the disciples a model prayer. This was not designed to be repeated routely as is often done, but is instead a template for all prayer. Jesus taught against repetition in prayer.

And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. (Mt 6:7)

Instead, our prayers should follow the pattern of this one.

Acknowledge our relationship with God
Acknowledge His supreme authority.
Request our daily provision (not yearly or monthly, only what is needed for that day)
Request forgiveness for sin
But also remind us we must forgive others.
Keep us away from the influence of satan

Lk 11:5-8 Persistence in prayer is required. How long do we continue to present the same request? Until answered. That doesn't imply we get an affirmative answer (more on that in verses 9-10).

But an important point in prayer is often overlooked. What is our attitude in prayer? "O God, save the world" isn't tactically significant. Remember the armor of God in Ephesians 6. In this battle you are the soldier, and you have been commissioned to call in the available firepower you need, anytime you need it. But you must be precise. Hit the enemy doesn't provide any information to the person planning the bombing. But calling in a strike at a certain longitude and latitude provides the command post the exact information they need to make a strike against the enemy.

The same with us. We have a 24 hour line to command headquarters, with the ability to call in the support we need. But "hit the enemy" doesn't provide the necessary details to coordinate a strike. Prayers like "save the world", or "heal the sick" are depriving you of the necessary support you need during the battle. But a specific request to minister to someone who is battling lung cancer can yield the necessary information to headquarters for them to send in supporting troups.

Lk 11:9-10 We will always get an answer to prayer. But it's not guaranteed to be the answer we want, or the way we want it. For example, suppose you are under a difficult boss at work, and you pray for the Lord to deliver you from this difficult situation. Then you get called into the office and notified your division is being closed, and you are laid off! Is that the answer you had in mind? Probably not. We must allow the Lord to work in His way, and not inject our inferior wisdom into the situation.

Lk 11:11-12 If our children need food, will we throw them a rock and say "chew on this kid"? I don't think so. Our own actions with our children will be used as a model for how the Father treats us as His children.

No father would do this. But something else is here. The Greek word for fish is ichthus - big deal you may say. But you know how to spell this (it's on many bumper stickers) IXOYE. It's an acronym for Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior. If you take the first letter of each word (in Greek), you get IXOYE, which is the Greek word for fish. That's why the fish is a common symbol of the Christian.

The serpent you may also know is a symbol for satan.

Putting the two ideas together and you get the following: if you ask the Father for the real thing (Jesus), will he give you the counterfeit (satan)?

Lk 11:13 Jesus' point in using these two examples. No father would do either to his children. If we are evil (Jeremiah 17:9), wouldn't a loving God do much more (than we would) for His children?

^[1] Zodhiates

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