"THE HARVEST"

Luke 10

The Seventy Sent Out

 After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also,and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. ² Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ³ Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. ⁴ Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 

 

⁵ But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. ⁷ And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 

 

 ⁸ Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. ⁹ And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 

 

 ¹⁰ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ 

 

 ¹² But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.

"HE GIVES YOU POWER"

Luke 9

Sending Out the Twelve

 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 

 

 ² He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ³ And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.

⁴ “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 

 ⁵ And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁶ So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

"HE WILL DO IT!"

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Philippians 1:6 NKJV

"DENY SELF"

 

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him    Luke 9:

²³ Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 

²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 

²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. 

 ²⁷ But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

"THE THREE LOSERS"

 The Cost of Discipleship  Luke 9

⁵⁷ Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

⁵⁹ Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Follow one; He is a passionate man, there is something he sees in Jesus, his words of authority, the miracles performed and his unconditional love. In searching the scriptures we find out this man was a scribe, his life had order, a man of great success, a comfortable life. A well known keeper of the law.

He believed that Jesus was in fact the one promised, but to save them from Rome, not from their sins.  Where he would be rewarded on the day of this imagined conquest over Rome. The answer by the Lord, revealed the heart of the man, and what really motivated him."“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Jesus was telling him that following him will not be an easy road, in fact unpredictable, and often times all comforts he  came to rely on would be gone. He never followed Jesus.

Luke 9:23

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

 

Follow two; There is not much conversation between Jesus and this person called. "another man,". To this man Jesus gets right to the point "follow me". This man for years had heard Jesus proclaim the kingdom of God, and now Jesus tells the man to go and do the same. The answer; “Lord, let me first go and bury my father,”and the answer from Jesus,  “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”would on the surface make Jesus seem cruel and hard of heart. Jesus knew that the man's father was not dead. Jesus knew that what he was actually saying, was when my father dies, and I receive my inheritance. Then I will follow you. "He should have known that the nature of God is love. "He never followed Jesus"

1 John 2:15

 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 

 Follow three; This man is the most troubled of all three, he uses that cautious word "but". “Lord , I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” This man looks back, he is clearly not ready or willing to just follow Jesus, he must make known this noble mission he is about to embark on, to all his family and friends. Perhaps, he desires a special send off, a celebration of sought. His flesh causes him to fail to see that the things of the past, is not worthy to be compared to following Jesus, and being appointed as one who is called to proclaim His kingdom. He needed to look back, in order to move forward. “ Lord,  I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” He never followed Jesus.

Matthew 10:37
 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

Luke 9:23

 “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

 

"Father in Heaven;  May this word bring us to our knees, broken and desperate, until we truly are your followers, never to look back! Amen.

"THE FURNACE"

"If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."—2 Timothy 2:12.

E must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ, and with Christ, if we are not in Christ. Beloved friend, are you trusting to Jesus only? If not, whatever you may have to mourn over on earth, you are not "suffering with Christ," land have no hope of reigning with Him in heaven. Neither are we to conclude that all a Christian's sufferings are sufferings with Christ, for it is essential that he be called by God to suffer. If we are rash and imprudent, and run into positions for which neither providence nor grace has fitted us, we ought to question whether we are not rather sinning than communing with Jesus. If we let passion take the place of judgment, and self-will reign instead of Scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord's battles with the devil's weapons, and if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised. Again, in troubles which come upon us as the result of sin, we must not dream that we are suffering with Christ. When Miriam spoke evil of Moses, and the leprosy polluted her, she was not suffering for God. Moreover, suffering which God accepts must have God's glory as its end. If I suffer that I may earn a name, or win applause, I shall get no other reward than that of the Pharisee. It is requisite also that love to Jesus, and love to His elect, be ever the mainspring of all our patience. We must manifest the Spirit of Christ in meekness, gentleness, and forgiveness. Let us search and see if we truly suffer with Jesus. And if we do thus suffer, what is our "light affliction" compared with reigning with Him?

Oh it is so blessed to be in the furnace with Christ, and such an honour to stand in the pillory with Him, that if there were no future reward, we might count ourselves happy in present honour; but when the recompense is so eternal, so infinitely more than we had any right to expect, shall we not take up the cross with alacrity, and go on our way rejoicing?

BeyondTheVeil; Why fear the furnace, if it is there you meet the fourth man. Where the awe of God's presence in your life, drops the jaw of your enemy! Look up my brothers! Your Redeemer lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

"HE CALLS YOU FRIEND!"


John 15:15
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.


Proverbs 18:24

 A man who has friends must himself be friendly,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

HALLELUJAH! "YOU ARE GOD'S FRIEND!"