Grace in a Servant’s Life

Last week, we began a new chapter,
a new section, and it had a strikingly abrupt start to it that all of
a sudden, almost out of nowhere, Jesus selects 70 people from
out of the greater number of disciples that were following
him and dispatches them almost immediately into a ministry.
A ministry for which we don’t know that they were particularly
prepared beforehand. They certainly hadn’t been prompted,
at least nothing recorded in Scripture. They hadn’t been to
seminary. We don’t see any recording of
any formal training, any preparation of any kind. Just the sudden
impulse of the Spirit placed in their life and the verbal
sending of Christ. I want to go back and I want
to review just briefly. We saw that it was a ministry
of perpetuating commission, that they alone weren’t to be the
only ministers, that they even going out were to pray for others
to come alongside. Look at verse one of chapter
10. Now, after this, the Lord appointed 70 others and sent
them in pairs ahead of him to every city and place where he
himself was going to come. And he was saying to them, the
harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore,
beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his
harvest. Girl, behold, I send you out
as lambs in the midst of wolves, carry no money belt, no bag,
no shoes and greet no one on the way. And that really is at
least recorded anyway, the only preparation they had, the only
instruction for their ministry. That somehow God had prepared
them. Somehow they were being sent with a partner, perhaps
that they didn’t even know. And they were going out to do
the Lord’s will in proclaiming Christ and healing the sick.
And they went. But Jesus, before they go out,
Jesus says, you know what? Secondly, this is a ministry
not only with a perpetuating commission, but a ministry with
an anticipated reception. You can expect results, positive
results. And people, that was for us.
It was for us as well. We can expect results when we
minister to people, when we proclaim Christ. Look at verse five, whatever
house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house. If a man of
peace is there, your peace will rest on him. But if not, it will
return to you. Stay in that house. And by saying
that, Jesus says there are some that are going to receive you.
Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you,
for the labor is worthy of his wages. Do not keep on moving
from house to house. Whatever city you enter and they
receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal those in it
who are sick and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near
to you. But thirdly, there was another
aspect of this ministry, and Jesus wanted them to know this,
too. And he wants us to know it. The ministry does have a
perpetuating commission. Ministry can expect an anticipated
reception. But we also have to expect rejection.
And that’s what he says in verse 10, whatever city you enter and
they do not receive you go out of its streets and say, even
the dust of your city, which clings to our feet, we wipe off
in protest against you. Yet be sure of this, that the
kingdom of God has come near. And Jesus proceeds to rebuke
several of the cities that had already rejected him. And Jesus soothes his soon to
be servants with these final words before their departure.
In verse 16, he says, The one who listens to you listens to
me. The one who rejects you rejects
me, and he who rejects me rejects the one who sent me. I can remember
I wasn’t probably six months old in the Lord when I learned
that lesson, because I took great offense that some of my family
members didn’t respond favorably, and I took it as personal rejection.
Don’t we all? And so the 70 go out. They went
out in obedience to Christ’s command, they weren’t in no doubt,
they went out feeling unprepared. Unaware with apprehension of
what lay before them was talking with one brother who was preparing
to go out from seminary some time ago, and he was very fearful. He had been trained and prepared
in the in the seminary, and suddenly he’s facing going out into the
ministry. And he was having what for him
was an uncharacteristic fear of going out and doing what he
was trained to do. And I said, you know, you’re really in good
company, because that was exactly what Paul felt. Paul said that
when he went out in Second Corinthians four, when he went out, there
were conflicts without and fears within. And that’s always the
way it’s going to be with us. That’s ministry. But the 70 went
out. And what we want to look at this
morning is their return and Christ’s response to their return. Look, if you would, beginning
in verse 17. Verse 17, it’s records. The seventy returned with joy,
saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.
And he said to them, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
Behold, I’ve given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions
and over all the power of the enemy and nothing will injure
you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are
subject to you. But rejoice that your names are
recorded in heaven. At that very time, he rejoiced
greatly in the Holy Spirit and said, I praise you, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things
from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.
Yes, Father, for this way was well pleasing in your sight.
All things have been handed over to me by my father and no one
knows the son except the father and who the father is except
the son. And anyone to whom the son wills to reveal him. Turning
to the disciples, he said, privately blessed are the eyes which see
the things which you see, for I say to you that many prophets
and kings wish to see the things which you see and did not see
them. And to hear the things which
you hear and did not hear them. Now, we’re not going to cover.
All of those verses this morning, I want to just look at those
first four this morning. But this I read them in its entirety
because this is Christ’s response. To the disciples return, the
disciples response essentially prompts a threefold response
of Christ. First, there’s the response to
the 70, which we’ll look at this morning. Then there’s this prayerful
response to the father, which we see in verse twenty one and
twenty two. And then this private response to the apostles, the
12 in verses 23 and 24. And we’ll take those up in weeks
to come. First, I want to look at Christ’s response. To success
in ministry, to the return of the 70. And I want to focus in
on, firstly, the elements of grace, the elements of grace,
those things that go into making a successful servant of God. And if you’ve heard me for more
than a month, you know, you’ve heard me say you’re all in the
ministry when we speak of the ministry. Don’t just look up
here and think that I’m the only one in the ministry. We’re all
in it, just as we’re the 70. I want to look at the elements
of grace at work in our lives as we serve God. First of all,
I want to look at this. This what I would you could only
characterize is a victory in the spiritual realm. Look at
verse 17. It said the 70 returned with
joy. No doubt they went out. We have
already seen it didn’t characterize their demeanor, but they went
out without a doubt in great trepidation. Suddenly. hoisted upon them this call to
ministry, they probably wanted to look to Christ and say, what
about you or what about the twelve of us? They returned with joy,
they went out one way and they came back completely different. There’s no doubt in this passage,
as you look. They likely didn’t return all
at once. They didn’t come flooding back
to Christ on some kind of a divine timer. They probably were filtering
back. And so the excitement of the
initial few built as they saw others come back. Others of the
thirty five pairs come back. It didn’t return all at once,
nor even at the same place, but they caught up to Jesus on the
road. Remember, he’s got his face set
towards Jerusalem. He has a task at hand. But they
all returned, it says, with joy, that joy characterized the multitude. That expresses really the tone
of this whole passage that we read this morning, because initially
their joy is taken on by Christ and Christ exalts and shares
it with the father that no, no doubt spills out to the apostles
there in closing. But if you look closely. There’s
a dark cloud behind this joy. Because as happy as they were,
as joyful as they were, the rejoicing isn’t over souls. It isn’t over
converts, necessarily, it is no even over towns and cities
that were open to having Christ come and visit them. Remember,
that was the whole purpose to proceed Christ. What they were
happy in was that somehow now they had this power. This power
was power over demons. They’d gone out confident. In
the master, obedient to him. Even if they were fearful, they
had set themselves to go out and heal the sick. And that much
they expected to be able to do. If Jesus sent them and if God
calls us to something, we can expect that he’s going to equip
us. They trusted him in that. What surprised them was that
soon they came in an attempt to heal. Soon they came to attack
the very worst malady that a human can be faced with that of possession,
possession rather, and they succeeded in it. They actually cast out
the demons. They had control over the demons.
And, you know, if you think back. Think of the apostles, the twelve
apostles had been explicitly remember, we talked about this
in times past. They had been explicitly given the power over
the demons. And when Jesus comes down from
the Mount of Transfiguration, what does he find them doing?
Struggling, struggling because they couldn’t cast out this demon
and everybody was attacking them. Remember? And so for these 70,
they’re doing the very thing that the apostles had failed
in. There’s no doubt human pride woven in there. They came back
joyful, perhaps even cocky about the fact that they had power
over the demons and the apostles had failed. Maybe we should switch
positions. It was so much more than they
expected, they’ve been told to heal, they knew that they were
going to preach, but they didn’t expect was that the demons themselves,
the very henchmen of Satan. Would be subject to this power,
they didn’t even know that they had. One Puritan warned about those
moments of success in our lives, and we’ve all had them. If you’re
a Christian, you probably even know both sides. You know success
and you know the almost inevitable temptation that follows. Some
of my highest moments of success in ministry have been followed
by the most severe attacks. And you know that well. No wonder
the Puritan warned, let it never be forgotten. The time of success
is a time of danger to the Christian soul. The very hearts that are
depressed when all things seem against them are often duly exalted
in the day of prosperity. Remember, we talked about this
in times past. We tend to think of it as a bipolar
disorder. You have these people, they come
to you depressed one minute and something good or positive happens.
The next thing you know, they’re floating around on some kind
of a cloud. It’s a day of prosperity. Let us pray for humility, he
says, in our days of peace and kindness, when everything around
us seems to prosper and all our plans work well, when family
trials and sicknesses are kept from us, when our daily crosses
are light and with all within and without are like morning
without clouds. Then is the time that our souls
are in most danger. The 70 may have been surprised
that they were even asked to go. How much more surprised when
the demons themselves were subject to them? When the Lord uses us
in his goodness and grace, he will surprise us in the fact
that he does use us. I’ve talked to many people in
counseling situations where They felt like they had wisdom beyond
their years. They didn’t even know where the words were coming
from or where the insight or where the counsel they found
versus flipping through their Bible that they didn’t even know
were in there. Those are the moments that are
most dangerous, because then we begin to tend to exalt and
to exalt in our gifts. So that much we’ve confirmed
that there was some kind of success in ministry. And that it produced
some degree of danger. And Christ is going to speak
to that. The victory in the spiritual realm, first and foremost, is
a blow to Satan himself. It’s a blow to Satan himself. Look at verse 18. He said to
them, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Now,
we weren’t there. Neither was Luke. In Christ’s
mind, so we don’t know exactly what took place, but some kind
of a heavenly vision that Christ had pictured Satan falling from
his heavenly realm. Various explanations have been
given for this, that Christ witnessed Satan’s original fall from heaven
when he fell as an angel, his expulsion, as it were, from the
throne room of God. I don’t believe that’s what is
being referred to here. Some thought that it was just
following Satan’s attempt to tempt Christ to get Christ to
sin in his deeds and in his words there in those 40 days in the
desert. But neither one of those two fit the description of the
context. Some thought that it was a vision
of Satan’s ultimate demise brought on by the success of the apostles
ministry, and that’s what I believe. I think Satan. Jesus picture
Satan falling, as it were, in time from his heavenly realm. And it’s all brought on by this
initial success of the 70. Jesus knows what the outcome
is. Jesus didn’t need division. The Lord here is speaking of
the effect produced on Satan’s kingdom by the preaching of the
70, by their ministry. One described it this way at
the very time when his ministers were casting out Satan’s ministers,
Jesus knew that Satan was being overcome. And in the defeat of
the demons, he saw the downfall of their chief. These demons, as I said, were
just the henchmen, so if the henchmen are falling, it’s a
matter of time before the head falls. That complete and overwhelming
success of the disciples was taken as some kind of a down
payment, if you will, on the ultimate demise of Satan himself. In other words, as one very succinctly
said it, while you were expelling the subordinates, I was watching
the master fall. Interesting image, interesting
image, and you know what in ministry? That’s what it is every time
we have a success, every time that we’re faithful to Christ,
every time that we’re obedient in some little deed that God
asks us to do, every time that we’re obedient in opening our
mouth when He wants us to or shutting it when He wants us
to. We take a blow at Satan himself. When we enjoy success in any
kind of ministry, whether it’s service to someone else. On behalf
of Christ, whether it’s proclaiming Christ, whether it’s reaching
out to somebody in the park that needs lunch. When we do it, we
take a blow at the devil himself. You don’t believe me, listen
to the characterization of Scripture. Listen to how Scripture characterizes
what we know if if you’re truly a Christian, you know that it’s
a battle. Currently in our country, they
have a voluntary draft, right? But our country is also known
those periods of involuntary draft where you just come and
you are signed up, they don’t ask you, they don’t plead with
you. They assign you a card and the
next thing you knew, you know, you’re marching in a platoon.
Well, folks, when you become a Christian, you’re not asked
or invited. You’re signed up. You’re in the
battle. There will be others shooting
at you, whether you choose to raise your rifle or not. You’re
in the battle. And that’s exactly what or what
scripture characterizes that as. Hebrews 2, 14 says, therefore,
Since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself also likewise
took part of the same that through the death he might render powerless
him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Jesus was
in this battle from the very start and it was a battle against
good and evil, ultimately Satan. And it was a battle to the death,
either Christ or Satan, there will be no peace treaties in
this battle, people. I think I’ve shared this before,
I met somebody, the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard, who at
times would empathize and pray for Satan as if Satan could ever
be restored and repented. Acts, Acts three or five, three,
rather remember Ananias and Sapphira, it was said of them that Satan
filled their heart. They allowed him an opportunity
and in he came. And so any time we refuse the
devil an opportunity, any time we slam the door shut to Satan’s
influences, it is a blow at Satan’s efforts. First Corinthians. Seven, five. Rather, let me skip skip down
to Ephesians 427. A much simpler verse to explain
and present to you. What does it say there that anger
is a sin? No, it’s just that we are to
deal with our anger in a Christian way so that we do not give the
devil an opportunity, an open door, slam the door shut and
we give a blow to the devil himself. In fact, speaking of Ephesians,
look at Ephesians chapter six, if you don’t think you’re in
a battle. Paul, in this beautiful illustration, no doubt taken
from his very cell that he was being incarcerated at the time,
takes this image and the images is a profound one for Christians.
The armor of God. Finally, he says in verse 10,
be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put
on the full armor of God. Well, for what purpose, if I’m
not in a battle? What he presupposes there is
that Christians know that they are. And if you don’t want to
get killed, armor is a good thing. Put on the full armor of God
so that you’ll be able to stand firm against who? The schemes
of the devil. For our struggle is not against
flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers,
against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual
forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the
full armor of God so that you’ll be able to resist the in the
evil day and having done everything to stand firm. Stand firm, therefore,
having girded your loins with truth, and here’s where no doubt
Paul looks at his cell that he’s being kept in there. And he watches
a soldier preparing himself to walk out into service. Having
girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate
of righteousness, having shod your feet with a preparation
of the gospel of peace. In addition to all, taking up
the shield of the faith, which with which you will be able to
extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word
of God. We’re in a battle. We should be dressed for the
battle, Paul says, and everything that we do every time we resist
every act of faithfulness, every act of service, true Christian
service, every act of obedience to one of Christ commands. Every
moment of holiness, every act of prayer is a blow to the to
the evil one himself. It’s a blow right at the heart
of Satan’s strategy, right at the heart of Satan’s feeble attempt
to overthrow God’s kingdom. The question for us is, are we
in the battle or are we not? Are we in the battle or not?
Secondly. The victory in the spiritual
realm is not only a blow to Satan himself, but it’s produced by
God given authority. It’s produced by God given authority.
Look at verse 19. Now, they were all amazed at
this power that they possessed. And what they didn’t know is
to what degree they possessed power and authority. And Jesus
wants to tell them, behold, I’ve given you authority to tread
on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy
and nothing will injure you. Jesus doesn’t want these disciples
to continue in the dark. He doesn’t want them to continue
to struggle. He doesn’t want them to continue to be even be
baffled or amazed. He wants them to know the battle
they’re in. He wants us to know he wants us to be equipped. Jesus leads his disciple to consider
what great degree. Of power that he’s invested in
them, new kinds of powers in view of the work more considerable
still that they have yet to accomplish. And the same thing is true for
us. He wants us to know how readily available that grace is, what
a wonderful thing the conscience is, what a great thing that we
have in God’s Word, what a great thing fellowship is, what a good
thing that prayer is. He wants us to know what resources
are at our disposal and the power that we have from them. But he
mentioned these snakes and scorpions. And you get people, you know
this, there are denominations that have these meetings on Sunday
afternoons where they pull out the rattlesnakes and they begin
to play with them to show how they have power over snakes and
scorpions. And I don’t believe that was
at all intended. I don’t believe there’s any legitimate, literal handling of that whole
issue. Right in this passage, in fact,
even Paul, which is usually used as the proof that see, Christians
were given power over snakes and scorpions, and we should
play with them as a means of testimony to the law. Goofy. Because if you look at Acts,
Chapter 28, Paul didn’t pick up the snake, Paul didn’t go
looking for the snake. Acts chapter 28 verse 3 says,
When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on a
fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself
on his hand. The snake was irritated and it
bit Paul on the hand. Now, God did preserve him miraculously
from any poisoning effects. But it doesn’t commend us to
that behavior. It doesn’t prevent us from going
and gathering sticks, and it doesn’t prevent us from going
and seeking medical treatment if a snake crawls out and bites
us. It isn’t a lack of faith. In fact, what I would call that
if you don’t go to the hospital is foolishness. Jesus wasn’t
telling us that we are to have a snake ministry here. I believe what he’s using here
is figurative language. Jesus often used figurative language. In fact, he had just done so
when he said that he saw Satan falling like lightning. He didn’t say every time you
look out on the plains and you see lightning bolts, you can
presuppose that Satan’s having a bad day. Not what he said.
Not what he said. Throughout scripture, Satan is
called a dragon and a serpent. Genesis three, we see him there. Figured as a serpent. But later
on in this, from this point forward, one of the clearest proofs to
this is there’s no literal fulfillment of this at all. We’re never told
that any disciple ever went out and actively played with a snake
in a scorpion and didn’t get bit. The following phrase, even if
you look further on in that passage, it it undergirds a non literal
view that this is figurative. He says that you’re going to
have authority over all the power of the enemy. So, you know what? Here’s the deal that day. Back in Dallas, some 15 years
ago, when I was a pool man and I walked into a dark pool room
and I felt something tickling up my arm and I just happened
to step back into the light and saw a large scorpion on my arm,
I was well justified to shake the thing off. Well justified,
the meaning here is spiritual. And so if it’s spiritual, what
does it mean? It means that spirits, serpents and scorpions, snakes
are emblems, their images, figurative speech of the physical evils
that Satan is going to try to use to hurt the emissaries of
Christ. Us. The expression, all the power
of the enemy. It takes into it encompasses
all of those agencies of nature, the human society, which Satan
readily uses and is actively using in our own country, even
as we speak. Things that belong to the spiritual
realm, the demons certainly going to come against us, the prince
of the world is going to use those things to try to obstruct
the work of Jesus in us. And in the midst of all of those
evil tools that Satan has at his disposal. Jesus says, you
know what? You’re clothed with an indestructible
armor. I’m not going to let them harm
you. And it isn’t that you’re not subject to their attacks.
Throughout Scripture, we’re told to expect the attacks of the
evil one. We’re told that he walks about like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour. We’re told that the fiery darts
are going to come from the evil one. We’re told to expect it. He’s even saying that we’re never
going to be physically harmed. You know what, if you have a
basketball ministry and you’re not in shape and you go running
up and down the court, you’re going to pull your hamstring.
Right. If you have an outreach to the
softball players at Fort Collins and you go sliding in hand first,
you’re going to break your wrist. Or like John Hall, if you have
a ministry to those who practice Kung Fu and you’re not in shape
to do it, you’re going to blow out your knee. He’s not saying
we’re not going to be harmed. What he’s saying is that ultimately.
The Lord Jesus will prevail. Satan will be defeated. The powers
that these had received were much greater than they had ever
dreamed. They possess during their mission the power to overcome
the evil demons that they encountered. Jesus basically encourages them
here that no fraud, no treachery, treachery is going to prevail,
and that, too, is in harmony with the rest of Scripture. John 10, 28, I give them eternal
life, they will never perish, no one will ever snatch them
out of my hand. My father who has given them
to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them
out of the father’s hand. What great encouragement we have
from Christ to be active in his service. To know that when we
enjoy success of any kind in ministry, we are called to humility
because whether we’re active individually or collectively
and we’re enjoying success, we know it’s not because of us.
We’re freed up. We don’t need to be arrogant. We don’t need
to be proud of our own deeds and accomplishments and gifts
and giftedness and usefulness and talents. We don’t need to
dwell on those because we know all of it ultimately comes from
God. He just happens to be using us in that moment. And what a
joy. Only because God himself has equipped us, it’s not because
of us. The victory in the spiritual
realm is not only a blow to Satan himself, not only is it produced
by a God given authority, but it is always secondary to the
grace of salvation. It’s secondary to the grace of
salvation. Look at verse 20. Nevertheless,
and I believe that that nevertheless must have been very abrupt for
these. This is essentially where the
rebuke comes in. Jesus saw their hearts. He saw
their bubbling excitement over what had happened. And Jesus,
for a time, empathizes with them and is excited with them. And
then suddenly says, nevertheless. Nevertheless, do not rejoice
in this. That the spirits are subject
to you. But rejoice that your names are
recorded in heaven. You see, their joy was in danger
of running over its banks. In essentially turning into self-importance,
self-congratulation, pride. I think one of the most solemn
verses in Scripture could well be a parallel verse to this very
passage. Matthew seven, not everyone who
says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. It’s
not about having power over demons. It’s about being tapped into
the power that had the power over Satan, the power over death. It’s being submitted to Christ.
Placing your faith in Christ. And I say solemn because it says
many will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name
and cast out demons? And in your name perform many
miracles and it was declared to them, I never knew you. Depart
from me, you who practice lawlessness. You look at the Apostle Paul’s
ministry, his emphasis throughout his epistles wasn’t so much on
spiritual giftedness as much as it was on spiritual men, godly
men. J.C. Ryle, my hero, said it.
Let it never be forgotten at the time of success is a time
of danger to the Christian soul. The danger. We’re in danger of turning our
backs on the very means of grace when we begin to exalt ourselves
and look at ourselves and congratulate ourselves and thank ourselves
for being in God’s service. No wonder Paul and speaking about
elders and those who would be elders, he says, don’t put a
new convert in that position. Don’t put a fresh Christian in
there. Why? So that he will not become conceited
and fall into the condemnation incurred by who else? The devil. The devil is going to have a
heyday with somebody like this that always thinks that their
gift is preeminent. Surely it was an honor. And it
was a privilege for them to have cast out demons and they were
right to be thankful they had cured people literally of an
evil malady. But he wanted to remind them
that it’s a far greater privilege to be converted, to constantly
remember. In fact, you know what? Every
time I pray on Sunday mornings up here publicly, I can’t help
but thinking of my own salvation when I think of God’s holiness.
You’ll hear me say from time to time, we remember when we
had our backs to you. I do. I remember I didn’t want
to go to church. I didn’t want God. And so every
time I pray up here, I remember that first and foremost, God
saved me. One Puritan said, guess. Gifts
such as mental vigor, vast memory, striking eloquence, ability and
argument, power and reasoning. Have I gotten everybody yet? Vigor, vast memory, striking
eloquence, ability and argument, power and reasoning are often
unduly valued by those who possess them. Don’t I have the best gift
in the flock? And they’re unduly admired by
those who do not possess them. In other words, you begin to
undervalue what you don’t have or what you do possess. You undervalue
and you overvalue what you don’t have. That’s what he says of
us. These things ought not be so
men forget that gifts without grace save no one soul. On the contrary, it’s an everlasting
inheritance, this grace and a lowly and despised as its possessor
may be, it will land him safe in glory. In other words, if
you don’t have any gifts that are visible to others, just these
meager, you know, maybe all you can do is pray on your knees. Jesus says that’s better if you
constantly remember the grace of salvation, that God and his
mercy saved you. This victory. As it were, over
the forces of evil wouldn’t mean anything to them if they weren’t
saved, right? I mean, what good would it be
to minister your whole life in a city? Only to lose your own
soul is Paul laments elsewhere. Jesus just says that these disciples
aren’t supposed to seek their permanent and ultimate ground
for joy and the fact that they were over the demons. But to
constantly rejoice that God in His goodness had looked down
through eternity past and set His electing love on them and
drawn them to Himself in time should constantly be our amazement,
our joy. Not that God is so much using
us, but that God would use us at all. He says that we’re to rejoice
in a particular thing. Rejoice that your names are recorded
in heaven. It’s an interesting image. The record or the census of all
the names of the Jews, the living citizens was kept in Jerusalem. And I think what Jesus here is
saying figuratively is that there’s a book or a census of those who
are in Christ. Jotted down in heaven, the new
Jerusalem. The record of our names, the
proof of our heavenly citizenship is there recorded where our names
are. Throughout the Old Testament,
it’s referred to repeatedly. Isaiah 4, 3 will come about that
he who is left in Zion remains will be called holy. Everyone
who is recorded for life in Jerusalem, it encompassed the whole of God’s
people. Ezekiel 13, 9, Daniel 12, 1,
Exodus 32, 32, Psalm 69, all speak about this list. And Jesus
says, I want you to focus not so much on your gifts and how
fancy they are and how what a great ministry you’re having. I want
you to rejoice in one thing and one thing primarily. Rejoice
that you have a place in heaven, that you’re on God’s role. When we enjoy success in any
kind of ministry, whether it’s individually or collectively,
our first line of thankfulness. Our most enthusiastic praise. Our most enduring expression
of gratitude to God himself ought not be for our giftedness. It
ought to be For the very fact that we were completely undeserving
and that God in his goodness came and he drew us to himself
and that he would use us at all is icing on the cake. But the
cake is Christ, that’s the highest. That’s the highest joy for a
Christian, that’s where we’re called to rejoice. Let’s pray. Our kind father, we thank you
and we do praise you for the reminder that this is. That we
are in a spiritual battle and that every act of faithfulness
is a blow to the devil himself. Father, we know as well that
we don’t possess anything in and of ourselves that would commend
us to this battlefield. A battlefield that we can’t even
see with our eyes. That authority comes from you,
that power, that giftedness comes from you. Oh, Father. That no giftedness, let
not any giftedness ever step in in place of our love for our
Savior. May our salvation be ever before
us. that we may continue to be used
by you for your glory. It’s in Christ’s name that we
pray. Amen. If you would stand. Let’s sing
one of our favorites, wonderful grace of Jesus. Sing it with
all that you’ve got.