PREPARING YOUR WORLD TO MEET JESUS-V—Luke 10:1-16
Need:
It takes much more than one ‘lone wolf’ to bring down the prey.
A lot of basic Christian tenets in this section!
Jesus ministry expansion began with a mission briefing.
Preparing your world to meet Jesus requires mission briefing.
What must your mission briefing cover to prepare your world to meet Jesus?
23 principles to prepare your world for Jesus.
‘Envisage’—‘To have a mental picture of especially in advance of realization.’
When preparing your world to meet Jesus, Picture...
1. The Appointment to the Harvest(:1a)
2. The Pairing for the Harvest(:1a)
3. The Kept Itinerary for the Harvest(:1b)
4. The Harvest(:2a)
5. The Labor in the Harvest(:2b)
6. The Labor Force of the Harvest(:2c)
7. The Head of the Harvest(:2d)
8. The Force Behind the Harvest(:2e)
9. The Risk in the Harvest(:3)
10. The Provision in the Harvest(:4a)
11. The Task of the Harvest(:4b)
12. The Acceptance in the Harvest(:5-8)
13. The Message of the Harvest(:9)
14. The Rejection/Intolerance in the Harvest(:10)
15. The Brashness of the Harvest(:10b-11)
16. The Decision of the Harvest(:11)
17—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
REVEAL THE DEGREE/CONDITIONS IN THE HARVEST(:12, 14)
Explanation/Argumentation:(:12, 14)
:12—“I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.”
“More tolerable”—???????????—Bearable, Endurable, Sufferable
*Better is still not good—Your best night(outer darkness) in hell will personify/microcosm misery.
“Sodom”—characterized by wickedness specifically manifest in homosexuality.
Gen. 18:20-21; 19:1-29—“And the LORD said, “The outcry of Sodom & Gomorrah is indeed great, & their sin is exceedingly grave.”....“The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the LORD rained on Sodom & Gomorrah brimstone & fire from the LORD out of heaven, & He overthrew those cities, & all the valley, & all the inhabitants of the cities, & what grew on the ground.”
:14—“But it will be more tolerable for Tyre & Sidon in the judgment, than for you.”
“Tyre & Sidon”—Gentile Phoneciancities only distantly association with the God of Israel. Outside the “commonwealth of Israel”
Gentiles above Jews!
Mat. 12:39-42—“But He answered & said to them, “An evil & adulterous generation craves for a sign; & yet no sign shall be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so shall the Son of Man be three days & three nights in the heart of the earth. “The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment, & shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; & behold, something greater than Jonah is here. “The Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation at the judgment & shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; & behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
Compartmentalization based on Quality...
Though both are answerable to God’s judgment for rejecting Him, those with less opportunity for more detailed spriritual truth are less responsible & that those with more detailed opportunity with spiritual truth have greater responsibility when answerable to it. The conditions under which each will eek out their sentences will be vastly different in regard to the degree of that which is borne for them.
Lk. 12:47-48—“And that slave who knew his master’s will & did not get ready or act in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, & committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; & to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”
Rev. 20:11-13—“And I saw a great white throne & Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth & heaven fled away, & no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great & the small, standing before the throne, & books were opened; & another book was opened, which is the book of life; & the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, & death & Hades gave up the dead which were in them; & they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.”
Illustration:
Weight lifters/Different weights/More they have lifted, the more they must bear in the competition/DEGREE
Slum lord/more onetakes from others the more one pays when held accountable in court/CONDITIONS
Application:
?You pictured the DEGREE/CONDITIONS in the Harvest of souls?
?You preparing your world to meet Jesus?
18—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
REVEAL THE FUTURE IN THE HARVEST(:12, 14)
Explanation/Argumentation:(:12, 14)
:12—“I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.
“In that day”—Day of judgment!
:14—“But it will be more tolerable for Tyre & Sidon in the judgment, than for you.”
“In that day”—
“In the judgment”—
Acts 17:30-31—“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
Php. 2:9-10—“Therefore also God highly exalted Him, & bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, & on earth, & under the earth,”
Rom. 2:5,6-8—“But because of your stubbornness & unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath & revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory & honor & immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious & do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath & indignation.”
Rev. 20:11-15—“And I saw a great white throne & Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth & heaven fled away, & no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great & the small, standing before the throne, & books were opened; & another book was opened, which is the book of life; & the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, & death & Hades gave up the dead which were in them; & they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. And death & Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Heb. 9:27—“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once & after this comes judgment,”
2Thess. 1:8-9—“dealing out retribution to those who do not know God & to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord & from the glory of His power,”
Eccl. 12:13-14—“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God & keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
Decisions made today will count for all eternity!
Illustration:
Application:
?You pictured the FUTURE of the Harvest of souls?
?You preparing your world to meet Jesus?
19—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
REVEAL THE DETERMINATION OF THE HARVEST(:13)
Explanation:(:13)
:13—“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre & Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth & ashes.”
:14—“But it will be more tolerable for Tyre & Sidon in the judgment, than for you.”
*Personal decisions made in this mortal life on earth remain & become eternally determinative upon death.
Argumentation:
Rom. 8:12-13—“So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Deut. 30:19—““I call heaven & earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life & death, the blessing & the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you & your descendants,”
Jude 1:7—“Just as Sodom & Gomorrah & the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality & went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example, in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”
Illustration:
Application:
?You pictured the DETERMINATION of the Harvest of souls?
?You preparing your world to meet Jesus?
20—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
REVEAL THE OPPORTUNITY OF THE HARVEST(:13)
Explanation:(:13)
:13—“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre & Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth & ashes.”
“Woe to you”—????—Expression of grief.
“Chorazin...Bethsaida”—Israelite Cities not far from Capernaum in Galilee.
“Bethsaida”—Jn. 1:44—“Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew & Peter.”
“If...”—
“They would have repented”—
“Repented”—????????—Change of mind & choice regarding God’s truth.
‘Tyre & Sodom had abused the advantages which God of creation & of providence had heaped upon them.’
Doesn’t this mean that Tyre & Sidon are free from blame/culpability/guilt?
No!! It means that they are not only responsible for the light which they have, BUT they are responsible for answering the call of God thru the Image of God within which each is made.
*Repentance is NOT dependent upon the Lavishness/Enormity/Difficulty of the miracle but upon the acceptance of God’s truth!
Are you waiting for your miracle?...Why?
Argumentation:
Lk. 16:23-31—“And in Hades he[the rich man] lifted up his eyes, being in torment, & saw Abraham far away, & Lazarus in his bosom. “And he cried out & said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, & send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water & cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, & likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, & you are in agony. ‘And besides all this, between us & you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, & that none may cross over from there to us.’ “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father’s house-- for I have five brothers--that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ “But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses & the Prophets; let them hear them.’ “But he said, ‘No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses & the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’””
Illustration:
Application:
?You pictured the OPPORTUNITY of the Harvest of souls?
?You preparing your world to meet Jesus?
21—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
REVEAL THE EXALTATION/ABANDONMENT OF THE HARVEST(:15)
Explanation/Argumentation:(:15)
:15—“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!”
“Capernaum”—Jesus’ base of operations in Galilee.
“Exalted”—????—Raise to summit of opulence, prosperity, honor, dignity, happiness
“Brought down”—
Pictures descent or loss of position
“Hades”—????—NT negative counterpart to OT Sheol. The realm of the grave, dead.
No special favors from loose association with Jesus(Capernaum was His city of operations).
Illustration:
Application:
?You pictured the EXALTATION of the Harvest of souls?
?You preparing your world to meet Jesus?
22—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
REVEAL THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE HARVEST(:16)
Explanation:(:16) Logic
:16—“The one who listens to you listens to Me, & the one who rejects you rejects Me; & he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
Envoys bear God’s word specifically.
*It is our charge to share God’s truth with others.
Your proclamation is Jesus’ proclamation is The Father’s proclamation!
Argumentation:
Jn. 5:19-24—“Jesus therefore answered & was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. “For the Father loves the Son, & shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; & greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel. “For just as the Father raises the dead & gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, & believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, & does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
Illustration:
Application:
?You pictured the RELATIONSHIP of the Harvest of souls?
?You preparing your world to meet Jesus?
Conclusion
Action:
When preparing your world to meet Jesus, REVEAL...
The Degree/Conditions in the Harvest(:12, 14)
The Future in the Harvest(:12, 14)
The Determination of the Harvest(:13)
The Opportunity of the Harvest(:13)
The Abandonment of the Harvest(:14-15)
The Exaltation/Abandonment of the Harvest(:15)
The Relationship of the Harvest
Presented 05/18/03am to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 39897
