(1) WE SEE THE DISCIPLES CHOSEN.
That is, these twelve men, in some ways, were the most blessed men who ever lived on earth. What an honor to be one of the twelve to follow the Lord from city to city and listen to Him teach and preach, and see Him perform miracle after miracle. These were some very special men!
Also, in this chapter-
(2) WE SEE THE DISPERSING OF THE DISCIPLES.
The Lord knows there are two ways we learn. Many things are learned in the “classroom.” The disciples sat under the greatest teacher ever! But Jesus recognized there comes a time when what we learn in the classroom has to be put into practice. He sent the disciples into the “harvest field” to practice what they had learned, and to learn from their experiences.
Look at verses 2-6. We read, “And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece. And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.”
What was true for the disciples is also true for us. We go to church and hear the Word of God expounded over and over again. Then comes the time when we must go into the “harvest field” and practice what we have heard.
However, some churchgoers have become professional students.
Illus: These remind us of some we know today. They have completed high school, college, post graduate work, etc., yet they continue taking more and more courses. All they ever intend to do with their lives is keep attending classes.
We often observe people like this and we think, “What a waste.”
It is the same in our churches. Many have been taught over and over again what to go “forth” and do, but they never put into practice what they have been taught.
Jesus’ disciples did go forth, but it soon became obvious they needed to come back to the “classroom” and learn more about some of the dangerous pitfalls that all Christians are exposed to every day.
Illus: We all have driven by construction sites and seen where a deep hold has been dug. If anyone fell into that hole he might break his neck. However, OSHA requires that such a pit be encircled with some florescent type ribbons, or fencing, so people can see the hole and not fall into it.
The devil has dug all kinds of “holes” for Christians to “fall into” and he makes sure they are not marked to keep us from falling into them.
However, God’s Word has “roped off” these areas. Let us look at three of them the disciples fell into, and learn from them so we will not fall into them. First, let us look at-
I. THE PITFALL OF BOASTING
Notice that before the Lord sent His disciples out, He did two things:
A. Jesus equipped them
Look at verse 1. We read, “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and GAVE THEM POWER AND AUTHORITY over all devils, and to cure diseases.”
Jesus did not send them out totally unprepared! Remember, who was equipped with POWER and AUTHORITY over ALL DEVILS, and TO CURE DISEASES? The Bible says, “Then he called HIS TWELVE DISCIPLES...” These men were equipped by Jesus to do miracles like we today have never seen.
Illus: Any who watch what is classified as “Christian TV” should read Hank Haegraaff’s book, “Christianity In Crisis.” In it he exposes the lies that some of these men have been caught in, and some of their false teachings. He shows these for what they are, “wolves in sheep’s clothing!”
These claim to be EQUIPPED by God and they are making millions of dollars by telling everyone they are God’s man of the hour. Some of these claim to have such power that they can blow on a person and knock him down. Some claim to have such power that they can put the Holy Spirit in their hands and throw Him at the congregation and knock down two or three rows of standing people.
These men are wolves in sheep’s clothing dealing with people who want so badly to believe in something supernatural that if they got dizzy from eating too much spaghetti sauce they would think it was the Holy Spirit moving on them.
But, Jesus’ twelve disciples were not a bunch of hucksters. The Bible says God EQUIPPED them! What God did through His disciples was documented. No one can come close to doing the miracles God did through them. We have some who claim God has used them, but there is no documentation to support their claims.
The Bible tells us specifically that the Lord Jesus EQUIPPED His twelve disciples. It also tells us-
B. Jesus empowered them
Look at verse 2. We read, “And he sent them to PREACH the kingdom of God, and TO HEAL THE SICK!”
Notice, they were empowered to do TWO things:
(1) Preach the kingdom of God.
(2) Heal the sick.
That was exactly what they did, but they would not have been able to do either of these had God NOT EQUIPPED and EMPOWERED them.
Those twelve disciples were ordinary men, like we are, but in one way they were like no men who ever lived before or since. Jesus was present with them and He sent them into the “harvest field” for some field training. Again, when they returned, it became obvious they needed to go back to the “class room” to learn more.
Look at verse 10. We read, “And the apostles...told him all that they had done.”
This lets us know there could have been a little more motivation for their work than just that Jesus had sent them.
Notice they “...told him ALL that THEY had done.”
Already we know that there are many things that motivate people.
• Some are motivated by desire for POWER. Every day their every action is motivated by their desire for more power.
• Some are motivated by their desire for MONEY. Every day their every action is the result of their desire to acquire as much money as they can.
• Some are motivated by their desire for MATERIAL THINGS. Their every action is to work toward acquiring as much of this world’s goods as they can.
Then there are those who desire non-material things. Many folks love to have something to BOAST about. So, they are motivated to achieve so they can boast about what great things they have achieved.
Illus: To people like this there is nothing more important than to be able to drive a new car. They want others to admire their car. They want people to think highly of them because of their new car. It would suit them just fine if everyone would bow to them as they drove past.
Someone has said, “We are more like Satan when we want to boast than at any other time.”
Why is that true?
It is true because Satan is a boaster. This was why he was cast out of heaven. He wanted ADMIRATION AND ADORATION. God was not going to share His glory with anyone!
Notice, the disciples DID NOT BOAST of what GOD HAD DONE. The Bible says they told Jesus of all THEY HAD DONE!
They were like so many today. They loved to talk about themselves and their achievements.
Illus: They remind me of the story of the woman who had dominated the conversation for an hour. She finally realized she had been talking about herself and apologized to the group. Listen to how she apologized. She said, “I am sorry I have been talking for the last hour about myself. I will hush, but before I do...I wonder if any would like to ask me any questions about myself?”
Listen beloved, what is important is HOW GREAT JESUS IS, not HOW GREAT WE ARE!
The disciples came back and told ALL THEY HAD DONE. They should have been boasting of His greatness!
Illus: In South Carolina there is a religious university that at one time had trained some great servant of the Lord. Then preachers began to notice a change in the students they were turning out. As the students would come and work in their churches on weekends, they noticed the students
• Had a “superior” attitude.
• Acted as if they “knew it all.”
• Were convinced they were positively the only ones who knew the whole truth of God’s Word.
The students became so BOASTFUL that some of the pastors refused to support missionaries from that university. Why? Because, they said to support them, they would only be sending someone to a mission field to magnify himself and the school he graduated from. They said, “This is not why we send missionaries to other countries!”
We need men who will say, like John the Baptist, “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease.”
God can never use anyone who falls into the pitfall of boasting. Why? Because they would rob Him of His glory and God is not going to stand by and let that happen.
Again, the Bible says that when His disciples returned, they told Jesus, “...ALL THAT THEY HAD DONE...” Now let us look into the other pit they fell into.
II. THE PITFALL OF SELFISHNESS
Look at verse 12. The disciples told the Lord, “...Send the multitude away...”
In other words, it will be too much trouble for us to find and buy food for them. We do not care about anyone else. All we care about is ourselves!
This may shock you, but did you know that the Lord loves everyone else as much as He loves you and I. We have all seen parents show favoritism among their children, but listen, God has never shown any favoritism with any of His.
The twelve disciples were very special servants of the Lord. It could be that since they were special servants in the way God used them that they felt that God cared only for them. That certainly seemed to be the situation because when evening was coming on they asked the Lord to “SEND THE MULTITUDE AWAY....”
• ”We do not have enough food to feed them...send them away. We hardly have enough for ourselves.”
• ”We do not have any place to lodge them...send them away. We have to take care of ourselves.”
You can tell when a person has fallen into the trap of selfishness because all they care about is themselves.
Illus: People like this remind me of the story of John and Dave, who were hiking. While they were hiking they spotted a mountain lion staring at them. John froze in his tracks, but Dave sat down on a log, tore off his hiking boots, pulled a pair of running shoes from his backpack and hurriedly began putting them on. John whispered, “For crying out loud, you can’t outrun a mountain lion!” “I don’t have to,” shrugged Dave. “I just have to outrun you!”
Listen, we have a lot of people today who only care about themselves.
We have seen two deadly PITFALLS that the twelve disciples had fallen into. But there is one more that is just as bad.
III. THE PITFALL OF UNBELIEF
Look at Luke 9:38-41. We read, “And, behold, a man of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech thee, look upon my son: for he is mine only child. And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly departeth from him. And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.”
The Lord had EQUIPPED the twelve disciples and EMPOWERED THEM to do three things: Preach the gospel, cast out devils, and heal the sick.
Notice, the man who brought his son to the Lord said, “And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not.”
Well, if they had been EMPOWERED and EQUIPPED, why couldn’t they? We do not have to do any surmising. The Word of God tells us why.
Look at verse 41. We read, “And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.”
In verse 42, we are told that Jesus healed the child and restored him to his father. The disciples could have done that had they not fallen into the pitfall of unbelief. Unbelief will destroy.
A. Unbelief will destroy a CITY
The Bible tells us that Jesus came to Nazareth where He grew up as a lad. No doubt He wanted to do some outstanding things for those He had grown up with.
But Matthew 13:58 tells us, “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.”
All across this nation, cities do not have the blessings of God on them because they are filled with unbelief.
Unbelief will destroy a city. Also...
B. Unbelief will destroy a CHURCH
Illus: One pastor was telling about a new church he and his wife were called to minister in. He said, “My wife and I have a tremendous burden for our church. We have such a wonderful opportunity to do something for the Lord.” Then he went on to say that there was one problem that was holding back revival. He said, “The problem is that those in leadership have been there for years. Many of them are so backslidden from the Lord that when I talk to them about growing, they almost laugh in my face.” He went on to say something that is shocking. He said, “A lady was visiting our church. She was a good prospect, but one of our backslidden members told her, ‘This church will never grow. We get a few and loose a few. It has been this way for the last 25 years’”
Obviously, that congregation will never grow until they get rid of all of that unbelief. Unbelief will destroy a CITY, a CHURCH, and...
C. Unbelief will destroy an INDIVIDUAL
We have people who have been doubting their salvation for years. You can ask them if they are saved and they will tell you, “I do not know, but I hope I am.” What do you mean, you hope you are? God’s Word only teaches one kind of salvation...it is a know-so salvation.
In I John 5:13, we read, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye MAY KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
The people will never get saved until they begin believing the promises of God.
Conclusion: The twelve disciples fell into:
I. THE PIT OF BOASTING
II. THE PIT OF SELFISHNESS
III. THE PIT OF UNBELIEF
