PREPARING YOUR WORLD TO MEET JESUS-I
—Luke 10:1-16
See 9:1-9—The 12’s commission
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?
22 principles to prepare your world for Jesus.
‘Envisage’—‘To have a mental picture of especially in advance of realization.’
1—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
PICTURE YOUR APPOINTMENT TO THE HARVEST(:1a)
—Explanation:(:1a)
:1a—“Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, & sent them...”
“Appointed 70 others”—???????????—To declare elected or assigned to a purpose.
The disciples had just been instructed that others are also involved in the Lord’s work(see 9:49-50).
“Sent them”—?????????—To order to go to an appointed place; An Authoritative sending.
—Argumentation:
Mat. 28:18-20—“And Jesus came up & spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven & on earth. “Go therefore & make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father & the Son & the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; & lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jn. 15:16—“You did not choose Me, but I chose you, & appointed you, that you should go & bear fruit, & that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.”
1Cor. 3:16—“Do you not know that you are a temple of God, & that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
2Cor. 5:17-20—“Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, & gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, & He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
—Illustration:
Send Sam to get ‘Cole’s garlic bread’ in the store/Qualified—knows where it is—Frozen food section; He can read label/APPOINTMENT
At Pfeiffer College/Botany/Dr. Manly/Assignment on respiration of Cacti/APPOINTMENT
—Application:
?You received your APPOINTMENT to the harvest?
?Your world prepared to meet Jesus?
2—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
PICTURE YOUR PAIRING FOR THE HARVEST(:1a)
—Explanation/Argumentation:(:1a)
:1b—“...& sent them two & two ahead of Him...”
Testimony of ? two witnesses—Deut. 19:15—“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”
Mat. 18:18-20—“Truly I say to you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; & whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst.””
Eccl. 4:9-12—“Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”
—Illustration:
Evangelistic Visitation/One shares & the other prays/Both attentive to the need of the person visited/Both interject clarity to the situation/Complement each other/PAIRING
?With Whom are you PAIRED in the harvest?—Husband & wife teams; Best friends; Acquaintances; Sunday School classmates; People you sit beside in Worship
—Application:
?You missing the boldness another lends to situation?
?You received your PAIRING in the harvest?
?Your world prepared to meet Jesus?
3—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
PICTURE YOUR KEPT ITINERARY FOR THE HARVEST(:1b)
—Explanation:
:1b—“& sent them two & two ahead of Him to every city & place where He Himself was going to come.”
“Where He Himself was going to come”—Jesus knew His destinations. He purposely undertook His ministry.
“Ahead of Him to every city & place”—Obviously the 70 were assigned certain areas/places & thus had an itinerary. To overlap would be wasteful.
—Argumentation:
Mike S. sees that every person visited is carded including purpose of visit, dates visited, & by whom
—Illustration:
Cordele/We had 4 pecan trees in yard/Some years much better than others/Picked up the fruit regardless/Each fall we KEPT ITINERARY
Lack of fruit doesn’t stop the harvest! We must keep our itinerary!
Solicitor Selling Encyclopedias door-to-door/Came by our house/We listened but politely declined/Same person later in week came by unaware that she had been there before/We weren’t so attentive then/KEPT ITINERARY
—Application:
?You KEPT your ITINERARY for the harvest?
?Your world prepared to meet Jesus?
4—When preparing your world to meet Jesus
PICTURE THE HARVEST(:2a)
—Explanation:(:2a)
:2a—“And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful...”
“Harvest”—Collection & protection of ripe fruit; Gathering of people into the kingdom of God.
RIPE—People are ready—Word of Jesus’ ministry has been filtering into their thought processes.
—Bananas—
URGENT—Ripe can quickly change to overripe & spoilage.
when we do not show interest in others they get burned on the church.
—Bananas ripen very quickly & then are spoiled.
“Plentiful”—
EXTENSIVE—Out west/Breadbasket—Wheat fields as far as the eye can see
—Argumentation:
Jn. 4:35-36—“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, & then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, & look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. “Already he who reaps is receiving wages, & is gathering fruit for life eternal; that he who sows & he who reaps may rejoice together.”
—Illustration:
Operation Contact/Need to reach the entire county/Vision Pictured the HARVEST
Planted Pines/20 yrs./Pictured the HARVEST
College Career Day/Employee reps.from all over country/Pictured the HARVEST
—Application:
?You pictured the HARVEST of souls?
?Your world prepared to meet Jesus?
—CONCLUSION—
Action:
When preparing your world to meet Jesus, Picture...
YOUR APPOINTMENT TO THE HARVEST(:1a)
YOUR PAIRING FOR THE HARVEST(:1a)
YOUR KEPT ITINERARY FOR THE HARVEST(:1b)
THE HARVEST(:2a)
CHILDREN’S— ‘Trouble/Parchesi game’
Must take certain path & each move in order specified.
Presented 02/16/03am to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 3989
