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  THE LABORERS ARE FEW
  by Anton Bosch
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Summary: This sermon delves into Luke chapter 10, focusing on the
sending out of the 70 disciples by Jesus. It emphasizes the importance
of finding a 'son of peace' to host and support the preaching of the
gospel, highlighting the need for humility, gratitude, and obedience in
serving God. The concept of being sent as 'lambs among wolves' is
discussed, emphasizing the challenges and rewards of fulfilling God's
mission. The sermon also touches on the significance of trusting God for
provision and being willing to go wherever He calls, knowing that He
will reward those who faithfully labor for Him.

Topics: "Mission", "Trust in God's Provision"
Scripture References: Luke 10:5, Luke 10:3, Luke 10:7, Matthew 9:37, Isaiah 6:8, Ecclesiastes 4:9, Matthew 28:19, 1 Corinthians 6:19

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon delves into Luke chapter 10, focusing on the sending out of
the 70 disciples by Jesus. It emphasizes the importance of finding a
'son of peace' to host and support the preaching of the gospel,
highlighting the need for humility, gratitude, and obedience in serving
God. The concept of being sent as 'lambs among wolves' is discussed,
emphasizing the challenges and rewards of fulfilling God's mission. The
sermon also touches on the significance of trusting God for provision
and being willing to go wherever He calls, knowing that He will reward
those who faithfully labor for Him.

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CONTENT
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All right, let's turn to the Word, and we're in a new chapter today,
Luke chapter 10, Luke chapter 10, and we have a long, a long reading.
I'm not sure how far we're going to get down this whole section, but
we'll read verses 1 through 16. So Luke chapter 10, reading verses 1
through 16.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it. If not, it
will return to you. 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.
Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are
set before you.

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

But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom
than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if
the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But
it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for
you.

And Eucaponim, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.
He who hears you, hears me. He who rejects you, rejects me.

And he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me. So Jesus is now on his
journey towards Jerusalem to the cross. It's going to take him about 10
months.

This is the beginning of that of that new phase in his ministry, the
second phase, and of course the third phase is the crucifixion and the
resurrection and the ascension. And so as he is going, he is now
preaching in effectively new areas. Remember, most of his ministry up to
now has been confined to the area around Capernaum and Galilee, but he
is now moving further and further south.

He has moved through Samaria, and now he sends out an advance party, if
you will, and he sends 70 of them, and he's sending them specifically to
the cities that he is going to preach in, that he is going to pass
through on his way. And their purpose is not so much to make physical
preparation. Remember that last time we saw that in Samaria, he sends
them to make physical preparation in terms of where they were going to
stay and that kind of thing.

The 70's mission is to preach the gospel and to cast out demons, preach
the gospel of the kingdom. And so as he sends them, it says that he sent
70. And there's all sorts of debate as to what the 70 represents.

Some people say it represents the Gentiles, and others say it represents
Israel. None of those make much sense to me, and we're not going to get
into that. And if you have a more modern translation, you'll see a
little footnote which may say that some of the manuscripts say 72.

I don't see any magic in the numbers. I don't see any great significance
in those numbers, because we get caught up in the numbers and then lose
the message. And so it's 70.

It's not the 12. So this is another level or another circle of these
extending circles of Jesus' influence. And he sends them two by two
before his face into every city.

Now interesting, he uses the word before his face. And you remember that
last week we saw that he had set his face towards Jerusalem. So in
saying that he has set them before his face, in other words, in the
direction that he is now going.

He's going towards the cross. And he sends them into every city and
place where he himself is about to go. I want to just emphasize this, or
speak a little bit about the fact that he sends them out two by two.

In fact, I'm not sure where the influence extended, but I know in South
Africa there was a cult that was called the two-by-two cult. And they
built their whole doctrine on this idea of sending people out two by
two. And they would knock on doors, just the same as some other groups
do, and they would preach their gospel.

Now, I don't believe that there is any doctrine here, in the sense that
we must go two by two. There are clear examples in the New Testament of
the apostles and of others going on their own at times. But most of the
time, and I think there's a principle here, not a doctrine, but a
principle which is applicable, and that is helpful.

And that is that there are two reasons for the two going, or them going
two by two. The first is that there is this principle that we've spoken
about many times, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every
word will be confirmed. So they're acting as confirmation.

But I think that the real reason that he sends them out two by two is
found in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4 and verse 9. Two are better
than one. Now, he's not talking about donuts. He's talking about people.

So two people are better than one, because they have good reward for
their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. In other
words, they're there to help one another, to encourage one another.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him
up. Now that makes tremendous sense physically, and of course we know
that all the people today who live alone need to have some kind of alarm
system so that they can call for help, because otherwise they would be
in serious trouble, because they don't have a partner who can help them
up. But obviously there's a spiritual application, and that is that
there is strength in fellowship, that we can't go it on our own.

The problem today is that things are getting harder and harder, and it's
getting harder and harder to find people who think and believe exactly
the way we do. And I'm not just talking about the politics that we're
facing. And I'm very grateful that election day is coming up.

I've been looking forward to this day for a long time, and not for the
reasons you think. I'm looking forward to it, to get it done, and get it
out of our lives, and to move on. But to find people who agree with us
doctrinally, spiritually, who have the same burden, and the same
concerns, and the same care for one another, is becoming harder and
harder as people are sucked off into all sorts of side avenues, and all
sorts of side issues, and make all sorts of minor issues, major issues,
issues that shouldn't really be things that divide, become things that
divide.

And so there are more and more Christians who are just going it on their
own, meeting with God in their closet. Some of them have a spouse that
they can relate to, and others don't. Some relate to other people on
Facebook, and others don't.

This is a very, very dangerous place to be in. And we've spoken before,
when we spoke about Peter, that the devil goes about as a roaring lion.
Lions pick off the loners, those that are straggling, those that can't
keep up with a herd, those who are isolated.

Those are the ones that the lions attack, and those are the ones that
the devil goes for. And so there is strength in fellowship. There is
strength in being united with others, even if it's just one other.

But obviously, the more, the more the better. So, if they fall, one will
lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he
has no one to help him up.

Again, if two lie together, speaking about people who are married, they
will keep warm. But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be
overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is
not quickly broken.

So, speaking about the strength in unity, and obviously, we need to find
that strength in marriage for those who are married. We need to find
that strength in the body of Christ as we fellowship with one another.
And if we don't find that in the body of Christ, then we're in really
serious, serious trouble.

So, let's go to verse 2 then. So, he's sending them out two by two, so
that they can confirm the word, but particularly so that they are able
to help one another. And you'll see the reason for the help in a moment.

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. Remember, Jesus says similar words when he preaches to that
woman at the well of Samaria, and the crowds come out, and he says the
same things.

Now, I'm not going to get into the details as to the harvest being the
judgment. Many commentators feel that this makes reference to the
judgment, and that is coming, the harvest, remember, and as the wheat is
harvested, the tares are sifted out, and the tares and the chaff is
burnt, but the wheat is kept. Clearly what Jesus, and of course that is
a part of what Jesus is speaking about, but the main thing he is
speaking about here is the harvest of souls, the harvest of souls for
the kingdom, and there are many that need to be saved.

That's really what he is saying, and there is a need for laborers who
will go and preach the gospel. The problem is that there are not many
who are willing to go. There were not many willing to go those days, and
there are not many who are willing to go today, and so what he is saying
is that we must pray to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out
laborers into the field.

Now that sounds pretty simple. So we pray, and we say, Lord send
laborers into the field, but unless you are willing to go yourself, it's
no good praying that prayer, because your prayer is insincere. You're
not meaning what you're praying.

If you're saying, Lord the harvest is great, there is need for those who
can go and preach the gospel, and folks, there is a desperate need
today, more than ever before. Churches are dying all over the world,
because there are no new pastors, there are no young men who can take
over the lead of those assemblies of those churches, and there is a
desperate need for laborers who can care for God's people, who can
continue to preach the gospel, who can continue to uphold the doctrine
of the faith, and we need to pray that God would raise up men. This is a
concern that I have, not just for our assembly, but for other churches
that we are related to.

When I was a young man, there were many young men who were called of
God, and who were dedicated and committed to go into the work, but today
there are none. There are very, very, very few, and this scripture has
come true more than ever in the history of the church, and we need to
pray that God would send, but God will not hear our prayer if we are not
willing to go ourselves. Some of you have been under the sound of
missionaries who come out to do deputation work, and Byron was telling
me the other day that when he was in a particular church, these
missionaries would come, and they would be asking for financial support,
but they were particularly asking for people who could go to the mission
field, and I remember that as a young man, and I remember being stirred
by those calls.

The problem is that, are we willing to go? Are we willing to answer that
call? And the call may not necessarily be to the mission field. The call
may be right here, where we are, and when I came to Los Angeles 17, 18
years ago, the thing that struck me when I landed at LAX, and I stood
there waiting for the flyaway bus, and I watched the people in the cars.
The thing that struck me was that I was seeing every nation on the face
of the earth in those cars, like I'd never seen before, and I realized
that in fact, here we don't need so much to send missionaries, because
the world has come to LA, and what we need is people who will preach the
gospel here, to our neighbors, and to the people in the areas around us,
and so we need to pray that God would raise up those who will preach the
gospel, but we cannot pray that prayer if we're not willing to say,
Lord, here am I, send me.

You remember Isaiah, who will I send, and who will go for us? And Isaiah
says, here am I, and folks, unless we are willing to go ourselves, it's
no good praying that prayer, and if you say, well, it doesn't matter,
then I'm not going to pray the prayer. Well, then you're being
disobedient to a command of the Lord Jesus. This is a very clear,
specific command of the Lord Jesus.

Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest, and
folks, we need those harvesters. We need those missionaries to go into
the rest of the world, but we need those men and women who will be
raised up here in Los Angeles, and will preach the gospel. We need young
men to take leadership in this church, and in other churches across the
world.

Then verse 3 says, go your way, behold, I send you out as lambs among
the wolves. There's that very important little word, go. Remember
Matthew 28, 19, go, and you know, we can preach a whole message, a whole
series of messages, just on that one two-letter word, go.

Go does not mean sit on your backside. Go does not mean to fall asleep.
Go doesn't mean to go backwards.

Go means to go where God has called us to, to do what He has sent us to
do, and there's a need for us to get going. Unfortunately, the church
very much, in many cases, has become a place where people just come to,
and the emphasis is come, come and hear the gospel, come and hear the
Word of God, come and worship, come and fellowship. But in fact, the
command is not come, the command is to go, and we're calling people to
come, but we need to be going, and to be preaching the gospel in all of
the world.

So go your way, behold, I send you as lambs among the wolves. Again,
Jesus doesn't make it easy. He is being brutally honest about the
challenges of serving God in some form of ministry.

It is always hard, particularly evangelism today, because today the
world has become so anti- Christian, and unfortunately our modern
political environment has made the testimony of the church almost
unacceptable to at least half of American society, because they have
associated the church with a particular political point of view. Our
message is not a political message. Our message is the gospel, but
unfortunately many will reject the gospel because they identify the
gospel with a particular political party.

God help us. And so we're in a very, very difficult time, and a time
when the gospel has never been popular. Remember they crucified Jesus,
and he said, if that's the way they treated me, they're going to treat
you exactly the same way.

And the persecution came right at the beginning, and you remember the
apostles were beaten, they were imprisoned, and many of them were
executed. And we find that persecution going right through the history
of the church, right through the New Testament, into the book of
Revelation. Remember, Revelation is written at the end of the first
century, AD 96 roughly it was written, and even then you see persecution
in those seven churches, and since then the persecution has never
ceased.

But it's harder now than it has ever been before, particularly in free
countries like America and the rest of the West, in Europe and England.
And so there's a need for us to be aware that there are, that we are as
lambs among wolves. Now there are two things there.

The first is obviously, that's most obvious, is the fact that we're
going amongst wolves, amongst those who will savage your testimony, who
will turn against you. That's just part of the deal, that's going to
happen. Jesus said, as I've said a moment ago, if they treated me this
way, then they're going to, if they accepted my word, they'll accept
your word.

If they rejected me, they will reject you. And so that's the one aspect.
But the other aspect is that we are sent as lambs among wolves, and not
as lions amongst wolves.

Some Christians think that their job is to really defend the faith, and
to have a sword and a gun, and we're going to defend the faith, and
we're going to just blast people who come against us. No, He says, I
send you as lambs. Lambs are in, have no means of defense.

They have absolutely no means of defense. Sheep can run a little bit,
but they can't even outrun a coyote, or a wolf, or a jackal. A lamb can
outrun nothing, and a lamb is totally at the mercy of the wolf.

And that's really what Jesus is saying. He's saying, you will be at the
mercy of those that I'm sending you amongst. But remember the other
little word here, because we lose these little words, and you know I
have this thing about these little words.

I send you. I send you. So if He sends us, then He will protect us.

He said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Remember in Matthew
28, verse 19, the Great Commission. All authority has been given to me.

Go therefore into all the world. So because He has all authority,
because He has all power, He is sending us. So while we are as lambs
among the wolves, He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

He is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. And He will keep us, and
He will protect us, as long as we're doing His will, and until the work
is done. I have never had any fear for my, for my life, in traveling to
other countries, and preaching in different places, and different
situations.

In some places, in Nigeria, there's a place I preached that, where
they'd never seen a white man before. The kids were coming around, and
trying, and feeling my hair, because they'd never seen such a thing
before. But I never feared.

And even the churches there, the church I preached in, was, was highly
superstitious. They, they had wooden crosses that they put in the
doorways. It was very, very hot.

It's tropical. And so they, they put crosses in the doorways, because
the doors are open to get air in. And I said, what are the crosses there
for? No, the crosses are there to keep the demons out.

But I never feared for my life, because as long as my job is still
there, as long as God still has work for me to do, He will keep me, and
He will protect me. Doesn't mean that we're not going to go through
hardship. It doesn't mean that we're not going to be attacked by wolves.

Doesn't mean that we're not going to experience suffering and pain. But
He will keep us, until the work is done. And, and this is not fatalism.

This is confidence and trust in the One in whom we believe. That, that
He will keep us, until His time for us is up. And so He says, I send you
out as lambs among wolves.

Now, we saw this part, verse 4, in the chapter 9, when He sends out the
12. He says, carry neither money bag, knapsack, or backpack, nor
sandals, and greet no one along the way. The, the, the sandals there
really seems that He's literally meaning an additional pair, a spare
pair.

It doesn't mean that they have to go, they have to go barefoot. Now,
there's a few things that are interesting and important here. The first
is, that He says that they need to go trusting Him for their provision.

And we're going to see a lot more detail about that in the next few
verses. So, so don't take money, but trust Me to provide for you as you
go. And that deals with the money bag, the knapsack, and the sandals.

But then He says, greet no one along the road. Now, when He says, greet
no one along the road, it doesn't mean you don't say, hi, when you pass
someone on the road. But those days, just as in third-world countries
today, people didn't have cell phones, and, and, and the Internet, and
other means of communication.

So, so when they came across someone, it was always a long conversation.
Oh, hello, how are you? I'm fine. And, and I've seen those conversations
in Africa.

Where do you come from? Oh, no, no, I come from that and that village.
Oh, do you know my uncle who lives over there? Oh, yeah, yeah, he, yeah.
And, and, and how is he? And, and how is, how is his wife? And how are
the children? And, and it's a long conversation.

Oh, where do you come from? Oh, no, I come from over there. Oh, do you
know so-and-so? And so it becomes a long conversation. This is just the
nature of, of the social interaction.

And Jesus is saying, don't get sidetracked. Don't get sidetracked into
these long discussions and conversations about friends and family and
social issues, because I've sent you on a mission. You have a job to do.

I, I watch some of those who go down the streets knocking on doors, and
unfortunately they have a quota to meet. They have to spend a certain
number of hours out on the street. And it's interesting to watch how
much time they will spend on the street corner just nattering to one
another, avoiding the job.

Now I'm not saying they're doing a good job, because they're preaching a
false gospel, but I think it illustrates this human problem, is that
when we don't want to do the job, we find something else to do. When I
was still in, in secular work, in design work, we had a saying called
sharpening pencils. Now, young people don't even know what a pencil is
these days.

But in the old days, we used to design with a pencil, and you would have
a bunch of sharpened pencils before these fancy click things that we, we
have now. And if you, if you were trying to avoid doing the job, what
you would do, is you would sharpen all your pencils. And I had a carry,
still carry a knife, I'd use a knife, and I'd sharpen my pencil, get it
absolutely sharp, put the next one, do the next one, shuffle my papers,
clean my desk.

What am I doing? I'm avoiding the job. I don't want to face that blank
piece of paper, that I know I have to put some kind of design on. And
this is exactly what Jesus, don't, he said, don't avoid the job.

Don't get sidetracked. I've given you a job to do. Don't waste your time
talking about stuff that is not important.

And folk, it's so easy for us to get sidetracked into all sorts of stuff
in this world that is not important. Whatever it may be, whether it's
politics, or sports, or our hobbies, or, or, or whatever it is. And
again, when I look at fake book, and I look at the stuff that people
spend time on, the stuff that's really unimportant and irrelevant.

Now I'm not saying that we don't have a life, and that we don't have
interests and other things outside of the faith. Of course we have those
things. But the moment those things become a, a hindrance to doing what
we're supposed to be doing, then we need to cut them short.

And Jesus is saying, even if a, if a, if a civil thing, like greeting
someone, is going to distract you, and stop you from doing what you need
to do, then stop greeting people. Get on with the job that I've called
you to be. He's not teaching us to be rude.

He's not teaching us to be uncivil. Obviously we must be those things.
But we need to be careful that we are not sidetracked into doing stuff
that will not, that will hinder the gospel.

Now he comes to the issue of when you arrive at your destination.
Because clearly he wasn't just sending them out randomly. He had, it
looks like he had, he had obviously designated people to different
cities.

And so when you arrive at a house, at the house that you enter, first
say peace to this house. That would be a typical Jewish greeting,
shalom, peace. And so greet the house, and give your blessing to the
house.

Then he says, verse 6, if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest
on it. If not, it will return to you. Now, now what is a son of peace? A
son of peace is simply someone who is committed to peace.

And remember that peace really is the essence of the gospel. That the
gospel says that God has come to make peace between man and God, and
peace between man and man. The book of Ephesians deals with this in
great detail, that he has brought peace between Jew and Gentile, and
between man and God.

Peace to the earth, the angels declare at the birth of the Lord Jesus.
So, so this is really an essential part of the gospel. So a son of peace
is someone who is committed to peace.

In fact, you remember that last week, it was, I think it was last week,
we saw the sons of Zebedee, James and John. And you remember their,
their nickname, the sons of thunder. Why are they called the sons of
thunder? Because that is what identified them.

Their fiery temper, their thunderous approach to things, calling down
fire from heaven on the Samaritans, because they, they didn't receive
Jesus. And there are other examples in scripture. So a, a son of peace,
a son of, son of thunder, a son of something, is someone who is
committed to a particular aspect.

So, so here is someone who is committed to peace, and indirectly
committed to the gospel. And so, if they receive you, and they are on
the same page, if we can put that in modern English, if they're on the
same page with you, then your peace will rest on it, on that home. If
not, it will return to you.

In other words, when we bless someone, that blessing has no value unless
God confirms the blessing. You can bless someone, you can say, God bless
you brother, but if God has not blessing that individual, because
they're under discipline, under His discipline, or whatever it is, then
there's going to be no blessing. We, we have no power to bless people
that God is not blessed.

And it's the same way we don't have power to curse people that God is
not cursed. All we can do is what God has already determined to do. And
so you can say, well, you know, peace to this house.

But if that house is out of sorts with God, there's going to be no
peace, and it's going to return to you. I'm going to come back to the
application in one moment. Verse 7. Remain in the same house, eating and
drinking such things that they give you, for the laborer is worthy of
his wages.

Do not go from house to house. Whatever city you enter and they receive
you, eat such things as are set before you. I'm going to come back to
those verses probably next week.

Heal the sick there, say to them, the kingdom of God has come near you.
Whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the
streets and say, the very dust of your city, which clings to us, we wipe
off against you. We've spoken about that.

We're going to come back to all of that next week. So he is saying then,
if they receive you with peace, then God's blessing will be upon them.
If they don't, then turn away from them.

Now, what does this mean to us today? Well, I'm not sure that it has a
great application in the context of the local church, but it has an
application in the context of the preaching of the gospel. And that is
that we have seen over the years, both on the mission field and outside
of the mission field, that in order to reach an area with the gospel,
you need a home. You need a place to use as a home base, a place from
which you can preach.

And so the way that we practice this, and it's not based on this verse
necessarily, but it's the same principle. When we would enter into a new
area, and we'd planted a number of churches in the area in which we
lived in the villages and in the towns around, if we could not find a
house that would receive us, and that would host us, and that would form
a nucleus around which we can build, it would be a waste of time. You
can't really go and rent a town hall, or a farmer's hall, or something,
and just begin to have meetings, because you need somebody locally who
can do the organizing, and can pull people together, and be a host, and
all of those kinds of things.

And so when we find someone like that, we are able to build around that.
And in fact, the denomination I came out of in South Africa the last 50,
60, 80 years was built on this principle, not necessarily on this verse.
And I've never heard them preach this verse in that sense, but in
practice that's the way it worked.

The same on the mission field. For many years I went to Nigeria and
preached and taught pastors, but I never found a man of peace. I never
found someone that I could build around.

And so all we were doing is we were just preaching, but we were not
building anything. And then we moved to Zimbabwe, and we found a man of
peace. And we don't use these titles.

I mean, these are not titles. This is just a principle. We found someone
and a group that we could work around, that we could build around.

And by the grace of God, we've been able to build something, and we've
been able to establish something, because we found somewhere to begin to
work. So that's the principle that he is sharing. Now let me see where
we can stop.

So he says, remain in the same house. Let me deal with these two verses
quickly. 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. Now we dealt with this last time when he
sent out the twelve. Don't be picky about where you stay when you go
out.

Now when you go into the mission field, it's very uncomfortable. You
oftentimes have to eat stuff that you can't get down. But you need to
find grace.

It's no good saying, well I don't like to have food in this house. I
want to go to the house next door. I don't like the dirty sheets that
they give me.

I'm going to go next door. That's literally what Jesus is saying. So
he's saying, just stay where you are.

When you get there, and they receive you spiritually, don't worry about
what they give you to eat. Don't worry about anything else. So don't go
from house to house, looking for better accommodations.

Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are
set before you. Now let me go back and let me establish this principle
before we we close. When he says the laborer is worthy of his wages, who
pays the wages? We know who the laborer is.

Who pays the wages? Oh the people I'm preaching to pay the wages. No.
Who pays the wages? The boss pays the wages.

There's never somebody else who pays the wages. Your co-workers don't
pay your wages. The boss pays the wages.

Who's the boss? God is the boss. He is the one who has sent us out. So
he is the one who pays the wages.

How does he pay the wages? I'm just trying to find a practical
application here. How does he pay the wages to these that he has sent
out? He pays the wages through those that are hosting the preacher. So
what is he saying? If you're not happy with what they're feeding you,
who are you grumbling against? The one who pays the wages.

You say, well, does God really want them to eat bad food? Yeah, maybe.
It's a good spiritual exercise. It's not pleasant.

But it's a good spiritual exercise to get our eyes off the food and to
get our eyes on spiritual things. Keeps us humble. Keeps us close to
Jesus.

Keeps us close to the cross. And he's more concerned about those things
than about what we eat. And so there's the, and I know that maybe for us
here in America it doesn't have much application, but for those who have
been on the mission field and those who may one day go, you will find
this very real as you go out to preach the gospel.

So whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat such things as are
set before you. I've known preachers who complain about everything.
Complain about what they get to eat.

I've been at conferences where preachers actually go out to a local
restaurant because the food is bad at the conference. God give us grace
that we may learn gratitude. That we may learn to be thankful for
whatever he provides.

Whether it is what we enjoy eating or what we don't enjoy eating. And we
say, well, you know, that's, that's, that's, that's hard. Yes, it's
hard.

But where is it hard? It's hard on the flesh. And it's a good thing
sometimes for the flesh to experience hardship. That the spirit may grow
strong.

And so you can see that, that Jesus is concerned about even what they're
eating. And they say, and we can say, well, does he really care? Yes, he
does. But he's more concerned about the impact the food has upon our
spiritual welfare than he is interested in what's on the actual table.

But he's involved in every detail. When we go. When we do what he has
called us to do.

And when he says that the laborer is worthy of his wages. If he is the
boss and he is paying the wages, he will never short pay. He will never
short pay.

You say, well, you know, if I do the will of God. And I choose to do
something that he's called me to do. And I have to sacrifice something
else.

It's not going to make any sense. Yes, it will make sense. Remember, he
said, I will repay in the context of vengeance.

But also in the context of wages. God repays. He doesn't always repay
here and now.

He doesn't always repay in kind. But he will reward on the day of the
judgment when we stand before him and he rewards us. No sacrifice that
these men made will go unrewarded.

No sacrifice that you and those who find themselves on the mission field
and those who find themselves in places that are hard to preach in. None
of those sacrifices are unrewarded. Because he is the boss.

And he pays the wages. And he is righteous. And he will repay.

And he will repay liberally. Even if it's not here and now on that great
day. Father, we thank you for your word.

We thank you, Lord, for the fact that you have a plan for the
establishment of your church and for the spreading of the gospel. Lord,
that you've chosen weak and foolish instruments like ourselves and like
these seventy. None of them, Lord, who were great men.

None of them that we know any names of. And yet you chose them. And you
called them.

And you equipped them. And you provided for them. Lord, I pray that we
may hear that word, that call to go.

To pray the Lord of the harvest. Not so much that he sends others, but
that he may send us. Lord, I pray that even this morning there may be
some in this meeting this morning, some who are watching the video at a
later time or even right now, who will hear the call of God upon their
lives and will be willing to go wherever he calls us.

And Lord, sometimes you're calling us simply to go to our neighbors, to
go to our colleagues, to go into this enormous city. But Lord, help us
to be obedient to your call upon our lives, knowing that you will repay,
knowing that you will reward those who faithfully labor for you. We ask
these things in Jesus' name.

We pray, Lord, that you would continue with us now as we come around
your table to remember the great price with which Jesus redeemed us. And
Lord, that knowing that he has redeemed us, that we are not our own.
We've been bought with a price.

And therefore we have no choice but to do your will in our lives. We ask
this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/cl-OTceBVO8.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/anton-bosch/the-laborers-are-few/
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