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About-Him.Com Devotional 01-10-2004
 
117: The Charge to His Disciples: Mt. 10:5-42; Mk. 6:7-13; Lu. 9:1-6
 
Mark 6:7 ¶ And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:
9 But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.
10 And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.
11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
13 And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
 
Jesus sent out His chosen twelve for some on the job training. Some of the marginal readings say that it was here that they were first called apostles. They were empowered to heal the sick and cast out devils. They were only to go to the Israelites. This was fitting as the Jews were God’s covenant people. Later of course, the commission was to go into all of the world and preach the gospel (Mark 16:15-18; Matthew 28:19-20).
 
They went forth preaching the same message as Jesus and John the Baptist, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7). We still preach the same message today. They were not to take undue care in providing for their journey and their livelihood. God was well aware of their needs and would supply them. The people who received them would be blessed. Those who rejected their message, would have a more severe punishment in the day of judgment, than Sodom and Gomarrha.
 
Mark, Luke and Matthew record the initial charge essentially the same but Matthew continues with a rather lengthly discourse of our Lord concerning the perils and difficulties that would be faced in preaching the gospel. Some of this discourse obviously applies to the early church age and some of it to the difficulties that Christians will face right up to our Lord’s return.
 
It may be that this episode was a convenient place for Matthew to add the extended dialogue. As we have said elsewhere, each gospel writer wrote with a particular theme in mind. With the exception of Luke who said that he was recording the events of the Lord’s life in order (Luke 1:1), it didn’t matter if these words were spoken at this time or some other. It is the message that counts.
 
Believers were sent out a sheep among wolves. They would be beaten in their synagogues (religious denominations) and called before kings and judges to testify. They were not to take forethought of what to say, for it would be the Spirit of the Father, the Holy Ghost, that spoke through them.
 
Jesus said that He had come to bring a sword, that would divide households. Some would believe, others would not and would deliver the believing relatives up to be killed. A man’s enemies would be those of his own household. The believers who shrinks back because of love of family would not be counted worthy of the Lord. He must be willing to bear his cross, even unto death. If we value our life, we will lose it. if we lose our life for His sake, we will find it. If we honor and receive His messengers, we are in fact receiving Him and will not lose our reward.
 
Conclusion and Application:
 
Some have taken the words of our Lord concerning going forth “without purse or script,” so literally that they live in poverty in their old age. I know of one Pentecostal denomination that has can food drives for their ministers who were often underpaid and do not even have Social Security to rely on. I’m sure there is a great reward awaiting them, but I could never bring myself to that point.  Perhaps I lack faith. Others use “The workmen being worthy of his hire,” as an opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of the kingdom of God.  I’m sure a reward awaits them also. May we ever be able ministers of the gospel, putting the kingdom first, knowing that the final reward will be worth it all.
 
Today's Thought
 
Galatians 1:6 ¶ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7  Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
 
2 Corinthians 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
 
Simplicity: Do we even know what it is?  When we first heard the gospel message, we were convicted of our sins and  realized that we were doomed without a Saviour. We gladly accepted the message that Jesus died in our place and rose again to give us victory over sin. We eagerly awaited His return, knowing that we were destined to reign with Him eternally.
 
Today, our gospel seems so much more complex and I dare say confusing. We have replaced simple faith with hyper faith. We've turned our worship into something that would resemble the prophets of Baal, except they didn't have our first rate sound systems. We've perverted the message of simplicity in giving to the point that we've made God our bellboy.
 
Many today, are trying to rewrite the word of God, some even denying the  saving name  name of Jesus. While   claiming superior knowledge they only show their ignorance. Sorry to offend, but a couple semesters of Greek or Hebrew can be a dangerous thing, especially if we don't have a solid understanding of English grammar to start with.
 
In the secular world, the authenticity of the bible is constantly questioned, and Jesus is being portrayed as some sissy,  who was married to Mary Magdalene?
 
So much for my rants and raves. As the song says, "Pray let me weep while you whisper, love paid a ransom for me."  I've got Jesus and that's all I need.
 
In About-Him
We just posted three more hymns on the About-Him.Com website, http://about-him.com/audio.html bringing our total to thirty. These are the songs that we grew up on and are indelibly engraved our our hearts. We pray that you enjoy them.
  
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Humor
ADDENDUM'S TO MURPHY'S LAW
 
1. Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have film.
 
2. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
 
3. A day without sunshine is like, well, night.
 
4. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
 
 
Keep Looking Up!
 
Don & Marie Spooner
About Him! Ministries


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