Priorities - Luke 10:38-42 - July 9, 2023

 Luke 10:38-42 Priorities

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter 10 and verse 38, that’s on page 869 in the pew Bibles. We are going to take a look at the account of Jesus in the home of Martha and Mary.

This was the same Martha and Mary that had a brother named Lazarus that lived in Bethany just outside of Jerusalem. Lazarus wasn’t mentioned here in our text, just Martha and Mary and the contrast between these two ladies has been the subject of every sermon ever preached on this text, ever. 

Be like Mary, not like Martha, let’s close in prayer.

Well, let’s look at the text and see if there isn’t a bit more to it than that.

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Let’s pray.

There have been a lot of unfair and inaccurate contrasts between these two ladies.

Some say that Martha was worldly-minded, all about the things of the world with her hustling and bustling in the kitchen distracted by the worries of the world where Mary was heavenly minded, all about the Lord Jesus and His teaching, sitting at His feet.

Some say that Martha represents works-based religion where Mary represents living by faith alone.

Some say that Martha represents the “Type A” personality which is forceful and direct and is busy putting everything in straight lines and Mary is a “Type B” personality just kind of going with the flow and laid back in the living room chilling with Jesus and that’s way better.

Some say that Martha is representative of an active life where Mary represents a contemplative life, and Jesus affirms that it is far better to sit alone and consider life, the universe, and everything, not just work, work, work all the time, you don’t have to do anything, you just have to be and that’s far better.

Let’s not forget, first of all that both of these ladies were friends and disciples of Jesus, and both were trying to serve the Lord Jesus whole heartedly, they just each had their own idea as to how to do that best. For Martha it was giving and for Mary it was receiving.

It’s clear that Jesus affirms Mary’s actions over Martha’s but let’s take a look at Martha and her actions and see where she may have gone off course.

First of all, it was Martha that welcomed Jesus into her home. Martha may have been a widow or just the eldest of these three siblings, we don’t really know. Either way, this was her house.

Martha clearly wanted to present the best her household could afford to Jesus and the disciples and she was working hard to accomplish that.

I have to ask you, do you blame her? Can you blame her for being upset with Mary for just sitting around and not helping her get things done?

I can’t help but think of Martha Stewart when I read this account, and not just because of the name. I can picture her with all four burners of the stove with pots bubbling and a roast in the oven and the rolls, and doing the dishes, and who is going to fold the napkins into swans? Where is Mary? These napkins are not going to fold themselves! Somebody needs to set out the nice dishes!

And this is where Martha erred. Her first problem was not that she was working too hard, it’s that she had a bad attitude about it and tried to get Jesus to side with her.

40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

Martha was clearly given to hospitality, her doors were wide open with welcome. But she is a great example of good things becoming bad things when they are not put in their proper place. She had become distracted and disgruntled and made more of her tasks and of herself than she ought to.

She was well-meaning in her service but her priorities were out of line and she was incorrect in her assumption about what Jesus wanted.

She assumed that Jesus would want the best that her household had to offer, and that best meant a well plated meal and an immaculate table and all the things that put your house in magazines and on HGTV.

Is that what Jesus wanted, did he want her best? Yes. Was her best her abilities? No.

Jesus Christ, Messiah, the Son of God was in her living room and she buried His instruction and teaching and presence with excessive and unnecessary preparations instead of accepting the benefit of being in His presence and hearing His Word.

But Martha is not the bad guy in this story and Mary the good guy. There is harmony to be found between the two, as Charles Wesley wrote, “Martha’s careful hands and Mary’s loving heart.”

41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus answered her with love and compassion, Martha, Martha… You’ve chosen hard work, and Mary has chosen rest, you are anxious and troubled about many things but there is only one thing that is necessary to rightly receive me.

So there was Martha working away in the kitchen trying her best to serve the Lord while Mary sat at His feet and listened to His teaching and Jesus said that she had chosen the good portion and He wouldn’t take it from her.

Martha was out there giving it her all, all worked up and worried about the things that didn’t really matter and certainly wouldn’t last. She was trying to give Jesus her best and thought that Mary should too, but her best wasn’t her work, or talents, or abilities, the best she had to give was her heart.

That’s what Mary chose.

The truth is that the servant of God is hungry for the Word of God where we experience the presence of God, the servant of Christ longs to hear the voice of Christ.

To put this in practical terms, the church lawn needs mowing and Martha chose to mow the lawn during the church service, she’s downstairs making lunch during the sermon! This is useless activity because it is based on improper priorities.

Listening to the Word of God must have the utmost priority, and I’m not just talking about listening to me. In fact, if you are only listening to me or Sundays you are going to starve and your walk with the Lord is going to suffer.

We have to saturate ourselves in the Word of God. Listen to sermons, listen to the Alistair Begg’s, the John Piper’s, the RC Sproul’s, the Ray Steadman’s. If you want some recommendations for good preachers to listen to or authors to read come talk to me after, I’d love to give you some.

The simple truth is that our commitment to Christ must be a priority over our achievement for Christ. As Alistair Begg put it, “Beware the trap of performance based Christianity.”

We are often tempted to get so busy doing for Christ that we neglect being with Christ.

Jesus said in John 15:4-5, a chapter all about this subject,

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

There is certainly nothing wrong with “doing for Christ,” we are all called to serve Him and there is certainly a lot of work to do, but our service to Christ must come after our devotion to Christ, our time in His Word and in prayer, our time hearing good preaching and reading good books.

We have to fill the buckets of our hearts with the Word of God so when we are asked we have something good to pour out.

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Mary is not the hero of this story, Jesus is.

Choose the good portion and fill your heart with the Word of the Lord.

Amen.

The Better Samaritan - Luke 10:25-37 - July 2, 2023

 Luke 10:25-37 The Better Samaritan

Good morning! Turn with me to Luke chapter 10. We are going to look at verses 25-37, on page 869 in the pew Bibles, a passage well known as the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Often times when we look at parables and accounts in Scripture we tend to identify with one or more of the characters in the story. It’s popular in the church today to paint ourselves into the picture, and if we’re honest, we try to identify with the hero.

When we read about David and Goliath we turn the story into one about us and how we should face our giants with faith like David had.

This makes for engaging sermons to be sure, but I’m not sure how true and helpful they actually are.

This morning we are going to look at another one of those accounts and examine the layers of it, the parable of the Good Samaritan, one of the most well known parables of Jesus.

Let’s read it together.

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Let’s pray.

So here we have a lawyer questioning Jesus. Now first of all we have to remember that this is not a lawyer like we have today, this was not an attorney, or a trial lawyer, or prosecutor. This was an expert in the Law of Moses, a religious leader and scholar of the Jews.

But, like any good lawyer would, when he questions Jesus to put Him to the test, he asks a question that he already knows the answer to.

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

Now we can’t go another inch further without recognizing that this is one of the most fundamentally important questions anybody could ever ask, what do I have to do to get eternal life?

Maybe some here, if you thought about it for a moment, might struggle with the answer to this question. How do we get eternal life? I hope by the end of our time here this morning that there will be no doubt as to the answer to that fundamental question.

So what does Jesus say in response to this man’s question? As He often does, He answers his question with another question, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

And the man answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

He is quoting directly from Deuteronomy 6:5, also known as the “Shema,” as well as Leviticus 19:18.

This is known as the Great Commandment and Jesus affirms it as such when he tells this guy, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

Now this points directly to a question that perhaps you may have never considered, how were people in the Old Testament saved, how did they inherit eternal life? Here is the answer: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength meant trusting Him and trusting His promise to send a Redeemer. Even in the Old Testament people were justified by faith in the Messiah, Messiah that was coming just as we are justified by faith in the Messiah that has come, Jesus Christ.

In Great Commandment we have the summary of the two tables of the Law, the two halves of the Ten Commandments. The first four Commandments have to do with loving the Lord our God, and the second six have to do with loving our neighbor.

So this lawyer knew the answer to the question already, he knew the Law, but what he didn’t know was himself.

The lawyer asks, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 [Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 

How should the lawyer have responded? He should have admitted that it was impossible for him to do this, that he had never been able to do this, and never would be able to do this. He should have asked Jesus how it was possible and I’m sure that Jesus would have instructed him on the grace of God that was at work even at that moment… But that’s not what the lawyer said.

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

It’s important for us to be aware that the Jews in the First Century had very defined rules regarding who their neighbor was because of what the Law said about loving their neighbor. The trouble is that they got it wrong. Their definition of who their neighbor was was anyone who they thought was worthy of being their neighbor. This excluded Gentiles and Samaritans who they considered their enemies.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-45, 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

Loving your enemies was totally contrary to what they had been taught, loving those who you considered your neighbor was fine though. 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was around 17 miles of steep rocky terrain, a true wilderness, a home to robbers and thieves looking to prey on unsuspecting travelers. The victim in Jesus’ parable was a Jewish man traveling alone through this treacherous wilderness and fell victim to robbers who robbed him, stripped him, beat him and left him for dead. In those conditions he certainly would have died unless someone came along and helped him.

The Priest and the Levite, traveling separately, most likely on their way home after their service in the Temple, came upon the man on the road. They knew this road, and they both knew that if they stopped to help they would most likely be next. What if it were a trap and this guy was the bait?

JJ van Oosterzee wrote, “Neither the voice of humanity, nor that of nationality, nor that of religion, speaks so loudly to their heart as the desire for self-preservation.”

They didn’t care who that guy was or what happened to him. Their hearts were hard and completely devoid of compassion so they left the man there to die.

 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

The lawyer whom Martin Luther calls, “a haughty hypocrite,” won’t even say the word Samaritan in his response, only, “the one who showed him mercy.”

So let’s consider the layers of the parable.

On the surface the lesson is very clear: all mankind is our neighbor regardless of race or creed or anything else, and we are commanded to love them as we love ourselves.

We turn the priest and the Levites into the bad guys and the Samaritan is clearly the good guy. And of course with every good story we want to identify with the good guy so we imagine ourselves as the Samaritan and remind ourselves to do good for people regardless of where they are from or what they are like because that is what Jesus said to do.

The end, right?

But maybe there’s more to it. And at the risk of turning this parable into an allegory, which not a lot of Biblical scholars are fans of, maybe there is more to learn from this than to just be nice to everybody.

Maybe we aren’t the hero of the story even though we might like to be.

Maybe we are the victim. Maybe we are the guy on the side of the road that has been beaten and stripped and left for dead. But instead of the robbers being random strangers, the robbers are our own sin, our own inability to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to say nothing of loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Maybe the Priest and the Levite are religion and good works, unable and unwilling to do anything to help our dire condition, passing by on the other side of the road to get away from us and our wretchedness.

Maybe Jesus is the Good Samaritan, the Better Samaritan, that forfeits His own life and safety and comfort to tend to our wounds, but instead of wine and oil He pours out His own blood that by it our wounds would be healed.

Jesus is always the hero of the story and we are the ones in need of rescuing, and so was that lawyer.

He asked the fundamental question, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

In the parable, along with you and me, the lawyer is the one in the ditch dying, and the answer to the question for him and for us is the same, trust the Rescuer, the Better Samaritan, Jesus Christ, to bind your wounds and pay for you to have a place in His eternal kingdom with His own blood on the cross.

To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit, that’s the only way it’s ever been possible.

Go and do likewise!

Amen.

Laborers and the Lamb's Book of Life - Luke 10:1-20 - June 18, 2023

 Luke 10:1-20 Laborers and the Lamb’s Book of Life

Good morning! Turn with me to Luke chapter 10, we’re going to look at verses 1-20 and that’s on page 868 in the pew Bibles.

I don’t know about you but I was praying that the Lord would take it easy on us this week, because I’ve been feeling a little beat up. We’ll see I guess.

Let’s look at those verses and we’ll jump right in.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. 

16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” 

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Let’s pray.

Chapter nine began with Jesus sending out the Twelve, two by two, into the villages where Jesus had already been and chapter ten begins with Jesus sending the seventy-two, two by two, into the villages and towns where He hadn’t yet gone but was going to on His way to Jerusalem.

These seventy-two went out and returned and then there is no other mention of this group except maybe in Acts chapter one where they would have numbered a part of the 120 disciples that had followed Jesus from His baptism by John in the Jordan River.

This is important for us to be aware of because this group had no lasting special office in the church that was any different from any other disciples.

But here this group was given a special task by Jesus and there are some things we can learn from Jesus’ instructions to them.

The Twelve were sent out to gather what Jesus had sown. The seventy-two were sent out to till the ground in preparation for Him.

Riggenbach wrote that, “The seventy-two disciples are to be regarded as a net of love which the Lord threw out in Israel.”

Two different metaphors, to be sure, but beautiful pictures nonetheless.

Jesus stuck with the farming metaphor.

First Jesus tells them that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

Here is something important for us to remember: Laborers pray for more laborers to labor alongside them. Spectators pray for laborers to do the work for them. Jesus says, “be laborers and pray for more laborers.” 

The fields were ripe for harvest, people were ready for the Good News but there weren’t enough people bringing it to them. This condition still exists today. Be a laborer and pray to the Lord of the harvest for more laborers.

In verse three Jesus tells them, “Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”

Do you know what a lambs natural defense is? No, because it doesn’t have any. 

Ken Davis used to tell a story about growing up on a farm and having sheep. There was a particular sheep that he didn’t like for some reason so one day he thought he would jump out and scare the sheep as it walked by. So he hid around the corner of the barn and when the sheep approached him he jumped out and yelled, BOO!

Do you know what the sheep did? He died, that was his natural defense.

It’s funny but that exactly where we are without Jesus, totally powerless. He sent the seventy-two out with a reminder that they were completely powerless and they were being sent out in the midst of those who would devour them if given the chance.

And He sent them out in haste, they were to go to the villages and towns in a hurry, preach the kingdom of God, heal the sick, rely on the benevolence and hospitality of those who would listen, warn those who rejected their message, and then report back to Jesus.

4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. 

Sodom was a city in the Old Testament that was known for its out of control sexual immorality and complete lack of even a single righteous person and along with the city of Gomorrah was completely destroyed y God with fire and brimstone from heaven.

I’ve actually visited the site and there is hardly anything there but brimstone. Archeologists have found evidence that the city burned both from the top down and the bottom up. It was completely consumed.

But Jesus says that it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Sodom than it will be for any town that rejects the gospel.

Jesus goes on to say, 13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. 

16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” 

Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum were all towns around the Sea of Galilee that Jesus had done many mighty works and preached the Good News of the kingdom in but they rejected Him. Tyre and Sidon were pagan cities north of there on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea that had never heard the gospel and never claimed to know God.

But the measurement at judgment will be the same: did you accept or reject Jesus.

Jesus reminds us of this fact when the seventy-two returned.

17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18 And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

I think that this is a warning to the church. Maybe you cast out some demons, maybe you healed some people, maybe you raised an good family, maybe you have a nice house, maybe you make a comfortable living, maybe you restarted a dying church and now its full, maybe you did lots of great things in your town or your church, but don’t rejoice in that stuff, that power didn’t come from you anyway, rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

This is a warning.

JJ vanOosterzee wrote, “What anyone does is a very deceiving standard for the judgment of his inner worth, one may cast out devils and yet himself still be a child of darkness.”

Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, my least favorite verses in the Bible.

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

And Revelation 20:11-15,

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

And how can we know for sure, how do we get our names into the Lamb’s Book of Life, how can we be saved from that terrible fate described in Revelation?

Romans 10:8-13 says,

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

And to those who would be laborers sent out into the harvest:

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Those who call on the Name of the Lord will be saved, and those of us who are saved are also sent as laborers into the harvest, to preach the Good News and pray for more laborers.

Amen.