by John MacArthur

The twelve apostles included "Andrew" (Matt. 10:2).

Leading others to Christ should be a top priority in your life.

Andrew was Peter's brother and a native of Bethsaida of Galilee. From the very start we see him leading people to Christ—beginning with his own brother.

The gospel of John records his first encounter with Jesus: "John [the Baptist] was standing with two of his disciples (Andrew and John), and he looked upon Jesus as He walked, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. . . . One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He found first his own brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus" (John 1:35-37, 40-42). Later Jesus called both Andrew and Peter to become His disciples, and they immediately left their fishing nets to follow Him (Matt. 4:20).

Our next glimpse of Andrew is in John 6:8-9. It was late in the day and thousands of people who were following Jesus were beginning to get hungry, but there wasn't enough food to feed them. Then Andrew brought to Jesus a young boy with five barley loaves and two fish. From that small lunch Jesus created enough food to feed the entire crowd!

Andrew also appears in John 12:20-22, which tells of some Greeks who were traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast. They came to Philip and requested to see Jesus. Philip took them to Andrew, who apparently took them to Jesus.

Andrew didn't always know how Jesus would deal with a particular person or situation, but he kept right on bringing them to Him anyway. That's a characteristic every believer should have. Your spiritual gifts might differ from others, but your common goal is to make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20), and that begins with leading sinners to Christ. Make that your priority today!

Suggestions for Prayer

When was the last time you told an unbeliever about Jesus? Pray for an opportunity to do so soon.

For Further Study

Do you know how to present the gospel clearly and accurately? As a review read Romans 3:19-28, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, Ephesians 2:8-10, and Titus 3:4-7.

by William G. Carter

Gospel: Mark 12:28-34

According to the Gospel of Mark, as we approach the end of Jesus' earthly mission, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and the religious leaders question him relentlessly. They go at him from different directions, one day after another. And the last of their tests goes like this:

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

Then the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that 'he is one, and besides him there is no other'; and 'to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,' and 'to love one's neighbor as oneself,' —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that no one dared to ask him any question.

The quickest way to find out something about someone is to ask a question. Where are you from? What do you do? Who is in your family? Keep the questions open-ended, the interrogators advise us. Let your questions create a conversation.

It's good advice if you are shy. Drop a shy person in a dinner party, and she may wish to retreat to a corner. But if she takes a deep breath, turns to somebody nearby, and asks that person a question, she will quickly discover that she was not the only shy person in the room. There is hidden treasure in that neighboring soul.

Asking questions is a great method for learning. Mr. Snyder asked questions in our sixth grade science class. Where does the rain come from? It comes from the dark clouds. Where do the dark clouds get their rain? We didn't know, until somebody who had done the homework replied, "The ocean." We looked with amazement at the smart kid, and then our teacher led a conversation about evaporation. Questions have that power.

Not every questioner wants a conversation, of course. Some will ask the question for which they are sure that they have the only right answer. They ask, then wait and see if the other person is as smart as they are. What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? If you know, you can move ahead. If not, you get a failing grade.

But sometimes the conversation happens anyway. No sooner did Jesus go into Jerusalem and the religious leaders buzzed like hornets around his head. The chief priests, the scribes, the temple elders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees – people from all these groups swarmed him, targeted him, interrogated him. Who do you think you are? Where is the source of your authority? Should we pay our taxes to Caesar? One after another, they come after Jesus, trying to trip him up, trying to get him to say something off the cuff that they can replay endlessly on cable TV.

But Jesus stands strong. He responds clearly. One by one, his opponents buzz off.

That's when a scribe approaches. The scribes were the Bible scholars in Jerusalem. They copied the scriptures by hand, they knew the scriptures by heart. And rather than ask about some theoretical possibility, this scribe asks a Bible question. How refreshing to be asked a Bible question!

And the question goes like this: Of the 613 commandments of God that fill the Hebrew Bible, which commandment is the most important? What is the Number One Commandment? Jesus says, "Love God – and love neighbor."

Now, I'm sure there were other people standing around, and they were ready to pounce on Jesus. The scribe asked which single commandment? and Jesus gives two. Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 5: You shall love the Lord your God with all that you have within you. Leviticus 19, verse 18: You shall love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.

The guy in the back row raises his hand, ready to bark, "Which one is it, Jesus? This scribe asked you for only one, not two." But before he can speak, he realizes the scribe is already talking. The expert in the sacred texts is complimenting Jesus. You are so right, Teacher. There is no greater commitment than to love the Lord our God with heart, soul, mind, and strength – and there is no greater ethical commitment than to regard the neighbor as highly as we would regard ourselves.

And Jesus compliments him in return, and says, "You are very close – as close to the Kingdom as you are standing by me." There is a rustle in the crowd, and people start walking away. No more disputes today. No more picking of fights. No more angry rhetoric. Jesus answered well, the scribe answered wisely. In that moment, the kingdom of God is very, very close.

You may remember this story. I hadn't remembered so clearly that the scribe's question to Jesus creates a conversation. I hadn't remembered that the two of them – Jesus and the scribe – were in complete agreement about the primary commitments that the Torah lays upon every person: to love God and to love neighbor. And what makes this so striking to me is that this is the only place in the sixteen chapters of the Gospel of Mark when it says something nice about any of the scribes in Jerusalem.

I mean, Mark usually says the scribes are the bad guys. The scribes are the enemies. The scribes are the schemers. As early as chapter one, Mark says, "The scribes didn't teach with any authority." In chapter two, the scribes were already picking at Jesus, criticizing him in their hearts. In chapter three, the scribes accused Jesus of being possessed by the devil. Get the point? Mark really hates the scribes. Jesus says repeatedly that he will be condemned to death by the scribes – and that turns out to be true.

I think I know why Jesus says, "The kingdom of God is so close at hand." When opponents find common ground, when strangers pursue a higher good, the kingdom is very, very close.

As the storm stories emerge, we are going to see snapshots of what this looks like. Did you hear about the 25-year-old accountant in Manhattan? When the wall of water hit New York, the accountant looked out of his apartment window and saw a taxi driver in trouble. The cab was instantly swamped. So Jon Candelaria ran downstairs, jumped into freezing water, and pulled the cab driver to safety. "I did it on pure adrenaline," he said. "I had to do it. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if there was something I could do to save him and I didn't do it."[1] That's called loving your neighbor as much as you love yourself. When we commit to that kind of love, God is ruling right over us.

To love God is to commit to God. In the Bible's way of thinking, love is not a slippery emotion. It is a flesh-and-blood, heart-and-soul, commitment to Someone. Love is something you do. You love God by doing something for God. You sing a hymn, you lift your prayers, and you make a difference. You take the work of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and you lay it on God's altar – and you declare, "All that I am doing is my offering to you." And in that moment, the kingdom of God is ruling over us.

Maybe, rather than spend our national time by bickering over our divisions, our country would be better suited to look above them – and then to ask, "How could we love God rather than beat up other people in God's name?" And to ask, "What would it look like to love the neighbors around me? What would I have to do to love them?"

There are plenty of distractions, you know. I was talking to somebody the other day. She is staying logged on the internet, so she can keep monitoring the presidential polls. She has to watch them 24-7 just to be sure her favorite candidate doesn't drop a few points or lose momentum. It's an enormous distraction. What is she going to do on Wednesday morning, assuming that the election is over by then?

Meanwhile there are a lot of people in need right here. Right next door. All around us. All the time. Maybe sitting very close this morning. We can't let the noise of the world distract us from the love we have to share.

So here is what I would like you to do this morning: I would like you to remember a face. Somewhere in your memory, remember the face of somebody who taught you what love is all about. Maybe it's somebody now gone. Maybe it's somebody still here. Can you see a face? Can you see somebody who taught you about the depth of love? Somebody who gave freely so that you might flourish. Maybe it's somebody who made a sacrifice for you. Kept a promise to you. Did something for you. Can you see a face? Can you remember a face?

And here's something else that I want you to do. I want you to see another face, a second face – see the face of somebody that God has placed in your life. Maybe you want them there. Or maybe they are simply a neighbor, or a stranger. Can you see that person? You have something that God has given you that can make that neighbor's life somewhat better. Maybe you can offer them some of your time. Or the companionship of a listening ear. Or there is something that you know you can do for them. Can you see that face?

So this is what I want you to do. Ready? In your imagination, take the person that you remember, and take the person that you see, and bring them with you to the communion table. For there is a saint that you remember who taught you the love of God, and there is a neighbor nearby who needs that same love channeled through you. This is how love works: it comes to us, it is shared through us. Love will not be hoarded if it is given.

What's the one most important thing? Love God, love neighbor. Love received, love given. The saints taught us this. Others could become saints as we pass God's love to them.

Or to put it in the words of the earliest Christians, "Beloved, since God love us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God's love is perfected in us." (1 John 4:11-12).

And we are "not far" from the kingdom of God. How far? Not far.

by Brian Evans

Jesus has just finished making sure that His followers understand what being a disciple is all about. He introduced them to the concept of cost. We learned last week that for us there will be costs as well. For some the cost may be greater and of a different type than others, but all will experience the cost of discipleship. There should be a cost. The cost means it's worth something.

Today, we see Jesus sending a portion of His committed followers on ahead to basically do what John the Baptist did, prepare the way of the Lord.

In our text today, we're going to get a taste of discipleship from Christ's viewpoint. I want you to look for a few things from the text: Notice what Jesus tells His disciples to pray, to do, and what to rejoice about.

Please hear God's Word…

Lk 10:1 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.

Lk 10:2 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.

Lk 10:3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

Lk 10:4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

Lk 10:5 Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!'

Lk 10:6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.

Lk 10:7 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.

Lk 10:8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.

Lk 10:9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

Lk 10:10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,

Lk 10:11 '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.'

Lk 10:12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Lk 10:13 "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.

Lk 10:14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

Lk 10:15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

Lk 10:16 "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.”

Lk 10:17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!"

Lk 10:18 And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Lk 10:19 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.

Lk 10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

1. A Disciple's Prayer (10:2)

Lk 10:2 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.

I want us to first see the divine logic involved here. Jesus tells the 72 newly appointed evangelists to go on ahead, heal the sick, preach the gospel, and pray very hard that the Lord would send more workers.

Here's the flow…the fields are ripe with a bumper crop. The time to harvest is now or never. So we see that there is a time limitation. Crops are only good so long and then they rot and fall off the vine. There is a time factor in their work.

Next, in this verse, there is the issue of work. The word translated, laborer is the word that agriculture comes from. This is referring to the hard work of a farmer. A farmer sweats and labors for the harvest. He plows, sows, cultivates, harvests. Only after these very hard tasks are accomplished can he enjoy the harvest. In Gospel labor, the labor of a disciple, there is another type of hard work involved…pray earnestly. Labor in prayer. Work hard at praying…do we work hard in prayer? Do we labor in prayer?

Notice, what the disciple is to pray… Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

It could be that we often pray for the wrong things. Please understand, it's not wrong to pray for the lost around us. It's not wrong to pray that God would save our family and friends who are not converted. Here, in this passage, Jesus doesn't say pray for the harvest. He doesn't say pray for the lost. He very clearly says, pray to the Lord of the harvest for additional workers. Pray to Christ that He would raise up disciples who would be bold in their witness. Pray for the laborers who are already doing the work of evangelizing.

Also notice that this prayer is most effectively prayed by someone who is already a disciple and is involved in the Gospel work and sees how many people are still ripe for harvest who may not hear the Gospel because there is a shortage of workers.

Picture a farmer with a 1950's model tractor who is about to plow a 5,000-acre farm. He gets up in the morning and starts the old tractor and begins plowing. He labors till dark and realizes he's only scratched the surface. It's only that farmer who truly understands the great need for more help. His discouragement points to the fact more help is needed. His aching muscles and back point to the fact that more help is needed. His tractor that is overheated points there. The guy sitting at home in front of the TV has no real knowledge of the help that's needed. Only those who are laborers in God's field can really understand the great need of the disciple.

Here's the other issue here: Jesus tells those laborers to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. I'm to pray to Jesus, who knows a million times more than I do about this eternal harvest and tell Him that He needs more workers. That's like me telling someone with a PhD in agriculture that the field needs more of a certain type of chemical, I set out a few tomato plants, he's the expert. Yet, Jesus does this, why? Why would the Lord of the Harvest command me a lowly day laborer to ask Him for more workers?

It is in this verse, and verses like this that we see the clear and true tension between God's sovereignty and human responsibility.

William Carey approached his hyper-Calvinistic church a few centuries ago seeking their help in his missionary calling. Their response was, "Son if God wants the heathen saved, He'll save them without your help." They were wrong.

God does the saving He also does the sending. God saves the elect, as we are faithful in telling and going. God will save the heathen and He saves them as we go and tell and pray. We see there is God's part and our part. God has chosen the means by which the elect will be saved. The means are through prayer and going.

It's in verses like this one that we see God's supernatural work of calling His disciples to pray the prayers He desires to answer even before we pray them. It is God's will to send out more workers. He has chosen to work through the prayers of His people. So if more workers actually are sent, it is because we prayed for them and God answers. That in no way makes us the first cause of God doing something. He has placed it in our hearts to pray the prayer to begin with. That's what praying in Jesus' name is all about. We pray the prayers He would if He were here on earth.

Please make it a part of you everyday prayer for God to send out laborers into the harvest field.

2. A Disciple's Task (10:3)

Lk 10:3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

What we have here is a prelude to the Great Commission. 72 is the number for the nations. Jesus is calling for the nations to hear and respond to the Gospel. The task of the disciple is to be going and telling as he goes.

We are commanded as His followers to proclaim the same message He did. We are to be the laborers. It's often the case that when we pray, God uses us to be the answer to that prayer. Here, the disciples are called to pray for workers and then immediately, Jesus tells them to go. As they are going, they continue to pray for additional workers. Keep praying and keep going.

He gives them a warning. Behold or understand, there will be mixed reactions to your message. There will even at times be danger involved as we go. Understand, Jesus would say, everyone you tell is not going to listen or appreciate your words. That's ok, keep going and keep telling.

As we go, Lambs among wolves, we're not helpless. Notice Jesus says, I am sending You… I am commissioning you to go. I am the shepherd who leads you. I will be with you wherever you go. These are all found in the Scriptures. It is as though lambs are among wolves but the Great Shepherd leads us. This is why we must be praying all the more.

The everyday life of a disciple is living a life of trusting God as we go and tell. Are you praying for laborers and are you going?

3. A Disciple's Message (10:9)

Lk 10:9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

Luke gives us a one-sentence summary of the message the disciples preached as they went. It was the same message Jesus and John the Baptist spoke. It was a message of the Kingdom of God. In their case, the Kingdom of God was very near to them because the King was near. Healing the sick was the manifestation of Kingdom nearness. It was proof of what they preached.

Their job was to preach the Gospel and call the people to repent getting them ready for the King to enter. These were the King's spokesmen.

When they preach with Jesus' commission they are representing Him. So when they are either accepted or rejected, Jesus is either accepted or rejected.

Much is the same for us today. We are commissioned by Christ to go and preach the Gospel to those around us. We are to be bold and faithful as these disciples were. We are to speak to people about sin, repentance, and God's Kingdom.

Are you praying for more workers, going and telling, and are you speaking to people about sin and the Savior?

4. A Disciple's Attitude (10:20)

Lk 10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

We learn from this verse that disciples must guard against being puffed up. The disciples had just saw their first victory. It's like the little league baseball team after their first win on their way to Dairy Queen chanting…we're number one…we're number one.

Jesus had to very quickly intervene if their attitude was to stay positive. It is this tendency that Paul cautions churches not to set a man into a leadership role too quickly (1 Timothy 3:6).

The tendency is to also, begin to think that any success that is seen is to be attributed to some missionary strategy or evangelistic scheme and not to the omniscient Creator who saves.

Jesus tells these young Christian soldiers to not rejoice that the evil spirits are subject to them but any rejoicing that is done should be a rejoicing in what God has done for them. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

J C Ryle gives us a very helpful principle here…

by Brad Waller

For the first time in the history of our country, four generations are living and working together. There are the Traditionalists (born 1925–1945), the Baby Boomers (1946–1964), Generation X (1965–1980), and the next demographic explosion, the Millennials (1981–1999). Each of these generations has been uniquely influenced by the world in which they were raised.

The Traditionalists lived through two world wars and the Great Depression. Baby Boomers were introduced to the television during their birth years. Generation X was influenced by the arrival of twenty-four-hour cable news, where they witnessed the harsh effects of life in a fallen world at all hours of the day and night. The Millennials are growing up in a "virtual world" of social media, online classes, and technologies that seem to update by the hour.

With such generational diversity and all the challenges that come with reaching each demographic, how can the church effectively disciple each of these groups in a way that honors Christ?

Our tendency is to want and shape ministries that address each demographic differently. But the human condition is the same no matter when we were born. The wages of sin do not vary according to age.

Therefore, whatever may be the particular challenges of presenting the gospel to each generation, they are overshadowed by the factors held in common with every generation.

Donald Gray Barnhouse said:

Man is the same today that he has always been. He is a rebel against God. He may, in some generations, hide his rebellion a little more carefully than at other times, but there is no change in his heart. The men who built the city against God back in the days of Babylon had the same hatred as that which possessed the men who nailed the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross.

So the task of the church is the same, regardless of age or generational differences, and that task was given to the Apostles by Our Lord Jesus:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
(Matt. 28:19–20)

Discipleship is the process whereby we seek to teach others the Word of God. Notice that the Great Commission is not only to teach people God's commands, but to teach them to "observe" or "obey" all that He commanded. There is a world of difference between teaching someone everything the Lord commanded and teaching them to obey everything He commanded. One is through words, the other through a way of life. Teaching someone to obey God's commands requires intentionality in the context of relationship throughout the span of a lifetime.

Even though the word discipleship is never used in the Bible, Jesus embodied discipleship in all He said and did when He came and dwelt among us. He was, literally, the Word made flesh (John 1:14). As we study how Jesus interacted with others in this fallen world, we learn what discipleship looks like.

The disciples were taught to obey God's Word by what they heard Jesus teach, but just as important, by what they saw Jesus do. The Master Discipler never instructed His disciples to do anything He had not done first. The one who told His disciples to "go" (Matt. 28:19) was the one who went from His Father "into the world" (John 16:28). The one who said "the first shall be last" (Matt. 20:16) was the very one who washed the feet of His disciples (Luke 13:1–17). And the one who through Paul told them to "do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves" (Phil. 2:3) was the one who "humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (v. 8).

Our call to discipleship is a call to follow our Lord's example before others. As we seek to live obediently by God's grace, we teach others. Even our struggles demonstrate to those around us that truly it is by grace alone through faith alone that we are saved.

Our sojourn in this fallen world is from cradle to grave. The lessons we learn at every stage are the very lessons we pass on to others (2 Tim. 2:2). Therefore, children need parents who seek to embody the gospel in their homes daily through loving relationships and family devotions. Teenagers need parents and older church members to share how they have experienced the great doctrines of the Bible. College students who have come from broken homes must learn from spiritually mature men and women how to be godly husbands and wives, fathers, and mothers. Young families look to every church member to fulfill their baptismal vow of assisting in the Christian nurture of their child by teaching Sunday school and working in the nursery. Discipleship is for all stages of life.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, may we endeavor to effectively disciple every age with the unchanging Word of God.

by Oswald Chambers

"We all, with unveiled face, beholding . . . the glory of the Lord . . .
- 2 Corinthians 3:18 "

A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the Christian life, disappointments will come - people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, ". . . no one stood with me, but all forsook me . . . . But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me . . ." (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the Light that never fails. When "important" individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do - to look into the face of God for ourselves.

Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware -". . . Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him" (Exodus 34:29).

We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant’s life is that he stays in tune with God all the time.