Luke 10:1 (ESV) 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.

Jesus had previously sent out the twelve disciples to do the same things that He did. Now, he sends out 72 unnamed disciples, two by two to prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry in the towns He was planning to go to. They were sent out two by two for support and encouragement and safety. As we read this passage, we find that these 72 were to carry out the exact three things that Jesus did. Preaching about the kingdom of God, healing the sick and casting out demons. Jesus gives them further instructions as we go on.

Luke 10:2 (ESV) 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.

What is the plentiful harvest? The harvest is people who need to become followers of Jesus, to be saved. Jesus is telling these disciples and us that there are many people ready to believe. 

The problem is that there are not enough workers to bring them into the kingdom. How can they and we solve the problem of not enough workers? We must earnestly pray to the Lord, who is the Lord of the harvest, to send out more workers. And what happens when you pray that kind of prayer? You are the first ones that Jesus sends out.

Luke 10:3-4 (ESV) Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

What is a disciple’s mission? It is to go. To go is to go from where you are at to where the harvest is. The harvest is not going to come to you, you must go to it. A disciple is like a lamb in the midst of unbelieving wolves, but God would protect them. In this instance, the disciples were not to take any provisions. They were to rely on the hospitality of those to whom they were ministering to. They were not to be distracted or delayed from their mission by unproductive conversations There and our mission is the harvest.

Let’s think about how Jesus’ instructions to the 72 apply to us. First of all, Jesus’ instructions to any of His disciples directly do apply to us as disciples today. Each believer is called to pray for God to send more workers into the harvest. And each Jesus’ follower is to be an answer to their own prayer. To be one of the workers in the plentiful harvest all around them.

You might ask, where is the harvest field? The harvest field for us is the people around us. Our friends, our relatives, our co-workers is our immediate harvest field. How do we go into that harvest field? We go by intentionally doing what Jesus and His disciples did for our unique harvest field. We share the good news of the kingdom, we heal the sick and we free people from demonic oppression. How to know you’re a Christian? You are on mission to the harvest.

Luke 9:57-58 (ESV) As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

In these verses, we’re going to look at some people who wanted to be Jesus’ disciples. The first one promised to follow Jesus through thick and thin. Jesus’ reply to him was that he had no regular bed to sleep in. In other words, to follow Jesus would not be easy, there would be hardship. Undoubtedly Jesus answered this way because he knew this would be disciple was not prepared for hardship.

Luke 9:59-60 (ESV) To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

This next person was called by Jesus to follow him. Yet, this would be disciple had an excuse, he needed to bury his father. Most likely his father was not dead now. But the responsibility of an eldest son was to stay around to arrange a suitable burial for his father. Jesus’ answer would have shocked his listeners, let the dead bury their dead. Jesus is speaking of the spiritually dead, who put family issues above Jesus. Jesus commanded this would be disciple to follow him by going and telling others about the kingdom.

Luke 9:61-62 (ESV) Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

This third person again says that he will follow Jesus. But he has to go home and say farewell to his family. Seems reasonable, right? Wrong, Jesus tells him that saying you’re going to follow Jesus and then going back to your previous life is not going work. This kind of thinking makes a person not fit to be in the kingdom of God. A true disciple, a true Christian puts following Jesus first.

As we study more about Jesus, we see that Jesus routinely shocked people with the truth. The truth is the following Jesus is not easy. Oh, it’s easy to say a prayer or to say that you are going to follow Jesus. However, in order to be true Christian, one must put following Jesus first.

In two of the three examples in this passage, Jesus makes it clear that He comes before family. A true Christian does not let his family distract him from obeying Jesus. A true Christian does not let his job distract him from following Jesus. And we could go on and on.

It seems as though Jesus was making it hard to people to follow Him, doesn’t it? Jesus says shocking things to get people to understand what it means to be a disciple. Maybe we should speak more like Jesus to those around us. To wake them up about what it truly means to follow Jesus. To help them to see that they really aren’t Christians in reality.

How to know you’re a Christian? You put following Jesus first in your life.

Today our message is entitled “How to Know You’re a Christian.” Before we get to that question, we need to talk about how we know things We live in an increasingly strange world today. A world in which the concepts of right and wrong, truth and lies are blurred.

Judges 17:6 (ESV) In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

This verse speaks of an evil time in Israel’s history. A time in which there was no righteous authority or standard. So everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That is the kind of time that we are living in today. In other words, people live by what they think is right. What’s wrong with this kind of subjective thinking? Right and wrong on not based on what any particular person thinks.

Proverbs 21:2 (ESV) Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.

This verse tells us that there is an objective standard of right and wrong. And that standard is the Lord. He decides if what we think is right is really right. Let’s think about one of many examples in our world today.

Genesis 1:27 (ESV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God’s Word tells us the truth. God created and continues to create two and only two genders, male and female. We understand by science today that men have XY chromosomes and females have XX chromosomes. Nothing a person does and nothing a person thinks can change the chromosomes they received at conception.

Today, some people think that they are the opposite gender of their DNA and bodily characteristics. This is a mental disorder called gender dysphoria and those people need help. Yet some today encourage and celebrate those who have their bodies mutilated to unsuccessfully change their gender. When what you believe about yourself is not in fact true, it causes major problems.

What do these issues have to do with our topic today – How to Know You’re a Christian? All though knowing whether you are male or female is important, knowing whether you’re a Christian or not is of supreme importance. Today, in America 69% of people believe they are Christians. 35% even identify as born-again Christians. Yet only 6% have a biblical worldview, which means believing basic truths of the Bible about God and themselves.

Do you see the problem here? This poll and many others tell us that many more consider themselves Christians than actually are Christians. Unless a person comes to realize they aren’t a Christian, they won’t become one. The end result is a person lost from serving God in this life and the next. So, today, we’re going to look at Jesus’ teaching on what it means to be a disciple of His, that is a Christian.

Luke 9:49-50 (ESV) John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

 One of the disciples, John, had noticed that others were beginning to do the same thing the disciples were going, casting out demons. In fact, they were casting demons out in Jesus’ name, but were not among the twelve disciples. The disciples thought that they had a monopoly on the casting our demon franchise. So, they tried to stop this other person and proudly told Jesus about their loyalty.

Jesus was not impressed with the disciple’s behavior again. He told John, don’t try to stop this person from casting out demons. Why leave him alone? Because this person is not against you, he is actually for us. This person had learned from Jesus and his disciples and were helping them defeat the common enemy of Satan.

Luke 9:52-53 (ESV) And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

The Samaritans did not worship at the temple in Jerusalem and had different believes then the Jews. So, as Jesus had sent messengers ahead to this Samaritan village, they were not received. These Samaritans didn’t want anything to do with Jesus, they didn’t receive Him. What was the response of Jesus’ disciples?

Luke 9:54-55 (ESV) And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them.

The disciples did not have enough faith to cure a demon-possessed boy. Now they thought they had faith to call fire down from heaven and incinerate an entire village. Jesus rebuked them and told them this was not what they should do, nor have such an attitude in their hearts. Jesus had previously instructed them what they were to do when not received in a town. They were to shake the dust off their feet and leave the place that did not receive them and go on to another place. Leave judgment to God and pray that people’s hearts will be changed. Practice kingdom cooperation.

Here is see some more of the disciple’s bad attitudes toward those not in their inner group or who did not receive their message. We must again learn from the failure of the disciples to check our own attitudes. There are many types of followers of Jesus in the world. Some are of lesser maturity and some are in organizations that do not understand God’s Word correctly in important areas.

We must have an attitude to cooperate with all those who are believers. I believe we must also cooperate with those who are not believers but who are seeking to advance kingdom principles. It is certainly possible for people to follow biblical principles in some areas and not be saved. For those who will not receive our message as believers, we are to lovingly move on to others who are more receptive. Perhaps in time, the hearts of those who are unreceptive will be changed. We are to practice kingdom cooperation in a spirit of love and acceptance.

Luke 9:44-45 (ESV) “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Jesus again tells his disciples what is going to happen to him. He is going to be arrested, which will ultimately lead to his crucifixion. The disciples probably thought this was not a good thing, but they really didn’t want to know the details. Why? Because it did not fit into their idea of what Jesus was going to do. And it didn’t fit into their thoughts about what the future held for them.

Luke 9:46-47 (ESV) An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side

Now, the disciples, who had just failed miserably at casting out a demon were arguing among themselves. And if that was not bad enough, they were arguing about which disciple was the greatest, the greatest of all time. Jesus is going to teach his bumbling disciples another lesson. So, he brings a child next to him, before he addresses the disciples.

Luke 9:48 (ESV) and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Why did Jesus draw the disciples’ attention to a child at this time? The disciples were arguing about who was the greatest. How would they have perceived this child? Certainly not the greatest. They would have perceived the child as the least important person there. Jesus is instructing those disciples the importance of receiving the least among them. Of giving priority to the needs and desires even of children.

When one receives or welcomes a child, one is in effect welcoming Jesus. In a child, the least important in the eyes of the disciples, one sees Jesus at work. Jesus concludes by saying, the one who is least among the disciples is the greatest. A true disciple of Jesus is not proud, seeking to be the greatest. A true disciple is humble, seeing God at work and welcoming those who are the least. We must learn to embrace kingdom humility.

So, we can learn two things from this second failure of the disciples. First of all, as followers of Jesus, we are not to seek after greatness. The desire to be seen as great in the eyes of others is a symptom of pride. Rather we are to cultivate an attitude of seeing worth in those that the world deems as the least. Jesus uses a child as an illustration of the least in the eyes of many.

Today, who is the least in the eyes of our culture? It is again a child, a baby in its mother’s womb. For at least half or more of the country, this unborn child’s life is not even worth saving. As believers, we must speak up for those unborn children whom God brought to life. As we each do what we can to show the value of the unborn children, God will bless us. He will show us ways to help those mothers who don’t know how they are going to care for those children. Those who care for the least are those who are the greatest.