100% ~ 90% ~ 85% ~ 75% ~ 50% ~ 33% ~ 25% ? ? ?
What were Jesus’ instructions* to the disciples?
*From: Matthew 10:5-14; Mark 6:7-11; Luke 9:1-5, 10:1-11
Jesus instructed these particular men…
and when he had called unto him his twelve disciples… Matt 10
and he called his twelve disciples together and… Luke 9:1
and he called…the twelve and began to send them forth… Mark 6:7
…the Lord appointed other seventy… Luke 10:1
With These Particular Commands…
1. To preach: The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you… Luke 10:9
The kingdom of heaven is at hand… Matt 10:7
to preach the kingdom of God… Luke 9:2
2. To preach that men should repent… Mark 6:12
3. To go two and two…Mark 6:7, Luke 10:1
4. To freely give…Matt 10:8
5. To take no staves… Luke 9:3, Matt 10:10 (a weapon or cudgel)
6. To eat and drink such things as people gave them… Luke 10:7
7. To take no bread… Mark 6:8, Luke 9:3
8. To not salute anyone by the way… Luke 10:4
The workers don’t (and can’t) follow these…
9. To heal………the sick… Matt 10:8
10. To raise……..the dead… Matt 10:8
11. To cleanse….the lepers… Matt 10:8
12. To cast out…the devils… Matt 10:8
The workers don’t follow these, but could if they wanted to do so…
13. Take nothing for their journey… Mark 6:8
Take no scrip (bag/baggage)… Matt 10:10, Luke 9:3, 70-Luke 10:4
14. Exception: take a staff only… Mark 6:8 (a walking stick)
15. Take no money… Mark 6:8, Matt 10:9, Luke 9:3, Luke 10:4
16. Take no shoes… Matt 10:10, Luke 10:4
17. Wear sandals… Mark 6:9
18. Not to take or have two coats… Matt 10:10, Luke 9:3, Mark 6:9
19. When entering a city, locate a worthy household, and remain… Luke 9:4
in the same house until they departed from that city… Matt 10:11
Go not from house to house… Luke 10:7
20. Salute the houses entered… Matt 10:12
Say, Peace be to this house when they entered…Luke 10:5
21. Shake the dust off their feet when they left a city, as a testimony against whoever would not receive them…
Luke 9:5, Matt 10:14, Mark 6:11
22. When persecuted, flee into another city… Matt 10:23
23. Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel… Matt 10:6;
Go NOT to the Gentiles or Samaritans…Matt 10:5
24. Go to the people in every city and place Jesus was to go (The 70)… Luke 10:1
Out of the 20 instructions* Jesus gave. . .
The workers ONLY follow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33%
The workers CANNOT perform . . . . . . . . . . 17%
The workers COULD but DO NOT follow. . . . 50%
Why is that?
Of course, there is no exact science in this; you could argue that some of the instructions of Jesus were separate ones, combined ones. And perhaps some workers in some places have shaken the dust off their feet. But it’s still a fact that workers only follow about a third of the specific instructions Jesus gave His disciples.
Two Types of Instructions: Universal or Particular
Biblical instructions or commands are either universal or particular in scope:
• Universal instructions apply to all individuals without exception, for all times.
• Particular instructions apply to a particular individual or group and are restricted to a particular time frame.
Jesus retracted His instructions to the disciples in Luke 9:10, 10:17, Matt 10:23, and He replaced them with His instructions in Luke 22:35-36:
” And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. Then said he… BUT NOW, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.”
JESUS GAVE:
PARTICULAR INDIVIDUALS………. PARTICULAR INSTRUCTIONS
TO TAKE A PARTICULAR MESSAGE……….TO PARTICULAR PEOPLE
DURING A PARTICULAR (BRIEF) PERIOD OF TIME
Did Jesus intend for ministers to universally follow His instructions to the disciples from that day forward? Does it profit ministers to do so? What good would it do, if you followed instructions from a piece of mail addressed to your neighbor that told how to claim a prize your neighbor had won? Would the company awarding the prize give it to YOU? What would you get out of following instructions for someone else? Not a thing — they weren’t intended for you! Your name wasn’t on the envelope.
The Pharisees took the Laws given specifically for the Levite priests and followed them to the letter, in addition to the Law of Moses. What did the Pharisees gain? Jesus’ condemnation. Likewise, the workers have taken “mail” addressed specifically to the disciples and are following particular instructions that were never intended for them.
Oh, What Shall It Profit…?
Where in the Scripture Did Jesus Command…
Where in the Scripture did Jesus command…ministers to give up their families, homes and possessions?
Two passages are used to support these practices. (1) Speaking to an innumerable multitude of people, (Luke 12:1) Jesus said: “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” Luke 12:33. (2) Matt. 6:20: “LAY NOT UP FOR YOURSELVES TREASURES upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt…BUT lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” The negative clause “Lay not up earthly treasures” did not FORBID this action, but rather put the emphasis on the second clause of laying up heavenly treasures, indicating the second clause should take preference over the first. There is no basis to conclude from these passages that Jesus intended for these instructions to apply only to ministers, but rather that they apply to all Christians.
Where in the Scripture did Jesus command…the disciples or all true ministers were forbidden to marry?
Paul identifies the practice of “forbidding to marry” as a doctrine of devils, 1 Tim 4:1-3. Paul claimed the right to take a wife, just as much as the other apostles, Jesus’ brothers and Peter, 1 Cor. 9:5. Judas Iscariot and Peter were married, Ps 109:8-13, Mark 1:30, Matt. 8:14. If to marry or not to marry is a free choice of the workers, as some have publicly claimed, why must workers leave the work in order to marry each other? Why aren’t there a good number of married pairs of workers now? “Marriage is honorable in ALL,” Heb. 13:4. Where does the Scripture exclude the workers from the word “ALL”?
Where in the Scripture did Jesus command…ministers who are spreading the gospel today to travel in pairs, without money, homeless, unmarried, etc.?
Scriptures used to support this teaching are John 20:21: “…as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And…he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost;” and John 17:17-19: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”
The Father sent Jesus into the world sanctified (set apart for a special purpose) with the Holy Spirit; likewise, Jesus sanctified the apostles and sent them out with the Holy Spirit. Since Jesus retracted His earlier instructions (Luke 22:35) before He was betrayed, so send I you is not referring to the method of preaching in pairs, etc, but to being sent out sanctified, with the Holy Spirit.
What do you think Jesus would have considered MORE IMPORTANT?
A right METHOD, or the right MESSAGE, evidenced by true and living FRUIT?
The Answer to How Close Do The Workers REALLY Follow The New Testament Ministry is about 33%
Is 33% Really Anything To Boast About??
Compiled by Cherie Kropp