Luke 9:1-4 “Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. (2) He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. (3) And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. (4) "Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.”
The lifestyle that Jesus practiced He taught to His disciples. And so when He sent out the twelve apostles to minister on their own, He was very clear in His instructions as to how they were to go out to minister. For in the above quoted passage of scripture we see that He did not allow them to take anything with them, only the clothes that they wore. So why did He do that? Well as we have already seen, that is the way that our Lord Jesus ministered and He wanted His disciples to learn to trust in God’s provision, just as He did.
Luke 10:1-8 “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. (2) Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. (3) Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. (4) Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. (5) But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.' (6) And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. (7) And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the labourer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. (8) Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.”
Later in our Lord’s ministry He also sent out the seventy to minister on their own. Notice from the above quoted passage of scripture, the instructions that He gave them. Those instructions were exactly the same that He had given to the twelve when they went out to minister, for they also were not allowed to take anything with them, only the clothes that they wore. They were to stay in the homes of those who invited them to stay and they were to eat the food that their hosts put before them, being thankful for that which was provided. And so we see that when the Lord’s ministers went out to preach the gospel, that He taught His disciples to follow the very same lifestyle that He Himself practiced.
Luke 22:35 “And He said to them, "When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?" So, they said, "Nothing.”
As we saw earlier in this teaching, when the disciples walked with the Lord, He took care of all of their needs and they never lacked for anything. But when our Lord sent the disciples out on their own He wanted them to learn to trust in God’s provision for themselves. And as we can see from the above quoted passage of scripture the disciples had learnt that lesson, for they stated that they lacked nothing when they went out on their own. So does this mean that Jesus expects all of His saints to live in this manner today? The obvious answer to that question is “no”, for that which our Lord taught His disciples in this area is only for those who are called to minister the gospel, for that is the work that He has given them to do, which is why He says that the labourer is worthy of his wages. One, who works earns wages. Those whom our Lord calls to the ministry of His gospel have the right to forego secular work so that they can do the work of the ministry (1 Corinthians 9:6). And so, they are to live by the gospel, as God supplies all of their need, even as God supplied our Lord’s need when He ministered on the earth.
Michael E.B. Maher
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