As Lambs Among Wolves

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 6th of July, 2025, the Sunday after Independence Day in the United States.  Our worship service this morning included our observance of Holy Communion with our Lord.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Back when I was working toward my Masters degree, I attended a seminar hosted by a gentleman who had once worked for Rev. Billy Graham.  I can’t remember his name - too long ago – but I do remember he had a Doctor of Theology degree.  Breaking a bit from the seminar topic, he told a few stories of his time with the great evangelist.  The one that stuck with me was of the time he worked with the advance teams for Billy’s crusades.  Each team was composed of two people, and they would travel to the towns where Billy was to hold a crusade and set everything up.  They’d meet with all the relevant officials, check out the preferred venue, grease the wheels… just do whatever it took to get the place ready for Billy to come preach.  Billy would send them out, two-by-two, to the cities and towns he would soon visit.

Does that sound familiar?  The Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke all three reported on the time that Jesus sent His twelve disciples out as His apostles, sent them out two-by-two, sent them out to the towns and villages He planned to soon visit, sent them out to prepare the people for the coming of the kingdom of heaven.  Billy Graham knew a lot, especially his bible.  He became a great evangelist by studying the work of the greatest Evangelist, Jesus Himself, and then applying what he learned to the modern world.

As I said, all three of the Synoptic Gospel writers reported on Jesus sending the twelve out into the towns and villages, giving them the power to heal and drive out evil spirits.  But only one reported on a second time when Jesus did this, and on a larger scale.  According to the author, this occurred after Jesus had sent out His twelve, after the feeding of the five thousand, and after Jesus was transfigured on the mount.  Please listen and follow along to how the Apostle Luke recorded this follow-up exercise, from the 10th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 12 and 16 through 20, and I’ll be reading from the Living Bible version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 The Lord now chose seventy other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages He planned to visit later.

2 These were His instructions to them: “Plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out more laborers to help you, for the harvest is so plentiful and the workers so few. 3 Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don’t take any money with you, or a beggar’s bag, or even an extra pair of shoes. And don’t waste time along the way.

5 “Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing. 6 If it is worthy of the blessing, the blessing will stand; if not, the blessing will return to you.

7 “When you enter a village, don’t shift around from home to home, but stay in one place, eating and drinking without question whatever is set before you. And don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, for the workman is worthy of his wages!

8-9 “If a town welcomes you, follow these two rules:

Eat whatever is set before you.

Heal the sick; and as you heal them, say, ‘The Kingdom of God is very near you now.’

10 “But if a town refuses you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘We wipe the dust of your town from our feet as a public announcement of your doom. Never forget how close you were to the Kingdom of God!’ 12 Even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a city on the Judgment Day."

16 Then He said to the disciples, “Those who welcome you are welcoming Me. And those who reject you are rejecting Me. And those who reject Me are rejecting God who sent Me.”

17 When the seventy disciples returned, they joyfully reported to Him, “Even the demons obey us when we use Your name.”

18 “Yes,” He told them, “I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning! 19 And I have given you authority over all the power of the Enemy, and to walk among serpents and scorpions and to crush them. Nothing shall injure you! 20 However, the important thing is not that demons obey you, but that your names are registered as citizens of heaven.”

--Luke 10:1-12, 16-20 (TLB)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for inspiring the Gospel writers to record the words and deeds of Jesus during His short ministry on earth.  Each one gives us a slightly different perspective, a little additional insight into our Lord and His ways.  They give us the information to study, the examples to emulate, the behavior to adopt.  And thank You for watching over us when we walk among wolves.  Father, You and Jesus ask so little of us, yet we often fail to follow through with what You command.  Too many things in this life distract us, pulling us away from doing what we know we should do.  Please forgive us our hesitation, our lapses, our failures.  Help us more closely follow Your word so we can grow ever closer to You and our Lord Jesus.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better grasp the message You have for us this day.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, our worship, and our service.  And please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

D. L. Moody once related this little anecdote about sheep:

“Dr. Andrew Bonar told me how, in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they couldn't get out of.  The grass on these mountains is very sweet and the sheep like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then they can't jump back up again, and the shepherd hears them bleating in distress.  They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass.  The shepherd will wait until they are so faint they cannot stand, and then they will put a rope around him, and he will go over and pull that sheep up out of the jaws of death.  ‘Why don't they go down there when the sheep first gets there?’, I asked.  ‘Ah!’, he said, ‘they are so very foolish they would dash right over the precipice and be killed if they did!’  And that is the way with men; they won't go back to God till they have no friends and have lost everything.  If you are a wanderer I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring you back the moment you have given up trying to save yourself and are willing to let Him save you His own way.”

Too often, we try to save ourselves from whatever predicament we’ve gotten into.  And sometimes we can succeed.  But usually we just dig the hole so deep we can’t climb out again.  That’s when our Lord will extend His hand and lift us out, if we would simply call on Him.  Let’s be smart sheep and call on God before our situation becomes too dire and we risk perishing.

Jesus often spoke of sheep in His parables, like when He equated the joy the shepherd would feel over finding a lost sheep as to the joy in heaven when a lost soul is rescued.  Now, while the Apostle John didn’t report on Jesus sending any teams out to spread the word before Him, he did record some of those sheep and shepherd parables.  One of those times came after Jesus had given sight to a man born blind, while some Pharisees and others were present.  The Pharisees rebuked the formerly blind man, and tried to trap Jesus.  After a short rebuttal to the Pharisees, Jesus turned to His followers.  The Apostle John saved the words He spoke in a promise to His sheep, from verses 11 through 16 of the 10th chapter of his Gospel account…

11 “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 A hired man will run when he sees a wolf coming and will leave the sheep, for they aren’t his and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf leaps on them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired man runs because he is hired and has no real concern for the sheep.

14 “I am the Good Shepherd and know My own sheep, and they know Me, 15 just as My Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, in another fold. I must bring them also, and they will heed My voice; and there will be one flock with one Shepherd.”

--John 10:11-16 (TLB)

When the wolf comes for a sheep, the hired hand will flee so the wolf doesn’t get them, leaving the sheep unprotected.  But the good shepherd will stand and fight, and if necessary, give up his own life to save his sheep.  Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and He did indeed give up His own life to save us.  He will watch over us when the wolves come.

Family, we do indeed walk among wolves.  They are on the prowl, ready to pounce on us if we let our guard down.  They will try to deceive us, take our money and possessions, with no concern as to our well-being.  And there is one wolf, stronger than all others, who will even try to take our eternal soul.  The Apostle Peter warns us of this wolf in the 5th chapter of his letter to the early church, in verses 8 through 11, when he writes…

8 Be careful — watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart. 9 Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord; and remember that other Christians all around the world are going through these sufferings too.

10 After you have suffered a little while, our God, who is full of kindness through Christ, will give you His eternal glory. He personally will come and pick you up, and set you firmly in place, and make you stronger than ever. 11 To Him be all power over all things, forever and ever. Amen.

--1 Peter 5:8-11 (TLB)

Just as the twelve and then the seventy, we too have been sent out into the world, preparing the way for Jesus to come again.  There are wolves and lions out there, ready to devour us without warning.  Among their ranks, we are mere sheep.  But we serve and follow a mighty Shepherd, so we need not fear the wolves and lions.  When Satan attacks, with his deceptions and temptations, trying to tear us apart from God, we must stand firm and trust in the Lord.

There is a Good Shepherd watching over us.  He is standing firm and fighting Satan for us.  Resist the wolves.  Trust in the Lord.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for Your holy word, that we might study and learn more about Your Son, building a closer relationship to Him.  It saddens us, Father, when we think of all the people who will never recognize Jesus as Your Son or follow Him as their Lord.  There are many who have never even heard of Jesus, have not been told of all He did and taught.  And there are even those who deny Your existence, and the existence of Your Holy Spirit.  We admit that we have not done as good a job as we could reaching out to these people.  Too often we find excuses not to carry out our mission of making more disciples.  Sometimes we’re too busy, too distracted.  Sometimes we’re just too hesitant, too afraid of getting it all wrong and doing more harm than good.  Please forgive us those times, dear Father.  Please help us reach out to the lost, to anyone who does not know Jesus as their personal Savior.  Help us be more like Your Son in our love and our ways.  Help us show Your love to others by giving of ourselves, giving of our love freely, unconditionally, sacrificially, just as Jesus gave of Himself for us.  And please help us share our Lord Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what comes our way.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming and finding us when we were lost.  You freed us from our sin and offered salvation to those who follow You.  You are our Good Shepherd, watching out for us, guarding us from the wolves.  Thank You, Jesus.  Lord, we know it disappoints You when we don’t put all our trust in You, especially when the wolves attack.  We become more afraid as they come near.  You told us to love others, even our enemies.  But it's so hard to love all people, to give of ourselves to those who don’t care about us, who would harm us.  It hurts to admit it, be we let too many simple, foolish things get in the way of our love.  And too often we hesitate to witness to You and the Gospel, making more disciples.  Please help us in our struggles to show You to the world.  Help us be more like You, loving all others, even those who hate us and wish us harm, without any concern for reward or recognition or even being loved in return.  Help us reach out to the non-believing world, sharing the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us the deeds to do to lead the lost to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.