Sunday 2nd Service, Temple Building Dedication Service
Title/Scripture: The Reason for Appointing the Seventy (Luke 10:17-20)
Speaker: Pastor Ryu Kwang-soo
Date/Location: August 14, 2022, Immanuel Church (Busan)
Luke 10:17-20
17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us through thy name.
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
Summary
Church leaders throughout the nation and the world must know what blessing they have received and what blessing they are to receive. The reason the Lord first appointed the 12 apostles and then the 70 was to spiritually watch over and guard every region.
12 / 70 / 70 people / Gospel (prayer)
Church district / influence / land, martyrdom, Antioch, field / throne (fixed time), nation (no fixed time), nation’s work (focused prayer) / bartizan
12 church districts, 70 influences
The Lord’s servants were given the blessing of overseeing a great church district, and church leaders were given this influence over work, region, and everything.
The 70 – land, martyrdom, Antioch, field
Among the 70 church leaders were the one who gave up his land (Acts chapter 4), Stephen who was the first to be martyred, those who established the church in Antioch during persecution, and those who were important field leaders in significant locations.
Gospel (prayer) – throne (fixed time), nation (no fixed time), nation’s work (focused prayer)
They came to know what the gospel and prayer truly are. It is the same power, but it means enjoying the blessing of the throne. It is causing the kingdom of God to come. It is enjoying the work of God’s kingdom.
Bartizan
With this they built the bartizan to save the world.
▷ The early church that conquered the world possessed this power. Keep doing only this prayer.
▣ Introduction_ Evidence concerning the bartizan
1. Judges 9:47 (war) – a bartizan for protecting the people in war
2. 2 Kings 9:17 (people) – a bartizan for protecting the people
3. 2 Chronicles 4:17 (city) – a bartizan for guarding the city
4. 2 Chronicles 20:10 (livestock, farming) – a bartizan for raising livestock and farming
5. Nehemiah 3:25 (palace) – a bartizan for guarding the palace
6. Song of Songs 4:4 (thousand bartizans) – David’s thousand bartizans
7. Isaiah 21:8 (cry out) – build a bartizan and let the watchman cry out all night
8. Ezekiel 26:9 (enemy) – a bartizan for defeating the enemy
9. Proverbs 18:10 (name of the Lord) – a bartizan that makes the name of the Lord strong
▣ Main
1. Church leaders, the church – bartizan
1) He called you to be watchmen.
2) Cry out all day and all night. I will answer all day and all night.
3) The one who makes the way (the highway)
2. The 70 – the bartizan that saves the field
1) In person – in his place (verse 1) – Jesus sent them in his place to the places he himself needed to go.
2) Name – proclamation (verse 18) – “I saw Satan fall to the ground when the demons were cast out in the name of the Lord.”
3) Recorded (verse 20) – “Rejoice that your name is recorded in the kingdom of heaven.”
3. The 237-5000 bartizan – the people who will build the bartizan to save 237 nations and 5,000 peoples
1) The power of the throne (platform) – when the power of the throne, the spiritual power, comes, people come.
2) Nation (watchtower) – wait for the kingdom of God to come upon every field. It becomes a watchtower.
3) The nation’s work (antenna) – it means concentrating on the work of the nation. Nothing is impossible when connected with God. This is called an antenna.
▷ This is building the bartizan that shines upon the 237 nations and 5,000 peoples. Because it is impossible, this blessing was given.
▣ Conclusion_ 1 thousand bartizans → 10 million bartizans
For the gospel to be witnessed to the whole world, 10 million bartizans must arise. That is why there are 10 million disciples.
▷ Do not miss this (chart) prayer. Keep concentrating so that the kingdom of God and the blessing of the throne may come.
Transcript
Today especially you, the church leaders throughout our nation and the world, must know what kind of blessed people you are and what kind of blessed people you are to become.
The Reason the 70 Were Appointed (Luke 10:17-20)
Jesus appointed the 70. This is the reason. Today this is clearly recorded in Luke chapter 10, verses 17 through 20.
As you have probably seen in the news, North Korea keeps launching missiles and making nuclear weapons, so we don’t know when an accident might happen. So to watch for that and stop it, the United States placed THAAD there. Now China keeps opposing that. Why does China oppose it? The fact is, if THAAD is built, it doesn’t only watch North Korea, it sees all of China too. So China is upset about that. And now that has continued to be a fight and a controversy.
[ 12, 70 ]
You appointed the 70, but why did God begin with the 12 apostles from the very start and then appoint the 70?
He also appointed the 12 tribes and 70 elders. Jesus also appointed 12 disciples and then appointed 70 disciples. What does this mean? It means watching over and guarding every region spiritually. So the Lord’s servants must know the blessing they are to receive.
[ 12 – church district ]
The 12 apostles – this means the response the Lord’s servants must receive is the blessing God gave them to oversee a very large church district. If you look at this closely, you receive every answer. To put it simply, when I first came to Yeongdo, I did two things. Isn’t that natural? I closely examined what exactly was in Yeongdo. Looking at that, the exact answer of “ah, this is how we should evangelize” came out. And even in downtown Busan, we had some things we were good at and did well, but even in downtown Busan before, there were a few urgent golden fishing grounds. I saw that clearly. Seeing that, I said, “let’s start our evangelism movement.” That’s how it happened. And at that time our church leaders stood at the forefront and scattered out to begin this evangelism movement, but the Busan Presbytery blocked us, blocked our evangelism. I do understand that somewhat, but that’s not what I’m trying to say – the Lord’s servants must be able to see this (church district). Then every answer comes. This is what was seen. So the one who saw this best was Paul.
[ 70 – influence ]
Now what do church leaders have? It is the influence God gives you over your work, your region, and everything. Never let this go. Pray only for this.
[ The 70 – land, martyrdom, Antioch, field ]
Because when Jesus appointed the 70, what did these 70 do? They went to the fields the disciples and apostles had to go to, but first of all, in Acts chapter 4, there is the man who gave up his land. Those people were among the 70. They must have later built an important temple, right? The first person to be martyred was also one of the 70 – Stephen. As you can see, when persecution broke out and Stephen was killed, it seemed like everything was completely ruined. The one who established the Antioch church at that time was also one of the 70. And who was in every important position in Samaria and the mission fields? It was the 70 church leaders.
How is it that these people, who were trained the same way as the apostles, knew what they knew?
[ Gospel (prayer) – throne, nation, nation’s work ]
They came to know what the gospel is and what prayer is. Let me put it simply. What is the gospel and what is prayer? It is the same power, but it means enjoying the blessing of the throne. That is what the gospel and prayer are. It means causing the kingdom of God to come. Now, it is not merely enjoying the blessing of the throne. “Thy kingdom come” – Jesus said this from the very beginning. He told us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” What is the next stage?
It is the work of God’s kingdom. This is important. Because this is the blessing you have, if you enjoy this [Gospel (prayer) – throne, nation, nation’s work], no one can touch you.
This is the reason the 70 were appointed. Please do not worry, and church leaders, because you really need to receive an answer, do not worry about useless things – just hold on tightly to this [12 church districts, 70 influences, the 70 – land, martyrdom, Antioch, field, Gospel (prayer) – throne, nation, nation’s work]. Especially for Remnants, in the future, unless you get an answer to this (70-influence), it will be very difficult for you to do world missions.
Well, I don’t know about the next 10 years, but when these Remnants grow up and enter society, it will be completely different. The banks have already noticed this and are worried. During the hours when these young people are active in society, they won’t go to banks. Banks will disappear. So what must be done? The answer comes immediately. This is not imagination, it’s coming soon. About 40 or 50 years ago, someone came and kept talking about computerization. I thought, “what is this person talking about?” Now without that, nothing works. Before computers came out in full, that kind of talk came up beforehand. “Doing something with computerization” – people said that, and I said, “what’s the use of computerization?” Now, without that system, 100 percent nothing works. Things change. You need to get an answer like this (12-church district, 70-influence).
So because you know this [Gospel (prayer) – throne, nation, nation’s work] answer, you get this amazing thing [the 70 – land, martyrdom, Antioch, field] – this (throne) is a set-time prayer, (nation) is a no-fixed-time prayer, and (nation’s work) is a focused prayer. Right? From now on, church leaders can simply and comfortably enjoy this [Gospel (prayer) – throne, nation, nation’s work] prayer.
To put it simply, we all face urgent matters immediately. If you try doing things within this [Gospel (prayer) – throne, nation, nation’s work] prayer even a little, things change. You will also hear bad things. Right? If you just hold onto that, you lose. You enjoy it with the secret of this prayer. We also get hurt. We are also attacked. If you take that as it is, it’s a disaster. Right? If you enjoy it as the secret of prayer, it changes into amazing things. That is this (nation), the no-fixed-time prayer, and 24, 25, eternity.
This early church was the only one that conquered the world, and they simply possessed this power (the entire introduction).
Bartizan
So to put it simply, these people built the bartizan to save the world. Now this is the answer our church and you must specifically receive through prayer.
▣ Introduction_ Evidence
1. Judges 9:47 (war)
Now let’s look at some evidence concerning the bartizan. Judges chapter 9, verse 47 says, “to wage war and to prevent war, build a bartizan.” It said, “build a bartizan here so the people can take refuge.” It said, “build a bartizan so the people can be protected.” Because you never know when war will break out. The Bible is talking about bartizans right now.
2. 2 Kings 9:17 (people)
And 2 Kings chapter 9, verse 17 records, “many people, many persons must be protected.” That’s it. “The people must be protected, so build a bartizan.” That’s what it said.
3. 2 Chronicles 14:7 (city)
2 Chronicles chapter 14, verse 7 records, “no matter how well this city is built, to guard the city a bartizan must be there.” Right. How important is this? Even today, but especially in ancient times, enemies would suddenly invade from the side without any warning. So for the sake of the people, a city was built, and on top of it a bartizan was built to keep watch, like this.
4. 2 Chronicles 20:10 (livestock, farming)
2 Chronicles chapter 20, verse 10 records, “build a bartizan in the wild land and raise livestock and farm there.” This “wild land” refers to a vast land where a bartizan was built, and while guarding it, livestock was raised and farming was done.
5. Nehemiah 3:25 (palace)
Nehemiah chapter 3, verse 25 says to build a bartizan even at the palace. Only then can the palace be guarded.
6. Song of Songs 4:4 (thousand bartizans)
Song of Songs chapter 4, verse 4 has an important record. It came out in Solomon’s words – David built a thousand bartizans. That was when David’s kingdom held the most territory, and it was when Israel was most at peace during David’s reign.
7. Isaiah 21:8 (cry out)
Isaiah chapter 21, verse 8 says, “build a bartizan and let the watchman cry out all night like a roaring lion.” Like this, a sign was given.
8. Ezekiel 26:9 (enemy)
Ezekiel chapter 26, verse 9 says, “to defeat the enemy, even though it may seem like a strange thing to do, build a bartizan to defeat the enemy.” That’s what it said.
9. Proverbs 18:10 (name of the Lord)
Proverbs chapter 18, verse 10 records this: “build a bartizan that makes the name of the Lord strong.” That is how it was expressed.
What do church leaders do? They are the ones who build bartizans.
▣ Main
1. Church leaders, the church – bartizan
So with this clear evidence, the important covenant church leaders must hold onto is that church leaders and the church are the bartizan. This speaks of actually building a bartizan, but spiritually speaking, it means that you, the church leaders, are the bartizan, and the church is the bartizan.
2. The 70, the bartizan that saves the field
Then why were the 70 appointed? The 70 are the bartizan that saves the field, that’s what it means.
3. The 237 – 5000 bartizan
And there is something even more important remaining. What is the blessing you are to receive? You are the people who will build the bartizan to save 237 nations and 5,000 peoples.
For those who do not know the gospel and do not know prayer, this sounds like a dream. To put it simply, though it is God’s word, to them it becomes nonsense. But to those who know this (the entire introduction), holding onto just this covenant becomes the complete answer.
When the people of these 237 nations and 5,000 peoples hear this message, you will think, “ah, this is impossible for us.” Before the gospel came to our country, Korea, we were even worse off than your countries. Do you know what we said after we went through the Korean War? We said, “let’s live well like the Philippines.” Right? Can the Philippines even be compared to us now? There’s no comparison. But we looked at that and said, “let’s live well like the Philippines.” People today don’t know this because they don’t know history. As great gospel movements and church movements broke out in Korea, our nation underwent a huge transformation. Remarkably, of all things, our country sent out the second most missionaries in the world. And it turns out our GDP rose at the same rate as the number of missionaries we sent. It’s amazing, remarkable. With those who say “there is no God, I don’t believe in God,” there’s no reason to even converse, but for those who truly believe in God, you must firmly hold onto how great a blessing each one of you church leaders is to receive.
So today, hold onto this firmly and just do this prayer (the entire introduction). Try it. Don’t worry about anything else, don’t believe lies, and if you church leaders keep doing this prayer (the entire introduction), you will reach even this (237-5000 bartizan) that saves the world. Isn’t that right?
If we show our Remnants old photographs of Korea now, they will be shocked. That was not so long ago for our country. Among the elders sitting here, some have seen that scene and some have not. Those who saw it will say it’s true. We were in terrible shape. We were a completely ruined nation.
So as our country revived along with the gospel movement, it was mostly missionaries who helped our country at that time. The terrible things our country suffered during the Japanese occupation – missionaries made all of that into material and sent it out to the whole world.
Look at history. Even after our Korean War in 1950, our country had many enormous problems. Who helped with all of this? Missionaries came in and helped with everything. At that time our country had no hospitals either. Even now there are many countries with no hospitals. Countries in difficult circumstances. We had no hospitals either. Even now, just look at how many doctors are in our church. Back then we had no doctors in our country. At that time, one missionary doctor came in, and that person’s name was Allen. That person was a missionary. He came to Korea and received almost no pay – did people like that come to earn money? He served with devotion and did mission work.
As it turned out, since he was a doctor, he became the personal physician of the last emperor of our country, Emperor Gojong. That man was our nation’s last king. When he was ill, he had to contact Missionary Allen. So Missionary Allen made this – it was the first bell ever made in our country. He set it up so that when the bell was pressed, it would ring to Missionary Allen. When our country was utterly ruined, mission teams came in from every nation. So now we too must do the same. Isn’t that right?
We received help from others and survived, and we came to live so well, but we only keep talking about the bad things about our country – there are so many good things too. Strangely there are many people who keep cursing their own country and act strange, but our country’s economic and military power now ranks within the top 7 in the world. Our military strength is also within the top 7. Now no other country can touch us. God has made our missionary nation into a tremendous nation.
1. Church leaders, the church – bartizan
Why are you church leaders the bartizan?
1) Watchman
He called you to be watchmen. Never let this go. Today’s message, hold onto it firmly, receive one answer, and then ride the next flow. Otherwise, if you’re not careful, since you are all tired and busy, if you miss the message, you lose your strength and just become like that. That must not happen.
2) All day and all night
What does it mean when he calls you watchmen? “Cry out all day and all night” – this means “I will answer all day and all night.”
3) The way (highway)
And this is Isaiah chapter 62. What did he say then? You are the ones who pave the way, who make the way. You build the highway. This is why you are the bartizan.
2. The 70, the bartizan that saves the field
It doesn’t end there. It’s not just about staying still and guarding. You are the bartizan of the field, that’s what it means. Here a few important words appear.
1) In person – in his place (verse 1)
Luke chapter 10 says, “Jesus sent the 70 in person to the places he himself needed to go.” That’s what it says. It’s recorded that way in verse 1. He said he sent you, the 70 church leaders, in his place to the places Jesus himself had to go in person.
2) Name – proclamation
And it’s not that they simply went in his place – he sent them so that they would proclaim the name of the Lord. At that time the demons were cast out, and at that time Jesus said this: “when you go and cast out demons by the name of the Lord, by my name, I saw Satan who was in heaven fall to the ground.” That’s what he said.
3) Recorded
He said there was something even more important than that. “Rejoice that at this time your name is recorded in the kingdom of heaven.” How important this is. You may casually think, “I am God’s person, so I serve as a church leader,” but when you work, because you are doing the work that Jesus himself must go and do, he said, “when that name is proclaimed, when the demon is cast out, I saw Satan fall to the ground.”
3. The 237 – 5000 bartizan
1) [Throne] – power
It doesn’t end there. If you keep enjoying this blessing, what power comes to you? The power of the throne comes, doesn’t it.
(Platform)
Because this power comes, it must come to you naturally. That is called a platform. You must have this power. If you have this power, even while doing the same work, people come alive and come to you, like this. Even though it’s the same business, you already have spiritual power so people come to you – that’s the platform. Even among doctors, there is a difference between those with spiritual power and those without.
Long ago, before we came to Yeongdo, my mother got sick and went to a hospital, and the doctor said something quite harsh to her: “how did you let your body get to be like a bear like this?” He said something like that. We went together, and I was anxious, and my mother was also anxious, hearing him talk like that. That hospital was Cheongsipja Hospital, and at that hospital, once a week, Dr. Jang Gi-ryeo would come. It happened that at that exact time we went, and we met and had an examination with Dr. Jang Gi-ryeo. Ah, it was the same kind of doctor, but the words were different. Seeing her, he thought she was a deaconess and said to my mother, “Deaconess, when you get older your blood pressure rises a bit. If you’re careful, it will be fine. Take this medicine, pray, keep your strength up, and stay active.” Then my mother said, “it feels like the illness is already cured.” Right. The same kind of doctor, but one takes away strength and one gives strength. If you have this power of the throne, it is an invisible power. It will certainly come.
2) [Nation]
Now, in every field, don’t say anything else, just pray for the kingdom of God to come. This does not mean waiting unconditionally in the sense of just waiting around. It means waiting for the kingdom of God to come. This doesn’t mean not doing anything else is unnecessary, but it means not doing other things so that this may come quickly.
(Watchtower)
Then what happens? This becomes what is called a guarding watchtower. Platform and watchtower are terms I made up simply for convenience, but this (throne, kingdom of God) is what is in the Bible.
3) [The nation’s work]
That is the nation’s work I mentioned. It means concentrating on this.
(Antenna)
So when you are connected with God, nothing is impossible – this is called an antenna. This is building the bartizan that shines this upon the 237 nations, 5,000 peoples.
Because this is impossible, God gave us this blessing (Main point 3). Because we have the mission to save the field, he said he sent you in the place of Jesus who had to go to that place himself. So what is the beginning of the blessing you are to receive? It is that he called you, as the bartizan, to be the watchman, the one who makes the way to receive answers all day and all night. This is certain.
So just do this prayer. If you look at history, there is nothing but confusion of every kind. Refer to it, but don’t listen to it. You must always study three kinds of history – world history, philosophy, and church history. When you have time, you must study them. You must study them, don’t just listen to them – that’s all useless talk. But if you don’t know them, you cannot find the way. All sorts of things happened in world history. But there is no answer. Church history also went back and forth constantly – there is no answer. From natural philosophy to today’s spiritual philosophy, there is no answer. But if you don’t know, you cannot find the way. Someone must show the way, but since you don’t know that confusing situation in the field, that’s why you study – there’s nothing to worry about.
▣ Conclusion
[1,000 bartizans]
This is the conclusion. We are now building 10 million bartizans.
[10 million bartizans]
For the gospel to enter the whole world, 10 million bartizans must arise. That’s why there are 10 million disciples. Ah, this (10 million bartizans) is not a word I made up. This is something the late evangelist Dr. Kim Jung-gon told me when he met me not long before he passed away. “Ah, that’s right,” he said. He was not someone who did things in a merely human way – he understood our heart well. He came and preached when our church was founded here. He also officiated when we moved and held the dedication service. Before that, he called me to come to the CCC building, and I went.
At that time he asked me all sorts of questions. What he asked most was, since he had listened to many of my sermon tapes, what was my source, my material? That question meant, where did this material come from? Well, I simply said that it was nothing special – just something I realized from the Word while continuing to evangelize in the field.
At that time, he told me that 10 million disciples must arise for the whole world to hear the gospel once. That’s right. So while we are building 1,000 bartizans right now, 10 million must arise.
This is possible through the power of the throne. Because it is the power of God. If you properly enjoy just this one blessing, darkness will certainly be broken in your life. So do not miss this prayer (the entire introduction). Sometimes in the evening, set aside people and concentrate so that this kingdom of God and its work and the blessing of the throne may come. Keep doing it. Once the answer comes, from then on the way will be visible.
On the other hand, what would happen if you spent time every day just worrying about this? Church leaders, deaconesses, ordained deacons, elders – do not be stressed. What happens if you keep being stressed? Someday something terrible will happen. What happens if you keep worrying? What happens if you keep listening to what people say? Then there is no end to it. If you concentrate on this power of God, it will certainly become the evidence found in Scripture.
From today, church leaders throughout the nation and the world, take courage and hold onto this covenant. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Let us pray.
Prayer
We thank you, God. We thank you for the precious people of God and for establishing church leaders. Let them see the power of God by which they can build 10 million bartizans. We believe you will give new strength every day. We believe that as the days go by, God will give new grace. Raise us up as the main force who can evangelize the world. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.