It says in Matthew 8.18,
Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him,
he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
He's basically forsaking the multitude here.
He's leaving the multitude.
He saw all these multitudes around him.
He said, you know, I'm just going to go to the other side.
I'm actually getting away from these people.
And it says in verse 19,
A certain scribe came and said unto him,
Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
And Jesus saith unto him,
The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.
Now I don't see Jesus begging this guy to follow him.
He basically tells him, hey, I'm going to follow you everywhere.
He said, well, let me tell you,
it's not going to be maybe a walk in the park,
because I don't even know where I'm going to sleep tonight.
He said, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests,
the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.
I don't even know where I'm sleeping tonight.
And that guy basically didn't come with him.
And then he goes on in verse number 21.
It says, another of his disciples said unto him,
Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
But Jesus said unto him,
Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.
And when he was entered into his ship,
his disciples followed him.
You get the context.
It's talking about the twelve disciples.
That's who followed him.
Other people, there were some other people that were kind of a poser or a faker.
They kind of wanted to be in that crowd,
but they couldn't take the heat.
They didn't want to do the work.
And God is showing us here,
it's not that he was just trying to get a bunch of multitudes around him.
He's trying to get people around him to really love God.
He really wanted to serve God.
He really wanted to do something for God.
It says in Matthew 9,
this is just after Jesus had healed a man.
It says in verse 8,
When the multitudes saw it,
so they saw this miracle that Jesus did.
When the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God,
which had given such power unto men.
Look at verse 9.
And as Jesus passed forth from that, he saw what?
A man.
He saw a man.
It's not like multitudes and everything,
but he's focused on a man.
And it says,
He saw a man named Matthew,
sitting at the receipt of custom,
and he saith unto him,
Follow me.
And he arose and followed him.
One man.
Twelve men.
Look if you would at Luke.
Go to Luke chapter 10.
Luke chapter 10,
let me just say this,
Luke chapter 9
is basically a parallel of Matthew 10.
Do you know what that means, a parallel?
Basically the story of Jesus Christ is told four different times.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
It's the same story told from four different angles.
And so Luke 9 is basically parallel with Matthew 10
where he sends out the 12.
He basically says that the harvest is plenty,
the labor is few,
he sends out his 12 disciples to go out and preach the gospel.
Well Luke 10 is actually after that.
And it says in verse 1,
After these things the Lord appointed other seventy.
So now the numbers go from 12 to 70.
He said the Lord appointed other seventy also,
and sent them two and two before his face
into every city and place whither he himself would come.
Therefore said he unto him,
The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few.
So he's saying the same thing again to the 70.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest
that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.
He sent out 12.
He sent out 70.
You know, 70 is not really a huge number.
12 is not really a huge number.
70 people is not a multitude.
God doesn't need a multitude.
He needs 12 laborers.
He needs 70 laborers.
That's who he used.
That's who he did his work.
Ezekiel 22, you know what it says?
It says,
And I sought for a man.
Guys, I'm looking for a man.
I sought for a man.
And of course, he's also looking for ladies.
And the Bible is very clear about that.
I love what Paul said,
because a lot of people think,
well, that's just for the man, you know.
But you know, I love what Paul said
when he said,
I beseech Euodia and beseech Syntyche
that they be of the same mind in the Lord,
and I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow,
help those women which labored with me in the Gospel.
With Clement also,
and with other my fellow laborers
whose names are in the Book of Life.
I love what it says in Acts chapter 2,
when of course God's power was so evident
at the day of Pentecost,
and Peter stood up and said,
This is that which was prophesied by the prophet Joel,
when he said,
It shall come to pass in the last days, sayeth God,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.
He said,
Your young man shall prophesy,
your old man shall dream.
He said,
Upon the servants and upon the handmaidens
will I pour out of my Spirit in those days,
and they shall prophesy,
and it shall come to pass
that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
I don't believe in women preaching behind the pole,
I believe in women keeping silence in the church,
that's what the Bible says over and over.
But you know what?
These can be used of God to preach the Word,
to preach to God,
to give people safe,
not in the church,
not behind a pole,
but not up here doing what I'm doing.
But you know,
going out and winning souls to Christ,
going out and one-on-one preaching the Gospel,
and you know what?
That's a lot greater than what I'm doing
up here right now anyway.
You know,
not every man in this room is going to get behind the pole
and preach in their lifetime.
Not every lady in this room hopefully will ever,
you know,
you know what?
Let me tell you something.
Every man in this room,
any man in this room,
any lady in this room
can win someone to Christ.
Can open their Bible.
You say,
I'm not a public speaker.
I'm not asking you to be a public speaker.
I'm asking you to be a private speaker.
I'm asking you to open your Bible to one person
and show that person the glorious Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know what?
You say,
well, I don't know how.
If you're saved,
you know how to get saved.
And you know what?
The only verse you need to be able to find
is John 3.16.
And I use a lot more verses than that,
not so many.
But you know what?
If you know John 3.16,
then use John 3.16.
And John 3.18.
And John 3.36.
Show somebody how to be saved
and learn more and do better.
But do something.
Be a laborer.
You know,
I think of the word laborer.
You don't think of somebody sitting in a cubicle.
You know,
if I say,
well, I'm a laborer.
Do you picture me in a cubicle?
And I'm not against being in a cubicle,
and that's not called labor.
You know,
that's a different...
If I said I'm a laborer,
you'd probably picture somebody out
digging a ditch somewhere.
You know,
somebody out doing backbreaking manual work.
The other thing that comes to mind,
we hear the word labor,
is a woman in labor.
That's pain.
That's hard work.
That's toil.
This isn't a light-duty job today.
It's hard work.
And he said we need laborers,
but there are few.
But that's okay.
I'll give them power,
and they'll fill Jerusalem with my doctrine.
That's okay.
Well,
they'll be filled with the Spirit of God,
and they'll preach the gospel to every creature.