Unrelenting [8-10-25]

August 10, 2025

Luke 10:1-24

“Unrelenting”

“Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” That’s what he said. Those are the words Jesus spoke to his disciples. And by connection, those are the words Jesus speaks to us. Those are the eight most beautiful words you are going to hear today. Jesus rejoices in the Father’s will being accomplished through him for us.

We ended last Sunday with this affirmation from Charles Spurgeon:

“I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love.”

Why does Jesus rejoice? First, that it is the sovereign pleasure of the Father to save us. It is God’s gracious will to bring us to heaven. Jesus rejoices in God’s relentless pursuit of sinners like you and me. It is pleasing in God’s sight to see to completion our salvation history.

With that in mind, let’s look at Luke 10:1-24 one last time:

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

What is a fruit of the Spirit mentioned by Paul in Galatians 5? Easy answer. Joy. Inextinguishable. Ever-present. Always available. Relentless. Joy. Jesus rejoices. Why? Because, first and foremost, God’s sovereign purpose

is to save us from sin and death. Jesus, the Son, rejoices because the Father has designed a salvation plan for us. We humbly place our sin at the foot of the cross, receiving forgiveness through Christ and Christ alone. As Isaiah 66:1-2 puts it:

Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.”

So, to paraphrase what Jesus says in Luke 10, “Father, I rejoice as I look past the sadness and the sorrow of the sin-cursed world and I look into the future and I realize that heaven is going to be filled with babies…filled with infants…filled with those who were crushed and broken into humble, repentant believers who threw themselves on the mercy of Your gospel truth so that through all eternity You will be glorified forever.” That is the trajectory of God’s plan of salvation. That is why Jesus rejoices.

Here's a side-note. Raised with a question. Do you know or did you ever know someone who lacked joy in their life? We’ve all known people who spend much of the lives mired in joylessness. I’m telling you right now. Jesus is missing from their lives. When you repent and lay your sins at the foot of the cross, you know that your name has been written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Joy becomes an ever-present part of your worldview. Paul says as much in Galatians 5. And he adds, for good measure, in Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

But pastor, you don’t know what challenges I’m facing. But pastor, you don’t know the pain of my past. But pastor, I had a dysfunctional childhood. But pastor, I’ve experienced so much loss in my life. But pastor, how can I be joyful under the current political climate? But pastor, the world’s a mess. But pastor, shootings…floods…divorce…disease. But…

but…but. We could play the but card all day long.

Where has your name been written down? Your name has been written down in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world.

I read this exchange a few weeks ago:

“Tomorrow will be better.”

“But what if it’s not?”

“Then you say it again tomorrow. Because it might be. You never know, right? At some point, tomorrow will be better.”

Rejoice in the Lord, always. Again, I say, rejoice.

A few years ago, Andrew, twelve years old, made the rounds of several foster families. Several attempts at adoption fell through. Andrew had a classmate, Joc. Both boys developed a close friendship. Joc’s family, devoted Christians, adopted Andrew. The classmates became brothers. Here they are in a family picture:

Show photo

Look at the joy in that family. Love transcends all things. “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.’”

So much joy in that picture. So much joy in life…if you look through the eyes of faith.

Luke gives us the blessed affirmation that God is perfectly and eternally joyful. God’s joy is undiminished by any circumstance. God’s joy is undiminished by any situation. God’s joy is untouchable. God is perfectly joyful. So, if the Father is perfectly joyful and if the Son is perfectly joyful and if the Spirit is perfectly joyful, how can we be anything else but joyful? Rejoice that your names are written in heaven. That’s what he said. That’s what Jesus said.

I love the benediction from Jude:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be

glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now

and forever. Amen.

Rejoice. No matter what you experience or go through in life, rejoice. Here’s how Charles Spurgeon captured it:

“YOUR SORROW ITSELF SHALL BE TURNED INTO JOY. NOT THE SORROW TO BE TAKEN AWAY, AND JOY TO BE PUT IN ITS PLACE, BUT THE VERY SORROW WHICH NOW GRIEVES YOU SHALL BE TURNED INTO JOY. GOD NOT ONLY TAKES AWAY THE BITTERNESS AND GIVES SWEETNESS IN ITS PLACE, BUT TURNS THE BITTERNESS INTO SWEETNESS ITSELF.”

Does joy fill your life? From an earthly perspective, we see how challenging that can be. Life can be a struggle. Crazy things happen. A day doesn’t go by when something bad doesn’t happen. You simply want to disconnect from the news. Horrible people doing horrible things. Problems come into your life…assaulting your joy. It shouldn’t happen, but it does. There is weeping and sorrow in everyone’s life. But remember. When we are in Christ, nothing can assault or override or drown-out our joy. Nothing.

In 2007, the movie “There Will Be Blood” was released. It was based loosely on the 1927 novel, “Oil,” by Upton Sinclair. While some saw it as a commentary on the nature of capitalism and greed, me, being a pastor, saw something different. The climactic five-minute ending is Shakesperean in its explosion of ego and spiritual rot. The main character, Daniel Plainview, is a man who has won everything and become nothing. In my mind, he is representative of all unrepentant sinners lost for eternity without Christ. The last line of the film are the final words of Daniel Plainview – “I’m finished.” He has become nothing.

That’s the state of humanity without Christ. But when a lost sinner lays their confession at the foot of the cross, there is great joy in heaven. Rejoice. Rejoice for what is awaiting you in heaven. Jesus expresses joy in these verses because he knows what his coming death on the Cross will accomplish. And so we have joy. It’s a beautiful flow of joy from the Father to the Son to us. Understanding it changes your whole outlook on life. Amen?

Let’s close with a final Spurgeon quote. I know this is the third today, but

that’s okay. First of all, it’s Charles Spurgeon. And second, the opening quote was from last week, so this technically is only the second one. But like I said, one can never hear too much Spurgeon:

“JESUS! IT IS THE NAME WHICH MOVES THE HARPS OF HEAVEN TO MELODY. JESUS! THE LIFE OF ALL OUR JOYS. IF THERE BE ONE NAME MORE CHARMING, MORE PRECIOUS THAN ANOTHER, IT IS THIS NAME. IT IS WOVEN INTO THE VERY WARP AND WOOF OF OUR PSALMODY. MANY OF OUR HYMNS BEGIN WITH IT, AND SCARCELY ANY, THAT ARE GOOD FOR ANYTHING, END WITHOUT IT. IT IS THE SUM TOTAL OF ALL DELIGHTS. IT IS THE MUSIC WITH WHICH THE BELLS OF HEAVEN RING; A SONG IN A WORD; AN OCEAN FOR COMPREHENSION, ALTHOUGH A DROP FOR BREVITY; A MATCHLESS ORATORIO IN TWO SYLLABLES; A GATHERING UP OF THE HALLELUJAHS OF ETERNITY IN FIVE LETTERS.”

And together the joyful people of Covenant Church said:

SOLI DEO GLORIA…

To the Glory of God Alone