In the New Testament age the Lord Jesus came. He was the Jehovah God who sought for Adam in the garden of Eden; He was the One who visited Abraham beside the oaks of Mamre in Genesis 18; He was also the One who came upon and visited the prophets throughout the generations. Now He was not visiting man merely in His divinity or in His Godhead, but He Himself put on a body of flesh and blood, putting on our humanity and becoming even as we are, to visit man who was on the earth. On the earth He preached the gospel from place to place for three years, but not once did He send out invitations for people to come. He went to visit people Himself; He went to where they were. In His divinity and Godhead He was omnipresent, yet after He became flesh He was very much restricted by space. If He was in Galilee, He could not be in Jerusalem; if He was in Jerusalem, He could not be in Samaria. He was very much restricted by the flesh. For this reason, He sent out the twelve disciples (Luke 9:1), and later He took another step and sent seventy others (10:1).
The Lord’s sending out the seventy is recorded in Luke 10, particularly in verses 1 through 6 and verse 16. In the past we did not see the light concerning visitation from house to house in this passage. In verse 3 the Lord Jesus says, “I send you as lambs in the midst of wolves.” The Lord sent the disciples as lambs in the midst of wolves, so when we go out to knock on doors and visit people, do not be afraid of their rejections or their reproach. We need to be alert, because not all the people we visit are wolves; there are sons of peace among the wolves (v. 6). Today there are millions and millions of sons of Adam on this earth, but among them some are the sons of peace, who were born in the world yet chosen and predestinated by God before the foundation of the earth.
In the past we preached the gospel by the way of gospel meetings. We set up love feasts and spent much effort in inviting people to come. When they came, they felt that they were doing us a favor and “saving our faces.” Sometimes they would refuse to come even when we had tried our best. This was not the way of the Lord Jesus. The Lord sent seventy people two by two to go out and visit people (v. 1) and to stay in people’s houses (v. 7). Upon entering a house, they would not speak of the weather or of the world situation, but “into whatever house you enter, first say, Peace to this house” (v. 5). They are the sons of peace, and the Lord is the Lord of peace. The Lord came to the earth to bring peace to men. When the Lord Jesus was born, the angels praised God, saying, “Glory in the highest places to God, and on earth peace among men of His good pleasure” (2:14). The men of God’s good pleasure are those chosen and predestinated by God. They are the sons of peace. The Lord was born in the world to bring peace to men on the earth; He also sent out the disciples that they would go with His peace.
Furthermore, the Lord told the disciples in chapter ten verse 16, “He who hears you hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” This means that the Lord comes with the Father; the Lord and the Father are one, so the Lord’s going is the Father’s going. We also have become one with the Lord, so our going is not merely our going as representatives of the Lord, but it is also our going with the Lord; the Lord goes with us. Therefore, when we go, we bring the peace of the Lord with us; the Lord is the peace-bringer. There is a prophecy in Genesis 49, which says, “Until Shiloh comes” (v. 10). Shiloh means “one who brings peace.” Christ came to bring peace to those whom God has chosen on the earth. Today we need to cause this peace to reach those whom God has chosen, not by inviting them to come, but by being sent to go to them. We go with peace, and this peace is the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus said that if the people in a house are worthy of peace, if they are chosen and predestinated by God and are men of God’s good pleasure, they will surely receive us with joy and rejoicing. Otherwise, they will reject us, and this rejection is a proof that they are not the sons of peace.
Everyone of you who has gone door-knocking before has had this experience: When someone opened the door, you would often know whether or not this one was a son of peace. You could tell upon first sight that some were not the sons of peace. Why? Because the way they answered the door was like that of tigers ready to devour their prey. Not only would they reject you, they would even yell at you while sending you away. This is why when some went door-knocking, their hands would tremble and their knees would knock, deeply fearing that once the doors opened, they would be yelled at and would lose their composure. Because of this we should know that reproaches are inevitable, but they are worth it. Even the Lord Jesus was reproached by men. When we go door-knocking, we all should be prepared to be yelled at. However, we know that there will always be some sons of peace among those who open the door to us, if not one out of ten then perhaps one out of twenty; if not, then certainly one out of thirty.
Today the work of Christianity is exactly the opposite. It asks people to come instead of going to people. Although we have come out of Christianity, we are still under the influence of the poison and the atmosphere of Christianity. In the past we too have not seen this way of going out to visit people and seeking out the sons of peace. We did not see this even when we were conducting the life-study trainings. It is not until this time, during the writing of the footnotes of the Recovery Version of the New Testament, that the Lord has shown us this light from the Gospel of Luke.
In Matthew 28:18-19, after His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus came into the midst of the disciples and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” The Lord indicated that He was the Lord of heaven and earth; heaven obeyed Him, earth obeyed Him, and even all the nations obeyed Him, so now the disciples should “go.” The Lord does not want people to come; He wants us, His disciples, to go. Go and do what? The Lord went on to say, “Disciple all the nations.” It is a tremendous thing if we are willing to go, for we go with all authority in heaven and on earth. The context of these verses tells us very clearly that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth, so we should go.
When we go to people, we should not fear their rejection. When we go, we should be full of faith, declaring to Satan, “I come with the resurrected Christ, full of His authority in heaven and on earth.” Many who go out to visit people and preach the gospel testify that the ones they visited were all very submissive. Some of the ones that were visited were college professors and some had received higher education, yet they were willing to believe in the gospel when they heard the speaking of the brothers and sisters. When the brothers and sisters said, “Now you should be baptized. Please go and change,” they immediately said yes and were joyfully baptized. Sometimes even we were astonished, unable to believe that they were as submissive as lambs, doing whatever we asked them to do. What is this? This is the ascended Lord being with us. His authority follows us always. This is the message of Matthew 28.