Matthew 10:1-15

[0:00] My name is Dave, and it is my heavy privilege, awaiting privilege to bring to you today God's Word.! Matthew chapter 10, verses 1-15. If you don't have a Bible with you, think of it.

[0:23] I'm going to ask you, what is today's day? Now, you might be forgiven for thinking that today is Sunday, November 18, 2018.

[0:35] After all, that's what your watch or your phone or your smart appliance would tell you, but it's not. Today is Wednesday. Wednesday, June 7, 1944.

[0:50] The mission of World War II was always to defeat the Axis powers.

[1:03] But accomplishing that mission looked different on Monday, June 5, 1944, than it did on Wednesday. That's today, June 7.

[1:16] If the mission was the same, why did fighting the war look different two days later? Because on that day in between, Tuesday, June 6, 1944, was D-Day.

[1:31] The Allied powers landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, and established a foothold that would go on to win the war in Europe. It still had the same goal, the same mission, but the war changed, fundamentally changed that day.

[1:48] Today is also 1929. The mission of medicine has always been to make people well. But accomplishing that mission looked different in 1927 than it did in 1929.

[2:07] And remember, today is 1929. Why? In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. Antibiotics were born, and medicine was forever changed.

[2:23] No more mercury tinctures and bloodlettings and other ineffective treatments for infections. The space of medical science changed.

[2:36] And so, in both of those cases, D-Day and in medicine, the mission remained the same.

[2:47] Defeat the Nazis, make people well. The way the Allied forces went about securing their victims, waging war, the way that doctors have gone on to fight diseases, has fundamentally changed after those two groundbreaking events.

[3:05] The mission stays the same, but an event has changed the landscape so much that carrying it out, carrying out that mission, now looks different.

[3:15] Now, of course, the Allied forces still had to fight, and they still had a chain of command and uniforms and weapons, so there was still a lot of continuity. And, of course, doctors, and check in on patients and measure their vitals, there's a lot of continuity from before and after.

[3:35] And so, wise generals and wise doctors know what to change and what to be the same after the big event. But we find ourselves in a very similar situation in Matthew chapter 10.

[3:51] The passage we're about to read comes from Monday, June 5th, just hours before brave soldiers take the Normandy beach and change the course of the war.

[4:06] The passage we're about to read is 1927, right before Fleming makes the discovery that changes modern medicine. Something big is about to happen, that while it will not change the mission, it will change the whole face of the battlefield.

[4:25] It will change the way medical science works. It will change the way that the mission is carried out. The mission that we're looking at is God's mission. The mission.

[4:37] His mission to reconcile lost sinners to himself. And the big moment, the thing that is going to change the face of the battlefield, Jesus is going to take the sins of the world on his shoulders.

[4:51] He's going to die in place of those sinners so that in him God's justice will be forever satisfied. He'll be buried. He will rise from the grave.

[5:02] He'll be alive through all who repent. All who repent. And that event, that's three days from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, is going to unfold in Matthew chapters 27 and 28.

[5:15] So here in Matthew chapter 10, when we see Jesus giving his troops their marching orders, it's before D-Day. When we see him training physicians here, it's before the penicillin.

[5:29] He's going to train missionaries before he has died on the cross and risen from the grave. And wise Christians, like wise generals and wise doctors, will look to see how God's mission has remained forever the same.

[5:48] How the cross will also change the way we go about it. So friends, let us pray for that wisdom and let us go to God's prayer. Lord, I pray that you would give me clarity of speech.

[6:08] Lord, that we would see you and your heart for this world, your heart for us in this passage. Lord, that you would convict us.

[6:19] that you would grow us and that you would make us and name your disciples, if you're a sinner, for Christ. We pray that in Jesus.

[6:34] Matthew chapter 10, beginning in verse 1. And he, that is Jesus, called to him his twelve disciples and gave them the authority of running spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every alusion.

[6:50] The names of the twelve apostles are these. First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, Philip, and Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew, the tax collector, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the tree.

[7:11] These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and proclaim as you go, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[7:29] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons you received without paying, give without paying. Fire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

[7:48] And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

[8:03] And if anyone will not receive it or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that.

[8:22] This is God's word. May he add his blessing to it. Amen. Amen. Today is Wednesday, June 7, 1944, the day after the day.

[8:40] We are reading here in chapter 10 the orders the troops received on Monday, June 5, the day before the day. The mission is the same, but our position on the battlefield has advanced.

[8:56] today is 1929, the year after penicillin was discovered. And we're reading doctor's notes from 1927, the year before antibiotics.

[9:07] The mission is the same, but our resources and our tools have grown. Matthew 10, Jesus is continuing the mission.

[9:18] He began Genesis chapter 3, reconciling the world to himself. And as we watch, he is marshaling his troops on Monday, training his doctors in 1927.

[9:31] All the while, we are watching him do it on Wednesday and in 1929. And so let us see as we go through this passage how the mission remains the same forever.

[9:46] We'll find that the cross and the empty tomb of Jesus change nothing. The mission is exactly the same, but that is the climax of the mission. Let us see how our position on the battlefield is advanced.

[9:59] Let us see how our medical resources have grown. We will find the cross and the empty tomb of Jesus changes, well, a lot. The who and the how of our mission are forever marked by Good Friday and by Easter Sunday.

[10:17] first let us begin with the who. Who is this mission for? He begins in verse 1. He called to him his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unkeen spirits to cast them out and heal every disease and heal every disease.

[10:37] But Jesus has been largely doing his ministry alone. He has many followers and he calls his 12 closest ones, the ones that he has selected for his mission back in chapter 4 to himself and commissions them to do a ministry that is basically the mirror of what he has been doing from chapters 5 to chapters 9.

[11:02] That's June 5th. That's what we're seeing here in verses 1 through 4. Then D-Day happens on June 6th. And June 7th where we stand on Wednesday.

[11:19] What happens? What changes about the mission? Who is to do it? Just the 12? Just the leaders of the church?

[11:29] Well actually just today read for us from Ephesians chapter 4 where the cross takes the mission that was entrusted to the 12 and takes their responsibility and transforms it.

[11:46] Ephesians chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 say, and he gave the apostles these are the apostles the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and the teachers that's me the other elders here to equip the saints the work the ministry.

[12:09] And Matt sorry Mike today read to us from 1 Peter chapter 2 on the other side of the cross God has made his whole people I'll read it here again you are a chosen race a royal priesthood that's everyone here a royal priesthood a holy nation for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

[12:45] So the mission is exactly the same to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness and into his light but the 12 it is not their job simply to go and do that for the people of God it is their job to equip the people of God all to do it.

[13:09] That is who this mission is for. Who now is the mission who? Verses 5 and 6 These 12 Jesus sent out instructing them go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel Remember that's June 5 that's Monday Who do they go to?

[13:41] Lost sheep of Israel And the D-Day happens on June 6 On Wednesday June 7 Where does the mission go?

[13:51] To whom do we preach this video? He square the lost sheep of Israel still and someone else Matthew is going to end from all the way to the end of the book of Matthew a very similar commission but it changes Matthew 28 verse 18 Jesus came to them and said this is a resurrected Jesus comes to them and says all authority heaven and on earth has been given to me go therefore and make disciples all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold I am with you always the end of the age the question that I have maybe that you're having is why would be restrictive preaching of the gospel ever why would he keep it narrowed to

[14:56] Israel now D.A. Carson put it this way Jesus as a Jew and as the son of David came in fulfillment of his people's history as their king and their redeemer that means that as far back as Abraham God has promised a blessing to the whole world through the nation of Israel and that it would come from Abraham and this is God fulfilling his promise that the redeemer would come to Israel before extending this mission to the whole world and what we see here is that God is faithful to his promises and he will be faithful to every promise that he has made to you as well and even as he is keeping here his ministry restricted in a narrow sense immediately to Israel Jesus has already shown us that he's thinking about the rest of the world you were here when we were preaching through

[16:00] Matthew chapter 8 you may remember the Roman centurion who exercised great faith in Jesus response when Jesus heard this Matthew 8 verse 10 he marveled and said to those who followed him truly I tell you with no one in Israel have I found such faith I tell you many will come from east and west that is from the nations and recline the table with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven friends he has his eyes on the world the cross unleashes that and the outpouring is that our ministry is to the whole world but friends you and I I'm not a son of Abraham by descent right we are the beneficiaries that this mission goes to the whole world because the person who preached to me taught me the gospel wasn't a

[17:01] Jew and neither am I but because Jesus died and rose again for the sins of the world mission now comes you and to me we are the beneficiaries of it and then we become the ministers of it and just a foretaste here is a picture of what heaven is going to look like revelation chapter 7 after this I that is John who wrote the revelation looks and behold a great multitude that no one could know that has been his heart and he will bring it to consummation and he takes us into that ministry and let us reinforce then in verses 7 and 8 what that mission is so there are two parts that we see here in 7 and 8 there is a message and there are works of power proclaim as you go saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand heal the sick raise the dead cleanse the lepers cast out demons we'll treat them each in turn first the message the message does not change on June 5th this message is no different than the message that we preach right on June 5th this is the message that

[18:50] Jesus is teaching his disciples to repeat and basically they're parroting what he has said if you look back to Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 he says repent for the kingdom of heaven is it told on D day the cross happens nothing changes it is the same message when we see the apostles preaching this Peter in Acts chapter 2 let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain God has made him that is Jesus both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified when they heard this they were caught to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles brothers what shall be do Peter said to them repent and be baptized every woman in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off everyone whom the Lord calls to himself the message stays the same friends because it's always been the same the works of power verse 8 how could they do change on in 1927 before the advent of penicillin we'll see

[20:14] Jesus is saying here in chapter 10 I want you to confirm your message this preaching with works of power we actually see that in chapter 11 he explicitly tells us that the works of power these healings miraculous deeds are there to confirm his message and in 1928 when penicillin is discovered when Jesus rises from the grave well the commission no longer looks like works of power anymore it looks like pointing back at the work of power that is the empty tomb the greatest work of power ever Jesus raised people from the grave separate right but they are not as impressive as his own resurrection and I'll tell you why in John chapter 10 Jesus says for this reason the father loves me because I lay down my life that

[21:15] I may take it up again no one takes it from me but I lay it down of my own accord I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again he raised those other people they did not raise themselves no one came to his tomb and called him out he raised himself so when we look at the commission to the apostles in Revelation sorry in Matthew chapter 28 I've already read it to you I won't read it again he doesn't say preach the gospel and do works of power he says preach the gospel because the gospel has the work of power put back to the work that work the one work the one to whom they all pointed if you look at the pastoral epistles 1st and 2nd Timothy Titus those books instruct pastors and elders and deacons what the ministry of the church is supposed to look like and it's all about faithful gospel ministry and zero about works of power in fact the only thing that is instructed of the elders of the church to do when they're confronted with sickness comes in

[22:38] James chapter 5 James says they should pray the works of power fade away because the message has been refined and it's reached its climax we point to the one work of power and that is Jesus Christ and his empty tomb the message though remains exactly the same and so too does the cost look with me in verses 8 through 11 Jesus says you receive without pay give without pay require no gold or silver or copper for your belt no bag for your journey or two tunics or sandals or staff the laborer deserves his food and whatever town or village you enter find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart this has never changed before Christ came Isaiah chapter 55 come everyone who thirsts come to the waters he who has no money come buy and eat come buy wine and milk without money and without price how do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy listen diligent to me diligently to me eat what is good delight yourselves in rich and here today in Matthew 10 the day right before

[24:03] D-Day you receive without paying give without paying and then on the cross Jesus pays our debt because we are spiritually impoverished and unable to pay our own debt and then the closing words of the Bible Revelation chapter 22 we find this same message the one who is thirsty but the one who desires take the water of life without price friends this has to be the way that it goes salvation must be offered freely because we cannot purchase it ourselves sin against an infinite God is infinitely great and infinitely grave we can't pay it any more than we could drink the ocean so the only way anyone could be saved is if God pays the entire debt of sin and that's exactly what he is done and that is exactly why salvation is the free gift of God's grace to all who are pretending to believe what happens if we don't let

[25:10] God pay the gift what are the stakes so Jesus concludes the passage verses 12 he says as you enter the house greeted and if the house is worthy let your peace come upon it and if it is not worthy let your peace return to you and you will not receive or listen to your words shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house truly I say to you it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and the more for that town!

[25:48] you can choose not to listen to many messages you can completely ignore social media and you won't die in fact I see a lot of articles that say that will actually improve your mental health ironically I see them on social media if you don't watch the news you won't die in fact that might lower your blood pressure if you don't follow sports or entertainment news or politics or primetime TV or the chess world championships that's going on this week you're fine right you're fine but if you don't listen the apostles of Jesus it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah why the British evangelist Rico Tice said if they're not interested in following

[26:50] Jesus or helping his disciples if they say thank you but go away please however politely they say it however politely we say it they aren't rejecting just a few disciples he says they are rejecting that Jesus may represent and in verse 14 Jesus tells his disciples to shake off the dust from their feet when people reject this word from the Lord now that doesn't mean much to you and me but to the Jewish people here's what it would have meant this is a pious Jew on leaving Gentile territory might remove from his feet and clothes all dust of the pagan land now being left behind thus disassociating himself from the pollution of those lands and the judgment in store for them the disciples to do this to Jewish homes and towns would be a symbolic way of saying that the emissaries of the

[27:51] Messiah now view those places as pagan polluted and liable to judgment you reject angels you are separate from the living God and the king says in verse 15 if you're separated from him unbearable wrath is stored for you even in our secular society people probably will recognize Sodom and Gomorrah symbols of extreme wickedness and judgment but the Jewish people in the first century was an even stronger symbol it's not the way we look at Las Vegas today we call it sin city it's a place of relatively harmless indulgence is the way we look at it at this point it's something far more sensitive not indulgence to wink at like we do at our sin city but wickedness to recoil and there were two cities that were utterly destroyed in divine wrath for high handed sin here's how the Bible records that

[29:06] Genesis chapter 19 the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven and he overthrew those cities and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground what Jesus says is that if you reject him you are a stranger to God and separated from him you are a foreigner such that the disciples had to shake off the dust from your house or risk being polluted by your separation and the most visible outpour of God's wrath against sin Sodom and Gomorrah is tame inherited the judgment and the seal last day and the more there and so if you have never trusted in Jesus for the salvation of your soul this is the most important message you can hear you are separated from

[30:08] God a foreigner and an object of wrath your sin which might seem small to you is infinitely hideous to a perfect God the fire from heaven is the obtained version of his justice but on this side of the cross it's June 7 the day has happened Jesus is risen from the dead I can tell you that Jesus stood in your place and on his cross he received the wrath from heaven in your sin he offers you refuge from his wrath an entrance into his family by the same message we see today because the message has not changed and you know what happens again what does it cost you he has already paid the price which is why you can say you receive without pay give without pay and friends if you have already been reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus you're no longer a foreign now not just a countryman he's not just our king we are a child we are children of the most high God this tells us how serious our roles as ambassadors is the preaching of the gospel friends is more serious than life and death more serious which is why church membership is so important the members of this church hold the responsibility to hold the elders accountable to faithfully preach God's words so that the public witness of this church body is faithful to the king it's also a testimony to the mission of the church the mission which we have seen today is for all

[32:04] God's people we offer the world redemption from sin and death there is no higher calling no better mission no more lasting work than this on the last day when all was stripped away what will seem most important to you what will seem like a good use of your short life what will you mourn over what will you rejoice over what will have you looked like time will spend afraid that many of us are living like the day didn't happen as if Jesus didn't die for us and rise again probably measure that pretty well by asking yourself the quick question when was the last time I shared the gospel I don't say that to guilt you but to shame when was the last time you prayed for your own evangelism when did you pray last for laborers in the harvest as we saw last week when

[33:15] Jordan preached the previous passage when did you last invite someone to community group or to church to your own table with the intent of asking those spiritual questions are you living like there wasn't a victory like Jesus didn't die in the world are you living like Fleming didn't discover penicillin like Jesus didn't rise from the grave we're not evangelizing friends we're basically pretending it's still 1927 and penicillin doesn't exist and telling people to take mercury tinctures for their infections why aren't you doing it I'm sure there are a couple reasons and you may know the Lord may be sparking your heart today the first might be we aren't Christians it's very unlikely that someone who doesn't love Jesus will plead with others to come here damn your hearts another thing might be that we are afraid

[34:16] Jesus is going to confront that dead on next Sunday next passage there is good reason he's going to say to be afraid not even more reason to take courage it might be that we are not excited which Charles Spurgeon said if you know Christ you are as one who has found honey you will call others to taste of it and if Christ is not sweet to you friends that might be the reason that you are not sharing your faith no no another reason might be we aren't equipped if you don't feel like you have the resources if you don't feel like you're trained for it you're probably not going to do it but friends we're without excuse if you want to do this you will find out how to do this talk to another grab talk to a community group later talk grab some of the resources on the proclaiming table we are without excuse another reason this is the last one

[35:22] I'll give today I'm sure there are many more we don't know people not really you might know the magic group pen and teller big guy little guy who's always quiet pen jillette is the tall guy he is a pretty outspoken atheist here's what he has to say about Christians and they should convict us I've always said I don't respect people who don't proselytize it's kind of an evangelism with a negative connotation I don't respect people he says who don't evangelize I don't respect that at all if you believe there is a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever and you think it's not really worth telling them because it would make it socially awkward how much do you have to hate someone to not evangelize how much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell people does that convict you it convicts me and that's why I want to bring us back to the very beginning of the passage for an encouragement not to just make ourselves feel better but to actually give ourselves a shot of the gospel in our arms to push us along on our way

[37:02] I want to go back to that list of names normally when we look at names in the bible where our eyes glared over there's the end of it now here's the real thing right but don't look at the names the last name there is Judas who betrayed Jesus the authorities and so that Christ did go to the cross this is in God's great providence in his plan he went to the cross and he died he rose again when he got the remaining 11 apostles and then Paul who joins their company their lives and especially these names their lives and especially their deaths their martyrdom is especially important for our faith why do I say that if Jesus did not rise from the grave these men died for a lie all of them are martyred right after long lives of basically suffering they are all martyred they might say hey well you know lots of people have died for a lie we talked about the

[38:34] Nazis on that beach died for a lie that day but this is different because these men if they died for a lie they knew it because they were the ones who made it up right Charles Coulson was part of the Nixon administration he went to prison for Watergate he became a Christian he said that this list of names and their lives are the thing that helped him understand for sure that Christ is risen here's what he said I know the resurrection is a fact and Watergate proved it to me how because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years never once denying it everyone was beaten tortured stoned and put in prison they would not have endured that they could weren't true

[39:41] Watergate and Brogue 12 of the most powerful men in the world and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks you're telling me 12 fishermen could keep alive for 40 years absolutely impossible friends Christ is risen he is risen let us tell the world oh lord our god how majestic is your name in all the earth and how great a salvation have you wrought for us lord will you help us to recall and remember that this mission your mission is the mission that you have invited us into the Lord excite us into it more and more each day glory!

[40:39] and we have died Thank you.