Well, last week, we were in Matthew 9, 35-38, and we saw the heart of Jesus for the harassed and helpless, those without a shepherd.
And we saw His compassion. He's moved by that.
And He called us to pray. To pray that God would send out laborers into His harvest.
And again, I don't know if that had any effect on you this past week of the people that you normally encounter,
maybe someone at PDQ or Walmart or Festival or in your gym, and you're like, man, maybe they are a sheep without a shepherd.
We've been praying this week that God would raise up laborers into His harvest.
Have you been praying that?
And if you've been praying that, has it occurred to you that you are one of the laborers to be sent into His harvest?
This morning, we're going to take a high-altitude view of Matthew 10, which means this.
We're not going to be able to get into a lot of the detail.
But what I want to help you see is the calling and the commissioning of the twelve apostles in all of Matthew 10 glory
so that you can feel the full thrust of what Jesus is calling these band of twelve to.
And so we're not going to get into the nitty-gritties of everything,
but I want to help you see the significance of what Jesus calls them to.
Because the same Jesus that called the twelve to go to the last sheep of Israel
is the same Jesus who's calling us to go to the city.
The one who sent the apostles is the one who sends us.
The apostle Paul talks about this sending-ness as being ambassadors for Jesus Christ.
We are ambassadors for Christ to this city.
We will represent Him.
And so what we're going to do is we're going to walk through Matthew 10,
and I want you to see five aspects of Christ's commissioning of the twelve,
and I'm going to seek to aim it at us.
And so here are the five things, the five aspects.
First is you be sent.
It's the first thing you need to realize.
You be sent.
You've been sent.
You be sent.
You be aware.
You be brave.
You be devoted.
And you be generous.
And so would you open up your Bibles if you haven't already
and open to Matthew 10.
I'm going to read through Matthew 10, 1-15
to help you to see that you are sent.
I'm really going to spend most of the time in this section on the first eight verses,
but I'm going to read the whole thing for you.
1-15.
And He called to Him His twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out
and to heal every disease and every affliction.
The names of the twelve apostles are these.
First, Simon, who's called Peter,
and Andrew, his brother,
James, the son of Zebedee,
and John, his brother,
Philip and Bartholomew,
Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector,
that's the one writing this,
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus,
Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot,
who betrayed Him.
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.
Heal the sick.
Raise the dead.
Cleanse lepers.
Cast out demons.
You received without paying.
Give without pay.
Acquire no gold,
nor silver,
nor copper for your belts,
nor bag for your journey,
nor two tunics,
nor sandals,
nor a staff,
for 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.
As you enter the house,
greet it.
And if the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it.
But if it is not worthy,
let your peace return to you.
And if anyone will not receive you
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 town.
This is the account of the actual calling
and sending of the 12 apostles.
And again,
I'm just going to focus on the first eight verses here,
but there's a couple things
that I really want you to notice.
Let me ask you a question.
Close your Bible for a second.
Can you name the 12 disciples,
the 12 apostles off the top of your head?
It kind of goes,
for me it goes something like this.
Well, there's Peter and Andrew,
James and John,
then there's...
And Judas Iscariot.
And so when you can remember
just half the apostles,
you're kind of like,
huh, what does that mean?
You know what?
You should actually be encouraged by that.
Do you know why?
The apostles were just ordinary Joes.
Not too memorable.
Very much like you and me.
Working class guys.
Ordinary guys called to do something extraordinary.
They're just guys.
And so, you can't name the 12 disciples?
That's okay.
They're ordinary guys.
Let that say something.
You're an ordinary Jane or Jo yourself.
And your God has called you to something extraordinary.
To proclaim a message.
The gospel.
That alone can change a person's eternity when believed.
But there's more.
Something else I want to point you to the 12.
If you look at them,
you're like, okay,
there's a bunch of fishermen here.
And then when you read
Matthew was a tax collector.
And then you read that Simon the Canaanite.
Well, he was actually a zealot.
What you got to realize is
these are ordinary Joes.
And some of them had very different backgrounds.
You know what a zealot was?
He was an ultra-nationalist in Israel.
So, could you imagine an ultra-nationalist
saddling up to Matthew,
the former tax collector
who was raising money for Rome?
So, the ultra-nationalist would be,
you did what?
You were what?
You were giving money to the people we want out?
So, you know what the little lesson is for us?
You know what Jesus does?
He calls ordinary people
with very diverse backgrounds
and He unites them together
on a mission that's all about Him.
That's what He's done here.
That's what He's doing here.
He's uniting ordinary people
with diverse backgrounds
and He's uniting us together
and placing us on a mission
to proclaim Him to this city
and to this world.
When we see the calling of the twelve,
you've got to know that
hey, these are ordinary guys.
Some with very different backgrounds
and Jesus is calling them
on a mission to go.
They're not all the same,
but they're united
by the same Savior.
And in verse 2,
we see for the first time,
this is I think the only time in Matthew
that the disciples are actually called apostles.
Now, if you're not familiar with that word apostle,
it comes from a Greek word
that means to send out.
Sent out ones.
And in the New Testament,
that word apostle
is applied to a variety of people
throughout it.
And so, it can be used of people
just being sent out generally
to give a report from one church to the next.
It's used of Jesus Himself
in Hebrews 3, chapter 1,
to talk about the apostle and high priest.
And it's here talking about the twelve.
And so, the way that I like to,
that's helpful for me to refer to the twelve
as apostles is
they are the twelve capital A apostles.
They are uniquely called by Jesus
for a unique work in salvation history.
These are the men that Jesus is going to
build His church upon.
And when we read in Acts 1,
when Judas has died
and the early church is looking to replace him
with another apostle,
do you know what the requirements of an apostle are?
Do you know what they insist on?
There were two.
The man that was going to replace Judas,
he had to have walked with Jesus
from the baptism of John
all the way to the ascension of Jesus.
So he would have been an eyewitness
to Jesus' ministry.
He would have heard all that Jesus taught.
But that's just the first requirement.
The second requirement is this.
He would have had to be an eyewitness
to Jesus after His resurrection.
That's what was required for an apostle.
They played a unique role.
They were uniquely called by Jesus Himself
to this task.
So for us, what that means is,
hey, we're not capital A apostles.
But we have been sent by Jesus.
The God of the Bible is a sending God.
That's what He's been doing
ever since the beginning.
He sent out His people
under the old covenant, Israel.
He sent them into the nations
that they would declare God's glory
among all peoples,
among all nations.
The nations would see Israel
and they would say,
whoa, what a God you've got.
Psalm 67 was a psalm Israel would sing.
God had sent them to the nations.
So under the old covenant,
Israel was to be God's representatives
on earth to the nations.
Under the new covenant,
which is the promise,
the relationship God established
through the blood of Jesus.
Under the new covenant,
God's new people, the church,
we're His representatives
to the nations now.
And the word that the Apostle Paul
used for that in 2 Corinthians 5
is we're His ambassadors.
We represent Him.
We speak for Jesus.
You know what's amazing
about 2 Corinthians 5?
The Apostle Paul talks about,
well, we have received
the ministry of reconciliation.
We've been reconciled to God
through the Gospel.
And we've been entrusted
with the ministry of reconciliation,
which means we proclaim the Gospel.
And you know what is amazing
about what Paul says?
Paul talks about it as this.
When we preach the Gospel,
it's God making His appeal
through us.
It's amazing.
So what I want you to help you
to see here is in this
calling of the 12,
the commissioning of the 12,
is that yes, Jesus sent them out
and He has sent us out.
God wants to make His appeal
through us to the people of the city.
He wants to call them to Himself.
Which brings us to this
different piece of this,
starting in v. 5, 6, and 7.
I want you to see the primary thrust
of the calling and commissioning
of these disciples.
The primary thrust of their mission
was to proclaim,
to announce,
to declare,
to make something known.
You might have noticed
that Jesus kind of limits
the scope of this ministry,
this mini-mission
that He's sending them out on.
We read that in v. 5.
Go nowhere among the Gentiles
and enter no town of the Samaritans,
but go rather to the last sheep
of the house of Israel.
That's kind of like,
why would you do that, Jesus?
Why would you put limits
on the Gospel going out?
Why would you want to do that?
Well, we do know that
at the end of Matthew,
Matthew 28,
Jesus says,
go to everyone.
Go make disciples of the nations.
What He's doing right here
is very important.
You see,
what He's doing right here
is Jesus is saying,
go first to My people Israel.
Go first to the ones
who've been given the Scriptures.
Go first to the ones
who should be anticipating
My arrival.
Go to them first.
Go to those who are lost sheep
wandering,
sheep without a shepherd,
and declare to them,
the shepherd king has come.
The kingdom has come.
And the king has come.
Declare to them.
And so the apostles going out
in declaring that the kingdom
of heaven is near
and the king has come.
Do you know what that does?
It functions two ways.
It gives Israel an opportunity
to respond.
And by and large,
most will not respond.
And so it also functions
as judgment.
You've been given an opportunity
to hear,
but you didn't hear.
And so the Gospel then
goes to the nations.
We see that played out
all through the book of Acts too.
in Paul's modus operandi
of mission work
around the Mediterranean basin.
What we're reading here
is what John describes
in John 1.
Jesus came to His own,
but they did not receive Him.
He came to the Jews
and they didn't have eyes to see.
They didn't have ears to hear.
And so those who did receive them,
He gave right to become
children of God.
And so Jesus sends His apostles
out to this specific group of people
to give them opportunity
as well as to say,
you had your opportunity.
I'll now go to the nations.
And so that go that we read about
in verse, I believe,
where is that go?
In verse 5,
go.
Nowhere among the Gentiles.
That go will move from Israel
to the nations in Matthew 28.
In verse 7,
notice what they're going to be doing
while they're going.
And proclaim as you go.
Announce as you go.
Declare as you go.
And what do they declare?
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The kingdom's come.
And implied in that message
is the King has come.
What's pretty cool is that
this is the same message
that John the Baptist preached
in Matthew 3.2.
It's the same message
that Jesus Himself preached
in Matthew 4.17.
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The King has come.
The shepherd is here.
Be reconciled to the shepherd.
Our calling to represent Jesus
we take our cues
from this calling here.
If their primary calling
was proclamational,
our primary calling,
our primary responsibility
is to proclaim Jesus as well.
And so we proclaim good news.
Remember when Jesus sent out
the apostles here,
He hasn't died.
He hasn't raised.
And so He's going,
go, declare that the kingdom of heaven
is here.
What we get to proclaim is this.
The kingdom of heaven is here,
but look at what the King has done.
The King, the long-awaited one,
came, lived a perfect life,
died a substitutionary death.
He died for sinners.
And then He was raised from the dead.
He's reigning on high.
And one day He will come back.
That's what we get to proclaim.
It's all about Jesus.
It's all about Him.
Going back to the harvest metaphor,
the harvest is plentiful,
but the labors are few.
This proclamation that we are to announce
about Jesus,
this is the primary tool
with which we labor in the harvest.
This is the sickle of the harvest.
This is what we declare
and people respond to.
And when people respond to the Gospel,
they have been reaped unto the Lord of the harvest.
They've been reunited to Him.
And so our responsibility is to declare.
Think about it this way.
The moment you believed in Jesus,
your conversion
was your commissioning.
That's how you've got to think about it.
When you were converted to Christ,
you were commissioned by Christ.
And so just imagine,
let's say at the moment of your conversion,
this passport from heaven
drops down into your hands.
And you open it up
and it says,
citizen of the kingdom.
And there's this big blood red stamp
saying approved.
You're official.
You're part of the kingdom
based upon the finished work of Jesus.
And then you flip that over
and do you know what that says?
Authorized.
Blood red stamp.
To proclaim.
Commissioned.
To go.
Your conversion
and your commissioning
happened at the same time.
When he met Jesus
and he responded in faith.
All this to say,
you've been sent.
It's who you are.
You be sent.
Now there's one thing
I'd like to draw out more
and it's the relationship
between verses 7 and 8.
And proclaim as he goes
saying the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
Heal the sick.
Raise the dead.
Cleanse lepers.
Cast out demons.
What's the relationship
between the two of those?
Furthermore,
do we have authority
today
as believers
to exercise,
to cast out demons,
to heal the sick,
to raise the dead?
Is that authority ours?
The quick answer is
yes it is.
But here's what you need
to realize.
There's a relationship
between the two.
The message is the primary
responsibility of our calling.
We're here to proclaim.
The miracles attest
to the message.
They point to the message.
And so here's how that works out
for us.
We are here primarily
to declare that Jesus
came for sinners.
That he's the king.
His kingdom has come.
And we also take steps of faith.
When we become aware
of demonic activity,
as far as we can discern,
we step out in the name of Jesus
and we tell demons to be gone.
When someone is sick
and needing healing,
we go and ask in the name of Jesus
that they be healed.
When someone dies
and we're there,
we pray that God would raise them
from the dead.
The authority is ours.
Do you know how I know that?
Look in your Bibles
to Hebrews 2.
Hebrews 2.
Since, therefore,
the children share in flesh and blood,
he himself likewise
partook of the same things,
speaking of Jesus,
that through death,
his death,
that through his death,
he might destroy the one
who has the power over death,
that is, the devil,
and deliver all those
who through fear of death
were subject to lifelong slavery.
Would you now flip over
to Colossians 2.
Verses 13-15.
And you who were dead
in your trespasses
and the uncircumcision
of your flesh,
God made alive together with him,
having forgiven us
all our trespasses
by canceling the record of debt
that stood against us
with its legal demands.
This he set aside
in nailing it to the cross.
There's cross talk right there.
Now look at verse 15.
He disarmed the rulers
and authorities.
Those are references
to the demonic powers.
He disarmed the rulers
and authorities
and put them to open shame
by triumphing over them in him.
How did he triumph
over the demonic world?
Through his death on the cross.
The death of Jesus Christ
is the decisive defeat
of the devil.
That's where we stand now.
That's the authority
in which we have been brought into
when we are transferred
the domain of darkness
into the kingdom
of the beloved Son.
So we don't fear the devil.
We stand firm against him.
Ephesians 6.
So what I want to help you realize
is when you read
this commissioning
and you're like,
are we supposed to be doing
this kind of healing stuff today?
Well, we're definitely
going to be proclaiming.
And as opportunities present itself,
we step out in faith.
Realizing it's about the gospel.
It's about the fame of Jesus.
So here's what we've learned so far.
The apostles were ordinary guys
with diverse backgrounds
that Jesus called onto mission.
We are ordinary Janes and Joes
with different backgrounds
that God has called on a mission
about Jesus.
And the primary focus of our mission
is proclamational.
We've been called to something.
So here's how I want this
to sit in you.
The question is not
if you've been sent.
The question is
where have you been sent?
It's not if you're supposed
to be representing Jesus.
It's where are you representing Jesus?
You are an ambassador.
It was part of your conversion
and your commissioning.
You are on mission,
brother, sister in Christ.
It's part of who you are now.
So your family,
you're sent there.
You're there to represent Jesus.
Moms and dads,
you represent Jesus to your kids.
Your neighborhood,
you've been sent there.
God has placed you there.
Your workplace,
you are an ambassador for Jesus
in your workplace.
The gym where you exercise,
you're an ambassador of Christ there.
You've been sent there.
Teams, clubs,
whether you're involved with
or your kids involved with,
those are opportunities.
You've been sent.
Last week we saw that
this city is full
of the harassed and helpless
sheep without a shepherd.
And we pray to the Lord of Harvest
to send out laborers.
This morning,
the question is,
do you see yourself
as one who's sent?
Do you know the difference that makes?
When you show up somewhere
and you're thinking,
you know what?
I am here as a representative
of Jesus Christ.
It changes everything.
It's time to start thinking
about yourself a little differently.
Let God's word form
your own identity
in relationship to this world
so you be sent.
You are an ambassador.
We must be aware.
In verses 16 through 25,
of Matthew 10,
we read this.
Behold, I'm sending you out
as sheep in the midst of wolves,
so be wise as serpents
and innocent as doves.
Beware of men,
for they will deliver you over
to courts and flog you
in their synagogues.
And you will be dragged
before governors and kings
for My name's sake
to bear witness before them
and the Gentiles.
When they deliver you over,
do not be anxious
how you are to speak
or what you are to say,
for what you are to say
will be given to you
in that hour.
For it is not you who speak,
but the spirit of your father
speaking through you.
Brother will deliver brother
over to death,
and the father his child,
and the children will rise
against parents
and have them put to death.
And you will be hated
by all for My name's sake,
but the one who endures
to the end
will be saved.
When they persecute you
in one town,
flee to the next.
For truly I say to you,
you will not have gone
through all the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.
Jesus seems in this part
of Matthew 10
to be moving from
the specific calling
of these apostles
to the lost sheep of Israel
to now anticipating
more of a bigger harvest.
And here's how you can tell.
In v. 18, Jesus says,
And you will be dragged
before governors and kings
for My name's sake
to bear witness
before them
and the Gentiles.
Jesus is anticipating
that these disciples
and apostles,
they will be going
beyond Israel.
And what He foresees
and what He tells us of
is ministry at cost.
What He describes
sounds like many events
from the book of Acts
to be honest with you.
Apostles and early disciples
suffering greatly
as they proclaim
the kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
That's what He sounds like
He's describing.
So, in v. 16,
He says,
Behold, I'm sending you out
as sheep among wolves.
Do you know
what that's a picture of?
Do you know
what wolves do to sheep?
Wolves are ravenous.
Wolves are brutal.
Jesus calls us to be,
I'm sending you out
into a danger zone.
This harvest
is a hazardous harvest.
It's dangerous.
There be wolves in that harvest.
Jesus is speaking
of particular people.
We'll hand the disciples over.
Over to be persecuted.
Over to be flogged.
Over to be hated.
All on account of Jesus.
Being a laborer
in God's harvest
is hazardous work.
And here's why.
To be a laborer
in God's harvest
means that you must
necessarily identify yourself
with Jesus.
And when you identify yourself
with Jesus,
you became a target.
Many people who are dead
in their sin
and they're delighting
in their darkness,
when you move towards them
to talk about Jesus,
they don't want to hear
anything from you.
But even worse yet,
they resent you
for raising Jesus
with them.
They resent you
for even suggesting
that change is needed.
You must be aware.
Jesus is warning
the apostles
and He's warning us
the harvest is hazardous.
There's dangers.
Look at verse 17.
They will deliver you over.
Look at verse 19.
When they deliver you.
Look at verse 21.
Brother will deliver
brother over to death.
Verse 21.
Children will rise
against parents
and have them put to death.
Jesus,
I did not know
that death
was a possibility
when I agreed
to follow You.
It is.
The history of the church
is chock full
of a long list
of faithful brothers
and sisters
who laid their life
down for the advancement
of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Do you remember Jim Elliott?
He is no fool
who gives
what he cannot keep
to gain
what he cannot lose.
He died
seeking to bring
the Gospel
to a distinct
group of people
in South America.
Verse 22.
You will be hated
by all
for My name's sake.
Verse 23.
They will persecute you.
You know what the point
of all this is?
It's like,
guys,
I'm sending you out,
but be aware,
it's hazardous stuff.
It's dangerous.
There are going to be people
who are going to want
to hurt you.
Suffering,
persecution
is part
of the kingdom work.
That's part of it.
If you flip back
to Matthew 5,
it's not like Jesus
is kind of showing us
the fine print right now.
Remember,
Matthew 5,
this is part
of the Beatitudes.
This is part
of a profile
of a faithful citizen
of the kingdom.
We read this.
Blessed are those
who are persecuted
for righteousness' sake,
for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
Blessed are you
when others revile you
and persecute you
and utter all kinds
of evil against you
falsely on My account.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward
is great in heaven.
For so they persecuted
the prophets
who were before you.
Suffering is part
of it, gang.
The work that Jesus
has called us to do,
it will not go forward
without resistance.
but I love verses 18 and 22.
It so helps me.
When I hear about persecution
and I start thinking,
oh, I don't want to get hurt.
When I read verses 18 and 22,
it helps out so much
because it's not about me.
It's not about you.
Look who it's about.
It's about Jesus.
And you will be hated
for My name's sake.
It's about Jesus.
You know what we need
to be asking ourselves?
Here's what we need
to be asking ourselves.
Is Jesus worth it?
Is He worth it?
Is who He is worth it?
Is getting His name
into this city worth it?
Is reconciling people
in this city worth it?
For people going from
the domain of darkness
into the kingdom
of the Beloved Son,
is that worth it?
Is it worth it
that eternity changes
here in this city?
Is it worth that?
It's worth it.
But we say it's worth it
knowing that it's
coming at a cost.
Here's another side of this.
Brothers, sisters,
if you became a Christian
and you're thinking
that being a Christian
means that you're going
to be liked by everybody
you meet,
Jesus says,
you're mistaken.
Some people will like you.
Some people will hate you.
Just because you claim Jesus.
Next thing I want you
to notice is this.
This is the stuff
that only God does.
It's astounding.
He says in verse 18,
and you will be dragged
before governors and kings
for My name's sake,
purpose to bear witness
before them and the Gentiles.
Jesus' purposes are suffering.
Jesus says,
the only way to get the gospel
to these folks
is if you get dragged away
and you got presented to them.
Then you get to bear witness to them.
You know what bearing witness means?
It's kind of a court scene
where you share the facts.
Nothing but the facts.
You give the facts.
You give the facts
about who Jesus is,
what He's done.
And so what Jesus is saying here is,
hey, you're getting dragged
before these rulers
and these synagogue leaders
and these councils,
it's all a part of my plan
to get the gospel out.
The gospel moves forward
when we suffer.
We're given opportunities.
And verses 19-20
is such a wonderful promise
that God will speak
by His Holy Spirit through us
when we find ourselves
in these very difficult
and trying circumstances.
Think of Stephen in Acts 6-7.
Do you remember that beautiful message
he delivered in chapter 7?
Do you remember what happened to Stephen?
He was then stoned
after delivering the goods.
And do you remember
where those people who stoned them,
they laid their cloaks down?
Do you remember whose feet
they laid them down by?
Saul of Tarsus.
God, it was that word.
So when you find yourself
in a hard situation,
dragged before somebody,
and you're having to bear witness
to Jesus,
our confidence is that
the Holy Spirit is going to give us
something to say.
But you know what?
We know what we're not going to say.
The Holy Spirit isn't going to compel me
to speak about mathematical theory.
The Holy Spirit isn't going to say,
okay, let's talk about
geological plate tectonics right now.
That's not it.
The Holy Spirit spotlights Jesus.
And so in those moments,
you can believe that
you're going to be compelled
to open your mouth up
about the One
who came to save you
and the One who came to save
the people that are persecuting
right there.
And so in light of that,
what's the call?
Look at verse 22.
And you will be hated
for my name's sake,
but the One who endures
to the end will be saved.
So when we face hardship,
and we will,
it's not getting easier
to be a Christian
in the United States.
We will face hardship.
All those who want to live
a godly life in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted.
2 Timothy 3.
The call is to endure.
Endure all the way to the end.
And then Jesus tells us
how to do that.
He tells us by looking
to the Son of Man.
I say to you,
you will not have gone
through all the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.
Now, there's a lot of ink
on what is meant by
the coming of the Son of Man.
And I'm not going to bore you.
But what we see happening
is this.
Jesus is saying,
hey, when you face hardship,
you look to Me.
The Son of Man.
It's a reference
to Daniel 7.
When the Son of Man comes
and He's presented
before the Ancient of Days,
and the Ancient of Days
gives Him
an eternal dominion,
authority over everything.
He's like,
when you suffer it,
remember,
I am in control,
and God has put
all things under my feet.
It's a servant of purpose.
And if that weren't enough,
Jesus says in verses 24 and 25,
a disciple is not above his teacher,
nor a servant above his master.
It is enough for the disciple
to be like his teacher,
the servant like his master.
If they have called
the master of the house usable,
how much more will they malign
those of his household?
If you're My disciple
and they're calling Me the devil,
what do you think
they're going to call you?
Like Savior,
like follower.
Like teacher,
like disciple.
Like master,
like slave.
We'll suffer,
because He suffered.
But we'll be faithful
as He was faithful.
So,
we're ambassadors.
We're sent ones.
And Jesus is saying,
you're being sent
into a war zone.
You're being sent
into a hazardous harvest.
The advancement of the kingdom
will come at cost to us.
So the question is,
is He worth it?
Is Jesus worth it?
And when you've encountered Him,
and you know what He's done for you,
and you know what He wants
to do for others,
it's like,
oh yeah,
He's worth it.
When you read things like this,
what happens in your heart?
You get a little nervous.
A little anxious.
Fear starts to well up.
Your Savior's all over it.
In verses 26-31,
He calls us to be brave.
Listen to this.
So have no fear of them,
those who will persecute you,
those who hate you.
For nothing is covered
that will not be revealed,
or hidden that will not be known.
What I tell you in the dark,
say in the light,
and what you hear whispered,
proclaimed to the housetops.
And do not fear those
who kill the body,
but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, fear Him
who can destroy both soul
and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
And not one of them
will fall to the ground
apart from your Father?
But even the hairs of your head
are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore,
you are of more value
than many sparrows.
So everyone who acknowledges me,
I'll come to that
in just a second.
In this section,
in 22-31,
three times Jesus says,
fear not.
And then He gives a reason.
Why not to fear?
The first one is this.
Fear not,
everything is going to be
brought to the light.
There is a God.
He's accounting for everything.
And all is going to be seen
on that last day.
You can count on it.
Everything's going to come
and be seen.
What's being done to you,
it's seen.
It'll be made known.
You just need to proclaim
what I'm telling you.
That's what He's saying there.
Don't be afraid.
God's in control.
And the second one is striking.
Verse 28.
He says,
don't fear man.
Don't fear man
what they can do to you.
They can just kill you.
That's it.
That's all they can do.
Is that crazy?
Do you know what Jesus says there?
Fear man less
by fearing God more.
Did you see that?
Here's the logic.
Jesus says,
the most that they can do
is kill your body.
The one that you need to fear
is the one that can destroy
both your body
and your soul in hell.
That's the one you need to fear.
You know what?
For those of us
who've been reconciled to God,
we don't fear
our souls being destroyed in hell.
So you know what this does?
When we're persecuted
and we're fearing God,
the one that can destroy body
and soul in hell,
and we don't fear our souls
being destroyed in hell,
do you know whose souls
I'm going to be concerned about?
The one who's given me heat.
Did you know
that what you're doing
will result
in a lifelong,
eternal condemnation
of your soul?
The third thing that Jesus says
to fear not
is the same God
who's got authority
over body and soul.
Do you know what He does?
He takes care of the sparrow.
We've got these little sparrows
around the church
that fly and flutter
into the bushes.
What kind of value
would you put on them?
Ten cents?
Nickel?
Jesus says,
two sparrows aren't worth a penny.
And even your father,
they don't fall to the ground
without Him.
If God your Father
is sovereignly caring
for worthless sparrows,
and He's got the numbers
of your hair
on your head numbered,
if your God is concerned
about the details,
and caring for
insignificant things
like that,
Jesus says,
you're more valuable
than a sparrow.
Don't fear.
Check this out.
You ready?
Let's go big.
If God the Father,
this is Romans 8.32,
if He gave His Son
for you,
how much more,
along with Him,
will He give you
everything you need
to get through suffering?
God's for you.
Fear not.
He's for you.
Fear not.
He's with you.
Fear not.
He's going to give you
what you need to say.
Fear not.
It's about His mission.
It's about His glory.
What a God.
And so,
it doesn't make the hardship
go away,
but it gives us boldness
in the midst of it.
It makes us brave.
We don't have to fear.
The worst thing that I can have,
they'll take my life.
And Paul's logic
in Philippians 1
is like,
okay,
I've got to choose
or I'll stay,
fruitful labor,
I'll go,
and I'll be with Jesus.
It's a win-win situation.
We stay,
we suffer,
we proclaim Christ,
our lives are taken,
we're with Him.
It's win-win.
It just gets painful.
And Jesus is very familiar
with that.
You have nothing to fear, gang.
The work that Jesus did for you
on the cross
has secured your soul
in heaven.
Don't fear.
I'm running out of time.
In verses 32 through 39,
I want you to show you
the logic.
Jesus says,
you must be devoted to Me
above everything else.
You must be devoted to Me.
And here's what He does.
Your image before men,
you're either going to
acknowledge Me before men
or you're going to
deny Me before men.
If you acknowledge Me
before men,
if you claim Me as your own,
if you identify with Me,
I'll claim you as My own
before the Father.
But if you deny Me
before men,
you're not worthy of Me.
I will deny you
before the Father.
The issue there is
your image
in the eyes of men.
If you value
what people think about you
more than what Jesus
thinks about you,
you're not worthy of Him.
And then He moves on
from your image
in the eyes of men
to your family.
And He says,
I didn't come to bring peace,
I came to bring the sword.
And He's talking about
bringing divisiveness
and hardship and conflict
into a home.
Your family is the most
precious relationships
you have, most likely.
Could you imagine
what Jesus is saying here?
Look at v. 37.
Whoever loves father or mother
more than Me
is not worthy of Me.
Only Jesus can say
something like that.
Only God in the flesh
can say something like that.
Only the King of the Kingdom
of Heaven,
only the Savior of the world
can say things like that.
Only He can require
that kind of devotion.
And He's saying,
not even your family.
Not even your family.
Parents, not even your kids.
You're to be devoted
to Me first.
Kids, not even your parents.
Husbands, not even your wives.
Wives, not even your husbands.
First and foremost,
our devotion is to Jesus
because of who He is.
And then if that were not enough,
look where He goes from there.
In v. 38 and 39,
He moves from the eyes of men
to your family
and He moves to your own life.
He says,
and whoever does not take his cross
and follow Me
is not worthy of Me.
He's talking about your life.
Do you know what
taking up your cross means?
If we were living back in the day
and we saw somebody
taking up their cross,
do you know what we'd be thinking?
Well, that person is carrying
that cross to his own crucifixion.
Because a cross was an instrument of death.
If you're taking up your cross,
you're going to die.
Jesus is saying,
it's either you or it's Me.
He moves from eyes of man
to your family to you.
Who are you living for?
He's saying,
hey, if you want to be used by Me,
if you want to be sent by Me,
if you want to live after Me,
I take priority over everything.
It's all about Jesus.
And so the question we need to ask is,
is He worth it?
Is He worth it?
And in light of who He is,
in light of what He's done for you
and for me,
He's worth it.
In light of what He's going to make available
to people in this city,
He's worth it.
These are the big things.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it this way,
when Christ calls a man,
He bids him come and die.
To be a follower of Jesus
is to die to yourself
in order to live for Christ
who is your life.
The last piece,
you must be generous,
is just simply Jesus saying,
hey, we're working together
in this mission thing.
Receive other laborers.
Come alongside of them.
Help them.
Even the least of the disciples.
Give them a cup of cold water.
Brother and sister,
you've been sent by Jesus
into a hazardous harvest.
Do you see yourself as an ambassador?
Do you see yourself as one sent?
Are you aware of what is out there?
Are you aware of the dangers?
Are you afraid?
Don't be.
You have reasons not to be.
God is with you.
Be devoted.
Be devoted to Jesus
above everything else.
Work together.
Is Jesus worth it?
He is worth it.
Be the ambassador
you were sent to be.
Let's pray.
Lord Jesus,
You are wonderful.
Lord Jesus,
You are the greatest hope
for this city.
Lord Jesus,
the best thing that we can do
in light of knowing who You are
and what You've done for us,
God,
is to make You known.
Is to introduce others to You.
Is to proclaim You,
Lord Jesus.
And so,
God,
we do ask,
together we ask,
that You would send us
into Your harvest field.
That You would use us.
That we would see ourselves differently
and see the harvest
for what it is.
That, God,
You would give us strength
to endure.
That You would give us
courage to be bold.
That, Lord,
You would help us
to be singular
and complete
in our devotion to You.
God,
would You use us
in this city
for the glory of Your name
and for the good
of all people.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.