Sunday Night, May 23, 2021 PM

In Matthew chapter 10. We had started this a little while ago. Again, where we are right now in our study about doctrine of Christian resistance to the state is we are familiarizing ourselves with passages in the Bible that show two things simultaneously.

That there is an honoring of the different spheres of government, family, church, and civil, and that those who fear the Lord are to give honor to whom honor is due, and to be good citizens and submit themselves to the ministry of the civil authorities, which are a minister of the Lord to do good and to punish evildoers.

And they bear the sword, and we pay our taxes, and so on and so forth. And right along with that affirmation in the Bible are also stories, examples, and instructions about how we're to respond when the civil authorities call upon us to do things that are against the will of the Lord, against the law of God, against the instructions of Christ in our lives.

How are we to respond? And so these two things are not in contradiction, but they are in a particular relationship. And I think it's summed up very well with when Peter and John addressed the Sanhedrin, a ruling council, and they said, we must obey God rather than man.

And this is not to say we must never obey man, but when there is a conflict of interest, we must obey God rather than man. Now, how we go about that? Well, there's a lot of instruction that Christ has given to us.

I think it's very robust. We've got great examples in the Bible to look at and follow. We're talking about that right now in Daniel chapter one. But in Matthew 10, where Jesus is instructing his disciples about the very basics of what it means to be his followers and the kind of ministry that they're going to have, especially after his death and resurrection and ascension, they're gonna have some things to do.

And they're gonna have a focus in preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And as they do, they're going to find that there's resistance to the message of the gospel. There's resistance to proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord, in his authority over all things.

And so what do they do? How are they to respond? And so we see a lot of robust instruction to the disciples, the apostles in Matthew chapter 10. We went through the first 15 verses as an introduction background to some of the more specific instructions that we need to meditate on and discuss.

And then we began to look at the instructions in verses 16 through 20. So I wanna review verses 16 through 20 and then move forward in this chapter. As we do, I'll begin to reference some things out of Acts because things that Jesus said here are fulfilled in Acts, in particular examples.

And then later on, we will go to the book of Acts and see some of those interactions that occur. So beginning in verse 16 of Matthew chapter 10, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.

Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father who speaks in you.

You can tell that Jesus is, he is declaring what will occur. He's talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives of the disciples. This is like post-Pentecost. We understand that from this side of the book of Acts.

We're looking at what Jesus is saying there. He says, you will be brought before governors and kings and councils, and you will be put into synagogues. There's gonna be persecution from both the nations, the Gentiles, the Romans or regional governors, as well as persecution from the Jews.

You'll be brought before their councils. You'll be brought, you'll be scourged in their synagogues and so on. You're gonna find resistance, not only from the Gentiles, but also from the Jews. But he tells, he tells them in essential, a rule of thumb, beware of men.

Beware of men. He doesn't say, you know, put your hope in men, trust in men, count on men, beware of men. To have a proper expectation of what men are going to do when the authority of Jesus Christ is declared.

Now, a particular fulfillment of verses 19 and 20. Do you remember when Peter and John, they went to the temple, went by the gate, beautiful. There's the man who was lame. He'd been lame from birth every day in order for him to contribute to his family's needs.

Since he couldn't work, his family would drop him off by the gate to beg. And that's how he did his best not to be a burden to his family. And always just outside the temple, never inside, because he was lame, he was disfigured.

He wasn't fit to be in the temple. And he looked to Peter and John and they had silver and gold, none of it. But what they did have, they gave to him. And they said in the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk.

And he did. And then there was that song, leaping and was it leaping and dancing and praise the Lord, all through the temple courts and everyone was amazed. They all knew him.

I mean, he was there.

What a testimony.

He was there every single day. There was that guy, but now look at him. He's leaping and dancing and praising the Lord in the temple courts. And Peter has his opportunity to preach the gospel and did so for hours until finally they were arrested.

They were put in jail overnight. And then the next day they had to face the Sanhedrin. And it specifically says in Acts chapter four, and I believe verse eight, that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he responded to the charges leveled at them by the Sanhedrin.

Well, Jesus said that's what was gonna happen, that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit and be able to respond in that time. So we see a specific example of exactly what Jesus said. But notice the approach, beware of men, okay?

And do not worry about what you're going to say. Beware of men, do not worry. And the instructions about how to approach, okay? Recognize your sheep in the midst of wolves. You're not the ones with the power.

You're not the ones with the teeth. Recognize that you need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. So there's some basic instructions, very good proverbial kinds of wisdom given to us by our shepherd Christ here in verses 16 through 20.

And now we continue on in Jesus's basic instruction, Discipleship 101, here's what's gonna happen. Here's what you need to be ready for. Verse 21, now brother will deliver a brother to death and a father his child.

And children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.

For assuredly I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. So two basic thoughts here. The first is this, following Jesus, trusting in Christ, proclaiming the kingdom of God, so on and so forth.

What they've been instructed to do, that this will not only test, but break family bonds. Now let's consider why that is. Why would that be? That a brother would turn over another brother to death? A father his child?

That children would turn in parents to be killed? Why would anyone do that? Any ideas?

Or what'd you say, Brother Julian?

What'd you say, Julian?

Afraid for their own life, yeah. In the name of self-preservation, if I don't do it.

Yes, David?

They think they're doing something good. They're on the side of righteousness in doing these things.

Someone said something over here.

Born depraved. Let's get to the root of the matter. Absolutely. So consider Saul of Tarsus. Why did he do what he did? Breaking up families, throwing followers of the way into jail, overseeing the execution of believers who were his ethnic brothers and sisters, fellow Jews, people he would probably have known.

Why would he do that? He thought he was doing what?

He thought he was doing good.

He was zealous. He thought he was doing the Lord's will. It was a zealous, religious conviction. In fact, Jesus told his disciples in another passage that men will think that they are doing the service of God and persecuting you and turning you over to the authorities and so on.

And this indeed is the case. It takes something like religious zeal a religious zeal is what is behind children against parents, parents against children, brother against brother. And in the context that Jesus is speaking, that was manifest immediately in the aftershocks of Jesus's death and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the gospel by the early church.

There was clear divisions. There was clear conflict that was occurring. You may remember that there was a controversy in the early church about widows. Some of them were not being well cared for in the early church and some of them were.

The question might be then why are any of these widows suffering at all? Where are their children at? Why are their children not taking care of their bereaved mothers? Or maybe she turns to Christ and follows Christ and they see her as anathema.

They see her as a heretic. Oh, she's been captured by this radical band following Jesus of Nazareth. She no longer gives, she no longer goes to temple. She doesn't follow these laws anymore. See, there's all sorts of family conflict that occurs.

And Jesus is saying, you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. So, our recognition that following after Christ, there is no neutrality in this. There's going to be religious, there's gonna be splits based upon religious convictions.

There's just going to be. And we'll look more about the way that Jesus talks about relationships later on in this same chapter. First, just expectation. He wants them to be prepared. He wants us to be prepared.

There is evidence of this, not only in the time of Christ and the following generation, but when we read about the history of the church in hard areas, persecuted areas, we see that this is the case as well.

Family members turning other family members in to whoever, to the Gestapo or to the KGB and so on and so forth. Plenty of examples of that. But again, those also are religious zealots. Even in an atheistic state, the worship of the state is a religion.

And those who are zealous in their religion will turn others in thinking that they are doing good in their religious zeal.

Notice what Jesus says.

He says, when they persecute you in this city, flee to another. Does anybody find that interesting? Jesus tells you to run. Why does he tell you to run? Hey, why is he saying, okay, you go to this city.

He's already given them instructions about when you go to a city or a town and you're trying to find a person of peace and someone will accept you into their home and provide you hospitality and a kind of a base of operations for you to go out and proclaim the gospel during the day and at night, you come back to their house and you rest and you go back out again.

And that person of peace is like, yeah, I agree with what you're doing, keep it up. You can have a safe haven here. Preaching the gospel. And Jesus said, if you can find no place, nobody's there. You just shake the dust off your feet and you move on.

And now he's talking about what happens when persecution breaks out. Everybody finds out where you're staying, they're coming around and, you know, like the pastor up in Canada, Arthur Pulaski, who the other night, they tried to set his house on fire.

He dragged behind a police car, hands cut behind his back and thrown upon his back on top of his hands for an hour. And then he was hauled off to prison and treated pretty roughly. And then he finally does get released and goes home to his family.

About 1130 at night, they wake up to a commotion because somebody has set a box full of cardboard and stuff and fuel, and they've set it on fire, trying to burn up his house from the garage with a wooden door.

And the fire trucks got there in time to stop it. So, okay, so, okay, persecution ramping up. Okay, so now what do you do? Now, Jesus says to his disciples in their particular context, are you gonna stick around?

Or time to move on to the next city. For their particular situation, they needed to move on.

Why?

Why did they need to move on? For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. There's a time limit, there's a time limit. Now, again, there's gonna be disagreement about eschatology, but remember in the Old Testament, how many times God comes?

He comes a lot. In fact, there's a Hebrew word called pichad, which means to visit. And when God visits, it's usually for judgment. Remember that God came at the Tower of Babel. Do you remember that story?

He came down to see this amazingly tall tower. He had to come down to see it. And he brought judgment upon the people there. God comes a lot in the Old Testament. We see descriptions of God's judgment upon his own people, judgment upon Egypt, judgment upon Edom, judgment upon Assyria, judgment upon Babylon.

We saw this in Jeremiah. And he just keeps coming and he comes in judgment.

So the question is,.

Is Jesus talking about his second coming, his bodily coming to end when he raises the dead in victory? Or is he talking about a different coming here in verse 23? I think he's talking about a different coming.

I think he's talking about the one in AD 70 when he comes in judgment upon the city of Jerusalem. Why do I think that? He said it would happen within a generation. And he also says here, you're not gonna have time.

You won't have time to make it through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. You're just not gonna have time. And that shows me that Jesus is saying, in this time crunch, don't keep casting your pearls before swine.

If you need to move on, move on, because you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. All right, so if he was talking about, you're gonna have 2000 plus years, they would have plenty of time, right?

2000 plus years, you have plenty of time to go through all the cities of Israel. If you have a little less than four decades or around that, then it makes sense, doesn't it? All right, so just take him at his word.

He said, you wouldn't have enough time. I think he means you have less than four decades. If he's saying you have more than 2000 years to go to the cities of Israel, that doesn't make sense at all. And I think Jesus makes a lot of sense.

So that's my position. You can feel free to disagree. I'm just reading it. Jesus says, you're not gonna have time. So in this, I think we could take a lesson from this at least to say this. When there's persecution, when there's resistance to the preaching of the gospel, as Christians, we're going to have to make some assessment about what will be most effective use of our time, right?

What will be the most effective use of our time? How can we make the greatest impact for Christ? We should give thought to that. We shouldn't just do something in the name of doing something without any thought about how can we do the best we can with the time that he has given us.

The Son of Man's Coming in Judgment and the Limits of Mission

Now in verse 24, he says, a disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household?

And therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing that will not be revealed and nothing and hidden that will not be known. Okay, so he says, he's showing himself as the model. Okay, he's showing himself as the model.

How much resistance did Jesus kick up in his time? A fair amount, right? There were a lot of people opposed to Jesus, people in authority, and whether it be the Sanhedrin or local synagogue rulers who were trying to kill him or Pharisees with all of their authority.

And they would often throw Herod at him in the abstract. So like Herod, you better watch out, we're gonna stick Herod on you. And Jesus said very submissive things like go tell that fox, whatever. This is a clue that there's gonna be resistance.

Now what was he saying? He said, we have to be like our teacher. And a disciple is like his teacher, a servant like his master. Now, what did they call Christ?

They called him Beelzebub.

That's not a nice word. They called him Beelzebub or Beelzebul, Lord of the demons or Lord of the flies or basically calling him the devil. He said, if they call me Satan, how much more will they call those of his household?

So we have to recognize that name calling is gonna be a part of it. Just don't believe in the names. We talked about that last week. And now here's a basic instruction. Therefore, do not fear them. Beware of men, but do not fear them.

Do you hear that balance? Beware of men, do not fear them. So we have to, who should we fear?

Let's fear the Lord.

So whatever I tell you in the dark, verse 27, speak in the light and what you hear in the ear, preach in the housetops, and do not fear those. Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who was able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Fear the Lord, fear God, fear God. There's gonna be a lot of conflict in following Christ and proclaiming his truth. It's just going to happen. It happened to Christ. It'll certainly happen to those who follow him, but we're not to fear man.

Be wary of man, but don't fear him. Fear the Lord. And remember this, verse 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin, and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will? But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Do not fear. Therefore, you have more value than many sparrows. And everyone laughs.

That's a good joke.

I love that. That is humorous. He's reminding them that in fearing the Lord, we're thinking of our heavenly father who loves us so thoroughly and completely and excellently. And remember how powerful he is, how all knowing he is.

And not only does he have the hairs of our head all numbered and he is concerned with and knows everything happening to the sparrows, Jesus said, you're of more value than many sparrows. Don't you realize how powerful God is?

Don't you realize how loving he is as your heavenly father? And if he cares about the sparrows, I think you're probably worth a few sparrows at least. It's like, what are you worried about? Don't fear man, fear the Lord.

And he says, therefore, whoever confesses me before men, him I also will confess before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I also will deny before my father who is in heaven.

It comes down to that, doesn't it? It comes down to whether we confess Christ or deny Christ. Whether we affirm the Lordship of Jesus Christ or we fear man and cower before them in their name calling and their persecution and so on.

That is the great tension, the great conflict. Are we going to confess Christ or are we going to deny Christ? This seems awful contentious while the conflict. Well, Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil.

He came to save sinners of whom Paul was chief. And if God can save Saul of Tarsus, he can save any of us. But he came to deliver us out of the domain of darkness and to transfer us into his kingdom. And so there is going to be conflict.

Jesus says in verse 34,.

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I do not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

And a man's enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

He who finds his life will lose it. And he who loses his life for my sake will find it. Jesus knew what was going to happen. He knew what was going to happen. By coming and saying things like, I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man can come to the father except through me.

He knew what was going to happen. He knew that every other false system of religion was going to be absolutely challenged and backed into a corner and people were going to be made angry by this. And that there was going to have to be some, always the story that someone in the family comes to Christ and everybody else basically shuns them or worse.

Sometimes somebody in a family comes to Christ and then systematically witnesses and preaches to their family members who at first are opposed, but then later on by the grace of God, they come to faith in Christ as well.

But there has to be, that's the story of my father. But there is the essential need for someone to say, I'm with Christ even if my family disagrees, right? That these primary most important relationships in my life, Christ is more important than that.

I'm willing to lay down my life. Everything about my life is important, is worth laying down for following Jesus. He is my savior and he's my sovereign. And of course, this is the necessary starting point.

If there's any hope for the opposing family members to hear the gospel, right? Unless someone is willing to follow Christ and sacrifice everything for him, then the family members are never going to be evangelized in the first place.

Someone has to follow Christ in order to call others to follow him. Just like we see with the disciples, Andrew goes and gets Peter, right?

That's how it works.

And Philip goes and gets Nathaniel and so on. So Jesus knows there's gonna be division, but notice how there's a difference, a change in relationships. Verse 40, he who receives you receives me. And he who receives me receives him who sent me.

He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of the disciple, surely I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

Do you see what he does? First of all, he talks about all the relationships that'll be busted up in the name of following Christ. I mean, these things are just going to happen. There's no way around it.

There's all kinds of family conflicts in our extended families and even some of our immediate families because of the issue of Christianity, because of the issue of Christ, who he is and how he is worthy.

But notice how Jesus promises something good in relationships in verses 40 through 42. When we receive one another as Christians, as followers of Christ, we have communion with Christ. We have communion with Christ.

We have communion with the heavenly father. Look at the new family that Christ forms and gives and offers to those who are losing family members for his sake. And even the smallest things matter. Doesn't it matter in our own families when, how often do we've got to get, somebody get Toby a glass of water so he won't explode something?

And why do we do that? Because we're family. Notice what he says here. Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, surely I said he will by no means lose his reward.

The relationships are changed now. Look, when we receive one another, when we serve one another, when we bless one another, this is all part of the new family in Christ. Remember that story when Jesus was teaching in the house and someone came to him and said, behold, your mother and your brothers are here.

And he looks about and his disciples and says, behold, my mother and my brothers, those who do the will of the Lord, do the will of God. And so he's identifying a primacy of relationship. Blood should not be thicker than water.

Our water baptism is thicker than blood. We're together in Christ. We're brothers and sisters in Christ. And so Jesus, you'll see, starts with possible resistance from councils, synagogues, governors, the external civil government state.

Okay, possible resistance from that. And then he hones in even down to resistance from your own close family members. So these things are going to happen. There's going to be negative responses. That's not the only response that's going to happen, but he's preparing his disciples to know that that's going to happen.

And then how are we to respond? If we're able to sum it up, of course, Jesus' instructions start with a fear of the Lord. We fear God first, and then everything else proceeds out of that. The wisdom that we need, the approach that we need, the calm, the peace that we need so we're not flailing.

The sense of our priorities in all of it begin with knowing God, just knowing God, fearing him and knowing how much he loves us. And everything proceeds from that. Everything proceeds from that. So we have to be rooted there.

Any questions or observations about Matthew 10 and these basic instructions that Jesus gives to his disciples and how they may manifest in our world today? Yeah, be ready for war. Oliver Cromwell, trust God and keep your powder dry.

Yes.

I would say that that is appropriate. How often is Jesus reminding his disciples, you come into the kingdom of heaven as a little child? When we notice the way that he works through the contrast, those who receive a prophet, those who receive a righteous man, very celebrated, very important looking figures, but then consider the most basic act of a service to a lowly one.

And so he's showing the significance of a small act to small people in his family is meaningful.

Yes, David.

I think he's using this as a general statement of fact and acceptance. Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. Okay, so think about the blessings of the woman who receives, was it Elisha?

Elisha or like, yeah, built a room for him and so on and so forth. And the blessings that came upon her household because of the Shunammite woman. I think there's a kind of like a general statement of when you receive someone like that, I mean, there are blessings that come from that.

But at the end, he's talking about just receiving somebody in the church, just even the most lowly person in the realm of a church. Well, what is the reward there? Notice the contrast in verse 40, he who receives you receives me and he receives me receives him who sent me.

What's the reward? The reward is what? Abiding communion with Christ and the Heavenly Father. That our communion with God, our communion with Christ and the Heavenly Father is not something that can be considered in isolation from the church.

As if I could be by myself as a Christian and always commune with God and I don't need anybody else. But that there is communion and reward and blessing and abiding with God that comes through our love for one another.

I think it's encouragement for people, leadership or promise, just being here. And then the support they give and their constant prayers for them. In fact, it's telling them, hey, you do matter. Even though you're not prominent, you don't get any headlines and all of that.

But you're not only useful, you're necessary.

Yeah, the smallest, man despises the small things and the small people. And Jesus in his teachings, he's always reversing that. He's always reversing that. And showing the importance of so-called small people doing small things in his kingdom, which grows like leaven and dough, like a small mustard seed that grows into a mighty tree.

Okay, anything else? Okay, so next time we get together, as the Lord wills, it'll be in June. And I wanna take a look at some cases in the book of Acts to look at where we see the church, the early church, being faithful to Christ.

They're not just out breaking all the laws, but when the laws put upon them contradict with Christ, how do they conduct themselves? How do they put into practice these very instructions that we've just surveyed here in Matthew chapter 10 to get some case studies?

And then after that, the plan is to take a closer look at passages like Romans 13 and other passages that give instructions to Christians about how to be good citizens and see what those things actually say and do our best to have scripture, interpret scripture so we can come to a settled conclusion about our convictions, how are we to think about these things and then how are we to approach them?

So that's the plan moving forward on Sunday nights. Let's close tonight by singing the doxology together.