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There are many words that can be used to describe Christians. We are set apart for God and therefore called holy. If we are living out our faith, the character traits in Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23 describe us.
We are described as loving, joyful, full of peace, patient, kind, good, gentle, able to control ourselves. And the Apostle Peter adds in 2 Peter 1 .6 that we are those who persevere. We endure trials.
These are words that would surprise no Christian. We know that these character qualities should describe us. But there is one character quality that might surprise you. The word that I'm about to say is not used in the Bible.
However, the idea is. And that is invincible. Invincible. According to dictionary .com, invincible is defined as too powerful to be defeated or overcome. The Apostle Paul describes this in Romans 8 .37.
He says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. When Paul writes that we are more than conquerors, he had the great military commanders of world history in mind. And one that comes to mind immediately is Alexander the Great.
He was the great Greco-Macedonian general. He conquered most of the known world by the time he was 32 years old. And Alexander and commanders like him, they would conquer, but what would happen is that some other military operation, some other general would come later leading his armies, and then they would take over and then they would reign.
So the conquering was only short-lived. This is why Paul says that we are more than conquerors. He writes this because Christians permanently are allied with Christ who is the One who conquers forever.
We are not invincible because of some inherent power that we possess, but rather we are invincible because we are allied with the One who is all-powerful. As we walk with the Lord in this life, we have nothing to fear.
We have two great enemies outside of us. Satan and the world. And we have one great enemy inside of us. Our sinful flesh. These three great enemies cannot defeat us because God will win out in our life even though the battle wages strong.
Now in our text this morning, as we continue our sermon series through Matthew, Jesus is once again going to focus on the opposition outside of us. Jesus knows that the temptation is to be terrified of them, of what they might do to us.
And so today he tells us what we need to hear as we think about our opposition. So this time I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me. Matthew chapter 10. We'll be looking at verses 26 through 33. And if you're using a red Bible in the pews, it's on page 969.
This sermon is titled, What Can Man Do To You? What can man do to you? And here's our big idea. Here's what this sermon is calling us to do. Do not fear your persecutors. Do not fear your persecutors.
And in this text, we'll see four instructions how. But before we jump in, I want to give you a little recap of where we've been two Sundays in a row. So two weeks ago and last Sunday, we saw Jesus talk about the persecution that Christians should expect to face.
We saw that in verses 16 through 25. In that two week sermon, we learned that we are to prepare ourselves for inevitable mistreatment from the world. We saw seven instructions from Jesus. And let me run down these again.
The first is that we need to know that we are living among hostile people. Secondly, the reason that they hate us is because they hate Jesus. Thirdly, you are to live wisely and righteously with opposition lurking.
Fourth, your sincere faith is shown through enduring trouble. Fifth, he designs for you to proclaim his lordship. Sixth, is that the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say. And the seventh and last instruction that Jesus gives us is we are not to let the resistance stop us.
We are not to let the resistance dissuade us from continuing in the Christian faith as though everything is going to be always wonderful. Now, this leads us to our text this morning. As I've already introduced, let's begin by reading verses 26 and 27 of chapter 10.
Jesus says to his disciples, and he says to us, so have no fear of them 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, proclaim on the housetops. As we look at these verses, we have to ask who the them is? And the answer is obvious. As we look at the previous passage, the them are the wolves.
They are the secular governing authorities. They are the whole world that is opposed to Christ. What Jesus says in verse 26 is to have no fear of them. Why would Jesus say this? He says this because he knows us.
He knows that we are afraid. Inherently, humans are afraid. You may have heard it said that the words do not be afraid are in the Bible 365 times, one for every single day. That's interesting that it works out that way.
As we look at our world, humans are afraid about everything. There's a long list of phobias. We're afraid of spiders. Snakes, heights, small spaces, death and public speaking, to name a few. Think about the public speaking phobia.
Why is it that people are so afraid of public speaking? This is so because people have a fear of man, right? If I'm up here, if I'm trembling, like shaking, it's because I'm afraid of you. And I should be afraid of you.
You're humans, right? I'm a human. We are afraid of messing up and we are afraid of what people might think of us. Now, some fears are justified and others aren't. If you have a black widow spider in your house, there's a healthy level of fear one should have until the spider is removed.
But if you live in Wisconsin in the winter and you are crippled by fear that a black widow might come into your house, that's not a legitimate fear. So some fears are justified and some are not. Now, if there is a legitimate threat of harm, then one's fear is justified.
If your life is in danger, the appropriate emotion is fear. This is the fear that Jesus is talking about in these verses. It is legitimate to fear those who will do you harm like their opposition will.
But Jesus tells his disciples not to let this fear overtake them. What Jesus said in the previous passage is that your opposition is like wolves. He tells his disciples that they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues and you'll be dragged before governors and kings for my sake.
Then he said, a brother will deliver brother over to death and the father his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death and you'll be hated by all for my name's sake. Let's put ourselves in the shoes of the disciples.
They're hearing Jesus say this. As they hear these things from Jesus, we can be certain that fear would have risen in their hearts. Jesus would have seen it on their faces when they decided to follow him.
Did they really know what they were getting themselves into? We're going to be delivered before governors. We're going to be flogged in synagogues. We're going to be hated by our family. How about us?
Do we understand what we are signing up for when we become a Christian? We saw last week, you will face opposition. The Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy 3 .12 that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
At this church, I want us to understand clearly what it means to be a Christian. Right, there's not, there's not, OK, we're going to tell them what they want to hear, get them in the door, try to keep them a Christian, and then maybe later on we'll tell them what it's really like.
No, we tell you right up front, there will be challenges as you follow Christ, whether mild or severe. You must understand that you are traveling toward heaven while the world ruled by Satan is going in a different direction.
The tension between believers and unbelievers in this world is inevitable. It doesn't mean every unbeliever is going to hate you. God's common grace is over some, that are favorable toward Christians.
But many in the world are deep in their sin, are deeply following the ways of the devil. And of course they hate Christians because Satan hates Christians. If you're really closely following the devil, you're going to hate what Satan hates.
You're going to love what Satan loves. In America, most in government, most in media, most in academia have a strong dislike of Christians. I mean, a student in a secular college, if they stand up and say, I'm a Bible-believing Christian, you think that's going to be met with a warm reaction?
No. Some of you, some of you even went to a secular college, you know that. And it's ramping up more than ever. These are the kind of people that Jesus says have no fear of them. After Jesus tells them not to fear, he then tells them in the remainder of verses 26 and 27, What I tell you in the dark, say in the light.
And what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. In other words, everything they have heard from him in private, they are to proclaim boldly in public. Right here, Jesus is preparing his disciples for the time when he leaves the earth and they are to proclaim everything he taught them.
It is during these decades after Jesus left the earth that they would experience this tremendous opposition. This opposition that he describes in the previous passage. That they be dragged before governors.
That they be flogged in synagogues. After Jesus' resurrection, shortly before he ascended to heaven, he told his disciples, the Great Commission, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything.
Not some things. Everything that I have commanded you. So everything that Jesus teaches them in private, they are to proclaim publicly to the world. Now, this is not all doom and gloom. Some will receive their message.
But that's not Jesus' focus here. He's focusing on the other side. He's explaining the difficulty that will come for the one who proclaims the whole truth. Opposition will come. Jesus is telling them, do not be a secret Christian.
Be public and be bold. He tells them to share everything. Don't just share the things that are attractive. Share everything with them. When we share the Gospel, we are to share the bad news first and then the good news.
Some of these Gospel tracts don't even really talk about the bad side. They just say that God loves you and just believe in Jesus. Well, yeah, it's true that He loves you, but God is angry at you right now because of your sin.
Is that communicated to them? Because that needs to be communicated also. They need to know why Jesus needed to go to the cross. When we disciple people to be mature Christians, we need to teach them the whole counsel of God.
When someone comes to faith in Christ, Acts 20, 27 says, Paul's talking to the elders in Ephesus. He tells them, I have not shrunk back from teaching the whole counsel of God. To you. That's why we go verse by verse through the Bible.
We can't dodge anything. To teach a watered down version of Christianity is cowardly. It comes from a fear of man. We need to proclaim the whole truth boldly. So in your workplace, do people know that you are a Christian?
In school, do your classmates know that you are a Christian? At home, do your neighbors know that you are a Christian? And knowing that you are a Christian, have you and I communicated the whole Gospel to them clearly?
Jesus calls each of us to do this, and we should expect opposition. But as we face opposition, we need to proclaim the truth boldly. We should not stop doing that. This is Jesus' call, and if we are fully surrendered to Him, this is what we will do.
And we won't do it perfectly, but it should be our aim to do this by His power. And as I think about many megachurches in America, they became big because they put forth a watered down version of Christianity.
There are certain topics they avoid. For example, they talk about the love of God, but they don't talk about the wrath of God, as I mentioned. The sad thing about these churches is that this is how they become big.
If you start preaching the whole truth, you know what's going to happen? There's going to be a mass exodus. People are going to leave. And in that way, it would be a good thing that people left because then you would find out who's real and who's not, and then you build up the right way.
And that's what we're doing in this church. We're building the right way. The whole counsel of God, you receive it, and then you follow Christ the way that you're supposed to, the way that Jesus wants you to follow Him.
Whether it is a pastor preaching or a layman telling the truth of the Word of God, the truth of the Gospel to his or her friend, we cannot fear man. We are to proclaim the whole truth and some will believe, but some won't.
But the one who does this has the great joy of knowing that you are doing what Jesus told you to do. How wonderful it is to be one who is pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. So do not fear your persecutors.
The first instruction how is by obediently proclaiming the whole truth boldly. The second instruction from Jesus is this. We are not to fear our persecutors. And the second instruction how is by trembling at the one who holds the keys to heaven and hell.
Trembling at the one who holds the keys to heaven and hell. Verse 28, Jesus says,. 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.
Now in these verses, we are going to see Jesus tell us that even though we should expect opposition, we are not to mistake who we are to truly fear. It's very easy to fear man. It's very easy to fear the one we can see and not fear the one we can't see.
Men are so weak, so small, so unintimidating compared to God. We need to understand who God is. And when we understand who He is, the proper emotion is fear. God is infinite in power, infinite in knowledge, and always present.
Think about that. Do we think about who God is? Nothing happens that escapes His sight and He is the judge of all the earth. Even Satan and his demons, who are very powerful, God will easily throw into the lake of fire as Revelation 20 verse 10 says.
When we understand who God is, the unbeliever should be terrified at the coming judgment. But the believer should have a healthy fear. Theologian R .C. Sproul has said, and I'm paraphrasing, to the unbeliever, God is the executioner.
Well, to the believer, God is a father that you do not want to let down. Okay, big difference there. God is an executioner to one and He's your loving father who you don't want to let down. That's for the believer.
You remember when you were a child, and some of you who are children right now, you know this. You don't want to let down your father. You have a healthy fear of your father because you love him. And when you let him down, he might discipline you.
And if he's a good father, he will discipline you. But you also know how delighted he is when you do well and what joy you feel when you please your father. This is what the relationship of God's children is to God, your father in heaven.
There is a healthy trembling and he is one with whom you have this satisfying relationship. I've also heard author Jerry Bridges give a very helpful illustration. He compares God's relationship to his children as that of an honorable general with a common soldier.
The common soldier trembles at the presence of the general, but the soldier deeply respects the general and the soldier listens to what the general tells him and the soldier desires to please his general.
So we are to fear God. Not to fear God. Not man. For the one who fears what man will do needs to hear essentially what Jesus is saying here. What can man do to you? What can he do to you? The worst thing that another human can do to you is kill you.
And you might say, well, that's horrible. Well, it is. But when you realize that God has you securely forever, then it's not so bad. In the first century, the Romans were baffled at Christians. They were baffled at their lives of full surrender to this crucified messiah that they believed in.
And they were baffled that they did not even fear death. Second century Roman writer, Lucian, he said these very interesting words. He wrote the Christians worship a man to this day, the distinguished personage who introduced this new cult and was crucified on that account.
You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains their contempt for death and self-devotion. Their lawgiver taught that they are all brothers.
From the moment that they are converted and deny the gods of Greece and worship the crucified sage and live after his laws, all this they take on faith. It's interesting hearing the perspective of an opponent.
What Lucian is saying here is these crazy Christians, they believe that they're immortal. They are so committed to this crucified sage, Jesus, that they are not afraid of those who are going to put them to death.
These are people who believe in this resurrection and they believe that they're going to be raised from the dead. And as we can see by how these early Christians were described, they followed the instruction of Jesus in verse 28 that they are not to fear those who killed the body, but cannot kill the soul.
Once Christians were martyred, they would go to heaven. And what Philippians 121 says, what Paul wrote, is that to live is Christ and to die is gain. God holds the keys to heaven and hell. If you belong to Him, then He will take you to heaven with Him forever.
But if you care more about what man thinks, showing that your devotion is really to man and not to God, this shows that you are not a genuine believer. Now, Christians do struggle with fearing man. And this is something we need to put to death.
But some who profess Christ are apostates who show where their true devotion is over time. This verse from Jesus is a warning to Christians. Are you just a professing Christian or are you a genuine Christian?
At the end of the day, a genuine believer fears God more than man, even though the temptation to fear man is still there. But Jesus gives a reminder to Christians here. Fear the One who has the true final say on your life.
The hostile world will not approve of you, but the only opinion that matters is the One who holds the keys to heaven and hell. Larry, Sean told me this story, Larry Forsberg. Of course, he was the interim pastor here before I got here.
He was told to do a prayer. I think it was down at the Capitol. And they told him not to put in Jesus' name at the end of his prayer. And he went down there and he prayed. You know what he said? In Jesus' name.
He wasn't invited back. So do not fear your persecutors. The second instruction how is by trembling at the One who holds the keys to heaven and hell. We cannot fear man. We must fear God. Here's the third instruction that Jesus gives us not to fear our persecutors.
Realizing that God cares for you more than you know. God cares for you more than you know. So as opposition comes, God will take care of us. Let's read this in verses 29 through 31. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
And that 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 the message here from Christ is clear.
God will take care of you. In the previous point, when I explained that everything, I'm sorry, everyone who is martyred for their faith in Christ will be taken to heaven with Christ. A very sobering passage about martyrs comes from Revelation chapter 6 verses 9 through 11.
The end of that passage says that they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
As we look at our passage in Matthew 10, and as we think about the events of the end of the world, as Revelation describes, what we must understand is that the hostility we see in the world right now it's only going to build.
Jesus describes the end of the world as birth pains. From Matthew 24 verse 8, the women in this room who have had a child know what birth pains are. Now, I don't, right? I'm a man. I was an eyewitness.
But you know what this is like. The women who had a baby. This is how world history goes. Things get bad, then they lighten up. Things get bad, then they lighten up. Things get bad, then they lighten up again.
And then at the end, they get really bad. Just like the end of the pregnancy. Those those contractions really get very intense. What we experienced globally and in America over the last year was a significant birth pain.
Now, the question is, will things lighten up for a time where the world is calmer? We don't know that. That'll be seen. There will come a time when when the calm times will be over and the final seven year tribulation will come on this earth.
But what believers must understand, whether now or in the final tribulation, is that God will take care of you. This is what he's trying to get across here. What Jesus says in verse 29 is that sparrows are sold for a penny.
The penny here is used to describe a very low amount. In the first century, this low amount would have been a tenth of a day's wage. It's also very small. God knows even the most insignificant living things like a sparrow.
They're sold for a penny, but God still cares for them. Many of you have had pets throughout your life. God knows about your pets, those furry friends that you have. He knows when they die. My childhood dog, Little Red, he died in April 2013.
I was in the fourth grade when we got him. In fact, I took him to school, show and tell. Everyone loved him. He was the star. He lived to be 16 years old. And when he died, I was very sad. I almost felt bad for it.
I was like, I was really sad. I'm thinking, he's just a dog. But this is the first that I thought of. Not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. God even cares about your pets. He's well aware of the day animals die.
The argument that Jesus gives in these verses, why does he say this? This is a lesser to greater argument. If God cares for the sparrows, if God cares for your pets, then how much more does he care for you?
As humans, you are the pinnacle of creation. Only humans in all of creation are created in the image of God. Not only that, as a follower of Jesus, you are God's child. God cares for you more than you could ever understand.
Think of that person in your life who cares deeply for you. Your spouse, your parents, your grandparents, your children who love you as parents, your friends, your church family. The love that anyone has for you pales in comparison to the great love that God the Father has for you.
God knows about you. What verse 30 says is that even the hairs of your head are all numbered. You don't know how many hairs you have. You have a lot of hairs. Some of you have more than others. And he knew about you before there even was a creation.
He knows well the day you were born. He knows when you are having a good day or a bad day. He knows your greatest struggles. He knows your greatest desires and hopes. He can tell you in full detail every single day of your life.
He knows the day you're going to die. The point that Jesus is making here is that God cares for you. If you are persecuted for righteousness' sake, God has not forgotten about you. It is not as if He does not see the difficulty that you are facing.
He sees it all. And Jesus wants you to know that God is with you as you face opposition. In the Old Testament, Joseph was falsely accused of making a sexual advancement on Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.
Potiphar's wife was evil and she knew of Joseph's righteousness and she wanted to harm him, so she falsely accused him. Joseph was thrown into prison because of this false accusation. But you know what the passage says?
Do you think God forgot about him? No. Genesis 39 -21, the author Moses writes, the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Remarkable.
What we learn here is that the Lord takes care of you when you are mistreated. And the reason you are mistreated is because you are a target. They may not say it's because you're a Christian. They might not even know it's because a Christian.
Satan certainly knows why. But you're a target. God's favor is upon you as you face this opposition. 1 Peter 4 -14 says, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
God notices when you face opposition and he will always stand with you. He's committed to you to the end. Think about this. He said, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, will he not graciously give us all things?
God gave up his son for you. He's fully invested in you no matter what. He notices when you face opposition. He will always stand with you. Do not fear your persecutors. The third instruction how is by realizing that God cares for you more than you know.
And here's the fourth instruction how we are not to fear our persecutors. Understanding his reward awaits the unashamed. His reward awaits the unashamed. Verses 32 and 33. Jesus says, so everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven.
But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my father who is in heaven. The whole point of this passage has been calling us to fear God and do not fear man. There's such a strong temptation to fear man, but we must not succumb to that.
There are many such examples from history where Christians stood strong right to the end as they faced opposition. One such man is Polycarp. Now, Polycarp is a very interesting man. He was discipled by the Apostle John.
And in the Roman Empire, he was told to recant of his faith in Christ. You know what he said? He said, 86 years I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?
So he didn't recant. He was put to death, but he's in heaven now. He honored Christ before men and so he will be honored in heaven. There are many other stories like this down through history. Countless Christians have honored Christ before men facing death.
All they needed to do was recant and they would have been set free. But they stood strong, willing to give up their life for their faith in Christ. Now, none of us may ever die a martyr's death, but we will face opposition from others as we walk with Christ.
And in those times, it will be tempting to buckle under pressure and not stand with Christ. The last year has been a year of cowards. Cowards. Fearing man, not fearing God. You've seen it. I've seen it.
We cannot do that. If the door opens for you to say a good word about Christ, to say it. If someone blasphemes the name of Christ by using his name as a swear word, don't be afraid to call them out. If you stand for truth, then don't ever say you were wrong for standing for truth.
About a month ago, this happened. A well-known Christian author and pastor by the name of Max Licato, he apologized about what he said about homosexuality many years before. He said it was sinful decades ago.
And he was right. But he said this recently when he was getting pressure and criticism for what he said decades ago. He said, faithful people may disagree about what the Bible says about homosexuality, but we agree that God's holy word must never be used as a weapon to wound others.
Does that sound like someone who sold out for Christ? Does that sound like someone who fears God? No. Let me read that again. Faithful people may disagree about what the Bible says about homosexuality.
The Bible is clear on what the Bible says about homosexuality. And he should not buckle. This comment is false. Now, it is true that if we are having a conversation with someone entangled in this lifestyle, we should treat them with gentleness and respect.
But we cannot disagree about what the Bible says about sin, no matter what sin it is. And to put it frankly, Licato is fearing man and not God. And he should repent for what he said. We are to honor Christ before men, even when it's not popular.
And he would have gotten a lot of criticism if he stood with Christ. But how much better to stand with Christ and have his, have him pleased at you rather than the world. A true Christian is one who unashamedly follows Christ no matter what the world thinks.
We should not shy away nor buckle from anything the Bible says. If we do, what it shows is that we fear man more than God. But if we are to fear the all-powerful one and not the ones made from dust, we are pleasing God.
What these verses tell us is that we will be rewarded for our faithfulness. Those who largely stand with Christ in this life, I say largely because we will, there will be times when we buckle. But those, but at the end of the day, when it's shown you are devoted to Christ and not to man, those are the ones that Jesus acknowledges before his Father.
You will be celebrated and not hear the words, I never knew you. What a horrible thing to hear for the one who is a coward. Those who fear man more than God, Christ considers cowards. And every unbeliever is known for their sins.
This is largely who they are. While believers are different, at the end of the day, believers are shown not to be cowardly, but the unbeliever is. And this is what the Bible says about the future of the cowardly in Revelation 21 .8.
As for the cowardly, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Those who fear man more than God are unbelievers. We are to show our true faith by honoring him in public, even if it means opposition.
And the reward is that you will forever dwell in his glory and he will reward you for your faithfulness. Okay, so let's bring this to a close here. Do not fear your persecutors. And we've seen four instructions how from the Lord Jesus.
By obediently proclaiming the whole truth boldly. By trembling at the one who holds the keys to heaven and hell. By realizing that God cares for you more than you know. And lastly, as we have just seen, understanding his reward awaits the unashamed.
As we consider what we have just heard, we need to have the right view of who God is and the right view of who man is. God is big and man is small. God is holy and man is sinful. Sometimes the way that I think before I preach, I like to think of me preaching in a cemetery.
Because I'm preaching to people who are going to be dead 50, 60, 70 years from now. I mean, nobody in this room is going to be alive, you know, 80, 90 years from now. I mean, think about that. I'm a dying man preaching to dying people.
I'm preaching to dust. So what that means is, I shouldn't be afraid of you. Nor should you be afraid of anybody else. I mean, think of that. This is someone who's going to die. This is somebody who's going to stand before God.
And I'm going to stand before God. So am I going to fear him? Or am I going to fear man? That's what it comes down to. May we be those who fear God. May we be those who do not fear our opposition, but are willing to stand with God no matter what.
Now, next Sunday, the theme of persecution continues in this section. As Jesus says something astonishing, following him will lead to division with others, even those we are closest to. So we will look at this next Sunday.
Let's bow our heads in prayer. Father in heaven, it is a sobering thought to look at your word and to hear the words of the Lord Jesus and he tells us not to fear. And so may we not fear. May we be those, Lord, who are faithful.
May we be those who have a proper understanding of who you are. Lord, you are our Father. You are all-powerful. You are omniscient. You are always present. What can man do to us? What can dust do to us?
So, Lord, may that show in our lives. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.