In Matthew ten.
Oh, we're going to see a transition point.
With what Jesus
commands and demands of his disciples.
And this is one of those messages that,
did for Jesus, probably,
and has the real possibility in our time in our midst.
Just turn some people away
from following Jesus and what that means.
And and some people are going to probably walk out.
But this is this is one of the hinge points
in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus kind of turns the corner,
and says, I'm going to lay it down for you.
My expectation and it's hard.
And I've really struggled
this week with how to approach this chapter.
And I was really convicted
last night and early in the early hours of this morning.
I believe second Timothy 316
that says all Scripture is inspired
and God breathed.
And I feel the eviction of us
for us to recapture the sacredness
and recapture the holiness of reading the words of God.
Because these inspired words
are breathed out of his mouth.
I believe that when Scripture is read
that God personally speaks.
We treat Scripture as mere content.
The historic church treat the scripture
as an audience with God.
When we come to places like this
and I understand it, but we come to learn about God,
the ancient people of God came to hear God.
And so church,
we're about to hear the words of the living God.
We're not merely studying a book.
Or being addressed by the Creator himself.
Hebrews 412 is present tense
that says, the Word of God is living and active.
Present tense.
Right now.
And so when we open the Bible together,
we're not starting a lesson.
We're entering a moment with the God
who spoke the galaxies into existence,
has chosen in his mercy
and by his grace to speak
to us, his people once again.
And so in this moment, we're not just reading Scripture.
God is breathing
into us.
And we're going to do it differently today.
And I'm going to ask that if you are able to stand,
that you stand in the reverence for the Word of God
as I read it.
And out of reverence
for the God breathed word.
I want you just to listen.
My prayer
is that by the Spirit of God, he'll speak to us through the Word of God.
Matthew ten.
And he called to him his 12 disciples,
and gave them authority over unclean spirits,
to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction.
The names of the 12 apostles are these first Simon, who was called Peter,
and Andrew his brother James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James
the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon
the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
These 12 Jesus sent out, instructing them,
go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans,
but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, 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 pain.
Give without pay.
Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts.
No bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals, or 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, greeted.
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.
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep, 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 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,
or what you 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 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 throughout all the towns of Israel.
But for the Son of Man comes.
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor servant above his master.
It is enough for the disciple
to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.
If they have called the master of the house bills above.
How much more will they malign those of his household?
The God breathed the breath
through his word.
I pray we hear it.
I pray we ingest it,
and I pray it lives within us.
Please have a seat.
Matthew nine.
Matthew one through nine.
The disciples simply watched Jesus do ministry.
In chapter ten
he says, your observation time is over.
Now tag you're it.
And then the disciples move
from admiration to participation.
And here's the big idea for today.
Following Jesus is not just about learning about his mission.
It's joining him in his mission.
And Jesus is very clear
that joining him in his mission will be costly.
Following Jesus
may begin with attending church,
but it must result in deployment.
Because a saved life is a life.
And so Jesus in Matthew ten now is going to say, here's the expectation.
If you say you're a follower of mine, here's the expectation.
And with
these words, some are going to turn away
and others are going to choose
to be deployed.
Verses one through four.
He called to him his 12 disciples, and gave them authority
over unclean spirits, to cast them out, to heal every disease and every affliction.
The names of the 12 apostles are these.
First, Simon is called Peter and Andrew, his brother James the son of Zebedee,
and John his brother Philip North,
all of you, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus
and Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Here's the first thing
for the disciple of Jesus.
What Jesus is saying is that we must accept responsibility.
He's giving his disciples authority.
They must accept responsibility.
This is the first time that Jesus will share his ministry power with anybody.
And notice what he says.
He does not say, I want you to watch me and take notes.
Now he says, I want you to take responsibility.
That's what it means
to be a follower of Jesus, to take responsibility.
Most Christians, most people want teachings.
They want Bible studies and they want podcasts,
but they don't want responsibility.
And Jesus says,
if you're going to follow me, you have to take responsibility.
You've had enough studies.
You have enough podcasts, you got enough services.
Now it's time to take responsibility.
This is the only time
Matthew calls the 12 disciples apostles.
The word apostle is a Greek word called apostolic,
and it literally means sent
ones or messengers.
Jesus himself is called
the apostle in Hebrews three verse one.
But here for these 12,
these disciples are now given the title apostles.
These 12 have a special apostolic office.
This is a special dispensation where these 12 are
those who were deemed as the apostles of Christ.
Jesus had hundreds of disciples.
All the disciples is someone who just followed a rabbi
and occasionally peaked in sometimes
these 12 have the title as the Apostles of Christ.
He names them
as his specific sent ones.
Later, Paul will include himself in this list in first Corinthians nine.
In our time, the idea of apostles.
There's no more special dispensation like there was for these 12.
Now, what we have regarding the idea of apostles is a spiritual gift.
There is a spiritual gift of apostleship.
Ephesians four says, God gave some to be apostles
and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers
to prepare God's people for works of service.
And so there is a spiritual gift of apostleship that's given to some
with the special ability by God to start churches
and to expand the kingdom through churches.
It's a, it's a, it's a spiritual gift of apostleship.
But generally speaking, every Christ follower is a sent one.
Plays the role has the role of an apostle.
Matthew 28 Jesus says,
go therefore into all the world.
I'm sending you all to make disciples.
So every Christ follower assumes this responsibility says this responsibility
of fulfilling the role of an apostle, in other words, and being sent.
There are some who God has gifted
the spiritual gift of apostleship,
but there's no more special dispensation of the apostles.
You follow.
So these 12
and it amazes me as we look at these 12, that Jesus get this.
Jesus gave his own authority to the worst of his followers,
not the best.
And at least for us, these 12.
In verse two through four we see three sets of four
in every list of the disciples.
Sometimes some of the the order changes slightly,
but always Peter is listed first and Judas is always listed last.
And I think you understand why.
And in this list there's two sets of brothers, Peter
and Andrew, and James and John
and Peter and Andrew.
James and John are always the first list of the first four.
Always.
And in each group, before each group has their own leader.
Peter is the leader of the first group of four.
Philip is always the leader of the second group of four,
and James the son of Alphaeus is always
the leader of the third group of four.
And it says, If Jesus saying, look, you're all leaders.
However, there are leaders and subgroups of leaders,
and there are leaders of leaders, and of all the 12,
there were four that were leaders of of of those other eight.
And even of those four, there were three Peter, James and John.
What amazes me about this group
is that some of them are just simple fishermen,
hardworking, blue collar,
tough men, hard working men.
One of them was a traitor to his own people.
One of them was a militant extremist.
He would be the one who was burning
the Roman flag.
They were political opposites,
polar opposites on the political spectrum.
Hated each other.
Most very uneducated.
1 or 2 wealthy, the rest extremely poor.
And Jesus says, whatever your identity has been,
whatever your ideology has been,
whatever you have used to say, this is who I am.
He says. Those things don't exist anymore.
Now your mind
and you have a new identity.
You have a new role, a new position.
All things are passed away.
New things have come.
However, you have identified yourself politically,
economically, socially, culturally.
Those things are no longer a part of my kingdom.
Now. It's just my kingdom.
Whether you're on the right or you're on the left.
No longer can you tag my kingdom to your political
position.
It's my kingdom.
And he gives us authority
to the worst of his disciples.
And I want you to know something. Verse two.
He called them, and then he gave them authority.
This is how God works.
The call always comes first
before the gift.
See, God always gives power equal to his call,
but only after one accepts his call.
Never before.
And I understand Jesus is giving his disciples,
giving his followers his very authority.
And I understand that most of us
feel very
unqualified to carry the authority of God with us,
to speak with the authority of God, to act with the authority of God.
But yet that is what Jesus does for his disciples,
for those who are willing to accept the responsibility.
I'm going to call you,
and then I'm going to empower you.
And for the disciple, once that realization comes,
the disciple must then begin living with urgency
in verse five and following the 12, these 12
Jesus sent out instructed them, go nowhere among the Gentiles, or enter the.
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 the lepers, cast out demons.
You received without pain, give without pay.
Acquire no gold or silver, a copper for your belt, no bag for your journey,
or two tunics or sandals, or 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 and greet it.
If the house was worthy, let your peace come upon it.
If it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake the
dust off your feet
when you leave that house or town.
Truly I say to you,
it will be more bearable on that day of judgment
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Here's what you saying.
He said, I'm sending you out.
Accept the responsibility and then live with urgency.
Your apostles. And you have two roles.
Your first role is to proclaim.
He says, go nowhere among the Gentiles, or enter the town of the Samaritans,
but only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
History saying, he's saying, start.
With your huddle.
These were Jews.
He's saying that the message
of the Messiah comes first to the Jew, then to the Gentile,
and the Jews will reject it, and the Gentiles will be adopted in.
But to honor my covenant
commitment to my people, we start with the Jews.
This is exactly what Jesus will say.
He said, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
right where you are, and Judea, your people.
And then to Mary into the ends of the earth.
But you start where you are,
and his commission to us accept the responsibility.
Live with urgency
with those people in your huddle that are right around you right now.
Before you ever dream about crossing a border
or an ocean, cross the street.
Do you understand?
As you go
proclaim saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand,
the first rule of the disciple wants you to accept
the responsibility of God is to live with urgency and make proclamation.
Here's the here's the thing
if your faith never leaves your mouth, it hasn't reached your heart.
The first
responsibility of the disciples of Christ, of these apostles specifically
and of us, is to go and proclaim the kingdom of God is at hand.
There's a sense of urgency in the proclamation.
He never said, Jesus never says, look, if you're not made up your mind
about Jesus, just give us some time. Think about it.
He doesn't say that,
and he doesn't tell his people to tell people who haven't accepted Jesus.
Just give us some thought. Think about it.
Let us know if you got with.
He doesn't say that.
He says make the proclamation that right now the Kingdom of God is upon you.
You better decide.
He doesn't say, debate your politics.
He doesn't say, try to reform the government of Rome.
He says, just make
the announcement that the kingdom of God is now
in the person of Jesus.
Go make proclamation.
And then he says, as you go and make proclamation, demonstrate
his mercy through his power.
I want you to understand something.
This is exactly what the disciples did.
You read through the Gospels and these 12.
They follow Jesus. They watched Jesus.
They thought one day they might emulate him.
They saw Jesus interact with the sick and the possessed and the needy.
And then Jesus is crucified. He's resurrected.
He ascended to heaven.
And now the disciples are thinking, well, what do we do now?
And as you, once you read the Gospels
and see how Jesus responds for the sick and the needy.
Then you read the book of acts and you will you will find, is this
when you read the book of acts, knowing the
the account of the Gospels, you will see the disciples, especially
Peter and John, encounter many of the almost the exact same issues
Jesus encountered with the sick and the dead and the needy.
Almost the exact same situations.
And the only thing the disciples
and Peter and John knew to do is like, we have no idea what to do right now.
Have you ever felt that way?
God, I don't.
I mean, I know what you did, but I
and so what they did is you read the book of acts.
They did exactly what they saw and heard Jesus do
they encounter a leper?
They encounter a blind person. Encounter a dead person.
They did exactly what Jesus they saw Jesus do.
And it worked.
Can you imagine living with
that kind of simple faith in urgency?
I got no idea what to do,
so let's just copy Jesus.
If he has given his followers his authority
and they've accepted that responsibility,
and we choose to live with urgency.
Imagine.
Actually living and speaking and acting in this world.
Exactly how Jesus did.
Imagine what would happen.
This is the role of the disciple.
In verse nine and ten.
Acquire no gold or silver copper for your belts.
No bag for your journey.
Or two tunics or sandals or staff.
For the laborer deserves his food.
Here's what he's saying.
He said, I don't want you to take anything that you think you're going to need.
Don't take extra money.
Have no contingency plans.
Don't, don't, don't
take anything that will give you any sense of security.
Do you know why?
Because dependance is an important
part of discipleship.
He says, I want you to completely depend
on me.
Don't make contingency plans.
Don't insulate yourself
from every bad possible outcome.
Because your dependance on me is a very important
part of your discipleship.
We have great comfort and and
and confidence when we got money right.
Great comfort and confidence.
We've got security, great comfort and confidence.
When we feel like we're in control.
But Jesus is doing something.
He's training his people to trust God's provision
through their obedience.
Not to be obedient
because God has already provided.
See, most of us,
most of us want certainty before obedience.
God, if you show me how
I will go.
And God says, no.
That's not how I'm going to choose to work.
You go
and I'll show you how.
Every year
at at our actual mission trip, this is always the issue.
There's so many people.
I'd love to go, I don't know.
Oh, if God makes a way.
If he confirms he wants me to go.
If God does this, that, and the other, I don't know if I can trust my,
you know, with my kids and blah blah, blah, blah, blah.
And God says, if that's what you're waiting for, you're never going to go.
You decide to go,
and then I'll show you how I'm going to make a way
for you and your children.
Here's here's what we have to understand.
Provision always follows obedience.
What Jesus is saying to them and to us
is comfort is the enemy of your call.
Comfort is the enemy of your calling.
When we try to insulate ourselves
from anything that would be uncomfortable
and as a result, we never step into
the call of God as his ambassadors in this world.
And this is very difficult for some people,
and I understand some people are very much wired to.
I need to know.
The biggest question in my life for some is am I safe?
Am I secure?
And God says
you will never feel more safe and secure when you're out of control.
But I am in control.
Comfort is the enemy of your call.
And Jesus says the labor is worth his food.
Here's what he's saying.
He said, listen, you focus on my call in your life,
and I will move my people to take care of your needs.
This this is the truth all through the Old Testament and New Testament.
For those of you who jump in with me to meet the spiritual needs of people,
I will move people to take care of you materially.
For those who receive from one spiritually.
The obligation is to provide materially.
That's what he's saying.
The labor is worth is for. Don't worry about it.
You're. That's what you're worth.
Don't worry. I'll take care of you.
But I want you to shed some.
He says the labor is worth it.
Not the lazy worth a handout.
All through the Bible, you don't work.
You don't eat.
We understand that
in theory, at least, in the civil realm.
Right? Right.
Let me let me just go.
Side note here.
Did you know up until the mid 1920s,
our country had completely open borders,
completely open borders.
All anybody had to do from any other country get to Ellis Island.
And they're American right now.
What we didn't have when we had open borders was welfare.
So anybody coming to our country, completely open
borders, completely free immigration.
They knew that once they got here, they had to work.
And so there was benefit both
for the person who was immigrating and for the country,
because those who came knew they were getting nothing unless they worked.
And it worked beautifully,
and it built our country
until the Great Depression.
In the 1934 35,
FDR created welfare,
and the caution to FDR at the time was be very careful.
This must be for a very limited time,
otherwise you will create a nation of beggars.
So people could come before the welfare system.
And there were some great things with the welfare system,
disability insurance, all kinds of stuff.
But before then, all the needs of
the society was taken care of by non,
governmental agencies and organizations, by churches.
But what happened is there came so many
with open borders that the populace who was providing
couldn't keep up with the populace who was needing.
Then people could come and just have a hand
without producing.
You follow.
So we understand this in the civil realm.
Why don't we
understand it in the spiritual realm?
God, I'm not being employed by you.
I'm not speaking. I'm not witnessing.
I'm not serving. I'm not going.
But will you please.
The laborer.
Is where this food.
He says you go in a place, you find a house that's worthy.
Let your peace rest on them.
It's not a value statement.
What he's saying is this.
If they receive you and your message,
that's a worthy house, a worthy people.
They receive.
He says.
Those who receive this message of the kingdom, let your peace be there.
Just be there with them.
Earlier, Jesus said, don't throw your purse at the swine
if they're not going to receive you.
Shake the dust off your feet. Move on to someone who will.
And when Jesus said, shake the dust off your feet,
this was this was treasonous to the Jewish people
because the Jews believed that they had this spiritual
superiority over all the non-Jews, the Gentiles.
And when a Jew would walk through
Gentile land, they'd get that nasty Gentile dirt on their feet
as they left that Gentile land and got back to the Jewish mean,
they would shake the dust off their feet as a statement to those dirty Gentiles.
You are damned to hell because of your spiritual filth.
And what Jesus is saying.
You don't accept my message and my kingdom.
I don't care who you think you are.
You are condemned
apart from my kingdom.
Scathing to these Jews.
No wonder they wanted to kill him.
He was so revolutionary
and he expected his disciples to be revolutionary
as well.
Verses 16 through 18.
Behold, I'm sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
So be wise as serpents, and innocent as beware of men,
for they will deliver you over the courts and flog you in their synagogues,
and you will be dragged before governors and kings
for my sake to bear witness before them.
And the Gentiles be saying,
he's saying, listen, if you're good, you're going to accept responsibility,
and you're going to live with some urgency.
You have to expect resistance.
You got to expect resistance.
Jesus never sold a soft or a safe life.
If it's an obedient life,
he was not selling a soft or a safe life.
If it's obedient.
I love
when he says, I'm sending you a sheep amidst midst the wolves.
He's turning the tables.
What are you saying is, listen, you are the sheep of my flock
and I am sending you on attack mode.
Sheep don't attack wolves.
And that's what he's saying.
And to do this,
to be this person in this world, you gotta be.
Excuse me.
Why is the serpents innocent of history saying
he's saying nobody like snakes,
right?
You see a snake other than running away?
What do you want to do?
Kill it.
It's what he's saying.
He said they're going to want to kill you.
And so you have to be as wise as a serpent.
In other words,
be very wise. And how you live.
Be crafty, be wise and be creative because they're coming after you.
What you saying?
Why is this a serpent?
They're going to want to kill you.
And then he says, be innocent as doves.
Doves?
Don't go looking for a fight.
And they don't seek retaliation.
And you say, this is the.
This is the nature of a disciple.
I'm sending you among the wolves.
Be wise and creative.
Watch out for yourself.
Don't seek out harm.
It's going to come.
But you don't have the right to retaliate either.
An obedient life,
he says, will cause friction with others, even those we love.
Well, the gospel is good news.
Not everybody wants it to be true.
He says they're going to hand you over to the courts.
I'm going to flog you in the synagogues.
Here's what he's saying.
Send the laws
of the culture and the society are going to be against you
and against my kingdom.
We understand this.
The laws of our country have turned against
the simple evangelical Christian
ethos.
And not only, he says,
will the laws of the land turn against you,
but they will flog you in the synagogues.
Organized religion
will become very unbiblical,
or even for one to believe and to hold true
to the simple conservative evangelical faith
by those in the religious establishment will be labeled narrow
minded bigots, and all these other things
they want to tag on.
He said, if you're going to follow me, culture is going to turn against you,
and eventually the religious people turn against you.
And even people in your own house listen,
if everybody approves of your faith, you probably haven't explained it correctly.
And in verses 19 and 20.
When they deliver
you over, do not be anxious for what you are to speak, or what we will see, for
you are to see what you are to see will be given to you in that hour.
For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father
speaking through you. Here's what he's saying.
Said, if you're going to accept responsibility, be my own disciple,
and you're going to live with urgency.
You have to expect resistance.
But you must speak boldly without fear.
You must speak boldly.
Without fear, is what he's saying.
See, the the witness is not the willingness to speak.
The witness is the word spoken.
A lot of us have the willingness,
but don't employ the words.
Say words from God.
Come only when our mouth is open.
Don't worry about a perfect speech.
You're promised divine help and intervention.
Most Christians
are silent not because they lack faith,
but because they fear inadequacy.
I don't know what to say.
I mean, I don't have the answers.
What happens if they ask me something?
I'm like, I don't know, like.
It's not that I don't have faith.
It's just I feel I fear being inadequate and looking stupid.
Well, Jesus removes that excuse.
You don't know what to say ahead of time,
but remember.
My provision comes
after you accept the call.
If you have the Spirit of God in you, you start
speaking and words will be given you in that power.
Not before.
And then
some of the hardest teaching that Jesus will teach.
Verse 21.
Brother will deliver brother over to death.
This is this is not hyperbole.
This isn't metaphor.
He's saying for some
this is going to be reality.
And Jesus doesn't protect his people
from it.
Brother will deliver brother over death.
And the father his child.
What?
And 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 fleet of 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.
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor servant above his master.
It's enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant
like his master that they've called the master of the house bills above them.
How much more will they?
Will they malign those of his household bills?
Above was a pagan god, the Lord of the flies.
Basically, it was the leader of demons
attached to Satan.
And what they charged Jesus with is Jesus.
You're nothing but a demon possessed Satan.
And he says, if they're going to call me that,
guess what they're going to say about your reputation?
It's going to be ruined.
Some of the hardest teaching of Jesus right here.
What he's saying is this
you give allegiance to Jesus alone.
And it will divide family
and it will divide friends.
So what do you say in
and when it comes down to them or Jesus,
the choice is always Jesus.
Even if it divides those
whom you love.
It's a tough teaching.
Jesus doesn't ask to be added to our life.
I don't ever say, just ask Jesus to come into your heart.
I don't say that because it's almost as if we add Jesus to everything
else already in our heart.
And that's not what Jesus is saying.
Jesus claims I must be the Lord
and the ruler of your entire life.
And he says, for some, this persecution that they will face
because they follow me, will be extreme
and ultimate persecution that will for some and then death.
Now that's not our story.
It is some story. It's not ours.
Our persecution will be in the realms
of socially and financially.
And when our reputation
and he says, those who endure to the end
will be saved.
What he's saying is this
faith that cost nothing, accomplishes
nothing.
If it caution,
nothing is going to accomplish nothing.
It is very true
that being a Christ follower is very costly.
But I suggest to you, according to the Word of God, that is is worth every cost.
Those who endured to the end.
Just last week I was in Guatemala.
Working with a lot of people and couples
who desperately want their country to come to faith
or plant in churches up in the hills, some of the poorest of the poor.
And we support all of them financially.
The poorest of the poor.
And to a person.
They came up to me this week and they said, please tell your church
thank you.
Without your church's investment in our lives, we don't eat.
They're enduring until the end.
One then man named Patricio,
big tears in his eyes, an old man
limped up to make a barely walk.
He said, nine years ago
I was involved in an automobile accident and I had surgery after surgery.
After surgery, nine years later, his leg is still infected.
They can't cure him of the infection and it's eating up his leg
and will eventually eat up his body.
And he said,
my body is wasting away and I am in great pain every day,
but my heart is so big and soulful that God would count me
worthy.
And so taken aback
by these people that I'm walking down to my room
and I just stop for a moment and this overwhelming message came to me,
and I wrote it down on my phone because I didn't want to forget it.
And this is what I thought.
I thought
some of us are going to be so ashamed when we get to heaven
and stand next to the poorest of the poor saints who endured
will be so ashamed
at what was so dissatisfying for us
in this world, and of the excuses we use to not serve God.
Tumbling.
And she says, look, they're going to come after you if you're doing it right.
So when you face persecution fleet
in the next town, here's what he's saying.
He's saying don't seek out suffering if you don't have to.
If you can get out of persecution with your faith intact,
full of integrity, go to the next town.
Here's why he's saying that not because our lives
are the key thing he's saying.
Flee to the next town because there's more people to share the kingdom of God with.
Not because you want to save your own skin.
You die.
You go to heaven.
Like that's a great transaction.
And if that's what God asks, that's what God has.
How wonderful is that?
There are so many people who want to live their best life now.
Well, you can if you're bound for hell, this will be your best life.
Don't ever say I want to live
my best life now don't say that.
Because that'll come true.
This will be your best life.
If you're bound for hell.
I want my best life to be there.
And so what Jesus is saying is like, look, go.
Not because you want to save this thing, but because there's more people.
The fields are right.
Proclaim the kingdom.
So the question is not if following Jesus is costly,
the question is whether he's worth what it will cost.
And there are some here that same in Jesus who
determined, no, it's not worth the cost.
And there are some here,
as in the page of Scripture
that will say,
even if all fall away, I won't.
The challenge is that the disciples entered
this chapter as students and they left as messengers, and so must we.
We are not in
the arenas of our life by random chance nor accident.
We're in the arenas of our life on purpose.
They are our huddle.
And for the Christ follower, as boring
and as mundane as your earthly life may be, day by day,
as that day goes by, you've got.
We've got to realize.
That we are someone's God
and pointed encounter with the gospel.
And the goal for the disciple
is to be like Christ.
He says it's enough for the disciple to be like the master.
It's enough for the pupil to be like the student.
Just then Jesus says, be like me.
Paul will say the same thing in Romans 829.
Be conformed to the image of the son.
And so, dear friends,
once Jesus rescues us from sin,
he commissions us
to be radicalized image
bearers in the world.
I want you to hear my words.
Once he saves us from sin, he commissions us to be
get this radicalized image bearers.
And whatever it costs us,
it's worth it.
And so today.
Decide to give your allegiance
to Jesus alone.
And decide for salvation.
I want you to pray with me.
If you've never yet.
Pledged allegiance to Jesus.
I want to give you that chance.
Simple prayer.
Profound transformation.
To God, I admit that I've sinned
and lived my own way.
I believe Jesus died for my sin and that he rose again.
Forgive me.
I accept your forgiveness.
I commit to turn from my sin.
And I dedicate my life and my allegiance to you alone.
Help me live for you openly,
without shame and without hesitation.
Friends,
for some of you, this is the day of salvation.
Some of you have prayed that prayer.
You have a relationship with Jesus,
but you're realizing
that the call of Christ
is much greater
either than what you've realized or accepted.
And so I would invite you in this moment just simply to pray.
Father,
I pledge my allegiance to you
and to you alone.
I accept the responsibility
to be your radicalized image
bearer in this world.
Have mercy on me.
Give me all that your grace will allow.
But whatever it costs,
I count it worthy.
Amen.
Matthew ten.
Can you see how Jesus turns the corner here?
He's going to fall.
We're going to finish up Matthew ten next week.
And Jesus is going to come out of all this with one message.
Don't you dare be afraid. Now.
Don't you dare be afraid.
Don't be afraid of the culture.
Don't be afraid of the wolves.
Don't be afraid of the cost.
I am with you.
And so this week, read all of chapter ten.
As the disciple
who is choosing to pledge their allegiance.
To the God of our salvation.
I love you.
I'm proud of you. Let's sing one more song.