I invite you to turn, as we're continuing our study in Matthew, Matthew's Gospel, chapter 10 this morning. I invite you to turn to that chapter, and we have divided this up into two sections, two sermons. which There's a lot here, but in page 969 we will be looking at verses 26 to the end of the chapter as Jesus is giving instructions to his apostles, sending them out for the ministry.
So beginning at verse 26, this is the Word of the Lord: "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. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me 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. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And the one who receives a righteous person, because he is a righteous person, will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."
And there will end the reading of God's Word.
We are in the heart of Jesus explaining what the Christian ministry will be and what it is like. I'm convinced there are so many principles at work in Matthew chapter 10 it's such an important passage. The apostles, in giving instruction, the pastoral epistles i believe, very carefully looked at Matthew chapter 10. You can get it all right here. When you look at the implications of all these things that Jesus just said, far from everything being nice in Christian ministry, as we really want it to be, Jesus here is absolutely shocking, isn't he? I mean, he really puts us on the edge of our seats about Christian ministry. He is making and helping the apostles to appreciate and understand what they can expect as they go out on this mini missions tour, if you will, ministering the Gospel as he is sending them. He is it's a preview of coming attractions of the Gospel going to the ends of the earth, here beginning as they're sent out to the house of Israel, to Israel first. And this is important for us to study.
You will not understand or appreciate or even survive true Christianity until you understand what it's all about. Because it's easy to come and be a part of the church and do this traditionally and do this culturally for many, many years and still do it on false pretenses. And that's a serious thing to think about, isn't it? It's important to study the Scriptures so that we're not ignorant about passages like this. Because if we are ignorant about what the ministry is, we'll never be satisfied with the church. We'll always be frustrated with the church because we look at the divisions and we look at the conflicts and we look at the strong stances and we look at all the battles that are fought, and we become disgusted with it all.
It's warfare. The Christian ministry is warfare. And we can easily move away from this in our day to just pick what you want to something that's easy, that has a form of godliness but denies its power, as the apostle said. So I want to look at this today this absolutely crucial passage listening carefully to what Jesus is describing here, and then to understand it and appreciate so that you would have a good understanding of what is true and what is false.
When we see certain effects and consequences of ministry, we tend to judge it all wrongly. The main point here the main point of what we're looking at is that jesus is again commissioning the apostles to go out and to preach the Gospel, to preach and bring the everlasting Gospel to Israel, in this case, to bring the Kingdom with authority as he commissioned them to have. But he wants them to listen carefully to his instructions. He wants to caution them so that they understand what to expect. He wants to understand what should drive their ministry: that it should be the fear of the Lord. Did you notice how important that was in this section? The fear of the lord that's the heart of this today in his calls for them.
So we look briefly here at his concern, his caution, and his consolation. If you want three points, there you go: his concern, his caution, and his consolation, that are here mapped out for us in this second half of chapter 10.
Now we began this last time by looking at his instructions to go, preach the Gospel, to go out and take the Gospel. And where households received it, think of israel covenantally where households received it peace was to come upon that household. But then Jesus says, "I want you to be really wise and beware of men." There's lots of games that are people are playing. "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves as you're doing this ministry. You have to beware, and there are points at which you shake the dust off your feet and you move on because they've rejected it." And I tell you this: it will be and this is Israel. Think of all the history of what they've been given. "It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that city and that household." So this is serious.
And so he spoke of two arenas of opposition that they would face as they go out and do the ministry. And all this is true to this day. All this is true to this day. The two arenas of opposition would be: you will face opposition at times in the ministry from civil rulers, from magistrates, who will oppose you. And they will put you on trial. They will put your doctrine on trial. And I don't want you to fear i'll give you the words at that time if that happens, if I appoint that for you. It's all appointed that you may bear witness. And we looked at that last time. We tend to try to oppose all that with everything we can, and the Lord is saying, "No, no, no, no, I'm in charge of that, in putting you in those positions so that you have an opportunity to bear witness. I may put you in jail that's how he looks at it."
The other arena of struggle he says is going to be the family. And that's what we look at more today. You can expect you will be hated by all. And if they called me the Master of my household, bells above, they're going to call you that. Think about him there they were saying he had a demon.
Now, this is not just for pastors, this is not just for those sent for ministry. It is, in the sense of the immediate intention of the author here of Matthew, but all of these principles apply to you as servants and as those who serve as Christians in this life. You can deduce everything from this of what the Lord is after from us as His people, as those he left here to be his witnesses in the earth. So that's why this is so helpful for us. But in its primary way, it's helping us understand Christian ministry, and we need that. That's why we have pastoral epistles we have to understand what's happening we have to understand what's going on, and that's what this is all about.
So that's where we pick up. In light of these oppositions, in verse 26, Jesus says, "I don't want you to have any fear." no fear We laughed at that a few weeks ago, in the sense of that was the slogan of the 90s remember? And you can still get a t-shirt if you want. But Jesus's words are much stronger. "I don't want you to have fear because you have a God who loves you." So there's four reasons I want you to fearlessly go out and preach the Gospel. I want you, apostles, to fearlessly go out into the world and minister the everlasting Word of God. Four reasons he gives here.
And the first is you'll notice in verse 26 so have no fear of them, for nothing covered that there is nothing is covered that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known." So what he's saying there is the message has to go out. People have to be saved. I'm not losing one sheep in this remember and I've had compassion on the multitudes. I want to send you out with my Word to preach it. But I want to encourage you with this: you could hear him pulling aside his apostles and instructing them before he sends them. "I want to encourage you with this. You're going to face a lot of opposition. I want you to know this and remember this: None of it will go unpunished. Nothing that is covered right now will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. You continue to be faithful. You fearlessly go out and preach. All of this is going to come out in the wash at some point."
There are going to be those who are vocally opposed to you in the ministry as you go out. And then there are going to be phonies who will smile at you and tell you you're great, but they're undermining the whole thing in closed doors. They're pulling away people after themselves. That's what Satan did. He pulled away people after the angels away and dragged them down because he hated the Lord. Same thing's going to happen in your ministries. It will be revealed who are true and who are false at the right time. The day will reveal it when the Son of Man comes.
So I want you, verse 27, to, this is beautiful, preach openly. Don't do what they're doing. Preach openly. "What I tell you in the dark, say in the light." Jesus has been giving lots of private teaching to them, and he's commissioning them there. You go, preach the whole counsel of God that I've given you. "What you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops." I've been saying many things to you. You take my Word and you preach it openly. You say, without fear, all that I have said, all that I've commissioned, all that I've given you, courageously. You say the comforting things and you say the hard things.
That's why Paul said, probably from this: "I do not shun to preach the whole counsel of God." Such a commission to preach the Word freely and to preach the Word in season, out of season. Again, pastoral epistles was taken from this. Now, all of this applies to Christianity in some way us as Christians, doesn't it to be fearless and making known the truth. You see how easy it is for ministry to avoid this for the sake of offending people and entertaining people. How many churches are so worried about offending their youth and offending people that they live in this fear all the time, and they wonder why their church doesn't grow?
He got this right from Christ, the apostles. Paul dealt with all the time when he constructed pastors: "We are not, as so many, peddling the Word of God, but with an open statement, open commendation of the truth, we preach to every man's conscience. We are trying to be clear. We are trying to be direct. We're giving the whole counsel of God, and we're not living in fear of men."
How many times have pastors faced people in the church who tried to control the pastor's message the wealthy this is all in the history of the church speak the whole counsel. Do not live in these fears.
And then, second: do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. "Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul and hell."
So there's kind of the heart of this, I believe. That he is saying to his apostles: "I want the fear of the Lord to drive you. Not fear of judgment, but not the fear of men. A fear that says we're worthy. He has made us worthy servants to announce the Gospel, and he's the One who's King. He's the One who holds everyone's life in his hand and he determines destinies."
This is why Paul said, "I do not persuade men. Do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I seek to please men, I should not be a servant of Christ." I don't want you fearing men in your decisions and in your messages. You give open proclamation of truth. You do it with compassion. There are so many temptations to shrink back the effectiveness of what is being said because we just want to be diplomatic and we want to try to have people like us. God doesn't bless ministries like that.
There's one to fear. Here's the reality: they can only destroy your bodies if they don't like it. If you fear men, you're not fearing God, who has the power to destroy, he's talking about eternal destruction, body and soul and hell. I think that principle's lost today. I think that's one of the most important principles that makes any of us who go into ministry should make us fear and tremble.
There's a healthy fear of God, a right fear of God, one of reverence, one of awe, who we're serving. Knowing that his Son was so hated he was put on a cross. And why? Because he spoke truth. "Do you hate me because I spoke truth?" said Jesus. You're counted worthy. Fear God, not men.
Number three, third directive: then he speaks to them tenderly, doesn't he? As if saying, "I know, I don't think this of you when you face hardship. Remember, you're my children. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. You're worth more than them. Your very hairs are numbered." Remember this in ministry, and this is for you too, but this is a real encouragement for sent servants. This was a real encouragement for them. In all the opposition, it's easy to think that God is not for us and that God has forgotten us, like Elijah hiding in the cave after Jezebel came after him and Ahab. "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He wants all those servants, and this includes you, to know that you're loved and you're cared for by the Lord. That's what matters. That's what matters. He's watching over the hairs of your head. He cares about you. He loves you that much. There's no reason to fear men. They have no power over you. They don't even have a power over a hair of your head. That's what he's saying. They don't have a power unless it's granted to them. That's how much he cares for us. That's how much I love my servants. You're way more valuable than sparrows who don't even fall down out of the sky and die apart from his will, and they're sold for pennies. You think you're made in the image of God and not worth much more?
Finally, he gives one more directive. Then it goes like this: "So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father in heaven."
What he's saying is so beautiful here. I'd never thought about this before. But he's saying something to encourage servants. He's saying it to encourage them: "I don't want you to go out and just be vocal transmitters. Meaning, you're not just voice boxes. You're not just robots in your service. I want you to confess me. I want you to confess me." As pastors, from the heart Romans 10: "If you confess with the mouth and believe in the heart, you'll be saved meaning "I want the ministry to come from your heart. Confess me to people. Have your heart in it."
You can do ministry. You can try to be a Christian without ever confessing him. That doesn't work. You can do church. You can play the game without ever confessing him. You can do a lot of religious stuff without ever confessing him. You can do all the forms and keep all the principles and follow all the things and have not love and you're nothing. You must confess him. Tell people about him because it radiates from you all that he's done for you.
Any pastor knows it's easy just to give information. He's Lord. He's King. The King came and died for us. He's the Lord and ruler over all. He's been highly exalted. He's raised. And the encouragement here is that the testimony comes from the heart.
What an encouragement to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord! Give the message. Live in the Lord's fear. Know you're loved. Confessing from the heart, you will be honored. What a calling for servants, and what a calling for you.
All this applies. Now, here's where it all gets put to the test. Sounds good, doesn't it? What will be the area of greatest struggle in ministry? Where is all of that what I've just said going to be put to the test? where What arena? What is singled out here is one of the greatest challenges of ministry?
What arena of opposition will we find to be the fiercest? And here we come to something utterly shocking. It's Jesus's great caution in ministry. Here it is: This is verse 34. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."
Sword means division here. When the disciples and apostles heard that, it must have been shocking. "Aren't you the Prince of Peace?" We just read that the intention earlier is: when a household he comes to, if they will receive you and they're worthy, let peace fall on that household. And here we have Jesus seeming to say, "I've come to bring something different."
The shock should be when we hear this is that there can be any peace with God. The whole world is divided and separated from God. They're alienated. They're enmity with God. Here's what Christ is saying. This is really important for ministry: "If I didn't bring division, no one would be saved. My very ministry, the one that I'm sending you on, is separating out sheep to myself. To myself. What do you think that will bring from those who hate the family of the Lord? Division."
So he explains the difficult aspect of ministry for them. Where will the division occur? What will happen? "I have come listen carefully, I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A person's enemies will be those of his own household."
And do you know, right now I'm tested with wanting to downplay this and soften this as a minister? Because I know it's striking. Remember what I said last time: Christ is saving people, and peace has come to them. The Gospel is so powerful that it breaks the strongest bonds in this life that often, think about this, are set into a secondary position. Family and blood are often number one before anything else. It's family, it's blood. We stick to family. And Jesus says, "My Gospel will shatter that. I'm in the business of creating a new family, not of blood, of all these different peoples in the earth together as one family of God, my household," he says here. Not of blood.
This was the very problem of the Jews. Everything was blood. The extent of their religion was merely cultural. It was tied to the family. And as good as a blessing family is, it's never put before the Lord. And when the Lord does a work in someone's life, loyalties change. not in terms of us not honoring family or parents, but that the Lord becomes number one. And a great separation, Jesus says, is often going to occur. A great division in the family.
This happened right at the beginning. What is the first record after the Fall? Two brothers killing, one brother killing the other, Cain and Abel. Division between one church and another will happen. There will be division, says Jesus, between one church and another. There will be between family and brother and another. One family and another. There will be family division. You can expect it. That will be one of your most fierce challenges to ministry because those loyalties are strong.
This has been noticed here. Notice carefully: a mother, because of her faith, is being opposed by her daughter and her daughter-in-law. A believing father is being opposed by his son. I said last time, "I don't know any pastor who's not dealt with this in ministry." It's as if Jesus is saying, "You need to understand in your ministering, you're calling people to a choice in this matter."
Verse 37: "He who loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." That's why it matters. How many people involved in the kingdom, in the church, only because they are there because of their parents? It's exactly what he's talking about. How many leave the kingdom of God, in the church, because of their children? How much conflict and enmity have we seen, and hatred has resulted, by those who hate the strong faith of their family members and ridicule it? How much have we seen people here only in the church to honor father and mother, but their heart's not here?
This is exactly what Jesus is going after. It cuts. That's where the division comes. "I will break all that up at some point. I will rattle that up at some point." The Word combats this, and it sets people free. "It's a great privilege to follow me," says Jesus. Notice that you worthy to follow me. We honor our parents, but our loyalties are to the Lord first.
It was like one of our seminary students who I was just told last week by one of our deacons he was here and he said his father in China, when he found out he was a Christian, disowned him. One of the most difficult things he had ever lived. And he said, "I'd choose Christ a hundred times before my dad." That's what happens. This is where the division comes. The Gospel's stronger, and it exposes. Stronger than blood.
And Jesus comes up and says, "Give them a serious call to cross-bearing: Whoever does not take up his cross is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life for my sake, being willing to follow me, will find it." You have to be willing in the ministry to suffer. As you go out, you have to be willing to take on the beatings and the loss and the pain and the shame and the hatred.
But then he gives them, to close this out, a great consolation. It's so beautiful. He wants to explain to them that it won't always be like this. This is such a beautiful thing to close on.
"I'm going to reward a lot of servants who receive the ministry. Did you see this? I want you to know there are going to be many who receive the ministry, and I want you to know, and I want you to tell them. I'm going to reward them you tell them I'm going to reward them greatly. Verse 40, whoever receives you receives me." And whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The ministry that Christ commissions is his ministry, and it brings these divisions. But in those who receive it, in those who receive the Gospel ministry with joy, in those who cherish the Gospel ministry, are receiving Christ himself. He says that's just as if they received me and it means then that they've received the Father too, who sent me. That's how important Gospel ministry is. It's his ministry. He's speaking. He says it's all over the place. We just treat this so casually. We come and go. "I don't want to go to church tonight." Are you receiving the voice of Christ? That will be rewarded greatly, says Jesus. "I'm going to reward that."
What an encouragement! When a prophet is sent think of all the history where prophets were rejected and prophets were received. When a prophet is sent, think about it that person who receives the prophet will get the very reward of the prophet. That's kind of a New Covenant promise here. It's beautiful.
When a righteous person is received, that person will receive the same reward as that of the righteous person. What he's saying is well when someone gives a cup of cold water, notice this because he's a disciple truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
Jesus, is an encouragement here is to say: "Tell them to receive the ministry. They will be greatly rewarded, and you will be greatly encouraged." Sometimes people come up and they say, "How can we encourage the pastor?" And I say, "The mere fact that you would ask that question, you already have, because you care." And do you know how you encourage a pastor more than ever in the ministry? You don't have to do much. You just have to receive God's Word and be and with joy as it is the Word of God. You encourage us when you say, "I wouldn't miss worship because God's Word's being given to me." But the attitude of, "Ah, I have to go to church tonight. Is this Sabbath thing really that's legalism that's the stuff..."
"I will reward them. And we want that for you. There's such a blessing we get. I think what the reward is, there's such a blessing we get to study and know God's Word. You know what he's saying? You're going to get that same blessing. You're going to be rich in the kingdom."
We thank God continually for you, Paul said to the Thessalonians, when you receive the Word of God. I think he said this to the church: "Which you heard from us, you accepted it, not as a human word, but actually as it is, the Word of God, which indeed is at work in you who believe." So he said to the whole church: "When we preach to you the Gospel, we are so overjoyed because you received it, not as a word from a human word from me, but you received it knowing it came from God. That's the faith that overjoys us."
Christ has laid out the whole design here, really, and challenges of ministry until he comes. If you receive this Word, beloved, know this: Peace has come on you and your household. Isn't that wonderful? And today he wants to confirm that by giving you a sign and seal of His body and His blood, that that Word that was spoken to you is true. And now I'm going to sign it, and I'm going to seal it for you, that you might taste and see and enjoy the peace that I'm bringing to you. That's what this is for.
Do you believe? Have you received the Word? Then come and feast. His blood has achieved peace. Believe the Word. Receive the Word, and may God's peace come upon you all. Amen.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for your everlasting Word. Thank you for taking it out to the ends of the earth. May that powerful Word draw out true faith from us. Sincere hearts that confess you, that know you, understand you. May this Word be spoken in truth and fill your servants with great awe that you would care to send out a Word that saves from the very destruction of body and soul and health. If only we knew what's coming. May we be thankful that we've been delivered by the very blood of Christ, who lived and died for us so that we may not taste that judgment. In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen. Thank you.