Freely Part 2 Matt 10:11-15

Day of Judgment

Let me start out by way of introduction, reading 800 scriptures, lol.

For starters and for context sake, join me at Matthew 10:2–10 “ Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: … 5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.”

Matthew 10:11–15 “ “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Turn to Luke 9, Here and in Luke (read 9:2-6)

Luke 9:2–6 “ He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. 4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”

Now lets jump over to:

Mark 6:10–13 “ Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. 11 And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” 12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.”

Wow, so amazing. But lets get back to our text in Matthew 10.

Reminder that this was descriptive of what Jesus was telling the Apostles. Not us. We can see lessons in this, but must not think these are commands for us. However we also see lessons like, repentance is inherit in the Gospel message. The apostles and Paul taught it to everyone they shared the Gospel with. Acts 2:36–38 “ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” No repentance, no Gift.

Some asked why no copper, stuff, etc. It was two fold. One to show complete dependence on God. Two, they showed they were not doing the travelling evangelist thing. Raising money with preaching and tricks. Freely, freely.

Matthew 10:11 “ “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.”

as we saw they are going only to the house of Israel. The kingdom message was for covenant people. Not the new covenant but they could accept their king and bless the nations. Which would not be seen. (Genesis 12:3 “ I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””)

Jesus doesn't give reason for staying in these homes exactly, but knowing the history of the area, travelling preachers would take money and favors from folks and how the apostles would do it was to be different. So they would look for those supportive, and stay there till they left. Not take upgrades like wealthy people who wanted to have healers/supernatural staying with them.

But, what if they wouldn't be honorable houses?

Matthew 10:12–13 “ And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.”

If they were followers of Christ. Believers in the Word. Circumcised in heart. If that house received the message of Christ, it was worthy.

I don’t think it was like a actual power or move of the holy spirit here, its God looking on His elect and seeing them behave in a way that He judges what they do.

Matthew 10:14 “ And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.”

Notice, no judgment from the apostles, shake it off. Shake it off. Their actions show that there is no excuse and their rejection is known. Also note, that it brushes them off as to not even want the dust of your godless city to remain on us. It was a common thing amongst the jews especially when leaving Gentile places.

Whats funny not funny is when Paul and Barnabas emulated this in Antioch, Acts 13:49–52 “ And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”

Just think this is a people, who trained, called and gifted with the oracles (scripture) and still, they would reject on a personal and national basis. And the disciples would shake the very dust from their feet. No fellowship, no chances. Now is the time, today is the day.

Jesus then says something that should shake them and us to their very core.

Matthew 10:15 “ Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

Now we know the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their pride had them vaunt and worship their flesh and lusts above God. It wasn't just for homosexuality and perversion of every kind (the cries of the innocent rose to God )

The word tells us, Genesis 13:13 “ But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.” they tried to lay with the angels who came to Lot. Abraham tried to make a deal with God for just a few righteous then forgive Sodom. There were none (Genesis 19).

Turn Matt 11. Later here in Matt, Jesus in judgement for those that rejected the testimony of the Word, Miracle and the Holy Spirit would say, Matthew 11:20–24 “ Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”” This is terrifying because those cities were known for their ungodliness.

Sodom and Gomorra, Tyre and Sidon, even the beautiful lake village of Capernaum. Cities that were successful and thought well of in the world.

They (the individuals), sit even now in a conscious holding till they come before Christ in Judgment. (see Lazarus in the parable Luke 16:29-31) Hell, judgement, is real. Inescapable. And that the weeping and gnashing of teeth, might have

Those that saw these miracles, would suffer a worse judgement even than this. Now some people balk at this, how could someone know. Jesus was standing right there yo.

Luke affirms and Jesus makes plain Luke 10:10–16 “ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ 12 But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. 13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades. 16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.””

What does this mean for me? For you? That you had better be sure. That you had better repent & trust in Jesus alone. That if your life doesn't match your confession, there is a problem.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are also without excuse. Because Jesus has just preached to us, the truth of Who He is. Son of God, savior. And if you believe in Him, call on his Name, trust Him entirely for your salvation, you will be saved. Will you repent, yes. Will you believe He rose from the dead? Oh yea. Why? Because Eph 2:8-9 says…