Matthew 10:16–25 ESV

16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to 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. 24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 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 Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

Matthew 9:36 ESV

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Our Lord is compassionate to the helpless and the hurting.

Our Lord is compassionate toward the helpless thus His compassion compels His disciples to a life on mission.

This compelled the Lord Jesus to command His disciples to pray.

The prayers were immediately answered by Jesus sending them on a short term mission.

This short term mission was brief, urgent, and had an immediacy to it.

But like we saw last week, the expanding mission of Jesus extends to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, it depends upon the Father’s provision, and it results in division.

The specifics of this first training-mission to the Jews alone has an immediate context to the Apostles fulfilled in the first century.

But the general principles of the mission carry forward to the believer today.

We saw the question answered last week…

What is the mission they are to go on?

Proclaiming the kingdom of God has come near to them.

The King has come, repent and believe the gospel!

Jesus clarifies the way the mission should be conducted.

How should they go about taking this mission?

What ought their attitude be while they go?

This section shows the kind of mission that Jesus expects not only for this training-mission, but also all future missions as well.

The prototypical mission that Jesus starts here will be a pattern for the expectation of all future missions.

The expectation of the kind of reception that a person show anticipate before them is not pleasant.

Matthew 10:16 ESV

16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Sheep in the Midst of Wolves.

Sheep are generally regarded as peaceable and non-violent.

We don’t typically think of harmful sheep.

When we think of sheep we think of unassuming and mild.

Now the sharpness of this comparison is only understood with their surroundings: wolves.

A sheep surrounded by wolves is ripe for the picking.

They are heavily outmatched.

Wolves are rightfully pictured as hostile, aggressive, and dangerous to be around.

This is why the Bible often speaks of false teachers and unbelievers with the language of wolves.

Matthew 7:15 ESV

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Israel would often view itself as a sheep in the midst of a wolf.

But here Jesus applies this title to His disciples.

What should they do as they’re surrounded by wolves?

What manner should these sheep have amongst the wolves?

A call for prudence among enemies

Wise as a serpent.

The concept of “wise” or “prudent”, “shrewd” (NIV) or “cunning” (NLT) or “wary” (NASB).

The sheep ought not to act like fools.

They are to give thought to their lives and consider their company.

Now what would a foolish sheep in this environment look like?

A foolish sheep in the midst of wolves would be one that act as though they were among friends.

A foolish sheep would pretend that the wolves really have their best interest in mind.

A foolish sheep would not act according to it’s surroundings.

A wise sheep would know it’s position.

It would give thought to it’s ways and remember that those all around it are actually opposed to it’s mission.

It’s not merely prudence because shrewdness without innocence results in to cunning deceivers…

A call for innocence among persecutors

Pure as a dove.

The concept of “innocent” (ESV, NET, NIV) or “harmless” (KJV, NKJV, NLT) like we would think of a dove.

“The word was used on an inscription of the innocence of a young girl who had died. (NDIEC)” (Rogers & Rogers).

It’s more than merely the innocence but carries also the concept of being “without mixture of evil.”

To be “pure, untainted” (Louw & Nida).

“Without innocence the keenness of the snake is crafty, a devious menace; without keenness the innocence of a dove is naïve, helpless gullibility.” Osborne, Grant R

In what scenarios does Jesus have in mind for “shrewdness” and “innocence”?

Warning of the Coming Persecution.

Though sometimes people are receptive to the gospel, the normal expectation ought to be hostility.

The expectation for the reception of the Apostles and all future missions is “sheep in the midst of wolves.”

The stark contrast is clear.

Matthew 10:17–18 ESV

17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake…

The promise that persecution will come.

Matthew presents the progression of opposition.

Starting with this “training mission” with a view toward the expanded mission.

The training mission these Apostles were on may have landed them by the Sanhedrin (the same word translated as “courts”) or a synagogue because they were a part of the Jewish community.

In Synagogue’s members would often be beat with whips as a form of punishment for discipline.

You can see how Jesus expects these current members of Synagogue’s to prepare to receive pushback.

Matthew 10:18 ESV

18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

Notice that Jesus refers to “governors”, “kings”, and “the Gentiles” when Jesus explicitely told them to avoid the Gentile regions.

What purpose does God have in this?

Matthew 10:18 ESV

18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

Persecution and the purposes of God.

The word that the ESV uses for “bear witness” is where we get the English word for “martyr.”

The word “martyr” didn’t have the same kind of weight in the first century.

It was meant for a “testimony of proof” (BDAG)

But the bearing witness that the disciples take place in this short mission happens through signs and wonders.

It will happen later with the giving of their own lives for the gospel.

Persecution is never without purpose.

Persecution never happens randomly.

Persecution always comes for a purpose.

Matthew 10:19–20 ESV

19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

The promise of the Spirit’s help in the midst of persecution.        

Jesus doesn’t give a hypothetical.

Jesus doesn’t promise “physical deliverance” (Doriani)

Jesus doesn’t promise “assistance to lazy or forgetful speakers.” (Doriani)

He promises something much greater!

He promises the witness of the Holy Spirit in their testimony!

Church history would witness the truthfulness of Jesus’ warning.

Acts 22:30 ESV

30 But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.

Imagine what the Apostle Paul thought as he sat bound in prison.

I could hardly doubt it wasn’t these words…

Matthew 10:20 ESV

20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

And notice what Jesus says to Him later on…

Acts 23:11 ESV

11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”

The world will truly hate you for trusting Christ alone for salvation.

The world will truly despise you for loving what Christ loves.

Those who are entangled in the system of the world will also hate those who oppose the world and it’s system.

I love what Jesus says to His followers: don’t worry.

Don’t worry when you stand before them.

Don’t worry when you’re forced to speak to them.

Don’t worry what they will say to you or about you.

Don’t worry that you need to have all your words in proper order.

Don’t worry.

The reason for this is simple, they won’t be your words.

There seems to be a kind of situation that Jesus has in mind here for the “endowment of power” (Rogers & Rogers, pg 23) will be given to the believer.

The situation is truly when all the world seems to be against you.

When all the world seems to be oppressing you and all the attention will be placed upon you to defend the truth.

Jesus grounds the command for not worrying in the fact that the words will be given to you.

I find it ironic that the same word for “given over” that happens to the person handed over to the authorities is used to describe the words being “given to you” from above.

As much as we will be given over to those who hate us, Jesus promises that words will be given to us from above.

There may come a day for you and I that we will stand before the highest courts in the land and speak on behalf of Christ.

This shouldn’t cause us to tremble, but it ought to cause us for boldness and confidence because “the Spirit of your Father” will be speaking through you.

I find it deeply comforting that in a moment when it feels like all the world around you hates you, Jesus reminds us that God is our Father.

Matthew 10:21–22 ESV

21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Persecution and the endurance of the Saints.

I want to show you what this doctrine means by showing you two examples from the men that Jesus sent out.

The first name from the list and the last.

Judas Iscariot

Judas was a part of this mission that Jesus commissioned.

Judas was with Jesus through His earthly ministry.

He witness the signs and wonders.

He probably even performed signs and wonders himself and was a part of preaching.

When Judas realized that he could get money out of the deal of betraying Jesus, he was quick to turn him over to the authorities.

Matthew 26:14–16 ESV

14 Then one of the twelve, whose name was Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

This revealed what Judas truly loved which was money and his own glory.

Simon Peter

Simon Peter was with Jesus throughout His earthly ministry.

He was with Him during this short term training mission.

He made amazing confessions about Christ,

Matthew 16:16 ESV

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

He also made the most bumbling failures recorded in Scripture.

Denying Jesus three times.

Even to a servant girl, Peter was too afraid to confess Christ.

Calling down a curse on himself that he didn’t know Jesus.

The denial is made worse when the Lord Himself turns to Peter and looks at him to his face.

Luke 22:61–62 ESV

61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.

The bitter sorrow filled Peter’s heart because he knew that he had denied Christ three times.

What was the difference between Peter and Judas?

Both of them sinned in grievous ways?

Both of them failed significantly?

Is it their own endurance?

Is it their own strength?

No! The promise for the Christian is something greater.

We believe in the perseverance of the Saints here at Gospel Life Baptist Church not because it’s a dry or stale doctrine that just sits up on the shelf.

We believe in the perseverance of the Saints not only because scripture teaches it, but because that is yours and mine only hope that we will wake up and be a Christian tomorrow.

John 10:28–29 ESV

28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

“My love for you, proceeds your love for me.”

Peter denied his Lord and master, but Jesus is showing him that His love for Peter exceeds Peter’s love for Him.

Our love is both fragile and unconquerable.

It’s fragile because he’s tempted to want an easier path, but its unconquerable because it flows from the heart of Christ.

It’s as Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

This doesn’t preclude effort.

Matthew 10:23 ESV

23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to 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.

Matthew 10:23 is perhaps one of the most controversial texts in this section of Scripture.

For good reason because it’s confusing.

What does Jesus mean by this?

Does Jesus mean that His coming will be in only a short time?

Does Jesus mean, as some have accused Him of, that Jesus was confused and He expected to return but He was disillusioned?

Does Jesus mean that we will not have reached the towns of Israel before He comes for final judgment?

The question really revolves around two phrase.

What is meant by “the towns of Israel”?

It is unlikely that Jesus means every Jewish town on earth because this would make little sense to the disciples in His hearing.

It is also unlikely that Jesus means the completion of the ingathering of Israel as Paul speaks of in Romans 11.

It makes the most sense to understand Jesus’ words to mean the region of the towns of Jews within this region of the Galilean mission.

This mission was in a particular context and it wouldn’t make any sense if He immediately changed gears for the disciples.

Though it wouldn’t be out of this world…

This causes a problem then…the disciples have reached the towns, so where is Jesus at?

Why hasn’t Jesus come back yet?

This is likely why certain books of the NT were written to assure believers that Jesus hasn’t yet returned and they missed it.

2 Thessalonians 2:1–2 ESV

1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

What is meant by “the Son of Man comes”?

We have heard Jesus describe himself as the Son of Man on many occasions already.

It’s Jesus’s favorite title for himself used over 70 times in the gospels.

I would argue here again we see Jesus echoing the prophecy of Daniel 7:13 concerning the “one like a son of man.”

This prophecy is of the Son of Man receiving authority.

Now if you pay attention in Daniel 7:13 when the Son of Man receives authority it’s not when He comes to earth, but when He comes to Heaven.

Matthew 10:23 ESV

23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to 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.

It’s actually the ascension that Jesus is referring to here!

It’s the ascension of the Son of God in power that Jesus says will happen before all the towns are reached in Israel…

When does this happen?

Matthew 28:18 ESV

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…

It’s the time between Jesus sending out the twelve apostles and the Resurrection of the Son of God!

Matthew, Volumes 1 & 2 Direction for Mission

When persecuted, we should change our geography, not our theology.

Disciples treated like the Master

As the sheep of Jesus’ pasture we must expect persecution, we must trust His purposes in persecution, we must rely upon the Spirit to endure persecution; as it goes with the Shepherd, so it goes with the sheep.

Child Dedication

What are we doing today?

The word dedicate means: to set apart.

To consecrate to the Lord.

To devote wholly and earnestly to Christ.

It’s not mandated in the New Testament.

So how then do our children fit into the New Covenant community called the church?

The children of Christians are in a sense, under a spiritual guardianship(parents/guardians/stewards) praying, asking, awaiting the day of their spiritual regeneration to faith in Christ.

Very clear, biblical, commands and mandates bind us to our children’s spiritual upbringing not because they are members of the new covenant before they are regenerated by the Spirit and have saving faith.

It doesn’t have any salvific merit.

But God uses parents as a means of grace, giving them a special mandate to teach and point them to saving faith through Christ.

To be born into a New Covenant family does not make a child a member of the New Covenant community; it makes the New Covenant community the spiritual guardian of the child.

It is meant to be a public display of covenant accountability and humility.

It is just as much a parent dedication as it is a child dedication!

It’s parents publicly saying…

“God I need you!”

“Church I need you!”

Benediction

Jude 24–25 ESV

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.