The Purpose of the People of God - 10:24-33
The Purpose of the People of God - Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 55:03
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The Purpose of the People of God - 10:24-33
The Purpose of the People of God - 10:24-33
INTRODUCTION GOES HERE
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 “Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Lets Pray!
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
So we continue to see the near poetic idea of teaching here that we find in so many places of wisdom literature, parallelism.
We have two things that say the same thing in a different way.
We have seen this throughout Jesus’ teaching:
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
We see this all over the Old Testament Wisdom Literature
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the way of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
Other variations:
Do not do this
Do this
1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is senseless.
So in essence we see contrast and comparison when there are two things place next to each other.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
Are these to be contrasted against each other or equated?
Equated.
This gets uncomfortable.
In this instance, most of your Bibles probably do say slave, some will soften it to servant.
What’s interesting is nearly all of them say “Master”
“not a slave above his lord”
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
In the teaching of Jesus and the apostles, Jesus is Lord, we are slaves.
Now this language has fallen out of place in time, and in some ways that is appropriate with the text.
If you read the Old Testament provisions of slavery, I propose to you that it does not line up with the history of the slave trade in America and elsewhere. In fact, the profession of a slave is profoundly shaped in Israel to make sure they don’t repeat the sins of Egypt where they were slaves for nearly 400 years.
Their slavery in Egypt was brutal, akin to what we recognize as a scar from the imperfect past of America.
Israel’s, by God’s design, was supposed to be different.
In fact, it was partially due to Israel’s failure to acknowledge this in the Year of Jubilee, in which all Jewish slaves are to be freed and restored to their land, that brought about the exile.
In this sense, the word “slave” probably carries some extra baggage with us that it doesn’t need to paint the Biblical picture. Our slavery to Jesus isn’t marked by the brutality we associate with the slave trade.
Our slavery to Lord Jesus is marked by our submission and His provision.
Submission to His word, His commands, His authority, His kingship!
His provision for life, for relationship with Him, everlasting life, all through grace!
We cannot forget His grace!
21 “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
This “slavery” that we participate in is exercised in perfect freedom, not by divine force.
We believe in the clarity and simplicity of the gospel as declared by Scripture:
14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
Because of this, you won’t here me teach what we call “Lordship Salvation”
Meaning make Jesus Lord of your life to be saved.
Why? Because it is confusing.
What does it mean?
How far down discipleship road to I have to get to where Jesus is Lord?
Do I have to leave all my sins, or most of my sins, or some of my sins?
What if I fall away?
Does it mean there is nothing else that ever competes with God for my heart?
This is not what I believe Scripture teaches us is required for relationship with Him, required to “go to Heaven” as we say.
Faith Alone
BUT!
We cannot skip the fact that Scripture tells us that Jesus is Lord!
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
So who has declared Jesus Lord and Messiah?!
God has!
You cannot un-declare what God has done!
So we should, declare the Lordship of Jesus!
Not as a requisite of salvation, but as a growing proclamation for us of who He is to His followers!
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.
What do disciples do? They know they are not above their teacher!
There is a clear order to this!
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
“It is sufficient for the disciple to become like his teacher”
THIS IS IMITATION!
Be a successful disciple
be like the teacher
But if you are like the teacher, you should expect what the teacher gets!
34 But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
Do not fear - Present Tense
Because - Future Tense
27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
Like most of this passage, this is very straightforward to understand, but why say it here?
Proclaim the message! Do it publicly!
Because the first casualty of fear is the proclamation of the message.
28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
So here we have the reminder of who we are not to fear, but it is used to frame the one whom we are to fear.
“rather fear Him who is able to destroy/kill the body and soul in Gehenna.”
So what is at stake here?
Gehenna - There is not agreement in the 1st century as to the meaning of this term.
Landfill
Useless things
“Soul” = life = “immaterial part of it”
39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
What does it mean to have a useless soul or a useless life?
It means to be spent not accomplishing one’s purpose!
A human being, can certainly take the life of a person and cause death.
They cannot impact one’s fulfillment of purpose.
So what do we do with “able to destroy the body and soul”
I don’t think Jesus is threatening the disciples with eternal separation, or hell as we colloquially render it.
Destruction - Not Continual Punishment
He has just said, don’t be afraid of men because fear of men leads to silencing the gospel.
Rather He is saying fear God, who will determine whether or not you were useful to Him in the future, by how you imitated Jesus and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled under foot by men.
DON’T BE USELESS!
28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Do not fear men, but have your priorities on who God is.
29 “Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
This sounds like the proclamation in the sermon on the mount, do not worry! Look at the birds, look at the lilies!
31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
Do not underestimate your worth to the Father!
Jesus died as a statement of your value!
32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Lots of theological division here!
2 prominent things here:
First: There is an important move that happens here, Jesus moves to the 3rd person.
Jesus is not speaking of the 12 here!
What are the 12 to do?
Not be afraid of men
Be afraid of God
AND….
27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
The entire premise of not being afraid is motivation to carry the gospel of the kingdom!
We then move to v32
32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
There’s two responses - Confession and Denial
So this is not talking about whether or not the disciples will carry the message, this is talking about the ones who hear the message carried by the disciples.
This brings us to #2:
What is the goal of this proclamation?
TO MAKE DISCIPLES!
That is different than to make believers!
Matthew isn’t interested in what is the least common denominator to get into heaven.
He’s interested in making disciples who will proclaim the gospel!
He’s writing to the early church!
He’s writing to 1st generation, 1st century BELIEVERS and telling them to get going and disciple the nations!
The Greek here carries the idea to outwardly agree with Jesus!
Everyone who outwardly agrees with me, I will outwardly agree with him!
Whoever “would deny me,” I will deny him.
Now most people read these verses and say if you are not confessing Jesus, you will not go to heaven. On the flip side they argue that if you deny Jesus, you will not go to heaven.
You want to know how we know this is wrong?
This word for deny only comes up 2 more times in the gospel of Matthew
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.”
71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.”
Are we to believe that Peter is to be denied relationship with Jesus before the Father!?
He has certainly done exactly what Jesus is talking about here.
OF COURSE NOT!
32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
I don’t believe Jesus is speaking of the entry point of salvation here, but rather BEING USEFUL!
11 It is a trustworthy saying: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we will deny Him, He also will deny us; 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
If we died <<>> We will live
If we endure <<>> We will reign
If we deny <<>> He will deny
If we are faithless <<>> He is faithful
I believe this is the sentiment in Matthew 10.32-33
So where does this leave us?
Takeaways:
Jesus is Lord!
Whether you recognize it or not, this is true
Do you live in accordance with the reality of Scripture?
2. “Fear” God not people
You are of immeasurable worth!
Not as defined by man, but as defined by God!
3. Imitate Him, Proclaim Him
We are commanded, expected, given the purpose/task/job of proclaiming Jesus!
The Gospel of the Kingdom, start to finish
Justification to Restoration
Beginning to End
WE! NOT ME! WE!
It has eternal ramifications!
4. We are not responsible for the response
We cannot be discouraged by rejection, by perception, by perceived failure because of what other people do.
We fail when we are too afraid to speak truth!
We fail when we are more afraid of people than we are reverent to God and we don’t proclaim the good news of His victory!
Let’s Pray!
11 It is a trustworthy saying: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we will deny Him, He also will deny us; 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
