Wilmington/Fayetteville 6/9

Pregame Pep Talk Matthew 10

Jesus had many followers that were called disciples, which means learners in the sense of an apprentice, learning not only knowledge but how to do what you teacher can do.

Here in chapter 10 Jesus singles out 12 to also be called apostles or sent ones, “on a mission with a message” I like to think.

Jesus is sending them out to preach to the towns of Israel that the King has come and brought the kingdom with Him and all people are invited to come and be a part of it. This is good news

But starting in verse 16 the message from Jesus changes.

Matthew 10:16

Matthew 10:16–20 ESV

“Behold, I am sending you out 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, 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.

That’s not very encouraging.

Ok fellas, your going to go our and play today, this other team plays dirty, they cheat and are going to try and hurt you, so be aware and ready, but you continue to play clean and by the rules.

How about the next part, Jesus tells them they will be arrested, brought to court, punished and whipped, and even have to testify in front of high ranking officials, this is part of God’s plan, these people need to hear the gospel too.

He says, don’t worry about what to say or how to say it, that will be given to you by the Holy Spirit, He will give them the words and speak through them.

So why would Jesus tell them this?

Because it was true, it was the reality of the time they were going to be living in, maybe not immediately when He sent them out this first time, but eventually this was going to happen to them.

Jesus doesn’t paint a super rosy picture of what life could look like when you truly become a follower of His. We won’t win every game, we might get hurt, go 0 for a bunch, give up some tanks, etc.

People will be against us, spiritual forces will be against us, the world it may seem is against us.

He doesn’t talk about riches, smooth and easy lives, living however we want and still claiming to be a follower. Remember a disciple or follower of Jesus is really an apprentice, learning so he can eventually do what his Master Teacher does.

Jesus life was met with opposition, from the religious authorities, from regular people, even from His own family. Let’s take a look at this next section.

Matthew 10:21–22 ESV

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.

Matthew 10:21-

Matthew 10:34–37 ESV

“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.

matthew 10:34-

With true allegiance to Jesus as King, we will experience opposition. Many will reject Jesus, will reject God’s offer of forgiveness and the opportunity to enter into His kingdom which stands in opposition to the kingdom of this world.

This opposition may even come from within our own families, and this is tough. We will know the truth, desperately desire for them to know the truth, they will reject it and come against us.

But when you truly understand the love of the Father to send Jesus to live the life we can’t live and to die the death we deserve, how can you resist coming to Him entering the kingdom of God and following Him?

Now these next verses are the main focus of the chapter.

Matthew 10:28–31 ESV

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.

Matthew 10:28-

Death is real, for the disciples, they were going to be put in the crosshairs because of the allegiance to King Jesus.

Death for Jesus was coming soon.

But Jesus didn’t fear death because He knew a couple of things.

God is the lover of our souls—there is an enemy out there, he is the enemy of our life and our soul and he is trying to destroy both. We call him the devil or satan which means accuser, but his ultimate goal in life is to destroy God’s good creation and we are a part of that. He dangles what appears to be good things in front of us, twists and distorts their intended purpose and use, and moves us away from God and into darkness. He is real and he is trying to kill you. But God has given us Jesus, not only to live but to die and resurrect. We don’t need to fear death, if we are in the kingdom, if we know and follow Jesus the light of life, death has no more hold on us. Paul writes in , “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where o death is your victory, where o death is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is God who is sovereign over our souls, when we die our souls live on. They will either remain in the darkness that the enemy has pulled us into and we have willingly walked into, or they will be with the light of life, in the kingdom because we have followed Jesus. The choice is ours. Who are we going to “fear” or have reverent awe of? Is it God who loves us, or this world and others who are bent on our destruction?

The second thing Jesus knows is we have immense value to God—a sparrow or two was sold for the equivalent of a penny, not much money so clearly not possessing much value, and yet, God is aware of them and cares for them. They too will die, but God has set up the world in a way that the sparrows are loved and card for up until that day and He is aware of the day they die. How much more value do we possess in the eyes of God?? Jesus says that God even knows intimate details of our lives, the hairs of our head are numbered, God knows us, He loves us and cares about our lives.

We are loved by God--Jesus did not come to live and die for sparrows but for us. The invitation to repent and enter the kingdom was not for sparrows but for us, people, the crown jewel of God’s creation. We are loved by God and He wants us to know Him and to live this life and the next with Him in His kingdom.

So in this life we will have trouble, times of difficulty, but it’s not because God doesn’t love us. Some of our trouble is because we live in a sin filled world where bad things happen, some comes at the hands of other people either intentionally or accidentally, but still bring us great pain.

Some of the trouble we will encounter comes by our own hands, decisions we make, things that we do. God has created us with great dignity and honor, He allows us to make decisions, to do things that we choose to do, and He allows us to experience the effects of those decisions and actions. When the consequences are bad we want to blame God, but in reality we brought these things on our self.

4. The last thing Jesus knew is that death in this life is not the end of the story—I talked about it already but our souls are immortal, they will live forever. We were created by God to live for God and to live now and forever with God. Many are living lives outside of God’s good design, living in the kingdom of this world and not living according to the kingdom of God. By choice we have rebelled and defected, but Jesus came to invite us back. The call is to repent and enter the kingdom of God.

Repent is to make a 180 turn, leave the kingdom of this world and enter the kingdom of God, to follow Jesus the giver of life and live according to God’s good design.

The call goes out to any who can hear, today is the day of salvation. Repent, confess your sinful wayward rebellious and disobedient life and choose to follow Jesus. You may not know exactly what this looks like, I know I didn’t at first, but your chaplain does or maybe one of your coaches. Talk to them and begin living the life you were created to live, with God and for God.

Let me pray