Sheep & Wolves

Sheep & Wolves

Matthew 10:16-25

Winston Churchill is known as one of the greatest military leaders of modern time. He was appointed as Britain’s Prime Minister during WWII. As he addressed Parliament, he was sure to be honest with them. He said:

We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.

The line in the speech that is most often quoted is this one:

I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”

Churchill didn’t want to give Britain the impression that they would have an easy road ahead of them. He was honest. There would be bloodshed, toil, tears and sweat.

In our text today we have the greatest leader in all of history. As He prepares to send out His followers, He is honest with them. They are facing an enemy greater than Hitler’s Germany. They are facing the Prince of Darkness.

They would be hated, they would be persecuted, they would be killed. They could expect trouble.

Nothing has changed. All who live godly in Christ Jesus can expect tribulation. I know we don’t hear this much. We hear:

Come to Christ and find your destiny!

Come to Christ and find your purpose!

Come to Christ and all your dreams will come true!

Jesus says, “Come to Me and find trouble.”

This morning as we look at this text, I want us to consider three things:

1. The Hostility of the World (16-20).

2. The Hardness of the Heart (21-23).

3. The Household of Christ (24-25).

I. The Hostility of the World (16-20).

A. They are sent into the world.

Don’t miss the fact that Jesus is sending them into the world. This doesn’t make sense. What Shepherd sends His sheep into a pack of wolves? Why does Jesus command His sheep to go into the pack of wolves? One reason is they would never do that on their own. Sheep run from wolves not to them.

But more than that, this is the plan that God has ordained to bring Himself glory. God will use the weak, the ignorant, the poor, the foolish. When all the dust settles and the evil in this world is no more Christ will be standing with His sheep. Everyone will know the sheep did not defeat the wolves. Everyone will know the Shepherd did.

There is an analogy given. Jesus calls believer’s sheep. That’s not a compliment.

Sheep are not intelligent at all.

They have to be constantly cared for.

They are naturally fearful. Sheep have many predators but no real defense.

They do not have claws.

They don’t have sharp teeth.

There only two defenses are to kick and to run.

In preparation for this message I came across a series of articles written about some sheep farmers in England. They were having a problem with crows killing their sheep. When a ewe was giving birth the crows would come and wait on the baby to emerge from its mother. As it emerged headfirst the crows would peck out the eyes and tongue of the lamb, killing it usually. There were also instances where the crows were ripping the ewe open to get to the lamb. On a single farm birds had killed 200 lambs. To be sure this was true I watched some YouTube video and it was disturbing video.

Jesus compares us to sheep because without Him we are weak. If it were not for the Lord, the devil would have us all. Satan would have his way with us.

Without Christ what defense do we have when Satan attacks? Jesus calls us sheep to remind us how weak and needy we are.

Jesus compares the world with wolves. Wolves were the greatest threat to sheep in Jesus culture. Shepherds had to be on guard constantly because wolves attacked sheep. They would sneak into the fold, often at night and devour the sheep. There wasn’t much a shepherd could do once the sheep was caught. Especially if there was a pack of wolves. The key was to watch for wolves, stay away from them and keep them from getting into the fold.

Again, this is why the command of Jesus is so difficult. It goes against everything they knew. Wolves were to be kept away from sheep. Jesus is telling the sheep to go where the wolves were.

B. They are confronted by the world (17-18).

Now listen carefully. Jesus is speaking primarily about what is going to happen to them in the future. All Jesus says isn’t going to happen to them on this short journey. After His crucifixion and resurrection, they will be sent into the world to preach and they will experience all Jesus says here.

Jesus says, “Beware of men”. Satan uses people. That’s how he works. Terri Gibbs knew this. Some of you don’t know Terri Gibbs. She had a hit song called “Somebody’s Knockin”. She said:

Somebody's knockin'

Should I let him in

Lord, it's the devil

Would you look at him

I've heard about him

But I never dreamed

He'd have blue eyes and blue jeans

She was right. Let’s look at what types of people would persecute them.

Religious people. The Jews not only worshipped in the synagogue, they also held court cases there. They had a ruling council that decided cases and administered punishment. One of the ways they punished was by scourging. This was beating a person with a whip. Normally a person was given thirty-nine lashes. In 2 Cor. 11:24 Paul said this happened to him on five different occasions.

The Jewish persecution against Christianity happened during the first century. After the first century we don’t really see it.

Political people (18). They would be dragged before governors and Kings. These were Gentile rulers.

Herod Agrippa would kill James. Paul was dragged before Gallio, Felix, Festus and finally killed by Nero.

There is a reason Christians should be suspect of politicians. I’m not saying they’re all wolves, but I’d be careful about getting too close to any of them because they all have fleas. You ask, “Why shouldn’t we trust politicians?”

Pharaoh was a politician

Nebuchadnezzar was a politician

Manasseh was a politician

Jezebel was a politician

Pilate was a politician

Herod was a politician

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Politicians have one way they want to rule the world and God has another.

God is sending His sheep into a pack of religious and political wolves. He says they are to be:

As wise as serpents. It’s odd we’d be told to emulate a snake. But snakes were perceived as shrewd, wise. Snakes are smart enough to not pick a fight. They will normally lie still so as not to be seen or retreat. They can protect themselves, but they don’t normally go after people. In the same way believers are not to pick a fight with the world. We have to be wise enough to know that we are sheep surrounded by wolves. We need the wisdom to know when to go on the offense and when to sit still.

As harmless as doves. The dove is symbolic of innocence, purity. This speaks of the character of the believer. We are to be righteous people.

Wisdom and purity are necessary if we are going to survive in a world of wolves.

C. They are to witness to the world (19-20).

When they are arrested and hauled before the Jews and the Gentiles they will be given the opportunity to preach the gospel. Jesus says the Spirit of God will give them the words. They don’t have to worry about what they are going to say. It’s amazing to read the accounts of Paul when he is arrested. He always preached the gospel to the court.

There are those who use these verses to say preachers don’t have to prepare sermons. They believe they just stand up and God will tell them what to say. I don’t have to tell you who those preachers are, their sermons are enough to convince you.

The Apostles didn’t have the Bible. We do. We are told to study to show ourselves approved. God will fill your heart with Scripture before He fills your mouth with it. Your heart is filled with Scripture by reading, memorizing and meditating on it.

How can we witness to the world if we don’t know the Word. The point Jesus was making is the Words they shared would be the Words of God. We have the Words of God in our bible.

Dr. Lee was my Old Testament Professor in College. He was a dear old man. He gave some very difficult tests. Before each test he would pray for us. He would pray these words:

“Lord, I pray you bring to remembrance everything they have studied.”

He didn’t pray for the ones who didn’t study. The Bible tells us to be ready to give an answer to every man that asks us of the reason of the hope that is in us. We ready ourselves by reading the Bible. When we quote the Bible, it is not us speaking, it is God.

We are sheep in a world of wolves. Wolves hate sheep.

II. The Hardness of the Heart (21-23).

A. Hated by your own family (21).

This is where love and allegiance should be the strongest. Jesus is looking to a day in which being a Christian carries the death penalty. Some people will be turned into the government by their own family members.

A brother will turn in a brother.

A father will turn in his own child.

Children will turn in their own parents.

RC Sproul writes about how this happened to the people of Hungary after WWII. The Russians occupied the territory and among many other things, forbade Christians from worshipping, reading their Bibles or praying. He said Hungarian children were questioned at school as to whether their parents engage in Christian disciplines. If a child revealed the parents were engaging in Christian activity the parents were arrested. He said that some older children who wanted to be free from their parents intentionally turned their parents in.

Are we headed there as a nation? Are we headed to a place where if the children tell the government what their parents believe the parents will be punished? I think we are.

It’s not hard to imagine a child telling someone “I told my daddy I want to be a little girl. He told me God made me a boy so that’s what I’ll always be. Please help me, I want to be a little girl.” Here comes Child Protective Services. Here comes the government. If the Lord tarries that is where we are headed folks.

Never underestimate a hardened human heart. It will cause you to turn against those who love you the most.

B. Hated by everyone (22). He doesn’t mean every single person on earth hates us. He means all sorts of people hate us. If our family hates us it only follows that everyone else has the potential to.

Why do they hate us? Jesus says, “For His names sake”. It’s because of Him that people hate us. We follow Christ. We are called to bear the image of Christ and the more we bear His image the more the world will hate us.

Let’s think about what He doesn’t mean here.

He doesn’t mean people will hate us because we:

Heal people

Pray for people

Love people

Feed people

Clothe people

Give money to people

If that’s all you do everyone will love you. They hate us because of the message we preach. Jesus confronted sin.

He preached on lust

He preached on greed

He preached on worldliness

He preached on adultery

Paul emulated Christ in this manner

He preached on homosexuality

He preached on drunkenness

He preached on idolatry

It’s one little word that makes the world hate us. That word is “Repent”.

People love sin. They love it! When we tell people that they must repent of their sin it makes them angry. John the Baptist told Herod he needed to repent of his adulterous relationship with his brother’s wife. His brother’s wife didn’t repent. Instead of repenting she grew in her hatred of John. She convinced Herod to cut John’s head off, that’s how much she loved her sin. She would rather the preacher die than repent.

The apostate church has a way to make sure the world doesn’t hate Christians. All we must do is stop telling people to repent. They’re right. People will like us then. But if we stop telling people to repent then people won’t repent. If people won’t repent, they will not be saved.

Jesus says, “He that endures to the end will be saved.” What does He mean? True salvation is evidenced by endurance in the faith. If you abandon the faith you never truly had it.

When you die or when Jesus returns will you still be holding to the true gospel?

Some people have abandoned the Bible because their children have adopted a lifestyle the Bible condemns. Such people have not endured.

Some people have abandoned the Bible because their political party has embraced godless ideologies. They’d rather have a political party than a home in heaven.

Some people have abandoned the Bible because their lust has captured them. They’d rather sin than go to heaven.

Some people have abandoned the Bible because they can’t handle being hated by the world.

C. Hurry to the next town (23).

Instead of abandoning the faith when the world hates you, Jesus says continue to preach the gospel. He says if one city won’t receive you flee to the next one.

He warns the Apostles. He says before they finish going through all these Jewish towns the Son of Man will come. What does that mean. There are a few interpretations, but I think I know what it means. Right now, the Apostles were called to preach to the Jews. In AD 70 Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Romans. Christ was coming in judgment upon the Jewish people because of their rejection of the Messiah. Therefore, it was important for them to go to as many cities as they could preaching the gospel before judgment fell on the Jewish nation.

Hardened hearts shouldn’t keep us from preaching the gospel in as many places as we can. We are not obligated to stay where we are persecuted, but we are obligated to warn our persecutors.

III. The Household of Christ (24-25).

A. Christ is the Master of the house.

Look at verse 25. Jesus says if they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, what will they call those who follow Him. Beelzebub refers to Satan. In 9:34 the religious leaders said Jesus was filled with the power of the devil.

Here’s the interesting thing, everything Jesus warned the disciples of happened to Him.

We are sheep, but Jesus is the Lamb of God!

He was delivered to a Jewish Court. He was brought before Annas and the High Priest Caiaphas as well as the Sanhedrin.

He was flogged.

He was brought before a Gentile court: He was judged by Pilate and Herod.

He was delivered to His enemies by His friend and brother of the Jewish nation, Judas Iscariot.

He was hated by people for no reason.

He was even killed.

Those who killed Jesus claimed they killed the master of the devil’s house, Beelzebub. In reality, they killed the Master of God’s house.

B. Believers are members of Christ household.

What a privilege! We can’t overstate how wonderful it is that we belong to the household of God. It means that we:

Belong to Christ!

Headed to heaven!

Forgiven!

Eternally His!

Eternally Healthy!

Eternally holy!

It also means the world will treat us the same way they treated Him on this earth. Look at verse 24. The disciple is not above his master. He says it only makes sense that the disciple would be like his master. Not simply in character, but also in suffering.

The more we emulate Christ the worse the world will treat us. It’s Christ in us the world hates. That’s the point Jesus is making in these passages.

The great hymnist, Isaac watts wrote:

Am I a soldier of the cross,

A follow’r of the Lamb?

And shall I fear to own His cause,

Or blush to speak His name?

Must I be carried to the skies

On flow’ry beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?

Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace,

To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign;

Increase my courage, Lord;

I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,

Supported by Thy Word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war

Shall conquer, though they die;

They see the triumph from afar,

By faith’s discerning eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise,

And all Thy armies shine

In robes of vict’ry through the skies,

The glory shall be Thine.

It was very difficult to be a Christian in the first days of Christianity. As we approach the last days it will become even more difficult. But we should not be surprised. Jesus life on this earth was difficult. His followers should expect no less.

But look to the risen Christ! He’s not on a cross anymore.

Look to the throne, not the thorns!

Look to the heavens, not the hill!

As you see the glorified Christ by faith, remind yourself that you too will be glorified. Set that joy before you.

The risen Christ will raise us up.

The glorified Christ will glorify us.

The One who is seated on the throne will seat us at His table.

The world hates us. Jesus loves us. His love is enough.

Do you know Him?