Following the Way of Jesus (3)

The King is at Work - Division is Inevitable

Matthew 10:21-42.

This is a really hard teaching. Tough to read; tough to hear! Jesus wants to make it clear to His disciples that folowing Him would mean inevitable division and persecution.

The apostle Paul gives a great illustration of this when he describes his own mission in the world. He says this in 2 Cor 2:14-16: “Thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of [Christ] everywhere.” He’s comparing his ministry to a sacrifice that’s been made; the fragrance goes up from his testimony. “For, we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance of life to life.” So the idea is that when we carry the aroma of Christ, the gospel, into the world, it has two effects: some reject it unto death while others embrace it unto life.

We as Christians, should be known not primarily for our words and actions alone, but for the presence of Christ’s aroma. His life, permeating our life so that His light and truth shines through us, authentically, to an unbelieving world. If people like our aroma, they will be attracted to Jesus; if they dislike it, because it threatens or condemns their lifestyles then they will likely castigate; take offence and even persecute us! Sometimes that can’t be avoided - division over Jesus is inevitable! “Persecution is what happens when authentic Christianity meets a world in love with itself instead of Jesus.”(Brett Rodgers).

The Cost of following King Jesus!

By way of BACKGROUND, Jesus has embarked on His mission to the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel”(Matt 15:24) and the whole of the northern region has heard and felt His impact!

Take for example, Jesus’ response to John the Baptist when John’s disciples ask Him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”(Matt 11:3-6).

Jesus was having a major impact, but we are beginning to see a real divison of opinion over Jesus being played out in Israel and much of it being stirred up by the religious leaders who are accusing Him of blasphemey(Matt 9:1) and Satanic activity, driving out demons “by the prince of demons.”(Matt 9:34). Little wonder that some are beginning to “stumble on account of” Jesus!

Matthew chapter 10 opens with the disciples, being sent out(hence “apostles”), after Jesus gave “his twelve disciples...authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.(Matt 10:1).

There is a striking parallel between the mission of the disciples and that of Jesus himself. They preach the same message about the Kingdom(Matt 4:17) to the “lost sheep of Israel”(Matt 10:6) and engage in the same miraculous work to authenticate the truth of their message (cf. Matt 9:35, Matt 10:5–6; Matt 15:24). The words they are to preach and the acts of healing they perform are practically same as those performed by Jesus in Matthew chapters 8 and 9, showing that their mission is an extension of His, for which they are invested with His authority.

These apostles were ordinary men, gifted with an extraordinary power and authority - “As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,b drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”(Matt 10:7-8).

They were free recipients of the amazing grace of God and called to the privilege of delcaring the message of the Kingdom of Heaven as servants of the King of Heaven! This was a privilege but it also was carried out at great, personal cost, exemplified in

(i). The manner in which they were to travel - “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.”(Matt 10:9-10).

The apostles were to go forth with a minimum of clothing and supplies, trusting the Lord to provide whatever else they needed. God Himself established the principle that the worker is worthy of his support, and He will see that it is fulfilled.

(ii). Their response to the acceptance and rejection of their mission - “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”(Matt 10:10-16).

The apostles are to approach all communities in peaceable ways and for peaceful purposes. If they are not received, they are to withdraw and leave the place to God. God will deal with the hard-hearted cities who refuse to come to him, just as He will make provision for those who serve him. When a house or a city was contemptuous of the apostles and of the words they taught, as they left that house or city they were to shake off the dust of their feet. So, when the leaders of the synagogue in Pisidia of Antioch drove Paul and Barnabas out of their district, the two men “shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium” (Acts 13:51) and Paul had declared, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles” (v. 46; cf. Matt. 7:6).A “worthy person” is a person whose house is open and appreciative of the witness and work of the disciples of Christ. They are not to waste their time on people who did not want to hear!

(iii). Their approach to the risks involved in their mission - I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”(Matt 10:16).

Their approach was to be one of a combination of wisdom and innocence. To be ‘wise as snakes’, - GrK; phronimos - ‘sensible’, ‘prudent’ like the ‘cunning’ of the serpent in Gen. 3:1 or the cunning of the Shrewd manager of Luke 16:1–8) - to be cunning and pragmatic, yet it is to be combined with being as “innocent as doves’, pure and transparrent; unalloyed or unmixed in terms of their behaviours and motives - “blasmesless and pure, children of God”(Phil 2:15).

They were to be this way because they were being sent our as “sheep among wolves” constantly harrassed and in danger so the need for wisdom and cunning as well as prudence and purity. vulnerable position demands that they be wise. The balance of prudence and purity will enable Christians both to survive and to fulfil their mission to the world.

Paul advised believers to, “conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity” (Col. 4:5). We are to be shrewd in dealing with the unbelieving world around us. We should pray that we have the wisdom needed to say the right thing at the right time and place; having a sense of propriety and appropriateness, and of trying to discover the best means to achieve our highest goal of sharing the gospel, just as Paul did when he said, “I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.” (1 Cor. 9:19–22) - As J.I Packer said in his book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God: “We must learn to see what possibilities of evangelism our everyday situation holds, and to be enterprising in our use of them. It is the nature of love to be enterprising. If you love someone, you are constantly trying to think out what is the best you can do for him, and how best you can please him, and it is your pleasure to give him pleasure by the things you devise for him. If, then, we love God—Father, Son, and Spirit—for all that They have done for us, we shall muster all our initiative and enterprise to make the most that we can of every situation for Their glory—and one chief way of doing this is to seek out ways and means of spreading the gospel, and obeying the divine command to make disciples everywhere. Similarly, if we love our neighbour, we shall muster all our initiative and enterprise to find ways and means of doing him good. And one chief way of doing him good is to share with him our knowledge of Christ. Thus, if we love God and our neighbour, we shall evangelize, and we shall be enterprising in our evangelism.”

(iv). The hostility they will experience when on their mission - “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”(Matthew 10:17-24).

Jesus warns his disciples that hostility and division will inevitably come upon them as they engage in His work! They are His sheep, but they are like sheep among wolves (Matt 10:16), constantly harassed and endangered and therefore they need to be aware that they will be in danger and suffer.

They will suffer at the hands of Governing officials and religious leaders - influential citizens, who engage in the persecution of the disciples in complicity with the Synagogue. Here they will be flogged as a punishment for disobedience or breach of the peace (see (cf. Matt 23:34; Acts 5:40; 22:19; 2 Cor. 11:24). Further, as the gospel message spreads to the Gentile world, “Governors and Kings” will intensify the persecution (Matt 10:18).

They will suffer at the hands of family members - Jesus also makes it clear that this hostility will not merely be at the hands of officals or disconnected citizens, but even within one’s own family - ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.”(Matt 10:21). And this division is inevitable! - “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’(Matt 10:34-36). “The sword Jesus brings is not here military conflict, but, ...a sharp social division which even severs the closest family ties.”(France). During Roman persecutions of the second and third centuries an untold number of Christians were betrayed to civil authorities by a brother or father or child. That tragic practice has been repeated many times, and it is not unknown even in our own day. In certain religious cultures a funeral service is held for a family member who becomes a Christian, because in the eyes of his relatives he is no longer alive. In some instances the converted member has been poisoned to death.

They will suffer because fo their connection to Jesus - “All men will hate you because of me”(Matt 10:22). Jesus has suffered the indignity of being named ‘Beelzebul’ A name thought to derive from the Canaanite god mentioned in 2 Kings 1:2 “Baal-zebub the god of Ekron”(‘lord of flies’) or possibly ‘Lord of the height’ or ‘of the dwelling’; but in popular Jewish usage it had become the name of a senior demon; Matt 12:24ff. shows that it could be used as a synonym of ‘Satan’. It is thus an insult which carries a hint of the charge of satanic inspiration brought in Matt 9:34 and Matt 12:24.(Matt 10:25).

It is clear that though Jesus is here giving a limited and specific command to His apostles, in some measure valid only for them at that time and place, this teaching has application to us as a principle valid for every ministry in every time and place—namely, that there is a cost to following Jesus, that we have to be prepared to pay.

To follow Jesus is to chaose a life of suffering in which division will be an inevitable consequence. Jesus’ followers we should not expect exemption from such trials. The world attacks us when it sees Christ in us.

Jesus affirmed this saying, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “A slave is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.” (John 15:18–21)

Division is inevitable and its so important that we choose what side we are going to be on! - “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”(Matt 10:37-39).

This takes great resolve. The resolve apparent in Ukraine at the moment! The resolve evidence during the siege of Rome in 1849 when Garibaldi said to his soldiers, “Men, all our efforts against superior forces have been unavailing. I have nothing to offer you but hunger and thirst, hardship and death. But I call on all who love their country to join with me.” A theme taken up by Winston Churchil after the Allies were forced to evacuate Dunkirk in 1940, when he decalred to our countrymen, “All I can offer you is blood, sweat, and tears.”

Of course following Jesus is not all blood sweat and tears, or even mostly, but for Christians there will be “many hardships” ahead as we seek to “enter the Kingdom” (Acts 14:22) as “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

Remember how last time, Mike introduced us to Jim Elliot who out of love for the Auca Indians and the desire for their salvation, lost his life in seeking to proclaim to them the gospel. How did he have such resolve to endure this? Well here is his secret, the seed of such courage was sown many years earlier, shortly after he graduated from College, he wrote in his diary: “God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life that I may burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life but a full one like You, Lord Jesus.” Such resolve sowed the seeds of such courage! Great faith begins with a great determination to stand firm for Jesus in the face of division and hostility!

Florence Nightingale, the so-called “lady with the lamp” who during her work at the British Army hospitals in Scutari, Crimea, was reported in 'The Times' as repeatedly walking around the wards at night, checking the wounded men holding a light in her hand. She was famed forher organisational skills and work in sanitising the hospitals, ressulting in the saving of countless lives. At the end of her life of service, she was asked the secret of her ability to accomplish so much. Her reply, “I can give only one explanation, and that is this: I have kept nothing back from God.” Such resolve! Where did she come by it? When she was 16, she received a divine call. "On Feb. 7th, 1837," she wrote, "God spoke to me and called me into his service." Being from a wealthy family, she caused controversy by carrying out "cottage visiting" taking food and medicine to poor farmers who lived on the family's lands. Then she began to think about nursing; her family was scandalized because in the early 1800s, nurses were considered unskilled laborers and were reputedly drunken and promiscuous. Proper ladies kept a fine house, gave parties, and made brilliant conversation. Undeterred, she studied nursing, first in books, then by visiting European hospitals, and finally by training at hospitals in Germany, England, and France. She was serving as director of a home for "invalid gentlewomen" when the Crimean War (1854-56) broke out. When she heard about the deplorable conditions on the she took 38 nurses to see what she could do. She ended up organizing the barracks hospital, including a kitchen, laundry, and clean latrines. She opened windows to let in fresh air and provided supplies by cutting administrative red tape or buying them herself. She provided reading and recreation rooms for the patients, wrote home to their loved ones, and provided a safe way to mail their pay home. Her efforts brought remarkable results: the death rate dropped from 42 percent to less than 3 percent. The soldiers adored her and christened her the "Lady of the Lamp," after the Turkish lantern she carried on her midnight rounds. Such resolve! Repeated again and again, for example in her 30th year of life she wrote in her diary: “I am thirty years of age, the age at which Christ began His mission. Now, no more childish things, no more vain things.” Towards the end of her life, a friend wrote to her, "You might have been a duchess if you had played your cards better." Her response? “I can give only one explanation, and that is this: I have kept nothing back from God.”

What a challenge to us to tet our resolve to be ready to give our eveything to Jesus. Whatever our life’s span or calling - Jesus asks us to serve Him and keep nothing back from Him.

Jesus wants us to go into this life and service with out eyes wide open. No false promises of health, wealth and security whilst hwere on earth. Instead, he says, following Him is to deliberately choose the way of suffering and even death. He likens it to taking up the cross - a symbol of extreme and torturous execution - and following Him. That is the price we must be prepared to pay to be “worthy” of Jesus! - “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”(Matthew 10:37-39).

2. The Reward for following King Jesus!

Jesus does call us to a life of suffering but He promises that our compensation for all this will be well worth the suffering! This is why should be prepared to make the difficult chocie of following Him! We go into this with our eyes wide open but we do it because we know that:

(i). Whilst we understandably fear those who can cause us temporary harm, we should fear God more! - “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”(Matt 10:28).

Fear is the key word of Matthew 10:26-31 but there are right and wrong fears for the disciple of Jesus who must learn to distinguish between them. Fear of harmful things is healthy and generally speaking harmful things are to be avoided if they threaten your life. However, sometimes harmful things cannot be avoided and must be faced with faith and courage.

Two types of fear are here contrasted - fear of men is a self-interested cowardice, but fear of God is a healthy response of awe and obedience in the face of the Almighty, and one which is positively commended throughout the Bible. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”(Prov 9:10).

It was Edmund Burke who said: “He that fears God fears nothing else.” That is inevitable! If God is the greatest and most powerful being in the Universe. If our eternal destiny resides in Him then, “what can man do to me?” Or as Paul puts it in Romans 8:32-39 “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,d neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Sometimes you don’t have the choice to save your life without unpalatable compromises. Sometimes, God’s saints have had to choose between life and dishonouring God and death for the honour of God. So, the three friends of Daniel, when commanded by Nebuchadnezzar to “not serve my gods or worship the image of gold I have set up?” refused even though they would be “thrown immediately into a blazing furnace.”, refused saying: “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”(Dan 3:14-19).

Think of the awful scenes of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, when, even as the ship was sinking and the ship's string ensemble, led by Wallace Hartley, the ship's band leader, who died when the ship sank, along with all of the other musicians on board, played the hymn which he lvoed and had already planned to have played at his funeral: “Nearer my God to Thee” - A record slip for a 1913 Edison cylinder recording of "Nearer, My God, to Thee", states that "When the great steamship 'Titanic' sank in mid-ocean in April 1912, it was being played by the band and sung by the doomed passengers, even as the boat took her final plunge." George Orrell, the bandmaster of the rescue ship, RMS Carpathia, who spoke with survivors, related: "The ship's band in any emergency is expected to play to calm the passengers. After the Titanic struck the iceberg the band began to play bright music, dance music, comic songs – anything that would prevent the passengers from becoming panic-stricken... various awe-stricken passengers began to think of the death that faced them and asked the bandmaster to play hymns. The one which appealed to all was 'Nearer My God to Thee'."

Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me,

still all my song shall be, nearer,

my God, to thee; nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto heaven;

all that thou sendest me, in mercy given;

angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to thee;

nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts, bright with thy praise,

out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;

so by my woes to be nearer, my God, to thee;

nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,

Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee,

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

(Sarah Flower Adams. 1841).

When faced with the inevitability of death, those who have lived in fear of God “hath nothing else to fear”!

Godly fear is loving and trusting in Him. The Apostle John puts it like this: “Whoever confesses and acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him. In this [union and fellowship with Him], love is completed and perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him]; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love]. We love, because He first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates (works against) his [Christian] brother he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should also [unselfishly] love his brother and seek the best for him. we fear God more completely, we love Him more perfectly. And "perfect love casteth out all fear." I promise the bright light of godly fear will chase away the dark shadows of mortal fears as we look to the Savior, build upon Him as our foundation, and press forward on His covenant path with consecrated commitment.”(1 John 4:15-21).

Festo Kivengere (1919-1988), a leading Ugandan Anglican leader sometimes referred to as "the Billy Graham of Africa" played a huge role in a Christian revival in southwestern Uganda, but had to flee in 1973 to neighboring Kenya in fear for his life after speaking out against Idi Amin's tyrannical behavior. He wrote a book entitled ironically, “I Love Idi Amin”, to emphasize the qualities of forgiveness for those who wronged you and love of those who persecute you. Kivengere stated, "On the cross, Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, because they know not what they do.' As evil as Idi Amin is, how can I do less toward him?" In his book, Kivengere tells the history of persecution and martyrdom of Christians in that country, then called Buganda. One such account, takes palce in on January 31, 1885., where three Christian boys, ranging from 11-15 were forced to give their lives for Christ because they would not renounce their faith in Him. The king, Kabaka Mwanga was adamantly opposed to Christianity and ordered the boys’ execution if they did not recant. At the place of execution the boys asked that the following message be given to the king: “Tell his majesty that he has put our bodies in the fire but we won’t be long in the fire. Soon we will be with Jesus, which is much better. But ask him to repent and change his mind or he will land in a place of eternal fire.” As they stood bound and awaiting death they sang a song that soon became greatly loved by Christians in that country as “The Martyrs’ Song.” One verse testifies, “O that I had wings like the angels, I would fly away and be with Jesus.” The youngest of the boys, named Yusufu, said, “Please don’t cut off my arms. I will not struggle in the fire that takes me to Jesus.” Because of the boys’ testimony that day, 40 adults trusted in Jesus Christ for salvation, and through their witness and ministries, countless more converts were won to the Lord over a period of many years. By 1887 a large number of other Christians were martyred, many of them inspired by the fearless, loving testimony of those three boys. However, today it is estimated that out of a total population of 42.2 million, according to the most recent census, conducted in 2020, 82 percent of the population is Christian. None of those martyrs in Uganda could imagine that this would happen! None knew much theology or much about the Bible, because most of them were illiterate and all of them were relatively new believers. But they had a deep love for Jesus that they refused to hide, no matter what the cost.

We are warned in Proverbs that “the fear of man brings a snare” (Prov 29:25). Fear of what people may think, say, or do has strangled many testimonies and hindered much service in the Lord’s name. Fears could easily stop a disciple from witnessing to his or her Lord, but Jesus says to us: “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs”(Matt 10:26-27). Jesus is predicting inevitable suffering for bearing witness to Him and it would be easy to shrink back from such a cross to bear but it is about having the right kind of fear - the fear of God! A healthy response of awe and obedience in the face of the Almighty, and one which is positively commended throughout the Bible.

There may of course be a price to pay for speaking God’s truth in the light and proclaiming it from the housetops as there was for our Ugandan brothers and sister but as Paul, was still determined to go to Jerusalem despite many warnings from his friends, “a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, ‘This is what the Holy Spirit says: “In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles”’ ” (Acts 21:10–11). When his friends began crying at the news, Paul said, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (v. 13). Paul had no fear of those who could only kill the body because he knew that once he had run his race and fought his fight, he would receive the “crown of life”. All that mattered to Him was Jesus and fulfilling His calling! - “Neither count I my life dear unto myself” (Acts 20:24, KJV). - “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”(Phil 3:10-14).

(ii). Whilst this life and its sufferings are temporary, there is a Heaven to gain and a Hell to avoid - “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”(Matt 10:28).

Jesus contrasts those who can end life with God who “can destroy both soul and body in hell” The psychē, translated soul tells us that there is more to man than mere animal existence; men may terminate that, but they cannot end the real essence of a person’s life. The life that goes on beyond the grave in either heaven or hell:

Heaven - For Christians, life beyond the grave is welcome - the promise of Heaven; of eternal life which makes us “more than conquerors” because it reminds us that “nothing can separate us from the love of Christ”(Rom 8). The bible describes Heaven as our eternal home(John 14:1-3) where we will reside in real, physical bodies (1 Corinthians 15) and where we will experience everlasting joys, rewards, and treasures (Matthew 5:12; Matthew 6:19-20; Luke 6:23). Heaven is the “dwelling of God”(Revelation 21:3) and the light of Jesus will permeate every corner of this place (Revelation 22:5). Heaven is an eternal state will have “no more sickness, crying, or pain.”(Rev 21:4) of perfect health, joy, and pleasure. In God’s presence, there are “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11, ESV).  We shall see the Lord “face-to-face” (1 Corinthians 13:12) and be fully satisfied in a world where no shadows of sin; corruption and darkness shall ever be found.

Hell - Jesus speaks of the terrifying reality of Hell - Grk: gehenna is a reality that Jesus speaks of often. Gehenna was a rubbish dump outside the walls of Jerusalem where rubbish was burned and maggots abounded, even inspite of the constant burning fire. Jesus has already spoke in Matthew 5:22 of the “fire of hell” A place where ‘soul’ and ‘body’; the whole person, receives its total and final destruction, as opposed to the limited nature of mere physical death. In Luke 16, Jesus describes a great chasm over which “none may cross from there to us.” In Matthew 25, Jesus tells of a time when people will be separated into two groups, one entering into his presence, the other banished to “eternal fire.” Jesus describes is it as a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23), of unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43), where “the worm does not die” (Mark 9:48), and where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret (Matt. 13:42), and from which there is no return, even to warn loved ones (Luke 16:19–31). He calls hell a place of “outer darkness” (Matt. 25:30). It is a place of destruction in which the body and soul is destroyed - Grk: apolesai carries the connotation of ‘loss’ or ‘ruin’ as well as of literal destruction, so that the expression does not necessarily imply the annihilation of the impenitent but the devestating ruin and loss that cannot be recompensed! Awful!

Horrible! Fearful Hell but a choice that each of us makes! God will not force the unwilling into Heaven! - “Since no man is excluded from calling upon God the gate of salvation is open to all. There is nothing else to hinder us from entering, but our own unbelief.”(John Calvin)

Heaven is offered to those who do not serve it, as a free offer of grace. Hell is given to those who will not accept that free offer of grace and therefore choose the consequences of ther own sin. “Hell is not an 'oops!' or a slip. One does not miss heaven by a hair, but by constant effort to avoid and escape God.” ― Dallas Willard

If Heaven is a constant reminder to us that God in His grace, punished our sin in His Son so that we would not be punished for our sin, but receive a free and full pardon for it, Hell is a reminder to us that “The character of God is the guarantee that all wrongs will be righted someday; when the ‘day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed’ (Rom 2:5) arrives, retribution will be exact, and no problems of cosmic unfairness will remain to haunt us. God is the Judge, so justice will be done” (Knowing God, J. I. Packer p,143)

The point of application however for the disciple of Jesus is that compared with the fate which awaits the unbelieving, martyrdom is a far less fearful prospect than hell! So, suffering as a disciple is taking up the “cross” and following Jesus!(Matt 10:38).

Choosing to “lose” your life by handing it over to Jesus is a way of saving your life for all eternity(Matt 10:39).

The disciple of Jesus puts his loyalty to Jesus above his own natural inclinations and interests as well as before those of his family. As Jim Elliot said: “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

This is why Jesus says to us: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me”(Matt 10:37-38). - We are not being asked to not love father, mother, son or daughter, we are being asked not to put any human relationship and responsibility above our relationship to God.(Matt 10:37).

Following Jesus must take precedence over the natural love of family - Grk: phileō used here refers to natural affection, not agapaō, the loving commitment which is a Christian characteristic. Jesus calls not for an unloving attitude, but for a willingness to put him first in the concrete situation where the calls of Jesus and of family conflict. (see Matt 8:21-22). Jesus demands our primary loyalty, promising that to submit completely and wholly to him is, in fact, to ‘find’ one’s life (Matt 10:39).

(iii). Whilst our obedience to Jesus is costly, our reward will greatly outweigh the cost! - “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”(Matt 10:40-42).

“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.” - This is a remarkable statement! To receive Jesus is to receive God! To receive Jesus’ disciples therefore is to receive Jesus Himself - ‘God himself enters the house with Jesus’ messengers. What a statement!’ (Jeremias, NTT, p. 239). Thus people need to be carefuyl about how they receive the disciples of Jesus. It becomes a test of a man’s relationship to God (see Matt 25:31–46).

This section reveals 3 important truths about the reward awaiting the disciples of Jeus who are prepared to suffer for their faith: (a). God’s servants will be publicly vindicated - When the Lord returns, He “will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Cor. 4:5). On earth we may be subjected to much persecution, as plans against us, forged in secret and under the cover of darkness are translated into action. Such plans can go far; Christ’s servants may be killed as a result. However, their souls are immortal, and Jesus encourages them to remember that God will bring everything at last to the light of his judgement and his justice, and that there is no ultimate danger for his people. (ii).God’s servants are highly valued - Sparrows are valuable to people (Matt 10:29 see Mat 6:26), either as a cheap food souce or as pets for the rich and they are also important to God as God looks after his creatures to the extent that not one of them can fall to the ground unnoticed. However, you are much more valuable to God than sparrows. He knows even the number of hairs on the heads of his servants. The point here is that nothing in God’s world is outside his concern or control, even though clearly sparrows, and Christians, do die. Jesus is not therefore saying that the disciples will escape from suffering or even death, but the knowledge that the time of its coming is in the hands of your Father, whose intimate knowledge of and concern for his children is clear. (iii). God’s servants will be openly acknowledged -The apostles are being sent to testify to the greatness of Jesus. Their work in the world is to confess him. But Jesus’ promise is that before his Father he will confess his people (Matt 10:32).

So, following Christ is costly, it involves suffering and division is inevitable but Jesus would say to us - Stick with it! - It is the one who endures to the end who will be saved (Matt 24:13).

We as disciples of Jesus Christ are to work and witness with the end always in view. What is that end? Matthew says that it is the coming of the Son of Man (Matt 10:23). This anticipates the teaching of later chapters, in which the appearance of the Son of Man is shown to be the point to which all of history is moving. The apostles are to face a lifetime of costly witness always keeping their eyes on the goal of the coming of the Son of Man and praying for persevering, enduring grace.

Endurance is evidence of salvation, proof that a person is truly redeemed and a child of God. God gives eternal life “to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality,” (Rom. 2:7). The writer of Hebrews expresses the same truth in these words: “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end” (Heb 3:14). see also Matthew 24:13; John 8:31; 1 Corinthians 15:1–2; Colossians 1:21–23; Hebrews 2:1–3; Heb 4:14; Heb 6:11–12; Heb 10:39; Heb 12:14; 2 Peter 1:10.

Persecution quickly burns away chaff in the church. Those who have made only a superficial profession of Christ have no new nature to motivate them to suffer for Christ and no divine power to enable them to endure it if they wanted to. Nothing is more spiritually purifying and strengthening than persecution (cf. James 1:12).

However, God’s Word assures us that absolutely nothing can separate us from Christ that we can count on such unshakable endurance. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Not “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”...But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35, 37–39).

However, to fail to acknowledge Jesus “before men”(Matt 10:32), is to effectively deny him - “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”*(Matt 10:32-33).

“A man’s standing before God is thus explicitly made to depend on his relationship to Jesus, and Jesus himself stands in the role of arbiter of a man’s ultimate destiny...So the disciple must choose which solidarity he prefers, that with men in this life, or that with Jesus .” (R.T. France).

So this is a question for us as we close this morning - “choose this day, whom you will serve.”

Let Pilate’s question to the baying crowd be my question to you - “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” (Matt 27:22). Do you say, as most did on that day “away with Him, crucify” or will you gratefully submit to Him as the criminal on the cross did when he said, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom” and happily heard the response, “Today, you will be with me in paradise”(Luke 23:43).

Near the end of his life Paul wrote to his beloved Timothy, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:6–7).

Let there be a renewed determination on our part to do the same! To finish well! To give my all for Jesus!

The King is at work! Division is inevitable. By the grace of God, may my life be summed up by “only one explanation, and that is this: I have kept nothing back from God.”