Sent Like Sheep

Psalm of The Day: Psalm 113

Praise be to the Lord! As the Psalm says: Praise, O servant of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.

What a wonderful reminder that this is the reason that we gather. As a pastor, I may be the only one who ponders these types of things, but have you ever wondered, WHY do we gather? there are surface level answers, we could say: because The Bible tells us to, and it does (see Hebrews 10:25) we cold say, because that's what Christians have done for 2000 years, which they have (see Acts). But the ultimate answer to the question of “why do Christians gather” is because we do so to corporeally, to together, praise the name of the Lord.

SO as we begin with a silent time of prayer and reflection I encourage you, foster within yourself a spirit of praise, he has exalted the humble, he has saved the sinner, he has called the rebel and he has saved you and me! Let us PRAY!

Scripture Reading: Psalm 7:1-2;6-7

Psalm 7:1–2 ESV

O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

Psalm 7:6–7 ESV

Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high.

Sermon:

Good Morning Church! I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

If you were to get 100 pastors into a room and give them all the same poll, I would wager you would find very few things that they would all agree on. Trust me, I just spent the better part of last week in a room of 100 pastors of the SAME DENOMINATION, and you cannot get us to agree about anything. But one thing that I would bet that all would agree on, is that it is rewarding and strangely refreshing to preach on persecution.

WHY is an interesting question. heres my take: it stem from the fact that persecution is one thing that all believers are called to, but unlike spiritual disciplines and holy living, this takes the form of encouragement rather than exhortation, and the sin here lies in someone else. So it is all the fire of condemning sin, WITH all the comfort to the broken hearted. On top of that persecution brings out all the good quotes from believers over church history, and on top of that there is the fact that persecution is often the tool that God uses to grow and spread the church and you have a preachers favorite subject.

Therefore, for the next three weeks we will be living in a preachers playground. This subject of persecution will take front stage as the discourse on Mission of Jesus becomes, in no small way, the discourse on persecution and suffering. It should be no surprise that these two things (mission and persecution) go together, for our saviors life, the book of Acts, and really all of church history attest to this very fact, as we fulfil the job placed in front of us to (see last week) “preach the gospel of the kingdom: THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND” there will be fierce and often violent opposition.

With that in mind, lets read our text for today. Matthew 10:16-25

Matthew 10:16–25 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. 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. 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. “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 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.

These are the words of the Lord for us today. Lets begin with a word of Prayer.

PRAY

Whereas in later weeks we will be discussing more of a theology of persecution, if that makes sense, this week we just are getting the introduction, and as such,

WHO Jesus sends

-SHEEP:

-Sheep are helpless in the face of wolves. France 390

-the people of God are often portrayed as sheep, with various meanings, but here as in other places the meaning is clear: “vulnerable to predators”

-and yet we willingly go, head first into danger. Our mission is to a hostile world. We are to understand that we are going among people that are dangerous, and we do so gladly and in some sense, per Platt, foolishly.

-WISE SERPENTS:

-The vulnerability of sheep is enhanced by their proverbial stupidity, but the disciples are not to be like that! - France, 390

The snake, while we often associate with evil since the garden, was also proverbial for cunning. Per France: “Disciples under threat are not to be helpless and gullible, but must maintain the initiative. - 390

-INNOCENT DOVES:

-here gentile, and also to counteract the popular thoughts of snakes. so the cunning of doves then shows the “cunning of snakes without the venom”.

-”Innocent” here means unmixed and refers to purity of intention. - Blomberg, 173

-when you are with the wolves, don’t let them have anything against you when it comes to your purity. Do Not be abrasive, inconsiderate or belligerent. Be innocent in the middle of difficult situations and thereby demonstrate what purity looks like in action. - Platt 137.

-Together this is a call to “great acumen without sinful compromise” - Blomberg, 173

as Jerome wrote in the late 300’s: “we are to be wise and innocent because by wisdom believers can avoid plots and by simplicity, or innocence, they can avoid doing evil. - Jerome 120

-Spurgeon: It would be foolhardy to go if Jesus did not say, “I send you.” When Jesus sends forth sheep, they may go fearlessly into the very “midst of wolves”… The disciples are sent to fierce men to convince them, and therefore must be wise; and to convert them, and therefore must be gentile. - 237

WHAT He sends us to

-”MEN” generically, the world. people. the lost. but also the hostile. with each type of person listed the stakes get higher and higher.

-then note, that this persecution reaches a fever pitch in verse 21-23. It is hostile in a personal sense (brother against Brother, father versus child, and child versus Parent) and Jesus has in mind martyrdom. This is NO SMALL MATTER!

-”The disciples are warned that those who reject the kingdom message will not be content with passive unbelief. They will actively oppress the messengers of the kingdom.” - Turner - 275

-the division that the Gospel message brings is “excruciatingly divisive”!

-the hostility grows. In the previous passage it was just an unwelcome response, but there it STARTS with open hostility and culminates in martyrdom!

-But note, that in some important sense this persecution is a good thing, for this becomes the opportunity to “bear witness to the gentiles” (verse 18)

-just focusing on the two thoughts of verse 21-22 we could summarize the second level of persecution with two words: betrayal and hatred!

HOW he preserves us

-shortly and simply put, it is through the Spirit!

-Endurance is the mark of the messenger and endurance comes at the ministry of the Spirit

WHY we stand firm

-it is because the suffering that we endure is not unique to us, but is instead a “shared” persecution, that we share with our Lord, and our Savior.

-The language here is stunningly strong. as Blomberg: “Promises of exemption from persecution offer false hope. People who have never experienced it probably have not sufficiently witnessed their faith.” - Blomberg 177

-Jesus as good as says -- the classes and the masses will turn against you because of the name, the doctrine, and the rule of your master. - Spurgeon 241