Amen. Right, so we're continuing Matthew chapter 10, and just a quick recap in verses 1 to 23, which we did last week.
We saw Jesus sending out the 12 disciples to preach the gospel, confirming the word with miracles.
And we saw that the four most prominent of the disciples, the inner circle, you could almost say,
couldn't you were all fishermen who all become fishers of men, don't they?
And I think for me, there's a reason there.
But we also saw that going first, remember, it was first to the lost sheep of the House of Israel,
was to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.
The Gentiles weren't a plan B.
And how they were then told to freely give, because we're not to charge people to hear the gospel, are we, or the word of God at all.
We never charge in this church, we're never going to have sort of a price list up there and things like that.
It's amazing, isn't it, how many so-called Bible-believing churches will do that.
A brother was telling me about a church that we used to go to, who was trying to charge to take a hymn book, you know,
and it's like, come on, you know, if you don't want him to take one, don't take one, don't charge for it.
But people, you know, claim to believe the Bible.
But we saw how they were told, obviously, to freely give.
But on the flip side, we don't have to be too holy to accept generosity when offered it, for the workman is worthy of his meat.
We looked at how that applies to pastors, other church workers.
And then we also looked at moving on quickly when people reject the word and how we're sent out in the midst of wolves.
And how we should therefore be wise and blameless, you know, wise as serpents, harmless as doves when we're out preaching the gospel out, doing the things of God.
And then finally, we looked at verses 17 to 22 and how they were basically almost identical to Mark 13, 9 to 13,
the famous Olivet Discourse known obviously famously, especially in Matthew 24, because we're promised tribulation in this life, aren't we?
And from 2000 years ago until the great tribulation, Jesus Christ returned, men and women of God preaching the gospel.
That's the point. Men and women of God preaching the gospel have and will always suffer persecution, even from those closest to them.
But then we saw our verse 23 really stands out.
Matthew 10, 23, where you are says, but when they persecute you in the city, flee into another.
For verily I say unto you, ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man become.
So there for me, there will always be places to flee to, which is why Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21,
there is such an emphasis on fleeing once the abomination of desolation is set up.
It's not just so you can play a bit of futile kind of cat and mouse for a bit of a laugh before eventually getting decapitated.
It's because there is actually some point of fleeing, isn't there?
It's because he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
And obviously that's got nothing to do with spiritual salvation as the context of the passage is very clear.
So we're going to continue with verse 24 now, which reads, the disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his Lord.
I'd also like to pray before we continue.
So, Father, thank you for this great chapter of the Bible, a chapter which is misused so often and by many false prophets, many works, salvationists.
Help me to just preach it clearly and accurately and boldly now, Lord.
Fulfill me with your spirit.
Help those to just have attentive ears now and keep the distractions to a minimum, please, Lord, and just help us to all be edified by your word.
In Jesus' name, pray all of this. Amen.
OK, so there are some great truths in this verse alone, this verse 24 here.
The context here is that we will be hated, slandered, persecuted as Christ was.
That's the context because verse 25 says it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his Lord.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
So they called Jesus Beelzebub or the devil.
Why do we expect any better?
And sadly, many people do expect better, don't they?
Many Christians expect that they're not going to have to go through anything at all like Jesus Christ went through.
If only the weak, liberal Christian could understand this truth alone, if only they could.
Instead, many spend their lives trying to appeal to the God hater, don't they?
Spend their life trying to somehow avoid any which way they can, the persecution that should and does come with being a Christian.
Many, many instead want to try and try their best to become popular with the world, don't they?
So many so-called Christians are trying to be popular with the world, trying to be trendy in one way or another,
trying to show the world that they're not, you know, that they don't, you know, they don't have to hate them,
that actually they do think like them.
It's just that they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but otherwise they're exactly the same.
Some of them will try and change the word not to offend, won't they?
They'll go that far as to actually change the Bible, to pick and choose a translation which is least offensive.
I was at a church when I was first saved, a so-called Bible-believing evangelical church,
where the new pastor there was at slight odds, but very polite odds with the old pastor there,
because the new pastor believed the newer, and he preferred the newer NIV,
whereas the old pastor preferred the 1980 whatever version,
and the new pastor preferred the newer one because it wasn't, sorry, it was more, what's the word, gender neutral.
So, because the newer NIV wouldn't be quite as offensive to maybe if someone came in with feminist leanings,
and, you know, took away the sort of male dominance of the Bible, basically, and, you know, all of that sort of nonsense.
I can't even bother to go in any further, but people will do that, won't they?
People will even change the word of God to try and fit in and will pick a translation.
I mean, where did you get off? Pick a translation.
Yeah, so much for the word of God being preserved, for every word of God being preserved.
Just pick a translation that will appease the world.
So his argument was, well, then if someone came in, they wouldn't then walk away from the church
because they're offended by talking about, you know, nail this and he that, and amazing, isn't it?
But that's what people do. That's people that claim to be believers, claim to believe in the word of God.
Verse 24 said the disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his Lord.
So they think that, basically, people like that think that they're somehow better than Jesus, really.
They, in their mind, he was too offensive, but they know better.
So he offended the world, but if they do it their way, they might be able to do it without offending the world.
I mean, it's madness, really, isn't it?
He was too direct, really, wasn't he, Jesus, when he told the work salvationists that they're going to hell.
He was too direct. Oh, well, try and do it without offending.
Well, if you could, you know, when you're preaching, just be careful not to offend everyone else.
You know, oh, well, you don't have to be so one way is the only way, do you?
You know, we as Christians, we don't want to offend.
What, are you better than Jesus? That's what they believe, don't they?
They think that they somehow have a better way than the Lord Jesus Christ.
But notice here in verse 25, the emphasis on his real followers being disciples and servants
and him being the master of the Lord.
Now, obviously, I'm not talking about salvation here.
OK, that's not what we're talking about here.
OK, this is talking about something separate to salvation.
OK, what is salvation? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved.
OK, but being a disciple, being a servant of the Lord, making him your Lord, making him your master.
No, you don't have to do that to get saved, by the way, because people love to take that little Romans 10,
nine, use a little NIV translation here, a little false translation there, if you make him Lord of your life.
But that's not what it says, does it? It says, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
not if you declare Jesus is Lord. And that's a subtle but a big difference, isn't it?
And that could affect a whole salvation doctrine, isn't it?
Which is why you've got so many of these people going, you've got to make him Lord of your life.
Well, what exactly does that mean? How do you make him Lord of your life?
Have I made him Lord of my life today? Well, did I make him Lord of my life this morning when I sinned in this way?
Well, you can see how ridiculous that is, right?
Well, OK, that's not what we're talking about here.
But what we're talking about is that if you continue in his word,
and continuing in his word is not just the fluffy, lovey-dovey bits, is it?
That's not just the bits that you like, the bits that maybe your church agree with, not the other bits.
Now, if you continue in his word, that's his whole word.
If you really want to serve him, well, and by the way, there is no serving the Lord like soul winning, is there?
OK, that's really serving the Lord, soul winning. That's what it's all about, really.
That's the first, that's the first part, really.
Now, don't get me wrong, if you're someone and you're sitting here going,
when I come to church, you know, I've tried, at least, you know, I'm trying to learn how to soul win.
Look, for me, you're on the road, you're on a good road there, OK?
And I'm not trying to knock anyone like that.
And if you've maybe never preached the gospel, but you'd like to,
and you're trying to, maybe you started coming out as a silent partner or whatever it is, great.
Yeah. Amen. Brilliant.
OK, for me, yeah, you are a disciple, OK?
You're on that road, but the road has to have along it, it's going to be preaching the gospel, isn't it?
OK, that's what it's all about.
And that's not all in 10 years time.
Look, you should be actively trying to make an effort to get people saved.
And whether that's being a silent partner for 10 years, great.
OK, but that's that's part of it, isn't it?
Part of it is preaching the gospel.
Now, if you continue in his word, he said, if you continue on my word, then are you my disciples indeed?
Continuing in his word includes going and preaching the gospel,
but you're not going to be better at avoiding the persecution than Jesus was then, are you?
OK, if you are, if you're making him your Lord, you're making him your master,
you're being a servant, you're being a disciple, all the words that we see repeated,
you know, in a couple of different places here, then look, you're going to get persecuted
and you're not going to be better at avoiding it than Jesus Christ was, are you?
So, see, the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord.
Turn to John, chapter 15, because it's not just when it comes to avoiding persecutions
that Christians think that they can correct where Jesus failed.
And there are Christians out there that think that they can correct Jesus on this,
that somehow, you know, they can do things better.
They're going to find a way to not get, you know, that maybe, you know,
maybe if they go out and they just kind of just, just give them something written down,
just give them a tract, that'll do it.
Well, no, we need to follow what Jesus Christ said.
Where are you? In John chapter 15, was it?
John chapter 15, from verse 19, it says here,
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own,
but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you.
Now that's just a fact of life.
As a disciple, as a servant of God, the world hates you.
Okay, now he's talking to his disciples here,
but I hope everyone here considers themselves a disciple as well.
It's not all doom and gloom because Jesus loves you
and that's what counts, isn't it?
I hope no one here is just really seeking that love of the world
because you're going to be disappointed
if you're going to serve the Lord.
Verse 20 says,
Remember the word that I said unto you,
the servant is not greater than his Lord.
If they have persecuted me,
they will also persecute you.
If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
So yes, as a servant, you will get persecution.
But the end of the verse here for me is interesting.
Now it could be in the smaller context of persecution,
usually our words against us,
but it could also be in contrast to the persecution.
The passage here is Jesus in John 15,
commanding the disciples to bring forth fruit,
to bear witness of him.
He says as well, we do that by preaching the word of God, don't we?
We don't have to turn there first, Thessalonians 2 13 says,
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing,
because when you received the word of God,
which he heard of us,
you received it not as a word of men,
but as it is in truth, the word of God,
which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
It's all about the word of God, isn't it?
Faith cometh by hearing him by the word of God.
Now, if we do that, the nose that would hear Jesus
will keep our saying too, won't they?
That's the saying.
That's what we're going forth and preaching the word of God.
That's what we should be doing
if we're doing what Jesus tells us to do.
But with that in mind, how many therefore,
how many people, how many think that they're above the master,
how many churches now just don't do that?
They won't do it.
We've all been at churches
where they just won't go out and preach the gospel.
They'll go out and give the gospel written down to people.
I mean, the last church I was at before finally
we had this church here was a guy saying,
well, you know, we're giving them the words of eternal life.
But how many people got saved by reading the Bible?
None.
The Bible's clear about that, okay?
No one's getting saved reading the Bible.
Now, look, we have on our tracks, we have a summary.
We have a summary,
but no one's just going to read that and get saved.
So we want to preach and we want to encourage them.
Look, we're trying to say to them, look at this video.
We're trying to get a verse out,
trying to preach something to them.
And yeah, great, we've got a summary.
Sometimes that summary can be great.
It could be something that maybe they can go away, look at.
Maybe that's going to help them when they eventually,
hopefully get it preached to them in the future.
But no one is going to take that track,
read it and go, well, of course,
and get saved because the Bible's clear.
The Bible's clear they have to have it preached.
They have to have it preached by someone.
That's not written down, okay?
That's not anyone know anyone
that read a tract and got saved.
It doesn't happen.
Yet how many churches around this nation,
around the world have somehow convinced themselves
that they know better?
That's basically what they're saying.
Yeah, Jesus said, go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
Jesus said, because Jesus is the Word,
faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.
Jesus said all these different things,
yet we know better now.
No, no, no, because that's a bit old school, that.
Yeah, all that locking on doors, that's a bit weird.
Let's just post something through the letterbox.
Let's just stand in a high street,
go and come to church, come to church, come to church.
And how many people are getting saved like that?
None.
And in fact, I would add to that as well.
How many people are getting saved in a church
by the guy preaching the gospel in the sermons?
I would say very few, right?
Now it sounds great and it sounds amazing.
You're just gonna stand there and preach the gospel,
maybe in every sermon,
because how many churches do that?
I'm gonna preach the gospel.
Every time we have someone new, let's preach the gospel.
Preach it, preach it.
Everyone's sitting here going,
oh, there's the gospel again.
I've heard it how many times this week,
because I've been out soul winning
hopefully this week as well.
But hey ho, hopefully that's gonna get some saved.
But how often does it really get them saved?
Now I've heard there's maybe some churches
where they used to walk the aisle afterwards and give them,
but apparently these guys
would sometimes walk the aisle more than once as well.
And they'd be coming down to the altar.
I don't even know why they got an altar in the New Testament.
The church would then still come down the aisle
to the altar and then they do it the next year
and the next year.
Look, it's madness, isn't it?
Because really most people need someone sitting down
to preach the gospel to them, don't get me wrong.
Sometimes you see things like Pentecost
and things like that,
where you just see some spirit filled preacher,
preacher, gospel, these unsaved people.
But the vast majority of our church
is gonna be saved people, isn't it?
Okay, this isn't, if we had like some right,
come here, we're in a receptive place.
Come here, come in,
just bringing people in to preach the gospel,
that might be worthwhile, right?
But we're preaching to edify the saints here.
And when people come in and they get a one-on-one
with someone who knows how to preach the gospel in general,
if they come into this church seeking the Lord,
we're pretty shocked when they go out
and they're not saved, yeah?
Okay, but you know what?
I've had people come in here and I have, you know,
before, you know,
I'm not saying it's the worst thing in the world.
I thought, well, I'll preach a little bit of the gospel here.
There's a few people here that look like, you know,
they're new coming in at the old church before, you know,
coming of Southend High Street or wherever else it is.
Preach your gospel to them.
And then after it's gone up to them,
so, you know, do you know if you're sure you go to heaven?
Well, what do you think you got to do?
Be good.
So I've literally just been preaching Romans chapter four.
We've just had our Romans, Romans chapter three.
I remember there was, there was someone after,
I'd literally just gone through,
I think it was Romans chapter three.
You know, after the sermon was about the gospel,
made it clear as day afterwards, be good.
It's like, where were you for the last hour?
Because you're thinking, oh, this is going to be tough.
Cause they're going to know what to say,
but are they really going to believe?
They're going to know what to say.
Because there's something different in there
when someone is directly talking to you
and preaching to you as an individual, right?
But point being back to this point here is
how many people though,
how many so-called Christians think they know better?
How about the easier to read version?
He said, he said man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Yet how many so-called churches got, well, yeah,
but are they really going to understand all those,
these, you know, these, I's and thou's?
Better give them an easier to read version
that will get them saved.
How many of them are getting saved?
How many people do you know saved
walking around with an NIV?
How many doors do you knock on?
They've got like a false, false Bible version,
yet they're saved.
Very, very few, right?
If any at all.
In fact, sometimes you talk to people who,
who are kind of like, they want to get saved.
And then they, and then you go to them,
do you have a Bible?
They go upstairs and bring down the King James.
Amen.
But yeah, so few, isn't it?
So few, and you do get them now and again,
but it's pretty rare, isn't it?
And how about, how about here's another one people do?
Okay, so Jesus Christ is very clear, isn't he?
Jesus Christ showed us how to do it.
Yeah, how many people think spending hours, days,
weeks, months, years debating evolution
is somehow the way forward to getting people saved?
So many out there do that, don't they?
And there are big name people on YouTube
and they're just debating this stuff.
We can, look, don't get me wrong.
Some of that stuff,
people who maybe have more of a mind for that,
who have an interest in that,
cool, if you're interested,
it's never really been a big interest of mine.
If that really is you and you like that sort of
kind of science angle and everything else
and the science truths of the Bible, great.
Yeah, nothing wrong with people preaching that,
nothing wrong with people explaining that.
But I do kind of get a bit weary of watching people
spending literally like years of their ministry
just debating with God-hating atheists.
It's like, come on, just,
how about if you put that time in a gun and knocking doors,
can you imagine how many people
they would probably be getting saved?
Yeah, if they put that time into going out
and just preaching the gospel,
how many people would they be getting saved?
Now look, a little bit here and there, you know,
can be, it can be quite amusing watching some silly atheist
getting whooped in a debate.
But for the rest of it,
like how many hours do you need to put into that?
Maybe grab one atheist, give him a whooping,
you know, show that to everyone
and spend the rest of your time preaching the gospel maybe.
But again, because really they're going away,
because where did it say to do that?
Really, the Bible is very clear, isn't it?
Go out and preach the gospel.
That's what we need to do.
But so many people think that they're above the master,
that even though Jesus Christ wasn't debating evolution
with everyone or debating science
and trying to prove the word,
no, he just went out and he preached a word, didn't he?
He preached a word and it's up to people
if they want to hear the word of God.
The Bible said back where you were in Matthew 10 and verse 24,
Jesus Christ said,
the disciple is not above his master
nor the servant above his Lord.
Jesus showed us how to do it and he told us how to do it.
Didn't he go into all the world and preach,
preach the gospel unto every creature.
And that's why we will always do that from this church,
won't we?
It doesn't matter how many people try and tell us
they got a better way, they got a better,
no, no, the disciple is not above his master, okay?
We don't know better, do we?
The Lord Jesus Christ knew how to do it
and he told us how to do it.
He said in verse 25,
it is enough for the disciple that he be as his master,
but the servant is his Lord.
If they have called the master of the house to be Elzebub,
how much more shall they call him of his household?
So what do they call you nowadays?
Some will call you literally the devil or something else.
What else do we hear nowadays?
Hate preacher, yeah?
You hate preacher, you.
Cult, cult members.
Oh, we're such cult members.
Oh, do you know what?
Because we believe the word of God.
You horrible cult member.
I mean, soon I suppose I'll be getting called a cult leader
at some point because I preached the word of God.
What else do we get?
We get Bible bashers.
How about that one?
Bible basher.
You hear that one when you're at soul winning?
I bet most people heard that one at some point
or other if you've done much soul winning.
But should we be surprised?
Shouldn't be surprised, should we?
Shouldn't be surprised at all.
And it does sometimes surprise you, doesn't it?
But we shouldn't because they were calling Jesus Christ
the same sort of stuff, weren't they?
Fear them not therefore, for there is nothing covered
that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known.
So now some might look and probably do look
at this verse alone and think maybe it's talking
about in the future in heaven when everything is revealed.
Yeah, and I hope there probably will be a day
when we'll find out some interesting stuff
that's been going on and some of the things in the shadows.
I'd like to look at the kind of history reel
when I'm up in heaven and I knew, I knew
that that person was wicked or something else.
I knew that government leader was up to all sorts.
Hopefully we don't have to see too much imagery of it.
It'd just be a kind of quick report
and done sensitively, you know?
But I don't know because look at verse 27.
It says, what I tell you in darkness that speak ye in light
and what ye hear in the ear that preach ye
upon the housetops.
Well, he's revealed it all in his word, really.
I think that's what it's talking about here.
He's made it known in the word of God.
So many truths, because it said,
fear them not therefore, for there is nothing covered
that should not be revealed and hid that should not be known.
What I tell you in darkness that speak ye in light
and what you hear in the ear that preach ye
upon the housetops.
What are we told?
Well, what we're told is in the word of God, isn't it?
It's the word of God and that's what reveals it.
So for example, truths like Revelation chapter two,
verse nine, where it reads,
I know thy works in tribulation and poverty,
but thou art rich.
And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews
and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Okay, that's something that is hid to the world, isn't it?
But something that is just clear as day in the word of God.
Clear as day in the word of God.
And that's something that we're told.
You could say maybe in darkness
that we're told to speak in light.
Basically, we're told it's only people
that read the word of God.
Really, they have the Holy Spirit that can even,
it seems, understand that,
because I've been under what probably
are false prophet pastors
that just don't seem to understand that verse at all.
But it's so clear, so clear as day.
Truths like Matthew chapter 20 and verse 25, which reads,
but Jesus called them unto him and said,
ye know that the princes of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them,
and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
That verse is basically saying
that the leaders of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them.
It doesn't matter how often you wrap it up
with lovely words like democracy,
like all these, you know, whatever other so-called,
you know, government systems we've had over time,
you know, socialist leaders and all this sort of stuff.
The truth is the prince of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them, okay?
They exercise dominion.
However much you want to try and claim
that they're free people, it never really is the case.
But what does it also say in that verse?
And they that are great exercise authority upon them.
That's those that are rich, the wealthy.
It's always been the case.
The princes exercise dominion over the Gentiles,
over the nations, but it's those that are wealthy
that really have the authority, okay?
And that's, again, another truth of life
that we as Christians know, we as Bible believers,
people that study and read the Bible know these truths,
but again, that's something that seems to be hid
to the rest of the world, isn't it?
That's something that's covered that we can easily reveal.
Truths like Romans 1.28, which said,
and even as they did not like to attain God
in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind
to do those things which are not convenient.
Now, again, we've gone through different, you know,
different sort of periods of time
and times where people, that's pretty obvious
to most of the world, and there have been probably times
where they've tried to cover this and act like it's not.
Usually at the end of kind of big civilizations,
there's been some sort of sodomite,
sort of just massive, whatever you call it,
expansion or everything else where it's so out in the open,
but the Bible's clear, isn't it?
Okay, this is hidden to most, isn't it?
In our nation right now, in most of the Western world,
given over to a reprobate mind?
What are you talking about?
These are like lovely sort of babysitting material,
aren't they?
I mean, these are the sorts of people
you want your kids hanging out with
because they're just so funny.
You know, they've just got such a good sense of humor
with all their filthy innuendo.
I mean, what could be better company?
That's how our world sees it, but what does the Bible say?
The Bible says that they're given over to a reprobate mind
being filled with all unrighteousness, et cetera.
I mean, again, that's something that seems to be hid,
that's something that's not revealed right now anymore,
but especially in this context where we are,
truths like Matthew 7 and from verse 22, which reads,
and again, you don't have to turn to these,
many of you know these verses, which reads,
"'Many will say to me in that day,
"'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name,
"'and in thy name have cast out devils,
"'and in thy name done many wonderful works,
"'and then will I profess unto them,
"'I never knew you, depart for me, ye that work iniquity.'"
That's a work salvationist, isn't it?
The work salvationist, and again,
most of the world don't understand that point, do they?
Most of the world don't know that truth,
but he's revealed it all to us,
he's made it known, hasn't he?
The Bible reveals, the Bible is all truth, isn't it?
And everything we really need to know is in the Word of God.
It's all there, isn't it?
It's all there, you just have to read it and study it
and you see it, he's made it known.
Now, what are we then to do with those truths?
Well, what did he say?
Did he say keep them to ourselves so as not to offend?
Is that what the Bible says?
Did he say whisper them between us,
just behind closed doors,
have a little private Christian get-togethers
where we whisper about the reprobate doctrine,
but don't let anyone else know about it.
Whisper about work salvationist,
but then just go, oh yeah, there's probably many paths,
yeah, you know, well, good on you,
let's hope you get there in the end, you know?
Look, verse 27, what I tell you in darkness,
that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear
that preach ye upon the housetops.
We speak it, we preach it, don't we?
Do we speak it quietly?
Do we preach it behind closed doors, off air, yeah?
Better just keep all of this off air, guys, you know,
maybe like private members only when we do it.
No, we speak it door to door
and in the highways and hedges, don't we?
Go out and speak the gospel to people,
we preach the gospel to people,
and we preach it upon the housetops,
and in our case nowadays, it's social media, isn't it?
We preach the truth.
We preach the word of God, we preach the truth.
And that's what we're told to do, aren't we?
Now, what about persecution?
What about the death threats?
What about all that sort of stuff?
Because that comes, doesn't it?
Okay, look, we might not be getting so much of it yet here,
but look, many people, many pastors you guys know of
and listen to, they get daily death threats.
Daily death threats, and some of them, you know,
are pretty, well, you could say
pretty genuine sounding death threats.
It's not just, you know, ridiculous,
kind of just weird perverts trying to sound tough.
Some of them sound pretty genuine, don't they?
I remember Pastor Anderson used to get
a lot of like so-called Mossad people and all sorts
trying to tell him that they're, you know,
they're going to come and do this to his family
and this and that for daring to preach
what the Bible says about Jews, which say they are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan.
Well, the Bible says in verse 28,
and fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.
Now, we shouldn't fear them,
but we should still be wise, shouldn't we?
Just before we kind of go into that verse.
Okay, we should still be wise.
Verse 23, let's not forget verse 23, which did say,
but when they persecute you in this city,
flee you into another, for verily I say unto you,
you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel
to the Son of Man become.
So there is obviously a point,
there comes a point in a nation, in a city, in an area
where we are encouraged to flee.
Now, of course, there is ultimately that point
when the abomination of desolation is set up, okay,
and there are going to be places that we need to flee from,
but there is an argument as well.
There comes a point in certain nations where, look,
you're just going to get literally arrested
and maybe worse, you're not, all right, you just got to,
it doesn't matter, preach upon the housetops.
Look, I would say once it gets that point in the nation,
that's a testimony against that nation, move on, yeah?
There is a point.
Now, I don't know exactly when that point is.
I would say that point isn't probably
when people are kind of, at this point,
I would say in our nation, I don't think,
how I believe, I don't think that so-called freedom
of religion has really been tested yet,
and I'll be interested how,
and maybe we're going to be the ones to test that.
I'm not sure.
I don't know where that point is right now
because there is meant to be,
but then there's hate speech laws, yeah?
And where that crossover is, I don't know.
We're probably going to find out soon, okay?
But for me, in the meantime,
we preach it loud and clear, right?
Now, if it got to the point in this nation
where they were like cutting off our heads
for preaching the word of God,
I wouldn't say, okay, you know,
I'd say at that point, this nation's done, yeah?
It's done.
And we flee and we go somewhere else,
then we preach the word of God from the housetops there,
yeah?
But we don't just go right, go into hiding,
go, look, you go somewhere else, right?
If you can't preach the word of God,
you can't preach the gospel, why are you in that nation?
Now, it's not always easy for someone.
Oh, well, okay, yeah, fine.
Just, you know, pack your bags
and get on the next train out of there.
I know it's not always necessarily easy,
but that ultimately has to be your goal and your plan.
I think God's going to bless you for that
and find a way for you to go somewhere else
to preach the gospel,
because that's what we're called to do, aren't we?
Oh, well, I better just hide out, you know,
and, you know, just kind of hide out
and sing quiet hymns with the kids
in case the neighbours grass me up
and, you know, and never do anything else for God,
but, you know, as long as we survive,
well, that's, no, he said flee, didn't he?
Flee, go somewhere else where they don't persecute you
and live for God, yeah?
Because that's how I see it.
Anyway, okay, but here it says fear not them,
but we still don't have to fear them.
Now we need to be, why are we fleeing ultimately?
Why are we fleeing?
So we can still serve God, yeah?
Okay, now, look, I'm not trying to be all tough here.
I don't feel, you know, I'm just going to be sensible.
Look, a lot of us are going to have fear at times,
but we shouldn't, should we?
Okay, the Bible says here fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear him which is able to destroy
both soul and body in hell.
Who's that? God.
Okay, that's not a threat about hell, by the way, okay?
It's just emphasizing the difference
between the power of these wicked God haters
and God himself, yeah?
John 10, 28 obviously says,
and I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish.
You have eternal life, you shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Okay, they can't destroy our soul, can they?
We're saved, right?
But God will be destroying both their soul and bodies
in hell for eternity, okay?
That's the difference, isn't it?
So we're told not to fear them,
but we should have a healthy fear for God
which should then help us to serve him
which keeps us in his protection
because that's what we see in the following verses, really.
If you look from verse 29 now where it says,
are not two sparrows sold for a farthing
and one of them shall not fall on the ground
without your father?
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not, therefore,
ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men,
him will I confess also before my father
which is in heaven.
But whosoever shall deny me before men,
him will I also deny before my father which is in heaven.
Now, this chapter, if you think about it,
has many verses ripped out by false,
false prophet work salvationists?
How many times have you been on the doors
and heard like a badly quoted verse from this chapter?
Yeah, probably a few of you have.
I have, I've heard quite a few.
Well, what's the context here?
Well, let's just have a look quickly about this
when we see the context.
So a farthing is a quarter of a penny, by the way.
A penny in the Bible being a day's wage for a laborer, right?
So sparrows are cheap.
That's what it's basically saying.
Today, that's about 25 pound odd for two of them, okay?
So probably 12.50 a sparrow.
I don't know, we'll probably catch one.
I don't know, would that be easy to catch?
How would you catch a sparrow?
I don't know, you never hear some sort of snare and trap.
I don't know, maybe if not,
it might be easy to pay 12.50 for a sparrow, okay?
Point is that they're cheap,
but God still looks after them, yeah?
Okay, God looks after them,
which is an interesting truth here
that God is with them, yeah?
And I suppose you could say that without God,
nothing would last another minute in this world, would it?
Okay, God upholds everything, God upholds life.
But God has numbered every one of our hairs
and is an interesting fact for you.
Apparently that's over 100,000 hairs, yeah?
Apparently we have over 100,000 hairs.
So point being is that he knows us intricately, okay?
God knows you intricately.
The Holy Ghost dwells within you.
He cares about you, yeah?
He does really care about you.
And sometimes some people can find that truth hard
when they're going through hard times in life.
Does God really, no, God does care about you.
He didn't promise you
that you would never go through hard times in life,
but he does care about you, he loves you.
We don't have to fear because we are of more value,
the point being of more value than many sparrows, okay?
And that's probably not a popular verse
for the animal lovers out there,
but yes, we are of more value than many sparrows.
And if you ever noticed with animal lovers,
it seems to just go by the sides of the animal, doesn't it?
Because most animal lovers don't really have a problem
with probably rats getting killed, do they?
Most animal lovers, most of those,
I would never hurt an animal.
Probably happily if they had an infestation of rats,
start putting down all sorts of filthy poison
where they internally hemorrhage inside themselves
when they eat it.
And by the way,
we once had a problem at an old house many years ago,
and you could hear them dying
when they ate this stuff, squealing, dying in the walls.
You hear a thud, I mean, it was disgusting.
The flies, the smell when they decompose
you under the floorboards is disgusting, okay?
And most people are pretty happy about that, aren't they?
Most people would go, oh, just let, live and let live.
They're just one of God's creations.
We should just let the rats have free reign in the home.
But then when the animals start to get bigger
and a little bit friendlier,
then apparently we're all the same.
No, we're not the same as rats, but dogs.
Dogs, we're all the same, aren't we?
Yeah?
And we'd never harm a dog, but you would harm a rat.
What's the difference?
Intelligence?
Oh, okay, so it comes down to intelligence.
Okay, well, what about a cute, unintelligent animal?
What animals do they say are quite stupid?
I don't think there's some big animals
they claim are quite stupid, don't they?
How about an ostrich?
Would it be all right to just start giving ostriches,
you know, nasty old rat poison and things like that
because they're getting in the way of it?
No, everyone would be, oh, you can't do that.
Because it's the size of it.
That's what it comes down to, isn't it?
The size or the cuteness or the cuddliness.
It's a nonsense.
Yeah, it's a nonsense and it's not based
on any sort of scientific facts or anything else.
And ultimately they don't have a soul, do they?
Anyway, back to this.
So, okay, we are of more value than many spares.
Now, with that in mind, talking about value, yeah,
about not fearing those that hate us preaching the truth,
okay, because that's what we're talking about here.
Not fearing those that hate us preaching the truth.
Whosoever therefore, look at the therefore here in verse 32.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men,
him will I confess also before my Father,
which is in heaven.
Okay, the therefore, look at verse 31.
Fear ye not therefore, ye of more value
than many sparrows, then it says,
whosoever therefore shall confess me before men.
What is confessing him before men?
Is it having a Jesus badge on your car?
Yeah, or a stupid fish on your car, yeah?
That fish really winds me up.
In fact, I think that fish winds me up more
than the morons that have the Darwin weird fish
with legs thing.
That just shows they're an idiot.
Whereas the so-called Christian that has a fish in a car
is showing that they clearly haven't read the Bible
about graven images and the rest of it, right?
It's just bizarre, isn't it?
Anyway, okay, so how about telling everyone
you're a Christian?
Is that what it's about?
No, it's preaching the gospel, isn't it?
And by the way, no, it's not about salvation,
because again, all these verses are misused many times
by works of theology.
It's preaching the gospel, confessing him before men.
It's confessing Jesus Christ, not just saying his name.
It's confessing him, isn't it?
That's what it's talking about here.
So whoever, therefore shall confess me before men.
That's why you have such value, okay?
You have value if you're confessing him before men,
because that's how people get saved, okay?
That's the only way people get saved
is by people preaching the gospel.
So when you do that, you have the Lord Jesus Christ
and interceding for you, and no, not for salvation.
It's not talking about salvation, okay?
The context is protecting you from the haters, isn't it?
That's what the context is here.
It's fearing not, because whosoever, therefore,
being someone of much value,
being someone who goes forth and confess him before men,
preaching the gospel,
him will I confess also before my Father,
which is in heaven, okay?
That's where we get the protection, isn't it?
That's where we're able to,
that's why we're able to go out and preach the gospel.
Can you imagine, just imagine,
you had no protection from the Lord, yeah?
Just imagine that you went out this afternoon,
you went out Tuesday night,
you went out Sunday just gone, Saturday,
and you went out and preached the gospel,
and there was just no spiritual protection at all.
Can you imagine that?
Can you imagine how bad it would be?
What do you think the devil would be doing?
Every nutter, every psycho in the area
would be out there taking shots at you.
It would be carnage.
You wouldn't last a minute.
Seriously, I believe you would not last five minutes
preaching the gospel if you didn't have
the Lord's protection.
It would be absolutely horrendous.
I mean, the amount of God haters out there
that somehow we generally get away
with not getting too badly hurt.
I mean, Brother John managed to get his fingers
nearly bitten off, but that's quite rare, isn't it?
Okay, that was a dog in case anyone would wonder what.
Munchy got his fingers, what's going on out there?
Okay, but we usually get away with that,
but you know what, it's almost like they're out there,
but it's almost like there's a leash on them, isn't there?
It's like there's something stopping them
going into full physical attacks and everything else.
It'd be carnage.
But whosoever shall deny me before men,
him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Okay, is that just pretending that you're not saved?
I believe it's just not preaching the gospel.
I think that's denying the Lord, not preaching the gospel.
Let's look at it this way.
Say you knew the cure for some horrible disease.
Okay, say it was something, I don't wanna,
because let's not go into kind of specific disease,
but just say it was something that was a big thing
in the world, you had the cure for it,
and you didn't share it.
You didn't tell anyone about it.
You're denying it, really, aren't you?
You'd be denying it.
And look, we have better than that, don't we?
We have the words of eternal life.
If you're saved, really, you know how you're saved, yeah?
Because if you don't know how you're saved,
then, okay, you're probably not saved, right?
Okay, you have the words of eternal life.
Now, I'm not saying you're gonna be the best
that preach the gospel and know straight away
which verse to go to, but it doesn't take long.
It shouldn't take that long.
If you're saved and you know why you're saved
and you have a King James Bible,
shame on you if you're not showing other people.
Shame on you if you're not at least a part
of showing other people and trying to learn
how to be able to show other people,
because it's the only way people get saved,
unless you don't believe that.
Do you believe that people can get saved any other way?
Oh, no one here believes that, I'm sure,
because the Bible's so clear, isn't it?
Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God.
We're told to go out and preach the gospel.
We're told clearly that we're ambassadors for Christ,
you know, and the rest of it,
that that's how people get saved.
So we're given the ministry of reconciliation.
So therefore, how dare we not show people,
because ultimately we're denying him, aren't we?
We're denying the Lord.
We're denying the Savior when we're not going out
and preaching the gospel.
So what's the line, though, with that?
Once a week, once a month, just at work, amongst friends,
once a year, I don't really know.
I don't really know what it is, okay?
What is the line?
I don't know.
But the back-slidden Christian
isn't an attractive prospect, is he?
Anyone look at the back-slidden Christian
that's doing nothing for God,
that's just given up on the things of God
and everything else and go,
yeah, that's where I want to be.
Because when you look at that,
well, it looks to me like they're not getting
much protection.
A lot of the time, they're just at the hands
of the devil, aren't they?
They're just at the mercy of the devil.
They end up in all, they just end up usually
in a worse state than they were
before they kind of came to Christ,
before they started trying to live for the Lord
and everything else.
And it's a bad place to be, isn't it?
And we don't want to be there.
And we don't want the Lord Jesus Christ denying us
before the Father.
Ultimately, for me, that just, for me,
says that you're just not going to get that protection.
You're not going to have the Lord in your life
and helping you and protecting you
because as a Christian, you have a target on you,
don't you?
You have a target on you.
We don't have to fear because we have the Father
protecting us.
That's the point, isn't it?
Because ye are of more value.
He said in verse 34, if we continue here.
Yeah, verse 34.
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth.
I came not to send peace, but a sword.
So the whole point here, if you think about this chapter,
he's sending the disciples out to preach the gospel.
And you could say up until this point,
maybe they've had a bit of a good time of it.
He's just been telling them,
you're worthy of your reward.
People are going to be giving you this
and giving you that.
Take the shoes, take the coats,
take whatever you're given.
That probably sounds like it's going to be pretty receptive.
But then he's saying to them,
look, it's not going to be like that.
It's always going to be like that.
And this could be pretty shocking, couldn't it?
He's saying to them, look, it's going to be rough.
You're going to be getting it.
You're going to be getting persecuted.
They'll be calling me Beelzebub.
What are they going to do to you?
He's saying to them,
you're going to have to be fleeing out of cities
and everything else.
They're probably thinking, whoa, wait a second.
Well, he makes it even clearer now from verse 34,
where he says, but before that, he's just said,
but look, look, he said, you're of value though.
So even though you're going to be getting persecuted,
don't fear.
Look, they could kill you.
Okay, I'm not saying, right,
well, you don't want, you've got ultimate protection
if you're serving the Lord.
No, they might kill you, but that's all they can do.
Ultimately, kill your body.
And look, we have eternal life, don't we?
But he then carries on and says, look,
think not that I'm come to send peace on earth.
I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Now remember that the famous peace on earth
was between God and man, not between man and man, okay?
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father
and a daughter against her mother
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
and a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
That's the truth, isn't it?
Well, that's a very real truth
for people sitting here right now,
for the many people in our church,
for the many people in real churches around the world.
That's the truth, isn't it?
And it's not a truth that you kind of expect
when you first get saved, is it?
And look, I hope that no one here would change that.
Look, I prefer to have a life of my whole family hating me
and spend eternity with the Lord in heaven
than to go to hell for eternity.
But you don't really get this point, do you?
Maybe when you first serve you think,
well, maybe that's just for like, you know,
really like, really.
Who is it once, I think we once knew a lady
when we got saved, we're trying to badly preach the gospel,
me and my wife, and she was saying to my wife,
something along the lines, she was like,
I think one of the kids' friends from schools, mum,
and she said, yeah, but are you heavily involved
in the church?
Because some people are heavily involved.
And I think like, in your mind is,
well, maybe those are heavily involved, you know,
get that sort of thing.
Well, if you're trying to be a disciple,
if you're serving the Lord,
you're going to get persecution, aren't you?
And sadly, you're going to get that from family members.
And that can be hard, can't it?
That can be really hard.
And we've talked about that quite a bit recently.
And it is a truth that we just have to accept,
we have to deal with.
We don't want to force that ourselves.
We don't want to be the cause of that.
We want the cause of that to be the Lord Jesus Christ.
The cause of that to be the things of God.
Because he goes on to say,
he that loveth father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me.
And he that loveth son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me.
Okay, so again, it's not about salvation.
Okay, Jesus is exhorting them
and the many future disciples to come,
such as us, to get our priorities right, okay?
We need to get our priorities straight.
If you're forsaking the things of God
to please your family, then you're not worthy, okay?
Then that's a shame unto you, isn't it?
If you're forsaking the things of God.
How many Christians will skip church for the family party?
Well, they said that's the only day they can see me.
Yeah, but it's not good enough
because God said not to forsake
the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of summaries
but exhorting one another
and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
And it's such a clear command of the Bible, isn't it?
And we do see the day approaching, yeah?
And it should be so much the more,
yet how often do Christians find excuses to skip church?
To skip coming to the house of God,
oh, well, yeah, well, I believe that, you know,
that I can worship God in my own way.
What they mean is I don't want to like, you know,
have to come away from the family dues.
I don't want to have to skip that time
when that's when my mum or my dad or my adult kids
or whatever it is want to see me.
Look, we shouldn't love them more than the Lord, should we?
How about compromising on the things of God?
How many people do that for their family members?
So many will do that, won't they?
Maybe it's compromising on, I don't know, on the alcohol.
Because, well, you know, we don't even want to look at booze,
but, you know, the family members have said
that they'll only see us, you know, while they're drinking
and when we come round there,
they're going to be guzzling wine and beer
and the rest of it in our faces, in our kids' faces.
Well, who do you love more?
Because I think the commandments
are pretty clear on that, aren't they?
Yeah?
Well, and there are probably many other,
many others that you can think of.
How about denying the truths of the Bible?
How many Christians will do that?
When they're around family and friends
and they go, oh, but you don't believe this, do you?
Well, that's just not that clear.
Oh, well, it depends how you look at it.
Oh, well, how about you just stand up for the Lord?
Yeah, stand up for the Lord.
Yep, the Bible says clearly that sodomy's an abomination.
How about that?
How many people will not say that?
How about, yeah, the Bible says clearly
that a woman's role is guiding the children
and the house at home.
How about that?
Yep, that's what the Bible says.
Yep, and I love the Lord and the Lord is right.
How about that?
But how many, how many, you know,
how many safe people will try
and just compromise a little bit,
try and just, you know, well,
but who do you love more?
Who do you love more?
Do you love the popularity with your family
more than popularity with the Lord Jesus Christ?
Because he's going to look down
and how sad for him to look down and be ashamed of us.
We don't want that, do we?
Look, everyone here could fall victim
to this sort of thing at some point or another.
He said in verse 38,
and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me
is not worthy of me.
Again, talking about discipleship, not salvation.
Again, how many work salvations?
Well, you're here, well,
you've got to take up your cross, don't you?
What does that even mean?
What does that mean?
So where's your criteria there
for what is taking up your cross and following him?
Well, we're going to have a look at that.
Luke 14, 27.
And you don't have to turn, turn to Luke nine.
Well, I quote Luke 14, 27.
Jesus said it this way in Luke 14, 27.
And whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Okay, again, it's talking about the subject.
Are discipleship and salvation the same thing?
No.
Okay, we've made that clear.
I've made that clear from this pulpit time and time again.
But turn over to Luke nine,
where you've turned over to heaven,
and just to help you understand
what this means to bear your cross.
So look at Luke nine in verse 23,
where it says, and he said to them all,
this is Luke nine, 23.
And he said to them all,
if any man will come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross daily
and follow me.
So this is a daily thing.
Not salvation.
Salvation is a one-time event.
Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God, okay?
You get born physically once, spiritually once, okay?
So this is denying the flesh and following after Christ.
That's what taking up your cross is.
It doesn't mean that you've got to get crucified literally.
Okay, it's denying the flesh
and following the Lord Jesus Christ.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it,
but whosoever will lose his life for my sake,
the same shall save it.
Forsaking the things of the world
and following after Christ.
For what is a man advantage
if he gain the whole world and lose himself
or be cast away?
Now you cannot serve God and mammon, can you?
It's not a bit of both.
If you want to serve the Lord,
then you have to deny the flesh, okay?
Now look, we're gonna get that wrong on a day-to-day basis,
but it's talking about a daily thing, isn't it?
It's a daily thing.
Basically denying the flesh
and following after the Lord Jesus Christ.
For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words,
of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed
when he shall come in his own glory and in his Father's
and of the holy angels.
Okay, again, not talking about salvation,
but wouldn't it be sad to have Jesus ashamed of you?
Wouldn't that be a sad thing to have Jesus,
the Lord Jesus Christ ashamed of you
because you're not worthy to be called a disciple?
Go back to Matthew chapter 10
and now look, you know, all these verses are here.
The whole point is to encourage us, isn't it?
Just encourage us to live for the Lord,
to not be embarrassed of him,
to not be ashamed of him,
to not kind of deny the things of the Lord,
to appeal to this wicked, sinful and adulterous generation,
which is what it is.
And when you look at it like that,
isn't it sad that so many, so many of us
can at times in our lives sadly feel like that?
And we have to battle the flesh with that.
No, that is wicked.
As soon as you start feeling embarrassed
about the things of God,
as soon as you start feeling a little bit,
a bit embarrassed to be out soul-willing,
a bit embarrassed to be, you know,
to at least be connected with a church
which preaches the whole counsel of God.
A little bit ashamed, well, yeah, I mean, we're not,
you know, we're kind of an IFB, but you know,
it's not that, but no, no, no.
We just believe the Bible, don't we?
Yeah, we believe the word of God.
We're not ashamed about that, are we?
We're not ashamed, no matter what they call us,
no matter if they call us cults,
no matter if they call us Bible bashes,
no matter if they call us hate preachers
or whatever else, no, we just preach the word of God
and we're not ashamed of it, are we?
Verse 39, back where you are, says,
he that findeth his life shall lose it,
and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Now, I believe that this also works on a mental level.
If your heart is still in the world,
you'll look at your life as a disciple, as a loss.
If you're looking at your life as a Christian
and thinking about the loss,
what you've lost from your old life
and things were better and the watermelon
and the leeks and the garlic and all that nonsense,
then really, well, really you're not on board, are you?
And ultimately it is a loss to you, okay?
Because if you willingly lose that life for his sake,
I believe then you'll really appreciate
what serving the Lord really is.
Because when you live a life,
so it's something else, isn't it?
For all you guys here, not just guys, girls, kids,
and everyone else that just has their heart right
and wanting to serve the Lord,
what a difference life is, right?
I mean, I look back and think,
what did I do before serving the Lord properly?
What on earth, what on earth, where were my priorities?
I mean, what a waste of life.
And what an empty life it really is, isn't it?
And to not use a cliche,
there was a God-shaped hole in it, yeah?
And that God-shaped hole,
I know it's a bit of a silly cliche.
Usually it's a load of people that are unsaved
that try and say, that one's got a God-shaped hole.
Sometimes like the Calvinists always use it, don't they?
Well, that one's got a God-shaped hole in there.
But really, but there is some truth to that, isn't there?
Because there is just this emptiness in your life
when you're not serving the Lord.
And now we have a church where we could just serve the Lord,
we could just get here,
get behind the preaching of the word of God,
get behind the soul winning,
get behind just the fellowship time
with other just men and women of God.
It's something else, isn't it?
And with it comes the troubles, the persecutions,
the tribulation, but it's a hell of a lot better
if your heart's in it.
But if your heart's not, yeah,
for some, maybe they still feel like
they've lost their life.
Well, he said, he that receiveth you receiveth me,
and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
That's something to remember
when you're preaching the gospel, isn't it?
It's not about you, okay?
It's not, because it can be offensive sometimes, can't it?
I mean, sometimes, you know,
trying to talk to someone on their door
and they're just slamming doors in your face.
And sometimes it's not even a slam.
Sometimes, we had one today,
I think it was in brother Gary's face,
and he was just like,
while he's talking, just this slow door shut,
and you're like, it's like, he's like, okay, then.
That's sometimes more offensive, isn't it?
Like the door slam, you're like, oh, door slam,
it's just when it's just slowly shut
while you're in the middle of talking.
It's pretty rude, isn't it?
But it's not you, is it?
It's the Lord Jesus Christ, really.
It's the word of God that they're rejecting there.
And when they do receive you,
it's the Lord that they're receiving, isn't it?
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet
shall receive a prophet's reward.
And he that receiveth a righteous man
in the name of a righteous man
shall receive a righteous man's reward.
Now, I believe that Jesus is saying
that if someone receives a prophet
because they're a prophet,
that's what I think it means, in the name of.
So if you're receiving a prophet because they're a prophet,
not because you just had no idea
and you were just like, oh yeah, well, you know,
come round, someone I know.
But if you're receiving them as a prophet,
well, then they get rewarded as such.
And look, for me, I believe that someone could be,
you know, maybe unsaved, they've received a prophet
in the name of a prophet, and maybe they'll get,
I don't think, obviously it's not a heavenly reward
if they're unsaved, maybe they get some sort of reward
in life they don't even know about, right?
Maybe if you're saved and you're receiving a prophet
in the name of a prophet because they're a prophet
and you're doing good things to that person,
because, and that's,
everyone here is preaching the gospel, by the way, okay?
If someone is receiving you
because you're a preacher of the gospel,
they're doing good things, they're being generous, et cetera,
I believe they'll receive rewards.
Maybe that's in this life, maybe in the life to come.
He says the same with a righteous man.
So if they're receiving someone, for me,
because they're saved, yeah?
If you're just receiving someone,
you're just being good to someone because they're saved,
because you believe they're saved,
because as far as you're concerned, they're saved,
they're a believer, then again,
I believe that that person will receive reward.
Then he says, and whosoever shall give to drink
unto one of these little ones,
a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple,
verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Now, so even giving someone,
now whether that's a child or a disciple, I'm not sure,
maybe there were some children around
that he was pointing to,
or maybe he's just talking about his children,
because ultimately, you know, we are little ones,
you know, we're, well, we're children of God,
but also maybe in comparison to Christ,
we are just little ones, aren't we?
I don't know, one or the other, it doesn't really matter.
If you're giving someone a cup of cold water
because they're serving God, okay, in the name of a disciple,
so because they're a disciple, because they're serving God,
then again, you won't lose your reward.
So, and this is just a quick thing to finish off here,
that kind of makes me think
that when we go out and preach the gospel, yeah,
and when people are kind to us, when people go,
well, I'll listen anyway, or when people say,
look, listen to a bit, receive us to some degree,
and they don't get saved, oh, it's not really lost,
maybe those people receive some sort of reward for that,
maybe look, they've got some sort of blessing
just from being, just from receiving you,
maybe they've given you something to go on with,
maybe they've given you a drink in hot weather,
but they didn't get saved, and you're like, oh, just,
but you're still doing good,
because it's not all doom and gloom,
sometimes you can just think, man, that person's,
well, I can't believe they didn't get saved,
they're probably, that's the last time and everything else,
look, there are still some good things
that come from just going out and being around people
and preaching the gospel to people
and from people being kind to us,
that's what I believe, they won't lose their reward,
there's still benefits that come basically
from receiving us, from receiving preach to the gospel,
receiving righteous people,
from doing good things to people of God,
but it's also something that we all,
it's not just someone, we should all benefit as well,
we should all therefore be kind to each other, shouldn't we?
We should be kind, we should bless each other,
we should be generous to each other,
we should do nice things for each other,
we shouldn't be like, you know,
gotta give brother so-and-so a lift somewhere or something,
you know, we should just wanna do that sort of stuff,
and we're gonna get rewarded for that
and be kind to each other,
but like I say, I think that probably also applies
to the unsaved as well,
because ultimately he's sending them out
to preach the gospel and saying,
look, you're gonna get persecuted,
but people are also gonna get blessed because of you as well,
especially those who get saved,
but even those that don't, that's what I think.
Now, just to finish off there,
so Matthew chapter 10, like I said,
I've heard many badly quoted verse of this by works,
was that whole passage about how to get saved?
No.
Was that whole passage about, you know,
how to, you know, about the disciples' salvation?
No, not at all.
The passage was about going out and preaching the gospel,
but when he's talking to them specifically there
and the things they do and everything else,
obviously just a nice example,
when you go through the passage and see what it's about,
people ripping verses out of context,
it's wicked really, isn't it?
And do they really have any integrity when they do that?
I mean, look, you don't have to preach the Bible long.
You don't have to stand behind a pulpit long
to understand that there's context in anything you do.
You can't just stand there and just take,
and how many false prophets will take these verses?
How many times are you knocked on the door?
Someone will claim,
because those of us who preach the gospel
for a bit of time now,
will have spoken to people that claim to be pastors,
claim to be preachers, claim to be leads of judges,
who will then quote verses like this.
Wicked, isn't it?
Gotta be either a complete idiot
or you're a complete liar, aren't you,
to try and quote verses out of passages
such as Matthew chapter 10
and try and apply those to salvation.
Absolutely wicked, isn't it?
But great passage of scripture though,
and great passage for just so many great truths
in there as well, aren't there,
for us as believers.
So on that, let's pray.
Father, thank you for a great chapter of the Bible.
Thank you for the many truths that we've learned there.
And thank you that even though,
yeah, we're gonna get persecuted.
We're gonna be hated by this world,
by this world that really ultimately hates you.
It's you really that they have the problem with,
that we're gonna bear the brunt of that, Lord.
And we thank you that through that,
that you'll protect us, that you'll help us,
that you'll guide us.
And so if it be your will or something happens
where maybe we do suffer badly
at the hands of these people,
well, our soul is safe for eternity
because everyone here that put their faith in you is saved.
And Lord, we thank you for that.
We thank you for that precious gift of eternal life.
We pray that you'll help us to go and preach that to others
and not be afraid, not to be ashamed when we do that, Lord.
And help us to all return here on Sunday
to hear more of your word
and to go out and preach the gospel.
In Jesus' name, for all of this, amen.