ResponsiveReiding

From Matthew 11:16-18 / Out of Step

Note first, that those who would serve Christ, will always be out of step with the World, no matter what we do. No matter what the World does. And it is why we must be careful when political parties, personages, businesses or causes seek to trade on the name of Christ and Christians, when it is obvious they are not (as best as we can discern) true follows of the The Master. Though our purposes may seem to converge for a moment in time, rest assured, they will diverge just as quickly and the folly of it revealed. Seeking public approval for who and what we are in Jesus is a waste of time. We must not be concerned to court the World’s favor above seeking to delight our Redeemer.

Note secondly that those in Christ dance to a different tune than the World. What makes the World rejoice, makes us weep. And what often makes the World weep, does not, indeed CANNOT fill us with the same grief. We have other griefs to break our hearts – like the wickedness that pervades our culture. Just observe the reactions in our society around the striking down of Roe v Wade. Many openly wept and grieved. TV shows portrayed the horrors of the loss. Public discourse decried the loss of “women’s reproductive health rights” over the sparing of innocent lives from being slaughtered in their mother’s wombs. Christians necessarily rejoiced, while the World wept. And so it should always be in such matters.

Note thirdly how it is with Jesus’ words here; the conversation needs to be moved from curiosity with John, to the people considering their own plight. When discoursing with those around us regarding the issues of the day, we need to seek the Spirit’s wisdom and power and opportunity to steer the conversation to a different place. To use the discussion as a platform to consider spiritual and eternal matters.

We are endlessly wrapped up in questions about others, while barely (if at all) taking the time to truly examine our hearts before God. This preoccupation with others – which fuels the gossip industry, tabloid journalism, reality TV, and makes celebrities out of people who contribute nothing but the sordid details of their lives to others – pervades our current culture. But it is nothing new. People are always wanting to shift the focus to others, so as to avoid asking the serious questions of life about themselves. So it is in the face of that reality, Jesus demonstrates to us the need to turn the tables.

Note fourthly, with all the response to John’s preaching – still – the greater part of that generation remained caught up in its own thoughts and agenda. God’s purposes being wholly ignored. We must expect the same in our generation. There may be times of great revival and the moving of God’s Spirit among us, but we must not imagine turning the tide of culture so as to make the world around us “Christian.” If the preaching of John and Jesus together didn’t do so – will we imagine our efforts will? No. We get a reality check here. Yes, we preach and teach and testify of Christ with all hope and joy. But we also recognize there will such opposition. In due time, wisdom WILL still be justified by her deeds.

Lastly, herein is a most useful insight to how Scripture defines a “glutton.” If it were merely a matter of overeating or being overweight, then the charge against Jesus would be so patently and obviously false that it couldn’t bear the slightest weight of even the most rabid detractor. Gluttony in Scripture is more akin to our “party animal” – be he slim, svelte or hefty. It is one who is given over to dissolution. One who would rather party with friends than work. Lazy. Obdurate. Jesus at this point had no trade – He did not support Himself as best we know. In fact, we are told that He had a number of benefactors – women who contributed to giving Him the freedom to go about and teach (Luke 8:3). So given His free time to meet with and dine with tax collectors, and to be itinerant, the charge might have some plausibility.

And so Believers may well be considered the worthless naval-gazers of our day because we set our noses on matters of spiritual and eternal importance above each cause célèbre. So be it. As long as the charge holds no real weight. As long as we are not lost in dissolution and wastefulness, but set about the Master’s service.

Take heart Christian – if they so completely misunderstood both John and Jesus, then we ought not be surprised if the same is true for us. And again, in due time and in our case too – wisdom will be justified by her deeds.

From Matthew 11:7-15 / A Prophet Without Miracles

Having sent John’s disciples back to him, with a charge to report all that they had seen and heard of Jesus – He now turns to the crowds. As with His interaction with John’s men, He begins asking the crowds if they’ve digested what they have seen and heard of John?

Jesus says that John is the consummate prophet, in the very spirit of Elijah. Indeed he is prophesied about the Messiah’s forerunner. And yet 2 things are missing: a. He never does a single miracle. b. He never utters a word of predictive prophecy. What does He do? He recognizes and proclaims Christ. He point to the Lamb of God. And this, we can enter into as well. What a high a glorious thing He grants to us.

Note first the nature of John’s ministry! It is one filled with power. Multitudes are pursuing entrance into the Kingdom with violence, like a seige upon a city. Anyone could tell something unique was happening. But is often the case, people can be more curious than thoughtful about what they are witnessing.

Note secondly how John’s preaching is having such an effect. He is nothing short of “Elijah”. Jesus will go on to note how they were not really listening to John’s message. Those who did, repented of their sins and sought God. And yet how few made the connection back to Jesus – even after John’s proclamation of Him being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Often, we must connect the dots for people. They do not on their own.

Note third that the ministry of the Disciples (at least prior to Pentecost, and with the exception of Peter & Paul) had no such power or public response. They were no less disciples. No less chosen. No less anointed. No less commissioned. And yet none seem to have the same response of the masses in preaching. We must bow to the Father’s sovereignty in such matters. We must repel jealousy and comparison. We must betake ourselves to our commission and remain faithful in it. Yes, we may cry for the same results – even wrestle for them, and then we must leave things in the hands of our Lord.

Note fourth that Jesus’ statement regarding the kingdom of heaven suffering violence may be taken more than one way. It may refer (as above) to how many when convicted of their sins rush into it like a city under seige.

Then, it might refer to the simple fact that when Christ and The Kingdom are proclaimed, there will always be violent opposition to it. Men reject above all, submission to God and His Word. We still want to be our own god and will resist Christ’s Lordship any way we can. And John’s imprisonment certainly demonstrates violent rejection of his message.

Or, look how men have sought to take the kingdom of heaven by their own strength. How they use the law and prophets like weapons to claim their own right and their own righteousness to heaven. But we cannot take heaven by such means. We neither have a right to it by birth, nor by virtue of our having possessed or obeyed the law. Heaven must take us. It must conquer us. We must come before Heaven’s King, defeated by our sin, decrying our own righteousness and pleading to be forgiven our self-reliance, self-righteousness and pride. We must cast ourselves on the coming King’s mercy and His message of grace. No man can storm heaven’s gates. He must be carried into those gates a captive of war and a trophy of all conquering love. So they came to be baptized. To own their sin and their uncleanness. And in their surrender, found a willing and inviting Savior. Oh what a Christ He is!

Or lastly – the Kingdom of God has to force its way into the World – men do not receive it gladly. It is a conquering work. Warfare. Men’s souls are not subdued with anything less than the power of the Holy Spirit. Almighty God Himself must bind up and cast out the strong man. As Paul will note in 2 Cor. 4:6 it takes no less power to create a new heart in a person than it did to begin the whole of Creation – calling light out of darkness. Salvation is a most miraculous thing indeed! All of the Prophets were violently causing the light of God’s truth to break in upon the darkness of this sin filled world. And while John is the last of his breed, so even now the true light will dawn Himself. Jesus, the Light of the World is come. John gave the last announcement that He would come – we announce that He is here. And so the Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Note fifth in this entire section, as per Blomberg – as great as John is, there is yet the blessing of the New Covenant. And the least among us sharing in those privileges is blessed higher than the greatest of all the OT saints and prophets. Grasp what it means to be “in Christ.” Father forgive me for failing to understand this.

From Matthew 11:2-6 / “Are You the One?”

Commentators are divided as to what was behind John sending his disciples to Jesus.

J.C. Ryle, similar to Calvin for instance, thinks this was by no means a moment of doubt in John. John, knowing his time was short, was getting his own followers to make the necessary shift to Jesus. After all, hadn’t John been the first to proclaim who Jesus was and that, by supernatural revelation? One would think he was by not shaken in the least.

Others speculate that John, expecting Jesus’ to rise to a more common vision of Messiahship, began to doubt his identification of Jesus as the Messiah. In prison, facing death when he thought the Messiah would change everything, was near fainting.

Which ever view one takes (I tend to think as Ryle and Calvin) this much is certain – how often the answers to our deepest questions and concerns are right there before us – we simply need to truly contemplate what it is we see and hear.

Men say they need “proof” of God. Open your eyes and your ears – and you will have all the proof you need. Fail at that, and no other proof will suffice.

So Jesus sends the men back asking them to bear witness to what they themselves have seen and heard. The blind are given sight. The lame walk. Lepers are fully cured. Deaf men hear. The dead are raised up again. The Gospel of the Kingdom is being preached to even the poor. What more can you ask for proof?

Indeed, what more might you are I or anyone else need? Are not the life, words and acts of Jesus incontrovertible proof of His divinity and mission? He was a public figure. His detractors could have easily disproved His miracles if they had been false. But no one does. His contemporaries may try to assign the source of His works to demonic powers – but they could not deny they truly happened.

And so I ask you today reader – what do you say to these things? What do you make of the evidence?

Note secondly, that we must not reject the obvious truth because it does not fit with our pre-conceived notions.

Jesus may not have been the Messiah they imagined the Messiah would be – but here He was, fulfilling Scripture. Jesus appeals to Isaiah 61:1-2 in giving His answer. As He would say to the Pharisees, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me.” And, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

Maybe the Jesus of the Bible isn’t the Jesus we want Him to be or imagined Him to be. Many a time I’ve heard people say – upon reading something in Scripture they do not like – “I would never serve a God like that.

No less than Oprah Winfrey testified that she abandoned the God of the Bible because she read in the Old Testament that God said He was a jealous God over His people Israel. She had weighed God in her balances and found Him wanting in His being “jealous” which she thought beneath Him. That God, she would not have.

But God and His Christ must be received on their own terms. We cannot re-create Him to our likeness. We must take Him in His wrath as well as His mercy. In His sovereignty as well as in His love. His holiness as well as His grace. His demands, as well as His blessings.

We may well need to reject the God of our imaginations, but we dare not reject the God revealed in the Bible, and in the face of Jesus Christ. Do not stumble over who and what He truly is.

Father, save us from our heart’s blindness and deafness. We are so dead and dull. Open our eyes, that we may truly see and comprehend His glory. It isn’t that the Sun hasn’t risen upon us and shined in His perfection – it is that we are blind. Save us!

From Matthew 11:1 – The Way of The King

Chapter 10 is occupied with Jesus’ appointment of the twelve, and then His detailed instructions. Those instructions were twofold. Some of what He said to them pertained to their immediate mission, and some had to do with their larger mission and the future, after He was gone.

All in all, we see Christ as the Good Shepherd who prepares His own for each and every circumstance. In His warnings He also reminded them how He would always provide. They heard or reception and opposition; the working of miracles and the persecution of the lost. Of great victories and severe trials. And so our own lives in serving Him still are. We are not to be shocked at trials, but nor are we to be daunted by them. And through our hands in the preaching and living of the Gospel, men’s souls are raised from the dead, those who cannot walk before God are freed from their bondage. Some, bound even by demonic forces are set at liberty, and every sin and stain cleansed in the blood of the Lamb.

So in the first verse of chapter 11 we see several things of note.

Note first how after sending out the 12, He did not sit back and watch, He continued to labor too. So it is today. Preachers and teachers of the Gospel ought to be aware that we never labor in His field by ourselves, but that He is also still laboring with us. He has not left us to our own devices. He has equipped us, but He Himself is still at the work too. Just as He said to His detractors in John 5 “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” And dear Christian, it is still so today. Take heart. You do not labor alone.

Note secondly the nature of His own labors, and how that serves as a directive to us. What occupied His own efforts? Preaching and teaching. People need the Word of God proclaimed to them. Above everything else – we need to hear God, and we hear Him best and most in the proclaiming of the kingdom of Christ.

Communications experts tell us that sermonizing is a poor and inefficient way of communicating. That it is old fashioned, passe and that there are much better methods. But the God/Man didn’t think so. He gave Himself to it, and charged His disciples likewise. It may not be the World’s method, but it is His. It may not be the latest method, the coolest, the naturally most attractive nor the preferred among the intelligentsia of our day – but it is the way He has chosen to be represented and made known. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” “and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel.” (Rom. 10:14-15 & 15:20a)

I find then 2 compelling things here.

First, how necessary it is for the Church not to give up on Jesus’ method. Preaching the Word is His chosen way to bring in the lost, weed out the dabblers, edify the saints, and make His glory known. We ought not to try and out reason God. He knows why He has determined this to be His way. Ours is to carry it out.

Second, how necessary it is for His People to attend to His ways by making sure we are sitting under sound preaching. In our flesh, we too might prefer other ways to edify our souls, and in truth, we should take advantage of all we can. But we ought never neglect to sit and hear the Word of God preached to our souls. It is His manna for our generation. It is His way. We might find it dull at times, repetitive, the same-old same-old. But it is His provision. And our souls are fed there, that we might be strong and healthy before Him. Let us never disdain His provision because we would prefer leaks and garlic from Egypt.

rom Matthew 10:40-42 – An Apostolic Primer Part 5

These last 3 verses close out Jesus’ preparation of His Apostles for their mission to the lost sheep of Israel, proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and casting out demons. (vss. 6-8) It is a profoundly singular mission. Later, when He sends out the 72, Jesus’ gives a nearly identical set of instruction in preparing them. In both cases, the mission is short term and localized. But they both serve to give us insight today in what is left to us in our places and age and what we can expect to experience as we carry His message to the World.

Note then that while Jesus has given us the authority to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom in His name, we do not see the same commission in terms of healing and miracles repeated for the greater Church. And it is not that God does not still graciously heal and defy demonic powers; He still can and still does. It is rather that bringing the change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, especially to the Jewish nation, required dramatic proof of epic and unprecedented proportions. Given their heritage of the Mosaic/Joshua, and the Elisha/Elijah eras of the miraculous, at the most pivotal points in Israel’s history – Jesus’ ministry had to arrive and be seen on the same level. Indeed, to supersede both. So in John 9 we’ll hear the people testify: “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.” Neither previous era had seen what Jesus had done.

God was visiting His people in a way that would not be as necessary to those of us without that heritage. God incarnate was among them. We were born under the age of the New Covenant, they were undergoing a cataclysmic change. So Jesus can say to Thomas in John 20 “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We do not experience immediate manifestations of the risen Christ as they did after His resurrection. But we are called to believe their witness. In the proclamation of the Gospel without proofs (above the miracle of the new birth) we are brought back to the Garden to live by faith – by simply believing what God has said is true, and ordering our lives accordingly. Believers today participate in reversing Adam’s unbelief. What an amazing gift!

Note then in this closing text of Ch. 10, the repetition of the word “because.” It is most important.

Those who hear the and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached, as that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached – receive the blessing of the Gospel: forgiveness of sin, salvation from the wrath of God, the infilling of The Spirit, the fellowship of the saints, the open door to the Father’s throne in prayer, the promise of the resurrection, eternal life, and eternal union with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We’ll read an echo of this later in Paul’s letter to the Galatians when he says: you “received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.”

Whenever, wherever men and women receive the Gospel as sent from God, as cosmic, eternal truth, they will receive the rewards due faithful prophets, righteous God fearers and true disciples. Grace upon grace upon grace. Not just mercy – bounty and blessing and glory.

If you do not know Him today – hear the words of this Gospel: Jesus Christ, God incarnate in human flesh, died for OUR sins, and this, in accordance with what the Scriptures always taught by types, shadows and prophecies. He truly died and was buried. But He also rose from the dead on the 3rd day, as the Scriptures also testified would happen. He appeared to those who had been with Him during His earthly ministry, so that there could be no mistake it was really Him. And He appeared to masses of men, not just one or two, corroborating the Disciples’ testimony. Then He commissioned all who believe in Him as our substitute on the Cross bearing God’s wrath upon human sin – to preach this Gospel yo you, that you may believe, be baptized as His disciple too, and obey Him as Lord. Come.

From Matthew 10:34-39 – An Apostolic Primer Part 4

Perhaps one of the most startling statements by Jesus, and set in direct opposition to the assumptions of many – is vs. 34: “Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

There are two things to note here right off: 1 – How foreign this language is to the many who have never really read their Bibles, even though they may call themselves by the name “Christian.” 2 – How different this warfare that Jesus mentions is from the misconceptions of so many.

So we are left with 2 questions: 1 – What is the sword Jesus said He came to bring. 2 – What is the peace He came to destroy with it? The answers come in the following verses.

I am afraid that this element of Gospel understanding and preaching seems to be virtually absent from our pulpits and popular Christian literature today. But we must make no mistake, the Gospel divides. It separates. It instigates and prosecutes a vicious war.

First, it sets a person at odds with the sin they once loved. The Gospel opens our eyes to the heinousness of our sin when we see what it looked like to have God’s wrath poured out upon Jesus in the crucifixion. The Cross was no cosmic slap on the wrist or a gentle rebuke. The savagery of the Cross shows us what God’s wrath looks like. How He hates sin. And it calls us to hate sin too. And to hate it above all – in ourselves. It calls us to see what our sin cost the Savior. And so it means we can never be at peace with our sin ever again – but that we will be in constant conflict with its indwelling remnants.

The Gospel of trusting Christ’s atoning sacrifice alone for our reconciliation to the Father sends the sword against our human pride. It slashes to pieces the self-deluded peace of our being good enough in ourselves, of our not being THAT bad. The man or woman who comes to Christ still arrogant about their own righteousness, no matter how slight, is still at peace with the flesh and devil, and at war with God. And He aims to disrupt any remaining peace with the flesh and the devil.

Coming to the Gospel, coming to Christ as Lord of all invites the sword to sever any love that would claim loyalty or supremacy over Christ. No, it does not mean we stop loving parents, spouses or children. We’re commanded to love even our enemies. But the Gospel wars against an idolatrous love of friends and family, or anything else which – when push comes to shove – we choose over obeying and following Christ.

The Gospel refuses to let us live at peace with the values of The World. We war against the ever vacillating and plummeting morality of the culture. We fight against taking on those views and opinions which drive the fallen world around us and instead insist in shining the light of God’s Word to illuminate the path we are to walk. We cannot be at peace with sexual perversion, political corruption, worship of the individual and vain philosophies but clearly while lovingly declare the truth about sin – calling sin, sin – especially in ourselves – and proclaiming Christ in all of His mediatorial glory. We do not war against sinners themselves, but against the chains of sin that hold them captives.

The Gospel will not let us make peace with false Gospels. We must call them out for what they are. We bring the sword of Biblical truth bear in examining and destroying false notions of God, Christ, The Holy Spirit, The Bible, and especially the demand of Scripture to repent of sin and turn to faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. We cannot be at peace with so-called gospels that have no cross in them – either Christ’s in His substitutionary atonement, nor ours in following Him, and being marginalized or cast out from the world because of the exclusivity of proclaiming the necessity of Christ as Lord, repentance from sin, and that we hold THE Truth in Jesus.

Such a battle is costly. But look at Jesus’ assurance – it is true, whoever finds their life in living for themselves and this world, will in the end – actually lose their lives .Eternally. But those who turn their backs on peace with this world, sin and falsehood to follow Christ – will find true, everlasting and glorious life in Him.

Flee to Him today. Jesus saves sinners. I know. I’m the worst. And He saved me.

From Matthew 10:26-33 – An Apostolic Primer Part 3

From vs 5 of this chapter through the end, Jesus is giving a set of instructions to His Apostles as He sends them out on their first mission. He gives them a charge to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons. He impresses upon them the weight of their message, and they are to leave no one with the idea that this Gospel can be safely dismissed. Then He gives them basic instructions on how to conduct themselves, and a series of warnings, for serving Christ, is not for the faint of heart. There are dangers and opposition to be faced. Jesus will not have them venture into this battle ground assuming it will be all joy and victory. They are marching to war.

Note then in this section something of grave importance, and of vital application to the Church today. When all around us are ministries and books and seminars that say they are imparting new and necessary secrets of the Kingdom and of the Christian life – beware, they lie.

Those who seek position and power in the Church, often go about it with a form of Gnosticism which must be rejected out of hand. The Gospel is open and plain. What was told to them by Jesus out of the public eye, was to be proclaimed openly, and I might add, not peddled like some secret commodity. The message of the Kingdom is not in secret code or given only to some pretended spiritual elite. “Proclaim it on the housetops” is Jesus command. Not, package it and market it to the few who can afford it.

Note too how they were to not give their opposition more credit than they deserve. Yes, there are opposers. Yes, they will employ tactics to silence or obscure the Gospel. But they will not win. We are to fear only our Christ and King in service, and not the fierce faces of defeated enemies. The most they can do is kill us. Christ has already overcome death and the grave.

And note that He does not call them to face these opponents as though their arrows will not pierce and wound woefully. He does not treat the pains of spiritual opposition as if they are not truly painful. But what He does do is help them put their coming suffering into context. These opposers can do nothing to harm the soul. And in comparison and due time, the earthly woes will seem like nothing. He numbers even the hairs on the heads of His saints. Nothing concerning us gets by Him. And in the final judgment, these who deny Christ His rightful place will be denied by Him. And those rejected by the World because of Christ, will be shown to be His cosmic treasures in the final day.

All in all – Jesus gives all who serve Him great reasons to face any and all things we might suffer for His name – reason to remain steadfast, courageous and bold. For He loves us to the highest degree.

The world may lie about us, misrepresent us, obscure our message – but vindication day will come. Do not faint.

And when it comes to communicating the truths of the Kingdom, hide nothing. We do not trade in secret knowledge. We are not trying to build a secret society or club – we are introducing the Kingdom of God, and it is a universally public thing.

Do you want to know what it is have real value as a human being? To stand before the throne of God on the final day, and have Jesus stand beside you and say to the Father “This one is MINE!”

From Matthew 10:16-24 – An Apostolic Primer Part 2

It is interesting to see where Jesus moves in His instructions to the Disciples here. In fact, none of these would happen on their present tour, nor when He sent out the seventy later. These words are looking forward to the time after He is gone. It is in this context then that we understand verse 23. It is a simple announcement that neither they nor their descendents will be able to exhaust their mission before He returns. There is never a time when the Church can say: “We’ve gathered in all that are ever to come, we can stop evangelizing now.”

But, Jesus says, they must be aware that this will not always be the case – i.e. the way you will be received now. It won’t last. These persecutions WILL come in time. You will heal and bless them now and their first response will be to rejoice. Later, they will turn. Know this ahead of time so that you aren’t shocked or dismayed when it happens.

Note then vss.16 & 17 this warning not to step into trouble unnecessarily. We are to be bold, but not pugnacious. Unflinching in proclaiming the truth, but not argumentative and obstreperous. Sometimes that is a hard line to maintain. We’re not adept at turning the other cheek. It is as if He is saying – don’t stick your chin out and dare them to slug you. Walk discreetly. Let the offense be the Gospel itself, not your behavior. Give them no cause to persecute on your own account – but only because of the Gospel itself.

We can easily forget that the freedom Christianity has enjoyed in America these past years is an historical anomaly, and that we have some sort of right to such freedom and lack of persecution. It has not been so for most of our brothers and sisters the past 2 millennia and in their various contexts. So we can begin to think we are owed what we’ve enjoyed in some way, when Jesus’ words indicate exactly the opposite. And if we feel we deserve favored or at least unbothered treatment, we must be prepared to reject that notion and look for the honor which comes from being persecuted for His name’s sake.

Note also His counsel to flee from town to town when persecuted. There is no need to dig in our heels and stand on principle on every little thing. We are not required to invite persecution if we can reasonably avoid it. And again, we will not have harvested or gathered in all there are to be gathered in before the time. We cannot exhaust your mission. So if we have to shift fields of labor, we are not to worry about it. He have many people in many places to be brought in.

Lastly, note in vs. 25 how unseemly it is then for Christians to cry and complain of ill words from the world in our day. Why should we be above our Master? Why should expect respect and acceptance He never had? Is it not enough of an honor for us to be named with Him? Why do we imagine we deserve better that Him, when we are granted the high privilege to suffer in and for His name? How worldly our opinions have become. How other-worldly it is to live like the Peter and John in Acts 5 who after facing an angry Sanhedrin we read: “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.” Where is that Spirit among us today when we weep and moan that Hollywood never seems to paint a sympathetic or favorable picture of a Christian? Why do we not count it higher to be linked with Him in His shame than it is to be thought well of in the eyes of the World?

He did not count it shame to be linked with us in our sin – let us count it the highest honor to be linked with Him in redeeming glory.

From Matthew 10:5-15 / An Apostolic Primer

Jesus has just ordained His 12, and now He is sending them out on their first mission. His instructions are interesting, precise and useful even today.

Note first the urgency of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and demonstrating its power to the Jews first. These are God’s covenant people. As Paul will later say: “They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” (Rom. 9:4-5) Christ was promised to them and it is only fitting that they receive the good news first. In Romans 1 Paul also observes that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes – to the Jew first! Though as a nation they were in a most dreadful spiritual state, God had not forgotten them. His mercy and grace are beyond compare. He comes to them and pleads with them and gives them demonstrations that were unequaled in history. And how they still need to hear the Gospel today.

Note secondly the powerful signs that are given here. But they are not so in the abstract. Healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and casting out demons are tokens of how God overcomes all of the effects of sin in Christ Jesus. Sin infects the whole being. Sin, has killed us, separating us from the spiritual life we were created with in Adam. Sin incurably defiles us. Sin leaves us slaves to the influence of Satan and this world. The Gospel is God’s declaration of the healing, life restoring, cleansing, liberating work of Jesus at Calvary – and is free to all who believe. And as Jesus was wont to tell His apostles not to be stingy with it, we need to be of the same generous mind in giving the Gospel today.

Note thirdly, Jesus’ warning not to turn ministry into a profit making venture. This is not to deny needed sustenance. But it is to deny turning it into a money making machine. And can this admonition be any more timely for us today? How many in pop-Evangelicalism function on the platform of greed? And not only greed for themselves, but preaching and teaching in such a way as to foment greed in the hearts of their hearers. It is an abomination. It is true that the ox is not to be muzzled while treading out the grain. It is also true that the ox is not to take the grain and set up a roadside stand to make himself rich by means of it. The laborer is worthy of his hire. But no one is to enter ministry as a means to acquisition in this life. Such is a cursed thing. And so far from the Spirit and example of Christ Himself.

Note fourthly that it is part of our responsibility in evangelism to make it clear that to reject the Gospel is not something indifferent. This is not some mere option. There is something genuinely of an ultimatum in the Gospel call. We cannot leave people with the impression that each is “free” to believe whatever they wish, and that there are no certain consequences. When Paul addressed the Areopogites in Acts 17, he left this without question. “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” God now commands all men everywhere to repent. To fail to repent from sin and believe the Gospel is to defy God’s command. It is not some matter of mere preference.

Note lastly, just how serious that last point is. Jesus says that to hear and reject the Gospel, is to put one in a worse position on judgment day, than even those previously destroyed in Sodom and Gomorrah. America, listen! Who has heard the Gospel more than you? And now you scoff at it as never before. Your judgment will be worse than the proverbial worst of the worst.

And yet, today is still a day of grace. Final judgement has not yet come even though we are experiencing its first tremors even now. The Gospel is still being preached. The call to come to Christ and confess your sin, turning from it to Him – ending your rebellion against His right to rule you in every way as Lord and King – if you are reading this right now, by His grace it is not too late. But tomorrow may be. Come to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. Come for cleansing in His blood. Claim Him as your substitute on the Cross. Be reconciled to God by faith in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice on Calvary. Mercy is to be had.

Oh Father, send revival!

From Matthew 10:1-4 – 12 Ordinary Men.

Luke tells us that this appointment of the 12 happened on the heels of Jesus spending all night in prayer. That gives us something of the momentous nature of this event. He did this with no others. It is a singular event. The closest thing we have to it later is Saul/Paul’s calling on the road to Damascus. And it establishes the unique nature of their apostolic office. That being the case, we ought to discount out of hand the claims of so many today who run about calling themselves and one another “apostles.” They are nothing of the sort, especially if by it, they infer something of the same authority and place as these. This was a once-for-all occurrence. Jesus never repeated it during His incarnation and we’ve no reason from the teaching of the Apostles to expect anything else of the like. If you hear them refer to themselves by the name of apostle, you may discount them out of hand. They are at best deceived, and at worst, outright liars.

Note first then that the Disciple’s “power” was not some innate or imparted ability but was located in the permission to act in His name, and on His behalf. They were given authority, not power or ability to exercise at will. They were to act as His agents doing His will when and where He wanted. They were not free agents wielding magical abilities. Confusion here has given rise to much misunderstanding in some branches of the Church. Not a few are like Simon the Magician in Acts 8 who thought this authority could be had upon request. And the Apostle’s denial of it came with severe consequences. In fact, his seeking it in this way demonstrated his condition as still in bondage to iniquity.

Note secondly, and with reference to the first, that they did not seek this appointment. Christ Jesus was the initiator. Men seeking power and authority are always problematic. When people do so, they show already their misapprehension of what it means to serve Christ and His people. In the earliest records of the Church, it was the custom to choose only those who humbly refused the office of elder or deacon at first. Lust for power is a wicked evil that must be guarded against continually. Be careful when people are quick to put themselves forward for offices, and not for service.

Note thirdly, that there is nothing of a special quality in any of the 12 that would make them stand out above others. And so it is with all those whom Christ uses. For our usefulness is in our submission to Him as Lord, not in our native gifts or talents. It is not that He will not co-opt our gifts for His purposes, but it is that our gifts are not what qualify us. A submissive heart to His will, to seek and serve Him as Lord is what is most needed. And then, in His call itself will be all the equipping we need. These were available and willing. Are we? If so, He will use us.

You may think yourself without much to bring to Him so as to serve Him. But dear Christian, if you are His by the washing and regeneration of the Spirit – you are His. And having called you to Himself, He has equipped you to live life before Him, and to be salt and light in the world. His call is sufficient in and of itself.

Note fourth that even a Judas may be used to cast our spirits and heal the sick. Because he could do so in Jesus name, said nothing about him personally. Do not be led astray to listen to any and every teacher or preacher because they may have been used by God to do something spectacular. Many (Jesus will tell us later) will say to Him on judgment day that they did all kinds of wonders in His name. And He will nevertheless cast them into Hell as lost unbelievers.

It is incumbent on us as everyday Believers to measure the teachings of all by the standard of God’s Word. And if it does not pass the muster of sound doctrine already received by the Church, reject them. Apparently, Judas too did all these things. And he, proved at last to be the “son of perdition.” We know from later record that he was already secretly robbing from Jesus’ coffer. And at last his sin found him out. A liar, deceiver, filled with greed and serving self above Christ.

Note lastly, that even though there may be Judas’ in the ranks of the Church, God in His sovereign goodness uses even their wickednesses to fulfill His ultimate plans. They cannot destroy His Church. They cannot overturn the cause of Christ even if they throw the putrid mud of their wickedness upon it. Jesus said that even the very gates of Hell cannot resist the ultimate victory of the Church He is building. When Judases are revealed, we groan and grieve. But we do not despair. Christ is victor over all.