“Jesus Said”
What Jesus to His Followers
“About Evangelism”
Michael Wiley
Matthew 10:16-23
March 15, 2009
Introduction:
We have a message church!
Our message today looking at “What Jesus Said,” is what He said about evangelism. In the literal since of the word, Evangelism is “the proclamation of the good news.”
We have the good news of the gospel of Christ that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…(1 Corinthians 15:3b-4a)
Jesus has drawn His church together with this message and sent it out to proclaim this message.
Transition:
We know the traditional, Matt 28:19-20 – GO into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name…
That is referred to as the “Great Commission.”
Jesus had already explained to them what the world he was sending them into looked like. That is the passage I want to look at today.
Turn to Matthew 10:16-23
READ v.16
NIV leaves out (eidon). The versions that use it, usually translate it “Behold”
Eidon is a word that denoted “seeing” as in understanding. It is a word that brings attention to the next phrase. We might say, “Listen” or “Look man”
We need to point this out, because the word moves what Jesus is saying from normal casual conversation to “Hey this is important – listen to me.”
I love Jesus no-nonsense approach with His disciples.
We’re used to bait and switches right?
-- You get a new job and a few weeks in what you’re doing begins to change.
-- Maybe you were told you were purchasing one thing, and you got another. I love some of those mail-order catalogs that come in the mail. Some of that stuff seems like such a great deal. --- You see these beautiful candelabra which has a ridiculous price. Normally you wouldn’t purchase such a thing, but you just have to have these at such a good price. Then you look at the fine print and see they are two inches tall.
-- I love the infomercials on TV. Billy Mays is the new Ron Popeil. Remember Ron, and his Ronco products.
When we see something new for the first time at our house, we try guess how much it’s going to cost. I always guess $19.95. I’m right about 40% of the time.
Most of those products are pretty good products, but you paying more for them then you think ---- Shipping and HANDLING. What is handling? It’s were they hide the cost of the product, so they can tell you you’re only paying $19.95.
-- I was an aircraft mechanic in the USAF in the late 80s. In those days (in England) we [to blank slide] were constantly preparing for “chemical warfare.” Our enemies loved that stuff, so we constantly prepared for that kind of attack. I remember one day I was in my Tadv removing an engine from my airplane (Tadv is a steal/concrete bunker), We were in war exercise mode, which means I’m wearing my chemical warfare gear, suit, gas mask, it’s 85 outside, but 105 in my suit, and I’m thinking, “This was not in the brochure.”
-- You just have times in your life when you signed up for one thing but feel you’re living something different.
Jesus Lays it out on the Line—No punches, No tricks, No bait and switch, no shipping and handling.
This is how it is!
First he gives and analogy of the opponents and the attitudes we need when facing them.
I am sending you out like “sheep among wolves!”
There is a drastic role reversal here. – Usually you have one singular wolf, sneak in among the sheep.
You could say that happened in a horrific way last Sunday when a man walked into First Baptist Church of Maryville, IL and shot Pastor Fred Winters to death, while he was speaking. You think you’re safe in church. But folks you’re not safe anywhere. And with the rise of terrorism in America it’s going to get nothing but worse.
Jesus point was not safety where you are.
He was saying you’re not going to be safe where I’m sending you.
Jesus’ picture here, is not “one singular wolf sneaking in among the sheep” but a few sheep being sent out among the wolves.
Jesus is giving a graphic illustration of the rejection and persecution they would receive in a God hating world.
NOW, we here in America have been anesthetized toward persecution, because we have lived in a country based on Godly Principles. Beware, this is changing. Our country is changing. The acceptance and tolerance that we have enjoyed in the past will disappear.
IL. As stated by Mary Ann Collins, a former Catholic nun, “We will have to be willing to make sacrifices, be disciplined, persevere in the face of hardship, endure suffering, overcome frustration and inconvenience, and spend more money than we want to.”
According to Berit Kjos of Kjos Ministries, “America’s tyranny toward Christians can be seen in the following trends and events. First, the United States Supreme Court is basing many of its decisions on United Nations and European models. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stated, “The Supreme Court is looking beyond America’s borders for guidance in handling cases on issues like the death penalty and gay rights.” Also, Justice Breyer reaffirmed Justice Ginsburg as he stated, “The world is growing together through commerce, through globalization, through the spread of democratic institutions, through immigration to America. It is becoming more and more one world of many different kinds of people ... And whether our constitution fits into the governing documents of other nations, I think, will be a challenge for the next generation.” Sadly, as stated by Berit Kjos, “Our world can’t tolerate the old Biblical laws that identify certain behaviors as sin and certain beliefs as incompatible with Christian faith. Offended by the truth, it bans the convictions that once gave rise to social order and prosperity. Its new systems leave no room for an uncompromising moral standard which can’t be conformed to man’s shortsighted vision of the 21st century community. (http://www.crossroad.to/)
Second, the trashing of the Ten Commandments has become a new trend in America. In fact, Roy Moore, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, sacrificed his esteemed position in an effort to save the Ten Commandments from being removed from the state judicial building. However, the un-American activities of the U.S. Supreme Court prevented his agenda from happening. But, according to Judge Moore, “We must acknowledge God in the public sector because the state constitution explicitly requires us to do so. The Alabama Constitution specifically invokes ’the favor and guidance of Almighty God’ as the basis for our laws and justice system. As the chief justice of the state’s Supreme Court, I am entrusted with the sacred duty to uphold the state’s constitution.”
The third major event in the persecution of Christians is the re-learning in government schools. Schools throughout the United States are eliminating all signs and symbols of the Christian faith. Discrimination toward the teachings of Jesus Christ has become the accepted norm in the public education systems in America. Any religion except Christianity is accepted in a nation founded on the Judeo-Christian ethical system. Students may write reports about Mohammed, but not Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten son.
Based on the methods used by intolerant, anti-Christian groups, public schools and the media are the major areas to be targeted for the purpose of indoctrinating America’s children. According to Thomas Horn, CEO of RaidersNewsNetwork, “If one succeeds in separating Godly principles from public education and the media, they deny citizens the knowledge of good and keep them from embracing the laws of God. To that extent, they are pawns of evil and subvert and destroy both the message and the messengers of righteousness.” (Resource lost)
So this message is pertinent for us my friends.
The attitude we must develop is to be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.
In ancient lore snake symbolized wisdom I think of Colossians 4:5. Paul said, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.”
Back in 2006 Members of the Topeka, Kan., Westboro Baptist Church invaded the family’s privacy when they picketed funerals of service personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan to protest gays being allowed in the military. They carry signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."
They picketed (pictured here) the funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who died in a vehicle accident. His father sued the church and was awarded 16 million dollars in damages.
They are still picketing funerals. The last one was Friday morning at the funeral of First Baptist Church Pastor Fred Winters who was gunned down last Sunday. They claim things like this is God’s judgment on the church. I’m excited that so far as I’ve seen, they got NO publicity.
Things like this do no good for the church and its message—convert no one to Christ, and actually hurt the message we are trying to get across. And, is not shrewd or innocent.
Innocent here is not “to be naïve.”
John MacArthur says, -- [to blank slide]
“Not to beat the non-believer over the head is one thing: to minimize his sin and lost-ness apart from Christ it another.
To love our enemies and not return evil for evil is one thing.
To deny they are enemies is quite another.” (The New Testament Commentary, Matt 8-15 Moody, pg. 203)
READ 10:17-22
Listen, this is kind of a doom and gloom message. I’m just reading and expounding on the text.
And, if you look at the country we live in you’ll find a lot of doom and gloom.
And, if you look at the world we live in you’ll find a lot of doom and gloom.
If you read the Bible you’ll find that persecution of the saints will worsen.
More doom—more gloom will come.
That is why my friend the Bible tells us over and over to get our focus off of this stupid world and put it on God ---- to get our hope off of the stock market or our 401k and put it in Christ.
I’ve read this book (the Bible). It tells me that things are going to get much worse before he return of Christ. I’ve read this book (the Bible) all the way to the end. And in the end, it tells me --- “We Win.”
Conclusion:
As we look at the bleak future of Christianity we may become bleak and depressed.
We want to coddle under the arms of the loving savior and ask him for guidance.
What would Jesus say to us today?
READ all of 10:16-22!
Pray
