The Savior's Plan for Our Service
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 10:1-7
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared December 10, 2021)
MESSAGE:
*My wife is a planner. And I'm talking about an extraordinary planner. Some of us are making plans for Christmas. Mary's already thinking about next Christmas! --- at least a little bit anyway.
*And when it comes to her planning, I'm not talking about big-picture stuff. I'm talking about intricate little details. I know this because she likes to tell me all about them. Unfortunately, it all starts to run together after about 15 or 20 seconds, so she has to repeat herself a good bit. But don't get me wrong. Mary's planning has been very good for me. When we met 48 years ago, I was basically a leaf in the wind.
*And planning in general is a very good thing, especially when you are making godly plans. After all, our God is the greatest planner of all! Psalm 33:11 in the NKJ says, "The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations."
*God's planning is surely evident in the order of His creation, the revelation of His Word, and in the cross of Jesus Christ. When Peter and John were released by the authorities in Acts 4:23-28, the Scripture says:
23. And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
24. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: "Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them,
25. who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: 'Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things?
26. the kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.'
27. For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
28. to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done."
*In 2 Timothy 1:8-10, Paul confirmed that God had planned the cross before the beginning of time. Here the Apostle said:
8. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9. who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10. but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
*Christians: God planned to give us the grace we have in Jesus before time began! He is the greatest planner of all. And God surely has a plan for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 in the New Living Translation says: "For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."
*God has a perfect plan for our lives. And today's Scripture helps us understand the Savior's plan for our service.
1. FIRST: JESUS CALLS US TO HIS SERVICE.
*We see this truth in the first part of vs.1 where the Lord "called His twelve disciples to Him."
*This wasn't the first time Jesus called these men to follow Him. For example, Matthew 4:18-22 says:
18. Now Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19. And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.''
20. Then they immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21. And going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. And He called them,
22. and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
*Here in Matthew 10, Jesus called 12 of His disciples to Him, because He had special service for them to perform. Luke 6:12-13 explains, "Now it came to pass in those days that He (Jesus) went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Him; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles."
*The Lord had special service for these 12 men to perform. But Jesus also has special service for us. Jesus calls all people to come to Him for salvation, and He calls all Christians to come to Him for service.
*We rejoice in the Lord's salvation! We love to focus on that, and we should. But we must not forget our call to His service. In Ephesians 2:8-10 Paul tells all Christians: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."
*In Matthew 20:26-28, Jesus said, "Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.''
*Then in Matthew 25:21, Jesus said one of the best things we can hope to hear in Heaven: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."
*God's plan is for us to serve the Lord humbly and faithfully, wherever, and however He calls us to serve. Then one day we will get to hear Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
2. JESUS CALLS US TO HIS SERVICE, AND HE EQUIPS US FOR HIS SERVICE.
*Look how Jesus equipped the 12 disciples at the end of vs. 1, "And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease."
*Jesus gave them all they needed to serve the Lord. He gave them all they needed to win great victories for God. And Jesus will equip us to do everything He wants us to do. As David Guinn likes to say, "God does not call the equipped. He equips the called."
*Of course, Jesus has not given us the same degree of power He gave the Apostles. Down in vs. 8, He told them to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons." Imagine the media rush, if somebody walked through Saint Francis Hospital healing the sick, cleansing lepers, and raising the dead!
*The Lord could give us the same degree of power if He wanted to. And that might seem nice at times, but God knows best about these things. And Jesus gave the Apostles this incredible power mostly as a witness of who He was.
*We see this truth in the beginning of the next chapter when John the Baptist is in prison. In Matthew 11:3 John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'' Then in Matthew 11:4-6, Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind receive their sight and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.''
*On top of that, remember this astounding truth: Judas Iscariot had all of that power, witnessed all of those miracles, and still, he betrayed our Savior!
*You see, God's plan for us is not mainly about getting His power. It's about us turning to Jesus Christ, trusting in Him, and following Him as our Lord and Savior. It's about being glad to serve God any way He sees fit, realizing that Jesus will equip us for everything He asks us to do.
*And maybe we don't have the power to heal like the Apostles did in vs. 1, but we have more power than we realize! Think about the power of prayer. And think about the power of our witness.
*Robert Sumner told about a missionary in Alaska, named Everett Bachelder. Everett and his wife, Mina, operated the Nome Gospel Home for over 30 years.
*One of the ways they shared the Gospel was by tossing more than a thousand mayonnaise jars and ketchup bottles into the Bering Sea. They were all crammed with Scripture messages written in a hundred different languages. Kids from local churches helped Everett prepare the jars and bottles.
*Now that may seem like a waste of time, but over the years, the wind and waves carried the story of God's love to the far corners of the earth. Everett got responses from as far as 10,000 miles away!
*One time a man in Singapore, was broken hearted over a romance gone sour. He was about to commit suicide by jumping into the ocean from a cliff. But he saw a bottle wash up against the rocks below.
*Oddly enough, the man decided to jump when the bottle broke. But as he watched, it hit the rocks over and over without breaking. He got curious and climbed down the cliff where he found the good news of salvation in the cross of Jesus Christ. God's Word touched that man's heart. He found a missionary in Singapore, and he got saved! (1)
*Jesus Christ gave that man a brand-new start in life. He got a new spiritual life. His sins were forgiven. He became part of the family of God. And he was saved forever! That is the power of our witness! God graciously gives us this power.
*And according to His perfect will, God gives us natural abilities, financial resources, and gifts of the Holy Spirit. We don't get to choose the gifts and abilities God chooses to give us. That's His job. Our job is to follow the Lord's leadership, trusting that Jesus will provide us with everything we need to do everything He wants us to do.
3. JESUS EQUIPS US FOR HIS SERVICE, AND HE WANTS US TO REACH OUR GOD-GIVEN POTENTIAL.
*God loves to do extraordinary things through ordinary people like us. We are reminded of this great truth when we think about the men who are listed in vs. 2-4:
2. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
3. Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
4. Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
*These men were nothing special by themselves. They were mostly good men, I'm sure, but sinners all. And they were certainly common, ordinary men. At least 4 of them were professional fishermen.
*Most of these men aren't well known by Christians. I doubt there are more than two or three of us who could even list all 12. I surely couldn't. They were ordinary men.
*William Barclay explained, "They were very ordinary men. They were chosen from the common people. They were men who did the ordinary things. They had no extraordinary wealth, no special education, and no special status in their society. Jesus chose these men, not for who they were, but for who they could become under His influence and power. We should never think we have nothing to offer Jesus, for the Lord can take the most ordinary things and use them for His glory." (2)
*We may say, "I'm just an average person, just a small drop of humanity." But our God likes to use little things to make a big difference in His world.
*Max Lucado pointed this out when he wrote, "That guy who gave Jesus the donkey on Palm Sunday is just one of the long line of folks who gave little things to a big God. Scripture has quite a gallery of donkey-givers. In fact, heaven may have a shrine to honor God's uncommon use of the common. It's a place you won't want to miss. Stroll through and see Rahab's rope, David's sling, and Samson's jawbone." (3)
*I also think of the widow's mite, and the little boy's lunch that Jesus miraculously multiplied to feed over 5,000 men, plus women and children. God surely uses little things to make a big difference in His world. He loves to do extraordinary things through ordinary people like us. That way He gets the glory He deserves, -- because it's not about us. It's about Him!
4. BUT JESUS WANTS US TO REACH OUR GOD-GIVEN POTENTIAL. AND NOTICE THAT HE SENDS US TO SPECIFIC PEOPLE.
*The Lord reminds us of this truth in vs. 5-6, where:
5. These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
*That doesn't sound very fair to the Gentiles and Samaritans. Didn't Jesus love them too? Of course, He did! But God has a perfect plan, and a perfect time for everything in that plan. Our job is to recognize His plan for us, and to follow it! We need to ask, "Lord, where do You want me to go? and who do You want me to see?"
*It's not a matter of distance. Yes, there is a time to go all over the world. But at that time Jesus told the Apostles not to go to the Gentiles or to the Samaritans. He said, "Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Now God will most likely send us somewhere close. But the person sent halfway down the block is no less sent than the person sent halfway around the world! Where is Jesus trying to send you?
5. JESUS SENDS US TO SPECIFIC PEOPLE. AND HE SENDS US WITH THE GOOD NEWS OF HIS KINGDOM.
*In vs. 7 Jesus said this to the Apostles: "As you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" Church: The reason why the kingdom of heaven was at hand was because the King had come into the world! Glory to God! What a blessing!
*Luke 2:7-11 tells us that when Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem:
7. . . She brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
10. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
*What an incredibly humble way for the King of Heaven to step into His world! Who could have guessed? One of my favorite Christmas stories helps us understand. It happened in Arkansas, on the day Pastor Jon Allen visited one of his church members. His name was George Pressman, and he was one of the finest Christians Pastor Jon had ever met.
*At age 72, George still lived in the farmhouse where he was born. Pastor Jon actually passed by George's house every day on his way to the church. And one winter morning Jon drove by just as George came out and headed to the barn.
*Jon decided to turn in, and he followed George into the barn. As George began to feed the calves, chickens, and turkeys, Jon began to have had second thoughts about visiting his friend in the barn. It was cold and it smelled so bad than Pastor Jon almost lost his breakfast.
*Then he stepped right in the middle of a fresh cow patty, and it oozed up on his newly shined dress shoes. George chuckled and said, "Come on out on the grass Pastor, and we'll clean you up."
*They headed toward the door. But after a couple of steps, George stopped in his tracks, turned to Pastor Jon, and said something the pastor never forgot: "Preacher, Jesus was born in a place like this." Jon looked around in stunned silence. A few feet away, the calves were licking up the last of their grain. They were eating out of a manger! (4)
*What an amazing thing that the King of the universe humbled Himself to leave the glories of Heaven and be born in a place for animals. Jesus humbled Himself to go through hunger, pain, fatigue, temptation, and sorrow. Most of all, Jesus humbled Himself to die on the cross for our sins. And now the risen Christ will save anyone who receive Him as Lord and Savior. When we do this, we are spiritually born again as children of the King!
*This is most important because it is the only way to get into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus made this truth clear as He talked with Nicodemus in John 3:3-6. There:
3. Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.''
4. Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?''
5. Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
*Christians: God wants us to spread the good news about His Kingdom every way that we possibly can. It's as simple as John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
CONCLUSION:
*God wants us to help people understand the truth about our Savior and King. This is surely part of His plan for our time here on earth. Let's ask Him to help us, as we go back to God in prayer.
(1) KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 1182 - SOURCE: Biblical Evangelist - TITLE: Throwing The Word Of God Into The Ocean - AUTHOR: Dr. Robert Sumner - DATE: 8/10/2001
(2) Adapted from BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES (NT) by William Barclay, Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 - First published by the Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland - The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA - "The Messengers of The King" - Matthew 10:1-4 - https://www.primobibleverses.com/view/william-barclay/the-messengers-of-the-king-matthew-101-4
(3) Adapted from Max Lucado, AND THE ANGELS WERE SILENT - "The Guy with the Donkey," pp. 55-56 - Source: Sermons.com email 03/14/2002
(4) Illustration Digest – Number 4 1995
