1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,000 We have two readings today. The first one is from Matthew 5 verses 11 to 12. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:50,000 The second reading is from Matthew chapter 10 verses 24 to 33. 3 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:17,000 If the head of the house has been called bills above, how much more the members of his household? 4 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:30,000 So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 5 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:47,000 In the dark, speak in the daylight, what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 6 00:01:47,000 --> 00:02:05,000 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your father's care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows. 7 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:24,000 Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. 8 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:44,000 Good morning everyone. It's great to be together and sing and pray and hear the word of the Lord proclaim. So before we do indeed come before these words, would you please join me in praying. 9 00:02:44,000 --> 00:03:02,000 Lord Jesus, we ask this morning that you would be held high among us, that your spirit would be at work, and that we would understand the words of eternal life, and that you would change us for your glory. 10 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:08,000 We ask for this in your name. Amen. 11 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:22,000 Fear is a powerful motivator. A powerful motivator to shrink back and do nothing, even in the face of necessity. 12 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:38,000 And so how will we overcome this terrible enemy of the mind? That's exactly what Jesus addresses with his apostles and by implication all his disciples here this morning. 13 00:03:38,000 --> 00:04:07,000 Before we get into this, let's have a think about our context. If you've been with us for the past few weeks, you know that we're in the book of Matthew and in particular in a part of his book where Jesus is addressing 12 specific disciples who were chosen to preach on the kingdom of heaven and show its arrival by ministering to people with signs and wonders. 14 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:17,000 It was an incredibly important mission because Israel was about to hear about her long awaited Messiah and how he had come to set them free. 15 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:30,000 And so these 12 men were being prepared to be sent as apostles, as ambassadors to their nation to deliver this good news. 16 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:44,000 This morning, we're still continuing to look at these same marching orders and Jesus is still telling them what it will be like for those who will carry the good news of the kingdom out to all those among them. 17 00:04:44,000 --> 00:05:04,000 And as you might remember from last week, as the gospel goes out, it will be met with opposition and persecution, which as you can imagine would have conjured up all sorts of fear in the hearts and minds of our Lord's apostles. 18 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:21,000 And so our Lord, knowing that, now addresses these fears by giving them and us three reasons as to why we shouldn't be afraid in our mission to take the good news of Jesus into the world. 19 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:28,000 First, he addresses why people will be opposed to us in the first place. 20 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:34,000 So if you have your Bibles with you this morning, we'll be in the text quite a bit. 21 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:43,000 So look with me at verses 24 and 25. Jesus says, the students not above their teacher, nor a servant above his master. 22 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:50,000 It is enough for students to be like their teachers and servants like their masters. 23 00:05:50,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Okay, so the first thing that Jesus addresses for us here is that people won't so much be offended by us for anything in and of ourselves, but who and what we stand for. 24 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:20,000 Now you might remember it, these guys were commissioned to go throughout all Israel because our Lord had gone through parts of his country and he had seen many people in his country who were misled. 25 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:44,000 In fact, he described it like seeing sheep without a shepherd. And so out of the masses of people that followed him, he chose 12 guys to be close to him so as to teach them and then send them out into the great harvest to work for the Lord, to go in his name. 26 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:58,000 And he did this because before they could go, they had to know who Jesus was. They had to learn from him. They had to be his disciples. 27 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:07,000 Now admittedly, that's a word that we don't hear much in this day and age outside of the church, the word disciples. 28 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:18,000 But that's exactly what these guys were. They were under the tutelage of a rabbi. That's what it meant to be a disciple in this context. 29 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:32,000 And Jesus makes this relationship obvious in a couple of different ways. They were students with their teacher. They were servants with their master. 30 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:47,000 Now student here is easier to understand in our context if we approach it not so much in a classroom setting, but maybe more in a tutoring setting. 31 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:57,000 I was a drum teacher for years and people would hire me for their children because they wanted them to be able to play drums like a professional. 32 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:12,000 That was the goal. It was a mentor-student relationship, which was much more personal than a massive classroom setting where students would come and go from year to year. 33 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:21,000 The tutoring relationship was there until the student had become like their teacher. 34 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:31,000 The servant dynamic though is a little bit different and we can understand it by using the word slave. 35 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:37,000 That's the Greek that actually sits under our NIV translation here, doulos. 36 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:47,000 And that word is used because it's a word that doesn't suggest that a person gets a choice when the one above them gives an order. 37 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:58,000 That's certainly how the apostle Paul approached his ministry. He would call himself a slave numerous times. 38 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:07,000 In fact, he would open his letters much of the time by saying, Paul, a slave of King Jesus. 39 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:22,000 And so it's here that we get a good sense of what a disciple is in relationship to our Lord, where his students who were sat at his feet being tutored, 40 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:29,000 where servants, where slaves ready to do whatever he commands. 41 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:34,000 Let's think a little bit more about this dynamic this morning. 42 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:45,000 See, we're students of Jesus Christ because we know that what he has to say is good and true. 43 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:55,000 That's why we look to Jesus as our teacher, because we know that his authority comes from God. 44 00:09:55,000 --> 00:10:03,000 That's why we've come to follow him. It's because we know that he is the way, the truth and the life. 45 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:11,000 Now don't miss this. We're actually all students and are discipled by something or someone. 46 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:18,000 In fact, many people much of the week are tutored by what the world has to say through their iPhones. 47 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:30,000 And they'll listen to what the world has to preach on with things like, let's say, for one example, what it is to be happy, what true happiness consists of. 48 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:36,000 And they'll listen to what the world will preach on as to what happiness really looks like. 49 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:42,000 And it will usually amount to having more and more things. 50 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,000 A disciple of Jesus knows where true happiness comes from. 51 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:53,000 It doesn't come from getting more things, but seeking first the kingdom of God. 52 00:10:53,000 --> 00:11:02,000 Now that mindset is radically different to the world, but we know it's true because we're disciples of the one we have come to trust. 53 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:07,000 And we trust what he says is good and true. 54 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:16,000 And so as his students, we hear his words, we believe them, and we do what we can to practice them. 55 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:20,000 And this is the other dynamic that we see here this morning. 56 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:25,000 Jesus is our master. 57 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:38,000 Now being called a servant in 21st century Western Australia is incredibly countercultural, but that's the relationship that a disciple has. 58 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:49,000 Jesus is our teacher and master, and we obey him because we have come to know him personally as our savior. 59 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:56,000 Now this isn't to say that what he commands us will always make sense every step of the way, 60 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:05,000 but we know that because we were once lost, but now found, once dead, but now alive, that we should do as he says, 61 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:15,000 because he, while we were still his enemies, delivered us from the cruel master of sin. 62 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:22,000 He rescued us and purchased us with his own blood. 63 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:34,000 Church, to be a slave of sin is to receive the wages of death, but to be a slave of Christ is to receive life everlasting. 64 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,000 And he came to us. 65 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:47,000 He chose us. He delivered us from that cruel master, and so we trust and obey our Lord because we know he is good. 66 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:56,000 We know he is true and that he loves us, which means if we really think about it this morning, 67 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:03,000 which means that the goal of the Christian life isn't just to come to church, 68 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:10,000 have tea and bikis and then go about life like nothing's changed. 69 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:15,000 No, to be a disciple is to hear the words of our teacher and master, 70 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:22,000 so as to do them and we follow Jesus no matter the cost to ourselves, 71 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:32,000 because something has happened supernaturally in us, to our hearts, to the very core of us by the work of the Holy Spirit, 72 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:38,000 so that we deeply desire to be like Jesus. 73 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:49,000 So our Lord uses these words to help us understand our relationship with him, what a disciple is to our Lord. 74 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:58,000 And that's what these guys had signed up to. They'd signed up to a life to leave everything and follow Jesus as teacher and master. 75 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:05,000 And now Jesus was saying to his students, saying to his servants, 76 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:15,000 I'm sending you to go out like me, like I've gone, like I've preached, like I've shown the power of the kingdom, 77 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:24,000 I'm sending you into the great harvest to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, like I've been given power and authority, 78 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:32,000 I have given you my power and authority, so go and do like I have. 79 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:44,000 But this is the warning. If the head of the house has been called be asable, how much more the members of his household? 80 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:53,000 Now, you might remember at church, Jesus has already said that this isn't going to be some cakewalk. 81 00:14:53,000 --> 00:15:01,000 No, his disciples would be like sheep among wolves. 82 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:06,000 Because that's what Jesus had experienced personally himself. 83 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:16,000 I mean, if we think back to where we've been in the book of Matthew, we've seen how those in authority have treated Jesus. 84 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:22,000 They saw him as a blasphemous rabbi in that he forgave sin on behalf of God. 85 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:27,000 They thought he was a law breaker for eating with sinners, but most grievously. 86 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:37,000 And what Jesus is speaking about right here in our text this morning was that they attributed his power and authority 87 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:50,000 that he had received from the Father as coming from be asable, the Palestinian Lord of the Flies, akin to Satan himself. 88 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:59,000 And so Jesus, he gives them the lay of the land. He says, if they treated me like this, they're going to treat you the same. 89 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:04,000 You're not above what I've come against. 90 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:11,000 No, you'll be like me in this. You'll receive like treatment. 91 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:23,000 Brothers and sisters, might I say that if you're united to Christ, then don't be surprised by hardship. 92 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:35,000 You see, when the Lord Jesus Christ came to us, when he united us to himself and he gave us the free gift of salvation, 93 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:44,000 he also called us to costly discipleship and our discipleship might cost us everything 94 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:55,000 because if they treated the head of the home like a rebel, how much more the members of his house. 95 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:01,000 That's the reality of every single one that the Lord has united to himself. 96 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:15,000 Wherever we are, wherever the spirit of the age is in operation, we must be prepared to receive opposition. 97 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,000 That's the reality of the Christian life. On the one hand, we've we heard it this morning. 98 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:28,000 We've all been made sons and daughters and citizens of the heavenly kingdom because of being united with the Lord Jesus Christ. 99 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:39,000 But on the other hand, as our Lord and master faced opposition because of our association with him, 100 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:46,000 we must be prepared to receive the same treatment in this life. 101 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:54,000 Again, people won't so much be offended by us in and of ourselves, but who and what we stand for. 102 00:17:54,000 --> 00:18:06,000 And ministry, missions, evangelism and just being a disciple of Christ anywhere in this world will come with its challenges. 103 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:16,000 And so we see it in our text this morning. Our Lord shifts gears and he gives us three reasons why we mustn't fear. 104 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:23,000 Three, don't be afraid. We see the first one in verses 26 and 27. 105 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:31,000 Don't be afraid of them, for there's nothing concealed that won't be disclosed or hidden that won't be made known. 106 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:42,000 What I tell you in the dark speak in the daylight. What's whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 107 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:52,000 As we've seen through the weeks as we've been in this series in the book of Matthew, Jesus teaches his disciples, 108 00:18:52,000 --> 00:19:02,000 which is to say Jesus didn't just do signs and wonders among them, but he taught them God's truth, both in public and in private. 109 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:11,000 But as we've also seen as Jesus toured his own country, as he went around teaching, the Pharisees, the teachers of the law, the scribes, 110 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:22,000 despite the truth they heard, they hated the doctrine of Jesus and they conspired against him. 111 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:29,000 So Jesus says to his apostles, go and preach what you've heard of me, because though the wolves will growl, 112 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:39,000 though they will bear their teeth at you like they have with me, it'll all be shown for what it is in the end. 113 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:46,000 It'll all be shown for what it is in the end. And I think we are encouraged in a couple of ways here. 114 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:52,000 First, God will vindicate the people of God in the end. What do I mean by that? 115 00:19:52,000 --> 00:20:01,000 Well, it's as we've seen before, as the message would go out to the Jews, to the Gentiles, and even to their own families, 116 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:09,000 they would in many cases be rejected. But Jesus puts it all in perspective here. 117 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:19,000 They've been entrusted with the good news of the kingdom. They've been entrusted with the gospel, which is the power unto salvation. 118 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:27,000 And so no matter what they would face, they could know that they were on God's mission. 119 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:33,000 God would vindicate them as doing the right thing in the end. 120 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:41,000 They'd be shown for being his servants and loving others enough to go into the harvest. 121 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:53,000 Second, they could know that as they went out, that those who worked against God and his people would be shown for who they really are. 122 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:59,000 No matter how pious they might come across. 123 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:10,000 Church, isn't that the case today? Many in the public sphere are so harsh against the disciples of Christ, 124 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:22,000 calling us unloving, unsympathetic, and dangerous because we won't accept or compromise on their doctrine, on their ideology. 125 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:32,000 They will mock us and slander us for pointing to the Bible and confessing that God has spoken, that his word is final, 126 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:44,000 and that repentance and trust in Jesus is the only way. That's the reality that we have in our world. 127 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:52,000 And this is the thing, it's not a time for gospel faithful people to draw back in fear. 128 00:21:52,000 --> 00:22:00,000 But take what we know is true and be open and faithful to what the Bible says. 129 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:11,000 Gospel faithful people, gospel faithful churches, must endeavor to share the whole council of scripture 130 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:20,000 and not hide anything for the simple fact that we know this, the truth of God sets people free. 131 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:26,000 We've experienced this ourselves, the truth of God sets people free. 132 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:31,000 So that's what we're to do. We proclaim what we've been taught. 133 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:43,000 We work hard to be clear with what our Lord has entrusted us with in our context, in our varying degrees of our knowledge. 134 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:51,000 Brothers and sisters, people will react so differently to this. 135 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:57,000 Some will absolutely love you. 136 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:03,000 You will be like 2 Corinthians says, like the perfume of life. 137 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:11,000 I adore the man who shared the gospel with me. 138 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:17,000 Yet others, to them, you'll be the stench of death. 139 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,000 That's the reality. 140 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,000 What we've received, we're to share. 141 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:35,000 Some people will hear the gospel, they'll repent, and they'll become our brothers and sisters in the Lord and will love them to death. 142 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:40,000 But others will hear the same message, the same person. 143 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:48,000 They'll hate it and they'll want to destroy your reputation, maybe your credibility. 144 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:58,000 And that can seem terrifying, though we would do well this morning to be reminded that there will be a day when everything is put on the table. 145 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:09,000 When the light will be switched on and everyone and everything in the room will be shown for who and what they are and God will vindicate his people in the beloved. 146 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:15,000 So first, let's not fear because it will all be shown for what it is in the end. 147 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,000 Second, verse 28, we see it here. 148 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,000 Don't be afraid of those who kill the body but can't kill the soul. 149 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:29,000 Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 150 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:41,000 Again, in the verses preceding what we've looked at this morning, the passage that we went through last week, we were told about the reality of the gospel going out. 151 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:49,000 With Israel, disciples would be thrown out of their churches and flogged with Gentile nations. 152 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:54,000 They would be bought before rulers and put on trial with their own families. 153 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:00,000 They ran the risk of being handed over to be killed. 154 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:13,000 In fact, Jesus said that all people, every tribe, nation, tongue and people will hate us because of who and what we are. 155 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:21,000 If we look down the annuals of history, we certainly see that that's the case much of the time. 156 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:28,000 Death has always loomed close to the Christian. 157 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,000 Particularly on those who wouldn't compromise. 158 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:37,000 Death always has been a real and present danger. 159 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:49,000 Dierdrich Bonhoeffer was one of the few German pastors who had the courage to openly oppose the regime of Adolf Hitler. 160 00:25:49,000 --> 00:26:01,000 For that, for helping the Jews, for opposing such wickedness, such demonic driven wickedness, 161 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,000 Dierdrich was jailed and then executed. 162 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:12,000 From prison, he wrote to his friend and he said, those who are still afraid of men have no fear of God. 163 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:20,000 And those who have fear of God, they've ceased to be afraid of men. 164 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:27,000 Dear church, we live in an amazing time and place. 165 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,000 We live in a great nation and we should be so thankful for this. 166 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:42,000 We live in a country where to be openly Christian might seem a bit weird, pretty old fashioned. 167 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:47,000 But with that, with that freedom comes opportunity. 168 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:56,000 Opportunity in that we're able to share faith without really facing the reality of death. 169 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,000 Why don't we? 170 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,000 Much of the time, it's because of fear. 171 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:15,000 We fear not so much being killed, but we fear rejection, looking silly, being slandered, ultimately ostracised. 172 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:25,000 Yes, no doubt we are to be wise and innocent in our conduct with the people around us. 173 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:30,000 But that's not a command to be passive and silent. 174 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:41,000 To be a disciple of Jesus is in some sense, in some way, to be active in participating in the mission of the harvest. 175 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:47,000 So Jesus says, don't fear people. 176 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:52,000 The worst they can do is kill you. 177 00:27:52,000 --> 00:28:02,000 Fear the one who has power over all things, such as life and death, heaven and hell. 178 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:12,000 And I've got to say, church, I must confess to you this morning, that is a really interesting way that our Lord motivates us here. 179 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:17,000 But look at what he's doing because it's actually incredibly encouraging. 180 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:33,000 Because he's resetting our hearts and minds to the place where they should always be, on God, and where, as his children, we sit in the scheme of things. 181 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:49,000 You see, the disciples of Jesus, all of us, know that the gospel is wonderful and beautiful, and every disciple has the deep-seated desire from the very core to see others come to Christ. 182 00:28:49,000 --> 00:29:01,000 So the great temptation is, when we go into the harvest, we actually end up compromising because we fear what people think of us more than what God thinks. 183 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:08,000 So Jesus says, as you go out, you have an audience of one. 184 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,000 God's your audience. 185 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:23,000 He's the one you're aiming to please because if you take your eyes off that reality, you won't be able to do any good because you'll always be worried about what others think. 186 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:32,000 Fear God rather than man because it's he, it's God, it's our Father, and he alone that will judge and set things right. 187 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:37,000 He and he alone who will bring all things to light in the end. 188 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:45,000 He has the power over death and hell. 189 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:59,000 Nineteenth-century hymnist Helen Lemel beautifully caught this when she wrote, Turn your eyes upon Jesus. 190 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:14,000 Look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. 191 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:19,000 So dear ones, don't fear. It will all be shown for what it is in the end. 192 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:28,000 Second, don't fear. They're only human. Verses 29 and 31, we see a third encouragement. 193 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:36,000 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father's care. 194 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:40,000 And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered. 195 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:50,000 Don't be afraid. You're worth more than many sparrows. 196 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:59,000 I love what Jesus is doing in this context here because the cheapest meal a person could get was cooked sparrow. 197 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:04,000 Imagine it, eating your pet budgies. It would be horrible. 198 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:11,000 Two for a penny, which would be like getting chicken wings for 15 cents nowadays. 199 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:22,000 A total bargain, a cheap feed, and Jesus is saying if our Heavenly Father cares about little things that are sold at Maccas, 200 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:32,000 and not one of them dies without his go ahead, how much more do you think he cares about us? 201 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:35,000 I want you to notice the language here. 202 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:42,000 Father, which means we're children. 203 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:49,000 Those he knows intimately, we're his children. 204 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:57,000 Church, this is an incredibly huge statement that our Lord is making there. 205 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:07,000 Because he's basically saying that nothing can undercut our Father's providential care. 206 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:12,000 Nothing can ever sever us from his love. 207 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:19,000 In as many words, Jesus is saying your children of your Father, your loved, your cared for, your known, 208 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:27,000 and we can trust in our Father's care. 209 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:34,000 So how do we hold this care and suffering in tension? 210 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:39,000 Well, we look to our Lord Jesus Christ. 211 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:51,000 Think with me on the night in which he was betrayed and the fact how our Lord took absolute comfort in the providential care of our Father. 212 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:57,000 Think about how he knew none of it could happen without being appointed, 213 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:09,000 and how he answered those who had arrested them that they couldn't have done so unless it was appointed. 214 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:18,000 That is the most incredible example that every student of Jesus should sit up and pay attention to. 215 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:28,000 Our Lord and Master suffered and even in the midst of his greatest trial, he kept on teaching by example. 216 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:34,000 None of it could happen unless it had been appointed. 217 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,000 These are hard words that we've heard this morning. 218 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:52,000 But no matter what we're going through, no matter what rejection or threats the world will dish out, we've not been misplaced or forgotten. 219 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,000 We're in the beloved. 220 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:03,000 And because of our unity with him, our Father cares for us. 221 00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:16,000 And we can know as our teacher and Master did that nothing in our lives happens outside of his providential care. 222 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:22,000 First question of the Heidelberg Catechism is a question that many of you might know. 223 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:27,000 It asks, what's your only comfort in life and death? 224 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:39,000 The answer, that I with my soul and body both in life and death am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ, 225 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:46,000 who with his precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins and delivered me from the power of the devil 226 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:55,000 and so preserves so that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head. 227 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,000 Yes, and all things must be subservient to my salvation. 228 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:14,000 Wherefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready henceforth to live for him. 229 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,000 That is our comfort. 230 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:23,000 Not a hair can fall from our head apart from the will of our heavenly Father. 231 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:36,000 Jesus offers us all this morning an encouragement because he knows that we will face opposition. 232 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:43,000 As we conclude our time in this very sobering part of Scripture, 233 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:54,000 we might indeed say that fear is a powerful motivator that tempts us to shrink back and do nothing, even in the face of necessity. 234 00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:02,000 But as we've seen this morning, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we need not fear the world because as we go out 235 00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:08,000 and as we face opposition for who and what we are, we must keep that in mind. 236 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:12,000 Who and what we are. 237 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:22,000 We are people who belong to the living God, who have been called, cleaned, commissioned, 238 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:28,000 and no matter what the world might say of us now, it will all be shown for what it is in the end. 239 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:35,000 And those who oppose the disciples of Jesus in the strongest possible way, 240 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:41,000 that doesn't even come close to facing God on that last day. 241 00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,000 That's what we are. 242 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:52,000 Church, because we have come to Christ, because Christ has come to us, because we belong to him, 243 00:36:52,000 --> 00:37:01,000 we are children of our heavenly Father, and our heavenly Father cares for his children more than we could possibly imagine. 244 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:08,000 And that's how Jesus ends on this powerfully motivating truth. 245 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:19,000 Right now in heaven, at this very moment, he confesses us before the living God, before our Father, 246 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:27,000 God the Son confessing us before God the Father, saying, whoever acknowledges me before others, 247 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,000 I'll also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 248 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:43,000 Whoever disowns me before others, I'll disown before my Father in heaven, verses 32 and 33. 249 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:47,000 Brothers and sisters, I hope you've caught something here this morning. 250 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:55,000 The Christian life is a life that is given over to our teacher and master. 251 00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:01,000 We have given our lives to him because he first loved us. 252 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:08,000 He rescued us, redeemed us, and restored us, and we know what he has to say is the truth. 253 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,000 And so we want to do everything that he has to say. 254 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:18,000 Like these 12, we have a better understanding of the gospel. 255 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:25,000 We have the gospel with Christ's life, death, resurrection, ascension, his coming again, 256 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,000 which is the power unto salvation. 257 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,000 And so we're to go. 258 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,000 But like these 12, it will be hard. 259 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:42,000 But we have God's care in and through anything, anything we might face. 260 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,000 So be encouraged. 261 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:48,000 We're not alone by any stretch of the imagination. 262 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:49,000 Look around you. 263 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:53,000 We are more than a school of students. 264 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:58,000 We are brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. 265 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:05,000 We've been chosen, we've been put together to encourage one another in our most holy faith. 266 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:10,000 And so let us encourage each other in our faith. 267 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:17,000 To fear God and not man as we face the many trials and various temptations of this world. 268 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:23,000 We may lose things in this life as we confess Jesus. 269 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:31,000 But what we may lose in this life doesn't even compare to what we gain, 270 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:39,000 knowing, knowing that the Lord confesses us before our Father in heaven. 271 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:45,000 So hear these words of our teacher and master this morning. 272 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:54,000 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 273 00:39:54,000 --> 00:40:01,000 Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven. 274 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:07,000 For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 275 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:15,000 Let's pray. 276 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:20,000 Father, we come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. 277 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:28,000 And we come before the throne boldly because we know that we are your children. 278 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:31,000 That you have snatched us out of the world. 279 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:35,000 That you have clothed us in righteousness. 280 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:39,000 That you have filled us full of the Holy Spirit. 281 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:45,000 And that in Christ we are accepted, we are forgiven. 282 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:55,000 But as we've heard this morning, Father, we do face various and many trials. 283 00:40:55,000 --> 00:41:01,000 And sin is always lingering, always tempting. 284 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:09,000 Father God, would you by your grace, raise our eyes to the Lord Jesus in the gospel. 285 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:17,000 Might we keep our eyes on him by the supernatural work that you are doing in our lives. 286 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:28,000 That we would be people that would be wise, innocent, bold, truthful, but not clanging symbols. 287 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:33,000 But do everything out of love for you and those around us. 288 00:41:33,000 --> 00:42:02,000 We ask for this in Jesus' name, Amen.