As the choir comes down, if you have a copy of
the scriptures, if you'd open to Matthew's gospel
and turn to chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10, we'll
pick up the text at verse 34. And every week
as a pastor, as your preacher, you wrestle with
the text, trying to make sure you understand
what it says, what it means, what its original
context was. And oftentimes it's not hard to
understand what it means, but it's certainly
hard to apply it to our lives. And I don't think
that is... ever been more true than in the case
of the passage that's before us today. Jesus
talking to the twelve, twelve apostles that is,
do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.
I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For
I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother, and a daughter
-in -law against her mother -in -law. And a man's
enemies will be those of his own household. He
who loves father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me. And he who
does not take his cross and follow after me is
not worthy of me. He who finds his life will
lose it. And he who loses his life for my sake
will find it. He who receives you receives me,
and he who receives me receives him who sent
me. He who receives a prophet in the name of
a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And
the one who receives a righteous man in the name
of a righteous man shall receive a righteous
man's reward. And whoever gives one of these
little ones only a cup of cold water in the name
of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall
by no means lose his reward. Let's pray. Father,
your word is true. It is righteous. Lord, it's
uttered by the Son of God. It's authoritative
in our lives. Lord, these are tough demands.
Lord, even radical demands, if we might say so.
God, would you help us? God, would you reveal
to us where our own hearts have gone astray?
Father, I pray that the Spirit of God, Lord,
would awaken those who might be here. dead in
their sins, cold -hearted. Lord, might you give
them life. And for those who belong to you, Father,
Lord, search us, try us, see if there have been
any wicked way in us, Lord, and lead us in the
way everlasting. We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen. When we think of Jesus, We normally think
of peace. I mean, after all, one of the titles
for him, it's a title of the Messiah found in
Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, is he is the prince
of peace. When Zechariah was writing of the future
Messiah, he said, he shall speak peace to the
nations. At his birth in Bethlehem, the angels
were singing glory to God in the highest and
on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. It was
Jesus himself in Matthew chapter 5 in the Beatitudes,
he says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they
shall be called the sons of God. So if all that
being true, why is he now saying in Matthew 10
that he did not come to bring peace, but rather
a sword? What did he mean by that statement?
First, let me say this, the sword which Jesus
spoke of did not refer to a literal sword. It's
a metaphor. He didn't come to bring peace. Rather,
his mission, because of who he was, would bring
conflict and division to many. How do we know
it's not a literal sword? Well, do you remember
when Jesus was arrested in the garden and Peter,
the very impetuous one, he grabbed his sword
and he cut off the high priest's servant's ear.
Jesus said to Peter, put your sword in its place.
Put it up, Peter. For all who take the sword
will perish. The Christian faith, this is so
important, has never been advanced by the sword.
The kingdom of God does not grow by weapons or
external force. Much of Islam in the western
hemisphere did expand by force. There were forced
conversions. You converted or you died. You see
that as the Moors came in there through Spain
and the influence is still felt very strongly
there in that part of the world. But that's not
been the Christian religion. It's not been advanced
by the sword. Now, what did Jesus mean by conflict
then? Well, many Jews had this expectation that
when the Messiah came, it would bring in a new
age of peace and prosperity to Israel. And that's
not wrong. But Jesus came and he was tempering
their expectations. There will be a time of universal
peace and prosperity on the earth. But it was
not now. It did not come with his first coming.
He warned, rather, that his arrival, speaking
of his first coming, would bring in a new era,
but it would be an era of division. Many, many
people, especially in Israel, they would reject
the Christ, and that rejection would divide even
the closest of relationships, including families.
Now the context here, we're in Matthew chapter
10. Jesus has been preparing the 12 apostles,
briefing them, if you will, as they prepare to
head out on their first missionary journey that
is to take place only within the confines of
Israel. And he's letting them know in advance
that this mission I'm sending you out on, it
is a dangerous mission. I'm sending you out as
sheep among wolves. Some's going to really...
They readily accept the message you bring. They
will gladly receive you. Yet there will be others,
and by the way, the majority, who will hate and
persecute you. The message of Christ, there's
three things it brings from this text. It brings
division. Then there's a denial, a self -denial.
It also brings, and I couldn't think of another
D word, so I threw in dividend. It brings a reward.
So let's look at the first part. The gospel brings
division. And you find that beginning in verse
34. I'm not going to reread the text because
we just read it. So the gospel brings division.
Now, that's what Jesus said. I did not come to
bring peace, but I came to bring a sword. However,
if we go to John's gospel in John 18, Jesus said
this. He's standing there before Pilate and he
said, for this cause I was born. And for this
cause I have come into the world, that I should
bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of
the truth hears my voice. Everyone who is of
the truth hears his voice. So why did the Lord
come? He says, I came to bear witness to the
truth. What does truth do? Truth by its very
nature divides. There has always been a conflict.
It's a cosmic conflict. It occurs between truth
and error or truth and lies, light and darkness,
the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness,
the kingdom of God versus the kingdom of Satan.
But Jesus said only those who are of the truth
will hear him. Only those. Implying that there
are many who are not of the truth who will not
hear him and will conversely reject him. And
this conflict, this rejection, will reach all
the way down to families where some in the family
will be believers and others will not be. Verse
35 and 36, he said, For I came to set, what,
a man against his father, a daughter against
her mother, a daughter -in -law against her mother
-in -law. But Jesus, no, I came to bear witness
to the truth. But now, in Matthew 10, he says,
I came to bring a division within families. I
mean, how are you reconciling these statements?
Well, the very first thing, the apostles, the
12 that are going to be sent out, they were to
expect conflict as they preached the truth that
Jesus had sent them to preach. Yes, the Jews
are correct. There is a time of universal peace
and prosperity that is to come, but that time
has not yet arrived. The world rejected Jesus.
And since they rejected Jesus, it will also reject
the apostles. And you're going to find a home
that is divided. Why? Why is it divided? Because
some in that home will believe the gospel and
others will reject it. And so a man's enemies
will be those of his own household. And again,
we see this play out as we read through the rest
of the gospel narrative and as we turn to the
epistles. Israel rejected Jesus. And those family
members who did not believe rejected those who
received Jesus. But friends, this reproach, this
rejection did not end in the first century. The
gospel of Jesus Christ still causes division
even today. Think of the many testimonies of
Muslims who have come to faith in Christ only
to find their family disowning them, disavowing
them, and some even seeking to kill them. There's
a story told of in the late 1800s, there was
an American missionary named Samuel Zwimmer.
He worked in Egypt, Bahrain, and Arabia at that
time. And he wrote of a well -known Muslim scholar
whose name was Sheikh Hassan. And Sheikh Hassan
knew of Zwemer and he sought to refute his claims.
He was going to refute the gospel that Zwemer
was preaching. So he began to read the Bible.
He began to engage with the writings of Christian
scholars. And as he did so, he became convinced
that Jesus was the Christ. the son of the living
God, the savior of the world. And because of
his conviction, eventually Sheikh Hassan was
baptized. And it was at that moment when he was
baptized, his family discovered his conversion.
They were outraged and they disowned him. They
kicked him out of his own home. They stripped
him of his inheritance. He lost his job. And
for the remainder of his later life, he lived
as an outcast. The Zwimmer, that American missionary,
said that Hassan said this, and I quote, Though
I have lost father and mother, I have found a
Savior who will never cast me out. This is exactly
what David wrote in the 27th Psalm, verse 10,
When father and mother forsake me, then the Lord
will take me up. The Lord will take care of me.
A few weeks ago, in August actually, one of our
missionaries, Todd Kincaid, he's our missionary
serving in Rome to the displaced people groups,
the migrant groups, mostly the Bengalis there
in Rome. He spoke of his co -laborer. His co
-laborer's name is Masun, and he comes from a
Muslim background. And Masun was baptized into
the Christian faith, and the moment his family
found out, they put a bounty onto his head, and
he can never return to his home country because
he will lose his life. He has no one except his
brothers and sisters there in the church. It's
not just Muslims. This happens also if you talk
to some Jews who have embraced Christ. They will
find themselves alienated, even expelled from
their families. You hear stories sometimes of
families even having funerals for those who have
received Christ or converted to Christianity.
What does all this mean? It has never been easy
or popular to follow Christ. Ever. And it never
will be. Jesus prepared his disciples, and by
way of extension, he's preparing us. If the world
hates you, John 15, next slide, guys. If the
world hates you, you know that it hated me before
it hated you. The world hates the Son of God.
The world hates God. It's not neutral. If you
were of the world, which you're not, the world
would love its own. Yet because you're not of
the world and I chose you out of the world, therefore,
because of that, the world hates you. Now remember
the word that I said to you. A servant is not
greater than his master. If or since they persecuted
me, they will also persecute you. If they kept
my word, they will keep yours also. But all these
things they will do to you for my namesake because
they do not know him who sent me. They're doing
all this because they don't know God. That means...
Judaism today, by extension Islam, they don't
know God. The only people who know God are those
who know Christ as Savior. Those who are of the
truth. Those who are of the truth embrace Christ
when they hear the gospel. They are his sheep.
They hear his voice in the gospel when they follow
him. Now listen carefully. Jesus said in John
18, everyone who is of the truth, what? Hears
my voice. If you're of the truth, you'll hear
him. In John 10, Jesus said, My sheep hear my
voice, and they follow me. So those who follow
him are his sheep who are of the truth. But there's
a group out there who are not of the truth, who
are not his sheep, and they hate the gospel,
and they seek to silence those who preach it.
Discipleship will create friction. That doesn't
mean you are failing. It probably means you are
faithful. In this. So what are you supposed to
do when those closest to you. Those in your very
home. With whom you live. Want to reject you.
Because of your loyalty to Christ. Jesus said
in verse 37. He who loves father or mother. More
than me is not worthy of me. But he goes a step
further. And he who loves son or daughter. More
than me. Is not worthy of me. There is a hierarchy
of love, church, that Jesus lays out very clearly.
And what he's saying is that no one, no man,
no woman, no father, no mother, no son, no daughter,
can come before your love for Christ. Christ
must be first. He must be preeminent in all things.
He must be above all people, including our own
children. That's a hard statement. Now notice
his words. If you do, if you love your dad or
mom or your son or daughter more than you love
Jesus, he said, you're not worthy of him. And
you see up there, that's a crazy statement. If
it were uttered by anyone other than the Lord
Jesus himself. It would be the highest level
of hubris and the highest level of arrogance
for a mere man to demand that you must love him
above all other people. I mean, think about it.
What if I were to tell you, hey, church, you
must love me more than you love your own children,
more than you love your own parents, more than
you love your own family. If I said that, if
I demanded you to love me like that, you would
think something is seriously wrong with me and
you would be right. But Jesus, he said this.
His words are actually an affirmation of his
deity. Because only God could demand devotion
and a love that supersedes everything else. It's
idolatry if we love anything more than him or
anyone more than him. And he says, if you do,
if you love even your children more than you
love me, you're not worthy of me. What does that
mean? It means you're not fit to be his disciple.
Jesus is telling us in advance what following
him demands. This is what it means. Now, honestly,
we in this room, the sanctuary, we may never
have to choose between a family member and following
Jesus. Nevertheless, though, this doesn't get
us off the hook. In our hearts, he, Jesus Christ,
must be preeminent and occupy the top spot. That's
a tough statement. But this will only happen
if you can see him for who he truly is. He's
not simply a rabbi or an enlightened teacher.
He is God in flesh. He is the Christ. He's the
Savior of mankind. If you read through the Gospels,
you'll see he's the all -surpassing treasure
that is greater even than life. This is Jesus.
I love the song that says, You can have all this
world, but give me Jesus. Take it. There's only
one that I have to have. Jesus said in Matthew
6, verse 33, Seek first. Seek first. Protos,
first. His kingdom. And his righteousness. Matthew
10, you must love me above all else. Those are
the terms that he lays down for discipleship.
And the terms are non -negotiable. We don't go
back to him and with a counter offer. Because
he says, if you don't want to do it, don't follow
me. So the gospel is going to bring division.
It's going to bring division even to families,
but it's also going to cost us something. There
is a denial. If you see, it's not simply choosing
him above your family. Also, to be his disciple
is to choose Christ above our own life. Look
at verse 38. And he who does not take up his
cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.
I mean, he's just, he's narrowing this in. He's
not letting us off the hook. The Lord has already
warned them twice in Matthew 10 about the prospect
of death. You see that in verse 21. Jesus said,
brother will deliver a brother to death. Father,
his child. Children rise up against parents and
cause them to be put to death. All for Christ.
Verse 28. Do not fear those who kill the body
but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear him
who is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell. And now for the third time, the Lord Jesus
mentions the prospect of death in being his disciple.
It's a willingness to take up our cross and follow
him. And his commentary, R .T. France, says this,
Christian readers have become so used to the
cross as a word and a symbol that it is hard
now to recapture the shudder that the word must
have brought to a hearer in Galilee at that time.
Crucifixion was thus not only the most cruel
form of execution then in use, but it also carried
the stigma of social disgrace. It's not just
a person crucified, but if you were even related
or somehow affiliated with the person being crucified,
that was considered the ultimate shame. There
was an honor -shame culture in the East that
we don't necessarily have in the West. We're
more individualistic, but for them it's corporate.
So if you were associated, you bore shame. If
you were crucified, that was the most radical
public reproach that existed. And Jesus is saying,
you must be willing as his disciple to embrace
that calling. Part of the humiliation of crucifixion
wasn't just hanging there naked before everyone
on a wooden beam. But before that ever happened,
the condemned one was forced to carry their cross
through a public procession among the crowds.
where they were carrying their cross and the
crowds would be lined up screaming at them and
hurling insults at the very same time. And Jesus
said, you want to follow me? Well, you cannot
shrink back when public shame and ridicule comes
your way for my sake. You've got to be willing
to pick up your cross. What about ridicule? No,
you've got to be willing to be ridiculed and
maligned and continue to follow. And he says,
if you're not, you're not worthy of me. You're
not fit to be my disciple. These are not my words,
church. These are hard words coming from the
lips of our Savior. We are not fit to be his
disciples if we are unwilling for all this to
be our fate. This is why it's hard to wrestle.
It's not hard to understand. But it's certainly
hard as I look at my own life. Lawrence Farley,
in his commentary, he says to take up a cross
was to count oneself as dead to the world. It
is precisely this ruthless rejection of the world
that Jesus demands of any who would be his disciple.
The world with its popularity, pleasure, and
happiness, including the smiling approval of
family members, must be rejected if it stands
between the disciple and his Lord. Nothing before
him. He allows no wiggle room. Nothing can stop
us in our devotion to him. I like reading J .C.
Ryle. He was an Anglican bishop. And he said,
happy is he who thoroughly understands that although
Christianity holds a crown in the end, praise
God, it also brings a cross in the way. It's
the cross before the crown. Being a disciple,
it involves a denial. It involves sacrifice.
It involves hardship. But you're saying, is that
all there is? I mean, is there any prospect of
reward at all? There is. Verse 39. He who finds
his life will lose it, but he who loses his life
for my sake will find it. He who receives me
receives him who sent me. See, the greatest,
if you look at verse 39, the greatest and most
important paradox in history is written right
here. This is the greatest paradox you're going
to find. Jesus said, if you're going to find
your life, you lose it. And if you'll lose your
life, paradoxically, you find it. Okay, strong
words. So what does it mean if I want to find
my life? What does it mean if I find my life,
I lose it? What does it mean to find your life?
This is what it means. It means to seek to save
your life. Somehow this life holds sway. You're
living for this life. So you're seeking this
world's approval. You're seeking the world's
comfort. You're seeking the pleasures from this
world. You're trying to milk this life for all
that it is. Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow
we die. It's an unwillingness to seek to save
your life. It's an unwillingness to bear the
reproach of Christ. And Jesus said, you can do
that, but you lose ultimately. Eternally, you
lose everything. Yes, you may immediately save
your life. Shrink back. You may immediately save
it. Ultimately, you lose it. But on the other
hand, he said the one who loses his life, What's
that mean? He's willing to endure the persecution.
He's willing to identify with Christ publicly.
He is even willing to bear the reproach and shame
for following Christ. He said that person saves
his life. See, what it means to be a disciple
is we're willing to walk in the footsteps of
our Savior. Because somehow we are convinced
of all people, and this is ironic, we are convinced
that there is life in dying. You better believe
that or you won't follow him. You better understand
there's a life that waits that's much better
than this one or you won't follow him. Letting
go of your life for the sake of Christ results
in true life. You got to let go. Remember the
Ecuadorian missionary, missionary to Ecuador,
Jim Elliot. He said, he is no fool who gives
up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot
lose. To save your life. Friends, so many do
it. So many professed Christians are seeking
to save their life. They're living for the sake
of comfort and security and personal plans and
agendas. They're hanging on to this world's goods,
this world's agenda. But self -preservation will
lead to spiritual loss. So Jesus would say, stop
grasping for the things of the world. Stop it.
Because that's going to ensure you lose everything
you're grasping for. And I think one of the things
that we can see, this parable haunts me. And
I don't say that lightly. It really does haunt
me. It's the parable of the seed and the sower,
and it's that final group. When Jesus gave a
great warning, and I think that we who live in
the United States and we who live in basic, comfortable
accommodations ought to take heed. In Mark chapter
4, 18 and 19, Jesus is explaining the parable.
Now these are the ones sown among thorns. Remember
the word. The sower goes out and sows the word.
Some fell among thorns. He says these are who
they are. They're the ones. They hear the word.
They understand it. They hear it. But the cares
of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and
the desire for other things entering in choke
the word so that it becomes unfruitful. It doesn't
produce any fruit in their life. Now notice they
hear the word. They don't outright reject it.
But it's not their priority. They have other
concerns. Concerns they deem more pressing, more
urgent, like making more money. The deceitfulness
of riches. And none of us think that we're deceived
by riches. Who does think they're deceived by
riches? The people who are deceived by riches
are deceived, and they don't think they're deceived
by riches. Well, how do you know? The gospel
produces no fruit. Notice that last part. It
becomes unfruitful. The gospel doesn't produce
a fruit in them. Why? Because it's choked out
by the love of all these other things. It's not
the center of the court. Christ isn't center.
His kingdom is not first. See, the only way for
you and I to have proper priorities is to have
Christ as the priority. His kingdom as the priority
of our lives. And if we have anything else in
that box, we are idolaters. To hold anything
or anyone above the Lord himself is idolatry.
And Jesus, though, he's wanting to give these
men as a head out on this dangerous journey.
There is some encouragement, verses 40 through
42. He says, all the sacrifices that you are
called to make are worth it. How are they worth
it? Because the work that is done for Christ
will be greatly rewarded. Even a cup of cold
water is not overlooked. The apostles were ambassadors
for Christ. That means they were sent out in
his name, vested with his authority. So if you
welcome the apostles, that was tantamount to
welcoming Christ. And to welcome Christ was to
welcome the one who sent Christ, which is the
Father himself. So conversely, on the other hand,
to reject the apostles and to reject their message
is to reject God. Now, let me just say this.
There are no apostles today. The office of apostle
was limited to those 12 men, yet everyone who
receives and helps promote the message of the
apostles will be promoted. Or rewarded, excuse
me. Christ, notice he places tremendous value
on how people treat his messengers. How they're
welcomed and received. If the messenger, and
he's talking about the one who comes in his name,
if they're welcomed, Christ said he will give
an equal reward for the kindness and care that
is shown to his messenger. So you and I are not
apostles. We're not going to get the apostles'
reward. He said, oh, but if you help this apostolic
message, if you welcome the messengers that's
preaching Christ, you're going to get the same
welcome and the same reward that they receive.
There is a reward for those who receive and treat
well the people whom he sends out. You support
the gospel. You share in the same reward as those
who preach the gospel. So you're not, this is
a blessing for us as well. Again, I like what
Lawrence Farley said. God will never forget to
recompense the one who helps Jesus' disciple.
Even though that help is little as a cup of cold
water. All acts of kindness done to his disciples
for his sake will have their eternal reward.
Amen. Everything. God takes great notice. Nothing
escapes his concern. Remember, two sparrows don't
even fall from the sky without him taking notice.
All the hairs on your head are all numbered.
Jesus knows when you give even a cup of water
to one of his disciples in his name, you don't
lose your reward. You just got to be living for
the life to come. So now what? How do we apply
this to our lives as we close? Friends, if you
listened carefully, if we have ears at all to
hear, Discipleship, biblical discipleship, following
Christ is far more comprehensive than we can
possibly think. A disciple is not just one who
says a prayer and never to be heard from again.
We've done so much injustice and so much harm
to the body of Christ by assuring those who have
no fruit in their lives that they are Christians
because of something they have done. It's just
false. It's terrible. Being a disciple doesn't
mean you go to church. You do go to church, but
that's not all that it means. To be a disciple
is to follow Jesus. We begin to think like him
and speak like him and love what he loves and
hate what he hates. But we also understand that
this following him comes with a price. It may
involve suffering. It may not involve physical
suffering here in the United States, but it certainly
will involve ridicule. Have you ever been tempted
to speak for Christ and then you kind of muted
your voice because you didn't want to be think
crazy? I have. And that's a shame to me. The
disciple should expect to be treated the same
way Christ is treated. We bear his reproach.
But it also means we surrender. There's surrender
any plans we've had of our own lives. We submit
to him without hesitation, without reservation.
And by the way, he lays down inflexible terms.
He lays them down here. My problem is not that
I don't understand what he wants. My problem
is that I see my own heart. We know, if you're
like me, and I suspect that you are, we know
that you and I, we're prone to renege on our
commitment to him. We know how cold our hearts
can be, but even worse, we know how fickle they
can be. Warm today, cold tomorrow, on fire, zealous,
and then indifferent. Because what happens is
we live in this warfare, right? And oftentimes
our lives, if we're not careful, which is why
we need the Lord's Day worship, we become focused
on what? Our own agendas. What we want to do,
what we want for our children. Our own desires.
Our own comfort. Our own pleasure. All those,
they easily creep in. And friends, we don't get
the say there. We're bought with a price. And
so what happens here is we subtly, not overtly,
we subtly, we replace God with self. And then
we hear the word of the gospel. We hear the words
of Christ. And that unmasks us. It exposes our
idolatry. But this is a good thing. God exposes
us this morning not to condemn us. but to bring
us to repentance. The gospel, notice what it,
it doesn't just confront our idolatry, it covers
the idolatry with grace. This is what we need.
So this morning, you and I, through the gospel,
we're invited to repent, not to despair. Why?
Why don't we despair? Because the blood of Jesus
Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
And we believe that. Yes, the gospel forgives,
but it doesn't only forgive. It transforms. It
transforms you and me into people who can live
boldly and then die well. That's what I want
for each of us. Lord, let us live bold lives
and let us die well. That's what I want for my
own family. The gospel, as we hear the word of
the gospel this morning, we're reminded once
again as a hymn says, Jesus paid it all. All
to him I owe. See, friends, Jesus is the only
true and faithful one. Our hope could never be
found in our own efforts. Even the best we try
to be the disciples he's called us to be, our
hope is found in him alone. See, the bread and
the cup that we're going to partake of, they
confirm the promises of the gospel. For all those
in Christ, there is the promise of forgiveness
of sin because of his bloody death. And there
is a promise of union with Christ. We are where
he is, which is why we're seated with him in
the heavenly places even today. God is far more
gracious, and there's more grace in him than
there is sin in us. And this is what we celebrate
today. But friends, let us labor. First of all,
let us examine our hearts and pray. Take these
words seriously. God, make me willing. Show me
the idolatry of my own heart. Show me where I've
gone astray, where I love other things or other
people more than you. And God, may I repent before
you this morning. And I receive forgiveness through
the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Let's pray.
Father, thank you this morning. Lord, would you
help us now as we come to the table of the Lord.
Lord, even before we partake of the elements,
we do, Lord, want to spend some time just examining
ourselves. Father, we pray that you would search
us and try us, Lord, and know our hearts and
see if there be any wicked way. Father, would
you expose to us the idolatry and the spiritual
adultery that's taking place there. Lord God,
I cannot stand before your people as one, Lord,
who has perfected this. Lord, you know, Lord,
the weakness of my own flesh. The foolishness
of my own heart. How I'm tempered or tempted,
Lord, to darken or dampen the light, Lord of
Christ. Lord, I can think back of conversations
where I should have had a more bold witness and
I failed to do so. Lord, that is a shame to me.
Oh, God, forgive me. Forgive me of that. And,
Lord God, would you replace in me a holy boldness,
Lord. The righteous are as bold as a lion. Lord,
let us live boldly and die well. Lord God, we
pray that, Lord, we would make Christ known.
to know him and to make him known would be the
very agenda of our lives. Father, we might have
all kinds of competing loyalties, but Father,
the overwhelming, surpassing agenda is to know
Christ and to make him known. Lord, let us use
our occupations and all the ways in which we're
involved in the affairs of this world as an avenue
for the glory of Christ to shine brightly in
our lives. And we thank you for that in Jesus'
name. Amen.