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all right well get started good morning welcome to Sunday school thank you for being here big thanks to Steve como for filling in to me last week I was blessed by his lesson and got to listen to that I trust that you were blessed as well the retreat was also very very much a blessing and then I went one last week went to the desert and had some time away from the hubbub of Los Angeles so that was that was nice but we’re back in the New Testament today we are continuing to learn from and learn about Jesus learned about his authority learned about his teaching today’s topic is a sobering one we’re talking about true discipleship that is what it really means to follow Jesus and what it costs to follow Jesus let’s pray as we prepared to hear this word got a pretty good helmet either explain this word well I need your Spearman spirit empowerment and I pray God that you would work among the people that they’d be encouraged but they’d also be instructed and convicted where necessary or feed us with your word in Jesus name Amen when it comes to this topic of the cost of discipleship I can’t help but think back to kind of a silly silly experience I had in high school and high school I I had a really nice situation I was by the time I was a senior by the time I graduated I was very well-liked in my school I had a good reputation I had performed in a number of theater theater performances musicals and I had apparently done a good job in that and so people liked me from that I was also known for being a good student and I was respected for that and in God’s providence these different things allowed me many opportunities to talk about God with people we would do our rehearsals for our stage shows I would try and talk to people about the Lord or even in class I would I would want to find a way to talk about Jesus in whatever we were discussing or even just throughout the day or different get-togethers what students have wanted to talk about Jesus and God just kept opening doors and it and assumed it so much opportunity to talk about him I’m so excited so encouraged and I was so impressed that it seemed like everybody still liked me even though I would talk about Jesus all the time and I thought and this is the silly part I thought that I had discovered this secret as to you how’d it be a faithful Christian and not suffer I didn’t know exactly what it was it seemed like I’d found the perfect balance between being nice to people and telling them the truth so that I would not be persecuted I would not suffer it’s true I guess that there were some people that didn’t like me but it didn’t seem to faze me or those people weren’t that vocal about it so I thought I discovered the secret fast forward just a couple of years I had entered college I’m at Rutgers University and I had this one pivotal experience my first year I’m a freshman in college and I remember sitting down when some of my dorm mates I was living on on campus at the time we were just about to eat lunch and one of the person sitting opposite for me he was an unbeliever and I’m he he started to use some curse words right before we were about to eat and I wanted to see if I could turn that as an opportunity to talk about Jesus so I’d said something along the lines of oh you don’t need to use those words and then to my surprise the person who was also sitting near me suddenly got very angry and she began to rail against me by saying how dare you tell him that’s something that he is doing is wrong and what then proceeded was about a half hour for attacking me accusing me and condemning me for being an unloving and an unfair person what surprised me the most about all of this first lot and think I had said anything that offensive but second of all the person who was attacking me was a Christian or at least someone who claimed to be a Christian I was trying to defend myself trying to explain what what the I just want to talk about Jesus but she was so angry and I was so traumatized by the experience that it was about five o’clock I guess it wasn’t lunch I guess it was dinner time I went back to my door after that conversation and I just went to bed I couldn’t believe what had happened I had never thought that I would be attacked so severely and I never thought that it would come from another Christian have you ever experienced something like that where you suddenly come under attack you’re doing something good and you never thought it would happen you in that moment you wanted you so what went wrong how could this happen really if I had taken seriously Jesus words in the scriptures maybe I wouldn’t have been so surprised because one of the things that Jesus makes clear in his teaching is that those that follow him those that are his true disciples they are going to experience a great cost and part of that cost is they will suffer for him and they will be persecuted this is an important teaching for us to understand and it’s what we’re going to investigate today Jesus not only taught his disciples that they should expect to be persecuted but he also taught how and why they ought to endure that persecution now if you’re a follower of Christ if you claim to be a disciple a learner of Jesus now what we’re talking about today is extremely relevant to you whether you whether you’re in a situation which are currently being persecuted or whether it’s not something you’re experiencing right now you need to know this teaching well where we’re going to hear this teaching is in the book of Matthew chapter 10 so please open your Bibles to Matthew 10 we’re going to be looking at verses 16 to 42 let’s get the context here as you’re turning to it we’re in the middle of Jesus three-and-a-half-year ministry we’ve actually been around this area not too long ago opposition is increasing to Jesus and Matthew 9 some of the Pharisees when they observed Jesus casting out demons they say he cast out demons by demons and in Matthew 12 they say it again he casts out demons by Beelzebul that is another way to say Beelzebub I was a title of a Philistine deity but it was also used as a way to talk about Satan the Lord of the demons the Lord of the Flies he cast out demons by Beelzebub in Matthew 11 just a chapter after the passage were looking at Jesus condemns many of the cities in Judea for not believing he condemned the whole generation for being unrepentant so we’re in this this context of increasing opposition both from the Pharisees and unbelief from the people but before we get to that more culmination to the opposition or at least that that that point where we see a shift in Jesus ministry we get Matthew 10 and at the beginning of Matthew 10 Jesus is sending ahead to his disciples to act as evangelists throughout Judea they are going to proclaim the kingdom the king is here the king in the kingdom is at hand you need to repent and in the first 15 verses of this chapter you just give specific instructions to his disciples about where they’re to Minister how they’re to do it how would the Lord is going to miraculously provide for them they don’t even need to take extra provisions for themselves God’s gonna provide there to depend on him you give the miraculous power and they can heal they can cast out demons and they’re sent out to preach the 12 disciples but starting in verse 16 we’ll get another aspect of Jesus instruction to his disciples as he sends them out and that’s what I want to focus on with you today so read with me as we go to look at verses 16 to 42 in Matthew chapter 10 Jesus says behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves but be aware of men for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues and you will even be brought before governors and Kings for my sake as it Simoni to them and to the Gentiles but even when they but when they hand you over do not worry about how or what you want to say but it will be given you in that hour what you are to say what is not you who speak but it is the spot the spirit of your father who speaks in you brother will betray brother to death and a father his child and children will rise up against parents and caused them to be put to death you will be hated by all because of my name but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved but whenever they persecute you in one city to lead to the next where truly I say to you you will not finish going through the seeds of Israel until the Son of Man comes the disciple is not above his teacher nor slave above his master it is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher and the slave like his master if they’ve called the head of the house Beelzebul how much more will they malign the members of the household therefore do not fear them there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known what I tell you in the darkness speak in the light now what you hear whispered in your ear proclaim upon the housetops do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell are not two sparrows sold for a cent yea not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father but the very hairs of your head are all numbered so do not fear you are more valuable than many sparrows therefore everyone who confesses me before men I will also confess him before my father who is in heaven but whoever denies me before men I will also deny him before my father who is in heaven do you not think that it came to bring peace on the earth I did not come to bring peace but a sword for I came to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother and and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he would love 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 has found his life will lose it and he was lost 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 him prophet shall receive a Prophet’s reward and he receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man through war however in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward alright this is a great section big section important section let’s observe interpret and apply start with observations this text breaks down neatly in my opinion into three sections and you can see this even with some of the transition words in the text we start with the word behold in verse 16 and then we see in verse 26 the word therefore and then in verse 32 again the word therefore each of those therefore shifts alright indicates a shift in topic and as we look at each one of these sections we’re gonna see that each one of those sections has one main idea in the first section the first section and its topic is what the disciples should expect what should they expect when they go out and Jesus says a number of things what exactly should the disciples expect they should expect expect hostility as it from wolves they should expect to be put on trial they should expect scourging in synagogues by the way what’s scourging it’s whipping it’s a particularly kind of whipping a scourge who is kind of like a whip with multiple lashes sometimes the Scrooge’s is called a cat-o’-nine-tails so imagine a whip that has nine or more straps of leather that would all be used to whip a person at one time and sometimes these straps would have hard ends on them they would have pieces of bone or something hard that whatever it whenever someone has lashed it rips the skin and tears the skin so to be sketches it’s quite painful but it was a common kind of punishment at that time in the ancient world so he said that some you’re going to be scourge you’re going to be brought before Gentiles or Gentile rulers to give testimony to them and to the Gentiles you’re going to be betrayed by families there’s gonna be family betrayal and you’re gonna be hated by all but why why all this hostility Jesus says what’s the reason it’s because because of him he says verse 22 it’s because of my name or verse 25 if they hate the master they’re gonna hate his disciples they’re gonna hate his slaves and verse 24 he says it is enough that the cycles become like their teacher if they hate the master they’re gonna hate the slaves too not only because they hate the slaves for being associated with the master but they also hate the slaves because they’re like their master so you’re gonna be hated because of me but in this section where he’s describing what they should expect he also gives a number of practical instructions as to how they should react how should they react to these things well verse 16 be shrewd don’t be naive act with discernment and wisdom also in verse 16 be innocent don’t give just cause for people to attack you but to malign you verse 17 beware men don’t be ignorant about their intention verse 19 don’t worry about what you’re going to say why not well the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say in those hours where you have to give testimony verse 20 to endure to the end why because only the ones who endure to the end will be saved and in verse 23 he says flee persecution ok second how does it make sense he just told people to endure oh it’s interesting the reason he gives for fleeing persecution he says you won’t finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes son of man we’ve seen that by now that’s Jesus and the coming of the Son of Man that represents Jesus coming in his kingdom it says you won’t finish by the time I come going through all the cities of Israel he says that’s the reason that they should actually flee persecution the idea is you’re not gonna run out of places to go to and speak before I come this is the first section what to expect let’s look at the second section it begins after the word therefore in verse 26 second section is all about why they should even though these things are gonna come why they should not fear man why not we get a couple of reasons verse 26 jesus says all things that are hidden are eventually going to be revealed that’s reason number one reason number two verse 28 men cannot kill the soul they can kill the body but it can’t kill the soul so don’t fear them but who can kill the soul God fear God and then in verse 29 and 30 a third reason he says the father cares for you what we see is an argument from the lesser to the greater because he says God cares for sparrows sparrows only cost a cent do you at Calvary do you notice the sparrows that exist around your community maybe tons of these tiny little birds they’re flying around you probably don’t even notice no or if you do you don’t really think of them they’re insignificant but Jesus says not a single sparrow falls to the ground without the father knowing about it without the father ordaining it yes total care and control over there sparrows even though most people don’t care about sparrows God does and how much more Jesus says does God care about you you are more valuable to him than many sparrows the hairs of your head are all numbered he cares about the sparrows but he has such an intimate care of her you that even individual hairs that you don’t even know about you can’t count them you have a number then he’s watching over them he’s controlling them he cares for you so you don’t have to be afraid isn’t that amazing that God would care for people and such in that intimate of a way so in light of those reasons what should the disciples do exactly what Jesus commissioned them to do verse 27 what you heard in the dark proclaiming the light and what you heard whispered or claimed upon the rooftops declare Jesus word boldly everywhere so that’s the second section so you seen what they should expect why they should not fear men and then thirdly why they must live with a view towards a final future verdict my name is live with a view towards that future verdicts notice their May statements in this last section about a kind of final judgment and I’m not necessarily talking about punishment here the text not necessarily talking about punishment but of a final decision verdict or even revelation there’s gonna be a final result that’s gonna become known based on what happens now in the present and notice the ways that Jesus describes it he says if you confess Jesus now he will confess you then in the future at the last time if you deny Jesus now he will deny you then if you love parents more than Jesus you will not be worthy of Jesus it is you’re not going to receive Jesus he’s not gonna own you you’re not gonna receive his reward Jesus says plainly plainly I didn’t come to bring peace to the earth but a sword a sword in two families he said she loved children more than me you are not worthy of me if you do not take up your cross and follow me you are not worthy of me Jesus says now we need to make sure we understand this phrase to take up one’s cross this is the first time a cross is mentioned in the book of Matthew these have not been crucified yet so they don’t they don’t know about that but when Jesus says you have to take up your cross how would the disciples have understood that say that again please exactly exactly they would have been thinking about death basically Jesus they would understand Jesus to mean you have to prepare to be executed by a cross if you want to follow me we have a Christian tradition that to take up one’s cross is to bear a burden in life oh you know I’ve got this difficult situation but that’s my cross to bear well it is true that we do have different burdens that we bear in life but that’s not what this phrase is talking about this is about execution for Jesus sake you’re carrying the method of your execution all the while you follow Jesus I think it’s Luke’s version he says you have to take up your cross daily to put it another way and maybe more modern terms it’s like saying if you want to follow Jesus you need to take up your stake and the torch with which you’re going to be burned or you need to take up the hangman’s noose with which you’re going to be hanged or you need to take up the toxins of the lethal injection in which you’re going to be executed he says this is what it means if you’re gonna follow me you gotta take these up in the present but he couldn’t have used any of these modern execution analogies because the cross is the unique kind of debt it’s not just death but it’s a humiliating death it’s a painful death it’s prolonged death this is what you must do in the present so that you will be worthy of me in the future it is interesting that this is exactly what Jesus himself will do so when he says take up your cross and follow me it’s actually very appropriate because Jesus will do this first in a way Jesus is foreshadowing his own death the disciples will be like their master or they ought to be ready to be like their master even to be crucified like their master will be Jesus goes on to say he who has found his life now will lose it in the future but he who loses his life now for my sake he will find his life in the future it’s interesting that this future result or this future verdict it’s not just for the 12 disciples as they go out but also for those who receive them it’s interesting maybe a little bit perplexing at the end he takes this aside to say he receives you receives me and receives the one who sent me and he says this thing about he receives a a prophet or a righteous man receives their reward or the reward of a prophet or a reward of a righteous man what is he talking about well think about the different prophets that we’ve seen in Scripture the different righteous men they interacted with people in the Old Testament some people received their word and some people didn’t what was the result for those that received the words of the prophets many of them they were blessed they were saved they were given some kind of deliverance I can point you to a few examples think back to Elijah and Elijah Elijah yeah while he’s sojourning he goes to the widow of Zarephath remember her she has a son she’s gathering wood she’s going to make a meal and then die because she doesn’t have any more food left it’s a famine but Elijah comes her knee says if you make me some food then you’re not going to die and God’s going to provide for you she believed the word of Elijah she made him some food and then God provided so that she didn’t run out of food during the time but she and her son had enough to live on same thing for Elijah Elijah stops by at the Shunammite house Shunammite was married to another I’m married to her husband but she didn’t have any children but she saw that Elijah needed a place to stay and that he was a man of God so she said let’s build a room for him so that whenever he stops live is a place for him to stay she received this prophet and after a while Elijah said Lord I want to do something for this woman finds out that she’s barren that she would love it to have a son and so he prays to God on her behalf and she’s given a son she received a reward a reward for receiving the prophet and we could point to many other examples in the Old Testament not just individuals but kings and whole nations whenever they received the Prophet they received the reward based on that and if that was true for a prophets and righteous men in the Old Testament how much more is it true for those who received the Son of God and the representatives of the son of God it’s again an argument from the lesser to the greater Jesus says those who receive you they’re receiving me they’re not going to lose their reward even all they can offer you is a cup of cold water and they’re gonna receive a reward so you see this last section we have this constant theme of what people do now is going to result in certain outcomes in the future and you and they are to be mindful of that all right so this is our first step observation we’ve looked at the different details of the text let’s now move to our second step interpretation and have some questions based on what we’ve read first of all we know the context here but is Jesus speaking about only the immediate Ministry of the disciples to Judea at this time or is he speaking further into the future he’s definitely has the future in mind some of the things that he says are gonna happen to these disciples they don’t happen right now in fact it if we look at the rest of the Gospels when the disciples come back from this first ministry for Ray they’re actually really excited they come back and they say hello hello Lord even the demons are subject to you or subject to us in your name they didn’t seem to experience scourging or being brought before Gentile kings but that would be something that they would experience later Jesus decides that even though they’re being sent out in a specific way now he’s gonna give them instruction that’s going to be even more relevant in the future yes question I think that verson you’re you’re referring to you will not finish going through the cities of insurance the son of man comes how they would have exactly understood it I’m not sure that could have referred to Jesus actually setting up his kingdom but that is really the sense that that Jesus has ultimately you seeing them is not going to come right now it could have the people would accept the words of the Jesus and the disciples and so it could have been the first coming of Jesus but that’s not what ends up happening and so when Jesus says you’re not going to finish going through these cities I think that he’s referring to the second coming you’re not going to finish doing your evangelistic ministry you’re not going to finish telling people about my word until I actually come to set up my kingdom in my second coming that’s the way I would understand it but certainly and the things that you just predicts the things that Jesus says that they’re going to experience they’re not experienced right now they must look farther into the future into the later Ministry of the Apostles but a second question that kind of follows from that is that is Jesus only talking about the Apostles here what does this also refer to later disciples they’re included too and why would we say that they’re included oh yeah yeah verse 24 hour disciples not above his teacher nor slave is master exactly the criteria that the disciples fit also fit those who come after that they are disciples of Jesus we’re not just talking about unique thing for the apostle we’re talking about the experience of any disciple any follower any learner of Jesus now it’s true the Apostles were empowered in a special way even in this immediate context but in terms of who the criteria that this passage discusses it’s any believer so this is not just about the Apostles this is for all of those who become disciples of Jesus and who therefore are commissioned to make other disciples of Jesus that means you and I are included in this instruction as well how certain is the future suffering and persecution for Jesus disciples according to this passage absolutely certain right you can even look at the verbs their future indicative these are not mites and maze and could bees these are stated as fact this is going to happen this will happen to you now of course on every single speech particular thing might happen to every disciple but this is going to be the experience of Jesus disciples now there are a couple of things that Jesus says that may be a little bit confusing one of the things he says is don’t worry about what you’re going to say when you’re called to give testimony don’t think about don’t worry about what you’re going to say well does that mean we’re not supposed to prepare not supposed to prepare to give the testimony well here is that other scripts in the New Testament it actually says be ready to make a defense so that does have the idea of preparation so what does Jesus mean here oh really this is not about the preparation but it’s about the anxiety even if you’re prepared you can still worry Jesus says don’t worry yes it’s good for you to make preparation to think about what you want to say you’re going to say but don’t become anxious about it don’t worry about make your preparations and leave it with me because the Holy Spirit will teach you what to say and sometimes for sure Jesus disciples won’t even have time to prepare let me put on the spot Oh what are they gonna do then all the Holy Spirit will give you be with them when you have time to prepare prepare and don’t worry but when you don’t have time still don’t worry I’ll be with you the spirit will teach you what to say they’re preparing part is that statement from Jesus where he says the hidden things are going to be revealed what is he talking about there we might want to connect it to Jesus next words in verse 27 the things you heard in the dark proclaiming the light the hidden things that going to be revealed Jesus secret words are gonna be known as the disciples proclaim them but this doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the section where we’re getting a number of reasons as to why the disciples should not fear men moreover if you look at how this phrase is used in the other Gospels in parallel situations we’ve seen embraces a little bit different concepts for example in Luke chapter 12 and Jesus is saying they’re some of the same things he’s saying here but when he says that the hidden things are going to be revealed is actually talking about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees says the hypocrisy of the Pharisees is going to be revealed from what it is one day and he also says that secret words are gonna one day be brought to light what people say in secret if we go to the Gospel of Mark mark chapter four uses the same language in the context of talking about the purposes of lamps he says lamps are not to be made to be covered up but they have to be made to shine the secret the hidden things are going to be revealed so how should we understand this I think that we have kind of two senses being brought out at once in this phrase from Jesus the main idea is that a final revelation of everything is coming one day the true heart states of people and their secret behavior in words they’re all going to be exposed moreover and this is the second sense what’s true is going to be revealed one day to everyone the truth about God that truth about Christ everybody’s gonna know the truth one day therefore because everything is going to be revealed for what it is both the secret states of people and the truth of God follow God and proclaim his truth now don’t try to hide from God your sin don’t try to hide his word it’s gonna be known by everybody one day don’t be ashamed of it now declare it it’s Jesus is motivating them by saying one day everything is gonna be revealed for what it is therefore speak don’t try to hide who you are and don’t try to hide my word there is gonna be a final revelation another thing that Jesus says that may be a little bit troubling Jesus says if you deny him he will deny you Oh does that mean if we deny Jesus even one time that we’re toast that can’t be because all of us deny Jesus before we were saved right and one way even if we didn’t say those words we lived that way moreover even those who are saved can temporarily directly deny Jesus and who’s a good example of that Peter okay he’s denied Jesus three times he’s an apostle is there no hope for Peter how he was restored he repented the idea is this denial cannot be a lasting state that a believer it can’t be his ultimate choice or else there’s no hope of salvation ultimately if you confess Jesus he will confess to you ultimately if you deny Jesus you will deny another thing that Jesus says is a little confusing he says I didn’t come to bring peace on earth but a sore wait a second I thought Jesus didn’t come to bring peace on earth it’s not what the Angels announced Luke 2:14 glory to God in the highest and peace on earth toward men with whom God is pleased works on whom God’s favorite rest there is a difference between the peace presented by the Angels there and the peace that Jesus discusses here what’s the peace that the Angels announced peace between whom and whom peace between God and minute not that everybody was immediately made to be at peace but that the option of peace the overture of peace had been presented from God to man by the birth of his son by the sending of Messiah into the world there is now a way for peace to be made between God and man and the angels were announcing it that’s not the peace described in Matthew 10 what’s this kind of peace this is but this is the peace between men specifically this is the peace between family members it says my coming does not bring peace there it brings a sword and why because some people in a family will trust in Jesus and become disciples and some others will not and there’s going to be conflict then in the family instead of ironic those that become at peace with God find themselves no longer at peace with their families in this sense Jesus brings a sword into their relationship then someone may say oh I thought jesus healed broken relationships I thought he improved marriages and Families I thought he makes peace between people well in the sense he does if we look at the church yes the dividing wall of hostility has been torn down Jew and Gentile doesn’t matter social station doesn’t matter man or woman they’re all made to be at peace one body in the church and in a family yes Jesus can’t bring peace if the different family members are willing to follow after God become disciples of Jesus as they submit themselves to him as they love him they choose to love one another it does bring peace into a family but the key is in the church and in a family peace comes because people actually believe in Jesus if not everyone chooses to believe then you get strife then you get the sword not because they the Christian chooses that because that’s what unbelief does John already told us in his gospel why that is darkness hates light a person who does not believe in Christ often resents a family member who does because of the conviction his life brings because of those words because unbelieving life has not validated and so there is strife and I think many of us can testify to that can’t we I was just talking with the believer the other day a former Catholic she got saved and the rest of her family thought that she basically was brainwashed that she had kind of gone crazy and I think many former Catholics can testify that I know that was the case for my dad when he got saved the rest of his family they didn’t really want to have anything to do with him what’s once that happened which is really sad because if they really understood what was happening if the family members in the Civil was happening this is a great thing that happened you’ve actually come to know God you put away your evil you’ve gone away from your evil path you’ve become sober minded from once and you want to do your family good but it’s not what they see they just see oh I I don’t like the way he is now I don’t like his lifestyle because it’s so contradicts my own and so many of you have experienced there is shunning there is persecution there are slanderous words sometimes and I know this isn’t something that many of us have experienced but it is what Christians have experienced in the world there’s physical abuse and even killing family members put their Christian family members to death that’s exactly what Jesus said that’s happened historically and it still happens today so Jesus is very realistic when he says there’s gonna be a sword in families because of me but you can’t love your family members more than me if you do you’re not worthy of me this helps us make sense by the way Jesus words in Luke 14:26 where he says if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and bro others and sisters yes and even his own life he cannot be my disciple wait a second Jesus is teaching us to hate people no that would violate Jesus others teaching it’s hyperbole these are the saying the difference and your love for me and those other people must be so extreme that it even looks like hate that you are so devoted to me that should the others turn against you you will still follow me there is a high cost in following Jesus and that cost has particularly felt in families you know another poignant experience in my life relates to this there was a young guy who I knew in high school who turned to follow Jesus my brother had witness to him I knew him I hadn’t witnessed him so much but after he became a Christian I was trying to encourage him and disciple him and he was excited about following the Lord and making the different aspects of his life conformed of Jesus then one day I drove him home and right before he left he just told me he said I can’t be a Christian anymore and he said I love my family too much and they don’t want me to be a Christian so he just told me point-blank my family means I can’t become a Christian I was dumbstruck but in the sense Jesus said you should expect that we may be you’ve seen that too certainly when it comes to romantic relationships that sometimes causes people to stop following Jesus they have this sinful relationship or they love an unbeliever and they’re not willing to give that up for the sake of Jesus they choose that person over the master Jesus says you can’t love someone else more than me I think I’ve heard someone say or maybe I just heard this dirt secondhand third-hand in response to well you got to choose Jesus and not your family someone might say oh I’d rather go to hell with my family and my relatives then to go to heaven without them that may sound noble a way to honor your family but understand if you have relatives in hell that’s not what they want for you think back to Luke 16 there’s a man rich man and Lazarus Lazarus goes to heaven rich man goes to hell and the rich man whenever he’s there he speaks and he says can you send Lazarus to my brother’s who were still alive in the earth what does he want them to know doesn’t tell him Oh tell him that they can come join me here I need some company no he says tell them they will never come to this place please tell them so they might never come here so really if you want to honor your relatives even those who passed on and perhaps even gone to hell then don’t follow that that’s not what they would want for you and you do not do them any good by joining them in hell rather you if you really love them you should not only save yourself but save them give them the message that would give them salvation so there’s a great cost when it comes to families and following Jesus and that’s not the only kind of cost and there’s a lot of suffering associated with following Jesus that might make of that this question does following Jesus actually make life better or not well it depends on what you mean well Jesus improved the physical circumstances of your life if you follow him it is what many prosperity preachers would say and even those who are not known for a prosperity gospel they might still say oh Jesus is going to bless you if you follow him he’s gonna make your life better he’s gonna make yours your circumstance is better in many cases no that’s not true actually he makes it worse you have many broken relationships you lose your bonds with loved ones you experience economic hardship you’re sometimes physically abused slandered or even killed it’s hard to say that being killed as an improvement to your life circumstances but if we consider things beyond physical circumstances Jesus doesn’t make life better you experience the blessing of going the wise way you gain a new family in the church with strong and blessed relationships you have a new ability to appreciate all the different little gifts that God gives in life and then he’s put in creation you have a new joy in making Christ known to other people and you most of all you have eternal salvation in heavenly reward with Jesus and just even knowing that gives you a joy that you taste now I think many of you most of you hopefully all of you would testify that coming to Jesus has made your life better not because your circumstances improved but because you know God and that fills you with joy but if you’re looking for Jesus to improve your circumstances Jesus tells you that’s not the case those who follow him are gonna suffer and they’re gonna suffer some loss based on that truth then based on what we’ve seen this passage is it possible for a true follower of Jesus not to suffer for his Lord is there a way you can be a true follower of Jesus and not suffer you can’t Jesus says it right here now perhaps for a time you might not suffer or might not suffer greatly but perhaps when you do suffer you’ll be just so filled with joy in the Lord that the suffering doesn’t even seem to faze you I think there are probably ways that you right now are suffering or have suffered for Jesus that you don’t even think about which is like oh that doesn’t even matter it’s like I could Jesus I’ve got salvation with my lord so that’s also true and not all of us are going to suffer in the same way but we can’t escape the fact that all those who are disciples of Jesus will suffer 2nd Timothy 3:12 says it’s so plainly Paul tells Timothy indeed all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted if we maintain no there is another way I can follow Jesus and not suffer like I thought when I was in high school we have to wrestle with Jesus words here are we greater than our master Jesus do we think we found a secret way that even Jesus didn’t know about I know we should not deceive ourselves all who desire to follow Jesus will suffer for him but really that’s a blessing as other scriptures will share so you can see we can already see my talking about these questions there’s some important application for us let’s consider application more closely first of all how should the prospective disciple respond to this teaching from Jesus you want to follow Jesus this is what you should expect yeah yeah those are good we’ll say more about those in just a second yes Steve yeah that’s the main thing knowing what to expect you’ve got to count the cost of following Jesus we see this brought out more in Luke 14 and some analogies there that Jesus presents he says knowing what’s coming count the cost like someone who’s gonna build a tower before he starts construction he’s got to make sure he has enough funds and materials to finish or else he’s gonna have to abandon part way and be humiliated in front of everyone be like someone who’s about to go to war with another king and another Kingdom before they even arrive make sure you have enough of a force to be able to oppose him and to win if not send a peace delegation now don’t be humiliated later so it is that Christians we can’t have the wrong idea what following Jesus is like even for those who want to follow Jesus they must count the cost yes Roy sort of the spirit which is the word of God we really need to arm ourselves with the knowledge of God’s Word and the comfort of salvation yeah thank you thanks Roy and that goes long when Rob was just saying because we know what we’re in for we need to act accordingly we got to depend on God we need to put on his armor we need to prepare ourselves for action as first Peter says I know pastors just getting into that book now we need to prepare for spiritual warfare and persecution and suffering that we might make Jesus great then we might be able to stand firm because we know what we’re getting into it is a great deception of Satan to say Oh life will be easy now that you’ve become a Christian you don’t have to worry about what’s gonna happen in the future you can continue to live in ease it’s not the way we as you said we’ve we’ve become soldiers in Christ’s army and we’ll never be able to stand without him we need to run to him run to his word run and pray now making this cost clear is that gonna maybe turn some people off from the gospel well perhaps but at least those who are turned off or who reject at least they’re properly informed what’s the point of bringing people supposedly into the kingdom if they’re not gonna last if we don’t help them count the cost then we just make false converts is it worth it to follow Jesus of course it is we know that from the other things we’ve studied even what Steve presented last week Jesus is God the great I am the Messiah he’s the source of life even in this passage we see the motivations from Jesus man can’t destroy your soul God can to your God not man and God cares for you he’ll be with you he has such intimate knowledge and care for you who protect you until he takes you home don’t live for just this brief time on earth don’t live for the now live for the final result for the future verdict what’s the profit of even obtaining the whole world if you forfeit your soul and Jesus says if you cling to life in this world you’re gonna lose it but if you cling to Jesus and you suffer for him even to the point of losing your life grant you’ll find life eternal it is worth it to follow Jesus you gain a much greater reward and blessing you gain Jesus himself it may be difficult but God has given us his word the spirit brothers and sisters in the church they comfort us strengthen us and Boldin us in this battle now someone might ask oh how long the second question we try to kind of discuss the answer how are you gonna be able to stand you might say oh I don’t know when suffering comes I might just fall away you need to prepare how do you do that not by psyching yourself up but by depending on the Lord by making sure you go to him every day you’re growing in your sanctification we don’t become perfect we don’t become bulwarks that will never be bound by persecution all of a sudden it’s a process of growth and we’re comforted by the Lord that will never be tested beyond our ability he’s always going to be with us he’s always going to provide if we will seek Him if someone might ask could a temporary denial Jesus be wise you know someone says they’re gonna kill me or they’re gonna do something really bad to me unless I deny Jesus maybe it would be good to just deny Jesus now so that I’m more opportunity to tell people about Jesus later this isn’t necessarily something that all of us face right now but it is a question that people have faced throughout time you’re faced with death is it more profitable to just deny now so you can stay alive and tell more people later well there’s a twisted logic and one sense it seems logical to just deny temporarily but it reveals a lack of trust in God and an overestimation of one’s own power we think that we can protect ourselves if we just do certain things but you can do everything in your power to protect yourself and still be put to death that was Thomas Cranmer experience he he tried to deny Jesus or denied the true gospel so that he would not be burned at the stake but he was gonna be burned anyways so when he was burned he he became to the Future canting and he said no I’m gonna I’m gonna testify what is the truth we can overestimate our power to deliver ourselves an underestimate God’s power to deliver us we can do everything that from a human perspective looks like we’re gonna die because we’re being faithful to the Lord and he can still deliver us moreover to temporarily deny Jesus does great damage to yourself and to others spiritually you’re testifying to all that Jesus is not that great Jesus is nothing important and that Jesus can’t provide for you even in death what good is such a faith even if it survives what kind of value does that faith have to the people that you want to tell the gospel to if you do make converts they’re gonna be wimpy converts and probably maybe false converts because you didn’t let a shining faith be displayed no a temporary denial is is not wise and does great damage this isn’t to say that if you do temporarily deny that you’ve lost all hope no we see Peters example again those who repent of their denial they can be restored and be used powerfully by the Lord one kind of big question in terms of application for us to consider is if Jesus taught all his disciples to expect suffering why does it seem like most American Christians don’t suffer don’t suffer for the Lord some of them do I think most American Christians at least from my observation and maybe yours too they seem to be a tease nothing disturbs them I’m not sucking for the Lord and it is true we have gracious protections and freedoms in our country and not all of us suffer in the same way but Jesus says this is the experience of all his disciples well any of us ever really escaped it I most like a reason that Christians in our country are not suffering is because they’re not faithful to the Lord they’re not faithful to their master maybe they’re not Christians but even if they are it’s so easy to just look at what other Christians do what’s become cultural and do that then rather than what Jesus says in his word we often Christians often don’t want to do anything that makes them uncomfortable or that might offend someone else and primarily that means we don’t share the gospel with people that’s why we’re not persecuted we don’t share the gospel we don’t even try to share the gospel we don’t pray Rock chimneys to share the gospel we don’t take the opportunities that we’re given we don’t look for and try to create opportunities we make excuses well I don’t want to relieve I don’t want to lose this relationship for later on I don’t want to jeopardize my job or my financial situation or I just don’t have the time right now what did Jesus commissioned us to do where our priorities why are we ashamed of him why do we refuse to acknowledge the plight of her countrymen who are lost without salvation in Jesus we have treated the gospel as a boring non-essential thing oh they seem to be doing just fine I don’t need to share them the gospel share them the gospel it’s just so wrong may God forgive us for this may God help us may God fill us with a heart that is bold and loving to share the word with others we will suffer some for doing this we won’t suffer like other people do in the world but we will suffer but we will please our Lord when we do that Jesus gave us the example did he not he willingly suffered so that others might be saved and that he might please this father it’s the same with us you can’t if we want to be people we can’t help but be like our master which means declare forth the Word of God and be willing to suffer for Jesus sake if we’ve told Jesus in our confession yes Jesus I am ready to die for you I’ll take up my cross and can we not live lives where we tell others about him can we not do the smaller thing now and say and exhorting us to think about suffering for Jesus sake just remember I’m not saying the words not saying Jesus is not saying that we ought to suffer needlessly suffer for suffering sake this is a problem that developed in the early church after the days of the Apostles there was an obsession with martyrdom it’s like people were trying to get themselves killed could it be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves if we don’t have to suffer if we don’t if we don’t have to suffering being fatal to the Lord or not to seek that suffering we’re not masochist we don’t get any sort of reward for suffering needlessly but where suffering is required yes we want to do that also we’re not to suffer for the wrong reasons suffer for being evil this is something that even comes out in first Peter don’t suffer for doing what is wrong why we’re doing what is right many Christians suffer and being a witness to the world because they’re actually doing evil they’re being tactless they’re being rude they’re being unloving they’re being annoying and they suffer and they think oh you know the reason I’m being rejected is because I’m being faithful to the word though sometimes Christians suffer just because they’re being annoying you’re not to suffer as evildoers you’re not to suffer because we have no compassion on the Lost and therefore we’re just a resounding gong and a clanging cymbal in their ears we have to be gentle genuinely loving but bull to declare the truth we want to follow Jesus example spend time with sinners like he did show them that we care and then open our mouths and speak to that a lifestyle is not enough you know someone once said and this is not in the Bible but the famous saying share the gospel use words if necessary I think it was a medieval theologian or monk or something who said that there’s some helpfulness in that your lifestyle shoot back up what you say but you can’t you can’t share the gospel without opening your mouth you’ve got to speak words that’s what Jesus called us to do and remember this calling that we have it’s not just for a radical extra spiritual Christians it’s for all Christians we’re not all gonna witness in the same way we’re not all gonna suffer in the same way but we all are to obey our master we’re all called to do this has Jesus disciples there to make disciples so how are you doing that are you contributing to the cause of Christ or because you’re so afraid of suffering are you unfaithful to the Lord oh we’re one minute over if you have any comments or questions based on today’s lesson please email me this is a sobering word but it’s one that we need and Jesus gives us the comfort so that we can stand even in the midst of suffering and persecution next week we’re gonna talk further about the proper response to Jesus and all his teaching let me close in prayer for today god I thank you for this word God we do need you there’s no way we can be faithful there’s nowhere we can stick no way we can stand in suffering no way we can even declare your word unless you are with us God caused us not to fear man helps to take to heart the words of this passage and remember that there’s a final verdict that we are looking to we want to be pronounced faithful in that day we want to be owned by you rather than denied by you because we just kept denying you in our lives oh Jesus I pray that you do this work in Calvary and my life and the lives of many who are listening in Jesus name Amen all right thank you all see you next week