The text for today's sermon comes from the book of Matthew, chapter 10, beginning in verse 1. And when he had called his twelve disciples to him, he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus and Labaeus, whose surname was Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying, Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons, freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver, nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs for a worker is worthy of his food. Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it.

If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that City. Heavenly Father, please open our ears to hear your word.

Please open Scott's mouth as he preaches it to us today. In Jesus' name, amen. In this chapter we continue to see the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ to gather his sheep into his arms. Isaiah prophesied rightly, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those who are with young." Jesus Christ is calling out to shepherd the sheep, and this passage speaks of many aspects of that. The Lord Jesus has just declared that the harvest is truly plentiful, that the laborers are few.

And He's asked His disciples to therefore pray the Lord of the harvest, that he might send forth laborers into the harvest. And now these disciples have become the laborers in the harvest. They who were praying that the Lord would send are now being sent by the Lord. And it's a wonderful text that shows us so many things. I'd like to give you five facts about this text before we begin to work on it line by line.

First of all, this is a passage of Scripture that explains a one-time short-term season of missionary activity. Some have thought that every detail here should form the pattern for all disciples from then on. And I don't believe that's true, and we'll see why. I don't think that's true. But we do know that there are many principles that we can gather for our own lives through this passage of Scripture.

It was probably for a very short period of time. Some of the commentators say it was days, some say it might have taken longer, but this sending out was for a very specific period of time and a short period of time. Number two, the whole chapter, including our section, focuses on the spread of the gospel and the confrontation of the Jews and the many responses that will come from that confrontation because Jesus is sending His disciples out to the lost sheep of the 12 tribes of Israel. And the whole concept that Jesus is bringing to his disciples is this. And it's something so important for us to understand.

Freely you have received, freely give. Jesus is saying something that He says in so many other places, that the gospel that you have received has implications on your life. That the freeness of the salvation, the grace that you had been bequeathed with. The kindnesses of God mean that you should turn those kindnesses around and give them away again. Freely you have received, freely give.

The third is that The chapter discloses the hostility that will come. In the next section, beginning in verse 16 to 42, we see the hostility that is promised to all those who bring this message. And so Jesus, He's sending them out into conflict. When He commissions him and when we read these things, we need to understand in the back of our minds what's really happening here. He's really giving them a death sentence by sending them out.

And we just have to recognize the sobriety of that fact. In verse 16 he says, behold I send you out as sheep among wolves therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. In verse 17 he says, beware of men. He says, brother will deliver brother. He says, I did not come to bring peace but a sword.

He says, I will set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother. He says, a man's enemies will be those of his own household. He says, he who loses his life for my sake will find it. So as we read this first section, we have to understand that it's really part of a larger picture that includes a declaration of the conflict and the difficulty that will come upon all those who come and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When you're freely, because you're freely given, because you've freely received and freely given, that has many consequences.

And we have to understand that. And number four, this is a picture of discipleship of the Twelve, and placing their discipleship in a moment of redemptive history. Jesus has an immediate objective, but He's really making these fishermen, this tax collector, these ordinary men, He's making them ready to turn the world upside down. He's discipling them. He's sending them out for a period of time and bringing them back and This is what Jesus does he teaches and then he sends and One can't just sit and sit and sit and sit under teaching and get fatter and fatter and fatter.

But rather one must go. One must begin to exercise. And Jesus is exercising his disciples. He's delivered the sermon on the mount. They have been with him.

They've just been with him, it seems like. Now the ante is being upped. And so that they don't fall under the condemnation of Moses, you know, you are fat, you are obese, he sends them forth. And he will later say, you will be my witnesses. And some have said this is an ordination sermon.

I don't think it's an ordination sermon. I think it's more of an apprenticeship sermon about how men are trained and the various requirements that are there. I think it's more like being sent out to go down to the abortion clinic or go sent out to be street preaching or go to someone's house to preach the gospel to them with a very specific agenda in mind. And here Jesus is entrusting these things to faithful men. Number five, we should ask what various characters there are in the text so that it can help us to understand how we interpret it for ourselves.

First of all, there's the Lord Jesus Christ who teaches and sends. And then there are the disciples who learn and obey. There are the Jews who are the religious. They really are the subject of this passage because Jesus is sending his disciples to them. And then there are those upon whom judgment will fall down like Sodom and Gomorrah.

So, But running through this whole passage are all of the assumptions of the great passion of Jesus Christ to gather lambs, to separate the sheep from the goats, and to declare his glory among the nations." It's so much a picture of Isaiah 52, verses 7 through 11. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of them who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns. Your watchmen shall lift up their voices. With their voices they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together.

You waste places of Jerusalem, for The Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bear his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, get out from there. Touch no unclean thing.

Go out from the midst of her. Be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord." This passage is about men who are bearing the vessels of the Lord to proclaim that good news and to depart from evil. Okay, so with that sort of as a backdrop, Let's now move into the text. Verses 1 through 4, the 12 are called and they are identified, and then they are given power. That's what is the content of these first four verses.

So verse 1 reads, And when he had called his twelve disciples to him. So they're being called, this term is used, it's a very strong word, it's sort of an in-your-face, eyeball-to-eyeball word that he uses. They're being summoned, you know, with a mighty kind of summoning, not in a passive way at all, but a very mighty way. And these twelve disciples are called, these twelve disciples, you know, are immediately identified as corresponding with the 12 tribes of Israel because Jesus is remaking Israel. He is setting Israel aside.

All Israel is not Israel, as the Apostle Paul has said in Romans chapter 9, there were 12 patriarchs and now there is the new Israel, the Israel of God. These are the people of God who are justified by faith. And What Matthew doesn't tell us here in this text, Luke tells us of something that transpired the very night before this calling and this sending. And that is that In Luke chapter 6, we learn that Jesus himself spent the entire night in prayer before he called the disciples. And then when day broke, when it became light, then he called them.

But this very solemn occasion was bathed in prayer as solemn occasions ought to be bathed in prayer. I don't know if you have things that are significant ahead of you, times of ministry, times of calling the kingdom of heaven down to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. If you have moments like this, it's so appropriate to pray as the Lord Jesus did as he prayed before he would call his disciples. And then the Lord Jesus gives them power. In verse 1, it says, in the second part, he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases.

So the disciples first were taught with authority and now they are given authority to act with that same authority. And later the Lord Jesus would tell his disciples, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. This is a different thing that's happening here. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh who had trusted by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That was a different kind of power.

However, there is power that is given to them here. And then the twelve are identified in verses 2 through 4 and the names of the 12 are given and of course they're given in two by two. They have been called the disciples and now they are called the Apostles. They are being sent out as Apostles. And so there's this introduction of a new word in Matthew's gospel.

And the meaning of the term a gospel is various because it's used in different ways in the New Testament. The term is apostolos, a delegate, a messenger, someone who is sent forth, and the word is translated messenger or sent one. And it describes a person who has been deputized to perform certain functions in the same way that Jesus Christ is doing here. Jesus is called an apostle in Hebrews chapter 3. In Philippians 2 the title was given to people who are planted in the Christian faith and this term also applies to the 12 disciples that we have and the 12 apostles are marked by their personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, including the Apostle Paul, who was visited by him later on.

And so in Acts there are 11 disciples and then Matt and Matthias is added to form the 12 apostles to replace Judas. So Peter called himself an apostle, he opened his letters calling himself an apostle, so We come into this whole concept of apostleship. And then we hear their names. And they are named two by two. And of course they went out two by two so this fits the cons the context that of this of this text but why would they be sent out two by two there There are many reasons that we can establish for that, but we're not told exactly why in the text that they were sent out two by two.

But this really has formed a principle of most missionary activity since this time, that either teams of people or people are sent out two by two. You know, according to the whole principle, two are better than one, as Calvin and Gil point out regarding this text. It could be a reference to Deuteronomy chapter 19, where one witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin he commits by the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter will be established. Remember, Jesus is sending his disciples out to those who say they believe in God, and there are witnesses against that. So they are bearing witness against their unbelief.

So it could be that. But there there are many places where you have pairs involved in ministry. Two angels were sent to Sodom, to Warren Job, two spies were sent to Jericho, There were Paul and Timothy. So you do find this pattern of pairs. And so these are sent out two by two.

The other thing that I just want to remark about here is that these men were sent out in a way that reflected sort of a pattern of discipleship. And it's the pattern of discipleship of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they lived life together, they ate together, they walked lonely roads together, they went on the mountain together, they crossed bodies of water together in boats. You know, this was not virtual discipleship. This is personal discipleship.

This whole idea of virtual discipleship is all the rage today. And people are getting much of their discipleship input in a virtual manner. That's not this kind of discipleship. The discipleship of Jesus is personal. It's walk-along, it's a talk-along kind of discipleship.

It has to do with going into someone's house and being with them and talking with them. It has to do with walking with them. And this is the way that God has designed discipleship to work. We live in it we live in an era now where where there are all kinds of challenges to that and you have all kinds of people who really get most of their discipleship in a virtual manner. I just think we have to recognize that's one of the dangers of the times that we live in.

So here's a challenge. The next time, the next time you think of spending a couple of hours with a virtual disciple maker, I'm not saying it's wrong to go to a virtual discipleship maker, I just want to be clear about that. But think of how much time you spend with virtual disciple makers and not the disciple makers that have been given to you. So just just try this. Not that everybody has to do this all the time or that I do this every time either, but I just want to say, just think of it this way.

The next time you're going to spend an hour or two with a virtual disciple maker, ask yourself, should you go to a personal disciple maker? Because we live in an era where you can spend almost your whole discipleship life virtually. So, Jesus though, he walks with his disciples, he sends them out personally, and he deals with them personally. And That's the way that the Lord Jesus Christ has ordered discipleship. And then these men are mentioned and their names are given to us one by one.

And There's a great temptation to spend the entire time just speaking of each one of the disciples and giving a personal biography of him. And so I have some of their biographies here, but there really is no way to capture the breadth of these men and the various experiences. We think that all but one of them met their death as martyrs. But they were ordinary men. This is the most remarkable observation about these men, was how simply ordinary they were.

But what made them extraordinary is that they had been with Jesus. And that's what makes anyone useful or extraordinary, is to the degree that they have been with Jesus Christ. So, You know, here, you know, to pass by all of these, all of these disciples is very, very difficult. You have to, you have to ask yourself what it might have been like to have been paired with Judas. Judas, who was, who was, is called a devil.

He's called a devil. And yet Jesus Christ pairs up one of his disciples with a devil. Isn't that amazing? You might, do you think, do you think that, that he knew, Do you think that Thaddeus knew? How aware were they of the situation that they were in?

Here's one thing that we have to just recognize in all of our discipleship lives. There will be times, perhaps. And I know that some of you have been paired with people. Maybe they're not a devil to the degree as Judas, but some of you have been paired with people. Maybe they're not a devil to the degree as Judas, but some of you have been paired with false teachers at different times in your lives, and you didn't even know it.

And at some point you knew it. But the Lord Jesus Christ is not above putting his disciples within inferior. And this is also part of his discipleship. Jesus is the one who decides who you walk with. And so it should humble us and make us very, very aware of how dependent we are upon the Lord Jesus Christ for everything.

But here we have a man walking with Judas himself. And then the 12 are commissioned in verses 5 to 14. Now, there are so many aspects of this commissioning and we're going to try to stop on many of them as we go by. First of all, in verse 5, these 12 were sent out and He commanded them, saying, and this is just the way that It ought to be with us regarding everything that we do. We are under divine orders.

How do you engage the Great Commission? By obeying the orders of Jesus Christ. That's how you do it. And this same kind of command we see in the giving of the Great Commission. We'll get that in detail when we get to chapter 28 at the very end there.

But on this occasion there were various restrictions and here are these men. They are being commanded by Jesus Christ and they're being sent out as sheep among wolves. But they're in a long line of godly men who also were under divine commands. Noah was under a divine command. Moses was under divine commands.

Joshua, David, Jeremiah, all the prophets were under divine commands. And that is how we ought to think about the fulfillment of the Great Commission. Now, we as a church need to be so mindful of the importance of the Great Commission. Why? Well, because this is what Jesus has commanded us to fulfill.

That's really the only reason it's important, is because our Master has so freely given to us. And He says, freely you have received, now freely give. So the command is given, and then there are various other commands. The first is, do not go into the way of the Gentiles. So there's this specificity, there's a, there are only certain kinds of people that these disciples are to go to.

Now this is where we understand this is not a universal way of evangelism because Jesus tells his disciples to go to the Gentiles. So we know that this is a very specific time, but what we learn from it is that Jesus defines the focus of our discipleship and our evangelism. And so he says not to the Gentiles. So Jesus here is bringing condemnation to Israel and he is drawing out the true disciples from physical Israel. In the same way that the apostle Paul speaks of in Romans chapter one, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

We see the Lord Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and the disciples are sent out to these Jews, not the Gentiles, in order to fulfill the passion of Jesus Christ to be a shepherd to His people Israel. And yet they will reject Him and they will not come into his fold. And so this is not the Great Commission, but it's training for the Great Commission. And then Not to the Samaritans. So he says, do not enter a city of the Samaritans.

The Samaritans were half-breeds. They were, in many ways, syncretists. And of course, Jesus has already healed a centurion servant and talked to a Samaritan woman at the well. So this is not this permanent agenda. Jesus is not saying never ever talk to the Samaritans.

Jesus has already done that and has spread the gospel through Samaria. And later on in Acts chapter 1, Jesus will be giving instructions to his disciples right after the resurrection. And before he's taken up into heaven, he says to his disciples, not many days from now you'll receive the power of the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. So this is a very specific time of ministry, but at this point they are restricted from going to the Samaritans. And then he says, but to Israel.

He says, go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And so here is Jesus Christ's compassion for his lost sheep. And they had the oracles of God that they had wandered away from Him. They had claimed to be religious. They were religious.

They were practicing religious things. They engaged in the normal rhythms of religion. They were Sabbath keepers. They were making sacrifices. Some of them loved to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets.

Some of them were charitable in their giving, and they were quite outward about it. And so they were a religious people and Jesus is coming to them and announcing to them that their religion is not enough. And that's why we read in Hebrews chapter 8, Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant. And I disregarded them, ' says the Lord. "'For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, ' says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people, because they have ceased to really be His people. They were His people in name only. Jesus is sending his disciples to those who claim to believe in the name, but it is in name only. And there's no heart in it. There are so many places in the Old Testament that we could go to to see what Jesus is doing here.

Because many of the prophets speak of this moment of going to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In this statement, Jesus is fulfilling many prophecies in the Old Testament. For example, he's fulfilling Jeremiah chapter 50 verse 6. My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray.

They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them." Isaiah 53, verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Ezekiel 34 might be the central text here, or 38, There are many places that we could go to see that Jesus Christ is using the same kind of language that the prophets used in speaking of Him.

And so here, again, Matthew is doing what he's done so many times. How many times has he done this where he says, this is that? That's what he's doing here. This is that which was prophesied. Ezekiel 34.

I'd like you to turn to Ezekiel 34 and find verse 1. Ezekiel chapter 34. Because you'll see the whole reason for the passion of Jesus Christ to gather His flock, to carry them in his arms like a father carries his son, to bring them into his sheepfold, to give them a good shepherd." Ezekiel 34 verse 1, and the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds, Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Should not the shepherds of Israel feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool.

You slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The wheat you have not strengthened, Nor have you healed those who are sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost. But with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill.

Yes, my flock was scattered over the face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord as I live, says the Lord God, surely because my flock became prey and my flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did my shepherd search for my flock. But the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock. Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord." Now, let's just pause there. I want to finish this all the way to verse 16, but do you notice what's happening here?

The prophet is speaking about people who are like sheep without a shepherd. Last week we talked about what it means for a sheep to be without a shepherd. And Jesus has compassion on them because of that. He sees their wounds. He sees what happens when they don't have a good shepherd.

And Jesus is identifying our greatest need in the world is to have him as our shepherd. I've lived without him as a shepherd, and I am so thankful. Every word that he has said about his shepherding is true. I found it to be. And here Jesus is chastising the shepherds of Israel because they have not shepherded his flock.

And then he says, Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Verse 10. Thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hand. I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more. I will deliver my flock from their mouths." That's what Jesus is doing here.

He is delivering his flock now from their mouths. And they will no longer be food for them. Verse 11, For thus says the Lord God, Indeed I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock, on the day he is among his scattered sheep. So I will seek my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they are scattered on a cloudy and dark day.

And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and in the valleys and in the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will make them lie down, " says the Lord God.

I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong and feed them in judgment." This is almost a summary of this whole passage of Scripture. You see so many, if you've read this passage a number of times, you'll see how many connections there are in this text with Matthew. And so we could go to Jeremiah chapter 23. We could also go to Revelation chapter 7 where you find, we find these tribes before God. We could go to Ezekiel chapter 37 as well.

But here Jesus is sending them into the twelve lost tribes of Israel. When Paul went into the synagogue in Pisidia in Acts chapter 13, Paul and Barnabas were were anointed and sent out. They were deployed by the church there and they started traveling. And they went to the synagogue in Pisidia and Paul and Barnabas stood up and they boldly said this, they said, it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, Behold, we turn to the Gentiles, for the Lord has commanded, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation to the ends of the earth." And then the Jews rose up against them, and Paul in Barnabas, it says in verse 51 of Acts chapter 13, they shook the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. So this is not the first time this would happen.

The Apostle Paul and Barnabas would do this same thing in Pisidia. And yet it was a time when the gospel was being expanded to the Gentiles. But they had a message, the message in verse 7, And as you go preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Again, we have this word preach. This is what God desires to have his children do.

Preaching is not just what I'm doing here. Preaching is done by all individuals in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ when they say, repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Preaching is not just relegated to this office of the elder. But their message is to say the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And we've spoken many times of what it means that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, So we won't continue to labor over that.

But they had a message that was specified. That's same with us. Jesus gives us a message. It's the message of the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. That God created the heavens and the earth, that He created man for a purpose.

Man rejected his loving kindnesses and fell, and sin was spread throughout all mankind, becoming man's greatest problem. And the only remedy is that a sacrifice for sin would be given, and that is Jesus Christ. That men are hopelessly lost in their sins, except that they would be saved and that they would have a good shepherd. And then their method, their method is given. I'm just going to call their method the mercies of Christ, verses 8 through 14.

They're sent out to give a public display of the mercy and the compassion of Christ. The compassion of Jesus now just gets spread in the streets and throughout all these houses that the disciples go to. And their authority is authenticated by these miracles that they're doing. And they're going about it, and they're just showing the intentions of their Father to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cast out demons, to cleanse the lepers. These are the things that they do.

All of these things are just meant to declare what a good shepherd he is. What it means to be in the arm of that shepherd, to be carried by him in his bosom as a man carries his son. This is the way that he carries his sheep. And Jesus is sending his disciples out to say, no, there is healing in his wings. You can be made well by him.

And he's giving them power to do it in such a dramatic way that nobody could miss it at all. And it would become so legendary that Jesus could hardly even walk, he could hardly eat, because the news was spreading at the kindness and the mercy of Jesus Christ. And so his disciples are being sent out to declare his mercy. That's really the heart of evangelism. It's the heart of all proclamation, is the love of Jesus Christ.

He sends us with the message of love and mercy and judgment. Those are the things that He sends us with. But you can't just come with mercy and you can't just come with judgment. Here these disciples are sent with all of it at one time. It's the gospel of repentance, it's the authority of God in the kingdom of heaven, it's the mercy of God and it's the reigning judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah which will come upon all those heads who reject Jesus Christ.

And so he's sending them out to do these things. Isaiah 35 prophesies this in verse 5, then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped and the lame shall leap like a deer. That's a parable of the power of the gospel, that the sick would find a healer. And Jesus, He is that healer. It's so difficult for me to say anything like this that I've said about shepherds and healing and all these things, but to be taken back to the early days of my own conversion and my eyes being opened to see such a difference in the shepherds, the false shepherds and the good shepherd.

And then their disposition is explained, freely have you received, freely give. So they're doing this because they receive such mercy. This is sort of the motivation of the disposition that we have, that we've been given so much. Our sins have been washed away. Our iniquities put as far as the east is from the west.

And why wouldn't we want to speak of that? Why wouldn't we want to open our mouths to a religious person who is bound For the hellfire of Sodom and Gomorrah, why wouldn't we want to say it? Why wouldn't we want to open our mouths to these lost tribes, these religious, proud people who are lost in their sins? And then the resources to be used are spoken of in verse 9, provide either gold or silver nor copper in your money belts. And so the twelve would not be supported by money in their pockets.

They were going out without anything. Why all the restrictions here? Well, there are probably a number of answers. They're only going short distances. They're only going for a few days.

They're not going to the ends of the earth. But the real answer is this, God will provide. God always sends His disciples out with His provision. It doesn't mean that it's sinful to carry a money bag because Paul and the apostles did that when they were bringing gifts to the Jerusalem Church for those famine stricken saints that were there. So it's not that we never carry money belts in ministry, but these disciples were sent out just to recognize that God will provide for them.

They will go out with nothing, not even enough clothes for just a little bit of time. And they will be provided for. Jesus had a money box, So we're not saying it's wrong to take a money box. But these disciples were not to take a money box during this time. And it was such a way to declare their dependence on God, that God was their provider, that a money box was not enough for them.

Jesus Christ would provide at the moment of their need. And that's true for us every single day of our lives. He is our provider. And he said, I will never leave you or forsake you. And even though we face times when we see the end of our resources, sometimes we look back and see the end way back of our resources.

Well, what will we do? Well, we should be like these men. We should understand that Jesus Christ will provide. And then Their apparel and their food are spoken of. Again, just to speak of their dependence.

Jesus had already taught them. He said, therefore, Why do you worry? He says, do not worry about your life. What you will eat, or what you will drink, or what you will wear, is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air.

Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. You know, there's a scene that Luke tells in Luke 22 where Jesus is preparing his disciples. He's talking to Peter and he says, Simon, Simon, indeed Satan is going to sift you like wheat. And he says, but I prayed for you. And then Peter replies, Lord, I'm ready to go to prison, I'm ready to go to death.

And then Jesus prophesies his denial and he says, he says, I tell you Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you deny me three times that you know me." And then Jesus says something to him that really refers back to this moment in Matthew chapter 10. Here's what Jesus says. He says, Peter, when I sent you out with money bag, remember that? When I sent you out with money bag and knapsack and sandals, did you lack anything?" And so the disciples said, "'No, nothing.' And then he said to them, "'But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack. And he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one." But the principle is all the same.

When I sent you out with a money bag or a knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything? No. Well, now you can have a knapsack and a money bag and a sword. Go buy one. But the principle is still the same.

You'll lack nothing. Whether you have everything or whether you have nothing, Jesus Christ is your provider. And that's what it means to have Him as your shepherd. And then Jesus says the worker is worthy of his food. In other words, he's just promising, you're not going to go hungry.

That's his promise. And then he tells them how to approach a city and then how to approach a house. Verse 11, he tells them how to approach a city. Whenever you go into a city or town, inquire who in it is worthy and stay there until you go out. So he tells him to go find someone who will accept them, find someone who's favorable to them.

You know, and he's implying that in every city they go, someone will be there to take them in. And of course, they're looking for the flock of Israel. They're searching for the true flock to proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord. The chief shepherd is calling for his sheep, so his witnesses are supposed to go into the town and find somebody who is favorable to their message. You know, you can travel all over this country and find people favorable to Jesus Christ and stay with them.

And that's what they're asking, that's what Jesus is asking them to do, to go find the faithful in that city. And this happens a number of times in Scripture. If you look at Acts 28, verses 13 and 14, when the Apostle Paul was sailing, he went to Ptole, and they found brethren there and they stayed there seven days. It's the same kind of thing. They found brethren there.

So they were looking for the brethren. There are faithful people in almost every city. Now there are some countries where there are almost no faithful people. I was reading the other day, this is probably not true, but the news report said that there are there are no documented Christians in Afghanistan today, not one. I don't think that that can't be true, but that's what the news report said.

But when the disciples were sent out, they were sent out and they were able to find people. There are other countries in that same state. And then notice the speed that's implied in all of this. Stay there till you go out. In other words, they're on a short term mission, there's no time to linger, they need to go, do their work, and under certain conditions move on.

And then he tells them how to approach a household in verses 12 through 14. And when you go into a household, if the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet." There's that famous term, shaking off the dust from your feet. Very, very often misinterpreted.

We'll get to that in a minute. Jesus wanted them to find people who would help them. So, here's what they're supposed to do. There's a very distinctive manner. Remember, we live our lives under the commands of Jesus.

Jesus is telling His disciples how to go into a house. Think of all the things that Jesus has told you how to do. How to raise your children. How to be a husband. How to be a wife.

How to be a worker. How to be a brother. How to be a friend. How to be a church member. How to be a disciple.

Jesus has given us instructions. Here, he just, I think, parabolically gives very specific instructions to disciple, his disciples, that he is the one that defines the way that they should walk. And in this case though, the way that they walk probably isn't the way that they'll walk in every detail. We know that from the text. But he's saying to his disciples, now look, here's how you do it.

And what I want us to understand, there are so many places where we are told exactly how we are supposed to do things in every era. And this is the way that He shepherds His flock. This is the way He disciples us by showing us how we should respond. Recently my wife and I had a disagreement. And we entered into that disagreement and we spoke that I had hurt her feelings.

I had done something that hurt her feelings. And it would have probably hurt any wife's feelings. And she told me that it hurt her feelings. And it wasn't very long, and I didn't know what to do. I had no idea how to resolve it except to say I was sorry.

But then she came to me, and while I did sin against her, she confessed her sin to me. And she did what Jesus told her to do. That's what she did. She was living out the gospel. She was applying the commands and the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ toward her husband in coming to Him and forgiving Him and repenting of her sins.

That's what she did. So there's so many things that we are given to do in Scripture for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ, for the application and the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So anyway, Jesus is telling them how to go into the household. And first you greet it, first you start a conversation, And then you determine if it's worthy. And if it is worthy, then you let your peace come upon it.

You say, you know, peace be unto this house. You are a blessing to them. You're gracious to them and you bring peace upon that house. But if it's not worthy, then you let your peace return to you. I'm not even sure what that means.

How do you let your peace return to you. Maybe somebody here can help us figure out what that means. But, and if they do not receive you in the house or the city, then shake the dust off your feet. That's how they're supposed to react. So they were to bring this shalom, this deep abiding peace to the house to be a blessing to it.

We do see, we do see the, you know, Paul and Barnabas shaking the dust off of their feet in Acts chapter 13. You know, what does this mean? Does this mean that, you know, if you're living in a neighborhood and your neighbor rejects the gospel, you shake the dust off your feet? Is that what that means? I'm not confident that's what that means.

These disciples were on a very specific mission to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to go to the religious people of the day and to proclaim judgment upon them in their hypocrisy. That was the purpose of this whole mission. You know what I love about this is that they're going from house to house, though. I have a little book that I love. It's called the Sky Revivals.

Sky is an island in Scotland. The Isle of Sky is a dreamy place, up near Iona. But there were various outpourings of the Holy Spirit that took place on the island of Skye. And the churches were full and the transformations were real. But how did the Skye Revivals happen?

Well they happened because James Haldane, who was a pastor in Scotland, formed an organization called the Society for the propagation of the gospel at home. The society of the propagation of the gospel at home. And he sent out a man by the name of John Farkworson to the island of Isle of Skye. There were almost no Bibles on the whole island of Skye. But if you were part of the society for the propagation of the gospel at home, here's what you were supposed to do.

You were supposed to go into a house, you're supposed to knock on the door and say, I'm here to read the Bible to you, would You allow me to come in and read the Bible to you." And that was the beginning of the Sky Revivals. Just a humble man knocking on a door and saying, I'm here with a Bible. I understand there are no Bibles in this town. Would you mind if I read it to your family? It's the power of the Word of God.

Well, the disciples were going from house to house, apparently, but they had a very specific mission. And then the consequences For those who reject are declared in verse 15. Assuredly, I say to you, they'll be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city." And so there is judgment upon the heads of those who reject the gospel. And Jesus is making that clear to them. He is telling his disciples that the consequences of rejecting them is the judgment of God, like unto the hellfire of Sodom and Gomorrah.

And you know how important it is to declare the reality of the situation. Often we shrink back from telling the whole story. We want to speak of sweet Jesus, but we don't want to speak of the other reality. Sodom and Gomorrah is given to us as sort of a catchphrase that signifies the wrath of God. We could walk through various places where we know this is true.

You can go to 2 Peter chapter 2, you can go to Isaiah chapter 1 verse 9, you can go to Jeremiah 23, you can go to Jeremiah 50, you can go to Amos 4, and you can find the imagery of Sodom and Gomorrah as the parabolic representation of judgment. Okay, let's go to some application now that we've worked our way through the text. Number one, this scene that we've just walked through is a scene of going to people who do know, who they already know, they're religious people. It's equivalent to calling an apostate church to repent. It's more like speaking to so many of the people that you meet in the South who think that their salvation is secured because of their niceties, who think that somehow their good character qualities make them worthy of salvation and fellowship with God.

That somehow, somehow God chose them for their good character. That's why he's favorable to them because they are good people. That's the great heresy of Southern Christianity. And if you talk to almost anyone on the street, you'll get a good dose of Southern Christianity. It's not much different than the religion of the Pharisees.

And These people go to church and they tithe, they're salt and light, they're all kinds of things. But what they need, they need a witness of the gospel of the kingdom, like Noah, the preacher of righteousness, like Isaiah, like Jeremiah, like Malachi, like Ezekiel, who come to a religious people and declare to them how they rejected the Messiah. And that's why Jesus sends them to the Jew first and then to the Greek. He sends them to the religious people first. And so you have to ask yourself, who are you in this story?

Are you one of the religious people in the story? Who has had a form of outward religion? But there's never been that repentance. You've never been held in the arms of Jesus Christ. He is not your shepherd.

You're still shepherding yourself. And my, how frustrating that always is, as you beat your head against the wall and bloody it over and over again, until you finally come to the shepherd of your soul. And then the second application is something I just want to repeat that I've already said, and that is that we, as a church, as families, as individuals, what should we do with this? We should recognize that Jesus defines how the Great Commission is engaged, And we should do that. We should take His commands.

We should fulfill His commands for fulfilling the Great Commission. The third thing that I want to just remind us of, again, is that God works through ordinary people. These were not men of pedigree who were sent out. They were men who had humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God, and they had made themselves themselves useful out of their humility. But they were, they were people who had been given much.

And that's why the Lord Jesus said, freely you have received, freely give. In many ways, That statement encompasses almost every area of life. Freely you have received the mercies of Jesus, the words of Jesus, The agenda of Jesus, the heart of Jesus Christ poured out within you, freely you have received, freely give. And you can apply that to every area of life. And here, Jesus applies it to the fulfilling of his evangelistic agenda, which was a short-term mission trip for his disciples.

But this principle, freely you have received, freely give, I think all of us would agree, it lives on. And it really ought to be what should drive us. The mercy of Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus Christ was able to look out over Israel and weep, and say, Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, and say, I have compassion on them for they are like sheep without a shepherd. Freely you have received, freely give Would you pray with me?

Oh Lord you you have You have been so kind to us and now we need such help for your kindness to fill our hearts for those lost sheep that are around us. Amen.