Matthew chapter 10. Our text
this morning will begin in verse 8. But let's begin reading in
verse five. We're going to read from verse
five down to verse 16, Matthew 10, verse five. It says these
12, Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, go not into the
way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans enter
ye not, 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 devils, freely ye have received, freely
give. Provide neither gold nor silver
nor brass in your purses, nor script for your journey, neither
two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves, for the workman is
worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town
you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide
till you go thence. And when you come into an house,
salute it. And if the house be worthy, let
your peace come upon it. But if it be not worthy, let
your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive
you nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house
or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto
you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment than for that city. Behold, I send you
forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise
as serpents and harmless as doves. Last Sunday morning, we looked
at the subject of what and why we preach. The Lord called preachers
and sent them out to preach. We looked at what and why we
preach and what it was to be a true preacher. In the verses
that will be our text today, we can see how we preach. how the Lord has instructed us
to deliver this message that has been given to us to preach.
Our Lord said at the end of verse eight, freely give it. He said, you have freely received
it. Didn't cost you anything, physically
or spiritually. You have freely received it,
you freely give it. Don't make money and issue out
of it in any way, shape or form, which is generally attached with
religion, isn't it? Let's get that squared away first
and then we'll move on to the freely give it. Mercy from God
is great. Grace is free. It's a free message of a free
gift that has already been freely given. And he said, when you go to deliver
this free message of free grace, go in the faith of knowing that
I'll prepare the way for you. Verse nine, he said, provide
neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses. nor script for
your journey. A script was a lunch sack. It
was a sack that they would put things in, mainly food. He said,
when you go to deliver my message, you don't need to bring money.
You don't need to bring food. He went on to say, you don't
need to bring two coats. You don't need to bring an extra
pair of shoes or an extra staff. Not because you don't need those
things, but because I will provide them for you. That's what the Lord is saying.
He said at the end of verse 10, the workman is worthy of his
meat and I'll make sure it's there for you and I'll get the
glory for doing so. So he says, that's how I want
you to take my message out. Take it out in faith, looking
to me, trusting me for these things. And that's the only way
the message of Christ can be taken out and preached, looking
to him. Trusting him to provide the way for the message, to provide
the spirit to bless the message, we're looking to him in all of
it, we're looking to him. When you all called me to come here
to pastor, A very dear and wise preacher sat me down and said
to me, you are entering the ministry, go be in the ministry. That's
what he said to me. He said, you were in business,
but that's over. You go be in the ministry. He
said, and I remember this, we were sitting in his living room
and he said, if God is in this, and he said, I believe he is.
He said, if God is in this, He will open every door that needs
to be open. And He will provide everything
that needs to be provided for. You just go preach. And I can
tell you from experience, He was right. He was right. It's
now been proven to us. As our Lord said He would, He
has provided. He doesn't just do that for His
preachers, He does that for all of His people. But the Lord said, I want you
to give this message freely. And I want you to take it out
to people in faith, looking to me that I'm going to provide
what needs to be provided for. And verse 12, he said, when you
come into a house, salute the house. When you come into a house
with the gospel, salute it. And that means draw them near
to you. Welcome them, receive them joyfully. It literally means enfold your
arms around them, embrace them. He said, when you take this glorious
message out, don't hold people at arm's length with it. Receive
them. If it's not meant to be, they
won't receive you. Verse 14. He said, whosoever
shall not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart out
of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily
I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. He said,
if they won't receive you, move on, move on. He said in other places, my people
gladly receive my word. My people are willing in the
day of my power. We don't beg men and women to
hear the word of the Lord. That's a command from God. The
word goes out and then he will deal with people accordingly.
And he said, that's how I want you to handle the message of
my word, handle it with the authority that it has. And if I cause men and women
to gladly receive it, declare it to them again, declare it
to them. And if they want to hear it again, tell them again
and tell them again. He said, if they reject it, move
on. Verse 16, he said, behold, I
send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore
wise as serpents and harmless as doves. He said that's how
I want you to conduct yourself in the handling of this message
that I'm gonna send you to preach. So in our Lord's instruction,
we've seen what we preach, why we preach, how we preach, and
now I'd like for us to spend the rest of our time this morning
seeing from our Lord's instruction who we are to preach the message
to. I just told you all that because
that's the Lord's instruction to us and it needs to be told. But I want us to spend our time
seeing who we are to preach His message to by His commission.
Our Lord told us plainly right here exactly who His message
is to. And I pray that we might really
get ahold of this and really understand this. He told us in
verse 11, if you look there with me, he said, into whatsoever
city or town you shall enter, inquire. And that means ask around,
search out. He went on to say, who in it
is worthy. And there abide till you go thence. The Lord said, my message is
only to those who are worthy of it. And that's what I've titled this
message. This is a message for those who are worthy of it. And I'm gonna go ahead and tell
us that some people are and some people are not. Sadly, some people
are not. Our Lord told us that right here
in verse 13. He said, if the house be worthy,
let your peace come upon it. But if the house be not worthy,
let your peace return to you. So some are worthy of God's message
and some are not. Now, this truth has been declared
throughout all God's word. There are so many places that
we could turn to where our Lord declared who is worthy and who
is not worthy. So many places. He said many
times, if a man or a woman does this, or if a man or a woman
doesn't do that, he or she is not worthy of me. He gave a parable one time of
a wedding, and he told his servants to go bid the guests to come. But he said there was a problem.
He said the wedding was ready, but they that were bidden were
not worthy. So this is a very serious warning
to all men and women. This is very, very serious. All
men and women are going to fall into one of two categories. we're
either gonna be worthy or unworthy. The apostle Paul told the Corinthians
concerning the Lord's table. He said, whoever eats this bread
and drinks this cup unworthily is eating and drinking damnation
to his soul. Our Lord said in Luke 21, 36,
watch ye therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy
to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand
before the Son of Man, to stand before Christ. So this is a real
condition for people, and it's serious. It's eternal life or
eternal death, serious. We must be counted worthy. This message is only to those
who are worthy. Now, understanding that, this
is a tension-grabbing subject. Understanding that makes me wanna
know this right here. Am I worthy? That's all I want
to know. I want to know two things. Am
I worthy? And are you worthy? I inquire, I'm inquiring right
now. Nobody has to answer, but I'm
inquiring right now. Am I worthy? You know, I'm preaching
this message, but I'm also hearing this message. This is God's word,
not mine. Am I worthy of the message of
the gospel? Or after it has been declared
to me, will it turn around and walk away? Paul said, I put myself in subjection,
lest after I've preached the gospel to you, I find myself
to be a castaway. Am I worthy? God's message is
only for those who are worthy of it. Now let's find out who
they are, all right? We need to right now, as the
apostle Paul instructed, we need to examine ourselves. We need
to find out in ourselves individually, whether or not we're worthy.
Now, let me clarify this. The gospel message is look to
Christ. That's the gospel message. Turn
your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel message. Look to the Lamb of God, that's
the gospel message. What we're trying to figure out
right now is, are we worthy of the gospel message? For one minute here, I don't
like looking at myself, but for one minute here, let's look to
ourselves, examine our flesh, examine our being, and we need
to know right now whether or not we're worthy of the gospel
message. Answer silently within yourself,
okay? Our Lord told us who's worthy.
As we see this, ask yourself, is this me? It's yes or no. It's that simple. It's just gonna
be yes or no. Is this me? Our Lord gave five criteria for
who is worthy. Are we worthy? All right, the
first one is in verse six. Look at verse five, it says these
12, Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, go not into the
way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans. Enter
ye not, but go rather. to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. In order to be worthy of God's
message, you have to be lost. You have to be. I mean, you have
to be. In yourself, in what you see
in your own individual person, as you look down just at this
for just a minute, Are you lost? It's a simple yes or no. It's
just yes or no. Are you lost? I'm talking about
in your flesh. That's what I'm talking about.
Not in another location. I'm talking about in your flesh,
based on what you see in yourself, are you lost? Am I lost? And I'm also not talking about
used to be lost. Everybody used to be lost in
their own view of themselves. I used to be, I'm not talking
about used to be right now, spiritually in this flesh. And I believe
this is the best way to understand what, what this is getting at.
Do you see the way to glory? in yourself. When you look here,
do you see the way to glory? Or when you look here, do you
see no spiritual way to glory at all? It's one of the two. If when I look at my flesh, I
say, yes, I see a way to glory. Yeah. then my answer has to be,
this has to be the answer, no, I'm not lost. But if, when I look right here,
I see no spiritual way at all, I mean no spiritual way at all,
then my answer has to be, yes, in my flesh, I'm lost. And I mean right now. Still,
my condition in myself hasn't changed. There was a period of
time before the Lord started dealing with me. I'm still the
same way in my flesh. It kills me to say that, but
we're getting honest today. We're not putting on a facade
today. We're getting honest within ourselves. I'm still exactly
the same. If getting to glory is dependent
on this right here, I'm lost. If that's our answer, then look
with me at Matthew 18. Matthew 18 verse 11 says, for the Son of Man is come to
save that which was lost. That's who He came to save. He
said, that's exactly who my message is to, the lost. We have to be
lost in ourselves. One man made this statement years
ago. He said, he was a preacher, a true preacher. And he said,
I'm not trying to get men saved. I'm trying to get men and women
lost because that's who Jesus Christ came to save. He said, the son of man is come
to save that which was lost. Go with me back to Matthew 10. Here's our Lord's second description. Verse eight, he said, heal the sick. In order to be worthy of God's
message, you have to be sick. Spiritually sick. The message
of the gospel is called the balm of Gilead. And in order to have
that balm applied, you have to be sick. You have to be sick. Look at Matthew 9, one chapter
before this, verse 12, it says, But when Jesus heard that, He
said unto them, They that behold need not a physician, but they
that are sick. What does it mean to be spiritually
sick? If we're gonna answer the question
and if it's yes or no, what does it mean to be spiritually sick?
Look with me if you would at Psalm 38. Psalm 38 verse one. It says, O Lord, rebuke me not
in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For
thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones
because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over my head, as in heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I
am troubled. I am bowed down greatly. I go
mourning all the day long for my loins are filled with a loathsome
disease and there is no soundness in my flesh. That's what it means
to be spiritually sick. When you look at yourself, all
you see is a loathsome disease. A loathsome disease. If any person
looks at his or her own flesh before God, standing before God,
and honestly has to say, I don't see that. Which will be quite a few people. If anybody looks at himself or
herself after reading that and says, I really don't see that,
I don't see a loathsome disease in me. Sadly, be warned, we may not
be worthy. The seeking message of the great
shepherd is only for the lost. The healing message of the great
physician is only for the sick, only. Go with me back to Matthew
10. Here's our Lord's third criteria. Verse eight, he said, cleanse
the lepers. Who is worthy of the soul-cleansing
blood of the Lamb? Who is the spotless blood of
the Lamb of God that washes white as snow? Who is that blood for? You know,
that blood is not going to be wasted. Not one drop of that blood will
be wasted. It is not going to be poured
over something that does not need to be cleaned. In order to receive that blood,
we have to be filthy. We just have to be filthy. We
have to be one who can only cry unclean, unclean. unclean from the crown of my
head to the sole of my foot. I am nothing but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores." Not many people can say that
honestly. But if God has revealed to us
what we truly are, and if that's the only thing we can cry when
we look at ourselves, we're worthy. According to the Word of God,
we're worthy. If you see no way to God, you're lost and you're
worthy. If you see a disease in you that
will not get better, if you keep looking saying, when will it
get better? But isn't it supposed to get
better? How come it's not getting better? If you see that, you're
sick and you're worthy. If all you can cry is, I am so,
I'm so sorry, I'm so unclean, I am so unclean, you're a spiritual
leper and you're worthy. Now these last two conditions
that the Lord gave, these are very serious conditions. But every soul who is truly worthy
of the message of God's saving mercy and grace in Christ, every
soul will see these two conditions in himself or herself. All right.
Verse eight, the Lord said, raise the dead. Are you dead? In your flesh, spiritually, we're
talking spiritually, spiritually dead. Are you dead? Am I dead? That's what it takes
to be worthy. You ever feel dead before God,
dead before his worship, dead before his word, dead in trying
to pray, dead in trying to straighten up and fly right, dead, dead. I just, I'm dead. I feel so dead. You're worthy. That's what it takes to be worthy.
When the message comes to us that says, you were born into
this world dead in trespasses and sins, does that make us want
to reject that message and say, don't you ever preach that to
me again? Or does that make us want to hit the dust before our
Lord and Savior of life like Mephibosheth did before Jonathan?
crying, Who am I that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as
I am? If you have no choice but to
say, I am dead before him, then there will come a time, if that's
all you can say, then there will come a time When the dead will
hear the word of the Lord, and they that hear shall live. All
who are dead before God are worthy. All right, last one. Verse eight,
our Lord said, cast out devils. All right, now, honestly, if
we have not gotten honest yet, let's do it on this one, honestly. when you look at yourself, when
you take a minute, back up, get an outsider view of yourself,
and you look at the thoughts that go through your mind, and
you look at the feelings that go through your heart, and you
look at the words that come out of your mouth, and you look at
the things that you should do, but you don't, and the things
that you shouldn't do, but you do, When you look at that, do
you see holiness or evil? People say, well, I kind of see
something in the middle. I mean, I don't see holiness,
but I don't see evil. I mean, that's pretty strong
language. To that, these two things need
to be said. Number one, there is no middle
ground. There's no middle ground. We
are either possessed by God's Holy Spirit or an evil spirit. And I'm talking about in the
flesh. There's no middle ground. But
number two, if we don't see our evil nature
for what it is, we're not worthy. If we say, well, no, I don't
see an evil nature, then we're not worthy. I must have his spirit. Mine's
not worthy. Mine's wicked. Look with me again
at Matthew nine, back one chapter, this time, verse 13, it says,
go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice
for I am not come to call the righteous. but sinners to repentance. You know what sin is really?
Do you know what it is? It's the outward evidence of
evil. It's evil coming out. That's
what it is. Nobody, if you have any heart
for the things of the Lord, nobody wants to see sin in themselves.
Nobody does. But if you don't have a choice
in the matter, but to say, that's all I see in myself, that's all
I really see in my mind, and in my heart, and in my mouth,
and in my walk, and that's all I see in myself. If that's the
only choice that you have, then you're worthy. You're worthy
of the message that Christ the Great Shepherd has sought you.
If he says, I came for the lost, he came for the lost. If you're
one of them, he came for you. You're worthy of the message
that the great physician has healed you. Christ, the spotless
lamb has cleansed you. Christ who is our resurrection
and our life has raised you from the dead. And Christ, who is
our holiness, has made you to be just like Him. I wanna be worthy. I wanna be
worthy of this message. I wanna be worthy of this message.
All who are, when this glorious word, this shockingly glorious
word comes to a soul who sees all this in himself, that'll
make that soul forever cry, thou art worthy. Thou art worthy for
thou was slain and you alone redeemed us to God by your blood
and by your worthiness. You made us to be with you. You
made us to be in you. Because of you, we are kings
and priests to God. We're not lost and sick and vile
and dead devils. We're found, healed, spotless,
living kings and priests. Glory be to you forever. Glory
be to you forever. I want to end the message with
something that I just recently read. And I'm so glad that I
read this. I hope this will bless you and
I hope you can relate to this. All right. I believe this is
just an excerpt from a message by Charles Spurgeon. I'm pretty
sure he just preached this in a pulpit. Somebody It was written
down and somebody pulled it out. I'm gonna just read it as he
wrote it, okay? During this last week, I have been with Brother
Offord, I don't know who that is, conducting prayer meetings. They used to call Wednesday night
service prayer meetings and Spurgeon was known to preach in different
churches throughout the week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
So during this last week, I've been with Brother Offord conducting
prayer meetings. And he told one evening a tale
which I made him tell every evening afterwards, for I thought it
so good. He said there was a poor man
living on Dartmoor who had been employed during the summer in
looking after horses and cows and so on that were turned out
on the moor. He was a perfect heathen, a perfect heathen. and never
went to a place of worship, perhaps since he was a child. For him,
there was no Sabbath. After a time, he grew very ill.
He was over 60 years of age, and having nothing to live upon,
he went into the workhouse. I don't know what that is. I
guess it's assisted living or something. While he was there,
it pleased the mysterious spirit. to make him uneasy as to his
soul. He felt that he must die, and
the old man had just enough light to let him see that if he did
die, all was wrong with regard to a future state. He was poor,
he was sick, and now he's a sinner. He had a little grandchild who
lived in a neighboring town, Plymouth, I think it was, and
he asked leave for his grandchild to come in every day to see him.
As he was very ill and near death, she was allowed. She came in
and he said to her, read the Bible to me, dear. She complied,
and the more she read, the more wretched the old man grew. Read it again, said he. The more she read, the more dark
his mind seemed to be with a sense of guilt. At last, one day, she came to
the passage in the first epistle of John. You know it. The blood
of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Is that there?" he asked. Yes,
grandfather, replied the little girl, that is there. Is that
there? Oh yes, grandfather, it is there.
Then read it again. Read it again. She again read,
the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. My dear, are you sure it is just
like that? Yes, grandfather. Then read it
again, dear. The blood of Jesus Christ, his
son, cleanseth us from all sin. Then he said, take my finger
and put it on that verse. Is it on that text, child? Is
my finger on that blessed text? Yes, grandfather. Then said he,
tell them, alluding to his friends, that I die in the faith of that. And he closed his eyes and doubtless
entered into eternal rest. Spurgeon said, and I will die
in the faith of that truth by the grace of God. And so will
you, I trust, brethren and sisters. Die with your finger on that
text. The blood of Jesus Christ, his
son, cleanseth us from all sin. That's glorious. Whoever needs that is worthy.
All right, Brother Eddie, you come.