Matthew chapter 10. Title of the lesson, the message,
Hated for Christ's Sake. Hated for Christ's Sake. If someone's
gonna hate me, I want it to be for Christ's Sake. I don't want
it to be because I'm an obnoxious person. I don't want it to be
because he said to the disciples, I'm sending you as sheep among
wolves, and you're going to be hated. If I'm going to be hated, I want
it to be over the gospel. I don't want it to be because
of my personality or because, like I said, being obnoxious
about something, but over it. over the gospel. The best news any sinner can
hear is the gospel. The best news I could give to
anyone here this morning on the radio is the gospel. But not all men and women find
the gospel to be good news. Not all of them do. Grace for the guilty is only
good news to the guilty, right? Pardon is only good news if you're
standing locked behind bars and you know it. You're guilty and
you know it. Then when you hear grace, when
you hear the good news of the gospel, that's good news to you.
To you it is. To the self-righteous it's not.
He's not. When the gospel comes in power
and in the demonstration of the spirit, it makes sinners glad. It'll make you glad. If it comes
in the power and demonstration of the spirit of God, it'll make
you glad. But if it comes in word only,
it'll bring out that natural enmity that's in us. Scripture says that the natural
mind, that's the mind we're born with, every one of us, is enmity.
It's at war with God. We are literally born at war
with God. And we live in a world that is
in spiritual darkness and has no interest in the true and living
God. It amazes me, since I have believed,
it amazes me than in all the scientific studies that we do,
and all the research, and all the things that we go after,
that we never go after God, our creator. Isn't that amazing? The human race is obsessed with
absolutely everything except God, who made us. God who is holy, God who is infinite,
He's infinite in knowledge and in wisdom. You'd think we'd be
interested in knowing such a person. But instead we say, like it says
over in Psalm, no God for me, no God for me. Not interested in God at all. But although men hate the gospel
by nature, the great shepherd of the sheep, He sends forth
his laborers right into the midst of wolves. You say, well, that's
dangerous. What it is if you have no control
over the wolves? You know, it would be foolish
for me to send my sons or my grandchildren in the midst of
wolves, but it wouldn't be if I had complete control over the
wolves. Our Lord has complete control. over everything that
moves, over everything that exists. He has complete control over
all men, all women, all demons, Satan. There's nothing that's
not under his absolute control. Nothing. And he sends his laborers
into the midst of wolves. And that's a fitting name for
the Lord to call men. Wolves, devouring. Devouring
wolves. You know, the word of God calls
men and women what they are, doesn't it? It calls men and
women what they are. Now, Christ warns of trouble
over the gospel. You know, if you read the book
of Acts, you can see the trouble the apostles met with. They were
beaten. Paul was beaten and left for
dead. He was stoned and left for dead. He said he was whipped,
he was put in prison, They were just treated so terribly. But the Lord forewarns them.
He forewarns them. You know, the first time I heard
the gospel, when I heard the gospel from Henry, I thought
they would be thrilled to death at the place I was attending
to hear what I learned. Instead, I had to leave. I had
to leave. They did not want me in their
midst. Well, even one of them stood in the pulpit, got up and
said, well, I understand. They had what you call a revival.
They were having a so-called revival. And the first thing
that man said when he stood up in the pulpit, he said, I understand
we have a Calvinist in our midst. No, you have a believer. You
have a child of God. And I thought they'd be thrilled
to death to hear the truth. I thought I found him. Well, when I told it, they didn't
want to hear it. They did not want to hear it.
And you experienced that here. This place used to be full, didn't
it? It used to be full. One day God
sent the gospel here and it made a division. It divided families. It divided families. The gospel
will divide. We'll get to that in a minute.
One of the greatest testimonies of human depravity is its hatred
of the gospel, the good news of the gospel. I mean the gospel
as it's revealed in the scriptures, not this so-called gospel we've
made up or that the world has made up, false religion has made
up, not that gospel. The greatest display of hatred
of this human race is when it hung Jesus Christ
on the cross. That's the greatest display of
sin. That's the greatest display of
man's hatred of God. Come, this is the heir. Our Lord
gives that parable. This is the heir, let us kill
him. Let us kill him. Crucify him, crucify him. Paul said, wow, what has he done?
What has he done to deserve death? But the cry kept going, crucify,
crucify. Get rid of this man. Why? Why? Because this man's God and we
hate God. That's exactly why. Men will accept good news from
anywhere except heaven. We'll take it from any place
except heaven. And the reason is this. The gospel
is offensive to man's pride. It offends what I think of myself. You know, we all think now, we
all think by nature, we all think we're smarter than we are. We
think we're taller than we are. We're thinner than we are. Everything
we think about ourselves, we think of it in a better light
than what the scripture paints. It offends our wisdom. It offends
our thoughts of God. When the gospel is preached,
it brings out that natural enmity against God. They said, we will
not have this man reign over us. Would you rather have Caesar
reign over you? Tax you to death? The Lord Jesus Christ, it says,
went about doing good. He healed. He healed all manner
of diseases. And you say, no, we don't want
this man to reign over us. You want a tyrant to reign over
you? Anybody but God. Anybody but God. You know, the gospel, as I said,
doesn't paint a rosy picture of us. It paints a true picture
of us, doesn't it? It paints a true picture of us.
How many times have you looked at a photograph of yourself And
you said, I don't like that picture. That makes me look fat. That
makes me look old. You really think it's that photograph
doing that? Huh? You going to blame it on the
photograph? I don't think so. Maybe it's because you are. I
looked at one the other day. I looked at one the other day.
Somebody took it over to the cookout thing. I said, man, it
makes me, I said, I look that heavy. I did. That picture looked like it weighed
10 pounds. It was a true picture. The camera doesn't lie. It doesn't
lie. The gospel paints a true picture
of me and you. There's none good, no, not one.
There's none that seeks after God. We do not naturally seek
after God. God must call us, draw us, and
bring us, and give us an interest in Christ before we'll ever seek
him. He has to, or we won't. The gospel is honest with us. It's honest. And if this is true,
if there's none good, no, not one, then I'm in trouble. But
you know, God has provided a place of refuge for those in trouble.
The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the place of refuge. The
scripture says, a man shall be a hiding place from the storm. Christ is our hiding place from
the storm. God does not send his preacher
to preach what men want to hear, but the truth which you and I
must hear if we are to be saved. Now, when God sends the gospel,
and you hear the gospel, just like this morning, right here,
you see it. The gospel's gonna have two effects.
There's gonna be two effects. It's gonna have a softening effect
or a hardening effect. When it comes in power, it's
gonna have a softening effect. When it comes in power, it's
gonna melt the heart. It's gonna melt, and there's
gonna be a quickening, a giving of life. But if it comes in word
only, it's gonna have a hardening effect. It's like you take clay
and you sit it out in the sun, let it sit there, what's gonna
happen? It's gonna harden, it's gonna harden. Unless you keep
putting moisture on it, water, keep, no, it's gonna harden if
you leave it alone. If God leaves you alone, now listen, you're
gonna harden. The old-timers, they can call
it being gospel-hearted. It means nothing. It means nothing. I want you to turn over, to give
you an example of this, the book of Acts. Turn over to the book of Acts.
In Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2, Look in verse 22. Let me see
if that's what I want. Yeah, verse 22. In Acts 2, verse 22, ye men of
Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
him being delivered by the determinate counsel and full knowledge of
God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,
whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because
it was not possible that he should be holding of it. Now look over
in verse 36. Here's the response when they
heard this. Therefore, in verse 36, therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
that same Jesus, whom he hath crucified, both Lord and Christ. And when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest
of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? We are in trouble. That's what they're saying, we're
in trouble. We crucified the Son of God.
What shall we do? We're in trouble. Peter said
unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ, the very one you crucified as your savior,
for the remission, forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, turn over to chapter five. Look in verse, I mean, look,
chapter five, look in verse 29. Then Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The
God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged
on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince
and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. and we are his witnesses of these
things. And so is also the Holy Ghost
whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that,
they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them." Same message, same message, different
results, same message. Some heard this, Some heard that. They heard the same message,
but different results. The first ones there said, what
shall we do? We crucified the son of God,
we're in trouble. The Lord gave them a real conviction of their
sin and what they had done. They shall mourn when they look
on him whom they pierced, the scripture says. But when the
other group heard it, they wanted to kill him. They wanted to kill
him. Some of you heard this, and some
heard that, and they left. Some heard this and some heard
that. It's a difference now. Same message, different results.
But the Lord says, he says here, he says, behold, I'm gonna send
you, my preachers, as sheep among wolves. And I know this mainly
applies to the preacher, but his sheep live among wolves also.
That's why he's sending them among wolves, because there are
some sheep out there among the wolves. That's so, that's so. Sheep are always sheep no matter
where they are or who they are among. They're always sheep.
We are not chameleons, we are sheep. We don't change to fit
our environment. Sheep are sheep, no matter where
they are. He said, I'm gonna send you as sheep among wolves.
Why? Because I got some sheep out there among the wolves. He's
gonna call them. And that sheep, he says, you
are to be gentle and gracious, not devouring as wolves. You
don't become like the company you're gonna have to be among.
You don't become like them. No, you sheep, and you're always
sheep, and you're gonna act like sheep. When you go out here and
you preach the gospel, you're gonna act like sheep. When we preach the gospel, we
preach the gospel in love to everyone that comes in here. to everyone. Though we be among wolves, we
have nothing to fear. We're not going to change the
message that we don't want to fend the wolves. No, you don't
change the message. It's the same. We are to be wise. I'm not going to purposely go
out here and try to provoke people just on purpose, just to get
an argument, to get a rise out of them. We're going to get a martyr complex
and see if I can get who I can get against me. He said you'd be wise and harmless
as does. You know, we don't have to provoke
people to anger. The gospel will do that. Just
preaching the gospel in love will still provoke. It'll still
provoke people to anger. It's going to provoke some to
anger. We don't go with the attitude
of slaying sinners, that's God's business. That's God's business. Not my business, my business
is just to tell the truth. We preach the gospel of grace
with grace. I think many great messages have
been ruined by a bad attitude. You can either feed the sheep
graciously, or you can throw it at them.
I believe it was Scott Richardson. I'm not sure, but I think it
was Scott Richardson talking about feeding chickens one time. You can take
and put it on the ground, and those chickens will come up and
eat that food. You just drop it down on the
ground, or you can take it and throw it at them. And watch them scare. He said, you go out there as
sheep among wolves, and you be wise. Be wise in the way you
conduct yourself. and you'll be harmless. You're
not out there shooting people, you're out there preaching the gospel.
You're out there preaching the gospel. But, he said, beware
of men, trouble's gonna come. He warns of trouble. As I said,
you think when you first heard the gospel, didn't you think
everybody ought to hear this? Didn't you think everybody would want
to hear this? No, he said, you need to expect
trouble. Don't be surprised when Men treat you as an enemy and
they whip you into synagogues where it ought to be accepted,
where you ought to be accepted, where the message ought to be
accepted. And when this happens, he said,
when it happens, it's not if, it's when. Don't worry about
what you're going to say. The spirit of your father is
going to speak through you. The messenger is never left alone. He's never left alone. Elijah thought he was. He said,
oh, I'm up here. He had a pity party by himself.
I'm up here all by myself. And God said, no, you're not.
I've reserved to myself 7,000 men. I haven't bowed their knee
to Baal. Don't worry what you're gonna
say. The spirit of your father speaketh in you. I pray that's
what's going on right now. Well, I tell you what, if you
and I really realize that, We realize, you talking about perking
up, that God's speaking. Is God actually
speaking now? Think about it. Is God actually
speaking? Is the spirit of Christ actually
speaking here? He says, when this happens, you
flee to the next city. Don't go off and hide. Don't
you go off and hide. You just find another place to
preach. Look for the next place to preach. Look for the next
open door. When the Lord opens the door, go through it. Go through
it. Here's something for us to remember,
especially us who preach. The disciple is not above his
master. Why is this happening to me?
Why did it happen to Christ? Look what happened to him. Look
what happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll never suffer what
he suffered. I'll never do it. We're not above him, but we are
to be as him. We are to be willing to suffer as he suffered, whatever
God sends us through. But fear them not. Don't be afraid
of them. When they rise up against you,
don't be afraid of them. They're under control. The wolves
are under control. The wolves, they may growl and
bark and carry on, but the wolves are under control. What I reveal to you, listen,
in verse 27, and what I reveal to you, that's the message you
preach. Don't you change the message.
Don't you say, well, they won't like this one. Don't you change
them, but what I reveal to you, what I make known to you, which
is the gospel, that's what you preach. I am not at liberty,
I am not at liberty to change the message to fit the crowd. You know, I preach on the radio
here every Sunday morning, and there's a lot of different people
that listen to it. I'm not at liberty to change
the message to fit the listeners, nor do I want to. He said, what
I make known to you, that's what you say. And don't you fear anyone.
Don't you fear, I don't care if you lose the whole crowd.
Don't you fear. You know, the scripture says
the fear of man bringeth a snare. If I began to fear men, I'll
change the message. If I began to fear men, the message will be changed.
But if I fear God, the message will never change. It'll never
change. And our Lord promises providential
care. He says, are not two sparrows
sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your father. Nothing dies by accident. I've
said this to you before, I'll say it again. You may go home,
you may die in an accident, but it will not be an accident that
you die. He said, not even a sparrow that's sold for a penny. That
sparrow does not fall to the ground without your heavenly
father's will. Without him being involved one
way or another, that sparrow can't die until he allows it
to die. Can't do it. I was watching a program once
and this person had attempted suicide four or five times, several
times. Now why in the world was that
person not successful? Was he sloppy? Weak? Couldn't get the job done? It
wasn't time to die. Life is his to give. and he has
to take. However he takes it, he will. He said, if a sparrow doesn't
fall to the ground without your father, what about a human life?
You could stand in the hottest battle, and I'm telling you the truth,
if it's not your time, you're not gonna die. It's impossible. It's actually impossible to die.
until he says, your time's up. David said, my times are in thy
hand. Job said, that man, days are
like a hireling. What does a hireling do? He punches
a clock in the morning, and when he gets the job done, he punches
out in the evening. Our days are like the hireling.
We have a time on this earth that God's given us. And when
that time is served, before that, nothing can take
you. But I tell you what, when that time is served, nothing
can keep you. Nothing. But the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Can you imagine,
can you comprehend that? No. This is, this is, this is so.
God is so minutely involved with his children, with his servants,
that he says every hair on your head is numbered. He knows exactly. He's not just making a point,
but he knows exactly how many hairs are on my head. You reckon he knows what's going
on? I reckon he does. And because of this, he says,
fear ye not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. Christ died for you. You who
believe, you know this. The son of God, God himself came
into this world and died for you, paid a great price for you,
redeemed by the blood of Christ. And I'm going to end it here. But our Lord tells us that men
naturally do not love the gospel of the grace of God. They do
not love sovereign grace. They don't love sovereign grace. They like this gospel. They love
this gospel that God wants to save everybody if they'll let
him. But God being sovereign in salvation, God saving whom
he will, and God passing by whom he will, is not loved by men, natural
men. It's loved by his children. It's
not loved by natural men. And he said, you're gonna have
trouble over it. You're gonna have trouble over
it. We live in a, what is Fayetteville, 210,000 people? But somewhere like that, I looked
the population of it up for us. And then you got the county out
here and all these other surrounding places. And look at these empty
seats. Look at these, the gospel's preached
here. I'm convinced that this is not the gospel, there's not
none. There's not one. This gospel is according to the
word of God. It honors and magnifies Jesus
Christ. It honors and magnifies God for
who He is, and it puts us in our place. And it's salvation
by Jesus Christ only, not me and Jesus. It's by the Lord Jesus
Christ, living, dying for me. That's the gospel. And if you love it, if you love
it, As the Lord said to Peter, blessed are your eyes when they
see and your ears when they hear. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
this to you, Peter, but my Father, which is in heaven, He's revealed
it to you. He made it known to you. That's
why you believe.