The previous message before that
was the message of the law. That's what Moses was given.
He was given the message of the law. The apostles are receiving
the message of grace and mercy to the people by seeing how our
Lord healed people. Our Lord had compassion on the
crowd when the multitude swarmed around Him. He didn't have the
law. He was there to fulfill that
law. He was there to be our substitute in fulfilling that law. And this
is what he was teaching his apostles. This is what Peter was learning.
These are things that don't come natural to men. The message that was given to
Moses was a message of burden, a message of condemnation. For
none but one could fulfill that message. None but one could fulfill
the law. All but one came up short of
that very thing. This is the message that comforts
God's people. Christ came to save sinners.
This is the manna from heaven that is sweeter than honey, as
it is spoken of in Scriptures. Christ came to save sinners.
I'd like you to turn to Matthew chapter 10, and we will once
again take a look into our Savior's teaching, and how He teaches
His disciples what they will be facing as they go about their
work that God has given them to do. And do not let us forget, we live in a world of darkness. The darkness of the truth. Everybody
walks around in the sunshine. We can see the things outside
before us, but many, and we were just once just like this, many
do not see the truth of who God is. Many do not see the truth
of who our great Lord and Savior is. There was a time when I did
not see that. There was a time when each and
every one of you could not see that. We live in a world of darkness,
a world blinded to the truths of the gospel, the world blinded
to the truths of God. We live in a world that hates
those truths, a world who would rather take those truths and
throw them out and make truths of their own. They hate the truths of total
depravity. How often? We have spoken of
this very subject, and people have said, no, that's not me.
I've got a little spark in me of goodness. How often have we
mentioned the woman and her grandchild that left this room saying, I'm
not a sinner like that. The world hates the truths of
unconditional election. God chose a people. God the Father
gave God the Son of people before the world was, before anybody
had any chance to do anything. He speaks of two children, twin
boys, who were born in their mother's womb. And he had made
that choice to love one and to hate the other before they were
ever even born, before they ever had a chance to do evil or good. So that election might stand. The world hates the truths of
God when it comes to limited atonement. They would rather
believe that John 3.16 means the whole world. For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son. But they would
also rather forget and ignore in John 17 where our Lord says,
I pray for the world, I pray for what thou hast given me,
not for the world. The world hates the truths of
irresistible grace. We come to our Lord willingly,
but in the day of His power, He makes us willing. Because
by our nature, we cannot come to the Lord. Our nature is enmity
with God. We are born that way. We are
born in sin, dead in trespasses and sin. And the world hates
to hear that. They will not have it. They hate
to hear the truths of perseverance and the saints. Well, if you
don't start doing this, you're going to go to hell anyway, even
though God died for you because you turned against Him. You can
die, you can go to hell because you left God. They want to ignore where it
says nothing. God's Word says nothing can separate
us from the love that is in Christ Jesus. That's a hope and staple
that we have to have. That's the only thing we can
stand on. Nothing will ever separate me from the love that God has
in me and His Son, Jesus Christ. Don Fortner wrote this, he says,
God's servants in this world are sheep in the midst of wolves,
needing wisdom, needing grace and strength that only God can
give them to do His will. In these verses of scripture,
our Lord Jesus Christ gives his servants words of instruction
to sustain and to comfort them as they endeavor to serve the
interest of his kingdom and the souls of men in this world. These
words of instruction in their primary application were given
to the apostles of our Lord. However, they are equally applicable
to every gospel preacher in this world today. And they are just
as properly applied to each and every one of us who seek to serve
the Lord Jesus Christ in our day-by-day lives. We are all
who believe God's servants in one way or another. Each and
every one of us are a member of Christ. Whether it be a finger,
a toe, a foot, an arm, an eye, a nose, whatever that member
might be that the Lord has you in, if you're one of His, you
are a member of Christ. Christ being the head. To the selfish and unbelieving
who care for nothing but their own ease and comfort, these verses
of Scripture are meaningless. But to you, who serve God in
the souls of men, they will be of great interest. To serve God
and to do good to men's souls in this world is hard work. You
see, Satan fights to maintain his kingdom. He goes about as
a roaring lion, seeking those that he may devour. The hearts
of men are far more wicked than any of us can imagine, and our
Lord Jesus knows this. Therefore, he takes great care
when he sends us out to do his service, to supply us with the
instructive and encouraging words that we might be prepared for
the trials, the temptations, and the troubles that we must
face in this world." End of Don's quote. So let's begin reading,
shall we, at verse 16? And let's read through verse
23. Behold, I send you forth as sheep
in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents
and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will
deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in
their synagogues. And you shall be brought before
governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them
and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up,
take no thought how or what you shall speak, for it shall be
given to you in the same hour what you shall speak. For it
is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh
in you. And the brother shall deliver
up the brother to death, and the father, the child, and the
children shall rise up against their parents and cause them
to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all
men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall
be saved. But when they persecute you in
this city, flee ye into another. For verily I say unto you, you
shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son
of Man be come." Now there are 10 lessons that we want to look
at between verse 16 and the end of this chapter, verse 42. And we're going to take each
Sunday for the next 10 weeks and look at a message each Sunday. This morning our message is between
16 and 23. In verse 16, our Lord says, Behold, I send you forth
as sheep in the midst of the wolves. Be ye therefore wise
as serpents and harmless as doves. Folks, we must be modest in our
expectations. One of the things that my mother
has told me several times, and I need to be told quite often
Because especially as the longer I go along and know who the Lord
is, we cannot expect, we cannot expect people who don't know
the Lord to act like they do. Think about that for a minute.
I have a difficult time with this thought, as I've shared
with you before. I was a very stern employer,
employer, manager for the company I worked for. Now that I'm working
for FedEx and I'm not a manager anymore, those who worked for
me at one time are free to share with me how much, you know, their
thoughts of my management experience was. And they all liked me and
they all thought I did a good job. I was just, if I could say,
a hard ass. I expect people to work like
I do. When I go out to do a job, I
put everything I have into it. That's just the way I am. Who
makes us to differ? I'm blessed that my son and my
grandson do the same thing. I'm blessed that my granddaughter
is that way. But who makes us to differ? Absolutely. And so in doing so, I could be
a very harsh person. It was very quick for me to say,
OK, you don't want to do that? Take it away from them. I'll
give it to somebody else. You just go home. I don't need
you anymore today. That's a pretty harsh way to do that. When it comes to preaching the
Word of God, when it comes to sharing the love of God with
others, a harsh hand, oh, you better do this. People don't want to listen to
that. We want to be sure that people know the truth, but we
want to be sure that they know it in love. We share the gospel
with those we love. We want them to come to the Lord
as we did, in love. We want our Lord to love them
as He has loved us. That's the whole purpose of sharing
the gospel, isn't it? That's how our God calls His
people out of darkness, by hearing the truth of the gospel. The
love of God that He has for His people. A perfect, a love that is effectual. Not some love that is put out
there as a dangling present that is offered to somebody, but a
love that works. A love that is for sure. There
will be no empty seats in heaven. If we are to serve God, if our
object is the glory of God, then we must not make success our
goal. Does that make sense to you?
Do you understand what that means? That means that we don't go out
and say, OK, well, this is my only goal to talk to this guy
and save him today. Because we don't do the saving,
do we? No. We declare who it is that does
the saving. The next verse tells us that
we should beware of men, that we are as sheep in the midst
of wolves. If you set your heart to serve
God, you must make up your mind that you will be hated, abused,
misunderstood, slandered, and persecuted of men. Even your nearest relations will
oppose you if they do not know God. I've been told by a very loved one that I will never be heard in
their home again. Does that hurt? Yeah. It hurts
a lot. Especially because this loved
one claims to be a child of God. What is it that I preach that
offends this person? I preach the sovereignty of God.
I declare God as Jesus Christ as God Almighty in the flesh
and that He came here to do a purpose and that His purpose was accomplished.
Why is it that that offends this loved one? Even your nearest relations will
oppose you if they do not know God. Whether you preach, or teach,
or visit, or pass out tracts, or write, or giving witness to
others, whatever it is you do for Christ, you must expect nothing
from the world but opposition. Many who once seemed full of
zeal have turned back because they had an extravagant expectation
of what it would be like to be a Christian leader. Many have
taken in Satan's snare of success Oh, if I could just be a preacher
of a church, I'd have a big old huge church. We'd have thousands
of people coming in. We'd get a big old band. Yeah. Revival. I'm happy with just
who's here today. Do you have your bulletin with
you? In our bulletin. You'll see an
article written by Drew Dietz, and he's titled his article,
Who. And he writes, my usual practice is to go to the church
building on Saturday and set out the bulletins, walk around
and look at the empty building, make sure the nursery is clean,
pick up any papers left in the assembly area, and so forth.
It always gets me. It's a little depressing to think
about all the years we've been meeting, yet how so few actually
come. It saddens me to think of various
people who have come for a while and then, for one reason or another,
quit because the gospel is too narrow or didn't fit their systems. But then I remember that our
Lord had nowhere to lay His head. And I recall the fact that tomorrow,
by His grace, this very place will be the site of the preaching
and believing of His sovereign mercy. There are some of God's
sheep here, and for that reason, I would not want to be at any
other location. Brother Jack Shanks told him
once that when he got discouraged about such things, he would look
out at the few gathered and ask, who have believed our report? And he would see that you have
believed this report. Yes, you who faithfully come
week in and week out, you who support this very work with your
offerings, your love, and your generosity. Folks, let us cherish
these times for we are truly blessed of our God to meet once
more in his suitable, adoring, and wonderful name. As I mentioned before a moment
ago, where two or more are gathered in his name, He's in the midst. That's His promise. And our Lord
keeps His promises, doesn't He, Donna? Many who once seemed full of
zeal and have turned back because they had an extravagant expectation,
and many have taken Satan's snare of success and have compromised
the gospel to get it. Our only ambition ought to be
the glory of God. This is why the gospel is the
only thing that will be preached from this pulpit as long as God
gives me the breath to speak. For there is nothing that gives
God more glory than Jesus Christ and Him crucified for His people.
That's the gospel message that must be preached. That's the
saving message that must be preached. Our only duty is the will of
God. Our only guide is the Word of God. The only success that
we should desire is the approval of God. We must endure the hatred
and the opposition of men throughout the days of our lives. As we
read in verse 22, but he that endureth to the end shall be
saved. And we know our Savior will not
forsake His people, neither can any separate us from His love.
God's chosen people will endure. They will see the end of their
travail and be as Christ, satisfied. Nevertheless, dear Lord, as I
go through this world in this flesh, thy will be done. Next, you'll notice it says,
wise as serpents and harmless as doves. This simply means that
we must pray for God to give us wisdom. to give us good sense,
a sound mind, and a sincerity of heart. The word harmless means
simple. We are to be simple, honest,
sincere as God's servants. Yet we must have wisdom and good
sense. We must never seek to avoid persecution
by cowardice, compromise, or intimidation. The Lord allows
his servants to flee from one city to another, but he does
not allow us to hold our tongues. Yet we must never foolishly court
persecution by being obnoxious. Don't go out looking for somebody
to persecute you. Don't go starting a fight with
somebody else. We should never court persecution
by being obnoxious, arrogant, or even out of order and place. There is a proper time and a
place for witnessing and bearing testimony to the gospel, but
there are also times when it is out of place to do so. When
someone is paying you to work for them, it is evil, not spiritual,
to rob him of the labor for which you are being paid to discuss
religious matters with your co-workers. To state the matter simply, our
God does not require us to throw out common sense when we are
engaged to do his will. The offense of the cross we must
bear, but we are not to be offensive, so let us strive to walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, as it says in Ephesians 5.15. Let's
take a close look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1 for a moment. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 17,
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words. lest the cross of Christ should
be made none effect. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require
a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ
crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. For ye see your collaring, brethren, how that not many wise
men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of
the world and things that are despised hath God chosen, yea,
the things which are not, to bring to naught things that are.
Why? So that no flesh should glory
in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Our wisdom is Christ. Our wisdom is in Christ. It is of Him, it is about Him,
and it is from Him. We do not need to be all wise
in all scriptures as some think that they are. We can only share
what we know. But we know this. We know that
our Lord has made the promise, all things are for our good.
We know this, that our Lord has made the promise, I shall never
leave you nor forsake you. We know this. I was once blind. And now I see, don't we? See how easy that is? May God
give us all the grace and the wisdom to stand before those
that we come across the paths of in this world and say that
very same thing. I know this, once I was blind and the Lord gave me sight. Christ
came to save sinners of who I am chief, and God cannot fail. None can pluck them from my Father's
hand. I and my Father are one. Amen.