Would you turn back to Luke chapter
six? Tonight, I'm preaching from Matthew
chapter five and dealing with this question. Are you a murderer? Are you a murderer from Mark
chapter five? And I'd like to speak this morning
on the 12 apostles. Look in verse 12 of Luke chapter
six. And it came to pass in those
days that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night
in prayer to God. I love to think about this, the
Lord Jesus praying all night long. And what is so amazing to think
about his prayer Unlike you and I, he didn't have sin to confess,
perfect communion, perfect reliance. He prayed all night. The son of God prayed to his
father all night long. And I believe it had something
to do at this time with the choosing of the 12 apostles. Let's go on reading. And when
it was day, he called unto him his disciples, verse 13, and
of them he chose 12, whom he also named apostles. Now the word apostle means sent. Christ Jesus is called the apostle,
the sent one, and high priest of our profession. The Lord said,
this is eternal life, that they might know thee the only true
God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. So the apostles were
the ones that the Lord Jesus Christ sent. He sent 12 apostles,
the number 12 corresponding to the 12 tribes of Israel. Now
the apostles were with the Lord physically and were eyewitnesses
of his miracles, of his healings, of his power. They were eyewitnesses
of his resurrection, and they were taught the gospel by Christ
himself. The Lord set them down and taught
them the gospel. It wasn't a mere man that taught
them. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, and thus their writings and their teaching were authoritative. When they wrote the Bible, when
they wrote the scriptures, it was the word of God, the very
word of God. And the apostles had power. They
had power to heal the sick. They had power to raise the dead.
They had power to work miracles. And through the laying on of
their hands, this power was given to others in the early church.
They would lay their hands on other people and they would receive
these gifts. And all of a sudden they would
have power to heal the sick and to raise the dead and to perform
miracles and to speak in other languages, the gospel of God's
grace. Now, only the apostles have the
power to do this. That's why there are no apostles
today. If someone claims to be an apostle,
he's a phony. He's a huckster. He's not real. Only the apostles had the power
to lay their hands on. That's what Acts 18 says. When
they saw that by the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy
Ghost was given. Not by anybody else, only the
apostles. They had the power to transfer
these gifts. And you know, we don't really
need apostles now because we have the whole Bible. They didn't.
We do now. We have the full canon of scriptures
and there were only 12 apostles. We read in Revelation 21, 14
of the 12 apostles of the lamb. And these apostles had these
miracle working power. The Lord heals. The Lord heals. He may heal, He may not heal.
If you're healed of any sickness you have, it's because He healed
you. But these fellas who claim healing powers today, they're
phonies. Every one of them, they're phonies.
I'd like to see one walk into a hospital and start exercising
his healing power. They never do that. That's never
done. They're phonies and nothing more. But the apostles had this
power to heal because God gave it to them. And there were only
12 apostles because we read in Revelation 21, 14 of the 12 apostles
of the Lamb. Not 13, not 14, only 12. Now,
Judas lost his apostleship, and the church decided, well, we'll
make Matthias. The very first act of the apostles
was a wrong act. They made Matthias apostle, but
God never made him apostle. God made the apostle Paul the
12th apostle. Ananias came to him and said,
the God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldst know
his will. and see that just one and hear
the voice of his mouth for thou shalt be his witness to all men
of what you've seen and what you've heard. The 12 apostles
of the Lamb. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
two for just a moment. Ephesians chapter two. Beginning in verse 19, Paul says,
Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but
fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God and
are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
the prophets of the Old Testament, the apostles of the New Testament,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. You see, the
apostles were built on the same foundation that every believer
is built upon. Jesus Christ himself, the chief
cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed. together groweth
unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together
for habitation of God through the Spirit." Now, I think it's
very interesting in the three different lists of the names
of the apostles. John doesn't do it, but Matthew, Mark, and
Luke all give us the list. With several of them, they're
given other names or descriptions of their character, all of which
are very interesting and instructive. The first person I thought of
was Matthew. In Matthew's account, he calls himself Matthew the
Publican. Now Mark doesn't call him that.
Luke doesn't call him that. But when Matthew is giving his
account of the apostles, the 12 apostles, he calls himself
Matthew Not Matthew the saint, not Matthew the man who wrote
the book of Matthew, but he identifies himself as Matthew the publican.
You know, a publican was the most despised person in that
day. A publican was an evil man, a
sinful man, someone who made a living by ripping off. Now,
Matthew didn't continue in that profession when the Lord called
him, but this is how he identified himself as Matthew the publican.
And what that reminds me of is this glorious fact, the gospel. is a sinner's religion. Isn't that wonderful? The gospel
is for sinners. It's not for good people. It's
not for righteous people. You disqualify yourself if you're
not a sinner. The gospel is essentially and
fundamentally a sinner's religion. Aren't you thankful for that? Simon, who he called Peter, He
changed his name to Peter. He was Simon and he was Peter. Simon, the human side, Peter,
the divine side. You see, the disciples, the apostles
were all very human, sinful, fallible men like you and me,
none more glaring than Peter. Some of them were uneducated
fishermen. Others like Paul were highly
educated, trained at the feet of Gamaliel. They're so different,
different men from different walks of life, but they were
the ones God chose and they were all very human. Simon, Peter,
Simon denying the Lord in fear before a little maid. and cursing,
and swearing, and saying, I know not the man. And then our Lord
looked at him, Simon, so weak, so fallible. Peter, on the day of Pentecost,
for God hath made this same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord
and Christ, preaching in such boldness. Peter, that's what
the Lord did for him. But you know, he's always Simon
Peter. Simon Peter. Yay, Simon! Yes, he's Peter.
Thomas, called Didymus. Thomas, the doubting disciple. That's what he's known for. The
doubting disciple. But you know what Didymus means?
Twin. He's my twin. Thomas, the doubting
disciple. my twin and your twin. Save the same way, believe the
same things. Saul of Tarsus, he's the 12th
apostle and his name was changed to Paul. You know what Paul means? Diminutive, little, tiny. Paul the big shot, Paul who touching
the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. He thought
he was somebody. He was a big man. But when God
saved him, all of a sudden he becomes little. He called himself
the least of the apostles. And then in the middle of his
life, he said, I'm less than the least of all the saints.
And right before he died, he called himself the chief of sinners. Paul, little. And then Simon
was called Zealotus, a zealot. And this is what every believers
called on to be, zealous of his glory, zealous of his honor,
zealous of his name being made known, a passion for him. And then James and John were
surnamed the sons of thunder. We're not ashamed of the gospel.
Paul said in Romans 1, 16 and 17, for I'm not ashamed of the
gospel, for it, the gospel, is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believes. Oh, sons of thunder, may the
Lord enable us to thunder out his gospel in this generation. Then there were two Judases.
One, Judas the traitor, and the other who John named Judas, not
Iscariot. I love that. You just read that. Judas, not Iscariot. See, God's
people are loyal to him. The apostles loyal to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now in these three different
lists, In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John never gave a list. There are six things pointed
out about the calling of the apostles. And we will find those
things to be true of ourselves. The way he called the apostles
is the way he calls every single one of his people. Now we're
not apostles, obviously, but we're saved the same way and
we're called the same way. Now, back our text in Luke chapter
6, verse 13. Luke 6, 13, and when it was day,
after spending all night in prayer regarding the apostles. And I, you know, that's hard
to understand. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed
about this. Now he already knew somehow because
he's God who they were, but yet he prayed seeking the Lord's
direction, the Lord's wisdom, the Lord's counsel on who would
be his apostles. And he prayed all night long
about this so very important event. Who am I going to choose
for the apostles? So in verse 13, and when it was
day, he called unto him his disciples. I don't know how many there were
at this time. And of them he chose, he elected 12 whom he
also named apostles. Now here's the first thing in
the apostles calling, they were chosen. They were elected. He elected them. He chose the
12 just like He chose all who would be saved. Now listen to
me real carefully. Salvation begins with God. Now
everybody say, well amen to that. Okay. What's that mean? That
means if you're saved, He chose you to be saved. It begins with His choice. That teaching that says He wants
to save everybody, but it's up to your choice as to whether
or not you'll be saved, that is a lie. That's what that is. That's a lie. Salvation begins
with His choice. Turn to Ephesians chapter 1 for
a moment. I love election because I love
the God of election. And I love what election teaches.
It teaches that God's on the throne and it teaches that salvation
is all of grace. I love election because I love
the God of election. Look at Ephesians chapter one.
Paul says, beginning in verse three, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved. And let me ask you four real
simple questions. Number one, who chose who? He chose us. In John chapter 15 verse 16,
the Lord looked at his disciples and he said, you did not choose
me, but I chose you. Here's the second question. When
was that choice made? When did he choose who would
be saved? Well, he waited to see what we
do. And when he saw what we do, he
chose us then. No, no, no. according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world." That's when this
choice was made. Before there was ever any creation,
God chose His people. God chose me before I had any
physical existence. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it's written, Jacob have I
loved, but Esau have I hated. Now that's God's purpose, that
salvation might not be of works. When was this choice made? Before
the foundation of the world. Now, How did he make this choice?
How did he make this choice? According as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. Now, what that
means is he didn't choose. I don't understand this. I just
believe it. It's what the Bible teaches. He didn't choose me and then
give me to Christ. He couldn't choose me independently
of the Lord Jesus Christ. According as He has chosen us
in Him. In Him. Before the foundation
of the world. And that's how He did it. He
didn't look at me and didn't give me to the Son. Somehow God's
elect have always been viewed united to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He didn't look at me and then say, no, he saw me in Christ.
I've always been in Christ. According as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. Now, why did he
do it? Well, that scripture says he did it to the praise of the
glory of his grace. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians
chapter two for a moment. 2 Thessalonians chapter two. Verse 13, but we're bound, we're obligated
to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Now this doctrine obviously is
the truth. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. Now, election is absolute. What do I mean by that? That
means if he chose you, you're chosen and it didn't have anything
to do with you. You weren't even born yet. You didn't have any
works good or bad. You didn't have any good works
to recommend you. You didn't have any bad works to disqualify you. But
when he chose you, he chose you, and it's absolute. If he chose
you saved, not only you must be, saved you are. Oh, when Christ
agreed to be my surety, I was saved. I was saved. Election is eternal. He hath
from the beginning, chosen you to salvation. And the election
is personal. God has, from the beginning,
chosen you. You know, I think it's almost
humorous the way people try to explain away by election and
say, well, let's talk about nations. What are nations but conglomerates
of individuals? So if it's, well, it doesn't
mean individuals. That wouldn't be fair. It's just
nations. Well, that's foolishness. That's not even being honest
with the text. He hath chosen you. And it's always effectual. He's chosen you unto salvation. Through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. How we love the doctrine of God's
ancient choice of his people. How it gives glory to God and
gives no glory to man. And we love it that way. Who
maketh thee to differ from another? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? He chose the apostles. He selected, he elected them. Scripture says he called whom
he would. And that leads us to our second point. Turn to Mark
chapter three. He chose them. Verse 14. And he ordained 12, that they
should be with him. He ordained 12. Now I'm not real
sure why this word is translated ordained, because it is the exact
same Greek word that is usually translated made. For he hath
made him to be seen. That's the word. God made them
male and female, same word. When the Lord made water into
wine, it's the same word. He that made me whole, the same
said to me, rise up and walk, same word. He made them. He made them. And he certainly
made the apostles. You're the only way they were
apostle is for him to make them one, isn't it? And the only way
I can be a believer is for him to make me one. Salvation is
His work. Here's the word, we are His workmanship. Same word, we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. He made us, the Psalm
said, it is He that made us and not we ourselves. Now, our sin
was made His. and his righteousness is made
ours. You know, we really are self-made
men. Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, who his own self, his self, bear our sins in his own body
on the tree. When he had by himself, with
no help from me or you, No help from any angel. When he had by
himself purged, washed away, put away, made to not be our
sins, he sat down on the right hand of God. Did he have any
help from you in that? He made us. Now, whatever I am,
he made me. Whatever the apostles were, only
Christ can make an apostle and only Christ can make a believer.
Now, I'm justified. How's that? He made me that way. I'm sanctified, I'm a saint,
Saint Todd. How'd you get to be a saint?
He made me one. Every believer is sanctified
in Christ Jesus. I'm glorified. You don't look
glorified. Well, if he is, I am because
he made me that way and I'm in him. Scripture says we're seated
together right now in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I'm in
heaven right now. I'm the person of my redeemer. He made me that way. I see, I
see that I'm a sinner. And the only reason I see that
is he made me to see it. I wouldn't see that unless he
made me to see that, but he's made me to see that I have no
ability and he has all ability. I am what he made me. I'm a believer. He made me to
believe. He gave me the faith. I'm somebody
who calls on the Lord. I'm calling on Him right now.
Lord, save me. And you know, He made me to do
that. Everything a believer is, He made them to be. I love it being that way. I like
being His workmanship. You know, it takes all the pressure off
me. He takes all the pressure off me. I'm what He made. And you know what? My being in
glory, it's up to Him, His responsibility. He started it and He's going
to finish it. I am what He made me to be. A believer is made
by the Lord. And then stay in Mark chapter
3, look in verse 13. Mark chapter 3 verse 13, and
he goeth up into a mountain and calleth unto him whom he would. He called them. He chose them. He made them. And he called them. Believers are called the called
of God. He saved us and he called us
with a holy calling. And I love the divine order there.
It doesn't say he called us and he saved us. No, he saved us.
And then he called us with a holy calling. He called whom he would. Would you turn to 1 Corinthians
1. Paul said in verse 22, the Jews,
the religious fellows, require a sign. I need to see something
that will prove. And the Greeks seek after wisdom,
not true wisdom, man's philosophy, intellectualism, but we preach
Christ crucified. The son of God, God's Christ,
God's prophet, priest, and king, the anointed of the father, crucified. That's not just a fact of the
crucifixion, but the accomplishments of that crucifixion, the reality
of that crucifixion. And this is what we preach. We
preach Christ crucified. Now, The Jews, this is a stumbling
block. They stumble at this. Why? You're
saying that if Christ crucified, are you saying that if Christ
died, everybody died for what must be saved? Well, that takes
away all incentive and motive for good works. That takes away
all effort. Why? That's just leaving men
to do nothing. And then with the Greeks here,
they say, you expect me to believe that, that God became a man,
that I'm saved by somebody else's righteousness, that actually
by the shedding of his blood, sin, that's foolishness. But verse 24, unto them which
are called, called by irresistible, invincible grace, to them which
are called, Both Jews and Greeks. You know, the Lord saves Jews
and he saves Greeks. He saves the religious and he
saves the non-religious. Aren't you thankful for that?
Christ. Here's how you can know if you've
been called. Now, do you want to know if God's
actually called you? I do. Has God actually called
my voice? Well, if he has, I see Christ
as the very power of God. And I see him as the wisdom of
God. I see him as the power of God
into salvation. I see him as the wisdom of God.
I think the call is most clearly illustrated by Zacchaeus. Would
you turn to Luke chapter 19? He called them. He called unto
him whom he would. And Jesus entered, verse one,
and passed through Jericho, And behold, there was a man named
Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was
rich. Now this was a very wealthy man,
a very wicked man. He got his wealth through dishonest
gain. Verse three, and he sought to
see Jesus who he was. Who put that in his heart? I
mean, he was happy the way things were. He was rich. But all of
a sudden, he had a desire to know who the Lord Jesus was. Now this is when God is actually
working on somebody. Everybody, when they're sick,
they want healed. When they're in financial difficulty,
they want help. When they're having problems
with relationships, everybody wants the Lord in their trouble,
you know, to fix this problem, to fix this. But all of a sudden,
Zacchaeus wanted to know who the Lord was. The Lord put that
in his heart. Do you want to know who Jesus
Christ really is? That's the great desire of your
heart. You want to know who he is. If you do, God put that in
your heart. Okay, go on reading. And he sought
to see Jesus who he was and could not. for the press because he
was little of stature. Whenever you find out, whenever
you have this desire to know who he is, the first thing you
find out is that you can't. You can't. You're too little.
You're just too little. There's just nothing, you lack
what it takes. He was little of stature. I've said this before, when I
think of Zacchius, I think of a kind of a Danny DeVito like
a guy. So what does he do in verse four?
And he ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see
him, for he was to pass that way. Now he didn't have any idea
that the Lord knew him. He just wanted to see who he
was. And he climbed up in a tree so
he could look down upon him when he passed that way. Verse five,
and when Jesus came to the place, he looked up. and saw him, you
see, he saw one who was given to him in the eternal covenant
of grace. He saw him for whom he would
die. He saw one of his people. He
saw somebody he knew. And when Jesus came to the place
and looked up and saw him, he said unto him, Zacchaeus, can
you imagine how shocked Zacchaeus was? He knew me. He knows me. Zacchaeus, make
haste and come down. You see, when we come to him,
it's always a trip down, isn't it? Down from your high thoughts
of yourself. He made haste, for today I must
abide at thy house. And he made haste and came down
and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all
murmured, saying that he's going to be a guest with a man that's
a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Lord,
behold, and the Lord didn't tell him to do any of this, but look
what he did. Lord, behold, the half of my goods I give to the
poor. And if I've taken anything from any man by false accusation,
I restored him fourfold. Jesus saith unto him, this day
is salvation come to this house. For as much as he also is a son
of Abraham, But the Son of Man has come to seek and to save
that which was lost. There's the call, the sovereign
call of Christ. Now turn to Matthew 10, to Matthew's
account. Matthew chapter 10. Verse one. And when he called unto him his
12 disciples, He gave them power. He gave them power. against unclean spirits to cast
them out, to heal all manner of sicknesses and all manner
of disease. Now, once again, I'm going to bring this out again.
Anytime somebody claims to have some kind of miracle working
power, if they don't go into a hospital and prove it, they're
phonies. And not one of them has ever
done that. So whenever you hear these guys talk like this, know
this is a phony. This is a huckster, a religious
huckster. The apostles had power to heal. And they didn't say,
if you have enough faith, you'll be healed. They said, be healed.
And they were healed. Now, the point though, He gave them power. And if I'm a believer, if you're
a believer, He has given me power to believe, to repent. He gave
them power. To as many as received Him, to
them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on His name. Now, what mighty power is exerted
in giving me life? That's the power of God. The
same power that raised up Christ from the dead is what was used
in giving me spiritual life. I was dead in sins. He said,
live. And I lived. What mighty power. Oh, it takes nothing less than
the power of God exerted in you to give you the grace to believe,
to give you the grace to repent, to give you the grace to persevere.
The very fact that I'm still looking to Christ. The scripture
says we're kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. He gave them grace. Do you have power? Not any of
it myself, but I have the power of God on me. That's why I believe.
That's why I love. The power of God. He gave them
power. They were empowered. Now turn
back to Mark chapter three, a couple more. This is I reckon this is the
best, all of these are great, but I love this. Verse 14, And he ordained, or made twelve,
that they should be with him. He did this, that they should
be with him. With the Lord Jesus Christ. when he stood as my surety. When he said to his father, I
will be surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring not him unto thee
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. When he said that to his father,
I was with him. When He was born, I was with Him. When He kept the law, He did
it for me, and I was with Him. When He was nailed to the cross,
I was with Him. I was right there with Him, suffering
on the tree with Him. When he was forsaken by his father,
I was with him. He never left me. Oh, his father
forsook him and he forsook me, but he never left me. When he died, I was with him. And when they put him dead in
that tomb, I was dead right there with him. And three days later, when he
all of a sudden opened up his eyes, I was with him. And when he walked out of that
tomb, I was right there with him. And when he ascended into
glory, I was with him. And as he's even right now, seated
at the right hand of the father, I'm right there too, seated together
in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus. To be
with Him. This is everything, to be with
Him. I'm with Him. What else could you want? Do
you know, heaven will be being with Him and beholding His glory. That is heaven. When by His grace
I shall look on His face, that will be glory. Be glory for me
with him. That's it, that's it, with him. What else could anybody want? And back to Matthew nine in closing. Matthew 10. But in this last part of Matthew
chapter nine, But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved
with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered
abroad, a sheep having no shepherd. Then said he unto his disciples,
The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors are few. Pray
ye therefore that the Lord of the harvest, that he will send
forth labors into his harvest, and when call unto him his twelve
disciples, here's the labors. He gave them power. against unclean
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness
and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles
are these, the first Simon, who is also called Peter, Andrew
his brother, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother,
Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the publican. I
love the way Matthew says that. He's the one who wrote this.
James, the son of Alphaeus and Labaius, whose surname was Thaddeus,
Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
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 rather go 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 you've received, freely
give. Don't provide for yourselves.
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
in, inquire who is worthy, and there abide till you go thence.
And when you come into a 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 off 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,
that's what an apostle is, 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 deliver you up to the
councils, and they shall scourge you in their synagogues. And
you shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for 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 you that same hour what you shall speak. For it's not
you 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 of the child and the children shall rise up against
their parents and cause them to be put to death. And you 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 to another. For verily I say unto you, you
shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son
of Man be come. The disciple is not above his
master, the servant above his Lord. It's enough for the disciple
to be as his master and the servant as his Lord. If they've called
the master of the house Beelzebub, a demon, how much more should
they call him of his household? Fear them not, therefore, for
there's nothing covered that shall not be revealed, and hid
that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness,
that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear, that preach
ye upon the housetops, and fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. are not two
sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your father. For the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, you are
of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess
me before men, him will I confess also before my father which is
in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will
I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not
that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send
peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's
foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that
taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.
He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loses his
life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth
me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He
that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive
a prophet's reward, and he that receiveth a righteous man in
the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones
a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I
say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." They were sent to preach. And me and you aren't disciples
like they are, but we're sent with the same message and the
same purpose. The glory of our Redeemer and
the ingathering of his people. Let's pray together.