Believers must expect persecution

-
Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkeyJesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Matthew 10:16-25 "A disciple is not above his teacher... If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household" ( vv. 24-25).

Having surveyed the wider biblical teaching on missions and evangelism, we return to the gospel according to Matthew and resume our study at 10:16, right in the middle of Christ's missionary discourse. Now that He is about to send His disciples into a world hostile to God's kingdom, our Savior takes time in today's passage to warn His followers that they will often bring His words to sinners who are all too eager to "shoot the messengers."

Knowing what is ahead, Jesus describes how we are to conduct our outreach. Verse 16 exhorts us to act with a wise innocence - "innocent as doves that we may not harm anyone; cautious as snakes that we may be careful of letting anyone harm us" (Augustine, The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the Twenty-first Century, vol. 3, 3:189). We are not to be naïve, but we must realize that not all whom we encounter are who they say they are. Still, our mission is not one of subversiveness or automatic mistrust of everyone we meet.

In Matthew 10:17-23, Jesus speaks both of events near in His day as well as things in the distant future. The prophets frequently speak in such ways, describing in the same paragraph judgments that are soon to come for their contemporaries as well as things that are far off. Today's passage, for example, says the disciples will be unable to visit all of Israel's towns before "the Son of Man comes" (v. 23 ). We will explore this idea in more detail when we study the Olivet Discourse (chap. 24), but for now note that Jesus is most likely predicting Jerusalem's destruction in 70 a.d., an event that happens within the lifetimes of most of the twelve. The reference to Gentile persecution (10:17-18) deals more with oppression after the disciples preach the Gospel to the Israelites, and, indeed, events to occur time and again in church history.

To be a Christian is to imitate Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). If many have persecuted Him, so also will many hate us for preaching His Gospel. We who follow Him cannot expect to escape the tribulation our Lord also endured (Matt. 10:24-25). Let us embrace this truth and, as John Calvin says, "be bold and courageous, that [we] may be always ready for martyrdom."

John MacArthur is forthright about what Matthew 10 teaches the church: "Christ will have no one deluded into thinking that He calls believers to a life free from conflict" (The MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1,142). 

Are you ready for the conflict that comes with following Jesus? If you will not stand up for Jesus today when you talk to unbelieving friends and family members, will you be prepared to stand up against more hostile adversaries?
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Popular posts from this blog

Speaking in tongues for today - Charles Stanley

-
Image
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. … And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. … Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way - 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 28, 30—31 The Lord Jesus Christ had come and gone. The church—newly birthed—was in a transition time. The new covenant was seen as a threat to the Jewish leaders; therefore, there was persecution for those who had chosen to follow Christ. The new religion, in its infant stages, had no Bible, few leaders, and absolutely no support from the government. Astounding that it survived, isn’t it?  How in the world did it survive with so little going for it? Power. Not just a force, but mighty, visible power. This new church
Read more

What is the glory (kabod) of God?

-
Image
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." Scripture places a high value on God 's glory, and it is not hard to figure out why. Since the inherent glory of the Lord is something that He will not share with others (Isa. 42:8), we know that His glory is something that He prizes highly; indeed, He prizes it more highly than anything else. We should, therefore, set the glory of God as the goal and overarching emphasis of our lives. Whatever we lose for the sake of making the Lord's glory known will be worth it when we see the dazzling light and beauty of; the divine glory (28:5; Rev. 21:23). Glory has to do with light and beauty, but those aspects do not sum up what the Bible means when it speaks of the glory of God. Interestingly, the Hebrew word kabod , which is translated into English as "glory," has the root meaning of "weight" or "heaviness."
Read more

The Holy Spirit causes us to cry out: Abba, Father

-
Image
Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To bring out the same truth in another way, Paul says God sent Jesus (as a Man) to live under the Law in order “to redeem those under law, that we [Jews and Gentiles ] might receive the full rights [adoption] of sons” ( Galatians 4:5).  By “full rights” or “adoption” he means entering into the privileges and responsibilities of sonship. He uses it also of the sonship of Israel (Romans 9:4). Galatians 4:1, 2 indicate that the son and heir of a wealthy family in Paul’s day would be treated as a slave until he became of age.  Then he would receive the adoption, that is, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that belonged to an adult member of that family. Adoption was also used in the modern sense, so that Gentiles who were not sons of Abraham became true heirs, true sons of God , by faith.  Jesus died, not just to save us from the fires of hell, but to make it p
Read more