If you have a Bible handy / close
by, grab it and turn to Matthew the 10th chapter, and I first want
to look at verses 11 thru 15; then I want to look at verses 32 thru 42 briefly
and offer context, perspective and practical application to where we are today…
Matthew 10:11-15
11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person
and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let
your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not
welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and
Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town.
Matthew
10:32-42
32 “Whoever
acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in
heaven. 33 But whoever
disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven. 34 “Do not
suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring
peace, but a sword. 35 For I have
come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 “Anyone who
loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves
their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up
their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life
will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. 40 “Anyone who
welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who
sent me. 41 Whoever
welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever
welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous
person’s reward. 42 And if
anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my
disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
The context /
back ground for this passage I have chosen is a record of Christ’s own words
and he was instructing the 12 disciples and preparing their Hearts and Minds
for service in ministry. He was quite
frank in what He had to say, and to the point, He wanted them to know this no cake
walk they were about to embark on, in fact – it could and would probably cost
them their lives…
However; to
make a point and address this topic, I am taking verses 32 thru 39 first,
because I believe that 11 thru 15 will help me better communicate where we are
in the middle of current events today… Then to close we will go back to verses
40 thru 42…
So; in verses
32 and 33, Jesus is telling us the fact of life from a Spiritual
perspective. PLEASE forgive the
paraphrasing of the Truth – NO Disrespect is intended in any fashion, but, I
think Jesus is saying here in my words “look, you hold me up and defend me to
the world, I will in turn hold you up and defend you before my Father as
Mine. You deny me, or tear me down
before the world, and on that Last Day, I will deny you, and you will stand
before My Father on your own”. (these
were my words to explain this concept from today’s perspective - & not a
quote from scripture) This is not referring to the situational
circumstance that Peter found himself in on the night they arrested Jesus. I believe this is a person calling themselves
a Christian, but is embarrassed to claim or defend the Name of Christ to the
world. This person really has no true
desire for Holiness, Righteousness or an Obedient Spiritual Relationship with
Christ.
He then
expounds on that premise of Who WE are in Christ, His Purpose in coming here
and how that will impact us His followers, His Bride – literally His Disciples
in the world then and today. First off –
he told us in no uncertain terms in verse 34 of just why he came…
He did NOT come
to bring peace in this first appearance and ministry on the earth –
PERIOD… He came with a sword, to
rightfully divide the wheat from the chaff, the hearts wanting righteousness
and moral rule over those that were wicked and wanted all the things the world
and its lusts had to offer. He came to
shed light on the darkness of evil and put an end to its dominion over
man. To that point He said that His
TRUTH would divide homes. Father against
Son, Mother against Daughter, and so on, to the point that a Righteous Man’s
enemies would / could be the very members of his own home.
Jesus went even
further to say, in my words. “If you
love your child (son or daughter) more than me – you are not mine. If you love your spouse or parents more than
me, you are not mine and are undeserving of me” (or the gift that He brought
with Him)… In fact, if you are truly
His, you will pick up your Spiritual Cross (that may manifest itself in many
ways in this world today), and follow Him, His Purpose, His Truth and His
Gospel – sharing with everyone and anyone HE places on your path…. He also said, in my words for today - if you
find your life and are enjoying it with no resistance from the world, then; you
will surely lose your life in the end, because your pleasures are of this world
and NOT His Kingdom to come. These are
qualifying statements for those that say that they wish to follow Christ. Words that we as Christians must use to audit
our walk, service and ministry on a frequent basis, to hold ourselves
accountable to Christ, our Spouses, the Church (brothers and sisters in Christ)
so that our walk, our testimony reflects the Love and Purpose here in the
world.
We are to
plainly present the Gospel to all the world (or at least our little corner)
when called to do so. We are to
represent the Love and Compassion of Christ for & to the Lost. We are to Love the Brethren better than we
Love ourselves. We are to defend the
Name of Jesus and the Sovereignty of our God to the Last Day. Finally we are to serve one another and treat
each other as we expect to be treated.
SERVICE – That’s right, roll your shirts sleeves up and wash some feet –
all of us called by the name of our Lord & King.
We Are HIS
Eyes, HIS Ears, His Voice, His Feet and His Hands… We are the body of Christ – HIS Church here
to do HIS Bidding and HIS Will – not our own.
Defending the HOLY NAME of our GOD with the tools and weapons HE gave us
– all Defensive weapons are the Armor of God – but one; the Sword of TRUTH –
HIS HOLY & MIGHTY WORD…
Back to our
text; verses 10 thru 15; Jesus was telling His disciples what to look for when
setting out in ministry to others. To
those with Welcoming and Thankful Hearts; offer and let your Greeting, Blessing
and Peace… (remember this – I will point
back to it later) He also offered stern
counsel and warning for those that did NOT offer a welcome or thankful heart… Jesus said, to those that will NOT, “If anyone will not
welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and
Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment than for that town”.
Did you get
that??? Shake off the dust of the
wretched home (town, community, county, state or nation), for their Judgment
from this age of Grace will be worse than that of Sodom & Gomorrah in the
age of the LAW…
Now to try to
bring this to a practical tie to today’s current events and how and what we as
Christ’s Disciple’s in 2019 are supposed to do… Our Nation’s Moral compass is BROKEN… (I personally believe it’s because) For the
last 3 generations, Christian Churches & Christian Leaders corporately in
this country fell asleep while they were to be awake and praying. We allowed the liberal leadership of this
nation take Prayer out of our schools.
We allowed the liberal leadership of this nation take the Bible out of
our schools and public forums and court rooms.
We allowed the liberal leadership of this nation remove the 10
Commandments from our public buildings. We
allowed the liberal leadership of this nation tell us that Human Life does NOT
begin until birth – thusly legalizing the murder of millions of unborn children
in the name of Procreative CHOICE…
Folks – God will
hold the entire nation accountable for the error of the few in power!!! We Christians are a part of this Nation for a
Purpose…. Jesus told His disciples back
then and it applies to us today that we are to pick up the cross and carry it… Salvation is a FREE Gift of God – Thru HIS
Obedient Son’s Death, Burial and Resurrection…
BUT – LOVE, MERCY, GRACE & FAITH have a terribly high cost, it cost
the Heavenly Father & Son 33 years of separation, HIS Son dying on that old
Cross, and having to turn HIS back on HIS Son’s heavy burden of the SIN of the
world.
The cost to us,
is whatever it takes to present The Gospel to the lost placed on our path… Speaking up as individual Christians, a
Church, a Believing Community, a Spiritually Convicted State, or a GOD FEARING
Nation, for the helpless and down trodden.
Your Hearts should tremble and
quake in the presence of the sin in this world, with a burden for the lost that
are still bond slaves to that sin & its master the Devil… Sin should be repulsive and stinging to your
Heart. If you only confess to escape the
penalty of SIN, you REALLY don’t get it, and need someone to help you with
basic Theology of who we are in the presence of an Almighty Righteous GOD…
The current
news of now legalizing the murder of our unborn up to just seconds before
birth, and in some cases as birth is actually occurring – should make our
Hearts scream for the injustice to the unprotected. News of the liberal side (Pelosi & Schumer)
of our national and state leadership is pushing legislation to remove ALL
references to GOD from our Federal buildings, money and sanctioned public forums
– should have us Righteously Angry and reared up to speak… TRILLIONS of dollars
of debt, and NO PLAN to pay it down – should both scare us, and alarm us to the
falling away from all Biblical and Godly principles of Stewardship.
We are to Stand
for God just as the early Christians did, even to the death as they were fed to
lions and used in the coliseums as horrid & grotesque murderous entertainment. Let us NOT forget how our Christian Brothers
and Sisters of the past were persecuted for their faith, and it was perfectly
legal. Let us NOT forget how the citizens
of Germany fell into a political and civil love affair with Hitler, and as a
nation allowed his barbaric genocide be carried out for years killing millions
of Jews and other Faiths.
Folks WAKE
UP!!! Can’t you see that is exactly
where we are being carried today!!!
LOOK – LISTEN!!!
Your Spiritual
ears should hear the screams of those babies being murdered, your Hearts should
ache for the Jews killed for simply believing in GOD… Where is their voice??? CHRIST’s Church is to be that voice – no matter
what it costs…
Dear God in
Heaven – can we NOT see today’s events, today’s news, today’s actions are
HISTORY repeating itself all in the name of “Progression and Civil Advancement”…
We are NOT only
Heart Centered Beings as Christians – He gave us a brain to tie to that Heart
so that when we see Flames – we can "SCREAM - - - - - - - - - - - F I R E"!!! Hell’s
demons are among us; why are we not PRAYING to God for Holy Intervention and
with a corporate loud voice as the Body of Christ alerting our politicians of
our disapproval of the graveness in their judgment and the error of their ways…
Now to close
with verses 40 thru 42:
40 “Anyone who
welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who
sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet
as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous
person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if
anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my
disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Jesus told
HIS disciples that anyone – that welcomes them, welcomes HIM. If they welcome HIM, then they welcome HE who
sent HIM… They welcome God… HE also told them that those that welcome a
prophet / minister / evangelist / disciple – well; they will receive a prophet’s
reward, and the same to those that welcome the righteous as righteous or
Holy. Then HE went on to say, to those
that would offer one of HIS little one (HIS disciples) – that as Jesus He tells
you that person will certainly not lose their reward…
Therefore;
Family, Brothers & Sisters in Christ, for as much as you do onto these
little ones, is just the same as doing onto Jesus Himself or HIS
disciples. Thusly, if you pour your
Hearts out to help the Brethren Jesus is watching and keeping score,
conversely, if you lash out, attack, hinder or cause them to stumble – you had
best repent, or you will be held accountable…
These days
there is so much going on in this world and this American culture that you must
constantly be vigilant not to give Satan a foot hold, and you must be
discerning to the True Followers of Christ and help them with their walk when
they reach out. LOVE Your Brother –
better than you Love yourself.
SPEAK UP
& STAND STRONG for that which is Holy, Righteous, Ordained by God and
Morally Straight… Defend the Name of God
/ Christ no matter the cost, and consider it your Cross for that day…
God Bless
& Keep Praying – these are the last hours of the last days….
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