The Hallmarks of Discipleship, Part 1

Matthew 10:26-31
"Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. "What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. "So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. 

What It Means To Be A Subject To The King

• He knows that men raise up other monarchs
• directs them as to the nature of their ministry through verse 23 of this chapter. But then in chapter 10 of Matthew, verse 24, we find general teaching on this whole matter of discipleship; the generalized teaching of our Lord, dealing with what it means to be a subject to the King.
• when you became a Christian, if you said nothing else, you said this, “I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Master and King, and I submit myself to His sovereignty.
• the bottom line in all discipleship, that we are to be like Him.
• The goal is to be like Christ, and there’s a price to pay for that.

Fears Not The World

• The first principle: he fears not the world.
• Verse 26, “Fear them not.” Verse 28, “Fear not them.” Verse 31, “Fear not therefore.” And from verse 26 to 31, He says, “Don’t be afraid of the world.”
• Now, if you’re afraid, and you bail out, and you’re not interested in witnessing for Christ, you’re not going to pay the price. No matter what you say, you’re probably not a Christian. Because if you love the world and you’re of the world, then you’re not of God. First John says, “If you love the world and the things that are in the world, you’re not of the Father.” And if you bail out, “They went out from us, because they were not of us.” And it was made manifest they were not of us when they left.
• three reasons not to be afraid.
• Verse 26, “Fear them not therefore, for” – or because – “there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hidden that shall not be known.”

Vindication

• It simply means this: that someday God is going to take the lid off everything and all things will be made right. Just.
• The more you stand for the right, the more the system hates you and the less you’re rewarded.  But someday it’s all going to change, and the truth will be made known.

• Your enemies cannot prevent your vindication.
• Why do you think the Bible, over and over, talks about rewards? “Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with Me to give to every man according to what his works shall be.”
• Why does He promise us these things? To give us the eternal motive so that we’re not looking at being popular, or looking at being vindicated in this life as the wise, and the noble, and the heroes of society. But rather we’re willing to confront an evil society and let God reward us in eternity.
• You’ve got to live not for the moment, when all the values are backwards, but for the future, when God unveils the reality and reveals the hypocrites and shows who the real heroes were and rewards them forever.
• Someday God’s going to look at the record of our life. God’s going to expose everything. And those who have looked like they were the winners will turn out to be the eternal losers. And the losers who’ve been persecuted for their faith are going to be the winners forever.

Veneration

• if you really worship God and fear God, then you won’t fear man. Right ? Look at verse 27. He says, “What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light; what you hear in the ear, proclaim on the housetops. And fear not them who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
• What He’s saying is don’t fear men; fear God. And if you fear God enough, and you honor God enough, and you revere God, and you venerate God enough, then you’re not going to be concerned about men.
• Whenever there’s a group that comes along like the Royal Order of the Goats or the lodge of this or that, and they say, “We have secret rites,” there are no secrets in Christianity. That’s not a Christian perspective. Nothing in Christianity smacks at all of anything secret. “What I tell you,” He says, “in the darkness, you speak in the light; and what you h ear in your ear, you shout it from the housetop.” There are no secrets.
• there was a custom in the time when our Lord was teaching this. The rabbis would train their pupils to speak and teach by standing beside them, and they would speak in their ear, and then the young man learning would speak what the rabbi told him. And so, they taught them by rote to speak. And the Lord is sort of identifying that simple technique and saying, “I’ve been training you to preach and teach and speak. And I’ve been telling you, whispering in your ear, speaking to you in the darkness. And now I’m telling you, you say it in the light.”
• Now, there’s two things here that you’re to note, and I want you to note the carefully. Number one, what I tell you in darkness, speak in light; and what you hear in the ear, proclaim. No restrictions. Whatever I tell you, whatever you hear, you say.
• you might get a little persecution. But we don’t talk about that. So, we want to guard it. We’ve got to have a few secrets, because those will scare people. But He says, “Whatever you hear, hold nothing back.”
• Second point, “Say only what you hear from Me.” Now, you know what the sum of the verse is? “You tell them what I told you; nothing less and nothing” – what? – “more.” Very simple to define the ministry, people.
• Verse 27 says, “You go in the darkness, you find that secret place, you find that place of quietness, that place where you’re alone with God, and in His Word, and you pour over the Word, and you pour over the principles of the Word, and you pour your heart out to God. And out of that secret place is born th e truth of God in your heart. And you come out of there, and you speak it.”
• the Lord says, “Make it public. You go out and you just yell it from the housetop.”
• don’t alter our message for fear of what the reaction is going to be.
• We need to shout it where it needs to be heard.
• Our message is limited. That is why it is so serious when Christians eliminate part of the message or when Christians get another message in addition to the one from God, and everybody gets confused about what our message is.
• the next verse.
• “fear not them who kill the body but are not able to kill the s oul.”
• Don’t fear men; fear God.
• That’s the issue. And He’s only using the idea of killing the body, and He compares it with destroying the soul to show that God has so much more power.
• He’s not saying that if you don’t live the right kind of Christian life, God’ll send you to hell. That isn’t the point. The point here is we are to fear the one who can determine the destiny of souls, not the ones who can only determine the destinies of bodies.
• There’s an occasion where you’re given an opportunity to communicate Christ and to witness. And you say, “If I do this, I know I’m going to get it.” Maybe it’s in your own family, and they’re going to get mad at you and kick you out of the house. A nd you say, “I don’t want to do it.” You have feared them more than you feared God.
• He’s saying, “Get your fear right. Fear the one who is really powerful
• Paul would not disobey God because He honored God, and He venerated God. That’s what the word “veneration” means: to worship. He worshipped God so much that he would never say no to God to say yes to men.
• veneration eliminates fear.
• it’s vindication. They’re looking at an eternal reward. And for another, it’s veneration. They worship God so much that it removes the fear of man.
• If you really were heavenly perspective – really had a heavenly perspective, you’d be so concerned about that ultimate vindication in God’s presence that you wouldn’t have any fear. You’d so worship God that you could care less what men might do.
  • If I told you as a young person getting prepared for life that you are going to go out into the world and sometimes you are going to fall down and skin your knee and maybe even break a bone or too; your body is going to get roughed up. Life can be like that. Would that stop you from pursuing life in the least?
• I must add that I think verse 28 also may have been directed at Judas. And there will always be, in the Church, and in the group of disciples, the phonies and the fakes. And oh what a warning this would be, to remind him that God is the one who destroys forever soul and body in hell.

Valuation

• Thirdly, finally, the third reason we need not fear is because of what I call valuation. Vindication, veneration, and valuation. Verse 31
• The smallest animal doesn’t perish without God caring.
• If God is concerned about little birds, and God is concerned about numbering and knowing the hairs of your head, “don’t be afraid” – verse 31 – “you’re of more value than many little birds”
• you’re never going to get in a situation where God can’t sustain you in that situation.
• Psalm 91 says “A thousand shall fall at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee.”
• God cares about you. Tender loving care for His own marks our God. “If God so clothed the grass of the field, if God cares for the lilies, if God cares for the birds” – Matthew 6 says – “shall He not also care for you? Oh ye of” – what? – “little faith.”
• Listen, “You’re My disciple,” He says, “you’ve crowned King – the Christ King of your life, and you’ve said, ‘I submit.’” Now you’re going to face a world, and you’re going to be like Him, and you’re going to be treated like Him. And how are you going to react to that? Are you going to be afraid? You don’t need to. Because you’ll be vindicated in the end and have an eternal reward if you have an eternal perspective. And if you really worship God, you’ll transcend the fear of men. And if you understand how highly He values you, you won’t be afraid of what they can do to you.
• Where’s your commitment?