Thursday
Evening Bible Study
November 16, 2006
Matthew 10
Jesus had been ministering to greater and greater crowds. At one point early in His ministry, He said,
(Mat 9:37-38
NKJV) …"The harvest truly is plentiful,
but the laborers are few. {38} "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into His harvest."
Jesus then spent the entire next night doing exactly that – praying.
The next morning He picked out twelve men from the group that had been
following Him, gave them authority to perform miracles, and gave them
instructions before sending them out on their own for a short term mission
trip. We’re in the middle of His
instructions to these twelve.
He’s already instructed them to speak only to Jews on this trip.
He’s prepared them to live by faith, to trust God to provide on this trip.
He’s taught them to give a blessing of peace to those who welcome them.
:16-25 Expect Difficulty
:16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore
be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
:17 "But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and
scourge you in their synagogues.
Lesson
Expect Difficulty
Serving God is not about staying in fancy hotels and having people pat you
on the back.
Serving God may require sacrifice. It may require opposition. It may
require sacrifice.
I think that sometimes we do people a disservice in giving the impression
that becoming a Christian is all about “having your needs met”. We make Jesus
out to be the ultimate psychologist, the ultimate doctor, the ultimate welfare
director.
Please don’t misunderstand me – Jesus came to save us and
help us. But following Him is more like signing up with the Marines and being
sent to Iraq
than it is winning the lottery and taking a cruise to Mexico.
Illustration
A lonely frog telephoned the Psychic Hotline and asked
what his future holds. His Personal Psychic Advisor tells him, “You are going
to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you.” The
frog is thrilled, “This is great! Will I meet her at a party?” he croaks. “No,”
says the psychic, “in biology class.”
Expect trouble as a Christian. It’s
what’s up ahead of us.
(2 Tim 3:12 NKJV)
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer
persecution.
:18 "You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a
testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
Paul stood before governors and kings.
:19 "But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you
should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;
:20 "for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who
speaks in you.
I’ve heard pastors use this as an excuse not to prepare for their message
on Sunday.
The context here is about going out in the world, facing persecution, and
God giving you a message to reply.
There is also a principle to learn to rely on the Holy Spirit no matter
where you are.
:21 "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his
child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to
death.
:22 "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who
endures to the end will be saved.
If you are in need of people “liking” you, then you’re going to have a
tough time as a Christian.
:23 "When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For
assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.
:24 "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his
master.
:25 "It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a
servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub,
how much more will they call those of his household!
Beelzebub – another name for Satan. It is a parody on the name of a Philistine
god, Baal-zebub, which meant “lord of the fly”
Jesus was ridiculed. Don’t be surprised when you are too.
:26-31 Fear God
:26 "Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that
will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
You may think that other people aren’t getting caught and that they get
away with hurting others, but it ain’t so.
:27 "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you
hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
Lesson
A message from God
Jesus has things for us to say.
We need to learn to receive from the Lord and then share what He teaches
us.
This is part of the prophet Ezekiel’s call:
(Ezek 3:1 NLT) The voice said to me, "Son of
man, eat what I am giving you--eat this scroll! Then go and give its message to
the people of Israel."
“Eating the scroll” is taking what God gives to you. And
then turning around and sharing it with others.
God desires to teach each of us. It is important that we cultivate a time
of study and prayer each day – letting God teach us and lead us.
There’s a phrase found in the book of Jeremiah that speaks of how God spoke
to the various prophets sent to Israel:
(Jer 7:25 NKJV) "Since the day that your fathers came
out of the land of Egypt
until this day, I have even sent to you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them.
(Jer 11:7 NKJV)
'For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out
of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising
early and exhorting, saying, "Obey My voice."
(Jer 25:3 NKJV)
"From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah,
even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the LORD
has come to me; and I have spoken to
you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened.
(Jer 25:4 NKJV)
"And the LORD has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you
have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.
The phrase “rising early” is found 11 times in the book of
Jeremiah. In my mind it works like this
– the men who spoke from God got up early in the morning to hear from God. And when God spoke to them, they turned
around and spoke to the people.
I’m not sure I’d use the phrase “message from God” too
lightly. I’ve seen people abuse this by
trying to get people to do things for them by saying that “God told me to tell
you…”
But on the other hand, I still think God wants to speak to
us. God wants to give us direction. And from time to time God will give us something
to say to someone. And I’d say, “I’ve
been praying for you and I feel like I need to say something to you…”
We need to cultivate the discipline of spending time with God.
:28 "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
People can kill your body, but they can’t touch your soul.
God is the one we should fear.
We should be more afraid of what God thinks than what people think.
At the end of the day, the people in front of you aren’t going to determine
where you spend eternity. God is.
:29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them
falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.
:30 "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
:31 "Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
You are precious to God. If God is
concerned about sparrows, He’s certainly concerned about you.
God knows exactly what is happening to you.
:32-33 Publicly follow Him
:32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also
confess before My Father who is in heaven.
:33 "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My
Father who is in heaven.
Jesus calls His followers to follow Him openly.
:34-39 Jesus brings division
:34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come
to bring peace but a sword.
When Jesus comes into your life – there will a division that occurs with
other people.
This doesn’t mean that we’re supposed to be obnoxious and provoke trouble
with people.
But most of the world isn’t going to applaud you for following Jesus.
:35 "For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter
against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law';
:36 "and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'
:37 "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
Jesus isn’t against families.
But His heart is that we value Him more than we value our family.
When a family member tells us to stop going to church and being a
Christian, we choose Jesus.
:38 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not
worthy of Me.
What is my “cross”?
A cross was a means of punishment.
Today we might say, “I take up my gas chamber and follow Jesus…”
I think the context speaks of the difficulties we will face as we follow
Jesus Christ.
We must learn to accept the difficulties that accompany being a Christian.
:39 "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for
My sake will find it.
Lesson
Saving your life
If you want to live for yourself, you will lose your life in hell.
If you give up your life to follow Jesus, then you will find eternal life.
Illustration
An older couple is lying in bed one morning, having just awakened from a
good night’s sleep. He takes her hand and she responds, “Don’t touch me.” “Why
not?” he asks. She answers back, “Because I’m dead.” The husband says, “What
are you talking about? We’re both lying here in bed together and talking to one
another.” She says, “No, I’m definitely dead.” He insists, “You’re not dead.
What in the world makes you think you’re dead?” “Because I woke up this morning
and nothing hurts.”
There’s a truth there – when we learn to “die to our self”, the things of
the world don’t hurt as much. Lose your life for Jesus.
:40 "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives
Him who sent Me.
:41 "He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive
a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a
righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
:42 "And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold
water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means
lose his reward."
Remember that the disciples are being sent out on a short mission trip to
tell people about Jesus.
If someone takes one of the disciples into their house, then when it comes
time to get rewards when Jesus returns, those people will receive a reward
equal to what the disciple receives.
In other words, there are BIG BONUSES for those who support the work of
God.
Jesus mentions three groups of people being helped: Prophets, righteous
men, and little ones.
There’s a progression here. Those
that help a “prophet” receives the same reward as the prophet. But even those who help a “little one” will
receive a reward as well.
Who are the “little ones”? The
“little ones” are the disciples that Jesus is sending. Kind of pops the bubble
doesn’t it?
Don’t think of yourself any more than you ought. It’s okay to be a “little
one”.
Matthew 11
:1-6 John’s struggle of faith
:1 Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve
disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
Does this mean that Jesus assigned “cities” to each disciple? And after sending them out, He goes to their
“cities”?
:2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two
of his disciples
:3 and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for
another?"
The purpose of John’s ministry was about getting Israel
ready for their Savior, their Messiah.
When Jesus first showed up to be baptized by John, John made a statement:
(John 1:36 NKJV)
And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of
God!"
It seemed clear to John that Jesus was the Messiah.
After that point, Jesus’ ministry began to grow and grow.
Even before John the Baptist had been arrested, the ministry of Jesus had
already outgrown John’s (John 3:21-36).
And during that time, John still seemed to understand who Jesus was.
(John 3:29 NKJV)
"He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the
bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the
bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
But things changed. John got into
trouble with King Herod by preaching against the sins of the king. Herod had John arrested.
And it sounds as if John is beginning to wonder if Jesus was the real
Messiah or not.
Perhaps John expected Jesus to perform a miracle and have John released. Perhaps it didn’t make sense to John for him
to be in prison when Jesus was on his side.
Lesson
Trials and dark days
Keep in mind that Jesus doesn’t rebuke John for his lack of faith.
Part of a believer’s life will be those dark days when we go through
difficult times.
Job didn’t understand why his world had fallen apart.
David went through great darkness as his own king turned against him.
Elijah ran from Jezebel and hid in a cave.
Jeremiah despaired for his life when he was arrested and thrown into the
muddy pit.
The life of faith is about learning to trust God in all things, especially
through the dark times.
(Heb 11:13-16 NKJV) These
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar
off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. {14} For those who say such things declare plainly
that they seek a homeland. {15} And truly if they had called to mind that
country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to
return. {16} But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city
for them.
We too are going to go through times when life doesn’t make sense. We have to keep our eyes set ahead, set on
Jesus.
(2 Cor 4:16-18 NKJV)
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is
perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. {17} For our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory, {18} while we do not look at the things which are
seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are
temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
:4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which
you hear and see:
:5 "The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the
deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to
them.
Jesus is alluding to the Old Testament description of the coming Messiah:
(Isa 29:18-19 KJV) And in
that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind
shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. {19} The meek also shall
increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the
Holy One of Israel.
(Isa 35:5-6 KJV) Then the
eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
{6} Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing:
for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
(Isa 61:1-3 KJV) The spirit
of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that
are bound; {2} To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of
vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; {3} To appoint unto them that
mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called
trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Lesson
Trust the Word
There are going to be times when we, like John, find ourselves in a prison
of despair.
We need to cling to the promises of God.
Jesus taught His disciples how to survive the storms of life:
(Mat 7:24-27 KJV) Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto
a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: {25} And the rain descended, and
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not:
for it was founded upon a rock. {26} And every one that heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand: {27} And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall
of it.
We survive the storms of life by hearing the Word and
doing it.
:6 "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
This is the message to John – don’t give up believing in Jesus.
:7-19 Jesus teaches about John
:7 As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John:
"What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the
wind?
John was not some flimsy guy who bent with every new whim and trend.
:8 "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments?
Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
John wasn’t a well-dressed, wealthy healthy guy. He was dressed in camel-hair garments and ate
bugs.
:9 "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and
more than a prophet.
:10 "For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My
messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.'
Jesus is quoting from the last book of the Old Testament:
(Mal 3:1 KJV) Behold, I will
send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom
ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
There is also a hint of another prophecy of Malachi here as well:
(Mal 4:5 NKJV) Behold, I
will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful
day of the LORD.
John had a special place in the plan of God. John’s purpose was to get people ready for
the Messiah.
:11 "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not
risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of
heaven is greater than he.
John was tops as far as men on the earth.
But in heaven, things are different.
Even the least of those in heaven is better than the best of men on
earth.
:12 "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of
heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
suffer violence – biazo –
to use force, to apply force; inflict violence on
There are two possible ideas here:
One idea:
There have been many who have attacked God’s plans on earth. And in John’s day, John was an example as he
sat in prison (“suffers violence”).
There would be those such as the Pharisees who would want to highjack
the plans of God to force them into their own mold (“the violent take it by
force”)
Another idea:
It’s not “violence”, but “force”. The
kingdom is open to those who will seize it.
It is available for men who will press in and seek God’s face.
:13 "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
:14 "And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to
come.
The messages of all the prophets and that of John the Baptist were about
the coming Messiah, Jesus.
If you will receive the truth of the message about Jesus being the Messiah,
then John fulfills the role of the prophet Elijah (Mal. 4:5), who would prepare
the people for the Lord’s coming.
:15 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
:16 "But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children
sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions,
:17 "and saying: 'We played the flute for you, And you did not dance;
We mourned to you, And you did not lament.'
The people of Jesus’ day were acting like children. Children want you to play their game. They want things done their way.
:18 "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has
a demon.'
John was condemned by the people because he practices fasting.
:19 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a
glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom
is justified by her children."
Jesus was condemned by the people because He didn’t fast.
Lesson
Pleasing people
You can’t please everyone.
If you go through life trying to please people, you’ll be a mess.
Illustration
An old fable that has been passed down for generations tells about an
elderly man who was traveling with a boy and a donkey. As they walked through a
village, the man was leading the donkey and the boy was walking behind. The townspeople said the old man was a fool
for not riding, so to please them he climbed up on the animal’s back. When they
came to the next village, the people said the old man was cruel to let the
child walk while he enjoyed the ride.
So, to please them, he got off and set the boy on the animal’s back and
continued on his way. In the third
village, people accused the child of being lazy for making the old man walk,
and the suggestion was made that they both ride. So the man climbed on and they set off
again. In the fourth village, the
townspeople were indignant at the cruelty to the donkey because he was made to
carry two people. The frustrated man was
last seen carrying the donkey down the road.
The moral of the story: We can’t
please everybody, and if we try we end up carrying a heavy burden.
It is better that we learn to please God.
Learn what God wants. Do what God
wants. One of the great added benefits
of obedience to God is answered prayer.
(1 John 3:22 NKJV)
And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His
commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
At first glance this verse can sound a little legalistic –
you won’t get your prayers answered unless you live a perfect life. But R.A. Torrey has a great comment about
this verse:
“If we give a
listening ear to all God’s commands to us, He will give a listening ear to all
our petitions to Him. If, on the other
hand, we turn a deaf ear to His precepts, He will be likely to turn a deaf ear
to our prayers.” (“How to Pray”, R.A. Torrey, pg.32)
It’s all about developing relationship.
I can expect God to reciprocate when I’m seriously paying
attention to Him. He will pay attention
to me.