 We're in Matthew chapter 10. We're gonna be looking at verses 24 through 33 as we continue our verse by verse study here in the gospel of Matthew. And what we're looking at here in chapter 10 pertains to Jesus commissioning his disciples to go out. He's sending them out and he gave them some instructions as they're about to go out. As I've been mentioning to you as you've been with us, those of you who've been with us, he's giving instructions that pertain to what will take place in their present, but it also is what is called a panoramic view of the history of the church up to a second coming. And so he's giving to them marching orders, but also speaking to those in future generations. And so as we look at this, we're gonna continue seeing that the Lord is sending out his disciples and the things that they can expect as they go out into the world preaching the gospel. So beginning at verse 24, Matthew chapter 10, reading to verse 33. Jesus says, a disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. If they've called the master of the house of Elzebub, how much more will they call those of his household? And therefore do not fear them, for there's nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in the air, preach on the house tops. Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who's able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? Not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore your of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my father who's in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my father who is in heaven. So we've been seeing that Jesus is preparing his disciples. They are being prepared for what has been referred to as the work of ministry. We've seen that he's given them spiritual power. He's given to them a mission field. He's given to them an encouragement to have proper motives. He's given them a message. He's given to them a methodology. He's been sending them out and he's preparing them to go out. And so as he's been preparing them to go out to do the work of ministry, he is also instructing them concerning the inevitable consequences of preaching his message. So what he's preparing them for is the inevitable persecution, the inevitable rejection that will result. We all know that not everyone thinks that the message of the gospel is to be received. And some of those who hear the message of the gospel, Jesus is saying, will reject it and sometimes will do so even with anger. So the rejection of the message of the gospel produces persecution of believers. When we read concerning the word persecute, we use that word often, what the word means is to drive away. When someone is persecuted they are driven away. It speaks of pursuing someone in a hostile manner to mistreat somebody or to trouble somebody. And so Jesus is saying that these people, that includes all of us in this room who are believers are going to suffer persecution. That is one of the promises that many of us in our gospel promise boxes that we have where you go for your verse of the day and you read it and you say, oh, you know, you're going to be the head and not the tail. Praise the Lord, oh, thank you, Jesus. Well, that's not one of those verses you want to pull out of your promise box. You shall be hated by all men for my name's sake. That's not one, you look at that and you say to yourself, that can't possibly be a promise for me. I must have taken my wife's promise of the day. I'll give it to her later on. Persecution isn't something that we necessarily desire, but the fact is the gospel message isn't always going to find receptive hearers. Some will respond to that message and some of you have experienced that with anger. In John chapter three, verses 19 and 20, Jesus said, this is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but men love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. People don't necessarily want to hear the truth as a matter of fact in the Old Testament book of Amos chapter five, verse 10, it says they hate him who reproves in the gate. They abhor him who speaks the truth. And so people aren't always responsive to the truth. And very often what happens as they go out to proclaim the gospel is there are those who reject them. So Jesus made it clear that persecution was to be expected and believers are to be prepared for it. Now, the origin of persecution is spiritual because people are rejecting spiritual truth. You see today there are voices that continue to reject Christ and mock and insult believers. There's a well-known atheist, Alistair Crowley. And Alistair Crowley said one would go mad if one took the Bible seriously. But to take it seriously, one must be already mad. And so there's this antagonism for the Bible. There's an antagonism for Jesus Christ. There's an antagonism to those who have proclaimed this message of salvation through Christ. The origin of that antagonism is spiritual. Paul in 2 Corinthians four, verse four said it like this. He said, the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who's the image of God. And that's a fact. Some of you have taken the word of God seriously and when you see that Jesus says take this and share it with others, you do that. Not everybody does. There are a lot of closet Christians, a lot of chameleon believers, try and blend in with their surroundings, don't wanna stand out as being odd or different, don't wanna be rejected by the world and thus they remain silent. But there are others who are willing to trust God as a word to take the word because you actually believe that what Jesus said is true and when Jesus later on says don't fear him who can kill the body and after that has no power. If you wanna fear anybody, fear the one who has the power to kill body and throw you into hell. If you're gonna fear anybody, fear him. We'll see that in just a moment but some people go out and proclaim the gospel. They receive rejection. Other people don't want to because they're more concerned for other things. And then there are those who as they are sharing begin to try and argue people into the kingdom of God and you have to understand you can't argue somebody into the kingdom. You cannot win an argument just through argumentation. You can't win them to Christ just by trying to persuade and argue them without the power of the Holy Spirit because it requires the power of the Holy Spirit to convict an unbeliever of sin, righteousness and judgment because they are spiritually blind. And so you've spoken, I've spoken to people where I've given them scripture and I've said this is what it says and they immediately will reject that because they have made up their mind that they're gonna believe something other than that. Well, it's a spiritual battle and they are spiritually blinded. So Jesus knew that his followers would be persecuted and because he knows that he prepares them for it. And he also made it very clear and we should say this quickly that believers are not to take it personally because the world in reality is not just rejecting us alone. The world in reality, Jesus said, is rejecting him. In John 15, 18 through 21 it says, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name's sake because they do not know him who sent me. And so the Lord is preparing them for rejection. As we saw last time, this persecution rejection will come from religion. It'll come from the government, from the family and ultimately from society in general. The thought of being persecuted for our faith is discomforting and even frightening. We read of the persecution that occurs worldwide, we want to avoid it. But that's not possible, especially if we are living for the Lord. 2 Timothy 312, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. And so as we read through chapter 10 and as we look through the things that the Lord is preparing disciples for, we can be tempted to exempt ourselves, exclude ourselves from this teaching. But the fact is Jesus never presented being a disciple as an easy path. We're called to be like him. And he's the one who endured rejection and he's the one who endured pain. In 1 Peter 2, 20 and 21, it says, how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. So this passage contains a crucial teaching concerning being a disciple. And Jesus intends to give men insight into their task. Their task is to produce disciples. The production of disciples is what the church is intended to do into the future. I want you to notice something here in this passage. Jesus doesn't minimize nor does he reduce the demands of being his disciple. In doing so, he would more than likely have gotten many to profess faith in him. If you'd have given them the path of easy believism, there would have been a number of people doing that. They'd have followed him. But instead, he declares to them that following him actually is costly. You need to weigh the cost, count the cost. Christianity isn't an easy way of life. I had a guy I used to work with and we were speaking together and he knew I was a Christian. I had shared the gospel with them. This is before I was pastoring this church many years ago now. And I was speaking to him about the Lord and all. And I did so on occasion. His name was Gus and he and I would speak and I would share some things about the Lord and how he needed to come to faith in Christ. And then finally, one day at work, he said to me, well, yeah, you're a Christian, you chose the easy way. But Jesus never taught that being a Christian is the easy way. Jesus said it's a difficult way. In Matthew 16, verses 24 and 25, Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, follow me, for whoever desires to save his life will lose it. Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. So he's calling his disciples to a complete commitment to himself. He is not calling and never has called people into a part-time walk with him. He never called simply for decisions. He called for complete discipleship, complete faith in him. So as we look at this, notice with me in verse 24, how he says, a disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. If I'm gonna be a disciple of Christ, there is the element of humility that is required. Jesus begins by reminding his disciples of the relationship with him as disciples. And he says, a disciple is not above his teacher. A learner or a pupil is not over or beyond or more than his teacher. A disciple, he is saying, is beneath his teacher, beneath the teacher in knowledge and beneath the teacher in experience. Now I realize, of course, that today we have Google geniuses who are able to be experts on pretty much anything that they desire to Google. And you have conversations with them every once in a while. Well they say, while I was reading this article, I saw this feed or whatever. And they've got all this information and now they are experts. They've never gone to school. They'd never studied in any depth, never read books about it, but they did read an article once. And so they are now people, they slept in that motel and they wake up very brilliant. That's kinda how it is today. If you're gonna be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, it requires humility. It requires for us to understand who he is and who we are in comparison. That's really basic and it's very simple, but that's how it begins. You need to understand that you're beneath the teacher and knowledge and beneath the teacher and experience. What he's saying here is really simple, is you're not my teachers, I am yours. It's kinda like in a parental relationship when my children were younger, not necessarily small, they were old enough to understand the point I was making. It's kinda like in a parental relationship when my kids were in their teens and they were giving me a problem and we were having what we would call a conversation. Well in fact it wasn't a conversation, I'd be having a teaching moment with them if you would. And I would say to them something. And then if they began to speak back, I can still remember on occasions I would say, no, wait a minute, please don't be mistaken. I don't want you to make a mistake and they'd look at me and I'd say, I don't want you to make a mistake at this moment. We're not having a conversation. What we have is dad speaking and you listening. That's what we're having right now. We're not discussing this. You're not gonna present your point. You're the child, I'm the father. The father speaking, the child listens. And in a parental relationship, very often we would have those conversations when they did something and they're trying to make their point. I was respectful and I'd listened at certain times but there were times when they were just so flat out wrong that there's no conversation involved. And you need to understand your relationship with me and I can still remember when one of them was growing up and they got a little smart. I said, listen, you can speak perhaps to your children, your friends like that but you're not gonna speak to your father like that. You have to understand a relationship here. I am your father and I'm speaking to you as your father. I have experience that you don't have and you need to listen because as you listen, you can be instructed and that was the conversations we would have. My daughter Anna would tell you if you asked her. She said, I never spanked her in her life. I never spanked Anna one time in her life. She said, I wish, she told me this a while back, that I wish you would have, the lectures killed me. I said, I know, that's the reason I did that. And she was hard headed. She would listen for an hour and she would just sit there and I would say, you think you're gonna walk out? You're not walking out until the point is made. She would sit there and finally she said, okay, dad, I get it. I take an offering, go into a second service. I mean, it was wonderful. But do you understand what I'm trying to say? I'm not trying to be hard. What I'm trying to say is this, that the Lord says, look at, I'm dad, you're the child. Do you get it? If you get it, I can lead you. If you don't get it, you're gonna try and lead me. It ain't gonna work. Because you don't lead the Lord. God didn't call you up this morning and ask you how to run the world today, did he? And if he did, well, we'll talk to you afterwards. He needs some help. The bottom line is, Jesus is simply saying, and guys, I'm telling you, this is so important. I don't know how to say it without saying it just like this. It is so important. I am the learner, he is the master. If you understand that, you can grow. If you don't understand that, you will fight God the rest of your life. He's the master. You are the servant. If we get that, we can be used by God. If we don't get that, we won't be. Because we're gonna tell him how to run his universe and that's why Jesus said, a servant is not above his master. A disciple is not above his teacher. The teacher is the one who instructs because he has knowledge and he has wisdom and experience. The learner goes to the teacher to learn. So you go and you buy your gi because you're gonna become a Brazilian black belt in jujitsu and you go walking in with your little gear, whatever uniform they give you in that particular studio and you're gonna teach the black belt how to fight, right? That's what you're gonna do. You're gonna show them. Or you're the first year student in philosophy in your university and you're gonna walk in and you're gonna teach the PhD something about philosophy because you think once in a while and he needs to know one. You read two books and you like C.S. Lewis. So you're gonna teach him, right? If you don't walk into the studio or that classroom with humility, you're gonna walk out just as ignorant as you walked in. That's what happens. I spent a lot of years in college. Sadly, this is the product of it. I'm still ignorant. You go in, if you think you know, you don't. You come out after hearing what's been said, you weigh it through with what you've learned, you balance it out, you test it by scripture, you embrace what is true, you can grow. That's how it works. And so it's real basic here, guys. A student is not above his teacher nor is a slave above the master. He's starting out with some very basic things. You are not my teachers, I am yours. You are not the master, I am. And I don't come to you for teaching and I don't come to you for direction. And Romans 11-34, the question is asked, who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been his counselor? In Job 38, verses one through three, after Job has been questioning the Lord, the Lord begins to answer Job. And it says, the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said, who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me. And so it's the Lord who speaks. You see, in our day, the way that we receive instruction is when we read and we study through the word of God. When we read the Bible, we don't look for a new or original take on scripture. We rely on what God has handed down through faithful ministers. Second Timothy, chapter two, verse two says, the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. And so we receive from the Lord through his word as we have received that which has been given to others. So we're being taught, we're pupils. He said a servant is not above his master. The word servant is the word doulos. It's a slave who has been devoted to another to the disregard of their own interest. And so he's making it clear that he's their master. They are his servants. In Luke chapter 17, verses seven through 10, Jesus said, suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to that servant when he comes in from the field, come along now and sit down to eat? Would he not rather say, prepare my supper, get yourself ready, wait on me while I eat and drink? After that, you may eat and drink. Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything, you were told to do should say, we are unworthy servants, we have only done our duty. And so I am a pupil and I am also a servant if I am a disciple. There are two basic qualities of a disciple. One, teachability, two, servanthood. And so there's a purpose in this, verse 25. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. So the purpose of a true disciple and servant of the Lord is to become like him. Now here's a question for you. What was Jesus like and what was his example that he left for us to follow? Now I'll give you a biblical answer of that in just a moment but I heard a preacher on TV say something that was so interesting I jotted it down. This is what this television preacher said. The Bible says that Jesus has left us an example that we should follow his steps. That's the reason why I drive a Rolls Royce. I'm following Jesus's steps. And so I bought one because I want to too. Just kidding. Now somebody's going down, are you guys, no I don't drive a Rolls, I drive a Bentley. Anyway, is that what he's talking about? Is that what he's talking about? I am telling you, hundreds of thousands if not in the millions listen to people say things like that and that's part of the reason people will say I don't want to be a Christian, listen to the wacky things they believe. What is a disciple? A disciple decides to follow a teacher. A disciple memorizes his words. A disciple learns the way of ministry that is taught to him by his teacher. He imitates his life as well as his character and then he goes on when he becomes a disciple himself to raise up their own disciples. So what is Jesus an example of? He says that we might be like our teacher, that we might be like our master. Well I already mentioned it, one of the examples of Christ is that he was one of sacrifice. First Peter 221 to this you were called because Christ suffered for you leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. So one is sacrifice, two is service. In John 13 verses 14 and 15, now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. In the New Testament there are only two times that Jesus is ever specifically spoken of as being our example, one is sacrifice, the other is service. And so if we're gonna be walking in his footsteps, if we're gonna be like him, if we're gonna be like our master, he's saying you will do so when you sacrifice and when you serve. Now when that happens, the call to discipleship will also include a call to rejection. So be expecting that, that happens. You see when you sincerely follow the Lord, rejection is something you will experience. So don't be surprised when you are rejected. In Luke 622 he said, blessed are you when men hate you when they exclude you and revile you and cast your name out as evil for the son of man's sake. Don't be surprised, be willing. You see in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made it clear that persecution would also be verbal. Remember in Matthew 511 how he had said, blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake? Jesus was reviled and he was falsely spoken against. The Pharisees referred to Jesus as Beelzebub. Beelzebub is another way of speaking of the Lord of the Flies. This was to the Jews of the days of the Lord Jesus Christ, another name for Satan. And that was a price that he paid. That was part of the price he paid for loving people and telling them the truth. In Isaiah 53 verse three, he was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, we esteemed him not. Don't be surprised. Now I'm not trying to, by the way, I shouldn't give you the impression that I'm trying to make you walk out thinking, oh boy, everybody's against me. I'm not saying that either. I'm not trying to teach paranoia. What I'm trying to teach you is don't be surprised. Don't be surprised when your friends who are very close to you don't want to hang around with you anymore. Don't be surprised when relatives whom you love very much, a mom, a dad, brother or a sister, an aunt, an uncle, a cousin. When those who are very close to you begin to say things to you that are hurtful or odd. I had a friend, rather a cousin who was a friend. His name was Ray, my cousin Ray. I got saved and I shared the gospel with him and Ray spoke to me and said to me, I liked you when you were the other way. You're too serious now. I liked you when you were fun. Don't be surprised when people think of you differently once you get saved than they did before. Don't be surprised if somebody rejects you. Don't be surprised if they say things to you or say things about you. And don't be surprised if you're sharing some time and somebody might even get physical. Don't be surprised about that. Jesus said it's going to happen. They responded that way to him. They will respond that way to us. So what are we to do? Well, faith and courage are required of a disciple. Notice verse 26. It says, do not fear them. There's nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known. Abuse and criticism, even danger, is a constant companion to a follower of Christ. So they needed to be encouraged to be bold in the Lord, even as we need to be encouraged to be so also. You know, I've mentioned to this church before that as a young man when I started going to college, I began going to Bible college. I went to Biola, but I spent a year in Biola and then went to other universities. I spent time in different colleges, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, other colleges, I think seven in total. And not all of those colleges were Christian. I spent time in secular school. I spent time in classes where they were not positive towards the gospel at all. I saw opportunity to share and I would take the opportunity and I would say something about the Lord. I was in a class one time, it was minority studies and there were 32 students in that class and the professor said he was going to give to us a word. Every one of you students one time will be given a word and I want you to speak in an impromptu way on that word. And so he would call you up any time, any given moment and he'd say okay, Bill, you're going to speak on strength. Oh, darling, you're going to be speaking about family. He would just give him a word and then you had to speak for a few minutes on that subject and I was seated there in a secular college. I still remember this, a young man. And finally he said, David, it's your turn, you come on up and I stood there in front of the class, secular school, and he says the word that you're going to speak on is freedom. I want you to speak on freedom. And I remember looking at him and saying to the class something like freedom. When you speak about freedom, I take a biblical perspective. The Bible says that every person is born with a sin nature and is in bondage to sin. The Bible says that those who are in bondage to sin will never have freedom until they give their hearts to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, I have come to set you free and it's the truth that sets you free. And so what every person in this room needs today is freedom from sin because Jesus Christ has come to set you free from your sin. And so, you know, I was 25 years old. You know, you look at me and you say, oh, you've been doing that a long time. Yeah, I was 25 years old. But I knew what freedom is. It comes through faith in Christ. And you have to be willing. What you do is you just trust the Lord. It is the spirit of your father who speaks at that moment. You just yield yourself to him and say, Lord, I'll stand up for you. You gave me an opportunity and you set it up. You gave me the word freedom. That's something I know about because I've been in bondage to sin all my life. And now I've been set free by the blood of Christ. You see, that's all you need to do is trust the Lord. When God gives you opportunity, open your mouth and he'll speak through you by his spirit. And you need to just stand up in faith. And you need to just stand up and say, I'm not afraid of you, I will speak the truth to you. So do not fear them. He had told them that they would be like sheep in the midst of wolves. He said that you would be tried in counsel, scourged in Jewish courts. You're gonna be betrayed by your own families. You will be rejected by society. There will be complete rejection. There will be pain. Yet do not fear those who do that to you. It's interesting how he says, do not fear three times in this passage. He says it in verse 26, verse 28 and verse 31. So the fear of men ultimately stifles your witness for Christ. In Proverbs 29, 25, fear of men will prove to be a snare. Whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. So he says, look it, if they call you names, if they mistreat you, do not fear them. Don't allow it to overwhelm you and silence you in your witness of Jesus Christ. It can be difficult to present Jesus when you're considered stupid, when you're considered foolish, when you're considered ignorant, when you're considered to be weird. The desire to be accepted is powerful. But don't allow it to overwhelm you. Don't allow that desire to be accepted to influence you to be quiet. Jesus was reviled and Jesus was rejected. It says in 1 Peter 2, 23, when he was reviled did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. He committed himself to him, he judges righteously. You see verse 26 says there's nothing covered that will not be revealed, hidden that will not be known. In the end, the world's evil will be revealed for what it truly is. Some things done are regarded as charitable today, but sin can be covered through something that appears very good. There are some very ungodly people who support well-respected causes and charities. But ultimately, the veneer will be stripped away and the heart will be revealed. What is covered and what is hidden, one day will be revealed and will be known. Psalm 4421 says, shall not God search this out? He knows the secrets of the heart. As a Christian, our perspective needs to be eternal. Our motive should be to glorify him. The world system that rejects the reign of Christ isn't gonna last forever. It's passing away. We Christians need to see beyond the present. We need to look to the future and it's glorious in Christ. There's an example we find in scripture. His name is Moses. And in Hebrews 11, 25, and 26, it says Moses chose to be mistreated along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. Moses looked ahead. He could have been potentially at least the next Pharaoh, the most powerful empire of his day. But he chose rather to be with the children of Israel in a wilderness than the rule in a palace. Because had he rejected God, his rule would have been short indeed. But his time with the Lord goes on forever. Remain faithful to the Lord, hold fast to him. Now here's something that I think is very practical in all of this, verse 27. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. Whatever I tell you in the dark, in your devotions, when it's you and the Lord in your quiet time, just you and him, as you're reading the Bible, and as you're praying, and as you're meditating on his word, he gives to you insight. In this time of quietness, in this time of solitude, by his Holy Spirit, through his word, he instructs you. So when Jesus speaks concerning what you hear in the dark, the dark would be a metaphor for your quiet time with the Lord, your personal time with God. If you do not have personal time with the Lord, begin tomorrow to have it. Get up in the morning, spend time in prayer, open your Bible, read some scripture, meditate on it, think about it, and as you leave, consider it throughout the day. What did you share with me today? Let me tell you something, it's a guarantee. If you begin to make that a habit, you will find opportunities to share that with other people. You will find opportunities. Somebody will say something to you that will trigger what you were meditating on today. And as that happens, you'll say, you know, it's interesting how the Bible says this, I was just reading it today. And so Jesus said, what you hear in the darkness, in the ear, speak, and make it open, share with other people, whatever you hear in the ear. One commentator said during the New Testament times, rabbis often would teach the students to share by standing next to them, whispering in their ears. What the rabbi spoke, the student repeated, thus producing confidence within the student. So believers are not to be constantly silent, we're to be open, we're to be evangelistic. Listen, part of the reason that we're seeing here in the United States, the kinds of things that we're seeing is the church has been silent too long. We were called by God to be salt and light. We're supposed to be expressing the things he gives to us. And instead of obeying the Lord by sharing the gospel, we became silent. And so our voices have been muted while the enemy's voice has been amplified. And people don't know real Christians. You know, if you listen to and talk to somebody and all and ask them, what is a Christian? Very often their idea of a Christian is almost cartoonish because they really don't know that they know any. And they'll tell you that. And sometimes they come up with the weirdest things about what Christians are. Normally it's what Christians don't do or how useless they are because they really don't know any. And that's one of the reasons why it's important to not only share that you're a Christian, but to live as one before them. When I was a college student going to college classes and all, when I was given opportunity, the first time I would be given opportunity in the class, I would say my name is David because they'd have us introduce ourselves very often. I'd say I'm David, I'm a Christian, I love the Lord Jesus Christ. And I would make that statement immediately. That way I had something to live up to the rest of the class. I would have already made that statement. Now I'll live up to the statement. I didn't hide it under a basket. I was open. This is who I am. This is what I believe. This is what the Lord has taught me. And again, I was a new believer. I was two and a half years old, three years old in college classes in Christ. I didn't really know anything. I knew once I was lost, now I'm found. Once I was blind, now I see. Once I was deaf, now I can hear. I knew those things. But I didn't know the word very well yet. I was just learning. I began teaching the Bible for a reason. I wanted to actually learn what the word of God has to say. You ought to do the same kinds of things. Get up in the morning, read the word of God. When he whispers in your ear, then share with somebody else. When you meditate on it, when you pray about it. Listen, care about your family. Care about your neighbors. Care about the people you work with. Care about the fellow students. Care about their souls. My sister Madeline got saved when she was 16 years old. And I went into the military. I got out. She had graduated from high school and she and I were speaking on one occasion. She was now 18 years old. And as we were speaking together, she said to me something I've never forgotten. She said to me, she said, all those people that I went to high school with that I could have shared the love of Christ with. She said, I failed to do it David because I wanted to be accepted and I wanted to be cool. She says that I'll never see them again and I'll never have opportunity to share with them what Jesus could have done in their life. She says, I am so broken and so sad because I kept my mouth shut when I should have opened it. And so we need to open our mouth. And God will fill it with his wisdom if we're in the word of God. What he whispers to us in the dark and into our ear, share it with other people. He goes on and I'm gonna have to conclude. I should have, now I'll keep going. Verse 28. Do not fear those who kill the body and cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body and hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore you are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my father who's in heaven. Whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my father who is in heaven. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. This is the second time he says do not fear. He's saying listen you need to have eternity in view. Believers will be martyred. You should be aware that this is something that will happen. The knowledge that harm can experience, you can experience as only temporary should strengthen you. You see the fact is only God has ultimate control. Therefore he deserves our complete dedication. It's interesting how he chooses to use the word destroy. That word destroy means to put an end to. To give over to eternal misery in hell. It speaks of being to be perishing or to be lost. In 2 Thessalonians 1-7-9 it says God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels in flaming fire bringing judgment on those who don't know God and on those who refuse to obey the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished with everlasting destruction forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. There is an eternity before you. Therefore live as if you really believe it. I've had people ask me in the past how is it that you as a young believer, brand new in Christ had the nerve to speak to your father and your mother the way that you did? Because I told them, I told my dad and all of you know the story but I told my dad, you're a good man. You're the best man that'll ever know but you will be the best man in hell if you don't give your heart to Jesus Christ. And I said to him, daddy, I love you and I don't wanna go to heaven without you. Bow your head, you're gonna receive Christ as your Lord and your Savior right now. And I've shared that many times. My father's response was bowing his head but he said later on, he said, Dave, he said, you know what I felt when you said that? I said, no dad, what did you feel? He said, I felt like I wanted to get up and hit you. He said, you disrespected me in my own house. He said, so when you told me I was gonna go to hell, he said, I wanted to get up and hit you. And that was my dad, there's no doubt in my mind, you don't disrespect my father. But he said, but when you said you love me and you didn't wanna go to heaven without me, that touched my heart. One portion of context that maybe I don't say often enough or really ever, I never told my father I loved him. And my father never told me he loved me. I never said I loved you to my memory until the day I got saved. The day I got saved, December 27th, 1970, is the first time I remember in my life as beyond maybe three or four years old, maybe I said I love you, probably did. But you see, when I was about four years old, I went to give my dad a kiss good night and my dad put his hands out and put them on my chest and pushed me away. And my dad said, men don't kiss, men shake hands. My dad did not have affection towards us. My dad did not put his arm around me. My dad didn't say, son, I love you. My dad didn't show any affection. My father was not that way. He came from a different time, different cut of cloth. He came from the hard times, the depression era. That was my dad, World War II vet. Men don't show affection, men bump fists. We still do that to this day. Men don't hold, men don't cry, men don't feel, men don't do that, men are men. And that's how I was raised. And so I never told my dad I love you. My dad never said I love you to me, ever. That was not something men say to other men. You don't say that. You just show them. You work hard, you put food on the table, put shoes on their feet and clothes on their back and you remain faithful to their mother. That's how my dad showed me love. My dad never said I love you. And I never said it to him. As a matter of fact, I didn't love my father. As a matter of fact, I had gotten to hate him. I hated my father. Some of you don't know that, but that's a fact. I did not like my father. My father was mean. My father was quiet. My father just was not a nice man. So I didn't like him. I didn't want anything to do with him. I didn't show him any affection. My dad didn't say I love you to me until I was about almost 18 years old. And I had gotten in trouble and I was standing in the front yard and my dad was yelling at me about something. And as I was speaking to him, he said, you could have come and spoken to me. You could have told me what you needed help. And I looked at him and I said, how can I speak to you? How can I speak to you? I said, you and I together. I said, in the entire lifetime that we've had together, I have spoken to you maybe five times in my whole life. And now you're telling me that I can come and tell you and I've got a problem. You've got to be kidding. We had a blowout in the front yard. A blowout. You have got to be kidding. I'm going to come and tell you when I have a problem. You have got to be kidding me. And my dad cried and he grabbed me and wept on my shoulder and he said, son, I love you. And I was standing there and he's holding onto me and I'm thinking, let me go, leave me alone. I don't want you to touch me. That's how I was. That's how my life was. So I didn't say I love you. Are you kidding me? Why would I say I love you? I never did. Then I got saved. Then I came home. Then I said, mom, dad, Becky, Madeline, I love you. Praise the Lord. And that's why my mom got up and did a rosary for me. She thought I went crazy. That's a fact. That's why she did that. This kid's nuts. He's loaded on something. She told my dad, Frank, go check him. He's loaded on something. That's a fact. He said, nah, he just got religion. My dad told that to my mom. Nah, he got religion. And that leads you to three weeks later when I said, dad, I love you. He hadn't heard that. And that's why he says to me when you said I love you and you didn't want to go to heaven without me, that's why I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. I did not want my father to perish without Christ. I did not want my mother to die and go to hell. I wasn't afraid of my dad. I wasn't afraid to tell my mom, you're going to hell. I loved him. When you love him, you tell him the truth. Now, my context is different than yours. In my house, we spoke our minds. My mama was real outspoken. She had no problem telling you what she was thinking. That was my mom. I take after my mom. My dad used to say, son, why don't you shut up? I can't. I'm just not made like that. I'm just not like that. I was with my mom in a shoe store. Guy disrespected her. Big old guy disrespected my mom. My mom turns to me. I was only about seven years old. She says, wait here. She goes into the back where the guy is and he's kneeling down and getting some shoes. She doesn't see me follow her in. And she looks at him with her arms folded and she says, listen, she said this to this guy. Listen, I have a husband who's very short, but he can jump real high. My mom said that to this guy. And if you ever speak to me like that, I'll go get him and I'll show you what I mean. That was my mom. So I was raised in a home like, hey. So for me, I have never really learned to shut up. That's why when I speak to you, I'll tell you because I was raised that way. So when I go and speak to my mom and my dad, hey, this is the truth. Daddy, I love you. And I don't wanna go to heaven without you. Bow your head. You're gonna receive Christ as your lord and your savior right now. Cause this is the word of God and you need Jesus. That's how I've always been since I got saved. I wouldn't be any other way. I wanna tell people you need Jesus Christ or else you will go to hell. I didn't make that up. Jesus said it. And he says, if you want to be set free, you follow me. That's how it worked. By the way, that's not a popular message today, is it? You know, we have churches, I call them home on the range churches. I don't know if you guys ever remember the song home, home on the range, where never is heard a discouraging word. That's church. Oh, I don't wanna make you feel bad. I want you to walk out just so happy. I do too, but I want you to walk out not burdened by your sin with a joy in your heart cause you're gonna be with Christ and he's blessing your life. He's forgiven you. And that's the gospel that he's given us. He says, you go out and you preach it. They won't always receive it and they aren't gonna love you for it. Sometimes they'll even persecute you when you do it. But if you're gonna choose to fear anyone, don't choose the one who kills you alone and has no power after that. Choose to fear the one who has eternal judgment in his hand. If you choose to fear anyone, fear him. And then he goes on to tell us this. God cares about you and he wants you to realize you have value. He says to us in verse 31, do not fear therefore you are of more value than many sparrows, you have tremendous value. A sparrow is sold in the marketplace for a very cheap price, but God even knows when they hit the ground, you are of more value than that. Therefore whoever confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my father was in heaven. Whoever denies me before men, him I also will deny before my father was in heaven. Be willing to be openly identified with Jesus Christ. A false disciple will not be willing to openly admit their relationship because they are unwilling to pay the price. The Bible tells us in Romans 10, 9, and 10, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes into righteousness. With the mouth confession is made into salvation. Whoever confesses me, whoever openly identifies with me, whoever lives a life in agreement with my teaching, that's what it means to confess. It doesn't mean just getting up and walking forward at an invitation. It means to live a life in agreement with Christ. In a nation that calls itself Christian, there are not that many in reality who are openly agreeing with Christ in his teachings. There are many who profess Christ, but there are not that many who agree with Christ. And Jesus said, listen, if you deny me, I will deny you. If you confess me, I will confess you before my father. I will say this one is mine. But if you go through life, pretending to be one thing, well, God knows the secrets of the heart, those things will be exposed. So the bottom line is, when a person really knows the Lord, they go out and they live what Christ has taught. They spend time with them so that he might speak to them. Then they openly say that on rooftops, housetops. They're not afraid of people who disagree. They have the wisdom to know not to provoke them unnecessarily. But they share the gospel with other people. The good news, because they have their devotional time, they have their studies. They go to church, not just on a Sunday. They go and give an opportunity. They study the word of God. They get to know God's word. And then they share what God has given to them openly. It's not just having a bumper sticker. It's not just wearing a t-shirt that says some Christian slogan on it. It's not simply going to a church. It's not just listening to radio programs or having a Bible with your name in gold on it. It's not just wearing a cross. It's bearing a cross. And that cross is not just on my neck. That cross is burned into my heart. And it transformed the way that I live. Changed my values and gave me a willingness to stand up and be identified with Christ regardless of what people think or say. Because the only thing I want to hear one day will be well done, my good, my faithful servant. Now that's something every believer ought to desire.