As you all are aware, we are at war with the enemy of our souls with Satan and his minions, and the world system that he controls, ultimately, under the sovereignty of God who allows it to occur. We read in Scripture that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one and we experience that every day. As I just read a few minutes ago, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, and principalities so we need to be good soldiers of the cross. We need to be prepared; every good soldier will be prepared. And it is the great burden of my heart to make sure that I do all that I can to help prepare you for not only the battles that we are currently experiencing, but the ones that I believe will be far worse, worse that are yet to come. So, this morning, I want to speak with you about fearless discipleship. And frankly, this will be a follow up of where we were last week in Mark chapter nine, you will remember, Jesus was calling his disciples to this kind of fearless discipleship. And using the language of sacrifice required in that kind of discipleship in Mark chapter nine, and verse 50. He said, "Salt is good, but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again?" And Jesus said in Luke 14, beginning in verse 33, "None of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." In other words, if you're going to be a disciple of mine, you must be willing and ready to sacrifice everything you have to follow me. He went on to say, "Therefore salt is good, but if even salt has become tasteless with what will it be seasoned? It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." So it is the great burden of my heart that we be fearless disciples of Christ. In fact, the last book that I wrote is entitled "Warrior Preachers, A Spiritual Call to Arms in an Age of Militant Unbelief." We need to be sober, we need to be on red alert and we need to be prepared.

So for this reason, I'd like to spend the bulk of our time this morning in Matthew chapter 10, moving away from Mark. At least for this Sunday morning. Jesus called 12 ordinary men to be his apostles to send them out as sheep amongst the wolves. Don't you feel like that at times today? We're sheep amongst the wolves. And here in Matthew 10, Jesus offers some very straightforward words, describing what I would call fearless discipleship. Much needed reminder for our shallow, superficial, sentimental, evangelical culture that tends to cower in compromise. In verses 24 through 42, we see Jesus giving six characteristics of a fearless disciple. Let me give them to you and then we will elaborate upon them. Fearless discipleship: number one submits to the Lordship of Christ, secondly, fears God more than man, thirdly, publicly confessed as Christ. Fourthly, values Christ more than family, fifthly, values Christ more than life and six, values eternal, not temporal reward. And it is certainly my prayer that these virtues will be manifested in each of our lives.

I want you to notice the first characteristic of a fearless disciple that is one who submits to the Lordship of Christ. Notice what our Lord says in verse 24 of Matthew 10. "'A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household?'" Now, Jesus is reminding them again, that he is indeed their Messiah, they're their teacher, their master, and therefore, he deserves their absolute obedience, their unwavering submission. In Luke chapter six and verse 40, Jesus said, "'Everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.'" And certainly a true disciple of Christ will gradually become more like Christ, we all understand that. And in First John chapter two and verse six, we read, "The one who says he abides in Christ ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked." And I would ask you, dear Christian, is this true of you? Is this true of your life? If yes, how's your progress? Are you noticeably more like Christ today than you were two years ago? As a footnote, if you have no appetite for the Word of God, if you have no private, personal pursuit of holiness, no desire to spend time with the Lord in prayer, no burden for the lost, don't kid yourself, you know very little of what it is to be in subjection to the Lordship of Christ. The internal metamorphosis that produces Christ's likeness only comes through the renewing of your mind, as we read in Romans 12 and verse two. You will recall in the Great Commission, Jesus said that we are to "make disciples and teach them to observe all that I commanded you". Are you observing those things? Are you teaching others? First Peter two in verse two, we "are to be like newborn babes." We are to long for the pure milk of the word that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. Those who claim to be disciples of Christ yet have no desire to know what the master would have them know or do, are frankly, merely withering vines that produce no fruit. We don't want to be that way. They are soldiers that are unprepared, that are vulnerable. And if that is you, as a father or as a wife, your vulnerability will make your children even more vulnerable. In verse 24, he says, "the disciple is not above his teacher." We understand that a learner doesn't know as much as his teacher, we don't have the spiritual wisdom of Christ. And certainly those apathetic and indifferent toward the Word of God, insult their teacher, right? Yeah, what he teaches is boring, unimportant, I have all that I need to know, you really have nothing to teach me, I'm good. Verse 24, he also says, "nor a slave above his master." And certainly a slave serves his master. In this case, our Master is our Creator, the sovereign ruler of the universe, that shed his blood, to reconcile us unto himself. The would-be disciple who has no desire to sit at the feet of the master to learn and to obey what He says, is no disciple at all. Beloved, Jesus is asking for our full allegiance. And when we give it we will grow in Christ's likeness, we will become more like Christ. You want to ask yourself, Am I passionately committed to these ends? Is this really the priority of my life? Or do I just kind of play along with the cultural Christianity of our day? Just kind of show up at Calvary Bible Church because that's what you do on Sundays in the South. Or am I here because I love the Lord. And I want to know Him and serve Him.

Next, Jesus adds another figure to help us grasp his point, not only are we disciples, that is learners, learning from our teacher and slaves that lovingly submit to our sovereign master, but he goes on and he talks about being family members who should not expect to be treated any better than the head of the family. He says something interesting here in verse 25, "'If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!'" Interesting statement. Beelzebul was a reference to the Canaanite deity Bael, the prime antagonist of Yahweh. In fact, the god of Akron was called Beelzebub, Second Kings chapter one, a term that means lord of the flies, a Hebrew pun on the name of that Philistine God, but the Jews may have further corrupted this into Beelzebul, which means lord of dung, which would be an even greater insult to that pagan deity. So Jesus uses this term because it was a well-known epithet amongst the Jews, for Satan. And because also the Pharisees had accused Jesus in Matthew 9:34, of casting out demons by the ruler of the demons. You will even recall in our study of Mark in Mark chapter three and verse 22, we read and, the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, were saying, 'He is possessed by Beelzebul', and 'He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.'" So Jesus point here and verse 25, is this, if they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household? In other words, if the religious elite would slander and malign me by calling me Satan, expect them to treat you in the same way? You know, it's fascinating, Islam considers all non-Muslims to be infidels, part of the great Satan. We've seen this down through history, where true Christians have been demonized by, frankly, demonic heretics, and their false religious system. And we see this as well for example, in John 16. And here Jesus is warning his disciples about the enormous hostility of the world and, and as they oppose the gospel, and those who preach it and beginning in verse one of John 16, he says, "'These things I have spoken to you that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.'" By the way, Paul, pre conversion, was one of those guys, right? He thought he was serving God by getting rid of Christians. Jesus went on to say, "'These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.'" And even earlier, in that same section of Scripture, beginning in John chapter 15, beginning of verse 18, Jesus says, "'If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but 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 slave 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 namesake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.'" Dear Christian, the more you become like Christ, the more the world is going to hate you, just how it works. The question is, are you up to that? The answer is, on your own, no, you're not, but in Christ, you are. Young people, are you willing to obey the Lord? Submit to His rule in your life, even if it costs you popularity amongst your friends? Men, women, are you willing to obey to the point where it may mean giving up some life dominating sin, some debilitating habit, something that might bring reproach upon the name of Christ. But the point here is such a willing submission to the Lordship of Christ is the first mark of a fearless disciple that Jesus gives in this text.

Secondly, we see that a fearless disciple will fear God more than man. Now remember, as I said earlier, these are sheep being sent out among the wolves. And any stand we take for Christ today basically, results in all kinds of animosity from we call, the cancel culture. By the way, cancel culture has been around, all through redemptive history, but we know what it is in our culture today. We must remember that these people that are canceling us, are people that do not know Christ, we need to love them for the sake of the gospel, but they do not fear God. Therefore, God says they live in a fool's paradise. They are fools at enmity with God. And so Jesus is saying that they will treat you as they did me. And in verse 26, then he adds this, "'Therefore, do not fear them.'" Very clear, "'for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known.'" This is an amazing statement. I mean, he's literally saying don't be afraid, because someday, I am going to expose and judge all of their wickedness as well as exalt and reward you for your faithfulness. Beloved, the wicked will not go unpunished. And this is a great motivation for us to serve Christ. Knowing that we fight a battle that's already been won, right? I don't want to stand before the master someday, as some sniffling, coward, some wilting lily, that feared man more than I feared him. That's my challenge to each of you, dear friends, pick up your sword and join the fight. Don't be a coward. Don't be afraid of these people; we serve the Lord of hosts. I find great comfort knowing that when the Lord returns First Corinthians four, verse five, he will, "both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts and then each man's praise will come to him from God." Jesus went on to say in verse 27, "'What I tell you in the darkness; speak it in the light.'" This is a figurative expression of figurative darkness, referring to those divine truths that are disclosed to us in the context of our sacred closet of communion with God where the Holy Spirit speaks truth into our life from his word. In other words, he says, don’t be ashamed to publicly proclaim the truth that I have disclosed to you. He says, "'and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim among the housetops.'" Now, you'd have to understand the culture of that day to know what Jesus is saying here. It was common in the first century for Jewish rabbis to train their students, by standing beside them, and whispering in their ears, especially as they spoke, as they taught. In first Corinthians two in verse nine speaks of divine revelation and inspiration, he says, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." He goes on to say, "For to us, God revealed them through the Spirit." And then in verse 13, we read, "which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thought with spiritual words." And this is what the Spirit of God did, as he inspired the writers of Scripture, to speak the truth of divine revelation, the self-disclosure of God, that are recorded in the canon of Scripture that we have. And it is the Holy Spirit himself, you might say, that whispers truth into our ears through the infallible record of divine revelation that we have in our Bibles. And then we must faithfully proclaim that which we hear, that which we've learned, we need to do that from the house tops. In other words, publicly and may I encourage you to pray for opportunities to do just that. And then pray for boldness to do what you know you should do. Because believe me, if you ask the Lord for opportunities to proclaim the truth of His Word, he's going to give you those opportunities. In fact, you will probably see that they're already all around you. And now what you need is the boldness to act on what he has asked you to do.

Dave Harrell

He goes on to verse 28, "'And do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to to destroy both soul and body in hell.'" And we understand this, the wicked certainly have the power to kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul, the "psuche" in the original language; the rational, immortal, eternal, non-material center of our being that transcends the earthly. So don't fear them but do "'fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.'" An important note here, destroyed does not mean extinction, or annihilation, or to cease to exist as some would have us believe. For example, In Second Thessalonians one beginning of verse seven, we see him, Paul goes on to give detail describing Christ as the coming judge and explains the extent and the duration of hell. He says, beginning in verse seven, "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels and flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the power of His glory of His power." I mean, think about it, if eternal destruction meant annihilation, this text along with many others would beg for relevance, it would make no sense. Annihilation can't be eternal, because by its very definition, it means to become extinct, to cease to exist. But rather eternal destruction is an irreversible experience of conscious torment. Isaiah 33, verse 14, it's described as a place of divine fire of everlasting burnings. Matthew 13, verse 42, Jesus says that He Himself will judge the wicked, and he says, and he will cast him into the "furnace of fire. In that place, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Now, back to our text, Jesus warns, don't fear man, but "'Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.'" Beloved, please understand that the souls of men bear the image of our eternal God, they will therefore live forever. The souls of men are immortal. Jesus said, there will be in John 5:28, "a resurrection of the just and the unjust." Remember, when Paul stood before Felix, the governor, he warned in Acts 24:15, "there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked." So again, Jesus is simply saying, Don't fear men fear me. As I think about it, this perhaps was a targeted warning to Judas, who would have been in their midst, who was already beginning to scheme as to how he would cash in on Jesus. But it's certainly a warning to all men who reject Christ and unbelief. I remember reading a number of years ago, stunning illustration of the convicting and transforming power of the gospel to turn even the most rank pagan into a fearless disciple. And I noticed John MacArthur has this summarized well, I want to just share this with you. "From among the finest athletes in the Roman Empire, Nero selected a group called the emperor’s wrestlers. Their motto was 'we the wrestlers wrestling for thee O Emperor to win for thee the victory and from thee the victors crown.' The wrestlers were also soldiers and were often sent out on special military campaigns on a certain mission in Gaul, which is modern France. Many of the wrestlers were converted to Christ. Upon hearing the news Nero ordered the commander Vespasian, to execute any wrestler who refused to renounce Christ and swear religious, as well as military allegiance to the emperor. The emperor’s orders were received in the dead of winter, as the men were encamped on the shore of a frozen lake. When this Vespasian assembled the soldiers and asked how many were Christians, 40 men stepped forward. Hoping not to lose any of these fine men, many of whom were his friends, he gave them until sundown the next day to reconsider. But at that given hour, all of them still refuse to renounce Christ. In order that they not die at the hands of their comrades, the commander ordered the 40 men to disrobe and walk naked out onto the ice. Throughout the night, the soldiers on shore would hear the 40 sentenced men singing triumphantly. And here's what they sang, '40 wrestlers wrestling for the Oh Christ, to win for Thee the victory and from Thee the victors crown.' The singing grew fainter as morning neared and at dawn a lone figure walked back and approach the fire. He confessed that his faith was not strong enough to face death. When Vespasian then heard the faint strains of quote '39 wrestlers wrestling for Thee Oh Christ' he was so moved that he threw off his armor and clothes, and marched out to join the others shouting as he went '40 wrestlers wrestling for thee Oh Christ, to win for thee the victory and from the victor's crown.'" Beloved this is the power of the gospel. To turn men that once wanted nothing to do with Christ into fearless disciples.

Again, verse 28, "'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.'" And then notice next, our Lord's tender words of comfort, beginning of verse 29, "'Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. The very hairs of your head are all numbered, so do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.'" The term "cent" was a reference to basically the smallest coin in circulation of that day, and it could be used to buy two sparrows, and yet not one of them will fall, the term could be translated hop to the ground, apart from your father. The point is simply this, with such staggering, intimate awareness of such insignificant creatures, how much more will our Lord attend to the needs of his children when they're persecuted? Likewise, he's numbered all our hairs, I read that there's an average of 140,000. Some of us have a little bit less. I find that I'm gaining a little bit more on my ears and in my nose. Random hair growth is just part of getting old, right? But the point is, he knows the intimate details of our life. Things that are spiritually insignificant, mundane matters, like the number of our hairs how much more will he involve himself in the affairs of those that he has purchased with His very blood, who are suffering from his glory? The point is simply this, with such amazing love and incomprehensible omniscience and power, how could we possibly fear man more than we fear our Father in heaven? Dear friends, please hear me, a fearless disciple will fear God more than man. And whatever suffering we endure for His glory will never ever go unnoticed. The Lord is always in it. And certainly persecution is mounting as we see all of the wickedness around us, as you all are aware of it all, even the Bible is being called hate speech, and certainly they're going to try to eliminate it. The question is, what are you going to do when, when your job is threatened because of your stand for Christ? I believe a day will come when churches like ours will be put on notice. And anybody that attends a church like this will be put on notice. What are you going to do when they come to remove your children? I'm reminded of the stunning descriptions of persecution in Hebrews 11, beginning in verse 35. There it speaks of those who were tortured. "Those who were tortured," interesting term. "Tympanizo," "Tympanizo," we get our word timpani. From that it means a drum or English word timpani kettle drum. Basically, what they would do is strap people to a wheel rack and beat them to death with a metal instrument called a companion. Those who were tortured, he went on to say "not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others experience mocking and scourging, yeses, also chains and imprisonment." We don't see a lot of this here in the United States, but it's happening around the world. "They were stoned, they were sawn in two. They were tempted, they were put to death with a sword they went about and sheepskins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted ill-treated men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these having gained approval through their faith did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect." And he goes on in chapter 12, beginning in verse one. "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Indeed, it is our Lord who is our supreme example. It's a rare but glorious thing to behold a genuine soldier of the cross is it not? A true, fearless disciple of Christ. And whenever I read about them, or whenever I meet them or encounter them, I'm so profoundly humbled. So many people today wear the uniform of Christianity, but few really love their commander in chief. Never in the history of the world has there been a ruler that such set such an example. I mean, really, many rulers send their servants into battle for some earthly cause. Many of them, things that are eternally inconsequential. And many soldiers willingly give their lives for those things, but only the King of Kings went on before us and willingly sacrificed his life that we might live eternally in the presence of his glory. Fearless disciples of Christ are captivated by these marvelous truths. These are the things that drive them and they know that there is absolutely nothing that can separate them from the love of Christ.

Thirdly, a fearless disciple publicly confesses Christ. Notice verse 32. "'Therefore everyone who confesses Me before a man I will also confess Him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.'" The term confess is a compound word in the original language "homologeo", "homo", the same, "logeo" means to speak. So in other words, to speak the same thing, to confess is to speak the same thing, to acknowledge, to wholeheartedly affirm in one's heart. And in this context, to say exactly the same thing that God is saying about the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we are to confess, to confess that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, the Creator, the sustainer of the universe, our Redeemer, Acts four 12 that "salvation is found, in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Well, put that on Facebook and see how long you last right? Again, folks, these are the magnificent truths that we're to publicly proclaim. And this will be the heartbeat of a fearless disciple. Because of our innermost convictions, that God has given us, there will be an outward expression of these magnificent tools, and nothing will be able to contain them. And it's tragic to see how few Christians are willingly to publicly confess, Jesus is Lord, free of embarrassment, the ridicule, physical harm, especially from family members, that can happen to all of us. And I know that's happened to a lot of you. I often hear from a lot of people in the church that Christmas is one of the most difficult times of the year for them, because they have to go home to be with family members that hate Christ and hate them. Paul warned Timothy in Second Timothy, 1:8, "Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." But notice in verse 33, Jesus goes on to say, "'But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.'" The term denial, it means to declare that you do not know or that you have no dealings with someone. Like Peter when he denied the Lord three times. You want to ask is this the pattern of my life? In subtle ways? Do I deny the Lord? Am I a chameleon Christian, where I can kind of blend in with whatever environment to make sure that nobody spots me. That's not the mark of a faith of fearless disciple. Again, verse 33, "But whoever shall deny Me before man, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven." By the way, the grammar here in the original language in verses 32 and 33, is in the future tense. So it's a reference to future judgment when he will separate the true from the false. Later in chapter 25, Jesus describes the judgment of the wicked at the end of the Great Tribulation, a time according to verse 31, "'When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered before Him. And He will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.''" Then later in verse 41, we read, "'Then He will also say to those on His left, Depart from Me accursed ones into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.''" How incredibly sad it is to think of those who refused to receive the gospel, they held it out as something that was silly. And you worse yet for those who profess Christ, but didn't love him? That followed Christ like Judas, but didn't love him. Those who recognize the truth intellectually, but they never affirmed it in their heart. They never wholeheartedly embrace Christ. Oh, yes, Jesus is the Lord of my Sunday mornings. But he is not the Lord of my life. Dear friends, I hope that is not you.

Jesus, speaking of the religious hypocrite, Matthew eight and verse 12, says that, "they shall be cast out into the outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." But oh what a glorious contrast for those who confess Christ, who truly love Christ, and because of that their character and their conduct, and their creed, are all glorious to the Lord. Ours is a confident hope of heaven and assurance that Jesus Himself will confess us before the Father as one of his own even as we confessed him before man.

And anticipating the persecution His disciples are about to endure, inevitably, he gives a fourth characteristic of a fearless disciple. That is, he will value Christ more than family. Notice verse 34, "'Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth, I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother and a daughter in law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be the members of his household. 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 words must have reminded the apostles of Micah's prediction of what would happen within families when the Messiah would come. We read about that in the passage in Micah chapter seven and verse six. This is what Jesus is quoting. A time "when son treats father contemptuously, daughter rises up against her mother, daughter in law against her mother-in-law, in a man's enemies are the men of his own household." You know, while the peace of Christ brings comfort to all of us, who are at peace with God, because of his grace, because we've been reconciled to Him, through Christ, the reality of our life, this side of glory, is one of perpetual conflict. Again, we're at war. If you're living for Christ, you're at war. The gospel is inherently offensive. It cuts like a sword, especially in families where Christ is denied. And I might add that this passage really strikes a deathblow to those who exhaust themselves, to make the gospel relevant to the culture to make it inoffensive, to seekers, like the sanitized Jesus that is being portrayed in this Chosen Series. You're not going to see many people at odds with others in their family because of that, Jesus. Martin Luther took a stand against a millennium of Roman Catholic apostasy and political power. And he said this, quote, "If our gospel were received in peace, it would not be the true gospel." Luke 12, verse 49, Jesus says, "'I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled.'" Verse 51, he went on to say, "'Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth, I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.'" Beloved, Jesus did not come to this world, to make peace with the world but to make war against it. And to provide us a way of being at peace with a holy God through faith in Christ, to deliver us from the world. And a fearless disciple will experience violence when they take a stand against wickedness in a world that hates God. In fact, in verse 33, he uses the term "against" three times to describe the rendering asunder, if you will, of family relationships and I know a lot of you have experienced that. Against, the term, means to cut in to, to divide into, to set it variance. I've seen this hundreds of times where family members are required to choose whether or not they are going to obey the Lord or compromise. Whether or not they're going to honor the Lord or dishonor him whether they're going to stand for truth or compromise and live in errors, whether they're going to side with righteousness or with evil. And suddenly, in those types of scenarios, the true cost of discipleship is made abundantly clear, is it not? What a grief it must be to the Savior, when one of his own that he has purchased with His very blood cowers in fear, and denies him in some way. One whose love for Christ is so weak that he will exchange a hollow peace with his family members, rather than take a stand for the lover of his soul. My friends, if this describes you, according to what Jesus says here in verse 37, you are not worthy of Him. It's very clear. "'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.'" So again, fearless discipleship submits to the Lordship of Christ. It fears God more than man, it publicly confesses Christ, it values Christ more than family. And then fifthly it values Christ more than life.

Notice verse 38. "'And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me.'" Certainly, the apostles did not grasp the coming reality of Christ's crucifixion, nor their own eventual martyrdom, they're still trying to figure all of this out. And here Jesus poses the very real possibility that true discipleship may cost you your life. The cross, of course, was a well-known symbol of torture. For those who dare defy Rome, a civilization interestingly enough, that was destroyed from corruption on the inside. Undeniable parallels with our own country that is repeating the same forms of wickedness, hatred of true genuine biblical Christianity, excessive taxation, excessive government control, obsession with pleasure, and entertainment, and all manner of the most vile forms of immorality. We see this of course, in the progression described in Romans chapter one, where God gives people over who suppress the truth and unrighteousness first to sorted immorality, which is a violation of God's moral order. And then it moves to the next stage a given them over to shameless homosexuality, which is an inversion of God's created order. And then finally, he gives them over to shocking depravity, which is a disposition of godless corruption where people are just completely irrational. He gives them over to what is called a worthless or depraved mind where they believe things that make no sense. The whole transgender insanity is a great example of that today. But my friends, fearless discipleship will stand with Christ against these things come what may, trusting Him. They will stand against all of those things that God considers an abomination. Those gross perversions that attack the glory of his image, manifested in those that he has created in His image. Fearless disciple will stand against those things, will stand for truth. So the apostles understood that following Christ might cost them their life. You want to ask yourself, Am I willing to sacrifice my life for Christ?

Unfortunately, many are like those that Jesus goes on to describe in verse 39, "'He who has found his life shall lose it.'" The context here you find your life, you're the religious people, who have deceived themselves into believing that you're the true disciples and that you, all that you believe is true, and all of that stuff that stands against the gospel. "He who has found his life shall lose it." Yes, the world is going to offer you all of its fleeting pleasure. Indeed there is pleasure in sin for a season. But none of it will last; but he goes on to say, "he who has lost his life for My sake, shall find it." Beloved, this is the spirit of fearless discipleship. And it's a riddle to the world. I mean, what a divine paradox, I mean, this cannot be reconciled in the mind of an unregenerate person. It's only when the Spirit of God changes us that we can see the truth. And when new birth occurs, we are indeed new creatures in Christ. Were partakers of the divine nature of Christ. We're aliens in this world, and what seems irrational to the world is abundantly clear to us so clear that we would willingly die for it. This is the transformation that takes place in the redeemed, the miracle of regeneration, beyond our understanding, and when that new birth occurs, what seems irrational to the world is abundantly rational to us. So it's for this reason again, that the fearless disciple of Christ submits to the Lordship of the one he loves, fears God more than man, publicly confesses Christ, values Christ more than family, values Christ more than life and finally, values eternal, not temporal reward.

Notice what he says here in verse 40, "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives him who sent Me." You see, those who receive the testimony of true disciples receive Christ as their Savior. Likewise, anyone who receives the Son also receives the Father. So Jesus is telling them, that anyone who receives your testimony, that is your proclamation of who I am and what I have done in my atoning work on the cross, those people will receive me and the Father. And thirdly, those who receive the disciple himself, receives Christ in that they are his emissaries, they are His ambassadors. He goes on in verse 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. So God not only rewards the Prophet, but catch this, anyone who receives him to accept, to accommodate, to care for, to appreciate, to support, especially in that culture, to give them food, and to give them lodging and to embrace them as a servant of the living God. But what's interesting is this reward goes beyond just receiving a profit. It includes any righteous man, or woman. Dear friends, anytime you do any kind of service to a servant of God, God will reward you. That's the point. The Lord says, I see all of this. Even something as mundane and seemingly as inconsequential as giving one of his little ones, a cup of water. God sees it all, he will reward it all. Notice verse 42. "And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones, even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." You see, a fearless disciple is perfectly content, to wait upon the Lord to reward him in his time. And that reward will be in heaven, not on Earth. So we patiently wait for his reward when it will be realized in that day. A fearless disciple is driven by that. Moreover, the rewards of the world have no hold on him or her. For heroes like Abraham, who, according to Hebrews 11, verse nine, "by faith lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land." Goes on to say, "For he was looking for the city, which has foundations whose architect and builder is God," a reference to the New Jerusalem described in Revelation 21. Beloved, measure yourself against the standard, this is how you are going to prepare yourself, not only for the battles that are currently all around us, but for the ones to come. And your fathers I plead with you, that you simply must take these words seriously. You must be a fearless disciple of Christ. Otherwise, your family will be vulnerable to the deceptions and the destructions of the evil one. And certainly you mothers need to be the same way. So much so, that you will pour your life into your children that they might know and understand and love the Lord, our God. Measure yourself against the standards ask yourself, "Do I joyfully submit to the Lordship of Christ? Do I fear God more than man? Do I publicly proclaim him without compromise? Do I value Christ even more than my family? Do I value him more than my own life? And do I value eternal, not temporal rewards." And if that is the passion, and purpose of your heart, God will bless you and use you mightily and you will enjoy his soul satisfying presence and power in your life in ways that you cannot imagine. And then there's heaven. Right? And then there's heaven. Let's pray. Father, thank You for the eternal truths of your word that speak so clearly to each one of us. May we take what has been spoken here today and apply them to our hearts to the praise of your glory? For it's in Christ's name that I pray. Amen.