FEARLESS! Matthew 10:26-30

Fearless!

Text. Matthew 10:26-30
The disciples are being sent into a world that contains great dangers for them. They will be hated by everyone in the world. Yet despite all of that, they are being tasked to preach the Gospel despite the fact that doing so will inflame and antagonise the world even more! Surely a better approach would be for the disciples to keep their heads down, preach behind closed doors, don’t offend anyone. Just keep a low profile, for that’s the way to survive in such a dangerous world, is it not? Jesus certainly didn’t envisage that His disciples would do anything of the sort. Here he tells them to stand up and shout!

1. Shout Clearly! 26-27 Therefore do not fear them. For there is 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; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
Let’s clear this up right away. God does not give preachers extra-biblical messages in their dreams! So what does Jesus mean when he says to his disciples, 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops? Jesus uses a series of analogies, contrasts to make his point to the disciples.
Think of these great contrasts:-

• Hidden things revealed and secret things made known. Talking about the Last Day, when Christ will come to judge the world, and to separate the sheep from the goats, the saved from the lost, – on that day everything will be opened before God, all the deepest darkest thoughts of our minds intents of our hearts, all of them, will be revealed!
• Dark and Light! The AMP Bible helps us with this one. It reminds us that at night we are private, in our own homes, What I say to you in the dark (privately), Jesus taught the disciples privately, but when they relay that message to mankind it is to be a loud public proclamation. tell in the light (publicly); Acts 1:3 Now these things are to be made public.
• Whisper and Shout! Only one person can whisper into your ear – generally! – Jesus spoke to his disciples, taught them as a group and presumably as individuals. But when they go out into the mission field they are to shout the good news out, so that everyone within earshot will hear.

The Gospel is, in its essence, a BOLD PUBLIC PROCLAMATION – A declaration of Good News to all mankind, not restricted to any group, it is to be shouted from the housetops! It is Good News for every man and woman, boy and girl. Despite the dangers, it is to be publicly proclaimed. Isaiah 52:7

2. Shout with Conviction! 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.
Why would the disciples put themselves at such risk of public hatred? Now there is a motivation for our message – a driving force that will cause us to want to proclaim the Gospel, even though it makes sinners uncomfortable, and even though it angers them to the point of hatred, and even though it makes poor helpless disciples afraid. It is this simple fact… We all have an ETERNAL SOUL. So which is more powerful, the forces of this world, which can destroy the body or our Holy, Omnipotent God, who has been offended by our sin, and who will in his justice reward us according to our sinful deeds. Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
To get a glimpse of hell, to begin to understand the doctrine, and the danger and the woe, should be a mighty motivation for the Christian believer to go out and boldly shout the gospel, even though we are hated for doing so.

3. Shout with Confidence! 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.
The Lord is with us! Nothing will happen to us that is outside his sovereign will.
Consider the extent of the providence of God.

• Even the very tiniest, least significant being in his universe is his and is known by him. There’s not a sparrow that falls to the ground, not a bug that is crushed under foot, not a worm that is snatched from its burrow by a bird that God does not know about. And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. So-
  He has intimate knowledge of each and every human being. He knows your name, he knows your needs, he knows your worries and fears, he knows your trials and your difficulties – he even knows the number of hairs on your head.
• Consider the reality of the will of God. There’s a logical conclusion – God WILLS for sparrows to fall! Grasp that! God’s will is not always our way. There comes a time in the life of every sparrow when it must fall to the ground and die, and when this happens it is because God has ordained it to happen. The same applies to we humans. No-one lives in this world forever, and when our time comes to leave it, in whatever way that happens, it is because of God’s loving, compassionate providence – he so wills it. Hebrews 9:27
• Don’t be afraid!  Do not fear therefore; God knows when you you are being badly treated by this world. he knows when you are being mocked and scourged and discriminated against – and he has a purpose in it. And when the time comes to depart this world, be strong, and be of good courage, for…
• Consider how valued you are in God’s sight. you are of more value than many sparrows. The God who cares for the most insignificant parts of his creation, is the God who created you and me, in his own image, as the pinnacle of his creation, to have eternal fellowship with him, and he cares for us much more than he cares for the sparrows.  So much so, that he redeemed us at Calvary, at great cost, the suffering and death of His only begotten Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Malachi 3:17  “They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”

The message is to out and proclaim the Gospel Message from the rooftops, knowing that you will not leave this world one split second before your God ordained time, and until that time comes, you are fulfilling His will, whatever befall you.

So, the disciples are to go out into the dangerous hostile environment of this world to carry the Gospel, to preach with urgency, the nearness of the Kingdom of God. In that task they are to be fearless, not worrying about what might happen to them as they preach – but to boldly shout out the message, shout it with conviction, and shout it with confidence.

© BobMcEvoy September 2018