Call To Labor

all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. And behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age.

Some significant observations from that great commission. Jesus Christ has all authority. That's the first declaration. The last declaration, he's with us to the end of the age. Everywhere we go. And in the middle is that commission. We are to go and make disciples of all nations. And if you're hearing those two, There's a different directive in chapter 28, isn't there? Chapter 28 says, go to all the nations. Well, chapter 10 said, do not go to the nations. Do not go to the Gentiles or the town of the Samaritans. Go only to the house of Israel. When you think about this, because there are different stages of God's redemptive plan, here in Matthew 10, Jesus is, as the son promised to Abraham, the son of Abraham, the son of David, the promised son of God's people, born of Abraham, he is coming to proclaim the gospel to them first. There's a proper prioritization of God's people promised to Abraham that they would hear the gospel So chapter 10 has a certain kind of timestamp on it that does not continue because the Great Commission certainly supersedes it. Jesus already said there's different stages of his own redemption. In Matthew 9, 15, he said, well, it's right for the disciples to not fast now while the bridegroom is with them, but they will fast later. Those physical descendants of Abraham, who Jesus had just had compassion on and for. They had no king. This mission is to proclaim the gospel to them first, but we have to remember it's these people who will reject that king God sent to them. In their rejecting, God will fulfill what he had planned all along in that he will now bring in the promise to the Gentiles. We see this in Matthew 28, there is a change. Now all peoples are in view of who are supposed to hear the gospel. You can hear it even more in Luke and Acts. Start in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth, all people. Christian, when you see the wonderful world and time we live in, Jesus is our King. He's at the right hand of the Father. There's a way in which this is also a different time stamp because those disciples at the time going to the people of Israel only, they would just say, hey, go over the mountain over there, you'll find the king God had promised even to Abraham. Now we proclaim him who was at the right hand of the father and say, believe in him who was raised from the dead. What continues, what is similar though is Christ commissioning his disciples and giving us his authority. to proclaim him, to make him known. These disciples will become apostles. Connecting this with Ben's sermon last week in Hebrews 2, those who had seen him proclaimed him. This isn't some declaration of good vibes or how we feel or intellectual knowledge. No, God himself, our creator, came down, lived among us, taught us, died on the cross, and rose again, and those eyewitnesses have continued to proclaim Him, and then those who have heard have continued to proclaim for hundreds of years, or for decades and centuries. Church, this same calling of authority, now He sends us out by the power of His Holy Spirit to proclaim Him. Today, we proclaim the kingdom of Christ. I do believe the unique miracles of healing, casting out demons, that was for the disciples at a time, and these things haven't fully ceased, but I believe that God's new way in which he's proclaiming and showing himself is regeneration. That's what continues. We proclaim Christ who gives new life. We proclaim Christ who brings reconciliation. We proclaim Christ who sets us free. So Christian, are we proclaiming the kingdom of God? It's important we understand what that phrase means. It means we know who the king is, who has all authority, all power, and is perfectly good. He has come down with all of his authority to save all who believe in him. We believe he is good authority. We want others to hear of who he is. And we do so by living out his commandments. Now, that phrase, kingdom of heaven, is one of those phrases that's been, I think, confused quite a bit. And it's kind of interesting the different folks who will confuse this. Some will want to reduce the church and the mission of Jesus just to make a better society, where it's just loving your neighbor and that's all there is. Others want to make sure we take over the state and bring about God's rule with the sword of the nations. Both of these miss the point. The kingdom of heaven is breaking in with the power to forgive sinners. The kingdom of heaven is breaking into this world that gives life to the dead. The church is on mission to proclaim Christ. Two applications. First, the call to discipleship includes the stewardship of making disciples. Disciples make disciples. Disciples must know who Christ is, they must seek to follow him, they must come up underneath his authority, and the whole goal of being under his authority is to know him and make him known. Christian, the authority God gives us, it's a, what a wonderful responsibility. Very similar to Adam and Eve in the garden. a wonderful privilege to know God and his goodness and his authority and make it known. We receive it with gratitude. We seek to be faithful. We make sure we are seeking to make disciples. The mission of the church is that we would all be more conformed to the image of Christ. And we proclaim him so that more would come to know Christ. One of the ways in which the Great Commission has been, I believe, misapplied is the ignoring of teaching them to obey all that I've commanded. By grace we are saved, and by grace we can walk in the ways of Christ. The second application is to recognize that Jesus gives authority with the responsibility. Jesus gives authority with responsibility. And I said that to make sure that when we as a church commission someone to take on responsibility, we make sure they have the authority to do what we've asked them to do. Hayden Deverell, a forum member, was just in town a little while ago, and he said this is one of the things he appreciated about Jefferson Park, is that when we commission somebody, we trust them to do the work. We support them and give them authority to do the work. One of the most frustrating things is to have a responsibility without authority. One of the things that plagues churches, that paralyzes believers, is the second guessing and not actual supporting those we've asked to do the work. Members, I believe we should continue with what Jesus called us to pray for. Pray for more laborers, and pray that we would know how to support those laborers in their work. A third point, provision. So we've seen Christ, he's called his disciples, he's given them authority, he's sent them out. Now he's gonna tell them about how to find provision. The second half of verse eight really introduces a new idea.

You receive without paying, give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff for the labor deserves his food.

This last declaration, it enters a new idea that it continues with a mission, but now it's how he provided for. That declaration you receive without paying. Clearly you've received something that you didn't pay for. You did not buy what God has given you. We can't. God's heavenly blessings cannot be bought with money that we use to secure earthly provision. The disciples have received what they could not get in their own strength or power or their own money. God has freely and generously given and implied there is a therefore or a so. You receive without pay, therefore give without pay. You receive without paying for it, Give without expecting payment. God has given you this gift, you freely give it away. You see there's that imaging of the way we received it is the way we give it away. You give to others as God has given to you. You were sent out as an extension of God, so as much as you know God has been generous, we're to be generous. And as much as God has given you the proclamation of the kingdom, you go and give that away because he's given it to you. Really, the challenge of the warning, do not extort gold or silver from others in the name of Christ. We look ahead, one of the sins of simony, the seeking to buy the offices of the church, we see that as early as in Acts. There's a way in which those, some have tried to use the gospel of Jesus Christ and the mission of the church to extort others from money. This is the warning against this. You receive without pay, therefore give without payment. Now at the same time, again, it's very clear you are not to expect payment for declaring the gospel. You're not to acquire gold or silver. But verse 10 says the labor deserves its food. So there's some tension here. There's a way in which these disciples are fully dependent on who they're going to, but they're not to demand money from them. They're to be expected, they're to expect that they should be provided for, but they're not to demand provision. Now, here, I don't believe this is the only verse or the primary verse that would talk about how we would support labors in the church. It does speak to it, and I'm thankful for a church that is committed to caring for their laborers. The principle here is God will provide, and he expects his people to be part of that provision. Let's go back and look at verse nine, though.

Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts. Take no bag for your journey or tunics or sandals or staff.

All right, so we just had a update on the Zambia mission trip. Did you guys take a suitcase? Was that sinful? Pack any extra money? Those of you about to go to Portugal, are you planning on packing something? Does this passage call it sinful? This is where it's good that we have all of God's word. We can read each part in light of where it lands and what God is doing. This same command is found in Luke as well. But we can look ahead in Luke chapter 22 where Jesus says, when I sent you out without gold or silver, were you ever in need? And they said, never. God provided everything we needed. that the reason he's sending these disciples out at this time is a training of these disciples. Go without any of your own provision. You will see that I will provide everything you need through the people that you're actually going to go preach to. But it's ultimately God's provision. The whole point here is God gives everything we need. For faithful, he provides what we need. Here, we even see there in Luke 22, he says, did you lack anything? They said, no. Well, now I say take gold. We see this particular prohibition lifted, but it was a training ground for these disciples to recognize God is sovereign. It's something we've seen over and over again, I hope. It's something I've tried to make clear over and over again. God is rich. God is generous. He is not stingy. That the whole point of not taking anything with you is that God will provide. He is not stingy. Our final section really captures the word reception. We've seen Christ give his authority, we've seen the mission, the promise, the provision, and now how will you be received? How to work through and what does it mean to be received? So the word, if you're taking notes, is reception.

Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.

So further instruction, but a slight significant change from how provision will be provided, how it won't be provided, but now as you go in, you gotta find somebody who is worthy. And you stay there. Now, this doesn't mean you look at how many stars the hotel has, what kind of amenities, right? The whole idea of worthy, behind it is the idea of weighty, serious, The worthy house is you find someone worthy by finding someone who receives the message of the gospel by faith and will help you in your labor to proclaim Christ and his kingdom. The person who is worthy there in verse 11 is someone who has heard the gospel, believe the gospel, and will therefore participate in your gospel ministry as you go out into this town. It makes sense, right? At some level, God will provide, and he's gonna provide by those who have gladly received the gospel of Jesus Christ by your proclamation. But if you were to go into a house that's hostile to the gospel, that's gonna get sideways real quick. They're probably gonna make you pay for whatever provisions you need. Here, Jesus is making it clear there will be someone worthy. There will be someone who will receive you. And the identity there of a worthy home, it's someone who hears, and receives the message, the kingdom of God is at hand. Now there's a significant assumption in that instruction. There's a significant assumption in this instruction. It's this, a worthy home is hospitable. Do you see that? Find the worthy home and you'll stay there. The assumption is someone who has received the gospel with an open heart will have an open home. The worthy home receives the gospel and they receive the messenger. A house that receives the gospel is eager to proclaim and help the proclamation of that gospel that saved them. I wanna make sure we drive this home, no pun intended, is your home, heart, and hands Have they been opened by the gospel of Jesus Christ? A closed hand reveals a closed heart. A closed home reveals a closed heart. Is your life and commitments and priorities designed around the gospel of Jesus Christ who has prioritized saving you? This is the word of the year at Jefferson Park Baptist Church. Hospitality. Write it down, it's the word of the year. Hospitality. It's a lost Christian practice. It's assumed throughout so much of what scripture teaches. It's assumed here that a worthy home has been opened, hearts have been opened by the gospel and therefore the home is open because the home is where we share our lives with others. Hospitality assumes gratitude. God has been so good. Hospitality requires generosity. We want to encourage and challenge the body to consider how can you be hospitable to guests, to each other, with the opening of your home. I wanna give a couple clarifications. If you're to be hospitable in a way that I believe would be biblical, I'm gonna encourage you to repent of all the things Martha Stewart taught you. We overburden hospitality by thinking we've got to have all these trimmings and expectations and a color scheme. No, keep it simple. I believe this is one of the ways that has hindered hospitality is having unhelpful expectations. Kill the fattened calf if you want to, but the goal is you're sharing your life as you share a meal. The sacred space of your table, you're inviting others to share that with you. Maybe more practical, one of the great blessings we have had in the past is first Sunday we have the Lord's Supper and then we have a fellowship meal with a potluck and we're able to have that because of the construction. So here's what we wanna give you, kind of an encouragement of a very practical way. Take the first Sunday and invite someone you have not had in your home into your home. If you have no idea where to start with that, ask an elder. We'll happily encourage you. I try not to micromanage, but if you would like to know who could I invite into my home, please email, ask the elders. First Sunday, we cannot have that family meal anymore. Take the first Sunday as a starting place of a day that you commit to having hospitality, inviting others into your home. Notice there, verse 12,

as you enter the house, greet it.

You're here to leave a blessing on the house,

and if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

If they reject and refuse, shake the dust off your feet. Verse 14,

if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet, and when you leave the house or town,

The message of the kingdom that is to be proclaimed must have the word repent. That is at the most basic heart and soul foundational level of the gospel is. Repent. On our own, we're all dying. On our own, we're in sin. On our own, we're destructive and causing destruction. But God in his blessing gives life and forgiveness. It's a turn, it's a change. The most basic gospel declaration must have repent, turn to God. Notice there, pretty simple, if they wanna receive you or listen. You cannot repent if you are not willing to listen. very basic kind of low bar. Just listen. We'll be in Matthew 18 in a little while. What leads to excommunication is just they won't listen. The refusal to even be humble enough to hear a word of challenge, correction, repent, the bar of listening is really low by God's grace. It doesn't say if you're obedient enough, just listen, that's it. That's how generous God is. Are you willing to listen? When reading Proverbs at our kitchen table with our kids and over and over again, oh, if you would just hear the word of instruction and correction, it leads to a wise life. Here, if you're willing to hear the word of the gospel turn away from sin that destroys you to the God who gives you life, listen. Listen to know what repentance is. Listen to know what you're repenting from. Listen to know what you're turning to. The very call of repentance is why listening is the main focus of the bar. Verse 15,

truly, I say to you,

Jesus is making it very clear here. He's drawing attention with this emphatic language.

it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town

that would not listen. God's judgment has a scale according to this passage. There's more bearable, less bearable. To put Sodom and Gomorrah in the last bearable is really challenging. The towns that have become a label for just gross sin against humanity and idolatry. How is it that they can have a less bearable judgment than a town that doesn't listen to the gospel? As I wrestle with this, My only assumption must be God didn't actually go to Sodom and Gomorrah and give them a warning or a call to repent. He went and rescued Lot, but Sodom and Gomorrah were left in their sin and destruction and judged. The only rationale I could come up with or understand is that Sodom and Gomorrah, they didn't hear the gospel of repent. They were judged for how despicable their sins were. Let the weight of that sink in. There's a greater judgment for those who would regularly hear and not believe. Been burdened with this all week knowing there's folks who are here regularly, children, guests, folks who are here every week after week and you're hearing the gospel and you're not believing. You hear how gracious God is. Listen to his word. God sent his only son to die for your forgiveness, to rise again to give you new life. There's a great judgment if you do not believe. We are so glad you are here. We long for you to believe so that we can rejoice with you but hear the words of Christ, there is a judgment to be terrified of. There's a judgment for those who would hear and not believe. So here's the invitation. Believe. Don't believe there's some kind of hoops to jump through or some labyrinth that is confusing. No, it's Jesus, show me who you are, I want to believe. You can even pray the prayer in Scripture.

I believe, help my unbelief.

But move towards Jesus with a desire to listen and a desire to repent and talk to those around you who long for you to know our Jesus. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you are rich and generous in grace. We praise you as the holy God who convicts us of our sin. I pray for anyone who is hearing your voice. Pray that they would long to repent They will long to hear you and know you, that they would be brought to you by faith. We pray that you would make that incredible path clear to them, that if we simply call upon Jesus to be our Savior, you give us his new life. May we, as your church, long to be faithful to know you and to make you known. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.