Sermon details
- Scripture
- Matthew 10:16-23
- Series
- Matthew
- Speaker
- Keith Goad
- Date
- 24 August 2025
- Length
- 43 minutes
Read the sermon
The cross is the way of God
Good morning. Are you a theologian of the cross or a theologian of glory? Those are two categories Martin Luther presented at the Heidelberg Disputation. It's one of the most pressing and important dividing line questions that a Christian has to ask themselves. Now those titles are somewhat maybe confusing, so Luther is arguing that the Catholic Church claimed to be God's one true church, and the evidence they claim for being the one true church is that they had all the power and authority, beauty and prestige and influence, just like the great nations of the world. They assumed God works just like the world does. They assumed that God would give them power and authority just like a nation. The Pope had crowned emperors. They had built up kingdoms and empires and took them down. So they could claim how great and mighty and powerful and wealthy they were to say, see how God has blessed us. Well, Luther called this a theology of glory. It has a significant assumption that God works in this world in the way of the world. We would call this today the prosperity gospel. That you know God's blessing by how rich, full, happy, and powerful you are. Luther contrasted this with the theology of the cross. You see, the theology of glory says you pass through the cross into the glory here on earth, Luther argued, no, it's not just the cross as what you pass through, it is the way. The cross is the way of God. God revealed himself most truly as the one, holy, merciful God on the cross. There you see his perfect justice and love, his perfect mercy and authority. It's in the cross, in the suffering of Jesus Christ that we know who God is most clearly, and that is how you continue to learn who God is through suffering. Theologians of glory don't really trust God or know God except when things are going well. They reduce God down to the ways of this earth. Theologians of the cross, they know Christ and Him crucified. They know He who is exalted to the cross is who can be trusted in the midst of suffering. It's an important dividing line because it, Christian life, any real life is based upon your, what are you expecting? See, Christianity is unique in that It faces suffering. It has a rich, robust theology of suffering. It acknowledges suffering. It leans into and addresses suffering and has even given us the great solution of suffering. God himself came down to suffer for us. The pattern of God is to lead his people into suffering. To meet them there. To be with them there. To deliver them out. We're in the Gospel of Matthew. If you're new with us, we're walking through books of the Bible each Sunday, Lord willing, and here we're in Matthew. Matthew 10 is the second great discourse. You're probably more aware of some of the mount, Matthew five to seven, the first great discourse here. The discourse is on him sending his disciples, those who would be apostles, the 12, out into their first mission. a training ground for the great mission he will send them out into after he is exalted to the right hand of the Father. If you're looking, you can see in verse one of chapter 10, he called them to himself and then gave them authority. He sent them out to proclaim his kingdom. They're an extension of him. Well, this week, we're continuing the same discourse we're going to see that he sends them into immediate danger after giving them this authority. If you're taking notes, the one-sentence summary, Jesus commissions his disciples to be witnesses of his kingdom in the world that hates him. Jesus commissions his disciples to be witnesses of his kingdom in the world that hates him. There are three points, a warning, called to be a witness, and the great hope. If you're making it simple, warning, witness, hope. First, let's consider this warning. And that's just verse 16.
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So, be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Now, if you're wanting just one verse to meditate upon and memorize, that's it. That's a summary statement of everything else he's gonna say, everything else is unpacking that statement. And it could just be, you know, you're being sent out as a sheep among wolves. He's sending these disciples, that word sent is where we get the word apostle from. These 12 will have a unique authority for the church. They'll be the apostles upon which the foundation of the church is laid as they go and teach Jesus Christ, him crucified and risen. So this applies to them uniquely, but we believe this also continues on with the other disciples, us included. He says, behold, watch out. I'm sending you out as a sheep among wolves. Now, we're probably familiar with this passage, and let's just be real clear. If you're coming out of school or you're looking for a job, and the job description is to be a sheep among wolves, ain't nobody signing up for that. Sheep are defenseless, vulnerable. Wolves are incredible designs of God to be destructive. That's hopeless. Here, Jesus, the good shepherd, is telling his sheep, I am sending you out as sheep. I'm sending you out vulnerable, defenseless, among the fierce hunters, the wolves. If we go back to chapter nine, we remember Jesus looks out at the sheep, the lost sheep, the scattered sheep, the sheep without a shepherd, and he has compassion upon them. He asks these disciples, pray that the Lord of the harvest would raise up more laborers for these sheep. And we see that they're immediately those who are gonna pray for the laborers, and they're gonna be those laborers. Then he gives them authority. Go to the lost sheep with authority, and then know that when you're out there trying to care for those sheep without authority, you're going to be vulnerable. And just to make sure we get the vulnerability, look at the beginning of verse 17, 19, and 21. You will be delivered, you will be delivered, they will deliver you. It's dangerous. Jesus, who has all authority, who has shown himself to be the king, he's sending them out vulnerable, to be dragged before kings, hated by family, and persecuted. Now, if I'm them, I'm kind of asking, can I get a timeout? Can you explain and clarify how these two things go together? You're giving us authority? But it's authority to go out among wolves defenseless. That is a great tension we must hold together. They had to be confused at some level. What does this mean to have such great authority? Jesus, who has all authority, is sending us out in authority to be vulnerable, persecuted, hated, prosecuted before kings, rejected. I think we can start to see how Jesus, what he means when he says, my kingdom is not of this earth. You see, his kingdom citizens are going out into the earth and when he is proclaiming the true king, they will be dragged before their earthly kings. The call is to be a faithful people among the nations, among the people. Christ is calling his kingdom to not be like Greece, Persia, even Israel, even America. See, his kingdom has no boundaries. He is the Lord of the earth. All right, there are some gates, and we crush those gates and the authority of Jesus Christ by proclaiming him as king. The kingdom of Christ spreads throughout all nations and all peoples, bringing life and newness. We call this the church of Jesus Christ, and it's universal. He called the disciples to make disciples of all nations, to spread his glory around to all peoples. They're a universal church. But here at Jefferson Park, we're supposed to be an outpost. We call this the local visible church. Working with other churches, not just here to be happy in fellowship, which I hope we are, but to be trained, prepared, ready to be sent out on this mission to be sheep among wolves with the authority of the gospel. They're going out as sheep among the wolves. He sees the sheep need a shepherd. You'd think maybe they'll go out as like sheep dogs. No, he's gonna send them out as sheep. The sheep are given authority over sheep. and they're vulnerable like a sheep. The other amazing thing to think about this is the sheep are going out to proclaim the gospel among wolves, and that gospel has the power to turn wolves into sheep. Think about Saul, who we call Paul. That gospel changes the world, not with destruction, but with life. We're to go to the wolves who might devour us, We could be going out to the wolves and proclaiming the gospel and see a wolf transformed into a follower of Jesus Christ. That's the power of the gospel. That's the authority he's sending them out with. They're going as sheep among the wolves who hate God, his son. They will be vulnerable. They could remain quiet and safe or they could be faithful and count the cost. It's important, we do see that this isn't an invitation of Jesus, it's a commission. These disciples have already heard the call, follow me, and they've committed. They believe and they're committed, they are following him, he's called them to himself, now he's commissioning them. These men who have given up everything to follow him will be willing to give up everything to proclaim him. All right, so we see two animals, and there's a contrast there. The sheep are vulnerable among the wolves, but we see two more animals. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Interestingly, that word wise as serpents, same word that correlates in Greek with the Septuagint for Genesis 3, the serpent was crafty, wise, prudent. Be wise as serpents. alert, attentive, proactively planning. We can especially appreciate this for those Christians who are missionaries in parts of the world where it's illegal to be a Christian and especially illegal to proselytize or evangelize. They have to be especially plotting. They want to go unseen by the authorities so they can continue to proclaim the gospel without the authorities crushing their ministry. There's a wisdom and a cunningness that needs to be part of being a gospel witness, especially in a closed world or a hostile country. Innocent or pure as doves. This is where it's helpful, unlike that Genesis 3 serpent, it's not crafty with impure motives, it's prudent and innocent. It's undefiled. These two go together to make sure the believer is wise and innocent. We live in this world not as the world participating in it, but we're meant here to grasp that theologian of the cross. If we think everything is supposed to go smoothly all the time with the most comfort, we're not gonna really know how to even think about what this commission means for us. The theologian of the cross recognizes Christ came to suffer. Christ, who had all authority, lowered himself to the point of becoming like us and even dying on the cross. Once we understand more and more of God's great design that saves us in the suffering of Christ, we're willing to embrace what this mission is. When I think about who Jesus Christ is in this commission, he is the good shepherd. That's what you must remember. He is the good shepherd. who cares for us, knows us, lays down his life for us, and that knowing him as a good shepherd, we're willing to proclaim him the good shepherd. Well, that's the warning. Now for more specifics of the mission, to be a witness. The second point is the mission, to be a witness. And this is verses 17 to 20. I'll just read 17 and 18 for now.
Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues. And you will be dragged before the governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.
But we're getting back into that mission because he's sending them out to the towns of Israel. They're gonna go town to town, proclaiming the kingdom, looking for that worthy house. Now there's a warning more related to what that looks like. And we kind of see who the wolves are. Beware of men. They're other neighbors, human beings. And just notice the repetition here. The delivery to the courts. and flog you in their synagogues. You'll be dragged before governors and kings for my sin. As you go out and proclaim Christ, they will persecute you because of Christ. But he gives that grand purpose at the end of 18, to be a witness. Again, there must be an understood correlation that we see God most clearly on the cross in suffering. And here we must understand there might be a way in which we make Christ known most clearly by being faithful to proclaim him even in the midst of suffering. The neighbors, they'll mistreat you. They'll turn you over. You'll be delivered over. You'll be dragged before governors, be prosecuted, persecuted. and there you will bear witness. And the word behind this is martyr, which has taken on not just a witness aspect, but a dying as a witness, suffering specifically to be a witness. This is what we call persecution. Let's just kind of back out a little bit and go to that first discourse, Matthew 5, verses 10 and 11. Remember, Jesus begins that first discourse with a list of blessings, and they're the most unusual blessings in some way. And it ends with a double blessing.
Read the full sermon
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice!
The context is persecution. Blessed are you when persecuted.
Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Jesus blesses his kingdom and his citizens. Knowing he is going to send them out as sheep among the wolves, there is a connection between proclaiming Christ boldly and faithfully and then being persecuted. He gives that principle in next week's first verse, in verse 24. Think about how they treated me. Why would you think they're gonna treat you any differently? When you're an extension of Jesus, the world will treat you like they treated Jesus. Now the clear threat is the neighbor possibly down the street. Remember last week's instruction, find that worthy house who would host you, that assumes they're a believer. They're gonna host you so you can keep proclaiming the gospel. Well, that doesn't mean Billy down the street isn't gonna turn you in. He's gonna take you into the square and accuse you, to the synagogue and flog you, to the governors to be tortured. It's kind of interesting, that almost follows a pattern of what happened to Jesus. Began with the religious rulers and ended up with a governor. Christian, we should consider how blessed we are to live in this country where this kind of government persecution doesn't take place like this. We're protected from flogging. We're protected from prosecution of persecution. We need to be thankful to God for the protections we have right now and consider that God expects us to be faithful under that protection right now. The threats we face are real, right? Ruining your reputation, somebody slandering you because you share the gospel, somebody misrepresenting you because you share the gospel. Those are real dangers that I don't want to dismiss at all. But the incredible opportunity we have to proclaim Christ boldly and faithfully without this kind of national persecution and prosecution, we must be thankful and good stewards of. We must understand that gospel is offensive because it tells everyone we're all going the wrong way against God. He came to turn us around by repenting we can come to Jesus, by repenting you can come to new life. The goal isn't to offend, to be offensive. The goal is to be clear with the gospel. He's really making it clear what it means that your sheep among wolves are gonna deliver you and you'll be my witness. Well, let's now look at 19 and 20. That really gives more instruction here.
When they deliver you over, Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what are you to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Here, it's almost as if Jesus is God who knows what we would already be thinking. What I say, in the middle of a court with people who hate me and want to, are flogging me and persecuting me, I'm supposed to bear witness? How could I possibly bear witness in that kind of hostility? And so Jesus gives us instruction for that immediate question that should come to our mind, that how could I? I'm terrified of that. I'm worried about that. So Jesus says, when they deliver you, don't be anxious. This is the first time he's told us not to be anxious. You wanna see another thorough teaching on anxiety? You can go to Matthew 6. Do not be anxious. And there he reasons with his disciples. He reasons with us. Look at the birds of the air. Look at the flowers of the field. Doesn't God care more about you? Look at how God has cared for all things. God is rich and he is generous. Do not be anxious about food and drink. Here it's a little more intense though, isn't it? Those are the basic necessities of life to live. Here it's, will my life be taken away from me? And he says, do not be anxious. It will be given to you in that hour. That is a very important qualifier. Because personally, I would like for Jesus to give me a script beforehand so I have confidence to know how to memorize and be ready, but the whole point is that gives me confidence in me. His whole point is, trust the God who cares for you. In that hour, it will be given to you. Fully depend upon God. Trust Jesus in this anxiety. That is the first cure of anxiety, of most anxieties, trusting Jesus. So he says, don't be anxious about how to be a witness. Don't be anxious about what you would say or how you'll say it. It will be given to you in that hour, at that moment. Verse 20, the spirit of your father will speak through you. The spirit of your father will speak through you. Now, we can look through the Old Testament, and they would understand enough of the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament to know the Holy Spirit would come down upon a prophet, priest, or king, or a significant calling upon an Israelite to have the power and authority to proclaim and do what God has them to do. So the Spirit of the Old Testament would, the Holy Spirit would come to the Old Testament and empower someone to do the work God had set them out to do. And so they would have a category for the Holy Spirit. But I wanna kinda branch out here a little bit more and make sure we understand Jesus is the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God, the eternal Son of God. And we know God is Father because he has sent his Son. The Father has adopted us into his family by sending his Son who shares his inheritance with us. The Holy Spirit testifies to us that we are children of God, adopted. If you look throughout Scripture, you'll see the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of revelation, wisdom, truth. The Holy Spirit leads us to Christ and his truth. The Holy Spirit is promised from Jesus. He will remind you of me and all that I have taught you. The Holy Spirit testifies to us that we are children of God. The Holy Spirit carried along the authors of scripture to write down the very words of God. The Holy Spirit is revealing. That's the power behind this statement. The Holy Spirit who produced these words, He will give you the words to say in that moment. We do need to have a understanding of who the Holy Spirit is. Primary ministry, it seems to be one of testimony. He testifies to us and confirms to us the gospel truth when we hear it. The Holy Spirit testifies to us. We are children of God. He gives us assurance. That same Holy Spirit who we learn to hear and trust as He testifies to us who we are, we trust He will also testify through us. Holy Spirit testifies to you and through you. He is the great instrument of the Father. He is the person of the Trinity from the Father through the Son who points us to God and then proclaims God through us. We can see this throughout Acts. Jesus says, wait for the Holy Spirit to come with power from on high. And then Peter, after that spirit comes, he proclaims the first gospel sermon, and the Holy Spirit is constantly moving the church, empowering the message of the gospel. Do not be anxious. It will be given to you. Now let's look at a verse I skipped over.
For it is not you who speak.
That's extremely helpful and clarifying. I'm not depending upon my wisdom, my ability. God's saying, it's not you, it's me. I will give you what you need. I've given you my son, I've given you life, I've given you power, I've given you authority, I've given you love. Trust me. It's not you. That is good news. It's not you. God says he will give you what you need. One of the ways I encourage you to think of the Holy Spirit is his spotlight ministry. His spotlight ministry. He's a spotlight within us to bless us. He's a spotlight through you to bless others. the spotlight is never on you. The spotlight is in you, the spotlight is through you, the spotlight is never on you. The Holy Spirit has spoken and he continues to speak so that we can make Christ known. So do not be anxious. Believer, be strong and courageous in Christ. Be faithful to make the gospel clear, knowing it's the Holy Spirit who will illuminate minds and hearts. He will bring life to the dead. I especially wanna speak to students. So great to see so many new faces and some returning faces. I pray there's a zeal that you would see God move at UVA. We long to come alongside of you with campus outreach and as a church and pray that you will be built up. Seek to make the gospel clear. Trust these promises that as you proclaim the gospel, he will give you the words to say and he will change the hearts. We long to come alongside of you to train you, give you confidence in Christ, But here's my one simple challenge. If you're a UVA student, here's my one simple challenge. Every day this semester, while walking on grounds, pray this prayer. Father, I pray that the gospel of your Son would be faithfully proclaimed in the power of the Spirit through every Christian ministry. Does that seem simple enough? I didn't see, but maybe a couple of heads. I'm trying to keep it simple. Father, may the gospel of your son be faithfully proclaimed by the power of your spirit in every Christian ministry. Hold out hope for revival, and that's where it starts. Walking around, seeing how many image bearers of God are walking away from him and rejecting him. Praying that the Holy Spirit would use you to see someone turn from a wolf to a sheep. By God's power, that happens. You can look around and see how many times it's happened in this room. Finally, the hope. Verse 21.
Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and the children will rise against parent and have them put to death. And you'll be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
All right, verse 16. We're first introduced to this concept, which is still just incredible. I'm gonna send you a sheep among the wolves. And then he clarifies what that means. They're gonna drag you before the authorities and you will be my witness there among the wolves. Now, I believe there's more of an intensity. He's ratcheting up how intense and significant this is. Because notice it's not just your neighbor, it's your brother, your father, maybe even your child. Those closest to Ken among you might be the wolf. And that's hard. Those closest to you might be the wolves. And notice it's not just dragging you before, but they're, they want you to die? They hate you? What a reversal of commitment that shows the power of the kingdom How the domain of darkness is at war with the kingdom of God? You would turn to God and love him and all of a sudden your parents who gave you life would want you to die because you believe in Jesus? That's hard. Jesus is a good shepherd. He's telling you what's at cost. He's telling you ahead of time what to be ready for. They're gonna hate you and want to put you to death. Those who are designed by God to be most loving near you, they'll hate you. It's called a count the cost. When someone who was a Muslim converts and is baptized, they are almost always given death threats. Now, if they convert and not get baptized, those death threats aren't always as clear. See, Muslims understand baptism, sadly, more than many Christians. It declares an allegiance change. It declares a new identity. If you're baptized from being a Muslim to being a Christian, it's almost always going to follow with a death threat. Here we must see that that allegiance change causes those who were designed to love us, who we want to love us, to turn against us. Happens when folks convert from Hinduism. We know that from some of our own members. We know this from some of our members according to Islam as well. Converting from Catholicism, that allegiance change, the parent or the brother, even the child will hate you. And that's fracturing something God designed to be good. It's a scary reality for many that we need to make sure we're caring for as a church. It's important that we know children are always to honor parents, but there are times you must align yourself with a father over against parents. Jesus is making clear he's a new kind of king and bringing a new kind of kingdom that's going to build up a new kind of people. Not just converts of Israel, but of all people from all backgrounds. There's gonna be all kinds of hostility. If you are a child and your parents are Christians longing to believe. Be thankful. This is where if your children are promoting what's good and your parents are promoting what's good and right, your siblings, we need to be encouraging those to walk in the faith. Notice the end of verse 22,
but the one who endures to the end will be saved.
In light of Those who are supposed to be closest to you and protect you and love you, hating you and wanting to kill you, Jesus gives a promise. The one who endures to the end will be saved. This is what we call the doctrine of perseverance. This is your charge to believe. It goes along with the doctrine of preservation. These are two things that we must hold together in tension. Good theology holds tension. God will preserve you is the promise, and the charge is persevere in the faith. Don't stop believin'. Those who endure to the end will be saved. Do not deny Jesus because of hostility. Do not deny Jesus because of hatred. Now he's speaking to disciples, and let me just be really clear, if you're not a believer this morning, that call to endure, that simply means that you have entered into that first faith and you're going to keep believing. We're saved by faith alone. And that faith, when sealed by God, that faith when we trust God, that faith when we turn to God, Not just intellectually, but with our lives. We see he's promising forgiveness and new life, a new way. We turn to God, we turn to Jesus Christ who has given us forgiveness on the cross. New life. The whole point is you keep believing. It's not a one-time thing that happens that then you just kind of go on and go about your business. No, it's a whole new way of life from God. We believe. You're saved by faith in Jesus, so believe. You know, that means you're turning to him and following him. Church, we must see here there's a rich theology of perseverance, suffering, persecution. A couple things to clarify. The church is never supposed to look for persecution. But be ready for it. This is where I'm happy to get some challenges afterwards. God uses persecution to spread the church. I don't think persecution makes the church healthier. A lot of folks think the church will be more healthy if it's persecuted. No, Paul says pray for the kings that we could actually live in peace and simplicity. The goal is that we'd be able to do what we're supposed to do faithfully. Persecution hinders the church in many ways. It does spread Christians, but it isn't clear it makes us more faithful. We also need to be careful not to think persecution only happens out there or is always to be present. No, persecution is a season of what God gives so that we might be witnesses and trust him more. Notice this final instruction, verse 23.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Now, I believe this is uniquely focused on these disciples, because I believe this coming of the Son, that's not referring to a second coming, that's simply saying, I'm going to catch up with you before you even get through the towns. There's an urgency. Go to a town, find a worthy house, proclaim the gospel, next town, next town, next town. Flee, don't waste your time in a town that's rejecting you. Move on. The coming here of the son of man who is authoritative, that's not his second coming. I believe that's, I'm gonna catch up with you before you even get halfway through the towns to end this particular mission. Church, we pray that we would grow up in Christ together. Here's where we first learn how to speak God's word faithfully, clearly, and boldly. It's first knowing how the Holy Spirit would actually speak through us here among friendlies, sheep among sheep. Here's where we train one another how to think about the gospel, persevere in suffering, trust God to use us as an instrument. Then we're able to greater understand and greater be more faithful. I pray we as a church would raise up evangelists, missionaries, pastors, faithful parents. Students would be bold on grounds. Pray we'll be consistent witnesses to the children of this church. Recognize that in the midst of suffering, especially persecution, that is where you, when squeezed, can be prepared to proclaim the goodness of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray for his grace to endure. Pray for his power to proclaim him. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you have not left us alone. We thank you that you promised your son and you've sent your son and we can see the power of your gospel that he's died for our sins. He's risen and now exalted to your right hand with all authority. Father, we pray we would know him and you more by your spirit. We pray that we would encourage each other in this most holy faith. We pray that we would be sending each other out to be faithful to proclaim Christ at work, at school, in our neighborhoods. Lord, may you bless us with the joy of seeing wolves turn into sheep by the power of your gospel. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Transcript from SermonAudio. The recording is the authoritative version.
Next sermon
What Is An Ordinance And Why Are There Two?More from Matthew
- Receive God's Word That Cleanses WithinMatthew 23:25-39 · 4 October 2026
- The Weight of WorshipMatthew 23:13-24 · 27 September 2026
- Humbly Follow ChristMatthew 23:1-12 · 13 September 2026
- Son of GodMatthew 22:41-46 · 6 September 2026