Matthew 10: The Twelve Apostles

SLIDE01Matthew 10: The Twelve Apostles

What is the difference between disciples and apostles? Disciple is derived from the Greek word which means learner or student. While Jesus was on earth, His followers were called disciples. The twelve disciples followed Jesus Christ, learned from Him, and were trained by Him which involved not just learning what He believed, but an acceptance of Jesus as LORD.

The Apostles began as disciples but not all disciples became apostles. Apostle is derived from the Greek word which means “delegate, messenger, or ambassador.” “One sent forth with orders” and that is exactly what Jesus commanded the apostles to do in Matthew 10. Will you choose to be an Ambassador for Jesus?

 "The apostolic number fitly represents the twelve tribes of Israel; and for practical purposes the twelve form a workable band of leaders, a sufficient jury, and a competent company of witnesses." (Spurgeon)

SLIDE 2 Ambassadors of the King

·        Instructions and Provisions for their Ministry

·        Warning of Persecution

·        Cost of Kingdom Ministry and Rewards

¹And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. Then he names the 12.

*We were having a contest where the adults in our church challenged the youth in a game of Bible Trivia. “Name ten of the twelve disciples.” No one could do it! When I looked at the lists in the four gospels there were a couple of disciples listed by two different names.

SLIDE 3 Bartholomew is called Nathaniel in John’s gospel. When Philip brought him to the LORD, you may remember Nathaniel was the one who stated “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Also I learned that day there were two Simons, two James, two Judas’. (Thaddaeus is called “Judas, son of James” in Luke 6.)

² The names of the twelve apostles are on the screen, Mark list is the same. Did you notice the pairing of the names? Mark’s gospel tells Jesus sent them out in pairs. It also gives a way to memorize their names.

·        Simon, called Peter and Andrew his brother

·        James and John the sons of Zebedee

·        Philip and Bartholomew (Nathaniel in the gospel of John 1:45)

·        Thomas as Didymus (John 20:24) and Matthew the tax collector

·        James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus (Judas, son of James, in Luke 6)

·        Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

I’m so glad Jesus chose twelve ordinary men. He called a diverse group with a variety of backgrounds none of privilege and status. Had he chosen intellectuals, educated men in Jewish law, highly placed officials in the temple, we could not relate. Throughout the Old Testament God chose men who had faults and issues with trust. This is a lesson to us ladies. We don’t have to be perfect, just a willing vessel.

SLIDE 4 Instructions and Provisions for their Ministry

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, "Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans,⁶ but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way.

Famous author, John Piper tells us WHY Jews have priority over Gentiles.
SLIDE 5 © 2015 Desiring God Foundation.

1.     They are the historic chosen people of God.

2.     They are the guardians of God's special revelation, the Old Testament Scriptures.

3.     The Messiah and Savior, Jesus, comes to the world as a Jew to Jews.

4.     Salvation is from the Jews, since everyone who is saved is saved by being connected to the covenant with Abraham by faith.

5.     The Jews are to be evangelized first when the gospel penetrates a new region.

6.     The Jews will enter first into final judgment or into final blessing.

In Romans 2:9-10, Paul says, "There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." 

SLIDE 6 Paul in Romans 1:16 says “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Jesus gave these twelve the authority and power that He displayed in chapter 8. He equipped them for the job he called them to do. It is still true today: whom God calls, God equips. The disciples brought the same message Jesus preached, but covering a much broader area than Jesus could do by Himself.

Will you choose to go where God calls?

SLIDE 7⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

·        ⁸ Heal the sick,

·        raise the dead,

·        cleanse lepers,

·        cast out demons.

You received without paying; give without pay.

⁹ Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. Did you understand what Jesus commanded? No money, no bag, nor extra clothes.  Wouldn’t that take great faith to set out with nothing; to depend on the goodness of believers along the way to feed and lodge them? That is what I call packing light.

SLIDE 8 *Every two years when I travel to Colorado Springs. It is a small dilemma to pack for the region and the plane. One bag is not enough for all the layers of clothing, coats, gloves, scarves and boots. Each bag costs $50-60 and is limited by size and weight. Last January I struggled with a carryon bag that kept falling over, I dribbled my belonging throughout the three different airports. Maybe it is a good thing to be unencumbered with the trappings of too much stuff!

¹¹ And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.

What does it mean to be worthy or unworthy? When we speak about worthiness, we are talking about an important aspect of NT teaching. The Greek word is the word axios. It occurs 41 times in the NT. That should give us already an idea of the importance of this word.

·        Cost of Kingdom Ministry and Rewards

¹² As you enter the house, greet it.¹³ And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.¹⁴ And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

SLIDE 9Sodom and Gommorrah is the standard for sin even today. Strange as it might seem there is evidence that scientists have found the geological evidence of these two cities. Excavation area at Numeira as it appeared following the 1977 season. Scientists say the sites look like burial houses that had a fire set on the rootop. Fire raining from heaven could explain how both cities were systematically set fire to and demolished. http://www.biblearchaeology.org At Bab edh-Dhra Jack Donahue of the University of Pittsburgh found that during the period of occupation there was sedimentation, or infilling, and a buildup of cultural debris (Donahue 1985: 135).

·        Warning of Persecution

SLIDE10¹⁶       "Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.¹⁷ Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues,¹⁸ and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

Are you willing to be an Ambassador for Jesus?

SLIDE 11Jesus  does not say if they hand you over.¹⁹ When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  

Guzik states “This isn't a justification of poor preparation in teaching and preaching God's Word, but it is a promise of strength and guidance for the persecuted that have an opportunity to testify of Jesus.”

SLIDE 12²⁴"A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.   "Thank God, they may call us what they like, but they cannot make us evil. . . . God was slandered in Paradise, and Christ on Calvary; how can we hope to escape?" (Spurgeon)

Remember the Beatitudes; Matthew 5:11-12"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Have No Fear

SLIDE 13 Matthew 10:26 Luke 8:17 For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

It is getting more dangerous for believers in today’s world. Still if we would be messengers of the gospels we must shout it from the rooftops.

SLIDE 14 ²⁸ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
God is the one to fear, not the men who persecute the followers of Jesus.  If men kill us, it will be temporary state, we will be resurrected when Christ returns. Only an omnipotent God can create life and only a Sovereign God can damn a soul to hell.

SLIDE 15 Romans 8:38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Are you willing to be an Ambassador for Jesus?

God is so concerned about our salvation that He warns us of the consequences of refusing that salvation. He is telling us that refusing His love is not simply a matter of taking it or leaving it. To leave it is to die. To turn away from God’s love is to perish.

SLIDE 16²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.³¹ Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

I love the fact that God knows us personally, the hairs of your head, the desires of your heart, your deepest fears.

SLIDE 17 32-33 When we stand up for Jesus Christ one day He will stand and introduce us to His Father. Woe to the one who denies Jesus before men, “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

³⁴"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

A person’s family is the most precious relationship among human beings. However there is one relationship that should be above this relationship with your family: it is our relationship to Jesus Christ. We are to love Jesus supremely, counting Him more worthy than all, even more worthy than our own family. When we love Him in this way, Jesus will count us worthy of Him.

SLIDE 18 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.³⁹ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.⁴⁰"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

In verse 41 Jesus speaks of rewards for those who receives the Ambassadors of Christ.  Don’t you love that God think we are worthy of rewards. Truly being in the presents of Jesus will be enough. We will lay our crowns at His feet.

SLIDE 19.⁴² And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."

Jesus was referring to his disciples as these little ones. But children are at the forefront of my mind. Tomorrow morning there will be an adoption ceremony for 9 children. We  will get to participate in the celebration of forever families with these precious children who have come through our DHHS courtroom!

I think nothing done for a child is ever wasted.

SLIDE 20 Anyone can wear a cross. Are you willing to go when Jesus call?