If you have your Bible, I invite you to open up with me to Matthew chapter 10. And our practice here is typically to work through books of the Bible, and so we've spent a good year and a half, at least, I think, in the Gospel of Matthew, and we've made our way up to chapter 10. And in chapter 10, we have the second major discourse, major speech that Jesus gives in the Gospel of Matthew. In many ways, Matthew's gospel is broken up by action, Jesus gives a long speech, more action, another speech, until you get five speeches in total in the Gospel of Matthew. And so here, it's often referred to as the mini or the little commission in comparison to the great commission that comes at the end when Jesus sends his disciples to go out to all the nations and to make disciples. But here, Jesus sends his original 12, the 12 apostles, to the lost sheep of Israel. It's a limited mission, and so referred to as the little or small commission, but nevertheless has a lot to teach us about our mission today as the people of God and what Jesus is calling you and I to as well. as we are to go out and to proclaim good news to the world. And so we'll say more about that slight tension in the text where it seems very particular to a particular time and limited, but then also a number of points of application for us today as well. And so we'll get there in due time, but let's turn now to God's word, Matthew 10, beginning at verse one, and I'll read through verse eight. And then we'll pick up verse nine, Lord willing, next week, but today we'll consider the first eight verses. This is the holy and inspired word of God. And Jesus called to him his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the 12 apostles are these. First, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, James, the son of Zebedee and John, his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector, James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These 12, Jesus sent out instructing them, go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and proclaim as you go saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You receive without paying, give without pay. So far from God's holy word. Let's pray that he would bless this to us. Father, as we are able to hear what Jesus said to his disciples long ago through the witness of Matthew recorded for us under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we pray that in hearing, we would hear something of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We would see something of his love and of his heart in seeking that which is lost, and also something of the way in which he uses people, ordinary people, to carry out his extraordinary ends of saving the lost and of renewing all things. Father, give us ears to hear and eyes to see the glory of Christ. We pray this in his name. Amen. congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as I said a moment ago, there's a bit of a tension here in Jesus' little commission to the 12 apostles, right? On the one hand, we have a very maybe quick sense that there's something here that's applicable to us. We know that God, as the church here, God has called us and commissioned us to go and make disciples, right? Go and share the good news with New York City and the world, right? We know we're called to do that. But on the other hand, we read a very particular things regarding this commission, right? Jesus tells them not to go to the Gentiles. Meanwhile, where to go to the Gentiles, right? He says later that they're not to take gold or silver or copper and while many missionaries likely have gone into the mission field with nothing, we don't typically send our missionaries with no money or food or anything and say, you know, go be well and hope it goes well for you. No, we typically support our missionaries. And so what's going on here? How do we make sense of this? Well, in many ways, the tension is very easily resolved when we realize that it will not be until Jesus is raised from the dead that he will go out to the nations. We saw sort of a foretaste of that earlier in Matthew 9 when Jesus had crossed over to the country of the Gadarenes and there he was confronted by these two demon possessed men who functioned sort of like a gateway into the other nations. There, they confront Jesus, not so much of a contest because Jesus, they recognize, has far more authority and far more power than them. And Jesus casts out the demons, anticipating that one day his message and his person is now gonna go into the nations, right? So we see Forte's anticipations of it. And so too, this commission, right? For now, Jesus is seeking the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But it's anticipating that greater mission to the world. And so while there are things that are particular about this that are only applied to the 12 apostles, whether it's performing miracles or only going to particular people, nevertheless, it has much to tell you and me about our mission today to the world. And it anticipates then, in many ways, the great commission that will come at the end of Matthew's gospel when Jesus is raised from the dead, he's been given all authority in heaven and on earth, and he tells us to go. And so there is that anticipation in this. And so we want to be careful as we read and nuanced as we read to see, okay, what are ways that this applies to us and what are ways that this was something that was being a promise of God being fulfilled in a very unique way. And so as we jump into this little commission, there's six or seven points that I want us to get to. We'll see how it goes today. Last time I had seven points, I think I said it's after three, it's the most godly number for a sermon as a number of perfection throughout scripture. It's either three or seven with me lately, so here we are at seven. But we'll begin with our first point, and that is simply to think about the meaning of this commission. What's so significant about this moment in history that Jesus is commissioning his 12 apostles? Throughout Matthew's gospel already, we've seen that there are more than just 12 people following Jesus. We've seen crowds following Jesus. But we see how Jesus, in the midst of all of his disciples, forms this sort of inner circle of 12 apostles. A number of times in the text, what's emphasized here is the number of them. He called to him his 12 disciples. And then in verse 2, the names of the 12 apostles are these, and then list them all out by name. We've also seen earlier in Matthew's gospel that he's shown us how they were called to follow him, right? Jesus says, follow me, and remember they leave their nets and follow him. And Matthew's sitting at the tax booth and he says to Matthew, follow me. And Matthew gets up, leaves the tax booth, and follows him. But the meaning here and the emphasis here is not on them being called, but on the significance of there being 12 of them that Jesus has gathered around. And many of you are good students of God's Word, and the number 12, along with three and seven, is a significant number in the Bible. We see how, when God was forming a people for himself in the Old Testament, that he gave Jacob 12 sons, and the 12 sons of Jacob formed the people of God as a whole, like there was diversity of tribes, but a unity in terms of a single people. And so why does Jesus call to himself 12 apostles? What is Jesus doing here? Well, Jesus is very intentionally demonstrating how though God's people, and we'll say a bit more about this in our second point, though God's people have been scattered. Remember what happened at the end of the Old Testament. God's people were found faithless and God scattered them in exile. As first the Assyrians come and take many away in the north. And then the Babylonians come, they ransack Jerusalem, destroy it, take many away. And God's people are scattered throughout the nations under the king of Persia. Cyrus, that's the name, under the king of Persia, Cyrus. A decree goes out that God's people can return to the land, but not many do. A small remnant returned to the land. That's the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah, right? They're rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. They're rebuilding the temple, right? But most of the people remained in exile. They remained away from God and very much just assimilated themselves into Babylonian or Persian culture and were lost, but a remnant returned into the land. And so Jesus now then, by calling to himself 12 disciples, and from those 12 telling them to go out and begin gathering more, is signaling that God's promise to restore his people is now beginning to be fulfilled. God is now reconstituting his people. And that the people will not be defined merely by their bloodline. The people of God will no longer be defined merely by whose blood they have running through their veins. But they will be defined by how they view Jesus, right? It's the 12 apostles who have gathered around Jesus, who then goes out and proclaims Jesus and the kingdom he has brought to the nations. Jesus is signaling that the people of God will now be defined by whether or not they believe in him. Jesus is reconstituting the people of God around himself, so that around him, The people of God, the single flock of God will be gathered around that one shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's signaling that things are going to be made new. God is going to restore his people. And this anticipates then that it will not only be to those who have Abraham's blood running through them that this message will go to. But again, it's anticipating that from all nations who come to trust in Jesus, will be made part of that new people of God that has now grown out of the old, right? And so it's not that God is starting over, but that out of that old people, out of the house of the Old Testament, God has raised up a son and that son will restore that house. And in restoring that house, he will not only bring in the lost sheep of Israel, but he will also eventually go out to the nations which in a beautiful way is reflected in this congregation as well as you look around you. As God has gathered people, and so this is such a significant moment in history. that God's promises, that God's people had been longing for, and the nations longing for, whether they knew it or not necessarily. This is the moment that restoration is beginning. That flock that was scattered, the people who were lost, the people without a shepherd to care for them, who as Matthew tells at the end of chapter nine, were helpless and hopeless. and harassed, they will now be sought out. This is a significant moment as Jesus is reconstituting the people of God. It's for this reason Paul in Galatians will refer to the church as the Israel of God. Not that we are an ethnic people, but that we are the Israel of God, the true people of God, because the people of God are defined not by their bloodline, but by their relation to Jesus Christ, so that all who trust in him is a son of Abraham, as Paul says in Galatians 3. Not because you have Abraham's blood, but because you have his faith. All who trust in Jesus are part of the people of God, the Israel of God. And that is why Jesus gathers these 12 around him and gives them this mission. Again, a very significant moment in history as Jesus is now reconstituting the people of God around himself that will be built up as his apostles go forth. And the message of the apostles is then extended through the church as well. So that is the significance of the 12. that Jesus gathers around himself. It's why there's, you know, the narrative slows down. Matthew names all of them for us. It also probably was beneficial to the church, as Matthew is not writing as these events are unfolding, right? Matthew is writing after the fact as a witness, and so he can tell the churches that have now trusted in Jesus, these were the original 12. And now many of you know also in Acts how Judas, who is referred to in very ominous terms, Judas who betrayed him, would be replaced by another apostle. But ultimately the 12, the number 12, will remain significant as the 12 sons of Jacob that constituted Israel of old are now in Christ the 12 apostles who will build up the people of God and will go out through the power of Christ to the nations. Well, first to the lost sheep of Israel, but then eventually to the nations. So that's our first point, the meaning, that's what's going on, a very significant moment. The second, we wanna think about those whom Jesus is seeking after, right? And he refers to them as lost sheep. He refers to them as lost sheep and we ought to reflect upon the way in which Jesus speaks in a very endearing and a very tender way about such people. He speaks of them as sheep who have wandered in a way that demonstrates his own love and his own heart for them. And this is something we've reflected on all throughout Matthew's gospel, but something I don't really tire of saying. Because on the one hand, we see Jesus demonstrate this authority and power that is unprecedented. Where we see him casting out demons, we see him cleansing lepers and restoring people to service to God. We see him raising the dead, we see him calming the storm at sea. He's doing things that are not ordinary, right? He possesses in himself this great power as the Son of God who has come and taken on a true humanity for us and for our salvation. But as we see his power, as the Belgian Confession reminds us, we ought not to be afraid of it, right? We ought not to tremble at his greatness. And the reason that we're not to tremble at it is because we also are shown what is in his heart, right? If he just possessed great power that we all trembled before, well then, how could we trust him? How could we run to him? How could we rest in him and find comfort in him and a refuge in him? No, we've seen all throughout Matthew's gospel not only his power, but also his deep love and compassion and the tenderness that he possesses And so the Belgic Confession tells us in one of my favorite phrases throughout the whole confession, that we are not to tremble at his greatness. Why? For there is no one in heaven or on earth who loves you more than Jesus Christ. And that's such a beautiful, comforting statement, that Jesus loves you more than anyone else in heaven or on earth. And so we can run to him, come to him, in all of his strength and power and majesty, we can come to him. Because it's he who sends out disciples to lost sheep, who can have such great power and majesty, be sinless and spotless and perfect in every way. And yet, to think so graciously and kindly and mercifully to those who are lost, the lost sheep. And note that they're not in a great place, right? They're lost. That's one thing, you know, that's probably a problem if you're a sheep. You probably don't want to be lost. It's probably not a safe place to be. You're away from the shepherd. You're away from the fold. And yet, Jesus is showing his kindness and his tenderness by going out. And has not he shown his tenderness and kindness along with his power? As he has brought you into his fold. As he has gone out and searched for you. Though you were lost. Though you were dead. Though you were wandering. Though you were in rebellion. Though you were in a low state. Jesus doesn't bat an eye. He goes and seeks out that which is lost. And so Jesus doesn't send out his disciples on a mission to those worthy or those in a great place or those who have their lives together. No, he sends his disciples out to the lost sheep. And we ought to take note of that and ask, you know, again, what does that show me about the heart of Jesus for those who are lost, right? He calls them sheep in a very tender and kind way. And he also says this so that as his disciples go out, they themselves might reflect that heart towards the lost sheep. That they might go out as under shepherds that care for the sheep, not with a heavy hand. Not with abusive words, not to hurt and destroy and to shame, but to restore, to bring back, right? And so too, we've said this for ourselves, right? As God sends us out and Christ sends us out, he fills us with his spirit that compassion might fill our hearts and a tenderness for those that are lost. To bring them to Christ, not to go there to bash them over the head with things, not to shame them, not to make ourselves feel better or to, you know, pat ourselves on the back or, you know, beat our own chests in front of them as if we're better. No, to go to the lost sheep with the love of Christ. And so that's, those are whom Jesus seeks out and he desires then his disciples to see them as such, as lost sheep. The third thing is the message, right? So we've looked at the meaning, we've looked at those whom he seeks, but also then the message. Because you'll notice that as he sends them out, what is he sending them out to do? He says in verse seven, as you go, proclaim. As you go, proclaim saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. At the center of their mission is this proclamation. They're going out as his apostles. They're going out as in, you know, some have referenced that or kind of paralleled that with ambassadors, right? They go out and they bring a message on behalf of the one they represent, right? They're bringing words. And so what are they sent out to do? Well, as we're going to see, they are sent out to show mercy, to show that the kingdom of heaven coming near means that God is making all things new. He's restoring the hurts and the pains of the world. But at the heart of all of that is a message, is a word. At the heart of the church and your mission is a word. It's not enough to show mercy to the world, to meet its needs. The church's calling is to make proclamation to the world. The church's mission is not merely to be therapeutic to the world. Here's how you can kind of get your life in order, though of course the effects of that are good and true. There are blessings to our lives, to our marriages, to our families, to the way we work, right? There's effects upon all of that by the gospel, but at the heart of what preaching is, at the heart of the church, is a proclamation, right? And what is a proclamation? It's an announcement that something has come, something has happened. And so Jesus says that you are to go proclaiming the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And who brings the kingdom of heaven but Jesus, right? And if you remember, this is the very same message that Jesus began proclaiming and proclaimed in his ministry. And so what are the apostles doing? Well, they are echoing Jesus' proclamation now to the lost sheep of Israel. This proclamation that in the coming of the Son of God, the kingdom of heaven has come near. And while we are in the kingdoms of this earth, in which there is suffering, in which there is decay, there is breaking down, there is, as we've seen throughout Matthew's gospel, there are those oppressed, there are those who are demon-possessed, there's all kinds of wickedness and evil, but Jesus is saying, the kingdom of heaven is near. And his apostles are to say, the kingdom of heaven is near. This is the good news, that God in the person of Christ The one whom God has sent from heaven is the promised king who is coming to make all things new, the kingdom of heaven. A new power is here that can raise the dead. A new power is here to restore that which is lost. A new power is here to break chains of those in gloomy darkness. The kingdom of heaven is near. And so, brothers and sisters, think about your calling is one of proclamation. Now, yes, we go on to defend that message, we give a reason for that message, we talk with people about that message, but your primary word that you are called to do is a proclamation, a proclamation that Jesus, the King of heaven has come, and he is the one who has with him a full salvation, And therefore the time of ignorance, as Paul tells the Athenians long ago, so we say today, a time of ignorance is over and today is a day of repentance, of turning to this Savior, to this King. And in turning, finding new life and finding the restoration of all things. And so at the heart of this message is this word, is this proclamation, a declaration to the world of what has happened. And so today, we refer to ourselves as all churches typically do. We confess one holy Catholic apostolic church, Catholic meaning universal, not Roman Catholic, but lowercase c, Catholic, and that God's church is not limited to a particular people. But to the world, all nations, no one is excluded because of their ethnicity from coming into the kingdom. It is Catholic or universal. But we also proclaim the church as apostolic. What do we mean by that? Well, we don't mean that the office of the apostle continues. It doesn't. One of the requirements in scripture to be an apostle is that you were an eyewitness of the risen Christ. And so unless you've seen the risen Christ with your own eyes, you cannot be an apostle according to God's word. which in many ways very quickly overturns the Roman Catholic idea of a pope and who continues in Peter's office and so on. It doesn't actually fit with the teaching of scripture in a very basic way. But what does it mean then that we still say we're apostolic? Not that the office of the apostle continues, but the proclamation of the apostles continues in the church. We continue to say to the world the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the message of the apostles continues to be echoed by the church. And so as Christ began that proclamation saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand and the apostles were commissioned to say the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So now the church echoes that word and says to the world the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Turn and trust in the Savior, the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and find newness of life. In Him, you will be a new creation. In Him, He will restore you to God, He will give peace for your souls, He will reconcile you to the Father, and He will bring you into a new heavens and a new earth, a new creation, as Jesus will talk about later in Matthew chapter 19, but we may have another year to go before we get there, so we'll see. So the message. Fourth point, the miracles, right? So as Jesus sends them out with this message, he empowers them and authorizes them, as verse eight says, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Now notice, these are the very things that Jesus did. Now does that mean that all God's people as we go out are to perform miracles? Well, the answer is no. We see throughout the Bible how miracles are not something that's always happening. But miracles accompany the word of God as it is given. The miracles confirm the word that is being, the new word that is being given. It's why we see throughout the book of Acts, right, as they do go forth. And that message is now breaking into the nations. That message is being confirmed by their very miracles. Miracles that are the same that Jesus himself performed as well. And so, again, while we hear of this instruction to the disciples, the point is not to say, okay, therefore you are to go out and raise the dead. Now, could God do that? He could. Could God do that through the prayers of his people and cleansing a leper miraculously? cast out a demon, heal the sick. Indeed, he can still do that today. But now that the word has been established, the word has been given, we no longer need to do that. Nevertheless, the miracles as in the book of Acts, for example, and the miracles that Jesus performed are recorded for us. Not that we may look to replicate them, though again, God can certainly perform a miracle today. But the point is not that we might replicate them, but that we might see how when God gave this new word of a new thing that he's doing in his son, that he confirmed it by these miracles. These miracles are tethered to that word. And so when God gives a new word, we ought to expect in that giving of a new word, him to confirm it through various miracles. But now, that as the letter to the Hebrews reminds us long ago in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days, he's spoken to us by a son or by his son. Meaning that we've received the climactic final word of God. There is no new word revelation from God that will be given to us until Christ returns. And so the miracles are given. at a particular time when that new word in his son was being spoken. And so we don't just disregard the miracles and gloss over them and say, well, we don't really believe in those happening right now. No, instead we actually take note of them. as they reveal to us the power of God in making all things new, the nature of the kingdom of heaven, as it shows that it is coming as a power to restore all things, and also as it confirms the word that Jesus is speaking. It's saying that indeed he possesses such authority to speak a message from heaven. And so Jesus then equips his apostles in a unique manner to confirm the message he has given to them with these various miracles that he calls them to perform. So, that was our fourth point. Fifth point, and we'll be a little bit briefer on these. The mode, how are they to go forth? Well, you'll notice in The passage here, and then especially later on, which we'll say more about next week, but the mode is one of cross bearing, right? They're bringing a great message, right? They're bringing good news to the lost sheep of Israel, and yet Jesus goes on to tell them that not all will receive them. In fact, some will offer them up to the authorities, and some will flog them and beat them and kill them. Jesus sends them out to bear their cross bearing witness, and this is very important, I think, for understanding the mission that Christ calls us to. Because so often, the moments we'll go and speak and tell people about Jesus is when we've sort of calculated all of the possible consequences. And we've said, okay, it seems to be safe to proceed, right? The cautionary tape is around. Okay, now I see the right course where things should work out, maybe it'll work out. But Jesus sends them out in such a mode of cross bearing that calculating safety isn't really meant to be part of their mode of living and bearing witness. Now it doesn't mean to do something totally silly and put ourselves in reckless endangerment of our lives. But so often, right, what keeps us from telling other people about the Lord is that we're afraid of the response, mocking. being looked down upon, being thought silly, or dumb, or whatever it might be. You really believe that? Yeah, you really believe that? You really believe that message you read in God's word? You really believe that? We can have fear, but when we know that witnessing goes in tandem with cross bearing, we go forth to honor the Lord Jesus Christ and bear our crosses and desire that Jesus' name be honored more than our own lives be kept safe. So it's not a matter of calculating all the effects and having the easiest course before us, but it's simply being faithful to the message. The mode of bearing witness, the mode of going into the nations is one of cross-bearing. What about the motive? Well, the motive then kind of ties together with the mode. is one that desires Christ to be known more than one's own safety. The motive is reflected in the words we hear throughout scripture, here I am, send me. There's no reasoning, there's no qualifications, there's no reserve. Here I am, send me. Because the motive is Jesus and his glory, which far surpasses anything else that the world could ever offer to us. The motive is one in which we desire the glory that comes from Christ. The motive is one, therefore, that is not seen, that we can see with our eyes, but one that we trust. Jesus says, lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. And so we give our lives to the cause of Christ, and we give all that we are. And the very last thing I want to think about, the seventh point, is the reward. That as Jesus sends out his apostles, he sends out his church, he commissions them, You'll notice at the very end it says, you received without paying, give without pay. Jesus is saying that the benefit that's to come back to you because of this is not meant to be earthly wealth or success necessarily. Prestige, honor from the earth and the world, right? Don't expect to be paid in response to this. No, but Jesus is causing them to see that their reward will not come from those whom they serve ultimately, but from the Father in heaven. Their reward will be a heavenly reward, a reward that will be far greater, far more lasting than anything that any person benefited by their message could ever give to them. And so while today, again, we don't send out missionaries without sustaining them typically, Nevertheless, the principle that Jesus is teaching us here is that we ought to seek our reward, not from those whom we help, but from our Father who has sent us to go. He will reward us, He will bless us, and He will give us all things. And so as we think then about this little commission, and we'll think more about it next week as well, let us take these things to heart, and let us be motivated by the glory of Christ, let us take up our crosses, And let us echo the proclamation of the apostles to the world around us. The kingdom of heaven has come near. Jesus Christ, the Son of Heaven, the King, has come. He has died. He has been raised. He is today at the Father's right hand, and He is calling you to come to Him, to find rest for your soul. So trust Him, believe in Him, turn from your sinful ways, turn from your rebellion against God, and find rest for your souls in this Savior. That's the good news you and I have to tell the world. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the compassion and love that he has for that which is lost. Father, we pray that his compassion would fill our own hearts and that, as it does, we would be bold and ready and quick to proclaim the good news about him to the world. Give us opportunities to do that. Give us courage to do that. Give us faith to do that. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.