Matthew 2024

And if you'd like to turn in your church bibles to Matthew chapter 10, this is a series that we've been working through in our evening services through Matthews Gospel, and we've come to chapter 10.

And I'll read verse 1 to 15 and then Phil's gonna come and preach to us. Jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness. These are the names of the 12 apostles. First, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew. James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John, Philip and Bartholomew Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector, James, son of Alpheus and Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, and Judith Esgariet, who betrayed him.

These 12 Jesus sent out with the following instructions. Do not go among the gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message, the kingdom of heaven has come near. Heal those who are ill, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons, freely you have received, freely give.

Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts. No bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it.

If it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly, I tell you it will be more bearable for sodom and Gamora on the day of judgment than for that town. This is god's word to us this evening and Phil. Gonna come and preach now.

Thanks, Tom. If you like to keep the passage open in front of you, it'd be quite useful because we are gonna look back as well at, some verses from, chapter 9. So it will be helpful if if you have, keep your bibles open, let's pray and then we'll we'll look at this passage. Father god help us, this evening as we turn to your word now, help us to be touched by it, move by it, that you will take it and by your spirit, put it in our hearts, in our minds, that we might be, really changed by what we hear this evening, help us to be open to you speaking into our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.

So Tom said, I'm I'm Phil, 1 of the elders at the church. Lovely to see you all here. A special shout out to Stephen Ruth, who are what they said to me, we're going to be watching online. So if they've missed that, then we know they aren't. So, we're gonna look at this passage and, just those first 15 verses, as I said, I'll refer back to to chapter 9, a little bit.

When I'm talking to people at church, it it's not unusual to hear someone get the words evangelistic and evangelical the wrong way round or muddled up or they say the wrong 1. Now, I saw, you know, I might ask somebody, for example, newcomers group. What what are they looking for in a church? What were they looking for when they when they found Cornerstone? And they'll say, well, 1 that's evangelistic.

And that's it. That would be a good thing. You know, a church that he's looking outwards, trying to spread the gospel, see people come to know Jesus, except they actually meant evangelical, you know, a Bible believing church, a Bible preaching church. Now, if you've been through newcomers or, in fact, I saw Marcos come in earlier, see if Marcos said something like that, that would give me 2 weeks at least of jokes at his expense. But mainly, if if people are a little bit, you know, are more cautious, so I think it's a genuine misunderstanding, then obviously, I won't take fun out of them, make fun of And that's because, not because I used to get it wrong, but I, regularly, for years, couldn't understand the difference between apostles and disciples, and would often get, in my head, the wrong way around, say the wrong thing, not really no.

I thought they were basically the same thing. But this passage this evening helped clarify that for me. Even though at first glance, it appears confusing. Look at verse 1, Jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority, blah, blah, blah, verse 2. These are the names of the 12 apostles.

So in 2 verses, he's used the same group of people, but both words, But it's deliberate in Matthews's case, and we'll see that as we go on. So up until this point, to put this in context, Jesus has been on, you know, his mission, his ministry, He's been displaying his wisdom as he answers questions and preaches to the crowds, and he's been revealing his heart and his power via miracles such as raising a dead girl. We've seen recently, healing a sick, healing a paralyzed man, healing a blind and mute man. And as we saw last week at the end of chapter 9, it says he had compassion. On the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

And then he turned in verse 37 and says, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field, and we get to chapter 10 verse 1. And Jesus calls the 12 disciples to him for them to start this harvest work. Now, disciple means a follower. Someone who's being trained, someone who's learning from, in this case, Jesus.

So Jesus had lots of disciples, lots more than 12. John, the Baptist in chapter 9 verse 14, he's also described as having his own disciples. But here in chapter 10 verse 1, it says Jesus called 12 disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits to heal every disease and sickness. But then look at the beginning of verse 2, These are the names of the 12 apostles, and then he lists them. So Matthew somehow has switched into calling them the apostles because apostle means someone who's sent with authority.

The Greek word means a herald or a messenger. So Jesus was the first apostle because he's sent by the father. And here, we have 12 disciples selected by Jesus in pairs. They're sent out in pairs, as his apostles. So as Pete said last night, last, Sunday, right at the end, this is Team Jesus now.

This is what we're seeing with these 12. Judith, I mean, it tells us in the passage that, subsequently, you know, he betrayed Jesus. But Judith is replaced by mathias in acts chapter 1. And if you are interested in a bit more of this apostles versus disciples, which word, actually look at that chapter later, when you're home, because it it helps helps us see in the way they select him what it is they're looking for in apostles. The other example we have of course is Saul or Paul.

Saul meets Jesus on the road to Damascus, He is chosen and sent by Jesus to be his instrument to the gentiles. And so he can say Romans chapter 1 verse 1, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle. And set apart for the gospel of god. So I hope that helps. It helped me, not just to understand the difference between apostle and disciple, but in a way to show us why this little passage is so important.

Because it's a turning point in the training of the 12. And it's a transition as Jesus makes them apostles and sends them out to further his ministry. So for the rest of the evening, what I want us to do is look at the instructions that Jesus gave to these 12 apostles and see what it is we can learn from them. We have to bear in mind whenever you're looking at a passage like this, bear in mind that a lot of the instruction are specific to the twelfth and their situation at the time, but they can nevertheless be helpful in getting us thinking about our broader ministry as a church. And as an individual.

Because as Christians, we're called, aren't we to take the gospel into the world? So in other words, what I'm saying is their mission, which we're going to look at, can help us understand our mission. And the first thing we see is that their ministry is an extension of Christ's ministry, and so is ours. Chapter 10 verse 5, Jesus says to his apostles do not go among the gentiles, or enter enter any town of the Samaritans, go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. Now, Pete was saying, when he preached on chapter 9, last week, that Jesus had already been doing this, He'd already been going to all of the towns and villages, he said.

But look, if you look back, you can see what he's doing when he gets there, preaching in the synagogues. So their ministry, the 12 apostles, is to be an extension of Christ. The question is does that apply to us, is our ministry an extension of Christ too? Well, this story, the Jesus sending out the 12, is in Mark's gospel, It's not in John's, but it's also in Luke's. But it's interesting because Luke, who obviously writes his gospel, then writes a second book, the book of Acts.

And he says in verse 1 of that book, in my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. So by implication, what he's saying is the book of acts is about what Jesus continues to do through his church. As the church takes the gospel beyond Israel into the world. So the mission of the church is an extension of the mission of Christ. And that for us is just a I mean, it's a mind blowing thing, but it's a fantastic privilege.

We serve as spokespeople of Jesus Christ as he brings the good news of the kingdom to the ends of the earth by working through the church. So let's just think for a minute now. What does that continuation ministry, if you want to call it that look like? And as we do that, I think we'll find, the first of 3, I think, in this passage, what I call tensions that we can see. What's the tone do you think?

What's the tone of Jesus' ministry as you read the last few verses of chapter 9 and the first few of chapter 10? Isn't it compassion? Don't you see that? I was thinking about, you know, when he said he gives them authority to heal and so on. You see, he could have given them power in order to make them credible.

He could have given them power to do all sorts of things. Turn stones into gold, read people's minds without them speaking, kill anyone who threatened them just with a stare. You know, he could have given them power for loads of stuff, but he gives them power to do miracles that reveal god's love, power to heal and cure and love. He has compassion, it says here, on those who are lost, and he calls them sheep. There's an interesting choice of image.

We know sheep are stupid. With a high likelihood of getting lost, I'm going to skip all the stuff Pete went into about worms in the bottom of sheep. Don't think we need that again. But there is no doubt that they follow each other in a sense to the wrong places. They're vulnerable to predators.

But when you think about sheep, they're difficult to hate, aren't they? We don't despise them. We don't think well, you know, that sheep strayed over there, so he deserves to be eaten by a wolf. So Jesus doesn't just send the apostles to preach in the market square speak out and move on. The sheep need more than that.

So the apostles were to live amongst them, stay locally, live in a, in, you know, somebody's house, stay there. A few years ago, Some of you would have been here at the time. I think Pete and Ann got to know a lady called Ann Lloyd Jones. She was a guest speaker at a couple of events at Cornerstone, and she's the daughter of of really a very well known preacher, Martin Lloyd Jones. And I was particularly struck, at 1 of the events where she was talking about her recollections as a young girl, accompanying her father to services where he was preaching.

I think it was an evening service. Afterwards, she said, he'd usually go to his office in the building, and a queue would form, and he would see as many people as he could ministering to them. Sometimes, she said I'd be waiting hours. Now, look, we have in Cornerstone and quite a big church now, a home boot structure to deal with a lot of pastoral stuff. But the point is Martin Lloyd Jones didn't just rock up preach, and he was out the door.

And Jesus is saying to the apostles here, you've got to have a ministry of love and compassion for the lost sheep, and that takes time. So firstly, for us, continuing Jesus' ministry means loving and caring for the sheep. But second, it's also a strategic ministry. See, verse 5, Jesus says to the apostles, Don't go to the gentiles, don't go to the Samaritans, go only to the lost sheep of Israel. He's giving them very clear objective, very clear instructions.

Now, why does he say that? Well, I think there's 3 reasons he does. This is your points are gonna be all over the place when you're making notes, but these are some points. Firstly, the place of the Jews in history. See, they were god's chosen people, they were the people of the covenants, They were given the law.

They were to be a channel to the rest of the world. So god wasn't ignoring the gentiles when he says this. Israel was supposed to be the vehicle to reach them. Later on, of course, Paul is appointed as an apostle to go to them. Secondly, at this point in time, at the point in this ministry, were the apostles realistically gonna be able to evangelize gentiles?

The cultural gap was massive. The animosity was huge. These were young recruits going out for the first time, and Jesus sends them to their own people. See, that's a sensible strategy, isn't it? It's worth us thinking about that.

We love, I hope we do. We love the diversity at Cornerstone, but we still have to work with what we've been given and the gifting we've been given, and the people we've been given. See in my heart, I want to evangelize, I don't know, young, 20 year old, unemployed men, cultural Muslims who spend all day in the gym. But actually in case you wonder, I haven't got much in common with them. On the other hand, the chances of me having a conversation with an older, white bloke, married, increasingly grumpy about life, perplexed about the culture and unimpressed with the current government are quite high because I have the same thoughts.

So everyone needs Jesus. And we have to reach who we can reach. Now, look, please don't misunderstand me. Jesus sends a Jew, a Hebrew of Hebrews to the gentiles. So cross cultural mission is very possible and very real and very exciting.

And also, I don't want to ignore the fact that the power of the preached word and the Holy Spirit, putting the word into people's hearts, happens whoever they are, but the apostles here are given a clear objective. I think it's worth us thinking about that. I stood in this morning for Pete because he was preaching in the, Chinese Alpha course. You see, that's a very exciting thing because We've had an influx of people from China and Hong Kong at Cornerstone, and those members have Chinese speaking friends and contacts. And so we started this course, I think it was week 2 this morning.

Fantastic. But it would have been a weird strategy to do that 15 years ago, where I didn't think we had a single Chinese speaking person in the church. That doesn't mean a sovereign god couldn't have used it. But it would still be a strange strategy at the time. So Jesus is strategic.

He went first to the Jews. Secondly, he sent them in a sense to his own people. Thirdly, he was sending them with a simple message. Look at verse 7. As you go, proclaim this message, the kingdom of heaven has come near.

It's a message the Jews would have understood. They've been looking for this since Malachi 400 years earlier. And that's where I think the first tension that I referred to comes in. We're to have the compassion, we're to have the her love, we're to have, you know, we want to heal people, we want to see the lost sheep helped and cared for, but we're also to have a clear message. So, yes, we're to do life with people.

Stay a while, deal with the messiness of people's lives you're saying to the apostles. But that's not just that. It's not enough. You see, if at Cornerstone, we're very good at loving each other, or we're very good at doing life together, but we neglect the preaching of the gospel, then we're a community group. That's what we'd be.

So Jesus gives the apostles a really clear focus, love people, and call them to repentance. And you have to hold both of those things intention. So did they? So do we? So first point was, our ministry is a continuation of Jesus' ministry.

Second point. The provision for ministry is provided by Jesus. See, Jesus gives the apostles his own authority and power He didn't intend them to do ministry on their own, in their own strengths, but in his strengths. The fact is all true Christian ministries done by the power of Christ. He had to give the 12 his own authority because, you know, they didn't have any.

I said that earlier. No worldly credibility, no credentials, no rabbinic training, no theology degrees, They were fishermen, tax collectors, and so on. Calvin wrote this. I thought this was great. In men's eyes, the apostles held virtually no position.

They were not outstandingly clever or fluent. Their mission demanded more than human gifts. They had to have their authority from elsewhere. Even later on, you see the need for this. In in acts chapter 3, Peter and John, they're they're walking on.

They come across a man who's been basically dropped at, a gate called Beautiful each day, I think, to beg. And he asked the 2 apostles for money. And Peter says these amazing words, I've always loved these words. Silver gold, I do not have, but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth Walk. And Peter preaches to the crowd, and many believe it says, but the result of all that, the result of the healing, the result of people believing, is that the apostles are hold in front of the sanhedrin the next day.

And the rulers and the teachers of the law say, by what power or what name did you do this. It's the same, basically the same question. Who on earth are you to? That's what they're saying. And Peter responds by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, but god raised him the dead.

See, their ministry had to be by the authority of Jesus. And so must ours be not in our own strength based on our own cleverness or what we think is cleverness. It's also made clear here that whilst Jesus had to give the apostles his power to give them credibility, They had to understand it was not for their benefit. It was for the benefit of the ministry. You see, the reality is that driving out demons, healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing people of leprosy, could have made them very wealthy.

People would have paid significant amounts of money to have an apostle hear their, heal their sick child, wouldn't they? Or bring their father back from the dead. They would have paid anything, I guess, people with leprosy to be able to work and go back to their family. In acts chapter 8, there's quite a lot of links to acts such in this passage, I think. In acts chapter 8, we meet someone called Simon the sorcerer.

I think he's known elsewhere as Simon Majous or Magosurism and all that. Majorous, I'll call it. He's a magician. People were amazed at the tricks he did, but along comes Philip, who proclaims the good news of the kingdom of god, and it says in verse 12, As he did this, people believed and were baptized including Simon, this magician. And in verse 13, Simon followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

Peter and John come along. They bring the Holy Spirit to the Samaritans, and it says in verse 18. When Simon saw that the spirit was given at the laying on of the Apostle's hands, he offered them money. And said, give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. Peter rebukes him, tells him he has no parts of sharing in this ministry because his heart is not right before god.

But what that tells us is, Simon had understood something. Simon had understood that if he could get this power, he would accumulate even greater wealth. But you can't buy salvation. You can't buy the Holy Spirit. It's a gift of God.

And that is picked up in this passage in verse 8. Look at verse 8 with me. Freely, you have received freely give. It's a fascinating little verse to drop in here because it's so easy for us to overlook it. And it may seem obvious actually the meaning of it, but it's very important for us to understand that we mustn't ever charge for the ministry of the church.

And it's right that we don't do a high profile push in every service about giving and money and all that stuff, but only at members meetings. Similarly, on an individual basis, anyone, if you're thinking of going onto the mission field or into ministry, anything like that where you might be paid. If you're doing it for gain, whether at this church or another church, then you're not doing the ministry that's an extension of Christ. 1 commentator writes this If you're gonna serve the lord for gain, you just priced yourself out of blessing. But that's not the same as not earning a living.

So chapter 10 verse 10 says, Well, Matthew writes, the workers work is worth his keep. So church staff are paid, they should be. But being a pastor is not and we mustn't get this confused. Being a pastor is not just another career choice. With the idea that you basically, you know, move up a ladder that you've got in your head, because you so you run bigger and better churches, and then eventually you become a bishop, and then you an archbishop in the State Church with a Palace.

1 of the things then I do in my business, particularly recently, is try and help churches, who want to buy buildings, because we're we do commercial property. And a few years ago, we had, this church who wanted us to help them buy a warehouse in East London for their mega church. It was really big. When the pastor turned up at our office, He came in, a very nice Mercedes with a driver and a bodyguard. And we were slightly taken back by this.

Anyway, we we had a meeting with him and politely because well, I think it was obvious, but anyway, politely, we declined to get involved. A few years later, actually, I read in the newspaper that this particular pastor and the church were being investigated by the charity commission. Because he'd spent 80000 pounds of the congregations money on a new car for himself. And and this is the bit that I just I still can't get over it. A hundred and 20000 on his birthday celebrations.

So, that is not what put Matthew is talking about. That is not a continuation of Jesus' ministry. And and what what's scary about that is that the people were giving the money. You see, the reality is, and I think it is really important that we think about it. When you're desperate, when you're lost, when you're lost sheep, Jesus sells, And I hope, well, I know at Cornerstone, we're nothing like this, and I pray we never will be.

But even a church like us, we must understand that we don't want to give the impression that the purpose of the church is to fund itself and its activities for the benefit of us. Do you get that? Because we're not a comfortable social club where the end goal is to fund our own little activities. When preparing this, I I I was gonna say I got distracted, but I might change that and say I got I was prompted to look up on the charity commission website the accounts of several, churches in this, in the wider Southwest London area. I thought I'll have a look at some accounts, but it was fascinating.

It's the sort of thing I like, but, it was fascinating, but I was quite shocked. There are churches with 50 hundred, possibly hundred and 50 people, doing a few things in a week, and 1 service on a Sunday. And they have reserves of in these are true, 2, 3, and in 1 case 4000000 pounds. I don't think that's right. I don't think that's what we're here for.

There's nothing wrong with having reserves. You've got to, you know, you don't want to be, and we've come I've seen this in America, where giving drops a little bit and suddenly you're laying people off straight away off the staff team. That's wrong as well. So there's nothing wrong, but that's wild. 4000000 pounds, and you've got a hundred people in the church.

Look at what Jesus is saying. In chapter 10 verse 9, do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you and your belts. No bags for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or staff. That what that's saying is all about a reliance on Jesus. It's all about traveling light.

It's all about not getting comfortable. Yes. The verse finishes with, which is important for the worker is worthy, is keep. So that's the second tension this evening. Those doing ministry, particularly those that are paid, you shouldn't do it for gain, but neither should you struggle to live because the rest of us are so mean.

See, the idea here is not that the apostles should take nothing with them and therefore suffer. It's more that they take nothing extra with them that would cause them to rely on themselves and not god. Because god will provide. So and you hear this, talked about these verses. This doesn't mean, does it?

That if you're thinking of going on the Mission Field or if we're sending somebody to the Mission Field, we say you must take nothing with you, because we can see it in this passage. We can't extrapolate it like that. We can't say, you know, I've seen Tom. He's got more than 1 shirt. That's not what you're saying, is it?

But we need to rely on a god who provides. And what we mustn't rely on is our strategies, and our wealth, and our plans all accumulated before we step out in faith. So firstly, our ministry is a continuation of Christ. Secondly, our ministry is provided for by Christ. And thirdly, last point, our ministry is significant.

Look at verses 12 to 15, I'm gonna read them again. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it. If it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town, shake the dust off your feet.

Truly, I tell you it would be more bearable for sodom and Gamara on the day of judgment than for that town. 1 1 guy was writing, going off the point now, but in a month. When it refers to the last point, he was saying, what this is saying is if you're, if you go and stay with people, because you're speaking at their church or whatever, and you don't like the menu, you unfortunately can't move over to another house. That might be right, but I'm not quite sure that was the main point of the passage, but anyway. In Exodus chapter 2, Moses, you all know this story, meets the lord in a burning bush.

And in verse 5, god says, do not come any closer. Take your sandals off for the place where you are standing is holy ground. So the Jews held that image in their head. They knew that, the burning bush. Well known.

They carried it on in the sense that Israel was the holy land, the land of the chosen people. In fact, if you look at certain travel brochures today, they still say holy land. Are you going to the holy lands? And so it was common for the Jews when returning to Israel, leaving a gentile country, an unclean country in their view to take their sandals off and shape the dust from their feet. So the verse that we've just read in Matthew 10 verse 14, if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.

They'd have understood, but it would have shocked them. And it would have shocked them because it's not talking about gentiles. It's still talking about Israel. We got that from verse 5. Do not go among the gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans, go to the lost sheep of Israel.

Jesus is saying if the lost sheep of Israel don't listen, if they are not hospitable to you, then shake the dust from your feet. In other words, those Jews, at that point, are being excluded from god's chosen people. That is a dramatic statement. Jesus is saying, I, it doesn't matter what your birth or ancestry or pedigree is. It doesn't matter if you're a scholar.

Or a religious leader, or a pharisee, or as Paul would say a Hebrew of Hebrews, if you reject Jesus, if you reject the apostles, if you reject the message that we would take now, Then you stand outside of god's saving grace. And worse than that, you stand liable to judgment. Verse 15, Julia I tell you it would be more bearable for sodom and Gamar on the day of judgment than to that town. It will be worse for them on judgment day because of their rejection of God. Now why worse for them?

Because sodom and Gamora were given no warning. No 1 was sent to them to try and get them to repent. Whereas here, the Jews in rejecting the apostles were ignoring the warning that god had provided. They'd had a chance to repent, and they said no. I think this is frightening.

Don't know whether you picked it up as you read it and thought, wow, I think it's frightening because it shows us that there is a limit to god's patience. See, many of us, I'm sure some of you got relatives or friends, you know, you know, of people who've accepted Christ into their life late in life. And that's great, but we can't rely on it. We can't assume, oh, well, there'll be a day in the future when I'll finally get round to repenting and turn to god. Some people received the apostles and rejected their message, and that was their chance.

The apostles shook the dust from their feet and left. God's patience had run out with them. And it can run out with us. See, the mission that we have as a church to take the gospel to our friends and our families and our neighbors and to Kingston, as Cornerstone, is a very significant ministry. And praise god, there will be people we talk to, and we welcome, and we speak to, and who come in, who will be added to god's kingdom.

Because of this church, and that's amazing. But and this is the third tension I think we have to navigate in this passage. There will also be people who reject the message. There'll be people who heard us Carol singing and Tom speaking down in the market square at Christmas. And there'll be people who came to a cowell service, and there'll be people who come to the taste and see evening that we were just talking about and decided they didn't like what they saw or tasted.

And verse 15 is telling us, that our speaking out the gospel may in fact bring judgment on them rather than salvation because of their refusal to hear what Jesus is saying. So our ministry is significant, not only because of those it saves, but because of those it condemns. In ezekiel chapter 34, Pete drew on this last week, through the prophet ezekiel, the lord condemns the teachers of the law as being poor shepherds of Israel. You might remember this first verse 4. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured.

You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. No love there was there from the teachers of the law. Verse 11 to 12 though, this is what the sovereign lord says. I myself will search my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep?

I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. Now you can feel the love in those words as the sovereign god looks for his sheep. And in Matthew 9 verse 36, Jesus says when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, here we are in 10, and he's saying to the apostles, go to the lost sheep. All of that imagery is pointing to himself as the good shepherd. As the 1 who ezekiel says, will rescue them.

And therefore, when the good shepherd, when Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is near, and that is the message the apostles are to preach And that is the message we are to take out. He is saying, he is the messiah come to save the world. And that's fantastic. And that is a message that we should be excited about taking out. I found this difficult, this passage, not just because of the idea that people will reject Jesus, and that may have been their chance.

But I found it difficult. I think churches like ours tend to argue correctly that people need the gospel, that the that's their greatest need. And so we're wary of social gospel stuff getting in the way. And I get that. So the result is that when I hear something like shaking the dust off, it sort of fits with my attitude or my thinking.

But I think Christ's ministry is more complex than that. The apostles were to love, show mercy, have compassion, stay with the people, be part of village life, and preach. And he found ministries to be a continuation of the ministry that Jesus did, then we have to embrace that complexity. Jesus provides us with what we need in order to do the ministry required And it's a very significant ministry because it's a message of life and death as we've just seen. The simple message of the gospel, the kingdom of heaven is near, has the power to turn men's hearts back to god.

And that's the message we have to take to Kingston with a love and a compassion for the people, not despising them in our hearts. Let's pray. Father god, we thank you for this, passage, powerful as it is, shocking as it is really, with the idea that, you know, there is a time at which your patience will run out. That we tend to think in, you know, if I do something before I die, but I may, you know, there are people who've had their chance. And when they come to something that we put on as a church, That may be it.

Lord help us to love the lost sheep. Help us to love the people of Kingston, our neighbors, our friends, our families, that we will have compassion on them. That we will understand that they need to hear this truth, that it is the most important thing we do, but that at the same time, we must do it with a love, and a care, and a love in our hearts that communicates your character to them. In Jesus' name, amen.