This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day four of our Look Through Matthew chapter 10, this
incredible list of principles that Jesus gives us for personally and for as a
body of Christ reaching out to share the good news with the world around us.
These next five principles that Jesus gives us, they all deal with the attacks
that we're going to face as we share the good news. I've noticed that most
Christians are searching for a way to share the gospel that is absolutely free
from possible criticism or attack because most of us naturally shy away from
trouble.

Well, there's a smaller group who want to share the gospel in a way that causes
them to be attacked because they love to be in the middle of trouble. What's
needed is for all of us to accept the truth that accepting the gospel is a
matter of spiritual warfare, spiritual warfare in an individual's life. And that
warfare will inevitably cause criticism on a personal level.

They're battling it all the way up to physical attack and even martyrdom on a
national level. People are fighting this message. We will be attacked.

Here are five principles for dealing with that truth, with the attacks that come
into our lives. As we walk through these principles, this is actually the 12th
of these principles that Jesus is giving us as we begin to look at the
principles of facing attack. And that principle is you accept the fact that
being on mission makes you vulnerable.

In verse 16, Jesus says, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. " When
you humbly and personally share the good news of Christ, you are making yourself
vulnerable to rejection and possible persecution. Just as Jesus made himself
vulnerable when he took on human flesh and so gave his life for us.

For those in some countries, this vulnerability means possible imprisonment or
even death. For most of us, being a missional follower of Jesus and sharing your
faith, it means such things as relational distancing by some or the loss of a
job or a possible promotion or unwarranted criticism or intellectual sarcasm.
But remember, that's not the whole story.

There will be those who accept the message, who begin to live the abundant
internal life of faith, the life of hope and love that only Jesus can offer.
Some will accept, others will reject. And from those who reject, we are
vulnerable to various kinds of attack.

Now there are several strategies for dealing with our vulnerability, which Jesus
is going to give us as we go through this passage. But it begins with this.
Accept the fact that you are vulnerable.

One of the strategies here could be to try to become a wolf. Okay, I'm going to
be a wolf too and wolves beat wolves. I don't want to be a sheep amongst wolves.

That doesn't sound safe. I'll be a wolf too. To use attack in the same way as
our critics or persecutors in order to win the battle.

But the world doesn't need more wolves. We have plenty of wolves. The world
needs the example of the sheep.

Those who have chosen to follow Jesus, to be lowly, to serve, to give, to love,
to sacrifice. In the end, the sheep will win this battle. But only as we stay in
that same place of humble vulnerability in which Jesus served.

Those words, they are so easy to say. They're so difficult to live. Only the
Holy Spirit can develop within us this attitude of being like sheep among
wolves.

You are vulnerable. That's the first thing that Jesus says here. The 13th
overall principle that he teaches us, the next principle about facing attack is
you face opposition with humble wisdom.

Jesus says, "Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. " From
sheep and wolves, now we move to snakes and doves. Now, interesting, of these
four, Jesus tells us that we need to be like three of them.

The only thing we're not to be in the pictures he gives us here is a wolf.
Sheep, snake, dove. You're to be like all of those in some sense.

What does it mean to be like all three of these? Jesus is telling us here we're
to be vulnerable, like a sheep. But we're also to be smart, like a snake.

And we're to be humble, like a dove. Now, he's saying this in the context of
facing opposition in our mission, opposition when we go out and share the good
news. We are vulnerable, but that doesn't mean we have to be strategically or
personally stupid.

We need to be smart and wise still. We are strategic, but that doesn't mean we
have to be stained by the methods and strategies of this world. We're still
humble.

Now, in practical terms, being wise like a snake means you don't intentionally
walk into dangerous circumstances. Being innocent like a dove or harmless as a
dove means we don't purposefully talk in ways that create conflict. We're able
to detect and avoid danger when possible.

And we don't give unnecessary provocation or offense. We know that those who
come to Christ always have to walk across a bridge of love. And so we don't
intentionally burn those bridges out of a sense of self-righteousness over
others or judgmentalism or anger with the world.

Being shrewd also means we don't allow ourselves to get caught up in arguments
that are secondary to the main issue of faith. This can happen on a personal
level when we find ourselves answering questions about every little fact in the
Bible from someone who's using those questions as a smoke screen to keep away
from dealing with the issue of faith in Jesus in their life. So they ask about,
"What about this in the Old Testament?

How about this when the sun didn't? " And all these things that they ask about,
but really they're battling, "Should I have faith in Jesus? " This can also
happen on a national level as we allow the message of Jesus to be politicized
into seeming to be only about votes on moral issues.

Now, these are not easy discussions because we do need to be able to stand up
for moral issues in a clear and in a public way. It's a part of the expression
of our faith. But it can be complicated when we allow ourselves to be identified
only with the moral issue and not with the message of good news that's behind
that.

The very fact that it can be complicated is why Jesus told us we have to be
shrewd. The teaching of the Apostle Paul, I think, is important here. He would
not allow the early church to get caught up in opposition to the Roman
government or Roman taxes because he knew they would cause the church to be seen
as a political, a seditious organization instead of a missional body.

We need God's wisdom in this. We are sheep in that we're vulnerable. We're
snakes in that we're wise.

And we're doves in that we stay innocent and humble. Wise as serpents, harmless
as doves. Humility means trusting God and not ourselves.

It means we don't use the world's weapons to try to win spiritual battles.
Romans 12 tells us to overcome evil with good. You can't overcome evil with
evil.

If you try to overcome evil with evil, using evil means all you then have is a
different form of evil. And so we always confront criticism and persecution with
grace, with truth, with love, with humility. In the moment, it always seems that
there's no way that a little bit of truth can overcome a big lie that's being
told about us.

But in the end, Jesus tells us, in the end, the meek will inherit the earth. In
Revelation, the beast is defeated, the lamb of God is victorious. So we are to
be wise and humble.

Principle number 14, the next principle for dealing with criticism or
persecution is recognize that God can work even through evil attacks. Verses 17
to 20, "Be on your guard against men. They will hand you over to the local
councils and flog you in their synagogues.

On my account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to
them and to the Gentiles. When they arrest you, do not worry about what to say
or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say, for it will not
be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

" "Yes," Jesus says here, "there will be attack and criticism. " And none of us,
none of us, welcome that reality in our personal mission and our mission as the
body of Christ in this world. But Jesus teaches us here, do not think that the
attack means that somehow God has stopped working.

God uses evil for good. God turns the attack into a witness as we're faithful to
him. This has happened not just thousands of times throughout history, but
millions upon millions.

James martyred for his faith and he got to share his faith, a witness even as he
lost his life. Paul thrown into prison and he becomes a witness to the entire
city, entire government of Rome through that. These scenes are being replayed
across this world even today.

This can happen even through a less severe persecution. You're sidelined for a
promotion at work because of your faith and a co-worker sees your humility and
strength and so begins to ask questions about faith in their own life. God even
works through other kinds of evil besides criticism or attack that come into our
lives.

I know of so many people who faced a health crisis only to see God use them as a
witness for him even from that hospital bed. Now I'm not saying they should want
to be in that hospital bed, you never should, but that bed does not mean that
God has stopped using you. He still has a purpose for your life.

Satan tries to lie to us and tell us that the attack means that our opportunity
to be used by God to be on mission is lost, but God's power is working. God's
power is working to make us a witness and sometimes even a more powerful witness
even through the attack. You can know, here's the truth behind this personally,
you can know that God is working through every circumstance.

Principle 15, next principle for how to face attack is expect rejection, but
don't intentionally stay where you were rejected. In verses 21 to 25 Jesus
taught, "Brother will betray brother to death and a father his child. Children
will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be
saved. When you're persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the
truth, you'll not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of
Man comes.

A student is not above his teacher, a servant above his master. It is enough for
the student to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If the head
of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of the
household.

Now the head of the house is Jesus and he was called Beelzebub or Satan by the
Pharisees. So Jesus says, "If it's happening to me, you're my followers, it's
going to happen to you. " To think that we will not be rejected for our faith by
some as we're on mission in the world, that's being blind to reality.

Jesus was rejected by some, by many. He taught that we will be rejected, that
settles it. We will not be rejected by everyone, but we will be by some.

And Jesus teaches us here that this rejection too often will come from those
even who are closest to us. We should expect rejection or criticism, but that
does not mean that we should invite it. It doesn't mean we should intentionally
stay in a place of persecution if we have an option.

Jesus says, "If you're persecuted in one place, flee to another. " Now I
wouldn't apply these words to a little criticism at work or to an unkind word
from your family. "I'm leaving this family.

" You said an unkind word. I believe Jesus is talking here about total rejection
to the extent of a life-threatening persecution. If we have the opportunity to
leave that situation, we should go and witness in a different place.

God will use that. The greatest example of this is the early church in
Jerusalem. After a uniquely powerful experience of early growth, the church in
Jerusalem, you might remember in the book of Acts, came under a great
persecution.

They could have tried to stay in Jerusalem to hold on to what they had. In that
case, the early believers would likely all have been martyred. Instead, they
fled to the surrounding region and in so doing, they took the gospel message to
places that had never been preached.

Acts 8-1, "On that day, a great persecution broke out against the church in
Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and
Samaria. " God used the persecution like a wind to spread the new disciples of
Jesus out to Judea and Samaria. "And later," we're told in Acts 11-19, "now
those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen
traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to
the Jews.

Now they're headed to the ends of the earth. God is using even their fleeing
from persecution towards accomplishing Jesus' commission. In Acts 1-8, "You'll
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you," Jesus said.

"You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth.
" God's working even in the midst of the persecution, even in the midst of the
criticism. God is working.

And if he's using it to send you someplace next, then go to that place next. Now
there's a final principle for dealing with the difficult times that we go
through and we're sharing our faith here. That's the 16th principle overall and
Jesus teaches us, "Let faith not fear control your actions.

" As we walk through beginning in verse 26, Jesus talks to us about how to have
faith in the face of persecution. Three ways to have faith in the face of
persecution. If you're being criticized right now, if you're facing a
persecution for your faith, how do you keep having faith?

Three things to do. Recognize your father is the final judge. You recognize your
father loves you and you recognize your father will reward you.

Here Jesus talks about your father and what he's going to do in your life. So
you don't focus on the problem, you focus on your father. And you realize,
number one, your father is the final judge.

Verses 26 and 27, "So don't be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that
will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in
the dark, speak in the daylight.

What is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the rooftops. You look at things in
the light of eternity and you realize in the end, God's going to settle the
books. He will make everything known.

What is happening to you now is not the end of the story. Your father is the
final judge. Number two, when you face criticism or persecution, you realize
your father loves you.

Verses 28 to 31, "So do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill
the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in
hell. There are not two sparrows sold for a penny, yet not one of them will fall
to the ground apart from the will of the father.

And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid. You
are worth more than many sparrows.

" Jesus says here that the only one to be truly afraid of, the one who could
destroy your body and soul in hell, the only one to truly be afraid of is the
one who most loves you, who has shown that love for you in creation and who has
settled that love for you in the cross. Your father loves you. Your father is
the final judge.

And then your father will reward you. You look to his reward. Verses 32 and 33,
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my
father in heaven.

But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my father in heaven.
" You will be acknowledged by God. Is it worth the risk to share your faith?

Is it worth the persecution to share your faith? Is it worth the criticism to
share your faith? Is it worth the loss to share your faith?

If you measure it in human terms, what's going on on this earth, you'll usually
say, "No, it's not worth it. " But that's not the measure. The measure is
eternity.

The measure is a reward that lasts forever. And measured on those terms, of
course it's worth it. It would be stupid not to share my faith.

It would be foolish not to tell others the good news because that is a reward
that's going to last forever and ever. What is the reward of standing alongside
of that person who made a commitment to Christ because you had the courage to
share your faith and enjoying eternity with that person? I can face a lot of
criticism, a lot of ridicule when I recognize that reward.

You can face a lot of persecution even when you recognize that reward. That
makes any criticism, even any persecution, pale to nothing in comparison. So
today we've talked about how do you face the difficult times when sharing your
faith.

These truths, recognize you are vulnerable. Recognize that you're to be wise and
humble. Recognize that you can know that God is working through every
circumstance.

And number three, you live by faith. Let's ask God for strength to do that right
now. Our Father, if we're to live by faith, we need the power of your Spirit to
do it.

So we ask for it. We ask that your Spirit would empower us today to live by
faith, to live out the good news in our lives by faith and to tell the good news
in our lives by faith. Show us how and show us where.

We want to live by faith, Jesus. In your name we pray, amen. Tomorrow we're
going to end this week by looking at the priority of the good news in our lives.