The Gospel and the Kingdom - Matthew - Jesus Instructions to Faithful Disciples - Part 4

 

TEXT: Matthew 10:32-33; 37-42 – ““Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven…. ³⁷ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁸ And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ³⁹ He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. ⁴⁰ “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. ⁴¹ He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴² And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

Today we’re finishing our mini-series on Matthew and Jesus giving instructions to three kinds of Disciples – each living at a different time.

• ·      To former disciples living in the time He was with them
• ·      To future disciples living during the time of the Great Tribulation
• ·      To faithful disciples living throughout church history.

In today’s passage, we finish studying the faithful Disciples throughout the Church Age – that is our time. He is speaking of our discipleship and persecution. We are considering five “C’s” in this passage over the last few days. We have seen Jesus speak to the Certainty of persecution, and the Confidence we can have in persecution, the Conflict in persecution.

Today, in these verses we see Jesus speaking about the Conditions and Compensation that He provides. So what are the conditions we need to meet during our time of tribulation or persecution? Well, in verses 37-38 Jesus tells us. There are two conditions He mentions. First is the priority of our Love for Christ. (10:37) – We are to place Him above even our families. And second, the proof of our Love for Christ (10:38) – We are to take up our cross and follow Him.

If we follow these two conditions in our lives, He tells us that there will be compensation for our discipleship. He gives us three benefits of living as true disciples:

1. To be honored by the Son in the presence of the Father (verses 32-33)
2. To fully gain one’s true life (verse 39)
3. To be given Great rewards (verse 40-42)

So, let us finish this mini-series with these three quick takeaways –

1. Some form of persecution will be towards those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ. They hated Him, they will hate us also.
2. We need to meet the two conditions - the Priority of our love for Christ, and the proof of our love for Christ.
3. We can count on the rewards from God the Father. We will be honored by the Son. We will have an abundant life, as well as other great rewards from the Father.

Go back and consider what we have learned from this study. To make it real, we must apply what we have read to ourselves. Ponder where you are, and most importantly how to get to where you need to be.