Matthew 10:16-30 | "The Silence of the Sheep"

This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

When we think of our own culture, it's becoming more untethered from God's Word as we speak.

A culture engulfed in panic and fear is a culture in which the fruits for Christian persecution is ripe for the pickings.

Historically, it's been shown that when people have sacrificed their liberties, their values, and even their human dignity in exchange for safety and self-preservation, the next thing to be sacrificed are the Christians.

That's at least according to author Johnny Moore, who wrote this book, The Global War on Christianity.

And he speaks about fear and a concern for safety as primarily being a motivation for Christian persecution.

He says the following: he says governments have always been the number one persecutor of Christians.

He says the truth is that more Christians are still being persecuted by totalitarian regimes than by terrorism.

For instance, ISIS.

He continues to say Christianity's potentially radical ideas such as the God-given value of each individual and the believer's allegiance to God over country is viewed with suspicion, which might undermine the government's control and authority.

Moore goes further.

He says, never underestimate fear as a motivation for Christian persecution.

You see, historically, when cultures are caught in the grip of fear and panic, often they somehow spontaneously resort to the persecution of Christians in order to keep themselves safe.

And that was at least the case in the first, second, and third centuries of Christianity.

You see, Christians were formally and legally persecuted under Roman law.

In the time of Polycarp, for instance, Roman governors and kings were pressured into persecuting Christians simply because of public fears.

You see, people grew all the more suspicious and fearful of their Christian neighbors.

You see, Christians were often seen as cannibals because they eat the body of Christ and drink his blood.

And people also got nervous with Christians in the neighborhood because Christians considered it consistently refused to burn incense to the Caesar or honor uh Caesar's birthday.

And so people became uh all the more fearful that Caesar will retribute those things and they will be caught in the crossfire.

Christians have often gotten a bad rap in uh in um communist-controlled countries.

Richard Wurmbrand writes of a time when Christians in the Ukraine were believed to be mentally unstable and unfit to be in society.

One district psychiatrist, Dr.

Bukatevich, said the following.

He says that the fact that you Christians worship God already shows that you have a serious, irremediable sickness.

Faith in God, he says, is mass psychosis, a kind of schizophrenia.

You see, every time somebody says something like that, they're operating uh from fear.

The Washington Post wrote something this week about the appointment of Amy Cody Barrett as uh as a representative of the Christian majority, and her uh this author's, uh, this journalist's concern was that we have a Christian majority that could persecute minority groups, just like in older times.

But once again, historically, these uh false fears and false suspicions were created narratives, and the famous philosopher Michael Foucault believed that words create realities for people.

Narratives create realities for people, and so we in a culture, in a time where the flames of fear and suspicion is being fanned, our culture is engulfed in panic and in fear, and people have this relentless pursuit of wanting to be safe, and I can tell you the fruits are ripe for Christian persecution.

If at least we look back at the history, that was certainly the case.

And Jesus gives us perspective here that nothing really has changed since his time.

Matthew 10, 16, if you could follow along with me there.

Verse 16 says, Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.

So be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

This is a powerful metaphor, sheep in the midst of wolves.

I grew up in South Africa and we love our lambs.

Uh, we eat them.

But uh there's a lot of sheep there, and sheep get eaten by predators, and sheep get stolen by the hordes, and I could never understand why until I made an observation.

When sheep are scared, they don't bleat, they keep quiet, they don't make noise.

Why?

Because they have no natural protective mechanisms other than to keep quiet and pretend nothing is happening.

You see, bleeding is dangerous, silence is safe.

Silence for the sake of self-preservation is essential.

Scared sheep are silent sheep.

And that's the title of my message this morning: The silence of the sheep.

It would be prudent to say that we've gone come to a point in our lives that the wolves have come out of their long hibernation.

They're driven by the natural instinct for survival, and they're ready to devour and consume the sheep of Jesus Christ.

The question is: will the sheep of Jesus Christ be silent in order to be safe?

You see, the fears related to persecution have driven the sheep of Jesus Christ into greater silence.

Fear is a powerful motivator for Christian persecution, but fear is also a powerful impetus for the silencing of the sheep.

Go look there at verses 19 in our passage, verse 19 says, but when they hand you over, do not worry, or some translations say, do not be anxious.

Verse 26.

Therefore, do not fear them.

Verse 28.

Do not fear those who kill.

What is Jesus trying to say?

Do not fear.

Why is he saying it three times?

Because you will fear.

Okay, and I'm including myself in the you, okay?

I'm scared too.

The great shepherd's lesson near is that the sheep will be overcome with fear.

But fear causes them to clam up.

Look at verse 19 and 20.

He says, Do not worry what you are to say, for it will be given to you in the hour of what you are to say, for it's not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

Okay?

So there's fear and there's speaking, or the lack of it.

Verse 28.

He says, Do not fear those who kill the body, but who are unable to kill the soul.

But he also says there, and let me just get that at verse 26.

He says, Therefore, do not fear them.

And then verse 27, he says, they proclaim it upon the rooftops or the housetops.

Verse 32, he speaks about acknowledging or not acknowledging, confessing or not confessing.

You see, persecution is really a time for speaking up.

When the sheep face the gnarling stairs of a ravenous wolf, it is certainly a frightful experience.

But the shepherd of the sheep is still the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the chief shepherd, he is the primary owner, but also the primary caretaker, protector, and defender of the sheep.

And therefore, he can confidently send the sheep into the midst of the ravenous wolves.

In verse 18, he describes those as being religious councils.

In verse 18, it could be the wolves of governors and kings.

But they are ultimately there in the midst of the wolves for the purpose of bearing testimony.

That Greek word there in verse 18, testimony, is the Greek word marturia, which means the same as our English word martyr.

We get the same word from the Greek there.

You will be a martyr for what purpose?

To speak up.

Now think about this.

The time that the sheep will face the wolves is a time in which God will speak through the sheep.

You see, sheep, when they become fearful, they might think about one thing: how do I defend myself?

How do I get out of this predicament that I'm in?

And what Jesus is saying there, this is not a time for self-preservation.

This is a time for salvation.

This is a time not for self-preservation, but a time for salvation, because he wants to speak, God the Father, through the Spirit, through you and me.

When we stand before our persecutors, God will have the salvation of people in mind.

Is it not true that God's desire is that for all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth?

1 Timothy 2, 4.

How will they come to a knowledge of the truth if we are all clammed up and scared to say something?

So, my dear brothers and sisters, persecution is really a time for gospel declaration, not self-preservation.

The sheep are not to be concerned for their own defense, but uh they are to be concerned about the defense of the gospel, as 1 Peter 3.15 clearly says.

Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

You do that with gentleness and respect.

There's nothing about defending yourself or getting yourself out of the situation.

If you're going to say something, speak gospel.

Because God's heart is that people come to the knowledge of truth and get saved.

The Christian life, then, is not a life of self-preservation.

The Christian life is a life of gospel dedication.

The Christian life is not a life for self-preservation, it is a life for gospel dedication.

Christ's message here in this passage is clear.

Fear not but speak up.

Why?

It is not for you to be safe, but for others to be saved.

Second Peter 3:9.

2 Peter 3:9

God does not wish for any to perish, but all to come to repentance, even that wicked uh uh governor or that wicked king.

God desires for him or her to come to faith too and not to perish.

Fear is a terrible thing, dear brothers and sisters.

And uh Jesus did say he we were not given a fear of a spirit of fear and timidity.

But in Acts 18 9, uh Paul, even the the courageous Paul is overcome with fear.

It says then that the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent.

Let me just put that in my own English.

Quit being scared.

Paul, stop.

You gotta get on with speaking the gospel.

Stop being silent.

Jesus makes no secret, this Christian thing is not about peace and safety and security and self-preservation, but you will be hated for my name's sake, verse 22.

But once again, we're going to entrust ourselves to this great shepherd because he says to us there in verse 22, while you are hated and persecuted for my name, it is the one who endures to the end who will be saved.

It's not teaching salvation by endurance, it's certainly teaching that we gotta be not worried about our own preservation because God is in the business of salvation.

The priority in persecution and being hated by others is not our own safety, but that people get saved.

Is that saying not true and proven true over and over?

The blood of the martyr is the seed of the church.

Often when the saints are facing death, that's a time when they give the most powerful testimony.

There's many testimonies given of people who got saved as a saint was consumed by a lion or consumed by the fires of a stake.

Our priority is clear and distinct.

Our dedication is to Christ, not our safety.

Safety and salvation is God's concern.

Our duty is salvation of others.

We are to bring testimony in the time of persecution.

Gospel declaration is our duty, but the salvation of people is God's delight, for God desires that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

Blessed are you who have been persecuted for my sake and for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Verse 23 certainly gives us the idea that we can flee persecution.

Verse 23, but whenever they persecute you in one city, you flee to the next.

Yes, you can flee.

If persecution breaks out here in Grand Forks, and Grand Forks becomes a very hostile place for Christians, go to Fargo.

Once they start persecuting you there, go to Sioux Falls.

If this goes there, go to Texas.

If it doesn't work out in Texas, go into Mexico and make your way to the Arctic.

But in the end, and what Jesus is saying here, you you will not outrun persecution.

At least until he returns.

The persecution will be there.

Yes, the degree of persecution will change.

Persecution does take on a different shape, as you could see there in verse 25.

This is what I call the bloodless persecution or the soft persecution.

He says there, it is not enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher and the slave like his master.

If they have called the head of the house Beelzebal, how much more will they malign the members of the household of God?

You see, we are more familiar here in the United States with this uh bloodless or soft form of persecution, and we might identify with the times that a slanderous accusation was brought in against you because of an agnostic worker that was offended that you are a Christian.

Perhaps you, dear friend, have uh received an unfair grade from an atheistic ethics professor.

And you might feel that was a little personal, but just remember the attack and the hatred is against the head of the household, who is Jesus Christ.

But once a quain, Jesus says, Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you.

And when they say false things against you and all kinds of evil things, you are blessed.

That sounds contrary to what we believe.

We think of people like us as Christian, life is good and we do the right thing.

But Jesus actually says the opposite.

In Luke 6 26, he says, Woe to you when all people speak well of you.

Why?

Because that's how their forefathers praised the false prophets.

If your testimony is off, there will be great praise for you.

When you silence, people will love you.

Open up your mouth, people will hate you.

Preach the gospel, they'll hate you.

And so we as human beings are often overly concerned about our reputation, but we should be more concerned about other people's salvation.

What is your reputation in terms of eternity when it's the salvation of others depend on it?

You see, when we want to keep our reputation safe, and uh we will act from fear.

And that will drive us to fear and timidity, which Jesus did say to Paul, do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent.

Fear is a motivator, it motivates the world to persecute Christians, but uh fear is also a motivator to keep the Christians silent.

Fear is also something that distorts reality and distorts perspective, even the perspective of the sheep.

You see, these narratives of fear that all make its way through the centuries distort the perspective for The sheep.

It creates a false reality.

And Jesus wants to correct the reality.

I want to give you three corrective lenses here today in which we can overcome this fear-driven nearsightedness.

Look at verse 26 to 28.

Therefore, do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear whispered in your ear proclaim upon the rooftops.

Verse 28, do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy the soul and the body in hell.

And this is how fear distorts our perspective of things.

We become very nearsighted.

We are concerned about the now.

How can I be safe now?

How can I be happy now?

How can I be healthy now?

And we forget about eternity.

And this is the perspective that Jesus wants to say give us a year.

Well, firstly, with our reputations.

Jesus says that there will become a time when everything will be exposed.

The truth will come out.

That bad grate that you received because you were a Christian, or the slanderous accusation that was brought against you at the office, that will come out one day, and your reputation will be taken care of.

So don't worry about your reputation as a Christian and one sins.

I want to also make sure you don't misunderstand me there.

Certainly we want to have a good reputation.

But often we cannot protect our reputations because they will distort it and they will malign us.

But our aim is the declaration of the gospel, not to save our own reputations.

Also, the second corrective lens that we can put into our glasses to overcome this fear-driven nearsightedness is this fear of death.

You see, dying is not the worst thing that can happen to you, dear brother and sister.

Falling in the hands of angry God is the worst thing that can happen to you.

Spending an eternity in hell is the worst thing that can happen to somebody.

And Jesus will even use scared sheep to proclaim the gospel so that people do not go to hell.

Hell is a bad thing.

I'm not sure if somebody has told you that, but but to put it in perspective, a hundred years of happy, carefree living on this earth cannot make up for a single hour in hell.

A single hour in hell is worse than anything imaginable.

Why would you trade a hundred years of happiness and safety only to spend eternity in hell?

We have a wrong perspective.

We fear those who can kill the body or that which could kill the body, but we fear not him who can destroy the body and soul in hell.

Hell is bad, my dear brothers and sisters.

It's very bad.

And God will even have the sheep pay the ultimate price to rescue people from the fires of hell.

We are not to be concerned about our safety.

We gotta be concerned about people's eternity.

Our obsession with comfort and safety may come at the cost of someone else's eternity.

Third corrective lens for fear-driven short-sightedness.

Verse thirty one.

So do not fear.

You are more valuable than many sparrows.

Let me put that in perspective for you.

It says there, verse 29.

Are you not are not two sparrows sold for a cent, and yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father?

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

So do not fear, you are more valuable than many sparrows.

There's a lot going on here in this verse, and the first thing is you cannot avoid death.

You may trick the means of and the mode of your death.

But death has a hundred percent mortality rate.

The other day I had a conversation with somebody, and he said, Well, there are point 0.068% more people that died.

And I'm like, No.

You can't have more people die because all people die.

Just when?

And how?

And so Jesus says, Correct that perspective.

You cannot, you cannot outrun death.

Then he also says, Do not let this short-sightedness drive you to think poorly of your heavenly father, because Jesus says, Sparrows have value.

And if a sparrow has value, how much more value do we have who is created in the image of the living God?

You see, if we think poorly about God and who he is, we will act in a way that he doesn't care.

You see, if we are just so consumed about our own safety, our own well-being, we are basically saying, you see, God, you are so absent-minded, you just don't value us enough, and that is why you're willing to send us in into a pack of wolves.

You see, you don't really care, God.

We are just fodder for the fire, which is near blasphemous.

We, dear brothers and sisters, have infinite worth in the eyes of the shepherd.

Yet God's desire is that all come to repentance and knowledge of the truth.

He desires that no one perishes.

So while fear is a powerful tool in the hands of the enemy, to drive people to persecute Christians on the other hand, it's a powerful tool to proclaim the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ and bring the gospel to people.

Satan uses fear like a skull's bridle, pulled over the mouths of people to silence them without beating them.

There is a false promise that Satan gives.

I will keep you safe if you will keep silent.

Don't buy into that satanic narrative.

I remember many years ago I went on to uh on an outreach as a as a young believer, and we went to this homeless shelter, and we were going to give some food packs and gift packs.

We did that on a monthly basis.

And and the guy who orchestrated this said to us, look, we want to go out there, but we don't want to speak the gospel to people.

Because all we want to do really is to love them with the love of Jesus.

And he had a good way of saying this.

And this guy was like, hey man, just love them with the love of Jesus, you know.

No, we're gonna just love on them.

And I'm like, okay, we're gonna love on them.

And so your people go and they share the gospel and give them gifts of mercy.

Oh, the pushback, the reaction.

Get back home.

Guys, we cannot share the gospel with these folks.

We are going to love them with the love of Jesus.

If you guys keep doing this, we gotta get kicked out.

They gonna hate us for that, and then we can't do this anymore.

Well, can't we pray?

Yeah, yes, you can pray for people.

We're gonna bring them a meal and we're gonna pray for the meal.

So here goes somebody you praise in the name of Jesus, and they go, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Stop, you guys can't do that.

We gotta respect people's privacy.

You can only pray in the name of a generic God.

Just pray in the name of God.

So we'll make room for other religions here too.

And then I thought so much for religious liberty.

You see, religious liberty is there as long as you don't speak of Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Let me say this in summary on what we've looked at this far, is that following Jesus Christ is not a safe endeavor, it's a risky endeavor.

And on October thirty-first, fifteen seventeen, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed the 95 thesis to the Wittenberg Castle Church's door.

And he would near pay for his life.

Some time later, he was in front of a tribunal, a religious council, and they asked him to recant and to shut up.

Stop saying this stuff, Martin Luther.

And then he was asked to respond, and he said, Since it is neither safe nor honest to act contrary to my conscience, here I stand, I cannot do otherwise, so help me God, amen.

You see, Martin Luther understood something about verse 32 there.

Therefore, everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven.

But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my father who's in heaven.

You see, Jesus, uh Martin Luther did not fear him who could kill the body, he feared him who could put the body and soul into hell.

Martin Luther understood it was not safe to be safe.

Christianity is not about being safe, it is about taking up a cross.

It's not about, Jesus did not say, take up your camping chairs and follow me, and we will have a barbecue in the park.

But he also said, look, if you are not willing to take risks, stay home and be safe.

Because he says there, and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

But he who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it.

What is Jesus saying by that when he says he who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it.

It is once again a proper perspective of death and life.

If this life is all that there is, you'll do everything to hang on to it and you'll lose it in any case.

But if you believe that this life is an opportunity for gospel declaration, then you will let go of your life and be a powerful instrument in the hands of the living God, as was Nate Saint and Jim Elliott.

You may know of those two missionaries who stepped out of a small airplane to minister to the gospel to a tribe of uh little-known Indians, knowing that it was not a safe thing to do.

They stepped out of the airplane, proceeded to uh share the gospel, and then uh several days later paid the price when they were speared to death.

But we will never forget the words of Nate Saint that echoes down the corridors of the martyrs.

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.

Listen carefully.

He is no fool who gives what your life what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

The delight of the Christian life is not self-preservation, but sacrifice for the salvation of others.

It's rough, it's unsafe, it is risky.

And while the world is frantically and fearfully about preserving one's life, even if it means the sacrifice of the Christian neighbor, we should not forget the heart cry of God, which is that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.

Will you be silent?

Then you will be safe.

Or you can be vocal and speak up and pay the ultimate price.

Let us ask a Heavenly Father to help us.

Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you with this consideration that coming after you as a follower was indeed a risky endeavor.

And as our culture is changing rapidly and the hostilities towards the Christian faith is becoming all the more apparent, we may be running into a little cocoon to keep ourselves safe.

And we will be silent in order to be safe.

I pray that we will recant, that we will not be fearful, that we will radically align our lives with your heart cry, which is the salvation of people.

We are not placed on this earth to be our own, but we were bought by a pr with a price, and we are to glorify you with the proclamation of the gospel.

I pray that you will build your church as you have done.

Despite the gates of Hades, you always build your church.

Give us grace, give us courage, let us be bold like lions.

I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.

Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.

You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.