SERIES: The Everyday Gospel
TEXT: Matthew 10:16-25
MESSAGE: “Spirit-Dependant”

A disciple of Jesus is centered on the Gospel, empowered by the Holy Spirit, rooted in God’s missional family, equipped for everyday rhythms, and sent out with a Kingdom vision.

Q: Who do you go to for wisdom & guidance when life gets difficult?

“Young people are looking to their devices to make sense of the world around them…they are using the screens in their pockets as their counselors, their entertainers, their instructors…Why make the effort to talk to your parents or teachers when you can privately ask the smartphone in your hand?” — Dave Kinnamen

Q: Who is the Holy Spirit?

ʻRoutine neglect and suspicion of the work of the HS has damaging effects on both Christian life and Christian theology. It can lead to distortions in the understanding of God, the doctrine of Scripture, the significance of the natural order, the value of human culture, the interpretation of Christ and his work, the nature of the church, the freedom of the Christian, and the hope for the final fulfillment of life. When the work of the HS is forgotten or suppressed, the power of God is apt to be understood as distant, hierarchical, and coercive; Christocentric faith deteriorates…the church is seen as a rigid power structure…ʼ — Daniel Migliore, Faith Seeking Understanding

“God, have mercy upon them! It is better to be too credulous than to be carnal and to be smug and dead.” — Dr. Martyn Lloyd Jones

TEXT: Matthew 10:16-25

“In these verses, Jesus tells His 12 disciples—and by implication, He tells us—to go into dangerous places where they will find themselves among evil, rapacious people. But they will be there by His design. We often think that if something is not safe, it must not be of God. If it’s dangerous, risky, or if it may cause us harm, we must not be in God’s will. But those are not not the criteria by which we determine God’s desire for us. As we go like sheep among wolves, people may think we’re foolish or clueless, but we’re actually being obedient, which is most important.” — David Platt

Q: What do we learn in today’s text about Dependence on the Spirit? Three phrases: (1. Behold I am sending you 2. But the Spirit 3. Be like the Teacher)

1. Behold I am sending you (v. 16-18)

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.

“A central point in one of Jesus’ discourses is hate. We are accustomed to the centrality of love in the teaching of Jesus, but in His Upper Room Discourse, Jesus talked about the hatred the world has for Him. Because of that hatred, Jesus was zealous to alert His disciples to what they should expect from the world…But earlier in that discourse, Jesus had provided His disciples with a promise of divine assistance in the midst of persecution and all the trials of the Christian life-the Comforter, or Paraclete, whom He would send to be with His people in the midst of a hostile world.” — R.C. Sproul

2. But the Spirit (v. 19-23)

When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

“And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” — Matthew 6:27

“Apprehension infiltrates many aspects of modern life. Anxiety about looking your best and eating right. Pressure to perform your best in school and get ahead. Aching questions about calling, jobs, and finances. Frequent comparisons to others on social media. (Gen Z is the most likely generation to admit that seeing others’ lives on social media makes them feel insecure about themselves.) Fears about losing faith. Ironic worry about mental health and social wellness. Uncertainty about choosing the right spouse, the right career, the right anything, the right everything. So many alternatives at our fingertips can be exhausting rather than freeing.” — David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock (Faith for exiles)

“It will be given is another example of the divine passive. God will give them what they need is the thought, and this is spelled out in the next verse with its reference to the Holy Spirit. The gift will be given in that hour; they will not know a long while beforehand what to say, but divine inspiration in the law court will enable them to give the witness that God wants them to give.” — Leon Morris

“The way the early Church avoided the problem of divorcing doctrine from Christian life was by understanding all of Christian life in direct connection to God’s life. The fathers of the Church did not first speak about God, then speak about salvation, and then speak about Christian life. Instead, the way they spoke about God constituted their discussion of salvation and Christian life.” — Donald Fairbairn

“…the reason for the hatred? On account of my name! The name, of course, means all that the person is and stands for (see on 6:9). The persecution and the hatred will arise because of the disciples’ connection with Jesus, whose very name indicates that he came to save people from their sins (1:21).” — Leon Morris

3. Be like the teacher (v. 24-25)

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.”

“Notice that it is the Spirit to whom the title ‘Holy’ is attached. In Scripture, it is clear that holiness is an attribute that belongs equally to each member of the Trinity, but it is specifically attributed to the Spirit because of His ministry, His concentrated function in the plan of redemption. He is the One whom God sends to make us holy….The Holy Spirit initiates the crucial change in our character, then He nurtures it during our lives and finishes it at the end.” — R.C. Sproul

TAKEAWAYS: What would it look like to rely more on the Holy Spirit in your everyday life? Let’s ask three questions…

• Do you believe the Holy Spirit is really your advocate—or do you believe you have to handle everything yourself?

• Are you depending on your strength—or surrendering to God’s strength?

“We honor the Spirit with our reliance, not with our self-centered know-how.” — Jared Wilson

• Is the Spirit actually changing you—or are you going through the motions?
  

GOSPEL: Acts 8:18–22

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you.