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All right, Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10 is a great chapter for Jesus giving advice and sending out the disciples for the first time. So He's giving them some good advice and He's trying to kind of prepare them for what's going to happen, what they're going to run into. Imagine taking these 12 men who He's just called and He's given them this power to heal people and to do these miracles as well, and He's sending them out and He's trying to prepare them for what they're going to run into out there and what they're going to experience out in the world. So let's just go ahead and let's step through Matthew chapter 10. I want to step through it fairly quickly. There's a number of different things that we could rabbit trail off into on Matthew chapter 10, but I'm going to keep some of these major ones for later chapters in Matthew. We'll step through it and preach through the chapter, but then I want to make some application on just overall what Jesus was telling the disciples and how He was preparing them for what they were going to see and kind of the reason that He gave them some of the instruction that He gave them. So look down at Matthew chapter 10 and look at verse number 1. The Bible says, And when He had called unto Him His 12 disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the 12 disciples are these. The first Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, James the son of Alphaeus and Labias whose surname is Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot who also betrayed him. These 12 Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Turn to Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 3. So obviously we've preached through Romans, but let's go ahead and look at Romans chapter 3 and here we'll see first, you know, He says to the disciples when He's sending them out, He says to them, He says, you know, don't go to Samaria, don't go to the Gentiles yet. He tells them, you know, go to the Jews first. So in Romans chapter 3, if you look down at verse number 1, we've already studied this, what advantage then hath the Jew, or what profit is there of circumcision, much every way chiefly because unto them were committed the oracles of God. So in Romans chapter 3, the Bible tells us that the advantage of the Jew, you know, in Romans chapter 3, He's saying, look, there's neither Jew nor Gentile. You're all saved the same way, you know, that He's trying to explain to the Jews, you guys aren't special, children, you know, just because you're children of Abraham, you have to believe it's by belief, it's by faith that you're saved, right? So He's trying to get that across in Romans. We said, well, what advantage was there to even being a Jew in Romans chapter 3? And the reason that He says that the Jews had an advantage in Romans chapter 3 is because they were given the oracles of God, they had the Bible, they had the truth. So they had, you know, the Old Testament, as we would call it, right? And the Jews knew about the coming Messiah is kind of how it ties into Matthew chapter 10 here. So we see more advantage of the Jews in Matthew chapter 10 is that they get to hear that, you know, the kingdom of heaven has come is here now, they get to hear it first. So that's another advantage that the Jews had, right, and it makes sense, right? Because they were the ones that knew that the Messiah was coming, they were expecting the Messiah, they knew all about it. You know, as we, you know, studied, you know, David and all these people in the Old Testament, they knew that there was a Messiah coming, right? So the Jews of Jesus's time, were expecting a Messiah, all right, they may have had a wrong headed thought, in general, especially the religious leaders about what that Messiah was to be and to look like, you know, they were looking for an earthly king type of person. But look, that was another advantage is that they came, you know, they heard about they were to preach the gospel, the kingdom of heaven to the Jews first, okay, now turn to Acts chapter 1, Acts chapter 1. And this is very similar to Acts chapter 1, when we see kind of the order of things when they're going out to start preaching the gospel. If you look at Acts chapter 1 in verse number 8, the Bible says this, it says, But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. So first of all, you see that it's first in Jerusalem, then it's in, you know, larger Judea, which is the nation of Israel, and then they go out to Samaria, and then the uttermost parts of the earth. So you see, that's kind of the order of things. We follow the same order here. We've had a soul winning tip about this, our first, you know, our Jerusalem is Fresno. Our Jerusalem is Fresno. So we're going to preach to Fresno as the church grows and matures, then maybe we will branch out, maybe we will go do some soul winning marathons to neighboring cities and hit, you know, larger parts of California, and then maybe we'll go on mission trips, and maybe we'll start churches and do things like this and to the uttermost parts of the earth. So it's a pattern. It's a map for us to follow. All right, look at verse number 7. And as ye go preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. So the Jews get to hear this first. The kingdom of heaven, meaning the Messiah is here, Jesus is here. It's at hand. It's right now. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, freely ye have received, freely give. So the Bible here is saying, look, this, you know, this is one of my biggest motivations going out soul winning, actually, is Matthew chapter 7, or Matthew chapter 10 in verse number 8. And I know, look, I know that we're going to get rewards in heaven, and I know the Bible teaches that. We'll talk a little bit about it tonight. But my biggest, my biggest motivation out soul winning, and I'll even say this to people sometimes after, you know, I've given them the gospel, they've gotten saved, I'll even say like, look, you know, I was given a gift that I didn't deserve to get. I was given this free gift, I did not deserve to be saved, and, you know, what kind of jerk would I be if I just kept that gift to myself and I never went out and shared it with anybody else? I never went out, even though I knew that I was supposed to do it, it's one of the clearest commandments in the Bible, is to go preach the gospel to all nations, but I just kept it to myself. I got something that I didn't deserve, I was freely given it, but I will go out and share it with no one else, right? And that's the beauty of Matthew chapter 10 in verse number 8, is that, you know, that should be a major motivator for you, because none of you deserve to be saved either, alright? So keep that in mind, you know, that should be a big motivation of yours, is just to go out and give people what you were freely given, okay? Look at Matthew chapter 10 in verse number 9, provide neither gold nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor a strip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves for the workman is worthy of his meat, and into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there abide till you go thence, and when you come into a house, salute it, and if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. Look, we will act the same way going out soul winning. We are looking for, you know, you've heard it said before, we're looking for the right fish. We're looking for the people that want to receive our peace. We have, you know, our feet shod with the gospel of peace, the Bible says, and we want to know, look, you can't go out there and smack somebody in the face with the Bible and make them believe, so we're not out there to argue with people, we're not out there to be contentious, we're there to find the people that want to hear. And they're out there. And the quicker we can get through, you know, the 20 doors or the 5 doors that don't want to hear and get to that 6th door of that person that wants to hear, the more people we will be able to get saved, okay? So we're looking for those, the Bible says, who are worthy. What's it mean to be worthy? It just means that you have a heart to receive the truth. That's what it means, okay? So we're looking for those that want to hear, just like Jesus says here. And if not, verse 14, and whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust off your feet. So he's basically saying, don't let it bother you. He's like, just move on. If they don't want to hear you, just move on. So Jesus is giving soul winning lessons here. He's giving soul winning tips on how to handle, you know, rejection at the door, rejection in the city, and all these types of things. So he says, don't let it bother you, shake the dust off your feet, move on. Verse 15, verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. He says, look, he says, look, if there's a city that won't receive you and is super unreceptive, don't worry about it, shake the dust off your feet. He said, I'll take care of it. I will take care of it. In the day of judgment, it said, I am going to take care of it. So you don't have to get, he's telling him, you don't have to get mad, you don't have to argue, you know, God's going to settle the score, he says. And you know, remember, vengeance is mine, you know, saith the Lord. We're going to make some application of that at the end of the sermon. That's going to be one of our main applications. Let's just get on with verse 16. So now, after verse 16, he gets more serious now. And he says, behold. I mean, now he's telling them, he's like, he kind of primes them by saying, look, not everyone's going to listen to you, but don't worry about it. And then he kind of gets a little bit more serious in explaining the things that they're actually going into. All right. He says, behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. He's saying, hey, be careful, be smart, don't be stupid. He's saying, you know, people are going to be plotting against you, they're going to be trying to get you. And he says, beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils. They will scourge you in their synagogues, and ye shall be brought before the governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. He's saying, look, he's saying, they're going to bring you, the religious leaders of the Jews, they're going to bring you into the synagogues, they're going to beat you, they're going to scourge you. This is all, it all came true with Paul and most of the apostles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought for how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. So we've talked about this before, but he's basically giving them some comfort here. And he's saying, look, when they do deliver you up, and they do do all these horrible things to you, you don't have to worry about what you're going to say, because I will, this Holy Spirit will come, you will be filled with the Holy Ghost. We're not going to study this in depth either. But basically, like what happened to Stephen, Stephen gives this great and wonderful sermon, and then he's killed. And then, you know, he has the face of an angel, the Bible says, and look, God will give you the words to say in those moments. So he's saying, don't worry about what you'll say. Many people will be like, well, maybe I would be afraid, and maybe I would recant, but he's saying, no, you don't have to worry about what your flesh would say. The Holy Spirit will fill you in that time and give you the words to say. And that's great comfort. That's great comfort, especially for people like these men who are all going to be in that situation. Okay? Verse 20, for it is not ye that, well, verse 21, and the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child, and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Now what does that mean? Turn to Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24. So verse number 22, he's making a reference to something here. Let's take a look at it in Matthew chapter 24. Matthew chapter 24, look down at verse number 9, and we kind of see the same thing that Jesus is talking about here. In Matthew chapter 24, look down at verse number 9, where the Bible says, then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then many shall many be offended and shall betray one another, and they shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. Now turn to verse 22 of Matthew chapter 24. So he's talking about this same time. Now there's different applications for these verses. Number 1, this applies, you know, this affliction and delivering them up, this applies to the absolutely what happens to these disciples, okay, as we know, you know, from just history. But he's also talking about something else here, and if you turn to verse 22, we can get some more clarity on this, Matthew 24 and verse number 22. And the Bible says, and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Now what days? Look at verse number 29. Verse number 29. We're not going to get too deep into this. I just want to explain this phrase in Matthew chapter 10 to you. And in verse number 29 we see what days we're talking about. And immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. So this is talking about, you know, the great tribulation, right before Jesus comes. So the Bible says, look, there's tribulation that's happened, alright, there's tribulation that has happened to the tribulation happened to the disciples, it happened to the apostles, it happened to Apostle Paul, it's very well documented, but this is talking about the tribulation right before the rapture, when Jesus comes. And when he talks about, you know, that those that endure to the end shall be saved, it's talking about flesh being saved, it's talking about their lives being saved, it's talking about in the great tribulation, if they make it up to that point without being killed, they will be literally physically saved from being killed, okay, that's what it's talking about here, alright. Otherwise look, it would make no sense to say that Matthew chapter 10 and verse number 22 was talking about spiritual salvation. It would make no sense, because that would mean that you have to, you know, work and go out there and witness and do all these things and just be this, you know, special forces soldier for Christ in order to be spiritually saved, and we know that that goes directly against the Bible where it says, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. I mean, it's very clear that this cannot be talking about spiritual salvation. Now we're gonna talk about the tribulation, end times prophecy, all these different kinds of things when we get to Matthew chapter 24 and elsewhere in the book of Matthew, so we're not gonna get too deep into that now, I just wanted to show you that that is not talking about spiritual salvation. But putting things, you know, in perspective, alright, also, you know, these are some pretty terrible times that they're talking about here. They're talking about brothers and sisters, you know, delivering you up to be killed, you know, fathers betraying sons and vice versa. So I mean, putting things in perspective, I mean, it's pretty clear to see that we're not in the tribulation, in the great tribulation right now. I mean, that would be stupid to even think that, right? So but look, there's there's all kinds of different things that we can look at today that kind of we can apply to this possibly coming in the future. I don't know if it's our future or 100 years from now or whatever. But look, we can see things happening, right? I mean, we were watching the news a couple days ago and Governor Cuomo stands up and he actually says something like, he said something along the lines of, you know, this, you know, this plague was was stopped by us. And he says, you know, God did not stop this play. I mean, he literally comes out and he says that God did not do this. Nobody asked him about God. Nobody brought God into the conversation. He just actively came out against the Lord in that case, right? So look, we see that people in this country today are angry at churches. They're saying that when churches start again, and this whole thing gets on, you know, people could possibly be, they're saying that Homeland Security has warned churches who will gather and things like that. People will be angry against churches gathering for, you know, fear of health. So I mean, we can see these types of things sort of creeping in, in our time that we're living in now. All right, the Bible says the love of many will wax cold. Well, I think that this, that that's waxing cold against the Bible and against the Word of God and against God's people. So shall many be offended and shall betray one another? Look, it's setting up an atmosphere. That's all I'm saying. And we should just pay attention to these types of things. You know, I'm not saying that we're anywhere near these types of things that the Bible was talking about. We'll talk about that a little bit more at the end of the sermon, but I'm just saying you should notice these things. You should notice these things. All right, look at verse number 23. But when they persecute this, persecute you in this city, flee you into another, for verily I say unto you, you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man become. The disciples, the disciples not above his master nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as a master and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Remember Matthew chapter nine, where they call Jesus, you know, they said he cast out devils using the devil. And then in Matthew chapter 12, we see, we're going to study the story of, you know, Jesus, you know, the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, where once again, he cast out a demon and they said, you know, you do that by Beelzebub. They basically said that he's casting out Satan with Satan. So Jesus, you know, here we see more evidence that Jesus did not like that. He definitely took notice to the fact that they had already said this thing once. All right. And in verse number 24, five, he brings it up. All right. Verse 26, Fear them not therefore, for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both body and soul, both soul and body and hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father? But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye therefore that ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my father, which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my father in heaven. Now think about that also out soul winning. You know, he's basically, he's preparing these guys, right, he's preparing them for everyone being against them. But he's like, hey, don't worry that they're against me. They're saying, you know, you're no better than me, and they're already against me, he's saying. They're saying I'm casting out demons by Satan. He's like, what do you think they're gonna think about you? So he's preparing them. He's preparing them. But don't worry, I will take care of you. He says, whoever confesses me before men, look, what are you doing when you're out soul winning? What are you doing? You are confessing the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what you're doing. And the Bible says that when you go and you confess the Lord Jesus Christ, that, you know, you're gonna get some, you're gonna get some accolades for that. That means Jesus is gonna bring that up to the Heavenly Father. He's gonna talk about that to the Heavenly Father. So you're confessing the Lord Jesus before men. You're doing this right here. Matthew chapter 10, look at verse 34. Think not that I am, then he gives more good news, right? I mean, it's just a motivational sermon here. It's just giving them motivation. He's like, all these horrible things are gonna happen to you. He's like, your own dad's gonna turn you in. You know, your own brother's gonna turn you in. All this. They're all gonna deliver you up to be killed. And then in Matthew, in verse 34, he says, think that I'm not come to send peace on earth. I am come not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man a variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Doesn't this make sense now? When we look at, you know, when you put your hand towards the plow, and we talked a week or so ago about, you know, not looking back, and all these guys that one guy wanted to go back for a funeral, one guy just wanted to go back and say goodbye. This is why he's saying, look, this is not, it's not important. He's saying, look, your family, your unsaved family, they are going to be part of the people that turn you in when these times come. They're gonna be part of the people that, you know, deliver you up to be killed. And he's just warning them about this. So that's why he's saying, look, it's about getting the gospel out there to get people saved so they don't go to hell. That's the only vision. That's the only goal. All right? Something else is, you know, is not worthy. You're not worthy. And he had not taken his cross, and followed after me, and is not worthy of me. He says in verse 38. So now, look, this, how can this be true if becoming a Christian means, you know, you will become rich and have this wonderful life? I mean, how could Matthew chapter 10, you know, I mean, this doesn't sound great. I mean, you know, what's going on here? I mean, who would want this? Right? I mean, verse 30, you know, look at verse 39. But you know, there's more, right? He doesn't just leave you hanging and just say everything's gonna be miserable and you're gonna die a horrible death. But he actually, you know, he caps it here. Look at verse 39. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his, what, reward. So Jesus caps it all off at the end by saying, look, I will reward your life here. Okay? Now, look, God is a perfect judge. We're gonna talk about that in a few minutes. But he's also the perfect boss, okay? He's also the perfect boss. He's constantly talking about labor, needing more laborers. Turn to Matthew chapter 10 in verse number 10. He says, in Matthew chapter 10, verse number 10, he says, nor script for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor staves, for the workman is worthy of his meat. So Jesus believes that this work, this work that he's sending these guys out to do, and what he's sending us out to do, as we're called to do the same thing, is worthy of reward. It's worthy of payment, okay? Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 5. First Timothy chapter 5, and let me read for you Luke 10, verse number 7, where the Bible says, and in the house, in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. So Jesus, I mean, the Bible teaches that, you know, the people who do labor are worthy of payment. Okay? And in 1 Timothy chapter 5, look at verse 18. The Bible says, for the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his reward. So look, not only were people to take care of them when they were out preaching, and that, you know, like Paul, but God says he will reward you in heaven for your work here. Okay? So you say, what's the point? Well, you're stacking up eternal rewards, is part of the point, right? I mean, the first point that I made, you know, earlier should be enough. Just the fact that you've been given eternal life, you didn't deserve eternal life. Maybe you should have the character to go out and get some other people, you know, access to that same eternal life that they can get just by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. But look, if you need rewards in your mind, they're going to be there. All right? If you're going out and you're preaching the gospel, the laborer is worthy of his hire, the Bible says. And Jesus says, over and over and over here, he says, look, these are all going to be terrible things, but you will be rewarded. I'll confess you before my Father, you will be rewarded. All right? So now, that's Matthew chapter 10. He's basically, he's priming these guys to go out and he's trying to, you know, prepare them for what is going to happen to them, for what they're going to experience and what's going to happen. And then he says, look, all these horrible things are going to happen to you, like, I'll reward you. He's like, as far as all these horrible things, he's like, don't worry about those things, those people. I mean, he says, I'm sending you out amongst wolves, he says, you know, sheep amongst wolves. I mean, that's not a good thing, right? But look, let's look at some thoughts on persecution. All right? Let's just, let's just, first overall thought. The first thought I want to give you on persecution tonight is you really can't look at persecution as, I'm just going to give you some pragmatic advice here, okay? You can't really look at persecution as a sign of the tribulation. Okay? I'm talking about the tribulation. Any persecution is tribulation that you're going through, right? But look, there has just been, I mean, as far as just saying, like, we're not under persecution right now, tribulation right now, compared to what people in the Bible went through. However, we can't look at that as a single indicator. Just if people would start persecuting us as Christians, we couldn't even look at that as a single indicator that, hey, this might be, you know, the tribulation and heading into the great tribulation. Because look, there's just been too much suffering in human history. I'm sorry to break it to you. I mean, during times of suffering, all these things happen. You know, people, you know, turn people in, right? People turn people in for so many different reasons. They turn in neighbors and relatives and all these different things to save themselves, in many cases, you know, throughout history. Sometimes in loyalty to the state or whoever, you know, is running the government. You know, also people have been just tortured throughout history to just sign any kind of confession. So, or to turn anybody in. So if I basically, you know, bring somebody in and say, hey, you know, turn in your family for doing these things, and I torture that person enough, they will sign it. That's historic. That's what happens. All right, so you can't really look at just persecution as a single indicator that, you know what, we're heading into the great tribulation, right? So first of all, we're not even in persecution now. I mean, we're not even in, it's not really persecution, right? I mean, it's strange, weird times, but it's not really what you could qualify as what other people, especially Christians in the Bible, went through as persecution. People have just been through too many horrible things throughout history. You know, if that would be the case, you know, every single person in the martyr's mirror, you know, oh, this is the end of the world, or oh, Jesus is coming in the next five minutes or whatever, right? So look, there's just been too many horrible things. That's the bottom line, right? But look, while we can see, like, I like to notice is certain things that have happened in these horrible times in history, I like to see how they might somehow become possible here. Like the turning people in thing. I've been surprised, actually. Whether it be through employers and work situations, just this idea that we're going to just, you know, keep an eye on everybody and people are just ratting everybody out for all these different reasons, it can happen here. It's the same mindset here. We're no different than all these other times in history when all these things happened, all right? But what I really want to look at tonight is this. God promises, Jesus promises these men to not worry about these cities, these people, because he will take care of it. So what I want to look at tonight, in the next few minutes, is I want to look at God's methodology of vengeance. I want to look at God's methodology of vengeance. Go back to verse number 14. Look at verse number 14 of Matthew chapter 10, where the Bible says, and whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake the dust off your feet. Don't let it bother you. Just move on. And then look at verse number 15, verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. That city that persecuted them. That city that would not listen to them, okay? God reserves, and this is a theme throughout the entire Bible. God reserves vengeance for himself. And I want to give you two reasons, I've already given you one if you've heard me preach here before on why God does this, all right? The first reason is this, he's better at it. He's just better at it. No matter what an evil person deserves, there's nothing that could punish someone more completely than an eternity in hell. There's nothing that could do a better job of giving an evil person proper judgment than an eternity in hell. That's an easy one, all right? But the second one, I really want to dig into a little bit tonight. The second reason that God reserves vengeance for himself is this, it's that humans cannot be trusted with it, okay? Humans practicing vengeance get it wrong again and again and again. For a man, vengeance is revenge. God is just. God is the perfect… We talk a lot about, you know, I've talked a lot about the martyr's mirror and Christians being persecuted throughout history, Christians martyred for faith in Christ throughout history. But look, the fact of the matter is, is that tens of millions of people have been killed by human vengeance in just the last hundred years. Just human vengeance alone. Look, it is shocking what human beings will do to each other. It is absolutely shocking. God knows this. God knows that vengeance is not for us because he knows who we are. Look, most, look, most revolutions throughout history have been just one group delivering vengeance upon another group and then another group delivering vengeance on another group. That is what most revolutions have been. The French Revolution. I've actually been reading a lot about the French Revolution in the last several weeks and months. And look, the French Revolution was basically a bunch of poor people who were just oppressed beyond all belief to the point of starvation over, you know, there was this aristocracy that was oppressing everybody. Enough people got mad enough about it. This is a pattern that you'll see throughout most revolutions, by the way. Enough people got so frustrated and mad enough about it that groups formed and they basically overthrew the aristocracy and they delivered vengeance. I mean, they killed everybody. And then another group took centralized control and they killed everybody that they didn't like and that they thought was a threat to their centralized control. And then another little group overtook that little group and killed everybody that they thought were part of. This is the typical human revolution, unfortunately, right? Usually murdering and torturing people in a group that just was removed from power. Just having another centralized group come in and just execute vengeance is what it is. The Bolshevik Revolution is probably the worst recent history example of vengeance. The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, you had the czars overthrown in 1917 and you had, you know, these oppressed workers and these oppressed poor working people. They came in, they were represented by this party, this Bolshevik party. And they came in and look, I mean this, you should read about it if you haven't read about it. So basically you had these leaders of this Bolshevik Revolution, they came in, they killed everybody that was previously in power. They killed everybody. They tortured people, they killed everybody. Then the leaders, they fought amongst themselves and they killed the leaders that they didn't like and it turned into this just, it just got more and more and more and more centralized power until you had one man, Joseph Stalin, who had basically killed all of his adversaries. Joseph Stalin executed vengeance on the Russian people and people in Russian, you know, not just Russia, but to the tune of 50 to 60 million people. Joseph Stalin had killed more people through vengeance by the time he became an ally of ours in World War II than Hitler would ever kill. Look, Hitler executed vengeance against the Jews, there's no doubt about that, right? But look, Stalin had killed way more people, tens of millions of people by the time he became our ally in World War II. All right, so look, it's the same thing. The ruling classes were wiped out, they were tortured, they were murdered. And you just got this more and more, Stalin had centralized power to the point so well that when he died, the people that were most afraid of Stalin were the people that were closest to him. They were terrified of him, because the closer you got to Stalin, the more likely you were to be killed at some point. He would just write, you know, across pieces of paper that had 50 names on it of generals and just say, just shoot all these people, because he was that paranoid, he thought maybe there would be somebody who was descending against him or whatever. But I mean, he was just executing vengeance and vengeance and vengeance. He had people so paranoid that he had a stroke, he had a stroke, and people were so afraid to knock on his door, he didn't come out of his room for three or four days, and he was covered in his own waste and all this kind of stuff, because people were just afraid. They were afraid to knock on his door. So he died, you know, he died 60 years, you know, too late, unfortunately, a very evil man. The American Revolution was different, because where many, many revolutions were centralizing power with these democratic revolutions, you had the American Revolution that was a republican revolution. And what it was, what I mean by republican, not democrat and republican, what I mean is that it was a revolution to create a republic, a revolution whose goal was to cause decentralization of power, to create, if you've heard from public school, a separation of powers. That's what made the American Revolution so unique. It was different in the case of removing and protecting against centralized power, because centralized power has the ability to just execute vengeance on whoever it wants, okay? So look, republics resist the revolutionary trend towards simplification of structure and centralization of power, and they succeed through a commitment to complex political systems involving competing sovereignties and diffused power, alright? So look, human beings simply cannot be trusted with vengeance, God being the only one who had to reserve it for himself. Go to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 30, Hebrews chapter 10 and verse number 30. But most revolutions were bad, okay? Most revolutions ended up with scores and scores and just piles and piles of people. Look, if you read real history, you have to read it in doses, because it is terrible. It's absolutely terrible. Look at Hebrews 10 and verse number 30. God reserved vengeance for himself, and here's why. For we know him that had said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord, and again, the Lord shall judge his people. Turn to 1 Samuel chapter 24. God is the perfect judge. He's the only one that can be perfect about it, alright? Look at 1 Samuel chapter 24. Let's look at David. Now I want to show you a dichotomy in David's life here. We just talked about Abigail and how David was about to go and execute vengeance on somebody. But let's look at 1 Samuel chapter 24, a chapter back from 1 Samuel chapter 25 where Saul had come into a cave. Saul's out trying to kill David, right? It's this game of cat and mouse. He comes into a cave, David cuts off a piece of the clothing from his robe, and then he says to Saul, he yells at Saul from the top of the hill, he says, I could have killed you. And look at verse number 12. But David says to Saul in verse number 12 of 1 Samuel 24, the Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee, but mine hand shall not be upon thee. That's an incredibly godly statement right there. Because this man's trying to kill David, and David says, you know what, the Lord will judge you. It is not my place to execute revenge on you, Saul. Now go over to 1 Samuel chapter 25, one chapter over. Think of David just a little while later. He gets in the flesh. This shows us, look, this should show us that this vengeance is within all of us. This flesh of wanting to deliver vengeance is within all of us, and we all have to protect against it. Look at 1 Samuel 25 verse 31. And this is Abigail saying that this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offense of heart unto my Lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my Lord hath avenged himself. But when the Lord shall have dealt with my Lord, then remember thine handmaids. So David, Nabal didn't give David his men's supplies, so David's like, we're gonna go kill them all. We're gonna go kill all the men, all the servants, everybody that works for Nabal, everybody. And she says that would be shedding blood causeless. David was gonna go and he was going to exact, he was going to avenge himself. In verse 31 she says, or that my Lord hath avenged himself. It is not your job to avenge yourself, Christian. But then God actually delivers judgment to Nabal. So you can see the judgment of God. This is a nice thing about this story. You can see the judgment of God, the perfect judge, and what David's judgment was gonna be. David was gonna kill everybody. God killed Nabal, but he didn't kill every single person, every single male that worked for Nabal. Look, Nabal, God killed him cause he was a son of Belial, he was a wicked man, God's just like, he's done, period. It's perfect judgment. But David was just gonna kill everybody, he was gonna avenge himself. So you think that was an overcorrection? That's why men aren't supposed to avenge themselves. That's why when some man who's not even bound by the laws of the Bible, as David was, think about it, David was saved. David believed the word of God. David had a heart for the Lord. Think about some wicked psychopath, reprobate like Joseph Stalin. You could see how he killed 60 million people. Because he's not bound by anything, except that vengeance that's just in his heart. But the vengeance is in your flesh too, just like it was in David's flesh. So just remember, look, just remember, turn to 1 Samuel chapter 8. Centralized power is always bad, unless God is in charge. Unless God is that centralized power. Alright, look, now God, God even told us this, which is funny, that God would tell us something in the Bible that's important, right? Look at 1 Samuel chapter 8, and look at verse number 11. This is when the people wanted a king, right? So the children of Israel, they were led by the Lord, right? The Lord would speak to Moses, and Moses would tell the people, the Lord gave the law to Moses, and Moses would tell the people, and instead, you know, after that then, you know, the Lord, he sent the judges to free them from their, you know, from being enslaved by the Philistines or whoever, and after that, they're just like, hey, we want a king. Look at all these other wicked nations around us, we want a king, and God said, look, God said to Samuel, forget it, you know, they haven't rejected me, you know, they haven't rejected you, Samuel, they've rejected me, because they don't want the Lord leading them anymore, they want a king to lead them, a man to lead them. God warns them what will happen with a king, with a centralized person in charge. Look at verse 11 of 1 Samuel 8, he says, and he said, this will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you, he will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots. He's like, look, he's going to take your sons and send them to war, he's going to take your sons away from you and send them to war, to fight wars for himself, to serve himself. Look at verse 16, and he will take your men servants and your maid servants and your goodliest young men and your asses and put them to his work. He's going to just use all these things for yourself, he's going to take your most valuable things and just use them for himself. He will take the tenth of your sheep and shall be his servants, and he shall cry out in that day because of your king, which he shall have chosen you and the Lord will not hear you in that day. He's like, look, you're going to get to a point where these men are leading you, these kings are leading you, you're going to cry out to the Lord and God says, I'm not going to hear you, because you rejected me and you wanted these kings. God is warning them against this centralized power structure, period. When it's in man's hands, it will always fail. I mean, he basically said he's going to take everything that you have, I mean this is an Israelite king. Like once again, imagine someone who hates God and becomes king. Welcome evil dictator that kills tens of millions of people, all right? So look, we see this throughout history. We see this throughout history when these men get total control, the exact vengeance for themselves, and if anyone gets in the way of these men after this power, it does not go well for them. So look, real history is disturbing, but it's important that you know it. I mean, I'm talking real history, not public school history where you learn about, you know, when the Spanish Armada was defeated, some date. I'm talking about real history, real situations and reasons that real people did real things. The history of men's deeds through the vision of the Bible is ugly. It's terribly ugly. And that's why vengeance is reserved for the Lord. We simply can't be trusted with it. I mean think about it. I mean, haven't you in your life thought about, just think about men, think about you being at work. Haven't you ever been at work and been like, man, if I was in charge of this place, man, I'd fire that guy. Haven't you ever had that feeling, man, if I was in charge of that place? But you know what? Maybe that guy can be picked up. Maybe that guy has a family where him getting fired is not necessarily the right situation. Maybe he just needs some certain things fixed. He just needs to be led in the right direction, and maybe that guy needs some direction and not vengeance. We've all had those situations. I'm not saying that anyone in here has ever wanted to kill tens of millions of people, but what I'm saying is that that feeling of vengeance is in us. And that's why Jesus was saying to the disciples, look, you're going to get mad. You're going to be upset. I mean, it's upsetting sometimes when you're out soul winning and people are rude to you and they're nasty to you or they're nasty to your wife or whatever. I mean, it's upsetting. But let it go, because vengeance is the Lord's. He's better at it, and it belongs to him, because he will judge it perfectly. We're not good at it. We human beings are horrible at vengeance, and we shouldn't be in the business of it at all. It's been proved again and again. John 15, 18 says, if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. You're not alone. They hated Jesus more than they hate you, and that's the message that Jesus was trying to get across to the disciples, say, hey, that's why Jesus had to suffer such a horrible death and be that witness. Another reason they had to be that witness for those men and for us. So we could look at that and say, you know what, they did hate him. They did hate him, and they're going to hate us too. But look, you're not alone, and God will repay. All right, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for Matthew chapter 10. We thank you for this wonderful instruction that Jesus gave the disciples. Lord, we thank you for just these words of wisdom and words of caution and words of just reality, Lord, that we're going to deal with. We thank you for just the fact that we can have a Bible in our hand that can show us these things. Lord, we love you. I ask that you just keep this church in your hand, Lord, and you just bless everyone that's in here and bless the fellowship to come. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.