Do not fear Men

Matthew 10:26-31

Matthew 10:26-31, Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew has one purpose that is to affirm to man that Christ is King. From the beginning to the end of the Gospel of Matthew, that is his thrust. Matthew affirms the kingship of Christ. In all those affirmations is a call for people to submit to that kingship.

When we come chapter 10, it takes a form that is easy to perceive. We meet 12 men who had said, “Christ is our King.” They have committed themselves to being the followers of Christ. They have given everything. They have sacrificed their careers, families, lifestyle, homes, self-determination, and self-will.

They become of the epitome of realization of Matthew’s goal. Christ is the King. Here are some men who have responded to that kingship and who have said, “We will follow Christ.

• He will be our King and we will be His subjects.
• He will be our Master and we will be His servants.
• He will be our Teacher and we will be His students.”

Lord then takes them, trains them, and sends them into the world. V 24-42, Jesus’ teaching dealing with what it means to be a subject to the King. When you became a Christian, you said this, “I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Master and King, and I submit myself to His sovereignty. That’s what you said or you weren’t saved.”

When you said that, you took yourself right into Matthew chapter 10. Here the Lord instructs those committed to His sovereignty, and He give them the greatest teaching on the discipleship. The Twelve have been called, They have responded, They are following, They are being trained, and They will be sent to reach the world.

All of us who are His disciples. Whoever comes to Me, whoever follows Me, whoever identifies with Me, here are the principles he commits himself to obey. V 24-25, “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!

Becoming a disciple is becoming like Christ. We are to be like our Teacher. We are to be like our Master and our Lord and our King.

That is our commitment. We are called to be like Him. If we are like Him, we will be treated like Him. The bottom line in discipleship. The whole goal of being a subject of Christ, of being a disciple, which is mathētēs – it means learner is to become like the King.

The more we are like Him, the more we will be treated like He was treated. The world treated Him by calling Him the devil. If they were not hesitant to call Him devil, they won’t be hesitant to call us that. Jesus uses the analogy of a master of a house. Now, the master of the house has dignity. He is saying if they will take that, the highest-level guy, and call Him Satan, what do you think they will do with his slaves?

If they are willing to speak evil against a man of dignity, honour, and respect, they certainly won’t hesitate to speak evil against people who don’t have any dignity to start with. Discipleship is a process by which you become like Christ.

The more you become like Him, the more the world treats you like Him. The goal is to be like Christ, and there is a price to pay for that.

Do not fear! The disciple does not fear the world. V 26, do not fear them V 28, do not fear V 31, Do not fear V 26-31, He says, “Don’t be afraid of the world.” The disciples heard from Jesus what kind of response they are going to get from their ministry in V 16-23.

The response will certainly make them afraid. V 16, “I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves.” V 17, “They will deliver you to the councils and scourge you in the synagogues.” V 18, “You will be brought before kings and governors.”

V 19, “They will deliver you up.” V 21, “Your own family will put you to death.” V 22, “You will be hated by everybody.” V 23, “You will be persecuted.” So, anyone get a response like this the first natural reaction will be fear.

To be a disciple of Jesus Christ you should not fear! Don’t be afraid.

Proverbs 29:25, The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

The fear of man strangles effective witnesses. It strangles evangelism. We don’t want to get into something we fear might become psychologically difficult for us. We don’t want to be persecuted. We certainly don’t want to be killed for our faith.

We want to preserve ourselves. On the account of self-preservation, we tend to bail out of a confrontive ministry. But the Lord is saying here, “They are going to do it to you, but don’t be afraid.” Face it! Be bold!! Don’t be afraid!!!

If you are afraid, and you bail out then you are not interested in witnessing for Christ and you will not pay the price. No matter what you say, you are probably not a Christian. Because if you love the world and you are of the world, then you are not of God.

1 John 2:15-16, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

1 John 2:19, They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. True disciples are willing to follow through and be courageous to pay any price for their Lord.

We are going to be like Christ. Being like Christ means we are going to be treated like Christ. As we are treated like Christ, there is going to be a temptation to be afraid. When the fear comes to you will pull back your testimony and shut your mouth, not be confrontive, and not say what ought to be said.

So, Jesus says, don’t be afraid. Fear has strangled testimony. People are afraid to say the truth. “Don’t be afraid.” This is something the Lord said all the time to the disciples because it was so tough for them.

Luke 12:32, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. Even after the resurrection, He appeared to them a couple of times, and He said, “Don’t be afraid.” Basically, we are afraid.

We are not afraid to talk to a group of Christians in a Bible study. That is why I think Christians just love Bible study. Most Christians’ mouths are like the Arctic River frozen over at the mouth.” There’s a coldness and a sort of a deadness, a fearfulness that makes us just clam up.

He doesn’t just stand up and say, don’t be afraid but Jesus gives them reasons. Here Jesus gives 3 reasons why you don’t have to worry.

1. Vindication. V 26, Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. A very common statement our Lord uses it several times. He used these principles again and again in different contexts.

The word “therefore”. V 25, It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!

If they treated the Lord this way, they are going to treat you this way. So, you are not going to get any treatment that’s any different or any more than your master received. Therefore, don’t be afraid. He endured it. He went through it.

What does that phrase mean?

A proverbial, that someday God is going to take the lid off everything, and all things will be made right. It’s not the way it is now. Christians are looked on as anti-intellectual. We are looked on as the outcast.

1 Corinthians 4:13, being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

The world is successful. The wicked prosper. Christians are persecuted. Christians are put down. The more you stand for the right, the more the system hates you and the less you are rewarded. But someday it’s all going to change! The truth will be made known. That’s what that statement means.

God is going to show who the real heroes are. God’s going to uncover the real heroes. God’s going to reward and vindicate His own. When the lid comes off, the evil people are going to find out that all they have left for them is vengeance.

Your enemies cannot prevent your vindication. We got to live with an eternal perspective. Jesus is saying that if you are stuck on worrying about what the world is going to say, you are looking at the wrong thing. What you want to be looking at is what God’s going to say in the end.

Why does the Bible talk about rewards repeatedly?

Revelation 22:12, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. Why do you think the apostle Paul wrote that someday we would face Christ at the Bema Seat, and He would reward us for the things done in the body? Why do you think it says in ¹ Corinthians ⁴ that in that time, when God reveals the secrets of the heart, then shall every man have praise of God? Why does He promise a crown of life? Why does He promise a crown of righteousness? Why does He promise an incorruptible crown? Why does He promise a crown of rejoicing?

To give us the eternal motive so that we are not looking at being popular or looking at being vindicated in this life as the wise, noble, and the heroes of society. But rather we are willing to confront an evil society and let God reward us in eternity.

It’s hard to get that perspective! We should not live for the moment. When all the values are backwards, but for the future. When God unveils the reality and reveals who the real heroes and rewards them forever. A lot of Christians will trade in a little momentary popularity for an eternal reward.

Luke 12:1, In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

What is the evil influence in the Pharisees? Hypocrisy.

Do you know what that means? The truth is covered.

They were wearing masks. They were fake.

Luke 12:2, For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. Jesus uses the same statement! Someday the truth is going to be told. The hypocrites will be unmasked, and the truly righteous ones will be rewarded.

Luke 8:16, “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. That would be stupid to light a lamp and then stick a pot on top of it so nobody could see the light. Exactly that is what God is going to do.

Luke 8:17, For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.

God is going to bring everything to light in the future! It will be revealed what the real value of your life was. You can save your reputation here and lose your reward there. That’s your choice.

But someday the values are going to be reversed. “You don’t need to be afraid of the world,” is what our Lord is saying. This is so temporary. Whatever they may say about you, whatever they may do to react to you, someday God is going to vindicate you.

1 Corinthians 3:12-13, Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

Ecclesiastes 11:9, Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; Walk in the ways of your heart, And in the sight of your eyes; But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment. He says live it up. Do your thing you are young. Do it.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. 14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

God’s going to open it all out. Everything covered will be uncovered. Everything hidden, it will be made known. That is the perspective we want. Someday God’s going to look at the record of our life. God’s going to expose everything.

Those who have looked like they were the winners will turn out to be the eternal losers. Those who looked like losers who have been persecuted for their faith are going to be the winners forever. That’s the plan. So, we aren’t afraid of what the world does because we are looking for an eternal vindication at the hands of God.

2. Worship. John Calvin was banished from Geneva, after giving them the truth of God. “Most assuredly, if I had merely served man, this would have been a poor recompense. But it is my happiness that I have served Him who never fails to reward His servants to the full extent of His promise.”

If you really worship God and fear God, then you won’t fear man.

V 27-28, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Don’t fear men but fear God. If you fear God enough, and you honour God, revere God, and worship God enough. Then you are not going to be concerned about men. If you have enough fear of God, you will have no fear of men.

V 27, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. Lord says that I have been telling you about the secrets in your ear, and I want you to tell the whole world.

There are no secrets in Christianity. As we receive the message, we are to give the same. There was a custom in the time when our Lord was teaching this. The rabbis would train their pupils to speak and teach by standing beside them. They would speak in their ear, and then the young man learning would speak what the rabbi told him.

They taught them by rote to speak. The Lord is sort of identifying that simple technique and saying, “I have been training you to preach, teach, and speak. I have been telling you, whispering in your ear, speaking to you in the darkness.

Now I am telling you, you say it in the light.” What I tell you in darkness, speak in light What you hear in the ear, proclaim. No restrictions. Whatever I tell you, whatever you hear, you say. The first thing you need to remember is we are to hold back nothing. There are no secrets.

People ask me all the time I am being harsh in the preaching. People also ask me to reduce the time I exposition the word of God. We want somebody to become a Christian, so we go up and say, Would you like to be happy?

Would you like to have joy?

All your problems solved?

Go to heaven forever? Would you like to have love in your life?

By the time you are getting through all this list, they say, “Where do I sign? But if you were to go in your office, up to a person and lovingly and kindly say, Do you know that you are in danger of hellfire forever if you don’t give yourself to Christ?”

I think he would probably react.

What? You are going to go to hell forever, where the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. You might get a little persecution. But we don’t talk about that. So, we want to guard it. We have got to have a few secrets because those will scare people.

But Jesus says, “Whatever you hear, hold nothing back.” Say only what you hear from Jesus!

What the sum of the verse is? You tell them what Jesus told you and nothing less and nothing more. Very simple to define the ministry! V 27, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.

You find that secret place where you are alone with God. In His Word, and you pour over the Word, and you pour your heart out to God. Out of that secret place is born the truth of God in your heart. You come out of there, and you speak it.

In those days, announcements were made from housetops. The houses would have a little flat roof with a little short wall around the edge, and that was the patio. People slept, ate, and had their social events up there. If you wanted to make an announcement, you just stood on the edge of your roof and shouted. If you could find a high roof, you could even accomplish more. There were no cars making noise everywhere like today. People weren’t locked in their homes. They were out in the streets. There were no windows and no TVs and no internet to hold the people indoor. You could just yell whatever message you wanted to yell.

Lord says, “Make it public. You go out and you just yell it from the housetop.” Maybe the housetop today is your TV/YouTube/etc., But it’s got to be a public message, and we have got to get out of our little cloister with our message.

We have got to go where they are.

So, we don’t alter our message for fear of what the reaction is going to be. There was a price to pay for this. The apostle Paul knew it, and they kept telling him.

Acts 20:22-24, And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. 24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Acts 21:10-13, And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” 12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Nothing less, nothing more than what He told you in the darkness, what you heard in your ear, you shout it from the housetops. If you do that then it is going to be a little hard because people are going to react. The housetop was a typical Jewish way to do this. The rabbi sometimes would teach there. The Talmud tells how religions officials would climb up on a housetop with a trumpet at the approach of any religious holiday.

The remnant of that today is the minaret used in the Muslim world, where the guy goes way up in that tower and calls everybody to prayer. Only now they do it with a recorded voice. Josephus writes about the time a mob was chasing him, and he went up on the roof of a house while they were outside and tried to calm them from the roof.

So, that was a very common thing, and it simply seeks a public forum. You need to get the message out. We need to shout it where it needs to be heard. Say nothing less and nothing more than what the Word says.

Our message is limited. That is why it is so serious when Christians eliminate part of the message or when Christians get another message in addition to the one from God, and everybody gets confused about what our message is.

V 28, And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Who can kill bodies but not souls? Men. The worst they can do is kill your body, and that isn’t the real you. So, don’t fear them. Who can destroy both soul and body in hell? God. Don’t fear men but fear God. Jesus is only using the idea of killing the body, and He compares it with destroying the soul to show that God has so much more power.

He is not saying that if you don’t live the right kind of Christian life, God will send you to hell. That isn’t the point.

The point here is we are to fear the one who can determine the destiny of souls, not the ones who can only determine the destinies of bodies. It is a comparison between men and God. An occasion where you are given an opportunity to communicate Christ and to witness. You say, “If I do this, I know I am going to get it.” Maybe it’s in your own family, and they are going to get mad at you and kick you out of the house. You say, “I don’t want to do it.” You have feared them more than you feared God.

Because if you really feared God in the sense of awe and reverence of His infinite holiness and majesty, if you worshipped Him as He ought to be worshipped, you would speak for Him on His behalf with any threat that stood in your way.

But whenever you opt out of that, you have said, “I fear men more than God.” It is silly, because the worst men could possibly do would be to your body, and God is a God who determines the destiny of souls.

2 Thessalonians 1:9, “You are punished with everlasting destruction.”

It is not a destruction of annihilation. It is an interminable, everlasting destruction in hell. Hell is Gehenna, which was the name of the city dump in Jerusalem, where the worms were, and the fire never went out as all the garbage and refuse was burned.

That is the imagery that you will be in hell. “Soul and body.” The unsaved will be resurrected, given eternal bodies which will dwell in that fire. So, they will have actual bodies. It is a fire because it’s an actual body.

I don’t know what kind, but body and soul. Jesus is not saying to Christian disciples. If you mess up, you are going to go to hell. No! He is saying, Get your fear right. Fear the one who is powerful. Fear the one who determines the destiny of souls. Don’t fear the ones who can only fool with the body.

Paul would not disobey God because He honoured God, and He worshipped God. He worshipped God so much that he would never say no to God to say yes to men.

We don’t fear because we so worship God that we would do what His will is and fear Him rather than men. I would rather fall into the hands of men who were upset with me than God who is upset with me. In the sixteenth century, there was a protestant reformer in England by the name of Hugh Latimer. He was known as a great preacher of his day and as a result he had many opportunities to speak. Once he found that he was to preach before the King Henry VIII of England. As he thought about his

great responsibility to bring a message before the king he realized that the message that God laid on his heart was not the message that the king would want to hear. As he began his sermon he said, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you remember that you are speaking before the high and mighty King Henry VIII; who has power to command you to be sent to prison, and who can have your head cut off, if it please him?

Will you not take care to say nothing that will offend royal ears?” He then paused and continued, “Latimer! Latimer! Do you not remember that you are speaking before the King of kings and Lord of lords; before Him, at whose throne Henry VIII will stand; before Him, to whom one day you will have to give account yourself? Latimer! Latimer! Be faithful to your Master and declare all of God’s Word.”

Latimer faced the choice

• We preach what man wanted to hear or
• Would he preach what Christ would have him preach.

Latimer did take his stand for truth and preached boldly. Eventually, he was martyred by Henry’s daughter Queen Mary. You go to the secret place, and out of the secret place comes the fire lit in your heart by God.

Then you say, “What must be said? Nothing less, nothing more.” Don’t be afraid of men killing your body. Fear the one who has eternal destiny in His hand. Fear God. Fear God. During the years of the martyrs in the Roman Empire, Christians fled into underground caverns outside Rome. There are 600 miles of catacombs that the Christians dug. Ten generations of Christians were buried in those over a period of nearly 300 years. Archaeologists estimate that up to four million Christians are buried in the catacombs in the time when they were being persecuted.

There is inscription that you see there in several places, and it systems this, “The Word of God is not bound.” The Word of God is not bound. In other words, we fear God too much to fear men. It is estimated that more than 50 million Christians have died for their faith in the Dark Ages.

A million Christians died for their faith when the communists took over China. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands have died in the civil wars and rebellions of Africa.

How can they be so unafraid?

They were looking at an eternal reward. They worship God so much that it removes the fear of man. They can kill the body, but they can’t touch the soul. That is the immaterial part of man, the real part.

What does it matter to lose the body?

Mark 8:36, For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Man is body outside. His soul inside. This is the real person. They can’t touch that. If you really were heavenly, you would be so concerned about that ultimate vindication in God’s presence that you wouldn’t have any fear. You would worship God that you could care less what men might do. I think verse ²⁸ also may have been directed at Judas. There will always be, in the Church, and in the group of disciples, the phonies and the fakes.

God is the one who destroys forever soul and body in hell. All the Judases of all time need to hear that.

3. Valuation. V 29, Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. It is a penny. Sparrows were two for a penny. “Sparrow” is a word that refers to little birds.

They were bought for two pence.

Luke 12:6, “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. If you bought four, they would give one free.

They used to roast them, and they would eat them just like finger food. Cheap little birds.

Does God care about a two-for-a-penny sparrow?

Does God know when a bird dies? God has got a list of the dead birds? God knows when they hop and when they stop hopping. Nothing happens in the most simple, insignificant element of life. Cheap little nothing birds, God knows.

The smallest animal doesn’t perish without God caring. He made those little birds. “Your Father knows.” V 30, But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do you know that the average is 140,000 hairs per head? Some of you are really messing up the average.

It doesn’t say that God counts them but numbers them. Each one has its own number. There goes 201. There goes 23. God actually identifies every hair on your head. God knows the numbers of the hair.

What is the point? If God is concerned about little birds, and God is concerned about numbering and knowing the hairs of your head, “don’t be afraid” V 31, Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Do you know why you cannot be afraid? You don’t have a thing to fear.

If God takes care of little birds, and God numbers the hair of people’s head to take care of that, and that’s in the framework of his care, don’t you think you fall into His care also? You are never going to get in a situation where God can’t sustain you in that situation.

Psalm 91:7, A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.

God cares about you. Tender loving care for His own marks our God.

Matthew 6:28-30, “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

We are so afraid we might lose our reputation, or our job, or we might get injured, and we get fearful. God, who takes care of little, insignificant birds and hairs on people’s heads, don’t you think you are more value than that?

Birds don’t have souls. Hair doesn’t have souls either. But you do, and you are eternal. Much more value. You are His disciple. You have crowned Him the Christ King of your life. You have surrendered your life. You are going to face a world.

You are going to be like Him. You are going to be treated like Him.

How are you going to react to that?

Are you going to be afraid? You don’t need to. Because you will be vindicated in the end and have an eternal reward if you have an eternal perspective. If you really worship God, you will transcend the fear of men. If you understand how highly He values you, you won’t be afraid of what they can do to you.

Where is your commitment?

In the centre of the nave of Westminster Abbey is the grave of John Laird Mair (Lawrence), 1st Lord Lawrence. The

inscription reads

Here rests from his labours John Laird Mair 1st Baron Lawrence of the Punjab. Born 4 March 1811 Died 27 June 1879. Be Ready. His works do follow him. "He feared Man so little, because he feared God so much".