Grand Parkway Baptist Church
Grand Parkway Baptist Church
The Provision of Proclamation | Matthew 10:1-15 | Pastor Neil McClendon
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Neil McClendon, Lead Pastor
Grand Parkway Baptist Church
The Provision of Proclamation
Matthew 10:1-15
1. The power, v. 1-4
• Authority is the ability or strength one is given, which they either possess or exercise; the
power of authoritative influence which derives from birth.
• 2 Corinthians 4:7
2. The people, v. 5-6
Four things to helps us think rightly about these people...
a)It’s not about “saved” versus “unsaved Israelites
b)Refers to people who’ve gone through some stuff
c)They needed something but thought it was too late to get it
d)Their leadership had failed them
3. The proclamation, v. 7
• Matthew 4:17
• Matthew 4:23
• Matthew 5:3
• Matthew 6:10
• Matthew 6:33
• Matthew 7:21
• Matthew 9:35
• Matthew 24:14
Reducing the gospel strictly to a transactional arrangement for forgiveness removes the natural
mandate for discipleship, leaving Christians with a mechanism for getting into heaven without
any actual transformation of character.” ~ Dallas Willard
4. The provision, v. 8-15
Mental worship...
1. Do you see things more as an opportunity or an indication?
2. Could you explain Christianity to someone without mentioning the Cross, Jesus dying for
people and forgiveness?
3. What could you do this week that would demonstrate the joyful reality of the Kingdom?
4. What does your actual lived out life proclaim?
5. If you could only pray one prayer as a result of what you heard today, what would that prayer
be? Would you pray it right now?
Be sure to follow us:
The process of making disciples is predicated on the fact that Jesus has all authority. And so He gives, when you became a Christian, you got authority, you just didn't get forgiveness. Do you understand that? Because Christianity is not just sinning, struggling with sin your whole life, and then eventually one day I'm going to go to heaven. You have the authority to engage in the activities of the kingdom to such a degree that look at me that sin no longer interests you. That's when you stop sinning. It's when you're so much experienced in the kingdom, you're like, it's not, hey, I don't want to do that because I might get in trouble or I might have to this or that. It's I don't want to I don't want to settle for that when I was created for this.
SPEAKER_00This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01Amen, amen. Let's pray together, Church. Lord Jesus, because you're always on time. There's nothing we can't trust you with, and nothing we can't trust you for. And so speak from your word this morning, Lord, and increase our capacity to trust you. Or first of all, to understand you, and then to trust you, and then to experience the joy that only comes from you. Faith is not doing the next new thing. A lot of times faith is doing the same thing we've been doing, but with more joy and more faith. Because you you are a God who is consistent and faithful. And so we want to be consistent, faithful people. So, Holy Spirit, illuminate the scripture today. All right? Give us understanding from your word and by your spirit so we can properly represent the king and the kingdom. This is our prayer. We prayed in Jesus' name, and everyone said. Amen, amen. You can have a seat. If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to Matthew chapter 10. And today we'll get back into the gospel of Matthew. And everybody said, if you've been visiting for the past month, let me introduce myself. My name is Neil, and I'm the lead pastor at Grand Park Way. I don't preach in the month of July. I work every day like normal. So please stop sending me texts and say, I hope you enjoyed your sabbatical. I did not get a sabbatical, but I will take one if you want me to have one, okay? Uh so anyway, uh, where we left off in the book of Matthew was Jesus in chapter 9. He is demonstrating to all the disciples and everybody all the things that he has authority over, okay? And then he gets to the end of chapter nine and he says, Hey, guys, I want you to pray. The harvest is plentiful. In other words, there's a lot of people out here that don't know God, don't know what it means to be a Christian. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. And he says, Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send workers out into the harvest field. And the disciples are like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, right, right, right. We'll pray. And then Jesus runs the oakie doke on them and says, By the way, you are the answer to your prayers. You are the workers in the harvest field. And so now in chapter 10, he gives them what they're gonna need to do what they're sending, he's sending them out to do. I want to talk to you this morning uh about the provision of proclamation. The provision of proclamation, which it sounds kind of cute. And by the way, I'm gonna use a lot of things to start with the word pee, not because I use alliteration hardly ever, but I want it to frame your understanding of the text. Does that make sense? Say amen. So the provision of proclamation is that basically here's the cards on the table. God gives you everything to need you need to do what he's called and created you to do, but you have to believe that God's also gonna do what only God can do. This frees you up to do what he called and created you to do. That clears mud? Yeah, y'all are like, uh uh, stop. Where's the guy from last week? He talks slower, okay? Relax. Uh let me just read Matthew chapter 10, verse 1 says this. And he called to him his twelve disciples, and he gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out, to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the 12 apostles are these. First, Simon, who's called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas, excuse me, uh, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector, the nervy little guy that you've seen on the chosen, that's him. Uh, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas the scariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and proclaim as you go, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You receive without pain, give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in there and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if your house is worthy, let your peace be upon it. But if it's not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, go tailor swift and shake off the dust from your feet. When you leave that. She has no original idea. She stole that from the Bible, by the way. Shake it off. Give me a break, okay? You're a plagiarist. Anyway, I digress. Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable on that day, on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. Now, what do you mean the provision of proclamation? It involves four things. Number one, the power. The power. It's verses one to four. Jesus, look at verse one again. He says, and he called to him the twelve disciples, and he gave them authority over unclean spirits. Two, he gave them this to do this, okay? He gave them authority because they're going to do some things, all right? One of the things, uh under the heading of the power, the power, if you're a note taker, let me give you three things that I want you to understand. Number one, one of the things you see Jesus doing is he gives people what they're going to need before he tells them what they're going to be doing. He gives people what they're going to need before he tells them what they're going to be doing. Like if I gave you a shovel and said, follow me, you would think we were gonna go do what? Dig a hole. That's right. You know how big of it. But we're gonna dig. Okay, I got a shovel, we're gonna dig. But if I handed you $50,000 and said, follow me, what would you think? Besides, I'm your new best friend. You'd be like, I'll take my shirt off for this. Let's go, buddy. I'm in. Absolutely. See, Jesus gives people what they're going to need before he tells them what they're gonna be doing, okay? Second thing you gotta understand is that what he gives is an indication of what you're gonna be doing. What he gives, authority, is an indication of what you're gonna be doing. What he gives, he gives authority. It's an indication of what you're going to be doing. He does not give a big cup of perpetual forgiveness, he gives authority. Because what you're gonna be doing requires authority. See, Christianity is not just a perpetual life of needing forgiveness, and I'm not I'm not mocking on forgiveness. I'm just saying, Jesus, Christianity is not about you just needing forgiveness, it's about you acting with authority. Do you hear the difference in those two? Because again, here's the second thing. What he gives is an indication of what you're going what he's going to be doing. Here, here, here, here's the because here's the third thing you gotta understand. Uh, it is that uh uh we see God's provision as an opportunity instead of an indication. We see God's provision as an opportunity instead of an indication. Like, for example, I have a friend that now, my friends, I love my friends. I have friends all across the socioeconomic spectrum. But I have one friend that he's very smart with money. He's all talking about a Delaware trust and a 516 blah blah blah. I'm like, what's a Delaware trust? I don't know what that is. But the other day he mentioned a phrase, a mandatory required withdrawal or something, I forget what it's called, uh, where basically he's got he's gotta take a certain amount of money out of his investment account and he's gotta spend it. And so he said, My man, mandatory required withdrawal is a certain number, and I almost choked. I was like, come again, but I kept a straight face, I was like, Oh, that's cool, I got that problem too. Yeah, yeah, I got my mandatory the other day, yeah. I called my guy, had to hook it up, and I was like, and then he explains to me, he said, Yeah, it's a tax thing, you gotta take a certain amount of money. Uh and he said, Can you help me spend in this? And I said, I am your Huckleberry. No, I said, but I said, let me encourage you. I'm gonna talk about this in a couple weeks, but let me encourage you with this, okay? Do you see this as an opportunity or an indication? And he said, Neil, you may not know this, but sometimes what you you say things, I have no idea what you're talking about. I said, That's okay. I talk to people every Sunday who feel the same way. Amen. Like right now, is this an opportunity? Because see, if everything that God gives you, you see it as an opportunity for you, you're gonna build your kingdom and never build the kingdom. Or is this an indication? He's not if he handed you a shovel, you'd know what to do. But if he hands you something, you kind of like, he's like, Man, I gotta take these things at a certain amount of, I mean, every certain, I'm like, that sounds like a bad problem to have. Now, this great guy, he's invested super well, he's very savvy, nothing wrong with any of that. But I just said, Yeah, think about it in terms of is this an opportunity or is it an indication? Because God gives us something specific in mind, and the problem is we receive with something else specific in mind. And if you want to be trusted more by God, you you should just say, hey, God, I got this. Now, this is an indication. I don't know what I should be doing with it. Do nothing with it until God gives you clarity. So I didn't say to this guy, hey, well, you know, my church, we're trying to get debt free in the next 18 months, and blah, blah, blah. I just said, Hey man, I'm gonna pray God gives you clarity. It's not just an opportunity, it's an indication. And we talked about it, he said, actually, that that's actually helpful. Thank you. Thank you. I said, Oh, yeah, you're welcome. And by the way, is God good or what? He goes, eyes filled up with tears. He goes, I know. I would have never dreamt it would be like this. I said, Glory to God that it is, man. Okay, great. Here, let me pay for lunch. He goes, I'm I'll pay for lunch. Why do you gotta pay for lunch? And he said, I always pay for lunch. I said, You need some new friends, and I'm paying for lunch. Now, here's the thing talking about the power, and those are three things you gotta understand. Uh, because you're good, the power. What do you mean I'm talking? I'm not talking about protein, slamming protein shakes and working out. I'm talking about not power, I'm talking about authority because he says he gave them authority. It's a Greek word, exosia, at the end of Matthew chapter 28. Jesus will say, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples. The process of making disciples is predicated on the fact that Jesus has all authority. And so he gives, when you became a Christian, you got authority, you just didn't get forgiveness. Do you understand that? Because Christianity is not just sinning, struggling with sin your whole life, and then eventually one day I'm gonna go to heaven. You have the authority to engage in the activities of the kingdom to such a degree, look at me, that sin no longer interests you. That's when you stop sinning. It's when you're so much experienced in the kingdom, you're like, it's not, hey, I don't want to do that because I might get in trouble or I might have to this or that. It's I don't want to, I don't want to settle for that when I was created for this. Big difference in the two, okay? And so authority, what is authority? It's the Greek word exosian, it means this. It teaches us that authority is the ability or the strength what is given, which they either possess or exercise. The power of authoritative influence, which derives from birth. When I was born again by the Spirit of God, I got this power of authoritative influence in and over my life. Jesus sends them out to do what he's been doing, and he gives them the authority to do it. Because to send them out to do something and not have the authority to do it, is a hate crime. But that's not who God is. He gives them the authority to do what he sended them to do. They weren't impressive men, they were just willing men. Okay? God's always looked for people that are just willing. That's why the Apostle Paul he described himself this way in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, about verse 7, he says, uh, we have this treasure in jars of clay. Jars of clay is not a 90s worship band. Jars of clay, yeah, you grew up in church to know that. Uh jars of clay. He's talking about himself. He's saying, Hey, I'm not impressive. I'm just a dude, man. I'm the apostle Paul, I'm just a dude. I'm just a jar of clay. This treasure is in this jar of clay. Why? To show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. Ask yourself this question: do you understand the difference in an opportunity and an indication? An opportunity and indication. So, firstly, there's the power. Secondly, there's the people. It's verse 5 and 6. It refers to the Bible says in this weird phrase. Now, sometimes the Bible says stuff, and it's easy for us to go, dude, I got no idea what that means, and I don't think I need to know why. You need to understand when he talks about the who are the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Because he says, he says, go nowhere, look at verse 5. Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Okay, I would go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel if I knew what the cat hair that meant. Okay? Let me give you four things to help you clarify what Jesus is saying right here, okay? Four things to help us think rightly about these people. Number one, it's not about saved versus unsaved Israelites. It's not about some of these people Christians and some weren't. No, he's talking about the people of Israel more or less as a whole, okay? Here's the second thing to help us think rightly about them. It refers to a people who've gone through some stuff. It refers to some people who've gone through some stuff. Like 722, the Assyrians just laid siege to them. 586 BC, this thing called the Babylonian captivity, because God told them, y'all better stop being knuckleheads. They didn't listen. So he raised up a nation to punish them. And they took them captive. And so they were scattered. So he talks about the word loss. It's not about spiritual as much as it is uh geography. Uh, it included physical displacement from the land and a spiritual wandering from God's ways, okay? So these people have gone through some stuff. Now I know here in America we've gone through some stuff, but if you would read and understand what people in the Bible went through, it'd be like, oh my gosh, these people were taken hostage and deported to other countries and pressed into servitude. And so that's when I say they've gone through some stuff. Thirdly, it refers to those in Israel who needed something, but they thought it was too late to get it. They needed something, and they thought it was too late to get it. Now, what they needed was repentance and restoration. You say what do you mean? They're they kind of turned from God because look at me, not that anybody in America would be this way, but something bad happened to them, and they thought, hey man, if God's gonna let this happen, if I'm getting taken captive, I ain't gonna believe in this God anymore. Give me a break, man. So they just kind of they needed repentance and restoration, they needed a way to get back to God, but look at me, they couldn't find their way back to God. They thought, I've done so much, God is probably so disappointed in me. So look at me. God comes looking for them. This is why Jesus leaves heaven and comes to earth. It's because that's why in Luke 19, he summarized his ministry. He said, I came to seek and save that which is lost. In Luke chapter 15, one of the most popular verse chapters in the whole Bible. It says it starts off in verse 1 and 2. It says, Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with him, and this made the religious authorities not happy. And so Jesus said, You guys are hacked off because I hang out with sinners? I tell you what, he tells them three stories that really get them going about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Why? Because he came to seek and save that which is lost, okay? Uh and so here's the fourth thing helps you understand what he means by the lost sheep of the house of Israel. These are people whose leadership had failed them. Their leadership had failed them. You just, Ezekiel 34, you just read how God looked at shepherds, the pastors of the day. He said, I'm gonna lay the wood to you guys because you don't give a rip about these people. You lined your own wallets and you don't care about people. I can't stand you all. Now, here's what I want you to understand. Church herd has been around a long time. It didn't get invented this year or five years ago. That was way back in the Old Testament. Yes, I'm not minimizing, I'm just saying these people's leadership had failed them. So what I want you to see is because some people are like, oh, well, they will not, some church leaders will not face their humanity and say, you know what? I think we fumbled the ball on that. They just think, ah, we got more people. If you if you quit coming, we don't care. I want you to know that's not the way we feel here at Grand Parkway. We want to do everything that we can. We're not gonna be controlled by your agenda, but we do want to be everything, do everything we can to help you get meaningfully connected to this church. But see, we're that way because God is that way. God does not just want more people, God wants my people. Let me say that again. God isn't not about church growth. He's not about, oh, just more people. God's about my people. His intention is to recover Israel first and then the rest of the nations. So here in chapter 10, he sends his disciples to their own people. And then at the end of the book in Matthew 28, he sends his disciples to the nations. Now, you should be thinking, that's more than I ever thought I'd hear about the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Why are you talking about that? Look at me right here. Talking about that because some of you in this room are in that category, or you know somebody who is. You I'll just read back over the lift. It refers to people who've gone through some stuff, it refers to people who needed something, thought it was too late to get it, and it refers to people whose leadership had failed them. Do you know that Fort Bend County is full of people who feel the same way? They've had the same experience. They're just like, hey man, I some of the people, uh some of you in this room right now, you you grew up in church as a kid. For some reason you got away from it. I don't know. I'm not hating on you, I'm not mad at you. I'm just saying that God came looking for you. And he's not mad at you either. He's not like the child catcher and chitty chitty bang bang. I smell sinners. That messed me up when I was a kid, by the way. We would watch chitty chitty bang bang. My dad would put a pallet on the floor in front of the TV, and I would crawl over my dad and get behind him and lay down because I didn't want that guy to get me. He had a big nose and a net and a big hat. And I thought God was that way when I was a little kid. I thought, oh, God's gonna come get me. I'm not a good person. I better hide from God. Look at me. You ain't gotta hide. He came looking for you, and he knows everything about you, and there's nothing about you that he can't change, fix, or forgive. That's the beauty of Christianity, okay? And so when I say these people's leadership had failed, and all this stuff has happened. I mean, some people it's not anything uh horrible or whatever. You just got really tied up in your kids' extracurricular activities. Maybe marriage got into a hard spot, maybe you got into a place financially, you didn't want to talk about it, and so you just kind of drifted out and away from the church. This is the modern-day equivalent of the lost church, a lost sheep of the house of Israel. And I just want to say to you, God's not, we're not, and God's not about how we'll just get more people. God wants to bring back my people. And here's how he does it. It's the third thing, the proclamation. Look at verse 7. Are you still with me? Say amen. Here's verse seven. Look how simple this is. What Jesus says. He says, Hey, and proclaim as you go, saying, God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. Jesus died for you, you can be forgiven, so you can go to heaven. Yours doesn't say that? No. Here's my favorite part of this, okay? Uh what if I told you that that is not the message of Christianity? Because, see, we've preached this for years, and then we wonder why people are so self-centered. All you're talking about was me. I did not want to come, I didn't want to be a Christian when I was 16, and people would say to me, Oh, Neil, God loves you. You don't always want to plan for your life. Don't you want to pray the prayer so you can go to heaven? And I had deep thoughts as a pot smoking, angry 16-year-old. Hey man, if people like you to go to heaven, I think I want to go to hell. And they have no response to that. They were like, Why are you so angry? I'm not angry. I'm just not interested in what you're talking about. Because I know me. I'm not that great. No one talked about a great God. I never heard about the greatness of God. I heard God loves you, He has a wonderful plan for your life, Jesus died for you, you can be forgiven so you can go to heaven. Here's a question for you. Look at verse 7. Jesus says, and proclaim as you're going, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Could you explain Christianity to someone without mentioning the cross, Jesus dying for them, or forgiveness? Because they mentioned none of that. It hadn't even happened yet. And look at me. They changed the world. We're just trying to build the church by focusing on people. This is how Christianity in America became so people-centered and not God-centered. They didn't mention the cross, Jesus dying for you, forgiveness. They proclaimed the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And prostitutes didn't want to be prostitutes anymore. And tax collectors that screwed people out of money. Can you imagine the IRS calling you tomorrow and saying, hey, by the way, we've been sticking it to you for years. We're going to pay you back four times what we've stole from you. Yes, you're down with that. Somebody said, I'm down with that. I mean, just think about it. All the taxes you paid since you first got a job, we are so sorry. This is yours. And not only that, we're going to give you four times what we've been taxing you. What has the capacity to make somebody act that unnatural? Only the kingdom of God. This is why Jesus says, as you go, proclaim as you go, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's right here. It's not pie in the sky, sweet by and by. It's steak on a plate right here, right now. And people are like, I'm hungry. Put me down for that, boss. This is the proclamation. Here's my concern our proclamation doesn't match theirs, and because of that, our experience doesn't match theirs. Again, could you explain Christianity to someone if you could not mention the cross, Jesus dying for Them or forgiveness. Because they did. And this is how Christianity becomes so focused on people instead of God. But in the Bible, it's radically focused on God, not people. They were sent out to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and they were given the authority to demonstrate it because Jesus came to make available the kingdom. So as I was studying, I went back and I just started, okay, maybe I'm just making this up. Seems like you talk a lot about the kingdom, Jesus. So I went back to Matthew chapter 1, verse 1, and just started reading up to chapter 10. And here's all the ways Jesus refers to the kingdom. In chapter 4, verse 17, he says, From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You should do this, because this is right here, right now, and it's available. Matthew 4, 23. And he went through all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. Matthew chapter 5, verse 3, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 6, 10, your kingdom come, your will be done. On earth is this in heaven. My youngest daughter got home from her summer job last night. She'd been doing camp for kids' camp with life weight all summer. She walked in the kitchen for dinner because she sent me that order. Hey, Dad, can I have lupe tortilla, beef fajitas for dinner? And I was like, Yeah, I'll donate a kidney and go pick those right up. And so she walked in the kitchen and she had a she turned and she had a t-shirt on the back of it that said, At camp as it is in heaven. And I was like, that's a big statement. That's the way we view camp. We want what happens at camp to be what happens in heaven. Got that right out of the Bible. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth is in heaven. Matthew 6, 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 7, 21, listen carefully. Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, enter the kingdom of heaven. Look at me. Christianity, conversion, salvation is not saying, Lord, Lord, I'm in trouble. Look at me. It's entering into the kingdom of heaven. It's not getting forgiveness for your sins, it's entering into the kingdom of heaven. Because Jesus says, just because you've got a bad situation doesn't mean you're going to enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, how do you get in the kingdom of heaven? The one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 9, 35, and Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. At the end of Matthew 24, we'll read this when we get there. Says this in verse 14. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world. There's a gospel you can only preach in America because only Americans are non-discerning enough to believe it. But this gospel is going to be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. What's the testimony? That Jesus is the king and the kingdom is here. And then the end will come. So why so much talk about the kingdom and the gospel of the kingdom? Here's why. The gospel of the kingdom is more satisfying and truthful than the gospel of sin management. Let me say it again. The gospel of the kingdom is more truthful and more satisfying than the gospel of sin management. Here's what the, you may well, I don't know what that is. Here's what the gospel of sin management sounds like. It tells you, hey, 1 John, one of the first verses they teach in the church, which is totally out of context, is 1 John 1.9. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's a salvation verse, not a forgiveness verse. But what happens is you get people who just think, all I can do is sin and ask forgiveness. And then the more you do this, this rhythm gets established where you think Christianity is trying hard not to sin, but just in case I do sin, I got this thing I can pull out and God will forgive me based on my confession. So are you Catholic or Protestant? And so some of you, you just can't stop sinning, so you just give up. You're the lost sheep of the house of Israel. You come to church now for the sake of your kids and being a good role model, but deep in your core, it doesn't really move you. And I'm not mad at you. I'm just saying, I am so sorry for what you got taught, but what you got taught is not the gospel of the kingdom. What do you mean? Dallas Willard was a professor at USC, University of Southern California. He's a guy in his 50s. Brother rocked a pocket protector. Okay? And people would come in there, these trust fund babies that lived in a TP on the outskirts of town and smoke peyote, and they're like, hey, I'm into human existentialism. And Dallas Willard would smoke these fools. And they'd want to come to his house and eat his wife's cooking and hear him talk about Jesus. He said this. He said, reducing the gospel strictly to a transactional arrangement for forgiveness removes a natural mandate for discipleship, leaving Christians with a mechanism for getting into heaven without any actual transformation of character. This is why you talk to people who their character has not been transformed, they'll tell you they're going to heaven because they prayed a prayer. It's not the gospel of the kingdom, folks. That's the gospel of church growth. It's the American, you know, easy believism, whatever you want to call it. Again, what do you proclaim? In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 people and he gives them authority. Sound familiar? He gives them authority. And they say, Well, hey, how do we explain what's gonna happen? And Jesus said, Hey, when you heal people, when you do stuff that can't be done by normal people, just tell them today the kingdom of God has come to you. Let me ask you a question. What could you do this week that can only be explained by you saying, Today the kingdom of God has come to you? And it's not always supernatural. Like I have a group of friends, they'll call me ever once in a while and say, Hey, we got a little thing going on. You in on you want in on it? And one of the last times it was like, hey, there's a guy that needs a car, he can't afford a car. This guy over here is selling a car, but he can't give the car away. So we're gonna buy the car from this guy and give it to this guy. Are you in? I said, Absolutely, I'm in. And so let me pray and get a number. So I prayed and got a number. And so they said, Hey, can you help us go and we're gonna give the guy the car? Sure. And so I go and I pull up, and the car is not just a car, it is a Cadillac. And I am like, shut up. What am I giving my money for now? No, I was like, not just a Cadillac, but a Cadillac El Dorado. It's like 24 feet of pimp wagon, okay? And this thing looks like it's slammed like it's on air ride or something, and I'm like, I am kind of jealous right now. And then we're standing there about 10 minutes, and then the guy who's getting the car, who has no idea, okay? He pulls up and he gets out and he's rocking some jorts and some house shoes and a wife beater, and I'm like, this is great. This guy could never afford that, and he's gonna get it. And so he gets out of the car. He thinks that's the car we drove up in. And so he's kind of like, hey, God's a car coming. He's expecting like a 71 Dodge Dart with a steering wheel this big. Or an AMC Gremlin. Or maybe the pacer with the denim package. Yes. And then I got to look at him and just say, hey man, by the way, I'm Neil. And hand him the keys. This is your car. And the brother went down. He's like, Oh my God! Oh, oh no, no! And I'm going, yeah, yeah. He goes, Oh my God, what are you? Are you serious? How do you explain this? And at that moment I said, Well, I'm a part of a group of people called the Righteously Anonymous, and we like to bless people and not no. I put my hand on his shoulder and I put my hand on his chest. Men don't touch men like this. And I say, Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey, straighten up. Today the kingdom of God has come to you. Hand him a keys. I just got my truck and drove off. I look back and he was just like about a month later, I'm driving on Highway 6. I see a gray Cadillac come flying down the road beside me, weaving out there. It was that guy. I was like, get your pimp on, brother. Enjoy yourself. Absolutely. Again, what could see? People would believe in the kingdom if they had an experience with it. So what could you and I do this week that could only be explained by saying to the people you do it two and four, amen. Today the kingdom of God has come to you. Here's the last part is the provision. The provision. Now, on the surface, this sounds kooky, okay? Are you still with me? Say amen. Let me just warn you, on the surface, this sounds like you what? But just hear it, okay? Jesus says in verse 9, he says, He, hey, you receive without paying, give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, uh, uh, or two tunics or sandals. Amen. Can you imagine saying to your wife, you don't need going on vacation? You don't need two blouses, just take one. I don't need you to tell me how to pack. I had a wife and two dollars. We're on vacation, I had to pay extra baggage. I'm like, what in the world? Well, yeah, I got some stuff in there. And for the love. Our sandals, our staff, for the labor deserves his food. Hear this. Whatever town or village you enter in, find out who's worthy in it and stay there. Bobby says worthy, that means that they love and keeping, they love and live in keeping with the gospel. Like we have some people who came in last week from England, uh, the vicar, like the pastor from England we work with over there on a mission trip. And his son needed braces. He and Annie came for his legs. He and Annie came to me and said, Hey, they're coming uh in July and they need a place to stay. I called some friends of mine and said, Hey, I know you're living out of state for the summer. Can I put some people in your house? He said, Absolutely. Here's the door code, make yourself at home. Now I had to explain to somebody else, they're like, hey man, how did that work? Oh, I know these people. And and and they conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. They're like, Oh, our house is sitting empty. Oh, go by and make sure the water's on to have a thing that automatically shuts it off if the water's not used in 18 hours. I'm like, that's not a problem in my house. And the vicar and his family got there and they were like, Oh my gosh. And I said, Yeah, yeah, these people love Jesus. And they say, make yourself at home. Just strip the sheets when you leave, eat and drink anything you see. They're like, Are you serious? No, I was just lying. Yeah, I'm serious. But he goes on there. That's what it means by worthy. Hey, when you go somewhere, figure out who can who lives their life in a manner worthy of the gospel. Those are the people that are gonna help you. Whatever town or village you enter in, find out who's worthy in it, stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. If it's not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not receive you or listen to you, your words, shake it off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable on that, the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. When I say the provision, here's what it, cards on the table, here's what I'm saying. He's not sending them out to fail as much as he's sending them out to demonstrate what dependence on God looks like. Everybody's gonna know what it looks like to depend on me by watching you. And we need to reclaim what is being said here, especially this day of democratic socialism. If I hear one more democratic socialist get on, by the way, you can vote socialism in, but you can't vote it out. Just ask Venezuela. Oh, yeah. Now, by the way, here's my concern. I hadn't preached in a while. Y'all about to get it. Uh here's here's my concern about this whole democratic socialism. We have slowly become a nation of lazy people. You get groceries delivered to your house, you have somebody shop for you, you ain't gotta bend over and tie your own shoes. You just step in them and just get going. And so the government comes along and says, Hey, by the way, you ain't gotta work 40 hours a week. That's horrible. How about 32 hours a week? And those kids that you wanted, you shouldn't have to pay for them. We'll pay for them. Now, by the way, you're slowly being lured into this place of dependence where we call it dependence, but but but but but but but it's really idolatry. And we'll get to that in just a minute. You see, here's why democratic socialism is a lie you should reject outright every chance you get. Because here's why. Providing for you is not the government's responsibility, because you tend to worship who you think takes care of you. By the way, providing for you is not the church's responsibility, it's not your mom and dad's responsibility. Providing for you is God's responsibility. This is why Jesus says, Hey, take no gold or silver or copper with you, because I'm gonna provide. Translation, trust me and get going. Now, here's a simple question: what if what God is saying here is this make proclamation the priority and you will experience provision? You make proclamation. What do you mean? Proclamation doesn't mean you go to work tomorrow and go, hey, repent, the kingdom of God's at hand. Thanks, Bill. Clock in and get to work. No, but it means when you get your next promotion or you get your next bonus, you're just like, man, God is so good. All I'm doing is just doing what he's called and created me to do. And he just continues to provide. This job is not a job, it is a platform upon which God gets glory. Yes, that's proclamation. See, providing for you is God's responsibility. And what if God is saying here, hey, make proclamation the priority and you'll experience provision? Let me ask that again. What if God is really just saying, hey, you make proclamation the priority and you'll experience provision? Isn't that what he said back in chapter 6? When he said, Hey, is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Don't worry about what you're gonna eat or what you're gonna drink or what you're gonna wear. Your father, your heavenly father knows you need all these things. Therefore, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. It's all through the gospel. It's not like a one-off, oh, you're making a big deal out of something. No, I'm not. I'm just saying proclamation is reminding people that God is the one who provides for his people. That's his name and his demonstrated nature. See, we want to set up a system that ends up in idolatry. And the way God sets up life is it ends up in worship. This is why when God provides what only God can provide, people will just burst into spontaneous song. Like Exodus chapter 15. They're pinned down at the Red Sea, and Moses said, Yay, you don't need to fear these Egyptians coming after that, that rumbling army of chariots coming down on us to destroy us. Don't worry about them. Just stand still. And they're like, Okay. And God parts the Red Sea and dries out the bottom of it, and they walk across. And then when Pharaoh goes after him, like God put in his heart to do, God destroyed them and drowned all of them. And then there's a Aaron's sister, his name's Miriam. She burst into spontaneous song. And she said, Who among the gods is like you? Awesome in majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, and working wonders. Oh my gosh, God does what only God can do, and we just worship him. At this point, you should be kind of thinking, hmm, I don't think I understand quite what you're saying right here. Uh, this happened also about a week ago, about four days ago, five days ago. My youngest, who's at her last camp, she did Houston's first, all their campuses come together for the kids' camp. And she texted me and said, Hey dad, can I get a new computer before I go back to grad school? And I texted back, a carpenter needs good tools. And I said, Would you like me? You want to go with me to the Apple store and pick it out? And she wrote back, Nope, comma, can you have it waiting for me? Yes, yes. I'm talking to a friend of mine and he asked how the girls were. I said, Well, here's here's how my youngest is doing. He goes, What do you do with that? I mean, I mean, I mean, does that bother you? I said, Bother me? Are you kidding? Her car's gonna be gassed up, shined up, washed, detailed, vacuumed out, ready to go. Her computer be waiting for her. And he's like, I mean, why would you do all that? And I said, Because I want my children to say about me when I'm not around. Who among the dads is like you? Awesome in glory, majestic in goodness, working wonders. Now, sometimes I say things that make my friends uncomfortable. And my friend was like, No, I'd be careful. I'd be careful. I said, careful of what? I said, uh, I listen, I'll go. He said, Well, you you you won't tell your people that, will you? No, I would never tell them that. But now that God you teach, let me tell you, hey dads, if you don't feel the same way, you ain't a good dad. I ain't saying give your kids everything to ask for. I'm saying your goodness should, you, your goodness, your belief that, hey, God's gonna provide for me, should remind your children you're gonna provide for them. So they don't worry about what their friends worry about. Why? That's my dad. Yeah, can you have it waiting for me? He said, Did that offend you on any level? No, not at all. Why? Because she knows her dad. It ain't bother me. Why? Because I want to say, who among the dads is like you? She came home, oh, she texts her order. Hey, dad, uh, I want to have uh beef fajitas from Lupe Tortilla for dinner tonight. Great, I'll donate a kidney and go pick some up. So, guy, she ate a little bit, she goes, I'm full. I said, You tired, babe? She goes, No, actually, I think I need to go to Swig and go to Target. Too thick, no, don't nod your head back there, lady. I see you. No, I'm not going to Swig and paying $7 for some concocted beverage they hand out the window. But she went to Swig, went to Target, came back. How I found some pants. Is God good or what? Yes, he is. Bless up. And she went to her room, went to bed. And before she went to bed, wait for it. This is the preacher's kid. You know how they are. She said, Hey, dad, I think I need to sleep in in the morning, so I'm not going to come to church. That damnedable sinner. How dare you take my provision and not come to church? And I no, I said, Hey, babe, sleep in. You've been busting it all summer. Sleep in. Wake up at two. I don't care. She said, Yeah, thanks, Dad. My friends are like, Your dad's a pastor. He's gonna let you sleep in. She goes, My dad knows what it's like to be tired. Yeah. Now, shortly here, we're fixing to be done. I will get a text. Hey, dad, this is what I'd like for lunch. Who among the dads is like me? And my friend's like, well, that bother you doesn't bother me at all. Doesn't bother me at all. Matter of fact, it reminds me of my father and how he is towards me. Now, I I would want to just end on that note, but I gotta be honest with you. Let me just point to something real quick. You still let me say amen. Look down here. Because it has this real severe note. He says, And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your word, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. I mean, Sodom and Gomorrah was immoral, not generous, a lot of different things. How could they say that? Here's how. Because they had a fuller revelation of Jesus. Jesus says, Hey, the kingdom is here right now. This is the proclamation, okay? The kingdom of heaven is at hand. And you are judged because of the goodness of the thing you reject. Let me say that again. You are judged based on the goodness of the thing you reject. You reject the king and the kingdom, and the Bible says Jesus says it's better for, it's gonna be worse for you than Sodom and Gomorrah. Because they didn't have the revelation that you have. These people will be punished more severely because this is how great Jesus is. And so, if there is no day of judgment, then you need no urgency. There's no need to proclaim the kingdom of God is here, there's no need to repent. Heck, you ain't gotta stop sinning. This Christianity thing is just a matter of opinion. Uh, it's a moral crusade for people who've got nothing better to do. I mean, they were homeschooled, I didn't have a TV. God love them. They don't know what's out in the real world if there's no day of judgment. But because there is a day of judgment, the Bible says it very clearly: God's a fixed time when he'll judge the world in righteousness. No one's gonna get a bad deal. You're gonna be held up against the standard of righteousness. And then how is your little works-based worldview gonna work then? Because there is a day of judgment, and because of that, this becomes the most important thing in the world. So important, hear me and we're done. That you don't waste your life obsessing over provision. You go out and you proclaim with every fiber of your being that the kingdom of God is at hand, and everyone's welcome to it. It's so indestructible, Jesus let little kids play with it. And it's available to anybody and everybody. Look at me. This is biblical Christianity, and it's what you were created for. Let's pray together. If you're our guests, just relax. We like to teach what the Bible actually says, and then give you some space to think about it. So that that time is now. Some questions come on the screen. Just think for a little bit. Lord, what had my name on it today? And what do I walk away and do with this? Let's think about that. God, we just add our prayer to that prayer you taught us to pray years ago. Because that's the best hope for this world. Best hope for this world is not a person, a politician, or a product. It's that the kingdom of God would come and that your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. So let your will be done in Iran as it is in heaven. Let your will be done in America as it is in heaven, unopposed, with great joy. The Bible says the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Boy, we could use a lot of those, God. So would you give them to us? Thank you that the kingdom is the reality we were made for. Not religion, but the kingdom. So we say thank you in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, Amen, amen, amen.
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