I heard another person this morning comparing the church to a mosaic. And I don't know if you know, but my wife works in mosaic art. She cuts glass into multiple little shard pieces, colored glass, and then she puts down glue and glues them together. I can watch her and she'd look, I need just the right piece to fit right here and right here and right here. And she's quite good at it. But that's what this fellow on the radio was saying the church is like. God is fitting very different broken pieces together to make an effective bride for Christ and tool for him in the world. And I thought it was just a nice picture. So we'll look at that sometime. Matthew chapter 10. He just picks right up where Matthew chapter 11 left off, page 1008 in a Scofield Bible. Verse one, 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. You see the heading in this Bible I'm using here in the auditorium calls them the 12 apostles. And yet the verse calls them his 12 disciples. Those are two different words. The heading on my notes today says disciples chosen and commissioned. And that's really the difference between a disciple and an apostle, that word commissioned. The next verse, he does go right on to the names of the 12 apostles are these. So it's not a huge distinction, but a disciple is someone who learns and follows rabbis, in those days allowed people to come to them and say, I'd like to follow you. I'd like to be your disciple. I'd like to learn from you. And Jesus went beyond just letting them come to him to particularly choosing. And he chose 12 and he had called them his 12 disciples. And now he's, they've been with him long enough and seen what he's done long enough and heard him teach long enough. that disciples can come to the place where they not only want to be with their master and hear their master, but they also want to do what their master does. And that is kind of a description of the Christian life, isn't it? Not that that's how you get saved, but that's how you do the rest of it. You spend time with the Lord, You see what he does, you hear what he says, you learn from his teaching, and then you go and do and be like him. There was a popular bracelet a few years ago that said WWJD, and that's a good idea. I think it would be nice if the bracelet WDJD was popular first, as what did Jesus do? A lot of lost people need to know WDJD before they need to know WWJD. What did Jesus do? He died for our sins, He rose again, and He gives this great promise, the promise of eternal life to everyone who will believe in Him. But then what would Jesus do as us learning from Him well enough, from His words and from His example, to do what he did, including these things, casting out devils and healing. Well, we don't always do that, but bearing the message of the gospel, what his time on earth had to have was this message. He went preaching, and they did go preaching as well. Well, there's 12 of them. 12 learners, 12 disciples, 12 followers, and they're identified in the next verse as apostles, these 12 apostles. Yesterday, Louis taught in the Men's Bible Study about missions and missionaries, and he said you can't find the word missionary in the Bible, but I think it's right here. It's not translated missionary, but this word apostle, apo, is like from, And Stello is to send, and apostles are ones who are sent with a commission, sent out from, it's like ambassador. He's sent from. He doesn't hang out in Washington. If he's the American ambassador, he's somewhere else representing the United States of America. If there's ambassadors in Washington, they represent France or Britain or some other place like that. Ambassador. Delegate. A delegate. We use this word very commonly, but a delegate has been delegated. Somebody sent him. So a delegate isn't just somebody that gets to go to the convention. A delegate is somebody sent by his home place to go to a convention or whatever commission he might be on, a delegate. And commissioner, it has the word commission right in it, doesn't it? A commissioner isn't just somebody that's got power, local politics. A commissioner is somebody that represents on a group the ones that made him their commissioner. He has their mission from them. So all these words are very much like the word missionary. There it is in the word again, missionary. Someone sent to the inner city or to a foreign country or to a foreign place that isn't really a country even to reach people with the message and the mission of the one that sends them. There's lots of places in the Bible we could develop that. And in the men's Bible studies through the course of this year, that's probably what we're going to be doing. We're going to be looking at the different places of the Bible that talk about men, not only how to be saved, but how to go and do what we're supposed to be doing. Well, these guys, apostles, delegates, ambassadors, commissioners, missionaries, we could call them all of that. The names of the 12, before we go on to that, it says he gave them power. Now there's a handful of words in the New Testament, especially in the Gospels, that are translated power, the English word power. This one is the same as the one used in John 1 12. As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. It's not a word like dynamite, Romans 1.16, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. That's just talking about its inherent massive strength, the dunamis, the power of God. But this is a word that means authority, the privilege, the right. And in John 1.12, it's a sad verse, it starts with the word but. I didn't read that a moment ago, but it says he came to his own creation, verse 11, that's a neuter pronoun, He came into his own creation and his own, and that's a masculine pronoun, his own people received him not. The Jewish people, the people of Jesus by nature and by birth, did not, by and large, receive him. He said, oh, but all the first Christians were Jewish. Yes, they were. But I remind you, in that crowd of a million in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 were saved. His own received him not. Paul in the beginning of the book of Romans rebukes the unbelief of the Jews. It says it can't make the power of God without effect, but their unbelief is just wrong. What unbelief is that of Jewish people? Well, they had the word of God. They didn't believe what it said about Jesus when he came and fulfilled it to be the Christ. Verse 11, he came to his own creation and his own people received him not. But then this wonderful but As many as, it's open to all. As many as received him, and sadly too many times it's an exceptional few, but there were 3,000 and then the next day 4,000 in Jerusalem. It's a good start, but it's not the majority. As many as received him, to them gave he the authority to become the sons of God. A family of God, born into the family of God. And it says, by the way, if you don't know what receiving means, it means them that believe on his name, which were born. Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. They're born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh or the will of man, born of God. How do you get born when you're old? Nicodemus asked that question. But it is what Jesus came to do. He came to give birth into the family of God, the authority to be the sons of God, to be born of the Spirit, to be born of God by believing in his name. What name is his name? Although he's not named so in the beginning of the chapter of John, his name is Jesus. His name is Jesus. It's a shortened form of a common name we've heard all, Joshua. Joshua is slightly shortened from Jehoshua, which is the combination of, if you'll pardon me pronouncing the ineffable name, Jehovah, Yeshua. The personal name of God, the great I Am, and the Hebrew word for the Savior, the Deliverer. The Rescuer, Jesus, the name Jesus in quotes means, if you look it up, Jehovah the Savior, the eternal self-existent one who saves and keeps and defends. When you believe in the name of the Son of God, You're believing that Jesus is God, the eternal self-existent one who saves and keeps and defends. He can keep his promise to give the gift of his life, his righteousness, his salvation, his eternal life to anyone who believes. He gives them a place, a birth into the family of God. by the Spirit of God. As many as received him, to them gave he the authority to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." So he, Jesus, gave these twelve disciples authority And he's going to send them out, gave them authority or privilege against unclean spirits and to cast them out. And he also gave them the power and authority and privilege to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Nothing was withheld from them. They could heal. They had seen him doing this. They had seen him casting out unclean spirits and healing sicknesses and diseases. and now they're sent to do it. We will skip the names just for a second. In verse 5, these twelve Jesus sent forth commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles or into any city of the Samaritans, enter ye not. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Go to, what is he concerned about? Do you remember at the end of chapter nine, at the very end of chapter nine, he said, he went around all the cities and villages teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and disease among the people. And he's teaching in the synagogues. He's in the cities and villages of Galilee. He's gone to the people that were his people that were not receiving him. And he saw the multitudes. He was moved with compassion on them because they fainted, were scattered abroad as Sheep having no shepherd. He's concerned, he has compassion, and it says he was moved with compassion. When we have feelings, we think we're compassionate. When Jesus had compassion, he did something about it. He was moved with compassion, and they needed shepherds. And he said right then, right there, in verse 37 and 38, to the disciples, that's who we talk to in the very next verse in chapter 10, the harvest is plenteous. What's that? Well, he switched metaphors from sheep needing a shepherd to fruit that's overripe and needs picking. The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest. that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. There's a prayer God will answer, and how did God answer this when Jesus says, you, and you and you and you, you 12, you disciples pray that God will figure out, oh, who shall I send into the harvest? And then we come to where we started here. He called unto him his 12 disciples, gave him authority against the unclean spirits, power to heal all manner of sickness and disease, and he sent them out and he gave instructions, you don't go to the Gentiles, not yet, you don't go to the Samaritans, they're just not us, you go to the lost sheep, of the house of Israel, and as you go, preach. As you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Pastor John Hembree up there in Athens, Georgia, when he was a student here, often made the trip back and forth between Georgia and here, and sometimes we'd concern about him. We'd call him while he was on the road and I said, we'd say, how are you doing? He said, oh, the fishing is great. The fishing is great. Because as he went, he was preaching. He's a great example of that. Yankee does that as well. As you go, preach. Not when you get there and get a meeting together. As you go, preach. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick. Cleanse the lepers. Raise the dead. Cast out devils. He says, don't you be avoiding those people. Sick people, oh, you're habit is to go the other way because you don't want to get it. Heal them. Cleanse the lepers. But I don't touch lepers. Go cleanse the lepers. You saw me do it. Raise the dead. You sure? Yeah, you. Raise the dead. Cast out devils. Freely ye have received. Freely give. He says don't collect up an offering. Don't charge admission. Boy, that would shut down most of the healing meetings going on in the country today. Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses. Don't take an extra wallet, no script for your journey. Not a spare coat, not spare shoes, not spare sticks. Just take what you got. The workman is worthy of his hire. When you need another one, they ought to give it to you. Into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, Inquire who and it is worthy and there abide until you go hence Where is the person in this town? That's hospitable. I need to stay here and preach When you come into a house salute it that's odd to say that about a house because that word literally means give it a hug and Fold in the arms you look it up in a Greek dictionary It means wrap your arms around him give him a hug salute or greet every place in the New Testament I've found it means enfold in the arms and If the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it's not worthy, let your peace return to you. Whosoever shall not receive you and hear your words when you depart out of that city, shake off the dust of your feet. I was lucky just then, my shoe didn't fly off. Shake off, that's a very strong expression of rebuke. Shake off the dust of your feet. 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. You might recall what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. They already had a day of judgment. They were rained upon with fire and brimstone and disappeared from the face of the earth. I personally think what's ever left of Sodom and Gomorrah is under the Dead Sea. The southern end of the Dead Sea is very shallow. And that might be where it is, but they're not prospering anyway. And there's coming a day of judgment for that city, as well as the cities that Jesus sent his disciples to. Now, we'll get back to the beginning because I skipped over the names and I want to talk about the names of these guys. In verse two. The names of the twelve apostles are these, the first Simon, who is called Peter, Andrew, his brother, James, the son of Jebedee, and John, his brother. Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the Publican, James the son of Alphaeus and Labaius, whose surname was Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. What would you notice about that list of names? There's 12 names. They seem to be in pairs. They're paired, and that is how Jesus sent them forth. It's not recorded that he sent them forth two by two in this gospel, but when he sent out the 120 later on, it says he sent them out two by two, and that looks to be the way he did it. That's a good plan. you get to encourage each other and If one of you is thinking of doing something stupid the other one will say don't do that. That's stupid or something to that effect So what about these guys? What about these the first one named here is Simon who is called Peter? Simon The word in the New Testament Greek here is Simeon, and you might remember Simeon is a Hebrew name. It's one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Simeon, Simon was Simeon, the name of one of the tribes, a very honorable name. But Jesus said, you're called Simon, I'm gonna change it to Peter, which is a rock, man. He's either really thick in the head, or he's solid and will be a good foundation, or maybe he's all of these things. Rocks have advantages and disadvantages. So he was a rock star. One of the sons of Jacob, Simeon, was a piece of rock. And it calls him the first here. What is that about? Why is Simon, who's called Peter, called the first? Well, he wasn't the first one Jesus called. He was not close. But two disciples over in John's gospel met Jesus, and then they went and got their, Andrew got his brother and said, here he is. So he wasn't the first one chosen. And you know that later on, the disciples often disputed among themselves, maybe not real often, but more often than they should have, who gets to be number one? Who gets to be next to Jesus? Oh, can you let my boys sit one on one side and the other on the other side when you come in your glory? That was not a happy time. Let's look at on page 1087, Luke 9 46. There arose a reasoning among the disciples, which of them should be greatest? Jesus answered that this way, perceiving the thought of their heart, because you boys look like you're thinking bad thoughts, took a child and set him by him, and he said, whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me. Whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me, for he that is least among you, all the same shall be great. There's an answer. Don't try to be number one. It's not good for you. In the same book in Luke in chapter 24, no 22, excuse me, in chapter 22, verse 24, and I didn't get the page number here. There was strife among them again, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said to them again, the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. Oh, thank you for being my boss. But ye shall not be so. He that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief as he that doth serve. Which is greater, he that sits at meat, or he that serveth? It is not he that sits at meat, but I am among you, I am among you, as he that serveth. Here they which have continued with me in my temptations. I appoint unto your kingdom, as my father has appointed unto me, you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on throne judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And then he warns Peter, but it doesn't do any good. Peter, he wasn't the first one called, they were rebuked for trying to be number one, but he did rise to some leadership. If we think about the book of Acts, in the first couple chapters, that's not Acts, this is Acts, Acts chapter two, page 1107, and it doesn't get to Peter for a while here, but you know they're in the day of Pentecost, they've waited in Jerusalem, because Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until they were and dude with power from on high, and they're all with one accord in one place. It's not a small Honda car. They were content together. Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven. What came? A sound as of a rushing, mighty wind. They heard a tornado coming, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. But it didn't blow them away. It just made noise. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues. They saw something. They heard. They saw. cloven tongues as like as a fire and it sat upon each of them looked like they were set on fire that's what it looked like and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit same word and began to speak with other tongues that is to say languages the word tongues in the Greek language is the same as the word tongues in the English language there's one in your mouth flames have a tongue It also means languages. And because of the shape of a flame, the word tongue has come to mean both or all three of those things. There were the shape of tongues as a fire that was upon them, but they began to speak with other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. What other languages? We'll get to that. there were dwelling at Jerusalem devout men out of every nation under heaven." And when this was noised abroad, they could hear that. Remember that rushing nightly wind and the speaking with the languages, a mixture of the rushing wind and the languages being spoken by this 120 people all at once. The multitude, there's a million people in Jerusalem, came together and were confounded. They got out in the open and the 120 spread out, and the multitude who were from every place around the Mediterranean world, it says in verse 6, every man heard them speak in his own language. He said, was that many languages? Well, it'll spell that out in a minute. They were all amazed and marveled and said, look, these guys, they're from Podunk. They're Galileans. That's not a place of education. Verse 8, how here we every man in our own language wherein we were born. And then it starts the list. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, and Phrygia, and Pamphylia, and Egypt, the parts of Libya about Kyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Cretes, and Arabians. we do hear them speak in our tongue the wonderful works of God." They didn't just hear a noise, they understood it in the language of their birth, and what they understood was the wonderful works of God. What do you suppose they were talking about? Probably Jesus. He promised it, and now we've got this power. Well, Peter, in verse 14, stood up. With the 11, so there's 120 gathered and praying and all get the Holy Spirit and all get the languages, but the 11 get out there in the lead with Peter standing up in the first place. Lifted up his voice, he got to get the bull horn and said unto them, and he starts the gospel message, listen to my words, Judea, Jerusalem, all you guys from everywhere, These are not drunken, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel, and Joel spoke about the Holy Spirit. And at the end of the quote from Joel, besides identifying the Holy Spirit, he finishes the quote, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's as much as he quoted from Joel, and I'm sure that's as far as he went because that's what he wanted to get out there in front of them. Jesus of Nazareth They knew that name. But didn't we just crucify him a little bit ago? A man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you as yourselves now know. Him being delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of God. God planned it, you did it, and it was wicked. You've taken him by wicked hands, have crucified and slain, but it's not over. Wait, there's more. Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by death. And then he gives another quote from Scripture. David speaks concerning him. I saw the Lord always before my face. He's on my right hand that I should not be moved. Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Jesus, when he died, went to the place of the dead. Where did his body go? The cave, the tomb. But that's not, his soul and spirit didn't sit there in the dark for three days. He went to the place of the dead where Abraham and Isaac and Jacob were. And he wasn't left there, according to the prophecy of David. Thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. His body didn't corrupt. and his soul and spirit didn't stay in Hades. And then Peter ends the quote and says in verse 29, men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David. He not talking about himself, he is dead and buried. His sepulcher is with us to this day. The tomb of David with David's bones in the box is there in Jerusalem or outside Jerusalem. He was a prophet and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, his descendant, according to the flesh he'd raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in Hades, neither did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus Has God raised up wherever we all are witnesses? And he's being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of God the Father, the promise of the Holy Ghost, the same thing Joel talked about. Jesus shed forth this, the noise of the wind, the sight of the flames of fire, the languages that they could speak and everyone could understand in their own language. He, Jesus, having received of the Father the promise, the Holy Spirit, he's shed forth this, which you now see in here. In verse 36, let all the house of Israel know assuredly God has made that same Jesus whom you've crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now there's some of them right there that when they heard that, they changed their mind right then, right there and believed. They were pricked in their heart. They said, what's next? And there was others that hadn't believed yet. So Peter's now talking to some believers and a great multitude that haven't believed yet. So he has a twofold instruction. What's next? He said to them, plural, repent, change ye your minds. And then he changes to the singular number. Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ with regard to the remission of sins. And then he goes back to the plural. After you have changed your minds and you do this next step, you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The promise that we got is to you and your children. And then he said, because so many in the crowd were not believing, he said, save yourselves from this untoward generation. Peter wasn't the only one speaking. Lots of people doing this explaining. This is the one that got recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. They that gladly received his word were baptized, and there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. We'll not go on. the next chapter another many thousand and again Peter is kind of taking the lead maybe that's what it means he had to go to Samaria after Philip the evangelist had gone to Samaria he and John went up to Samaria and dealt with those who had already believed so that they also Samaritans received the Holy Spirit and He had to go to the Gentile Cornelius' house before anybody else would take the gospel to the Gentiles. Peter led the way in the church in those several instances. I don't think it says anywhere in the Bible that Peter's somehow more authority than the rest of the Twelve or than any other church member. Who's the head of the church? The Lord Jesus is the head, and we're the body of Christ, and that's really the way it's supposed to be. Well, what about Pastor Jesse? Chester Jesse is our pastor, and we love him, but you ask him who the head of the church is, he doesn't say, well, that's my name. He doesn't say that. Well, we could talk about others that have claimed to be head of the church, but we won't. We're going to run out of time here. I'm going to go back to Matthew. After Peter in the named list here, we've got Andrew his brother. Andrew his brother is a great guy. Andrew, the name just means a man, not a mankind man, but a male person. He's a man's man. That's what his name means, I'm a man. And John records Andrew doing the same thing three different times. When he first was come to Jesus to be his disciple, it says in John 141, in John 141, I'm going back there this way, Getting there, getting there, getting there. Okay. The next day after, not there yet. Okay. John the Baptist looks at Jesus. He's walking and says, there's the Lamb of God. And the two disciples that were disciples of John the Baptist heard him speak. And they said, there goes John, let's go with Jesus. They followed Jesus. And Jesus turned around and saw them following, and he said, what do you want? What seek ye? And they said, rabbi. They're identifying him as the one they want to be their teacher. Where are you going? He said, what do you want? He said, we want to go be with you. He said to them, well, come on, see. And they saw where he dwelt and stayed with him that day. It was 10 o'clock. I don't know if it may be four o'clock in the afternoon, the 10th hour starting at dawn. One of the two which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. What's the first thing Andrew did? He first findeth his own brother Simon and said unto him, big brother, we have found the Messiah, which is being interpreted the Christ. And he brought him. Jesus isn't that if Andrew didn't do anything else he did the good thing right then right there to start the thing another time in chapter 6 of John's gospel there's a whole crowd of people there might have been when he taught the Sermon on the Mount I don't know he says to Philip where are we going to get enough bread to feed these feet people we want to feed him he's Philip says we don't have enough money and there's not a grocery store But Andrew, verse 8, Simon Peter's brother saith unto him, there's a boy, a lad here, he's got five barley loaves and two little fish. What are they among so many? He says, I don't think this will do, but there they are. And Jesus said, bring the boy to me here. Sit the men down, 5,000 men, there were women and children that also sat down. And he took the loaves and gave thanks and passed them out and everybody had as much fish and bread as they wanted and there were 12 baskets left over. What did Andrew do? Brought the boy to Jesus with the loaves and the fishes. And in chapter 12 of John's gospel, In verse 21, this is page 1132, there were, in verse 20, certain Greeks, Gentiles, among them that came up to worship at the feast. They were just Gentiles, thought it was a good idea to go to Jerusalem to be with them. And these Gentiles came to Philip of Bethsaida of Galilee and desired him saying, sir, we would, it's our desire to see Jesus. And Philip didn't know what to do. Don't go to the Gentiles. Don't go to the Samaritans. Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Here's a Gentile coming to us. Philip came to Andrew. Just like at the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus said, Philip, what are we going to do? And Andrew pipes up. Philip came to Andrew, and Andrew and Philip, and Philip with a little encouragement with Andrew with him, went to Jesus because these Gentiles want to see Jesus. He keeps bringing people to Jesus. It's not a bad plan. It's not a bad plan. Let's go back to the list of names here. We're running out of time. Peter and Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother. So Zebedee had two boys, James and John. Later through the course of the gospel of Jesus' time on the earth, Peter, James, and John are listed as three together that did things that nobody else did. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, James is the name Jacob, Jacobos. And of course, Jacob is also not one of the 12 tribes. He's the father of the 12 tribes. He's Israel. This is not the author of the New Testament book of James, because in Acts chapter 12, in Acts chapter 12, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church, and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. That's pretty early in the life of the church. James is no longer going on. He's been killed with the sword. One of the first of the 12 to die. So who is this James? Well, he's the son of Zebedee, he's the brother of John, Mark chapter 3 has this cute note, which isn't in Matthew. It says, here's Simon Peter, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he, Jesus, surnamed them Boanerges, which is the sons of thunder. I don't know if their dad was loud, I mean, sons of, or maybe they were fervent in spirit and in preaching. Or maybe they were impetuous and zealous. Mark 9, 54, not Mark 9, 54, Luke 9, 54, let me get there. They said, John spoke up this time. John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name. And we said, don't you dare, because he's not with us. Jesus said unto him, forbid him not. He that is not against us is for us. It came to pass when the time was come that he should be received up. Jesus, going back to heaven, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem. sent messengers before his face and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him and they didn't the Samaritans did not receive him because he was headed for Jerusalem he was on the bypass at Samaria but and when the disciples James and John saw this they said Lord wilt thou we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them even as Elijah did wouldn't that be good whoo And he did not rebuke the Samaritans. He turned and rebuked them and said, you know not what manner of spirit you are of. The Son of Man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Let's go on to another village. The Sons of Thunder. John, his brother. John, his brother. We know this one. This one is the one who wrote the gospel, the younger of the two. In John's gospel, he never names himself. He names John, John the Baptist, but he doesn't name himself. Instead, he refers to himself, I think amazing, as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Wouldn't you like that to be the way you remember the disciple whom Jesus? Now, Jesus loves me and he loves you, but John had enough boldness to write it down. He's the writer of the gospel, the writer of the three epistles of John, the writer of the book of the Revelation. the longest lived of the 12, as far as we know, executed in Rome by being plunged into boiling oil, according to the tradition, but he didn't die. You get involved with boiling oil, you get badly burned. They pulled him out, and he was horribly scarred. He was the ugliest of men, they said. But they sent him after that to the Isle of Patmos, where there was a mine, like being sent to the galleys, a sentence of The galleys was a death sentence. A sentence in the mines was a death sentence. But he outlived the Caesar that sent him to the mines. While he was there, laboring in the mines, he got more healthy and received the revelation from the Lord Jesus. After the Caesar died, he went back to the town of Ephesus in Asia Minor and lived out his days there. He wasn't the head of the church. He wasn't the pastor. He just brought in on a litter. They carried him in when he was so old. He was in his 90s. And at the end of the service, they'd say, John, do you have a word for us? Do you have a word for the people today? And he'd say, my little children love one another. And they said, that's good. Oh, that's good. Is there anything else we can hear from you? He'd say, my little children love one another. They said, good, John, good. Is there anything else you want us? And he'd say, my little children love one another. He wouldn't deviate. He'd just stick with that. and we're out of time and I've got to quit, but I just thought, there's the first four, we've got another eight disciples to look at and we'll go on in Matthew chapter 10 when we come back together next week. But remember John 1.12, as many as received him, Jesus, to them gave he power, authority, to be called the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name. And they're born, when they believe in him, they're born. of the Spirit of God, may have the gift of eternal life. Father in heaven, thank You for blessing. Thank You for teaching us Your Word, and we pray that as we go out of here, we'll be better at it than we were before. In Jesus' name, amen.