Our text this morning is Matthew 10, verses 26 through 31. We'll read it in just a moment, but I wanna begin by reminding you something of the Apostle Paul. On his second missionary journey, the Apostle Paul found himself stepping off of a ship and onto the docks of this thriving metropolis of Corinth. In one way, when he entered that city, he was surrounded by a mass of humanity, but in another way, the way that probably mattered to him most, Paul was entirely alone. By necessity, he had gotten separated from his traveling companions, and he stepped off that ship and into the city alone, and fear gripped him. Because Corinth was a colossal city. It was a thriving metropolis that drew in sailors, and it was a business hub, and it also drew in, essentially, a tourist trade. It was kind of the Las Vegas of the day. For all of these foreigners who came to the city, sex and money and alcohol was the universal language. So public drunkenness was encouraged. Prostitutes, male and female, would come grab people off the streets and pull them into a temple. You could get stabbed or clubbed over the head if you walked down the wrong street. If there was ever a moment in Paul's missionary journeys where he was tempted to hold his tongue and keep quiet, Getting to the city of Corinth was it. He admitted he was afraid. He described it as shaking, quaking, knee-knocking fear that threatened to overcome him. Later, he wrote to the believers who heard the gospel through his ministry there, and he sort of reminisced about that moment. And here's what he said in 1 Corinthians 2, 1 through 5, he says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and power that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. In other words, instead of succumbing to the crippling paralysis and anxiety, the Apostle Paul embraced the truth that faith conquers fear. Where he could have been afraid and kept his mouth shut, he used that as a determined cause to declare the gospel of Jesus. Of course, now I could tell you that None of us have ever had cause to fear like the Apostle Paul did. And I think that would be very true, but it also wouldn't be very practical. The New Testament is instructive for us and there are constant sources of encouragement to overcome our fears and live faithfully for Christ Jesus the Lord. If anything, all of those words of encouragement in the New Testament are recognition that fear is a powerful influence in our lives. Obedience to our commission of declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ and upholding biblical truth in the world. Y'all, it's got the potential to be scary, and we should not deny that. If you think of how Matthew 10 has developed to this point and you think of those 12 men and how they would have heard the sermon of Jesus so far. He's already told them, you know, I'm sending you out on a mission. I don't want you to pack. I don't want you to prepare. I don't want you to take any money or any clothes or anything extra, just go. You don't have a place to stay. Just trust that God's going to provide one for you. Some households might embrace you, but other whole cities will hate you. I'm sending you out like sheep into the middle of a wolf pack. You will get arrested and beaten and handed over to government officials for trial. Family will turn on you. You will be hated by all people for my name's sake. When they persecute you in one city, just run away from there and go to another city and start the whole thing over again. And if they hate me, they're gonna hate you. And it's enough. It is satisfying that you should be more like me in that way. Do you think that the message to this point has been a little bit scary? Do they have cause to fear? Well, of course they do. And the Lord knows it. So in this section starting at verse 26 he addresses those fears. Matthew 10 26 through 31. Therefore do not fear them for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be made known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. And what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 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. are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows. The simple message of our text this morning is three words, faith conquers fear. I mentioned previously in Matthew 10, well, this commission is to the 12 and it is unique to them in many ways. It's also practical for us. It is this commission that gets expanded in Matthew 28 into the great commission, which our church is called on to fulfill, to go out and make disciples of all nations. But in many ways, if we're honest, we do not embrace that commission. We are to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to make disciples of our immediate family and our extended family, our friends, our schoolmates, our coworkers, our casual acquaintances, complete strangers. I'm sure that there are some of us here this morning who have never declared the gospel of Jesus to anyone. And I'm confident that there are none of us, myself included, who are as faithful to that calling as we should be. And fear is usually the problem. It's not always the problem, but usually. There are other reasons people don't share the gospel. If you're not really a believer, then essentially you're a pretend Christian who doesn't really have confidence in Jesus as Savior. And so of course you're not gonna share the gospel. You don't really believe it. If you're entrenched in some sin in your life, that sin can prevent you from sharing the gospel. You need to repent of that sin, turn from it, and then obey the calling to declare Jesus to the world. But if you are a believer, and you are not entrapped with some kind of paralyzing sin. Generally speaking, it is fear that prevents us from proclaiming Jesus as the Savior of sinners. We fear ineffectiveness. We fear rejection and humiliation. We fear persecution and hatred. We fear that declaring the gospel is gonna leave us ostracized and alone. As Jesus commissions his disciples to go declare the good news, this little section of the sermon is aimed at addressing their fears. Three times in these six verses, he says, do not fear. In verse 26, do not fear them. Verse 28, do not fear those. In verse 31, do not fear therefore. Jesus assures us that faith conquers fear. And he outlines three temptations to fear that can be overcome by faith-filled confidence in the word of Jesus. First, faith conquers the fear of criticism. Look at verse 26. The word therefore should always drive us to make a connection to the context so that we can understand what's being said. Jesus has told the disciples they're going to be tempted to fear for verse 18, they're going to get arrested and beaten. Verse 19, they'll be put on trial. Verse 22, they're going to be hated for Jesus' sake, but that they should, in verse 24 and 25, be satisfied to be more like him, right? It is enough, it is satisfying for a servant to be like his master. And given that reassurance that we're being conformed to his image, there's no reason to fear. So he says in verse 26, therefore, do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed and nothing hidden that will not be known. You might be afraid of sharing the gospel because it's gonna lead to criticism and condemnation by the world, but don't be afraid to declare the gospel of Jesus because there is a future day coming when truth and righteousness will be vindicated. Everything that is covered will be revealed. All those things that are hidden will be made known. Most of y'all are old enough to know that the most infamous of all presidential scandals occurred in the early 1970s. There were political operatives that ran a campaign of dirty tricks against their rivals. And the question on everyone's mind was, well, how much did President Richard Nixon know about what was happening? Well, as it turned out, it shouldn't have been hard to find out because Nixon had all the conversations in the White House recorded. And when those tapes were finally handed over to a federal grand jury, they revealed a mysterious 18 and a half minute gap in the conversation between him and his chief of staff, Bob Haldeman. What was said in those 18 and a half minutes? Did it conceal a conspiracy? Was it just a conversation about their lunch plans for the next day? Was it purposefully erased or was it accidentally deleted? We don't know. We still don't know really. But Jesus says there is a coming day when everything that is concealed will be revealed. Everything that is hidden will be made known. Try as hard as it wants to. The world can make an effort to cover and delete their record of wrongdoing. It's going to be revealed. And if you hear that and go, good, I wanna know what it is that Nixon did. Just ask, if you did a review of your own life, do you find that promise to be a comfort or a threat? Do you have your own 18 and a half minute or more gap in your public record that you would prefer remain concealed? The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 5, judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. There is a coming day when the righteous character of God's saints is going to be made known and the evil nature of the rebellious is going to be revealed. And at that time, not only will the wicked motives of sinful hearts be exposed, but also the sincere objectives and the hearts of Christ's disciples will be made known. In short, what is on the inside is going to get displayed on the outside. The lost world's rejection of the gospel will be made known what they did and why they did it. If they reject because they love their sin, if they reject because they hate Jesus, if they reject it because they just despise the truth, that is coming out. And when in this, in the context of this chapter, they take believers and they beat them in the synagogues and in the process, they claim that they're doing God a service. It's not just a mistake. It's rebellion. And there is vindication coming for every saint who declares the gospel with sincerity and by extension, The fear and disobedience of every disciple of Jesus is going to be made known as well. What is it that keeps you from declaring the gospel of Jesus to your friends and your family and your coworkers and your neighbors? Is it that you're afraid of being mocked? and deride it, because listen, if you prioritize that temporary blow to your pride over the destiny of their eternal souls, that is going to be made known as well. Just be honest with yourself about this. Look, I have to do that. I don't mind telling you. I've got experiences in this life that I can't wait for the underlying motives to be exposed. I can make a long list of situations and people that I am looking forward to vindication. But I would be lying if I said that there's no circumstances in which my full motives being exposed doesn't cause me to be filled with some dread-filled anticipation The purpose of Jesus in telling his disciples about this coming exposure when all things are brought to light is not to cause us to crave vindication, it is to provide motivation for the mission that he's placed us on. Look, there is somebody in your life you need to proclaim the gospel of Jesus to. And the day is coming when their heart and your heart is gonna be exposed for what it contains. Jesus' logic is to say because of that, don't keep silent out of fear of their reaction, you need to step up out of anticipation for this day. And so he says in verse 27, whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. It seems Jesus is using figurative language here to say that whatever you have received personally, right, in secret places like in darkness or whispered in your ear. Whatever we've received personally is to be proclaimed publicly, right, in the light and from the rooftops. Not long ago in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus described his disciples as saying, you are the light of the world, reflecting the light of Jesus who is the true light of the world. Don't take that light and put it under a cover. Uncover it and let it shine before men. They would glorify your Father in heaven. Concealment of truth. Secrets have no place in Christian life. This is gonna be a Wednesday night question at some point, but I will just say in passing now, no organization or club that maintains secret and hidden rituals has any claim to say that they are uplifting and glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus says that all truth right now should be revealed and proclaimed publicly because in the future, everything that's true will be revealed and proclaimed publicly. The essence of the Christian message is to proclaim that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for sinners on the cross, that he rose again to give eternal life to all who believe, that he sits now at the right hand of the majesty on high, interceding for his people, that he's coming again to gather his people and judge the world in righteousness. So repent of your sin and trust Jesus for salvation. Proclaim that truth from the rooftops. Speak it everywhere. Proclaim it openly. Proclaim it often. Speak it with clarity and with confidence. Declare the gospel with boldness and it will do what Jesus has determined that it should do. Some will accept it. Some will reject you in the process of rejecting the message of the gospel, but it's always going to accomplish his purpose. So embrace the promise of Jesus, embrace the promise of Isaiah 55, 11, which says, when the word goes out, it will not return to him void, it will always accomplish his purpose, do what he's designed. And when you proclaim the gospel of Jesus that, Unbelievers will suffer eternal torment, and believers will receive eternal life, and everyone's heart will be exposed when Jesus returns. you have confidence that declaration will be proven to be true. Anyone who mocks and criticizes that, you will be vindicated when it comes true. Faith conquers the fear of criticism. Secondly, faith conquers the fear of persecution. Look at verse 28. 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. Growing up as a kid in the Schultz family, I can assure you there was one thing you never wanted to ask me. What's the worst that could happen? Our family had a peculiar talent for calculating the highly improbable yet just within the realm of possible worst case scenarios, right? Handing somebody a candle run the risk of starting a house fire, burning the whole neighborhood down and World War III is gonna erupt. So on the risk of getting some really ridiculous answers, I'm still gonna ask, whoever that person or persons are in your life that need the gospel of Jesus, if you share the gospel with them, what's the worst that's gonna happen? In verse 28, Jesus jumps to the extreme answer. They could kill you. Right? Everything short of death has already been dealt with in verses 24 and 25. All the mocking, the vindication for hatred and the rejection that's coming. So now Jesus goes to the most extreme potential, and there are plenty of Christians who have faced this possibility. And who's to say that you never will? Surprisingly, This is also intended as a means of encouragement. Jesus is sending his disciples out on mission and apparently telling them, don't be afraid of people. The worst they can do is kill you. How is that encouraging? Let me give you a few reasons. First, dying for declaring the gospel of Jesus is nothing to fear because you are already dead. Paul says in Colossians 3 verses 2 and 3, to set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Scripture pictures every believer as having died to their old self and been buried. That's what baptism pictures after all, right? Your old life is dead and gone, and the new life that you're living carries a tag on it that says property of King Jesus. Because that old life is already gone, and your new life is fully owned by the Lord Jesus, you're to set your mind on heavenly rewards, not on earthly consequences. You will not be just overcome with fear of dying. You will know, I'm already dead. And this new life isn't mine, it's Christ's. Second, dying for declaring the gospel of Jesus is nothing to fear because it unites you with Jesus. The worst that could happen is they could kill you is not a Christian way of thinking. That's the best that could happen for you. Paul wrote, as he was writing to the church at Philippi, he was in prison awaiting trial and potentially execution for declaring the gospel. And he was unsure what would happen, but he was pretty sure what he wanted to happen. And this is what he told them in Philippians 1, 20 and 21. According to my earnest expectation and hope that I shall in nothing be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. And so facing death did not lead Paul into paralyzing fear. He described it freed him into bold proclamation. And his estimation was, look, if I live, I get to serve Jesus. If I die, I get to be with Jesus. And a couple of verses later, he even said, I desire to depart and be with Christ because that would be far better. Third, dying for declaring the gospel of Jesus is nothing to fear because dying for Jesus relates to your temporary body and living for Jesus relates to your eternal soul. In verse 28, do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Jesus uses the word fear in two senses here. One sense is of terror and dread, right? Do not be terrorized. Do not dread those people who can kill your body but not your soul because your soul is the essence of who you are. Your body is just something you have. It's temporary. The world cannot touch your soul, it can kill your body, but it's powerless to do anything to the essence of who you are eternally. So instead of fearing the world, you are to fear in the sense of all filled reverence, fear God who brings eternal consequences for your body and your soul. This text has been misunderstood to say that Jesus taught what's called annihilationism, which is that the soul will eventually be destroyed in hell, that unbelievers suffer in the fires of hell, but ultimately they are burnt up and destroyed. The word Jesus uses here for destruction does not imply annihilation. It is the destruction of comfort and joy and all that makes life rich and meaningful. Jesus is clear in this text and throughout his ministry that hell is a place of eternal, never-ending torment. So in short, when faced with the most horrific of consequences for obeying Jesus, Right, to the point of dying for the sake of proclaiming the gospel. Remember that death is a temporary consequence and faith in and obedience to Jesus is a matter of eternal importance. England in the 1500s was not a safe space for declaring the gospel. One preacher named Hugh Latimer enjoyed the privilege and responsibility of preaching to the royal family in England. And ultimately, he would be burned at the stake for declaring the gospel and his stance on biblical truth. But for his whole ministry, he understood that preaching to the royal family carried potential consequences. And it is said that he steeled himself for those consequences, but every time he got afraid and thought, Latimer, be careful what you say, the king is here. He would replace that with Latimer, be careful what you do not say because the king of kings is here. This world may have the power to judge you harshly and bring fatal consequences for declaring the gospel, but do you believe that God is going to judge you and bring eternal consequences and blessings for obedience? It's understandable how anyone would flinch at the idea of dying for obedience to Christ, but you can face that by asking yourself the question, well, what is it that you really believe? Do you believe that that life that you want to preserve is ultimate? Or do you believe that eternal life with Christ is ultimate? Faith conquers the fear of persecution. Third, faith conquers the fear of abandonment. Because for some of us, the fear of declaring the gospel has nothing to do with death or even being mocked. It has to do with other consequences. You know, if I preach Jesus to my friend, I know what's gonna happen. They're not gonna hear me. They're not gonna have a relationship with Jesus, but as a consequence, they're not gonna have a relationship with me either. First off, you don't know that. Second, you have to ask yourself whose relationship you value the most. Your friend may abandon you anyway, but your heavenly Father will never disown those who are faithful to Jesus. Look at verse 29 through 31. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will? But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. First century Judea, little birds were everywhere. No, they're still everywhere. No, they don't have much value because to my knowledge, the world has never been at risk of running out of little birds everywhere. Now they could be eaten, so they were worth something, but not much. They weren't hard to catch yourself. There were plenty, and so if somebody was gonna try to catch and sell sparrows, they couldn't charge much, and you couldn't buy just one. They literally did not make a coin small enough to just pay for one sparrow. The copper coin or farthing that Jesus mentions here is the least valuable Roman coin. It's called an Asarion, and it's just a little copper coin, and one sparrow was worth about half of that. So if you had one, you had to buy two sparrows. Jesus says, despite the low value of those birds, not one of them falls to the ground apart from the divine knowledge and willing consent of God. Now, follow what Jesus is saying here. Birds, Birds don't just flutter down and get sold, right? They're caught. They end up dying in the process. Like, I'm sure you could buy live sparrows, but what's the point? They're just gonna get plucked and eaten anyway. That's not usually what we point out with this text. It's easier to just say, well, all Jesus is saying here is God cares about little birds, so he cares about you. And that's true, we'll talk about that, but the little birds in this description are gonna die anyway, right? And the world doesn't care, at least they don't care much. And in context, Jesus has just said to his disciples, look, there's the potential that you're gonna face death for obedience to declaring the gospel and upholding biblical truth. And the world obviously is not gonna care much, but God cares. So isn't Jesus saying that even when you face the most extreme consequences, it's not happening outside the Father's knowledge and the Father's will and the Father's attention and the Father's care? He says in verse 30, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. You know how many hairs are on the human head? Not mine, you people. See, you know, it's still there, it's just really short. You know how many hairs are on the human head? Me neither. I had to look it up and I still don't know. Because the number is, well, somewhere between 100,000 and 150,000. And the reason we guess that is because they do a little section and estimate and nobody's gonna count those things. But God knows. You are made in His image, under His attention, designed by His purposeful will. Every follicle on this bald noggin was purposefully placed there as I was being formed in the womb and my loving Heavenly Father never lost count. So if I walk down right now and I pulled the tiniest hair out of your, you know, wonderful flowing locks, nothing in this room would change, but somewhere there is a divine counter in heaven that keeps track and says, well, that's one less on Larry. If you belong to Jesus, there is nothing that you can do. There's nothing that can happen to you that is going to ever be outside of his constant care and his supervision for you. Listen, he knows each hair on your head, meaning he knows each one of us better than any of us know ourselves. And he cares about us more than anyone else cares about us. You might, look, you might really lose some relationship with a friend or some relative, right? You might see your relationship with them decline as a result of declaring the gospel of Jesus and proclaiming biblical truth, but you will never experience losing that intense and intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus himself. being on mission, being on message, proclaiming the gospel and biblical truth to those around us, it might cause us to experience abandonment from the world, but it's never going to cause us to be abandoned by our heavenly father. We saw last week in the text that you're being conformed to Christ, right? You're getting closer to him through this experience. Why would we, want to deny that, right? By experiencing that same rejection that he experienced, we are becoming closer to him. If you don't proclaim the gospel of Jesus, you do have something to lose. You cannot claim to have a heart that is close to Jesus if your mouth doesn't proclaim him. Look at verses 32 and 33. Now this takes us into our next section of the text, but it should dispel for us any notion that you can withhold the gospel from the world, right? You can keep silent without affecting your relationship with Jesus. He says in verses 32 and 33, Therefore, whoever confesses, that is, acknowledges, me before men, him I will also confess or acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies, that means to disown or reject me before men, I will also deny or disown him before my Father who is in heaven. You either live for Jesus and declare him or you don't. You either acknowledge Jesus publicly or you are actively disavowing him, right? I know that there's some of us who want to resist this truth and go, no, it's just what's in my heart that matters. And to be sure, what is in your heart matters, but the Bible is consistent and clear that what we believe on the inside gets displayed in how we behave on the outside. In this case, believing the gospel of Jesus and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus go hand in hand. Jesus describes this as there is an inverse reality at work. Those who proclaim the gospel to the world are close to him and those who refuse are far from him. Listen to how Paul describes belief and confession, that is, faith in Jesus and proclaiming Jesus, in Romans 10, verses 8 through 10. He says, but what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach. that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. In other words, he's saying these things just go hand in hand. If you love Jesus, tell people about Jesus. And don't fear criticism because there is the day coming when truth and righteousness that you proclaim will be vindicated. Don't fear persecution because even the ultimate act of persecution, the death penalty, only ushers you into the arms of your Savior. Don't fear abandonment because He knows the very number of hairs on your head. He knows you better than you know yourself and He values you greatly. The world might leave you, but he will never leave you. If you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus, you know this. You claim to believe that this is true, so prove it. Do not allow yourself to be paralyzed by fear at the prospect of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Declare it like you believe it. Because faith conquers fear.