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Suggested Reading: Matthew 10

Jesus sends out His twelve disciples with words of instruction, words of warning, words of comfort and He trains them in the prerequisites of being His disciple:

1. He gives them authority over evil spirits and diseases. Jesus equips His disciples with power over evil before He sends them out.
2. He instructs them to start where they are. They should avoid starting out with grand ideas of saving the whole world out there. They should start with the people they know –their own people. Later, they will be sent elsewhere as we read in the book of Acts, but starting in Jerusalem.
3. The essential part of their message is the Kingdom of God. They are to proclaim that “God is with us”. God became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is the central message. Not them or their ministry. If Jesus is not the central message then they cannot claim to be sent by Him.
4. He instructs them on the actions they should take. They should heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and drive out the demons. When He instructs, He also equips with power to carry out His instructions.
5. They are not to charge money for preaching the message and healing people. “Freely you have received. Freely give.”
6. They shouldn’t get bogged down with unnecessary equipment. They are themselves the only equipment God needs.
7. They shouldn’t allow worries about their daily needs to get the better of them. God will supply them with all that they need by bringing people across their path who will tend to their needs. Paul never asked for money while preaching. He never concluded his epistles with “send me money so I can preach.”  However, God Himself inspired one of the poorest congregations, the church in Philippi, to supply Paul’s needs. And so Paul’s help came from a most unexpected corner. It wasn’t the rich who supplied Paul in this instance, but the poor. Paul trusted the God who supplies us according to His glorious riches. The letter written to the Philippians is a thankful response from Paul for their generosity towards him. In the way it happened, there was no mistaking that God brought it all about and therefore, Paul generously thanked the Philippians while giving glory to God for what He has done.
8. They should find themselves a place to stay where they would be welcomed. They are to stay there until their work is done in that particular area. They shouldn’t be shopping around for the most luxurious accommodation, but stay where the door was opened for them.
9. They should not force their message down the throats of their listeners. God doesn’t coerce us from without, but transforms us from within. After they’ve delivered the message, the responsibility rests with the listener to either accept or reject the message. But should they reject the message, those very words they rejected will testify against them on that day. They will be without excuse. Conversion of an unbeliever is a miraculous act of new birth brought about by the working of the Holy Spirit on someone’s heart. We, as the messengers of God, cannot make this happen. It is God at work in the heart of a person. This is a task as great as the creation of this universe is. So, although we can pray for those who heard the message, we cannot make them accept the word. That is God’s work. When we share the Gospel we shouldn’t have preconceived expectations of how people will respond. We should just do our part and let God do the rest. He is mighty to save.
10. Jesus warned them. As they preached the Gospel they will be entering enemy territory. They should be aware of his schemes, but should never revert to his underhanded ways in order to win people over. They should, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2). They should be preaching with clear consciences both in the sight of God and of man. Remember that God will never condone lies and deception in order to win someone for Christ. We cannot claim to be on God’s side and use the enemy’s techniques for God’s purposes. Jesus said the devil is the father of lies. As they preach there will be resistance from those who will intend to hurt or stop them from preaching. However, whatever the enemy intends for evil, God will turn around for good and the very resistance will serve to advance God’s kingdom. The fact that they succeeded in spite of all the resistance, will show the power of God in action even more clearly. An example of this can be seen in the book of Acts. The Christians in Jerusalem were persecuted and they fled the area. But the very dispersion of the Christians led to the fact that the Gospel was preached to an even wider audience since they all shared the Gospel wherever they went. God never runs out of options in the midst of adversity. In fact, through adversity, His power shines even brighter.
11. Jesus comforted them. He told them not to fear men. They should not worry about what they would say in their own defence should they be brought before the courts. At the time when it is needed, the Spirit of the Father will speak through them.
12. Jesus explained the effects the message will have as the Gospel is preached. The message of God’s kingdom will cause divisions within families. Those who bring the message will be hated, but that should not phase them and cause them to despair.
13. Jesus taught them how to react when they are persecuted. Don’t hang around in a place where the message is not welcomed and get into fights and arguments. Move on to other places and preach the message there.
14. Jesus puts things in perspective for them. They will always be under Him. As they receive power over evil spirits and diseases, they should never be tempted to become puffed up. They should not lose sight of the fact that they only have the power because He gave it to them. And since people persecuted Him, they will not hesitate to persecute His followers. They should not allow fear of people to keep them from proclaiming the message.  By keeping their eyes on their Master, they will be free to preach with a clear conscience before God and men, knowing that God alone has the power to save.
15. Jesus made their value clear to them. They are precious in God’s sight. Although they are part of the greater scheme of things, they are individually important to God and He even numbers the hair on their heads –that’s intense and detailed interest. If God cares enough to notice how many hairs we have on our heads, there is nothing else about us that He is not interested in.
16. Jesus told them not to be ashamed to confess Him to people. There is no such thing as an undercover follower of Christ.
17. He helped them understand the effects of His presence here on earth. His message will cause division to the point where even a person’s closest family members will become his enemy because of Jesus. Jesus made sure that they understood what they are letting themselves in for. Jesus does not have fine print for His followers. All was made clear from the outset. He did not catch them with flowery promises of prosperity, permanent peace and trouble-free days only to later reveal to them the cost of their discipleship. He never spoke in secret.
18. Jesus then went into more detail about the cost of being His disciple. They will have to let all other relationships take a backseat to their relationship with Him. Our relationships are only valuable if they are placed in their proper perspective to our relationship with Christ. Relationships with people should not undermine our relationship with Christ. Some people confuse this personal relationship with Jesus with the relationship they have with their church denomination and its leaders. Jesus is not talking here about loyalty to a religious institution, but loyalty to Him and His teachings.
19. Jesus warned them that they will often have to give up personal comforts to be His disciple. When we seek personal comfort above all else, we cannot be His disciple. When we always want things to go our way, we will not be able to be His follower. Following Him meant walking as Jesus did and He lived a life of unselfishness. Instead of clinging to our life as we know it, we have to get out of our comfort zone and receive the life He wants us to have. “Whoever loses their life for my sake, will find it.” When we live like Jesus did –selflessly –we will find a most rewarding way of life.
20. Jesus then shared with them the promise to those who do receive the message of salvation and welcomes the messengers. He promises that they will be rewarded by God Himself. Since I come from a background where these words were taken out of context to compel people to receive the church’s “apostles” with no questions asked, I would just like to put the words in context with the other Gospel accounts. When Jesus says we should receive the message and the messengers, it is only inasmuch as these messengers are indeed bringing the message of Christ. If they are bringing any other message, even if they claim to be His messengers, we should reject them. Paul said that even angels will be condemned for bringing another gospel message. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about Jesus Christ. It is not about a ministry and a church as I was accustomed to hearing. Paul also said (as a true messenger of Christ) that they do not preach about themselves. They preach about Christ. I was raised to believe I had to be a member of this denomination to be saved. But Peter said that there is only one name given under heaven by which men can be saved. And that name is Jesus. It is not the name of a denomination. If someone brings a message that promises salvation because of allegiance to a religious institution and faith in a ministry, he is a liar. Don’t receive him or his message. Scripture warns us to test everything that is said. This is not a call from Jesus to be gullible and receive anyone who says he is a messenger of Christ.

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