[Music]
all right welcome back let's now get
into matthew chapter 10
and verse number 40 through 42 just the
three final verses of matthew 10 where
jesus was completing his discourse to
the 12 as he was sending them out and
these are some really interesting verses
he who receives you receives me and he
receives me receives him who sent me
we've already talked about this the the
true follower of christ is so
intimately
connected to jesus
the new testament teaches that he that
joins himself to the lord is one spirit
with him all right uh that if you
receive the messenger
it's it's tantamount to receiving jesus
because the messenger so well represents
uh the one who sent him okay because we
are his obedient disciples now jesus
elaborates on that concept we just read
in matthew 10 40 he receives you
receives me and so on and so forth he
elaborates on that in verses 41 and 42
listing three categories of people whom
god sends
and can be received okay and the same
you know the overriding principle you
receive these folks it's just like
receiving jesus and it's just like then
ultimately receiving the father you're
getting the whole package
verse 41
he who receives a prophet in the name of
a prophet let's just stop right there
what does that mean receives a prophet
in the name of a prophet that is you're
not just
receiving a prophet because you
accidentally ran into him and he wanted
to buy a newspaper from you and you said
oh sure i'll sell you a newspaper or you
know some casual relationship no he's
talking about you're receiving a prophet
in the sense that you're acknowledging
that he is a prophet sent from god it
stems from a you know an inward belief
and so therefore you're embracing him
truly as a prophet sent from god that's
what it means to receive a prophet in
the name of a prophet he shall receive a
prophet's reward now what does that mean
well uh does that mean you'll receive
the identical reward as
any prophet whom god sends because you
happened to receive him you know one
time and maybe opened up your house or
whatever tim
no because that doesn't fit the rest of
scripture remember keep in mind the
context he who receives you receives me
and he receives me receives him who sent
me so the reward
is jesus and the father and so if you
receive a prophet who's sent by jesus
and the father you're going to receive
the same reward that he's going to
receive as a representative of the
father ultimately you receive jesus and
the father you get the package you get
eternal life you get your sins forgiven
okay that's what i think that has to
mean and then he goes on and he says he
who receives a righteous man in the name
of a righteous man again you're not just
an accidental relationship this is a
positive thing where you're embracing
him because wow you're righteous you've
been changed by god i see you obey his
commandments you are a disciple of
christ that's what makes you righteous
and so i'm embracing you therefore you
get jesus you get the father you
couldn't you know otherwise you'd reject
him if you weren't receiving jesus and
so you receive a righteous man's reward
well you know what does the righteous
man get in the end he receives eternal
life he gets heaven that's what you're
going to receive see that's the context
of this you get the representative if
you truly embrace representative you get
the blessing of the whole package
and then
verse number 42
who uh and whoever in the name of a
disciple gives to one of these little
ones even a cup of cold water to drink
so to that degree you are
uh embracing you're receiving a child a
child who is a disciple a child who is a
follower and you know to the degree that
you receive him is is really nothing
more than giving a cold water to drink
but again it's not just an accidental
thing you did it in the name of disciple
i'm giving you this drink little child
because you are a follower of jesus
you're his disciple that's what the word
says there you're as disciple and
therefore i want to express my love for
you i identify with you i give you a
drink of drink of water to that degree
you will receive you will not lose your
reward that is you're getting into the
package so what does this say to us it
says to us that you can't have god in
the father without having the body of
christ to be a lone ranger christian on
your own and say i don't identify with
anybody out there you know i have no
fellowship i'm just following god on my
own you are missing it by a million
miles
now this is not to say
that you should be jumping into any
church you know because most churches
are full of goats these days not true
sheep not true disciples
no way you're going to identify with
that you're not going to go to a church
where the sermons are watered down and
the guy's compromising the gospel and
and so forth you don't want to hang
around a bunch of people who are just
religious or have some thin veneer of
christianity but if you're a true
follower of christ you will identify
with you will long for fellowship with
the other true followers of christ the
other ones who uh who have died and come
back to life in jesus christ who have
found their lives by losing them for his
sake and for the gospel sake and i think
if you're a true disciple you know
exactly what i'm talking about because
there's many of our viewers who write to
us and say i have a hard time
identifying with the church i don't fit
in it's hard finding a good church in
fact we can't find a good church all the
churches within a 20 mile radius are
compromising and so forth
on major issues and so we found
ourselves in just a little bible study
or a little house church or something uh
you know
i think you can identify with what i'm
saying
you are born again and you just have
a a an identification and an instant
fellowship with other people who are
obviously
followers of jesus christ
okay so this should really assure you
that's there's nothing wrong with you
but there's everything right with you
you have changed and so here's the
overriding message though if if you have
jesus in the father you've got the true
body of christ as well you're a part of
a bigger family and when you you got the
whole package because
it is an entire package you cannot just
get jesus you cannot just get the father
you have to get them both and you cannot
just get jesus in the father you have to
also get their people
all right this is good stuff and uh you
know we know we've passed from life to
death because we love the brethren
that's the sheep
not the goats
now speaking of receiving a prophet next
time we're going to talk about a certain
prophet whom god sent specifically some
people received him some didn't
so i'll see you next time
[Music]
you