The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 10 Chapter (AMP)
The Twelve Disciples Instructions for Service
Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Now these are the names of the twelve apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives): first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); Thomas and Matthew (Levi) the tax collector; [c]James the son of [d]Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus (Judas, not Iscariot);
Simon the Cananaean (Zealot), and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.
Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them: “Do not go among the Gentiles, and do not go into a city of the Samaritans;
but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Do not take gold, or silver, or [even] copper money in your money belt,
or a provision bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker deserves his support.
Whatever city or village you enter, ask who in it is worthy [who welcomes you and your message], and stay at his house until you leave [that city].
As you go into the house, give it your greeting [that is, ‘Peace be to this house’].
If [the family living in] the house is worthy [welcoming you and your message], give it your [blessing of] [e]peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God]. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.
Whoever does not welcome you, nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or city, [f]shake the dust [of it] off your feet [in contempt, breaking all ties].
I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of [g]Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city [since it rejected the Messiah’s messenger].
“Listen carefully: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves [have no self-serving agenda].
Beware of men [whose nature is to act in opposition to God], for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues;
and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.
But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you within that [very] hour;
for it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will rise up and rebel against their parents and cause them to be put death.
And you will be hated by everyone because of [your association with] My name, but it is the one who has patiently persevered and endured to the end who will be saved.
“When they persecute you in one city [because of your faith in Me], flee to the next; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
2“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a bond-servant above his master.
It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the bond-servant like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul (Satan), how much more [will they speak evil of] the members of his household.
“So do not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed [at the judgment], or kept secret that will not be made known [at the judgment].
What I say to you in the dark (privately), tell in the light (publicly); and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops [to many people].
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two little sparrows sold for a copper coin? And yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered [for the Father is sovereign and has complete knowledge].
So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
“Therefore, the one who confesses and acknowledges Me before men [as Lord and Savior, affirming a state of oneness with Me], that one I will also confess and acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven.
But the one who denies and rejects Me before men, that one I will also deny and reject before My Father who is in heaven.
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword [of division between belief and unbelief].
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and a man’s enemies will be the members of his [own] household [when one believes and another does not].
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he who does not take his [l]cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me.
Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
3“He who receives and welcomes you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.
He who receives and welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous (honorable) man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives to one of these little ones [these who are humble in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!
Content source: Amplified version of the Holy Bible
Building an army
Perhaps the Disciples were unaware of it at the time, but what Jesus was doing was building an army to fight the Gentiles and the corrupt establishment.
The call to arms however had to be stealthy.
Rallying support in the outer communities, beyond the full reach of Gentile control was a smart strategy.
The Disciples needed to be able to move quickly, spread the word of God, all the while being seen as poor (perhaps mad) beggars. They were well trained for this.
This knight wonders if a similar army is rising now - an army to wage war on the evil Elite?
SK.
Jesus gave His disciples the auction to function like Him,to go into the world and preached the gospel to every lost sheep(unbelievers). Telling them what they would face/encounter but by faith and endurance,will overcome the world.
We also need to act like the disciples,to preach about Jesus to everyone so that they too can be born again in Him.
After the empowerment is the call to operation. Reading this chapter breeds some sets of questions in my heart:
When the Lord gave authority to the disciples, he sent them out. The call to go out is still on us today, have we fulfill the call?
Thank you @reliquary for this great insight.
@uyobong, it is true that there must be an empowerment before a release. It is therefore expected that the empowered live up to expectations of impacting others too. Thank you for telling me about @reliquary
Very true brother!!
To a great extent, we haven't made good and maximum use of the empowerment we have been endowed with by God.
But I pray for grace to carry on the task from the Lord.
This part excites me a lot, for Sirknight I have done the same, following the steps of Jesus. he has put apostles around the world to spread the gospel
The Knight is indeed carrying out his tasks judiciously.
But I think the church still needs more hands in taking the block chain message global.
I pray for more grace and wisdom upon our Knight and Apostles!
Jesus lived before us, but for those who had an encounter with His disciples also saw that the have also known Jesus Christ. Since one way to God reveals Himself to man is through interactions. Nice one.
verse 7: in this context it is made clear that the preaching of the kingdom of heaven must be accompanied by the manifestation of God's power against the forces of sin, sickness and satan. It is good to meditate daily on the word of God. Blessings.
Here mention is made of the 12 disciples who accompanied him during his earthly ministry, and Judas Iscariot is mentioned as the one who betrayed him, so it would be for the story recorded in the words of the disciples who come to us inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is given a list of instructions that the disciples had to follow, they were forbidden to enter the Gentile peoples, nor the Samaritans, making reference to the knowledge and revelation of the delegated authority of Christ. This order must continue to this day. the gospel must go wherever God wants him to go not to where we believe he has sent it, God always has faithful men and women who receive the word and who help in the ministry to those God has sent. Helping those who serve the Lord always brings their reward, but we must be sure by their fruits that they are true disciples who resemble the Master.
We should inculcate the lifestyle of always blessing the lives of true men of God. There's a great blessing that accompanies such acts.
Twelve men responded to the call. They were Jews, uneducated commoners, and simple men of faith who gave up everything to be followers of Christ. Jesus spent three years training these men to be leaders. Jesus’ plan was to eventually have the disciples take over and carry on the work He had started .
Age, qualifications and status quo has never been a guarantee for God choosing any man. God looks at your availability. For any man who is willing and available, God will always use.
Little wonder the Bible says that;
My memory verse for the day "disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a bond-servant above his master."
God bliss @sirknight and steemchurch forever
Wow, this is an amazing project and a conscious effort to registering the scripture on the blockchain. @uyobong told me that with @reliquary, I can cover the entire scripture before the year ends. Indeed, am enjoying the reading as well as gleaning from the lessons of others. Thanks to @sirknight for this initiative. @reliquary is now my daily scripture reading plan.