Sermon No. 3563: Cheering Congratulation
Exposition: MATTHEW 10:37-42.
37. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Christ must be first. He herein claims the highest place in every human breast. Could He have done so had He not been Divine? No mere Prophet would talk in this fashion! Yet we are not sensible of the slightest egotism in His speech, neither does it occur to us that He goes beyond His line. We are conscious that the Son of God has a right to speak thus, and only He.
We must earnestly beware of making idols of our dearest ones by loving them more than Jesus. We must never set them near the Throne of our King. We are not worthy to dwell with Christ, above, or even to be associated with Him here, if any earthly object is judged by us to be worthy to rival the Lord Jesus.
Father and mother, son and daughter—we would do anything to please them—but, as opposed to Jesus, they stand nowhere and cannot, for an instant, be allowed to come in the way of our supreme loyalty to our Lord.
38. And he that takes not his cross, and follows after Me, is not worthy of Me. Here our Lord, for the second time in this Gospel brings in His death. At first He spoke of being taken from them—but now of the Cross. There is a cross for each one which he may regards as "his cross." It may be that the cross will not take us up, but we must take it up, by being willing to endure anything or everything for Christ's sake. We are not to drag the cross after us, but to take it up! "Dragged crosses are heavy; carried crosses grow light." Bearing the cross, we are to follow after Jesus—to bear a cross without following Christ is a poor affair. A Christian who shuns the cross is not Christian—but a cross-bearer who does not follow Jesus equally misses the mark! Is it not singular that nothing is so essential to make a man worthy of Christ as bearing his cross in His tracks? Yet it is assuredly so. Lord, You have laid a cross upon me—do not permit me to shirk it, or shrink from it!
39. He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for My sake shall findit. If to escape from death, he gives up Christ, and so finds a continuance of this poor mortal life—by that very act he loses true life. He gains the temporal at the expense of the eternal! On the other hand, he who loses life for Christ's sake does in the highest sense find life, life eternal, life infinitely blessed! He makes the wisest choice who lays down his life for Jesus and finds life in Jesus!
40. He that receives you receives Me, and he that receives Me receives Him who sent Me. What blessed union and hallowed communion exist between the King and His servants! The words before us are especially true of the Apostles to whom they were first addressed. Apostolic teaching is Christ's teaching. To receive the 12 is to receive their Lord Jesus, and to receive the Lord Jesus is to receive God, Himself. In these days certain teachers despise the Epistles which were written by Apostles, and they are, themselves, worthy to be despised for so doing! This is one of the sure tests of soundness in the faith. "He that is of God hears us," says John. This bears hard on modern critics who in a hypocritical manner pretend to receive Christ and then reject His Inspired Apostles!
Lord, teach me to receive Your people into my heart, that thus I may receive You. And as to the Doctrine which I hold, be pleased to establish me in the Apostolic faith.
41. He that receives a Prophet in the name of a Prophet shall receive a Prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. Men may receive a Prophet as a patriot, or a poet—that is not the point in hand. The Prophet must be received in his highest character, "in the name of a Prophet," and for the sake of his Lord! And then the Lord, Himself, is received, and He will reward the receiver in the same way in which His Prophet is rewarded. If we cannot do all the good deeds of a righteous man, we can yet partake in his happiness by having fellowship with him, and by uniting with him in vindicating the faith and comforting his heart. To receive into our homes and our hearts God's persecuted servants is to share their reward. To maintain the cause and character of good men is to be numbered with them in God's account. This is all of Grace, since the deed is so little and the recompense so large!
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