Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

It’s amazing how refreshing cold water is on a hot day. Many people say we’re supposed to drink 8 glasses of water today, which most of us ignore. But on a hot day, especially if we are outside, we can easily drink way more than 8 glasses. The difference, of course, it the atmosphere we’re in. As we visit people in our communities, we are going to enter different atmospheres. Some will turn us away. Some will embrace us, and embrace Christ.

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 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 person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (Mat 10:32-42 ESV)

Whoever confesses Jesus before men, Jesus will confess before the Father (v. 32). We cannot know the Father except through Jesus. This statement was applicable in two ways to the disciples.

1. Jesus was reminding His disciples to be faithful witnesses. Our faith ought not be a private thing. We ought not argue about religion, but we ought always to have honest conversions about Christ.
2. Jesus was reminding them how important it was to tell others the gospel. If the people they preached to would confess Christ, they would be saved! But if they would not confess Jesus, Jesus would not claim them before God (v. 33).

Don’t confuse Christianity with some wishy-washy New Age religion of tolerance. There is only one way to God, and that is through God’s Son: Jesus Christ. This is a divisive truth. Not everyone will accept it, and many will oppose us because of it (v. 34-39). When we make Christ our everything, we see everything in light of Him. We see our relationships with our parents in light of our relationship with Jesus. We see our relationship with our spouse in light of our relationship with Jesus. We see our relationships with our kids in light of our relationship with Jesus. Seeing these relationships in light of our relationship with Jesus causes us to be a better son, a better daughter, a better spouse, a better father or mother, because when we are devoted to Christ above all things, we love people as Jesus loves them.

How a person lives tells us a lot about where their faith lies. When we visit people, we often know right away whether a person knows Christ or not (v. 40). Those who don’t know Christ don’t receive us. They tell us to leave. They argue with us. They are not encouraged by our presence. Those who know Christ receive us and bless us (v. 41). Many understand this verse as referring to the disciples. But the disciples weren’t send out as prophets, and they certainly weren’t righteous. No, I think it’s referring back to Jesus, because whoever receives us, receives Jesus. Prophets and righteous men give rewards consistent with their ability. Think of the reward that Christ gives! Christ richly blesses us. How? (v. 32)

Just as Christ blesses us, we, also, are to bless one another (v. 42). The cold water given can represent one of many things. We give the cold water not out of niceness to one another, but out of devotion to Christ. The emphasis is that we are giving to a fellow disciple of Christ. We often think of visitation as an outreach strategy, but is equally a way to bless and be blessed by fellow believers.