R1623 This, We Must Do

God has an encouraging word for you and me today, through the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton, and a message called This We Must Do, kind of discovering the imperatives in the Christian life. We'll head to Matthew 10 in just a moment, but know that we're here for you, connecting right now at www.tewonline.org.

That's our website, www.tewonline.org. Now, Dr. Don Wilton. We have great things to look forward to. God is on his throne. I want you to turn in your Bibles today to Matthew and Chapter 10. Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 10, and I want to read to you just two verses.

Amazing. Matthew, Chapter 10, and verse 32. This is what Jesus said. And I want to just emphasize, I did not say this. Your church didn't say this.

Not a single human being said this. It's not, doesn't come from this comes from heaven. This comes from the Lord Jesus.

He said this. So we've got to do business with him on this statement. We've got to ask him.

We've got to try and find out what it is that he's saying to us. This is what Jesus said. Verse 32. He said, whoever acknowledges me before men, acknowledge that person before my father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before people, I will disown that person before my father in heaven. Now, may the Lord give us an understanding. In many ways, and I trust that you will understand what I'm saying to you today, I seriously contemplated taking the pulpit out this morning.

I really did. And just having a chair and sitting down and having a chat with my church family. Just having a chat. I do not believe that this was preached. This is not a preaching statement. This is not a picture of Jesus up in a pulpit sounding forth over a vast congregation of people, so to speak, in our understanding.

This wasn't Jesus standing up on Sunday morning on television, trying to get to as many people as he can. No, let me tell you what happened here. And you have to go back to, and I'm going to be very brief, but I just want to tell you this. You've got to understand this.

I want you to see the picture. The picture here is of the Lord Jesus Christ with just a few people who had followed him through a whole variety of experiences at the side of Jesus on this earth. I remember Jesus was born and he grew up and then he arrived on the scene baptized by John and then he went out and started calling his, who were they? Disciples.

Peter and James. Some of them were fishermen and tax collectors. And he said, come follow me. And these were the people who said, we're going to follow you. And in this picture here, we find Jesus, and please understand, I'm just putting our understanding on this, but I see Jesus maybe sitting on a rock on a mountainside and he has these followers with him.

We know them as the disciples. And if you had gone to any of those disciples and said to them, excuse me, what do you believe about Jesus? I'm going to go so far as to tell you, I guarantee you, because we read about it, they would have said he, Jesus, is the Christ, the son of the living God.

That's what they would have said. They wouldn't claim to understand everything about him. They wouldn't have been able to explain how, why, all of the intricacies, but they knew that he was God. They loved him. They'd watched him. They'd sort of, they'd seen him heal the sick. They'd seen how he talked to people, how he related, how he dealt with opposition, how he handled the Romans and the politics. They watched him. They were with him all the time.

They even watched him turn water into wine. I mean, you name all the experiences that these followers who were now sitting around him had seen, had experienced, they were believers. A believer is a follower of Jesus, just like you, just like me. I'm a believer. Now I'm just like them.

I'm just like them. You know, I jostle for a seat closer to him and I'm going to beat you to the top seat. And I'm going to have my doubts and I'm going to get a little offhand-ish and I'm going to get out of line and out of turn and doubt whether or not he's going to be able to really feed all those hungry people until I actually see it happen. I'm going to struggle with all those things, but boy, do I know that this is my Jesus. He's God.

So boil it all down. You would go and ask them, say, who is he? They'd say, well, he's God.

Well, what about him? They'd say, God can do it. God can do it. You ask those followers, is there anything he cannot do?

They'd say, are you kidding me? He can do it. God can do this.

We've said we've seen it. So now we get up here to the end of chapter nine and Jesus, Jesus, by the way, the Bible says Jesus was out there. He wasn't in the church. This is not a picture of Jesus in the church. Jesus, with these followers, this is not on Sunday morning.

This is like on Monday afternoon, maybe. And Jesus is out there and he's going into the marketplaces and the business and he stops off at Chick-fil-A. And he picks up a sandwich and he goes and gets his motor car fixed and he visits the local school and he watches the kids play ball.

This is what he's doing here. Went through all the towns and he's going through all the towns. Jesus, Jesus looks and he sees all the people. And the Bible just tells us that he had compassion on them.

Why? Because Jesus said they were helpless. They were like sheep without a shepherd. He watched how they yelled at each other on the streets. He watched how they got into fits because this person wore a mask and that one didn't. He watched as they yelled obscenities to each other in public places.

And flash rude signs to each other out of their motor car windows. He watched how they wrote horrible letters and were mean. He watched how they struggled. He watched how they suffered with COVID. He watched how they were locked up and shut away and nobody could go and visit them. He watched how so many died and so many people grieved. He watched how people were concerned about the stock market. He watched how people were laid off from their jobs and how they were disappointed by their sons.

He watched how their marriages fell apart. He watched their loneliness and their joys. And Jesus said he looked on the crowds and he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. I see you people. Do we see our community? And then Jesus made that statement.

Steve Wise was speaking about it just a moment. He said, you know, there are lots of people out here. The harvest is plentiful.

The problem is the laborers are few. The people who really get it. Every time someone comes up to me to have a big complaint about something, I think they don't get it. With love in my heart. Show me a congregation of believers that get it.

Jesus brings the congregation together, the believers, just individual people like you and me. Like, I mean, this bunch. By the way, we're a bunch. We're not more than what we think we are.

That's why anyone's welcome here. And so when you get into chapter 10, Jesus calls his 12 disciples. I mean, we're told who it is.

I didn't make that up. He calls them together, sits them around next to the rock, whatever it is, sitting on a hillside. He gathers them around and he says, you know that I'm God. You've followed me. You understand the struggle. I'm now going to send you out. Because of your community, your people.

Out. And I want to tell you what you need to look like and sound like and behave like and act like when you go. And Jesus changes the theme from God can do this to this you must do.

Jesus was looking at them and he was saying to them, church, believers, I really believe that you believe in me. I love me. And I do everything. But this, you need to know from me, Jesus said. You've got to do this. Don't palm yourself on God.

This is what you do. So we get to this very troubling statement. He said, if you confess me publicly before the helpless and the hopeless, I will confess you publicly before my father. But if you don't, I won't. Now, if he won't do it, it means that those who don't, don't know him. Jesus will cannot deny his children in front of the father because that has already happened.

That is the work of salvation and it's eternal. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message from Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment. But he wants me to remind you we're connecting, as I mentioned at the beginning of the program, online at TEWonline.org. That's the place to connect with his new book about Dr. Billy Graham and so many other resources.

Let us know that we'd love to pray with you and for you on our prayer line at 866-899-WORD, that's 866-899-9673. Now back to today's teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. So we've got to unpack and ask ourselves to help us, what does this mean? And there's never been a greater statement, my beloved friends, than today.

I'll tell you why. A lot of things can be said about COVID, if we use COVID. This is our day. But one thing that's happening during COVID is there's a great sifting of the church going on.

Did you know that? You can expect in the days and months that lie ahead. I believe, as your pastor, that the church, and I'm using the broad scheme, the church was getting far too comfortable. It's just like, and COVID's coming, and there's a great sifting going on, there will be a falling away. I promise you, if you haven't yet, you will encounter people who once, before COVID, always came to church will no longer do it.

They found their excuse. And there's a cry all over America because the hunger is there. And God's word stands. Jesus said, just to these 12, said, you love me, you believe I can do it all. Now this you must do.

You got to go out and you got to acknowledge me at your assignment, publicly. I just want to put this on the table. So what is there about Jesus? What does Jesus give to us? What has he done for us? Can I just give you, number one, he's given us forgiveness.

All agreed? Jesus died on the cross. Because of that, I'm forgiven. It's just amazing.

Don't ask me to explain that, it's just wonderful. Number two, he's given us reconciliation. Jesus, this Jesus, means because he died on the cross, means that I'm now reconciled to God. Wow, God, God, me? Me, God, North Pole, South Pole, A, Z, full of sin, no sin, and Jesus died, I'm now back with God.

Wow. Number three gives to you and me a new beginning. You know how many people are looking for a new beginning, folks? You know how many people could line up and say, you know, if I could just wind the clock back. Jesus lets us wind the clock back. He does it, gives us a new heart.

You can be, have been the worst. He'll give you a brand, you'll start fresh, day one, Jesus. What does he do? Number four gives us purpose. Most people are looking for meaning. What does it mean? What do I live for?

That's purpose. Number five, he guides us. He gives us guidance because the Spirit of God comes into us. You and I these days, precious friends, I can't tell you how many times I've got on my face before the Lord. Just cried out to him, Lord, what can I do?

What can I lead my people, would you guide me? What's right? What's wrong? How much? Too little. How about this? When that? Up this.

And he always comes through. When we closed a year ago, I'm not putting this on me. This is a team thing. I'm just asked the ministry team. Walking down, I just went for a walk. God spoke to me and said, take the services to Barnett Park. Now, does that sound like lightning? Is it like I invented that?

No. But for some reason, we hadn't said it. I walked back into my office, got back with the ministry team and I said, God's told me we need to start worshipping in Barnett Park. Now, you explained to me how we could have been there for 21 straight weeks through the summer and not have one bit of rain, no wind, no adverse conditions for the entire time.

And the day we opened back up in October, the floods came. Any further questions here? Let's give God a hand. That's what I mean by guidance.

That's what I mean by guidance. It's us. Me talking with the church council and our leaders and our wonderful ministry team. What does Jesus do?

He gives us life off to death. We've had so many funerals, folks. I was preaching at a funeral of precious lady on Wednesday. Three this week.

It's nonstop. How do you do funerals? Talk to families, grandkids, if it weren't for Jesus.

What would we talk about? Where would our grief be? See, I'm a believer. Jesus has done this. So what did Jesus say? Well, the first thing he said is we must acknowledge him before people.

This you must do. What does it mean to acknowledge him? The word there is to confess. And it really carries with it two meanings.

Number one, it means to affirm who Jesus is. Jesus said in front of other people out there, did you get that? In your office.

Did you get that? In the schoolroom. At the restaurant.

That's what he said. Publicly. Affirm Jesus. What are you affirming? You're affirming three things about him. Number one, that he is God. Number two, that he is Savior. Number three, that he is Lord.

That is the three things you affirm about Jesus publicly. He's God. He's Savior. He saved the world. But he's Lord. He's the boss. What he says goes.

Any further questions here? Or do we need to call another church meeting to decide whether or not what he says is Lord? There are churches, not ours.

I'm so thankful. There are churches all over America, destroying themselves because they're calling meetings to decide what they think. He's Lord. My job, our job, is just to ask God what he thinks.

Now that's a big enough job, amen? And that takes all of us. That's why everybody's valued. That's why we do speak. That's why we do share. That's why we do congregation.

That's why we're a family. We value everybody. But you not only affirm who Jesus is, to confess him, to acknowledge him, means that you have to identify what he's done. You don't only confirm who he is. You identify what he's done publicly. What has he done publicly? Well, I gave you the list.

Reconciliation, change, new beginning, life after death, peace, purpose, love, joy, meaning. What has Jesus done publicly? That means in your office. Did you get that?

That means in your home. That means he said, excuse me just a minute. Did you get the part where he said before men? Jesus let us know that there is no such thing as a secret service agent in the kingdom of God. Jesus said it. We've got to do this publicly. We've got to do it before our fellow believers. We've got to confess Jesus before one another. We've got to confess Jesus before serious searches. Do you know how many people out there are searching?

They're just waiting for someone to show them publicly. And we've got to do this before hostile pagans. And if you don't think for a minute that in America today there are not hostile pagans out to get God out, you were born under a rock. This is Jesus speaking to us. We get it.

We understand. Why are we so silent? Well, there are lots of reasons for silence. Persecution. How about embarrassment? I will tell you openly, unashamedly, the number of times I've just felt embarrassed because I'm looking, acting like a Christian. Come on, guys. Just admit it.

It's real. 2 Timothy, God's word says in chapter 1 verse 8, do not be ashamed of the gospel. So on the one hand, Jesus says we have to. We've got to acknowledge Jesus publicly before one another.

On the other hand, he says don't disown Jesus publicly before one another. This is what I want us to take away with this. Just three things. Number one, ask him to help you talk like him publicly. Number two, ask God to help you walk like him. Well, carry yourself like Jesus.

And here's a third one. Ask God to help you behave like him. So talk like him, walk like him, behave like him. It's been tremendous biblical teaching from Dr. Wilton today, but I pray you've heard more than just the truth of God proclaimed. I pray you've understood the love of God reaching out to you through this broadcast.

Would you take a moment as Dr. Wilton comes now into the studio out of the sanctuary and shares these words with us. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just prayed with Dr. Wilton to give your life to Jesus Christ or rededicate your life, welcome to the family of God. We would love to walk with you in the next steps.

Put some resources in your hands. Just give us a call. 866-899. Word is the phone number. That's 866-899-9673. Dr. Wilton has resources he wants you to have if you've given your life to Christ or rededicated your life.

You can also do that online at www.tewonline.org. That's where you'll find out about the great new book from Dr. Wilton coming up next. On our new website you can reserve a copy of Dr. Wilton's brand new book, Saturdays with Billy. In Saturdays with Billy, Pastor Don shares heartwarming stories of his times with Mr. Graham.

Just as Billy's words changed Don's life, they can change our lives today. A testament to a man who leaned on God's grace into eternity. Discover their powerful friendship at www.tewonline.org.

We're so excited about that new book again. Details at www.tewonline.org. And while you're there on our website www.tewonline.org, sign up for the daily encouraging word email. It's a wonderful devotional jumpstart to your day from Dr. Wilton. You can do it right there on our website at www.tewonline.org or call for more information at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673.