Is It Safe to Follow Jesus?

Order of Service

• Hymn — All Creatures of Our God and King
• Call to Worship — Psalm 19:1-6
• Hymn — All Creatures of Our God and King
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Belgic Confession
• Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 34:1-16
• Hymn — Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Preparation
• Hymn — The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want
• Sermon
• Hymn — Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
• Benediction — Hebrews 13:20-21
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: The Cost and Compassion of Following the Good Shepherd

Scripture: Matthew 9:35-38

I. The Compassion of Jesus for the Lost Sheep

A. Jesus travels throughout cities and villages teaching, proclaiming the kingdom, and healing — Matthew 9:35

B. In Matthew 8–9, Jesus demonstrates the coming kingdom through healing and miracles, showing what the kingdom of God will one day fully be

C. Jesus sees the crowds as harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, and has compassion — Matthew 9:36

1. Sheep are helpless without a shepherd; they wander and perish
2. Jesus does not blame the wandering sheep but has mercy on them
3. This reveals the heart of Jesus: merciful and compassionate toward his people

D. Jesus calls his disciples to pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest — Matthew 9:37-38

1. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few
2. God answers the prayer immediately: in Matthew 10:1, Jesus calls and commissions the twelve disciples
3. In Matthew 10:5, he sends them out — prayer and its answer in consecutive verses

II. The Cost of Following Jesus — Sent as Sheep Among Wolves

A. Jesus sends his disciples out as sheep in the midst of wolves — Matthew 10:16

1. The disciples expected the Messiah to come in power and defeat their enemies; they expected to be the wolves
2. Jesus corrects this: his people are the sheep, sent into danger to bring in more sheep
3. Jesus predicts the troubles his disciples will face, strengthening rather than shocking their faith when hardships arrive

B. Disciples share the fate of their master — Matthew 10:24-25

1. A disciple is not above his teacher
2. If they called the master Beelzebul, they will malign his household
3. To claim the name of Jesus is to be treated as Jesus was treated

C. God allows suffering among his people for their good

1. Comfort can lead to self-sufficiency and prayerlessness
2. Hardship drives believers to dependence on God — praying the Lord's Prayer with genuine need
3. Suffering specifically because we are Christians should be no surprise

III. The Reward and Warning — Eternal Stakes

A. The promise: Jesus will acknowledge his people before the Father — Matthew 10:32

1. On the day of judgment, Jesus will say of his own, "This one is mine — righteous — come into the presence of the holy Father"
2. This is why disciples take the field despite the cost

B. The warning: denying Jesus before men brings denial before the Father — Matthew 10:33

1. Every believer has failed at this — staying silent out of fear before friends or co-workers
2. This verse should sober and wake us up
3. Yet Jesus still offers to bring unworthy sinners into the Father's presence — this is grace

C. Saving life by losing it — Matthew 10:38-39

1. Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Jesus is not worthy of him
2. Whoever finds his life will lose it; whoever loses his life for Christ's sake will find it
3. The "American dream" mentality of self-fulfillment and comfort is exposed as vanity — natural disasters remind us that earthly treasures vanish in a moment

D. Peter's confession and correction — Matthew 16:13-24

1. Peter rightly confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God — Matthew 16:16
2. Immediately after, Peter rebukes Jesus for speaking of his death — Matthew 16:21-22
3. Jesus calls Peter "Satan" — Peter was thinking as man thinks, not as God thinks — Matthew 16:23
4. The lesson repeats: following Jesus looks like suffering, not triumph by worldly standards

IV. The Call to Action — What Is God Calling You to Do?

A. Example of John G. Paton, 19th-century Scottish missionary to the New Hebrides (Vanuatu)

1. Warned he would be eaten by cannibals; responded that it makes no difference whether eaten by cannibals or worms — what matters is serving and honoring the Lord Jesus
2. Paton buried his wife and child within weeks of arriving, faced constant danger
3. Today over 85% of Vanuatu's population is Christian — he was the seed that fell into the ground and died and bore much fruit

B. Following Jesus is not safe, but it is good

1. Christians are persecuted and imprisoned around the world — this is God's plan, not plan B
2. Satan whispers about what will be lost; God promises treasure that cannot be taken away
3. The cost is only temporary treasure; the reward is eternal

C. Personal application

1. Are you serving in your church? Reaching your community? Witnessing to co-workers?
2. Have you held back from God's calling out of fear of what it will cost?
3. God has been perfectly clear what it will cost — and perfectly clear what awaits on the other side
4. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die"