Sermon 49 Matthew 10.40-42 A Cup Of Water For Jesus

Many Christians in life struggle with what I call the inferior Christian complex. This is a state of mind where people wrongly begin to compare themselves to other believers. Thoughts like: that Christian seems to have everything go right for them, or that Christian seems to find evangelism effortless, or that Christian is extraordinarily gifted compared to me. So they begin to think of themselves as inferior, of lesser value, of low station, without great gifts, without talents or influence.

Brothers and sisters, to compare ourselves to others in such a way is not only to sin with envy, but it is also to allow ourselves to be irrationally overcome with discouragement where we need not. For has not God placed you where you are and given you what you have? Has he not gifted and allotted to you a measure of faith in his kingdom? Psalm 138:8 says, "The Lord will accomplish what concerns me." And yet these doubts make many Christians underwhelmed by their station in the church, and they question what possible reward will await them in the age to come when Christ is revealed from heaven. They say, my resume has hardly an entry on it. I want to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant," but I am worried all I will really get is the equivalent of a plastic participation trophy that kids get at prize givings to boost their morale, but not a real reward. Oh yes, every Christian perhaps knows such thoughts as this.

So what does Jesus have to say to this? Well, Jesus says plenty enough to do away with inferior Christian thinking entirely. He hits the delete button. He shows us that there are no trifling works of service in his kingdom. Janitors and CEOs will share alike in the kingdom of God. Those who lead the charge into battle will share their reward with those who strapped on their armour, with those who settled their horses, with those who sharpened and polished their swords.

You see, we know that God searches the intents and motives of his people's hearts. It has not been the extent of our influence and our service of Christ that counts. It is the heart of devotion, and even the small things that matter to him. Jesus makes the barrier for contribution to his kingdom nearly non-existent here. He makes it accessible to all believers. He wants us to know how rewards for service function in his upside-down kingdom, where the first shall be last and the last first.

Service of God in Christ is accessible, friends, to the great and to the small. As we read in that Psalm earlier, both to the ambitious and the reserved and the shy. Whatever capacity we have, Christ will tell us that even offering a cup of cold water in his name will not go unrewarded. Perhaps our services are considered by man to be menial, of no importance. But to God, whatever is done in his name and for his glory will not lose its place in his book.

So J.C. Ryle put it this way. He says, "The Lord Jesus never forgets any of his people. He will say to many who little expect it, in the resurrection morning, 'I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink.'"

And so we land this morning again on the theme of discipleship in Matthew 10, but not from the perspective of dying to self as we saw in the last portion last week, but instead from the aspect of the disciple's reward. How will God in Christ reward the Christian for their service of him in the life to come?

Disciples' rewards come from both the perspective of the served and the server. So imagine a coin. On the one side, we have Matthew 10:40-41 here. Flip the coin, and we have Matthew 10:42. On the one side of the coin, we have Jesus showing us the rewards for those who receive the ministry efforts of others with open hearts and homes. Flip the coin and we go to Matthew 10:41, and there Jesus confirms that to the one who serves him, no work performed in his name, no matter how small you might think of it, will go unnoticed and unrewarded.

The implication of this passage is going to be that we ought to both receive from others gospel ministry and be rewarded by God, and serve Jesus and his church diligently. So we both are serving and being served and being rewarded in both by God.

Let us get into some details of the passage now. First of all, see how Jesus closely identifies the labours of his disciples with his labours as commissioned by God the Father. He says here in Matthew 10:40, "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me." What Jesus says here is that any home or heart receptive to the advances of a disciple are those who are swept up in the mission of God through the Son, Jesus Christ. God the Father sent God the Son, and the Son sends disciples, so that by receiving them, others may come to know the Son and consequently come to know the Father. The Father through the Son binds himself to yours and my activity in Christ's name. Isn't that amazing? As we are received or rejected in the world, so is he. And so Christ is fulfilling his mission to bless the nations vicariously through his disciples. Christ affirms that the way this gospel will spread is through messengers. As they are rejected, so Christ himself is rejected.

In this way, our work for him, even as we gather and worship this morning, is an extension of Jesus' own earthly ministry. This is the thought, by the way, behind John 14:12-14. There it says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater works than these he will do." When Jesus says there, as recorded by the Apostle John, "greater works than these," he means that Jesus' disciples from an earthly point of view you and I, the church we will take the good news of the kingdom far further than Jesus ever could in his short period of ministry before his crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. And so it is in this way we do greater works than he. In person, Christ's own ministry was limited to the surrounds of Israel, but through his church, his reach will be global. The book of Acts bears this out. It is all about the acts of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, upon whom the Spirit of God is poured out. The apostles in the early church went global with the gospel. It was Christ Jesus working through them. As they were received, so he was received. And as he was received, so the Father is received.

You see, there is no separating Jesus from his apostles nor separating Jesus from his disciples. Our mission for him in the world is his mission. His mission is the Father's mission. We are caught up in the work of God. That is what Christ is saying here to his disciples. He is going to say there is reward for participating in that work for him.

You see, God has so ordained that our works of service for Christ are instrumental in the salvation of more disciples. What a humbling thought, to think that the eternities of men and women will be proved one way or another through the Christian's witness and worship in the world, because he has bound himself to the mission of the church. This is why the New Testament refers to us as ambassadors for Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, "Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." What a privilege this is, brothers and sisters. The high King of heaven, to whom angels bow and the cherubim hide their faces at his glory, has seen fit that the announcement of redemption in the world that he has made rises and falls upon people like you and I doing ordinary things for his glory worship and witness in the power of the Holy Spirit.

As Paul says in Romans 10:14, "How will they call on him whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard?" In other words, the preacher is required. The ordinary Christian sharing the gospel with their neighbour is required and ordained by God. As one author has said, "As the Father has sent me (Christ), so he sends the church on his behalf."

Now, all things considered in Matthew 10:40, what is the underlying reality to Jesus' words here? Well, I would say this: Christ affirms that the ministry labours of we, his disciples, are in full accord with fulfilling the purposes of God the Father. God deems it fit to use his redeemed people as instrumental means by which he reaches the world. Luke in another section puts it this way. The Gospel of Luke says, "The one who listens to you listens to me. The one who rejects you rejects me. And he who rejects me rejects the one who sent me." We find something of this too in Galatians 4:14, where Paul writes to the Galatians, "You did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself." Did you hear that? As the Galatians received Paul and his teaching of Christ, by that means they received Jesus himself, through the man and through their fellow disciple. This is significant. This is what Jesus is saying here in Matthew 10. His ministry is outworked through ordinary disciples. Once we realise that, it is going to give us a whole new perspective on our own ministry and service. It is Christ Jesus in us working his glory.

So John MacArthur put it this way: "Christ lives in his people. They also come in his name as his ambassadors. Therefore, however others treat his people is how they treat him."

Let me illustrate this tremendous truth this way. Imagine the chain on a bike. If any of those links in that chain is damaged or broken, the bike will soon be unrideable. Move the pedals, but you are going nowhere. Each link in the chain is critical to the overall operation of the bike. So think about what Jesus is saying here. There is a chain of representation that God has established: Father, Son, apostles, disciples. Through the disciples they might come to know the teaching of the apostles, which is the teaching of Christ, and through the Son come to the Father. It is a chain of representation established by God. And when the world rejects our advances with the gospel, they have not simply rejected us, but they have rejected the true and living God who is at work in us. And they have rejected the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God the Father commissions the divine Son to incarnate for the purposes of redeeming a people. So as Jesus is received, men and women come into fellowship with the Father through the Son. So we are each if in Christ, we are all links in that chain. All of us. Every single Christian.

So the point then is, brothers and sisters, before we move on to Matthew 10:41: do not ever underestimate the part that you play. If you are in Christ, you too belong to this chain of witness and this appeal to the world. And as the world receives you, so it will receive Christ and consequently the Father. As the world rejects you, so it rejects Christ and it rejects the Father. What a sobering thought, but how important this is to build a basis for Christian ministry.

Now let us look at Matthew 10:41 as Jesus develops and builds on his teaching here. Matthew 10:41 says, "He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward." Let us begin by untying that statement a little bit. I take it here Jesus means that the person who receives a Christian and the Christian message as truly of God will share in the reward due the disciple in service themselves. The authority with which Jesus can say this is because, as in Matthew 10:40, he is the one sent from the Father. And reward is his to distribute.

So how things work in Christ's kingdom is that any work of ministry that we do as Christians, when that ministry is received and credited as faithfully representing God's truth, God promises that the recipient themselves, if they receive it as from God, will fully share in the reward that was due the one serving. We are going to develop this; we are going to go over this a few times so we get it.

Now it is a lousy illustration in some ways, but at the last Rugby World Cup that the All Blacks won, it is estimated that each All Black received one hundred and fifty thousand of bonus prize money for winning the grand final in that particular Rugby World Cup. Now that is for the players. They alone get that reward. I am sure there were some to go around the staff and coaches and so on. But the players, they get this reward for winning the final.

In God's economy, in comparison, in contrast, he makes the ball boy who runs the ball onto the field share in the prize of the players. In God's economy, the cleaners who remain till the early hours to tidy up the stadium after the match, they share in the reward as well.

Now when Jesus says here, "in the name of a prophet" or "in the name of a righteous man," it simply means when a disciple is received rightly and truly as a witness of Jesus Christ. And when the ministry transaction of the Lord is rightly received, God will abundantly cause the recipient to share in the reward due the worker. The one who accepts the prophet, the righteous man a way to describe the believer the gift goes not only to them, but to the receiver.

Let us make an application here so we get it. As Leon Morris, the commentator, says, "Being a true servant of God means, among other things, being able to perceive the work of God in others and so respond to it." Are we sensitive to the fact that others are serving us in the name of Christ? How are we responding to that? Sometimes we are awfully dismissive of the service of others, are we not? Even as believers. Are we receiving them and so rendering thanks to God?

There are those even in this church who laboured diligently in small ways, turning up early to perform small works so that when we gather, the service can flow and go smoothly. And it all happens unbeknown to us, Sunday by Sunday. Are we grateful to them? Because they are serving us in Christ. Are we receiving them? And the promise is that if we receive them, if we are grateful for the work that they are doing in the name of Christ on our behalf, God says we will share in their reward that is due them if we receive them. So we must never take lightly the things that others do for our spiritual, physical and practical welfare in the name of Christ. And Christ says if you receive it, you will be rewarded as they are rewarded. That is how God's economy works.

A second application can be illustrated this way. Take this present situation right now. I am here standing behind this pulpit preaching and teaching for you God's word. And as I serve God, he promises reward for my serving him as he does for you for the various ways that you serve him. My point is here: when my ministry on your behalf right now in teaching you, when it is rightly received into your heart, believed upon as the word of God, when it is appropriated, when it is perceived as truly from the Lord what Jesus is saying here is by such reception, you can share in whatever reward the Lord might have for me for this moment. Do you see that? You can fully participate in any reward that might be due to another Christian by simply receiving, appropriating, being grateful for that ministry, receiving them into your home, into your heart. That is how it works in God's economy.

So you need not worry about the fact that maybe some of us have more public ministries than others. You think, oh, so and so up there or different preachers, they are the ones that will get all the reward. They are the public men. No, you do not understand. God will reward you for receiving my ministry to you as from him. In the same way, if I receive the ministry that you serve me with, I will be rewarded with you together. That is what Christ is saying.

So the question is: are you serving the church? Are you serving, and are you graciously receiving?

Now it seems this is a point supported by the Apostle John in 3 John 8. He is speaking of certain itinerant gospel workers, and listen to what he says. He says, "Therefore, we ought to support such men. Now listen to this. Why? Why should we support such men? So that we may be fellow workers with the truth." In other words, while it was these other men who were doing this work of preaching and declaring God's word, John is saying to that those who contribute to support them become fellow workers with them. We add on top what Jesus is saying here: they will be rewarded along with those men who were teaching and preaching. Amazing.

In other words, friends, we are all in this together, and God is a rewarder of those who share in the work of the kingdom in the means to which they can. So every time that you pray and support a missionary, every time you tithe financially to the church, every time you serve one another, whatever it is that we might do even if we feel like it is a back seat role, however menial we might think it is God will enable you to share nonetheless fully in the reward. Full participant. It is like the ball boy running the ball onto the field with the All Blacks themselves. This is how it works in God's economy.

It means that five dollars in the giving box for a ministry worker with the right motives and heart behind it is of greater value to God than five thousand given with false motives. God will bring his reward and his eternal seal of approval in Christ.

I mean, we might feel like the caddy on the golf course at times to other people, do we not? We might feel like the caddy on the golf course carrying the bags for someone else. But in God's economy, God will cause the one who carries the bags to share with the one who led the charge.

So glory in the grace of God, for no matter who you are, no matter what your station is, God will bless, multiply, and add to your reward if you receive the ministry of another rightly. Amazing.

And friends, do we not want to share in that blessing even more? Are we not best to wholly give ourselves to contribute in any way we can, even if it means carrying the bags for someone else? You know, I am trying to say the same thing in different ways so we get it. But what this means is that every Christian, no matter who you are, what your capacities are, whatever your reach, there is tremendous reward and God will pour out his reward upon you for sharing even in some way in the labours of another person.

Jesus' kingdom is the upside down kingdom. The last shall be first and the first last. So be content to serve Jesus in the context that he has placed you. Look at whatever resources you have and think, how can I use these resources to contribute in some way to maybe the work of another person in the ministry? Think about the time that you have. How can I use this time in some way for the kingdom? Even if it means praying every morning for certain people. There is nothing too trivial. The same with whatever intellectual abilities or finances we have. Jesus is encouraging us all to serve.

And friends, does this not just link us to the gospel itself? I mean Jesus is saying here that the one who receives can share in the reward of the one who gives. And is that not the perfect illustration of what happens in the gospel? Has Christ Jesus not done everything for us? And he has done the work. He has died for our sins. He has risen from the grave. He has ascended to the Father to intercede for his people. And we benefit fully in the reward that is his. He shares all of his reward with us. And we do nothing. Now we contribute and he will cause us to share in his reward. And it is the same in the Christian church. As I serve you, you can share in any reward that is due me by receiving my ministry. And as you serve me, I can share in your reward by receiving what you give me in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious truth.

Now let us look at this final verse just in closing. Let us flip the coin and we move from looking at the receiver to now the server themselves. Matthew 10:42 says, "And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward."

Now the focus is upon the one who serves rather than the one who receives. The meaning here is that no work done in Jesus' name by believers shall escape God's notice. Little ones here refers to those who perhaps might be easily overlooked in the church. Especially because Jesus is saying this to apostles themselves. Well, an apostle was one invested with great authority, and Jesus is saying, do not let your great authority make you overlook these little ones, these believers of lower significance, so to speak, of lower station, because they are of high esteem to God.

And so there is a covering for all Christians in a way here in these verses. We have prophets we could say those who are on the cutting edge of ministry, the forefront of kingdom work then there is the righteous man or woman, perhaps ordinary believers. And then there is here "little ones" those often overlooked or on the margins, but precious in the sight of God. And to them, Jesus says, serve them. So he takes someone who might be considered menial, and he takes a menial thing like a cup of water, and he says, even if they are served with a cup of water in the name of Christ, that reward shall not be lost. It will not be overlooked. You shall not lose reward.

Listen to what Daniel Durrani says here. He says, "The smallest deed links with God's cause. The cause supreme. It advances his kingdom and transports us into partnership with the apostles, the prophets, and Jesus himself. A small deed is great because it joins God's great project of restoring all things. A small deed reaps the great reward because it enters into the work of the kingdom and of Christ. Even a cup of cold water given in his name will do."

Brothers and sisters, as we live for Jesus, let us, as Paul says in Galatians 6:10, "do good to all people, especially to those who are of the household of faith." Why? Because God looks on and he will reward in the glory to come all of our labours, be it big or small, be it we were recipients of others' ministries or whether we were serving ourselves. God will richly reward his people. And is not that a great motivation to serve him?