The one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

Matthew 10:1-23 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;⁶ but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ⁹ Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, ¹⁰ or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. ¹¹ And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. ¹² As you enter the house, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.¹⁴ Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

¹⁶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; ¹⁸ and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. ²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ²² You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

²³ “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

Today’s text begins:  Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.  We too, like the twelve, have been given authority over unclean spirits and to heal every kind of sickness. In John 14:12-14 Jesus 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; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”  In Matthew 16:15-19 there is an interchange between Jesus and the disciples regarding who Jesus is. It says:  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”    It is upon the rock, the solid foundation of the recognition that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, that Jesus has built His church; established it and given it authority. That is why whatever we ask in His name, recognizing and acknowledging that He is the Christ, He will do. Not only do we have authority over unclean spirits, but the very gates of Hell cannot stand against us. We have the authority that whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.   That’s how Jesus taught us to pray, saying:  Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  We have the authority to bring the realities of heaven to earth. Jesus gave us that authority, in His name.

In today’s text the disciples were told:  “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;  but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”   They were only to go to the house of Israel at that time. In Acts 1:6-8, after the resurrection, it says:  When they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  Through the power of the Holy Spirit we are to be witnesses and testify of the authority of the name of Jesus throughout the earth, everywhere we go.

Look though at what Jesus says:  “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  You will be hated by all because of My name.”   We should not be surprised when the message of the kingdom and the name of Jesus is not well received. It is one of the greatest deceptions of our time that we as believers should be loved by the world or even seek that love.  In John 15:18-25, Jesus says:  “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have  sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”  They hated Jesus without cause. If we are those who exercise the authority of Christ in the world today, we too will be hated for the cause of Christ. It is not the love of the world that we are to seek, but rather to demonstrate the love of God to the world.

Jesus says:  “It is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”   We are to use the authority of Christ everywhere we go. We are to demonstrate and display the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to a world afflicted by unclean spirits and disease. But it is not their love that we should expect or seek. It is that we endure with and for Christ to the end. In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus says: "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the first and greatest commandment.…”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus the Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for giving us the power and authority of the name of Jesus, the Christ. May I go throughout the world, everywhere I go, exercising the authority You have given and demonstrating Your love. May I be consumed with a love for the world and not the love of the world or from the world. May I endure to the end for the cause of Christ. If the world would hate me, may it be for Your cause.    Amen.