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Inspiration and the Apostles - Matt. 10
Inspiration and the Apostles - Matt. 10
In Matthew 10 we read of the ‘limited commission’ that Jesus gave to the apostles. It is limited both in scope and in time. It was limited in scope in that they were not to go to any Gentiles or cities of Samaria. It was limited in the scope of time in that Jesus gave a new commission to the apostles after His resurrection.
The apostles have been with Jesus for a while, but surely there was much that they simply did not comprehend nor would they be able to remember ON THEIR OWN. Jesus, however, promised that such inadequacy on their part would be made up for by the Holy Spirit. Thus: "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” (Matt. 10:19-20).
As Jesus prepared them for the great commission that was to be given in a few short days, He makes them some similar promises in John 14-16. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26). "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (John 16:13).
Jesus, in describing the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the persecution that would come with it, promised the apostles that “It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. "So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute” (Luke 21:13-15).
Following the resurrection of Jesus, the apostles went every preaching, but their preaching was not just their opinions or their faulty remembrance of things. Their preaching was from God.
With such promises underlying their revelation of God’s will, to reject THEM was to reject Jesus, and thus, to reject the Father. At the end of this commission, Jesus stated: "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (Matt. 10:40). Luke records: "The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me" (Luke 10:16).
Of course, anyone can make the claim to inspiration, and in fact many did. How did the 1st century people tell the difference? Their word came not in ‘word only’ but in POWER, “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed” (Mark 16:20).
In Acts 2, there was demonstrable coming of the Holy Spirit where people SAW the tongues of fire descend and HEARD the sound like a rushing wind and OBSERVED the apostles communicating in languages that they had never studied. Then, they continued in the apostles’ word, “feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles” (Acts 2:43).
Later, the Hebrew writer summed up this period saying that after such Word “was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Heb. 2:3-4)
Thus, we are warned: “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”( Hebrews 2:1-3). How much attention are you giving to this Word of God?
Hugh DeLong
