Sermon Notes 10-28-2018

Matthew

You have to be served, before you can serve others!

Matthew 8:14-17

Matthew 8:14–17 (ESV)

¹⁴ And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 

¹⁵ He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 

¹⁶ That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 

¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” 

Matthew 8:14 (ESV) 

¹⁴ And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 

·     This is just a line leading up to the healing.

·     But it carries a lot of information:

o   One, Peter had a house.

o   Two, he was married.

o   Three, his mother in-law lived with him.

One:

·     Jesus did not have a house, or money, or anything really.

o   He loved His disciples so much that He wanted them to have things that He didn’t have.

o   And that proves He wants so much more for you. 

·     Peter moved to be close to Jesus, he was not from there.

o   Being close to your church family is important.

·     And Jesus found comfort with His friends.

o   He was fully man, with feelings just like us.

o   So He knows what we go through.

·     And He also depended on His “church” family:

o   To provide for Him.

o   And to help Him along the way. 

Two:

·     Peter was married.

·     That blows the whole catholic myth, of chastity, out of the water.

·     That Jesus loved the family, the whole family.

·     And Jesus loves to hang out with the whole family.

·     And as we will see in a little while, that deep ministry happens in the intimacy of the family!

Three: His mother-in-law was there!

·     Extended family matters.

·     And women matter. 

·     That we are to love and serve our family, all of them.

·     Race does not matter, gender does not matter, we all matter to Jesus!

We have to be served, before we can serve!

Matthew 8:15 (ESV)

¹⁵ He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 

·     This starts to lay the groundwork for the main point of this message.

·     Jesus has to minister to you first, nothing will change until He does.

o   He touched her.

o   He healed her.

o   He had the power over her affliction.

o   She could not heal herself.

How often we forget just who did the healing

·     We so often forget what we looked like when we came to Him.

·     What if our sin, when we came to Jesus, showed itself on the outside!

o   What would we have looked like?

o   What would we still look like?

Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)

⁶ All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. 

And she served

·     She rose and began to serve!

·     She didn’t ask, she didn’t wait for an invite, she served.

·     Jesus did an amazing thing in her life, and she showed her gratitude, by serving Him!!!!!

·     WHAT ARE YOU WAITING ON?

·     Get involved.

·     Get plugged in. 

·     And get to serving the one who did the healing!!!!!

The amazing thing we miss!

**This all happened at home!!**

With Friends and family

·     This didn’t happen at church, this healing happened at home.

·     The church is a place where triage is performed.

·     True healing, the rehab of your faith, the building of your faith, happens at home!

·     We have families here.

o   We have clusters here of tight knit relationships.

o   That’s where the true growth happens, it’s there the true transformation happens.

·     This church is woven together by the fabric of the relationships that thrive here.

o   In the home groups.

o   The Teams.

o   The Bible studies.

o   And the friendships that come out of them!

And then he healed many!

Matthew 8:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 

The Demons

·     Satan was very active. 

·     And anytime He could, Jesus defeated him.

·     It was to empathize His true purpose.

·     That He came to defeat sin, and our condemnation to hell, by defeating Satan and his hold on us. 

·     And He did it with a simple word, He cast them out.

 DON’T MISS THIS 

And he healed ALL the sick

·     Not a few.

o   Not the ones who dressed right.

o   Or lived right.

o   Or carried the right scrolls or had the right teacher.

·     He healed them all

o   The ones with porn issues.

o   The ones with gender issues.

o   The ones with marital issues.

o   No matter the sin, no matter where they were in their life.

o   He healed them.

Remember these words carefully

John 3:16–17 (NIV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

·     Not the ones who fixed themselves first.

·     The world, and whoever believes.

o   Do we all need to work on our sin? YES.

o   But does it dictate His love for us? NO.

He came to fulfill the law!

Matthew 8:17 (NIV)

¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”

·     He not only came to heal you from death and the pain of your sin, but 

o   To forgive us and to take on our sin for us, 

o   By living the life we should have ,

o   And dying the death we deserve.

·     He also came to help you in the suffering of everyday life.

o   No matter if it's sickness, or mental anguish, or just the heartaches of the world.

o   Whether it’s self-inflicted, or hurled upon us.

o   He is here to walk with us every step of the way.

o   And to be in relationship with us.

Jesus wants a real relationship with you.

·     He wants you to be part of the family.

·     Serving others, being active.

·     He wants us to be in relationship with each other and with Him.

·     True healing and transformation happens in the intimacy of the family working and walking together!

Reference Scripture

Isaiah 53:4 (NIV)

⁴ Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 

1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)

²⁴“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 

Sermon Notes 10-14-2018

Matthew

Faith over Knowledge

Matthew 8:5-13

Matthew 8:5–13 (ESV)

⁵ When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 

⁶ “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 

⁷ And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

⁸ But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 

⁹ For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

¹¹ I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

¹² while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.”And the servant was healed at that very moment. 

 Another miracle and another lesson. Jesus again is going to hide a lesson in a healing, He is going to start to change things, start to get rid of traditions and norms, and start to get to the business of healing and loving on all people. And He starts with one of the most hated of groups, the Romans! 

The players in the story

Matthew 8:5 (ESV)

⁵ When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 

Jesus– a peasant really, the son of a carpenter, thought to be the messiah to the Jews, loved by some and hated by many. He was supposed to come and save a race a people, to overtake the Romans, and to lead them out of oppression. 

The Centurion– We think he led the garrison of men that oversaw the area, he was a powerful man, a wealthy man, a feared and hated man by the Jews. He was in power over them. 

But yet the man in power was appealing to the one who had nothing………

The scene…

Matthew 8:6 (ESV)

⁶ “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 

·     Faith comes in many forms and his displayed in many ways

o   And the way the centurion address Jesus speaks volumes!

o   LORD, A term of reverence

o   It was humbling for him to call Him that, he (the centurion) was a man of great power.

·     His servant

o   Not his child

o   Not his wife or family member 

o   His servant

o   They were disposable, they were not thought highly of

o   But the centurion showed his heart and his compassion 

o   And in his plea, he revealed his heart

§  A heart that Jesus already knew

·     Paralyzed and suffering

o   Not typical  

o   But a kind that came with pain

o   They called it Palsy

o   And it was very painful

** God's people are everywhere just waiting for a chance to encounter Him. We must be Jesus with skin on and show compassion to all who want to hear the good news, or need help from God's people!

A quick response

Matthew 8:7 (ESV)

⁷ And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

·     Jesus immediately replies

·     No hesitation

·     Jesus sees his heart, sees his compassion

·     And says not that I will come see him, He says I will come and HEAL him!

·     A bold statement by Jesus, because of the bold faith of the Centurion!

·     Head knowledge is not a sign of faith, it might be a bi-product, but the heart reveals faith, and Jesus saw great faith in this man!

Even the strongest of men will become humble before God!

Matthew 8:8 (ESV)

⁸ But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed." 

·     His humbleness showed his true faith

·     He knew the “law” and did not want to ask Jesus into his home.

Acts 10:28 (ESV)

²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean."

·     And notice he took it one step farther, “I am not worthy”

o   That is a state of reverence

o   A state of submission

o   A state of brokenness

·     And what faith he had!

o   Just say the word

o   You don’t have to even show up

o   Just say it and it will be so!

***Observe his great faith. The more humility, the more faith; the more self-effacing we are of ourselves, the stronger will be our confidence in Jesus Christ. He had an assurance of faith not only that Christ could cure his servant, but that he could cure him at a distance.^[1]

A Man of Authority

Matthew 8:9 (ESV)

^{9 "}For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 

·     He was a man of Authority and understood it

·     And he understood just how much more powerful Jesus was

o   Jesus not only commanded men, but the heavens as well

o   And this understanding caused him to have a great faith!

The lesson inside the story!

Grace, a rare commodity 

Matthew 8:10 (ESV)

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

·     Christ admired him, not for his greatness, but for his grace. 

·     When Jesus heard it, he marvelled; not as if it were to Him new and surprising, He knew the centurion’s faith,

·     but it was great and excellent, rare and uncommon, and Christ spoke of it as wonderful, to teach us what to admire, 

·     not worldly ceremony and decorations, but the beauty of holiness, and the ornaments which are in the sight of God.^[2]

·     Money is temporary, faith is forever, and we should always remember that

·     Our growing relationship with Jesus is the most important thing

·     And Jesus uses this opportunity to give us an example of grace and faith in action!

God intent revealed 

Matthew 8:11 (ESV)

¹¹ I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

·     He eludes to that a great many of the Gentiles should be saved. 

·     The faith of the centurion was but a specimen of the conversion of the Gentiles, and a preface to their adoption into the church^[3]

·     That the gates of heaven are open to any that choose to enter through faith in Christ

·     And the Centurion was Jesus' opportunity to showcase that

·     And he should give us a great hope that we too can enter! 

Galatians 3:14 (ESV)

¹⁴ so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 

  

Birth right means nothing, Adoption means everything! 

Matthew 8:12 (ESV)

¹² while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

·     Religion will never save you

·     Perfection will never save you

·     Never has, never will

·     Only Jesus saves, only his work on the cross is sufficient enough to pay the penalty of your sin and transgression! 

Romans 11:8–10 (ESV)

⁸ as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” 

⁹ And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; 

¹⁰ let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.”

·     Religion blinds you, and fills your heart with foolish pride

·     Jesus sets you free from that

o   We are not religious, we are followers

o   We are children, adopted into a family

o   And we need to act accordingly

o   And the centurion gives us a great example of acting out humility and grace

And Jesus does what only He can do, Save us!

Matthew 8:13 (ESV)

¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. 

·     Look at what Christ said to him: He said that which made the cure as great a favor to him as it was to his servant, and even much greater; As thou hast believed, so be it done to thee. The servant got a cure of his disease, but the master got the confirmation and approval of his faith. 

·     Note, Christ often gives encouraging answers to His praying people, when they are interceding for others.^[4]

·     Jesus listened and answered the Centurion, and He will do the same for you

·     Prayer for others, asking for others is a powerful thing 

o   Not only of the one being prayed for, but the person doing the praying as we see Gods work unfold right before us!

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^[1] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume(p. 1649). Peabody: Hendrickson.

^[2] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume(p. 1649). Peabody: Hendrickson.

^[3] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume(p. 1649). Peabody: Hendrickson.

^[4] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume(p. 1650). Peabody: Hendrickson.