Matthew 8:14-17 Light to Everyone!

Matthew 8:14-17  When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.  He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.  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.  This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.

The power of God, the Holy Spirit, resides in Jesus Christ.  In this account we do not see Peter’s mother-in-law acting in faith.  Of course, she may or may not have been a strong believer in Jesus.  Regardless, Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her.  In the grave, Lazarus could not expound faith, for his brain waves were dead; consequently, Jesus’ power had to raise him from the grave and death.  Jesus himself was raised by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus gave power to his disciples when He sent them out: The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”  (Luke 10:17)  Jesus sent out these followers to harvest the lost.  They came back from their evangelistic ministry praising God, rejoicing in a power so strong that the demons obeyed their commands.  The New Testament is full of the works of people possessing the Power of the Holy Spirit.  As in Egypt under Pharaoh’s authority, Moses needed miracles to bring light to an oppressive, evil environment and to rescue people from the hands of Pharaoh.  No other power but God’s would cause the Satan of that kingdom to release God’s chosen people.  The Israelites, immersed in the godless environment of Egypt, had amalgamated with the environment of death.  When they first heard Moses talk of deliverance, they could not believe in his mission.  They wanted Moses to disappear from their lives, for he caused a greater burden by Pharaoh’s demands.  But mighty miracles gradually convinced them that the God of creation was determined to release them from slavery.  To understand the possibility of a new way of living, they needed God’s intervention in their lives.  In the New Testament, people also had to understand that a new way of living was coming through the acts of God.  The Gospel of John addresses this reality.  The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  (John 1:10-13)  As with Moses, his own rejected his mission.  The Jews did not want to receive Jesus as the Messiah; therefore, Jesus performed mighty miracles to prove He was divine and could deliver them from slavery to sin.  The gospels give an account of Jesus’ miracles, but in Acts we see the apostles fulfilling the mission of breaking through the devil’s domain, delivering Jews and Gentiles to the Promised Land of salvation.  The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.  And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.  No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.  Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.  As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.  Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.  (Acts 5:12-16)  As with the Israelites, people were afraid to join this movement of the Messiah.  No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.  The powerful and elite of the Jewish kingdom opposed this nascent church.  If people joined the followers of Jesus, they were cast out of the synagogues, disowned by families, lost their livelihood and their inheritances.  As hated outcasts throughout Israel, miracles performed by the followers of Jesus would make the world understand that a new kingdom had come to earth, one that pays great dividends: eternal life and fellowship with the Creator God.  The power of the Holy Spirit was so great, the touch of Peter’s shadow was said to change lives.  Crowds of people, afraid to join the disciples openly, brought their sick and tormented and they were healed.  These scenes repeat the miraculous intervention of God in the land of Egypt with miracles too great not to believe.

In the acts of the apostles we see ordinary men performing miraculous deeds.  We see people who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ walking through lands, healing people and driving our demons.  The darkness of the world had to give way to the light in these human beings.  Their prayers were powerful, their teaching convincing, but they were still just ordinary men, people who live and die like all other flesh, but God’s power was within them, divinity was in their words.  James encourages believers to know that God is in their lives, and they should never just think of themselves as ordinary.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.  Elijah was a human being, even as we are.  He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.  Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.  (James 5:16-18)  People who possess the Holy Spirit within them are not just ordinary people walking through this world in a natural way.  No, they are people who have a dynamo of power within them known as the Holy Spirit.  They are new creatures, baptized or immersed in the Power of God.  As with Peter, we see Paul performing miraculous acts as he moved into lands of great darkness.  He was bringing light and life into a dark and dead world.  He ministered to people who did not know God at all, people who served the demons of this world.  They lived lives of hopelessness, believing their idols would make their lives better, but instead, they were engrossed in depraved behaviors, sexual exploitation and worse.  So Paul had to bring miracles to them, not just words to show them God was alive.  His actions and lifestyle had to bring power and purity to them.  God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.  (Acts 19:11-12)  As the Gentiles observed Paul’s lifestyle, purity, and his power with God, the light began to dawn in their lives of darkness.  They too would be rejected by their communities, even killed, definitely persecuted; but the Power of God manifested through Paul’s words and actions brought them to the land of the living: the Promised Land, sitting with Christ at the right hand of God.  This Good News was met with joy by those who accepted it within their lives, but to those who rejected it, hatred filled their lives.  Even though Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit and even though he demonstrated great power to the people, he was persecuted, tortured, beaten, stoned, jailed and put in chains.  As with Christ, he and all followers of the Messiah were persecuted in this wilderness experience.  Paul and all who walked in faith would face the threat of death every day of their lives.  

People with such power in their lives, people who could perform marvelous miracles, how could they be so vulnerable to the intentions of the wicked?  God’s purpose is not to rescue people from the vulnerabilities of life but to bring them into a new life, an eternal life.  What is common to all the believers in the New Testament is that they invaded the land of darkness.  As Moses, they invaded the territory of the Evil One.  Their lives existed daily in this territory, threatened by the unredeemed, the filthy, the liars of this world.  Jesus lived with the unbelieving Jews who lied about his life.  The elite controlled the Jewish society; they wanted to maintain their authority.  To stay in their position of power, they had to get rid of this man Jesus.  He was turning the world upside down, challenging the status quo.  Fear gripped the leaders, for if Jesus’ teachings took hold, they would lose their status for sure.  So they killed Jesus.  The apostles also faced the same opposing forces: the leaders of every community.  When John’s disciples came to Jesus to ask him if He were the Messiah, Jesus tells them to go back and tell John what they had seen and heard.  Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  (Luke 7:22)  Probably everything they said about Jesus would have been accepted by the rulers except for the last item: the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  For the poor to accept the good news would mean that they had a supreme authority over them that supersedes the authority of the rulers and elite of this world.  The poor would no longer have to accept the vision of the elite about the character of their lives.  Jesus’ teachings brought them into a new kingdom, God’s Kingdom.  In that kingdom, they were free, children of God, not just servants of this world’s organization.  As sure as the Israelites were free from Pharaoh and his authority, the poor were free from the way the world is run.  They would be good citizens, but by serving God not men.  To set people free, miracles and wonders are needed.  Even today, when people of the living Lord invade the dark domains of the world, miraculous wonders are needed.  People of faith must pray, beseeching God for intervention in people’s lives.  Healing and wonders are not for Christians only, they are signs for an unbelieving world.  When we seek healing and wonders only for our benefit, we are seeking amiss.  We know that because people of God face great persecution and death in this world.  The Good News is despised by the devil.  The vissitudes of life fall on everyone.  Missionaries die—Christians suffer as all other people do.  But we as Christians around this breakfast table are the light of the world; we bring the Good News regardless of the cost to us.  We do not separate ourselves from the cost of living in a wilderness.  Instead, we delve into the midst of it, bringing hope and light to a dead and dying world.  Jesus went over to a very sick woman and touched her hand.  How many of us are willing to do likewise out of love?  Or are we consumed with our own lives with no time to pray, no power to release to others, feckless in our lives?  We live in a dark world; the darkness is all around us.  Do we live as children of light with the dynamo of the Spirit evident in what we say or do or are we without faith, hopelessly immersed into the culture of the world?  Are we really serious with God and his intentions for this world?  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can touch people today.  

Matthew 8:5-13 As You Believe!

Matthew 8:5-13  When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.  “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”  Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”  The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.  But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me.  I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes.  I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.  I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”  And his servant was healed at that moment.

This story of the Roman officer who had a beloved servant who was suffering terribly presents a beautiful account of love and redemption.  We see Jesus who brought the Good News primarily to the Jews, paying attention to the needs of a Gentile: “Shall I come and heal him?”  The centurion respects Jesus as someone in authority, so he calls him, “Lord.”  He is not a believer in the Jewish religion, for Jesus says, I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.  But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The centurion believes Jesus can do mighty miracles, that He is a man of divinity sent from God or as a Roman steeped in mysticism, from one of the gods of heaven.  Knowing that the gods have great power and should be revered and respected for their supernatural powers, he says, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.  But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  The Roman officer has so much faith in Jesus that he asks him to just say the words of healing and his servant will be made whole, his paralysis will go.  Amazed at this man’s strong belief in his authority and power, Jesus exclaims that no one in the Jewish people that He ministers to daily has this kind of faith.  They heard Jesus’ ministry, saw his miracles, but really did not know how much power Jesus possessed.  Neither did they know the range of Jesus’ power.  If they were near Jesus, they knew they might receive a healing or see a miracle, but away from Jesus’ presence, they could not expect a healing from Jesus.  The blind, the leper, the lame had to yell out to Jesus as He passed.  If He proceeded down the road without acknowledging and healing them, their faith in his power would quickly dissipate.  As with all spiritual men, prophets of that day, nearness was very important, essential to the workings of God.  But in the Gospel of John, we read, Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.  (21:25)  Jesus did many wonderful acts, either while he was present with people or as with the centurion’s servant, touching lives from afar.  No wonder John could write what we would consider a hyperbolic remark describing the truth of Jesus’ three-year ministry.  This story is not told as a story of great faith for healing; the story of Jesus is told because faith in him as Lord is needed to enter into the kingdom of God.  What kind of faith?  Faith that believes that Jesus shed his blood for our sins, rose again, and is now Lord of all.  That kind of faith separates man from a finite existence into an existence with God forever, known as the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus castigates the Jewish people for receiving him as a healer and miracle worker only and not as the Son of God sent to save sinners.  The Son of God, with great consuming power can bring people into everlasting life with God, but if they fail to believe in his cleansing and redeeming power, they will experience eternal damnation: into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  

In this account, Jesus points out there is no difference when considering the occupancy of the eternal kingdom of God between those of the law, subjects of the kingdom, and of those outside of the law.  The Jewish people had been given great insight into God’s nature of holiness through the law and its regulations.  They were blessed.  God considered them his own people: people He supernaturally delivered from slavery to the evil one.  But Jesus says in today’s focus that God demands personal allegiance to him as “Lord” if they desire to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Faith in Jesus’ power and authority is needed to have eternal life with God.  Paul emphasizes this fact in his letter to the Romans.  There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.  He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  (3:23-26)  This centurion, as well as people everywhere, must place their complete faith in Jesus as the deliverer from all that is wrong in this world and the finiteness of life.  To know Jesus and his power is to know salvation and eternal life.  He alone makes us holy and right with God.  When Jesus realized how much faith this man had in him, He tells the centurion that he has received what he came for, the healing of his servant: Go!  Let it be done just as you believed it would.  No other avenue was opened to the servant but supernatural intervention.  Jesus gave that to him by healing him from afar.  Faith was needed in that transaction from paralysis to wholeness.  Whose faith?  The centurion’s faith—beginning with his recognition that Jesus was LORD.  That term to him had to mean more than an endearment, a greeting, a show of respect; he had to believe that Jesus was truly LORD for anything supernatural to occur.  LORD was a statement of faith.  Do we as Christians really believe Jesus is LORD of all: all that is close to us and all that is far from us?  When we say daily prayers for others, do we really believe our words are heard, that God is directly involved in their lives because of our words of blessing?  Is our faith as the centurion’s faith or are our prayers merely ritualistic, something good but not powerful?  Are we like the Jewish people, subjects of the kingdom, but not believing that Jesus is Lord in all circumstances?  If we really believed the latter, we would not get tired of praying for others every day.  The centurion believed Jesus could heal his servant who was far away.  Do we believe that Jesus can meet the needs of those who are far away from God or do we mention their names in a perfunctory way, not believing they will ever come to Jesus?  Breakfast companions, do we really believe!

As the Children of Israel left Egypt, crossing the wilderness to the Promised Land, the Spirit of God hovered over them from the first in the procession to the last individual trailing behind.  Of course with all flesh, some of them were old, some had problems walking, some had burdens such as little babies.  We are sure some struggled and straggled behind the procession.  People who were stronger probably were given the responsibility to help the weak, the infirm, the old.  In our day, especially in the pandemic, some of us are falling behind; some us are experiencing the wear and tear, the anxieties of life.  Some are looking to the left and right to see if there is a better way to live.  Some are weak in their spirits, doubting their futures and the way to the Promised Land.  They need the strong, the healthy in the Lord, to stand by them.  They need a helping hand from those who are strong in the faith, a call, an email, a card of encouragement.  They need to know that Jesus is in their midst, in their homes, by their beds at night.  Some on the journey need food, rest, health, a secure home; they all need Jesus in their lives, the visible presence of God, the holy church of God.  It is not just when Jesus is passing down the road that they need him; not just when they are in the fellowship of a church gathering when they need him.  They need him when He seems to have disappeared over the hill or He is too distant down the road for them to see him.  No matter what, they still need him especially in this time of the pandemic!  Can we as servants of the Most High, people who have Jesus in their lives, be as sensitive to the people around us as this centurion in the above focus?  We are people of authority, for we are in God’s kingdom.  As people of authority, do we pray for people who God has placed in our lives, beseeching God to help them, heal them, save them.  If we cannot be physically with them, are we reaching out on the internet to support them in their daily walk?  When Jesus heard the centurion’s request, He was amazed.  Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.  Can He say that of the Christian church today or of us individually?  Or is the church inactive, disputing about things that do not matter eternally.  If someone looked at our most recent posts on Facebook, how many would be uplifting and how many would be contentious?  Are our days spent without a time with the Lord, seeking his will in other people’s lives?   Do we believe Jesus is concerned about others, not just us?  Jesus said, Shall I come and heal him?  The centurion asked, Jesus responded!  He asked, believing Jesus was powerful enough to grant his request for his servant who was far away from the scene.  The question for us and the church of the living God in this twenty-first century, do we have the centurion’s faith or are we just religious.  Can people come to us and expect to find the active power of the Holy Spirit alive in us, ready to love them, to accept them and pray for them?  Bless you today!   

Matthew 8:1-4 He Is Willing!

Matthew 8:1-4  When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.  A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.  Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone.  But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Jesus came not to be a king, but as a servant to all, laying his life down for everyone.  Had He desired, Jesus could have promoted himself, seeking acclamation as worthy to be praised or honored.  His purpose was to serve God’s will as a living sacrifice for the redemption from sin for all people.  A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said.  Jesus was willing to heal this man, for Jesus was and is the atonement for all that is not perfect in this world.  He illustrates God’s love for people by this act of healing and by many other healing in his short three-year ministry.  Men and women lack God’s perfection, for all humans have been impacted by sin.  This imperfection is not acceptable by a holy God.  John the Baptist preached repentance from sin so that God might come close to people.   After John the Baptist was arrested by Herod, Jesus picked up John’s mantle, preaching the necessity of repentance and turning towards God.  Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News.  “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near!  Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!  (Mark1:14-15)  Even though John’s ministry was hard to receive by the people, he was very popular with them.  People from all over Judah went to the River Jordan to hear him preach and to watch him baptize people for the repentance of sin.  John had learned his purpose for life in the wilderness.  He was primitive in his lifestyle, dressing in a rustic manner, living off what the environment provided.  Alone in the wilderness where the concerns and duties of the world could not touch him, John learned about God.  God had set him apart from the world to hear his voice.  There, in the wilderness, he was commissioned to tell everyone to repent of their sins and turn to God.  Before Jesus could pick up the mantle of John, He too was led into the wilderness where He was tempted, then was ministered to by the angels.  In that lonely environment, fasting to know God, He heard the voice of God.  The angels from the heavenly realm took care of him, probably speaking of heavenly things.  The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where he was tempted by Satan for forty days.  He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.  (Mark 1:12-13)  We know when Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan that the Holy Spirit fell upon him and came into him.  He was no longer the carpenter who did good things for others by helping them repair and build things, He now was set apart to build the kingdom of God.  In the wilderness, we can assume the Father gave him his commission to serve the people of the world.  His eyes and ears were opened to the will of God.  For the next three years, Jesus did only what the Father told him to do.  Often during this time, we see Jesus dialoguing with his Father, beseeching him for the people, asking God to take care of them, and of him and his disciples.  We see Jesus moving around Judea as God directs him.  We see him tarrying before going to the house of Mary and Martha after Lazarus’ death.  We see him dining with sinners, healing people in the cities and in the countryside.  We see him rebuking the elite of the Jewish society, calming the wind and seas.  Jesus, through his words and activities, illustrated that the Kingdom of God was near.

Healing and phenomenal acts were part of Jesus’ ministry.  But the Good News that the Messiah had come was the central focus of Jesus’ life.  The Kingdom of God would come after He paid the complete price for sin.  The church of the living God would be built; the body of Christ would exist on Earth.  Something that never existed before would be part of this world’s existence.  The Kingdom of God would be present now with mankind.  As the Spirit fell on Jesus, occupying his soul, so would the Spirit fall on mankind on the day of Pentecost.  The Spirit would come and abide with men and women.  The Kingdom of God would be established on the earth.  Mankind would never be alone without the presence of God in their midst.  After the Spirit fell on men, they began to minister to each other as Christ had ministered to others, willing to serve others.  When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.  A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I AN WILLING,” he said. “Be clean!”  The nascent church had everything in common, making sure that no one went without their needs met.  The church was willing to serve each other and the world.  All the believers were one in heart and mind.  No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.  With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them.  For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.  (Acts; 4:32-35)  The Sermon on the Mount described what a true Kingdom of God is like.  He told the people that they must be perfect, that they must love, not judge, be kind even to their enemies, give without expecting anything back.  His sermon was not for the religious, elite and arrogant, those who control society and the thoughts of men.  His sermon was for the average person, those who desired to please God in their daily lives.  The new church, as led by the apostles, desired to function as Jesus would want them to live: looking out for others, caring for the needy, giving their lives totally to God and not partially.  Of course, living for God is a difficult assignment sometimes.  The church fails often in revealing the Kingdom of God has come to Earth.  Responding to the words, if you are willing, you can make me clean, is now the responsibility of the church.  Jesus said the Kingdom is near, but now we are in the Kingdom, for we are the body of Christ!  Are we willing?  Are we willing to offer up our goods, our lifestyle, our homes for the purposes of God in his Kingdom?  This is a challenge for us, but to strengthen us in our resolve to be Christlike, we must allow the voice of God to be in our lives daily. 

As we yield to God, in our secret hiding places—our prayer closets—alone with God, we will hear his words.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.  Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  (Matthew 6:6)  Often in today’s society, Christians are never alone with God.  There is always something that demands our attention, the needs and desires of this world are seemingly all-consuming.  If we rest for a while from the demands on our secular lives, we often fail to go to God but seek the clamor of our electronic devices for entertainment, gossip or news.  Because of worldly attractions, our attending to God’s voice is often weak or nonexistent.  To substitute for our lack of interaction with God, Christians sometimes read a verse or a chapter in the Bible, maybe pick up a Christian book to read or to purview what other people think about God in devotions or sermons.  But our ears have become unaccustomed to the sweet, tender voice of God inside us.  His words within us are more precious than silver and gold, more beautiful than the finest jewelry or intricate  fabric.  His words should be coveted, held close to our hearts, for his voice is beautiful, precious and lovely.  Have you heard his voice lately?  Every day we are bombarded by everything else, but his voice is lost in the cacophony.  We must move away from the world at times in our daily lives, placing ourselves in an environment where we can hear God.  Of course, we know God can interact with our thoughts no matter how busy we are.  But we are no better than John the Baptist, Jesus the Christ or Paul the apostle.  They learned to hear God’s voice in the wilderness, and they depended on God’s voice every day of their lives.  The quickest way to move away from God is to be cold, indifferent to his demands on our lives by shutting up our ears with the activities and interests in our worldly lives.  We must remember the Kingdom of God has come.  Spiritually, we sit in high places with Christ himself.  Not tomorrow, not when we die, but now we are present with God.  “Be clean!”  Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.  The world desires to be clean of their leprosy.  They know that they have been affected by a sin virus that they cannot throw off by themselves.  As the body of Christ, we say, “Be clean!”  Yet our actions and words often deny the power to bring cleansing.  We fill our minds with the world’s thoughts and words while we battle people and ideas with bitterness and anger.  Jesus could say, “I will!”  He just got through talking to the people about what it means to be in the Kingdom.  For them the Kingdom was near, for Jesus was near.  We have the Holy Spirit within us; therefore, we are to express his words to the world.  They should know us as people with power and love in us.  Our activities should reveal servants of Christ to the world.  Jesus came to serve, revealing the Kingdom of God.  We who are now in the Kingdom are to serve.  Jesus did not heal to gain popularity.  He healed out of love for people.  We are not Christians to win anything for ourselves, but as Jesus said to the leper, See that you don’t tell anyone.  But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.  Jesus did not want himself to be acclaimed for cleansing the leper.  Everything He did was to glorify God.  Let that also be our goal.  LET GOD BE GLORIFIED THROUGH OUR LIVES as we say to God and to others, “I am willing.”  

 

Matthew 7:21-28 Build on Rock!

Matthew 7:21-28  “Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’  Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

The words, Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, are frightening to many Christians, for Jesus indicates that merely saying a few words of affiliation with him is not enough to assure eternity with God.  Christianity in the purest form is a belief in Jesus as Lord of our lives.  Jesus confirms this in his conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount.  Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  To understand Jesus’ rejection of many who perform great works in his name, we must look at the totality of his teaching on the mountain.  In this sermon, He says his followers are salt and light and should live in a righteous manner as they bring goodness and light to a world that lives in darkness.  For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 5:20)  Of course Christ’s righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees, so believers hide in that truth, but it does not disqualify us from the responsibility of doing good in our lives.  Jesus tells us to beware of slandering or hating people, for such evildoers will face severe judgment.  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.  (5:22)  We are not to be lustful, entertaining sexual improprieties in our minds: But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  (5:28)  We must be honest and straightforward in our dealings.  Christians should not swear by God or anything else to support their statements, just say, “Yes, I will do it,” or “No, I will not do it.”  With our enemies, we should go the extra mile, treating them well, not wickedly.  We are to pray for them, love them rather than hate them, for they also were made in God’s image.  We are to give our alms in secret, pray in secret.  Our lives should be earnest, believing that God rewards our service to him, not man.  (6:1-8)  We are to display love for everyone by forgiving those who defame or abuse us: if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  (6:14)  As with the giving of alms and prayer, we should fast without a fanfare, doing unto the Lord and not for people’s adulation.  (6:16)  Our wealth, our resources should be used here on Earth to benefit others.  We should not store them up, believing we have another day to live.  God wants us to use our money for him.  For the Lord says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  (6:21)  Rather than trust our treasury, we are to trust God for our necessities, believing we are truly children of God, and He will take care of us.  (6:19)  Knowing God is good, our lives, our eyes should be fixated on good things.  The eye is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.  (6:22)  By focusing on the good things in life, we will not so readily criticize and judge others.  Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged.  (7:1-2)  The way to God is narrow and few find it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.  (7:14)  There are two kingdoms: Darkness and Light.  This world exists in the Kingdom of Darkness.  Jesus’ teaching on the mountain expresses the Kingdom of Light.  God desires for us to enter that kingdom.  Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  (7:7)  All these verses provide a small sample of the light revealed in Jesus’ teaching.  He asks people to walk uprightly in the light as they deal honestly with each other.  When we walk in the light of God’s goodness, love, and holiness, we will be less critical and judgmental of others, going out of our way to serve people with all we possess.  Any other lifestyle, any other way is not God, but is part of the Kingdom where gloom and darkness abide.  Jesus wants us to know that God sees us, and He alone evaluates our lives correctly.    

In Luke 4 we see Jesus’ mission on earth: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (18-19)  Christians are the body of Christ, so we too have this mission.  We have been anointed to proclaim the Good News to the poor; we have been given the task of proclaiming freedom for the prisoners; we are to set the oppressed free; we are to open the eyes of the blind.  Jesus’ message is our message.  The Dark Kingdom needs to know by the words we speak and by the way we live and act that the Lord has come to this earth for the benefit of ALL PEOPLE.  Religious activity or zealousness to perform godly acts, no matter how powerful and amazing they are, will not confirm that a life is right with God.  Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!”  Speaking for God or driving out demons does not supplant the responsibility of living a daily life of servanthood and integrity that reflects God within us.  Of course, we want people to speak for God with the evidence of power.  We want demons to fear the prayers of the righteous, but spiritual activity, no matter how much fervor it has, is not a substitute for being righteous in your everyday walk.  God demands integrity in our lives, a sensitivity to other people’s needs through the power of the Holy Spirit.  God knows our hearts; He knows every nanosecond thought that zips through our minds.  He knows us: we cannot deceive him.  Therefore, our lives should be laid down honestly before him every moment.  It is not our work Lord, it is yours!  We will live your life, not ours!  Your mission on earth is ours!  For us Christians, servants of the Most High, we must dedicate our everyday lives to God.  Yes, we are righteous because Christ is righteous, and He is in us because we have placed our faith in him.  But this life must come out in the wash.  It must be clean, full of integrity, honesty, and dedication to God.  If not, if we are soiled with self-interest, selfish pursuits, loving the world and everything in it, we will not fulfill Christ’s mission.  We must proclaim the Good News by our lifestyle and our words.  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 2:5)  Jesus is telling us with some very harsh words that religious activity is not a substitute for a life emanating him to the world.  Sometimes we see people elevated in Christian circles who perform powerful deeds in the name of the Lord, but their lives are worldly, centered on grandioseness.  Doing powerful things for the Lord is wonderful and we should rejoice in such activity, but if their lives do not measure up to what they are ministering, then they are full of hypocrisy and deception.  Christians should pray for such people and love them, persuading them to a better lifestyle.  Speaking of false prophets, Jesus said, By their fruit you will recognize them.  (Matthew 7:16)  

Jesus IS the Rock of Ages—a shelter where we can hide.  In his teachings on the Mount, He tells us if we have healthy eyes, our whole body will be full of light.  All light comes from him.  He is the light that has come into a dark world.  No man can come to the Father unless they are hidden in him by faith in him.  God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him (Jesus), and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  (Colossians 1:19-20)  All people can come to God and have an intimate relationship with him by putting their faith in Jesus’ work and not their own.  This is the salvation message: we are one with Jesus because we are IN HIM through faith and we are one with God because Jesus is in God and God is in him.  As Paul wrote to the church,  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  (Colossians 3:3)  Consequently, we have eternity in us; the resurrection of Jesus proves that to us.  As eternal beings, our lives should be lives of decency filled with God’s love.  We need to build our lives on everything that Jesus taught.  If we do, we will know that our lives are built on the eternal Rock.  Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  Nothing will shake or destroy lives that are built on him.  Our lives will emulate his work, producing good and not evil.  We will place his work and lifestyle everywhere in our lives; that is called servanthood, complete commitment to the Master.  The Son is the image of the invisible God.  (Colossians 1:15)  We who live for Jesus should be a reflection of him and therefore of the invisible God.  Jesus asks us to be light and salt to the world so that the world might see God in us.  But if we fail to heed Jesus’ teaching and go our own way, we will confuse the world because we call ourselves Christians but do not do what Jesus told us to do.  If we believe that knowing Jesus is just a vaccination to protect us from hell and not a lifestyle, we are people who have built our lives on sand.  Anything that comes along that is adverse to our own happiness or understanding of what life is about will cause us to crash. People have been made in God’s image.  We have been given the freedom to illuminate God in our lifestyles, to perform his will and not ours, which is always good.  Jesus explains that God is so good that He even loves his enemies.  We are to be perfect through his power in us.  Perfection comes from Jesus alone; therefore, we should  strive to imitate him in everything we do.  Every believer should pray, “Not my will, but yours O Lord!”  Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  (Matthew 11:28)  Rest in the Lord today and hear his voice.