Life Filled With God’s Glory

This Gospel is written by Matthew, also known as Levi who was a former tax collector. It was most likely written between AD 50-60. Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus. Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish believers—people who knew the Old Testament well. Matthew had one goal: to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Kings, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Connecting the Old Testament prophecies to the life of Christ, proving that every word God spoke was coming true in Jesus. The key themes of the Gospel include Jesus as King, The Kingdom of Heaven, Fulfillment of Prophecy and discipleship.

Biblical Text -

Matthew 7:24–8:13 NKJV

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - A Christian Must Acknowledge The Power Of Jesus, Turn Their Life Over To Him & Grow In Character.

Life Point- Let Jesus Grow Your Character

Exegetical -

Matthew 7:24–29 BSB

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Homiletical -

Jesus is coming to the end of His sermon on the mount and he stops and says that if you listen you are a wise person. You are like the man that built his house upon the rock and when the storms of life come in and pound against what you have made in your life you will find that it stands against the trials and tribulations that come. Your character will find you out.

However, someone who doesn’t follow Jesus’ words and indeed the principles found in the scriptures is like a man who builds on the sand and when life’s problems arise you will find their character is not what it should be and it will destroy their life much more easily and there will be nothing left.

Let’s put it this way. We are Floridians and when that hurricane comes and you have a good foundation, all things being equal, you survive the storm and so will your house. If you don’t have a good foundation then it won’t survive and hopefully you have evacuated and you’re not in it when it comes down.

John 16:33 NLT

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

We talk about the promises of God. This is a promise of God. You will have trouble. Not everything will go smoothly. There will be times when your personality and someone else’s will clash. But what are you going to do? You gonna fight for your right as it were, or are you going to walk in humility as Jesus taught.

You are going to have people that just don’t like you. Is your character of such readiness that you know how to handle that in grace?

What do you do when the unexpected bill or something devastating happens in your life? Do you just scream and cry, moan and wine. Or in your grief do you turn to God and say, “God I don’t know what to do, how to go, or what to even pray. But I know that you have it all in your hands.”

These things are called trials and tribulations.

James 1:2–4 BSB

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

You can only really do this command if your character is grown to where it ought to be. You can only grow your character by do the will of God, which can be found in the word of God.

How can one get where they need to be? Spend time in God’s Word and prayer. That is the only way.

Will you start doing that today?

Illustration -

Think about David in the Old Testament. He transitioned from a humble shepherd to a revered king. His journey was marked by trials that shaped his character—from defeating Goliath with faith and courage to facing the consequences of his sins. Each experience refined him. What does that show us? It shows us that character growth often comes through struggle and hardship as we rely on God. Ultimately, God described David as a man after His own heart, this shows us that truth character growth is a process that requires humility and perseverance. Like we talked about last week.

Life Point - Acknowledge Jesus’ Power

Exegetical -

Matthew 8:1–4 BSB

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. Suddenly a leper came and knelt before Him, saying, “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!” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”

Homiletical -

Jesus is now done and comes down off the mount and what happens? A leper leaps out in front of him and kneels showing his faith in Christ by saying Lord, if you are willing you can cleanse me.”

Leprosy was a scourge throughout the history of mankind. Parts of your body would just fall off as it ate away at you. It was so contagious that they couldn’t be around those who were well or it would spread like wild fire, hence the reason for leper colonies. Where those who had it would stay together and try to eek out a living on their way to die. It was a death sentence both physically and emotionally. Life had they known it was now over for them. All that was left was the colony.

But this guy heard and had faith in Jesus. He put himself in a crowd of people probably covered up and dropped at Jesus’ feet seeking a miracle.

He was there for the sermon on the mount, he heard the words but all he knew is that he needed Jesus to touch him and to heal him.

To anyone else to touch this man was taking a risk that you would come down with his disease, but Jesus didn’t shy away from him. He touched him in his depravity and cleansed him from the disease.

This is a good way of thinking about salvation. I was sick and dyeing thanks to sin, but Jesus reached down in my utter depravity and cleansed me from it both positionally and in reality before God. You see before God I traded in my sin for Jesus Holiness and stand right before Him. That’s something to be excited about right there.

For this particular healing Jesus cleansed him instantly for some others they were healed as they went. But this man was healed right then and there.

Now don’t you think that man was excited? Don’t you think he wanted to tell the whole world? But Jesus warns him to stay focused and follow the law in a situation like this, which was to give an offering for being cleansed to the priests.

When Jesus healed him he still had some responsibilities before God. He had to present himself to the priests and give the offering prescribed.

When Jesus saves us we have some responsibilities before God. For us it is about telling others what God has done; for us it is about living the life that Christ prescribes for us.

Illustration -

In the prophet Isaiah's vision, he saw the Lord on a high and exalted throne (Isaiah 6:1). Isaiah’s response was one of awe, recognizing God’s holiness and power. This resonates with understanding the power and sovereignty of Christ. Often, we approach faith casually, but when we grasp the magnitude of Jesus’ authority in our lives, it transforms our perspective, leading us to worship and reverence.

Life Point - Place Your Trust In Jesus

Exegetical -

Matthew 8:5–13 NKJV

Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Homiletical -

So here we have the story of the faith of the centurion. Meaning this man was a leader of 100 men and He came to find Jesus for one of his slaves.

He didn’t have to do anything for the slave but he must have cared for them otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered.

A centurion was a busy man and had duties to perform but he took what precious little time he had and went and saw Jesus on his behalf. After all, he had men to command.

Jesus goes to get up and come with him and the centurion has enough faith that he says, “Don’t get up! I know you can heal him with a word because I understand authority. I know that you have authority to command something and that thing will happen. I have faith that when you command something there is no wiggling out of it or room for doubt, because I know it will happen there is no doubt to that.”

Jesus exclaims that there is not such great faith anywhere in Israel.

Now this is a big deal. This would have been very insulting to Israelites because they were God’s chosen people. They were the ones God set aside for himself.

Remember the reason that Matthew is writing is because he wanted to show the kingship of Jesus as the Messiah to the Israeli people. So to write something like this would have been insulting. If you were trying to persuade someone to follow Jesus you might leave this story out, but Matthew didn’t do that. He wrote the truth, what he saw and heard.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. Then he says all these people will come in the kingdom of heaven and sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But you know who won’t? You know who will be cast out of the presence of God, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth? He says it is the sons of the kingdom. Israelites.

Again you don’t persuade somebody to follow Jesus by saying writing this stuff down. Nor do you gain followers by saying this stuff. But Jesus did, and so it was written down.

You see not everyone who thought they were going to heaven, was going to heaven. Only those that believe on Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Those are the only ones.

Now here is a scary thought. Not everyone who is in church today, across America, is going to be in heaven. You know what won’t save you? Being a good church member, coming every time the doors open, or even being a deacon won’t save you. But only placing your trust in Jesus Christ for your eternity will save you.

Have you done that today? If not, why not?

Jesus says, now go ahead and go home. The slave is healed.

Illustration -

In the 17th century, the Great Awakening sparked revival across the American colonies, yet not all who attended the revivals truly believed or changed their hearts. Jonathan Edwards preached passionately about the distinction between mere attendance and genuine faith, famously stating, 'There are many who seem to have found comfort in this religion, yet they have never truly converted.'

Life Principle– A Christian Must Acknowledge The Power Of Jesus, Turn Their Life Over To Him & Grow In Character.

Call to Action – altar call….

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