Teaching to Glorify God

We have been looking at how Matthew displays Jesus fulfilling the OT with His birth, ministry, teachings and life in general. However, that was not all that Matthew brings to the table.

Jesus has 5 great speeches that bring out different aspects of His expectation for the kingdom’s citizens and all of them pointing to a future era.

The first one we commonly refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. This is the speech from Jesus that has garnered a lot of attention with phrases like “Do not judge, and you will not be judged”, “Love your enemy”, and the Lord’s prayer. All of these are commonly held in high regard in our society, but why not, “You cannot serve God and money?” or “everyone who divorces his wife , except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

These phrases are all expected to be overlooked in many churches today in order to keep the peace and not rub the members the wrong way, but we are not so sensitive.

All of these teachings stand out in their own way though. As we study the different teachings of Jesus in this sermon, we learn a great deal about how God is intending to create a people who have a heart that is like David, “after His own heart.”

Beginning

Matthew 4:23–25 ESV

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Matt 4:

Just as Jesus has told the apostles, the men are coming in like fish in a net. Matthew has Jesus kicking off His ministry with a bang! Healing everything and drawing a huge crowd. How does Jesus respond?

He invites them all to heaven with an invitation song… Right?

He has a moment on top of the mountain to discuss things with His disciples. Seeing the crowds grow, what else is there to think, but that the time is about to come to form an army and start taking things over. Right?

He gathers His disciples together to help them distinguish between those who are coming to Him just to see Him work miracles or be healed of their earthly ailments and those who have a heart that is seeking to please God.

End

You will notice a difference as you move on from the Sermon into future healings. Although it occasionally has the broad sweeping healing statements, the main thing that is intended to be noticed is the attitude and faith of the one requesting healing.

Matthew 8:2 ESV

And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

Matthew 8:5–8 ESV

Matthew 8:5–10 ESV

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 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. 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.” 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.

It is important that those who come to Jesus have some qualification before they can be called disciples or be loved by Jesus. This is so clearly seen in Chapter 8 as Matthew shows us those who have that qualification and those who do not.

Matthew 8:18–22 ESV

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

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Matthew 8:23–27 ESV

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

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He seems to have a low tolerance for those who aren’t doing what He mentions in the Sermon on the Mount. His expectations are laid out and we see men and women either meeting some qualification or failing to meet it.

What is the Qualifier?

It is never simply that they believe that Jesus is the son of God. Did you catch that in the last quote? It doesn’t matter if you believe that He is all He says He is and you have to obey His command. What is your attitude? What is your perspective on life?

Perspective

When we look at any part of the Sermon we see one of two things.

The view that one has of their life must be God centered.

The view that one has of their life must not be overtaken by any other thing.

I often wonder what the most important thing to pray for might be. I think I’ve found it. 1. God let me focus the entire course of my life on bringing you glory. 2. God help me flee the things that take my focus away from you!

I want to look at a just a few verses in this sermon that get this point across.

God Centered Works

Matthew 5:16 ESV

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

It’s not so that they may be amazed at your greatness or so that people will like you and fall down at your feet and worship you. It’s all about giving glory to their creator who is the reason for your good works.

I have heard that athletes imagine themselves running the play or hitting the ball or taking the shot before they ever do it. They imagine themselves as the greatest of athletes before they work hard to accomplish their dreams. I want us to picture a good work in our mind.

Watch yourself going through the process of loving someone else. Someone who you don’t even know. Somenone who has done nothing to deserve anything from you and someone you know could not pay you back. You choose to do something for them that they couldn’t do for themselves. Now, having visualized it, go and do it.

God Centered Righteousness

matt 5 44-

Matthew 5:44–45 ESV

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Why would you do the hardest thing that you will ever do? Why love someone who has just killed your child or stolen your property or kept you from having what you rightfully deserve? Because you are focused on being like your heavenly Father who you understand well enough to know that He forgave His own Son’s murderers.

If you would say, “that’s all well and good, but there ain’t a chance of me not killing someone who did that to me” and you really desire to get back at someone who is hateful and harmful towards you. Realize that you are making yourself an enemy of God. It’s not your place to inflict wrath or judgment no matter how emotional you get.

God shows an amazing amount of patience towards us all.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Matthew 5:48 ESV

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48 ESV

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:48–6:1 ESV

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

God Centered Faith

Matthew 6:1 ESV

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

If you truly have faith that God is listening and watching all that you do, your life must be about His business. However, He also wants to know that you aren’t just appearing to live for Him with the good works that you do. Israel would do this and God said that their “good works” were appalling to Him. They made Him want to vomit. He desires more than just sacrifice in order to be glorified by men.

Jesus even provides encouragement to do this. He tells us that God, who sees in secret will reward you for all eternity. Show God that you believe in Him. Don’t just say the words without doing for Him what He desires.

Matthew 6:20 ESV

but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

God Centered Focus

Matthew 6:22–24 ESV

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

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Also, realize that God sees our internal thoughts and motivations. We have to take every thought captive and bring it toward God Centered Thinking. What should I do in light of what God has said about this? Then, either we trust God’s word or we don’t. If we say that we do, but then we try to take control of our lives, He is offended by that. We have no control over anything that will happen to us. Believing otherwise is like a slap in the face of God.

I know that many of you struggle with this. We all do from time to time and the devil has worked hard on making our society more self sufficient that it has ever been. But we still need the sun to shine, and the air to breath, and the rain to fall.

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Matthew 6:25–34 ESV

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:25–30 ESV

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God Centered

Matthew 7:7–11 ESV

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

God Centered Obedience

The whole sermon is about having the right view of God and life itself. A heart that does not truly know God will never be able to please Him.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Matthew 6:22–24 ESV

Mat 6:22-2

Have you done and are you doing the will of the Heavenly Father?

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