Category Archives: Matthew

Christian, Take Up Your Cross

Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

“His Cross” Proves Every Human Life Is Precious

This past week former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted for second degree murder, third degree murder, and second degree manslaughter. Chauvin knelt on the neck of a suspect named George Floyd. Floyd plead with Chauvin. He said “I can’t breathe” at least 16 times. Floyd asked for “water”. I watched the video, and heard Floyd saying “Don’t kill me … I’m about to die”, and crying out for his mother. If I had been there I probably would have been arrested. My heart broke as I watched Floyd die.

Whether Floyd was a criminal or not, he was none the less made in God’s image and in God’s likeness (Genesis 1:26). When God made the animals no details are given, other than God allowed Adam to name them (Genesis 2:19). When God made humanity, He “breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). Humans are distinctively different from animals. When Noah got off the Ark, God told him:

Genesis 9:2-6 …. the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Noah and his descendants were given the animal kingdom… Continue reading

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What Love Looks Like

The world struggles to see what “love” is. You hear it’s cry in secular songs. The Rock Group Foreigner sang, “I Want To Know What Love Is”. Tina Turner sang “What’s Love Got To Do With It? What’s Love But A Second Hand Emotion?”. Elvis Presley “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. Dolly Parton sang “I Will Always Love You”. For Willie Nelson, “You Are Always on My Mind”. Heavy D is happy, “Now That We Found Love”.

If you want to see what true love is, then you need to look at Jesus Christ. Look at Him as He willingly laid His life down for us. Jesus said in:

John 10:17-18 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. 18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.

God laid His life down willingly for us, that we might be saved. This is love. We see what love is when we look at Jesus, and how He responded to the Cross.

1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

As Jesus laid His life down, He calls us to lay our lives down. He laid His life down for us on Calvary. He expects us to lay our lives down for Him. If we are to be friends of God, we must have this type of love. A sacrificial love. A willing love. Jesus said: Continue reading

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Failing Forward

After Jesus had celebrated the Passover Meal with His Disciples, and instituted the “Lord’s Table”, we read:

Matthew 26:30-32 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives. 31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. 32 But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.

“All shall be offended”? Not just Judas Iscariot, but all the disciples who followed Jesus for 3 ½ years shall be “offended”. This is an interesting word our Lord used here. It is the Greek σκανδαλίζω skandalízō, (pronounced skan-dal-id’-zo), from which we get our word “SCANDALIZED”. It means “to be morally offended, shocked at, to be brought into reproach, or to be maliciously or falsely spoken of”. We have all seen scandals in the world, and even in the Christian community. Not too long ago we learned that a noted Bible Scholar and Preacher was involved in a scandalous relationship with women. A well respected Pastor I knew many years ago was accused of, and convicted of, child molestation. That was a scandal…. Continue reading

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Then Everyone Ran Away

Adam betrayed his Creator in the Garden of Eden. Now a son of Adam will betray Jesus in another garden, the Garden of Gethsemane. Was Jesus surprised at Judas’ betrayal? Let’s see. Our Lord said:

Matthew 26:46-48 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.

• JESUS KNEW WHAT WAS IN THE HEART OF PEOPLE. When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples Peter initially refused to be ministered to. Jesus said,

“If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me” Continue reading

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Battling Anxiety The Jesus Way

Sometimes I will have bad nights where I toss and turn rather than rest. You probably never experience that (yeah, right), but I do. What keeps me up at night? Anxiety. I’ll get something on my mind that I can’t get off of it. What about this? What about that? I contacted my tax preparer H&R Block yesterday to set an appointment when I was told they do not do “walk ins” right now because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. The office manager sent a link to my email account that I was supposed to use to “upload” my files. I lay down last night, wondering how I was going to scan these documents into the computer. It’s not something I usually do. So anxiety and worrisome thoughts got in my head. I began to overthink what I had to do.

Worry. Anxiety. It Comes To Every Human Continue reading

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Giving God What God Is Owed

As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He rode as a King, seated on a white donkey. The crowd that went before Jesus treated Him as a King. They cried out:

Matthew 20:9 … Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

“Hosanna” means “all glory to God our Savior”. The crowd calls Jesus the “Son of David”. In the Old Testament God told King David that:

2 Samuel 7:12-13 when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

The rightful Ruler of Israel is not Caesar nor Rome, but Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus is the One “born King of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2). Jesus Christ is the “Son of David” that God sent to Israel. Continue reading

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A Christmas Light

Why did God send His Son into the world? Because without Jesus, evil is unchecked. The life that rejects Christ as Lord and Savior can become as mean as Herod’s life was. Oh Beloved, this world needs Jesus. Oh Beloved, we all need Jesus. The Light of God led the Wise Men to Jesus. The Light of God beckons you to Jesus. If you do not know Him as Lord and Savior, I pray that this Christmas your focus is not on the presents under the tree … but the Presence of God Who died on the Tree. He gave Himself for you and for me. Trust Him. Believe He gave Himself for your sins. Obey the Gospel:… Continue reading

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Why Call Him “Jesus”?

Every year around this time we focus on the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. His birth is unique among the births of all other children from the beginning of time. The birth of Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise God made to the devil in Genesis 3:15. The Lord promised the devil, that old serpent (Revelation 12:9; 20:2):

“I will make you, you old serpent, and the woman enemies. Your seed and the seed of the woman will be enemies. The seed of the woman will crush your head – and you shall bruise His heel.” (my paraphrase of Genesis 3:15)

This “Seed of the Woman” is the Lord Jesus Christ… Continue reading

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Jesus Is The Christ

What we call “The Christmas Story”, the conception and birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, is only found in two books of the New Testament. It is found in the Gospel of Matthew, a Jewish Tax Collector who became an Apostle of Jesus Christ. More of the Christmas Story is found in the Gospel of Luke, a “beloved Gentile Physician” (Colossians 4:14) who was a companion of the Apostle Paul. We’ll talk about Luke’s account this coming Sunday night at Riverview. So turn with me in your Bible to Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham…. Continue reading

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Who Is Jesus To You?

Jesus was actually heading into the various villages and towns that made up Cæsarea Philippi. This area is only mentioned twice in the Bible (see above), but it’s an interesting area. First, the area is Gentile territory. No Jews went into the area because of the idolatry that was so prevalent there. Cæsarea Philippi was the location of the cave of Pan, the Pagan god of sexual pleasure. Ryan Fraser wrote an article for the Jackson Sun called… Continue reading

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