24-0421p Transcript

Preacher: Mike Mathis

(1:01) Good evening. We continue the lesson that (1:07) we started this morning at part one this morning where we’re talking about Jesus, (1:17) God’s greatest servant. We learned this morning that Jesus had our interests in mind, (1:28) when he left heaven, and as he had our interests in mind, we should have others' (1:45) interests in mind, and we should have the attitude that he had, that he came and (1:57) to earth and emptied himself of the privileges of heaven and took on the form of a servant, (2:10) came in the appearance of a man and humbled himself and became obedient (2:20) to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Jesus came to serve.

It was (2:34) a man’s time that he came to serve. He told his disciples that (2:51) if they wish to be great, that they must be servants. We find that Jesus served as he went (3:04) about doing good.

Peter said this to Cornelius and his household and the friends that were (3:17) gathered there to listen to what Peter had to say, and Jesus cared that people hurt, was hungry, (3:36) grieved, homeless, and died. Jesus took care of the physical needs of people, (3:55) and we’re going to look at some examples of Jesus meeting these physical needs of the people. (4:08) In Matthew 8, verses 5 through 17, Jesus healed the sick.

(4:22) First, it was the centurion’s servant who said when he, in verse 5 of Matthew 8, (4:36) says, Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him pleading with him, (4:46) saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home, paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. (4:54) And Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, (5:04) I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only speak a word and my servant will be (5:13) healed.

For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, (5:25) go. And he goes.

And to another, come. And he comes. And to my servant, do this.

And he does it. (5:36) When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to those who followed, (5:42) Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. And I say to you, (5:52) that many will come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (6:01) in the kingdom of heaven.

But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. (6:12) There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then Jesus said to this centurion, (6:19) Go your way as you have believed, so let it be done for you.

And his servant was healed that same hour. (6:35) The next is, now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying sick (6:47) with a fever. So he touched her hand and the fever left her.

And she arose and served them. (7:03) And so Peter’s mother-in-law was healed of a fever. But he’s not done yet.

In verse 16, (7:15) When evening had come, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed and cast out the spirits (7:24) with the word and healed all who were sick. Now something that I didn’t notice, as I said this (7:36) morning, I was privileged to teach the lesson that was in the Vacation Bible School (7:50) textbook, which I thought I had, but I couldn’t find it. But I did have the outline that I made (7:59) for this lesson, but I really didn’t notice the first time.

But according to the outline that I (8:16) made and going through that lesson and picking out the points that were there, (8:25) it was stated, many healed after Sabbath sunset. Matthew doesn’t say what day that it is that (8:44) that all this happened. But in Mark 1 and verse 21, (8:56) then they went into Capernaum and immediately on the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and taught.

(9:09) Now, while he was teaching in the synagogue, he taught as one had an authority and not as a scribe. (9:22) Now there was a man there in the synagogue with an unclean spirit, and he cried out and said, (9:32) let us alone. What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? (9:41) I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, be quiet and come out of him. (9:53) When the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, (10:01) he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, (10:12) what is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, (10:21) and they obeyed him.

And immediately his fame (10:28) spread throughout all the region around Galilee. Now here is what connects (10:39) what is going on in Matthew 8. Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, (10:50) they entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. But Simon’s wife’s mother lay (11:01) sick with a fever, and they told him about her at once.

So he came and took her by the hand (11:13) and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her, and she served them. (11:25) And at evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were (11:38) demon-possessed. And I checked out at the Sabbath sunset.

I never realized that that was on the (11:51) Sabbath day, but Jesus had a busy day on that Sabbath day before he even left the synagogue, (12:01) according to Mark. Now Matthew doesn’t give that detail, (12:11) and I don’t know what day the centurion’s servant was healed. It doesn’t say, and I (12:20) didn’t have much time to look to try to find out if the centurion (12:26) coming to him was on a Sabbath day or not.

But (12:34) it said the Sabbath sunset in verses 16 and 17 of Matthew 8, that Jesus healed many, (12:47) even casting out the unclean spirits and the sun. And then he fed the hungry. (13:02) In John 6, 1 through 14, we have the account where the multitude of people there (13:13) that numbered 5,000 men besides women and children.

(13:22) And when it was getting close to evening, Jesus was getting concerned about the people, (13:30) even his disciples, that he asked concerning if they had anything there that they could eat. (13:47) And so after searching, a lad came having five loaves of bread and two fish. (14:01) Now, ordinarily, that’s not enough to feed.

(14:08) These two fish is not enough to go around, even with what we have here. (14:17) But the five loaves of bread for 5,000, don’t know how far that would have gone ordinarily. (14:29) But Jesus, he blessed the food and gave to the people, had the people to sit down and rose.

(14:44) And the miracle that it was performed that day, that 12 baskets of fragments was taken up. (14:59) That is a miracle, that these people were fed on five barley loaves and two fish, (15:10) and they took up 12 baskets of fragments. We can see that God’s bounty never runs out.

(15:25) This is amazing. You know, because of Jesus feeding the 5,000, (15:42) these people wanted to take him forcefully and make him a king, set a crown upon him, (15:50) but he didn’t allow that because it wasn’t the purpose for him to rule, (16:01) as we learned this morning, on an earthly throne. (16:08) And then Jesus raises the dead.

He sees certain people who is sorrowful for their loved ones, (16:20) departing. In Matthew 9, we have Jairus' daughter, who passed away, in verse 18, (16:42) says, while he spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, (16:52) my daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live. (17:01) So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples.

And suddenly, and then he tells about (17:11) this woman that had a flow of blood for 12 years, and she came from behind him and touched the hem (17:25) of his garment. For she said to herself, if only I may touch his garment, I shall be made well. (17:39) But Jesus turned around, and when he saw her, he said, be of good cheer, daughter, (17:48) your faith has made you well.

And the woman was made well from that hour. (17:59) When Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, (18:10) he said to them, make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping. (18:17) And they ridiculed him.

But when the crowd was put outside, (18:24) she went in and took her, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. (18:36) And so he heals this ruler’s daughter, which we come to learn in other places that (18:52) this is Jairus, and this is Jairus’s daughter. And then in Luke 7, there is a widow (19:04) in this place that is called Main.

And her son is dead, and they’re having his funeral. (19:21) And Jesus is coming by and sees this in Luke 7 verses 11 through 17. Now it happened (19:41) the day after that he went into a city called Main, and many of his disciples went with him (19:52) and a large crowd.

When he came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried (20:03) out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with (20:14) her. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, do not weep.

Then he came (20:26) and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And he said, (20:38) young man, I say to you, arise. So he who was dead sat up and began to speak, (20:50) and he presented him to his mother.

And then in John 11, 1 through 46, we’ve got the account of (21:07) Lazarus. Jesus hears that he is sick, and he is mine unto death, but Jesus delays going. (21:22) But then after two days, Jesus is telling the disciples, let’s go.

And so he’s telling his (21:46) disciples that Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. And they misunderstood what he (21:57) said. Well, if he’s sleeping, he’s all right.

But he comes out and plainly tells them that (22:05) Lazarus is dead. And he goes to Martha, to where Martha and her sister is staying. (22:25) And at first, Martha is the one that sees him and tells him, well, if you were here, (22:38) my brother would not have died.

But he spoke to her and tells her that I am the resurrection and (22:52) the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes (23:01) in me shall never die.

Do you believe this? And she said, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, (23:12) the Son of God, who is to come into the world. Then she reports to Mary and tells her that (23:25) the master is there, that reports that Jesus is there. And so Mary talks to Jesus, and she also (23:39) tells Jesus that if you were here, our brother would not have died.

But then Jesus goes out to (23:53) where the people are, they are groaning, and comes to the tomb where Lazarus is, and he tells (24:12) those there, take away the stone. Now Martha is not realizing what is going on. She said, (24:25) Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.

Jesus said to her, did I (24:36) not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God? (24:44) Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. (24:52) And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. (25:00) And I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by, I said this, (25:09) that they may believe that you have sent me.

Now when he had said these things, he cried with a (25:17) loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, (25:32) and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, loose him and let him go.

(25:43) So Jesus heals, or raises Lazarus from the dead. He does this because he (25:56) sympathizes with the grief that these people are going through, (26:06) and he brings their loved ones back to them. (26:14) Jesus serves, meeting the spiritual needs.

Now in the third chapter of John, (26:28) and the scripture reading that was read was John 3 through 5, but in this (26:49) Nicodemus, a person, he comes to Jesus by night. And Jesus is teaching him (27:05) about spiritual things, and tells him that one must be born again. (27:16) And he doesn’t understand that, which he should, because somewhere along the line there (27:26) in the Old Testament time that they believed in being born again, or there was some talk about it, (27:37) but yet here’s Nicodemus.

He says, how can a man be born when he is old? (27:44) Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? (27:51) And Jesus tells him, most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, (28:01) he cannot enter the kingdom of God. He’s telling him that the wind blows where it wishes, (28:11) and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from (28:17) and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit.

(28:25) Nicodemus, when he hears this, he answered and said to him, how can these things be? (28:37) And Jesus answered and said to him, are you a teacher of Israel and do not know these things? (28:49) If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you (28:54) heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the (29:04) son of man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, (29:12) even so must the son of man be lifted up. This is signifying how he is going to die.

(29:24) Then in the fourth chapter, Jesus is talking to his Samaritan woman. He speaks to her (29:33) and he said, for he told her to give me a drink, and this surprises her. Well, he speaks to her, (29:57) if you knew the gift of God, who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him (30:08) and he would have given you living water.

So he is speaking to this Samaritan woman (30:15) and he tells her of the living water, which comes from the spirit. (30:25) And he tells her spiritual things. He meets the spiritual needs.

Jesus teaches us to be servants. (30:37) In Matthew 5, 31-46, he tells the people at the judgment day on the right, (30:47) because they have done things to those that were hungry and naked and thirsty and in prison and so (30:58) on, that they have done these things to him and he welcomes them into eternal life. (31:13) Being a servant takes effort.

Humans by nature want to be served. Jesus relieves human suffering (31:24) in the context of spiritual needs. Jesus did good without regard to race, creed, (31:32) social standing.

We must do good to all men. Opportunities to serve are abundant. (31:43) Jesus said in John 10-10 that he had come to give life and to give it more abundantly.

(31:52) Now that doesn’t mean abundant life. It means that life is to be abundantly. (32:03) And there is a book that’s in three volumes that some of the teaching I would not agree with, (32:17) but the title is catchy.

It is living abundantly. That’s what it means, that we should live (32:27) abundantly. And that would be doing good, serving other people.

Let us not wait to be asked to serve. (32:39) Jesus served. He was God’s greatest servant.

He worked tirelessly and he did good things. (32:53) He came because he thought of us. He thought of mankind.

And we too should be willing (33:03) to think of others as he thinks of us. At this time I know there may be some that are listening (33:14) that may need to obey the gospel, but to obey the gospel is to believe and be baptized, to repent (33:24) of the sins and be baptized for the remission of sins. And we must be faithful until (33:37) death afterwards.

And let us learn to look out for others' interests too. (33:49) And now I will close and we will stand and do the invocation psalm. (33:54)