 Now, we're gonna be looking today in Matthew chapter 8 and and and I'll note with you that in verse 14 I'm not doing I'm not reading at all But it says when Jesus Jesus had come into Peter's house and so Peter's house is located in the city of Capernaum We've been in the city of Capernaum many times. I think we've been to Israel Marine I've been to Israel something like 23 times and we've been to Capernaum a number of times and there are pictures that have been taken of the city But I wanted to just give you an idea just to see the ruins of that city and so we have a few slides I want to show you just to Introduce our subject today So if we could show those slides, I think we already are there's Capernaum as you can see it the entrance into it and Then moving on in That there is a church building that has been built over the site the traditional site of Peter's house and you can go to the next slide and That would be the ruins or the original Remains of that particular house and there is a belief that that was his house whether or not it is or not That's subject to archaeological experts debating But there was a church that was built over it and that's the reason why they believe that that more than likely was his site This is the temple rather a synagogue in Capernaum That is built over the remains of the of the synagogue That was in existence during the time of Christ just another shot of that particular Synagogue also there in the city of Capernaum and so that's what we're going to be looking at today and I'm going to share a little bit with you Out of the verses in front of us Matthew 8 verses 14 through 22 now in reality Let me say this as a way of introduction. This really could be three different Bible studies Three different studies verses 14 and 15 can be combined as a single study verses 16 and 17 Could be a second study and then verses 18 through 22 would actually have enough content to be a third study So what I'm going to be doing is giving you kind of like three studies in one today And you're going to see how that works in just a moment So let's read together here in Matthew chapter 8 verse 14 and 15 I'll give you the first installment. We'll move to the second and close with the third in verse 14 and 15 Matthew chapter 8 Matthew writes now when Jesus had come into Peter's house He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever and he touched her hand and the fever left her then she arose and Served them so as we're in Matthew chapter 8 now He is is in the process of sharing Miracles that Jesus performed after he had finished what is called the Sermon on the Mount We looked at verses 1 through 4 and verses 1 through 4 Gave us information concerning a leper that had been cleansed by the Lord Jesus Christ Then we looked at verses 5 through 13 where Jesus healed the centurion's servant And so Matthew now is writing that Jesus is about to heal a woman Now at first this might not seem unusual that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to Heal a woman, but that is something that during his day would have been regarded as being unusual And the question has to be asked why would healing a woman be looked at by the people of that time as being something That was unusual In order to understand that we need to know that during the time of Christ women did not have a high status in Israel The Jewish men would do their morning prayers and they may very well have prayed this prayer that has been prayed now for centuries It's prayed to this day and part of the prayer that they pray in the morning to this day is Lord I thank you that I was not born a Gentile a slave or a woman and So women were not necessarily highly regarded during the time of Christ Someone wrote Jesus's honor and respect was extended to all women an attitude largely unexpected and unknown in his culture and time Jesus unlike the men of his generation and culture taught that women were equal to men in the sight of God Women could receive God's forgiveness and grace Women as well as men could be among Christ's personal followers Women could be full participants in the kingdom of God These were revolutionary ideas Many of his contemporaries including his disciples were shocked Someone said Jesus treated women with dignity and respect and he elevated them in a world Where they were often Mistreated and so Jesus shows concern for women throughout his ministry We can see that for example When he healed the son of a woman from the city of Nain We know the story it's found in the gospel of Luke chapter 7 How there's a funeral procession a widow comes out It was her only son who had died and how that Jesus went up to that funeral procession stopped the procession and actually resurrected the woman's Son to life because that was her only son the only means of support and Jesus did something for her Demonstrating his love and concern for that woman We know that in Luke chapter 13 verses 10 through 17 that Jesus heals a woman with the spirit of infirmity We know that he cast out the demon from a daughter of a woman of Canaan in Matthew chapter 15 And we know that by watching Jesus's ministry from the beginning to the end That at about the end of his ministry He cared about his mother making sure that she was cared for when he died by entrusting Mary into the care of one of his disciples John You can see through the the reading of the Gospels that women were highlighted very often in his ministry You have a woman named Elizabeth. She was a wife of Zechariah She's the mother of John the Baptist and you have a lot of print concerning her you have a woman named Anna She was an older woman. She prophesied over Jesus when he was brought into the temple You have the story of Martha and Mary It's interesting in the story of Martha of Mary as is recorded in in Luke chapter 10 verses 38 through 42 how that That Martha was in the kitchen preparing meal a meal for Jesus his men and others and and how that she was making a lot of noise in that kitchen because Because Mary was not there helping her and you need to know a little bit of the culture because the culture of that day when When Visitors arrived the women would would take care in a hospitable way of the guests and and Mary should not have been in the room with Jesus and the men that he was ministering to according to their cultural way of thinking Mary should have been in the kitchen Making the meal for them. That's what the women would have done and were expected to do and and that's why Martha got so upset it was her home which gives us evidence that she more than likely owned that home and Mary was her younger sister and So when Mary is not there helping her you know the story how that how that Martha came in and and began to boss Jesus around and Said you know, you know that she should be in the kitchen helping me instead of being seated at your feet And she actually began to give Jesus orders tell her to come and help me and As an older sister some of you ladies are older sisters and Marie is the oldest sister And I have seen the dynamic of older sisters with the younger and all and it's sometimes they're like a mom To the younger sisters you get over here and you help me and that's what Martha was doing and and Jesus said to Mary He said Martha Martha You're so concerned about so many things But Mary has chosen the better part now We all get the spiritual implication of that But one of the things that will help us to understand is also the cultural the cultural is that Mary didn't need to be According to their culture didn't really need to be receiving teaching from the mouth of a rabbi Because what she was supposed to do is she was supposed to make the meal and serve That's what she was supposed to do even to this day in some of the more rigid orthodox Jewish Families when they go to what they call temple when they go to the synagogue on Shabbat on Friday night when they go To to temple the children and the wives will be in another area Maybe playing in a playground while the men are seated at the At the teaching of the rabbi. I mean to this day They still do that and so it was unusual during that day for a woman to be seated at the feet of Jesus But it shows to us that Jesus came to minister to everybody When you read your New Testament you find so many different women who are mentioned and in my life in my spiritual life There are three women in the New Testament that have actually really ministered to my heart and each of these women Have had had a dimension that the Lord has used through what they were like and their forgiveness They received that has touched me. There's the the woman at the well that we see There's a woman who was caught in adultery Or the way the Lord ministered to her has always spoken to my heart and and the sinful woman That was at Simon's dinner and each of these women have deep in my understanding of the love and the grace of God just by watching How Jesus ministered to these outcast women and each one of those women would have been regarded as an outcast In this passage Jesus is about to do something. He's about to heal Peter's mother-in-law And so the healing demonstrates his compassion on everybody because Jesus has come to minister to everybody In second Chronicles 19 verse 7 We read there is no iniquity with the Lord our God nor respect of persons in Galatians chapter 3 verse 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile Slave or free male or female For you are all Christians you are one in Christ Jesus You are all believers neither male nor female you're one in Jesus Christ Every time I read that verse. I remember an incident that occurred when I was in Bible college. I Mentioned this first service and I said in first service. Oh, I probably won't mention it second But I am Because it left something in my heart that that I want to share with you is real practical And I think it can help us especially in the day that we're living in I was at Biola great Christian school. I Was in a philosophy class. There was a young man in the class Who interrupted the professor every class he would raise his hand and He always started his question in the same way always started by saying brother Brother, he would say it like that brother Then he'd ask a question and when you take philosophy especially introduction to philosophy There are so many people who come in with so many questions and many people who think they're philosophers Just natural born philosophers and all and it can get kind of irritating with the questions that are asked because sometimes the questions aren't necessary Unfortunately, this young man was one who had so many questions many of them not being really necessary to ask in front of the whole class It took up a lot of the time Well, the professor patiently would try and answer his questions and he would do that every class and it got to the point You know about halfway into the semester that that I knew that this guy is going to raise his hand and this guy's going to interrupt The professor professor. He's going to say brother brother, then he's going to ask why is the sky blue or whatever and that's what he's going to do and I can still remember this one class. He raised his hand again. It's like I said about halfway into the semester brother and There he goes and I just leaned back and I just waited for the question to be asked and this guy seated next to me in the class Turns to me and he says to me. What is he a Mexican and I took out my spray can I said what? What What is he a Mexican? I said, do you know what I am? Yeah, you're Italian I Said no, no, I'm not no. I'm Mexican. I said, yeah, we'll talk after class essay I ain't teasing but I said I said I'm Mexican and he goes And he it was just it was priceless, you know those commercials priceless. It was priceless his face just got Frozen and I just went back to listening to this guy Ask his question this guy writes this little note to me and he hands it to me And I read it. I like you. Do you like me check box? Yes. No That was another class he says he goes I Fear that I have greatly offended you. I am sorry and I wrote Galatians 3 28. There's neither Jew nor Gentile male nor female. We're all one in Jesus Christ You need to understand that and I told them listen and I told them listen. We belong to the same Lord We're one in Jesus Christ. Let's get past this nonsense this nonsense that that that the color matters You know what color matters the color of the blood of Jesus Christ that has washed and cleansed us of all of our sin That's the only color that God sees it's the red the red that has washed me and and I really feel that in these days, especially There there is this this attitude and I'll say this quickly This is a sermon in itself really this attitude is I've got to be where people are like me people like me are Listen if somebody loves Jesus Christ, I don't care what color you I really don't you're black or white You're red. You're brown. You're yellow. Whatever you are. You are Christian if you're Christian Then you're my brother and you're my sister and I love you for Jesus's sake. That's what? Christianity's supposed to be that's what it's all about and that's what the church needs to come back to especially in these last days There's too much anger and too much division. It's time for love and unity and that comes through Jesus Christ Let's remember that and God has a way of reaching in yes Somebody says why are you saying you don't like your culture? Listen? I like it as much as I know it You say you don't like Mexicans. I married one duh But the thing that's the most important please understand this and I don't know how to say it so I'll say it like this forgive me if it doesn't make sense Somebody says you're that Mexican pastor. I say no. I'm that pastor. I'm a Christian before I'm anything else. I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. That's what matters. That's what matters That's what I am And I'm not denying where I'm from and I'm not denying anything about that But what I am is a believer in Christ and what I want is Jesus Christ to be honored I want Jesus to reach into people's lives and so no I didn't try and create a Mexican church and no I don't have a burden only for Mexicans You know what I want to see everybody come to faith in Jesus Christ throughout this whole world because that's what Jesus Christ Intends this church has got to remember that in these last days. We have to remember that I say this with great passion and feeling because I know what goes on in people's hearts where they walk into church and say Oh, there's not people like me here. There's not enough of my kind Listen, if they're saved, they are your kind. They are your brother. They are your sister That's what they are. Let's love one another because that's what Jesus said is the mark of a disciple The mark of a disciple. He said by this show all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one For another Jew. No love for one another That's the key guys and we have to stay there now That was just a mini sermon within a sermon within another three sermons, so we better get back Jesus came into Peter's house. Thank you very much mom Peter came. I'm just easy Jesus came into Peter's house. It's in the city of Capernaum It's interesting. I want you to note this. This is another thing. It's not necessarily an aside This is really something important when you see in verse 14 Matthew chapter 8 He saw his wife speaking of Peter's house Peter's wife rather. He saw his wife's mother Lying sick with a fever. He saw Peter's wife's mother lying sick with a fever Here's an aside view, but it's an important one Peter was married in First Corinthians chapter 9 verse 5 Paul asked the question Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas Cephas is also Simon, which is also Peter Some teach that first Corinthians 9 verse 5 is not referring to a wife Some teach that this is referring to a believing woman who was Peter's assistant But that is not what the scripture says the plain sense of the passage indicates that she was his wife and She was also a believer. It's interesting that his wife is not mentioned in the passage before us Well, that would be because the attention is being placed on the healing and not on the wife Peter's wife's mother has a very high fever as we just read. He's read. She's bedridden. She's severely ill There are various kinds of fevers. They had at that time. They had what was called Malta fever They had what was in referred to as an intermittent fever and they also had Malarial fever It is not identified what she had but some would believe it more than likely was was Malarial But we have Jesus entering Peter's home Mark and Luke give us further insight in how it takes place and mark chapter 1 verses 30 and 31 Mark says Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. They told Jesus about her So he went to her took her hand and helped her up Luke tells us in chapter 4 verses 38 and 39 Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. They asked Jesus to help her So he bent over her and rebuked the fever and it left her Matthew simply records that Jesus touched her hand, but immediately she rose and immediately she served the Lord Again, notice that the healing is immediate and it was complete It's similar to the immediate cleansing of the of the leper as well as the cleanse or rather the healing of the centurion servant Here's the thing for you by way of application. She used her restored health To be of use and service to him and other people Someone once wrote he is no Christian who does not seek to serve his God The very motto of the Christian should be I serve We have been saved, but we have been saved to serve even as do you see the mother-in-law immediately using her health to serve the Lord? We too have been saved and we should use our strength to serve him Ephesians 6 7 serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord not men First Peter 4 10 each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others Faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms So her response should be the norm for all believers if he's touched you then you serve him And so he healed her and she served him. He's your second sermon verse 16 When evening had come they brought to him many who were demon possessed And he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick that it might be fulfilled Which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying he himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses Now as a response to the various healings that Jesus has performed Crowds began to bring people to him to be healed That would include the demon possessed as well as those who were physically ill As I was preparing this and I was noting this how it says When evening had come they brought to him many who were demon possessed I realized that I haven't really spoken much about demon possession So let me give you some insight into demon possession as we look at this passage now When you read your Bible you're going to notice Many times in the New Testament many times Jesus casts out demons You can see him casting out demons from a blind man There's another incident where he cast out a demon from a blind and mute man He cast out a demon from the Canaanite woman's daughter He cast out a demon that was in a man who was in synagogue He cast out a legion of demons from the men of the Gadarenes He cast out a demon from a woman who had been bound by a spirit of infirmity for 18 years And then he also cast out a demon from a young boy who has seizures When you look at Mary Magdalene, she's mentioned in in Luke chapter 8 verse 2 And and there it speaks concerning how that Jesus had had cast out demons from Mary Magdalene And so demons were very obviously active during the time of Christ. So somebody says what is a demon? Demons are fallen angels They're part of the the the cluster of angels that Followed Satan in his rebellion against God and they make up what is called the hierarchy of his kingdom When someone is possessed they are under control of a fallen spirit a fallen spirit a demon Someone says well can a Christian be demon possessed and the answer is no Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. I Have become the temple of the spirit of God and the spirit of God dwells in me Light cannot co-habit with darkness So a Christian cannot be demon possessed Can they be oppressed meaning have opposition the answer is yes There can be an oppression, but not a possession What happens when you don't pay the exorcist you get repossessed, but anyway, I Don't know that just came. I'm sorry Here's something for you when you study your Bible When someone is possessed they are under the control of a fallen spirit and it always does them harm Sometimes it will rob them of their mind. It'll rob them of their health Rob them of their speech Physically wound them They can drive you to suicide They can do a variety of things and you see this when you read concerning The demons the men of the Gadarenes the scripture says that they were by themselves Isolated and they were cutting themselves and they were moaning and crying little boy who was demon possessed kept casting himself in the fire And in the water to destroy him because that's what the enemy wants to do. He wants to destroy you Now the question has to be asked How do you become possessed? How do they become possessed and the interesting thing is is you don't really see in the New Testament any any Details that tell us how this happened what you have is Jesus encountering them More than likely the way that you are possessed though is by giving place to them by inviting them into your life There is a movie made many years ago that was really made By just following a book called the Exorcist and then you had the movie the Exorcist and and I read Concerning that and I remember reading that The individual that was possessed which was actually a case that was written down in book form that many of the things That were written in the book were actual incidents that actually did take place in a factual way and the original person who was the model for the book and later the movie the the Exorcist One of the sources I read concerning that many years ago now stated that that person Had actually been dabbling in the occult including what we today might even think is kind of like a harmless game The Ouija board there is there is and a doorway there is a way of entrance and Normally it would be that the individual is inviting this demonic spirit to take over their lives you can see that in in some religious practices you You can see that voluntary Asking to be possessed in the macumba in Brazil My wife Marie was an exchange student in high school and she went by invitation She didn't know what it was they invited her to go to a ritual a ceremony And when she went to the ceremony was on the beach It was at night and they had these people who were practicing this African religious system that has been mingled with Catholicism called macumba and Marie tells the story of how that there was a Woman who was the leader over this particular ceremony who had a cigar that she had turned around so that the lighted end was in her Own mouth and she approached Marie and she said to her you can receive spirits Do you want to receive spirits? There's there's an invitation that you give Santaria does the same thing there's an invitation for possession and then there are there are those who actually will say Enter in and they want that as part of their ceremony and and I have seen the effects of that When I was in India many years ago now I was walking down the street going towards a temple and I was with the brother named Randy Walls who is now pastor of Calvary Chapel upland and and as we were walking down the street We're walking towards a temple He came to the intersection and as we stopped at an intersection off to my left came three or four guys and they were dragging this one guy with them and the guy that they were dragging was resisting and screaming and As I was watching and we stopped at the corner. They couldn't have been 25 feet away from us They're just crosses a single lane street It's just right across from us and I could see him I mean as close as I can see anybody in the first row here they were that close and As they were walking by this man was screaming and as he was screaming like that He turned and he looked in our direction and when he looked in my direction in his eyes locked with mine My blood in my body felt like it froze. You've heard people say it meant my blood froze I felt that it might it's like my heart stopped all of a sudden. It's like and I I Saw evil in a way. I'd never seen it before. I had never seen it. I'm not dramatizing this I wish I could show you exactly the feeling But there have been those who have said well, how do you know if they're demonized and and not just Upset about something or how do you know that they're demonized and and not just you know a bit mentally imbalanced? You'll know you'll there's there's there's there No, no, I've been around a lot of a lot of mentally imbalanced people in my life And none of them have made my blood freeze this one did and I stood there going oh Battles on and I thought I'm gonna take Randy and throw him in front of this guy. I'm out of here and He tried to get out of their arms to rush us He was fighting them and I stood there and I and I thought yeah, and I'm serious when I say that I really did say battles on Battles on because this guy's gonna come at me and I'm gonna cast him out in the name of Jesus That's what's gonna happen right now, and it's it's you just your armor just go There was a horse drawn carriage coming in the same down the street and the horse when it sensed this man stopped in its tracks and reared up on its rear in its hind legs and refused to move and The man who was driving the horse took out a stick and was starting to hit the horse and The horse would not go near this demonized man that horse had horse sense that horse knew better The men were dragging him into the temple. Well, the horse was saying I want nothing to do with this evil So you will know you you will know is demon possession real? absolutely Absolutely and during the time of Christ. Yes, he dealt with a lot of demonized people and What he would do is it didn't become a long drawn-out battle He would with a word of authority say come out of them with just a word of authority Which should elevate in our minds the power of the Lord Jesus Christ He has amazing authority and it says it he cast out demons with a word and he healed all who were sick He was demonstrating power over the spiritual as well as the physical world If you encounter someone who's demonized, what should you do? One I Don't I don't encourage you to look for it now. Don't become a demon hunter. Ah In Jesus name don't become a demon hunter, but if you encounter one If you do you'll know Put on that armor and In the name of Jesus Take authority. Oh, I don't want to go in this direction further because there are other things But I will say you take authority and in and and you see in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command you in his name and by his power by his authority To leave it can be a battle it could take a long time Which is why when you see Jesus cast in demons like that you see the power of Christ the power of Christ Because they didn't they couldn't do anything other than follow what he said to do Demons are liars and they will lie to you. They invited me in I don't have to go and What you do and I'll give you one more thing I wasn't planning on saying this but one more thing should somebody encounter is you speak The person and you speak and you say do you want to be free and if they in the mind if they can begin to speak Yes, I do then you say to them then in Jesus name reject them and and it goes in that direction I'm not giving you a formula I'm just saying that you can take that direction and you can say in Jesus name You must let go of this person. They do not watch you in their life But Jesus Christ has the power to do that this almost sounds spooky Like I'm telling a scary story, but it's but it's it's true That's what you do. This is how you handle it in the name of Christ. I have authority you have no authority I have authority through Jesus Christ you must go you cannot stay Jesus Christ commands you his word sets this person free and that's what you do Well when Jesus was there ministering Jesus cast them out with a word now It's told to us in verse 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying he himself took our infirmities aboard our sicknesses So Matthew quotes Isaiah Isaiah 53 verse 4 surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows The sorrows refer to anguish it would be the anguish especially that you can have over the result of a life of sin Jesus carried the anguishes. He is saying of our souls now. How did he do this? Well one Jesus took upon himself human flesh and As he took upon himself human flesh it reveals to me that he understands my condition And Hebrews 4 15 the writer said we do not have a high priest who was unable to sympathize With our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet without sin So he understands our condition in his incarnation But he also demonstrates power as he has power over sin death as well as the devil because his ministry Demonstrates his rulership as well as openly demonstrates his authority Now this anticipated the cross where Jesus bruised Satan's head and broke the power of sin and though We still suffer and ultimately die death does not have final victory So Matthew is saying Isaiah's prophecy is being fulfilled then and there during the earthly ministry of Christ Jesus removed their suffering then and there which revealed what is going to happen for all in the future It's not a guarantee by the way of physical healing, but there's a guarantee in scripture for Spiritual healing I may not be physically healed every time I ask God to touch me and heal me But I can tell you that when I said God be merciful to me a sinner That was guaranteed by the Lord in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness by his wounds You have been healed you have been healed in a spiritual sense because when I come to Christ and say God be merciful to me a Sinner he is faithful and just to forgive me my sin and to cleanse me from all Unrighteousness it is not a guarantee for physical healing There are those who would say that you are guaranteed by the stripes of Christ physical healing That's not the context that is found here in Matthew neither is that the context found in 1st Peter chapter 2 What he's speaking about is the fact that he has forgiven us of our sins and that Jesus Christ took them upon himself on our behalf There is no guarantee for healing Physically there is a guarantee that God will forgive you your sins now listen we have people in this room right now who've been asking God to heal them physically and There are some in this room where God has and then there are others Where the Lord seems to be silent he hasn't healed you in that way and the fact is is what I do is I pray But I trust I pray to him that he would do and I trust he'll do what is best for me And I haven't gotten to the point where I begin to think that for some reason that Heavens are brass and he just won't listen to me because he's not answering my particular prayer I believe he is answering my prayer But according to his will which is what I'm supposed to be praying according to anyway And the one thing that I do that has helped me and I'll share this in a practical way has helped me in these times It's been to realize who's in control of the universe, and it's God, you know I had a lady I used to teach a Bible study my very first Bible study back in the early 70s Probably right around 74. I was around 24 years old at the time. She had a son She came to speak to me one day and and I was her Bible teacher even though she was my mother's age and She was at my mother's Kitchen table talking to me across the table and she said my son is is ill I've been asking the Lord to heal him. Why hasn't God healed him doesn't God understand doesn't God care? And and I remember our conversation and I remember saying to her because she had said to me Where is God now? Where is God and I remember at her asking that question again I was 24 years old and and she's my mom's age and she's asking me to direct her and I'm still new in the Lord But I still remember the answer I gave her because when she said where is God now. I Said God is in the same place He was When his son Jesus died on the cross He hasn't moved He sees you and he hears you and the only thing I can tell you now Is he's still in control and he still has authority and he loves you. That's all I know He hasn't moved. He's still with you You know, there have been times in my own life Some of you've been in this church long enough to know that there have been battles here and there that I've had with health You know, I've had three different forms of cancer, you know, I lost my memory right now. I've got glaucoma I'm partially blinded my right eye now. I'm looking a lot better in the mirror when I close my left eye. I can tell you that You know, and there are things that I would love the Lord to remove about there You know Lord, thank you that you've taken care of the bladder cancer Thank you for the skin cancers that you've taken care of and all but you know what I mean You just trust the Lord. That's what you're supposed to do. That's what Christians do I mean when I got saved there was no guarantee that he gave to me of of clean health all the time perfect health But I do have a guarantee of sins forgiven I do have a guarantee that he went and prepared a place for me that he's coming again to receive me unto himself And I know that heaven is a lot better than earth And so I'm just passing through and I understand that and one of these days I'll cash in the ticket that takes me to see him bottom line That's the way it is and so I trust him. Don't you I trust him in everything he takes care of us He loves us in and and yes, you know, we can ask God heal me physically and and and my God is a healing God That's one of the titles that he has I the Lord am your healer But at the same time he may say this is this is something that I'm gonna allow in your life for whatever Purposes I might have and what I have learned to do and I'm learning to do is simply trust him in all things That's your second sermon. Let's go to your third and conclude Verse 18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him He gave a command to depart to the other side certain scribe came and said to him teacher I will follow you wherever you go and Jesus said to him shut up liar. No, Jesus said to him Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man is nowhere to lay his head Another of his disciples said to him Lord, let me first go and bury my father Jesus said to him follow me let the dead bury their own dead and So what we have here Is a final installment where Jesus is seeing these great multitudes and as you see in verse 18 He gives this command depart to the other side So he's leaving to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee that they might have a time of rest But as this is happening verse 19 speaks of a scribe Now the scribes were the experts in the law of Moses Scribes are highly educated scholars and We're very well known as being proud Scribes were not prone to follow another teacher Especially one like Jesus Christ and because of this his profession of devotion for Christ is remarkable So he says I'll follow you wherever you go, but notice Jesus's response Foxes have holes birds of the air have nest the son man hasn't anywhere to lay his head So instead of receiving him with open arms because this guy is saying I'll follow you wherever you go He actually issues a challenge and here's your challenge Do you have any idea where your offer is going to lead you if you actually follow me? The decision can lead to hardship and even poverty Are you willing to live at a lower standard for my sake? Are you willing to trust God for your daily bread? Will you go where God guides? Will you trust him to provide? Are you willing to forgo the temptation to believe that you're entitled to be provided for in order to find pleasure in serving God and trusting him? Now obviously a desire to follow God and to wholeheartedly pursue him should not be quenched and yet Jesus sees in this man zeal without knowledge. He hadn't counted the cost of discipleship. He was making a promise He wouldn't keep you see we need to count the cost But whatever it may be, it's always going to be better than anything we could imagine Following Jesus is not an intellectual pursuit alone Because it's costly Somebody once said a religion which costs nothing is worth nothing Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote when Christ calls a man He bids him come and die Easy beliebism is not the way of the cross In Luke 14 33 Whoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has he cannot be my disciple And so the Lord doesn't want this easy beliebism this. Oh, I'll follow you as long as the path is is comfortable He's saying you need to understand that there is a cost to following me and It's a road that can be very difficult It's a road that can be very hard I mentioned Randy waltz a minute ago pastor of Calvary upland. He was my assistant pastor for many years and When I was still pastoring in Ontario, he came into my office and he told me that he felt God was calling him to go plan a church and He said he said David. I feel that God has called me to be a pastor and I'm called to plan a church and I still remember looking at him. He was seated across my desk and I still remember he was standing across my desk and I I remember looking at him and I said this to him and I don't know if anybody will understand what I What I'm trying to say, but I said this is it. You don't know what you're asking for And when I said that to him I started to cry Said you don't know what you're asking for And he just kind of looks at me like huh and then I did you know, it wasn't cuz my dear friend was leaving No Had nothing to do with my friendship It was that he didn't know the road and What he would endure and what he would experience as a pastor On one occasion Jesus speaks to two of his men. He says can you drink the drink that I will drink? Oh Yes, we can No, you don't understand what you're talking about On another occasion Jesus speaking to his disciple says to him what I'm doing now. You don't understand, but you will later That's that's the following of Christ that there are things that you in a moment of Spiritual ecstasy you're in a time of worship. It's a great time where the worship team is connecting with You and your heart and you've got your hands raised and you're singing to Jesus and in your heart You're saying yourself. I just want to do what God calls me to do You might hear a message somewhere where where it's a challenge in your heart and you say I Want to pursue him and and I'll be honest with you that they're Very often the the whole point of having high level emotion and and high power preaching is to stir people up to follow But Jesus didn't take advantage of that He didn't he challenged Do you know What you're saying you want? You need to understand Foxes have holes in the ground that they can go and rest in birds while they have nests that they can nest in me I've got nowhere to lay my hand Well, you're asking for costly Are you willing to pay the price? And as this is taking place verse 21 another of his disciples said to him Lord, let me first go and bury my father Jesus said to him follow me Let the dead bury their own dead Now when he says let me first go and bury my father bury my father's what is called a figure of speech What he's saying is I must remain until my father dies and his inheritance is distributed You see his father wasn't dead yet But if he were to leave before his father died and the inheritance is distributed He would be cut out of the equation. So he's saying let me put off following you until I'm ready to do so I've got things to do Now why was he reluctant? He didn't want to lose his inheritance Money was very important to him proverbs 23 5 says riches can disappear as though they had wings of a bird So Jesus's reply was simple to the point let the world take care of the things of the world Let the dead bear their own dead is another way of saying let the world take care of the things of the world You need to choose the better part the thing that lasts Even as he had earlier said seek he first the kingdom of God and his righteousness all these things shall be added unto you Follow him first The world doesn't have enough to offer you what will man give an exchange of his soul There's a young man who came up to me after church service many years ago now And he said to me can I speak to you for a moment? And I said yes he said Over a year ago when you were in Ontario In Ontario High School He said I was looking for a church to go to and I came to The church there in Ontario High School He said and the worship team came out and did their music and he said I liked him And you came out and he gave a message He said that got me so angry that I got up and said I will not come back to this church again and I left I Said well, thank you. That's very encouraging he said and so I left angrily saying I will never go there again he said and Then around Easter I was driving looking for a church again He said and I didn't know that you had moved From Ontario and I was driving by here He said there was a line of cars that were entering into the parking lot So I got in line, but it was just too long a line So I said to myself I'll come back next week. He said which I did I came back the next week He said I came in and I sat down and once again. I enjoyed the music then you came out He said and I said within myself. That's the guy who got me so angry last year He said this time I listened And when you gave the invitation He says I I came forward. I gave my heart to christ I said well, praise the lord. He said i'm not through okay He said I need prayer because I got a phone call From a woman that I had been intimate with Who has been diagnosed with hiv aids She was told by her doctor to call Any men she had been with to let them know that they need to go and get a test And that we are to tell anybody we've been with since being with her He said so I called up somebody to let them know I went and had the test I came out hiv positive He said then I got a phone call from her Again, and she said have a second test because I've been tested a second time and I'm I mean I'm not I'm not positive So he said I had all of this hope And I went And I was tested and I came out hiv positive a second time He said pastor, can you pray for me? He says i'm hiv positive and i'm going to die of aids And I prayed for him I eventually buried him I gave his eulogy from this platform I shared at his funeral from this platform This church buried him Ministered to him Loved him for a few years Watched him as his Life went slowly ebbing Till he finally succumbed to that horrible disease hiv aids And it hit me We wouldn't have buried him as a result of aids If he had received christ the first time he came But he put it off And in the time between the first time he came to hear the message And the time he finally yielded to that message In the in-between time is when he was with that woman and when he got infected with aids And that's why the lord says let the dead bury their own dead You come and follow me You don't know You don't know How long you have You can't be putting him off He was a let me first kind of guy let me first No in the kingdom of god it's not let me first It's you first It's you first That's what it means to follow the lord That's why jesus jesus is not being Unkind when he says let the dead bury their own dead Jesus is saying you choose the proper priority in life You see He was afraid of losing an inheritance But according to first peter chapter one verses three and four Blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ Which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope By the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead to an inheritance Incorruptible undefiled that does not fade away Reserved in heaven for you You say he you see he was saying i'll follow you but at my convenience I'm not willing to burn all my bridges behind me But jesus said no you put god's business first The rest will follow again seek first the kingdom of god And his righteousness and all of these things shall be added unto you You see to these men jesus's demands were too high But his demands are not too high his demands are demands that are proper Because if indeed he is the lord then all that i am and all that i have is really his anyway The wise man the wise woman Will not put off following jesus