Gospel of Grace Fellowship, Sermons (St Louis Park Minnesota)

Matthew 9:9-13

We examine how Christ’s healings during His earthly ministry served as proof that He alone could give the ultimate healing through the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. We also learn from this passage that Jesus must be God since He knew the thoughts and hearts of the Scribes that were present (Matt. 9:4). We conclude from this that Jesus is Yahweh the “heart knower” from Jeremiah 17:9-10 (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5).

We spend time in this sermon laying out the truth of God’s eternal existence and the deity of Christ. We look at the “all things” statements in verse 6 and conclude that they are to be taken as literal and comprehensive. God alone is sovereign over history and His purposes stand. We end with a call from the book of Isaiah for all people to turn to God as well as the same call from the book of Acts. The true God cares about us and calls for us to know and serve Him.

We demonstrate throughout the message that believers can completely trust Christ to use even demonic beings for our good (Rom. 8:28). We conclude with proving that every person needs conversion rather than mere exorcism if they want to enter the kingdom of God

Those who have been changed by God’s saving grace have a relationship with God which is characterized by love which comes from God. We love Him because He first loved us. In our applications we look at important texts in Jeremiah and elsewhere which reveal the need for humility and gratitude for God having made us a people.

We show how it was prophesied that the Messiah had to be truly man and truly God in one person (Isaiah 9:6; 11:1, 10). You can absolutely trust the One who “the winds and the seas obey.”

We point out numerous times that what Paul says here is advice about becoming married or staying single in a time when there was great distress. Paul holds a high view of marriage as seen in various places in his writings. In the sermon, we emphasize that whatever else we may be anxious about, all Christians must be concerned about holiness and pure devotion to the Lord. We warn against various false teachings which have arisen in church history which are based on misuse of Paul’s teachings in this section.

Paul shows a high regard for marriage. It seems unusual that Paul as a true apostle of Christ would give advice with the disclaimer that it would not be sin to go against his advice. We take on the difficult issues and explain various approaches and why, in the end, we cannot be certain about what prompted Paul’s advice. We do not have the previous correspondence from the Corinthians to Paul. 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 forthrightly tells us that whatever our marriage, work, or financial situation, we are to live as those in a world that is passing away. Our well-being is based on eternal promises rather than the matters of life which consume those who do not believe God’s promises.