Hebrews 12-Consuming Fire
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Author Archives: Unashamed of Jesus
Matthew 4- The New Covenant
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan. Matthew 4:23-25
The beginning of the New Covenant has now arrived through Jesus Christ. It’s important to note that before Christ, there was never an exorcism performed. Why? Because Jesus Christ has all power and authority over Satan and the demons. Remember in the Wilderness, Jesus already defeated Satan by staying obedient to the will of The Father. And at the cross, Satan will be crushed forever (Genesis 3:15) This is a display of the New Covenant, a more better and powerful covenant (Hebrews 8:6)
Jesus is preaching the gospel in all the synagogues, Christ wasn’t just sitting around waiting for The Kingdom to come, Jesus was bringing the Kingdom to the people. Christ demonstrated the power of God’s Kingdom by healing people and casting out demons. It was apparent that this was a New and Better Covenant, and the fame of Christ spread rapidly like wildfire. Remember Jesus told his disciples “I will make you Fishers of Men” and that’s what they were doing, leading multitudes of people to salvation through Jesus Christ
But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. Hebrews 8:6-7
As the author of Hebrews tell us “Christ is the mediator of a new and better covenant” How do we know this? Well because the Word of God tells us but also Christ has demonstrated this in his ministry. Jesus didn’t heal people or cast out demons to give himself praise, Christ performed these miracles to announce the Kingdom of God is here, the New Covenant has arrived!
Are you in the New Covenant with Christ? This is truly the only way to salvation and God, The hour has come for Christ to fulfill all the words of the prophets and fulfill The Law , so we can be declared righteous before God in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), Amen!
Hebrews 11- Faith Is Assurance
Deity of Christ- The Great I AM
Matthew 4- Fisher Of Men
And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. Matthew 4:18-20
The ministry of Christ has begun and now it’s time to build his Church, and he’s going to start with Peter and Andrew. As Jesus says “Peter upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18) Now its interesting to note Simon Peter’s name means “Rock”. So Jesus is beginning to build His Church, because the Church means people, called out believers. Now the amazing thing is these fishermen left behind everything to follow Christ. It says “They straightway left their nets and followed him” There was no hesitation by Peter and Andrew, they were all in for serving The Lord, are you?
Jesus uses the fishing analogy to apply to evangelism. Jesus said “ I will make you fishers of men” Meaning they were now going to dedicate their lives to saving souls for God. Think of the symbolism here, when you preach the gospel your casting out a net, and some people who are drawn to Christ will answer, others will fall away out of the net. We all should be “Fishers of Men” fulfilling the Great Commision, doing The Lords work
And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. Matthew 4:21-22
Imagine the reaction of the Zebedee brothers’ father, when his two sons walked off the job and followed Jesus. He was probably furious, he was probably thinking “What is wrong with these boys”? They responded to a higher calling , to follow Christ. The world won’t and can’t understand this, because truly the world hates Jesus. When you sit back and think about all the disciples who gave up to follow Jesus, you have to ask yourself, would you have done the same under the same circumstances?
So now Jesus is going to turn the world upside down, who does he recruit, four fishermen, what? You would think he would have recruited a couple of Pharisees and Sadducees, no Jesus was looking at the heart, he wanted some real workers on fire for The Lord
Its time to cast out our nets, its time to be “Fishers of Men” share the good news of Jesus Christ with everyone Amen!
Hebrews 10- Sanctified
Matthew 4- Jesus Ministry Begins
Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. Matthew 4:12-16
The hour has come now for Jesus to begin his Earthly ministry. Remember Jesus had just been baptized by the Holy Spirit, and gone 40 days and 40 nights fasting in the wilderness and overcame the temptations of Satan. Even though Jesus was fully God and fully Man, Satan couldn’t make Christ sin. The mission to the cross has begun, where finally Satan, sin, and death will all be defeated forever (Genesis 3:15, 1 Corinthians 15)
Again we see Matthew tying together the Old Testament prophecies and the fulfillment of Christ. Isaiah 9 is mostly popular for verse 6 about the incarnation of Christ “For unto us a child is born, a Son is given” but do we skip over the beginning of the prophecy? The Messiah will be the light of the Gentiles, the New Covenant is coming in Christ, even the accuracy of the details mentioning the Jordan river, where Jesus was baptized, and Galilee where Jesus ministry began.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17
The message of Jesus’ ministry was pretty simple, “Repent (Turn away from your sins) for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming” Notice this is the same strong message that John the Baptist was preaching. Prepare yourself for the Kingdom of God, how? By repenting of your sin, and becoming Born Again! A message so simple yet so few actually follow. You can create all kinds of religious rules and practices, but until you do what Jesus says, its all meaningless
The hour has come now, for Jesus’ ministry to begin. What does that mean? It means he and his disciples are going to not only save the world, but turn the world upside down. The religious system as we know it will be fulfilled and Jesus will reveal God’s grace and righteousness. The display of the New Covenant will be demonstrated as having power and authority over demons and performing miracles. The introduction of the New Covenant will make a way for Gentiles and Jews to become Children of God through Christ
This is where it all began, just like the Mustard Seed that is planted with a tiny seed and grows into a mighty tree. The Kingdom of God began, with One Lord , Jesus Christ , and spread throughout the entire world building God’s Kingdom Amen!
Hebrews 9- No Second Chances
Matthew 4- Jesus In The Wilderness
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Matthew 4:1-6
The first thing we want to notice here, is the parallel similarities between Jesus being in the wilderness for 40 days and Moses leading the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years. The number 40 in the Bible is typically symbolic for a time of testing or trial. However a common theme we see throughout Jesus ministry is Christ is the greater Moses. While Moses led the Israelties from slavery, Jesus freed us from slavery of sin and death. While Moses parted the Red Sea, Jesus walked on water, while Moses struck the rock in the wilderness for water, Jesus is the Living Water. All these things in the Old Testament are a foreshadow of Christ to come
Now we see a battle between Jesus and Satan, good vs evil, we have to remember Jesus was not only fully God but also fully human (Philippians 2) Satan knew this and decided to try and take advantage by tempting his flesh. Satan challenges Jesus to demonstrate his deity by turning the stones into bread. Jesus makes the statement “Man can’t live on bread alone” We could write a sermon just on this statement, but the point is there’s more to life than just our physical needs. We have to feed our souls with the bread of life, the living word of God.
Then Satan challenged Jesus deity again by saying if you are the Son of God then let the angels save you. (Psalm 91) Notice how Satan will quote the Word of God to use against Jesus. Don’t be tricked, many false prophets and false teachers will try to use the Word of God to deceive you also! (Matthew 7)
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. Matthew 4:7-11
Satan tried to use his final temptation, “Worship me and I’ll give you the world” isn’t this the same blasphemous message Satan is still using today to get people to worship him? As Jesus said “Worship The Lord your God only” This is the Shema from the Old Testament, and should still be our motto for Christianity, Worship The Lord your God only and not anything of this world. As Jesus also said “What does it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul” (Mark 8:36)
Jesus defeated Satan that day in the wilderness, even though he was fully human and was vulnerable from fasting , he still overcame Satan. Jesus eventually finished his work at the cross (John 19:30) and defeated Satan, sin , and death forever Amen!
Unashamed of Jesus 