Pastor Billington's Blog

Matthew 8

Matthew is concerned with showing us how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah. Matthew 5-7 shows Jesus as the great teacher/prophet that was predicted: “The LORD your God will raise up to you a prophet from amongst you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15, WEB). Matthew 8-9 shows Jesus as the great healer that was prophesied: “Surely he has borne our sickness and carried our suffering” (Isaiah 53:4, WEB).

I think that it’s important to note that Jesus is fulfilling these roles during His earthly ministry to prove who He was/is. He’s showing that He is the Messiah by His teaching and by His healing. But we need to understand that Jesus doesn’t heal every person he comes into contact with. Sometimes He leaves places where people are coming to see Him (Mark 1:38). Sometimes He chooses certain people to heal (John 5:6). Why is this important to note? Because there are some that say Jesus came so that we would be healed of all our physical issues, but only if we have enough faith.

In truth, sometimes God’s children are healed miraculously. Sometimes we’re healed another way. But not everyone is healed all of the time. And we see this illustrated by Paul: “By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, a thorn in the flesh was given to me: a messenger of Satan to torment me, that I should not be exalted excessively. Concerning this thing, I begged the Lord three times that it might depart from me. He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9, WEB).

While the Isaiah 53:4 passage is used primarily to identify the Messiah by Matthew, it is applicable to us in two ways. First, we all have been healed spiritually. Jesus has healed us of our sins! 1 Peter 2:24 (WEB) says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.” And second, one day we will all be physically healed. We will have new bodies in a new kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth.

The encounters with the teacher of the law and the disciple teach us that there is a cost to following Jesus. Why should we be willing to pay that cost? Because of whom Jesus is! He has control of the natural and the supernatural. Why wouldn’t we trust Him with our lives?!?!?

We see something else here as well. When the awesome power of the Son of Man is on display it provokes a reaction. In each instance where Jesus displays His authority it causes people to respond with fear. The disciple’s fear is akin to awe, and it causes them to be amazed. When the townspeople understand what Jesus did, they seem to be terrified and beg Him to leave! Can you imagine? But in truth, even in our day and age, when people are introduced to the only one who can save them, they end up turning away. Not much has changed in 2000 years.

Thought for the day: Peter had a mother-in-law. Peter was married! It is unbiblical to suggest that a spiritual leader needs to be single.

1 Corinthians 9:5 (WEB) “Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?”

Matthew 7

In the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus is presented as a master teacher because He teaches with authority. He has a grasp of the Scriptures, dares to make their commands even more prohibitive, and doesn’t quote other teachers to make His points. He is different than the other teachers of the law!

And what does He teach? He teaches us not to judge others without examining ourselves first. He teaches us not to waste our time trying to help others who don’t want to hear what we have to say. He teaches us that God loves us like children, and we should go to him when we need help. He teaches us that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. He teaches us that it’s difficult to know and follow God, and that most people don’t even try! He teaches us to be careful about who we follow, and that we’ll be able to tell false prophets by their conduct. True believers will follow God completely, not just do some things in His name. And finally, he teaches that the wise follow His teachings and are saved, but the foolish don’t and are destroyed.

Thought for the day: Jesus (and His teaching) is the rock that we must build our lives on!

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (WEB) “Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.”

1 Peter 2:6 (WEB) “Because it is contained in Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen and precious. He who believes in him will not be disappointed.’ ”

Matthew 6

Worship, both public and private, should be sincere. When we pray, when we fast, and when we give, we need to make sure that we’re doing it for God and not to be seen by others. That means when we do things like pray in a public setting, even though we may say things in a different way because of where we are, in our hearts we are supposed to be praying to God. That’s why praise is a significant part of prayer, even before petition. And since God already knows what we need, we have the freedom to make our petitions selfless. “Give us,” “bring us,” and “forgive us” all speak to the corporate nature of faith. We are a family, and our love for others means we should be willing to forgive just as we’ve been forgiven.

If we understand the verses about the eye to be a warning against desiring what you see and allowing it to control you, then the rest of our passage deals with riches and how we respond to them. First, accumulate spiritual treasure, rather than earthly. Next, don’t allow your desire for things to sabotage your relationship with God. Third, understand that God needs to be your ultimate priority in life. But what does this mean practically? Don’t we need the things that money buys in order to live? Of course, but we need to trust that God cares about us enough to provide for us. He takes care of those who trust, worship, and serve Him.

Thought for the day: Trust. It’s a lesson in both testaments. When we master it, we can let God worry about tomorrow so that we don’t have to!

Proverbs 3:5-6 (WEB) “Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Matthew 5

Jesus is like a new Moses, giving God’s Word from the mountaintop, and He’s teaching us how to live in the kingdom. Believers are to behave differently, have different values, and be of different character than the world around us. Where the world values pride, we are to be humble. Where the world values safety, we should consider being persecuted a blessing. And this shouldn’t be a surprise to us, because God’s Word has always taught a different standard and Jesus is encouraging us to embrace it. We are to be examples of that higher standard, which means we are to be salt and light to the world around us.

What may be the most surprising is that this standard appears to be an enhancement of the law. The law isn’t gone. In fact, Jesus’ standards are even higher! “You have heard that it was said…but I tell you.” Believers understand that murder starts in the heart with anger. Believers understand that adultery starts in the heart with lust. Believers understand that God hates divorce. Believers understand the importance of telling the truth. Believers understand the importance of mercy. Finally, believers understand the importance of love, even to the point where they are to love those who want to do them harm.

Thought for the day: The key to all of this is the heart. If we allow sin to start in our hearts, then we will eventually act on it. We need to continually fill our hearts with the Word of God, ask God to transform us through His Spirit, and seek the help and guidance of the community of faith if we truly want to live for God!

James 1:14-15 (WEB) “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.”

Matthew 4

One of the most interesting things about the word for “test” in the Greek is that it can also mean “tempt.” Its translation depends on the context. Satan surely wanted to “tempt” Jesus to sin, but Jesus was “tested” and passed with flying colors! Jesus’ encounter teaches us some important lessons about testing/temptation:

• God allows us to be tested. Notice that it’s the Spirit that leads Jesus into the wilderness.
• Others (including Satan) will try to get us to sin.
• We should pray so that we can withstand “temptation” (fasting implies prayer).
• We can also fast (be careful here). Start small and understand your motives.
• Knowing the Bible can help us to resist temptation. Jesus used the Bible to counteract
  Satan at each point of temptation.

Scripture is not only predictive (Matthew 4:14-16), but it is protective! Hopefully we’ve all felt that initial call to follow Jesus and obeyed it, but then we have a responsibility to continue in discipleship. A big part of that is knowing Scripture, because Scripture helps us to resist both sin and Satan.

Psalm 119:11 (WEB) “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Notice that in the list of illnesses and afflictions that were brought to Jesus we have a differentiation between “all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics.” Some skeptics try to claim that in NT times people thought that everything was caused by demons. Not so! But this should also show us that there are some things that happen and have a demonic component. God is real. Satan is real. Angels are real. Demons are real. The natural is real. The supernatural is real. We would do well to remember that in our day and age!

Thought for the day: Since Jesus was tested, we can go to Him for strength and understanding.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (WEB) “For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need.”

Matthew 3

There is an important warning from John here. It doesn’t matter where you are from, or what your ancestry is. Our relationship with God is personal, and we can’t rely on someone else’s relationship with Him to cover up our own sin. If we do, then judgment is waiting!

The term “baptize” literally means “to dip,” and it was symbolic of the worshipper’s repentance. The washing of their bodies with water symbolized the cleansing of their souls that came about because of confession.

And as important as John the Baptist is with his message of repentance and his call for baptism, he points to the one who deserves the preeminence. It’s all about Jesus! In fact, John says that Jesus should be baptizing him, not the other way around!

Why does Jesus allow John to baptize Him? When Jesus uses the term “righteousness,” He’s probably referring to doing what is right in God’s sight. In other words, Jesus is doing what the Father wants him to, which we see echoed by God when the Spirit comes down. Why is it right? Because He is identifying Himself with the very mankind he came to save. Thank God He did!

Thought for the day: John’s ministry is a fulfilment of Isaiah 40:3, which was written hundreds of years before. We can trust God’s Word!

Numbers 23:19 (WEB) “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and he won’t do it? Or has he spoken, and he won’t make it good?”

Matthew 2

It’s not God’s chosen people that bring gifts to the Messiah, but Gentiles (pagan astrologers!). Why were they looking for a king in Judah? Perhaps because of the influence of Daniel years before.

Daniel 2:48 (WEB) “Then the king made Daniel great and gave him many great gifts, and made him rule over the whole province of Babylon and to be chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon.”

Our passage should cause us to be stunned and amazed at God’s omnipotence and omniscience. The wise men are influenced by events God set in motion centuries before. Old Testament quotations remind us that God has a perfect understanding of all things at all times. God directs both the wise men and Joseph in order to keep them safe. God is sovereign and amazing!

Thought for the day: Here we see God’s care and protection on display. God promises us that same care and protection if we put Him first!

Matthew 6:31-33 (WEB) “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matthew 1

Why does Matthew’s genealogy go back to Abraham, while Luke’s goes back to Adam? Matthew is very concerned with showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises that God made to the Jewish people through both Abraham and David. However, those promises don’t just show that Jesus is the coming King of the Jews (2 Samuel 7:12). They show that He is also the Savior of the world. As God said to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3, WEB). Which is one of the reasons we see Gentiles like Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth mentioned in the genealogy: Jesus is the Savior for all!

Thought for the day: Abraham had issues. David had issues. Tamar had issues. Rahab had issues. Sin doesn’t mean God can’t use us. He can! But we should still do our best to live for Him.

Romans 6:1-2 (WEB) “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?”

Proverbs 4-5

It’s important for parents to teach wisdom, and to have the right attitude when they teach. There should be an urgency and tenderness that accompanies teaching, which all teachers (not just parents) should embody. I’m sure Paul had Proverbs in mind when he wrote, “You fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath, but nurture them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4, WEB). As important as wisdom is, forcing it down someone’s throat doesn’t work, and the person on the receiving end needs to have a desire to learn too! And that desire helps us to understand the four “laws” of Proverbs set forth in our passage:

• We need to accept the words of wisdom.
• We need to walk in the way of wisdom.
• We need to keep to the path of wisdom.
• And we need to avoid the way of the wicked.

The way of the wicked is seductive and compulsive (4:16), and its path grows darker and darker the more we’re on it. In contrast, wisdom’s path grows brighter and brighter the longer we walk it! Wisdom’s path should keep us from the seductiveness of an adulteress. But the words here are not just for young men. Anyone can have a problem with sexual immorality. Sex is seductive and destructive. It can affect not just the mind and the spirit, but the body as well. No matter how strong we think we are, we can be pulled in and suffer because of it. That’s why Paul’s instruction is so important: “flee sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

We’re reminded here that unfaithfulness is easy. Unfaithfulness is the default setting of the human heart. Even believers have their old nature that fights against their new nature (which is given by the Spirit of God). Faithfulness is hard. Faithfulness requires discipline! And we are to be faithful to our spouses. We need to discipline our minds and hearts to have single minded devotion. We aren’t to cheat on them. We aren’t to turn them in for a new model when they get older. Instead, we should rejoice with them as we grow old together and not seek sexual or emotional satisfaction elsewhere.

Thought for the day: Wisdom teaches us that we need to be careful what we put inside our hearts and our minds. What we take in will eventually infect our thoughts and show up in our actions.

Matthew 5:19 (WEB) “But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies.”