Opening Prayer - Heavenly Father we thank You for the opportunity to learn about Your Word. We pray that you will help us to understand these verses in Matthew so we can fulfill our purpose in life. May everyone who tunes in this evening receive a blessing and learn from your Word and be able to apply what we have learned in our daily lives. We're eternally thankful for this ministry, and we pray that we can share these websites with others and many people can begin to have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Worship music - Please click the links and sing along if you know the words (You can also click skip ad to go straight to the songs) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEENmENsLrw&list=RDkIEEz9yaukA&index=13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhnAblF-f6s&list=RDkIEEz9yaukA&index=32
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30sY4Mhvhr8&list=RDkIEEz9yaukA&index=27
For Wednesday evening services, the Lord has lead me to do a Bible study for practical Bible verses in Matthew. Please come back to these Bible lessons in order to review them and learn them. Whenever we have learned the meaning of Bible verses and think about them throughout each day, we will be in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Not only that, but when we are in a situation in our daily lives and are tempted to sin, we can think back to what we have learned from the Bible and say to ourselves, "The Bible says to not do what I am tempted to say, think, do, and/or desire right now, so I am going to refuse to give in to this temptation." This is what Romans 12:2 means, and it says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This is also the pattern that Jesus used when the devil tempted Him to sin in Matthew 4:1-11.
Chapter 9
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
Matthew 9:2
And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
This man believed that Jesus could heal him, which proved that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus knew that this man believed that, and that is why Jesus said, "thy sins be forgiven thee.". This means that this man became saved, and he went to Heaven when he left this world.
(If you have not prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven)
Matthew 9:3-8
3And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7And he arose, and departed to his house. 8But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.
Despite the scribes failing to see that Jesus was clearly the Messiah, the multitudes marvelled and glorified God (which means they said and thought good things about Him) after these events happened. The reason Christians should give, tell people how to become Christians, help those in need, and do acts of kindness, etc., is because they want people to glorify God (say and think good things about Him). Matthew 5:16 explains this, and it says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
(If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you have been doing good works in order to brag or so people will be impressed by you instead of God, or you have been doing good works out of unwanted duty, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure)
Matthew 9:9
And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.
Of all of those who became Jesus' close disciples, Matthew gave up more than any of them when he decided to begin following (immitating and obeying) Jesus from that moment on. Matthew was a tax collector, and they had a reputation of over charging people and keeping the money they over charged for themselves. The tax collectors were payed very well, but the extra money they stole from others made them very wealthy. Matthew gave up this lifestyle (repented) and began to follow Jesus. And no, being willing to follow (imitate and obey) Jesus doesn’t always mean being willing to become homeless and go town to town and preach and teach (See paragraph 16 of Chapter 5 of this website - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com beginning with this sentence, “In many churches today, discipleship is not encouraged.”).
(If you have not prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, and you would like to do that, you must be willing to follow (imitate and obey) Jesus "from this moment on and for the rest of your life" before you pray or make a decision to become a Christian (explained in these websites - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/theanswer and http://chriswaug5.wix.com/nocontridiction). If you are willing to live this way, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven
(If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you haven't been following Jesus, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure)
(If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure that you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), you need to be sure - please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven)