The Cost & The Commander...Matthew 8:18-27

 

The first snow has hit our little town and church at 8400 ft.  I'm documenting this event for years to come.  Really this blog for the last 14 years and nearly 2000 entries and my facebook page have been documenting places for my life moments and the life of the churches I have been apart of.  It has been a spot to think again of the sermon I just preached and also thoughts along the way now on the trails of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.  

I could not go much further without telling you that we have a new sister of the kingdom of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the faithful ministry of the Stillwater Community Chapel sharing His gospel.  Please pray for this dear sister as she starts her walk with Jesus.  I am so thankful for those of the church family here who were part of this surrender to Christ.  A miracle happened at SCC last week.  Praise the Lord!

The healings and miracles of Jesus point to His authority and also His place as the Messiah that Matthew is laying out for his Jewish readers.  What Jesus was doing was documented in the Old Testament scriptures of what the coming Messiah would do and also only those things that God can do.  In the midst of these manifestations, Jesus starts to share what it means or what the cost is of following Him and who He really is.  It is nothing less than total surrender and He is no one less than God.

Jesus can't just be another teacher, He needs to be your Lord, the One you belong to.  We need to not just call Him Lord but follow Him as Lord with us abiding by His terms rather than dictate to Him our terms.  The scribe sees Jesus as just another teacher, a great one for sure, but Jesus lets him know that shelter is not part of the deal.  The disciple calls Jesus Lord but wants to dictate the terms of his following but Jesus lets him know they don't measure up to His terms and therefore He must not really be his Lord.  

So the cost of following is high but the One who we are to follow is the Lord Most High.  I feel the disciples are starting to connect the dots.  Jesus is doing only what they know from the Scriptures that God can do.  Jesus is making the waves and the winds still like God in Psalm 107:25-29.  The answer to their question, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" is God.  God is worthy of the high cost of following.

I have been reading along with J.C. Ryle and his expository thoughts on the Matthew gospel.  Here is a quote of his thoughts on this passage.

"Let us all remember this.  Let us keep back nothing from young people and enquirers after Christ.  Let us not bring them in on false pretenses.  Let us tell them plainly that there is a crown of glory at the end.  But let us tell them no less plainly that there is a daily cross in the way."

Our message of following Jesus needs to be centered on His words standing on their own.  We, men, have done, I fear, a great disservice at times to present following Jesus in lesser terms than He laid out Himself.  What has resulted is a church that has made Jesus more of a teacher than a Lord.  "Lord help us to trust and live what You have said."

Adam



A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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