God Is Our Provider! Series

God Is Our Provider!

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 17:24-27

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared September 23, 2022)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to Matthew 17:24, and we will study another of Jesus' countless miracles. Today's miracle happened a little after the mountain-top transfiguration of our Lord. Most of you know that by this time Jesus was in the 3rd year of His ministry, and J. Vernon McGee estimated that the Lord was only six months away from the cross. (1)

*This miracle is only reported here in Matthew's Gospel. And this isn't one of the Lord's most fantastic miracles, but it's one of my favorites. One reason why is because it reminds me that God has a sense of humor. Think about it. If God didn't have a sense of humor, would He have created anything that looked like a duck billed platypus? Or a zebra, or a giraffe, or a penguin?

*Also think about Jesus walking on the water. This happened just after Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men plus women and children. John 6:19 tells us that Jesus walked 3 or 4 miles on the water to catch up with His disciples out on the Sea of Galilee. Matthew and Mark also reported this miracle, but Mark 6:48 gives us a remarkable detail. There God's Word says, "Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, AND WOULD HAVE PASSED THEM BY."

*Of course, Jesus calmed their fears, got in the boat, calmed the storm, and got them safely to shore. But I can picture Jesus smiling and waving as He was about to pass them by. God surely has a sense of humor.

*This miracle is also one of my favorites because it reminds us that the Lord has full control over nature. But most importantly, this miracle reminds us that God is our provider. Please focus on this great truth as we read Matthew 17:24-27.

MESSAGE:

*In Genesis 22:1-14, God tested Abraham in a way that would stretch our faith to the limit. God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the only son that had ever been promised to this very old man. God told Abraham exactly where to go. And Abraham got up early the next morning to go and offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering to the Lord.

*Three days later, they got close to the place, and in Genesis 22:7-8, Isaac spoke to his father and said, "My father!'' And he said, "Here I am, my son.'' And he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?'' And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.''

*And in Genesis 22:9-14, that's exactly what the Lord did:

9. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.

10. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

11. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!'' And he said, "Here I am.''

12. And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.''

13. Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

14. And Abraham called the name of the place, Jehovah-jireh; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided.''

*In this story, skeptics only see cruelty from God. But believers see the cross, because what Abraham was asked to do, God has done for us: He sacrificed His only Son. The Lord provided a Lamb. And from this story we get one of the favorite names of God: He is "Jehovah-Jireh", the Lord, our Provider.

*Our God is the greatest Provider of all! There are a million examples we could share today, but the greatest thing God ever provided was salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ! And the Lord wants to provide us with everything else we will ever need.

*In today's Scripture Jesus miraculously provided Peter with a piece of money. It was a silver "stater" or "shekel," exactly enough for two people to pay the Temple tax.

*William Barclay explained that the Temple in Jerusalem was an expensive place to run. There were the daily morning and evening sacrifices which each involved the offering of a year-old lamb. Along with the lamb were offered wine and flour and oil. The incense which was burned every day had to be bought and prepared. The costly hangings and robes of the priests wore out, and the High Priest's robe alone was worth a fortune. The actual Temple building itself could have fit in a baseball infield. But the large structures all around the Temple, like the storerooms, porticos and courts built by King Herod filled an area the size of 24 football fields!