The Challenge of a Miracle
(Now that I am Blessed, What’s next?)
Date: Sunday, May 13, 2007
Scripture Text: Matthew 8:3-4
Background Scriptures:
A. Matt. 8:13 (KJV) And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
B. Mark 2:10-11 (KJV) But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
C. Mark 2:12 (KJV) And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
D. Mark 10:52 (KJV) And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
E. John 4:50 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.
Purpose: The Challenge of a Miracle is the focus of this sermon. What comes next after you have been blessed? The responsibility is yours. Jesus used the simple phrase, “Go thy way . . .”. Where do you go and what do you do after a miracle?
Sermonic Selection: It Took a Miracle of Love and Grace
I. Introduction
A. A Real Miracle
1. Have you seen a real miracle in your life?
2. Sometimes what we count as a miracle may have been just a matter of time.
a. You thought you were dying, but it was just a summer cold
b. You thought you were losing your mind, but it was just a bad tooth that needed to come out
3. But this was a real miracle
4. The healing of a person with leprosy was not an everyday occurrence
5. Leprosy was one of the most dreaded diseases of Biblical times
6. In the Bible, leprosy was a symbol of sin
7. It is impossible for anyone other than Jesus to heal you from sin
8. Leprosy was feared.
9. It was disfiguring and sometimes fatal
10. The leper was considered utterly unclean – physically and spiritually
11. He could not approach within six feet of any person including family members
12. He was judged dead – the living dead
13. He had to wear a black garment so he could be recognized as being among the dead
14. He was banished as an outcast from society
15. He was thought to be polluted and incurable by any human means
16. He could be cured by God and His power alone
17. That accepted fact is what made this miracle so important
18. Can’t nobody do me like Jesus
19. .
20. .
B. The Importance of a Miracle
1. A Miracle is an event that appears to be contrary to the laws of nature and is regarded as an act of God
2. It is an event that is totally amazing, extraordinary or unexpected
3. This was the first healing miracle performed by Christ in Matthew
4. Christ proved two things when He healed the leper
a. He proved Himself to be Immanuel – God with us
The people knew no one could heal a leper but God
(2Kings 5:7 (KJV) “And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.”
b. Christ also proved Himself to be the Messiah, the Savior of the world
1) He not only proved the leper cured as the priests did
2) He cleansed the leper
3) He took the man’s leprosy (sin) away
4) He cleansed the man thoroughly and completely
II. The Challenge of a Miracle
A. Why God Performs Miracles
1. God does not have to bless us
2. Sometimes even faithful believers are not healed
3. Some walk faithfully before God and they have much faith
4. God has four reasons for releasing miracles in the lives of men and women
a. God’s glory – Would granting the miracle bring the greatest glory to God’s name?
b. Our good - spiritually (as well as spiritually)
1) What particular spiritual quality do we need to learn? – endurance, self-control-trust dependence?
2) Will granting a miracle strengthen us?
3) Which way will our faith and trust in God grow more?
4) How does God now want to use us?
5) As a warrior of prayer?
6) As an incredible testimony to His empowering spiritual strength, no matter the physical condition?
7) What do others need through us after God blesses us?
8) What is the best way for God to reach them?
a. By demonstrating His strength in and through our trial
b. The power of God is often more forcibly seen by manifesting itself through infirmities and weaknesses
c. God’s wisdom- He knows what is needed by whom
1) When it is needed
2) For whom it is needed
3) Where it is needed
4) How it is needed
5) Why it is needed
d. God’s mercy – He desires above all else for men to know His mercy
1) He does whatever is needed to demonstrate His mercy to men
2) Sometimes walking through the trials of life reveals His mercy more
3) Sometimes removing the trials reveals His mercy more
4) He chooses the best way for both the sufferer and those who surround him
B. The Challenge of “Go Thy Way”
1. Jesus used this phrase as a directive and a challenge
2. After the leper had been cleansed he still needed to do two things
a. He had to be aware of pride
1) The devil wants to tempt the blessed with the pride of selection
2) The healing of a leper was a most unlikely event
3) Was he better than others who had not been healed?
4) He deserved nothing, especially the Grace of God
5) Others needed to know that what God has done for you, He can do for them
6) Others need to see as well as hear your testimony
7) The challenge is to stay healed, saved, delivered
8) Don’t make the mistake of mixing you with the miracle of God
9) Always keep in mind that God did it
b. The cleansed man had to obey the law
1) The reality of his healing would be judged by the realities of life – the law-the Priests
2) You cannot hide your miracle
3) If you trusted God for deliverance, do not be afraid to be examined by the eyes of the world
4) It is easy to hold on to God’s blessings inside the sanctuary
5) The real world is waiting to see if you are saved
6) Paul, everyday I die.
7) Everyday the newness and freshness of my miracle is renewed
8) I am challenged every day to live my miracle
3. Once a miracle is released in your life, a responsibility is created
4. You have to do something with that which God has given you
5. What is Christ saying?
6. What is He not saying?
7. He is saying
a. Do not take this for granted
b. You were chosen to be blessed
c. The reason is not for you to figure out
d. He told the lame man by the pool of Bethesda, “Take up your bed and walk”
e. He told the woman with the issue of blood to “Go in peace”
f. He told the man in whom a legion of devils was cast out, “Go back home”
8. However, we do not see recorded what it took to “Go thy way”
9. Imagine the challenge of the woman with the issue of blood
a. Defying the diagnosis of the physicians
b. The change of lifestyle from sick to whole
c. To deal with those who had walked out of her life
10. The challenge of the man who had been lame from his mother’s womb
a. Thirty eight years of history of dependence on others
b. Can he survive on his own?
c. What would he do?
d. Perhaps he had never worked or earned a living for himself?
11. The challenge of the man in whom a legion of devils was cast out
a. Returning home to people who were afraid of him
b. How would he outlive the labels of crazy and deranged?
c. .
12. What about the challenge of you and me?
a. Saved, Sanctified and Filled with the Holy Ghost
b. Salvation is the greatest miracle of all
13. Shaun Pace Rhodes described it in a song: “If God take a brown cow and have her eat green grass and produce white milk, He can take me through God’s laboratory of Redemption and take Red Blood and apply it to my black sinful soul and make it white as snow!”
14. 2Cor. 5:17 (KJV)Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
15. The miracle of old things passing away
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17. .
18. .
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III. Conclusion
A. See Thou Tell No Man
1. The Messianic Secret
2. The Verse 4. See thou tell no man—
a. Perhaps our Lord only meant here, Not till thou hast showed thyself to the priest-who was appointed to inquire into the case of leprosy.
b. But many others he commanded, absolutely, to tell none of the miracles he had wrought upon them.
3. And this he seems to have done, chiefly for one or more of these reasons:
a. To prevent the multitude from thronging him, in the manner related Mark i, 45.
b. To fulfill the prophecy, Isaiah xlii, 1, that he would not be vain or ostentatious.
c. To avoid the being taken by force and made a king, John vi, 15. And,
d. That he might not enrage the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees, who were the most bitter against him, any more than was unavoidable,
4. The songwriter wrote, “I said I wasn’t gonna tell nobody, but I couldn’t keep it to myself, what the Lord has done for me.
5. See that you do not seek the approval of man
6. Man can only observe a miracle
7. Show yourself to the priest was only a means of getting legal release
8. Going back to your doctor who said you would die is to give God the glory and not cancel your insurance
9. Jesus said, Matt. 5:16 (KJV) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
10. Let it shine until Christ is revealed
11. Let it shine until Christ is glorified
12. Let it shine until Christ is received
B. A Miracle of Love and Grace
1. There was an impossible case – Saul of Tarsus
2. Everyone knew he was bad
3. He would come to your house and force you to reject the Lord
4. He had the legal right to arrest the loyal to Christ
5. He was proud, self-righteous, trained in the law
6. He held the coats of those who stoned Stephen
7. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews (a religious fanatic)
8. He was feared by the church
9. God had to get him off the streets without killing him
10. He became a walking miracle
