INTRODUCTION

1. What was the state of the world when the Lord Jesus was on earth?

2. Matthew wrote these moving words:

14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles:

16 The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death

Light has dawned.”

17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:14-17

a) People sat in darkness

b) In the region and shadow of death

 

THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

1. To preach about the Kingdom of heaven

2. To invite people to enter therein

3. To help people find faith in God

a) Through preaching

b) Through teaching

c) Through healing

d) Through casting out demons

 

THE REALITY THAT THE LORD JESUS FACED AS HE BEGAN HIS MINISTRY

1. With reference to Doctrine

a) Many false teachings had to be addressed

b) True doctrine was then taught Matthew 5

2. With reference to Life

a) Many worried lives

b) Others chased after money

c) Few knew how to include God in their life Matthew 6-7

3. With reference to Faith

a) Many were hypocritical in the practice of faith

b) Many did not even know how to pray properly

c) Many did not value eternal and spiritual things Matthew 6-7

 

A STARTLING EVALUATION

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.

23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns;

yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:22-30

1. Great darkness Matthew 6:22-23

2. Two masters Matthew 6:24

3. Worries Matthew 6:25-29

4. The problem of “little faith” Matthew 6:30

 

WHAT WAS THE SOLUTION?

1. The People

a) They lived as best they could

b) They formed “the multitudes”

c) They were looking for answers but could not find them

2. The Religious leaders

a) Pharisees

b) Sadducees

c) Scribes/ lawyers

They could not come up with a solution!

 

THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED

1. “Little faith” was the problem

a) Little faith in God

b) Little faith in the Scriptures

2. Finding Faith

18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father,

mending their nets. He called them,22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. Matthew 4:18-22

a) An invitation to Follow the Lord Jesus

b) An invitation that requires a response

c) An invitation that would have great and wonderful consequences

 

CONCLUSION

1. The problem of “little faith”

a) It must be faced candidly

b) It must be resolved personally

2. The answer to “little faith”

a) In following the Lord Jesus

b) Finding a life-changing faith in the Lord Jesus and His Gospel