Bible Studies in the Gospel of Matthew

XXXVI

Matthew 7:24-27; Ezekiel 33:30-33; James 2:14-26: There is tremendous seriousness as well as tremendous power and a deep mystery in these simple words. When it comes to these scriptures, most people make a dreadful mistake by reading them as if it were written: “Has a desire to do them.” But that is not what is written. Only the person who does them is like a wise man.

It is very easy for us to take false comfort in desiring to do God’s will, and that is where it stops. On the day of reckoning and on the day of trial the question will not be one of desire, but what has become reality and what is being done.

Every time a person carries out God’s will, he builds a little bit on the rock. When the rain descends and the floods and storms come, they do not ask whether you have a desire or not. The strength and the building that the storms cannot move lie in the person really having lived God’s Word.

This Bible study and also the previous one, as well as the prophets and the apostles and Christ Himself, unanimously teach us this sober, utterly serious, and true doctrine: that only being a doer of the work weighs anything in the scales.

Let us therefore be careful that we are not deceived by anything at all, either in ourselves or in others, but let us put all the emphasis on carrying out God’s will with our body, with zeal and faithfulness, as long as we are in this body. Amen.

XXXVII

Matthew 7:28-29; Titus 2:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:5, 2:13: Jesus did not speak like the scribes and the Pharisees. He spoke in a way that the people had never heard any other man speak; He spoke with authority.

Likewise, Paul exhorts his true son in the faith, Titus, to exhort and correct with all authority.

Authority is the same as firmness, decisiveness, and full assurance. Firmness is grounded in truth. God’s Word is authoritative on its own because it is true. The opposite of speaking with authority is to speak with uncertainty and lack of clarity: perhaps it is like this and perhaps it is different; this happens to be my opinion, but perhaps you have a different opinion that is just as good or better. These are, to put it briefly, words of man, or merely talk.

“If anyone speaks [in the church], let him speak as the oracles of God.” 1 Pet. 4:11. This is the same as speaking with authority. We can, and we should, speak with authority to the extent that we have made progress in God.

No one has any use for any other words. It is just vanity. For example, if we were at the railway station in Oslo and inquired about a certain train, and we received an answer that perhaps it was that train or perhaps seven or eight other trains, what would we do with such an answer?

The degree of our authority depends on how much we live in the truth.

XXXVIII

Matthew 8:1-17; 3 John 3; Isaiah 53:3-4; Isaiah 40:29-31: Matthew 8:17 is the key word when it concerns healing from physical illness. This word was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah and interpreted by no less than Jesus Himself.

Just as He bore our sins in His body and carried them away (1 Pet. 2:24), so He has also taken our sicknesses and carried them away. This is indeed very comprehensive, for He has even borne our infirmities.

We know that we cease from sin by faith. In the same way we can also get rid of sickness and infirmity by faith. Based on Isaiah 40 we also see that we can constantly gain fresh physical strength by faith, so that we can always discharge our daily tasks to the fullest, and even beyond that if there is a need for it.

The example of the centurion gives us an especially uncomplicated explanation of faith. It could just as easily be stated like this: “God is a God of order.” 1 Cor. 14:33. Even in the earthly service in which the centurion was engaged, when he said to the one “Go,” he went, and to another “Come,” he came, or to his servant “Do this,” he did it. The centurion thought how much more order and punctuality there must be in God’s great, heavenly and perfect kingdom.

Jesus had not found such great faith in all of Israel. The way in which the centurion viewed the matter reveals the very core of the nature of faith.

On the other hand, it may be necessary or practical for us that God lets us become sick, but this does not mean that we shall continue to be sick. On the contrary, we ought to seek healing, and then above everything else believe in Matthew 8:17.