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New Testament Books

We are pleased to announce that we now have lessons on all of the Books of the New Testament completed. Although not exhaustive, these lessons examine the central ideas of each New Testament Book with practical application to today.

Matthew: The Birth of the King

July 24, 2023 • The Gospel of Christ

The Scripture says “And she will bring forth a son and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins,” Matthew 1:21. Welcome to our study of the gospel of Matthew. In our New Testament series, Matthew begins by showing us about the Majesty and the power of Jesus the King of Kings. Get your Bible handy and study as we think about this wonderful start to the New Testament. We begin the gospel of Matthew with the birth of the King of Kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. We want to set Matthew in its proper place in the New Testament to help us understand it a little better. (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

Matthew: How to Overcome Temptation

July 24, 2023 • The Gospel of Christ

Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you Satan! For it is written ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve,’” Matthew 4:10. Welcome you to our study of the gospel of Matthew. We're going to be thinking about how to overcome temptation from the greatest example ever: the temptation of our Lord. Get your Bible and turn to Matthew 4 as we study this wonderful subject together. As we think about temptation, and as we specifically think about the temptation of our Lord, let's realize from the outset temptation is a reality that all of us face every day. (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

Matthew: The Greatest Sermon Ever

July 24, 2023 • The Gospel of Christ

Today we have the privilege of studying the greatest sermon ever preached. The sermon is not by men, nor is the content from men. We're studying today about the great Sermon on the Mount delivered by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Matthew 5 through 7. Get your Bible as we think about this powerful message together. The Sermon on the Mount has been heralded as one of the greatest teachings of how to live for Christ ever delivered naturally given by the master teacher Himself, Jesus Christ. This sermon is all about the qualities, the characteristics, and the lifestyle that a follower of Christ ought to have. It takes a person from the beginning of faith, to a faith that is ready to stand the test of time, and ultimately give its life for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We begin by noting the characteristics of someone who's going to be a part of Christ’s kingdom. I believe these have been aptly described as kingdom characteristics. What's the character of someone who's going to be in the kingdom of Christ like? The Beatitudes of Matthew 5:1-12 beautifully described that character. You have, first of all, the beginning of faith in Matthew 5:3-5. Listen to these beautiful words Jesus says in Matthew 5:3. “Blessed are the 2 poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the kingdom of God.” You have those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, and those who are meek. If I'm going to come to Christ, I've got to realize spiritually my own poverty. When we read ‘blessed are the poor in spirit,’ it’s about realizing without Christ our own spiritual of the lack of ability to save ourselves our own our own inability to really do anything spiritually. Being poor in spirit means I realize I am dependent upon Christ for my needs spiritually. “Blessed are those who mourn.” Once I realized my own spiritual poverty, then I've got to be willing to mourn. “Blessed are those who mourn.” Are we talking about that Christians go around with the gloomy look at or sad all the time? No, that's not the idea. But, we're sorrowful for sin. We mourn. We lament, and we weep over sin. It brings us to a point where we're ready to change our lives. Then once we realized our own spiritual poverty, once we're ready to do mourn over and repent and change our lives about sin, ‘blessed are the meek. They shall inherit the earth.’ The idea of inheriting the earth found all way back to the Psalms is to inherit the blessings of God- given to His people is the idea. To do that, I've got to be meek. I've got to be humble. I've got a be submissive, and I've got a be willing to submit my life unto God's hand so that He can truly make me what He wants me to be. Then as that faith begins, we see faith grow. Matthew 5:6 Jesus says these words, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.” Once I come to my senses to realize I need God. I need to rid my life of sin. I need to be humble and submit to His will. I've got to make it an aim to learn more about God and grow in Him. “Blessed,” listen to these words, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst.” There's that in insatiable desire to grow spiritually and to be what God wants me to be. As a Christian you never stop growing. Peter would say ‘Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.’ That faith that is growing is ultimately going to be perfected in the Beatitudes as well. Look at Matthew 5:7. The Scripture says “Blessed are the merciful they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.” We have now changing our character to mercy, to peacemakers, that to being sons of 3 God, to being the type of people who want to do good unto others, who love God, and love others as the Scripture teaches. People whose lives are filled with mercy, who want to bring the peace of God, to others, and that that faith is now being perfected through the trials and the things that Christians go through every day. Then of course once that faith is started, begins to grow, it is being perfected. You can be sure that faith is also going be tried. Listen to Matthew 5:10-12 Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Every child of God who's trying to grow, who's trying to submit to God's will, and who's trying to really make his life what God wants it to be is at times going to face persecution. How do we look at that? “Blessed are those who are persecuted.” Hey, they did it to the prophets before you. It's going to happen. Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:12 “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” When with we realize persecution is happening and what's going on- remember God said it was going to happen. Remember that we are working toward and being prepared and perfected to handle that and with God's help. Listen to Philippians 4:13. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” As the child of God, we have everything we need to be what God wants us to be. Matthew 5:13-16 we see the Christians example. We've seen the Christian characteristic, what we're to have the traits I'm to have in the kingdom. Now we’ll also want to emphasize the example that the Christian is going to be to those in the world. Listen to Matthew 5:13-16. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It's then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You're the light of the world. A city that's set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand and it gives light 4 to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” As we think about the Christian example two really vivid illustrations are used in and you can see these in your life as I can in mine. When's the last time you ate something that was really, really bland? I'm talking about didn't have any seasoning, didn't taste very good, tasted flat and bland, and you thought, you know, ‘where is the salt?’ That'd be probably one of your first thoughts. Well when we cook we want to put salt in it. It really enhances the flavor. It brings it out. It's a preservative. Everything needs a little bit of salt, and thus Christians are the salt of the world. They bring, they enhance it. They bring flavor. They ought it ought to be attractive. It ought to make want people want to see what Christianity is all about. Then second, rather vivid illustrations, “You,” Jesus said, “are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill,” Jesus says, “can be seen by everybody.” You know you imagine this illustration now, you think about the irony of this- nobody lights a lamp and puts a basket on top. What good would it do to turn on a flashlight and put a cup over the top of it? Well that'd be crazy! Nobody'd do that! ‘You're the light of the world.’ Jesus point is, ‘Let your light shine. Don't put it out. Don't put anything over the top of it.’ Be encouraged to be a Christian, and shine your light for Jesus Christ. Thus this is why He will say in that memorable verse, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” We see first of all the Christians traits- his qualities, his characteristics. We then see the Christian example. We direct our attention to Matthew chapter 5, the conclusion of that chapter, verses 17 through 48, where we see the Christians righteousness. The Bible identifies that that righteousness ought to be exemplified in our life. We want we want to show an example of how to live the right life. He'll mention the following things: we've got Christians righteousness and anger. We're no longer going to have the idea of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth- rather we love our enemies. We do well to those who are in need. We've got righteousness and self-control. 5 You’ve heard of old it was said, ‘thou shall not commit adultery.’ Jesus says, ‘but I say to you whoever looks at a woman in essence is already committed adultery with her.’ We've got the ideas of controlling ourselves, ‘control your anger, control your desires,’ Jesus will say. There are teachings about the Christians righteousness and divorce. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5:31-32. Jesus said, “Furthermore it is been said whoever divorces his wife let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality fornication causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.” Christians are to maintain a godly marriage. God intended according to Genesis 2:24, “For this reason man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two shall become one flesh.” God intended for one man and one woman to be married for life. That's God's original plan, and Christian marriages ought to exemplify that. Jesus identifies our righteousness as it relates to our speech and the making oaths that people can't keep. You know the Jews were great about making these promises. They'd swear by the temple. They'd swear by the number of hairs on their head. Jesus said in essence, ‘cut out the swearing and just let your yes be yes and your no be no.’ We're not living under the age of retaliation. I'm not going to go looking to knock somebody's tooth out if they knock mine out, or punch somebody in the eye or eye for an eye. No, that's not the way we live. “Love your enemies,” Jesus will say in Matthew 5:43-48, “Do good to them. Pray for them those who curse you and spitefully use you.” Jesus will say, “Love your enemies. Be perfect complete as your Father in heaven is also complete.” The Christians righteousness is identified and contrasted with many of the commands of the old covenant and even brought to a higher plain a newer and greater level in Christianity. Now in Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is now at going to identify the Christian sincerity and to show how we're to be sincere in what we believe and what we teach. We have sincerity in our giving. In Matthew chapter 6 you've got, you know, the idea of these people doing their charitable deeds. They want to do their charitable deeds to be seen by men. Jesus said what we're not to do charitable needs to be seen by others. We give to God, and 6 God knows the good that we've done. You've got sincerity in praying. You know the Jesus contrast the Christian's prayer life with that of the religious leaders of Jesus day. He said, you know, the religious that they want to stand on the street corner. They want to pray the long prayers to be heard by men. Jesus said, “You when you pray go in your inner closet on your inner room there pray to God who sees in secret, and he will ultimately hear and bless us.” It's not about ‘Hey look at me.’ This is the way the Jews were. ‘Look at me look, what I'm giving look, how I'm praying.’ Matthew 6:16-18, look at the great fasting that we've done, how we are denying ourselves. Their religion was a lot about them. Jesus over and over again in the New Testament will identify them “Hypocrites!” He'll say, ‘Well did Isaiah prophesy about you saying Matthew 23, he will identify them in a very picturesque term.’ Jesus will say of the religious elite, ‘You're whitewashed wall, beautiful ornate on the outside- whitewashed tombs beautiful and ornate on the outside.’ Inside, Jesus will say, ‘you're full of dead men's bones.’ They look pretty. Everybody looked to look up to them and thought ‘Wow, look at these guys giving! Look at their look at their praying, look at their fasting. On the exterior they look like the perfect picture of what people think religion is all about. What about on the inside? Rot, filth and immorality, and ungodliness are what Jesus identified. Their hypocrisy did not at all please God. When we give, pray, make dedication and commitment to God, God's not concerned about me letting everybody else see that. That's not at all what it's about. My sincerity and my commitment are between me and God. It may be the case that sometimes people see you pray. It may be the case that people see us giving. That's not what it's about though. We're not doing our charitable deeds to be seen by men, we're doing those ultimately to please God and to make sure that we're giving and worshiping as God wants us to. Now the rest of the chapter, Matthew 6:19-34 we see the Christians priorities are here emphasized. We've got priorities and making sure where our treasure is. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where rust and moth destroy, where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” 7 There's priority number one. Where's your treasure at? What things are we really striving for in this life? What's our goal? What are we trying to achieve? Is heaven the ultimate priority of every Christian? We've got priorities in making sure that our vision is where it needs to be. Look at what Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23. Jesus mentions these words “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” Here's the point. If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? Where's our vision? What is the source of light this brought into our life and into our body? “Christ is the light of the world,” John 8:12. Are we letting Him light our path, Psalm 119:105? Are we letting Him be the light and the vision that we have in this life? Then he mentions another priority, and it's our priority and devotion. What are we really devoted to in this life? Look again at Matthew 6:24. “No one,” Jesus says, “can serve two masters.” Why not? “Either he'll hate the one and love the other or he'll be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon or earthly riches.” What where's our devotion? What are we really devoted to? Is it the job? Is that our recreation? Is it our family? Nothing wrong with any of those things necessarily, but where's our real devotion? Is it mammon, worldly riches and treasures, and things of this world that perish with us? Or are we really devoted to God and to His cause? Then a fourth priority and that is the Christian and not letting worry rule his life. Trusting in God, seeking first the kingdom, Jesus in Matthew 6:25-34 will talk about life, and He'll talk about you know food and clothing and shelter. He says in essence, and this is the real impact of what Jesus is trying to say, He says “Is not life more than food? And the body more than clothing”? What's His point all about? My life is not to be geared around food. Sometimes we think from meal to meal to meal, what we're going to wear today, what we're going to put on, what we're going to eat. ‘Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?’ That's Jesus whole point. 8 If we're focused on spiritual things, Matthew 6:33 ‘seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be provided unto you,’ if I put God's kingdom first, if the kingdom and God is my priority-everything else is going to fall in line. Doesn't mean I won't have to work. Doesn't mean there might be times where I have to dig little harder, work a little, you know dig a little deeper. Friend God's going to take care of His children and make sure that they are provided for. Now as we turn our attention in this great sermon to Matthew chapter 7, we now look at the Christian and judgment. Christians do have to make judgments. Every day that I wake up and every day that you wake up, I've got to make decisions. I've got to make moral decisions. I've got to make decisions about life every day. The Christian is authorized to make decisions and to make judgments. Jesus said in John 7:24 “Judge with a righteous judgment.” Now if there is one verse that a host of people, especially those who don't like to be pointed out for moral things are morally against the Scripture, know it's Matthew 7:1. A lot of people quote it. ‘Judge not that you be not judged.’ What kind of judgment is Jesus talking about? Wrong, hypocritical judgment. Listen to Matthew 7:1 or verse number 2. Jesus says, “For with what judgment you judge, you'll be judged. With what measure you see use it'll be measured back to you.’ Now here's the illustration. “Why do you look at the spec or the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck or the splinter from your eye and look a plank is in your own eye?’ Hypocrites! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” Jesus is not condemning all judging. You've got to stand behind the word of God, and stand up for what's right. And remember John 7:24? Jesus said “Judge.” How? “With righteous judgment.” That's definitely not what's going on here. When you think about the clarity of the illustration Jesus uses, here are two people. Okay one of 9 them has a splinter in his eye, the other one has a 2 x 4 coming out of his eye. The one with the 2 x 4 says to the man who's got the splinter, ‘Come over here let me get that little splinter out of your eye,’ when he's got this massive 2 x 4 coming out of the side of his head. What's that all about? These people, these hypocrites are living in a contrary to the will of God. Their life is in complete disarray to the will of God. They want to nitpick at the little splinter in this person over here, when their life is in complete contradiction to the will of God. Jesus is discussing hypocritical judging. God's going to make the right judgment according to His will. Christians are to stand behind that. We're commanded to judge with righteous judgment- which is judging according to the will of God. Now friend, as you look in Matthew 7:13-27 the Christian also has certain commitments that he is to stand behind and live up to. We have the commitment to right and wrong. There is a right way; Jesus says the majority of the people in this world are not going down that path. It is the narrow, it is the difficult way that leads to eternal life and few there are going down it. I have a commitment to strive to walk down the narrow path. I have a commitment to follow the true teaching and teachers of the gospel. There are many false sheep or many wolves out there who are trying to bring God's people astray. They’re ‘wolves in sheep's clothing’ Jesus will say. And ‘you will know them by their fruits.’ We have a commitment to both saying and being what God wants us to be and a commitment to hearing and doing the will of God. I've got to stand behind the commitment that we see in Scripture. What do we learn in this masterful wonderful lesson in Matthew 5 through 7? We learn what's required to be a child of God. I've got to be poor in spirit. I've got to realize without God I don't have anything. I am spiritually bankrupt without God. Without Christ in my life, I've got to realize the sorrow and the heartbreak that sin brings. “The soul who sins shall surely die,” Ezekiel 18:4.I've got to have the humility, the meekness and the submissiveness to say, ‘Lord what would you have me to do?’ Acts 9:6. I've got to be willing to grow every day as a child of God. I've got to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and I've got to strive to be what God wants me to me to be merciful, to be kind, to be a peacemaker, to love other people, 10 and to realize along the way persecutions are going to come. God can help me through those and others as well have faced them. Friend we ask you today the greatest question of all, have you become a member of the Lord's kingdom? Have you obeyed the voice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Where is your treasure? ‘Where your heart is there your treasure will be also.’ Are you seeking first God's kingdom? Are you on that narrow path that leads to eternal life? If not, we're urging you today- won't you become a child of God? Believe Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. Having believed that, make a commitment to change your life and repent. “Unless you repent,” Peter said, “you'll all likewise perish,” Acts 3:19. Having repented, would you confess the beautiful name of Jesus before men? Acts 8:36-38 ‘I believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God.’ Would you, as Jesus said in John 3:5 “Be born of water and the spirit that you may enter the kingdom of God.”? If you've never obeyed the gospel, friend we're begging you to do that today. There is no greater safer place in all the world than the kingdom of Christ. If you're not in it, we beg you today- become a Christian, obey the gospel, and get into the kingdom of Christ. 11 Study Questions for: “Matthew: Lesson 3” 1. According to Matthew 5:6, who shall be filled? 2. According to Matthew 5:7, who shall obtain mercy? 3. According to Matthew 5:7, who shall see God? 4. Who shall be called sons of God according to Matthew 5:7? 5. What does Matthew 5:10-12 say about those persecuted for righteousness? 6. What does 2 Timothy 3:12 say of people who desire to live Godly? 7. According to Philippians 4:13, what can we do? How? 8. What does Matthew 5:31-32 tell us about marriage and divorce? 9. According to Matthew 5:43-48, how should we treat our enemies? 10. What does Matthew 6 say about where our treasure is?

Matthew: The Compassionate King

July 24, 2023 • The Gospel of Christ

In Matthew 8:2 the Scripture says, “Behold a leper came to Him and worshiped Him saying, ‘Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean?’” We're going to be looking at Matthew chapters 8 through 11 at Jesus, the compassionate king. Remember the gospel of Matthew is all about Jesus as the greatest king ever. We’re going to see His compassion in this section. Get your Bible and be ready to study these chapters with us today. What a marvelous request this leper makes of Jesus! He can you can imagine the scene. Lepers were ostracized by the Jewish community. No friends, no family, failing health, everything's bleak and grim, and yet this man approaches Jesus. He comes to Him the Bible says and worships Him. Here's his request, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean.” How did Jesus address this man? Did He say, ‘You're a leper. You know you're not supposed to be around anybody.’? Did He look down on him? Did He condemn the man? What did He do? Notice Matthew chapter 8 the beautiful words of Jesus. The compassionate king in Matthew 8:3 the Scripture records, “Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him saying, ‘I am willing. Be cleansed.’ And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” 2 Now this is a very unique setting and a unique scene on so many various levels. Lepers weren't supposed to come close to anybody. According the old law, they're to be banned from the community. And yet this man knows about Jesus. He's heard about His miracles. He knows who He is. He has the audacity to come to Jesus, fall down before Him, worship Him, ‘I know you can make me clean.’ Watch what Jesus does. He touches the man. Who's going to touch a leper? He touches the man. I'm not doing that. Are you? He touches him. “I'm willing. Be cleansed.” What a wonderful compassionate story this is! This man, who has this physical predicament that nobody can deal, with who's ostracized by everybody, who's exiled and banished to a life about isolation- Jesus makes him completely clean. He's now like everybody else. Can you imagine how that, just even physically, affected the man? As we think about Jesus, the master healer, Matthew 8:1-4, can't we see even a more spiritual application of this? You know this leprosy this disease that this man has is a lot like the sickness of sin. Sin causes us to be separated from God. Does it not? Isaiah 59:1-2, “The Lord's ear's not heavy that He cannot hear. His arm's not shortened that He cannot save, but your sins and your iniquities have separated you from your God.” Just like this man's physical disease, let's realize that sin is the ultimate and great spiritual disease. It's destructive. “The way of the transgressor is hard,” Proverbs 13:15. Sin, like multiple kinds of leprosy, itself which many times would lead to death, sin is a deadly disease. The Bible says in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” John 8:24 Jesus said, “Unless you believe that I'm He, you'll surely die in your sins.” Friend just like in the day of Jesus, leprosy was incurable by man. Sin is the sickness spiritually that man cannot cure. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf.” 1 John 2:1-2 “He is the propitiation for our sins, not for ours alone for the sins of the whole world.” This man, after He'd offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Only God and only Christ can heal the sin problem. Let's realize sin, like leprosy, as we mentioned causes a great separation. Under the Old Testament the leper wasn't to be around 3 anybody in the camp of Israel or any Israelite. Sin separates me from my God and the blessings and the benefits of God. As we said Isaiah 59:1-2, “Sin separates a man from God.” And so here, we picture sin as the great disease. Just like with this leper, right here, what a compassionate Savior! The man comes to Jesus, and listen to His language. You can hear the desire in his life, ‘If you're willing, you can make the clean.’ Is Jesus willing to touch the man? Listen to this now, “I am willing. Be cleansed.” If sin is the great disease, friend we've got to see Jesus as willing and desirous of cleansing every person's sin. That's God's ultimate desire, is it not? The Bible says “God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth,” 1 Timothy 2:4. The Bible says, “God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God wants all men everywhere to be saved, and Jesus went to the cross to make that possible. He, Himself bore our sins in His own body upon the tree that we having died to sin might live by whose stripes we are healed.” In this beautiful, compassionate picture of the leper, can we not see ourselves in sin? Can we not see Jesus as the master healer? Not only of leprosy, but ultimately of the sin that has struck the whole world by our own desire, Romans 3:23. Now in Matthew chapter 8 we also direct our attention to the humility and the faith that a centurion possessed who Jesus now encounters. Look at Matthew chapter 8. I want you to notice verses 8 through 12. The Bible records these words, “The centurion answered and said ‘Lord I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only speak a word and my servant will be healed.’” Jesus speaks the word. Same hour his servant is healed. But what Jesus identifies about this man is his great faith. Hey my servant, he's paralytic. He's home sick. I'm not worthy for you come under my roof. If you'll just say the word, that will suffice. Look at his humility and look at its faith his faith. The Bible says ‘Whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Who exalts himself will be humbled,” Luke 14:11. “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. He'll exalt you in due time,” 1 Peter 5:6 and James 4:10. We need this type of humility and faith. Whatever God says, whatever He tells me to do, whatever He commands me- I am more than willing to trust and to follow the Lord and Savior. 4 Now here's another powerful and practical lesson from the gospel of Matthew. Here we have an account in Matthew chapter 8 of a great healing that Jesus is going to do on Peter's mother-in-law, and watch what she does in Matthew 8:15. The Bible says verse number 14, ‘When Jesus had come to Peter's house, and he saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand and the fever left her,” watch this, “and she arose and served them.” The practical lesson that we especially want to highlight here is this: Christians are healed to serve. We're saved to serve others. When I obey the gospel and my sins are forgiven and I become up a new creation in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17, when I arise out of the waters of baptism to walk in newness of life, I come out of that a new creature and especially the sense that my life is different now. I've been saved and healed from the sin problem to serve others. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are His.” I want to do my best in this life to serve others. Mark 10:45 “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve to give His life a ransom for many.” I am to be faithful unto death and especially as I strive to serve others in the community and in the world in which I live. Now another powerful lesson that we learn from Matthew chapters 8 through 11 is that our Lord indeed does have the power to forgive sins. Look at Matthew chapter 9. I want you to especially notice verses 1 through 6 with me. The Bible says, “So Jesus got into a boat crossed over and came to His own city. Then behold they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith,” that's the faith of the friends of the paralytic, “He said to the paralytic, ‘Son be of good cheer your sins are forgiven you.’ And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, ‘this man blasphemes,’ but Jesus knowing their thoughts said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say arise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.’ He said to the paralytic, ‘Arise. Take up your bed and go to your house.’” Friend how encouraging it is from this lesson to realize our Lord has the power and the ability to forgive sins! I need to know that. You need to 5 know that. Every person in the world of an accountable age needs to know that. ‘All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is none righteous no not one,’ Romans 3:10 and Romans 3:23. As we think about Christ, as we think about His life as we think about some of the great statements that He makes, let's realize His authority and His power demands He has the ability to forgive my sins and to forgive yours. Matthew 26:28 Jesus, as He instituted the Lord's Supper the Bible says, He took that fruit of the vine and He said this to His disciples, “This is my blood of the new covenant shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” You see without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins, Hebrews 9:22. “The blood of bulls and goats can never really take away sin,” Hebrews 10:3-4. When Jesus says those powerful words “This is my blood of the new covenant for the forgiveness of sins,” how wonderfully encouraging it is to know if when I obey the gospel, everything I've done that is contrary to the will of God has been completely removed. Acts 2:38 “Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission removal of sin.” God said, “I'll be merciful to their sins. Their lawless deeds I'll remember no more,” Hebrews 8:12-13. When I obey the gospel, Jesus has the power, the authority to wipe the slate clean. I get a fresh start. Everything I've done that's contrary to the will of God is now removed, and I can have a do over in this life. As we think about some of the great lessons from Jesus’ life in Matthew's Matthew chapter 8 through 11, we also learn in Matthew chapter 9 especially verses 27 through 31 that Jesus also has the ability, as He did in this example, to open people's eyes. Look at Matthew 9:27. The Bible records these words, “When Jesus departed from there two blind men followed Him crying out and saying, ‘Son of David have mercy on us!’ When He had come into the house the blind men came to Him and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I'm able to do this?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then He touched their eyes saying, ‘According to your faith, let it be to you.’ Their eyes were opened, and Jesus sternly warned them saying, ‘See that no one knows it.’ But when they departed they spread the news about Him in all that country.” 6 Now no doubt these men are so excited. They had been blind, now they can see. The miraculous power of Jesus heals them with just a touch, and their eyes are opened. Friend from a spiritual standpoint, hasn't Jesus opened our eyes spiritually speaking? Classic example is that of the prodigal son. The father gives him his inheritance. He goes out into that far country. He lives it up. Everybody's his friend, until one day he wakes up broke and in the pigpen. And the Bible records in Luke 15 that that man finally came to his senses. He came to himself, and he said ‘My father's hired servant has it better than me. I'm going to go back to my father. I'm going to say father I'm no longer worthy be a son, make me a servant.’ Here's the father with open arms waiting on him. That man's eyes were finally opened. He finally saw what he needed to see. And friend like these two blind men, every child of God who has turned from sin and to God- eyes have been opened. They now look at life differently. They now have a different priority. They now are looking up. ‘If then you were raised with Christ seek those things which are above,’ Colossians 3:1. They're now seeking new goals and have a new vision in this life. “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Our eyes are opened. We now see the world differently. We're looking at it no longer through a worldly lens but through the lens of the spiritual things that we have in this life, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now we mention one last thing in Matthew chapter 9 that really stands out from the teaching of Jesus, and it is the dire need that Jesus expresses to speak and to teach the gospel. Jesus is a here again seen for His compassion. Matthew 9:36-37 says this about the compassionate King, the Bible records, “But when he saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of hosts that He will send out laborers into His harvest.’” See the compassion of Christ? This multitude, what are they like? They're like sheep wandering aimlessly without a shepherd. Jesus looks on 7 with compassion. That means He had love for them in His heart. And He said to His disciples and gave them in essence, but the commission though the great work to do ‘harvest is plentiful laborers are few. Pray the Lord of hosts will send out laborers into His vineyard or His harvest.’ Friend the world, the lost people in this world, are that harvest. Like Christ we ought to have compassion on them, and we are the laborers who ought to be taking the gospel to the world. Luke 19:10 “The Son of Man came to seek and save that which is lost.” Matthew 28:18 Jesus said to His followers, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel unto it.” We have that great charge and motivated by the same compassion Jesus had. We ought to look at the world with great love in our hearts hoping and praying they will obey the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We now turn our attention to Matthew chapter 10, and we will briefly mention some things from Matthew 10 and 11 that also show us the great compassion and love that Jesus had for His followers. In Matthew 10 both in verse 22 and in verse 28 Jesus teaches us what's necessary to be saved. Jesus says these words, “He who endures to the end will be saved.” What's it take? What does the Lord tell us you got to do be saved to ultimately make it to that beautiful place called heaven? Don't ever give up! Endure, stay steadfast, be immovable, hang in there, and never give up. Be persistent is the idea. Jesus said over and over again in the Scripture. We're taught that we do have the command and the power to do that. “Be faithful unto death,” Jesus said, “I'll give you the crown of life.” I have the ability to choose who I'm going to serve, Joshua 24:15. If I remain faithful unto death, the Bible says I will receive one day the crown of life. Now Jesus also taught us that a big part of being faithful to Him means that we're willing to live up to and really live up to the great confession that each of us have ascribed to in this life. The Bible says in Matthew 10, Jesus speaking in verse 32 and 33, Jesus says these words to every one of His followers. The Lord said, “Therefore whoever confesses me before men him I will also confess 8 before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men him I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” What's it going to take to really follow Christ? I'm going to have to confess Him, and friend I understand initially this applies to obedience to the gospel- hearing the word of God, believing in Jesus, confessing Him as Savior, repenting of sin, and no doubt obeying His command to be immersed in water for the forgiveness of sin. The idea of confessing Christ isn't just tied to a one time confession with the mouth. It is a confession daily. It is a daily desire to follow Jesus. Luke 9:23 Jesus said, “If any man desires come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” I've got to every day strive to do my best to live faithful unto the Lord and never ever give up on the preaching of the gospel and the teaching of His word. In fact in Matthew 11:1-19 that's exactly what we see. We are introduced to one of those powerful gospel preachers. We are reminded of one the most powerful gospel preachers of all the world, John the baptizer. This man, he, wasn't a reed shaken by the wind. He was and he had a backbone, and he had a spine. Jesus said, ‘Of men born of woman, none is greater than John the Emerser.’ What made John so great? He stood for truth. He was a unique man. He wasn't like everybody else. He went against the grain in following God's will, and he even was ultimately going to give his life for the cause of Christ. He stood up in every way for the preaching of the gospel. How the world needs more men and women who will stand up, say what God needs to say, tell others about the truth of God's word, and be willing to teach that message! You see the Bible says in 1 Peter 4:11, “If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.” We are to preach the word. ‘Be instant in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.’ We're to speak the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27-28, just as our Lord did. We need to boldly proclaim the truth in love, Ephesians 4:15. Friend we close our lesson today with one of the most beautiful of all invitations. Maybe you've heard a lot of great invitations to obey the gospel. 9 You won't find one any better than this in all of Scripture. Listen to Matthew 11:28. Jesus said, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I'm a gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Think about how powerful that is! Jesus said, “Come unto me,” and here's the audience, “All you who labor and are heavy laden.” Who hasn't at one time felt the burden of sin, the labors and the toils, and the struggles of fighting Satan, fighting sin, and resisting it in their life? You know the psalmist said in Psalm 38:4, “My sins are gone over my head like a heavy burden. They're too heavy for me to bear.” Jesus says, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest.” The hope, the joy, the eternal rest, no more fighting of sin, no more struggles, no more pain, no more death, no more crying- there remains a rest for the people of God. Hebrews 4:7-9 that's the rest Jesus promises. ‘My yoke is easy. My burden is light. You will find rest for your soul.” Friend don't you want to go to heaven more than anything? Don't you want to live with God forever? Can't you imagine how wonderful it's going to be in the presence of God, before the throne of God, and the throne of Christ for all eternity? Don't you want that to be yours? If so, accept the Lord's invitation. Obey the gospel of Christ, before it's too late. Do you do you really believe with all your heart that Jesus is the Savior of the world? John 8:24 Does that belief motivate you to change your life? Acts 3:19, ‘Repent and turn that your sins may be blotted out.’ Would you confess the name of Jesus before men? Romans 10:10. And as the apostle Paul was told, would you arise and be baptized and wash away your sins calling on the name of the Lord? 10 We hope and pray today that the great invitation of the Lord motivates you to obey the gospel, and follow Him every day of your life. 11 Study Questions for: “Matthew: Lesson 4” 1. How does Jesus respond to the leper in Matthew 8:3? 2. What separates us from God according to Isaiah 59:1-2? 3. What are the wages of sin according to Romans 6:23? 4. According to 2 Corinthians 5:21, what was Christ on our behalf? 5. Who is the propitiation for our sins according to 1 John 2:1-2? 6. According to 1 Timothy 2:4, what does God want? 7. What does 1 Peter 5:6 and James 4:10 say about being humble? 8. What did Jesus come to do according to Mark 10:45? 9. According to Acts 2:38, how are our sins removed? 10. According to Matthew 9:36-37, why did Jesus have compassion for them?

Matthew: The Life & Teaching of the King (Part 1)

July 24, 2023 • The Gospel of Christ

Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather together scatters abroad,” Matthew 12:30. We welcome you to our study of the life and teachings of Jesus the King in the gospel of Matthew. If you haven't got your Bible yet, we want to encourage you to be locating that as we're going to study together Matthew chapter 12 through 15 today as we look at Jesus, the King of Kings and the Messiah of the world. As we turn our attention to the gospel of Matthew chapters 12 through 15, today we begin in chapter 12 with where Jesus as a discourse between Himself and the Jewish elite of that day. He and His disciples were going through the fields of grain. As they're passing through, His disciples on the Sabbath pick some of the heads of grain- which according the old law would've been doable, would been something the law allowed, and yet because of this action and because of the lack of love for Jesus that these high priest and that the Pharisees and Sadducees have, they now want to accuse Jesus’ disciples of violating the Sabbath. How is Jesus going to address this problem? Jesus is going to show they did not violate the Sabbath, because He is the Lord and Master of the Sabbath. He instilled it for mankind, and He definitively knows what it is and is more powerful than the Sabbath. Notice what the Bible says in Matthew 12:8. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Christ is greater than Sabbath. He's over the Sabbath. He's going to eventually do away with the old law and the Sabbath. He wants these critics to see His power, to see His Majesty, to help them see the error of their way, and to show His greatness as Lord of Lord and King of King. I'm reminded of the climax of Peter's sermon as he thought about Jesus the ultimate Savior and Lord. He said in Acts 2:36, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Friend as part of living for Christ, as part of our Christian walk and mindset, we've got a realize Jesus is in control. He's the master. He's the Messiah. He's the ultimate Lord above all and over all. Personally speaking, that means He's Lord of my life. I love the words of Saul of Tarsus who later became Paul in Acts 9:6. Jesus has confronted Saul as he is on the road to Damascus to do great harm to the church and the cause of Christ. In the midst of that confrontation with Christ Saul will eventually say ‘Lord what would you have me to do?’ Can you find a better motto for living your life than that? ‘Lord how do you want me to live my life?’ Of course, the Bible dictates exactly how God wants us to live our life! 2 Corinthians 6:19-20 the Bible says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God? You're not your own.” What do you mean? “You were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.” As we think about Christ, as being greater than Lord, over the Sabbath, and ultimately the application that He is Lord of all and Lord over our life. Friend we need to be willing to submit to, to honor Him, and to give Him preference in our life. My mindset needs to be: What does the Lord want me to do? What does the ultimate master the King of Kings ask of me? I want to live my life in such a way that it brings honor and glory to God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 the apostle Paul would say, “Whether you eat or whether you drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” In Matthew chapter 12 now we're going to learn another very practical lesson from the life and teachings of Jesus the King of Kings. In Matthew 12:30 Jesus will now say and give this emphatic statement of how we must be either for Him or we're against Him. Jesus said, “He who is not with Me,” Matthew 12:30. “He who is not with Me is against Me. He who does not gather together scatters abroad.” What's Jesus trying to get across here? We're either for Him, or we're not. There is no middle ground. I can't be 50% for God and 50% for something else. I can't be 75% for God. No, I've got to be wholly committed to the cause of Christ and of putting God first in my life. This is all about priorities. Do you remember Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jesus said, “If any man desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” This is about the commitment of putting Christ first in everything that we say or do. Making sure that we've got the mindset of the apostle Paul, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” Philippians 1:21. If we're not for Christ, listen carefully now, if we're not if Christ is not a top priority, if the kingdom's not first, then we're against it. You may say, 'How can that be? I do love God a little bit. I do give God a big portion.’ God wants first place, and He wants that which consumes us to be His part that which is the most important. He needs to be in our life. It can't be partly God and partly something else. We want God to have the top priority in everything that we say and that we do. Now think about this, if we're not for God Jesus said, we're against Him. The world, materialism, all the things that try to pull us away- those make us God's enemy. Listen to James 4:4. James said with some of the strongest language in the Bible, “Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore desires to be a friend of the world makes himself God's enemy.” Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 “You cannot love God and mammon or earthly treasures.” We want to think about today our commitment to Christ. Is Christ at the top of my priority list, Matthew 6:33? Is living for Christ what life is really all about? Am I making sure that I give precedence to Christ as Lord of Lord and King of Kings in my life? Now friend as we think about the ultimate life and teaching of Jesus Christ, one of the statements Jesus makes that will really stand out and that really helps us to understand how Christ must control our life is this: we need to realize that God is going to judge us by our speech, what we say-if it doesn't bring honor and glory to God. James says in James 3 that the tongue is one of the hardest members of the body to tame. You can think about that in your own life. How many times have you said something you really didn't think about? How many times after you said something you wish ‘man if I could take that back’? Controlling the tongue is a big part of letting Christ be the Lord of our life. Notice what Jesus says in Matthew 12:36-37. The Lord said, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak they will give an account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” The emphasis here's upon the idle word. Idle means something that has no value. It's not going anywhere, profits nothing. It's stuck in neutral we might say. For the idle word that doesn't honor God, doesn't lift up mankind, it doesn't help others to draw to Christ; I'm going to give an account of for every word I speak that's idle. I'm going to give account of that in the Day of Judgment, and so I need to make sure that my words have profit that my words are not idle that they're actually progressing and trying to help others to grow closer to God and lift up God and bring glory and honor to His life. Be careful what we say, and let's make sure God has control over it. Now friend especially this is relative to the teaching of the gospel. James 3:1 James says, “My brethren let not many of you become teachers knowing we shall receive a stricter judgment.” This is not meant to deter people from teaching but simply to remind them of the seriousness of teaching and preaching the gospel and making sure our words are not idle. The proverb writer said in the long-ago, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Controlling the tongue begins with controlling the mind. James said in James 1:19, “Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.” We need to, listen carefully, take it in. Think about it. Soak it up, and then respond after we've thought about what we hear. Yet, too many times that impulse reaction occurs, and we just say something before we think about it. Remember, Jesus said we'll give an account for every idle word that we speak. ‘By your words you'll be justified. By your words you'll be condemned.’ Now friend, that doesn't mean that you can't get forgiveness. That doesn't mean that if we say something we shouldn't that we can't repent and be forgiven and change of that. If our life doesn't have control of our tongue, friend there's going to be a big problem in life on the judgment day. It is indeed a very serious matter. Then we turn our attention to the life and teaching of Jesus the King in the 13th chapter of the gospel of Matthew, and here in Matthew 13 Jesus is now going to tell the parable of the sower. A sower went out to sow that was his part. The one spreading the gospel just goes out and he can teach the gospel. That's his responsibility. He can't make people obey. He can't make him disobey. He just simply spreads the word. That seed, which Luke 8:11 tells us is the word of God, then falls on different soils. You've got good soil. You've got rocky soil. You've got thorny soil. You've got the soil that is choked up by briars. Each of these soils represents a different type of person and a different type of heart. Fell among the hard soul, the stony soul, it took root when the sun, when trials and difficulties came out it withered away. That which fell among the briars and thorns, it was choked up by the cares. You've seen people like that- excited about Christ and the gospel, and then in a moment of trouble and tribulation they're back to their old selves. You've seen people who the gospel can really never get into their life, because it's choked out by worldliness and materialism. Then we've seen people as well who when the word of God falls on their ears, when they hear the gospel, that good soil responds properly. They hear the word of God that is faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Not only do they hear it that that they're ready to obey. ‘Jesus is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.’ And not only do they obey the gospel, Romans 6:17, God be thanked ‘though you were the sons of darkness, though you were in darkness, you've obeyed from the heart.’ That form of the gospel, which was delivered unto you, and so they obey the gospel, and they produce fruit. They're not idle. They're not just sitting in a pew. They're not just filling a seat. They're actually getting out and doing something. As we think about this parable that Jesus told, you know the practical lesson is we've got ask ourselves: How's my soil? If you plant gardens you need to have your soil tested occasionally, and you might have to add certain minerals, or you might have to put more fertilizer. We might have to adjust the amount of things or add lime-whatever it may be in the garden. What about our heart? What are we doing to make sure that our heart is a receptive place for the gospel? Does Jesus have precedent in my life? Am I making sure that you know my ground is not hardened? That I break up my fallow ground as Hosea said in Hosea chapter 10. Are we making sure that the cares and the pleasures of this world don't choke out our desire to put God first? Are we really submissive to God as we ought to be in striving to live according to His will? Also in Matthew chapter 13 Jesus is here going to illustrate for us in a very powerful way teaching from His life about the power of the gospel. And friend, this shows us and helps us to see we must never underestimate where God's power is. God's power is not in men necessarily. God's power is in the gospel and this parable shows us that. Notice Matthew 13:31-32 Jesus here says, “Therefore I say to you,” or excuse me Matthew 13:31. Jesus says another parable, He put forth to them saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field which indeed is the least of all the seeds. When it is grown, it's greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” This parable shows us the power of the gospel. Remember the seed is the word of God, Luke 8:11. How did Jesus stress the importance and the power of that seed? He said, well it's like the smallest seed you can imagine. A mustard seed, if you can imagine, the tiniest seed you can imagine in your mind- and yet you take that seed, put in good soil, and that seed can bring up a magnificent tree. Jesus said that ‘even the birds of the air can light in it.’ What's that parable all about? Friend it stresses to us the inherent power in the seed, the inherent power of the gospel. Romans 1:16, “I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ it is the power of God unto salvation.” ‘The word of God is living. It's alive. It's powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It's a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’ The gospel has the power to change lives, to save people's souls, and ultimately help us to live the way God wants us to. It can make us powerful in the sight of God in the sense that we trust God, we follow Him, and we are His powerful people today. As we think about the gospel of Matthew one of the things that we learn in Matthew 14:13-21 is that Jesus Himself is the ultimate bread of life. I want you to notice what is said here in Matthew 14 beginning in verse number 13. You've got the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. He takes of the loaves of bread and a few fish and He feeds a mass multitude with that little bit. John tells us so much so that they take up 12 baskets full of fragments. Watch the lesson beginning in Matthew 13:17. They said to Him, ‘We have here only five loaves and two fish.’ He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ‘Then He commanded multitudes to sit down the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up 12 baskets full of fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about 5000 men besides the women.’ Think about this great miracle! In John's account of the gospel, we'll hear Jesus in just a few breaths later say ‘you ate and you were filled.’ Here's the lesson: “I am the bread of life.” Jesus miraculously took those few loaves of bread and those few fish and He fed 5,000 people. If Jesus physically can feed that many people with that little, imagine what He can do spiritually for our souls! He's able to give men and women that which they need. Now listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 4:4. Jesus was tempted by Satan. Satan knew He was hungry, knew He'd been in the wilderness. ‘If you're the Son of God, command that these stones be turned to bread.’ How did Jesus deal with that? “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Jeremiah said it this way “Your words were found and I did eat them. They were to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” You know you can get a little bread and fish and fill your stomach. What about satisfying your soul? What about satisfaction spiritually? Friend Jesus can give us more than we can ever begin to imagine. That's why He would say “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.” We then then turn our attention to another lesson of Jesus that really stands out as magnificent. Matthew 14:22-23, Jesus comes to His disciples. They're out on the boat in the third watch of the night- in the deep dark of the sea we might say. They've heard these mariners stories about ghost and sea monsters and things like unto that, and so the sea is disruptive. Jesus comes to them in the midst of that walking on the sea, and they're afraid. They're fearful it's a ghost. How does Jesus deal with this situation? Notice Matthew chapter 14. I want you to look in verse number 27 following. After they say it is a ghost and cry out for fear, Jesus said in verse number 27 but immediately the Bible says Jesus spoke to them saying, “Be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter answered Him and said, “Lord if it's you, command me to come to you on the water.” So He said, “Come Peter, come down out of the boat.” He walked on the water to go to Jesus, but when he saw that the wind was boisterous he was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried out saying, “Lord save me.” Immediately, Jesus stretched out His hand caught him and said to him “Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” What does this whole story in this example meant to show about the life and teaching of Jesus the King? Friend it shows us His power over the natural elements of this world! Who can walk on water? Only God. Only the creator of the laws of nature can control those and manipulate those within His power. Who could calm the storms in just a moment except? Jesus. Who could draw Peter out of the boat and make him walk on water? Peter couldn't do it. When he began to think he was doing pretty good that's when he sunk. The main lesson is Jesus is trying to teach I can control the laws of nature. I'm the Lord of Lord. I can calm the fears in your life that you may have. The Bible says “The Lord will never leave you nor forsake you so that we may boldly say ‘The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” If we're on God's side, if we're living for Christ, then God can help us with the challenges and difficulties we face. Unlike the disciples here, we don't need to live a life that is controlled by fear and fear of the unknown, especially ‘for we know whom we have believed in and we're persuaded. He's able to keep that which we committed to Him until that day.’ Now another lesson we want to emphasize from the life and teaching of Jesus is found in Matthew chapter 15. This is a very practical lesson. Jesus is again going to be confronted by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the religious elite- they're going to try and condemn Jesus’ disciples for not washing out according to the tradition of the fathers and to their Jewish tradition. They wash to the elbow. They wash the pitchers. They wash their couches, and they’re going to say to Jesus ‘Your disciples didn't know that they broke the tradition of the fathers and the elders.’ Jesus is going to say, ‘Wait a minute now, they may of broke man's tradition but you've broke something far worse.’ Look in Matthew 15 at what Jesus says in verses 7 through 9. Jesus here says, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you saying this people draw near to Me with her mouth, honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. In vain they worship Me teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.” Jesus disciples may have not followed the tradition of the elders of the people of that day- which wasn't contrary to the will of God. But these people were actually breaking the will of God. How? Following the commands of men. Here's the command of God, here's the command of men, and they elevated the command of men above the command of God. Jesus said ‘Hypocrites! You want to condemn my disciples for breaking your law, when you've actually broken the law of God.’ And so, we want to make sure in this life that we give precedence to the teaching of God, teaching of Christ, and of course to the words we find in the Bible. Friend God's commands are the commands that are important. Men may have their ideas. Men may have their thinking. Men may even make up ways of salvation that we don't find in this book. What's going to matter on the Day of Judgment? Jesus said, “He who rejects Me and does not receive My word has that which judges him. The word that I've spoken will judge him on the last day.” And so friend, we ask you today have you submitted your life to Jesus the ultimate King? Have you obeyed the gospel? Meaning, do you believe in Christ? John 8:24. Are you willing to change your life repent of sin and turn to Him? Acts 3:19. Would you confess the name of Jesus before men? Romans 10:10. Would you be immersed in water for the forgiveness of your sins? Acts 2:38 As always, may God be glorified in the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Study Questions for: “Matthew: Lesson 5” 1. According to Matthew 12:30, what does Jesus say about people that are not with Him? 2. What does Jesus say about people that are not gathering together in Matthew 12:30? 3. What does Matthew 12:8 say of the Lord and the Sabbath? 4. In Acts 2:36 what does Peter say about Jesus? 5. What question does Saul of Tarsus ask Jesus in Acts 9:6? 6. According to 2 Corinthians 6:19-20, what is our body? 7. What does Paul tell us about what we do in 1 Corinthians 10:31? 8. According to Matthew 6:33, what shall we seek first? 9. What does James 4:4 tell us about friendship with the world? 10. According to Matthew 12:36-37, what will be done with the idle words we speak?

Matthew: The Life & Teaching of the King (Part 2)

July 24, 2023 • The Gospel of Christ

“At the mount of transfiguration a voice came out of the cloud from heaven saying, ‘This is My beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear Him,’” Matthew 17:1-8. We welcome you today to our study of the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Today we're studying Matthew chapter 16 through 20. We encourage you if you haven't got your Bible handy, locate that Bible and be ready to study together with us as we're going to be thinking about the life and teaching of Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of lords in the gospel of Matthew. As Matthew opens in Matthew chapter 16, we hear about the words of Jesus concerning building His church. I understand there a lot of ideas that folks have about the church. There are ideas that it doesn't matter what church you go to. There are ideas that any church is okay whoever's names on the church- that's okay as long as you love God everything's okay. I want to challenge you today to think about what Jesus actually says in the word of God about the church. Let's read this text together. Matthew 16:13-18 the Bible records, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi He asked His disciples saying ‘Who do men say I the Son of Man say I am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter. And on this rock I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’” Jesus is curious. ‘Who do people say I am?’ What a great complement to John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah. But it wasn't true! He said to His disciples, ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said, ‘We know who you are. You're the Christ. You're the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus says, ‘You're right Peter and flesh and blood's not revealed it to you, but God Himself.’ He said, ‘And I say to you, you are Peter. On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ Now there's a little confusion sometimes as to what the rock is there, and we want to make clear about this. Peter the word ‘Cephas’ represents a small stone or a pebble. The rock that Jesus is speaking of here is not a small stone or a pebble, but it's a solid foundation. Peter wasn't that Peter sometimes said things and did things that he shouldn't have done. He denied the Lord later, so he's not that solid foundation that the church is built on. What is that bedrock, solid foundation? It's his statement ‘You are the Christ the Son of the living God.’ That's with the church is built on- not on Peter. The fact that Matthew is all about this truth, Christ is Jesus is the Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the Son of God. Now listen carefully on that monumental foundational truth, Jesus said to Peter “I will build My church on this rock. I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Friend let's ask a few questions about Jesus statement here. How many rocks did Jesus say He'd build His church on? Look at Matthew 16:18 again, “Upon this rock,” singular. What is that rock? We've already noticed it's the foundational statement- Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so one foundation- Christ being Jesus, being the Messiah, and the Son of God. Now a second question, how many churches did Jesus promised to build? Did Jesus say to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build My churches?’ Not what He said! ‘On this rock I will build My church,’ singular. Don't miss the import of what Jesus said there. It was never God's will to build the multiplicity. God didn't build a multiplicity of denominations that exists today. They're contrary to His will. 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, God doesn't want division and denominationalism in men's names to exist. Now let me ask another question, third question from this text: Whose church did Jesus promised to build? Remember there's only one rock. Jesus only built one church. Whose is it? Listen to Jesus statement again, “On this rock I will build My church.” Whose church is it? Listen to Acts 20: 28. The Bible says, “Jesus purchased the church with His own blood.” You know it helps us to understand whose church is, not only by the fact that Jesus said “It's mine, and I will build it,” personal pronouns there of ownership- but to realize He had paid the price for it. Whose blood was shed for the church? Jesus’ When Jesus went up to Calvary, when He suffered on Golgotha, when He freely gave His blood for mankind, He purchased the called out people the church. It's His. ‘I will build My church.’ It belongs to Christ; therefore it ought to wear His name. It ought to give honor to Him. It ought to bring glory to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what you don't find, friend we say this as kindly as lovingly as we know how, but you don't find the multiplicity of denominations in your Bible. You don't find Baptist. You don't find Methodist. You don't find Presbyterian. You don't find Catholic. You don't find that in the Bible. Those names of various religious groups may give honor to the other things, but friend the Bible already identified who the church belongs to. “I'll build My church.” You know something's ‘yours’ you don't have a hard time understanding that you own. A car- your name's on the title of that car right? You own a home- your name's on the title of that home. Are you going to let your neighbor on either side of you come over and put his name on the title? Course not! You worked for it. You paid the price. It was your blood, sweat, and tears. That's so practical, and yet it's so practical to the lesson about the church the church belongs to Christ. There's only one, and it needs to wear and carry His name. Not only does Jesus in Matthew 16 teach us about the power and the name of His church in a singularity of it, but we also learn such a practical lesson about what's really important in this life. Listen to the questions of Jesus in Matthew 16:26. The Lord asked these questions, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Jesus is here emphasizing in a very dramatic way nothing is more important than my soul and yours. Don't underestimate the value of your soul. God created man in His own image. God breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul- Genesis 2:7. I have a soul. You have a soul. This body 70 maybe 80 years if we're lucky, and it's going to perish and return to the dust- not the soul. Ecclesiastes says the soul will return the spirit, and the soul return to God who gave it. My soul is the most important possession I. You could gather all the gold in the world, all the diamonds, all the money, all the wealth and it would pale in comparison to your soul. If that's the case, listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” If you can amass the wealth of the richest people in all the way, if you could have the wealth of Solomon, and you had that but then you died and went to hell- what would all that have been for? Nothing! In fact we learn about a man who learned that the hard way, Luke 15:15-21. There's a man there who had a great crop year. He began to talk to himself ‘You've got many goods laid up for many years and tear down your barns built greater barns. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.’ He thought he had everything. One thing he left out. Jesus said, “You fool this night will your soul be required of you.” Think about the second question. “Or what will it profit a man he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” On the Day of Judgment let's say you have amassed an unimaginable amount of wealth, but on the Day of Judgment are you going to exchange that for your soul? Are you going to say to God ‘you know I may not have lived for you, may not have lived right- hey I've got of got boatloads of gold. I got boatloads of silver.’ To the God who created all that what does that matter? You can't exchange anything for your soul. So here's the lesson: Don't let anything get in the way of your soul coming first in this life. That's what Jesus is trying to teach us. We want to really drive this home of everything you possess; to the Lord nothing is more valuable than your soul. And if our time, our attention, and our focus is distracted from making sure our soul is our top priority, friend listen carefully, you may gain some things but in the end you'll lose it all. Can you imagine? I want you to think about this, can you imagine if you are successful, if you're wealthy, and you are popular and you went to hell? What are you going to say down there? Are you going to say ‘Hey I lived it up.’? No! You're not going to say that. There's going to be torment. There is going to be anguish, and there's going be pain. To be the wealthiest, most popular, and most successful person in hell will mean absolutely nothing. Make sure that your soul is right with God. That's what Jesus is trying to illustrate in this context. Now we turn our attention then to Matthew 17 and the Mount of Transfiguration about verses 1 through 8. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on that high mountain. He is there transfigured before them. His clothes become begin to shine white as no launderer could make 'em the. He takes on new form, a bright form we can say. Something amazing happens! Moses and Elijah appear with Him, talking to Him, and so Peter as is usually the case speaks up. He's afraid. He doesn't know what to say. So he says, ‘Lord it's good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah.’ What happened next illustrates a big part of this whole lesson. At that time then the Bible says, ‘A voice came out of the cloud.’ We know it's God's voice. “A voice came out of the cloud saying.” Not Moses, not Elijah, here's what the voice said, “This is My beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear Him.” What's that lesson all about? Again it illustrates it is the most illustrative it is the most dramatic sign of Jesus as the Christ the Son of God, and illustrates this Jesus is greater than Moses and the giver of the law and the old law. He's greater than Elijah, and the prince of the prophets- all the prophets greater than the old law, greater than the prophets is the voice and the message and the teaching of Jesus Christ. They look up and only Jesus remains. It's His law, His kingdom, His authority, and His power that men must submit to today. I'm not living under the Old Testament nor are you. Don't get me wrong that was a good Law for good people, but it wasn't written to me and you. Deuteronomy 5 clearly illustrates that was for the Israelites. That law died at the Christ or at the cross, Ephesians 2:14-15 and Colossians 2:14-15. I cannot keep nor can I break the 10 Commandments, because it's not for me. I'm living under the new law and the new covenant of Christ. He's the one who deserves my authority and my supreme worship in this life. Now as we think then about Christ kingdom, let's ask a very simple question. I want to serve God and that kingdom. I want to do the best I can in that kingdom. I want to really bring honor and glory to the Almighty. How do you get greatness in the kingdom of God? What's it really mean? Look in your Bible in Matthew 18:1, and notice what the Scripture reveals to us here. “At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ Then Jesus called a little child to Him set him in the midst of them and said, ‘Assuredly I say to you unless you are converted and become as little children, you'll by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.’” What's it mean to really be great in the kingdom of God? It's not about being first place. It's not about telling others how great you are. It's about being childlike. What's that mean? A child trusts completely. A child, you know you got that submissive state, where you look up to the father, you look up to your parents- you will do whatever they said because you know you trust them. You know they've raised you. You understand they love you. Friend that's the idea. You’ve got to be converted and become like a child and be submissive. Recognize God, your Father, He has your best interest at heart and make sure we're not putting ourselves on a pedestal and trying to lower others in the process of doing that. Friend let's also notice some other practical lessons in this section of Matthew. In Matthew 19 Jesus is also going to illustrate the type of relationships that God wants His creation to have. Notice Matthew chapter 19 as Jesus is here asked about divorce. ‘Can a man divorce his wife for any reason?’ Look what Jesus says in Matthew 19 beginning in verse four. The Lord says and He answered and said to them, “Have you not read He who made them at the beginning made them male and female and said for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh?” Relationships, marriages, what do we know about God's design for His creation relating to relationships? Listen carefully now, “In the beginning God made them male and female.” What does that teach us? Don't get me wrong, I know the homosexual agenda is popular. I know people are pushing that. I know that's popular with society and the media. Please understand we want those involved in that to repent and turn to God. We love their eternal soul, and we want more than anything for them to go to heaven. God made them male and female. God did not make male and male. God did not make female and female. God with a specific purpose and a specific design for the relationship that is holy and right in His sight made them male and female. And then He said, “This for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined.” To who? “His wife and the two shall become one flesh.” God approves of relationships that are right in His sight according to His laws on marriage between a man and a woman- not two men that's contrary to the will of God- not two women that's contrary to the will of God. The Bible says it's ‘unnatural.’ It it's carnal. It’s not something God approves of, Romans 1:26-29. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that it is a sin that if people are not willing to repent of they will suffer eternal consequences. ‘Do you not know that such were some of you as fornicators, idolaters, murderers, revelers, homosexuals, and sodomites?’ But Paul says, ‘You were washed.’ Washed of what? That ‘ungodly immoral sin. You were cleansed. You were sanctified in the name the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God.’ While we want people involved in homosexual practices to change, we also want them to know Christians are not out to do harm to them. They want them to see the love of God and know that God wants them to be saved and come to the right pattern that God has defined in Scripture for relationships. Now do we learn anything else from this text in Matthew chapter 19? You bet we do! We learn that Jesus identified one and only one reason for scriptural divorce. Notice Matthew 19:9 Jesus said, “And I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” What scriptural reason did Jesus give for adultery? Fornication. ‘Porneia’ is the Greek word for the idea the idea pornography, but not just the looking at what the sexual illicit, sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage. That's the grounds for divorce inside the Scripture, and then and only then does the innocent party have the right to divorce the immoral, ungodly mate involved in that and marry again. There are not a hundred and one reasons. There are not alternatives to this idea. Jesus said it in Matthew 5:28-30. He said it in Matthew 19:9.He said it in Mark 10:11-12. Luke 16:18 in the gospel accounts Jesus mentions the only scriptural reason for divorce is fornication, and then only the innocent party may remarry in the sight of God with approval. As we think then about the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 16 through 20, we also learn some practical lessons that Jesus illustrates in Matthew 19 from the rich young ruler's life. Here's a man who comes to Jesus Matthew 19:16-22 “Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus says, “Well keep the commandments.” “All these I've done.” “Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not.” “All these I've done from childhood.” “One thing you lack. Sell what you have, give to the poor, come follow Me.” Mark tells us in Mark 10 “Jesus looked at that man with compassion and loved him.” That man probably makes one of the saddest statements in all the Bible. The Bible says, “That man went away sorrowful. He had great possessions.” As we think about Matthew 16:26, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world loses his own soul?” as we think about this rich young ruler who comes to Jesus but isn't willing to give up, friend it takes sacrifice to follow Christ. Jesus said, “Who does not love Me more than mother, sister, father, mother, brother, of the things this world, he cannot be My disciple. Who he does not leave all to follow Me cannot be My disciple.” Meaning that Christ is got to come first. He's got to be our top priority in everything that we say and do. Then in Matthew 20:1-16 Jesus gives us an illustration of what the Lord's church is likened unto. Here we've got the church being likened unto a vineyard. Now you've got a vineyard and you can imagine the producing of grapes, the juice that will go with that, the process of trimming those vines, gathering the grapes, pressing out the juice, and what a laborious process that would be. Jesus says the church is like a vineyard. Now what exactly is a vineyard? Well a vineyard is a place of work. You go to the vineyard there to work. You're going to work for a person who owns it. You're going to gather grapes. You're going to and then not only is it a place of work, but it's a place of work where fruit is produced and where fruit is harvested. Isn't that a beautiful picture of the church? What's the church? It's a place of work where fruit is produced in harvest to Almighty God. That's the Lord's church. We didn't come into the church to fill a pew. God's not looking for pew potatoes. That's not what the church is all about. You've not been called to fill a seat on Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night. We have been called be workers in the vineyard of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your labor is not in vain.” And along with working Jesus said in John 15, “Every branch that does not produce fruit is cut off and thrown into the fire.” We need to make sure we're producing fruit that we grow in the fruit of the spirit, Galatians 5:19-25, that we try to bring others to God and Christ, that we spread the gospel, that we live a good Christian life every day, and that we strive to do those things that please our Father. As we think about this section of Matthew 16 through 20, it has dramatically emphasized the Lord's church. It has shown us the value of the soul. It has clearly pictured the church as a place where we bring honor and glory to God and that the greatest of all commandments is to love God and love your fellow man. We ask you to consider today, are you a Christian? Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? If Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of lords, He requires my devotion and commitment, and He requires yours. Have you obeyed the gospel? If not, we urge you to today. Are you willing to hear the word of God? “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God,” Romans 10:17. Having heard that message, examine the evidence seen it to be true would you believe in Jesus? Jesus said in John 8:24 “Unless you believe that I'm He you'll surely die in your sins.” Having believed in Jesus, would you be willing to repent of sin? Acts 3:19 Peter preached “Repent and turn again that your sins may be blotted out.” Would you confess Jesus as the Son of God? Matthew 10:32-33. Would you do what Jesus said to be saved? Mark 16:16 here's what the Lord said in your Bible and in mine the Scripture says, “He that believes and is baptized will be saved. He that does not believe shall be condemned.” If you've never obeyed the gospel, your soul is so important. We beg you today; obey the gospel of Christ while we have time and while we have opportunity. Study Questions for: “Matthew: Lesson 6” 1. In Matthew 17:1-8, what did the voice say about Jesus? 2. What does Jesus say will not prevail against His church in Matthew 16:13-18? 3. According to Matthew 16:13-18, how many churches did Jesus say He’d build? 4. According to 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, God doesn’t want what? 5. Whose church is it according to Matthew 16:13-18? 6. According to Acts 20:28, how did Jesus purchase the church? 7. What does Matthew 16:26 question show us is most important in life? 8. What does Matthew 18:1 say about who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? 9. What is the only biblical reason for divorce according to Matthew 19:9? 10. What is the church compared to in Matthew 2:1-16?

Matthew: The Life & Teaching of the King (Part 3)

July 24, 2023 • The Gospel of Christ

In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest command.” We welcome you today to our study of the life and teaching of Jesus the King. Today we're going to be studying in the word of God Matthew chapter 21 through 25. If you haven't got your Bible handy, we want to encourage you to go ahead and get that so we can study the word of God together and so that we'll be prepared to do as the Bible says and ‘search the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so.’ In Matthew chapter 21 we're now going to be introduced to Jesus as He rides in for the triumphal entry of the Messiah and King of the Jews on a donkey. You remember the story. Jesus rides in not on a white stallion like you might think of in the days of Solomon, not as you can imagine some grand and glorious fashion, but He rides in a foal, the colt of a donkey. This signifies the type of kingship, the type of kingdom; the Lord is going to have. It is this triumphal entry that verifies Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of lords. In fact Matthew 21:4 will say this, “All this was done,” Jesus riding in the way did, “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion behold your King is coming to you lowly and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’” One of the things that Matthew will regularly do is he will go back to the Old Testament Scripture to verify something. Now this takes us back to the introduction of our lesson, which reminds us that Matthew is writing to the Jews about the greatest Jew to ever live- Jesus the King of the Jews-and if Matthew is going to convince these Jewish readers, he knows he's got a do it from the Old Testament. The entrance of Jesus into His triumphal entry on a donkey, on the foal of a donkey, what's that all about? Matthew says ‘Hey this is exactly what Zachariah said. You want proof? You want evidence Jesus is the Messiah? What He did is actually the fulfillment of prophecy that your prophet Zachariah said in Zachariah 9:9.’ We see Jesus being verified, affirmed, by the prophets as King of Kings and Lord of lords, Revelation 19:16. Doesn't this also suggest to us the humility of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? When you think about maybe a presidential inauguration, you think about somebody being inaugurated as king or as president or as a leader- what pomp and prestige and how that's done in such a grand fashion- what about Jesus? They laid down palm branches. He came in on the foal of a donkey, the colt of a donkey. He didn't come riding in a limousine. He didn't come riding in on a white stallion. His kingdom is the kingdom of service. His kingdom is a kingdom of humility. His kingdom as He already said is this “If you want to be first, get to the back of the line. The first shall be last. The last shall be first.” Jesus emphasized the humility that would resonate throughout His kingdom. Jesus said of His servants Mark 10:45 “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.” Then He will say to us, “Go and do likewise.” We're not talking about a kingdom where you elevate certain people, a kingdom where you've got a big me and a little you and we're out trying with prompt pomp. No, Jesus’ kingdom is the kingdom of humility. It's kingdom where we realize, without God and Christ we're nothing and that we need to do everything possible not to put the emphasis on self but to bring honor and glory to God in every way. The triumphal entry, it verified Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of lords. This triumphal entry is in line with the prophecy hundreds of years before in the Old Testament both in Zachariah 9:9 and in Psalm 118:26. In these verses Jesus fulfills those exactly. Every time prophecy is given, every prophecy you can find, Jesus fulfills perfectly. Proof positive He's the Messiah. This illustrates the type of King our Lord is and the type of servants He wants in His kingdom- humble, lowly, willing to serve others, and not to put oneself on a pedestal. Now in Matthew chapter 21 Jesus is also going to illustrate that Christianity- it's not about the money making business. It's not about, you know, what can I get out of it? How can I profit as a Christian? I want you to read with me Matthew 21:12. The Scripture here will say, “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, ‘It is written my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves.’ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things He did, and the children crying out in the temple say ‘Hosea the son of David. Hosanna the son of David.’ They were indignant and said to Him, ‘Did you hear what these are saying?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Yes. Have you never read out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you've perfected praise?’” Goes on to tell, Jesus left them then and went on to a different area. Friend here's one the powerful lessons that we learn in the life and teaching of Jesus. Jesus at times had to clean house and especially as it related to God's house. The problem here was that of extortion and that of taking advantage of other people. Their money might be changed and made into the currency of the temple, but in the process of changing that these money changers would charge a high rate to exchange that money. And then so they could buy a dove or buy an animal to be sacrificed, whatever it may be, they were taking advantage of them. That was never God's intent that that would occur in His house. So Jesus took a cord of whips. He became angry at those people. As the Bible will say ‘zeal for your house has eaten me up,’ and He cleaned house. He rushed those people out, drove them out, turned over their tables, straighten things up as it should have been in the house of God, and put priorities where they needed to be. Here's what they had done. They had taken worship to God, they had taken sacrifice which was necessary for the people related to sin, and peace offerings, and things like that, and they turned it into a business venture. Are men's souls equated with business ventures? Well of course not! It was about praising God. It was about bringing man closer to God. It's about taking care of the sin problem, and they just simply saw that as a way to profit. It's never what the gospel is intended to be. Don't we have a parallel to that today? How many religious organizations today, especially as you see many who were claiming to heal others, and many are claiming to do great wonders and signs today- how many times will they say and by the way send us your love offering and by the way if you can send us… You know, they're just pushing this idea of making money off of tricking people and hoaxes and things like unto that. How parallel is that to what Jesus cleaned up in the house of God? In the first century cleansing of the temple really illustrated to the people this is a priority worshiping and serving God is not a money making venture. It's about helping people to draw closer to God. A powerful lesson is taught here by Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of lords. Now also in Matthew chapter 21, the Lord is going to teach us a great lesson about authority. Now the Pharisees and those in the lead here, those who are trying to stay in power, are now going to come to Jesus and they're going to question His power. ‘And who told you could clean up like this?’ In essence, ’Where did you get that power?’ Watch what Jesus says in Matthew 21:23. The Lord will say now when He came to the temple, the Scripture says that He came into the temple. The chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as is as He was teaching, and said ‘By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?’ Jesus answered and said to them, “I'll also ask you one thing, which if you tell me I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things.” Here's the question, “The baptism of John where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned among themselves saying, ‘If we say from heaven, He'll say to us why then did you not believe him? If we say from men, we fear the multitude for all count John as a prophet.’ So they answered Jesus and said, ‘We do not know.’ He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these two things.” Did Jesus not answer them? Of course, He answered. Jesus illustrated their own hypocrisy. He illustrated there can only be two places of authority and only one of those is divine and the authority you ought to follow. Imagine the scene. Jesus has cleansed the temple. Jesus has been teaching about the withered fig tree, which represented Israel, and their lack of producing fruit. Jesus has sharply rebuked the Jewish elite of this day. They'd now come to Jesus, and they say in essence ‘Who put you in charge? Who told you you're going to be the master and everybody was going to follow? Where did you get this authority?’ So Jesus said, ‘I want to ask you a question. Let me illustrate for you that you really don't care anyway; I'm going to ask you a question. The baptism of John, where'd it come from?’ They knew right then there were in a pickle. They said, they reasoned among themselves that is they said, ‘If we say from God from heaven, He'll say why didn't you obey it? If we say from men, look at the crowd. We're afraid of the crowd. They're liable to stone us to death.’ They were now between a rock and a hard place. They were afraid to answer. They really didn't care about the answer, and it showed their hypocricy. They said ‘we don't know,’ and Jesus said, ‘well you don't really care. Why do I need to tell you where my authority came from?’ They knew where His authority came from. It was evident just like the baptism of John, but this shows that authority can only come from one of two sources. Either we follow and we live by the authority of God, or we're following and teaching what we teach by the authority of men. Only one of those sources is divine and will lead us to heaven. The Bible says, “All authority,” Jesus said, “has been given to me in heaven and on earth,” Matthew 28:18. “Whatever we do in word or deed we do all in the name of or by the authority of Jesus Christ,” Colossians 3:17. We don't want to add to or take away from the word of God, Revelation 22:18-19. But then you contrast that with human authority many times have people given something that men ought to do, and we find out that there was ulterior motives: money, greed, lust, desire, passion- for motivating them to do that. You see God cannot lie, Hebrews 6:18. God does not change, Malachi 3:8. Jesus is the same yesterday, past, today, present, and tomorrow future. Jesus is not going to change. God's not going to change. He cannot lie, but men can. Where are we getting the authority for what we do things? Where are we putting our emphasis? Who are we listening to in this life, is what Jesus is teaching us. Now let's notice another practical lesson, really two of them, from the life and teaching of Jesus the King of Kings. In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus will now illustrate from the old law the two greatest commandments. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second like unto it is you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The Bible will go on to say that you can rest the whole essence of the law on these two commands. Loving God and loving others is what Christianity is about. Isn't that so true? Now we say, ‘Well what does it mean to love God?’ Loving God means that He takes first place in our life, that He is are all, that we're trying to live in such a way that brings honor and glory to Him, and friend loving God is more -listen carefully- loving God is more than just saying ‘I love God.’ Loving God is more than just having a warm, fuzzy feeling about God. Loving God requires something of us. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me,” here's the condition, “if you love me, keep my commandments.” Friend the same is true as it relates to loving man. We’ve got to realize that every person has been created in the image of God. James will clearly say that as well as Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:7. If we love God, must we also love man? John said so. 1 John 3:14-17 “You cannot say,” Jane John said, “I love God and hate your brother.” The two are mutually exclusive, and so I want to love God. I want to put Him first. I want to obey God. I want to do what He says, and naturally I want to love that which is made in the image of God which is mankind. I want to help. I want to do good. We want to do what Galatians 6:10 says. “Do good unto all men especially those of the household of faith.” That's the practical lesson that James lays out for us in this section. Now let's turn our attention to Matthew chapter 23 as we notice more of the practical lessons from the life and teaching of Jesus. What's one of the brig big problems that Jesus identifies among mankind at times? One of the main problem is way too often men say and do not do. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:3. Jesus here will say to the hypocrites and the religious elite of his day in verse number 3, therefore Jesus will say about the Pharisees who are trying to get them to follow Moses law, “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe that observe and do,” listen now, “but do not do according to their works.” What do you mean Jesus? Jesus said, “For they say and do not do.” These people were great about you know telling what to do. They were great about saying ‘this is what God says and you people need to keep it,’ but they told the law. They commanded others to keep it. Jesus said, but here's the difference in what I want you to do, ‘Whatever they tell you, you need to do if it's according to the law of God. But I want you to a little different than them.’ What do you mean? ‘They're great about saying, and they do not do.’ Friend let's make sure and this is the old adage of making sure that we practice what we preach that we live up to what we say and what we do in this life. Paul had illustrated this already in 1 Corinthians 9:27. The apostle Paul said, “I buffet my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I've preached to others I myself should become a castaway.” We want to make sure in this life that not only do we say, but we also do. It's never enough just to say only. Jesus illustrated that Matthew 7:21 Jesus said, “It is not everyone that looks up into heaven and says ‘Lord, Lord’ that's going there, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Jesus sharply rebuked the religious elite of his day in Luke 6:46 with this question, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do the things which I say?” Now one of the problems that the Jews and throughout history many people got caught up in is placing the emphasis on some certain individual- maybe some certain person that they look up to religiously. Jesus is going to illustrate that's not the way it's supposed to be. Look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:9. Jesus says, “Do not call anyone on earth your Father. For one is your father. He who is in heaven.” Now we're talking about in the religious sense. Jesus is talking about teachers. He's talking about people who don't who teach law of God but don't follow it. He's talking about people who make a proselyte and then go halfway around the world to make a proselyte, and then make him twice as much the son of hell as themselves. So we're not talking about in the sense of a parent. That's not the idea. This is in a religious sense. What did Jesus say? “Call no man on earth Father in the religious sense.” Why? “One is your father, God.” We want to make sure that we don't, and this is the practical lesson, we want to make sure that we don't elevate people. We want to make sure that we don't get what we often refer to sometimes as preacheritis. It happened in 1 Corinthians. You've got some who were saying ‘I'm going to follower of Paul. I'm a follower of Apollos. I'm a follower of Cephas.’ Another saying ‘We're followers of Christ Jesus.’ What did the Bible say about that? “Let there be no division.” We don't want to put the emphasis on man ever. Now friend let's make a really practical point here. In Catholicism when people go to worship in Catholicism, when people talk to the person in charge in Catholicism, when they maybe get in the cubicle and confess their sins, they will call that religious leader ‘Father.’ I want you think about this with me, if Catholics called the priest ‘Father’ and if Jesus said “Call no man Father in a religious sense giving them honor and precedent preference,” can those two ideas merge? Can Catholicism be true if Jesus said, “Call no man Father,” and every adherent of Catholicism calls their priest ‘Father’? Those ideas don't merge. They're diametrically opposed. This is one of the reasons, and they're multiples, but this is one of the reasons we know Catholicism is not from God. Now in the remaining time let's talk about some principles from Matthew 24 and 25 that will help us to better understand these texts. I understand Matthew 24 is a difficult section in which Jesus is going to talk about the three things: the destruction of the Jewish nation, the when that will be, and when the end of the world will be. Jesus basically answers three questions, and really for today's lesson here's what we want you to realize, there is a huge divide in the context which tells us when the destruction of the Jewish nation and the signs of it would be versus when the world would end and the signs, or if they're going to be any of that. Where is that divide? I want you to turn your attention to Matthew 24:34. Everything before Matthew 24:34 is about to occur in their generation. Notice why we say that. Matthew 24:34 the great Continental divide of this text says Jesus speaking, “Assuredly I say to you,” listen now “This generation will by no means pass away until or till all these things take place.” Now I want you to listen real carefully, there may be some apocalyptic language, there may be some things that sound like the second coming and end of the world, but friend Jesus is already said ‘Everything I just said is going to happen in this generation. This generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.’ Friend what I've got to realize is that was to the people in that day. They were they were preparing, and Jesus was teaching them to prepare for the destruction of Jerusalem to know when it was going to be, so they could get ready and leave the city. History records that they did get ready and they all left the city when Rome came in. Too many times we want people want to take everything before verse 34, and they want to transpose that on the second coming. Can't do that. Jesus said ‘This is going to happen in this generation.’ That was for the immediate problem. What about after that? Well let's look to the text to see. Look in Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will no means pass by no means pass away,” Jesus said. Now watch what Jesus says about the second coming in the world verse 36, “But of that day and hour,” the third question, ‘When will be the end of the world?’ “But of that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven but my Father only.” Throughout history people have tried to predict the second coming of Christ in the world. It's happened not too long back had some fellow out in California who wanted to try to predict exactly when the world's going to end. The false teachers throughout history have done that. Don't miss this point. Anybody who tells you they know when Christ is coming and the world's going to end is a liar period. How do we know that? No one knows the day nor the hour when the Son of Man comes. The Bible as explicitly and as clearly, as you can imagine, tells us we don't know when Christ is coming back. Nobody knows the day and the hour. Now what do we know about that? According to Matthew 25 the end of that chapter there's going to be a great separation when that occurs. Listen to Matthew 25:46. Jesus said, “On that great day the righteous will go away into eternal life. The unrighteous into eternal condemnation.” There will be a great separation. God will separate the righteous from the unrighteous. “All that are in the graves will come forth, those who do good to the resurrection of life.” As we think about the life and teaching of Jesus, let's make sure our lives are being lived in harmony with the authority and teaching of Christ. Are you a Christian? Have you obeyed the gospel of Christ? If not, friend we're begging you to submit to God and obey the gospel. If as a child of God maybe you're not ready for that great day. Maybe it's not something you look forward to. Friend we beg you- get your life right before that day comes, and live in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Study Questions for: “Matthew: Lesson 7” 1. According to Matthew 22:37-38, what is the first and greatest commandment? 2. According to Matthew 21:4, why did he ride in on a donkey? 3. What does Matthew 10:45 say about the son of man? 4. Why did Jesus overturn their tables in Matthew 21:12? 5. According to Matthew 28:18, who has all authority? 6. According to Colossians 3:17, how should we do things? 7. What does Revelation 22:18-19 say about the Word of God? 8. According to Hebrews 6:18, God cannot what? 9. What does Malachi 3:8 tell us about God? 10. According to John 14:15, if we love God-what will we do?

Matthew: The King on a Cross

July 24, 2023 • The Gospel of Christ

As Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper with His disciples at the Passover, Jesus took that fruit of the vine, and He said these words in Matthew 26:28 “This is my blood of the new covenant shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.” We welcome you today to our final lesson in the life and teaching of Jesus from the gospel of Matthew. Today we're going be studying that powerful section of Christ going up to the cross and dying for us in Matthew 26 through 28. We hope that if you haven't got your Bible handy that you'll go ahead and do that right now, so that we can search the Scriptures together and be impacted by what Jesus did for each one of us. As we open to Matthew 26 we see the plot began to unfold to sellout the Lord and ultimately point Him toward and push Him toward the cross. Matthew 26:1-14 we have several events that are going to happen. The Jewish leaders are now going to come to Judas, and they're going to offer him certain amount of money, 30 pieces of silver, set up a plot to tempt Jesus. Judas is going to agree to that, and he eventually is going to sellout the Lord for that little amount of money- which he's eventually going to greatly regret. One of the first lessons we see in the opening pages of Matthew 26 is this, don't be like Judas and sellout the Lord. You may say, ‘What do you mean? I don't have the opportunity to sellout the Lord. He’s already been sold out, and He died and has gone back to heaven.’ In a figurative sense, can't each one of us if we're not careful sellout the Lord today? You say ‘what do you mean by that?’ If we put things before God: greed, worldliness, sin, pleasure, false, religion and false ideas, family, friends-have we not in essence sold-out the Lord for something else? We need to make sure that in this life we don't commit the sin that Judas committed. That is he was willing to put money and greed in the place of the Savior, and Jesus took a backseat to his own personal interest and ideas at that time. Now another lesson that we're going to learn in Matthew 26, as Jesus knows the things that are about to happen and He realizes that His how hour has actually come in preparation for that, Jesus is going to spend time in prayer with the Father. He's going to take His disciples into the garden of Gethsemane. They're going to stay and wait. Jesus says “Watch and pray lest you fall in temptation.” He's going to go away and pray. The Bible will teach us that He's in great agony. One of the things that we really learn from this, really two lessons, we learn about the power of prayer. You know Jesus was the Son of God. He was God in the flesh, but He knew how important it was to communicate with the Father- especially in these times of great anguish. Friend from the life of Jesus here and His teaching, we learn also about the power of prayer. Luke 18:1 Jesus said, “Men ought always to pray and never lose heart.” Don't get discouraged. Don't give up. Do like Jesus and turn to God in prayer. Remember the words of Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we might find grace and mercy to help in time of need.” It was Peter who said in 1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your cares upon Him.” Why? “He cares for you.” Then there's a second, and it's a very powerful lesson, that we learn from the life of Jesus about submission to God's will. Notice the words of Matthew chapter 26, and I want you to look with me in verse number 39. The Bible says “He went a little further,” that is Jesus “and fell on His face and prayed saying, ‘Oh my Father, if it's possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.’” Jesus no doubt knew and saw He was aware of the agony that was about to happen. He realized that His human life was going to be snuffed out. The human side ‘if there were any other way let this cup pass from me,’ it was His anguish and His desire no doubt in the impending up agony that He would face. Then you hear these words, ‘Not my will but thine be done.’ As we think about the things that often fight face us in this life, as I think about the struggles I have, as I think about the decisions I've got to make, as we think about the constant fight with sin, and sometimes the things that occur in this life, what needs to kind of override everything we do? Let me illustrate it from another passage. James 4:13-17 is a context that is directly relative to what we're thinking about today. Certain man or certain people are going to take part in the business venture, they say to themselves ‘We'll go to this place for year. We'll buy. We'll sell. We'll make much gain.’ It wasn't a problem with any of that necessarily, but there was a problem. James says “Instead you ought to say ‘If the Lord wills, we'll do this or we'll do that, we'll buy and sell, and make much gain.’” Thus James will say in James 4:17 “For him that knows to do good and does not do it to him it is a sin.” Putting God's will above every action and above every decision has to be the overriding banner of my life. That statement ‘Not my will but thine be done,’ has to encompass and control everything that I do in this life. I want to make sure that in being submissive to God that we're submitting to the teaching of Christ as it relates to letting God control and govern our life. Now as we think about Matthew chapter 26 there's another very powerful and practical lesson that we learn in this text, and it's about the apostle Peter. I want you to look in Matthew 26:69-75. Notice what the text teaches us here. The Bible says, now as this is after Jesus has been taken. He's being questioned. Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard and a servant girl came to him saying ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee.’ But he denied it before them all saying, ‘I do not know what you're saying.’ When he'd gone out to the gateway another girl saw him and said, ‘To those who were there this fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ But again, he denied with an oath ‘I do not know the man.’ A little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter ‘Surely you also were one of them for your speech betrays you.’ Now watch this, “Then Peter began to curse and to swear saying, ‘I do not know the man.’ Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words of Jesus who had said to him ‘Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly.” As we think about what happened to Peter here, the relationship between Peter and Jesus, as Peter is you know sometimes striving to step up and take a leadership position Peter here is challenged with his commitment to Christ. How strong was Peter's commitment to Jesus at this point? Not as strong as it needed to be. How do we know that? Peter had already said ‘Lord if I have to die for your name, I'll go with you.’ “No, Peter you're not ready yet.” ‘You were with him weren't you?’ ‘Oh no! Not me!’ ‘You sound like him surely.’ ‘Oh no! No, I don't even know the man.’ And then you imagine this in your mind? Peter begins to curse and swear. Can you imagine the apostle Peter cursing? Curse and swear ‘I don't even know who you are talking about. I don't even know the man.’ Then the echo of that rooster crowing in Peter's ear, and he went out and wept bitterly. What did Peter have to learn? His commitment wasn't quite what he thought it was. There were areas he needed to develop and grow in to really make the commitment to Christ that he should have. I believe this is a big part of why Peter will say in 1 Peter 2:2 “As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow bear thereby.” In 2 Peter 3:18 “Grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” When everything's going good, life is going so smooth; it's easy to commit to Christ. It's when the difficulties come, it's when confrontation arises, it's when our life might be on the line that we really have to ask ourself- how committed am I really to following Jesus? Like Peter, are there some areas that I definitely need to grow in to make my commitment stronger? We then turn our attention to a statement in Matthew 27:2. I want you to notice this statement. The Bible simply says ‘When they come to Jesus to take Him, and when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.’ Mark 15 then tells us they bound the hands of Jesus. Here we've got people, promoted by Judas in his kissing Jesus and denying the Lord as well, who are willing to take Jesus and bind Him. They bound the hands of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Could He have broken those bonds? Absolutely! Could He have called down a Legion? Absolutely! Jesus willingly allowed himself to be bound by evil men. Now friend I want to make a practical application to this. They bound the hands of Jesus physically there to take Him ultimately to try Him and to crucify Him, but figuratively do we not sometimes bind the hands of Jesus today? Do we not limit what Jesus can do by binding His ability? Friend when we're not as evangelistic as we ought to be, are we not binding the hands of Jesus? When we don't give to the local congregation, like the Bible teaches we ought to give on the first day the week, aren't we binding the hands of Jesus? When we don't study and we don't pray, when we're not as benevolent and as helpful, and we don't love God like we ought to- aren't we binding the hands of Jesus figuratively today and not letting His full power and His will take place in our life? Now as we think through the rest of today's lesson, we just simply want to focus on what the Lord and Savior did for me and what He did for you in going to the cross and dying. While we think about these passages, I want you to keep this in mind the Bible says Jesus “tasted death for every man,” Hebrews 2:9. If for every man for this man and for you as well, Jesus did the things we're about to notice so that I could have the hope of eternal life and so that you can have the hope of her life. Listen to the personal nature of 1 Peter 2:24 “He, Himself bore our sins in His own body upon the tree that we having died to sin might live for righteousness by whose stripes we were healed.” Well what exactly did Jesus do? Let's turn our attention to Matthew 27:15-21. Jesus so that I can have the hope of eternal life, He took the place of a common criminal. Matthew 27, look at verse 15. The Bible says, “Now at the feast of the governor at the feast of the governor it was a custom to release unto the multitude one prisoner whom they wished, and at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore when they had gathered together Pilate said to them ‘Who do you want me to release to you? Barabbas or Jesus who was called the Christ?’ For he knew they had handed Jesus over because of envy. While he was sitting on the judgment seat his wife sent him saying ‘Have nothing to do with that just man, for I've suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.’ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said to them ‘Which of the two do you want me to release to you?’ They said ‘Barabbas.’ Pilate said to them, ‘What then shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ?’ And they all said to him, ‘Let Him be crucified.’ A notorious criminal, we don't know exactly all the details, but when you think of notorious you can imagine in your own mind a thief a murderer or rapist a killer an extortioner. Jesus took the place of this common criminal and that man was let free, able to live his life again in freedom. Why did He do that? He committed no crimes of His own, 1 Peter 2:21. He committed no sin, Hebrews 4:15. He took the place of that common criminal for me and for you. What else happened to Jesus? Our Lord and Savior is now going to be scourged, and the Bible doesn't say a whole lot about it. But listen to the words of Matthew 27:26. The Scripture says “Then Pilate release Barabbas to them, and when he had scourged Jesus he delivered Him to be crucified.” What exactly is a scourging? A scourge is basically a whipping a very abusive and tormenting whipping us- something like a bullwhip- except it's got more tails on it, is used it's usually held in the hand not a long ribbon held in the hand it contains leather strips multiple leather strips coming down it. History reveals from evidence they found in archaeology that many of these whips had sharp pieces of bone or glass or metal embedded into the end of that whip, and then that that person's back would be made very tight. Maybe sometimes they would hang them and tighten their back from the ceiling. Other times that would take them and wrap them around the pole where the muscles and the skin on their back are as tight as you can make it, and then they would bring that whip over and over again across the back of that common criminal. Jesus was beaten with that scourging whip, with the metal, with the bone, with the glass embedded in it. Over and over again they raked it across the back of Jesus. Why? He was beaten for our transgression. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, Isaiah 53:4. Every stripe that was laid on the back of Jesus, I deserved and you deserved because of our sin, and yet Jesus lovingly did that for me and you. Friend I’ll promise you nobody's ever loved you like Jesus loved you. Watch what happens next. Matthew 27:29 the Scripture then says “When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and a reed in His right hand. They bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him saying ‘Hail King of the Jews.’” Let's talk about this crown of thorns. Maybe you've seen vines or branches like this in your area. Maybe like a honey locust tree you've got these really long thorns on vines. We're not talking about just up a little thorn. We're talking about these long thorns. They made a crown out of that. They twisted all that together, put a crown with those long thorns on Jesus' head. Now how gently do you think they placed that on the Lord's head? Well already mocking Him. They're going to spit on Him. They're going to make fun of Him. They're trying to inflict the maximum amount of pain they can on Jesus. As they take that crown of thorns, imagine as the thorns press in to the head of Jesus. They then they then according Matthew 27:30, they will bow the knee. They will mock Jesus ‘Hail King of the Jews.’ And then the Bible says “They spit on the Lord and Savior.” Not only is Jesus already in humongous or a major amount of agony and pain because of the scourging, not only are the thorns piercing into His brow, now His own creation, who He came to save spits in His face. Can you imagine how degrading and humiliating? Have you ever had anybody spit on you? Can you imagine how horrible of a feeling that? Not only, you know somebody might spit on you and you might deserve it. I don't know for sure, but maybe. Not Jesus! The very people He came to save from the worst problem ever- their sin and an eternal torment-spit in the face of Jesus. Then they take that reed that they're going to give Jesus as a kingly staff to mock Him. They take that reed and they beat Him on the head with it. Now imagine already Jesus has this crown of thorns on His head, they take that reed and when they hit Jesus on the head with it- what happens to all those thorns? They press further into the skull and the scalp of Jesus. Imagine the pain and the agony that must've been for the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Now as you follow the events that occurred in Matthew 27:31 they then they then the Bible tells us, they put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they take that robe off. Now I want you to stop right here and think about this. If you've ever had a bad cut on yourself and you take and put a Band-Aid on it that Band-Aid will stop that bleeding, and it will adhere to it. But how much fun is it to take that Band-Aid off after everything is dried and stuck to it? You take that Band-Aid off is like starting all over again. The bloody back of Jesus that that robe adheres to the blood and the back and it begins to dry it sticks to the skin, and then imagine as they rip that robe off again- all the blood, all the pain, all the flesh is torn all over again! Why? He did that for me and you. He tasted death for every man. And then listen to the words of Matthew 27:35. The Bible then records this “Then they crucified Him and divided His garments. Casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets ‘they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots.’ Friend this is one of the great things about the inspiration of the Bible. Men would like to write volumes about the crucifixion. How long does it take the Bible to tell us about that event? One sentence. “Then they crucified Him.” Just four or five words. What happened in the crucifixion? Men's the Bible tells us Psalm 22 and John last chapter in John will tell us Jesus had nail prints in His hands. Psalm 22 prophesied that Jesus hands through the wrist bones that are very strong would have been nailed to a cross. His feet then were also nailed to a cross through His ankle bones which are very strong. Then that cross is raised up with Jesus hanging on it. You can imagine in your own mind for every breath that you take in you push against the nails in the ankle, for every breath that you let out you pull against the nails in your in your wrist. For every breath Jesus had to push on the nails in His ankles and the nails in His wrist, and it was torment and agony just to breathe. Jesus took the curse of the cross, Galatians 3:15-20, upon himself so that I wouldn't have to bear that cross. He was beaten. He was mocked. He was spit upon. He was crucified. According Matthew 27:50 Jesus shouted out with a loud voice “It is finished.” He gave up the spirit, returned it to the Father eventually. Why did He do that? Why did Jesus endure such torment and agony and pain? For me and for you. Listen again to 1 Peter 2:24 “He, Himself, bore our sins in His own body upon the tree that we having died to sin might live by right you might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.” Jesus didn't do that because He had sin. He did that so that I don't have to go to hell and suffer the eternal condemnation and the judgment of my sins. That's how much God and how much Christ loves you! Now think about this. You hear the words of John 3:16 and it's a lovely verse but think about it in view of Matthew 27. “God so loved the world He gave.” What do you mean He gave? He gave Jesus to suffer everything we just heard about. “He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Aren't you glad the story doesn't end with Jesus dying on the cross? According the Bible Jesus would stay in the cross or stay in the grave for a period of about three days, and then He would rise out of the grave. We open our Bible to Matthew 28:1 and notice what the Scripture says. “Now after the Sabbath as the first did day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Behold there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning. His clothing as white as snow and the guard shook for fear of him and became like dead man. But the angel answered and said to the women ‘Do not be afraid. I know you seek Jesus who was crucified.’” Listen to these words, “He is not here. He is risen.” Death didn't break Him down and end it. The grave did not contain Him. Jesus conquered death. He conquered the grave, and He is right now living at the right hand of God. Proof positive again Jesus is the Son of God. Now the soldiers are bribed, according to verses 11 through 15, to tell a story- but even their stories didn't mesh. And the risen Savior, He comes back to His disciples, and He gives them this charge “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Go into all teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Here's the application. In the few moments we've got remaining, I want you to realize today- God wants us to realize today- just how much He loved us. He sent His Son to die a horrible death of torment and agony, so that I can have the hope of heaven. What He asked of us is to obey Him and to live for Him. Have you done that? Have you obeyed the gospel of Christ? Here's what Jesus said, “He that believes and is baptized will be saved,” Mark 16:16. Are you living for Him? Friend imagine what God wants of us, if He would do that for His Son, imagine how wonderful heaven's going to be for each one of us! If you've never obeyed the gospel, in view of the great sacrifice of Christ, we beg you- obey the gospel of Christ, before it's too late! Study Questions for: “Matthew: Lesson 8” 1. According to Luke 18:1, what must men always do? 2. According to Hebrews 4:16, what do we find at the Throne of Grace? 3. Why should we cast our cares upon Jesus according to 1 Peter 5:7? 4. Whose will was Jesus concerned about in Matthew 26:39? 5. What does James 4:17 say about someone who knows to do good and doesn’t do it? 6. What should we grow in according to 2 Peter 3:18? 7. According to Hebrews 2:9, what did Jesus do for every man? 8. According to 1 Peter 2:24, whose sins did Jesus bear? 9. What did Jesus say before giving up his spirit in Matthew 27:50? 10. According to John 3:16, God gave us what? Why?

Mark: Majesty of Christ (Part 1)

July 8, 2024 • The Gospel of Christ

Of the life of Jesus Christ the people in His day said, "And they were astonished beyond measure saying He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak," Mark 7:37. Welcome you today to our study of the gospel of Mark. Mark is going to identify the majesty, magnificence, and the power of Jesus in the gospel of Mark. Mark is one of the more exciting one of the more powerful and active gospel accounts that we have. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all a little bit unique. Matthew is a Jew writing to Jews about the greatest Jew to ever live, Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of lords. Luke is writing to Gentile audience, a Greek audience, about the perfection of Christ showing that He's perfect in every way. John is writing to a generic audience about the deity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Mark Anthony is believed to be a Roman name. Mark is a Roman writing to the Romans about the powerful actions and deeds of Jesus Christ. (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

Mark: Majesty of Christ (Part 2)

July 8, 2024 • The Gospel of Christ

The Lord said, "What will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 8:36-37. Welcome you today to our study of the gospel of Mark. We hope that you got your Bible handy, as we're going to be studying Mark chapters 5 through 8 today in our overview of the gospel of Mark. Such a powerful book about the majesty of Christ, and we're excited about its teaching. (Download the full transcript by clicking the "Download Transcript" link below)

Mark: Majesty of Christ (Part 3)

July 8, 2024 • The Gospel of Christ

In Mark 10:45, our Lord says these powerful words about service: "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life for ransom for many." Welcome to our study of the gospel of Mark, the majesty of Jesus Christ. Today we're going to be studying, overviewing Mark chapters 9 through 12, and we want to make sure that you've got your Bible handy as we're going to be looking to the Word of God together in our study. (Download the complete transcript by clicking on the "Download Transcript" link below)

Mark: Majesty of Christ (Part 4)

July 8, 2024 • The Gospel of Christ

The Lord said with great urgency to His disciples, "What I say unto you, I say unto all Watch," Mark 13:35. Welcome you today to our study of the Gospel of Mark. Today we're going to be studying those final concluding chapters in the Gospel of Mark, Chapters 13 through 16. We encourage you to locate your Bible, have that ready to open up with us as we're going to study from the Word of God today. We are now going to see that last little time of span in the life of Jesus as He's going to be ushering His Kingdom in very quickly and going to be headed to the cross, going to the cross to make that ultimate sacrifice for every man. (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

Luke: Jesus in Luke (Part 1)

December 8, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

"And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man," Luke 2:52. "And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and man," Luke 2:52. Welcome to our study of the gospel of Luke. As we think today about Luke and his message of Jesus as the ideal person, we think about Jesus' humanity and His deity combined as the Son of Man and Son of God, bringing salvation to the world. The Gospel of Luke is unique from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John on several different levels. (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

Luke: Jesus in Luke (Part 2)

December 8, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

Jesus said, “Did you not know, I must be about my father's business?” Luke 2:49. Welcome to our study of the gospel of Luke. In our living messages of the New Testament, we have taken the books in the New Testament, and we are trying to get the key ideas and some of the main thoughts in each book. One of the overriding things that we will see in the book of Luke is that Jesus is all about the Father's business, doing the will of God, seeking and saving the lost, Luke 19:10-that's Jesus’ mission. It's His mindset. Everything He does, God’s will is at the forefront. (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)

Luke: Jesus in Luke (Part 3)

December 8, 2022 • The Gospel of Christ

“In answer to those who came looking for Jesus, Jesus said ‘Did you not know I must be about my father's business?’” Luke 2:49. Welcome to our study of the gospel of Luke. As we think now about the book of Luke, in this third lesson in the book of Luke, Luke chapter 9 Jesus now gets to the heart and core of what real Christianity is all about. Ask yourself this: What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to follow Jesus every day? On a daily, practical, every day, and relevant level-what does Jesus expect of me and you? (The full transcript is available in the "Download Document" button above.)