Matthew (Part 15) (BST 12-30-07)

Matthew (Part 15)
Bible Study Time 12-30-07

Matthew says that when Joseph found out that Mary was with child, he planned at first to put her away privately so as to avoid a public scandal. But then, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said:

Matthew 1:20,21 (KJ2000)
20 . . . fear not to take unto you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Well, as you know, it’s that time of the year again when people start thinking about turning over a new leaf and adopting New Year’s resolutions. However, the word of God explains that human beings do not by nature have the will power to simply turn over a new leaf. The fact is that it takes the power of God to change the direction of a person’s life. Our inability to have total self control is a result of our sin nature, but fortunately, Jesus Christ came into the world to save his people from their sins.

Through simple faith in the blood of Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins and freely given the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and then provides the motivation and the power to turn away from sin. What a beautiful thing it is to know that we can have a New Beginning through faith in Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John had the privilege of seeing the ultimate conclusion of the New Beginning which was promised to Abraham and his descendants. While he was on the Isle of Patmos, John saw a vision of the future and said:

Revelation 21:1-5,7 (KJ2000)
1 . . . I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new . . .
7 He that overcomes shall inherit all things . . .

Jesus said, “Behold, I make all things new.” This is the ultimate New Beginning with all things being made new.

The city that John saw coming down out of heaven is the city that Abraham was looking for. Hebrews 11 says:

Hebrews 11:8-10 (KJ2000)
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should later receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he went.
9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
10 For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Hebrews 11:13 (KJ2000)
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, . . . were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Hebrews 11:16 (KJ2000)
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he has prepared for them a city.

This city was also the hope of the Apostle Paul at the time that he wrote the book of Galatians. In Galatians 4, he said:

Galatians 4:25,26 (KJ2000)
25 For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Today, we no longer look for the New Jerusalem, that heavenly city which will come down from heaven to be the capital city of the world. This hope was promised to Abraham, and it will only take place when God fully implements all of the terms of His New Covenant with the nation of Israel.

By the end of the period of time covered by the book of Acts, the nation of Israel had been offered the full implementation of the New Covenant, but Israel refused to enter into that covenant because of their unbelief. Therefore, it was time for a new beginning in God’s program for man. At the end of the Acts period, God set aside Israel’s New Covenant program and began revealing the program for us today. This is the program for the Church which is the Body of Christ.

The Church which is the Body of Christ is the Church which God has been building in heaven for the past 2000 years. It is the church to which all believers belong regardless of their religious background. This heavenly church is a church which nobody can join. Imagine that, a church that nobody can join. Only the Holy Spirit can add a person to this church.

When a person believes, he is baptized into Jesus Christ and identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Today, this baptism makes him a member of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and it can only be performed by the Holy Spirit of God. In Colossians 2, Paul says:

Colossians 2:10-12 (KJ2000)
10 And you are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, in which also you are risen with him through the faith of the working of God, who has raised him from the dead.

We are circumcised, we are baptized, all by the working of God, and this is the start of the believer’s personal New Beginning. But praise the Lord, this is just the starting point. Paul says that this work of the Holy Spirit within the life of the believer is just the down payment or the guarantee of that which is to come. At some point in the future, the whole Church which is the Body of Christ will be redeemed as the purchased possession of Christ.

Well, when is this redemption of the Church going to take place? Ephesians is one of the books which talks exclusively about the Church which is the Body of Christ, and so when Paul speaks of the redemption of the purchased possess, he is talking about the rapture of the church.

Philippians and Colossians also speak exclusively about and to the Church which is the Body of Christ, and so we see Paul talking about the rapture of the Church in both of these books. In Colossians 3, we read:

Colossians 3:4 (KJ2000)
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.

In Philippians 3, Paul says:

Philippians 3:20-21 (KJ2000)
20 For our citizenship is in heaven; from which also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 Who shall change our humble body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body . . .

Now this is the ultimate New Beginning for us today. Our New Beginning starts when we are baptized into Christ, but our New Beginning will not achieve its ultimate goal until we are caught up to be with the Lord, and we are given our new, glorified body.

What will happen after that, we don’t know, but we do know that God has big plans for us. In Ephesians 2, Paul says that God:

Ephesians 2:6,7 (KJ2000)
6 . . . has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

There is no mention here of the New Jerusalem. There is no mention here of our leaving the glory of heaven to come back to the earth when the New Jerusalem comes down to the earth. It could be that we will serve the Lord in the New Heaven while those with the hope of Israel will enjoy the New Jerusalem on the earth. That is, of course, just speculation, but it is food for thought.

The New Beginning for those with the Jewish hope begins with their baptism into Jesus Christ and into His death, burial and resurrection, and it ends with their rapture at the end of the tribulation period and their entrance into the kingdom of the New Earth. The New Beginning for us as member of the Church which is the Body of Christ begins with our baptism into Jesus Christ and His death, burial and resurrection, but it ends with our rapture before the tribulation period and our entrance into the heavens.

Regardless of a person’s future hope, the power behind the New Beginning is provided by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. In Revelation 21, Jesus spoke of the Jewish hope and said in verse 5:

Revelation 21:5 (KJ2000)
5 . . . Behold, I make all things new . . .

And then in verse 7, He said:

Revelation 21:7 (KJ2000)
7 He that overcomes shall inherit all things . . .

Well, who are those who have the power to overcome? In Revelation 12, John said:

Revelation 12:10,11 (KJ2000)
10 . . . I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb . . .

Those who overcome the forces of the antichrist and the devil during the tribulation period will inherit all things, and their power to overcome the devil will be provided by the blood of the Lamb, who is Jesus Christ.

In Revelation, Chapter 5, we see Jesus taking the book with the seven seals of judgment, and when He takes it, the four beasts and the twenty-four elders sing a new song which says:

Revelation 5:9 (KJ2000)
9 . . . You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open the seals thereof: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood . . .

The New Song, the New Heaven, the New Earth, the New Jerusalem, all are part of the New Beginning that God has planned for those with the hope of Abraham, and again, it is made possible by the power of the shed blood of Christ.

For those of us who are members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, our New Beginning is made possible by the blood of Christ as well. In Ephesians 2, Paul says that we who were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. In Colossians 1, Paul says that we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. And then he says that Christ has made peace through the blood of His cross.

Clearly, all redemption is based on the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Whether we talk about the hope of the Jews or whether we talk about the hope of the Church which is the Body of Christ, it’s all made possible by the blood of Christ.

Perhaps, as we approach a new year, we should fill our hearts and minds, not so much with the failures of the past or with our resolutions for the future, but with thoughts of the New Beginning which God has already provided for us through the shed blood of Christ. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, he taught that what we entertain in our minds is very important. He said:

Philippians 4:8 (KJ2000)
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

What could be more pure, or more just, or more lovely than the inheritance of perfection which God has promised to all those who believe in Jesus.

We know that we are not perfect now, but we’re moving in that direction. In fact, Paul says that:

Ephesians 4:11,12 (KJ2000)
11 (God) gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

We’re not perfect yet, but we know that someday we will be because Paul says:

1 Corinthians 13:10,12,13 (KJ2000)
10 . . . when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
12 For now we see in a mirror dimly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13 And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

We’re not perfect yet, but someday we will be, and then our New Beginning will be complete.

It’s been a pleasure studying with you this morning, and I’ll look forward to studying with you again next week at this same time.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Matthew (Part 14)
Bible Study Time 12-23-07

We’ve been studying the book of Matthew for the past few weeks, and in this book we are given valuable information regarding the one person who can guarantee us eternal life. Matthew says that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, God the Father spoke from heaven saying:

Matthew 3:17 (KJV)
17 . . . This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Jesus had a public ministry in which He healed the sick, made the lame to walk, and raised the dead. At one point, Jesus spoke to his disciples and said:

Matthew 13:16-17
16 . . . blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.

Isaiah was one of those prophets who desired to see the day when the Son of God would walk upon the earth and preach the word of God. Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah spoke of the coming of the Son of God and said:

Isaiah 9:2
2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.

Matthew tells us that Jesus was born as the Son of God. He says:

Matthew 1:18-21
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.
20 But while he thought on these things, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Then Matthew goes on to say that the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus was in accordance with another of Isaiah’s prophesies. He says that:

Matthew 1:22-25
22 . . . all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

There are those who say that Isaiah’s prophesy concerning the virgin birth was merely pointing to the fact that Isaiah’s wife would be a virgin until the conception of their first child. But this thought is contrary to the word of God.

Matthew emphatically states that the birth of Jesus was the direct fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy. He said, all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet.

Furthermore, Matthew says that while Mary was still a virgin, Jesus was conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit and that Joseph and Mary shared no marital intimacy until after Jesus was born. That’s just as plain as language can make it, and we have to conclude that Jesus was the Son of God and that He was, indeed, Lord at His birth.

To prove to the people of his day that He was the Son of God, Jesus did many undeniable miracles. He did these miracles out in the open and in full view of all the people, but in spite of these miracles, He was rejected. He was falsely accused of blasphemy, and then He was crucified as a criminal. However, Jesus proved once again that He was the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead. Matthew says that:

Matthew 28:1-8,16,17
1 . . . as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulcher where they had laid the body of Jesus.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not: for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that Jesus is risen from the dead . . .
8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

The disciples had believed in Jesus because they had seen His miracles, and they had heard Him speak with such great authority. But even some of them had a hard time believing that He had actually been raised from the dead. Matthew said that when they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.

Millions of people since the time of Christ have had to deal with all of the issues that Matthew and the other gospel writers present in their accounts of the life of Jesus. Was Jesus really born of a virgin? Did He really do all of those miracles? Was He really raised from the dead?

This world has no lack of controversies, but honestly in regard to most of them, it makes little difference what stand we take. However, this is one of those controversies that we have to get right. Our point of view on this issue has consequences which are eternal. What we believe on this issue will determine our quality of life here on earth, and it will determine our eternal destiny.

We know that no one can believe in Jesus unless he is drawn by the Father and his eyes are opened by the Holy Spirit, but at the same time there is solid evidence that the gospel accounts are true. What about the empty tomb in Jerusalem? What about all those prophesies that Jesus fulfilled in every detail? Well, this evidence, while significant to those of us who believe, may mean little to those whose eyes have been blinded by the god of this world. Nevertheless, the Apostle John said:

John 1:11-12
11 (Jesus) came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

John the Baptist said:

John 3:36
36 He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.

Jesus said:

John 3:16 (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

If a person is to experience the salvation of God, he must get this question right.

From the beginning, Jesus emphasized the importance of believing the gospel. Mark 1:14 says:

Mark 1:14-15
14 . . . after (John the Baptist) was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Jesus taught the necessity of believing the gospel, but it was the Apostle Paul who formalized the doctrine of salvation by faith. In Ephesians 2, he said:

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul was able to reveal for the first time the spiritual processes that work to bring about a person’s salvation. He said:

Romans 3:21-22
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:

Paul says that when a person believes, he is justified, or made righteous, in the sight of God. This is the same for all believers. There is no difference from one person to another:

Romans 3:23-25
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 (We are) justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood . . .

The word propitiation is a reference to the mercyseat in the Old Testament tabernacle. The mercyseat was the lid on the Arch of the Covenant, and this is where the blood of the animal sacrifices was placed. The blood of these animal sacrifices provided a temporary atonement for sin. Every year a new sacrifice was offered, and the sins of that year were pushed forward to the next year.

Well, in Romans 3, Paul says that the blood of Jesus has provided a permanent atonement for sin. His blood has been applied to the mercyseat of God’s heavenly tabernacle, and His blood has been set forth as the propitiation for sin. His blood provides eternal redemption, but only for those who are willing to believe. Salvation comes through faith in His blood.

Often people will ask, how can I know that I am saved? Well, we know that we are saved if we believe that the blood of Jesus is able to save us. If we believe that we have to add other things to the blood of Jesus because the blood of Jesus is not quite powerful enough to save us, then we have good reason to doubt if we are saved. But for those who believe in the power of the blood of Jesus, their salvation is eternally secure.

The mercyseat is where man comes face to face with God. Those who put their faith in the blood of Christ are accepted by God. Therefore, Paul says in Romans 5 that:

Romans 5:1 (KJV)
1 . . . being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Now, Paul was the first to admit that up until he met the Lord on the road to Damascus, he did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God or that Jesus had come back from the dead. He dismissed such thoughts as pure foolishness. But as Paul was walking along on that road to Damascus, the Lord Jesus spoke to Paul, and Paul could no longer deny what was obviously true. Jesus was alive, and Jesus was the Son of God.

Paul said that when he did finally come to this realization, his life was changed forever. When he put his faith in Christ, he became a completely different person. He was amazed at the changes that he saw in himself. The old Saul had passed away, and the new Paul had come to stay.

Well, as God continued to work in Paul’s heart, Paul grew in his understanding of what had actually happened to him on the road to Damascus. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul said:

Galatians 2:20
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The Lord had revealed to Paul that when he put his faith in Christ, he was identified with Christ on the cross, so that in a spiritual sense, he was crucified with Christ. But Paul was also indentified with Christ’s resurrection, so that Paul was able to live his life as a totally new person, a new creation in Christ.

In the book of Romans, Paul called this identification with Christ a baptism, and he said that every believer experiences this spiritual baptism. The moment a person believes, he is baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. In Romans, Chapter 6, Paul says:

Romans 6:3-5 (KJV)
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

So God revealed to Paul why his life had undergone such a radical change, but God also revealed to Paul that this change was intimately related to his future eternal hope. In Romans 8, Paul says:

Romans 8:1,14,16,17
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ . . .

Paul knew that Christ was going to inherit all things and that he would be a joint-heir with Christ in this glorious inheritance. He said, if I have to suffer for Christ’s sake, that’s OK:

Romans 8:18
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Paul saw a glorious change in his life, and he knew that a glorious future awaited him. That’s why he could say:

Romans 1:16
16 . . . I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes . . .

Well, it certainly has been a pleasure studying with you this morning, and I’ll look forward to studying with you again next week at this same time. I hope you have a very merry Christmas.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

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Peace Church Events:

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Matthew (Part 13) BST 12-16-07

Matthew (Part 13)
Bible Study Time 12-16-07

In Galatians, Chapter 4, Paul says that:

Galatians 4:4 (KJ2000)
4 . . . when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law

This time of the year we emphasize and meditate upon the amazing truth that God send His own Son, Jesus, into the world. That alone is simply mindboggling. It makes us feel kind of like Mary must have felt when she was told about the fact that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. We are inclined to ask with Mary, how can this be? Could it possibly be true that God would send His Son into our world of sin and death to be born as a little baby in a stable? Well, wonder of wonders, this is the truth.

As we go about our daily lives, we may live with the understanding and the belief that Jesus is the Son of God and that He did come out of heaven to be born in Bethlehem, but somehow as we go to work and get the groceries and balance the checkbook, we may fail to truly walk in the full realization of the significance of the birth of Jesus. One of the great things about Christmas is that at this time of the year, we get the opportunity to think about and meditate upon the wonder of the birth of Christ, and then of course, to think about the end result of His birth which is the death of Jesus which saves us from our sins.

We’ve been studying in Matthew about the fact that Jesus was born of a virgin and that He came to save His people from their sins. We’ve seen the miracles of the Lord Jesus and His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The Passover feast was scheduled for six days after the Lord’s triumphal entry, and as the time for the celebration drew near:

Matthew 26:17-18 (KJ2000)
17 . . . the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where will you that we prepare for you to eat the passover?
18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at your house with my disciples.

Does this statement not bring conviction to all who love the things of this world? Jesus was and is Jehovah God, the God of all creation, and yet He spent His time on earth with no possessions of His own. Jesus was born in a stable to a peasant girl, and throughout His life, He apparently owned very little. Matthew says that at one point in Jesus’ ministry:

Matthew 8:19-20 (KJ2000)
19 . . . a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.
20 And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

We, humans, are plagued with tremendous insecurities. We sense our own mortality, and we somehow feel that if we can accumulate enough stuff, we’ll live forever. Jesus had no such allusion. Rather, He was content to walk by faith, knowing that the Father in heaven was in fact Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who will provide.

When Jesus needed anything in this material world, it was always provided. During this week before the Passover, Jesus stayed with Mary, Martha and Lazarus in Bethany. This was perfect because it was a couple of miles east of Jerusalem just on the other side of the Mt. of Olives. When Jesus needed a place to eat the Passover meal, God provided the house of this disciple whose name is never mentioned, but I’m sure that someday we’ll meet him, and we’ll rejoice in the reward that he receives.

Jehovah-Jireh provided for Jesus, and He will provide for us as well as we walk by faith. It was Paul who wrote to the Philippians and said, I am so thankful for the gift that you sent to me; not that I need anything, but I’m excited about the reward that you will receive when we stand before the Lord.

So the disciples did as the Lord instructed them. They made arrangements to observe the Passover meal in this little upper room, and Matthew says that:

Matthew 26:20-25 (KJ2000)
20 . . . when the evening was come, he sat down with the twelve.
21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
23 And he answered and said, He that dips his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
24 The Son of man goes as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.
25 Then Judas, who betrayed him, answered and said, Teacher, is it I? He said unto him, You have said.

In the scriptures, Judas and the antichrist are the only two who are called sons of perdition. Jesus called Judas the son of perdition in His high priestly prayer in John 17, where Jesus prayed over His disciples, saying:

John 17:12 (KJ2000)
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name: those that you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

The Apostle Paul referred to the antichrist as the son of perdition when He wrote to the Thessalonians about the Day of the Lord. He said:

2 Thessalonians 2:3 (KJ2000)
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for (the Day of the Lord) shall not come, except there come the falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

Therefore, in Judas we see the spirit of the antichrist in the sense that Judas determined in his heart to oppose the Lord Jesus. But then Matthew says that as Jesus and His disciples were eating the Passover meal:

Matthew 26:26-28 (KJ2000)
26 . . . Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink you all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Now this is very significant because this is the first time that the disciples were given any instruction regarding the New Covenant. We can’t be sure, but it may be that some of the disciples were familiar with Jeremiah’s prophesy concerning the New Covenant. If not, this statement by the Lord would certainly have been a crash course. So what did Jeremiah say? In Jeremiah 31:31 we read:

Jeremiah 31:31-33 (KJ2000)
31 Behold, the days come, says the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; my covenant which they broke, although I was a husband unto them, says the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, says the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So the New Covenant was going to cause the Law of God to be written in the hearts of the people, and this of course was going to happen by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah goes on to say that the end result of this covenant will be that:

Jeremiah 31:34 (KJ2000)
34 . . . they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, says the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Some say that we are now in the kingdom of the New Covenant. But if we were, we would not have to tell our neighbors about Jesus because in the kingdom everyone will know Jesus. He’s going to be the one who is seen on TV every day while He rules over the nations from His throne in Jerusalem. And during the kingdom, all of the Jews in particular are going to be saved. As Paul says in Romans 11:26:

Romans 11:26 (KJ2000)
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

It’s hard for us to imagine a world in which the Jews have dominion over all the earth, but the Bible is very clear about the fact that Gentile dominion over the earth is going to come to an end, and Paul says that when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, all Israel will be saved and their salvation will take place all at once. Isaiah, Chapter 66, says:

Isaiah 66:8-9 (KJ2000)
8 Who has heard such a thing? who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? says the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? says your God.

God says, I’ve brought Israel this far, and I’m certainly not going to abandon her now. Israel will go through the fires of the tribulation period, but she will be saved at once, and she will enjoy the kingdom that was promised to her.

Now that’s what Jeremiah is talking about when he says that someday all Israel will know the Lord, and he says that nothing can keep God from fulfilling this promise to Israel. He says that as long as the sun, the moon and the stars are fixed in the sky, God will preserve the nation of Israel because He will fulfill all of His promises to her.

When Jesus said, “This is my blood of the New Covenant,” this was truly a powerful, earth-shattering statement. All that the Jews had longed for for thousands of years was about to take place.

Twenty-five years later, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Gentiles in the churches of Galatia and said that Jesus was sent into the world to redeem those who lived under the curse of the Old Covenant Law. He said that all of the promises which were given to the Jews could only be fulfilled through the power of the New Covenant. Galatians 4:4 says:

Galatians 4:4-6 (KJ2000)
4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Well, this is the New Covenant. It is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit which cleanses the believer and positions Him in Christ as a Son of God. Then Paul says:

Galatians 4:21-25 (KJ2000)
21 Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from mount Sinai, which brings forth to bondage, which is Hagar.
25 For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

Paul says that Ishmael stands for the Old Covenant Law and that those who live by the power of that Law will never inherit the promises which were given to Abraham. Then he says:

Galatians 4:26,28 (KJ2000)
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

The Jerusalem which now is will be destroyed and the New Jerusalem will come out of heaven and descend to the earth. This is the heavenly city for which Abraham longed, and this is the city which is the hope of the New Covenant. This city will never be destroyed.

Abraham looked for this city, John looked for this city, and as Paul wrote to the Galatians, he was obviously looking for this heavenly city which is symbolized by Sarah. But this is not what we are looking for today. We are not waiting for the New Jerusalem to come down out of heaven as the capital city of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

No, when the Jews rejected the message of the New Covenant, God set the New Covenant program aside. This heavenly city is not going to come down out of heaven until after the tribulation period. But we know that even before the tribulation period, Jesus Christ is going to appear in the heavens and then we too will appear with Him in glory. That’s what we’re looking for today as members of the Church which is the Body of Christ.

In the fullness of time Christ was born. He was sent by the Father to shed His blood as the atonement for sin. Jesus referred to His blood as the blood of the New Covenant, but it is the same blood that cleanses all believers. Believers who lived under the Old Covenant are cleansed by the shed blood of the New Covenant, and we today who are members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, we too are cleansed by the same blood. It’s the same blood of Jesus that cleanses all believers.

During the Acts period, Paul was reaching out to the Gentiles who would be going into the kingdom with the Jews. The other day, my wife, Joan, and I were talking about Simeon’s proclamation at the time of Jesus’ dedication in the temple. Simeon said that Jesus would not only be the glory of the children of Israel, but He would be a light to lighten the Gentiles. Simeon knew that many Gentiles would be blessed with Israel in the kingdom. Reaching out to the Gentiles with the Gospel of Jesus Christ was all part of the New Covenant program.

The Apostle Paul was certainly aware of this aspect of the New Covenant because he was the one that God called to go out to the Gentiles to tell them how to be saved by believing in Jesus. He said in 2 Corinthians, Chapter 3, that he did this as an able minister of the New Covenant.

Miraculously, wherever Paul went many Gentiles put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, like the believers that Paul was writing to in Galatia. So as Paul wrote to these believers in Galatia, he wanted to confirm to them the truths of the New Covenant. He told them that they were going to be blessed with Abraham in the kingdom because they had the same kind of faith that Abraham had. He told them that this made them, in a spiritual sense, the children of Abraham.

When the Jews rejected the New Covenant Kingdom, however, this program was set aside and the program for the Church, the Body of Christ, was brought in. As we saw in the book of Jeremiah, the New Covenant program was the subject of prophesy, but Paul said that the program for the Church, the Body of Christ, was never revealed to anyone until it was revealed to him.

When Christ appears in the glory of heaven and we are taken up to be with Him, then God will once again offer the New Covenant Kingdom to the nation of Israel during the tribulation period. During that time the nation of Israel will be saved, and when Jesus returns the kingdom of the Jews will be established at once.

Well, it certainly has been a pleasure studying with you this morning, and I’ll look forward to studying with you again next week at this same time.

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Comments and Peace Church Events

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Peace Church Events:

Men's Prayer Breakfast – January 5, 2008

Preparation – Dr. Leon Fischer

Devotional – Pastor James Roberts
Summer Camp 2008 -- July 18-21, 2008

Matthew (Part 12)(BST 12-9-07)

Matthew (Part 12)
Bible Study Time 12-9-07

Matthew was an Apostle of Jesus Christ who was sent out by the Lord Jesus to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Matthew had walked and talked with the Lord Jesus. He had witnessed the power of God flowing through Jesus as Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons. Matthew was there when they arrested Jesus, and He actually saw Jesus after Jesus was raised from the dead.

Some twenty years after the Lord’s resurrection and ascension, Matthew was prompted by the Holy Spirit to document the story of Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew told about the life of Jesus from His birth to His ascension. The Holy Spirit prompted Matthew to tell this story because the people needed to know the truth about Jesus Christ.

About sixty years after the ascension of Christ, the Apostle John wrote to the seven churches in Asia. He wrote as the Lord Jesus directed him, and as he wrote to the church at Ephesus, he said:

Revelation 2:2 NKJV
2 "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you . . . have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;

These saints at Ephesus were dedicated to the truth. They resisted any attempt to change, or dilute or modernize the word of God. They simply held fast to the truth of God’s word as it had been revealed to the true apostles of Jesus Christ.

The Ephesian saints had the testimony of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they had the testimony of Peter and Paul, and they tested and evaluated every doctrine by the standard revealed in the written word of God.

They were wise to do this for someday every person will be judged according to that which is revealed in the word of God. We will all be judged by our personal response to that truth which has been revealed concerning Jesus Christ. As John the Baptist said:

John 3:34-36 NKJV
34 . . . He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Noah and his family went through the great flood. They witnessed the salvation of God, but within a few generations after the flood some of the descendants of Noah turned their backs on God. In Romans, Chapter 1, the Apostle Paul was apparently making reference to these rebellious descendants of Noah when he said:

Romans 1:18-25 NKJV
18 . . . the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man — and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. One of Ham’s sons was Cush who was the father of Nimrod. The Bible says that Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord, and many believe that Nimrod was not only a skillful hunter of beasts, but he was a mighty hunter of men. He became a ruthless tyrant who conquered men and established an empire.

Nimrod built the city of Babylon in Shinar and Nineveh in Assyria. As you may recall, it was the Assyrians who later conquered the ten northern tribes of Israel, and it was the Babylonians who later conquered the two southern tribes of Judah.

Nimrod led the people of Babel to build a great tower in which the stars of the heavens were worshiped. When God confused their language and drove them into the outer regions of the earth, these rebellious people took their idols and their idolatry with them. Thus, Babel became the fountainhead for all of the pagan religions of the world.

Nimrod is a picture of the antichrist who will come during the tribulation period. Like Nimrod, the antichrist will establish a great empire, and he will establish this empire on the foundation of an evil religion teeming with heresy and the filth of every conceivable abomination. The antichrist will suppress the truth, and the wrath of God will ultimately be poured out upon Babylon, the capital city of His empire.

Like Nimrod, the antichrist will oppose the truth of God, but the truth of God is not that easily overthrown. Jesus said that He is the Truth, and when Jesus Christ returns to the earth to destroy the antichrist, He will come from heaven sitting upon a white horse, and He will be called “Faithful and True.” The Apostle John saw a vision of the coming of the Lord and said:

Revelation 19:12-16 NKJV
12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

At this point in the tribulation period, all those who have opposed the truth will be destroyed, and Jesus Christ will rule over the earth in a kingdom of righteousness.

As Matthew penned his gospel, he documented the truth about Jesus. He wrote about the good news that Jesus is the Son of God who came down from heaven to be born of a virgin and live among men. He wrote about the great and mighty miracles that Jesus performed. Matthew wrote about the suffering that Christ endured upon the cross, and then he wrote about the Lord’s resurrection and ascension.

Those who believed this message and put their faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah were given eternal life. We see in the scriptures examples of those who were saved by simply believing the truth about who Jesus was. When Jesus told Martha that He is the resurrection and the life, He asked Martha if she believed that. She responded by saying:

John 11:27 NKJV
27 . . . "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

When the Lord Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”, Peter said:

Matthew 16:16 NKJV
16 . . . "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

When Philip told the Ethiopian that God required him to believe in Jesus with all of his heart, the Ethiopian said:

Acts 8:37 NKJV
37 . . . "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."*

These people were given eternal life simply because they believed the truth concerning Jesus, that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. As Jesus explained it to Nicodemus:

John 3:16 NKJV
16 . . . God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Then Jesus said:

John 3:17-18 NKJV
17 . . . God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Since the time that Matthew wrote his gospel, God has given further revelation concerning not only the life of Christ, but the work of Christ upon the cross. This revelation was given to and through the Apostle Paul. It was Paul who revealed all that Christ actually accomplished for us on the cross.

Paul said in Romans, Chapter 3, that when Christ was crucified, He did not simply die a martyr’s death, but He was actually accomplishing the mission which had been assigned to Him by the Father. The truth is that Jesus was sent into the world by the Father to shed His blood for the sins of the world. Romans 3:24 says that we are:

Romans 3:24-26 NKJV
24 . . . justified freely by (God’s) grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood

Now this word propitiation refers to that which appeases or satisfies the requirements of God so that the blood of Jesus was set forth by God as that which satisfies God’s righteous requirements. Jesus provided the propitiation by His own shed blood. Paul goes on to say that God did this:

Romans 3:25-26 NKJV
25 . . . to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Paul is clearly teaching here that without the shed blood of Jesus, God would not be free to forgive sin. It would be unjust for God to forgive sin without the penalty for sin having been paid. Therefore, God sent Jesus into the world to pay the penalty for sin, and since the penalty for sin is death, Jesus came into the world to die for the sins of the world. Because Jesus died, He was able to pay the penalty for sin with His own shed blood.

This is something that Matthew did not explain in his gospel because Matthew didn’t know about this. This great truth was hidden in the Old Testament scriptures until it was taught by the Apostle Paul. Way back in Deuteronomy 29:29, Moses said:

Deuteronomy 29:29 NKJV
29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever . . .

This truth concerning the work of Christ upon the cross was one of those things which was a secret that belonged to God until God revealed it to the Apostle Paul. Accordingly, Paul said in Romans, Chapter 2 that:

Romans 2:12,16 NKJV
12 . . . as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law
16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

All people will someday be held accountable for what they have done with Paul’s gospel, that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that He was buried and that he rose again the third day. As Paul wrote to the Romans, he said:

Romans 10:8-11 NKJV
8 . . . "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."*

This is the truth of God’s word. There are certain things in the Bible which we cannot fully understand, and there are different interpretations which are all perfectly justified, but the gospel according to Paul is one of those things concerning which there is no room for any divergence of opinion.

To deny this truth or to dilute this truth would be to deny the truth of God which brings salvation. Therefore, Paul said:

Romans 1:16-17 NKJV
16 . . . I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

The saints of Ephesus stood firm for the truth of God’s word, and that is exactly what God wants us to do. May we take to heart the words of the Apostle Paul to the Colossians when he said:

Colossians 2:6-10 NKJV
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

It’s been a joy to study with you this morning, and I’ll look forward to studying with you again next week at this same time.

Church links:
http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/
http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/
http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/