Comments and Peace Church Events

Comments:

All comments to this blog are welcome. To publish a comment to any article, go to the end of that article and click on the "Comments" link. All articles can be found in the archive section to the right.

If you would like to listen to an article on the internet, go to:

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

If you would like to receive an article as an mp3 audio file, just send me an e-mail to that effect.

To send me an e-mail, click on the envelope with an arrow which is to the right of the "Comments" link.

Peace Church Events:

Men's Prayer Breakfast – December 1, 2007

Preparation – James and Jim Roberts

Devotional – Wayne Schoonover and Kerry Malakosky
Summer Camp 2008 -- July 18-21, 2008

Matthew (Part 8)(BST 11-11-07)

Matthew (Part 8)
Bible Study Time 11-11-07

Today, we’re continuing our study of the book of Matthew which is, of course, one of the four gospels. We call Matthew, Mark, Luke and John the Gospels, and that’s kind of interesting because they don’t specifically contain the gospel message. For the gospel as we know it today, we turn to I Corinthians 15 where Paul says:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 NKJV
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Though the gospels are brief, they are oh so powerful. One cannot help but be overwhelmed by Jesus’ compassion for the people He touched and healed, by the grace with which He dealt with the arrogant and hard-hearted religious leaders of His day, by His special relationship with the Father in heaven. From the gospels we see that Jesus knew the hearts of men, and He was willing to submit to the plan and purpose of God.

The gospels present the good news that the Promised Savior-Messiah came into the world. The bad news is that He was rejected by mankind and crucified upon a cross. However, the good news picks up again with the resurrection and ascension of Christ.

Six thousand years before the birth of Christ, God had promised in the Garden of Eden that a Redeemer would come as the Seed of the Woman. This Redeemer was to wound the head of Satan and deliver mankind from the guilt and penalty of sin.

This promise of a Redeemer was further defined 2000 years later when Abraham was promised a Seed through whom all the families and nations of the earth would be blessed. Five hundred years after Abraham, Moses was told that God was going to send a Prophet into the world who would speak the words of God and do great miracles. God said that the people would be held accountable for every word spoken by this Prophet. Then after another 500 years, King David was told that from his Seed the Messiah would come to rule from the throne of David as the King over an everlasting kingdom of righteousness.

So when Jesus was born as the Promised Seed, it was good news. The Promised Redeemer, the Promised Prophet, the Promised King had come into the world. The night that Jesus was born, an angel appeared to the shepherds and said:

Luke 2:10-14 (NKJ)
10 . . . I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
11 "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

The angels sang and the hearts of men rejoiced to think that the Savior-Messiah had come. The gospels record the virgin birth of Jesus and Jesus’ declaration that He was the Messiah. They tell of His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, but they do not reveal the significance of these events in terms of the gospel message that we preach today.

Even in the ministry of the twelve Apostles during the early part of the Acts period, we do not see the gospel as we know it today. The message of the twelve was simply the good news that Jesus was the Messiah and that He had come back from the dead. In Acts, Chapter 2, Peter said:

Acts 2:23-24 NKJV
23 (This Jesus, who was) delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

So Peter and the eleven were obliged to preach what was later recorded in the gospel accounts, namely that Jesus was the Christ, and that He had been raised from the dead and had been seen by the Apostles before He was taken up into heaven.

We need to bear in mind that the gospels were written probably twenty years after the crucifixion, whereas the events of Acts, Chapter 2, occurred only fifty days after the crucifixion. In fact, the word Pentecost means fiftieth and the feast of Pentecost commemorated the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai which occurred fifty days after the first Passover was observed just before the Jews left Egypt.

However, this gospel which was taught by the twelve was destined to undergo some major refinement with some additional revelation from God. The first step in this direction occurred on the road to Damascus when Saul of Tarsus met the Lord Jesus Christ and became the thirteenth apostle.

Immediately after his conversion, Paul started spreading the good news that Jesus had been raised from the dead and that Jesus was in fact the promised Messiah. Acts, Chapter 9, says that:

Acts 9:20-22 NKJV
20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.
21 Then all who heard were amazed, and said,"Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?"
22 But (Paul) increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

So we see that here at the first of Paul’s ministry, he was preaching the same thing that the other Apostles were preaching. But by the time Paul went on his first missionary journey up into the region of Galatia, we see indications of God’s special revelation to Paul. In Acts, Chapter 13, we read that in Antioch of Pisidia Paul went to the synagogue of the Jews and said:

Acts 13:23
23 From (David’s) seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior (whose name is Jesus)

So far this is exactly what the other Apostles were preaching. Paul goes on:

Acts 13:26
26 "Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.

Again, Paul emphasizes the importance of the Jews in God’s kingdom program. Paul says, God is sending this message to you because the kingdom was promised to you. Paul reminds them that Jesus came as the Son of David and the Seed of Abraham. Then he says:

Acts 13:27-33
27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know (who Jesus was, and because they did not understand the voice of the prophets, even though the prophets are read every Sabbath, they have fulfilled the voice of the prophets by condemning Jesus.)
28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death.
29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
30 But God raised Him from the dead.
31 He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people.
32 And we declare to you glad tidings — that promise which was made to the fathers.
33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus . . .

Paul says, the prophets all spoke of the death, resurrection and ascension of the Messiah, and then Paul declares the good news that Jesus fulfilled all of these prophesies and was therefore to be accepted as the Messiah. But at this point Paul goes on to reveal some of the additional revelation that had been given to him by the Lord. He says:

Acts 13:38-39
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;
39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Here Paul says, you cannot be justified by doing good works because justification comes to those who believe. If you believe in Jesus and accept by faith that He was raised from the dead, your sins will be forgiven and you will be justified in the sight of God.

Please note that Paul never told these Jews to stop practicing the Law. He simply said that they could not be justified by keeping the Law. Paul knew that it was perfectly acceptable and appropriate at this point in history for the Jews to continue practicing the Law. After all, the Law of Moses was to be the Law of the Kingdom.

It was quite a different story, however, when Paul stepped outside of the synagogue in Antioch and started speaking to the Gentiles. Acts 13 does not record what Paul told the Gentiles, but we can surmise from his previous message in the synagogue that he also told them that justification comes to those who put their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. But from Paul’s later letter to the Galatians, we can speculate that he might have warned them about the dangers of getting caught up in the rituals and ceremonies of the Law of Moses.

Whether he warned them about this about this at that time, we can’t say for sure, but we do know that he most certainly did warn them about the rituals in his letter to the Galatians. That letter was written some ten years after his first visit to Galatia and in that letter Paul said that if they did submit to circumcision, Christ would actually profit them nothing.

That is pretty strong language, but Paul didn’t actually start off his letter with that tone. He started his letter to the Galatians by simply emphasizing the basic truth of the gospel, saying:

Galatians 1:3-4 NKJV
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,

Paul says, Christ was not just falsely accused and killed by ungodly people, but He willingly offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin. He gave Himself for our sins so that He could deliver us from this present evil age.

Paul still had the age of the New Covenant Kingdom in mind and he wanted everyone to know that the believer’s hope of deliverance from this present age was directly related to their willingness to believe in the work of Christ upon the cross. Then Paul says:

Galatians 1:6-8 NKJV
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

Paul knew that the believing Jews were continuing to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in connection with the practice of the Law of Moses. Consequently, Paul had to show why he was preaching a different gospel. So Paul said:

Galatians 1:11-12 NKJV
11 . . . I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 1:15-19 NKJV
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace,
16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.
19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother.

Paul says, I don’t preach the same gospel as the other apostles because the Lord Jesus told me to preach the gospel that I’m preaching. I did not receive my gospel from men, but I received it directly from Jesus Christ. After I was saved, I went to Arabia, and I never even saw Peter for three years.

What was Paul’s gospel? That Jesus gave Himself for our sins. Paul further defines his gospel in Chapter 2, saying:

Galatians 2:16 NKJV
16 . . . a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Galatians 2:19-20 NKJV
19 For I, through the law, died to the law that I might live to God.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Part of Paul’s revelation came when he saw the change that occurred within himself after he put his faith in Christ. At that point God explained to Paul the power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, that faith in the shed is what God requires for individual salvation and for establishment of the New Covenant Kingdom. This gospel message is not found in the Gospel of Matthew, nor is it found in any of the other gospel accounts. It was revealed to and through the Apostle Paul.

At the end of the Acts period, God set aside His offer to the Jews of the New Covenant Kingdom. At that point Paul began to reveal the program for the Church of our present age. We have not yet been delivered from this present evil age. We have not yet entered into the New Covenant Kingdom. Today God is simply offering individual salvation to all those who place their faith in the power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Well, thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been a pleasure studying with you, 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

Comments:

All comments to this blog are welcome. To publish a comment to any article, go to the end of that article and click on the "Comments" link. All articles can be found in the archive section to the right.

If you would like to listen to an article on the internet, go to:

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

If you would like to receive an article as an mp3 audio file, just send me an e-mail to that effect.

To send me an e-mail, click on the envelope with an arrow which is to the right of the "Comments" link.

Peace Church Events:

Men's Prayer Breakfast – November 3, 2007

Preparation – Kerry M. and Wayne S.

Devotional – Joe Fischer
Summer Camp 2008 -- July 18-21, 2008

Matthew (Part 7)(BST 11-4-07)

Matthew (Part 7)
Bible Study Time 11-4-07

The past few weeks we have been looking at Matthew’s gospel. We have seen that the Lord Jesus was the Promised Seed. He was the Promised Seed of the Woman, and He was the Promised Seed of Abraham and David. He did miracles, wonders and signs as a confirmation to the nation of Israel that He truly was the Promised One. He was the Promised Seed. He was the Promised Prophet. He was the Promised Messiah.

This was good news for the nation of Israel. Israel had long awaited the day when the Promised Seed would come. However, there was one big problem. Jesus came unto His own but His own received Him not. The nation of Israel refused to recognize Jesus as the Promised Messiah.

The life of Joseph in the Old Testament had served as a prophetic picture of what the life of the Messiah would be. Joseph went to his brothers, speaking the truth, but his brothers simply refused to listen. Instead, they hated Joseph and plotted to kill him. Likewise, Jesus did great miracles and spoke the truth of God, but rather than rejoice, the Jewish leaders hated Jesus and plotted to kill Him.

The rejection of the Messiah was also pictured in the rejection of Moses when he first presented himself to the nation of Israel. When he tried to intervene in a quarrel between two Jewish men, the Jewish men said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?”

So, when Jesus came the first time, He too was rejected by His own people, and more specifically He was rejected by the Jewish religious leaders. When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the common people of Jerusalem gathered palm leaves and placed them in His path. They shouted praises to God, saying:

Matthew 21:9 NKJV
9 . . . "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'* Hosanna in the highest!"

When the children in the temple area shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” the religious leaders came to Jesus and asked, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” In reply, Jesus said, “

Matthew 21:16 NKJV
16 . . . "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"*

Obviously, the Lord Jesus was not intimidated by these religious leaders. He was always ready and willing to offer proof that He was the Messiah.

All that God required of the Jews was faith. God wasn’t asking them to keep the Law more perfectly. (They had already proven themselves to be incapable of keeping the Law.) God wasn’t asking them to raise an army to attack the Romans. God wasn’t even asking them to make Jesus their King.

No, God was simply asking them to believe. If they could have just found it within themselves to believe that Jesus was the Christ, God would have taken care of everything else. God would have delivered them from their sin. God would have delivered them from the Romans. God would have done it all, if they had just believed that Jesus was the Christ. But that was not to be.

Matthew says that shortly after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus was once again entering the city. Because He was hungry, He drew near a fig tree, but when He found no fruit on the tree, He said, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately, the fig tree withered.

This fig tree is a picture of the nation of Israel. The Jews had all of the outward signs of a living, vital faith in God. They went to the temple to pay and pray. (The tithes and the public prayers were a top priority for them.) They kept the Sabbath and all of the feast days. They did all of these things, but they had no fruit.

They had an outward show of faith, but genuine faith is much more than that. Genuine faith is a matter of the heart. If the Jews had truly believed in God, they would have believed in Jesus also. Jesus told His disciples, “You believe in God, believe also in me.” But Jesus asked the unbelieving Jews this question: “How can you believe? You receive honor from one another, but you do not seek the honor that comes from God.”

This is what keeps many people from coming to Jesus with genuine faith. They love the praise of men more that they love the praise of God. God’s thoughts are far above man’s thoughts, and God’s ways are far above man’s ways. The honor that comes from man is based on outward deeds which are more definable and more achievable for human beings. God, on the other hand, is looking for the abstract, spiritual qualities that flow from the Holy Spirit into the heart of those who believe.

Jesus could see through all of the shallow religiosity of the Jewish leaders. He said:

John 5:45-47 NKJV
45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you — Moses, in whom you trust.
46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

The Jews put Moses on a pedestal, but they refused to believe what Moses said. Moses gave the Law, but the Jews twisted and distorted the Law to fit their own political agenda. Moses said that God would send the Prophet who would do great miracles like those of Moses, but the Jews refused to believe in Jesus in spite of His miracles. Through Moses, God had promised that the nation of Israel would become a nation of priests, serving and blessing the Gentile nations, but because of Israel’s unbelief, the nation of Israel was destined to remain a tree without fruit.

When Jesus spoke to and pronounced judgment upon the fig tree, it immediately withered, and Matthew says that the disciples marveled and asked, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”

Matthew 21:21-22 NKJV
21 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done.
22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

I love this passage. Isn’t that beautiful? This passage encourages me to take full advantage of the power of prayer. I sometimes need to be reminded that God wants me to cast all of my cares upon Him. He is never too busy to hear my petitions or to comfort me when my heart aches. Even more often, I need to be reminded that God is never too angry with me to hear my confession and forgive my sin. Indeed, this passage does help me to remember that God always answers the prayer that is offered in faith.

In Jesus’ day, God was looking for people with faith, and today, God is still looking for people with faith. In Jesus’ day, God required people to believe that Jesus was the Christ. Today, God requires people to believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. If we have faith, we will believe what God has said.

There are spiritual mountains that keep people from surrendering their lives to Christ. Sometimes it’s pride. Sometimes it’s doubt. Sometimes it’s past experiences that leave people with calloused hearts.

All of these things can be spiritual barriers that stand like mountains between the unbeliever and Christ. But these mountains can be torn down by simply believing what God has said in His word. If we believe that God wants all people to be saved, and if we believe that God is able to save us because of Christ’s death on the cross, if we believe those mountains will disappear forever. They will be as if they were cast into the sea.

The one thing that God requires of people today is faith, and the one great area where people fall short is in their faith. Today, there are literally millions of people around the world who have steadfastly refused to believe that when Jesus Christ died, He died for our sins. God has made it perfectly clear in His word that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,

Romans 3:21-22 NKJV
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed . . .
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all* who believe . . .

After all, what does the Old Testament say:

Romans 10:8-10 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.

Ephesians 2:8-10 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.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work upon the cross opens the door to eternal life. Jesus said, I am the door, if anyone enters by me, he will be saved. If we have faith, all of the mountains that keep us from coming to Jesus will disappear, and we will see the glory of God’s salvation.

However, we do need to realize that when Jesus was talking to His disciples about casting mountains into the sea, He wasn’t specifically talking about the spiritual barriers that keep people from accepting Christ. He was talking about literal, physical mountains, and He didn’t just say to His disciples that there would be times when they would be able to cast mountains into the sea. He didn’t just say that they would be able to cast mountains into the sea if they prayed according to the will of God. He said, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. That is absolute and very specific.

Well, does that mean that God will do whatever I ask Him to do if I just have enough faith? I have to admit that sounds pretty good to my fleshly mind, but this is where we have to rightly divide the word of truth.

If a man was hired to build a highway for the state of Oklahoma, and he knew that he would have to level a mountain in order to build that highway, I think most of us would agree that it would be God’s will for that man to do more than just pray. In fact, most of us would agree that it would be a sin for that person to do nothing but pray. We know that according to the way God works today, it would be very unusual for that mountain to be removed by prayer alone.

Today, when we ask God to help us accomplish a task, it’s understood that we will do everything He asks us to do in order to make sure that task is accomplished. We will pray that God will lead us and give us the knowledge and the skill and the motivation that we need to accomplish the task. Then, when the job is done, we will give the glory to God because we will know that it was God working in us that got the job done. But this is not what Jesus was talking about when He told His disciples that they would be able to cast mountains into the sea by simply praying in faith.

What Jesus was talking about was the literal supernatural power that the Apostles will have during the kingdom. Jesus was in a sense reinforcing what He had already told Peter. When Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus wanted the Apostles to know that when the kingdom does come, it will be a supernatural kingdom where supernatural things happen all the time. We live in a time in which God has chosen to limit any overt display of His supernatural power. Those who have eyes to see will see the working of God, but those who are spiritually blind will explain away the things that God does.

In our present time, rather than putting His supernatural power on display, God has chosen to give great authority and power to the devil, and we know the power of the devil will increase more and more until Christ returns to establish the kingdom. But when the kingdom does come, the mighty supernatural power of God will be made manifest all over the earth, and even the unsaved will not be able to explain it away. All the world will be astonished at the mighty power of God.

We got a glimpse of that power when Moses led the children of Israel up out of Egypt to establish the kingdom in the land of Canaan. They actually walked across the Red Sea on dry land. We also got a hint of that power in the ministry of Jesus and His disciples. As they went out preaching the gospel of the kingdom, they did great miracles to demonstrate the supernatural power of God.

As you may recall there was one time when the disciples were unable to cast out a demon. When the disciples asked Jesus why they were unable to cast out that demon, Jesus said that it was because of their unbelief.

Well, situations like that will not occur during the kingdom. At that time the faith of the Apostles will have been made perfect. By that time, they will have been resurrected from the grave, to rule and reign with Christ in glorified bodies, and there will be no limitations on the miraculous deeds they will perform. If they ask God to cast a mountain into the sea, it will be done instantaneously. Just as the fig tree immediately obeyed the voice of Jesus, all of creation will obey the word of the Apostles.

That’s exactly why it will be that during the kingdom ten men from every language of the nations will grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” During that time, saved Gentiles and unsaved Gentiles alike will want to get in on the supernatural power that will be flowing from God through the Apostles to the nations of the world.

That’s why it will be that during the kingdom many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem to pray before the Lord. There will be no limit to the supernatural power that God will reveal to the world during that time.

During that time the faith of the Apostles will have been perfected. They will speak the word of faith and mountains will be cast into the sea. Whatever they bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever they loose on earth will be loose in heaven.

Today, Israel’s kingdom program has been set aside, and it is not part of God’s plan to give us that kind of power. When we pray, we pray first for God’s perfect will to be done. We still have bodies of flesh which carry certain spiritual limitations. We have limited faith and limited understanding. We cannot know what the perfect will of God is in every situation, but we can know that God’s will is perfect, and we can know that God is always good.

Second, because we are still under the curse, we know that God expects us to work to accomplish His will. If we are sick, we pray for healing, but we still go to the doctor, and we pray that God will give the doctor wisdom and skill. If we need money, we still go out and get a job, but then we pray that God will help us do the job well, and that He will help us to be good stewards of that which He gives us. This is the way God works today.

Today, our prayer of faith is one that recognizes that God’s will is more important than our own, and when we pray this prayer of faith, we will see God doing greater things than we could ever ask or think. So today, as we go to worship the Lord, let us rejoice in the power of prayer and in the goodness as well as the sovereignty of God.

Thank you for studying with me this morning. I’ll look forward to studying with you again next year at this same time.

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

Comments and Peace Church Events

Comments:

All comments to this blog are welcome. To publish a comment to any article, go to the end of that article and click on the "Comments" link. All articles can be found in the archive section to the right.

If you would like to listen to an article on the internet, go to:

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

If you would like to receive an article as an mp3 audio file, just send me an e-mail to that effect.

To send me an e-mail, click on the envelope with an arrow which is to the right of the "Comments" link.

Peace Church Events:

Men's Prayer Breakfast – November 3, 2007

Preparation – Kerry M. and Wayne S.

Devotional – Joe Fischer
Summer Camp 2008 -- July 18-21, 2008

Matthew (Part 6) BST 10-28-07

Matthew (Part 6)
Bible Study Time 10-28-07

After the Lord Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He went up into Galilee and started preaching the good news that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. God had promised the kingdom to Abraham but even Abraham knew that the coming of the kingdom was dependent upon the coming of the Messiah.

The prophets had through the years reiterated this doctrine, that the coming of Messiah would precede the coming of the kingdom. This, of course, was one of the primary reasons that the Jews of Jesus’ day were so enthusiastically waiting for the coming of the Messiah. However, very few people realized just how special the character of the Messiah would be.

Many people had come before Jesus claiming to be the Messiah, and they all had their followers. Many of these false messiahs came bearing the sword, promising to deliver the people from Roman rule and from Roman taxes. Jesus, on the other hand, came preaching that people should render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar. He taught that people should love their enemies.

The false messiahs would hide out in the hills that surrounded Jerusalem, and they would randomly attack passing Roman military detachments. With each successful attack, the people back in Jerusalem would get all excited and discuss among themselves whether or not one of these rebel leaders could be the Messiah. Some of these rebel leaders were secretly supported by some of the more radical Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.

However, in John, Chapter 10, Jesus said:

John 10:1-3 NKJV
1 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

The rebels who hid in the hills of Judea were thieves and robbers, as were the Jewish religious leaders. The rebels didn’t dare show their faces around the temple for they would have been arrested by the Roman guards.

However, God had opened up the door for this One named Jesus, who had been anointed by John the Baptist and by the Holy Spirit of God as Israel’s Prophet, Priest and King. Jesus was the Shepherd for whom God had opened the gates of the temple so that He could go in and speak to the sheep.

Jesus was the Messiah, the King of the Jews, and yet no one laid a hand on Him. He spoke freely to the sheep, and those who had ears to hear heard His voice and followed Him. Jesus said that the shepherd:

John 10:3-5 NKJV
3 . . . calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

When the disciples heard the call of the Lord Jesus, they dropped all that they were doing. They left all that they had, and they followed Jesus. Jesus said that the shepherd knows his sheep by name and when He calls them, they follow.

Jesus Christ knows by name all of those who are going to hear and respond to His voice. Paul confirmed this for us today as well. He said that those of us who believe were:

Ephesians 1:4-5 NKJV
4 . . . (chosen in Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

God already knows who will and who will not accept Christ, and His calling is based upon that foreknowledge. His plan and purpose for the universe is based upon that foreknowledge. Whether a lost person accepts Christ or not will not change God’s plan for the universe, but it will dramatically change that person’s future.

The other day I saw a ten year old boy on TV who preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ. The news lady told the boy that she did not believe in Jesus, and then she asked, “Do you mean to tell me that I’m lost and going to hell just because I don’t believe in Jesus. Do you mean to tell me that it doesn’t matter how good a life I’ve lived?”

The boy looked her right in the eye and said, “That’s right, if you don’t believe in Jesus, that’s what will happen.”

What he told her was exactly right. The implication was that as long as she’s alive, she can still believe in Jesus, and if she does believe in Jesus, she will be spared an eternity in hell. If she does believe at some point along the way, her eternal destiny will be changed. But whether she believes or does not believe, it won’t affect God’s plan for the universe because God already knows what her decision is going to be.

As we apply the truth of John, Chapter 10, we can see that the sheep will hear the voice of the Shepherd, and they will respond to His voice. They will follow Him, but they will not respond to the voice of anyone who is not the true shepherd.

Jesus was the Good Shepherd, and He went about preaching the same gospel of the kingdom which had been delivered to Abraham. Two thousand years before the time of Christ, God told Abraham:

Genesis 12:2-3 NKJV
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Genesis 17:4-8 NKJV
4 " . . . My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations . . .
8 Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."

One day the Lord came to visit Abraham and said:

Genesis 18:9-10 NKJV
9 . . . "Where is Sarah your wife?" So (Abraham) said, "Here, in the tent."
10 And (the Lord) said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." . . .

Genesis 21:1-3 NKJV
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son — whom Sarah bore to him — Isaac.

Now Isaac was the son of promise but he was not the promised Seed. After Isaac was grown, the Lord told Abraham:

Genesis 21:12 NKJV
12 . . . in Isaac your seed shall be called.

So the fulfillment of all of the promises which had been given to Abraham were dependent upon the Seed who would come through Isaac. Abraham and his descendants were promised that they would possess all of the land of Canaan, but this great kingdom was dependent upon the coming of the promised Seed. Isaac was not the Seed, but the Seed was going to come through Isaac. When Jesus came, He announced that He was that promised Seed, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication. One day while He was in the temple area, the Jewish leaders gathered around Him and said:

John 10:24-28 NKJV
24 . . . "How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."
25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.
26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.*
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
28 And I give them eternal life . . .

John 8:51-56 NKJV
51 Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."
52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'
53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?"
54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your* God . . .
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."

Obviously, Abraham knew that the establishment of the kingdom would be dependent upon the coming of the Messiah, and God had allowed Abraham to see in his mind the day when Jesus would come as the Messiah. Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

Jesus told the people that He was the Messiah, and He said that His miracles were the proof. The disciples were sent out to preach this gospel of the kingdom, and they also did miracles to validate their message.

By the time they came back to Jesus, we can only imagine the extraordinary stories they rehearsed. Only God knows all that they did through the power of the name of Jesus as they were out preaching the gospel. When they returned to Jesus, there was no doubt in their minds that Jesus was the Christ. When Jesus asked them:

Matthew 16:13-16 NKJV
13 . . . "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"
14 . . . they said,"Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15 (Then Jesus asked,) "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered and said,"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Peter had been transferred from the realm of darkness into the kingdom of light, and his statement was the proof of that spiritual reality. Jesus said:

Matthew 16:17-19 NKJV
17 . . . "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also 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.
19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed* in heaven."

Now this was not the beginning of the church of today as some would have us believe. The word church simply means a called out group of people. Stephen said that the children of Israel who were wondering in the wilderness were a church. He called them the church in the wilderness.

Later, Luke referred in Acts 19 to the riotous crowd in Ephesus, and Luke called them a church. It was the same word, ekklesia in the Greek. Unfortunately, it would appear that many people in churches today are like those who gathered in Ephesus. They are confused and know not why they have come together.

There is much confusion among believers about the Bible because many believers fail to rightly divide the word of God. If we study the scriptures and God by His grace allows us to discern those things that truly belong to us, we can avoid much confusion. Then we will be better able to understand why we have come together. We will be able to understand why we do the things we do.

Now I don’t mean to imply from this that understanding the facts of the Bible is the believer’s number one priority. No, knowing and loving the Lord is always our number one priority. There is nothing greater in all the world; there is nothing more important for us. The facts of the Bible alone have never saved anyone, but when those facts are absorbed into the human heart so that God can use them to instruct us and edify us, then we can bear fruit that is precious in the sight of the Lord.

The Bible is God’s means of communicating with us today, and He has instructed us to rightly divide the word of truth so that we can see and understand and live by those doctrines that God has given for us. If we fail to rightly divide the scriptures, we will end up like the assembly in Ephesus in that we will be confused, and we will not really know why we have come together.

So just because Jesus used the word church in Matthew, Chapter 16, it does not mean that He was referring to the Church to which we belong today. In fact, the church of Matthew 16 was the Church of the New Covenant. It was the church which God has predestined to inherit the kingdom that was promised to Abraham. We know this because Jesus went on to tell Peter:

Matthew 16:19 NKJV
19 . . . I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed* in heaven."

As the administrators of the New Covenant Kingdom, the apostles will have tremendous authority and power when the kingdom of heaven does come to the earth. After all, they will be immortal beings ruling over mortals in an imperfect world. The power that the Apostles had during the Acts period was just a foretaste of the glorious power that the Apostles will have when the kingdom of heaven does finally come to the earth.

Well, I see our time is gone for this morning. It’s been a pleasure studying with you, 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

Comments:

All comments to this blog are welcome. To publish a comment to any article, go to the end of that article and click on the "Comments" link. All articles can be found in the archive section to the right.

If you would like to listen to an article on the internet, go to:

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

If you would like to receive an article as an mp3 audio file, just send me an e-mail to that effect.

To send me an e-mail, click on the envelope with an arrow which is to the right of the "Comments" link.

Peace Church Events:

Men's Prayer Breakfast – November 3, 2007

Preparation – Kerry M. and Wayne S.

Devotional – Joe Fischer
Summer Camp 2008 -- July 18-21, 2008

Matthew (Part 5)(BST 10-21-07)

Matthew (Part 5)
Bible Study Time 10-21-07

As we read about the Lord’s temptation in the wilderness, we see evidence that He was very man and very God. Matthew says that after 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness, Jesus was hungry. His body needed food just like our bodies need food. However, we also see evidence that He was truly God because His hunger never hindered His dedication or His devotion to God. In no way was the Lord Jesus persuaded or influenced by the counsel of the devil.

Jesus refused to turn the stones into bread. He refused to throw Himself from the pinnacle of the temple. He refused to fall down and worship the devil. Though Jesus had a human body which had human weaknesses, He was never influenced by the weaknesses of the flesh.

We need to pray that we too can follow the Lord’s example in spite of our weaknesses. The Apostle Paul gave some good advice to those of us who wish to live victoriously. To the Romans, Paul said:

Romans 13:14 NKJV
14 . . . put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

To Timothy, Paul said:

1 Timothy 6:10-11 NKJV
10 . . . the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

And again Paul said to Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:22 NKJV
22 Flee . . . youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Paul told the Corinthians that they should flee from idolatry and sexual immorality.

So the Lord Jesus set a beautiful example for us in that He immediately dismissed every suggestion of the devil. He did not dwell upon them. He did not debate the issues in His mind. He simply said, no, immediately and decisively, and He used the word of God as His defense. He said:

Matthew 4:4 NKJV
4 . . . "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"*

He said:

Matthew 4:7 NKJV
7 . . . “It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the LORD your God.'"*

He said:

Matthew 4:10 NKJV
10 . . . it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'"*

It is written; it is written; it is written. The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. The devil has no weapon that is its equal.

The Lord Jesus had the unique distinction of being God in the flesh, but we as believers today have been given all that we need to stand firm against the devil. First of all, Paul said:

1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Second, we know that God has promised to supply our every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, and we are thoroughly equipped by the inspired word of God to complete every good work.

Third, we have the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We have the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

We have nothing to fear from the devil if we walk in the light of the word of God. If we resist the devil, the devil will flee from us. The Bible says that when Jesus resisted the devil,

Matthew 4:11 NKJV
11 . . . the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Then Matthew says that when Jesus heard about the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus left Judea and went up into Galilee. While living in that area, He began to preach the exact same message that John the Baptist had been preaching, namely that the people should repent for the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

The scriptures make it very clear that Jesus never told anyone that He was going to die for the sins of the world. Just before His crucifixion, He told His disciples that He was going to be killed and then raised again the third day, but He never said that this was going to happen so that He could pay for the sins of the world. Luke goes on to explain that even at that late date the disciples understood nothing about the fact that Jesus was going to be killed and raised from the dead. It is therefore certain that they knew nothing about Jesus dying for the sins of the world. As Jesus began His public ministry, His message was simply that the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

Of all the Biblical writers, Matthew is the only one who uses the expression, the kingdom of heaven. Even so, Matthew uses this expression 64 times in his gospel account. It was Matthew’s unique way of referring to the earthly kingdom in which the Lord Jesus will rule and reign. The kingdom of heaven was Matthew’s theme throughout his gospel account.

In Zechariah’s short little book of prophesy, he revealed many of the details concerning this promised earthly kingdom. Zechariah, Chapter 8, says:

Zechariah 8:1-3 NKJV
1 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came, saying,
2 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; With great fervor I am zealous for her.'
3 "Thus says the LORD: 'I will return to Zion, And dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, The Mountain of the LORD of hosts, The Holy Mountain.'

When the Lord said, I will return to Zion, He was referring back to the time when the presence of the Lord did actually dwell in the temple in Jerusalem. This was, of course, before the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. As Zechariah wrote his prophetic writings, he was writing as one who had been allowed to return to Jerusalem from Babylon.

Zechariah and his fellow countrymen had begun the task of rebuilding the temple, but it appears that Zechariah knew that the presence of the Lord would not dwell in that temple until the Lord, Himself, should come down from heaven in bodily form to dwell there. In verse 9 of Chapter 9, Zechariah said:

Zechariah 9:9 NKJV
9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey . . .

Zechariah was encouraging the people to prepare the temple for the coming of the Lord, for someday the Lord, Himself, will come into Jerusalem to dwell in the temple. In that day the Lord will rule as the King over all the earth. Zechariah said:

Zechariah 8:22-23 NKJV
22 Yes, many peoples and strong nations Shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, And to pray before the LORD.'
23 "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."'"

The Lord spoke through Zechariah and said:

Zechariah 8:11-13 NKJV
11 . . . I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,' says the LORD of hosts.
12 'For the seed shall be prosperous, The vine shall give its fruit, The ground shall give her increase, And the heavens shall give their dew — I will cause the remnant of this people To possess all these.
13 And it shall come to pass That just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, So I will save you, and you shall be a blessing . . .

I remember hearing my family members talk about a Jewish man who came to my great grandfather in Galveston, Texas. The man asked if he could use my great grandfather’s last name on his new business venture because he was afraid of what people might think if he used his Jewish name.

Obviously, this man had had to deal with the extreme prejudice of the Gentile nations. But during the kingdom, when the Lord rules from Jerusalem, the Jews will no longer be a curse among the nations. They will be a blessing. Everyone will want to be around the Jews, and everyone will want to be the friend of the Jews because the Jews will be known as the people of God. It will be understood throughout the world that the Lord God dwells in Jerusalem and that His blessings flow out from Jerusalem through His chosen people, the Jews of the nation of Israel.

Well, with these things in mind, it’s no wonder the children of Israel were excited about the coming of the Messiah and the kingdom of the Messiah. It was like music to their ears when John the Baptist and Jesus came preaching the good news that the kingdom of heaven was at hand.

Jesus never had to stand up and shout that He was the promised Messiah. He never had to shout that He was the one who would bring in the everlasting kingdom. First of all, that would go against the humble nature of God. When Jesus taught, He taught the simple truths of the kingdom. He said that in the kingdom the humble and those who mourn will be greatly blessed. He said that it will be the meek who will inherit the earth.

He taught the people about the profound righteousness of the kingdom. He said that murder begins with hatred and adultery begins with lust. He said that people should actually love their enemies and care for their enemies. All of these things were so foreign to anything the Jewish people had ever heard before. When Jesus spoke:

Matthew 7:28-29 NKJV
28 . . . the people were astonished at His teaching,
29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

The people listened to the words of Jesus, and they saw the miracles that He did. When John the Baptist’s disciples came to Jesus and asked:

Matthew 11:3-6 NKJV
3 . . . "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
4 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:
5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."

Who else could give sight to the blind and make the lame to walk but the Lord God of heaven. Jesus did not have to boast of His position or His calling; His words and His works stood as the proof of who He was.

As I have already mentioned, the words and works of Jesus were all a part of His kingdom message, but before the kingdom could come, the Jews had to accept it by believing in Jesus. This kingdom had been promised to Abraham, but Jesus was not going to come down and force the Jews to believe in Him. Nor was He going to force the Jews into a kingdom that they could not believe in.

The nation of Israel had to believe, so Jesus set apart his disciples and challenged them to go out with the message of the kingdom to all the Jews. In Matthew, Chapter 10, we read that Jesus gave His disciples very specific instructions, saying:

Matthew 10:5-8 NKJV
5 . . . "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7 And as you go, preach, saying,'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,* cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Obviously, these instructions are not for us today. These instructions were for the disciples who taught the kingdom message. This message was not for the Gentiles. Even if the Gentiles had accepted Jesus as the Messiah, it wouldn’t have brought in the kingdom. The kingdom had been promised to the Jews, and it was the Jews who had to accept it.

Today, there are Christian groups that work very hard to convert the Jews. We have to applaud their efforts because God wants Jews to be saved just like He wants Gentiles to be saved. It is God’s desire for all men to be saved. But we need to understand that even if every Jew in the world came to understand that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the kingdom still would not come.

The kingdom will not come because that offer of the kingdom is no longer on the table. It was on the table during the time of John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus. It was still on the table after the Lord’s resurrection. On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up before a great crowd of Jews and said:

Acts 2:38-39 NKJV
38 . . . "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ . . .
39 For the promise is to you and to your children . . . "

Shortly after the Day of Pentecost, Peter again stood up before a group of Jews just outside the temple and said:

Acts 3:19-25 NKJV
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,*
21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things . . .
25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'*

Throughout the period of time covered by the book of Acts, the message of the kingdom went out to the Jew first and also the Greek, but throughout that period of time, the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah.

At that point, God set aside the kingdom message and started revealing the program for us today. We no longer preach the kingdom or the King, but we preach the Savior who is the Head of the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Someday, when the Body of Christ is complete, God will take up the Church into heaven, and then once again the message of the kingdom will go out during the great tribulation period. The two witnesses and the 144,000 Jews will bear witness to all the world that Jesus was and is the promised Messiah. They will bear witness to the fact that the blood of Jesus was and is the blood of the New Covenant which has the power of the Holy Spirit behind it. At that point, the Jews will believe, and Jesus will return to the earth to establish the kingdom.

It’s been a pleasure studying with you this morning. 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

Comments:

All comments to this blog are welcome. To publish a comment to any article, go to the end of that article and click on the "Comments" link. All articles can be found in the archive section to the right.

If you would like to listen to an article on the internet, go to:

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

If you would like to receive an article as an mp3 audio file, just send me an e-mail to that effect.

To send me an e-mail, click on the envelope with an arrow which is to the right of the "Comments" link.

Peace Church Events:

Men's Prayer Breakfast – November 3, 2007

Preparation – Kerry M. and Wayne S.

Devotional – Joe Fischer
Summer Camp 2008 -- July 18-21, 2008

Matthew (Part 4)(BST 10-14-07)

Matthew (Part 4)
Bible Study Time 10-14-07

Jesus Christ came to be baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. This was done so that Jesus could be formally anointed as the Prophet, Priest and King of Israel. This doesn’t mean that He was crowned as the King of Israel at that time. Much had to be accomplished before His ultimately coronation.

This is similar to the circumstances of David, the son of Jesse, in the Old Testament. David was taking care of his sheep out in the pasture when Samuel came looking for the next king of Israel. Samuel didn’t know who the next king would be, but he knew it would be one of the sons of Jesse.

When Samuel saw the oldest son, he thought to himself that surely this was the one, but God said no. God said:

1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV
7 . . . "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees;* for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Eventually they brought in David, and to everyone’s surprise, God said, he’s the one. So Samuel anointed David as the next king of Israel.

When God anointed Jesus as the Prophet, Priest and King of Israel, very few people knew what was really going on from the divine perspective, but if they had known, they would have been shocked. The people were looking for someone who might be able to lead an army against the Romans. They certainly were not looking for a poor carpenter from Galilee. Isaiah predicted this whole scenario in Isaiah, Chapter 53, where he said:

Isaiah 53:1-3 NKJV
1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

To the people, the Lord Jesus seemed like a withering plant growing in dry ground. They would never have picked Him to be the very Son of God. How could this poor son of a carpenter be the promised Messiah? But God does not look on the outward appearance; He looks on the heart.

So God looked down upon Jesus, and He saw a tender plant that was growing according to His perfect plan and purpose. In Hebrews, Chapter 1, we see what God saw in Jesus. In verse one, we read:

Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

No one knew at the time that Jesus was baptized that Jesus was the One who had made the worlds, but God knew. God also knew that He had appointed Jesus to be not only the heir to the throne of David, but the heir of all things.

Jesus was like a tender plant growing under the careful eye of God. He was not growing in the sense that He had to develop in order to perform His duties, but He was growing in the sense that He was moving along the course that God had prescribed for Him. Hebrews 1:3 continues speaking of Jesus, saying:

Hebrews 1:3-6 NKJV
3 who being the brightness of (God’s) glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself* purged our* sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"?* And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"?*
6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him."*

Jesus holds a position that is far above the angels for He is after all the firstborn. Colossians 1:15 says:

Colossians 1:15 NKJV
15 (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Hebrews says that when Jesus was born, the angels of God were commanded to worship Jesus because of who He was and because of the mission that He had been sent to accomplish. Even at His birth, the angels of God worshiped Him.

Do you remember how the angels appeared to the shepherds as they were watching their sheep the night that Jesus was born? Luke said:

Luke 2:8-14 KJV
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Then, as we continue in Hebrews, we read:

Hebrews 1:7-8 NKJV
7 And of the angels (God) says: "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire."*
8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

When Jacob was about to die, he called his sons together to bless them, and when he came to Judah, he said:

Genesis 49:8,10 NKJV
8 "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; (in other words Judah will be exalted) Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; (Judah will be triumphant over his enemies) Your father's children shall bow down before you. (Even all of the other tribes of Israel will bow down before Judah)
10 (And) The scepter shall not depart from Judah . . .

Of course, Jacob was speaking of the time when Jesus will come forth as the Lion of the tribe of Judah to rule the world. All earthly kingdoms eventually come to an end, but Jacob said that the scepter shall not depart from Judah. This king from the tribe of Judah will establish an everlasting kingdom. Well, Hebrews 1:8 says:

Hebrews 1:8-9 NKJV
8 But to the Son (God) says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."*

The Lord Jesus was not only anointed with water, but He was anointed with the oil of gladness more than anyone else. Have you ever thought about that? Jesus was happier that anybody else who has ever lived. Jesus was filled with more joy than anyone else.

Hebrews 1:10 NKJV
10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.

Indeed:

John 1:1-3 NKJV
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Colossians 1:15-17 NKJV
15 (Jesus Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

So Hebrews says:

Hebrews 1:10-12 NKJV
10 And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain; (what he is saying here is that the earth and the heavens will someday be destroyed, but Jesus Christ will remain) And they will all grow old like a garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail."*

People have been talking about the end of the world probably since the beginning, but we’re still here aren’t we. Don’t let that fool you. The word of God is still the word of God, and it plainly declares that someday the heavens and the earth will grow old like a garment. They will be folded up like an old coat, but Jesus Christ will remain the same. He will continue to be the Son of God, and He will continue to be the firstborn who is the heir of all things.

People didn’t know all about all of this when Jesus was baptized, but God knew, and He spoke from heaven saying:

Matthew 3:17 NKJV
17 . . . "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

But Peter reminds us of the fact that the present heaven and earth will pass away. 2 Peter 3:10 says:

2 Peter 3:10-13 NKJV
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.*
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Jesus Christ will remain, but the heavens and the earth will be destroyed by fire. When John the Baptist was preaching, he warned the people, saying:

Matthew 3:11-12 NKJV
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.*
12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

So we see that no one will be baptized both with the Holy Spirit and with fire. What John was saying was that all people will either be saved through faith and baptized by the Holy Spirit, or they will be destroyed by fire when the heavens and the earth are destroyed by fire. Everyone will ultimately have to go through one baptism or the other. When Jesus was baptized, people had no idea who Jesus really was, or that the future of the universe was resting upon what He would accomplish as He lived, as He died and as He rose again.

Then the writer of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 1:13 NKJV
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said: "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool"?*

Jesus had come to rule and reign over the earth, but Jesus is today seated at the right hand of the Father, and He is waiting until the time is right for Him to return to the earth and conquer His enemies. This is something that God has promised He will do.

When God told Samuel to anoint the young man named David as the next King of Israel, no doubt everyone was surprised. But really this should have given them a clue as to the fact that it was going to be a while before David would be crowned as the king. David still had to kill Goliath and then go to play his music before King Saul. He still had to go through a period of time in which King Saul would run him completely out of the country in his efforts to kill David. But even after King Saul was dead, it was some time before the nation of Israel called upon David to serve as their king. He served seven years as the King of Judah before the northern tribes came to ask him to be their King over all of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Well, this is very similar to what happened to the Lord Jesus. He was anointed to be the Prophet, Priest and King of Israel at the time of His water baptism, but then He had much to go through before He could be crowned as the King of Israel. He had to accomplish great feats of glory as He did many miracles in the sight of people. He had to preach His message of peace and joy and righteousness. He had to suffer great persecution and even death at the hands of the Jews. But even after He was raised from the dead and everything was set for the kingdom, He still had to wait for the nation of Israel to accept Him as their king.

In fact, He is still waiting today. When Peter spoke to the nation of Israel in Acts, Chapter 2, he said:

Acts 2:34-36 NKJV
34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, 'Sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'*
36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Peter didn’t say that God had made Jesus both Lord and King. Peter said that Jesus had been made Lord and Christ. Christ means “Anointed One,” and certainly Jesus had been anointed, but He was and is still waiting in heaven for the Jews to call upon Him and accept Him as their King. When they do, He will return to the earth to make His enemies His footstool.

Well, I see our time is gone for this morning. I’ve enjoyed studying with you, 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/