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The Book Of Matthew

Wednesday Night 01/11/23 – Pastor Eric Davis

Turn with me in the Book of Matthew. Matthew, chapter number one. Last week we looked at the first book of the Bible, first book of the Old Testament, first book of the whole Bible. This is a book of beginnings. This is the first book of the New Testament. It’s also a book of beginnings and it covers a it’s a transition from the Old Testament into the New Testament. And just for a show of hands, how many of you have ever read through the Gospel of Matthew? Read through the Gospel of Matthew? There’s some interesting things and some neat things in Matthew. Want to look at a few of those tonight and just kind of get an overall overview of Matthew, what God can teach us through this Gospel. There’s four gospels, right? Anybody know what they are? Very good. All right. Matthew, Mark, Luke, john. And each one presents Jesus from a different perspective. I like what one writer said. He said, the Holy Spirit is the author of each of the four Gospels using the different Pinman, different instruments, different angles. He said this, said it’s not written from a reporter standpoint. A reporter reports the facts, reports the events of a certain thing, usually in chronological order. And a good reporter, an honest reporter, maybe I should say that an honest reporter reports just the facts. But an editor arranges the facts to present a truth. And the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God arranges the facts in each of these Gospels to present a certain theme, a certain truth. So as we’re reading through the Gospel of Matthew, we’re going to see things from this perspective, and that shows Jesus from this certain perspective. When you read Mark, Luke and John from other perspectives, they complement one another that’ll help you as you go through your own Bible reading. Let’s pray and then we’ll get into it. Heavenly Father. Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for the Bible. It teaches us, it guides us, directs us, it comforts us. And Lord, I pray to you to help us to get an interest in it again, to study it, to learn from it, meditate on it, and to apply it to our heart and life, lord, to do no good. If we know everything there is to know about the Bible and just leave it if we don’t apply it and allow it to speak to us and to change us. So Lord, help us. Help us to glean from your word. Tonight, in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Excuse me. Turn with me to Matthew, chapter one, and we’ll come back to Matthew, chapter one. But go to chapter number oh, where is it now? Let’s go to chapter number 21. There it is, chapter number 21, verse number five. This is the I think, if not the key verse one of the key verses of Scripture for the book of Matthew says Matthew 21 five. I give enough time to find it. Okay? If you’re there, say amen. Amen. Amen. Most of you are. All right. Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh unto thee meek and sitting upon an ass and occult the full of an ass. Thy king cometh. The Gospel according to Matthew was written from the Jewish perspective, bringing the Old Testament into the New Testament and showing that Jesus is the king of the Jews, the promised Messiah. From that whole perspective, there’s a relationship between the Old Testament, New Testament, and it’s been said before, but G. Campbell Morgan said this about it. He said, in the Old Testament, we have an interpretation of human need. And the New Testament is a revelation of divine supply. What we need is shown in the Old Testament through man’s failures, through the failures of the dispensation, the different covenants that man couldn’t keep and it’s fulfilled in Jesus Christ. In the Old, we have unveilings of the human heart. In the new we have the unveiling of the heart of God and the way in which he has answered humanity’s need in Christ. Real quick talk about Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Old Testament. The Messiah. Now think about this. The Messiah is not named, right? It’s the coming one. He has names, but he’s not named as Jesus. The old Testament is called the Messiah. The coming one, he’s portrayed as the King of Israel. They know that the Messiah will be the King of Israel. He’s also portrayed as the servant of Jehovah, okay? He’s portrayed as the Son of man and as the Son of God. In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you have an answer to each one of those. In Matthew, he’s presented as King. In Mark, he’s presented as servant, luke as the Son of man, and John as the Son of God. So it’s a fourfold view of Jesus the Pinman. Anybody want to guess who the penman of Matthew is? Matthew. All right, very good. Going out on a limb, weren’t your brother Robert Matthew? And he is a tax collector. He was a dreaded tax collector, not of the IRS brand, though thank the Lord. He was of the Roman Roman brand, which probably not any better, but chapter number three, it talks about his calling. No, I’m sorry, not chapter number three on further over. Let me see if I can find it here. Maybe chapter number nine. Verse number nine. And as Jesus passed forth from fence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom. And he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him. Matthew ten, verse three. He’s also listed again philip and Bartholomew Thomas and Matthew the publican. It is amazing that the penman included his occupation. And that’s all we know from Matthew about Matthew, because the book is not about Matthew, it’s about Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God used even though and we’re going to look at this. We’re going to look at the theme of the king and his kingdom in the Gospel of Matthew. There are other pictures throughout this wonderful book. It shows us of the grace of God. Matthew was a Jew. He’s also called Levi. He was a Jew, but he was despised by his people. He wasn’t educated as a Pharisee or as a scribe, but God used him to pin. A very important book in Scripture shows you the grace of God, don’t it? Go back to Matthew. Chapter number one, verse number one, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham. Want you to look in this lineage a couple of names that are given. Several names that are given. Abraham began Isaac and Isaac began Jacob, and Jacob began Judas and his brother. Now, first a distinction needs to be made. Matthew gives us the legal lineage of Jesus. All the Jews were concerned about was from the Son of David, from the son of Abraham. And this traces the lineage to Joseph. But there is no blood connection between Joseph and Jesus Christ. We know Jesus was born of a virgin in a virgin’s womb named Mary, who was betrothed espoused to Joseph. So legally he has right to the throne as a son of Joseph, though he wasn’t technically in the sense a son of Joseph makes sense. So this gives us the legal royal lineage. Look who is in this lineage. And Judas beget Fairies and Zaira of Tamar. If you read if you’re reading in Genesis, you’ll come across Genesis, chapter number 38, a lady named Tamar. And this was a daughter in law of Judah who were both involved in a wicked sin. And you can kind of infer from this verse what that was, the circumstances surrounding it. You have to go back to Genesis 38 and read and see and find out. But she is mentioned in the lineage. She’s a Gentile, she’s not a Jew, but she’s mentioned in this lineage. Go down with me a little bit further. Verse number five in salmon beget boaz of rehab. That’s rehab the harlot. We know about rehab. She was a harlot. That’s what she was known for. That was her occupation. But she believed the messengers when they came in with the message that God was coming and she hid the messengers. She had faith. She here is connected with Salmon, whose name means clothed and with her son. Boaz means strength. She believed the Messengers and by faith she perished not she’s connected in the lineage of Christ. Okay, let’s go down to the second part of that verse, another lady. There’s nothing it doesn’t seem like there’s any mark against her character in scripture, but she doesn’t belong here. Boas beget Obed of Ruth, in her own culture, her own history, she has no place with the people of God. She was a moabiteist of a cursed people. Deuteronomy says that an Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord, even to their 10th generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord forever. So she had no business with the people of God, but she found grace in the eyes of God and she was delivered from the law through grace. So you see, already Tamar had no business in this lineage, but she’s in this lineage of Christ because of the grace of God. The same with Rehab, who was a harlot. The same with Ruth, who was from a cursed people. Verse number six. And Jesse beget David the King, and David the King beget Solomon of her that had been the wife of your eyes. We know that that’s Bathsheba right and that sin that both of them committed. If you go down through this list, you’ll notice none of these individuals here were ever perfect. And many of them, several of them did wicked things recorded in Scripture, but they’re in the lineage of Christ by the grace of God. That’s a wonderful lesson for you and me. We’re only where we are in the position as a saved child of God by his grace. Nothing that we deserve, nothing certainly that we’ve earned, we can’t do enough to earn the grace of God. But in our fallen state, he had compassion on us. He came to where we were and he saved us through his blood and his sacrifice. And so that’s just an interesting side note. It was written for the Jewish people to present Jesus as the one who fulfilled the Old Testament features of the Messiah. In other words, this is to show that Jesus is the Messiah and the King of Israel as promised in the Old Testament. There’s over 60 references to the Old Testament in this book, or about 60 references. There’s a genealogy here that says that he’s the legal right to the throne. The kingdom of Heaven is mentioned over 32 times, about 32 times in Matthew, not found in other gospels. This is interesting, and I’ve circled in my Bible 13 times that the phrase that it might be fulfilled is mentioned. Chapter one, verse 22, 1st time I found it. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of Lord by the prophet saying, and then the scripture is given, behold, a virgin shall be a child and shall bring forth the Son. They shall call his name Emmanuel. It’s been interpreted as God with us. So you find here’s some of the prophecies that are fulfilled in Matthew. The Messiah in the Old Testament from Isaiah was prophesied that a virgin would conceive bear a son and call his name Emmanuel. And it happened exactly like that Old Testament prophesied in Hosea that the Lord’s Son would be out of Egypt. And there’s a double meaning in that prophecy. Some prophecy has that. And then in chapter two verse 15, it says that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, out of Egypt have I called my son. There was weeping in Bethlehem, he was called in Azarene, John the Baptist. There’s a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Even that was prophesied. People were sat in darkness, saw great light. Chapter four, verse 14. On and on and on. Behold my servant whom I have chosen. He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. 817 opened my mouth in parables and spoke to them. That’s a prophecy from ASAP in Psalm 78 two, Matthew 1335, the king cometh writing upon a donkey. Zechariah nine, verse nine. Many other references about his betrayal, his suffering that were found in the Old Testament are here laid out in the Book of Matthew. Remember who Matthew was? A publican, a tax collector. Now isn’t it just a picture of the grace of God to use somebody as despised as that to record such precious truths for the Jews? So there’s hope for you and me yet. Amen. I don’t know anybody here was a former anybody was a former tax collector. I didn’t, I didn’t collect taxes. I just kind of helped with the bookwork type stuff. Okay? So don’t put that on me. But a couple of things to keep in mind. There are always three groups of people which need to be considered when you’re reading a Bible passage and interpreting a Bible passage. One Corinthians 1032. List them is the Jew, the Gentile and the Church of God. The Church of God is Jew or Gentile that have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. And there are promises made to the Jews that aren’t made to the church or made to the Gentiles. For example, there were promises set forth to the Jews that there be a kingdom on this earth. You and I aren’t looking for an earthly kingdom. We’re looking for a heavenly kingdom, the part of the child of God. But the Jews still looking for that earthly kingdom when Jesus comes back. So we just have to be careful about that. When reading Matthew, there are many, many truths to take out and to learn from. But remember, Matthew is primarily concerned with the Jew understanding that Jesus is the promised One from the Old Testament. So when you read passages like Sermon on the Mount, chapter five, six and seven and you come across something that looks like it’s talking about salvation by works, understand that’s not talking about it’s, talking about a different dispensation, that’s talking about the kingdom that God will set up. Salvation from hell is always by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So keep that in mind. Excuse me. Getting a tickle in my throat now. How is doing better all day today? That’s the way it goes. All right, so here’s just a quick outline of the Book of Matthew. And I hope you’ve established some kind of Bible reading plan. If you’re going through the Bible in a year, if you’re going through anybody adventurous going through the Bible in 30 days, am I doing that? Okay. I was going to say more power to you if you were, but if you’re going through the Bible, I know if you’re following our Baptist bread devotion, you’ll read some in Genesis each day and then some in Matthew. And so you’re reading both. And I think it’s wise no matter what you do, to read at least some in the New Testament. The Old Testament is great. It’s good. But the New Testament helps us understand a lot of the Old Testament and makes application from the Old Testament to our lives where we’re living today. So here’s a quick outline for you for the Gospel of Matthew. Chapters one through the early part of chapter four, verse eleven talks about his coming, his legal connection as king in his lineage, his nativity, his birth, his location, his baptism, his temptation. Then his ministry begins in chapter four, verse twelve goes through chapter 16, verse twelve. There are many miracles that he does, many things that happen matter of fact. Turn to chapter four. Let’s just take a survey tonight or overview of some of these truths. Chapter four, verse 23. And Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. You see that? That pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? All right, turn with me to chapter number nine, verse number 35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. That sounds about the same, Donut. But now he’s broadening the region and he’s doing the same thing. He’s teaching, he’s preaching, he’s healing, he’s showing the Jews that I am the promised one to come so that they know who to trust. Okay? So that’s through chapter 16, verse twelve. It’s interesting to note that there are many times throughout that he is opposed. And while he’s opposed many times in that passage in Matthew, he’ll present some kind of evidence of his authority and then there’ll be a definite assertion of that authority. So kind of look for that pattern. It may not be in every instance, but most of the time, more or less, it’s there. The ascending of the Twelve in chapter ten is not the same as the Great Commission. They say there may be some truths here you can apply and take, but I’m not taking up any vipers. Amen. And I don’t recommend you doing that either. Anyway, there are certain things, there are certain things you got to be aware of. Now look at Matthew, chapter number nine, and verse number 36, 37 and 38. And here’s what we need to be careful of. You got to be careful from going to two different extremes. One is what we’re talking about, not divining who the Lord is directly referring to. And then the other extreme is saying, well that’s not talking to me. There’s nothing in there that I can take from it. And that’s not true either. Chapter number nine, verse 36. When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them because they were fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd. Jesus, he’s a multitude. He’s mood with compassion. And look. Verse 37 then saith he unto his disciples the harvest truly is plentyous, but the labors are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. Now even if the Jewish penman and a Jewish emphasis is this truth just for the Jews? No, this truth is for us as a church, as a body of Christ. This is true for us. The harvest truly is plentyous and the labors are few. And we, you and I, not only need to go, we need to pray that God would send laborers into his harvest. And so don’t discard everything you read, but just keep in mind who the primary message is to, okay? And then his formal claim as Messiah. Chapter 16 through chapter 23. Turn to chapter number 16, please. I hope you brought your Bible. It’d be kind of hard to follow along tonight. Chapter 16, verse 15. He saith unto them, but whom say ye than I am? And Simon Peter answered and said thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. They knew that when Christ came, the Messiah came, that he would be the Son of God. There’s, there’s Bible. We’ll show that here in just a minute, I think. So Peter is confessing that Jesus is God. He’s the the Messiah, the Promised One, the one that’s to come. And then Jesus says in verse 18 and I say also to thee that thou art Peter. And upon this rock what rock? This statement that you just made, Peter, that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. You know, I think this is the only reference to the church in the four Gospels is this portion right here. You can check on that and see. But he said that’s a promise. He said I’m going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And then he says verse 20 charges disciples at this time they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. And then he goes on to tell him. Verse 21 from that time forth began Jesus to shown to his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again. The third day, he said, now that you know this truth, I’m going to tell you that I’m going to go and things are going to happen like you think they’re going to happen. I’m going to die. I’m going to suffer and die, and then I’m going to rise again. The third day. And he reveals to them a little by little the truth about his death, his barrel and his resurrection. And they don’t understand it. They don’t get it until after he resurrects from the grave and shows them. But here’s a principle that we can apply. Number one, we know the truth, and we thank the Lord for the truth. Number two, god reveals to us truth after we he can’t reveal everything to us all at once. Realize growing spiritually is a process. Like growing physically is a process. I can’t expect my boys to carry as much luggage as I can carry, right? I can’t expect them to understand as much as I can understand. Now, maybe Jed, he’s kind of getting to the point where I think now anyway, so pretty soon he’s going to pass me up. But it’s a process. There’s things that let’s talk about grace, for instance, dying grace. When it comes time for us to pass this life and go into the next life, I believe God sends that grace that’s needed. I believe God sends that grace to the to the family that’s needed. Not, say the absence of sorrow, but the the knowledge that there is hope, there is life on the other side. We know where they’re going, and he gives grace for that time. That’s not grace that we have other times of life. God gives us what we need when we need it and at stages in our life as we grow. So here’s the thing. If you’ve read through the Gospel of Matthew, you haven’t understood something. Keep reading. You know there’s something fresh and new each time you go back to the word of God. In this gospel record, we see Peter walking on the water and we give him a hard time, but he had to make it back to the boat somehow. And I don’t read where the Lord carried him. He may have, but either way, he made it back to the boat. But the Lord, he helped him there. He calmed the Lord calmed the seas. He fed the 5000. He fed the 4000. He talks about so much in this gospel, so don’t skip over this gospel. We didn’t finish our outline, did we? Okay, so his formal claim as Messiah here is privately. Then he goes nationally. Look at a pastor’s scripture here in just a minute. And then he sacrificed as Messiah and then his triumph as the Messiah in his resurrection and his commission. Matthew, chapter number 22. Matthew, chapter 22, starting verse number 41. I’m in chapter 21. Let me go over. Okay. While the Pharisees were gathered together, jesus asked them saying what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Now to set the context we’re not going to read the whole passage of Scripture tonight. But to set the context the Pharisees were trying to entangle him in his talk and they were tempting him. Others came tempting him and then it was Jesus turn to ask the question. So he said, what think he of Christ? Whose son is he? In other words, whose son is Christ? They say to him, the Son of David. They knew from the Old Testament that somebody in David’s lineage would be the promised one to come and that would be called the Christ. He saith unto them, how then doth David in spirit call him Lord? David, he said Jesus taught on inspiration of scripture. Do you see that in spirit? David in spirit call him Lord. What’s he referring to? He’s referring to a passage in Psalm where he said psalm 110. One the Lord sent unto my Lord. Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. It was written by David. God the Father says unto my Lord. Written from David’s perspective. So they’re saying, if it’s his Son, why he’s he? Why is he also saying it’s my Lord? Well you know the answer to that. Because his Son is also God from heaven, right, who became flesh. But the Pharisees didn’t want to answer that because they knew what that meant. Here’s why we bring that out. There are so many people that say Jesus never once claimed to be God. Over and over and over again by his actions, by this statement and others he is setting forth that statement that I am the Christ, the one that has come that was promised. I am the Son of God. I am God. Okay, so just so we get that straight if David then called him Lord, how is he his Son? And no man was able to answer him a word. Neither there any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. Jesus always out answers anyone. So what do you take from tonight? Well we’ll look at one of the passage of Scripture. But first as you study any of the Gospels take note of his miracles that he performed. In an interesting listen there are some of my favorite miracles. I hated it for the disciples but I’d love to have seen them on that sea and the waves beating in that sea. And just something I’d like to see. I’d like to see the feeding of the 5000. Feeding of the 4000. And some of the miracles I like to see. But take note of the miracles that Jesus did and you’ll realize that that’s the same God that you and I serve. God’s hand is not limited. Now you may open your cupboards at home and there may not be but a little piece of bread and maybe a few little fishes in a can amen. But God can still do great things. God can still provide for your needs. In today’s time, he’s not limited. Look about his manner, how he went about. He had compassion on the multitudes, his message. He was always preaching and teaching, trying to get people to repent and turn to him his authority, his sacrifice, his triumph. There’s some things to take note of. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 19. Actually two verses, I’m sorry. Matthew, chapter number 28 and verse number 1819 and 20. And then we’ll go to Revelation. St. Matthew 28, verse 18, 1920. Jesus came and speaking to them, saying all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. There’s a lot of great truths here. This is what we call what? The great commission, right? This is our commission to go and tell the world that Jesus saves. Once they know that, then we teach them in the things to observe. We disciple them, we help them to grow. And we’ve got this great promise that Jesus will always be with us even until the end of the world. What a great truth that is. What a comfort that is. But let me ask you something. At any point in this time, was Jesus delivered a kingdom? No. Right. Non earthly kingdom. His kingdom hasn’t come down. You write Revelation, chapter 19, verse 16. Well, actually verse eleven, they will look at verse 16. And I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. There’s only one that’s ever been all of that. That’s the Lord Jesus Christ. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a new name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was closed with a vesture dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. Is there any doubt to who this is referring to? It’s the Lord. Jesus christ our Savior. Verse number 16. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh and name written king of Kings and Lord of Lords. You know, the Bible speaks of a time where the kingdom will be delivered up to Jesus and it become his kingdom. There’s coming a day he hasn’t yet he’s seated at the Father’s right hand. He’s in a place of authority, but he hasn’t yet ruled on this earth. But there’s coming a day he will, and the Jews will recognize him as King. And bless the Lord for that. You and I will be serving with him in his kingdom. I don’t. Know what we’ll be doing. You might have a clue. You might have an idea. It’s a great thing to think about, but I think we’ll be rewarded for our faithfulness here. But that day is coming. That day is just as short as happened, as his first coming happened. We’ve got a blessed hope. Amen. Though his kingdom didn’t come 2000 years ago, it is coming. And I believe it’s coming soon. So we’ve got a lot to look forward to. So as you look through and read through the Gospel of Matthew, there is still plenty here to take the heart to learn from. There’s a verse here that says, he that will follow me, let me leave this verse with you. I know I said one more verse, but just one more. Matthew 1625 whose fever will save his life shall lose it. Whose fever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Don’t skip over Matthew because it was written to the Jew, because all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is what profitable. And God has it here for a reason. But just keep in mind, this doesn’t make sense to us. Maybe it was written with the Jewish dispensation of mine. Maybe it has to do with the kingdom to come. I’m not sure I’m going to make a note of it. It seems like it doesn’t match up with maybe something else I read. Make a note of it. Put a starbuck. There are no contradictions in scripture whatsoever. There are no discrepancies. You have a perfect preserved word of God. The things are in there compliment one another. And if there’s a question, there’s an answer. So don’t get discouraged and keep reading and pray that God will bless you for your faithless. Reading his word. Okay, let’s pray. Heavenly Father, lord, we thank you for your perfect word that you’ve delivered to us. Father, we pray that we would read it and not just read it, but we would apply it and live it. And the Lord, may it change us into what you would have us be. Help us to be the witnesses you would have us to be in this world looking for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and rejoicing in that day, being there in that day when he is crown king of kings and Lord of Lords and takes up his earthly kingdom and the Lord. But may we be faithful now. And Lord, lead us and direct us in all things. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

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