Last Week: Matthew 3: The Preparation For The King: John The Baptist.
John Prepared The Way: Demanded Repentance And Baptism.
Some Did Not Understand Why Jesus Was Baptized By John.
In The Baptism Of Jesus; We Saw The Revelation Of Jesus As The Anointed, Beloved Son Of God.
Now, Matthew 4, We See:
The Temptations Of Christ.
The Sacred Story And The Attack Of The Tempter.
The Son Of God Goes Forth.
Christ Calls The Fishermen.
The Methods And Activities of the Master.
Matthew 4 Simple Outline:
I. Temptation in the Wilderness (4:1-11).
II. The Beginning of Ministry (4:12-25).
a. Galilee as Fulfillment (4:12-16).
b. Ministry of Preaching and Calling (4:17-25).
THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST.
Matt. 4:1-11.
Then Jesus Was Led By The Spirit Into The Wilderness To Be Tempted By The Devil.
The Meaning Of The Word To Tempt.
In English TEMPT Has A Uniformly Consistent Bad Meaning.
It Always Means To Entice A Man To Do Wrong,
To Seek To Seduce Him Into Sin,
To Try To Persuade Him To Take The Wrong Way.
But In Greek: It Means TO TEST.
EX: GOD TESTED ABRAHAM WITH THE SUPREME TEST.
What We Call Temptation:
It Is Not Meant To Make Us Sin;
It Is Meant To Enable Us To Conquer Sin.
It Is Not Meant To Make Us Bad,
It Is Meant To Make Us Good.
It Is Not Meant To Weaken Us,
It Is Meant To Make Us Emerge Stronger From The Ordeal.
Note:
It Took Place In The Wilderness.
Jesus Went Into The Wilderness To Be Alone.
His Task Had Come To Him;
God Had Spoken To Him;
Jesus Was Preparing His Enter Into Ministry.
THE SACRED STORY.
(i) The Temptations Immediately Followed The Baptism Of Jesus.
Be On Our Guard After Life Has Brought Us To The Heights,
For It Is Just Then That We Are In Gravest Danger Of The Depths.
(ii) This Experience Of Jesus Was Mostly An Inward Experience.
The Proof Is That There Is No Possible Mountain From Which All The Kingdoms Of The Earth Could Be Seen.
THE STRUGGLE WAS IN HIS MIND, WILL, EMOTION, SPIRIT.
The Tempter Comes To Our Inmost Thoughts And Desires.
The Strategy Of Satan Lies In The Fact That He Breaches Our Defenses And Attacks Us From Within.
(iii) The Temper Came At Jesus More Than Just One Time.
One Campaign In The Desert With Satan Was Not The Only Time.
Remember: Jesus Said: Get Behind Me Satan.
The Tempter Spoke Again To Jesus Thru Peter.
Peter Tried To Talk Jesus Out Of The Way Of The Cross.
Jesus Fights The Battle From The Beginning To The End.
That Is Why He Can Help Us To Fight Ours.
(iv) The Source For This Story Must Have Been Jesus Himself.
He Was Alone In The Wilderness.
We Know About It Because Jesus Himself Must Have Told His Apostles About It.
Jesus Is Telling Us His Own Spiritual Autobiography.
He Is Telling Men What He Went Through.
He Can Help Others Who Are Tempted Because He Understands.
He Pulls The Veil From His Own Struggles To Help Us In Ours.
THE ATTACK OF THE TEMPTER.
THREE LINES OF ATTACK FROM THE TEMPTER.
THE TEMPTER TESTED JESUS TO BELIEVE LIES FOR SUCCESS.
THE TEMPTER USES THESE SAME DESIRES AGAINST US.
1. To Use Materialism And Bribes To Have Everything.
2. To Use The Lust Of Satisfying Physical Desires.
3. To Use Compromise To Get Mankind To Follow Him.
So Jesus Made His Decision.
That He Would Never Bribe Men Into Following Him.
That The Way Of Sensation Was Not Getting To The Sin Issue.
That The Way Of Compromise Changed His Salvation Message.
That Choice Inevitably Meant The Cross.
But The Cross Just As Inevitably Meant The Final Victory.
THE SON OF GOD GOES FORTH.
Matt. 4:12-17
Jesus Heard That John Had Been Thrown In Jail.
Jesus Withdrew Into Galilee And Moved To Capernacum.
This Was Done To Fulfilled What Was Written In Isaiah: By The Way Of The Sea, Beyond Jordan, Galilee Of The Gentiles, The People Who Sat In Darkness Have Seen A Great Light, And A Light Has Risen For Those Who Sat In The Land …..
From That Time On Jesus Began To Proclaim His Message.
Repent For The Kingdom Of The Heavens Has Come Near!
The Time Had Come For Jesus To Go Forth To His Task.
He Officially Began His Earthly Ministry.
THE HERALD OF GOD.
Matthew Gives A One-Sentence Summary Of
Jesus Began To Preach. (To Herald):
He Had In His Voice A Note Of Certainty. Clear And Plain.
He Had In His Voice The Note Of Authority. With Power.
He Had A Message From A Source Beyond Himself.
The Message Of Jesus Consisted Of A Command:
Repent!
Turn From Your Own Ways, And Turn To God.
Lift Your Eyes From Earth And Look To Heaven.
Reverse Your Direction.
Stop Walking Away From God.
Begin Walking Towards God.
The Reign Of God Was About To Begin.
Eternity Had Invaded Time.
God Had Invaded Earth In IMMANUEL.
Choose The Right Side And The Right Direction.
CHRIST CALLS THE FISHERMEN.
MATT. 4:18-22
Jesus Was Walking Beside The Sea Of Galilee.
He Saw Two Brothers: Simon Peter And Andrew.
They Were Fishing And Jesus Said Follow Me And They Did.
I Will Make You Fishers Of Men.
They Immediately Left Their Nets And Followed Him.
He Went On And Saw Two Other Brothers: James And John.
They Were Fishing And Jesus Said Follow Me And They Did.
FOLLOW ME AND LEARN WAS THE CALL.
NOTE: What Kind Of Men Were These Men ?
Not Men Of Great Scholarship, Influence, Wealth.
Were Not Poor But Simple Working People With No Great Future.
But A Fisherman Possesses Qualities:
Of Skill: To Succeed And Capture Fish.
Of Patience: To Wait Until Timing Was Right.
Of Perseverance: To Never Be Discouraged.
Of Courage: To Sail A Small Boat On A Large Lake.
Of Knowledge: When To Fish And When To Move On.
THE METHODS OF THE MASTER.
Matt. 4:23-25
Jesus Stayed Mostly In Israel To Focus On The Jewish People.
Teaching In The Synagogues,
Proclaiming The Good News Of The Kingdom,
Healing All Kinds Of Diseases And Ailments Among The People:
And The Report Of His Activities Went Out All Over Syria.
Great Crowds Followed Him From Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, etc.
Jesus Chose To Launch His Campaign In The Synagogues.
The Synagogue: A Most Important Institution To The Jews.
A Difference Between The Synagogues And The Temple.
There Was Only One Temple, The Temple In Jerusalem,
The Temple Existed Solely For The Offering Of Sacrifice;
No Preaching Or Teaching In The Temple Except Courtyards.
Even The Smallest Colony Of Jews You Find A Synagogue.
The Synagogue Was Essentially A Teaching Institution.
The Synagogue Service Allowed The New Teacher His Chance.
In The Synagogue Service There Were Three Parts.
The First Part Consisted Of Prayers.
The Second Part Consisted Of Readings From The Law And From The Prophets, Readings In Which Members Of The Congregation Took Part.
The Third Part Was The Address.
There Was No One Person To Give The Address.
There Was No Such Thing As A Professional Ministry.
The President Of The Synagogue Presided Over The Service.
Any Distinguished Stranger Could Be Asked To Teach.
After The Time Of Teaching Came A Time Of Discussion.
THE ACTIVITIES OF JESUS.
Summary The Three Great Activities Of Jesus' Life.
He Came Proclaiming The Gospel.
He Came Teaching In The Synagogues.
He Came Healing All Those Who Had Need Of Healing.
Preaching Was The Method.
Jesus Came To Defeat Men's Ignorance.
He Came To Tell Them The Truth About God.
He Came To Bring The Revelation Of God.
He Came To To Show Men About The Nature Of God.
He Came To Turn That Truth Into Deeds.
NOTE: These Are The Ways A False Teacher Functions:
Signs And Wonders Gospel.
Prosperity Gospel.
Have Your Best Life Now Gospel.
New Apostolic Reformation Gospel.
Co-Exist With All Doctrines Of Salvation Gospel.
Jesus Taught:
We Can Never Defeat Evil By Compromising With Evil.
We Can Never Compromise The True Gospel.
We Can Never Compromise The True Way Of Salvation.
There Is Only One Gospel.
There Is Only One Savior.
There Is Only One Way To Salvation.
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