Table of Contents For The Compiled Series on Matthew
1. Was The Babe in The Manager The Christ 3-52. I Can Still Celebrate Christmas 5-7
3. On The Mountain Top 8-11
4. It is Written 11-14
5. Fishing For Men 14-15
6. Saltless Saints 16-19
7. Go First … Then Come 19-21
8. When it is Hard to Forgive 21-24
9. Prayer Our Power Potential 24-26
10. Coming Out of the Cross 26-29
11. Priorities 29-32
12. The Bright Light of Broadway 32-34
13. Make Christ Lord 34-37
14. Its Cheaper To Build A Fence 37-40
15. Help Wanted 40-42
16. Lets Go Soul Winning 43-44
17. Hurting You Closet Friend 44-48
18. Worse than Before 48-50
19. The Mysteries of the Kingdom 50-52
20. On Earth, As in Heaven 52-55
21. The Parable of the Seed 55-57
22. Sheaves of Wheat Bundles of Tares 57-59
23. Strictly for the Birds 59-62
24. Silent, Subtle, Seduction 62-65
25. You are a Precious Pearl 65-68
26. The Time of Harvest 68-71
27. Buried Treasures 71-73
28. Don't Focus on the Field 73-76
29. Caught in the Net 76-79
30. A Statement of Faith for the Storms of Life 79-82
31. Send in the Substitute 82-85
32. Lets Hear if for the Church 85-88
33. The Church and The Gates of Hell 88-91
34. Disciple 91-94
35. At Jesus Feet 94-96
36. The Vision is Are In The Valley 97-100
37. On The Mt. Top With Jesus 100-102
38. Go Fish 102-105
39. Principles for The Spiritual Success 105-107
40. Is That Your Final Answer 108-110
41. Long Live The King 110-113
42. The Bib. Doctrine of Political Seperation 113-117
43. Warning From Waco 118-121
44. The End of the World 121-124
45. You Will Escape The Tribulation 124-126
46. Here comes the Judge 126-129
47. I Want Your Rewards 129-132
48. Preparing for the Cross 132-134
49. They Watched Him There 134-137
50. The View From the Cross 137-139
51. What Do You See On Calvary 139-143
52. Seven Statements by 7 Sinners Surround. 143-145
53. Caesar's Power Us The Savior's Power 145-148
54. Waiting for the Sun To Rise 148-150
55. Dark Friday Is Bright Sunday 151-153
56. The Stone Was Rolled Away 153-156
57. Reproduce After Your Kind 156-158
58. The Devil's Missionary Program 159-161
59. The Babel of Baptism 161-163
"WAS THE BABE IN THE MANGER THE CHRIST OF GOD?"
TEXT: Mt. 1:18-25
THESIS: To show the evidences and credentials of Christ which prove He was the Christ of God prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures.
INTRO: A. Before I would permit a "policeman" to enter and search my home, I would demand some credentials: badge, uniform, I.D., warrant, etc.
B. Before Israel would accept Christ as Messiah God knew they would demand His credentials. These are given in Matthew's Gospel...the Gospel to Israel. (Unfortunately even after examining the 7 evidences He offered to prove that "THE BABE IN THE MANGER WAS THE CHRIST OF GOD" they rejected Him!)
TRANS: Let's examine again those 7 evidences and see if our conclusion is the proper one. Let's answer the question "WAS THE BABE IN THE MANGER THE CHRIST OF GOD?"
I. GENEALOGICAL CREDENTIALS:
NOTE: There is a genealogy in Matthew, for a King MUST have one. There is a genealogy in Luke, for a perfect man SHOULD have one. There is no genealogy in Mark, for a servant DOESN'T NEED one. There is no genealogy in John, for the Son of God DOESN'T HAVE one.
There are 4 Gospels, each differing in some points. As on scholar once pointed out: "If 4 witnesses should appear before a judge to give an account of a certain event and each witness should tell exactly the same story in the same words, the judge would probably conclude, NOT that their testimony was exceptionally valuable, but that the only event which was certain beyond a doubt was that they had agreed to tell the same story! But if each man had told what he had seen, as he had seen it, then the evidence would be credible. And when we read the 4 Gospels, is not that exactly what we find? The 4 men tell the same story in their own way."
A. In Matthew Christ Is Traced Back To Abraham, the Father of the Jews.
B. In Luke Christ Is Traced Back To Adam, the Father of the Race.
1. In Matthew Christ is traced from Abraham thru David (l:1).
2. These two men represent 2 great covenants to Israel:
a. Abraham's covenant promised a chosen race to bless the nations.
b. David's covenant promised a chosen King to govern the nations.
ILLUS: Interestingly, some unsavory characters appear in this lineage. 4 women are men-tioned: Tamar and Rehab were harlots; Bathsheba was an adulteress; Ruth and Rehab were both Gentiles! Of the men: David and Solomon were both adulterers (and David a murderer), Rehoboam was an idolater, Jechoniah was a failure and Jehoshophat was a compromiser! Thank God for His grace! If these men and women in Christ's background were bad, think of those who are in His family since then! YOU and ME! for example.
II. ANGELIC APPEARANCES:
A. Appearance #1: To Joseph 1:20 (cf.v.16)
1. Joseph was in David's royal line.
2. But Joseph was only Mary's husband, not Jesus' biological father!
ILLUS: All the modern Bible versions make Joseph Jesus' real father and equate Mary and Joseph as Jesus' parents, referring to them as "his father and mother" something the KJB never does!
3. This angelic appearance was to help this good man settle the issue of Mary's purity and Jesus' Deity!
B. Appearance #2: To Joseph 2:13
1. As the head of the home.
2. As the protector of the throne and Israel's King.
C. Appearance #3: To Joseph 2:19-20
1. This appearance was to get Jesus back to the nation He came to serve.
2. After Jesus becomes a man, we read nothing more about Joseph...his role was finished.
NOTE: Both Joseph and Herod are mentioned together in this passage. It was Joseph and not Herod who had the proper credentials to sit upon the throne of Israel! But for Judah's sin Joseph would have been ruling from Jerusalem when Christ was born!
III. ASTRONOMICAL EVIDENCE: Mt. 2:2
A. A Star:
NOTE: The world rejects this evidence as fact and accepts it only as "a part of the mythology and fable of the Christmas story." They deny it could have been a real star and call it a "super nova," " bright planet," etc. - anything but believe the Book and God's inspired account.
This is the same crowd that declared this past week that some trees in a "secret forest" in Australia contains several trees which are survivors of the Jurrasic and/or Cretaceous Periods, approx. 150 million years ago. Those are some OLD, OLD trees, man! The "scientists" are calling this a "real Jurrasic Park"!
B. His Star:
1. Unique, created for this event.
2. Personal, belonging to Him!
IV. PROPHETIC PRONOUNCEMENTS:
A. Isaiah's Prophecies: Mt. 1:21-23; 3:1-3
B. Micah's Prophecy: Mt. 2:4-6
V. DIVINE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Mt. 3:16,17
A. Three Times God Spoke Audibly From Heaven To Proclaim His Authenticity
B. This Time God Spoke Audibly To Proclaim His Sonship At The Beginning Of His Public Ministry To Israel.
NOTE: 9 times in Matthew's Gospel Christ is referred to as "the young child" but only after He is grown and initiated into His adult ministry does God speak audibly of Him.
VI. SPIRITUAL VICTORIES: Mt. 4:1-11
A. Triumph Over Temptation.
B. Triumph Over the Tempter.
NOTE: This is an important evidence that He was the Christ, in that there was no possibility that He could have sinned or our salvation would have been in jeopardy!
VII. MIRACULOUS MINISTRIES: Mt.4:23-25
A. Teaching and Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. v.23a
NOTE: This is NOT the Gospel of the grace of God which we preach! This was the message of the King that His Kingdom was "at hand" because He was there.
B. Healing To Demonstrate His Authority Over Sin and Satan: v.23b-25
CONCL: Here then are 7 evidences God offers as proof that "THE BABE IN THE MANGER WAS THE CHRIST OF GOD!" Israel rejected the evidence...will YOU accept it?
John 1:11-12
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
“I CAN STILL CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS”
TEXT: Mt. 1:18-25
THESIS: To balance the biblical event of the “birth of Jesus” with the degrading, desecration and denial of it.
INTRO: A. Since the Grinch, Santa Claus and Rudolf are given more prominence at this season of the year than our Savior, I would like to attempt to bring balance to a very unbalanced celebration.
B. I am not for “putting Christ back into Christmas” – He was never in the worldly celebration of Christmas to begin with - and He cannot be taken out of the biblical record of the birth of our Savior in human form!
C. I believe “I CAN STILL CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS” without going to either extreme of desecrating His honor or ignoring His birth. The lights, angels, shepherds, stars, gifts, and manger scenes all have biblical roots. The Grinch, Santa, Rudolph, reindeer and Christmas trees, and cards are all unbiblical or extra biblical additions and are unrelated to the birth of Jesus. (What the believer does with any or all of these is a matter of Christian liberty, of course, but we need to beware of worldly influence. Rom.14) God and Christ need to get the lion’s share of our attention in this holiday season. Though I am obviously against the commercialism, materialism and ungodliness that takes place among the unsaved, and some believers, I believe “I CAN STILL CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS” without doing an injustice to the Lord. I can in fact still celebrate Christmas…
I. …THOUGH THE WORLD DEGRADES IT:
A. The Commercial World: (The Market Place)
1. The secularization of everything sacred or spiritual increases.
2. Society has not only removed the Bible from the public school, but continues to replace even biblical morality and a basic creationist worldview with an ungodly, heathen, hedonistic philosophy.
3. Instead of a Christmas break, we now have a “Winter Vacation;” manger scenes and traditional Christmas plays are banned as “religious!”
4. There is “no room in the inn” or at the mall for shepherds, wise men or the Christ-child, but plenty of room for 7 maids-a-milking…3 French hens and a partridge in a pear tree” – not to mention “jolly old St. Nick!”
ILLUS: In the midst of all the booze, buying and bingeing the believer can still witness, win the lost and worship! But we must keep our perspective or we will get lost in the merriment, music and misplaced emphasis of the season. Let’s still celebrate, but do it biblically!
B. The Cultural World: (Rome, Greece, Egypt)
1. It must sicken our Savior to see and hear the ungodly, wicked, rebellious, hateful and blasphemous entertainers sing about Him with one breath and curse Him with the next.(N’Sync, Dolly Parton, et.al.
2. But the fact that the world degrades His music doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy His music!
II. …THOUGH THE ‘CHURCH’ DESECRATES IT:
A. The Religious World: (Jerusalem)
1. The tragedy was that the leaders of Judaism, who had been awaiting the Messiah for centuries, failed to receive Him and rejected Him when He came.
2. Today the religious crowd have their bingo parties on Sat. night and have a “Mass” on Sunday.
2.It is booze joints, dance halls, parties and blasphemous movies (incl. Videos), on Sat. night and
singing hymns on Sunday morning.
4. It is all year dishonoring Him and one day attempting to honor Him?
ILLUS: The believer must not join the religious Pharisees and hypocrites of the world and allow this season to obscure its real meaning! We must not get caught up in the commercialization and materialism, the secularization of the sacred (music, entertainment, etc.), but we must also be on guard that we don’t crowd the Lord out of our lives. What a tragedy for believers who honor the Lord all year to let down their guard at Christmas! Young converts, it will be difficult during this booze season to say no to the temptations around you which have become traditional. Christians will have to be careful of office parties and the “appearance of evil.” Believers who tithe all year, cut back their giving during this season!
“I CAN STILL CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS” by being faithful, consistent, doing right, witnessing, and worshipping. I can turn the holiday into a holy day by being in church, enjoying fellowship with family and friends in a clean atmosphere and by being a blessing to someone by proper gift-giving to express our love Decorations, like trees, wreaths, holly, etc. are all optional but must never replace the Savior in our thinking or our lives. “I CAN STILL CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS”…
III. …THOUGH THE UNGODLY DENIES IT:
A. The Anti-Christ Philosophy: (Text)
ILLUS: Along with banning traditional carols and the name of Jesus from school Christmas plays, there is a move to the complete secularization not just of the holiday, but to humanize and de-Deify our Savior and see Him as a mere man, a great teacher and leader. But His birth on that first “Christmas” was supernatural. To make Him a mere man, is to make Him a sinner! It is to disqualify Him as a Savior!
1. Mary was “found with child” while they were engaged, but “before they came together.” V.18
2. Her womb was invaded by the Holy Ghost so that she carried a supernatural child, the God-man!
3. Mary was a “virgin” even though she was impregnated, in line with the prophetic Scripture. V.23
4. Mary was not “perpetually virgin” but simply had no relations “till she had brought forth her firstborn son…”
ILLUS: The “immaculate conception” of Roman Catholic fiction has to do with Mary being conceived as sinless by her mother who, of course, had to be also sinless! (How far back do they want us to go?) The issue is, how can Mary have a sinless son unless she is sinless? The answer is because she is impregnated by the Holy Ghost, not by Joseph! The Lord merely “borrowed” Mary’s womb to be the vehicle to carry and birth the Christ child! She is not God’s mother, but He is God’s Son! “I CAN STILL CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS” because I believe the Bible!
B. The Anti-Supernatural Philosophy: (The Saducees)
1. It was the Saducees who did not believe in the supernatural.
2.They denied anything they could not test with their senses or explain with their brain:
miracles, angels, etc.
3. The Pharisees believed in the supernatural, they simply denied the Savior!
ILLUS: “I CAN STILL CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS” because God is still alive and can do anything He has said He will do, and in the case of Jesus’ birth, has done!
CONCL: “I CAN STILL CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS” because as the song says, “…for the Light of the world, is the Light of my life.” “ so turn on the lights, put a wreath on the door, show the world that you can sing too. Sing ‘Joy to the World’ in June or July, ask a friend to sing along too. Ring the bells loud, sing clear and be proud, tell the world the truth that you know: that the tiny little Boy, has brought happiness and joy, more than gifts with ribbons and bows.”
"ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP"
(WITH SATAN!)
TEXT: Matt. 4:1-11
THESIS: To show the contrast between how Jesus handled temptation and how the 1st Adam (and his progeny) handled it.
INTRO: A. There is a correlation between the temptation of Adam and Eve and the temptation of Christ and also how we are tempted (the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life). But there are some marked between the scene in Eden and the scene on the Mt. of Temptation.
B. Adam and Eve had the best conditions; Jesus had the worst. They were in a beautiful garden; He was on a stark desert. They were well fed; He had been fasting for 40 days and nights. In Eden Satan approached the sheep to get to the Shepherd; in the wilderness Satan approached the Shepherd directly. To Adam and Eve he came as a benefactor enlightening the poor deluded children to the benefits being withheld from them by a selfish God; to Jesus he came as an enemy trying to make a treaty and offering a bribe to divert Jesus from His mission.
TRANS: Jesus 3-fold temptation corresponds to 3 downward steps the church takes as it first flirts with Satan and then ends up seduced in his arms...
I. PLEASURE-TEMPTED: v.3-4
A. "My Kingdom For A Loaf Of Bread"
1. Jesus' 1st temptation was to use the Holy Spirit's power for His own pleasure.
2. God had led Jesus into the desert to be tempted and had prompted Him to fast for 40 days and
nights and had not yet given Him permission to eat.
3. The temptation was: Would Jesus submit to God's timing in providing Him with food or would He grab it in His own time and on His own terms?
a. Jesus quotes Moses' final sermon to Israel.
Deut. 8:3
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
b. Israel had also been stranded in the desert without food; God wanted them to learn they could live without anything as long as they had the Lord.