A Bird's-eye view of the New Testament Part 4

 A Bird's-eye view of the New Testament

I was born again in 1973; filled with the Spirit in ’74; married in ’75. Mary graduated in ’76 and we moved to Memphis so Mary could work and I could attend Mid-South Bible College. I was growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Beginning of that summer I tried to read Hebrews; had to put it down because I didn’t understand it. End of that summer I picked it back up, and in the words of a song popular back in the day, “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.”

This epistle was written to a group of Jewish believers who, facing strong persecution, were apparently considering going back to Judaism. It was written to encourage them to continue in the faith of Jesus Christ, and to warn them of the consequences of falling away. The theme of the epistle is, "Jesus is better."

I believe Paul wrote this epistle, but to be fair, it doesn’t say. Some say it reads like a sermon. Works for me!

 

 

The Epistle of James

This is the first of what used to be called “catholic epistles” (James-Jude), meaning they were not sent to a particular (or known) church. James addresses his letter “to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” or “the twelve tribes in the diaspora.” In other words, Jewish believers in Jesus Christ.

James has been described as the New Testament book of Proverbs – there doesn’t seem to be a central theme, rather a series of exhortations and encouragements.

Who is James? He says of himself, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Many have thought it was the Lord’s brother, the bishop of Jerusalem (Acts 15)

The Epistle of 1 Peter

Written by “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” Truly a catholic epistle! This is a wonderful, practical, forceful epistle, one of my favorite books in the Bible!

“This Epistle of S. Peter is to be accounted among the most excellent books of the New Testament, and is the true and pure Gospel, inasmuch as the Apostle herein teaches nothing else… than sincere faith, and that Christ is freely given unto us, who having taken away our sins, is our only Saviour.”
Martin Luther, introduction to 1 Peter

The Epistle of 2 Peter

Written by “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” He wrote this to remind them of the truth, warn them against false teachers, and so they might “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

 

1 John

Written by the apostle John, but we don’t know to what church. Four times he said, “These things have I written to you”, but the best one is, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” He offeres three tests, which he repeats throughout the letter, by which we can know we have eternal life. We:

+ believe the right thing about Jesus
+ live the right way
+ love the right folks

2 John

“The elder unto the elect lady and her children.” The elder is traditionally understood to be the apostle John. The elect lady is a different story, either an individual or a church.

3 John

“The elder unto the wellbeloved Gaius.” This is clearly written to an individual.

Jude

Written by “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” He told us precisely why he wrote the letter, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

 

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a difficult book and is very different from the rest of the New Testament. I have often heard people say they are afraid of the book. After all, it is full of symbolic language (“How am I supposed to understand it?”) and has a rather frightening message (judgment and the wrath of God).

The book begins: The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. This is not so much a catalog of future events as it is a revelation of the glory and power and victory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

The Bible opens with the creation of the world and mankind, then the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, and the promise of a Savior – rescue and restoration. The book of Revelation is a fitting end of the Bible – it shows us the fulfilment of the plan of God in the new heaven and new earth, where:

And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

A Bird's-eye view of the New Testament Part 3

 A Bird's-eye view of the New Testament

There is no mention of Colosse in the Book of Acts, so we don’t know who first preached the gospel here. But we do know that during Paul’s two years in Ephesus, “all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.” This surely included Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. Epaphras, who was from Colosse and a co-worker with Paul, may have been the one to preach the gospel to them and been their pastor.

Epaphras had come to consult with Paul about false teachers causing problems in the Colossian church. Whatever the heresy was, it was clearly depriving Jesus of his glory and our completeness in him!

The fullness of God in Jesus Christ:
+his dear Son
+who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
+all things were created by him, and for him
+he is before all things, and by him all things consist
+he is the head of the body, the church
+who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead
+that in all things he might have the preeminence
+For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell
+In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
+For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily

We are complete in him:
+Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness
+and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son
+In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins
+And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight
+And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power
+Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him
+For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God
+When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory

Acts 17 tells us of Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica – it was brief and he was run out of town. He went on to Berea and the Jews of Thessalonica had him run out of that town as well! How brief was his stay in Thessalonica? We are told that he preached in the synagogue for three sabbaths or three weeks. But a church was started that seemed to be thriving and suffering. Paul wrote these epistles to encourage this young and suffering church. He mentioned the second coming in every chapter, and uses this hope to strengthen them in faith and holiness and comfort them in their suffering.

1 Thessalonians
1 Second Coming And Salvation
2 Second Coming And Christian Service
3 Second Coming And Sanctification
4 Second Coming And Them Which Are Asleep
5 Second Coming: Times And Seasons

2 Thessalonians
1 The Second Coming And Suffering For Jesus
2 The Second Coming And The Son Of Perdition
3 The Second Coming And Patient Waiting For Christ

Some golden daybreak Jesus will come
Some golden daybreak, battles all won
He’ll shout the vict'ry, break thro’ the blue
Some golden daybreak for me, for you
(Carl Blackmore)

Timothy and Titus were Paul’s co-workers in the gospel. Of Timothy we read, As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine (1 Tim 1:3). Concerning Titus, For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee. (Tit 1:5)

Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus instructing them about church life and practice.

These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Tim 3:14-16)

Philemon was a personal friend of Paul who was living in Colosse. He was encouraged by Paul to welcome Onesimus back, a runaway slave who had been converted by Paul.

A Bird's-eye view of the New Testament Part 2

A Bird's-eye view of the New Testament 

 The apostle Paul spent 18 months in Corinth, preaching the gospel and planting a church (Acts 18). The church in Corinth was a blessed church: I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 1:4-8). Amen!

But they were also a troubled church. In 1 Corinthians Paul addressed matters he had heard about and answered questions from a letter they sent him.

1-4 (heard) Divisions in the Church
5 (heard) Unusual immorality
6 (heard) Taking each other to court
6 (heard) Immorality part II
7 (letter) Marriage & Divorce
7:25 (letter) Virgins / Marriage & Divorce part II
8-10 (letter) Things offered to idols (Christian liberty)
11 Veils for women
10 & 11 (heard) The Lord’s Supper
12-14 (letter) Spiritual Gifts
15 (heard) Resurrection of the Dead
16 (letter) Collection for the saints in Jerusalem
16 (letter) Our brother Apollos

If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. (16:22-24)

In 2 Corinthians Paul responded to attacks made on him and his ministry by false teachers, attacks which had distressed the Corinthians. He explained and defended his ministry and provided spiritual encouragement to them.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen. (2 Cor 13:14)

 

 

Paul’s ministry in Galatia is described in Acts 13-14, where we read he preached the gospel in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe; many believed and churches were planted. Sometime after he left Judaizers came and caused a disturbance, telling the believers they needed to become Jews if they really wanted to be saved (be circumcised and keep the feasts). Paul wrote this letter to provide comfort and assurance in the faith and to warn them of the consequences of pursuing this false teaching.

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (3:26-29)

1-2 Paul’s testimony
3-4 The gospel explained. Again
5-6 Practical Application

“Having given the Argument of the Epistle, we now come to show what was the occasion St. Paul wrote it. He had planted the pure gospel, and the righteousness of faith among the Galatians, but after his departure false teachers crept in to overthrow all that he had truly taught. For the devil cannot but furiously impugn this doctrine, neither can he rest so long as any spark of it remaineth... For, by the preaching of it, the devil is overthrown, his kingdom destroyed, the law, sin, and death are wrested out of his hands, his prisoners are translated from the kingdom of darkness, into the kingdom of light and liberty.” Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians; translated by Erasmus Middleton

Paul’s first visit to Ephesus is found in Acts 19. He spent two years there, all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. (Acts 19:10-11)

“Of all Paul’s epistles, it is in Ephesians that we find the highest spiritual truths concerning the Christian life. The letter abounds with spiritual riches, and yet at the same time it is intensely practical. The first half of the letter reveals our life in Christ to be one of union with Him in the highest heavens. The second half shows us in very practical terms how such a heavenly life is to be lived by us down here on the earth. In the first section of the letter, we note the word SIT (2:6), which is the key to that section and the secret of a true Christian experience. God has made us to sit with Christ in the heavenly places, and every Christian must begin his spiritual life from that place of rest. In the second part we select the word WALK (4:1) as expressive of our life in the world, which is its subject. And finally, in the third part we find the key to our attitude toward the enemy contained in the one word STAND (6:11), expressive of our place of triumph at the end.”
Sit Walk Stand: The Process of Christian Maturity, Watchman Nee

An important and recurring phrase is “in Christ” (in Christ 8x / in whom 7x)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

 

 

In Acts 16 we read that Paul had a vision in which a man said to him, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. (16:9) In obedience to the vision he went to Macedonia and stopped in Philippi. We read of Lydia of Thyatira, the first convert in Europe, and then of the Philippian jailer; neither of whom is mentioned in the epistle!

Paul was very close to these saints, and they to him. They supported him financially - For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. (4:16) This epistle is essentially a thank you letter for their gift.

1 Paul’s current condition – prison
2 Beautiful explanation of the incarnation / Paul’s ministry is a drink offering
3 Warning against false teachers / Paul’s testimony

4 Written so we would have the chorus, “Rejoice in the Lord always” 😊

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (2:8-11) 

A Bird’s-eye view of the New Testament Part 1

 A Bird’s-eye view of the New Testament

 

The Four Gospels

While they all present Jesus as the Christ, the son of David, the Son of God, the Savior who was crucified and rose again, they each have a special emphasis:

MATTHEW – Christ the King of Israel. He begins, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” The emphasis is on the teaching of Jesus and his fulfilling the law and the prophets. The key phrase is, “that it might be fulfilled.”

MARK - Christ the suffering servant. There is no genealogy, it begins with a bang, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” The key word in Mark in “straightway” and rightly so, for the faithful servant of the Lord immediately obeys.

 LUKE - Christ the Son of Man. His genealogy goes all the way back to Adam. Emphasizes prayer and the Holy Spirit. He begins, “It seemed good to me…to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.”

JOHN – Christ the Son of God. He opens with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In Exodus 3:14 God had said of Himself, I AM THAT I AM; Jesus says of himself, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

The Gospel in one verse:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

 

 

 The Book of the Acts of the Apostles

 The Gospel of Luke is “all that Jesus began both to do and teach” and the Book of Acts (also written by Luke) is what Jesus continued to do by the Holy Spirit through the apostles and the Church. It provides its own basic outline: “ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” It opens in Jerusalem and closes in Rome. It is called the Acts of the Apostles, but focuses mainly on the ministries of Peter (1-12) and Paul (13-28).

1-7 The Gospel in Jerusalem and Judaea
8 The Gospel in Samaria
9 Paul converted
10-11 Cornelius, a Gentile god-fearer, believed
11:19-21 Scattered believers preached to Greeks in Antioch and many believed; Barnabas sent to Antioch to help the church; brought Paul in to help.
13 Barnabas and Paul called by the Holy Spirit and sent by the church
15 Council in Jerusalem about the salvation of the Gentiles
16 The Gospel came to Europe
21 Paul arrested in Jerusalem, sent to Rome

And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. (28:30-31)

 

The Epistle to the Romans

Written by Paul to the church in Rome to introduce himself and his message.

So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just by faith shall live.

1:18-3:18 All are under sin
3:19-5:23 Justification
6-8 Sanctification
9-11 Israel and The Gospel
12-16 Practical

“This Epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament and the very purest Gospel, and is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with the more precious it becomes, and the better it tastes.”

Preface of Martin Luther's Commentary on Romans (1552). Translated by J. Theodore Meuller

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.