Basic Christian

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-- The Bible study is dedicated in the name of Jesus, Christ, God, Son, and Savior

The Bible study is dedicated in the name of Jesus, Christ, God, Son, and Savior. May the Lord Jesus Christ be honored by our devotions, our study and in our fellowship. May all the people be blessed and grow in the grace and knowledge of the love and presence of God our creator and our savior. - Amen!

Matthew 1 - Matthew the first of the eyewitness Gospel accounts of the physical life of Jesus Christ [the Gospels are placed in the Bible in the order that they were written, (the epistle 'Book of James' was probably the first New Testament document written) the epistles (letters) are placed according to their size - largest to smallest - then The Book of Revelation completes and closes the Bible Scriptures] - Matthew is going to prove beyond a reason of doubt that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah (Christ) by documenting Jesus' birth and descendancy from King David via the Jewish Temple genealogy scrolls and also by referencing the prophecies and scripture descriptions from the Hebrew Bible foretelling His coming - Matthew having established that Jesus is the Christ then narrates the Divine Ministry of Jesus Christ - The Ministry of Jesus in transitioning the Jewish Nation from faith and trust in exclusively following the law to faith and trust in a relationship with the living God the Messiah (Christ) - 'Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of [King] David ...' - 'Matthew 1:18-22 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise ... now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord [God] by the prophet ...'

Eligible to be King: The genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew is given because any future King in Israel would have to show their relationship and eligibility to the previous throne of King David. In modern times an eligible relationship to King David could not be established as the Jewish Temple genealogy scrolls were destroyed in the 70 AD destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. The possibility does not exist of having a modern, post 70 AD, Messiah because it would not be possible for a person to confirm the required King David genealogy [for a King and also the promised Messiah] and it would be impossible in modern times for a person to fulfill the Old Testament laws, prophecies and Biblical accounts that substantiated Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, the Christ. -- 'Matthew 1:1-16 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; ... And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; 16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.' -- 'Matthew 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.'

Ray Stedman - Adventuring Through the Bible - The Message of Matthew: BEHOLD YOUR KING! - People often wonder why we have four Gospels - There is a very good reason for this - It is interesting to note that each of these Gospels is a development of an exclamatory statement that is found in the Old Testament - Four different times -- and only four times -- in the Old Testament there was an exclamatory statement made concerning the Messiah, introduced always by the word ***behold - In one of the prophets (Zechariah 9:9) we read, "Behold thy King, O Israel!" In another place (Zechariah 6:12) we read, "Behold the man!" In a third place (Isaiah 42:1) we read, "Behold my servant!" In still a fourth place (Isaiah 35:3, Amos 4:12) we read, "Behold thy God!" These four statements are amplified and developed in the four Gospels -- Matthew, the Gospel of the King; Mark, the Gospel of the Servant; Luke, the Gospel of the Son of man; and John, the Gospel of God, the presentation of the Son of God (Mp3s)

Beginning in the New Testament we move from the realm of shadow, type, and prophecy, into the full sunshine of the presentation of the Son of God. The Old Testament speaks of him on every page, but speaks in shadows, in types, in symbols, and in prophecies -- all looking forward to the coming of Someone. You cannot read the Old Testament without being aware of that constant promise running through every page -- Someone is coming! Someone is coming! Now, when we open the Gospels, that Someone steps forth in the fullness of his glory. As John says, "We have beheld his glory...as of the only Son from the Father," (John 1:14 (RSV). I love the Gospels. They are to me one of the most perennially fascinating sections of the Bible. There you see Christ as He is. Remember that what He was is what He is; and what He is is what you have, if you are a Christian. All the fullness of His character and being and life is available to us, and we only learn what those resources are as we see Him as He was and is. That is why the Gospel records are so important to us. People often wonder why we have four Gospels. There is a very good reason for this. It is interesting to note that each of these Gospels is a development of an exclamatory statement that is found in the Old Testament. Four different times -- and only four times -- in the Old Testament there was an exclamatory statement made concerning the Messiah, introduced always by the word behold. In one of the prophets we read, "Behold thy king, O Israel!" In another place we read, "Behold the man!" In a third place we read, "Behold my servant!" In still a fourth place we read, "Behold thy God!" These four statements are amplified and developed in the four Gospels -- Matthew, the Gospel of the King; Mark, the Gospel of the Servant; Luke, the Gospel of the Son of man; and John, the Gospel of God, the presentation of the Son of God. These four Gospels give us four aspects of our Lord's character and person. They are not, strictly speaking, biographies. They are really sketches about the Person of Christ -- eyewitness accounts by those who knew him personally, or those immediately associated with them. Therefore, they have the ring of authenticity, and they carry to our hearts that first and marvelous impression that our Lord made upon his own disciples, and then upon the multitudes that followed him. No more amazing character has ever walked among men. As you read the Gospel accounts, I hope something of this fascination breaks upon your own heart as you see him stepping forth from these pages, revealed to you by the Spirit, when you see Him as He is. The first book of the New Testament is Matthew, and this is the place where most people start reading the Bible. I think more people begin reading in the New Testament than the Old, therefore, that would make Matthew the most widely read book in all the world. In fact, Renan, the French skeptic, said of this book, "This is the most important book of all Christendom." He also said, "The most important book that has ever been written is the Gospel of Matthew." But it has its critics, too. There are those who claim that this book contains nothing but the early legends of the church which grew up around Jesus, that these accounts are not historical, and that this book was not actually written until the fourth century A.D. Therefore, they say, we are uncertain as to how much is really true. Other critics make the claim that this is only one of many gospels that were circulated. Now, it is true that there are other gospels besides the four in the New Testament. There is the Gospel of Barnabas, for instance, and the Gospel of Peter, and yet other gospels. They can be found in a book called "The New Testament Apocrypha" if you would like to read them. The critics say that it is mere chance that these four Gospels survived. There is a legend that began with a German theologian named Pappas in about the 16th century who said that the Gospels were selected at the Council of Nice in 325 A.D. by gathering together all the many gospels that were circulating at that time, throwing them all under a table, and then reaching in and pulling out four which happened to be Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The foolishness of such a claim is evident to anyone who reads the Gospels with thoughtfulness. They are stamped with the fingerprints of God. The very pattern of these books reflects the divine imprint, and you cannot read them or compare them with the Old Testament without seeing that they come from an inspired source. Furthermore, you have merely to compare them with the Apocryphal gospels to see how foolish such a claim is.

Which Language Did Jesus Speak - Aramaic or Hebrew? - There is no ground for assuming that Jesus did not speak Hebrew; and when we are told (Acts 21:40) that [Apostle] Paul spoke Hebrew [to the crowd in Jerusalem], we should take this piece of information at face value" - we also have that of the Church Fathers - Eight early writers assert that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew - The most important of these testimonies is that of Papias (birth about 60 AD - 135 AD, source wiki.com), a second century Church father "Matthew recorded in the Hebrew language the words [of Jesus], and everyone [Egyptian, Greek, Roman, etc.] interpreted them as he is able"

A Final Witness: In addition to the witnesses of the New Testament itself, archaeology, and linguistic scholarship, we also have that of the Church Fathers. Of them, Jean Carmignac says, "Eight early writers assert that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew: altogether there are over thirty formal assertions that this was so in the works of Papias, Hegesippus, Irenaeus, Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius and Jerome". The most important of these testimonies is that of Papias, a second century Church father: "Matthew recorded in the Hebrew language the words [of Jesus], and everyone interpreted them as he is able". Dr. Brad Young sums up the importance of considering the Jewish background of Jesus' life and teachings: "�without consideration of the Jewish parallels, the Gospels will forever be filtered through Western culture, and Jesus will be completely missed or greatly misunderstood�The world�including church leaders and outstanding scholars, often has missed Jesus. The original Jewish environment of his life promises to reveal a new vision of Jesus and his message" (Jesus the Jewish Theologian, p. xxxvi).

RayStedman.org: ADVENTURING THROUGH THE BIBLE by Ray C. Stedman - #40 The 400 Years between the Old and New Testaments (Mp3)

Sunday evening services at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, were the setting for a series of 67 messages on the entire Bible preached by Ray C. Stedman. One book of the Bible was covered per message, with an additional message inserted to cover the history of the "400 Silent Years" between the close of the Old Testament canon (Malachi) and the First Gospel (Matthew). This series commenced June 28, 1964 and was completed on August 4, 1968. These sermons constitute Discovery Papers #201-267 inclusive. The book version, "Adventuring Through the Bible," was released in late 1997 and is currently in print.

Apocrypha - Deuterocanonical Books of the Bible Apocrypha (Text)

The Project Gutenberg Etext of Deuterocanonical Books of the Bible also known as the Apocrypha [Book titles added as there were none in the files we received. One typo of Ezra to Esdr was changed as were some of the marginations. The books were each received as an Etext file, and have been put here into one single file for utilty and they are placed in an order suggested by one of our advisors--we would be happy to post indices of other suggested orderings and other commentaries.]

Generations of Jesus Christ - In the first chapter of the New Testament in Matthew 1:17 - These are fourteen of the generations from Abraham to King David - Matthew omits three generations (Kings) after Joram -- namely Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah (1 Chron. 3:11-12) and fourteen from King David's time to the exile - and fourteen from the exile to Christ {Matthew omitted the descendants of Jezebel [removed by God] from the genealogy. Kind David is counted twice and there are other known jumps in the Matthew genealogy of Joseph [the Stepfather of Jesus] as well.}

The genealogy (Heb. yachas, Gr. genealogia) is listed as such : Genealogy of Jesus Christ is divided into three sets of fourteen generations each, probably to aid memorization. - Judah was only the fourth son of Jacob. Matthew omits three generations (Kings) after Joram -- namely Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah (1 Chron. 3:11-12). Even in Ezra 7:1-5, six generations of priesthood are omitted, compared to 1 Chron. 6:3-15, thus such an omission in Hebrew genealogies is not peculiar to Matthew's religious considerations. He names Zerah (Za'ra) as well as Perez (Pha'res) and mentions the brothers of Judah and of Jeconiah, which is unusual. [Tamar], Ra'chab and Ruth are gentiles. Abiud through Matthan are not found in the Old Testament, but taken from a public registry. Matthew gave the names of those who were heirs to the Davidic throne, compared to Luke's [Mary] genealogy from Jesus to Adam that records that of the physical descent with his humanity. Both make plain his virgin birth, and therefore his deity.

Josh McDowell - The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict - Part One (YouTube)

Josh McDowell is regarded by most Christians and theologians as one of the most effective apologetics speakers around. When McDowell published his first powerful defense of the Bible in his book, "The Evidence That Demands A Verdict," it became a national bestseller within a matter of months. McDowell's writings contained a body of undeniable evidence on the validity of Holy Scripture. More recently McDowell has added even more solid information to his thesis, and, to the dismay of agnostics and atheists, made the validity of the Bible even MORE undeniable. This is the special television version of that powerful information presented by McDowell himself.

Josh McDowell - The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict - Part Two (YouTube)