THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
Matthew 3:13-4:11
THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH
V:13-14. " Then Jesus came from Galilee
to the Jordan
A. According to Luke 3:23 ,
Jesus began His ministry when He was thirty years old.
1. God does not
give us much information about Jesus life until He began teaching
and preaching
the Gospel.
2. Here is what we
know about His childhood according to scripture.
a. We know of
His birth in a manger.
b. We know
Jesus was circumcised at 8 days old . Luke 2:21
c. We know
Jesus was dedicated in the temple 40 days of age. Like 2:22 .
d. We know the
wise men came to visit Him in a house in Jerusalem
age of 2
years old.
e. We know God instructed Mary and Joseph
to take the child Jesus to Egypt
to escape
the death decree all babies two and under by King Herod.
f. We know God
allowed Mary and Joseph to return to Galilee after the
death
of Herod.
g. We know
Jesus was taken to Jerusalem
age of 12
by Mary and Joseph.
h. Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature and favor of God. Luke 2:15
i. Jesus grew
up with four brothers and at least two sisters. Matthew 13:55
B. Jesus set doctrine of Baptism and Faith in motion for the
Church.
1. Jesus being the
Church, was the first to baptized in the Church.
2. With John, he
set faith as the operation of the Church.
3. John wanted to
be baptized by Jesus, but Jesus used him as an officer of
Church to
perform His baptism.
4. John did not
push his point, but followed Jesus command.
5. The Just live
by faith and not by sight.
6. After His
resurrection Jesus gave His disciples the great commission
Matthew
28:19-20
"Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey
everything I
have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the
age."
THE EQUIPPING OF THE CHURCH
V:15-`16. " Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it
is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John
consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water.
At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my
Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
A. Your job as a messenger of Christ is important in the
lives of others.
1.Like John, you
may be the forerunner to the next great evangelist.
2. God prepares
us to present the Gospel to people we meet and
may never get
to know well.
3. God uses us as
drawing cards to introduce people to Him.
B. Jesus is our high priest.
1. He was
anointed for this office by baptism for purification.
2. He was given
the power of the office by the giving of the Holy Spirit.
3. By baptism of
John, Jesus became our substitute for sin.
4. Like Abraham,
Jesus believed God, therefore became the righteous substitute
for our
sake.
C. Jesus set the standard for a relationship with him,
baptism and faith in the
Word.
1. Jesus did not
need baptism for He was sinless.
2. He is the Word
by which we are made clean.
3. John's message
was one of repentance.
4. Jesus message
was one of redemption.
5. They that come
to Christ must confess their sins and have
faith in Him.
6. Jesus permitted
Himself to be baptized to identify with sinners,
D. The Holy Trinity is represented in this verse.
a. The person of
God the Father speaking from heaven.
b. The person of
God the Son presenting Himself to be baptized.
c. The person of
the Holy Spirit resting on Jesus, symbolic of His
abiding with
us,
d. Jesus had love
of Father and the power of the Holy Spirit.
THE MISSION
V.4:1. " Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the
desert to be tempted by the devil."
A. The faith of All believers will be tested by God.
1. It is through
our test that our faith grows.
2. Jesus
willingly submitted Himself to be tempted by the devil according
to the will
of the Father.
3. He was
loved by the Father, yet He was tested.
4. He had done
nothing wrong, yet He was tested.
5. The Father was
completely pleased with Jesus, yet He tested Him.
B. What was the purpose of testing Jesus?
1. The Father, the
Son And the Holy Spirit are one.
2. Before now,
they were spiritual beings.
3. In the flesh,
Jesus would be under the Law which He was the author.
4. In the flesh
Jesus would operate under the guidance of the Father
and the power
of the Holy Spirit.
5. Perhaps the
test were designed to see how Jesus would operate in the
flesh or to
prepare Him for His ministry.
The only way to
defeat the devil is with the Word of God.
You have to study the
Word to know the Word,
Satan knows your
weakness in the Word.
1 John 2:16
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is
of the world."
During the test in the wilderness, Jesus meets the world for
the first time as an
ambassador for the Father.
THE TESTING OF THE CHURCH
V:2-3. " After fasting forty days and forty nights, he
was hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son
of God, tell these stones to become bread."
A. This first temptation was a setup. After fasting for 40
days, any person would be
hungry.
1. The devil will
attack you in your area of weakness.
2. Most people in
certain conditions have a weakness for
food.
B. Notice the challenge to Jesus.
1. The devil
challenged the divinity of Jesus.
2. The devil
picked a fleshly subject to challenge the authority of God over
His creation.
3. The key is to
recognize a devilish situation and respond appropriately.
THE OPERATION OF THE CHURCH
V:4. " Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does
not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God."
A. Jesus did not say you don't need bread, what He said was
that satisfying the
flesh is not the
entire answer.
1. In order to
make an educated decision, you need the Word of God.
2. We should never
make a decision based on the desires of the flesh.
Matthew 26:41
"Watch
and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but
the
flesh is
weak."
3. A key to making
a decision is prayer.
4. A second key is
waiting on an answer from the Lord.
THE FAITH OF THE CHURCH
V:5-6. " Then the devil took him to the holy city and
had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of
God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
"'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a
stone.'"
A. Notice the challenge escalates.
1. Not only does
the devil challenge the divinity of Jesus
but also His knowledge of the Word.
2. The devil is
so bold that he take Jesus to His own house which He designed
and
challenged Him to die to prove who He
Is.
3. Jesus came to
die for the sins of the world but not for the foolishness of man.
B. The devil tried to
use the Word to discredit the Word.
1. Believers
should never try to defend the Word with an argument, but with
continuous Bible
study.
2. Believers have
to study to know the Word when challenged.
STUDY THE WORD TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED
V:7. " Jesus answered him, "It is also written:
'Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
A. A common mistake
of believers and none believers is to take scripture out
its context to
make it fit their limited understanding.
1. Sometimes we
chose a scripture to justify our actions.
2. If a person
interpretation of scripture differ from yours, do some personal
Bible study.
3. If your
interpretation of scripture justifies your fleshly desires, do some
personal Bible
study.
B. Scripture will never promote sin, hatred, intolerance,
disrespectable behavior
THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH
V:8. " Again, the devil took him to a very high
mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9
"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and
worship me."
A. Satan's ultimate goal is to steal the worship from the
Lord and claim it for himself.
1. Isaiah 14:12-13
How art thou
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut
down to the
ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast
said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the
stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the
north:
2. For some 1400
years before the birth of Christ, Satan had been successful in
getting man
to break God's command for worship.
Exodus
20:3-5
Thou shalt
have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt
not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that
is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under
the
earth:
Thou shalt
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God
am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto
the
third and
fourth generation of them that hate me;
3. What a great
victory for Satan if he could get the Church to worship him.
a. We must
be careful that the message of God is not diluted to fit the
desires
of the world.
b. Satan is
busy in the Church painting a picture of Jesus as a Burger King
messiah.
c. You cannot
get all the benefits of heaven without change and repentance.
THE VICTORY OF THE CHURCH
V:10. " Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan!
For it is written: 'Worship the Lord
your God, and serve
him only."
A. When it comes to worship, there are no options.
1. The beginning
of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
2. We should
reverence the Lord with all our heart.
3. Worship
involves service and sacrifice.
B. Jesus became flesh to die for our sins. so we can have
eternal life
with Him.
1. Satan offers
death and destruction.
2. You cannot buy
salvation, it is a free gift.
3. Salvation is
more valuable than anything man can offer.
THE COMFORT OF THE CHURCH
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended
him.
A. Those who serve the Lord will be comforted by Him.
1. There are times
in mission of the Lord when family and
friends are
not available for comfort.
2. But Lord is
always there when we need support.
3. King David
express his comfort in the Lord in the
23 Psalms.
"The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want"
B. There are times when we are weaken by the events of the
service.
1. It is in our
alone time with the Lord that He strengthens
our spirit.
2. Since the Lord
is ever present with us, He knows when we need
to be
entertained by angels.
THANK GOD FOR THE
OPERATION OF THE CHURCH
Rev. M. Mitchell
Asst Pastor Of Greater Macedonia
Baptist Church
For more lessons follow me on face book
and visit my blogs: goodnewsrevmitc.blogspot.com and
revmmitchell.com
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