Introduction

• Galatians 4:3

Pentecost was the first time the FULL gospel was preached.

• Luke 24:36-53 – Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until they would receive power from on high.
• Deuteronomy 16:16 – The Jews were to assemble to observe the feast.
• Acts 2:9-11 – People from all nations were gathered to hear the gospel.
• Acts 2:1-13, 23
• Acts 2:38-41
• Jesus had already preached much of the good news, but on this day the full picture was finally put together.

We can all be part of this.

• Acts 2:39 – “all who are far off” may be referring to Gentiles
• Ephesians 2:11-13

It was not popular them; it is not popular now.

• Acts 2:41; 4:4 – This was a good number of people, but still just a fraction of the total number gathered.
• Acts 13:45; 14:2; 17:13; 18:6; 19:9

This is it. There’s nothing else coming. No updates needed.

• Galatians 1:6-9

Matthew 1

Matthew 1:1-17 – Genealogies

• Importance, use of genealogies
  • Ezra 2:59-63 – There were serious consequences if you could not be found in the genealogies.
  • Nehemiah 7:63-65
• Matthew’s genealogy
  • Began his gospel with
  • Began with Jesus the Messiah, the son of David (II Samuel 7) the son of Abraham (Genesis 12)
  • Matthew arranged his genealogy into three clearly defined groups of 14 each (Matthew 1:17)
    • Why?
      • Abraham to David – Patriarchs
        • Rise of nation (14 including David)
      • David to Jeconiah – Kings
        • Downfall of nation (14 beginning with Solomon and counting Jeconiah)
      • Jeconiah to Christ – Citizens
• Luke’s genealogy
  • Not until chapter 3
  • Began with, “the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi”
  • Not arranged in any particular order
• The Messiah
  • Messiah means “anointed”
    • Greek form “Messias”: used only twice – John 1:41; 4:25
    • Hebrew form: used only twice – Daniel 9:25, 26
  • Jesus claimed to be the Messiah (Christ) in Mark 14:61-64
  • What evidence was there that these Messianic claims were valid?
    • The character of Matthew and Jesus
      • “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” - Matthew 1:1
    • Where did Matthew (and other Jews) get this genealogy?
      • Eusebius (“father of church history”) says the writing of Matthew occurred about twelve years after the death of Christ. Some scholars believe that this would place the writing of Matthew as early as AD 40-45 and as late as AD 55. (See When Were the Gospels Written)
  • Matthew gives Christ’s legal succession through Joseph.
  • Luke traces his biological succession through Mary.
  • Either way, you want to examine His genealogy. It ties Jesus legally and biologically to the Old Testament Messianic promises.
  • If Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogy are faulty, Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah are bogus.

Note on abortion

• According to Dr. Luke, the Bible makes no distinction between …

Introduction

• Proverbs 23:23
• Objective – truth that exists independently of individual perspectives, emotions, or biases.
• Subjective – based on my individual experience, and not to be universally applied.
• John 8:44

Truth is inescapable

• Acts 17:16-21, 30-33 – Did their rejection mean that what Paul said wasn’t true? No!
• Some things are universally true.
• Some people believe people can choose to be cats.
• If you try to say there is no objective truth, you are making a statement about objective truth and are inconsistent with yourself.

Humans often have a flawed perception of truth, but that doesn’t mean truth doesn’t exist.

I may be opposed to the truth.

• II Timothy 3:7-9, 1-6

I may be mistaken.

• Hebrews 5:11-14
• Dan Barker tried to argue that since all Christians don’t agree, God may not exist. But all atheists don’t agree either!

I may be sincerely mistaken.

• Acts 26:9

I may be deceived.

• II John 1:7
• Matthew 7:15-18
• I John 4:1
• If I am deceived, I need to become more discerning.

Truth exists, even in the moral and spiritual realm.

• John 14:6 – Is this objective or subjective?
• John 17:17 – Is God’s word only true sometimes? No!
• John 8:31-32
• John 12:48 – God’s word will judge us.
• Romans 1:28-31, 18, 25
• Romans 2:5-8 – “the truth”

Introduction

• People often name Philippians as their favorite book of the Bible, mainly because it speaks so much about joy.
• Paul visited Philippi during his second missionary journey.
• Acts 16:6-15 – Paul arrives in Philippi after receiving the “Macedonian call” and immediately has success teaching the gospel, teaching Lydia and others.
• Acts 16:16-18 – Paul encounters a girl with an unclean spirit, which Paul casts out of the girl.
• Acts 16:19-24 – Paul and Silas are thrown in prison on false charges by the men who were using the girl for fortune-telling.
• Acts 16:25-30 – Paul and Silas were praying and singing when God released their bonds. The Philippian jailer asked what to do to be saved. He evidently knew enough to ask the question.
• Acts 16:31-34 – The Philippian jailer is baptized, along with his entire family.
• Acts 16:35-40 – Paul and Silas were released and escorted out of the city. Paul evidently wanted to make the point that they had done nothing wrong with regard to the gospel. He may have also been trying to make life easier for the disciples he was leaving behind.

Paul’s contact with the Philippians

• Second journey (Acts 16) – 50-53 AD
• Third journey (Acts 20:6) – 54-57 AD
• Letter from prison (Rome, Acts 28) – 61-63 AD

Philippians 1

• Philippians 1:1 – “Saints” just meant “holy ones” and was a common term for Christians. It did not have the special connotations that some apply to the term today.
  • New Testament terms for local church leaders
    • Presbuteros: translated as elder or presbyter
    • Episkopos: translated as overseer or bishop
    • Poimen: translated as pastor or shepherd
    • How do we know these words all refer to the same men? The words are used interchangeably in Acts 20:17, 28; I Peter 5:1-2.

What does scripture say?

• What is a wise man?
  • Context is everything
  • In New Testament, Greek “Magos”
  • Can mean magician, astronomer, scientist, doctor, etc.
  • True meaning usually derived from text
  • Acts 13:6 – Bar-Jesus (Elymas)
• Hebrew “Chakam”
  • Wise men – 124 times
  • Cunning – 10 times
  • Unwise – 2 times
  • Wiser – 2 times
  • Subtle (shrewd) – 1 time
  • Not the same as sorcerer (Kashaph) or magician (chartom)

Wise men in Old Testament

• Pharaohs had wise men AND sorcerers
  • Genesis 41:8
  • Exodus 7:11
• Nebuchadnezzar’s wise men – Daniel 2:2
  • Magicians – occult knowledge
  • Sorcerers
  • Conjurers – astrologers
  • Chaldeans – smartest people in the land (compare Bohemian)
• There were men who were wise
  • Their virtues were extolled
  • Deuteronomy 1:13-15
  • Proverbs 13:20; 29:8

Wisdom in the New Testament

• Compared to foolish – Matthew 7:24-27
• Their wisdom compared to God’s majesty – Romans 1:20-23
• Wisdom desirable for a Christian – Romans 16:19; Ephesians 5:15
• But not in one’s own eyes – Romans 11:25
• Not in the wisdom of this world – I Corinthians 1:20

What about the magi?

• Translations divided between “magi” and “wise men”
  • Transliteration versus translation
  • Selection of “wise men” over other possibilities
  • Dodging the issue by transliteration
    • Similar to “baptism”
• What happened
  • Matthew 2:1-12
    • Matthew 2:6 – This is a quote from Micah 5:2.
  • Took place “… after Jesus was born in Bethlehem …”
    • Not the night of His birth
    • Wise men from “the East”
      • Likely Persia (Iran)
      • One-way trip of 800-900 miles
      • Daniel 9:24-27
        • Written in Persia
        • Timeline given
      • Balaam’s prophecy? Numbers 24:17
    • Were they Jews?
      • Many had remained after the captivity
      • At the time, outnumbered Jews in Judea
      • “His star” was their signal of the event
  • Went to Jerusalem
    • Began inquiring whereabouts of Jesus
    • Stated intent to worship Him
    • Herod’s trouble
    • Scribes and priests understood prophecy of Micah
    • Herod got the timing of Jesus’ birth from appearance of star
    • Herod’s lie – intent to worship
    • Wise men go, find, give, worship
      • Star indicated where Jesus was
      • They rejoiced
      • Three gifts or gifts of three things?
        • Gold
          • Valuable, could fund journey to Egypt
          • Representative of royalty, divinity
        • Frankincense
          • Sap from the Boswellia tree – Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, South Africa, India
          • Also valuable in trade
          • Used in offerings (see Leviticus 2:1-2 – grain offerings)
          • Exodus 30:34 – Kept in the testimony of the tabernacle
          • Symbolic of Jesus as high priest?
        • Myrrh
          • Sap of Commiphora tree
          • Purification ritual – Esther 2:12
          • Anointing tabernacle, high priests, kings
          • Bitter taste – Mark 15:23
          • Embalming – John 19:39-40
      • Aided in Jesus’ escape
    • How did they know not to go back to Herod?
    • Herod’s subsequence action – Matthew 2:16-18

What can we say about the wise men?

• Read, understood, believed God’s word
• Sought Jesus – despite great effort involved
• Saw Him as God – to be humbly worshipped
• Saw Him as valuable – opened their treasures to Him
• In conflict of commands – Herod and God
• Chose to obey God