A Journey Through The Bible Volume 3: Matthew - 2 Thessalonians

By Denis Lyle

As you take this journey through the scriptures with Denis, his many years of teaching and living God's word will help you grow in your understanding of the scripture and so develop your walk with God, His easy to read style, vivid illustrations, pithy quotes and challenging questions along with his own love for expositional teaching makes this book one that you will want to read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Ritchie Ltd
• Release date: Jul 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393443001

Book preview

Volume 3

Matthew to 2 Thessalonians

DENIS LYLE

C Y P

Christian Year Publications

Print Book ISBN-13: 978 1 912522 63 7

Copyright © 2019 by Denis Lyle and John Ritchie Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievable system, or transmitted in any form or by any other means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior permission of the copyright owner.

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:14-17

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Bibliography

Chapter 1. Matthew

Chapter 2. Mark

Chapter 3. Luke

Chapter 4. John

Chapter 5. Acts

Chapter 6. Romans

Chapter 7. 1 Corinthians

Chapter 8. 2 Corinthians

Chapter 9. Galatians

Chapter 10. Ephesians

Chapter 11. Philippians

Chapter 12. Colossians

Chapter 13. 1 Thessalonians

Chapter 14. 2 Thessalonians

Foreword

I count it a great honour and privilege to be asked to write this Foreword to the third volume in Pastor Lyle’s series of A Journey Through The Bible.

I have known Denis for a number of years now and have always enjoyed and profited greatly from his friendship, counsel and spiritual example. I count him as a great friend, a brother in Christ and, most of all, a man of God.

A Journey Through The Bible ... what a journey it has been so far as God’s servant has taken us through the 39 books of the Old Testament bringing to us treasures both old and new.

Augustine once said concerning the Word of God: The New is in the Old concealed and the Old is by the New revealed. That reality will become very clear as Pastor Lyle opens up the New Testament and again, as before, brings us to the Saviour’s feet. Every reader of this third volume will see the beautiful harmony of the entire Word of God and like the two on the road to Emmaus be thrilled as they see Christ as all and in all.

Denis’ wealth of Biblical knowledge, endless hours of study, years of pastoral experience and intimate prayer life all become very apparent in reading any of his books and this highly anticipated continuation to this survey of the Bible will, I am sure, be no different.

Every Christian is a disciple (Acts 11.26). Every Christian should, therefore, be a student of God’s precious Word, for the word disciple simply means learner or pupil. These books will furnish every Bible student with a resource that will aid them greatly in getting the most out of the Scriptures, whether they are studying for personal profit or preparing a message for the pulpit or group Bible study.

I heartily commend this book to every reader in the knowledge that it will be a great blessing to all.

I also wish Denis and Catherine God’s richest blessing as they continue to serve the Master together.

Thank you, brother, for continuing to make these studies available to a wider audience.

Roger Higginson

Minister of Coleraine Free Presbyterian Church, Northern Ireland.

May 2019

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart (Jeremiah 15.16).

Preface

These books are the outcome of a series of studies conducted in Lurgan Baptist Church on Tuesday evenings. They began in the autumn of 2013 and concluded in the spring of 2017. On this Journey, I took one book of the Bible each night and sought to give an overview of it.

It was a great encouragement to me to see a good attendance and a good interest Tuesday by Tuesday. Some travelled many miles to be with us. Others joined us from a distance by means of sermonaudio.com.

From time to time, the suggestion was made that my sermons should be produced as books – and I am delighted that this has been possible.

The Old Testament has been covered in two volumes and as we now enter the New Testament, I am delighted to see the publication of this third volume.

Volume 4, covering the books from 1 Timothy through to Revelation, should be published within the next few months, thus completing the series.

It has been very encouraging to have received so many positive comments on Volumes 1 and 2 and it is my prayer that you will be blessed by reading these chapters on Matthew to 2 Thessalonians.

As I pointed out in the Preface to Volume 2, over the course of my ministry, I have preached on many different subjects. However, the series preached on ‘A Journey Through the Bible’ was the series I found most difficult. To aid my understanding, I drew widely from all sorts of writers. Their books on the Bible enlightened me, enriched me and encouraged me and some of their content is found in these Volumes. That is my disclaimer to plagiarism.

As I wrote in my Preface to Volume 1, I trust that as you ponder the pages of ‘A Journey Through the Bible’ that you will have a new appreciation of the written Word and a fresh appreciation of our wonderful Saviour, of whom this Book so eloquently speaks.

Denis Lyle

Moira

Northern Ireland

June 2019

Bibliography

Unlocking the Bible: J. David Pawson - Collins

Willmington’s Guide to the Bible: H.L. Willmington - Tyndale House, Wheaton, Illinois

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament: Warren Wiersbe - Victor Books

The Bible Exposition Commentary: Warren Wiersbe - Victor Books

The Message of the Old Testament: Mark Dever - Crossway Books

The Message of the New Testament: Mark Dever - Crossway Books

The MacArthur Bible Handbook: John MacArthur - Thomas Nelson

Adventuring Through the Bible: Ray Stedman - Discovery House Publishers

God’s Wonderful Word: Trevor Knight - Young Life

A Sure Foundation: Alan Cairns - Ambassador

Bible Survey Outlines: Roland V. Hudson - Eerdmans Publishing Company

Explore The Book: J. Sidlow Baxter - Zondervan Publishing House

The Bible Book by Book: Raymond Brown - Collins

Know your Bible: Graham Scroggie - Pickering & Inglis

From Cover to Cover: Brian Harbour - Broadman Press

Exploring the Old Testament Book by Book: John Phillips - Kregel

Exploring the New Testament Book by Book: John Phillips - Kregel

The Old Testament: Gareth Crossley - Evangelical Press

Jensen’s Survey of the Old Testament: Irving Jensen - Moody Press

A Survey of the New Testament: Robert H. Gundry - The Paternoster Press

The Collected Writings of J.B. Hewitt: Gospel Tract Publications

Basic Bible Study Notes: Ian Brown (Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church, Belfast)

An Introduction to the New Testament: Lamoyne Sharpe - Printed in U.S.A.

CHAPTER 1

Matthew

Between the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, and the first book of the New Testament, Matthew, are about four hundred ‘silent’ years. After Malachi had spoken, Heaven went silent. We could say that the Lord went ‘off the air’. There was ‘no broadcasting’ for four hundred years until the day when the angel of the Lord came to Zacharias the priest with the announcement that his son John the Baptist would be the forerunner of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, although the voice of God was silent during these years, the hand of God was active, directing the course of events during these centuries. Indeed, the history of these years followed various prophecies found in the prophecy of Daniel: Chapter 2; Chapter 7; Chapter 8 and Chapter 11. Yet so much that meets us when we turn from the Old Testament to the New Testament is new. You see, things have changed:

1. POLITICALLY

In Daniel 2 verses 39 and 40, Daniel predicted that control of the land of Israel would pass from the Empire of Medo-Persia, to Greece and then to Rome. The Old Testament closed with the Persian Empire ruling the Jews (539-332 B.C.), but in about 333 B.C. Alexander the Great defeated the Persian King, Darius III, and that gave him control of the lands of the Persian Empire. The land of Israel thus passed into Greek control in 332 B.C. (Daniel 8:5-7, 20 & 21 and Chapter 11:3). Tradition has it that in the same year Alexander the Great visited Jerusalem and was shown the prophecy of Daniel which spoke of him and he, therefore, spared the city. When Alexander died in 323 B.C. the Empire was divided and the land became a pawn in the power struggles of Syria and Egypt, being ruled by whichever power happened to be the stronger at the time.

In this inter-testamental period, the Ptolemys and the Seleucids ruled. The Ptolemys were kind to the Jews, but the Seleucids were not. In 198 B.C., Israel came under Seleucid control and a man by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes, a Syrian king, came onto the stage of history. He was a Jew-hater. He desecrated the temple in Jerusalem by taking a pig, an unclean animal, and sacrificing it on the altar. He was called ‘The Madman’ and has been described as the ‘Nero of Jewish history’. He is a picture of the Antichrist who will appear during the Tribulation period. His persecution of the Jews provoked the Maccabean Revolt. It was commenced by Mattathias and continued by his son, Judas Maccabaeus, whose name means ‘the hammer’. After a twenty-four year war (166-142 B.C.), the Jews were able to gain their independence from Syria because of the growing Roman pressure on the Seleucids. It might interest you to know that the descendants of Mattathias founded the Hasmonean dynasty and that dynasty ended in 63 B.C. when Pompey the Great conquered Israel and brought the country under the iron rule of Rome (Daniel 2:40; Chapter 7:7). Continuing unrest led the Romans to make Herod the Great King of Judaea and he ruled Israel from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. when our Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

When God wants to accomplish His sovereign purposes, He just sets aside one nation and takes up another nation. He set Babylon aside and replaced it with Medo-Persia. He set Medo-Persia aside and replaced it with Greece. He set Greece aside and replaced it with Rome. Are you not glad of this: God is still on the throne? History is His Story!

2. RELIGIOUSLY

When we come into the New Testament, we read of sects and parties that were unknown in Old Testament times. There were:

The Pharisees: The ‘separated ones’, they arose to defend the Jewish way of life against all foreign influences. They were strict legalists who believed in the Old Testament. They were nationalists in politics and wanted to restore the kingdom to the line of David.

The Sadducees: They were the liberals of their day who wanted to get rid of tradition. These were the people who denied the supernatural. Although numerically smaller than the Pharisees, they were wealthy and influential.

The Scribes: These had their origin in the days of Ezra. They were the interpreters and teachers of the Scriptures but they had become the ‘hair splitters’ and Christ denounced them for making the Scriptures of no effect by their traditions.

The Herodians: They were a political party who sought to maintain the Herods on the throne. They looked on Christ as a revolutionary and opposed Him on those grounds.

The Zealots: They were fanatical defenders of theocracy and engaged in acts of violence against the Romans. Luke 6 verse 15 tells us that one of the disciples came from this group – Simon Zelotes.

So, when we step onto the pages of the New Testament we have all these parties. Moreover, far and wide among the Jews synagogues have sprung up as places of worship. The Sanhedrin was the supreme civil religious body within the Jewish nation.

3. CULTURALLY

Bible scholars talk about the ‘Diaspora’, the dispersion of Jews in the Greek and Roman Empires. These Jews did much to spread abroad the basic ideas on which the gospel was to be founded. The Jewish Messianic hope was kept alive so that when the apostles began to preach that Christ had come, many were ready to believe. The Greeks had also left an indelible mark on the ancient world. Indeed, the Greek language greatly expedited the missionary outreach of Paul. And what about the Romans? Well, they hammered the world into one vast empire and flung their roads across the world. Indeed a Roman peace had descended on the world. But, with all this culture, there was only the emptiness of pagan religions.

Thus, although this was a period marked by the silence of God, it is evident that God was preparing the world for the coming of Christ. The Jewish people, the Greek civilization, the Roman Empire and the seething multitudes of the Orient were all being prepared for the coming of a Saviour, insomuch that they produced the scene which Paul labelled, in Galatians 4 verse 4: the fulness of the time. Can you see it in a different light now? Politically, Religiously, Culturally! But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons (Galatians 4:4-5).

It is interesting to note that the four Gospels are directed to the four major groups in the world of that day:

The Gospel of Matthew: was written to the nation of Israel.

It presents Christ as the King and He is portrayed as Lion-like.

The Gospel of Mark: was written to the Romans.

It presents Christ as the Servant and He is portrayed as Ox-like.

The Gospel of Luke: was written to the Greeks.

It presents Christ as the Perfect Man and He is portrayed as Man-like.

The Gospel of John: was written to Believers.

It presents Christ as the Mighty God and He is portrayed as Eagle-like.

It is also interesting that the living creatures seen by Ezekiel in Chapter 1 of his prophecy each had the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox and the face of an eagle, and so have links with the four Gospels.

So, the four Gospels are the good news (‘the gospel’) about the most significant events in all of history: the sinless life, the sacrificial death and the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. Taken together, they weave a complete portrait of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him were blended perfect humanity and perfect deity, making Him the only sacrifice for the sins of the world and the worthy Lord of those of us who believe.

You see, it takes all four aspects to give the full truth:

As Sovereign, He comes to reign and rule.

As Servant, He comes to serve and suffer.

As Son of Man, He comes to share and sympathise.

As Son of God, He comes to reveal and redeem.

The message of the Gospel of Matthew is: Behold your King. Matthew, whose name means ‘gift of the Lord’, was the other name of Levi (see Chapter 9:9), the tax-collector who left everything to follow Christ (see Luke 5:27-28). Matthew was one of the twelve apostles (Matthew 10:3 and Mark 3:18). Scholars believe that he lived and taught in Israel for fifteen years after the crucifixion, then began to travel as a missionary first to Ethiopia and then to Macedonia, Syria and Persia. Some historians believe that he died a natural death in either Ethiopia or Macedonia, but this is not certain. One thing that is certain is the Jewish flavour of his Gospel. For example, in the opening genealogy Matthew traces back only as far as Abraham. Matthew abounds in quotes from Old Testament prophetic passages. He constantly refers to Christ as ‘the Son of David’ (Chapter 1:1; 9:27; 12:23 and 15:22). His Gospel abounds in references to ‘the kingdom of heaven’ (Chapter 3:2; 4:17; 5:3 & 10; 10:7 and 25:1), an expression that occurs nowhere else in all of Scripture. Warren Wiersbe says: the kingdom of heaven refers to the rule of God on the earth. For centuries, the Jewish people had awaited their Messiah and Deliverer and the kingdom on earth He would establish, but when the King came, He did not please them and they rejected Him and His kingdom. Thus the kingdom was postponed until the time that Israel would receive her King. That time will be at the Second Coming of Christ when He will establish His earthly kingdom for a thousand years.

Christ’s external visible kingdom was postponed, but an internal kingdom was established. As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (John 1:12).

Matthew’s aim was to convince the Jews that Jesus was their Messiah.

Let us see how he does it:

(1) THE KING IS IDENTIFIED - CHAPTERS 1-9

In these opening chapters, we have the Revelation of the King. He reveals Himself to the Jews as to His Person (Chapters 1-4); His Principles (Chapters 5-7) and His Power (Chapters 8-9).

Now, remember Matthew is seeking to prove that Jesus Christ is the King, ‘the Son of David’. His aim is to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ is their Messiah.

He begins with:

(a) HIS PERSON: Chapters 1-4

Can you see His Ancestry here? (Matthew 1:1-17)

Every Jew knew at least this, the Messiah had to be of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and of the family of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16).

Do you see how the Gospel begins in Chapter 1 and verse 1? The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The line of Abraham places Him in the nation and the line of David puts Him on the throne. He is in that royal line. Do you recall Isaiah’s challenge to the Jews who would murder the Messiah? Who shall declare His generation? (Isaiah 53:8, quoted in Acts 8:33). Matthew challenged them to investigate the claims of Jesus Christ to be the Son and Heir of David - and they probably did. (See Ezra 2:62.) This is interesting because they challenged every move of Christ. They even offered a substitute explanation for the resurrection, but they never did question His genealogy. The reason must be that they checked it out and found that it was accurate!

He was born in the line of David and in the line of Abraham. This is what Matthew is putting before us. He is the fulfilment of everything that had been mentioned in the Old Testament.

The expression: The book of the generation is unique to Matthew. It is not found anywhere else in the New Testament, but come back to Genesis 5 verse 1: This is the book of the generations of Adam. So, there are two books. The book of the generations of Adam and the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. How did you get into the family of Adam? You got in by a birth. We got there by birth. But, in Adam all die (see Romans 5:12). Adam’s book is a book of death. Then there is the other book, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ. How did you get into that family, into that genealogy? By another birth, a new birth. We all are in the first book, the book of the generations of Adam. But I trust that you are in the second book. Can you see His Ancestry here?

Can you see His Advent here? (Matthew 1:18 - 2:23)

Every Jew knew that Messiah had to be born in one place and only one. No matter how pure his pedigree, he had to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Jesus Christ was, and that was another piece of evidence that would impress the unbiased Jew.

In the Bible, only four ways are described to get a body.

1. Without a man or a woman, as Adam did, made from the dust of the ground.

2. With a man, but no woman, as Eve did, made from Adam’s side.

3. With a man and a woman, as all men are born.

4. With a woman, but no man, as Jesus Christ was born, having an earthly mother but no earthly father. It was important that the Lord was born of a virgin that He might have a sinless nature, conceived by the Holy Spirit. (See Luke 1:35)

Can you see His Ambassador here?

Every Jew knew also that the Messiah had to be preceded by a prophet (Isaiah 40:3), and as the forerunner of the King, John the Baptist fulfilled the promise of that verse: The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

John was the last Old Testament prophet and his cry was: Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 3:2). John is asking the people to repent and prepare for the King and when the nation rejected the King, the kingdom was taken from them (See Chapter 21:42-43).

Incidentally, are you following the example of John? He cried: Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29) and: He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30). Are you pointing people away from yourself to the Lamb of God?

Can you see His Adversary here?

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil (Matthew 4:1).

Note the three temptations:

Command that these stones be made bread (verse 3). What was that? The lust of the flesh!

The devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them (verse 8). What was that? The lust of the eyes!

Cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee (verse 6). What was that? The pride of life!

Is this not the way the devil tempts us?

In the area of Performance: the lust of the flesh. The world will try to get you to do things that are wrong to fulfil desires that are right.

In the area of Possessions: the lust of the eyes. Think of Achan in Joshua 7. He first saw, then coveted, then took -