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The Gospel of Jesus Christ | Series: Bible 101 | 02-14-10

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
Series: Bible 101

Luke 24:44, John 10:35; 16:13, II Timothy 3:16-17, I Corinthians 7:10, 12, 25, II Peter 3:15-16, Revelation 22:18-19, Matthew 15:19, John 14:24, Mark 10:46, Matthew 20:29-30

How do we know the New Testament contains only the inspired writings?

1. It had to be written by an apostle or a close associate of an apostle.

2. It had to be recognized by the early Church as authoritative.

3. It had to be doctrinally consistent.

THE LIFE OF CHRIST -- GOSPELS

The word "Gospel" means "good news".

  I. Matthew.  Matthew 9:9, Matthew 1:1-2, Genesis 49:10, Micah 5:2,Matthew 1:22-23, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 5:17
     Matthew wrote to people who had a Jewish background.

 II. Mark.  Mark8:33, II Timothy 4:11
     Mark wrote for people with a Roman background.

III. Luke.  Luke 1:1-4, Luke 7:11-16, Luke 19:10
     Luke wrote for people with a Gentile background.
     A Gentile is anyone who is not a Jew.

 IV. John.  John 1:1-3, 14, John 20:26-31, John 21:24-25
     John wrote for anyone who would read his Gospel.

Full Text 

We've taken a look at the 39 books of the Old Testament.  Did you know that Jesus strongly endorsed the Old Testament?  In Luke 24:44 Jesus said, "… 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.'"  Jesus covered the whole Old Testament.  He quoted from the books of Law.  He quoted from the books of Poetry.  He talked about Jonah being 3 days in the belly of the fish.

Jesus put His stamp of approval on the Old Testament, so we know the Old Testament Scriptures come from God.  In fact, in John 10:35 Jesus said, "…The Scripture cannot be broken."  And He said this before He died and rose again, so the New Testament had not been written.  Jesus was speaking about the Old Testament.  So if we believe in Jesus we have to accept the Old Testament as the inspired Word of God.

Now we turn our thoughts to the 27 books of the New Testament.  The New Testament was written from roughly 45 A.D. to 95 A.D.

In John 16:13, before He died and rose again, Jesus told his disciples, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."  Jesus was telling His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit who would guide them when they wrote.  So, the New Testament claims to be the inspired Word of God.  That's why Paul wrote in II Timothy 3:16-17, "16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

The New Testament writers knew when they were writing God's words and when they weren't.  I Corinthians 7 is an interesting chapter.  Paul tells us in Verse 10, "10To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord)…"  Verse 12.  "12To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord)…"  Verse 25.  "25Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.  Paul knew when he was guided by the Holy Spirit and when he was giving his own opinion - and he was honest about it.

And the inspired writers knew which writings were inspired.  Peter wrote in II Peter 3:15-16, "15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."  The apostle Peter considered the writings of Paul as coming from God and thus, Scripture.

In the last book of the Bible, the Revelation, near the very end, John issues a stern warning.  Revelation 22:18-19.  "18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."  The whole Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is sacred and God-breathed. 

Now, there are some people who think that if Jesus said something, it carries more weight than what any of the authors of the Bible wrote.  And the place I've heard it most is the gay and lesbians.  I had a friend who was gay and I should have suspected from the statements he was making.  He told me that the Bible doesn't say anything against homosexuality.  So I showed him an Old Testament passage.  Then he tells me that was the Old Testament where there was a mean, judgmental God.  But in the New Testament, where there is a loving, accepting God, it doesn't say anything about homosexuality.  So I showed him a passage from the New Testament, in Romans chapter 1. 

Now, I don't know who the gays go to get their theological information.  But I do know it doesn't come from the Bible.  Next he tries to tell me that we can only believe what Jesus said and Jesus didn't condemn homosexuality.  In Matthew 15:19, JESUS said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander."  Now, adultery is when a married person has sex with someone other than their spouse.  Sexual immorality is any sexual sin.  Pre-marital sex, adultery, and homosexuality.

Jesus does NOT contradict ANY of the rest of the Bible.  In fact, in John 14:24 Jesus said, "… These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."  Like the writers of the Bible, Jesus got His words from God.  As we read in II Timothy 3:16-17, "16All Scripture is God-breathed…"

So, How do we know the New Testament contains only the inspired writings?  Now, this is very simplified.  It is a study of its own.  But early on the Church leaders were also concerned about this.  So they got together and in a very involved study they developed some criteria to determine which writings were inspired.  Then they applied the criteria.

1. It had to be written by an apostle or a close associate of an apostle.

For instance, today we will talk about the four Gospels.  Matthew and John were apostles.  Mark was a close associate of Peter, an apostle, and Luke was a close associate of Paul, another apostle.

2. It had to be recognized by the Early Church as authoritative. 

As a letter or gospel was circulated, the First Century believers, guided by the Holy Spirit, acknowledged, "This is truth from God."

3. It had to be doctrinally consistent.

It could not contradict what was already known as true. 

Now, the manuscript evidence for the New Testament is extremely reliable.  Josh McDowell points out a number of examples of how strong the evidence is.  One of the examples is that Caesar wrote his Gallic Wars about 50 BC.  We have 9 or 10 manuscripts, the earliest of which is 1000 years after Caesar's death.

In contrast, we have over 20,000 copies of New Testament letters and gospels-many of them less than 100 years after they were written.  We can be certain the Bible is the accurate, inspired Word of God.

Now, the New Testament was written in what is called koine Greek, which was the language of the people.  The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, but by the writing of the New Testament, Greek had become the universal language. 

But, there were two kinds of Greek.  There was the classical Greek, which was the formal language used in the courts, much like lawyers today have their own form of English.  But the koine Greek was the language of the common people.  Since God's purpose in giving the New Testament was to communicate His will to people, He used the language of the common person.

There are those who try to say you should only use the King James Version of the Bible.  But the Bible should be in the language of the people so it is easy to understand.  So there is nothing wrong with using a modern translation.

Now, today we're going to look at the first four books of the New Testament.  Sometimes they are called the Life of Christ, because they each give an account of Jesus' life on this earth as a man.  But most of the time they are called the Gospels.  The word, "Gospel", simply means, "Good News".  The good news is that Jesus came to save us from the consequences of our sins.

The first three Gospels are called synoptic gospels.  Synoptic comes from two Greek words that mean, "to see together". They record many of the same events.  John's Gospel was written later to supplement the other three.

Now, let's say you are a judge in a courtroom and four witnesses come in and all four of those witnesses give the exact same testimony, word for word.  What would you conclude?  You would instantly think that the four had gotten together and made the story up - that they were lying.  Right?

But on the other hand, if four witnesses come in and tell the same story, but from different angles and each added things that did not conflict with the others, then you would believe they were telling the truth.  Now Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the 4 Gospel writers are four witnesses of the life of Jesus.  They come at it from different angles and add things that do not conflict.

Let's take a look at one example.  Mark 10:46 tells us, "Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging."But Matthew 20:29-30 reads, "29As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!'"  Now, which is it?  Was there one blind man named Bartimaeus or were there two blind men?  Obviously there were 2 blind men and one was named Bartimaeus.

We do the same thing today.  Maybe later today I tell someone, "I saw Gino at Church today."  And you talk to my wife and she comments, "I saw Gino and Layna at Church today."  Now, which was it?  Was it just Gino or were both at Church today?  Obviously it was both.  But for some reason I focused on Gino.  Maybe he and I talked and I didn't talk to Layna.  Actually, if you really want to get technical, you would have to name everyone here today!

You see, instead of undermining the credibility of the Gospels, the differences show the story is true and accurate.  Professor George Mark Elliot, used to say, "The Bible just doesn't read like a lie."

Now the first of the Gospels and the first book in the New Testament is
I. Matthew.

Matthew was one of the twelve apostles who were Jesus' closest associates.  They traveled with Jesus and He trained them for 3 years.  Matthew 9:9.  "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him."  That was a difficult confession for Matthew. He was collecting taxes for Rome and getting rich off the people.  To his fellow Jews he was a traitor.  But Jesus called Matthew into His inner circle and completely transformed him.  That's the wonderful thing about Jesus.  If He could transform Matthew and bring him into His inner circle, think of what He can do with you and me.  And that's amazing grace!!

Now, Matthew wrote to people who had a Jewish background.  The Jews were looking for a Messiah who would over-throw the Roman armies and set up a physical, earthly kingdom.  But Jesus came to be a spiritual King, ruling over a kingdom made up of all the nations of the world.  Jesus came to conquer sin and death, not Rome's armies.

Now, let's talk about something very spiritual - Star Wars!  The exciting thing about the original movie was it began with a space battle.  Action is exciting!  It captures your attention.  Do you know how Matthew began his book?  He began it in a way that got every Jew's blood pumping!

Matthew 1:1-2.  "1A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:  2Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers."  And this goes on for 17 Verses!!!  Bo-o-oring-g-g!  Why in the world would you begin a book in a way that most people would quit reading before they got half way through the first chapter?

Well, the ancestry of Jesus was extremely important to the Jews.  First, to be a king, you had to be a descendant of Judah, which is why the end of verse two says, "Judah and his brothers."  Judah had 11 brothers.  But only Judah was significant to Jesus being King.

Secondly, the Old Testament had prophesied Jesus would be a descendant of Judah.  When Judah was about to die he made this prophecy in Genesis 49:10.
"The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his."  Probably the most famous is Micah 5:2.  "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."  The genealogy of Jesus was very important to the Jews.

Matthew also quotes many Old Testament prophecies about the coming of Jesus, the Messiah because the Jews would be familiar with them.  For instance in the first chapter, after telling of how Jesus was born of a virgin, we read in Verses 22-23, "22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel'-which means, 'God with us.'"  Here Matthew is quoting Isaiah 7:14, written 700 years before.  Constantly throughout the book, Matthew reminds us of many of the prophesies of Jesus.

And Matthew records a lot of the teachings of Jesus.  For instance there is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7.  This is where Jesus gave the Beatitudes and taught us to love our enemies and not to hate or lust.  And this is where Jesus explained in Matthew 5:17, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."  Matthew wrote for people with a Jewish background.

II. Mark. 
Mark wrote for people with a Roman background.

The Romans were very much like us.  They liked action.  So Mark's Gospel moves.  This happened and immediately that happened.  In fact, if you want to read the Bible for pleasure, sit down and read the Gospel of Mark like you would a novel.  Ignore the chapter and verse breaks.  In fact, if you have the time, read it in one sitting.  It doesn't take all that long.  Mark flows with the life of Christ. 

Another good thing about Mark is he explains the Jewish customs and translates the Hebrew words.

A Dutch artist by the name of Peter Lely was commissioned to paint portrait of Oliver Cromwell.   Cromwell had a horrible wart on the side of his face, and he ordered Lely, "Paint me like I am, warts and all, or you will not get a farthing."  Well, Mark gives you an accurate picture, warts and all.

He was a close associate of Peter, but he paints Peter warts and all.  Mark tells about when Jesus told His disciples that He was going to be crucified and then rise again on the third day.  Peter jumped on Jesus, telling Him He wasn't going to die.  That's when Jesus told Peter in Mark8:33,  "…Get behind me, Satan! … You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."  Mark informs us that Peter denied Jesus 3 times on the night He was betrayed.  He also records Peter as being one of those who fled in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested.

Mark even pictures his own shortcomings.  He tells of how he was there when Jesus was arrested.  Someone tried to grab him but he left his clothes in the man's hand and fled into the darkness.  Mark gives us the whole picture, warts and all.

The author of Mark is the same John Mark who later is asked by Paul and Barnabas to go on Paul's First Missionary Journey.  John Mark jumps at the opportunity, but before they got very far, he chickened out and went back home.  When Paul and Barnabas planned their Second Missionary Journey, Barnabas wanted to give John Mark a second chance, but Paul said, "No way!"  They got into an argument and so Paul took Silas and went in one direction and Barnabas took Mark and went in another direction.

But John Mark proved himself and later, when Paul was in prison, in II Timothy 4:11 Paul wrote to a young preacher named Timothy, "Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry." 

Two great lessons here.  First, Mark is the Gospel of second chances.  Peter denied Jesus, but was given a second chance.  Mark deserted Paul, but was given a second chance.  And no matter how bad you've blown it, Jesus is ready to give you a second chance, too.

Mark's life also shows us that even though Christians get ticked off at each other, they shouldn't hold grudges.  They should forgive and work together for Christ.

III. Luke

Luke approaches Jesus' life from a Greek perspective.  Luke wrote for people with a Gentile background.  A Gentile is anyone who is not a Jew - all of us.

Let's take a look at how Luke begins his Gospel and learn something about inspiration.  Luke 1:1.  "1Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, [Theophilus is a Greek name.  He was probably a high-ranking official in the Roman government -- a Gentile.] 4so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."

Notice that God did not grab hold of Luke's hand and start writing.  If you had seen Luke writing and asked him what he was doing, he would not have said, "I have no idea.  My hand is just writing words.  I don't know what it's about, though."  No!  "Inspiration of God" doesn't mean that God dictated every word or that God grabbed their arm.  God put it on Luke's heart to write this Gospel.  Luke carefully investigated and God guided him into all truth.

Now, Luke was a doctor who traveled with the Apostle Paul because Paul was in bad health.  Probably because Luke was a doctor he seems to be fascinated with the healing miracles of Jesus.

Let's look at just one example and as we do, notice how precise the detail is.  The Greeks were very precise.  Luke 7:11-16.  "11Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. [Luke just didn't say, "Jesus went to a town."  He was precise.]  12As he approached the town gate [a specific place], a dead person was being carried out-the only son of his mother, and she was a widow [More detail.]. And a large crowd from the town was with her.
[Now, let's see what Jesus was feeling.]  13When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, 'Don't cry.' [Jesus is heartbroken.]  14Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, 'Young man, I say to you, get up!' 15The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
16They were all filled with awe and praised God. 'A great prophet has appeared among us,' they said. 'God has come to help his people.'" [Precise detail.]

Luke is the only one who records the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.  And Luke contains one of my favorite verses.  Luke 19:10.  Jesus said, "For the Son of Man [a term Jesus used to describe Himself.  He was born of a woman so He could identify with us.  But His purpose for coming is that He] came to seek and to save what was lost."  That's all of us who have sinned.  Jesus came to save us from the consequences of our sins.

IV. John.
John wrote for anyone who would read his Gospel.  John just wanted everyone to believe in Jesus!

John was the last to write a Gospel.  He fills in some of the gaps of the other Gospels.  Luke emphasized the human side of Jesus.  John emphasized the deity, the God-nature of Jesus.  In fact John begins in John 1:1-3 by declaring,
"1In the beginning was the Word [He is talking about Jesus], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." Then down in Verse 14 John writes, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The second half of John's Gospel deals with the last week of Jesus' life before His crucifixion and the resurrection.  John tells us about Thomas.  Thomas was one of Jesus' twelve disciples.  After Jesus rose from the dead, he heard about the empty tomb and some people told him about Jesus appearing to them.  But Thomas is no fool.  He knows people don't come back from the dead.  He says he won't believe unless he sees it for himself!

Later, Thomas is with Jesus' other disciples in a room.  John 20:26-31.  "26Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you!' 27Then he said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.'
28Thomas said to him, 'My Lord and my God!'
29Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."  Here is John's passion.  He wants you to believe and have life in Jesus Christ.

John closes his Gospel by saying in John 21:24-25, "24This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."

By the way, you can trust these four men because they all died for their belief in Christ.  Their writings are not myth or a good story.  They contain historical truth.  They are written, as John said in chapter 20, verse 31, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

Do you believe their testimony?  Are you ready to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  If so, come forward when we sing and we'll help you confess your belief before others and be baptized into Him.  Or maybe you've already done that and you would like to place your membership with us.  Then come, as we stand and sing.

Based on a 09/15/1999 sermon by Bob Russell of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky