A Bible Panorama Part Two: The New Testament Psalm 119: , 2 Timothy 3:14-16

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1 A Bible Panorama Part Two: The New Testament Psalm 119: , 2 Timothy 3:14-16 Rev. Michael D. Halley October 19, 2014 Suffolk Christian Church Suffolk, Virginia Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Psalm 119: New International Version I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. 2 Timothy 3:14-16 New International Version But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become 1

2 Page 2 convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The Word of the Lord: Thanks be to God! What a marvelous book is our Bible 1! The Bible is a book of books, really, 66 different books (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament), written by forty-four authors over a period of 1,500 years. 2 As I said last week 3, the Old Testament can roughly be summed up as follows: Act 1: God Creates Everything Act 2: The Man and Woman Rebel Against God Act 3: God Initiates Redemption 4 And, we discovered, the Old Testament closes with a sense of longing and expectation. Throughout the pages of these first 39 books, promises had been made. The prophets had spoken. The people were waiting. The question that remains is What will God do to further his redemption of fallen humanity? Let s pick up the story as we move to the pages of the New Testament. We come to the next act in God s plan of redemption 5. Act 4: God Accomplishes Redemption In a most unlikely way, in a most unlikely place, when the time had fully

3 come, God sent forth his Son. In the Apostles Creed, we confess what we believe about God s Son: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary. Page 3 Not just any baby, for sure. But he was the seed of the woman, the son of David, the one whose name is Immanuel, God with us. Shepherds glorified him, angels announced him, and the Magi brought him gifts. The angel had told Joseph, Call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus was baptized by his cousin John, tempted by the devil, misunderstood by the religious leaders of his day, feared by some, and hated by others; but the common people heard him gladly. He was full of grace and truth, the fullness of God in bodily form. The Bible says he went around doing good. He caused the blind to see, he made the deaf to hear, he cast out demons, he healed the sick, and he raised the dead. He invites all who are weary to come to him for rest. Repeatedly Jesus tells the twelve disciples that he will be betrayed into the hands of sinful men who will beat him and then crucify him. He tells them that after three days he will rise from the dead. But they do not understand. In the Garden of Gethsemane, after the Last Supper with his disciples, Jesus prays in agony. Judas betrays him and he is arrested. Peter denies him and the disciples abandon him. Caiaphas 6 (KAI-uh-phuss or KAY-uh-phuss) accuses him. Herod 7 (HAIR-uhd) mocks him. The soldiers beat him. Pilate 8 condemns him to death. They take him out to the hill called Golgotha 9 (GAHL-guh-thuh) and he is crucified between two criminals. On the cross he cried out 10, Father, forgive

4 Page 4 them for they don t know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). Toward the end, he said, It is finished (John 19:30). And finally, he says, Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit (Luke 23:46). Then he breathed his last breath. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. On that first day he was dead. He was also dead on the second day. But on the third day... The women 11 went to the tomb to anoint his body, early on that third day. They found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. An angel told them, Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen! (Luke 24:5-6). The word began to spread. He s alive! Over a period of forty days Jesus appeared to his disciples many times. 12 His message to them was... God is glorified. I am alive. Redemption is accomplished. Go and tell everyone! Then he ascended into heaven. Act 5: God gives birth to the church For ten days the disciples waited and prayed. That s in Acts chapter 1. In Acts chapter 2, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came in great power. The Bible says it was with the sound of a rushing wind. And with tongues of fire. The disciples that day speak in foreign languages they did not know. Peter preaches and 3,000 are saved in one day. The church is born in Jerusalem and grows amid much opposition. The message about Jesus spreads from Jerusalem, throughout the surrounding area of Judea, and north to Samaria. Then further north, to Galilee, where Jesus had spent most of his life.

5 The Christian message then moves across the Roman Empire as Peter, Paul, and the other disciples preach the Good News everywhere. The church, in its expansion throughout the Roman Empire, faces opposition and false doctrines. There are troubles on every hand. Various letters were written by James, Paul, Peter, and John, all of which became books of the New Testament. The New Testament is completed. Page 5 So the Word of the Lord spread, the disciples multiplied, and the church grew. Even in the face of intense opposition, the first Christians proclaimed this message: Jesus is Lord! He is risen from the dead! They said to anyone would listen, If you will repent and believe the gospel, Jesus will give you power over sin, over death, over hell, and over the world, the flesh and the devil. It is the same message we preach today. Truly, Jesus Christ is Lord! Act 6: God completes redemption If you go all the way to the end of the New Testament, to the book of Revelation, there we find pictured the final act of history -- the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. This final book begins this way: The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him [John] to show his servants what must soon take place. Jesus Christ is coming again! That s an amazing thought, isn t it? Magnificent! Thrilling! Just about unbelievable!

6 Page 6 It was predicted in Acts 1:11, when the angel says this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus. Not someone like Jesus. Not a group of Jesus scholars. Jesus himself is coming again. When he comes the second time, it will not be as Savior. It will be as judge. He came the first time as the Lamb of God. He comes again as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, as described in Revelation 5:5 13. When Christ finally appears the second time, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (See Philippians 2:10-11). Paul writes about this: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Truly, the best is yet to come. No wonder the Bible ends with these words: He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God s people. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21). That is the panorama of the Bible. Six acts: God creates man. Man rebels. God initiates redemption. God accomplishes redemption. God gives birth to the church.

7 Page 7 God completes redemption. Some years ago the Gaither Vocal Band recorded a peppy little tune called Into the Word 14. Listen for a moment: I m happy to hear you ve been reading the Word [the Bible] And spending time to study and learn. I m glad for all the hours you have spent on your knees Instead of wondering just which way you should turn. You tell me meditation is what the world needs; I reckon what you re saying is true. I was glad when I heard you re getting into the Word, But is the Word getting into you? Now don t get me wrong, I m not putting you down, I m glad for every chapter you ve read. But reading and doing are two different things, And the Word without the Spirit is dead. Has it made you more loving to your wife and your kids, Honest and straight, through and through? Have your attitudes changed since you ve been into the Word? Is the Word getting into you? 15 I commend to you the Bible, God s Holy Word, a sufficient rule of our faith and practice. 16 Read it, study it, consume it, believe it, live it, and let it guide all that you are and do. Let us pray: O Lord, what a blessing is Your Word, a lamp for our feet and a light upon our way. May we see Your redemptive purposes on every page and may our lives be transformed by the truth in its pages. We pray this in the name of Jesus, who is coming again to complete our redemption, Amen.

8 Page 8 The inspiration and outline for this sermon was graciously provided by the Rev. Ray Pritchard, in his article, The Whole Bible in One Message, at dated November, Pastor Ray gives credit for his inspiration to his friend, the Rev Ryan Whitley, pastor of Crosspoint Church in Trussville, Alabama, As Pastor Pritchard said to me in an conversation, We milk many cows [in sermon preparation] but we churn our own butter! +==+==+==+==+==+==+ All Scripture references are from New International Version, NIV, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc., unless otherwise indicated. +==+==+==+==+==+==+ Sunday Sermons from Suffolk Christian Church are intended for the private devotional use of members and friends of the church. Please do not print or publish. Thank you. Suggestions for sermon topics are always welcome! 1. The word Bible was formed from a Greek term meaning books in the plural. Our Bible is, in fact, the collection of books written by various authors.. and has been translated into more than two thousand languages and dialects. (Clark Pinnock, Bible, Formation and Canon of, in Holman Bible Dictionary, edited by Trent C. Butler, ) 2. See Facts and Trivia about the Bible, 3. Last week s sermon was A Bible Panorama, Part One: The Old Testament. It can be found on our website, 4. In its simplest meaning, redemption is salvation from sin. 5. Dr. Wayne E. Ward, who at the time was Professor of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, wrote a book he entitled The Drama of Redemption (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1966). Dr. Ward died in 2012 at the age of 90. Although Dr. Ward taught at the time I was a student there, I was never privileged to take a class

9 Page 9 from him. 6. Caiaphas was the high priest at the time of Jesus crucifixion (see Matthew 26:3 ). He was a leader in the plot to have Jesus arrested and executed. Little is known about Caiaphas beyond what can be learned from the New Testament. (See Caiaphas, in Holman Bible Dictionary, edited by Trent C. Butler, c ). 7. Herod is the name of a large family of Roman rulers over Palestine before, during, and after the time of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke says that Jesus was first brought before Pontius Pilate for trial, since Pilate was the governor of Judea, which encompassed Jerusalem where Jesus was arrested. Pilate then handed him over to Herod, nicknamed Antipas (ahn-tee-pas), in whose territory Jesus had been most active. But, Antipas sent him back to Pilate s court. (See Herod Antipas at and Robert W. Stagg s article, Herod, in Holman Bible Dictionary, cited above.) 8. Pontius (POHN-shuss) Pilate (PIE-lutt) was the Roman governor over Judea, the area around Jerusalem, where Jesus was arrested. He is remembered in history as a notorious anti-semite and in Christian creeds as the magistrate under whom Jesus Christ suffered (1 Timothy 6:13 ). (J. Ramsey Michaels, Pilate, Pontius, in Holman Bible Dictionary, cited above.) 9. The English word Golgotha is transliterated from the Hebrew and means skull. It is the name of the place where Jesus was crucified. The Latin equivalent is Calvaria, or in English, Calvary. ( Golgotha, Holman Bible Dictionary, cited above.) 10. The traditional Seven Last Words spoken by Jesus from the cross are: Luke 23:34: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. Luke 23:43: Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. John 19:26 27: Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother. Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? John 19:28: I thirst. John 19:29-30: It is finished. Luke 23:46: Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. 11. There is some disagreement among the Gospels as to how many women went to the tomb of Jesus. Matthew 28:1: After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Mark 16:1: When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus body. Luke 24:10: It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. John 20:1: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. From these accounts, it appears that at least five women visited the tomb. In trying to harmonize

10 these different accounts, it is entirely possible there were multiple visits to the tomb. See How many women visited Jesus tomb?, at Page Msgr. Charles Pope, of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, has written an excellent study of Jesus appearances, The Resurrection Appearances Chronologically Arranged. It can be found at Revelation 5:5: Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. 14. Lyrics and Music: Gloria Gaither and Dony McGuire, copyright 1983, Gaither Music/ASCAP, New Kingdom Music/ASCAP. 15. You can hear the Gaither Vocal Band singing this at The Christian Church, founded in 1790, from which our church came, adopted five Cardinal Principles. Later, a sixth was added. They are: 1. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only head of the church. 2. Christian is a sufficient name for the church. 3. The Holy Bible is a sufficient rule of faith and practice. 4. Christian character is a sufficient test of fellowship and of church membership. 5. The right of private judgment and liberty of conscience is a right and a privilege that should be accorded to and exercised by all. 6. The purpose of this church will be consummated in the reformation of the world and the union of all Christians.