Lesson 6 What Was Jesus Teaching? God's Prophetic Program

This lesson is the first of several that will deal with, what exactly was Jesus teaching in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

I want to suggest to you that as we go through these lessons, that you read them, get your Bible, pray, study, and ask the Holy Spirit of the Living God to help you determine if these teachings are True.

But before we look at the actual teachings of Jesus, I would like to take some time to talk about the first, and foremost, thing that Jesus accomplished in the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

In the Old Testament, God told the prophets words to write down about events that were going to happen at a future date, in time.

Probably two of the best known, and most familiar to Christians out of the Old Testament, is in the books written by the prophets, Isaiah and Micah, concerning the birth, and birthplace of Jesus.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Micah 5: But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

So the first and foremost thing he accomplished here on planet Earth, was to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies concerning himself, the things written in the law of Moses, and the psalms.

This is known as God’s Prophetic Program in most Christian circles, and is made up simply of the prophecies of the Old Testament that were to be fulfilled in the future, example: Jesus being born in Bethlehem, to a virgin, Old Testament prophecy fulfilled in the New Testament. It’s that simple!

Matt.5 [17] Think not that I (Jesus) am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. [18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

Luke 24 [44] And he (Jesus) said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.(Jesus)  [45] Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Acts 3 [20] And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
[21] Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

Also, I want to tell you that the holy prophets had been speaking of these things since the world began, in other words their words were not a secret, or something hid.

 

Example: When the wise men came to Herod and asked him where is he that is born of King of Jews, Herod immediately asked the chief priests and scribes where Christ should be born, they immediately quoted to him from the scriptures, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, these words are straight out of Micah chp. 5 verse 2.

Now I am going to give you something that will help you in the near future, as we look at Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John closer, these books are prophetic in nature, there is nothing in them that was not foretold, or being foretold by Jesus, who also was a prophet himself.

  

Ok, lets look at one of the commands that Jesus gave to the 11 disciples.

(Received a comment from a person who questioned why I said 11 disciples, at this time that is all Jesus was talking to, see Matt. 28 verse 16, Judas had hanged himself, and a replacement disciple had not yet been chosen.) 

Matt. 28 [19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Verse 19 & 20 has come to be known as the Great Commission, the majority of Christian religious systems have laid claim to these verses, and use them as their marching orders to preach, and take their particular beliefs into the entire world.

Of course there is little agreement among the different Christian organizations on exactly what teachings they are to be communicating to the world, other than “baptizing them in water” but after that, whatever particular belief each denomination or non-denominational, group holds in highest regard, is what they teach.

Funny thing is, in my 41 years as a Christian, I have discovered these Christian organizations are not even consistent when it comes to the first one “baptizing them in water”. Let me share with you, to make the point, the following experiences I personally have had.

I want you to know I am not making fun of these Christians at all, but I think this is one of  the best ways to teach you how to compare, spiritual things with spiritual, and exercise your spiritual discernment.  

When I was a child I was in a group that utilized sprinkling with water on the top of the head, for baptism. 

Later on I discovered a group that believed you had to be fully immersed in the water, in order to be properly baptized. 

Next group I was introduced to, believed that was not good enough, but you had to be fully immersed in the water, by one of their church elders, or you would die and go to hell.  

Next I ran into a group that if you had been fully immersed in the water, but the preacher baptized you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, instead of just using the phrase “in the name of Jesus” your baptism didn't count, and it would have to be redone if you want them to accept you as a real believer.

Just one more, I kid you not, I had a person tell me that their organization baptized their new converts by full immersion, three times face forward, when I asked why, I was told Jesus never did anything backwards.

There also is subset of water baptism: infant baptism, teenager baptism, re-baptism after someone has been a really bad person, re-baptism if you try and join a different Christian group, they want to make sure you have submitted to their particular way of baptizing, and these groups get real serious over who, and how a person was baptized.

We see in the Old Testament when the Lord Jesus gave the Nation Israel instructions on how to perform animal sacrifices, they were clear, step by step instructions, so the people would not have any problem following them.  ( John.8 [58] Jesus said unto them, Verily,verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.)

Personally, I think if water baptism had been for the Church of this dispensation the Body of Christ, the Lord would have provided clear and specific instructions on how this water baptism was to be accomplished. 

And then we have this command that Jesus gave to the Apostle Paul, that most Christian religious systems choose to overlook, and not deal with. 

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 

A little food for thought It appears that Jesus gave the Apostle Paul different instructions concerning water baptism, than he gave to the 11 disciples? Also when Paul tells us how a person is to be saved in the dispensation of Grace, he makes no mention of water baptism. 

     

Rom.10 [9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

I think you get the point, but this lesson is not about water baptism, I will address water baptism in a future post, but not today.

The point to remember as we go forward, and as we look at what Jesus taught in the books of Mathew, Mark, Luke, John, these books are a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophet's words concerning the King, of the Kingdom, the Christ that was prophesied in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus.

All of the confusion among Christianity/Christians today can be attributed to the simple fact that the church, the Body of Christ, does not recognize the separate, distinct, and unique apostleship, ministry, and message of Paul.

If you fail to understand, or fail to learn how to rightly divide the word of truth, you can never come to the knowledge of the truth, and sound doctrine.

Romans 10 [8] But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; [9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with theheart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The words of our Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles!

2Tim.2 [15] Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

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Remember most unsound Bible Doctrine, is sound Bible Doctrine misapplied to the wrong time period, or wrong group of people.

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