Teachings (Part 1)
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It’s good to be physically standing here in your presence as we continue on our journey. I want to remind you again as we do this 40,000 ft flyover of the New Testament:
Don’t get frustrated by the pace.
Try and see the connections
Enjoy your flight.
Now we are entering, believe it or not, our 4th letter of our acronym EMPTY. Thus far we’ve flown through 3 of them:
E - Expectations
M - Messiah
P - Pentecost
T - Teaching
Y - Yet to come
As we looked at EXPECTATIONS we looked at the prophecies of a Messiah, and what the religious people were EXPECTING the Messiah to be. That time period on our timeline is 450-6BC.
Then we looked at the MESSIAH, and we saw how Jesus fulfilled those expectations, and was also very different than what they may have had in mind. We saw Jesus not only as the Messiah, but also looked at his teaching as he clarified what was said in the Scriptures of what we now call the Old Testament. On our timeline that time period covered 6 BC - 33 AD - roughly the time period of Jesus life.
The last area we covered was PENTECOST which is the birth of the church. And our key passage was from Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And, we began to see the message of Christ expanding. This period is roughly 33 - 65AD on our timeline.
Now, we get to the time period of TEACHING, where the time in redemptive history in which God commissions his people to teach the gospel to the nations. This time period covers from roughly 33 - 95 AD. It is important to note that PENTECOST & TEACHING overlap one another significantly. PENTECOST from 33-65 AD, and TEACHING from 33- 95 AD.
Finally, in a few weeks yet, we will get to YET TO COME, but for now that is…yet to come.
So buckle up for take off, and let’s fly, looking over the landscape of TEACHING. As we do this, I want to quickly jump back to Messiah and Pentecost as our springboards.
Jesus final command in Matthew 28:19-20, gives us the Great Commission:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
In a very real way, what we see happening in this part of our timeline is a direct response to Jesus’s command to Go, make disciples. And how do we do that? I think that is the part that gets left out of the idea too often as it appears in verse 20, up on our screen. TEACHING these new disciples to observe all that I have commanded you.
Many understand this as a command for evangelism, and it is. BUT in today’s christianity evangelism has been minimized to: pushing for that conversion, pushing for the hearer to pray the sinners prayer, pushing for a professions of faith and then move on. I think that is what so many of us are very uncomfortable with when we hear that word evangelism. Folks, that is not what evangelism is, that is not what Jesus was calling his followers to do. Jesus called them to discipleship, and we see that in vs. 20 - teaching them.
How can we teach them if we’ve already moved on? I would contend to you that discipleship begins long before conversion, and lasts the convert’s lifetime.
The second thing I want to be looking at is the birth of the church in our Pentecost section we read in Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
And as the Spirit came upon the church in Acts 2, we saw that all the people gathered from all over the known world of the time heard the message in their own language, and we see these concentric circles going out. So I want you to keep that in mind as we go.
During the PENTECOST section, if you look at our timeline here (and if you can’t see it, you can look at your own timeline) you can see the letters included by name and located chronologically within the narrative of the book of Acts.
In this period, our focus is going to be more on the content of those letters. Now on our timeline, you will see that each letter is placed on the timelines map according to the location of the original recipient of each letter.
You will see the name of the letter in Red on our timeline to remind us that Christ’s blood was shed for our transgressions and a key phrase from the letter in yellow reminding us that the resurrection of Christ is the beginning of God’s new creation.
In our Bibles, the letters are arranged according to author and descending length. According to their canonical order, Paul’s thirteen letters are listed first, beginning with Romans (since it is the longest) and concluding with Philemon (since it is the shortest). Hebrews is placed next due to an early association with Paul or one of his disciples. James, Peter, John, and Jude complete the letters using similar criteria.
Palmer, David. Casket Empty: God's Plan of Redemption through History: New Testament Study Guide (p. 200). Casket Empty Media LLC. Kindle Edition.
Two pictures I want to draw your attention to on our timeline.
The scroll at the top. This represents this period as Jesus has commissioned his disciples to be teachers of the nations.
The burning temple in the lower right corner. During this time the Jewish War erupts between Rome and Jerusalem, and in 66AD and the conflict between worldviews leads to the devastating destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70AD. Still the kingdom of God continues to expand as the Gospel is proclaimed to all nations.
So, now as we begin looking at our New Testament teachings, we’re going to look at 21 letters of the New Testament. I do encourage you to take the time to read each of these letters, and read them the way you would read a letter sent to you, likely in one sitting. This week we will fly over James, and Paul’s letters written during his three missionary journey’s: Galatians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Corinthians, and Romans.
Again, this is a 40,000 foot perspective.
We begin in Jerusalem with
JAMES
JAMES
James was the brother of Jesus and came to believe after seeing Jesus’ resurrected. He became the leader of the church in Jerusalem. At the time of his writing this letter, around 45AD, it’s a time of famine and societal persecution in Jerusalem after the violent reign of Herod Agrippa I. The letter of James calls us to action, you will note on your timeline the phrase “Put faith in Christ into action,” and the key verse: James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
GALATIANS
GALATIANS
This letter is written at the conclusion of Paul’s first missionary journey. If we look at where it is on our timeline you’re going to note the huge area that encompasses Galatia. We read in Acts 13-14 that when Paul and Barnabas proclaimed the Gospel there, both Jews and Gentiles responded with faith in Christ.
Here we see the Gospel expanding past the Jews and to the Gentiles as well. Paul begins this letter by asserting his authority not by men, but through Christ. On your timeline you will see the words, “No other gospel than Christ”. Summarized well in this letter with Galatians 2:20-21
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
1-2 THESSALONIANS
1-2 THESSALONIANS
These two letters are again written by Paul, this time near the end of his journey into Europe 49-52AD. Notice the distance the gospel message has now travelled. Remember what Jesus said to his disciples in Acts 1:8 “...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth,”? We can quite literally see it happening, and this is only some 20 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Thessalonica was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and had a population around 100,000 people at the time. Think of that. The language of these letters continually exhorts the readers to live in expectation of Christ’s return.
For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
Again, I want to encourage you to take the time to read these letters, imagine yourselves being the recipients of these letters and seeking to live as Paul encourages you to do. The young church in Thessalonica experienced a true conversion when they responded to the gospel with faith in Christ. They are now encouraged to liv in pursuit of holiness while spreading the gospel in anticipation of seeing Christ face-to-face.
1-2 CORINTHIANS
1-2 CORINTHIANS
Now Paul is on his third missionary journey writing these letters. He was in Ephesus when he wrote First Corinthians, and in Macedonia when he wrote the second letter. Note where Corinth is. Again we see the expansion of the gospel message.
Paul had a history with the church at Corinth, he had arrived in Corinth toward the end of his second missionary journey after his intense visit to Athens. It was overwhelmingly unreached with the gospel at the time. The city had a reputation for its commercial wealth, immorality, and idolatry. Still, a church was established there, and Jesus even told Paul in a vision that he had many people in the city. Paul stayed there a year-and-a-half working closely with Aquila and Priscilla, Silas and Timothy, and Crispus and Sosthenes. This community of believing Jews became very dear to him.
In these two letters it is clear that there has been an exchange of letters as Paul answers questions raised as this church seeks to stand firm against the surrounding culture and hold itself together amidst struggles within.
Our summarizing theme is “Do all for the glory of Christ.” and our summarizing verse is 1 Cor. 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Where, we’re definitely flying at 40,000. There is so much in these letters, I spent several months preaching through them a couple of years ago, you may remember.
ROMANS
ROMANS
This letter is written again by Paul about 57 AD. Yes, we’re flying fast. One of my great mentors, Dr. Paul Smith spent three years preaching through Romans, and he only got to chapter 8 out of 16!
We’re going to do the entire book in less than 2 minutes! Clearly if you want to understand this book, you need to read it.
Many have referred to Romans as the Gospel according to Paul. It is indeed his longest letter, and his most complete statement of the Christian gospel.
Note here on the timeline that this is now the world capital, Rome is central to the Roman empire. That empire stretched from the Danube River in the north to the Nile in the South, from the Atlantic ocean to the west to the Red Sea on the East. It was huge.
What Paul sets out to do in his letter he states up front, in Romans 1:14-17
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
There are 3 great “Therefore”s in Romans. Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Romans is summarized on our timeline with the phrase: “The righteousness of God in Christ” and our key verse or passage would be Romans 1:16-17
Romans 1:16–17 (ESV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, … for in it the righteousness of God is revealed.”
Whew! THAT was a flight. So now I want you all to put your seats and tables in their upright and locked positions as we prepare for landing.
We have heard the letter of James call the church to put faith in Christ into action. We have heard from the letters by Paul during his missionary journeys remind us that there is no other gospel, that we are to pursue holiness and live for Christ’s return doing all for the glory of Christ. And what is the purpose of this? Why are we doing it?
We do this in the hope that God’s good news about his Son will reach the uttermost ends of the earth. We’re back to that great commission - it’s not about conversion, it’s about discipleship. As we’ve flown through these letters today I hope that you’ve not only enjoyed the view, but that you’ve been inspired by the spread of the gospel in the early church. Think about it, this is in the first 25 years or so of the church and look at how it’s spread!
I bring you back to the prophetic blessing Jesus pronounced over his disciples in Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
I will close with this. Back in the early 90’s Star Trek VI was made, and the opening scene was filmed at First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood in the Henrietta Mears Center. All around the church campus were signs directing you to the set, and they said, “To boldly go...” Jesus put it plainly, Acts 1:8
Acts 1:8 (ESV)
“...You will be my witnesses...”
We’re not called to sheepishly go, or to timidly go, or to go apologizing that we’re Christians. We go with the power of the Holy Spirit within us, we go with All Authority in Heaven and on earth with us, we go in the Name of the Almighty God.
When given the opportunity to share a bit about your faith, don’t be afraid, know that the triune God is with you, in you, and giving you the right words to speak for that moment. Let your light shine, In Jesus Name, and for HIS glory. AMEN.