THE BOOK OF MATTHEW-- SERMON 2
Introduction: In the last lesson we studied the four gospels as a whole. We studied how each gospel has expresses a different personality of the Jesus. Matthew presents him as King. Mark presents him as a servant. Luke presents him as the perfect man and John presents him as the Perfect God. In this lesson we will seek to expound on the first gospel and complete an overview of Matthew. Matthew presents Jesus as the Sovereign Saviour. The book of Matthew presents Jesus as the King. The theme of the book of Matthew is the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 1:1 is the key verse. It reads “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” It is believed to have been written around A.D. 60.
I. THE SOVEREIGN’S RECORD - Matthew 1-2
A. This the genealogy of the King of Israel.
B. Every King must have a genealogy; all kings must be able to trace themselves through royal lines.
C. This is the genealogy trace from David through Solomon to Joseph, the supposed father of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
D. Whoever was to be Israel’s king had to come through this line, the line of accession.
1. A difficulty seems to arise because of the curse pronounced upon this line in Jeremiah 22:28-30
2. The King is to come through this line and yet there is a curse upon this family
3. The question naturally arises, “How can one qualify to be of the lineage and yet not be of the lineage?”
E. In Luke 3:23-38 we read another account of the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we see that there
are vast differences in this account compared with that of Matthew.
F. The Lord’s genealogy, according to Luke, is traced through his mother Mary and on to Nathan who was a
son of David that was older than Solomon and then traced finally to King David. Through his mother he
has access to the throne by Blood.
G. When Joseph married the virgin Mary and Jesus was born to her, Jesus became the legal heir to the throne
of David. Being only a legal heir, the Lord skips over the curse and is a legal son of Solomon and David.
H. JESUS IS THE ONLY CLAIMANT TO THIS THRONE!!!
1. Israel today has a president, not a king.
2. The reason is because all of the records of the Jews were destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
by Titus.
3. Everyone’s claim to the throne has been destroyed except the Lord’s, and his genealogies are preserved
in the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
4. If Christ never rose from the dead, then Israel is forever without a King. But Now is Christ risen from
the dead, and will one day return to claim the throne of David.
I. The birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant in II Samuel 7. This Covenant guaranteed to
David a son to rule upon his throne forever.
II. THE SOVEREIGN’S RISE - Matthew 3:1-4:11
A. Announced by the Servant - Matthew 3:1-12
1. The Servants Manners
a. One day all of Judea was made conscious of the personage dressed in camel’s hair, a nazarite from his
mother’s womb, a prophet such as Israel had not seen for 500 years. Those long centuries silent since the
days of Malichi were now broken. God again was speaking by the mouth of the prophet.
b. His message aroused the hearts of all palastine. It strengthened and comforted the humble in spirit and it
brought conviction to the haughty and sinful.
c. His voice was like a trumpet announcing “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
1. The Kingdom of Heaven, as we know, is that golden age prophesied by the prophets and expected by the populace.
2. Some critics of the Bible have asked, “How could the Millenium have been at hand at that time, when as of yet it hasn’t been established even today, nearly 2,000 years later.
3. The Kingdom was at hand because the KING OF THE KINGDOM WAS AT THERE!!! THE KING WAS AT HAND!!!
4. We know too, why it was not established at that time. It was because of their unbelief and their rejection of him as King.
5. Ephesians 3:1-10 tells us that the Kingdom will be established after this Church Age is completed and Jesus will return to show the World and Israel who is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
6. I Timothy 6:15 reads “Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.”
d. John was the forerunner prophesied by Isaiah “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.”
2. The Servants Message - John’s message was threefold.
a. Repentance
1. Defined - The act of man designated as a change of mind leads to a change of action.
2. John was not satisfied with just professed repentance, he demanded practiced repentance.
3. He demanded furits to show repentance
4. We are not saved by works. We are saved by faith. But James said “Faith without works is dead.”
b. Baptism by immersion
c. Christ
1. John’s message was not only just repentance and baptism. His burning message was Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
2. That was his whole purpose for being here. He was the announcer of the Son of God.
3. John the beloved said “he was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness.”
a. There’s not much difference between John and us. He announced to the World that Jesus was the Lamb of God, the Saviour of the world.
b. We are to bear witness of the light. Too many times we try to be deep and impressive when all this world really needs is to hear about is the light. All they need to hear about is Jesus.
B. Anointed by the Spirit - Matthew 3:13-17
1. In this portion of the Scripture we have John the Baptist baptizing Jesus.
2. The question arises, “What is the purpose of the Christ being Baptized?”
a. Christ needed no repentance as he was born without sin and lived without sin.
b. But Jesus said in vs. 15, “....it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness”
3. Upon this occasion Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit according to John 1:32-33
a. The title Christ means “anointed one” - Acts 10:38
b. From the Old Testament we learn that priests, prophets, and kings were anointed with oil for their offices.
c. Here Jesus is being anointed with the antitype of the oil, the Holy Spirit.
1. He is anointed as prophet which speaks of his past work! He’s the Message, the living word. John 1:1
2. He is anointed as Priest which speaks of his present work! He’s the Minister. Hebrews 1:1-2
3. He is anointed as King which speaks of his future work! He’s the Monarch. He’s the coming King
a. As the Mesenger he Declares the Truth.
b. As the Minister he Demonstrates Truth.
c. As the Monarch he will Demand the Truth.
C. Antagonized by the Serpent
1. When we speak of the Wilderness experience we should smphasize the “testing” of Jesus rather than the
“temptation” of Jesus.
a. Jesus, God incarnate, cannot be tempted. He is God.
b. Jesus did not go to overcome temptation he went to prove to Satan that he was the Son of God and that he had power of Satan.
c. The purpose of the wilderness was not for Jesus to prove it to himself, he knew he was God, it was to prove it to the devil.
2. One thing I thought was interesting was that the first Adam was tried under the most favorable circumstances
in the Garden of Eden while the second Adam, Jesus, was tried under the most unfavorable of circumstances
a. Adam could eat anything he wanted except the one tree -- Jesus had fasted for 40 days
b. Adam lived in a perfect environment -- Jesus came to a sin cursed world
c. Adam had a companion because God said it was not good for him to be alone -- Jesus was alone
3. Hebrews 4:15 - Jesus was tested with the very things that I John tells us we are not to love in I John 2: 15-17
a. The Lust of the flesh - Satan tells him to turn the stones into bread.
b. The Lust of the eyes - Satan says, Bow down and I will give the kingdoms of the earth unto you.
c. The Pride of life - Satan tells him to Drop off the temple, walk down in thin air, and the people will
receive you as coming down from heaven.
III. THE SOVEREIGN’S REGULATIONS - Matthew 5:1-16 - Jesus deals with different areas and give answers to many questions in the minds of the people.
A. The Beattitudes - They begin with the word Blessed which says there is a blessing for everyone who conforms
to this teaching.
1. “Poor in Spirit”
a. This does not mean self-depreciation. This does not mean the poorest of circumstances
b. It means “bench broken” or “bankrupt” which simply means to have no claim on God.
c. It means blessed are they that see themselves hopeless without God.
d. I’m glad I got lost so I could be Found.
2. “Mourn”
a. This does not mean to mourn over the death of a loved one.
b. This does not mean to mourn over lack of bread or hunder.
c. It means to mourn for sins.
3. “Meek”
a. Someone said this means “to take one’s seat in the dust before God.”
b. This does not mean to be a doormat for men
c. I believe that it means to be content no matter what the circumstance may be and to be able to say in your heart, “thy will be done”
4. “Hunger” - Simply means to hunger after God
5. “Merciful” - A person who desires mercy must show mercy in order to receive the same.
6. “Pure in Heart”
a. All actions are motivated by our thinking.
b. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
7. “Peacemakers”
a. This is not only speaking of someone trying to settle an argument but it’s also about starting them as well.
b. A quarrelsome person is never called a child of God.
8. “persecuted for righteousness sake”
a. The fight really begins once a persn becomes a christian.
b. The world always has and always will hate people that live Christ-like
9. “Reviled and accused falsely”
a. Persecution received by the words of man.
b. People are led by the father of lies to tell lies against the child of God.
c. Remember we are persecuted for his sake. It is not you that they hate, but Christ
B. The Believer’s -- Matthew 5:13-16
1. The believer’s are preserved.
2. The believer’s will persevere.
IV. THE SOVEREIGN’S ROAD
A. Felt Alone
1. The disciples went to sleep in the garden
2. Peter denied him
B. Falsely Accused
C. Followed with Allegiance
1. He was Sent by his father
2. He Saw the sinners
3. He Succeeded. IT IS FINISHED!!!
V. THE SOVEREIGN’S RESURRECTION - Matthew 28:1-10
VI. THE SOVEREIGN’S REQUEST - Matthew 28:18-20
A. Introduction -- “Go ye therefore and teach all nations”
B. Induction -- “Baptizing them”
C. Instruction -- “Teaching them to observe all thing whatsoever I have commanded you”
D. WE ARE TO WIN THEM, WET THEM, AND WORK THEM!!!
