Apr 3, 2012 | Matthew
In our study of the Bible, many times it is difficult to look at one thing without thinking about half a dozen other things at the same time. The problem comes in trying to decide which is the most important and what to look at first. For example, we can’t...
Apr 2, 2012 | Matthew
We must never forget that Christ Jesus is more than MERELY our Saviour. I’m not talking about His deity or His relationship to the Father and to the Holy Spirit. I’m thinking about ways in which Christ is more than a Saviour to each of saints –...
Apr 1, 2012 | Matthew
As we move into chapter 4, we see the next step toward our Lord’s earthly ministry. It began with His baptism, reminding us that our first step of obedience following salvation should be baptism and church membership. After the Lord was baptized, it seems that...
Mar 23, 2012 | Matthew
The other day, I asked my internet connection this question: “What was the first Baptist Church in America?” I knew what the answer would be, and I also already knew the truth. You can’t believe everything that you read on the internet. The first...
Mar 22, 2012 | Matthew
As we read this account, we realize that you and I cannot be compared to either of the two primary characters. As John implies, he wasn’t worthy to unloose or carry the sandals of the Lord Jesus. And if John wasn’t worthy then we are even more unworthy....
Mar 21, 2012 | Matthew
Around here, at Calvary Baptist Church, we think that baptism is important. I would like to think that we believe that it is as important as Jesus did, but I’m not sure that we do. The Lord Jesus walked – He didn’t drive his Hyundai – He...
Mar 20, 2012 | Matthew
John the Baptist was a few months older than his cousin Jesus. This isn’t significant, but adds just a little to the question about the length of John’s ministry. How long had he been a “voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepared ye the way of...
Mar 19, 2012 | Matthew
I know that two weeks ago, we looked that this statement through the eyes of Asaph and Psalm 50. Tonight I’d like to consider it once again, but this time through the eyes of John the Baptist. This comment reveals things, perhaps conceals things, and also might...
Mar 18, 2012 | Matthew
I was surprised to find how complicated some Bible commentators want to make these verses. I don’t want to confuse you with all their jabbering, so I won’t go into their words very far. Considering the elements that we find here, for the most part this...
Mar 17, 2012 | Matthew
It is very likely that verses 5-12 are not one of John’s sermons but a summary of several sermons. When we compare this with the other gospels, the same information is sometimes set in different contexts, like diamonds in different settings. I think that...
Mar 16, 2012 | Matthew
We have been looking at this chapter for about a month now. As I was re-reading it for the umteenth time, it occurred to me that I have misquoted this verse many times. I’ve gotten it correct, but probably just as many times I’ve made a slight mistake...
Mar 15, 2012 | Matthew
Early in the week I knew that I wanted to preach on John’s statement about Christ – “He that cometh after me is mightier than I.” But I wasn’t exactly sure how to develop the idea – partly because it is so obvious and overpowering....
Mar 14, 2012 | Matthew
Here is something to keep in mind in regard to John the Baptist – despite the way that he might have appeared to these Pharisees and Sadducees, he really did have their best interests in mind. But unlike the Sadducean priests of the 21st century, he...
Mar 13, 2012 | Matthew
As I was thinking about these Pharisees and Sadducees coming to John, I noticed that their approach was different from the way that they later came to the Lord Jesus. With Christ, it was always adversarial – they came attacking – with arguments and...
Mar 12, 2012 | Matthew
I know that it would have been a little early, but what might have been the likelihood that Saul of Tarsus came to John down there in the valley of the Jordan? I can just picture the great scholar Gamaliel taking his little band of disciples down to hear the radical...
Mar 9, 2012 | Matthew
Amongst the common people of Israel who came to hear the preaching of John the Baptist, there were two specific groups – the Pharisees and Sadducees. History tells us that there were at least four sects, or groups, among the Jews in John’s day. There were...
Mar 8, 2012 | Matthew
I think that John the Baptist gives us a good opportunity to study the subject of humility. We all need to be more humble than we are, but it needs to be a Biblically-governed humility. It needs to come from within us, from the place where the Holy Spirit resides....
Mar 7, 2012 | Missions
There are a lot of Christian scholars who don’t like John the Baptist, and who try to call him some sort of Old Testament prophet or servant of God. I know that it is true, because I have often read it, but I can’t understand why they want to do it. Maybe...
Mar 5, 2012 | Matthew
I foresee our Sunday study of Matthew becoming exceedingly long. If there are 13 messages from all 28 chapters then we will again take about 350 services in that study. Of course, I’m leaving the door open for the Lord to return and bring it to an end, but...
Mar 4, 2012 | Matthew
Last Sunday, a couple of people mentioned that they were blessed by the message on John the Baptist. And I was told that one person said that she had never before heard any lessons on John. I went home and checked my records and to my surprise that comment was quite...
Mar 3, 2012 | Matthew
Wednesday I picked up the mail at our box down the street, and as I walked home, I glanced through it all. Within that little bundle was an envelope from the Internal Revenue Service, Philadelphia, PA 19255. Immediately my heart skipped a beat. About five years ago I...
Mar 2, 2012 | Matthew
Back in 1972 I bought a book by S.E. Anderson, published by the church of M.L. Moser in Little Rock, Ark. It’s title was “The First Baptist.” Very surprisingly, the forward to the book was written by W.A. Criswell, pastor of the huge First Baptist...
Mar 1, 2012 | Matthew
Between chapters 2 and 3 we jump ahead about thirty years. The ministry of the Lord Jesus is about to begin, but first there is a forerunner, a vanguard, an usher. As we shall see, it was John’s divine commission to prepare the way of the Lord and to encourage...
Feb 15, 2012 | Matthew
With this message tonight, I have every intention of finishing our thoughts on this chapter. If I made that statement a month ago, and I might have done so, then I apologize. But I’m really serious this time, and I won’t even try re-reading chapter 2 at...
Feb 14, 2012 | Matthew
Have you ever thought about the logic behind the word “overjoyed?” I was surprised that my dictionary didn’t offer any etymology for the word. Who first used that word in literature, and what did he intend by it? We all know what it is to be...
Feb 12, 2012 | Matthew
I have created a problem for myself. Here it is, Sunday afternoon, and most of us have just eaten far more than we should have. And some have the habit of taking a Sunday afternoon siesta, and according to the clock the time is right. But the pastor is considering...
Feb 10, 2012 | Matthew
Years, and years, and years ago, I created a chart to help me with my Bible study. Today I can’t tell you from where I first got the idea, but I modified it, and it became my own. It was my original intention to have at least one sheet for every chapter in the...
Feb 9, 2012 | Matthew
If my math is correct, we have a total of four prophecies about Christ here in this chapter. We have sufficiently dealt with the first one – the prophecy from Micah 5 – “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of...
Feb 8, 2012 | Matthew
You may think that I’ve lost my mind in returning to a verse which we have studied at least twice before. My reply is that I have not lost my mind, even though the jury is still deliberating. This message has little to do with anything that I’ve said...
Feb 7, 2012 | Matthew
I’m treading out onto this ice this evening. This is dangerous territory for me, for a couple of reasons. First, because I’m not an expert in this particular subject. I try to know something about the Bible, but in some places where the Bible intersects...
