Introduction
Matt 3:13-4:13
I have been praying and
fasting for several weeks on direction from God on what I should do my bible
study on. I believe I have received clear defining direction and I would like
to start off with the verse that led me in the direction.
John 8:31-32 (NKJV)
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Jesus said if we remain,
stay or continue in His word, then we are His disciples and students. I have
called myself a disciple for 13 years now and I take it very serious. I do not
take it lightly, for instance when people say they are Christian, many times it
is taken lightly, it isn’t honored the way it should be. Everyone says they are
Christian. But to hear, I am a disciple of Jesus…that catches people’s
attention.
Disciple
means a learner or a pupil
Christian
means a follower of Christ
Abide means to continue
in it (His word)
Now, do not get me wrong, I am a
Christian but I want to be a disciple with everything in me. I want Jesus to
teach me the way I should live, what He wants me to do, and most of all I want
to please Him….
The second part of that
scripture really has changed my life. I was addicted to meth for more than 7 years.
I could not even get out of bed without it, at one point I sold it and it
robbed me from having a fulfilling life. I was suicidal and bipolar….but when I
came to the knowledge of truth I was completely set free! No more addiction, no
more mood swings and crazy paranoid thoughts and best of all…I love my life
now. This scripture explains the “why” of everything I do.
My
whole intention in everything I do is to hopefully help lead someone to Jesus,
the truth, and see them experience what I experienced 13 years ago that has
changed my whole life.
So
in light of what I just shared with you, I want to take us in an in depth study
of Jesus’ actual words and teachings. That is why I have called it "The Red
Words." In most Bibles, Jesus’ words are printed in red. So with that
said, we are starting in Matt 3-4.
Part 1: Baptism
The first red words that appear, are
when Jesus gets baptized by John the Baptist. Let’s read it:
Matthew 3:13-17 (NKJV)
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan
to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be
baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” 15 But Jesus answered and said to
him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting
for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. 16 When He
had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the
heavens were opened to Him, and He[a] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This
is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Jesus here was water
baptized. I would like to point out a couple of things about water baptism
before we proceed. Water baptism is a baptism of repentance. Repentance means a
change of mind, a change of direction… to turn in the opposite direction, and
have a change of heart.
Jesus was without
sin, he didn’t need John’s baptism of repentance (1 Peter 2:22), yet he was
still baptized.
This had two
purposes: it was the public announcement that Jesus was the Lamb of God to the
people (John 1:29-31) and it fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 9:24, Jesus was
anointed (Acts 10:38) by the Holy Spirit (v.16) and empowered to begin his ministry.
If Jesus was baptized, how much more do we need to be? (Luke 24:49 with Acts
1:8 and 2:1-4)
1.
Jesus was 30
years old
2.
It is a baptism
of Repentance… babies/young children cannot repent. In order to have a proper
baptism the person needs to be aware of what it symbolizes and be capable of
actually repenting.
3.
Jesus was
completely submerged in the water, not sprinkled. Baptize actually means to
cleanse by dipping or submerging, to make clean with water.
4.
Getting baptized
symbolizes a grave, you go into the grave dead and you rise to a new life in
Christ.
Part 1: Study,
Worship and Serve
The second thing in
red would be Matt 4:4, 7, 10
Now keep in mind that Jesus was just baptized…
Matthew 4:1-10 (NKJV)
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and
forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he
said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”4 But
He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”[a]5
Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the
temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For
it is written: ‘He shall give His
angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you
dash your foot against a stone.’”[b]7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your
God.’”[c]8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain,
and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to
Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”10
Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you,[d] Satan! For
it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall
serve.’”[e]
Crazy, Jesus gets
baptized and immediately after he went through the wilderness. He has Trials
and temptations. Do not think once you decide to live a new life for Christ and
die to your old life that it is easy. That is when the enemy shows up. Notice
what is happening with Jesus and the Devil.
1. Live by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God (v. 4)
a.
The Devil tried to get Jesus to question who he was “IF
you are the Son of God”
b.
He tried to get Jesus
to question what his call was
c.
He cast doubt and
tried to trip him up
d.
The enemy
approached Jesus when he was weak, he
had been fasting 40 days
2.
Do not tempt the
Lord your God (v.7)
a.
The devil
purposely used scripture the wrong way
b.
He added to the
scriptures
c.
He took away from
the scripture
d.
It resulted in
the scripture having a whole new meaning
e.
he quoted the
scripture from Ps 91:11-12 and left out:
Psalm 91:11-12
(KJV) 11 For he shall give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all
thy ways.12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy
foot against a stone.
f.
The devil then
added to the word in Matt 4:6 by saying:
Matt4:6
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is
written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands
they shall bear thee up, lest at any
time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
3.
Worship God and
serve Him alone (v.9). Pride was what caused Satan’s original sin that got the
Devil thrown out of heaven. He wanted to be like God. Worship only belongs to
God and the devil has always sought that. (v.10)
a.
If the devil
cannot receive the worship he will do anything he can to turn the worship to
anything but God: money, clothes, possessions, drugs, alcohol, even family and
fitness in some cases etc….
b.
Whatever you give
your time, money, and devotion to above
God is worship.
c.
Anything that
keeps you from worshiping God or doing the will of God, is called idolatry (Col
3:5)
1.
Baptism
2.
Study the Bible
3.
Worship God alone
4.
Serve Him
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