NEW TESTAMENT SURVEY
THE GOSPELS
EXAM # 3 STUDY GUIDE
You do not need to memorize verses or passages. The Bible passages are in single quotation marks (typically). Make sure to be familiar with the key points in each passage listed here…but, not every word or fact.
Lecture 20
Why was it that it would be more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom in the day of judgment, than for these other cities around Jesus at that time? Well, it was because of the mighty works of Jesus Christ right there before them that they refused to acknowledge and thus refused to repent. That dispensation involving Jesus Christ actually on Earth has more expected of the people, than before it or after it (we today).
At the Throne of Glory the nations will be judged and whole nations will be cast into Hell. At the end of the Tribulation, those nations that were wicked and didn’t befriend Israel will be thrown into Hell. These nations will thus not exist during the Millenium. Only righteous nations will exist then. This may be true for individual cities also (as mentioned here); they may be individually judged.
‘And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.’
Some say that this ointment was extremely expensive (about a year’s wages).
‘And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He (Jesus) hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.’
‘Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.’
When the Charismatics involved with “Deliverance” ministries are ‘apparently’ casting out devil after devil at their meetings, what is really going on? I believe a lot of so-called ‘casting out of devils’ is really a show put on by the devils themselves.
How did these Pharisees blaspheme the Holy Ghost? They saw Jesus cast out devils by the power of the Spirit of God. They knew that it was the work of God. The Pharisees did not oppose Jesus because they doubted that He was from God. They opposed Him because they knew He would take their position from them. It is with this clear knowledge of who Christ was that they attributed His works to the devil. That is the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost—to knowingly attribute the miracles of Jesus Christ, which were done by the Holy Ghost, to the devil.
Who can commit this sin? This sin can only be committed by someone who has seen the work of Jesus, known it was done by the power of God’s Spirit and yet attributes it to the devil for personal gain or hatred. I personally believe that this sin could only be committed when Jesus was present on the earth. This would explain why the sin is never mentioned again in the New Testament.
The Jews were referred to as ‘evil and adulterous’ because they ‘require’ and ‘seeketh after a sign’.
The Ninevites didn’t really see a sign, but rather heard the strong preaching from God’s man and solidly repented. They were wicked, and they repented; but, typically, the ‘religious’ will hear the truth and not repent.
1) Devils have a compulsion to possess something; 2) Those that have devils leave them need to have the Holy Spirit come in and revolutionize their life 3) Those that try the ’12 step’ program, etc., and try and ‘clean up their act’, and go on some type of anti-psychotic medication, will present a nice ‘homecoming’ to that devil that had left a while back;
4) This ‘re-possession’ can be much worse than the first one (multiple devils; [different levels of wickedness of devils]).
Were Jesus’ family (Mother, siblings) ‘believers’ yet? Well, it is pretty certain that they weren’t part of His ‘disciples’ at this point. By Jesus’ response to their request here it seems that they were not doing the will of His Father in heaven! Jesus was ‘busy about His Father’s business’, and they were not…yet. That was His ‘earthly’ family, but since age 12 He has been identified with a different family…especially upon His baptism.
Lecture 21
What is a parable? One easy definition is ‘an earthly story with an heavenly meaning’. Parables are not true stories. Parables used by themselves should not be used to teach doctrine (but, can be supportive of a doctrine). Parables are not understood by those without the Spirit of God.
So, why did Jesus speak to the lost multitudes in parables? I assume that one main reason was to show the difference between those that are truly a child of God (saved) and those that were just religious (or even heathen). Those that are God’s children are allowed to learn about the mysteries of God’s kingdom; the lost are not to learn about this…. but they are allowed to learn about salvation, praise the Lord. Those whose hearts are open will be given the truth of the gospel and then they will be able ‘see’ and ‘hear’ (understand God’s truths).
The 4 soils are: wayside, stony, thorns, and good.
‘Wayside’ it ‘fell by the wayside’; which sounds like it wasn’t being aimed there, but it just so happened to land there.
‘it was trodden down’; which sounds like other people made it less likely to eventually bear fruit.
‘Stony ground’: it appears that this is referring to the heart that is hard, and not that open to change, pressure, trials. No root: it was all on the surface, and not a deep heartfelt conviction.
‘Thorns’: cares of this world; worldly lusts/pleasures choke out the fruit being produced.
‘Ground’:an honest and good heart; a heart that hears and actually keeps it; it is fertile soil; it doesn’t have hardness; it isn’t going to have the devil easily pick it up or have other people stomp all over it; it isn’t going to be choked by the world’s delights.
The key difference on this ground versus the others is that it brought forth fruit.
In God’s spiritual economy, it gets very polarizing. Those that don’t really want to hear will have less and less truth presented to them; and those that really do want to hear will have myriads of opportunities to hear the truth.
‘Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.’
The context for this and the following many parables seems to be the mixture of bad amongst the good; that heretical religion will be intermingled with Christendom. And, that God will separate it all out at the end (Rapture).
The mustard seed parable explains that what Jesus Christ started on Earth was initially small, but would grow into a huge entity (churches everywhere). And, there would be fowls (false doctrine, false teachers) lodged in its branches (in Christendom).
Lecture 22
This should be the principle of all Missionaries: “I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest”. Hawaii, Helsinki, or even to Haiti. Be willing to go wherever. And, don’t be that concerned about where you are going to be laying your head (nice home to rent or buy). Jesus doesn’t seem to have any home of His own.
Men always seem to have some ‘excuse’ why they can’t go into ‘full time ministry’. Here it was the disciple needing to be around his aging father until he died (could have been years). Today, excuses might be: allow me first to ‘retire’; allow me first to ‘make some money’ at this new job of mine; allow me to get fully out of debt; allow my children to all finish High School; allow my home to sell; allow me to help my dad with the business for another 5 years or so;… Jesus doesn’t think much our lame excuses… He just wants us to be committed to following Him and His plan.
There were 2 devil possessed men here in the land of the Gadarenes (Gergesenes). Only one is focused on, which probably means the other didn’t come running to Jesus for salvation; he probably ran off at this point.
The devils know for certainty what there end is…Hell, torments. They know for a certainty who Jesus is! It is possible to have a person possessed with many devils (legion usually meant 1000 or more. The ‘deep’ that the devils didn’t want to be cast to might have been the ‘Bottomless Pit’.
It is apparent that devils always want to be possessing some living entity…even a farm animal (pig). A person that seems ‘psychotic’ for many months or years, can all of a sudden be sitting, clothed normally, in his right mind. A formerly ‘psychotic’ person can be a tremendous witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lecture 23 & 24
‘And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,’
She probably had some Gynecological (Uterine) bleeding problem…was always anemic/weak. Physicians are not the answer; medicines are not the answer; though, these sure can be used by God to help you.
Don’t spend all your money to cure something (i.e. cancer, chronic pain conditions, etc.); it might be the Lord’s will.
‘And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.’
‘While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?’
‘And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.’
‘And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.’
‘And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.’
‘And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. …But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.’
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
6.7 billion souls (plenteous harvest); few labourers…
There are 72 countries without one independent Baptist missionary in them!
30% of all Fundamental Baptist ‘foreign’ missionaries are located in just 5 countries. This is hard to believe when we know that there are 72 countries that do not have 1 !
The first missionaries were the 12 apostles (sent ones); they had special powers (sign gifts); they were sent 2 by 2; they were initially sent just to the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel’; they were to specifically preach that ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand’.
A church planting Evangelist should find a city where there is someone (a family) who desires him to minister to them; and, then have them take care of you initially. A city where no-one apparently is repsonding to your ministering might need to be abandoned…
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Full time ministry can be dangerous. Be very careful (wise and harmless) of how you operate; you don’t want to spoil it for yourself. Thus, don’t necessarily broadcast to everyone in that city in China that you are an American Evangelist preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. What a ministry: Sheep reaching out to wolves!...
Lecture 25
‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’
‘But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.’
Fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell ! It’s not anhilation; the destructive process occurs for eternity…never ending destruction!
‘Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.’
Don’t let your Mommy or Hubby inhibit your stance in following the Lord Jesus Christ !
‘For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. Whereupon he And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.’