MATTHEW – 40th BOOK

Matthew (Letter 40, Larry Crabb’s 66 Love Letters)

Jesus Takes Over

Most of the people in the church do not see their ignorance of the old Testament, therefore in danger of making up a story and thinking they heard it from God.

John knew the Messiah would come to change us, to restore our souls before God restored our blessings.

Zachariah’s ability to speak was removed for 9 months. Silence is an opportunity for faith to grow.

Our typical understanding of the gospel is – get saved, live well, enjoy God’s blessings, then go to heaven.

But Jesus first words were “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”.

The true Gospel has the power to transform us from grasping for life for our sake to losing our life for God’s sake.

If God can change Matthew from a tax collector who lived only for his own advantage into a follower of God’s Son, then he can change us from empty graspers into a much loved givers.

We are to go and make disciples, teaching them to obey everything God has commanded.

Book Name: MATTHEW – From Ray Stedman

Click here for entire Bible Summary from Ray Stedman

The Message of Matthew: BEHOLD YOUR KING!

Man is made up of three divisions body, soul, and spirit, and it was on these three levels that our Lord was tested:

First of all, that he was tested on the level of the body’s demands. The dominant passion of the body is self-preservation. For 40 days and nights he had not eaten, and then the temptation came subtly to him: “Change these stones into bread, if you are the Son of God.”

Then he was tested through the dominant passion of the soul, which is self-expression. Our Lord was taken up to the top of the temple, and given the opportunity to cast himself down and thus capture the acclaim of Israel. Such temptation plays upon the urge for status.

Finally, he was tested in the deepest, most essential part of his humanity – the spirit. It was on this level that the Devil came to him and said, “All these kingdoms of the world will be yours if you will fall down and worship me,” Our Lord’s answer was, … it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve,’”
So he passed the test. He revealed himself fully and adequately to be man as God intended man to be.

The first ministry begins, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,’”

When the King is enthroned in the life, the kingdom of God is present. That is the message of Matthew – “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heaven does not mean some place out in space; it means the realm of the invisibilities, where God reigns in the spirit. That kingdom is at hand in the presentation of the King.
The great question to which Matthew demands an answer is, “Is Jesus Christ King of your life?” Have you received him only as Savior of the body, or Savior of the soul? Then he is not yet King.
The question that Matthew brings before us is, “Has he become King? Has he penetrated to the spirit? Has he mastered your heart? Has he laid hold of your worship as an individual, so that he is the one single most important person in all the universe to you?” That is when he becomes King.
That is the fulfillment of the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me, for you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your strength, and all your mind,” The result will be that you will “love your neighbor as yourself,”

MATTHEW – David Jeremiah (Understanding the 66 Books of the Bible)

Key thought: Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham, is the Messiah, the King of Israel, the Savior of the world.

Key Verse: He asked his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of Man am? Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16: 13,16

Key Action: Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (see Matthew 28:19-20).