Christ knew we would never be happy without a personal, viable relationship with him and his Father. He knew the only way for us to truly know him would be to learn his story. This is why Jesus' last commission to his disciples was for them to study the Word in order to teach the Word to others. Through intense study of the New Testament, The Good News of the Apocalypse shows you how to have a meaningful and an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Pastor Sedinger offers a complete overview of the books of the New Testament. She breaks down each book through guided readings and gives a thorough explanation of the book's events and message. In addition, Sedinger incorporates other biblical studies in her narrative to provide a well-rounded understanding of the New Testament. At the heart of this study is the overwhelming importance of accepting Jesus as your personal savior and developing a relationship with him. Knowing about him is not enough to build this relationship. Instead, we must study Scripture and apply it to our lives. The Good News of the Apocalypse will help you in this remarkable journey by complementing your Bible reading and giving you a new understanding of the Gospel.

THE GOOD NEWS OF THE APOCALYPSE

Volume II: A Guided Voyage through the New TestamentBy Ione L. Sedinger

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Rev. Ione L. Sedinger
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-5808-2

Contents

Preface..................................viiMatthew..................................1Mark.....................................75Luke.....................................97John.....................................136Acts.....................................168Romans...................................203I Corinthians............................216II Corinthians...........................228Galations................................230Ephesians................................231Philippians..............................234Colossians...............................235I Thessalonians..........................236II Thessalonians.........................238I timothy II timothy.....................238Titus....................................241Philemon.................................242Hebrews..................................242Jude.....................................250Exploring Revelation.....................252Epilogue.................................313Bibliography.............................317

Chapter One

MATTHEW

CHAPTER 1

Most early church writers stressed the fact that Matthew wrote his Gospel with the purpose of convincing the Hebrew people in his day that Jesus was one of them; but more than just one of them, He was their promised Messiah. What more important information would they need than to know Jesus' genealogy? "This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of King David and of Abraham." (Matt. 1:1)

You will read 15 verses of "begats" down to verse 17: "So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto the Messiah are fourteen generations."

My grandparents were deceased before I was old enough to remember any of them; and my mother and dad didn't talk much about them. They did not seem interested in their past; so I had never thought about my ancestors. Many of our friends are hooked on the study of Genealogy. A few years ago, when others began talking about genealogy it shed a new light on the first chapter of Matthew for me. Jesus' genealogy became more important and I began to study it with far more interest; for I needed to satisfy myself that his genealogy fulfilled all the predicted requirements.

Genealogy was always very important to the Hebrews because they took pride in the fact they were the people chosen by God. God had made the first promise as a conditional covenant with Abraham. The condition was: Abraham would come out from the midst of his idol worshipping relatives and obey the one God: Jehovah, God almighty. One teenager said to me, "That sounds like an egotistical God." That condition, God gave Abraham, was not then nor is it now because God is an egotistical God! It is because God is holy.

Holiness is not only being set apart but it includes the sum total of all the desirable attributes (fruit of the spirit) which God has and wants all people to strive for. God loves us and knowing what is best for our well being he continually challenges us to be holy. Loving and obeying God, yielding our spirits to the Holy Spirit and not to the things of this world will cultivate holy attributes in us. "The fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control." (Gal. 5:22, 23)

The promise was renewed with Abraham's son, Isaiah, and with Isaiah's son, Jacob. That covenant and promise was renewed again through Moses when he was chosen to lead this nation out of slavery in Egypt. God told Moses that he would one day send a Deliver to his people just like Moses. It was renewed through Joshua by the fact that his name means Salvation. God promised to send a Savior. God renewed the promise through King David in telling David that one of his descendants, a sovereign King, would rule and reign over all nations forever. (See Volume I for more details) from the time of David until the end of the Old Testament the Hebrew Prophets were foretelling the Good News that their Messiah was coming to redeem God's people.

The Prophets who came along after King David, prophesied of the one who would be a suffering servant, and a sacrificial Lamb meek and righteous etc.; but the people could not put all four of those descriptions together to understand them as one and the same. When Jesus came they were only looking for the one who would deliver them from the Romans as Moses had delivered them from the egyptians. Some did think of him as being a conquering king but none thought of him as a suffering servant or as a lamb.

That promise of an Israelite deliverer, savior, was implanted in the minds of every Israelite from childhood. They would never have considered a person of any other race becoming a child of God much less becoming their Messiah. His Hebrew nationality and his linkage to Abraham and King David would have to be the very first credential presented to convince the Hebrews that Jesus was their promised Messiah King. Matthew certainly accomplished describing Jesus as fulfilling that requirement in the first seventeen verses.

The next question with some people today is: "Was Matthew actually the author of this first Gospel?" Some early documents were credited to Matthew the disciple of Jesus; however, today many scholars decline to believe he was the author of our first New Testament book. This book is not meant to get into critical details about the Bible. There are numerous writings one may study if such is your aim see the Bibliography at the close of this book for resources for my comments in this book. My only purpose for this volume is that my readers will accept Jesus as their Savior and make Him Lord of their life. Making Christ your Savior and making Him Lord of your life are two different undertakings. Not every Christian understands that! Hopefully you will know the difference after studying The Good News of the apocalypse.

More than just as Savior, my prayer is that my readers will come to have a close personal relationship with him as Lord, Ruler of their life now. In such relationships we glorify God the father; so, as I wrote in the preface all the scholarly details about the Bible, just for the sake of knowledge, are not required for forming that relationship.

You will also read in many commentaries that Matthew copied Mark's Gospel. Why would Matthew want to copy someone who had gotten his information from someone else; it is not proven that Mark even knew Jesus personally. Every source I have read seemed to be statements which we could reverse to prove that Mark copied Matthew if it mattered. Matthew was one of the twelve. He would have been with Jesus throughout his ministry; so, all of his writings were first hand experiences. My readers can find many sources besides my Bibliography for all such information if one is that interested. That is not important for our goal.

1:18-25 The Virgin birth of Jesus: another issue Matthew would have to explain to his Hebrew readers would be that of Isaiah's prophecy about the Virgin Birth. "The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel" (Is. 7:14) Therefore, beginning with 1:18...