Now, this morning I want to preach on the subject of why there are four Gospels.
And when we say the four Gospels, we're referring to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the first
four books of the New Testament.
Now, personally, the four Gospels are my favorite part of the Bible.
I feel like the four Gospels are the heart of the Bible.
Everything leading up to them is just a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in Acts 10, 43, to him give all the prophets witness that through his
name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
And then everything after the four Gospels is just preaching and explaining that which
we see in the life of Jesus Christ.
So these books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, give us the life of Jesus Christ.
They talk about his birth, his ministry, his preaching, his miracles.
And of course, most importantly, they talk about his death, burial, and resurrection.
But the question is, why are there four Gospels?
Why did God not just give us one account of this great story?
Well, first of all, the obvious answer is that it's such a great story that it's worth
telling four times in a row.
But not only that, there are different things that are emphasized in each of the four Gospels.
They have different themes, and so you get a little bit of a different viewpoint of the
life of Christ by reading them.
And not only that, but if you think about what the four Gospels represent, they also
represent eyewitness testimony telling us that these things really happened and that
they really are true.
Especially the book of John emphasizes the fact that he is a witness and that he's bearing
record and that he's giving a testimony.
Well, if you were to go to a courtroom and there were only one witness to something,
that's not supposed to be enough to convict anyone because that one person could be lying.
So often what you'll have is corroborating testimony.
Now corroborating testimony is someone else's independent testimony that supports the testimony
of the other person and shows it to be true.
Now if we were to walk into a courtroom and we had four witnesses get up and testify to
something and they both gave the exact same testimony and they included the same details
and they left out the same details, we would say these witnesses have gotten together and
gotten their story straight and they're not independent witnesses.
It wouldn't be as credible.
It would seem like, wait a minute, something's fishy here where these four different people
are remembering everything exactly the same way and giving the exact same testimony because
that is not the way that the real world works.
See when you go into a courtroom and you hear different testimony from different people,
they'll give different testimony but that testimony corroborates the testimony or it
could contradict and if it contradicts then there's a problem, somebody's lying or somebody's
not remembering properly.
And the thing about the four gospels that's so amazing is that they are four accounts
of the same story and they are four corroborating testimonies in the sense that they don't read
exactly the same.
In fact, many people when they read them will even think that they see contradictions in
the four gospels and say, well this appears to contradict.
But then once you study a little further you can see that there is no contradiction, that
they do corroborate one another.
But the fact that they are so different from one another proves that they're not just feeding
off of one another.
That Matthew didn't write his gospel and then Mark comes along and says, well I'm going
to write one now and just make a few changes but I'm pretty much going to say the exact
same thing and then Luke does the same thing and John.
No, they're all clearly different.
Even worldly secular scholars who don't even believe in the Bible actually state that these
are four independent works and that none of them is copied from the other, that they did
not have access to the other and copy from it.
They'll actually admit that.
They try to of course have all these theories about how they could have been so consistent
yet they were independent by saying that there's this other document, document Q, that they're
all borrowing from that's been lost to history.
No, document Q is the Holy Spirit, you know, revealing things to the author.
So the four gospels are actually a perfect eyewitness testimony giving different details
appearing to contradict on the surface only to the unlearned, only to those who haven't
studied and then once you do study it out you see that they corroborate.
For example, you'll find that the timings given in the book of John are completely different
than the timings given in Matthew, Mark and Luke and people point to that and say, you
know, well which one was it?
Was it the sixth hour or was it the ninth hour, was it the third, you know, and they
say contradicts but then once you learn a little more you realize that in Matthew, Mark
and Luke he's using a Jewish reckoning of time where the day starts at 6 a.m.
So you know, the third hour would be our 9 a.m. and then in the book of John he's using
a more universal reckoning of time where the day starts at midnight like they do it in
most of the world like we do it here in the United States when you look at the different
time.
So once you learn you can see how it all fits together so perfectly but they're definitely
not copying each other.
These are four independent witnesses.
Of course we know that they're all inspired by the Holy Ghost and that it's the Word of
God.
So there are four different gospels.
Number one to give four corroborating testimonies.
Not testimonies where they all got together and got their story straight but four corroborating
testimony which is the strongest type of evidence.
And then secondly in order to emphasize different things.
Now in Revelation 4 we have a symbol of the four gospels.
Look down at your Bible there in Revelation chapter 4 verse 6.
And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal and in the midst of the
throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
And the first beast was like a lion and the second beast like a calf and the third beast
had a face as a man and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle and the four beasts had
each of them six wings about him and they were full of eyes within and they rest not
day and night saying holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come.
But you don't have to turn there but back in Ezekiel chapter 1 Ezekiel has a vision
of similar creatures and the Bible calls them living creatures but these particular
creatures that he saw back in Ezekiel they each have four faces.
And the four faces that they have are the same four faces that we see here.
The lion, the ox or the calf it's mentioned in Ezekiel, the man and the eagle.
Now these four faces, these four beasts they actually provide a symbol of the four gospels
and in fact the four gospels are in your Bible in the same order that the symbol is here
in verse 7 because the Bible says in verse 7 and the first beast was like a lion that
represents the book of Matthew.
The second beast like a calf or an ox it's recorded as in Ezekiel 1 and the third beast
had a face as a man that would be the book of Luke and the fourth beast was like a flying
eagle that would be the book of John.
So there we have prophetically Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Now you say well why would God represent Matthew with a lion, Mark with a calf or an ox, Luke
with a man or a man and then John with the flying eagle.
Why would he choose those representations?
Well because each of the four gospels has a different emphasis.
In the book of Matthew the fact that Jesus Christ is the king of the Jews is the emphasis.
He's the lion of the tribe of Judah, king of the Jews so that's represented by the lion.
In the book of Mark it's emphasizing the fact that Jesus Christ was a servant and it emphasizes
the work that he did and an ox is a beast of burden, not a glamorous animal but one
that accomplishes a lot of good work.
It's a very useful animal.
The Bible says where no oxen are the crib is clean yet there is much increase by the
strength of the ox.
It emphasizes the fact that Jesus made himself of no reputation and that he was just working
hard doing the works of his father.
Then thirdly the book of Luke portrays Jesus Christ as human, as the son of man.
Over and over again that term is used to describe Jesus and then fourthly in the gospel of John
he's portrayed as the son of God and it really emphasizes his deity and we'll get to more
of the symbolism of the eagle a little bit later in the message.
But let's talk about each of the four gospels.
Turn if you would to Matthew chapter number one.
Matthew chapter number one.
Why are there four gospels?
Well it's for corroborating testimonies and it is also that we might learn different things
and have different things emphasized unto us in each of the four gospels.
You see if you crammed it all into one gospel you'd lose the flow of the story.
So it makes more sense to tell the story four times from four different angles.
So look at Matthew chapter one and let's start out with the first thing in the book of Matthew
which is a genealogy.
Look at the first verse of Matthew.
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Now right away we see Jesus being portrayed in the book of Matthew as the king of the
Jews because it brings up the fact that he's of Abraham and it brings up the fact that
he's the son of David.
Well David was the great king of Israel and the kingly succession descends from David.
So if you go through this genealogy it actually goes through the kings of Israel.
If you jump down to verse number six it says Jesse begat David the king and David the king
begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon begat Reboam, Reboam begat Abia, Abia begat Asa, Asa begat Josaphat.
These are all kings of Judah all the way down to Josiah, Jeconias, and then you get into
Salathial, Zerubbabel, et cetera.
These are the kingly lineages of Jesus Christ through Joseph because the Bible says in verse
number 16 Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus who is called
Christ.
So this is not a physical genealogy of Jesus.
It's a genealogy of Joseph who was Jesus' stepfather that he was in the kingly line
and Jesus as his adopted son was the rightful heir to the throne of Israel to be able to
sit on the throne of David his father through that kingly line on his stepfather's side.
But the Bible is always very careful not to call Joseph Jesus' father but to say well
Joseph was the husband of Mary of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.
So that's the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew for a reason.
Then we get into chapter two we have the wise men coming from the east bestowing really
expensive gifts upon Jesus, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the type of gifts that you would
bestow upon a king.
He is portrayed as the king of the Jews.
Not only that but when you read the book of Matthew more than any other of the four gospels
it quotes the Old Testament constantly.
Over and over again in Matthew it's saying that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophets, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet.
Over and over again virtually every chapter that's being hammered in.
Also Jesus when he preaches in the book of Matthew is constantly making reference to
the Old Testament, quoting the Old Testament more so than in Mark, Luke, and John because
that's the emphasis of the book.
Now of course all of the four gospels are going to have crossover.
Of course we see Jesus being a servant in the book of Matthew.
Of course we see his humanity in Matthew.
Of course we see his deity in Matthew.
But the thing that's being emphasized is Jesus Christ as the king of the Jews.
Listen to Genesis 49.
You don't have to turn there.
But in Genesis 49 verse 9 the Bible says, Judah is a lion's whelp.
From the prey my son thou art gone up.
He stooped down.
He couched as a lion and as an old lion.
Who shall rouse him up?
The scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh
come and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
So back in Genesis 49 each tribe had an animal that represented that tribe and the animal
that represented Judah was the lion and it talked about him being the king because the
lion is the king of the jungle and the lion represents the tribe of Judah.
You say well why would Jesus be represented by an animal?
But he's the lamb of God which taken away the sin of the world.
So he's represented oftentimes by an animal in the sense that he is like unto a lamb,
a sheep that was brought to the slaughter.
He's like a lion in the sense that he's the great king of the Jews.
So over and over again you'll see that.
Now when you get toward the end of the book of Matthew though, after Jesus has been repeatedly
rejected by the leadership of the Jews and by most of the house of Israel, you'll notice
that a big theme in the book of Matthew is how God is taking away the kingdom from the
Jews and giving it unto the Gentiles.
Now the reason that's emphasized is because it's a book that's being directed at them
more than any other book.
This is your king.
This is the king of the Jews.
Quoting all the Old Testament to show them that.
So of course there's a lot in the book of Matthew about the fact that Israel is going
to be rejected by God as a punishment for rejecting the Messiah.
Really all throughout the book of Matthew.
You know you think of the famous verse where Jesus says, I believe in Matthew chapter 8,
that many shall come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob and the kingdom of heaven.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Why does he say the children of the kingdom shall be cast out?
He's talking about the kingdom of Israel.
He says many will come from the east and west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob and the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom, meaning the earthly
kingdom of Israel, shall be cast out into outer darkness.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth because by and large they rejected him.
But when you get toward the end of Matthew, that becomes a theme in literally every chapter.
For example, in Matthew chapter 20, you don't have to turn there, but verses 1 through 16
tells the parable of the laborers that are hired at the sixth hour and the third hour,
sixth hour, ninth hour, and then at the eleventh hour.
And remember, the people who had been working all day long were bitter about the fact that
they received the same payment as the people who were hired at the eleventh hour.
But what's interesting is that the wording that they use is this.
You've made them equal to us.
The people who were hired at the beginning of the day say of the eleventh hour, worker,
you've made them equal to us.
See, here's what that represents.
Israel who had been serving God for centuries, right, and then the Gentiles are the Johnny
come lately, the eleventh hour, in the last days, they become God's great tool to reach
the world.
They become his tool sent out into the harvest.
Let me ask you this.
Who is doing the work for God today?
Is it primarily, physically speaking, Jews or Gentiles?
It's obviously the Europeans and other peoples of the world that picked up that torch, the
Greek, as it were, that became the great missionaries of the Lord Jesus Christ and
his gospel, not the Jews, not Israel.
So they came in at the eleventh hour and became a servant.
And notice the Jew is bitter that the Gentile has been made equal unto them.
And we see that all throughout the book of Acts, that bitterness and unwillingness to
accept the fact that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile.
We're all one in Christ Jesus.
They don't want to accept the fact that we're all one in Christ Jesus.
Well, but we've been worshipping him longer.
Doesn't matter.
We're doing it better.
So anyway, that's what's shown in Matthew 20.
Then you get into chapter 21, you have the parable where Jesus curses the fig tree and
it withers and is not going to bring forth fruit anymore, which again, the fig tree represents
Israel there.
Then in chapter 21, a little later, the parable about the son who said he was going to work
in the vineyard and didn't do it.
And then the son who said he was not going to do it, but then he actually went, which
represents the Gentiles.
And then the Jews, the ones who gave lip service, but their heart was far from him.
Then you get into a little later, the parable of the vineyard, where he lets out the vineyard
to his servants.
And the servants don't bring in the fruit of the vineyard.
And when he sends his servants to collect the increase, they beat one and kill the other,
which represents God sending the prophets.
And the children of Israel beat one and kill another.
And then finally, at the end of that parable, Jesus says, this is about you.
He says, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth
the fruits throughout.
Then in chapter 22, we see the great wedding for the son of God.
And everyone who's invited makes excuses and doesn't show up, which represents the children
of Israel who got the first invitation and don't come.
Then he just goes out of the highways and hedges and just invites anybody, just homeless
people, just anybody they can find, which represents just going into all the world and
preaching the gospel to every creature, the gospel going to the Gentiles.
Then we get into chapter 23.
And if you would flip over to Matthew 23, turn to Matthew 23, and we have a very strong
rebuke given to the Jews.
Because again, Matthew is a book that is primarily portraying Jesus Christ as the king
of the Jews.
And it is a message primarily intended for the Jews.
See, books in the Bible often have a certain target audience.
For example, the epistle to the Thessalonians, you know, there's a target audience there.
People living in Thessalonica, right?
The epistle to the Hebrews, for example, or the book of Revelation was sent out to seven
churches in Asia Minor.
You know, there's a specific audience there.
Where people get into false doctrine is where they say it's only for those people.
I mean that's, you know, the whole Bible is written to all of us.
I mean the book of Hebrews is for us.
You know, the book of Colossians is, oh, the book of Timothy, 1 Timothy is just for Timothy.
Just for one guy?
Get real.
Just because that's who it's addressed to, all scripture is profitable for doctrine.
These things were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come,
even if they were specifically written to someone else, okay?
But they still can have a target audience.
I mean the book of Luke is written to one guy, Theophilus.
The book of Acts is directed at one man, Theophilus.
But obviously it's written for all of us, right?
So when we say that Matthew is written to the Jews, we're not saying, it's only for
the Jews.
That's ridiculous.
But it has that emphasis of quoting the Old Testament and emphasizing Christ as King of
the Jews.
Look what he says there in Matthew 23, verse 37.
Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings and you would not.
Behold your house is left unto you desolate, for I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth
till ye shall see.
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
So we see here that Jesus is upset with Jerusalem.
He's rebuking Jerusalem and saying, look, you've killed the prophets and your house
is going to be left unto you desolate.
That's the punishment.
Then we get into Matthew 24 and there all of a sudden God's chosen people that can do
no wrong.
Just kidding.
And then chapter 25, the theme continues on and on.
Look at the last chapter of Matthew 28.
The last chapter of Matthew 28, remember this is a book that's geared to the Jews.
It's portraying Christ as the King of the Jews.
Look how it ends.
This is a perfect ending for the book.
Matthew 28 verse 18, Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations.
See he's specifically gearing a book to the Jews.
He wants to make sure they know, don't just hang out in Jerusalem and keep preaching to
the same Jews over and over again.
Go teach all nations.
And this is something that the early apostles struggled with.
They all wanted to stay in Jerusalem and not leave.
Teach all nations.
He said baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you
all way even at the end of the world, Amen.
Turn the page into the Gospel of Mark.
So Matthew is represented in Revelation as the lion and it's obvious why Jesus is portrayed
as the King of the Jews.
Now let's get into the book of Mark.
This would be the representation of an ox or a calf which are basically the same animal,
just two different ages.
You know it's called a calf as a baby and then it grows up to be an ox.
Well let's look at the genealogy of Mark chapter 1.
There is no genealogy in Mark chapter 1.
In fact, the book of Mark does not discuss his childhood whatsoever.
It just starts out with Jesus being 30 years old, just out of nowhere.
And it says in verse 1, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Now why does Mark skip his childhood, skip his genealogy?
It doesn't tell us, hey, the son of Abraham, the son of David.
Because of the fact that it's portraying Christ as a servant, okay, flip over to Philippians
chapter number 2.
One thing that you'll notice when you study the book of Mark is that it emphasizes the
works of Jesus.
If you have a red letter Bible where the words of Christ are in red, you'll notice that in
Mark you have less red letters than in the other three Gospels because it's focusing
more on his deeds, his works, and it emphasizes him as a servant.
In fact, let me give you a theme scripture for the book of Mark.
Mark 10 43 says this, but so shall it not be among you, for whosoever will be great
among you shall be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant
of all.
For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life
a ransom for many.
So that's a theme for the book of Mark, Jesus as a servant, as a minister.
And if we want to be great, he said, we will be a servant.
Look at Philippians 2 verse 5, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross.
So we can see why Mark just starts out with him as an adult because he's there as a servant
of no reputation, and he's there to minister, not to be ministered unto.
Go to Luke chapter 2.
Now let's talk about the book of Luke.
The book of Luke portrays, more than any other book, the humanity of Christ.
And it talks about him as the Son of Man.
Now of course, all four gospels refer to Jesus as the Son of Man.
That's a common theme.
But this book especially emphasizes his humanity, that he is that seed of the woman, that Son
of Man, the human being of Christ.
Now when we talk about the humanity of Christ, we're not taking away from the deity of Christ
at all.
Of course, we know that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh.
The Bible says in Hebrews 1-8, but unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever.
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.
The Bible says great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh.
And the Bible clearly tells us in many places that Jesus Christ is God, and that's a whole
sermon in and of itself, just to give all those scriptures that teach that.
But we also know that Jesus Christ was a human being as well.
And this is the miracle of Jesus Christ and his incarnation.
I mean, how could God, the creator of the universe, all-knowing, all-powerful, how could
he become a human being and be born as a baby?
It's really an amazing thing.
It's one of the most wonderful things in the Bible, in fact.
I mean, think about how Jesus Christ, when he was born, he didn't just come out of the
womb and start talking and just start preaching, you know, and just he's walking around as
a newborn.
No, he actually went through the whole process of life.
He said, mama, dada, or actually he would have said, you know, abba, right?
But he would have gone through that whole process of learning how to walk, learning
how to talk, and growing up and going through all the struggles that we go through.
The Bible says that he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.
So I think sometimes we lose sight of that because we get this idea, oh, yeah, Jesus
got it in the flesh, so of course he didn't sin.
I mean, of course he just blew through life and he made it look easy.
But here's the thing, though.
Jesus was human and so he did have to work hard and struggle and endure suffering.
It wasn't just easy for him.
It was difficult for him.
You say, well, how do you know that?
Well, because of the fact that when he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, he's sweating great
drops of sweat that are falling from his brow like drops of blood and he's basically begging
God that if there's any way possible that the cup that he's about to drink would pass
from him.
He endured the cross, despising the shame, the Bible says.
And we see him going through pain and suffering.
We see him experiencing anger, sadness.
We see the times that Jesus wept.
We see his humanity over and over again in the Bible.
But some people are not comfortable with this doctrine just because they're too small-minded
to wrap their mind around it.
So they just say, I don't like that.
You know, don't talk about that.
But it's true.
Jesus was both man and God.
He was 100% man and 100% God.
That's the amazing thing about Christ.
That's what makes reading the four Gospels, that's what makes it reading the greatest
story ever told.
And it makes me love him more when I realize that he's human and that he went through the
things that we went through and that he is not a high priest that cannot be touched with
the feelings of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without
sin.
Here's the proof.
You say, well, I don't like that.
Look at the proof.
Luke chapter 2 verse 52.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
You see that?
He increased in wisdom and stature.
Now that right there proves that Jesus Christ is learning if he's increasing wisdom.
See it starts out, it's talking about him when he's 12 there.
And see, if Jesus didn't know everything when he's 12 kids, neither do you, all right?
So when they get to 12 and 13 is when they start thinking they know everything, right?
You say, well, why did God tell us that when Jesus was 12?
Why didn't he tell us that when he's 8 or 15?
Because he knows every 12 year old is like, oh, my 13th birthday is coming up, I'm about
to know everything.
So it's like, no, Jesus is still increasing in wisdom when he's 12.
How much more you, mortal man?
So this is a great verse for teenagers.
But notice, he increased in wisdom and stature.
So he's growing physically, but he's also learning.
Not only that, but it says that he increased in favor with God.
What does that mean?
He's more pleasing to God when he's 13 than when he was 12.
He's more pleasing to God, because remember God said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm
well pleased.
God became more and more pleased with him.
Why?
Because he's growing.
Now, Jesus Christ never sinned, ever, of course.
He's the sinless son of God.
But he still learned and grew and gained wisdom and increased more and more in his favor with
God and with man.
That's what the Bible says.
Flip back to Mark 13, because some people would say, well, you're reading that wrong.
Okay, well, tell me if I'm reading this wrong.
Go back to Mark 13, verse 32, and look what Jesus said in Mark 13, 32.
But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither
the Son, but the Father.
So to say that Jesus Christ knew everything while he walked on this earth is false.
Because here's one thing for sure that he didn't know.
Even when he is, you know, 33 years old, he did not know the day or the hour of his second
coming.
He said the Son doesn't know.
Only the Father knows.
Now, he may know it now.
Obviously, you know, he's up in heaven glorified.
You know, it's possible that he knows it this time.
That's debatable.
But he didn't know it then.
That's for certain.
Okay.
So we see that Jesus Christ really was human while he was on this earth.
I mean, can you imagine being God and then putting aside basically your power, your omniscience,
and becoming a human being?
I mean, that's quite an experience, you know, to downgrade like that.
I mean, it's hard to even wrap our mind around it, but we believe it by faith, right?
I mean, that's what the Bible says.
It's really fascinating when we study that.
Now, go to Luke chapter 3, just a few pages to the right in your Bible.
So we see the humanity of Jesus Christ increasing in wisdom.
He didn't know the hour.
You know what's so funny about that is that Jesus said, I don't even know the day or the
hour of my second coming, and then people think that they figured it out.
I mean, is that ridiculous?
I mean, it's, oh, yeah, we figured it out.
I mean, I just recently saw somebody saying, oh, yeah, you know, we've calculated because
they have this foolish theory that says Jesus Christ is going to come after 6,000 years
of human history, 6,000 years of human history, and then 1,000 years of millennium.
And they have it all figured out and calculated.
So what's funny about that is that the world's been around for more than 6,000 years already,
and Jesus isn't here, okay?
But here's the thing about that.
If he would have come after 6,000 years, isn't that a little predictable?
How could Jesus say, well, I don't even know?
I mean, was he not smart enough to figure out what these guys claim that they figured
out?
It doesn't even make sense, folks.
But they say, oh, after 6,000 years, no, it's a fraud.
There are all these false alarms about Christ coming.
That way people will say, well, where is the promise of his coming?
So all the false alarms are preparing people to say that, of like, oh, yeah, we've heard
this before.
He's never coming back.
He is coming back, but we need to patiently wait for it and not try to set the date of
his coming.
We have no idea.
It says at such an hour as you think not the Son of Man cometh, and whenever somebody sets
a date, I cross it off on the calendar and say, well, that's one day he's for sure not
coming.
I mean, he may come any day except that one, and obviously we know that first other things
have to happen prophetically, the tribulation, et cetera.
But it's amazing to me how they doctor the numbers.
They keep doctoring the numbers because first it's like the year 2000 or whatever.
Because if you look in a Scofield Bible, it says that the world began in 4004 BC, right?
So if it started in 4004 BC, then 6,000 years would be what, like 1996 or something?
So then it's like, okay, that didn't happen.
Well, it's 2000.
They were rounding.
And then 2000 comes and goes, oh, he was off by a couple of years.
It's 2012.
It's 2014.
Yeah.
No.
And by the way, saying that the world began in 4004 BC is way off, okay?
Because you know what?
That number is based on the children of Israel being in Egypt for 215 years.
And you know how long the Bible says they were there?
430, which means that we're well, and there are a few other errors.
I have calculated the age of the earth to be approximately 6,300 years.
A little bit less than 6,300 years.
So if that was the theory, it would happen like 300 years ago.
But there are people who are still to this day saying, well, actually the earth is only
5,960 years old.
They found ways to shave off here and there and trim and chop and change in order to make
it add up.
Because it's a false kind of science and a false kind of math where you decide the outcome
and you're like, let's find evidence to prop up this outcome.
So they want it to be less than 6,000 years old.
And they want the earth to be less than 6,000 years old so badly that they basically will
just doctor numbers until they get there.
Okay, it's like 6,300 years old.
And no, it's not millions and millions of years old.
That's a whole other sermon.
But look at Luke chapter 3.
In Luke chapter 3, there's a genealogy in the book of Luke and this genealogy actually
emphasizes the humanity of Christ.
It's his human genealogy.
Remember in Matthew 1, we had the genealogy of Joseph and it went back to the kings of
Judah?
Well, if you look at Luke chapter 3, verse number 23, the Bible reads, and Jesus himself
began to be about 30 years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph.
So notice, it's very careful to tell us that he was not literally the son of Joseph but
that he was supposed to be the son of Joseph, right?
Everybody got that?
As was supposed, the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, which was the son of
Matthad, on and on.
Now, here's the difference between this genealogy and other genealogies in the Bible.
Throughout the Bible, when we see a genealogy, the wording is begat, right?
Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judas and his brethren.
So we see the begat, begat, begat in Matthew chapter 1.
Well, this one's worded differently, the son of.
Now the word begat is a very strong word of the fact that basically it's a physical descendant,
you know?
Abraham begat Isaac, you know, that's his physical child there.
Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judas and his brethren, Judas begat Pharaohs and Zareph
of Tamar.
It's a physical begetting that's going on.
Whereas this one just uses the looser term, the son of, because the son of is used throughout
the Bible about an adopted son, someone who is just figuratively the son of or someone
who's the grandson or the great-grandson and begat can sometimes be referring to a grandson
as well.
But the son of is used more loosely in the Bible.
And the reason for that is because this is not Joseph's genealogy.
We already got Joseph's genealogy in the book of Matthew.
This is actually the genealogy of Mary, okay?
Why?
Because we're showing the humanity of Christ and Mary is his human mother.
So it makes sense in the book showing that he's the seed of woman, that he's the son
of man.
It's going to give Mary's genealogy.
That's why it starts out with Jesus was as was supposed the son of Joseph which was the
son of Heli.
He's not really the literal son of Heli.
He is the son-in-law of Heli.
Heli is basically Mary's father, okay?
So Joseph is the son of Heli because he's married to Mary and only because he's married
to Mary, not because it's his physical dad.
And then it goes and gives that genealogy of Mary.
So in Luke chapter 3, we have the genealogy of Mary.
In Matthew chapter 1, we have the genealogy of Joseph.
So when we look at this genealogy, we notice that it does go back to David and it does
go back to Abraham, but it's a different son of David.
It's not through Solomon.
God chose Solomon to be the king after David.
And then Solomon begat Reboam, Reboam begat Abia, etc.
Well, this is from a different son of David named Nathan who is not in the kingly succession.
So this is showing that Jesus is the physical son of David and the physical son of Abraham,
but he's not in that kingly line.
It's through a different route.
It's through a different line of people.
And then notice, this genealogy doesn't stop at David or stop at Abraham.
It goes all the way to the beginning.
Look at verse 38, which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son
of Adam, which was the son of God.
So it goes all the way back to the beginning showing his descent all the way back to Adam.
Because back with the story of Adam and Eve, there's a prophecy about the seed of the woman
that would come and conquer Satan and conquer the serpent and conquer death.
And Jesus Christ is that seed of the woman of Revelation 12 or Genesis chapter 3.
So he's the son of man.
Son of mankind is what the Bible is teaching there in Luke chapter 3 with that genealogy.
And then if you would flip over to John chapter 1, John chapter 1.
So quick review, we have four animals or four beasts that resemble different things.
The first beast had a face like a lion.
The second beast had a face like a calf or an ox.
The third beast had a face as a man.
And the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Those represent the four gospels.
Matthew, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the king of the Jews.
What's the genealogy?
The kingly legal genealogy.
And look, if a guy adopts a son, that's his legal heir.
So the fact that Jesus is the adopted or stepson of Joseph makes him legally the king of Israel.
Then we see mark, oxen are used as beasts of burdens, servants, all throughout the Bible.
For example, it says, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn and the
laborer is worthy of his hire.
Again, showing Christ as a servant, ministering, making himself of no reputation, but taking
on himself to form a servant, no genealogy.
Okay?
Luke chapter 3, his humanity is emphasized.
He's the son of man, the face like a man.
And in it, we see more pictures of Christ's humanity.
He's constantly referred to as the son of man.
And we have his human genealogy back to Mary.
Let me mention something else about the book of Luke.
The book of Luke is not in chronological order like the other gospels.
Matthew, Mark, and John give it to us in a perfect chronological order.
But if you study carefully in the book of Luke, or if you look at sometimes in the back
of your Bible, you'll have a harmony of the four gospels.
Who's ever looked at that in the back of the Bible?
The harmony of the four gospels?
You'll notice that the book of Luke puts things in a different order.
Why?
Because Luke is giving things by topic and by subject.
It's giving priority to subject matter than to give a strict narrative where it goes in
perfect chronological order.
So there are differences between the four gospels, but they're all true.
Everything in them is true.
They are corroborating testimonies of four independent witnesses.
Then we see the book of John, lastly.
This was represented by the eagle.
Now you say, why would the book of John be represented by the eagle?
This is the book that focuses on Christ's deity.
So here's his genealogy.
Look at verse one.
In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.
There's his genealogy right there.
He was in the beginning with God, and he was God.
There he is.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.
Verse 14, and the word became flesh, was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth.
Now, when we think of an eagle, and when we study the Bible's teaching on eagles, let's
say you were to just look up every time the word eagles mentioned.
We will notice certain themes about eagles.
They're often referred to as flying or dwelling in the heavens, dwelling on high.
And a picture that we often think of with an eagle is of being up high and then swooping
down and grabbing something and then carrying it up again.
You see those things where they have the eagle eye, and the eagle is flying, and it can see
some little fish or something swimming, and it just swoops down and grabs it and brings
it up, right?
Now, one thing that's emphasized over and over again in the book of John is the fact
that Jesus came down from heaven, okay?
Look if you would at John chapter 3, verse 13.
Over and over again, look at John 3, 13.
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man, which is in heaven.
Look at verse 31, he that cometh from above is above all.
He that is of the earth is earthly and speaketh of the earth.
He that cometh from heaven is above all.
Look at chapter 6.
So just as the lion is the strongest among beasts and turneth not away for any, the lion
is the king of the jungle.
You know, the eagle is sort of the king of the air, right?
The one who dominates the heavens as being that powerful creature.
Think about how many people have wanted to use that as a symbol.
You know, the United States has wanted to use that as a symbol or all different coats
of arms throughout history.
The eagle represents power.
But look at John 6, 33.
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.
Verse 38, for I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that
sent me.
Verse 41, the Jews then murmured at him because he said, I am the bread which came down from
heaven.
And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
Verse 50, this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and
not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.
And the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.
So how many times are you repeating this, that he came down from heaven, came down from
heaven, came down from heaven?
That's the emphasis.
Now if you would, go to John chapter 14.
I'm going to read for you from Exodus 19.4.
You go to John 14.
Listen to this verse from Exodus 19.4.
You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I bear you on eagle's wings and brought
you unto myself.
So notice this verse that says, I carried you on eagle's wings.
I bear you on eagle's wings and I brought you unto myself.
Look at John 14 verse 1.
Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
watch this, and receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also.
So in Exodus he said, I bear you on eagle's wings and brought you unto myself, and in
verse 3 here he says that I will receive you unto myself, talking about taking us to heaven
in John 14.
Go to Luke 17, and then we're going to go to John 20 if you want to get your finger
in a couple places.
Luke 17 and then John 20.
So what's interesting about this is that it uses the eagle as a representation both
because Jesus came down from heaven like an eagle would come down from the heavens as
in the sky, symbolizing Christ's divinity, the fact that Jesus Christ was in the beginning
with God, he was God, and that he didn't just come into existence in Bethlehem's manger,
but that rather he came down from heaven.
Over and over again that's taught.
But not only that, he is the one that will take us to heaven, is what's being emphasized
with the eagle.
He will carry us on eagle's wings to heaven.
Look at Luke 17, verse 34, this is about the rapture, I tell you in that night there shall
be two men in one bed, the one shall be taken in the other left.
Two women shall be grinding together, the one shall be taken in the other left.
Two men shall be in the field, the one shall be taken in the other left.
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord?
And he said unto them, wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.
So notice the eagle is again being invoked when we have the picture of the rapture, of
where the eagle is, where the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
So he said, I'll receive you unto myself, I bear you on eagle's wings and brought you
unto myself.
Look at John chapter 20.
Why is the eagle the perfect symbol for the book of John?
Because the book of John is the book that tells us how to get to heaven.
I mean think about it, what better symbol if the eagle is the symbol used for the rapture,
if the eagle is the symbol used when he says, I bear you on eagle's wings and brought you
unto myself in Exodus 19 verse 4, the eagle represents the fact that he will carry us
to heaven.
He is one who came down from heaven and he ascended back up to heaven and he said, I
go to prepare a place for you and I will receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye
may be also.
Of course the Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that.
They don't think we're going to heaven, but what did the Bible say?
I'm going to prepare a place for you, I'm going to receive you unto myself that where
I am, there ye may be also.
Look at John 20 verse 30.
And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written
in this book.
Notice what he's saying here.
There's a lot of other stuff that Jesus did that's not written in this book.
Aren't some of those things in the book of Matthew?
Aren't some of them in the book of Mark?
Some of them are in the book of Luke.
But if you were to write all the things that Jesus did, the Bible says, the world itself
would not be able to contain the books that should be written.
But it says there are many other things which Jesus did truly in the presence of his disciples
which are not written in this book.
Look at verse 31.
But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and
that believing you might have life through his name.
So the Bible is telling us that the works that were chosen in the book of John, the
preaching that he did, the things that he did, the things that he said were specifically
handpicked for the book of John to show you how to be saved.
Think about that.
Say, well, why does John leave this out where Mark included it?
Why did John leave this out where Luke included it?
Because John is specifically handpicked preaching stories that you would believe on Jesus Christ
and that believing you would have life through his name.
That's the purpose.
Now, this is the only book that makes that claim.
The only book that claims to be a book written to get people saved.
Matthew, Mark, they don't make that claim.
John says this Gospel is specifically written to tell you how to get saved.
Now, don't you think that's pretty significant?
I mean, we shouldn't just ignore this verse, John chapter 20 verse 31.
This is a significant verse.
It's written that you might believe.
Now, the book of Luke doesn't make that claim.
The book of Luke says that it's written.
It tells us why it's written at the beginning of Luke.
It says it's written that you might know the certainty.
Go back to Luke 1 quickly and I'll show you why Luke is written.
Luke chapter 1 says in verse 1, for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in
order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us.
So he's saying right there, you know, other people have written Gospels.
Other people have tried.
Many people obviously tried and failed because it wasn't God's will because they weren't
the chosen vessels to, you know, the holy men of God that would bring forth inspired
scripture.
But he says even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were eyewitnesses
and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also having had perfect understanding
of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus.
Why?
Why are you writing to me, Luke?
That thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou has been instructed.
See Luke is a book that's being written to people that are already saved.
He's saying, look, these things are already most assuredly believed among us.
Look Theophilus, you already believe Jesus is the Christ.
I believe that.
We all believe that.
But is this written that you might know the certainty of the things that you've been instructed
of to give more details of some of the teachings and the doctrines to show that these things
are things that truly were taught by Christ.
So is Luke the book that's written to get people saved?
It simply is not.
That's not the primary purpose.
Now could you use verses from Luke to get people saved?
Of course.
But is that the primary purpose?
No.
The primary purpose of John is to get, it's written to an unbeliever telling them how
to be saved.
I mean that's pretty significant, right?
Well here's the thing about that.
Did you know that John says the word believe 90 times in it?
90 times in the book of John it says believe, believe, believe.
And think about it.
When you go soul winning, where are some of the best salvation verses in the whole Bible
located?
John.
I mean John 3.16.
I mean that's the verse that the most unsaved people know of any verse.
You go out soul winning and you start quoting it, for God so loved the world, and people
can finish it for you.
You go to In-N-Out Burger, it's on the bottom of the cup, John 3.16.
At a football game, somebody's holding up a sign, John 3.16.
I mean that is the famous verse.
How many verses, as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name.
You got John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
When I was a child, when I got saved at age six, I was shown the verse John 5.24, verily
verily I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me has
everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life.
John 5.24.
I mean the list goes on and on.
Verily verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me has everlasting life.
I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die.
Believest thou this?
Over and over again, John just hammers the gospel, eternal life through faith in Christ.
I mean you want to talk about a book that tells you about how to be saved.
It says believe 90 times.
And people don't emphasize that.
They don't think about that.
Many cases, it's because they have another gospel.
They have a false gospel.
It's a works-based gospel.
And here's the thing.
John's the hardest for him to twist.
Now look, the whole Bible teaches that salvation is by faith.
None of the Bible teaches a works-based salvation.
It all teaches that it's by faith.
Every book, all the prophets, remember, to him give all the prophets witness that through
his name whosoever believeth in him, whosoever believeth in him, whosoever believeth in him
should not.
He said, to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive the remission of sins, Acts 10 43.
But the book that really is geared toward that is John.
You know, James 2 is not written to tell you how to get saved.
That's why it starts out by saying my brethren.
He's talking to people that are already saved, trying to get them to do some work.
I mean look, sometimes I want to talk to some people that are already saved and tell them
to get off their butts and go do some work.
But that's not how to get saved.
You don't work to get saved.
You believe to be saved.
But people who have a false gospel, they avoid John.
Or they de-emphasize it, John's not anything special.
John's not special.
Yeah, it is special.
It's the gospel that's to get people saved.
And to sit there and say, oh, well, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all equally.
No, he said things were included, things were left out based on getting people saved.
That's the claim that's made in John 20.
That's why I remember when I was in Germany and I went to high school in Germany for one
week because I was 18 years old and I'd already graduated from high school, but I could still
kind of pass for a teenager.
So I basically went to high school for a week and just was a guest of different Baptist
church members that I was with because I wanted to experience what it's like to go to public
school in Germany for a week.
So I went to three different schools.
I did a couple days here, a couple days here, one day.
Just something to do while I was in Germany.
And I went to religious education class in Germany.
And in Germany, they have religion classes in the public school that are either taught
by the Catholic church or the Lutheran church, depending on what part of the country you're
in and depending upon what your denomination is.
Because most people in Germany are either Catholic or Lutheran.
It's pretty much the two denominations.
And you can opt out if you want and you can take an ethics class instead, which a lot
of students choose to do.
But religious education is mandatory unless you opt out and do ethics.
So I went to a religion class in Germany and they handed us out a paper and it was a comparison
of the three gospels, the three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
And basically, the teacher was just trying to teach us how they contradict each other.
And he's supposed to be the religious education teacher promoting Christianity, promoting
the Lutheran doctrine.
But actually, he's denying scripture.
He lacked understanding and he's trying to show us the contradiction or whatever.
He was just saying a bunch of stupid blathering for like an hour, wasting everybody's time.
But I talked to my wife about it because my wife grew up in Germany and she said, oh yeah.
She said whenever you went to religious education class, they only teach you out of virtually
Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
I mean, that's what they want to talk about all day long, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
And she said that she was taught her whole life that John is too hard.
The gospel of John is too hard.
Read Matthew, Mark, and Luke because John is too hard.
Which is funny because when you grow up Baptist, you're taught the exact opposite.
You're taught John is the easiest book and they always start new converts in the book
of John, right?
If somebody gets saved, give them the book of John.
If you're taking the gospel to some deep dark jungle tribe, what do you do?
You get John and Romans, you know, you start them out with or start with the gospel of
John.
By the way, even the language of the book of John, whether you're reading it in the
original Greek or reading it in the King James, the language of the book of John is the simplest
language in the New Testament.
It's why?
Because God wants everyone to be saved.
He wants it to be simple.
So it's amazing how the Catholic Church, though, taught my wife that John is hard.
It's too hard to understand.
I mean, it is hard to understand, you know, keep saying believe and we know that's not
the way to heaven.
You know what I mean?
You've got to do the works.
So it's interesting how they do that.
Well, let me just close on this, we're out of time, but I just want to close on this
thought is that, you know, there's an application that can be made from this.
Go to 1 Peter chapter 2.
There's an application that can be made, you know.
It's great to learn about the gospels and I hope more than anything that you walk out
of this sermon just with a love for the Word of God and a desire to read Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John.
That's really the purpose of the sermon.
You say, why are you teaching us this?
Why do you preach about this?
Why on a Sunday morning all the topics you could preach on, why do you pick this topic?
Because I want you to walk out that door and I want you to love the Bible and I want you
to love Jesus and I want you to go home and read the book of Matthew.
And I want you to have a greater appreciation for it.
And I want you to read the book of Mark and read the book of Luke and read the book of
John because my people is destroyed for lack of knowledge, the Bible says.
We need to be people of the book.
We need to be Christians that dig in and study the Bible and search the scriptures daily.
And you know what?
There's one thing that will make you read your Bible every day.
Is it character?
Is it discipline?
Well, you know, that could make you do it.
That's one way to get there.
But you know what?
Most of us don't have that much character and discipline.
So here's a real easy way to get you to read the Bible every day.
Love the Bible.
See, nobody has to remind you to do the things that you love.
You know, when you were a kid, your mom didn't have to get on you.
Did you play outside yet?
Have you played video games yet today?
You know, you get up there and you play video games.
You know, nobody had to remind you of that.
You know, if it was stuff that you like doing, you do it.
Well, you know what?
If you like it, you'll read it.
Love it.
And you know what?
I think God wants us to read it because we love him.
Even more than just to read it because we have such great discipline and character.
I mean, look, discipline and character are important, but loving Christ is more important.
So love him.
And you know what?
Just by preaching the sermon, I love him a little more.
Makes me want to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John more, and I hope you feel the same
way.
But another application we could take for our own lives is that the Bible says in 1
Peter chapter 2 verse 21, For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps.
So God gives us an example in the life of Christ also.
What's the example of the book of Matthew, the lion?
He wants us to be bold as a lion.
The Bible says, The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as
a lion.
That's why some of Jesus' hardest preaching is in Matthew.
The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 23, these are hard sermons.
The boldness of Jesus is something that we can learn from.
We can be like a lion spiritually.
He's also made us into kings and priests unto God and his Father, the Bible says.
But secondly, what did we learn from the book of Mark?
We learned to be a servant.
We learned to be a hard worker.
What did the Bible say?
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took
upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.
What did we learn from the book of Luke when we look at the humanity of Christ?
We learned that Jesus Christ was a human being, yet he resisted temptation and that
we can resist temptation as well.
The Bible says there is no temptation taken you, but such is as common to man.
But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but
will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it.
Jesus proved that because he escaped all temptations.
And then what did we learn from the eagle representation?
Well first of all, the Bible says in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31, they that wait upon the
Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
So we can learn that from the eagle.
We can learn also to set our affections on things above, not on things on the earth,
and to do the will of the Father in heaven.
So this is what we learn from the four gospels.
In addition to getting the salvation of our soul, we also get a role model on which to
pattern our lives.
Let's bow your eyes and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for these four wonderful books, Lord.
Even if the Bible just consisted of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and nothing else, it would
be the most amazing book on earth.
It is truly the greatest story ever told.
It's most assuredly worth reading four times, and forty times, and four hundred times.
Lord, please just help us to study the whole Bible, but Lord, I pray that we would have
special love in our hearts for these four books that would increase as a result of this
sermon.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Amen.