The Evidence Bible - Mattheus - Evangelisatie-materiaal.nl

161 Matthew 3
15 And was there until the death of Herod:
that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Out of Egypt have I called my son.
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he
was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding
wroth, and sent forth, and slew
all the children that were in Bethlehem,
and in all the coasts thereof, from two
years old and under, according to the time
which he had diligently inquired of the
wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was
spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
18 In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation,
and weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children, and
would not be comforted, because they are
not.
19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an
angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to
Joseph in Egypt,
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child
and his mother, and go into the land of
Israel: for they are dead which sought
the young child’s life.
21 And he arose, and took the young
child and his mother, and came into the
land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus did
reign in Judea in the room of his father
Herod, he was afraid to go there: notwithstanding,
being warned of God in a dream,
he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called
Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the prophets, He shall be
called a Nazarene.
I
CHAPTER 3
N those days came John the Baptist,
preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 And saying, Repent: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.
3 For this is he that was spoken of by the
prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one
crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way
of the Lord, make his paths straight.
3:1 Open-air preaching. John the Baptist was an open-air preacher. Jesus was an open-air
preacher. He preached the greatest sermon of all time, the “Sermon on the Mount” in the openair.
Peter preached in the open-air at Pentecost and Paul chose to stand on Mars Hill and preach
open-air to the Athenians.
If we are serious about reaching this world, let us follow in the footsteps of Jesus and the apostles
and preach where sinners gather. In thirty minutes, a good open-air preacher can reach more
sinners than the average church does in twelve months.
Thank God that the disciples didn’t stay in the upper room. They didn’t carpet the building, pad
the pews then put a notice outside the front door saying, “Tonight: Gospel outreach service, 7 P.M.
—all welcome.” They went into the open air.
The gospel is for the world, not the Church. One-third of the word “gospel” is “go.” Twothirds
of “God” is “go”; but like King Og, we seem to have it backwards. We take sinners to meetings
rather than meetings to sinners. The Church prefers to fish on dry land rather than get its feet
wet. Charles Finney put his finger on the reason why: “It is the great business of every Christian to
save souls. People complain that they do not know how to take hold of this matter. Why, the reason
is plain enough; they have never studied it. They have never taken the proper pains to qualify
themselves for the work. If you do not make it a matter of study, how you may successfully act in
building up the kingdom of Christ, you are acting a very wicked and absurd part as a Christian.”
He who loves his neighbor as himself will be concerned for his eternal welfare. He who couldn’t
care less that every day multitudes of living people are being swallowed by the jaws of hell has a
heart of stone indeed.
3:2 Repentance—its necessity for salvation. The first word John the Baptist preached to Israel
was “repent.” However, it must be remembered that Israel had the Law and therefore had the
“knowledge of sin” (Romans 7:7). Unregenerate humanity needs the Moral Law to show them
what sin is (1 John 3:4). Without the knowledge that the “schoolmaster” brings, they remain in ignorance
about sin’s true nature and therefore their need for biblical repentance. See Luke 13:2.