Lesson No. 65—Review the Events of the N. T. in Their Order of Time.

LESSON THEME:—NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY

Luke 1:1-4.

• KEY PHRASE—”N.T. EVENTS IN THEIR ORDER.”

• KEY VERSE—Luke 1:34

Home Readings.

Read the last recorded words of the great characters of the New Testament.

For family altar read:—

• Sunday—The last words of Christ,—Luke 24:46-53.

• Monday—The last words of James,—James 5:10-20.

• Tuesday—The last words of Jude,—Jude 1:17-25.

• Wednesday—The last words of Peter,—2 Peter 3:10-18.

• Thursday—The last words of Paul,—2 Timothy 4:1-9.

• Friday—That last apostle living at Patmos, Revelation 1:1-11.

• Saturday—The last message of the Bible,—Revelation 22:8-21.

GREAT FACTS:—

Periods of History, Period of:—

1. Christ.

2. Peter.

3. Paul.

4. Other Apostles.

Great Fact I. Period of Christ’s Life and Ministry. 4 B. C.-30 A. D.

Augustus was emperor of Rome, and Judea was a Roman province with Herod as its king, when Jesus was born 4 B. C. The calendar was changed to date from Christ’s birth through the efforts of Gregory, but it was afterwards found that a mistake of about four years was made; Christ’s birth is therefore dated 4 B. C.

1. CHRIST’S BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD.—

1. The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would give birth to the Saviour.

2. Jesus was born at Bethlehem.

3. Was visited and worshipped by the shepherds and the wise men.

4. Was secretly taken down into Egypt to avoid death at the slaying of the babies by Herod, and after two years returned to live at Nazareth.

5. Nothing is recorded of Him again until in His twelfth year He went with His parents to the Temple and in His reply to His mother showed that He was conscious of His divine mission.

2. HIS MINISTRY—Nothing more is recorded until He reached His thirteenth year, when:—

1. John the Baptist announced the coming of the Messiah.

2. He was baptised by John.

3. Was tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days.

4. He called His twelve disciples.

5. Cleansed the temple by driving out the traders and platters.

6. He taught Nicodemus about the new birth.

7. He preached to the woman at the well of Samaria.

8. Was rejected by His fellow-citizens at Nazareth.

9. Wrought many miracles and cured many that were sick, proving Himself to be the Son of God.

10. Preached the Sermon on the Mount, the most wonderful religious teaching in the world.

11. John the Baptist was martyred.

12. Peter made his great confession, proclaiming that Christ was truly the Messiah, and the Son of God.

13. Christ was Transfigured with heavenly glory to strengthen the faith of the disciples.

14. He gave many parables.

15. Raised Lazarus from the dead.

16. On the Sunday before He was crucified on Friday, He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

17. He cleansed the Temple the second time.

18. On Thursday, the day before His crucifixion, He instituted the Lord’s Supper.

3. HIS DEATH, RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION—

1. On Friday, April 7th, 30 A. D., at 9 a. m., Christ was crucified, as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.

2. Early Sunday morning He rose again from the dead for our justification, a proof and assurance of the believer’s resurrection.

3. During 40 days He appeared on ten different occasions to the disciples.

4. He gave the Great Commission to the 500 disciples on the Mount.

5. In the presence of the eleven disciples He ascended into Heaven, having promised to come again in like manner.

LESSONS—

1. We should believe with Peter and John that Christ was God come in the flesh to die for the sins of the world, and to provide us with an everlasting salvation.

2. He should be our example in humility and service. When we think of how He obeyed His inferiors, how He laid aside ever thought of ease and underwent every hardship, how He sacrificed friendships and family joys for the sake of us and our salvation, we should, with the sublimest devotion, be willing to follow in His steps, 1 Peter 2:21.

Great Fact II The Events of Peter’s Period 30-48 A. D.

For 18 years the church at Jerusalem, with James as its pastor, and Peter as the leading apostle, directed the spread of the gospel.

1. MATTHIAS was elected to succeed Judas as an apostle.

2. PENTECOST—Ten days after Christ’s ascension, on the Day of the Pentecost, the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, and able to preach in various languages with the result that 3,000 were converted.

3. ANANIAS and SAPPHIRA sought to deceive God and the apostles and were punished with instant death.

4. FIRST DEACONS—Seven deacons were chosen to look after the financial affairs of the church.

5. STEPHEN,—who earnestly preached the true Faith, was stoned to death on the charge of speaking blasphemy words against the Temple and the Law.

6. PAUL’S CONVERSION—The bitter but brilliant Saul was converted, and became Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles.

7. CONVERSION OF CORNELIUS—Cornelius, who was a commander of 100 Roman soldiers, became interested in the gospel and sent for Peter, who preached to him and the Gentiles who were in his house, with the result that they were converted and filled with the Spirit. This established the fact that Gentiles should receive the same blessings, and have the same standing in the churches, on the same conditions as the Jews.

8. ANTIOCH—The gospel was now preached at Antioch for a year, by Barnabas and Paul with great success, and it was here that the disciples were first called Christians.

Great Fact III. The Events of Paul’s Period 48-68 A. D.

1. The church at Antioch sent forth Paul and Barnabas for the FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY, and they preached in fourteen cities in Asia Minor for two years.

2. Paul and Barnabas attended the CHURCH COUNCIL at Jerusalem where it was re-affirmed that the Gentiles need not be circumcised, nor have to keep the Law of Moses, but are saved by grace alone.

3. Paul and Silas, in the SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, revisited some of the towns of Asia Minor, and then took the gospel to Europe for the first time. The first city they preached in was Phillipi and the first convert was Lydia. This journey occupied three years.

4. Paul and Timothy in the THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY revisited the churches in Asia Minor, staying about three years at Ephesus, and returning this time to Jerusalem.

5. While on these missionary journeys, Paul WROTE SIX EPISTLES: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

6. PAUL’S CLOSING MINISTRY—Jews of Asia brought about Paul’s arrest on the charge of profaning the Temple. He was kept in prison in Caesarea for two years, and for two years more at Rome, where he preached to all with whom he came in contact, and wrote the four Prison Epistles of Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians. He was freed for two years, during which time he wrote the Pastoral Epistles of First Timothy and Titus, but being arrested again, he wrote Second Timothy just before he was beheaded in 68 A. D., and received the crown of righteousness.

Great Fact IV. The Other Apostles. 30-100 A. D.

1. JAMES, the brother of John, was put to death with the sword by King Agrippa, in 44 A. D.

2. JAMES, THE BROTHER OF OUR LORD, who also wrote the epistle that bears his name, did a great work in leading many Jews to accept Christ as the Messiah, which so enraged the Sanhedrin that they stoned him to death.

3. THOMAS preached the gospel in Persia, and likely in India.

4. ANDREW laboured in South Russia, and is said to have been crucified on a cross formed like the letter X, hence called St. Andrew’s Cross.

5. PHILLIP preached in Phrygia, which was in central Asia Minor.

6. BARTHOLOMEW laboured in Arabia, and likely in Armenia.

7. MATTHEW is said to have laboured in Egypt, Asia and Europe.

8. SIMON, not Peter, but another of the Twelve, is supposed to have spent his missionary life in Egypt, Cyrene and Great Britain.

9. JOHN, after the death of Peter and Paul, became the leader among the Christians. He was pastor for a long time of the church at Ephesus, and won many to the Lord Jesus. When the emperor, Domitian of Rome. persecuted the Christians.

John was banished to the island of Patmos where he received the wonderful visions recorded in the book of Revelation, and wrote the seven short letters to the churches in Asia. It is said that when John was too old and weak to preach, he would be carried into the church, and holding forth his hands would say, “Little children, let us love one another!”

THE CLOSE OF SACRED HISTORY Christ lived and died to make the gospel possible and to found His church. The apostles were inspired to preach the gospel all over the known world, and in the scriptures that they left to reveal the gospel in all its fullness, with its doctrines and church ordinances. Henceforward, until the Son of Man shall come in His glory, there will be no authoritative religious teaching for man, except as it shall come from the Holy Scriptures and be made plain by the Holy Spirit! “Unto Him who loved us, and freed us from our sins by His own blood, and made us kings with free access to God, His Father, to Him be glory and power to the end of the ages! AMEN.”

Questions on the Lesson.

1. Give key phrase and key verse.

2. Name the four periods of New Testament history.

3. Who was the emperor of Rome and king of Judea when Jesus was born?

4. Why was Christ’s birth dated 4 B. C.?

5. Give the five events of Christ’s birth and childhood.

6. Give the eighteen events of His ministry.

7. Give the five events of His death, resurrection and ascension.

8. What are the two lessons from Christ’s life?

9. Give the eight events of Peter’s period.

10. Give the six events of Paul’s period.

11. Tell of the ten other apostles.

12. For what did Christ live and die?

13. What were the apostles inspired to do?

14. Where shall we get the only authoritative religious teaching until Christ comes again?

15. Quote the verse of Scripture praise to Christ.