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Class 23: The Rest Of The New Testament (B) A C T S Go Tell The Good News! (Part 2) Class 23: The Rest Of The New Testament (B)

Preliminary Information REVIEW These final 2 lessons come from the Waldron’s last book in their series, “How Long, O Lord?” They comprise surveys of the non-journey epistles written by inspired authors other than the apostle Paul They cover the last 40+ years of the 1st century These were the years of intense persecution against N.T. Christians led by Rome (Nero & later emperors) The age of inspiration was drawing to a close Therefore, it is not surprising to find many inspired exhortations to endure hardships, sufferings, trials, and persecutions After the close of Acts, we do not have an inspired account of the history of the church

Preliminary Information REVIEW These final 2 lessons come from the Waldron’s last book in their series, “How Long, O Lord?” Therefore, much of the “evidence” is uninspired It is largely attributed to The Early Church Fathers (men who were either acquaintances or disciples of the apostles, and who wrote without the Holy Spirit leading them) The Waldron’s book goes into great detail about them IMPORTANT!! Not saying these later N.T. epistles were not inspired Only reminding us that any supporting evidence re: dating, etc. is outside of the Scripture, and must be viewed carefully and without putting too much emphasis on the writer(s) themselves

Preliminary Information REVIEW Dating & Audiences Of These Epistles While we were fairly certain re: dating & to whom Paul wrote his epistles, we cannot be as confident with the remainder of the N.T. epistles We will consider them in the order in which they appear in the Waldron’s curriculum

The Epistle To The Hebrews AUTHOR Anonymous DATE A.D. 60-66 AUDIENCE Jewish Christians who were being tempted (possibly even pressured?) to return to the Mosaic covenant THEME Jesus Christ is God’s final and greatest Spokesman 1:1-2 For maximum benefit, the better the student’s knowledge of the Old Testament is, the more he/she will gain from this book.

OUTLINE The Epistle To The Hebrews The Superior Spokesman 1:1 – 7:28 His Divinity 1:1 – 2:4 His Humanity 2:5-18 Belief in Him 3:1 – 4:13 – As the Son of God – The perils of unbelief – Rest for the believer His Priesthood 4:14 – 5:10; 7:1-28 – Pause in the discussion 5:11 – 6:20 – Hearers had become dull – Hearers were in danger of falling away

OUTLINE The Epistle To The Hebrews The Superior Covenant 8:1 – 11:40 A more excellent ministry 8:1-13 Contrast of the 2 covenants 9:1-28 A better sacrifice 10:1-18 Privileges & Responsibilities of this covenant 10:19-25 The need for endurance through faith 10:26-39 Examples of such enduring faith 11:1-40

OUTLINE The Epistle To The Hebrews Concluding Exhortations 12:1 – 13:25 The example of Christ 12:1-3 The value of discipline 12:4-17 Contrast of the “Two Mountains” 12:18-24 The unshakable kingdom 12:25-29 Various admonitions & benediction 13:1-25

The Epistle Of Jude AUTHOR Jude (Judas), the Lord’s brother Matt 13:55 1 Cor 15:7 DATE A.D. 70-80 (After 2 Peter) AUDIENCE Unknown…generally accepted to be similar to (if not the same as) the ones to whom Peter wrote his 2nd letter THEME “Contend for the faith…beware, there are many false teachers.” (vv. 3-4)

OUTLINE The Epistle Of Jude Salutation vv. 1-2 Contend for the faith vv. 3-4 God has always punished the ungodly vv. 5-7 False teachers do not learn the lessons from these examples vv. 8-9 Description of such false teachers vv. 10-16 Remember apostolic warnings re: false teachers vv. 17-19 2 Pet 3:3 Continue to be built up in your faith to withstand them vv. 20-23 Doxology vv. 24-25

The Epistles Of John AUTHOR John, an apostle of the Lord DATE A.D. 80-85 AUDIENCE 1 John – unknown…generally accepted that John lived out the remainder of his life at Ephesus (Church Fathers). If all 3 epistles were written from there, Ephesians would be obvious recipients. Best to believe they were intended for wide circulation. 2 John – chosen lady, her children 3 John – beloved Gaius

The Epistles Of John THEME 1 John – an encouragement to love one another & an exposé on refuting false doctrines (namely, Gnosticism) 2 John – a commendation of those who walk in truth & a warning to not give help nor encouragement to false teachers 3 John – Gaius commended for his faithfulness & Diotrephes condemned for his refusal to accept faithful brethren “Know” (gnosis) and “love” are prominent words

OUTLINE The Epistles Of John The Word of life manifested 1 Jn 1:1-4 Fellowship with God is through the Word of life (Christ) 1 Jn 1:5 – 2:2 God’s commandments govern our fellowship with Him…they reveal all divine truth 1 Jn 2:3-17 Those opposed to Christ have come…they are in the world 1 Jn 2:18-28 To be born of God = a privilege! 1 Jn 2:29 – 3:24 Do not believe every teacher…false teachers abound 1 Jn 4:1-6

OUTLINE The Epistles Of John Love one another, for love comes from God 1 Jn 4:7 – 5:3 One who is begotten of God has overcome the world 1 Jn 5:4-12 John wrote so that saints have boldness to make their petitions to God 1 Jn 5:13-17 Things saints are to know 1 Jn 5:18-21

OUTLINE The Epistles Of John Opening greetings 2 Jn 1-3 Walk in love 2 Jn 4-6 Beware of false deceivers 2 Jn 7-11 Closing remarks 2 Jn 12-13 Opening remarks 3 Jn 1 John’s prayers for his readers 3 Jn 2-4 Hospitality & help to faithful brethren 3 Jn 5-8 Condemnation of Diotrephes 3 Jn 9-10 Commendation of Demetrius 3 Jn 11-12 Closing remarks 3 Jn 13-14

The Revelation To John AUTHOR John, an apostle of the Lord DATE A.D. 96 AUDIENCE 1st century saints and churches all over the Roman empire were suffering widespread and merciless persecution from Rome. John himself had been exiled on Patmos “…because of the word of God” (Rev 1:9). Saints in Asia (Rev 2-3) and all over needed comfort to endure these tribulations

OUTLINE The Revelation To John A prophetic book of signs & symbols Rev 1:1, 3 It has long been the “playground” for the premillennialist as well as the ungrounded “casual” Bible student who makes unsubstantiated interpretations Yes…it involves truths that apply to us today 2 Tim 3:16-17 But it initially involved things that would “shortly come to pass” (things in John’s day)…not only modern-day political world events Rev 1:1

OUTLINE The Revelation To John The book has 3 main sections: [1] The battle between good and evil as it involves people on earth Rev 1-11 [2] The struggle between Christ & His forces against Satan & his forces (The struggle “behind the scenes” upon the earth) Rev 12:20 [3] The time of ultimate victory! Christ has won; a new heavens & new earth. It is time for the marriage feast of the Lamb and His bride Rev 21-22

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