Go ye therefore, and teach all nations … Matthew 28:19
… Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15
… repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:47

Lesson three should be especially full of meaning to us, because we live in the Christian Age and here we find God's will for us. Kindly refer to illustration below, the highlighted one is the Christian Age indicating that this is the age studied in this lesson.

In lesson one we studied the Patriarchal Age and learned that it began with Adam and ended with Israel coming to Mt. Sinai. The Patriarchal Age lasted about 2,500 years and is recorded in the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Exodus 19:1.
In lesson two we studied the Mosaic Age and learned that it began with the giving of the Law of Moses at Mt. Sinai and continued until Jesus died on the cross. It lasted about 1,500 years and is recorded in the Bible from Exodus 19:2 through the death of Christ as recorded in John 19:30.
Now we come to the Christian Age, so called because Christ is now our Savior (Matthew 1:21) and God's spokesman to us, our lawgiver (Hebrews 1:1,2). Christ has all authority in heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18); he is our mediator (the one who intercedes to God for us (1 Timothy 2:5). The Christian Age began on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ and continues today. You will notice that the circle representing the Christian Age is not complete, indicating that this age has not ended. The Christian Age has lasted over 1,900 years so far. It is recorded in the New Testament from Acts chapter two through the book of Revelation.
The New Testament was written by eight men; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James and Jude. These men spoke and wrote as the Spirit gave them utterance (Acts 2:4), or as they were guided by the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to the apostles to guide them into all truth (John 16:13). The apostles SPOKE WORDS, not which man's wisdom taught, but which the Holy Spirit taught (1 Corinthian 2:12,13). The gospel they preached was not received from man "… but the revelation of Jesus Christ"
(Galatians 1:12). What they wrote was commanded of the Lord (1 Corinthians 14:37). "… the spirit speaketh expressly…" (1 Timothy 4:1). We are not permitted to add to or take from "… the words of the book of this prophecy…" (Revelation 22:18,19). The Spirit SPEAKS; he uses WORDS to convey his message. The Spirit spoke through the apostles and when we receive and the follow the New Testament which they wrote we are following the Spirit's message for us today.
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek, which was more widely spoken than any language in the first century.

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD
The Bible is properly divided into two testaments; the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Patriarchal Age and the Mosaic Age were recorded in the Old Testament. The Christian Age is recorded in the New Testament. Now let us compare the two testaments.

OLD TESTAMENT

1. The first five books - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy - are called the law. These books are also called the Pentateuch, meaning the first five books of the Bible.

2. Twelve books of history; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Esra, Nehemiah and Esther.

3. Five books of poetry, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs of Solomon.

4. There are five books written by four major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Lamentations.

5. There are twelve books written by the minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

NEW TESTAMENT

1. The first four books are biographies of the life of Christ. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

2. There is one book of history, Acts. This book gives the beginning and growth of the church in the first century.

3. There are twenty-one letters written to the churches and individuals; Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1,2 and 3 John and Jude.

4. Revelation, the last book in the New Testament, is a book of prophecy.

We are taught to rightly divide God's word. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). What we do in becoming a Christian and living the Christian life must be taught in the Bible, must be proved by the Bible. To prove these things by the Bible we must study and rightly divide God's word.
The command in 2 Timothy 2:15 to rightly divide the word of truth implies that there is a wrong way to divide or teach the word of truth. Peter referred to the writing of Paul and said some "… that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:16). To "wrest" the scriptures is to twist the scriptures, to misuse, to falsely teach the scriptures. When we twist, misuse the scriptures it is to our destruction. Not only will we be lost but those who follow such false teaching will also be lost. We emphasize the importance of rightly dividing the Bible.
One important step in rightly dividing the Bible is to see the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament covered the Patriarchal Age and the Mosaic Age; however, we do not live in either of those ages. The Old Testament was God's will for people who lived before Christ died. It does not tell us how to be saved today. We live in the Christian Age and must learn from the New Testament how to become a Christian, how to worship and serve God today.
Let us illustrate this by examples. God told Noah to build the ark and it was necessary for Noah to do this to be saved. God has not told us to build an ark. We could spend our entire life building an ark but this would not please God. We would not be saved by doing this. To preach that one should build an ark today to be saved would be to twist, to misuse the scriptures. We must study the New Testament to learn what God wants us to do to be saved.

OLD TESTAMENT
1. Given by Moses (John 1:17)
2. Given to one nation, Israel (Deuteronomy 5:1-3)
3. Dedicated with blood of animals (Exodus 24:5-8)
4. High Priest came from house of Aaron (Exodus 28:1, 29:9)
5. High Priest had to offer sacrifice for his own sins (Leviticus 9:7)
6. Had to go to Jerusalem to worship. (Deuteronomy 12:11, 2 Chronicles 6:6)
7. Kept Sabbath (Exodus 20:8)
8. Was shadow of good things to come (Hebrews 10:1)
9. First (old) covenant taken away (Hebrews 10:1)
10. Sins remembered each year (Hebrews 10:3)

NEW TESTAMENT
1. Given by Christ (Hebrews 1:1,2)
2. Given to all nations (Matthew 28:19,20)
3. Dedicated by blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:11-16)
4. Christ is our high priest (Hebrews 4:14)
5. Christ as our high priest is holy, sinless, did not need to offer sacrifice for his own sins (Hebrew 7:26-28)
6. May worship anywhere (Matthew 18:20)
7. Keep Lord's Day, first day of week (Revelation 1:10; Acts 20:7)
8. Now we have the "… new and living way …" consecrated by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:19,20)
9. Second (new) covenant established (Hebrews 10:9)
10. Sins remembered no more (Hebrews 10:16)

God commanded all the men of Israel to keep three yearly feasts; the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year (Exodus 23:14-17). We could keep all these feasts today and not obey or please God. They were required of Jews, but they are not required of us. We must come to the New Testament to learn what God wants us to do to be saved.
We believe all of the Bible and we teach all of the Bible but to rightly divide or teach the word we must apply the things in the Old Testament to those who lived when it was in effect. We come to the New Testament to find God's will for us today.
We study and teach the Old Testament to learn about the creation, about God's promise for the coming of Christ, His prophecies for the establishment of Christ's Kingdom. We learn many valuable lessons from the Old Testament because these things were written for our learning (Romans 15:4). However, we must come to the New Testament to learn how to become a Christian and how to live the Christian life, for we are to hear Christ (Matthew 17:5), and the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).
Now, referring to the chart above, let us compare the Old and New Testaments to see how much better the New Testament is than the Old Testaments. The cross is the dividing line between the Old and New Testaments.

LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT AND THE CHRISTIAN AGE
The New Testament contains 27 books from Matthew through Revelation, 260 chapters and was written by eight men.
We usually think of the New Testament beginning with Matthew chapter 1 and verse 1, and it does. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all wrote an account of the life of Christ, but let us remember that the things recorded from the birth of Christ until he died on the cross all transpired while the Old Testament was still in effect.
After Jesus was born he was circumcised according to the law (Luke 2:21). They offered the sacrifice of purification according to the law of Moses (Luke 2:22-24). Jesus went to Jerusalem to keep the Passover according to the law (Luke 2:42-52). During his personal ministry he taught others to keep the law of Moses (Matthew 8:2-4). Before he died the last thing Jesus did was to keep the law by observing the Passover (Matthew 26:17-21). But when Jesus died on the cross, he fulfilled the Old Testament law. It was blotted out at the cross (Colossians 2:14), taken away (Hebrews 10:9).
John Baptist came to prepare the way of the Lord or to prepare the way for Christ (Matthew 3:1-3). He did this by preaching to the people of Israel that they should repent and be ready for the Kingdom. John knew that Jesus would soon begin his ministry and that the kingdom was "at hand", near, or soon to be established.
During his personal ministry Jesus was preparing for the establishment of his kingdom, the beginning of the Christian Age. To do this he chose twelve apostles to help him.
We have prepared a brief history of the apostles and their work. Please study and remember these facts about the apostles.

THE APOSTLES AND THEIR WORK
Jesus chose twelve apostles during his personal ministry. They were: Peter, Andrew, James and his brother, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Lebbaeus, Simon and Judas. Their names are listed four times in the New Testament, not always in the same order, (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13). Peter's name always heads the list.
Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen. Matthew was a tax collector. He wrote one book in the New Testament. Philip was from Bethsaida, a great fishing town, and he likely was a fisherman. Little is know of the former occupation or background of the rest of the twelve.
Peter is remembered for being the spokesman of the twelve, as in Matthew 16:13-19; denying Christ (Matthew 26:69-75); pledging his love to Christ (John 21:15-17); preaching the first gospel sermon (Acts 2); preaching first to the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10). He wrote two books in the New Testament.
Andrew brought Peter to Jesus (John 1:40-42).
John is the apostle to whom Jesus committed the care of his mother (John 19:26-27). He wrote five books in the New Testament. James was the first apostle slain as a martyr (Acts 12:1,2).
Thomas doubted the resurrection but quickly believed when he saw the nail prints in Jesus' hands (John 20:24-29).
Judas fell away by betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14,15) and later took his own life (Matthew 27:3-5).
Now there were only eleven apostles and Matthias was chosen to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:22-26), making twelve again.
Paul was later chosen as the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21, 26:6-18). He wrote fourteen books in the New Testament, granting that he wrote Hebrews.

Jesus began his personal ministry at he age of thirty years, soon after he was baptized of John (Matthew 3:13-17; Luke 3:23). Immediately he endured the temptation of Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1). He preached the same message that John the Baptist had preached, "… Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Jesus went through the land of Palestine preaching and performing miracles to prove that he was the promised Messiah.
The news that it was almost time for the kingdom to be established had to be preached to all the children of Israel in Palestine. Therefore, Jesus sent the twelve apostles to preach the same message, "…The kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 10:5-7). They were to go only "…to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." They could not go to the Gentiles nor to the Samaritans (Matthew 10:5-6).
Later Jesus chose seventy more and sent them to preach the same message, ”…The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you" (Luke 10:1-9). Remember the expression "at hand" means that something is nearby, approaching, soon to occur, or appear. We will need to understand and remember this expression for our next lesson.
As the good news of the coming kingdom spread over the land Jesus grew in favor with God and man. However, the Pharisees and Sadducees soon began to oppose Jesus, because his teaching exposed their traditions. Their opposition became so bitter that they demanded, and succeeded in getting, Pilate to condemn Jesus to crucifixion. They thought that when Jesus was crucified this would stop the preaching of this new spiritual kingdom and end the influence of Jesus. They were mistaken, for when Jesus gloriously arose from the tomb he commissioned the apostles to go teach all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). They waited in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came to guide them and began immediately to preach salvation through Christ. Thus began the Christian Age in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus as related in Acts 2.

SECTION 1 - ANSWER IN A FEW WORDS
Question 1
Where is the Christian Age recorded in the Bible?

Question 2
When or with what even did the Christian Age begin?

Question 3
Why do we call this the Christian Age?

Question 4
In which age do we find how we are to be saved?

Question 5
What two ages were recorded in the Old Testament?

Question 6
How long has the Christian age lasted so far?

Question 7
What is recorded in the New Testament that actually transpired under the Old Testament?

Question 8A
The Old Testament was written in what language?

Question 8B
The New Testament written in what language?

Question 9
How were the apostles guided in writing the New Testament?

Question 10
The New Testament was written by how many men?

SECTION 2 - TRUE OR FALSE
Question 11
The New Testament contains 27 books and 260 chapters.
TrueFalse

Question 12
Jesus kept and taught others to keep the Old Testament during his personal ministry.
TrueFalse

Question 13
John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ.
TrueFalse

Question 14
The expression "at hand" means the kingdom had already been established.
TrueFalse

Question 15
We can be saved today by just following the Old Testament.
TrueFalse

Question 16
During his personal ministry, Jesus chose twelve apostles.
TrueFalse

Question 17
Peter was a tax collector.
TrueFalse

Question 18
Matthew was the first apostle killed.
TrueFalse

Question 19
Philip doubted the resurrection of Jesus.
TrueFalse

Question 20
John wrote five books in the New Testament.
TrueFalse

SECTION 3 - FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH "OLD" OR "NEW"
Question 21
The ___ Testament was given to all nations.
OLDNEW

Question 22
The ___ Testament was dedicated with the blood of animals.
OLDNEW

Question 23
Under the ___ Testament the high priest offered sacrifice for his own sins.
OLDNEW

Question 24
The ___ Testament required worship at Jerusalem.
OLDNEW

Question 25
Under the ___ Testament Christ is the high priest.
OLDNEW

Question 26
The ___ Testament required people to keep the Sabbath.
OLDNEW

Question 27
Under the ___ Testament we may worship anywhere.
OLDNEW

Question 28
The ___ Testament teaches that the first day of the week is the day of worship.
OLDNEW

Question 29
Under the ___ Testament sins were remembered each year.
OLDNEW

Question 30
Under the ___ Testament when sins are forgiven they are remembered no more.
OLDNEW

Question 31
The ___ Testament was fulfilled at the cross.
OLDNEW

Question 32
The ___ Testament tells us how to be saved.
OLDNEW

Question 33
In the ___ Testament we find the prophecies about the establishment of Christ's kingdom.
OLDNEW

Question 34
In the ___ Testament we read about the beginning and growth of the church in the first century.
OLDNEW

Question 35
The ___ Testament was given to one nation.
OLDNEW

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