WARREN W. WIERSBE

MILESTONES of the MASTER

crucial events in the life of jesus and why they matter so much

Milestones of the Master:

Crucial Events in the Life of Jesus and Why They Matter So Much

© 2015 by Warren W. Wiersbe

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

LexhamPress.com

First edition by Weaver Book Company.

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Print ISBN 9781683591788

Digital ISBN 9781683591795

Cover design: Frank Gutbrod

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Milestone 1. The Incarnation and Birth of Jesus

Milestone 2. The Boy Jesus in the Temple

Milestone 3. The Baptism of Jesus

Milestone 4. The Temptation of Jesus

Milestone 5. The Transfiguration of Jesus

Milestone 6. The Triumphal Entry of Jesus

Milestone 7. The Arrest of Jesus in the Garden

Milestone 8. The Trial and Rejection of Jesus

Milestone 9. The Crucifixion of Jesus

Milestone 10. The Resurrection of Jesus

Milestone 11. The Ascension of Jesus to Heaven

Milestone 12. The Sending of the Holy Spirit

Preface

When I was about to leave for seminary in 1948, my Uncle Simon Carlson, a retired pastor, brought me a dozen books from his library, among them a copy of G. Campbell Morgan’s The Crises of the Christ. At that time I didn’t know who G. Campbell Morgan was, but my reading of that book greatly helped to shape me and my ministry.

In his book, Campbell Morgan discusses seven “crises” in our Lord’s earthly career: His birth, baptism, temptation, transfiguration, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The book was published in 1903 at a time when “new theologies” were beginning to infiltrate Christian schools and churches. In his book, Morgan not only answered the liberals of his day but he also met some of the challenges that we meet today.

In his spoken and written ministry, Campbell Morgan exalted Jesus Christ and made God’s truth practical and exciting. The Crises of the Christ gives us a beautiful example of Bible teaching that encourages us to search the Scriptures and relate one text to another. I’m glad I read the book early in my training because it helped me to love the Scriptures more and to receive the word of God as a treasury of living truth and not as a seminary textbook.

The idea for this present book came from my exposure to The Crises of the Christ. During more than sixty years of both pastoral preaching and conference and seminary teaching, I have occasionally given messages on what Morgan called “The Crises of the Christ.” I didn’t use his title or plagiarize his material, and I always told the congregations where the idea for the series originated. However, in my own series I have added three studies: Jesus in ...