PT-3 "The Plot" (Matt. 28:11-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/15/2024 8:26 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-3 “The Plot”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 28:11-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “11 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, "You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep’ 14 "and if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble."

 

            I want you to think about something that to me is significant and that is that the Jewish leaders have been trying to get rid of Jesus ever since He was born in that cave in Bethlehem, I think 33 years before they were having Him crucified.  They even killed many babies in Bethlehem that were two years old or younger, that is young boys.  You see the Magi who came to give gifts to Jesus didn’t come until sometime after Jesus was born and so in order to try and make sure that the Messiah would be killed they killed all those boys two years and older.  Of course they failed in their effort.  Now think about what is happening after Jesus was crucified, arose and then went into heaven in order to intercede for His church, and that is because Jesus is not here now that for the last two thousand years the devil has instigated the killing of many of Jesus’ true followers, so the beat goes on so to speak.  This will continue to happen until the end of the church age when the rapture of the church will take place.  After that the tribulation period will begin and the Antichrist will arise and after three and a half years he will begin to kill the Jews whom he had made a pack with and also begin to kill all the new believers who are now populating around the world as they will be brought to a saving knowledge of Christ through, first of all the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.  Then those they bring to Christ will continue to witness of what is going on and what will happen as they too will lead many to Christ.  I have read that during this time on planet earth that more people will come to Christ than any other time period, and this lasts only seven years.  I suppose it is also true that during those last three and a half years that move believers will die for the cause of Christ than any other time period.  Ok I have rambled on and need to get back to writing about these verses in Matthew’s gospel and the subject of “The Plot.”

 

            Next I write about how these Jewish religious leaders “had accused Jesus of working miracles in the power of Satan, of being an associated of sinners, of breaking God’s law by healing on the Sabbath, and of blasphemy for claiming to be the Messiah and God’s Son.  They perverted both biblical and rabbinical justice in order to convict Him, employed blackmail to get Him crucified, used armed force to try to keep His body in the grave, and now engaged in bribery to hide the truth of His resurrection” writes John MacArthur.

 

            MacArthur goes on “The soldiers’ news brought alarm, fear, and confusion to the religious leaders, but it did not bring repentance or faith.  They were without excuse.  They were informed about the resurrection and did not try to deny it.  Their only concern was to keep that news from their fellow Jews, fearing tat many would accept Him as the Messiah and that their own influence, power, and wealth would be severely diminished.”  All of this will come true a little over 35 years from now as the Romans will destroy the city  of Jerusalem, burn down the Temple and kill many, many Jews and send them off into exile where they roamed from country to country for almost two thousand years, that is until the fulfillment of prophecy as Israel became a nation on May 5, 1948 and they have had to struggle to defend their nation, and still are to this day.  That is why I pray for the people of Israel to defeat the Satanic backed enemies that surround them, and pray that they would understand that their Messiah came almost two thousand years ago in order to die for their sins, and not only theirs but for all who will accept that forgiveness.

 

            I think that I will end this SD now and will try and complete it in tomorrow’s SD, Lord willing.  This is a very important chapter in Matthew, and when one combines it with the ends of the other gospel writings a view of what happened after Jesus arose from the grace can be seen in its entirety, that is until He was taken up into heaven just before His Church began as seen in the first chapter of Acts and following.

 

10/15/2024 8:51 AM 

 

PT-2 "Love As A Way of Life" (1 John 2:9-11)

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/14/2024 10:19 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-2 “Love As A Way of Life”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  1 John 2:9-11                       

            Message of the verses:  “9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

 

            I want to conclude this section this evening on this important subject about love by looking at how John emphatically reiterates that anyone who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks [follows a normal course of live] in the darkness.  John is saying that such people do not know where they are going.  Let us look now at John 12:35 “So Jesus said to them, "For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.”  Now the reason that they do not know where they are going is because the darkness has blinded their eyes.  These are like those who are completely blind and actually grope around to determine where they are (cf. Gen. 19:11; Acts 13:11-12).  Let us look now at those verses.  “They struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.”  These were the men who came to Lot’s house to have immoral relations with what they thought were mere men but were actually angles as they had the power to cause these men to be blind, but something worse was about to happen to them the next day when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. “11 “Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord” (Acts 13:11-12).  MacArthur concludes “Such loveless people are clearly outside the kingdom of Light (cf. Matt. 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15) and void of spiritual life.  John described such claimants earlier as liars:  ‘5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.’

 

            “Unconverted sinners, devoid of love and living in spiritual darkness, cannot possibly fulfill Jesus’ well-known love command (see again John 13:34-35), which He originally gave to the apostles in the upper room.  Neither can they express the kind og sacrificial love Jesus showed when He washed the apostles’ feet (John 13:3-15), nor what He referred to later that evening when He declared, ‘Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13; cf. 1 John 3:16).

 

            “on the other hand, obedience to that commandment is a valid test for each believer’s genuineness.  Such obedience provides a distinct contrast to those who are without love and persist in walking in darkness.  Believers who manifest the new kind of love first taught by Jesus and reiterated by John truly obey the Lord’s command in the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven’ (Matt. 5:16; cf. Eph 5:8; Phil. 2:15; 1 Peter 2:9).”

 

            Now with that quote we end this sixth chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary on the book of 1 John and look forward to beginning the 7^th chapter titled “The Stages of Spiritual Growth” which cover 1 John 2:12-14). 

 

10/14/2024 10:39 PM

 

           

  

PT-2 "The Plot" (Matt. 28:11-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/14/2024 9:06 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “The Plot”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 28:11-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “11 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, "You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ 14 "And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble."

 

            Now I want to pick up where I left off in the last SD on these verses, and so let us begin with what is included in all the things that had happened, and they were the earthquake, the rolling away of this stone, the blazing angel sitting on the stone, and the empty tomb. That is quite a list of miracles that happened, and yes they were all miracles from God that would show the greatest miracle of all, and that was Christ’s resurrection from the dead.  Now think about all the people that Jesus raised from the dead, and I won’t list all of them but will mention Lazarus which is found in John’s gospel.  Lazarus had been dead for three days when Jesus raised him from the dead.  The point I wish to make is that all of those people that Jesus raised from the dead, and all the people found in the Word of God who had been raised from the dead died again, but not Jesus as Paul says He was the first fruits of those who will be raised from the dead never to die again.  Now back to our verses where I will let MacArthur pick it up for us.  “The soldiers knew those happenings had a supernatural origin, and it was that knowledge that caused them first to shake violently and then freeze in catatonic fear.  They did not try to explain because of the guards’ report, the chief priests learned of Jesus’ resurrection even before the disciples did.”

 

            It is around the time of Easter that films come out about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and there is one movie, I forget the title, which is about a Roman soldier who was actually friends of Pilate and Pilate sent this soldier to find the body of Jesus.  The man looks and looks but could not find Jesus’ body and as the movie goes on the man found some of Jesus’ disciples who were in a house and so the soldier went into the house with the disciples and the resurrected Jesus appeared with them.  Now before that happened this soldier got in contact with one of those soldiers who had been at the tomb and pressured him into telling his the truth.  In the end this soldier went with the disciples of Jesus to Galilee where Jesus would go back to heaven, according to the story and became a disciple of Jesus as he ran away from the Romans.  Most of the movies are not real accurate in all of the things that the Bible has to say and that is why I don’t really like to watch them, but this one was pretty good other than showing Jesus’ resurrection in Galilee which was not right as that happened in or near Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives which is where Jesus will return to earth from that exact spot.  There is a fault there that could split the mountain, but it is waiting for the foot of the Lord Jesus to land there and then it will split.

 

            Now the chief priests had heard that Jesus would rise on the third day, but even though the evidence was clear to them that this is what happened, they chose not to believe it.  Greed and politics were involved and so lies had to be told, and the truth is that this same kind of lies are going on in our country and have been for a long time in the politics now.  Not sure who will win for now but I know who will win in the future and that will be the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to place His foot on the Mt. of Olives and then all lies will stop and at that time Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats, the sheep go into the kingdom and the goats go into Hades. 

 

            These Jewish leaders blew it and the stories that they began are still going on in Israel today, but it seems to me that the Spirit of God is causing the hearts of many in Israel to realize that these are lies and that Jesus Christ is indeed their Messiah.  I pray for Israel most every day, pray that their eyes will be opened to the truth that their Messiah has already came to earth almost 2000 years ago, and He suffered and died for them, so I pray that the Holy Spirit of God will be active in opening the hearts of the children of Israel.  John MacArthur concludes this thought at the end of a paragraph in his commentary with the following:  The chief priests were so evil, self-willed, and spiritually blind that they shut their eyes to every confirmation of Jesus’ claims.  The god of this world had totally blinded their eyes (2 Cor. 4:4).  “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

 

            Perhaps I will get this section concluded in the next SD.

 

10/14/2024 9:40 AM

 

PT-1 "Love As A Way of Life" (1 John 2:9-11)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/13/2024 11:21 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “Love As A Way of Life”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  1 John 2:9-11                       

            Message of the verses:  “9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

 

            This evening I will be looking at the concluding portion of the passage, John applies the test of supernatural love to those who claim to be Christians, and as you look at these three verses you will know where he is applying the test.  It’s presence is a sure indicator of transformation, salvation, and divine life.  MacArthur writes that “The false teachers of John’s day arrogantly claimed a higher knowledge of the divine nature and communion with deity, but it produced only proud disdain for unenlightened, common people.  But the Christians, most of whom were slaves or members of the working class (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26-29), were the truly enlightened who demonstrated their true knowledge of God as they not only loved one another, but reached out in love to those lost in sin’s darkness (cf. Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35).”

 

            Now think about the truth that it is a meaningless boast for someone to say he is in the Light if he (or she) hates his brother—meaning that he does not love saints selflessly as God does—he is not in the divine kingdom of light but remains in darkness until now.  Now that does not mean that he or she could become a true believer for if a person is alive they will still have the opportunity to become a believer.  Now on the other hand, the one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.  Those that truly love and obey God’s Word and also express selfless love to fellow believers are truly transformed; they are not going to cause others to fall.  I know that this is one of the things that I desire not to do, that is cause a fellow believer to fall.  In the New Testament stumbling refers to sinning and this can be seen in verses like (Matt. 5:29-30; 13:41; 18:6, 8-9; Luke 17:2; John 16:1; 1 Cor. 8:13; and in Rev. 2:14).  MacArthur concludes this by writing “John used the term to explain that the person who truly loves others—as as a reflection of his love for Christ—will not cause them to sin (cf. Rom. 13:8-10) or reject the gospel.  So there is a love that proves salvation, as the Son of God said, ‘A new commandment AI give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  But this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ (John 13:34-35).

 

            Lord willing we will be able to finish this section in the next SD.

 

10/13/2024 11:44 PM

PT-1 "The Plot" (Matt. 28:11-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/13/2024 7:56 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-1 “The Plot”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 28:11-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “11 Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, "You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ 14 "And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble."

 

            Now in order to understand who the “they” is talking about it refers to the women whom Jesus had just spoken and who were obediently on their way to give the disciples His message to meet Him in Galilee found in verses 5-10.

 

            Now we move on and talk about what was happening at this same time in the following behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened (11b).  Only some of the guard went into the city of Jerusalem and reported to the chief priests, MacArthur adds “probably as representatives of the whole contingent which may have numbered as many as a dozen.  For all of them to have gone together would have attracted considerable attention, and word of their mission would surely have reached Pilate’s ear.  Because it was still early on the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion, Pilate would immediately have had them arrested and probably executed, both for leaving their post while on duty and for failing to fulfill their assignment to protect Jesus’ body from theft (see. 27:62-66).  Presumably the rest of the guard remained at the tomb.”  Now trying to put this time table together all of this must have happened before the women came to the tomb for when they get there all of the guards were gone.

 

            As mentioned these guards did not go to see Pilate or would have been executed, but they wisely reported to the chief priest all that had happened at the tomb.  Now remember these guards were on a temporary service of the Jewish religious leaders.  Going to the chief priests would give them much less to fear than going to Pilate, and they probably hoped those leaders could somehow protect them from the governor.  Now remember the Jewish leaders had many things on Pilate and so they could get him to do things that they needed done.  Finally this would come to haunt Pilate as he would be replaced sometime down the road. 

 

            Ok, it is Sunday morning and my SD’s are usually shorter than other days of the week as I have to get ready to go to Sunday school.

 

10/13/2024 8:18 AM

PT-3 "Intro to Matthew 28:11-15

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/12/2024 7:20 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                       Focus:  PT-3 “Intro to Matthew 28:11-15”

 Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference: Matthew 28:11-15

              Message of the verses:  “11Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, "You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ 14 "And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble." 15 And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.”

            I have been looking at the different theories that have come up about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, and the theme of all of these is that they are false.  John MacArthur continues to write about these different theories:  “The ‘telepathy theory’ proposes that there was also no physical resurrection, but rather God sent divine telepathic to Christians that caused them to believe Jesus was alive.  But that theory, among other things, makes the God of truth a deceiver and the apostles and gospel defective and slow to produce te intended result, because in a number of instances Jesus was not recognized when He first appeared to individuals and groups who knew Him intimately.

            “The ‘séance theory’ suggests that a powerful spiritualist, or medium, conjured up the image of Jesus by means of occult power and that His followers were thereby deluded into thinking they saw Him.  But if that were so, how did they hold onto His feet, put a hand in His wounded side, and eat a meal with Him?  Séances deal strictly in the noncorporeal and ephemeral and are not made of such physical and tangible things as I those.

            “The ‘mistaken identity theory’ is based on the assumption that someone impersonated Jesus and was able to dupe His closet friends and companions into thinking he was really their Lord come back to life.  But the imposter would have had to have himself scourged, crowned with thorns, pierced in his hands and feet, and wounded in the side too make such an impersonation even close to convincing .  He would also have had to mimic Jesus’ voice, mannerisms, and other traits to an unimaginable degree of perfection.  He would have had to steal Jesus’ body from the tomb and hide it.  He would also have had to be an insider among Jesus’ followers in order to identify and talk convincingly with the many people he met during the appearances.  He would also have to had to know exactly where to find the people on every occasion and been able to perform such illusions as materializing through walls and appearing and vanishing at will.  And he would have had to be prepared in advance even of the crucifixion to do all of those amazing things, because the first appearance was early on resurrection morning.

            “The noted French philosopher Renan debunked the resurrection by foolishly claiming the whole idea was based on the hysterical delusions of Mary Magdalene (The Life of Jesus [New York: Carleton, 1886], pp. 356-357).  But Mary was but one among more than 500 witnesses, all of whom testified to the same reality.  In his book Risen Indeed, G. D. Yarnold advances the idea that the material of which [Christ’s] earthly body had been composed ceased to exist, or was annihilated’ ([New York: Oxford, 1959], p. 22).

            “Besides their own unique shortcomings, all of those theories fail to explain how the apostles could be transformed from cowards to heroes and how such a dynamic entity as the church could come into existence, produce thousands of followers willing to die for their beliefs, and manage to turn the world upside down if their faith was built on illusions and falsehoods.

            “The ‘theft theory,’ which contends that someone managed to steal the body and hide it, is the only one that attempts to explain the missing body.  But the only ones who might have had a motive for stealing it were the disciples, in order to try to fulfill Jesus’ prediction that He would rise from the dead on the third day.  That, as Matthew explains in the present passage, was the explanation promulgated by the Jewish leaders.

            “Yet Matthew’s narrative of this strange episode reveals that even that deceitful scheme became a rich and compelling apologetic not against but for the resurrection. He first describes the plot itself and then briefly tells how the proposed lie was propagated.”

            Well I have my assignment for the next few days in looking first at “The Plot” and then after a couple of days look at “The Propagation.” 

10/12/2024 7:50 AM

 

PT-2 "Love As A New Commandment" (1 John 2:8)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/11/2024 11:10 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  PT-2 “Love As A New Commandment”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  1 John 2:8

 

            Message of the verse:  “On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.”

 

            This commandment to love not only has a new expression, and it is because of love’s powerful display in Christ’s life and ministry; it is also fresh because of its manifestion in the lives of believers.  (Now it is starting to make sense to me.)  It is a glorious demonstration of what it means to be a new creation in Christ as seen in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  Now if anything defines this love from the human side, it is humility.  Sinners are radically humbled (cf. James 4:6-10) to the point of self-hate (Luke 14:26) and self denial (Matt. 16:24-27), so as to be like the penitent tax collector in Luke 18:13-14:

 

“13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14  "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.’”

 

            MacArthur then adds “At salvation, the Holy Spirit takes up resident in the believer’s life (John 14:16-17; Rom. 8:9, 114; 1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:14; 1 John 2:27; 3:24; 4:13) and sustains the original humility, out of which He produces spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22-23), the most important of which is love.  The apostle Paul affirmed the presence of this love in believers when he wrote to the Romans, ‘the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us’ (5:5), and when he wrote to the Thessalonians that ‘as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you…for indeed you do practice it toward all….But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more’ (1 Thess. 4:9-10).

 

            “The new commandment or manifestation of live has come because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.  Obliviously, the true Light is Jesus Christ (John 8:12), who has come and inaugurated His kingdom (Zech. 9:9; Matt. 21:5; John 12:12-15; Heb. 1:8-9; 12:28; cf. Ps. 24:7010), in which He (and this new dimension of Messiah’s spiritual kingdom, the true Light began shinning and overcoming the darkness of Satan’s kingdom (Rom. 16:20; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; cf. Eph. 6:11-16).  Right now the light coexists with the darkness but the Light and the divine love He bears will increasingly dispel the darkness (cf. 1 John 2:17a), shine ever brighter during Christ’s millennial reign, and eventually rule supremely throughout eternity.  Thus, it is only because believers have been ‘rescued…from the domain of darkness, and transferred…to the kingdom of His beloved Son,’ the Light, that this new commandment is a reality in their lives (Col. 1:13).   

10/11/2024 11:44 PM