PT-2 “Are You the Coming One?” (Luke 7:18-23

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/17/2026 8:15 PM

My Worship Time                                                       Focus:  PT-2 “Are You the Coming One?”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                              Reference:  “Luke 7:18-23”

            Message of the verses: “¹⁸ The disciples of John also reported to him about all these things. ¹⁹ And after summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for another?” ²⁰ When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for another?’” ²¹ At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. ²² And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: people who were blind receive sight, people who limped walk, people with leprosy are cleansed and people who were deaf hear, dead people are raised up, and people who are poor have the gospel preached to them. ²³ And blessed is anyone who does not take offense at Me.”

            I mentioned this morning that I had a decision to make on whether or not to quote the rest of John MacArthur’s commentary or go a different route.  I have decided to quote from his sermon on these verses, the first sermon as he has more than one sermon connected to these verses. 

            One of the things that has fascinated me in my study of God’s Word is to see the things in the Old Testament that relates to the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is a sermon that Jesus used to speak to two of His disciples which took place after He was raised from the dead as they were walking along the road to Emmaus and I would have loved to be present to hear that sermon.  The reason is that Jesus was talking to these men about how the Christ worked in the Old Testament, and these men did not realize this, and I have to say that not many believers realize this. 

            Now in MacArthur’s commentary on the beginning of these verses he quotes many, many verses to help us learn some of these things from the OT about the Messiah.  I have decided to quote his entire sermon, the first one which focus in on these verses and also focuses in on Christ in the Old Testament.

ARE YOU THE COMING ONE?

Charles Wesley lived for eighty-one years of the eighteenth century and he wrote 6,500 hymns.  Many of them are Christmas hymns.  One of the most magnificent and one of my favorites is titled, "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus."  The lyrics go like this:

Come, Thou, long expected Jesus,

Born to set Thy people free.

From our fears and sin release us.

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art.

Dear desire of every nation,

Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King.

Born to reign in us forever,

Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit,

Rule in all our hearts alone.

By Thine all-sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne."

What distinguishes a hymn from all other forms of music is hymns are theology. They are theology, great truth about God and His redemptive purpose.  And that hymn is certainly no exception to that.

Wesley chose to identify Jesus as the long expected Jesus.  "Come, Thou long expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free."  What did he have in mind when he chose that title for the Messiah?  Open your Bible to the 7th chapter of Luke, the 7th chapter of Luke.  If you're going to be theological, you have to be biblical because theology comes out of Scripture.  In the 7th chapter of Luke we pick up the story in verse 18.  It says, "And the disciples of John reported to him about all these things."

Now let me explain that briefly.  John here is John the Baptist.  John is called the Baptist because he baptized so many people down at the Jordan River.  Now you remember John. He was born just before Jesus was born.  He was born to Zacharias and Elizabeth who were related to Mary, so he was sort of in the same family as Jesus.  But there was no particular distinction in that.  What sets John apart is that he was chosen by God to be the last and the greatest prophet and his job, which made him the greatest, was to announce the arrival of Messiah.  And he had done that. He had done that.  He had declared that Jesus is the Messiah and then the camera turns away from John and he fades into the background and the story is all about Jesus from there on.

But now, all of a sudden, Luke injects John back in and John’s disciples, some of the followers of John, have gone to tell him about the miracles Jesus is doing.  And so, in verse 19 we read this, "Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord saying, 'Are You the Expected One or do we look for someone else?'  And when the men had come to Him, they said, 'John the Baptist has sent us to You saying, "Are You the Expected One or do we look for someone else?"'"

This is the most compelling question that anybody could ever ask and the question that demands an answer more than any other question, because it has such immense eternal implications.  Are You the long Expected One or do we look for someone else?  Are You the One who is prophesied to set Your people free from fear and sin?  Are You Israel's strength and consolation?  Are You the hope of all the earth?  Are You the dear desire of every nation?  Are You the joy of every longing heart?  Are You the One we look for?  That was John's question.

Israel had long waited for the Messiah to come.  And we wouldn't be surprised to have somebody in Israel ask the question, but we are a little surprised that it comes from the mouth of John the Baptist.  Why is John asking this question since he would have known about the virgin birth of Jesus, because they were relatives, he would have heard stories that circulated in the family about the perfections of Jesus as a person, as a sinless child and a sinless young man and a sinless adult?  And he did, after all, declare, pointing to Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."  And he did on one occasion even say — and it's recorded in all four gospels — "You are the long Expected One."  And he also heard a voice from heaven, the Father, saying, "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," and the voice came right when John was baptizing Jesus.  And he also saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus, further divinely affirming Him as the Messiah. So the strange reality is, why is he asking the question?

Well, because it's the most important question there is.  And he had all of that evidence that Jesus was the Expected One, the Coming One, the long-awaited Messiah, but there were some things that just didn't fit.  Where was the regal splendor of the Messiah?  Where was His kingliness?  Why was He not ascending to the throne?  Why was He not establishing Himself as the sovereign?  Why was He not overthrowing the Romans?  Why was He being rejected and hated by the religious establishment?  Why did things appear to be going in the wrong direction?  Why was He not asserting Himself as a sovereign?  So the doubts creeping into the mind of John: Is He really Israel's strength and consolation?  Is He really the desire of every nation, as Haggai, the prophet, had called Him?

Well you can see if you look at your Bible in those two verses that I read you, verses 19 and 20, that the title, "the Expected One," or "the Coming One" is capitalized, is it not?  And the reason it's capitalized is because it's not just a descriptive term, it is a proper noun, it is a title. "Coming One," or "Expected One," ha erchomenos, is a title for the Messiah.  That was a name for Messiah.  We find that name in the Old Testament.  He is called the Coming One.  The psalmist identifies Him as the Coming One several times. "Blessed is the Coming One who comes in the name of the Lord."  And so John is asking, "Are You the Messiah?  Are You the long-awaited Savior, Deliverer of Israel?"

We have determined that He is.  John did as well after his doubts were removed and we'll see more about that next Sunday.  But I can tell you that it is the testimony of every true Christian that we believe that Jesus is Israel's strength and consolation.  Israel is the hope of all the earth... I should say Jesus is the hope of all the earth and Jesus is the desire of every nation.  We believe that.  That's what Christians believe.  We believe that Jesus is the Expected One, the Coming One and the Old Testament description of the One who is to come is so complete and so clear that it actually describes the Coming One so well as to leave no doubt who it was.  To anybody who is honest it is absolutely crystal clear that Jesus of Nazareth is the One prophesied in the Old Testament.  As Christians, we believe it. That's what Christians believe.  We believe that the long Expected One is Jesus and we acknowledge Him as our King and our Redeemer and our Lord and our Savior.  And we do that eagerly and we do that unhesitatingly.  We confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God.

What does it mean to say it?  What does it mean to say Jesus is Lord?  What does it mean to believe that He is the long Expected One, the Coming One, the Promised One, the King and Redeemer, the Lord and Savior the Old Testament describes?  What does it mean when we say we confess Him as Lord?

Well let me just tell you what it means and I'm going to give you a description of a Christian.  It means that we trust His wisdom beyond all other wisdom.  It means that we believe that everything that He says and everything that is said in the Bible about Him is absolutely true and anything that contradicts any of it is wrong.  It means that we desire to know His thoughts above all thoughts as supreme.  It means that we long to hear and obey His Word over all other words.  It means that we give Him our lives now and forever, we entrust Him not only with our time but with our eternity, believing firmly in a person and a reality that we have never seen, but the testimony of Scripture is sufficient to verify.  It means we obey His commandments with joy.  It means we love Him supremely and we love people who love Him and we even love people He loves who don't love Him.  It means we give our lives to proclaim His gospel, the gospel of salvation.  To say that Jesus is Lord, which is the Christian confession, is to say that we accept Jesus as our absolute authority and source for all that is true.  It means that we desire always to do what pleases Him, though we fail.  It means we fear Him, we worship Him, we obey Him and we proclaim Him above all others.  To confess Jesus as Lord means that no area of our lives is unaffected by our relationship to Him.  Our relationship to Him defines what we think. It defines our attitudes, it defines our emotions. It defines what we say.  It defines how we act in every area of life.  Our relationship to Him pervades all our being.  To confess Jesus as Lord means that we trust His purpose for our lives and we trust His utter, sovereign control over all aspects of our lives including our failures and our successes, our blessings and our sorrows, our sickness and even our death.  To confess Jesus as Lord means that we count Him as the source of all that is good and all that is right and all that is blessed, and therefore He is to be thanked for everything.  To confess Him as Lord means that we believe that He created and controls the entire universe, that He has pre-written all history so that it is directed in its course toward perfect fulfillment of His intended desire when He re-wrote...when he pre-wrote it.  To confess Jesus as Lord, to be a Christian, means to give our souls to Him, our bodies to Him as living sacrifices, our minds to Him, our time to Him, our abilities to Him, our money to Him, our prayers to Him.  It means to dedicate our children to Him and to pray that everyone we know may love Him the way we love Him.  To confess Jesus as Lord means to give our lives in service to Him, fellowship in the church, to engage ourselves in ministries of all kinds to the honor of His name and the spread of His gospel.  To confess Jesus as Lord means that we are willing to live for Him no matter what it requires, and if asked to die for Him with an affirmation of His glory on our lips as our life leaves us.

We have never seen Him but we talk to Him every day.  We have never heard an audible voice, but He speaks to us through His Word every day.  We haven't seen His face, He is to us invisible and His Kingdom is not material.  And even the heaven He promises to which we look we have never visited, nor has anyone else who can tell us about it.  Only two apostles had a glimpse and struggled to explain what they saw.

You ask about what it means to be a Christian?  That's what it means.  It's not about going to church. It's about submitting everything to the lordship of Jesus Christ.  We live in a very singularly defined life.  Jesus Christ is everything to us and we are complete in Him.  He is not some addendum to our lives.  He is not some addition to our lives.  He is not part of our lives.  He is all of our lives.  And to make that kind of commitment, you better be sure that He is the Expected One or do we look for someone else?  John the Baptist understood what it meant to say, "Jesus is the Coming One." It meant everything.  And if there was some lingering doubt in his mind because not all that he had anticipated or that had been promised was before his eyes being fulfilled, and if the question was there at all, then it was worthy of an answer.  If you're going to be a Christian, you better count the cost.  It's all about Christ and only Christ and always Christ.  He is our all and all. He is our everything.  That kind of singular devotion, singular love, singular obedience, singular trust, singular hope demands assurance.  And for the moment, anyway, John was asking a question that any doubter should ask: Are You the Expected One?

8/17/2026 8:40 PM

 

 

PT-1 Intro to “Are You the Coming One?” (Luke 7:18-23)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/17/2026 9:48 AM

My Worship Time                                             Focus: PT-1 Intro to “Are You the Coming One?”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 7:18-23”

            Message of the verses:  “¹⁸ The disciples of John also reported to him about all these things. ¹⁹ And after summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for another?” ²⁰ When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for another?’” ²¹ At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. ²² And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: people who were blind receive sight, people who limped walk, people with leprosy are cleansed and people who were deaf hear, dead people are raised up, and people who are poor have the gospel preached to them. ²³ And blessed is anyone who does not take offense at Me.”

            I believe that this introduction will take more than one SD in order to finish looking at it, and as usual I will quote from John MacArthur’s commentary’s introduction so we can get a good idea where we will be heading as we look at these verses.

            “The noted eighteenth-century hymn writer Charles Wesley composed more than 7,000 hymns in his life, including the magnificent Christian hymn “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.”  The lyrics express rich theological truth concerning the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ:

“Come, thou long expected Jesus,

Born to set they people free;

From our fears and sins release us;

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.

 

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King.

Born to reign in us forever,

Now thy gracious kingdom bring

By Thine own eternal spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to thy Glorious throne.

            “Wesley’s identification of Jesus as ‘the long expected one’ reflects John the Baptist’s question in this passage, Are You the Expected One (i.e., The Messiah; Pss. 40:7 [cf. Heb. 10:5-7]; 118:26; Mark 11:9; Luke 3:16; John 1:27)?”

(Pss. 40:7 [cf. Heb. 10:5-7]; 118:26; Mark 11:9; Luke 3:16; John 1:27)?”

“7  Then I said, "Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:’

“5  Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6  in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.  7 ¶  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’"

“26  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.”

“9  And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“16  John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

“27  even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’”

            “Jesus repeatedly claimed to be the Expected One promised in the Old Testament.  He said that Abraham joyously hoped for Him (John 8:56), Moses wrote of Him (John 5:46), and David called Him Lord (Matt. 22:41-45).  I will quote these in the order seen here.

(John 8:56)

“56  Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.’’
(John 5:46)

“46  For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.”

(Matt. 22:41-45)

“41 ¶  Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42  saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”43  He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44  "’The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"’? 45  If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?"

“He unbraided two of His disciples on the day of His resurrection for being ‘foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!’  concerning Him (Luke24:25), and ‘then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures’ (v. 27).

            “The Old Testament is filled with references of the Expected One that point unmistakably to Jesus Christ.”

            Now in most of the rest of MacArthur’s introduction he has a very long list of verses which is about the Old Testament references to the Lord Jesus Christ, and if I decide to quote all of those verses it will take a very long time to finish this introduction.  If I just list them, and allow my readers to look them up it will not take as long to finish this introduction.

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  It certainly means very much to me that the Lord Jesus Christ came to planet earth in order to take my place on the cross so that one day I will be with Him, serving Him even more that I am serving Him here on planet earth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the Lord to see me through another day, as the mourning for the loss of my wife continues.  I know she is in heaven serving the Lord and is happier than she has ever been, and for that I am thankful, however her passing has left a hole in my heart that causes me much sorrow.

8/17/2026 10:29 AM

 

 

“The Response” (Luke 7:16-17)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/16/2026 8:54 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  “The Response”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 7:16-17

            Message of the verses:  “Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”  This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.”

            I can’t imagine seeing what these people who were about to bury this young man thought when the Lord Jesus Christ raised him from the dead.  Let us look at the word “Fear” which in the Greek is phobos; the source of the English word ‘Phobia.’  This fear gripped…all who had witnessed it.  These people were traumatized, overwhelmed with terror at the manifestation of God’s presence and power.  MacArthur then adds these verse references (cf. Ex. 3:6; Judg. 13:20-22; Isa. 6:5; Ezek. 1:28; Matt. 17:1-6; Mark 4:41; Rev. 1:17).  In response, they began glorifying God (cf. 2:13-14, 20; 5:26; 13:13; 17:18; 18:43) and affirming that God had visited His people.  Now in the Old Testament, that phrase refers to God coming to help His people (Ruth 1:6; 1 Sam. 2:21; Ps. 106:4; Zech. 10:3; cf. Luke 1:68, 78).  The people of Israel had been longing for such a visitation for four centuries, during which time God had been silent.  Now they realized that God had indeed visited them, for only the creator can give life to the dead.

            MacArthur writes “The point of the miracle was to comfort this brokenhearted woman, not to garner publicity for Jesus.  Nevertheless this report (that God had visited His people) concerning Him went out far (all over Judea; representing here the entire land of Israel) and near (all the surrounding district around Nain).

            “But the sad reality is that they missed the point that God was actually present in the person of Jesus Christ.  To them, He was nothing more than a great prophet who had arisen among them, like Elijah and Elisha, both of whom raised a dead person by the power of God (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:18:15-18—the Messiah, God in human flesh.

            “At the close of His earthly ministry, Jesus lamented the opportunity Israel had missed by failing to recognize who He truly is:

⁴¹ When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If you had known on this day, even you, the conditions for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you ^[u]when your enemies will put up a ^[v]barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, ⁴⁴ and they will level you to the ground, and throw down your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon ^[w]another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41-44)

As a result of Israel’s rejection, God took ‘from among the Gentiles a people for His name’ (Acts 15:14), while Israel remains largely spiritually blind (Rom. 10:1-3; 2 Cor. 3:15).”

            “In contrast to those who witnessed the resurrection at Nain that day, Martha, Lazarus’s sister understood the implication of her brother’s imminent resurrection.  After Jesus declared, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die’ (John 11:25-26).  Martha affirmed her conviction that He was indeed the Messiah: ‘Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world’ (v. 27).

            “That alone is the correct view of Jesus Christ, that He is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity incarnate, who came to earth ‘to give His life a ransom for many’ (Matt. 20:28) and ‘save His people from their sins’ (Matt. 1:21), who ‘was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification’ (Rom. 4:25).  Those who reject that truth will die in their sins (John 8:24), for ‘there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).”

8/16/2026 9:46 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Divine Power” (Luke 7:14-15)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/16/2026 8:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  “Divine Power”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 7:14-15

            Message of the verses:  “And he came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt.  And He said, “Young man, I say to you arise!”  The dead man sat up and began to speak.  And Jesus gave him back to his mother.”

            This morning because of time concerns I will quote from John MacArthur commentary. 

            “Christ’s acting with divine purpose, providential arranging of contingencies to bring about God’s plan, and compassion for those who suffer all lead to the conclusion that He is God.  His stunning display of power, however, directly demonstrates His deity.

            “That Jesus cam up and touched the coffin revals His power over sin.  According to Numbers 19:11-22, anyone who touched a dead person or anything associated with that person became ceremonially unclean.  But Jesus, as holy God incarnate, was not defiled by touching the dead man’s coffin (or stretcher); He remained ‘holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens’ (Heb. 7:26).

            “The incident also reveals Jesus’ power over people.  Normally, attempting to halt a funeral procession and touching the corpse would have produced outrage and the person who did so might even have been physically attacked by the angry mourners.  But because of the Lord’s commanding authoritative presence, the bearers came to a halt.

            “But most significant, Jesus demonstrated His power over death.  As the creator (John 1:3) whose spoken word called the universe into existence (Ps. 33:6-9), He merely said, “Young man, I say to you arise!” (cf. 8:54-55; John 11:43).  At that moment life surged into the dead man’s body—just as it will for all the dead on that day when ‘all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment’ (John 5:28-29).

            “It should be noted that since no one asked Jesus to raise the dead man, this miracle was not contingent on anyone’s faith.  Faith is not a prerequisite for God’s power to operate; God sovereignly activates His power in accordance with His will.  Some of Jesus’ healings involved faith, others did not.  But to view human faith as the operative principle instead of God’s sovereign will is an egregious even blasphemous error.  Faith was always present in salvation, but not all  miracles.

            “At Jesus’ command the dead man sat up and began to speak.  As was always the case, Jesus healed instantly and completely.  There was no prolonged period of post-resurrection therapy for this man.  He was immediately restored to full strength and Jesus gave him back to his mother.”

8/16/2026 8:46 AM

“Divine Compassion” (Luke 7:13)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/15/2026 6:48 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus: “Divine Compassion”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 7:13

            Message of the verse:  “When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”

            Now I know that it is the Lord Jesus Christ talking to this woman, but I’m not sure she knew who He was when He said to her “Do not weep.”  I can see that the Lords heart went out to her and that truly is something that this woman really needed at this time.  The Lord felt compassion for her.  Compassion translates a for of the verb splagchinizomai, which is related to a noun that describes the inner parts of the body.  In my case the problem part of my body is guts, and this word speaks of that troubled part.  Like the modern use of “heart” or “gut,” the inward parts of the body were viewed figuratively as the seat of the emotions due to the physical effects such emotions have on the body.

            MacArthur writes “One of the most perverse misinterpretations of Scripture is the idea that the God of the Old Testament is angry, wrathful, and vengeful, while the Lord Jesus Christ is meek, compassionate, and loving.  But the Old Testament reveals God’s compassion, grace, and mercy, while in the New Testament Christ cleansed the temple (Matt. 21:12-13; John 2:13-17), warned of eternal damnation in hell (Matt. 5:22, 29, 30; 18:9; 23:33; 25:41; John 8:24), was angry at sin (Mark 3:5), and warned His hearers,

 “Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. (Matt. 10:34-36).

            “In contrast to the false deities of other religions, it is the nature of the true and living God to feel compassion for suffering sinners.  Even after giving His law and judging the idolaters who made the golden calf, He told Moses, ‘I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion’ (Ex. 33:19), and later described Himself as

“The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgive iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations (Ex. 34:6-7)

“According to Psalm 103:8, ‘The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness,’  while Psalm 116:5 exults, ‘Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is compassionate’ (cf. Deut. 4:31; 2 Chron. 30:9; Neh. 9:17, 31; Ps. 111:4; Lam. 3:22; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2).  God’s compassion caused Him to deliver His people when ‘He could bear the misery of Israel no longer’ (Judges 10:16); ‘He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not arouse all His wrath’ (Ps. 78:38).

            “The New Testament portrays the Lord Jesus Christ as a ‘merciful and faithful high priest’ (Heb. 2:17).  He was not ‘a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin’ (Heb. 4:15).  He repeatedly felt compassion for lost, suffering sinners (cf. Matt. 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34; Mark 1:41).  It was His compassion that prompted the Lord, true to His nature as merciful, to comfort this devastated woman, and say to her reassuringly, ‘Do not weep.’”

8/15/2026 7:16 PM

PT-2 “Divine Providence” (Luke 7:12)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2026 9:37 PM

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus: PT-2 “Divine Providence”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 7:12

Message of the verse: “Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.”

            I will continue to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary to finish this section this morning.  “Heightening the pathos of this funeral was the reality that the dead man was the only son of his mother (cf. 8:42; 9:38).”

(cf. 8:42; 9:38)

“42  for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. As Jesus went, the people pressed around him.”

“38  And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.”

“Making the tragic loss even worse, she was a widow.  Already bereft on her husband, she had with the death of her son lost her last means of support.  His passing also marked the end of the family line.  The death of an only son symbolized the epitome of grief in the Old Testament.  Jeremiah 6:26 exhorted Is rael to ‘mourn as for an only son, a lamentation most bitter.’  In Amos 8:10 God warned of a coming judgment on Israel that would be ‘like a time of mourning for a only son, and the end of it will be like a bitter day.’  Zechariah 12:10 likens Israel’s future mourning over her rejection of Jesus Christ to that of the death of an only son:

“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

“This woman and her son’s bier were at the head of a sizeable crowd from the city that made up the funeral procession.  It would have included the friends and loved ones of the bereaved family, others from the village, and the musicians and professional wailing women that were part of every Jewish burial.  This saddest of all sad scenes in Jewish family life set the stage for the Lord of heaven to reveal Himself in diving power.”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can see from this section of Luke’s gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ is in control of all things, and this makes me content because of the recent passing of my dear wife.  Without knowing that she was a born-again believer in Jesus Christ would make this situation impossible to cope with, but knowing that she was since sometime in April of 1974 makes all the difference in the world.  Yes this is the most difficult time in my life, but God has given me a song to help me get through this.  “He Giveth More Grace,” is the name of the song that God has given to me and my family and I am so very thankful for this song and its meaning.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to continue to trust in the Lord to see me through this most difficult time, trusting Him for He can do no wrong.  8/15/2026 9:57 AM

 

 

 

PT-1 “Divine Providence” (Luke 7:12)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2026 9:37 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  “Divine Providence”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 7:12

Message of the verse: “Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.”

            Whenever I think about the total control that God has over this planet we live on and the people who live on it, then it just blows my mind.  His superintending control over all human choices, actions, and events to effect His predetermined purposes is known as His providence.  Now unlike a miracle, when God supernaturally interrupts or suspends the natural events to infallibly bring about His purposes.  Given the staggering complexities involved in coordinating even relatively simple events, God’s providence is in some ways even more awe inspiring than the miracles He performs.    I have mentioned that whenever I think about the events that took place in my life, and my families lives as my wife continued to go down hill physically at a rapid pace we all knew that God was surely in control of all of this and the hand writing was on the wall so to speak that she was going to loose her battle with cancer but then immediately after her death which was on July 29^th of this year at 9:36 on that morning the Lord took her home to be with her Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  This was all in the plan of God from even before He created the world.  I don’t understand it all, but I do trust the Lord in what he had planned for my wife, and I know that it does bring glory to His name, and the best thing is that I will see her again either at the rapture, or at my death.

            Looking at this section and listening to the sermon on my walk today it has reinforced my trust in the Lord to work things out for His glory and for my good.

            God’s providential control over events flows directly from His sovereign authority, omnipotence, and omniscience.  “The mind of man plans his way,’ says Proverbs 16:9, “but the Lord directs his steps,” while verse 33 adds another illustration:  “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Proverbs 21:1 reveals that God’s providential control over human events extends to rulers:  “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.”  One example is Cyrus, ruler of the Persian empire:

^“22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, ²³ “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him; go up then!’”

 

Though God is not the author of evil (Hab. 1:13), even calamities are under His control, as the prophet Amos notes:  “If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?”  (Amos 3:6).  It was one such calamity, whose events God sovereignly ordained in keeping with His purposes, that is the subject of this passage.

            MacArthur writes “Although a village the size of Nain probably would not have hand a wall around it, Nain did have a gate.  Located at the head of the main street, the gate served as a point of entrance for the city.  It was also the place where people gathered to socialize, and where the elders met to adjudicate matters (cf. Deut. 25:7-10; Ruth 4:1-11; Isa. 29:21).”

(cf. Deut. 25:7-10; Ruth 4:1-11; Isa. 29:21)

“7  And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8  Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists, saying, ‘I do not wish to take her,’ 9  then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders and pull his sandal off his foot and spit in his face. And she shall answer and say, ‘So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ 10  And the name of his house shall be called in Israel, ‘The house of him who had his sandal pulled off.’”

“1 ¶  Now Boaz had gone up to the gate and sat down there. And behold, the redeemer, of whom Boaz had spoken, came by. So Boaz said, "Turn aside, friend; sit down here." And he turned aside and sat down. 2  And he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit down here." So they sat down. 3  Then he said to the redeemer, "Naomi, who has come back from the country of Moab, is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our relative Elimelech. 4  So I thought I would tell you of it and say, ‘Buy it in the presence of those sitting here and in the presence of the elders of my people.’ If you will redeem it, redeem it. But if you will not, tell me, that I may know, for there is no one besides you to redeem it, and I come after you." And he said, "I will redeem it." 5  Then Boaz said, "The day you buy the field from the hand of Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of the dead, in order to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance." 6  Then the redeemer said, "I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I impair my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption yourself, for I cannot redeem it." 7  Now this was the custom in former times in Israel concerning redeeming and exchanging: to confirm a transaction, the one drew off his sandal and gave it to the other, and this was the manner of attesting in Israel. 8  So when the redeemer said to Boaz, "Buy it for yourself," he drew off his sandal. 9 ¶  Then Boaz said to the elders and all the people, "You are witnesses this day that I have bought from the hand of Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech and all that belonged to Chilion and to Mahlon. 10  Also Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, I have bought to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the dead in his inheritance, that the name of the dead may not be cut off from among his brothers and from the gate of his native place. You are witnesses this day." 11  Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, "We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem,”

“21  who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.”

“In God’s providential timing, Jesus and His entourage approached the gate of  the city after their journey from Capernaum just as a dead man was being carried out.  The funeral was over, and the people were removing the corpse on a bier or stretcher to the burial site outside of town.”  This is where I will end this SD and Lord willing pick up on the morning the rest of it.

8/14/2026 10:05 PM