SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/18/2015
11:25 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 1st
Day, 1st Group, 1st Emphasis
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
John 1:19-28
Message of
the verses: “19 This is the testimony of John, when the
Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are
you?" 20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not
the Christ." 21 They asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" And
he *said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he
answered, "No." 22 Then they said to him, "Who are you, so that
we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about
yourself?" 23 He said, "I am A VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
’MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD,’ as Isaiah the prophet said." 24 Now
they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, and said to him,
"Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor
the Prophet?" 26 John answered them saying, "I baptize in water, but
among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 “It is He who comes after me, the
thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." 28 These things took
place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.”
We have been looking at different questions that the
people that the Pharisees had sent to John to find out who he was. Was he the Messiah, was he Elijah, and now
they ask him was he “The Prophet.” To
find out why they asked him this question we need to go back to the book of
Deuteronomy, 18:15-19 “15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a
prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
16 "This is according to all that
you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying,
’Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me not see this great
fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17 “The LORD said to me, ’They have spoken well.
18 ’I will raise up a prophet from among
their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall
speak to them all that I command him. 19
’It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he
shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.”
While I was studying the book of Deuteronomy in 2009
I wrote the following in my Spiritual Diary dated May 3, 2009. “In this section of Scripture Moses is
telling the children of Israel that the nations to which they are to destroy
listen to those who practice the occult, but they are to listen to the very
Word of God for it is the Truth, and not only is it the Truth, but in it they
will see how to live and please the Lord.
Moses goes on to write some of the most important
Words that he would write and that is tell of the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Messiah of all the world not just the nation of Israel. Moses tells that when the children of Israel
were at Mt. Sinai that they could not stand to listen to the Word of God for
they were afraid and feared death if they listened. Then the Lord told Moses that He would send
them a prophet like Moses and God will put His Words in the mouth of this
prophet. This was a prophecy not only of
all of the prophets of God that He would send, but it was a prophecy of Jesus
Christ, for He was that Prophet that Moses refers to here. Some of the Jews during Jesus’ day thought it
was John the Baptist, but he denied it, so this shows that they were at least
looking for this Prophet to come.
This section is also about the revelation of the
Word of God and it is a serious thing to hear God’s Word and not respect it as
Warren Wiersbe writes. We are not only
to respect it but we are to obey it for it is the Word of the living God, the
God of truth.”
The people were getting frustrated with John as they
had a mission to find out who he was and he is not helping them with his
answers so they ask him directly who he is and John tells them by giving a
quote from the book of Isaiah chapter forty.
Now remember when we were studying the book of Isaiah that the book is
broken up into two main sections, 39 chapters in the first section, and 27
chapters in the last section. Some have
called it a miniature Bible as there are 39 chapters in the Old Testament and
27 chapters in the New Testament. So
when we get to chapter forty of Isaiah the author seems to change the way he
has been writing and we read in the first three verses of chapter forty these
words: “1 "Comfort, O comfort My
people," says your God. 2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her,
that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has
received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins."
“3 A voice
is calling, "Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in
the desert a highway for our God.”
Isaiah goes from the judgment of the Lord to being comforted by the Lord
and then he writes in verse three about the coming one who is to prepare the
way for the Lord, which is what John is doing and how he answers this
question. Leon Morris writes “The point
of the quotation is that it gives no prominence to the preacher whatever. He is not an important person, like a prophet
or the Messiah. He is no more than a
voice (contrast the reference to Jesus as ‘the Word). He is a voice, moreover, with but one things
to say…’Make straight the way of the Lord’ is a call to be ready, for the coming
of the Messiah is near.’”
John MacArthur writes what it means to “Make
straight the way of the Lord,’ was a challenge both to the nation and to his
questioners to prepare their hearts for the coming of the Messiah. The analogous imagery is of all barriers
being leveled and impediments smoothed out in preparation for the visit of an
ancient Eastern king. John and Isaiah
likened the hearts of the Messiah’s people to a desolate wilderness, though which
a smooth, level road needed to be prepared for His coming. Once again, John emphasized his humility and
subordinate role. He was merely a
laborer, preparing the road in advance of the King.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I have to think about preparing my heart each
day to serve the Lord. Things like
prayer and Bible study are a part of this process along with making sure my “spiritual
feet” our clean.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Do the
things I need to do each say to serve the Lord, and if for some reason I don’t
get them done I have to remember that the successful Christian life is a series
of new beginnings.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible question: “He
refused to obey God’s command” (1 Samuel 15:23).
Today’s
Bible question: “What nationality was
Timothy’s father?”
Answer
in our next SD.
12/18/2015
12:00 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment