SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/9/2016 7:53 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2
Dense Confusion
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 7:25-29
Message of the verses: “25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were
saying, "Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 “Look, He
is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not
really know that this is the Christ, do they? 27 “However, we know where this
man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is
from." 28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying,
"You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself,
but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 “I know Him, because I am
from Him, and He sent Me."”
I
first have to say that I truly need this study today, for I was awakened early
this morning and there are times when I realize that the Lord is speaking to me
in my heart, and it usually happens early in the morning when I wake up early
and cannot go back to sleep. This
section shows the courage that Jesus had as He confronted the Jews, even when
He knew that it was their desire to kill Him.
I truly desire to have that kind of courage to tell others about who
Jesus Christ is and have that chance later on this morning as I go to the
funeral of my Uncle Harry, for I have been told that at the end of the service
that we will have a chance to talk about some memories that we have of him and
it is during that time when I will truly need courage through the Holy Spirit
to speak of salvation, and that is what the Lord has laid upon my heart this
morning.
In
Isaiah chapter 50:7-9 we read the following prophecy that will be fulfilled by
our Lord which John MacArthur calls a “Messianic soliloquies” and “in Isaiah’s
prophecy, pictures the bold confidence that Christ possessed.” “7 For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am
not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will
not be ashamed. 8 He who vindicates Me is near; Who will contend with Me? Let
us stand up to each other; Who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me. 9
Behold, the Lord GOD helps Me; Who is he who condemns Me? Behold, they will all
wear out like a garment; The moth will eat them.”
When
we read through the book of Acts we see this same type of courage, courage that
the early church had as they boldly proclaimed that Jesus Christ was the only
way of salvation. “And when they had
prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with
boldness (Acts 4:31).” “13 Now as they
observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were
uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as
having been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).” “27 But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him
to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and
that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the
name of Jesus (Acts 9:27).” “3 Therefore
they spent a long time there speaking
boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of
His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands (Acts 14:3).” “and he began to speak out boldly in the
synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and
explained to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:26).” “And he entered the synagogue and continued
speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the
kingdom of God (Acts 19:8).” In my
prayer time for our Pastors that I pray each weekend there are a couple of
passages that I have to use to pray for our Pastors and both of them we find
that the Apostle Paul was in prison asking for prayer, and he was not asking
for prayer for the harsh treatment he was experiencing, but for prayer that he
could boldly proclaim who Jesus Christ is.
Now
as we go forward in this passage we find that the people of Jerusalem were in
shock to find out that the rulers were not saying anything about Jesus, for
they knew how these rulers felt about Him.
“The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?” I mentioned that MacArthur spoke about the
Greek construction in some of these passages and he writes of this one “This
time the Greek construction indicates that the question expected a negative
answer.”
In
verse 27 we read “27 “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the
Christ may come, no one knows where He is from."” This statement is truly false theology for
the book of Micah tells us “Mic. 5:2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too
little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be
ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of
eternity."” These people were
believing false doctrine and that is one of the reasons that MacArthur names
this section “Dense Confusion.” These
people misinterpreted passages like Isaiah 53:8 “Who will declare His
generation” and also Malachi 3:1 “The Lord, whom you seek will suddenly come to
His temple.”
Now
we move onto verse “28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying,
"You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself,
but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.” John MacArthur writes “A comparison of the
Lord’s words, ‘You both know Me and know where I am from’ with His declaration
in 8:19, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father,’ reveals that His comment here was
intended as irony. Jesus certainly would
not contradict Himself, nor would He affirm that His opponents knew Him, but not
the Father (cf. 5:28; 8:19; 15:23; 16:3).
And He would hardly have said that those who regarded Him as an impostor
and a charlatan actually knew Him. In
fact, Jesus was asserting that they did not know Him, saying in effect, ‘So you
think you know Me and where I am from, do you?’
This was another of their false assumptions of spiritual knowledge.”
At
the end of verse twenty-eight we see that Jesus did not come to earth to win
glory for Himself as some would think He did, although He will receive glory
from the Father for what He accomplished as we will see later on in this book,
however “Jesus was not the self-appointed false prophet and pseudo-Messiah the
leaders accused Him of being.” Think
about the false prophets of that day and our day and they want to receive glory
for themselves, and money for themselves, but Jesus came as the verse says “I
have not come of Myself, but He who sent me is true.” He continues telling the crow that He came
from Heaven to do the will of His Father.
In
a way it was a great shame as the religious leaders of Israel during the time
of Jesus studied the Scriptures daily, but when the truth was seen clearly in
those Scriptures was seen in Jesus Christ they missed the boat.
Jesus
continues His bold statement in verse 29 as we end this portion of our
Spiritual Diary ““I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me."”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I study this passage I see that one of the
things that I desire to do is to speak boldly on the convictions that I learn
as I study God’s Word each day, and that is that Jesus Christ is the way the
truth and the life and that no man can come to God the Father except through
Him. Pilate asked the question during
Jesus’ trial “what shall I do with Jesus?”
That question is the question that every person alive today and has been
alive since the Church began has to answer.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Given the opportunity today I want to speak boldly for the cause of
Christ.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Devils or Demons.”
Today’s Bible question: “Who said ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved, and they house?’”
Answer in our next SD.
5/9/2016 8:49 AM
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