SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/19/2016 9:12 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro. To John 8:37-47
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 8:37-47
Message of the verses: “37 “I know that you are Abraham’s
descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 "I speak the things which I have seen
with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your
father." 39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our
father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham’s children, do the
deeds of Abraham. 40 “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has
told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 “You
are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not
born of fornication; we have one Father: God." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your
Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I
have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand what I am
saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 “You are of your father the devil, and you
want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand
in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie,
he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 “But
because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 "Which one of you convicts Me of sin?
If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 “He who is of God hears the
words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."”
John MacArthur
writes in his commentary on this section the following at the beginning of his
introduction: “In a world filled with
trouble and turmoil, and with the inevitable reality of death and the
afterlife, people long for security.
They seek comfort, stability, a positive outlook for the future, a sense
of purpose, and hope after death. Also,
whether they are conscious of it or not, they year to ease the crushing burden
of sin that dominates life. The Word of
God gives ample instruction on the folly of seeking security in the wrong
things. A general consideration of this
matter will set the stage for our text and the true and only security.”
He then
goes on to look at what many people look to in order to have a happy life and
future, and that of course is wealth.
The Bible has much to say about money, more than love, and much of it
talks about how money can cause a person to stumble. The Bible also has much to say about how we
are to handle the wealth that God gives or should I say entrust us with, but
for our purpose in this SD we will look at some verses on how money is not to
be used. First we will look at Proverbs
27:24 “For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.” Next Proverbs 23:4-5 “4 Do not weary yourself
to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. 5 When you set your eyes
on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that
flies toward the heavens.” Next we will
look at something our Lord tells us from Matthew 6:19-21 “19 "Do not store
up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where
thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in
or steal; 21 for where
your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Next we
will look at a parable that Jesus taught from the book of Luke 12:15-21 “15
Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of
greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his
possessions." 16 And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a
rich man was very productive. 17 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying,
’What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 “Then he said,
’This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and
there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 ’And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you
have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and
be merry."’ 20 “But God said to him, ’You fool! This very night your soul is required
of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ 21 “So is the man who stores up
treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.’”
There are
other things that people use to cause themselves to have security and power is
one of those things, that is power over people, but it too is fleeting. I have always liked reading the 12th
chapter of the book of Acts for it tells the story of the wicked man Herod’s
demise, “21 On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took
his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. 22 The people
kept crying out, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" 23 And
immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the
glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”
I can think of another story from the life of David from 2 Samuel where
David and his men were protecting the property of Nabal whose name means fool,
now how could any parent name his son Nabal, knowing it meant fool, but that is
another story. Nabal would not give
David and his men any food for their efforts of protecting Nabal’s sheep, and this
was during the sheep shearing which was
a party time in those days, and so his
wife Abigail took care of this oversight and when Nabal found out about it he
got some kind of attack, probably a stroke and died. All of his ruling ended because of his
foolishness.
One of the
most tragic stories in the OT is about King David’s son, Solomon who was the
wisest man ever, and yet he did not act like it. MacArthur writes “As Solomon discovered, any
attempt to ground one’s security and hope in temporal, earthly things rather
than God is doomed to failure. Only
through His salvation in Jesus Christ can true eternal safety be found. Those who put their faith in the Savior have
nothing to fear from ‘death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
created thing [for nothing] will be able to separate [them] from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus [their] Lord’ (Rom. 8:38-39).”
Satan knows
that the only hope people have for eternal life is salvation through Jesus
Christ, and so he offers false religion, and there are many of them to choose
from at this point in history.
MacArthur
concludes “In this section, which continues the dialogue that began in verse
31, the Lord confronted the false security that the Jews looked for in their
self-righteous legalism. As He did so,
the Jewish leaders whom He addressed grew increasingly hostile toward Him. In fact, their hatred was so intense that
they were already planning to murder Him (vv. 37, 40; 5:16-18; 7:1, 19, 25). But instead of backing down or softening His
message, the Lord became even more direct and forceful in His condemnation, to
the point that He openly identified His enemies as children of the devil (v.
44; cf. 38, 41).
Jesus
demolished the Jews’ false security for eternal life with God by refuting each
of the three claims on which they based it; their claim to be Abraham’s
physical children, their claim to be Abraham’s spiritual children, and their
claim to be God’s children.”
Those three
main points are what we will be looking at during the next few Spiritual
Diaries from John 8:37-47.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “It sprang up and bore fruit” (Luke 8:8).
Today’s Bible question:
“What may be the reason for the temptation of Jesus?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/19/2016 9:56 PM
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