SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/14/2016 9:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
The Fateful Consequences of Belief and Unbelief
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 12:44-50
Message of the verses: “44 And Jesus cried out and said, "He
who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45 "He who sees Me sees the One who sent
Me. 46 "I have come as Light into
the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. 47
“If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I
did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 “He who rejects Me
and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is
what will judge him at the last day. 49 “For I did not speak on My own
initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to
what to say and what to speak. 50 “I know that His commandment is eternal life;
therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.’”
John
MacArthur begins his commentary on this section by writing “Since Jesus had
already withdrawn (v. 36), the words recorded in verses 44-50 were not spoken
on this occasion. John included them
here to summarize Christ’s public ministry to Israel, which had ended. The truths they contain emphasize the
importance of the Savior’s ministry and the fatal error of refusing to believe
in Him. They also revealed several
consequences of both belief and unbelief.”
I though this quote was needed to help us understand that this section
was not spoken by Jesus with what had been spoken by Him earlier.
Verse 44
tells us something that we have been learning all along as we studied John’s
gospel and that is that Jesus and the Father are one, and so if You believe in
God you believe in Jesus who was sent to earth by God. Jesus goes on to say that the ones who see
Him sees the One who sent Him. Look at
the following verses “8 Philip said to
Him, "Lord, show us
the Father, and it is enough for us." 9 Jesus said to him,
"Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me,
Philip? He who has seen Me
has seen the Father; how can you say, ’Show us the Father’? (John
14:8-9).”
We
mentioned in the quote from Dr. Wiersbe that there are many themes in these
verses that have already been seen in John’s gospel so far and when we read in
verse 46 about the Light we have already seen Jesus saying that He is the
Light, and those who believe in Him will become sons of Light.
Next we
look at a turning point in this section when we read “If anyone hears My
sayings and does not keep them,” (47a).
This goes along with John 3:36 which says “"He who believes in the
Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the
wrath of God abides on him.’”
Next we see
that Jesus says that He did not come into the world to judge the world, and we
know that when Jesus came the first time He came to die for our sins, but as
Dr. Wiersbe pointed out that those who reject this truth will be judged, and
they will be judged at the Great White Thrown Judgment as seen in Revelation “20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who
sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was
found for them.”
Verses
48-50 show us that the Words of Jesus will be what judges those who do not
believe in Him, and then goes on to talk about His Father who sent Him, and
again we see that Jesus and God are One.
The things
that we are learning in the later part of the book of Zechariah tie into what
we are learning in the gospel of John in this 12th chapter for
Zechariah speaks of both the first and the second coming of Jesus Christ, and
also speaks of the rejection of Him as seen in the 11th chapter and
then in chapters 12-14 speak of the return of Christ during the very end of the
Tribulation Period. The Jewish people
have suffered great persecution as was prophesied by the OT prophets and also
from Jesus while He was on the earth. As
we close this 12th chapter of John we see that Jesus was done
ministering to the Jews and would next begin to minister to His disciples in
chapters 13-16, and the we will look at His high priestly prayer in chapter 17
before looking at the crucifixion and burial and then resurrection of Jesus
along with Jesus restoring Peter for ministry in chapter 21.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As being one of the prayer coordinators in a
stewardship program at our church and seeing what I see in this 12th
chapter of John, it makes me have a desire to do a good job so that people will
come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our time on earth is short.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Trust the Lord to guide me as
I prepare to work on the things needed or our stewardship program.
Memory verse for the week:
(Romans 6:13) “13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body
to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as
those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to
God.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Pilate” (Matthew 27:24).
Today’s Bible question:
“From what town did Jesus send His disciples to get a colt for Him to
ride?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/14/2016 10:09 AM
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