Reminders and Warnings for 2018 (Deut. 8:1-20)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/31/2017 7:46 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  “Reminders”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  Deuteronomy 8:1-20

            Message of the verses:  Today’s Spiritual Diary will be a bit different because of the ending of the year 2017 and the soon beginning of the year 2018. 

            I look forward to having our senior’s pastor give the message that he has given on a number of occasions about the coming New Year.  He has done it on a number of occasions and did one this morning.  I guess that I could describe Pastor Greg Golden’s message as always being practical and they are always orderly as he is an orderly man.  In our business meetings that we have each year at our church Pastor Golden will tells us how many times he cuts his grass each year; this is how orderly that he is.  He leads a senior bus trip each month and a few weeks back he had outlined each trip that the seniors can go on and how much they would cost for the year 2018.  Ok enough of his background on our wonderful senior’s pastor.  What I wish to do is give you the outline of the sermon that he gave this morning and then 13 pieces of advice that he gave for all who listened to him concerning the year 2018.  We will first look at 11 reminders from the first 11 verses of Deuteronomy and then in verses 11-20 we will look at six warnings, and then his advice for 2018.

Reminders

1.     1  "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers (Deu. 8:1).  (God’s Word.)

2.     2  "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”  (God’s wilderness.)  There are times that God will take us out into His wilderness like He took the children of Israel out in the wilderness for forty years.

3.     3  "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”  (God’s Watch care.” Just as God gave the children of Israel manna to eat in their time of need He will give us what we need in our lives.

4.     4 “Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.”  (God’s wardrobe or garments.)  God cared for the children of Israel in the wilderness as their clothes did not ware out.

5.     5 “You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.”  (God’s Wounds.)  An example of God wounding us can be found in Hebrews chapter twelve.

6.     6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”  (God’s Worthiness.)

7.     7  "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;” (God’s Waters both Spiritual [The Holy Spirit] and physical water to drink).

8.     8  "a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;” (God’s provisions (wheat).  God provides for our needs.

9.     9  "a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.”  (God’s Wealth)

10.  10 "When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.”  (God’s Warehouse)

 

11 “God’s Warnings”

1.     11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, (Danger of waywardness).” 

2.     12  "lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13  "and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; (Danger of Wealth).”  “7 Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9  That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God (Proverbs 30:7-9).”  

3.     14 There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords And his jaw teeth like knives, To devour the afflicted from the earth And the needy from among men. (Warnings of Wickedness).”

4.     15  "who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16  "who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— 17  "then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ 18  "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day (Warnings of Worldliness).”

5.     19  "Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish (Warnings about Wavering).”

6.     20 “As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God (Warnings about Wrong Doing).”  Do right, don’t do wrong!

2018 Advice

1.     Finish Strong.

2.     Be Faithful.

3.     Help Others.

4.     Exhibit love.

5.     Share Christ.

6.     Pray More.

7.     Enjoy Life.

8.     Read Scripture.

9.     “Do” Church.  (Don’t just go but be active.)

10.  Express Gratitude.

11.  Patiently Wait.

12.  Think Biblically.

13.  Cheerfully serve.

14.  This last one is very important:  Get Saved, that is unless you are already saved, but if you are not then “GET SAVED.”

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jephithah’s daughter” (Judges 11:34).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Which book tells of the wise men coming to see the baby Jesus?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

12/31/2017 8:34 PM

 

Faithfulness in Service (Acts 9:13-17a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/30/2017 12:24 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus: Faithfulness in Service

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 9:13-17a

            Message of the verses:  “13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14  and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake." 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight,”

            We mentioned that Saul was praying to the Lord, and that God gave a vision to Ananias to tell him to go and see Saul, and now we want to talk about the response that Ananias has to this vision.  Perhaps we think that if we knew that we were getting a vision from the Lord that we would jump up and do what He wanted us to do right away.  However that was not the case with Ananias as kind of like Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, Ananias has come concerns about what the Lord wanted him to do.  As far as his concerns I understand them for what Saul was doing to the believers could have meant Ananias would have to die for his faith.  I have thought about a question that I even asked in our Wednesday evening service, and that is I wonder how many people were actually praying that God would save Saul of Tarsus.  Ananias was afraid of him with good reason, but I wonder if he was praying for him.  I don’t know the answer to that question, but I have to say that I find it difficult to pray for people who are persecuting the church or who dislike Christianity, so I can understand if Ananias was not praying for Saul of Tarsus.  John MacArthur writes “The request no doubt appeared to him to be suicidal.  His life was at stake, and so was the ministry he had in the church.  He was asking if the Lord really meant to end both.”

            We see from verse fifteen that the Lord overruled as God said, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.”  MacArthur adds “The call to the ministry is not based on the whims of men but on the sovereign choice of God.”  How true this statement is.  All we have to do is look at the life of Paul to see that what happened to him in the remaining portion of his life had all be planned in the sovereign will of God.  Ananias understand the call of God as he undoubtedly saw it in his life.  Let us look at something that Paul wrote in the very first verse of Galatians “Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead).”  We can see similar writings from Paul in some of his other letters including first and second Timothy, and also Colossians.  Paul realized that his primarily responsibility was to preach to the Gentiles he would go to the Jews first before going to the Gentiles.  Paul knew where his calling came from and so he obeyed his calling and God used him and others in that early church to turn the world upside down for the cause of Christ.

            God also told Ananias that Paul would have to suffer much for the cause of Christ and suffer he did as he gives a list of his sufferings to the Corinthians in his second letter to them.  Paul’s sufferings would not stop until, for the cause of Christ died in Rome by having his head cut off.

            Ananias was strengthened by the words of the Lord and so he “departed and entered the house” of Judas, “and after laying his hands on him said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight.’”  “And [Ananias] said, The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth.  For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard (Acts 22:14-15).”

            MacArthur concludes “The stories of both Ananias and Saul illustrate the truth that the transformed life demands service to Christ.  As Saul was later to write ‘Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God’ (1 Cor. 4:1).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Be ready to do what the Lord desires me to do, and then do it.

My Steps of Faith for today:  Trust that the Lord will continue to give me the words to say to our new neighbors that the Holy Spirit will use to speak to their hearts and give them an effectual call for salvation in His time.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Lebanon” (1 Kings 5:6).

Today’s Bible question:  “Identify the first person who met Jephthah when he came home from battle.”

Sad answer in our next SD:

12/30/2017 1:09 PM

Fervency in Supplication (Acts 9:10-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/29/2017 11:16 AM

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus: Fervency in Supplication

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 9:10-12

            Message of the verses:  “10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.’”

            I have heard stories of people who were in trouble and praying about the situation that is in front of them and at the same time another person or persons had a burden for the person who was in trouble even though they did not know they were in trouble.  We see a similar situation in these verses we are looking at today, as Saul was praying to the Lord about what was going on in his life after seeing the glorified Christ who told him to go to a certain place and wait.  Ananias is the name of the man who has a vision, and we know that this is not the same Ananias whom we meet in chapter five as he died.  Let us look at Acts 22:12 “"A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there.”  Notice how Paul speaks of this man as he talks about his conversion in chapter 22 as I have highlighted some of the characteristics of this man Ananias.  Ananias had a wonderful testimony as I am sure Saul found out, as from what we read in Acts 22:12 we can be sure that this man was one of the spiritual leaders of this city.  Now as we move on we see that “the Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.’”  We will learn soon that Ananias knew about Saul of Tarsus and this is another indication that he was one of the leaders of this church.  We know that this is a very severe test that is given to Ananias a test that may make him think that what he had for supper the night before may be causing him to think that he is seeing something or hearing something that is not what it looks like. Another part of this test is that Ananias would have had no idea that Saul became a believer a few days earlier.

            We read kind of a footnote to show us what Paul was doing “for behold, he is praying.”  I have to say that I have fasted for an extended time on a couple of occasions and one of the things that I learned was that my mind was much more clearer and prayer was better during the times of fasting, so I can understand why Saul would be praying at this time.

            We can see that God was giving instructions to Ananias and then moves on to say what He was going to do for Saul as Ananias was waiting, as God gave Saul a vision which told him that Ananias would come and lay his hands on him in order for him to regain his sight.  John MacArthur concludes “God, in His tender kindness to this persecutor, did not want him to be in any unnecessary sorrow, so He gave Saul hope for receiving his sight.  A pair of visions were about to bring together two men who had been poles apart.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thinking of a passage from the book of Hebrews which speaks of men not realizing that they had been entertaining angels.  As I think about that and about this story about Saul and Ananias, especially Ananias I have to come to the conclusion that for me to do anything like what the people in Hebrews did and what Ananias did I must keep my life clean, that is keep a short list with the Lord so my heart will be clean and ready to do what the Lord desires me to do at any time.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as I prepare to teach my lesson in Sunday school class this up-coming Sunday.

Memory verses:  Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”  Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Hannah” (1 Samuel 1:15).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where did Solomon get cedar trees for the temple?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/29/2017 11:46 AM

Consecration and Communion (Acts 9:6-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/28/2017 10:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Consecration, Communion

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 9:6-9

            Message of the verses:  “6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do." 7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

            We have mentioned in earlier SD’s that Paul’s testimony is seen in three different texts in the book of Acts and so let’s look at Acts 22:10 at this point:  “"And I said, ’What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ’Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’”  The highlighted portion is not seen in chapter nine and we get from that that his surrender was complete as he humbly submitted himself to the will of the Lord he had so fiercely hated.  John MacArthur writes “In contrast to the teaching of many today, Saul knew nothing of accepting Christ as Savior, then (hopefully) making him Lord later.  The plain teaching of Scripture is that Jesus is Lord (cf. Rom. 10:9-10), independent of any human response.  The question in salvation is not whether Jesus is Lord, but whether we are submissive to His lordship.  Saul was, from the moment of his conversion to the end of his life.”

            I realize that there are some people who do not agree with this quote from MacArthur, but as I look at it I find no fault with it.  I have to agree that Jesus Christ is Lord as I believe this what the Scripture teaches.

            We see Saul’s willingness to follow the instructions that the Lord gives to him that is to get up and enter the city of Damascus, and then someone will tell him what he must do.  Now we see the notation from Luke that the men who were with him were speechless as they heard the voice, however unlike Saul they saw no one.  This even actually happened to Saul as Luke makes an historical text about it.  After getting up Saul needed help to get into the city for he was blinded and so the men had to take him by the hand to lead him there.  Can you imagine what Saul may have been thinking as his anticipation to come to the city of Damascus was so much different than how it turned out.  He did not enter the city in triumph to capture God’s chosen people, but he entered the city blinded by the very God he was persecuting. 

            Saul was crushed by God and he was probably lower than he had ever been before, and so now that he was this low God would begin to use him as he would be a most useful man of God the church had ever known.  What a day for Saul as he would never forget it.

            Now we move onto looking at the “communion,” the last sub-section in our main section of “Faith in the Savior,” and as mentioned yesterday it is very short.  “9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.”

            When we were studying the book of John we looked at the section from chapter four that found Jesus talking to the “women at the well,” and the disciples when they came back to Jesus after buying food wanted to give Him some food, but Jesus was not physically hungry as He had been doing spiritual things in talking to this woman and so His physical hunger was not there.  I am not sure if this was the case with Saul, but he did take some time to reflect on what just happened to him and I believe that because of that he did not need anything to eat or drink.  Moses had a similar experience when on the mountain with the Lord as he did not eat or drink.  John MacArthur writes that “God led him through the process of reconstructing everything he was and did.  Although salvation is an instantaneous transformation from death to life, darkness to light, it takes time to plumb the depths of its meaning and richness.  Saul began that process.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Thinking on the thought that salvation happens in an instant, and one needs to reflect on it afterwards, then I have to believe that this is a lifetime process for as one grows in the Lord it is good to be reminded of that wonderful experience of when I became a believer.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will give me confidence in my newer way of teaching in our Sunday school class.

Memory verses:  Psalm 143:10, Philippians 4:8 “10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”  8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Fear not, for henceforth you shall catch men” (Luke 5:10).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord’?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/28/2017 11:09 AM

Conversion (Acts 9:5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/27/2017 10:44 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  Conversion

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                             Reference:  Acts 9:5

            Message of the verses:  “5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,”

            In today’s SD we are looking at the second sub-point under the main point of “Faith in the Savior,” and there are two more sub-points to look at and I will plan on looking at the last two in our next SD as one of them is very short.

            Paul is asking a question here that in the back of his mind he probably fears that he knows the answer to.  I have to believe that he is fearful that the answer to the question that he is asking is that it is Jesus who is shinning brighter than the sun and who is talking to him at this time, and that would make him fearful enough to think that he might die very soon.  His fear came into reality when he hears the Lord say “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”  Think about that statement for a while in light of what is going on in our world today as many are making the supreme sacrifice of dying for the cause of Christ, and the people who are killing them and persecuting them are doing this to Jesus just as He tells Saul this in this verse.  In my reading of the Bible this morning I went through three chapters in the book of Revelation and in Revelation 14:13 I read the following “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, ’Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’" "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.’”  I realize that this verse speaks of those who will die during the tribulation period, but I believe the principle of this verse can be seen for those who die each day for the cause of Christ as they may rest from their labors and the deeds that they did for the cause of Christ will follow them into heaven where I believe they will receive jewels in their crown that they will be able to place as the Saviors’ feet one day in heaven. 

            I don’t believe Paul is thinking about any of that at this time, although he may have been thinking about Stephen who in his dying breath gave witness to the truth of the gospel to Saul and all who were there, and this may be what Paul was thinking about and this may be why fear griped his soul at this time.  Paul knew what the Christians believed in, the message that they told to others, and yet he rejected it and believed that what they believed in was false, but now I suppose second thoughts were running through his mind.  We read the following in Acts 26:14 where the Lord was reminding Paul of this day we are looking at in our verse for today:  “"And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ’Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”  A goad was a sharp pointed stick to keep an animal moving.  John MacArthur writes “Saul’s resistance was crushed at that moment and his heart, broken by repentance, was healed by faith.  Philippians 3:4-11 describes the mental change that occurred in his soul at this moment:

 ‘4 …although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; 6  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,  9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11  in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.’

            “Some have foolishly attempted to explain awaqy Saul’s experience as the result of an epileptic seizure.  That explanation is inadequate, even granting the dubious assumption that Saul was an epileptic.  No such seizure could account for the complete about-face Saul’s life took.  Nor does it account for the fact that Saul’s traveling companions saw the light and heard the voice.  For the rest of his life Saul offered only one explanation—he had in fact seen the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ.

            “This miraculous conversion, without human involvement at its occurrence, is an example of the extent and power of saving, sovereign grace.  Paul testifies to that grace in 1 Timothy 1:13-17:

‘13 …even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. 15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.’”

            In the verses we looked at this morning we saw what can be stated is love and mercy, the same thing that God bestows on those who He saves.  Not all people have the past that Saul had, but all people who are born are born sinners.  I have mentioned before something that I wrote in a Bible that I bought many years ago that speaks about mankind, and the shape we are all born into:  “Total Depravity:  Not that we are as bad as we could be, but we are as bad off as we can be.”  That is the shape of every person who was born into this world with the exception of Jesus Christ, and this means that we all need what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross as He became our substitute in dying for our sins.  Jesus Christ did not became a sinner when He died on the cross, but He did become sin for us that we might have His righteousness once we except what He did for us.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that the Lord called me to salvation almost 44 years ago, and desire to tell others of what He did for me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as I prepare my lesson for this Sunday, that it will bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Memory verses:  Psalm 143:10 and Philippians 4:8 “10 Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”  “8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “He would be ruler over ten cities” (Luke 19:16-17).

Today’s Bible question:  “What statement did Jesus make to Simon Peter when he called him?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/27/2017 11:29 AM

Conviction (Acts 9:4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/26/2017 8:37 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus: Conviction

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                             Reference:  Acts 9:4

            Message of the verses:  “4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’”

            Notice how Luke, through the influence of the Holy Spirit repeats the word Saul, and this is not the first time we see this in Luke’s writings.  “But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things (Luke 10:41).”  “34  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!(Luke 13:34).”  “31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat’ (Luke 22:31).”  As we look at our verse from Acts we see that the repeating of Saul’s name was intended to bring anguish of soul to Saul.  Do you ever remember having you mother call you by your first and your middle name?  When that happened she was trying to get your attention, probably because you were doing or did something wrong, similar to what is going on in our verse for this morning.  Saul was one who according to what Jesus spoke of in John 15:25 “’THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’”  “Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies; What I did not steal, I then have to restore (Psalm 69:4).”  I believe that this is from where the quotation written in John 15:25 comes from as Psalm 69 is what is called a “Messianic Psalm.”

            John MacArthur writes “Our Lord’s words ‘Why are you persecuting Me?’ reflect the inseparable link between Himself as head of the body, and its members.  No blow struck on earth goes unfelt in heaven by our sympathetic High Priest.  By persecuting Christians, Saul inflicted blows directly on their Lord.”

            One of the things that has been on my mind from time to time is the difference between the OT age where God is mostly dealing with the nation of Israel and also the NT age where it seems that the primary dealings of God is on the church.  So what about the people who were not from the nation of Israel in the OT and what about the people who claim that they are not a part of any form of Christianity, not church people in this age of grace or time when Christ will build His church.  Well we can see from our verse this morning that Christ takes it personal when someone is persecuting His church, His body as the church is called.  The Word church in the Greek means “called out ones,” and so as we look at this NT time it is the job of those who have been called out by the effectual call of the Holy Spirit to tell the world about what happened to them.  Some will be like Saul and be convicted of their sin and some will not be convicted of their sin.  Some will think that their lot in life is to destroy those who have been called out with the effectual call of the Holy Spirit like Saul was doing.  1 John 5:19 tells us “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”  Notice the highlighted portion of this verse telling us that Satan seems to be in control as we have seen in John 22:31 ““Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat’”  My conclusion is that we live in the age of grace where it is also called the “church age” and even though not all people are a part of a local church they are still a part of this age.  Since I have been teaching through the seven churches of Revelation 2-3 this though has been bouncing around in my head as I see the differences found in the churches from these two chapters.

            Perhaps it would be good to quote the last two paragraphs found in John MacArthur’s commentary as he writes on what this verse means to him. 

“Saul, who had been so violent, was violently brought face-to-face with the enormity of his crimes—not against Christians but against Christ.  Those who go to hell do so ultimately because of their rejection of the Savior.  Even those who don’t persecute believers, but simply life apart from Jesus Christ, are as guilty of crimes against Him as was Saul.  As Saul himself was later to write, “If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed’ (1 Cor. 16:22).  Jesus said the Holy Spirit would convict men ‘concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me.’ (John 16:9).  The crime of all crimes for which men will be eternally damned is to refuse to love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. 

“True salvation must include conviction of this damning sin, since it is this very sin and not other that finally separates man from God.  Saul knew enough about the Christian faith to hate it and persecute it.  He knew the claims of Jesus and the true history of God’s redemption as Stephen and Philip had miraculous power over disease and demons.  All that the Spirit had laid as the groundwork in Saul’s life.  When Jesus confronted Saul, the conviction must have been overwhelming.  He knew about the truth; here he was crushed into the dust and made to believe it.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Being crushed by my sin is a good thing, but a hurtful thing too.  As a believer I am to keep a short list with God, and realize that my sin needs to be confessed to the Lord as seen in 1 John 1:9.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to renew my heart in order to walk closer to my Lord.

Memory verses:  Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”  Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and anything of worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Answer to our last Bible question:  “By holding up Moses hands” (Exodus 17:8-13).

Today’s Bible question:  “What did the nobleman promise the servant whose pound had gained ten pounds?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/26/2017 9:22 AM

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS

            I promised yesterday to write a Christmas greeting on my blog on Christmas Day.

            What I have today about Christmas has probably already been said before, well at least some of it, but if that is the case then I will say it again.  Christmas, to me, holds mixed feelings in my mind.  I am not one who likes going all out on buying presents just because it is Christmas, but want to remember what Christmas is suppose to be all about.  Now we know that Jesus Christ was probably not born on the 25^th of December, but we do know that He was born, and probably born in the winter months, and I do not know exactly know how the 25^th of December came about as the day we celebrate Christmas.  I suppose a little digging on the internet would answer that question, but I probably will not do that.  Like I say the important thing is that Jesus Christ was born into the world and the first prophecy of Him coming into the world goes all the way back to the book of Genesis, and right after Adam and Eve sinned we read “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."”  God is speaking of Satan in this passage and also He is saying that there will be war between Satan and the offspring of the woman.  “I’m declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring and hers. He’ll wound your head, you’ll wound his heel." (Message)” We see in the NASB that God speaks of the “seed of the woman,” and this is the only time we see this in the Word of God.  The seed comes through the man, but there were three differences in the Scriptures when this did not happen that way.  First God created Adam out of the earth, and then God created woman out of Adam’s rib, and then we read that Mary became pregnant through the Holy Spirit and this is where we get the seed of the woman as involved in the birth of Jesus Christ.

            Now as we read through the Old Testament we see how the Lord narrows down the line in which the Messiah would come from.  In the book of Matthew we see the bloodline of Jesus through Joseph, and in Luke’s gospel we see the bloodline of Jesus through Mary.  Both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David, but Mary came through the line of Nathan while Joseph came through Solomon.  Luke’s line of Jesus goes all the way back to God, while Matthew’s line only goes back to Abraham.  One of the kings of Judah, Jeconiah had a curse against him and so his line could not be in the line of the Messiah to be King.  As I said Mary came through the line of Nathan, Luke 3:31 “the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,.”   Joseph also came from the line of David and even though Jeconiah was in his line this did not permit Jesus from being the Messiah for He was not born of Joseph but of the Holy Spirit and Mary.

            Now as far as the place where Jesus was born and who was there when He was born, it is not like the nativity scenes we see in people’s yards or in their houses.  I read a historic novel a few years ago and the author incorporated into the birth of Jesus a place called Midgal Eder and this place is mentioned in the book of Micah 4:8 where we read “8 "As for you, tower of the flock, Hill of the daughter of Zion, To you it will come-Even the former dominion will come, The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.”  The words “tower of the flock” in the Hebrew is Midgal Eder, and this place was near Bethlehem on the way to Jerusalem and is where the lambs were born who would go to the temple and used for sacrifices.  There was a cave there and many believe that Jesus was born in that cave where these sacrificial lambs were born.  When you think about this it all makes perfect sense.  Now as far as who was there we know that Joseph, Mary, Jesus and later on the shepherds came, but as far as the wise men they did not come and see Jesus until he was near two years old.  They probably came from what was once Babylon and they probably got their information from Daniel who prophesied in his book of the time when the Messiah would die and so they would know when it would be near time for Him to be born and looked for Him following a star.  They first came to see Herod and asked him where the Messiah would be born and then went to find Him, giving gifts to Him and were then told in a dream not to go back to tell Herod.  Herod then had all male boys from the age of two years old and younger killed as was prophesied by Jeremiah. 

            Okay so the story of Jesus’ birth is probably much different than what we use to celebrate it in our world today as I tried to bring out, but the point of all of this is that God was in control of all the things which would bring His Son into the world to fulfill what His plans were for Him to accomplish, and He accomplished all of them, and we can praise the Lord on this Christmas Day that He did accomplish all of them.  Jesus told His mother while in the temple that He came to do His Father’s will and at the end of His life, while hanging on a cross He said “It is finished.”  What was finished was His becoming sin for us so that we could receive His righteousness and have it credited to our account so that when the Father looks at those who have received this free gift of salvation He will see Jesus Christ and not our sinfulness.

            The all time very best gift a person can receive on Christmas Day or any other day is to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, to confess that they are a sinner in need of a Savior and find out that Jesus paid it all, and receive Him as Savior and Lord.

            Merry Christmas to all!

I, Jacob Howard, wrote Dr. Charlie Dyer, who is the speaker on the Land and the Book Radio, a question about Migdal-Eder, mentioned in Micah 4:8. This was Dr. Dyer’s response.

Jacob,

Thank you for your e-mail, and thanks as well for your kind words! Denny and I both appreciate the privilege God has given us to serve Him in this way. You have encouraged us both!

As far as Midgal Eder is concerned, there is no universal identification of the site. But I do believe it was a real site. The best thing I’ve read on the subject is from Alfred Edersheim’s The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. (You can find his complete work online at Google Books.) I’ll include his quotation here, and then I’ll follow it with a few observations. (I’ll also highlight the key point he makes in the quote.)

But as we pass from the sacred gloom of the cave [i.e., he was just talking about the birth of Jesus in a cave] out into the night, its sky all aglow with starry brightness, its loneliness is peopled, and its silence made vocal from heaven. There is nothing now to conceal, but much to reveal, though the manner of it would seem strangely incongruous to Jewish thinking. And yet Jewish tradition may here prove both illustrative and helpful. That the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, was a settled conviction. Equally so was the belief, that He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder, “the tower of the flock.” This Migdal Eder was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for Temple-sacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds. The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism, on account of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances, and their manner of life, which rendered strict legal observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible. The same Mishnaic passage also leads us to infer, that these flocks lay out all the year round, since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days before the Passover—that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine the average rainfall is nearly greatest. Thus, Jewish tradition in some dim manner apprehended the first revelation of the Messiah from that Migdal Eder, where shepherds watched the Temple-flocks all the year round. Of the deep symbolic significance of such a coincidence, it is needless to speak.

—Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, pp. 186-87

If Edersheim is correct (and I believe he is), the location for Migdal Eder would be north of Bethlehem and near the old road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. (That road is the old “Hebron road” one drives on between Jerusalem and Bethlehem today!) I believe this puts the location  somewhere between the Jewish kibbutz of Ramat Rachel and Bethlehem, probably just to the west of Har Homa. There used to be an actual sheepfold in this area where I would take our groups but, sadly, it has been covered over by the modern road that now goes to Har Homa.

A key point here. Edersheim indicates that Migdal Eder was an actual spot, but he is not saying it was a town or village. Rather, the name means “watchtower of the flock” which seems to identify it as a specific pasture area for sheep. And the sheep that grazed here were those specifically destined for Temple sacrifice. In that sense the shepherds keeping watch over the temple sacrifices were the ones to whom God announced the birth of the ultimate “sacrificial lamb.”

I’m attaching a screen shot from Google Earth that might be of help in identifying the location for Midgal Eder. Note that Ramat Rachel is at the top of the picture and Bethlehem is at the bottom. The road running along the left side of the picture is the old Hebron Road, and Homat Shemu’el/Har Homa is just to the right of center in the picture. Based on Edersheim’s description, I would place Migdal Eder almost in the center of the picture…north of Bethlehem, just to the west of Har Homa, and east of the road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Since the word means “tower of the flock” it is likely a high spot in this area where sheep would graze. The hills right around (or right at) Har Homa are probably the best possible location.

I hope this is helpful!

Charlie

 

 

Contact (Acts 9:3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/24/2017 9:58 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                                Focus:  “Contact”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:    Acts 9:1-3

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him;”

            In our last SD we looked at the introduction to the first 31 verses in the ninth chapter of the book of Acts.  In today’s SD we will begin looking at the first main point which goes from verses 3-9, and in those verses we will be looking at five phases of the remarkable conversion of Saul as he put his faith in the Savior that he had been persecuting.  Now the name of this first phase is “contact,” which is under the first main point entitled “Faith in the Savior.”

            In our last SD we did speak briefly of what is found in the first two verses of Acts chapter nine as we saw that Paul was the one who was still breathing threats and also murders against the disciples of the Lord.  He decided to go to the high priest in order to get permission for him and some of his men to go to Damascus to get other believers from this city.  The term “the way” is mentioned in verse two and some think that believers were called to be a part of “the way” because of what Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

            Now we will begin to look at what is found in verse three where we see that as Paul and his men were heading towards Damascus that they saw a light from heaven that flashed around them.  In the first part of John’s gospel we see that Jesus is described as light, and when we look at light we are talking about power and one of God’s attributes is that He is all powerful.  No one can look upon God and live and so this light that Paul and his friends saw was not the full furry of the power of God or else Paul and his friends would be dead.

            We mentioned that Luke includes three places where the testimony of Paul is found and when we look at these other ones we will see that this flash of light came around noon:  “"But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me (Acts 22:6).”  In Acts 26:13 we read “at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me  From this we learn that this light was not something that was made, but as stated it was the Lord Jesus Christ.  What was said by the Lord was for Saul’s ears only as Saul testifies that He saw Jesus in glorious brilliance as he states in Acts 9:17, 27; 22:14; 26:16; 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:58).  However according to Acts 22:9 his men that came with him saw only the light, but could not hear or understand the words that were spoken by our Lord to Paul.

            It is ironic that the last person who saw the resurrected Jesus Christ was Stephen, the man Saul desired to see die because of his belief in Jesus Christ.

            When the Holy Spirit gives an effectual call the one chosen by God in eternity past, the one Christ died for we see that it is He (God) who is the One who initiates the contact for salvation, although it is hardly ever if ever done like this one described here in chapter nine done for Saul.  Paul speaks of this salvation that is initiated by God powerfully in Titus 3:3-5:

“3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jude.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How did Aaron and Hur help Moses gain the victory over the Amalekites?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/24/2017 10:31 PM