SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/11/2017
9:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1The Conflict with the World
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 16:1-4
Message of the
verses: “1 "These
things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. 2 “They
will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone
who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3 “These things they will do
because they have not known the Father or Me. 4 “But these things I have spoken to you, so that
when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. These things I did not
say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”
As you may have realized that when we look at multiple
verses in the gospel of John we will be taking longer than one day to go
through them, which is the case of these verses. I have highlighted “these things” as we see
it four times in these four verses and this refers back to the Lord’s warning
about the world’s hostility which we looked at in John 15:18-25. We mentioned that that section changed the dialogue
from love to hate, hatred that the world has for Christ and for those who follow
Him.
I have also highlighted the word stumbling and underlined
it because of the importance of what this world means. John MacArthur writes “Stumbling translates a
form of the verb skandalizo; the
related noun literally refers to the bait stick in a trap. The term here refers figuratively to the disciples’
being caught off guard like an animal ensnared in a trap. Had Jesus not warned them of the persecution
they would inevitably face, the disciples might have become shocked and disillusioned
so that their faith might have faltered.”
As we fast-forward to the events that will transpire that
evening it was very good that the Lord told His disciples what was going to happen. Matthew 26:31 tells us of a prophecy given
from the OT that happened that very night after Christ told His disciples what
would happen “Then Jesus *said to them, "You will all fall away because of
Me this night, for it is written, ’I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE
SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’” “7 "Awake, O sword, against My
Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate," Declares the LORD of hosts.
"Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My
hand against the little ones (Zechariah 13:7).”
Matthew 26:31 is also a prediction of what would happen and the
fulfillment is seen in Matthew 26:55-56 “55 At that time Jesus said to the
crowds, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would
against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching and you did
not seize Me. 56 “But all this has taken place to fulfill the Scriptures of the
prophets." Then all
the disciples left Him and fled.”
Now because this was prophesized it had to happen but that did not take
away the pain that the disciples went through because they all ran away. For one thing they had not received the Holy
Spirit at that time and for another they were frightened that those same guards
would come after them. When you get to
the same story in the gospel of John chapter 18 we see that Jesus caused those
who were to arrest Him to fall on the ground showing His power to protect His
disciples for He told the guards that if they were looking for Him to leave the
disciples go, which they did.
I have one more quote and then we will pick up more from
these verses in our next SD, but first I have to say that the disciples of
Jesus who ran away were going through a very big change in their lives, a
change that God was allowing them to go through to cause them to grow in their
faith and trust in the Lord. The things
that followed, those three days after Christ was crucified were also very
difficult on the disciples. The years
that would follow after the resurrection of Jesus would also be very difficult
for them. In fact when I think about our
study in the book of Revelation and when it was written the church was going
through some very difficult times as many were being killed for their faith and
just when they needed a word from the Lord it came in the final book of our
Bible, a book that told them and tells us what God’s plans for the future are,
something that I am sure gave great courage to the believers then and also does
for believers today.
“Some might question why the Lord warned the disciples
against stumbling when He knew they would shortly do just that. It is true that Jesus, in His omniscience,
knew what was going to happen. But the
point is that the disciples were responsible for their actions. They had been given the resources they needed
to stand firm and not stumble, including a warning that the persecution was
imminent. Yet they failed to utilize
those resources, and when the moment of truth came, they capitulated under the pressure
and fled. Their failure in face of the
truth they were told was inexcusable.
But it is easy to see how hard the transition was and for them to shift
their minds from the expectation of the promised kingdom and glory (cf. Luke
19:11) to a promise of rejection and hostility.
This was another in a list of things hard for them to believe.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I think that one of the easiest times in my
life to stumble is when I think that I am strong in my own strength, something
like Peter thought and then he fell.
Humility seems to be a large part of not stumbling.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to trust the Lord to give me His
strength so that I won’t fall in times of temptation. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things
Phil. 4:8 KJV).”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Deuteronomy.”
Today’s Bible
question: “What happened to Israel when
Hoshea was King?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/11/2017 10:09 AM
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