SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/26/2017
8:57 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: The Manifestation
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 1:3
Message of the
verses: “3 To these He also
presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs,
appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things
concerning the kingdom of God.”
I would suppose that it is just as important for us who
live in the 21st century that is almost 2000 years after our Lord
Jesus Christ raising from the dead to know for sure that He did indeed come
back to life after His crucifixion, as it was important for His disciples to
realize this truth. After all we know
that eventually almost everyone of His disciples would end up dying because
they believed that Jesus was indeed alive, so if He had not given them
convincing proof that He was indeed alive then why would they want to die for a
dead Messiah. The truth is that more
people have died recently for the cause of Christ in our time than at any other
time in the history of the world since Christ arose from the dead. In our Sunday school class and also our
church service yesterday we learned that between 50-100 people from the Central
African Republic died for the cause of Christ, and yet by the grace of God the
Pastor was spared. The president of
Baptist Mid Missions told us this story in our Sunday school class yesterday
and it has not been too long ago that he visited the CAR as he was born there
and raised there in his early years. The
President of the CAR attended a conference that brought many Pastors who had to
walk for many miles on foot to attend this conference and it seems that since
that conference that the Muslims have been attacking the believers there as on
the way home one of the wives of a Pastor was killed, so things are getting
worse, and yet there hope is the same as the disciples hope and our hope too
and that is that Jesus arose from the dead as our verse tells us and for 40
days He spoke to His disciples about the kingdom of God. “The most extensive summary of those
appearances is found in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.”
“5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five
hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have
fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He
appeared to me also.”
John MacArthur writes “There have been many suggestions
as to the content of the Lord’s teaching during the forty days. The mystical religionists held that He
imparted to the apostles the secret knowledge that characterized Gnosticism. Many in the early church believed He taught
them concerning church order (F. F. Bruce, The
Book of Acts [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1971], 33-34). Luke, however, shuts down
all such speculations when he reveals that during this time the Lord was ‘speaking
of the things concerning the kingdom of God.’
He taught them more truth related to the domain of divine rule over the
hearts of believers. That theme, a
frequent one during the Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry (cf. Matt. 4:23;
9:35; 10:7; 13:1ff.; Mark 1:15; Luke 4:43; 9:2; 17:20ff.’; John 2:2ff.),
offered further proof to the disciples that it was really He.”
It was the Lord’s desire to reveal to His disciples that
the crucifixion did not nullify the promised kingdom, which we now know as the
millennial kingdom. I think as we study
and know the truths of the Scripture that speak of how the church began, and
then later on the promises that are found in the book of Revelation about the
future of those who live on planet earth that we tend to forget that Jesus had
to reveal these truths to His apostles, including Paul as to what was going to
happen after He returned to heaven as our High Priest. The apostles of Christ got a detailed crash
course on what was going to happen, and it was because of their belief in those
things, including most of all the Christ was raised from the dead that they
went out to proclaim the gospel to the entire known world by the time Luke ends
his book we call Acts.
John MacArthur writes:
“The ‘kingdom of God’ ( the realm where God rules, or the sphere of
salvation) encompasses much more than the millennial kingdom, however. It has two basic aspects: the universal kingdom, and the mediatorial
kingdom (for a detailed discussion on those two aspects see Alva J. McClain, The
Greatness of the Kingdom [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959]; for a more
detailed discussion of the kingdom, see Matthew
8-15, MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1987], 348-351).” It is my hope that the Lord will give me enough
time on His earth to study the book of Matthew.
“The universal kingdom refers to God’s sovereign rule
over all of His creation. Psalm 103:19
reads, ‘The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty
rules over all.’”
“The mediatorial kingdom refers to God’s spiritual rule and
authority over His people on earth through divinely chosen mediators. Through Adam, then the patriarchs, Moses,
Joshua, the judges, prophets, and the kings of Israel and Judah, God revealed
His will and mediated His authority to His people. With the end of Israel’s monarchy began the
times of the Gentiles. During that
period, which will last until the second coming of Christ, God mediates His
spiritual rule over the hearts of believers through the church (Acts 20:25;
Rom. 14:7; Col. 1:13). He does so by
means of the Word and the living Christ (Gal. 2:20). The final phase of the mediatorial, spiritual
kingdom will dominate the earth in the form of the millennial kingdom, to be
set up following Christ’s return. During
that thousand year period, the Lord Jesus Christ will personally reign on
earth, exercising sovereign control over the creation and all men. At the end of the Millennium, with the
destruction of all rebels, the spiritual kingdom will be merged with the
universal kingdom (1 Cor. 15:24), and they will become the same.”
How does this work in the church age, the age we are in
now? God now mediates His kingdom rule
through believers who are all indwelt by the Holy Spirit and obedient to His
Word. Peter tells us that we are “a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, and holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9).
I suppose that there are some people in the world who
have said that they have seen the resurrected Christ as I have read about some
of them in Iran, but Jesus said to Thomas “Because you have seen Me, have you
believed? Blessed are they who did not
see, and yet believed.” Peter wrote “Though
you have not seen Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of
Joy” (1 Peter 1:8). Jesus manifestation
to us as His born-again children is no less real as we see from Colossians 1:29
“For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” MacArthur concludes “Such personal communion
with the resurrected and exalted Savior is essential for finishing His
unfinished work of ministry.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: It is a thrill to me to think that the Lord
would use me to help advance His kingdom, and it is my prayer as I put my
Spiritual Diaries onto the internet through my blogs that the Lord will use
them through the work of the Holy Spirit to help advance His kingdom.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to continue to give me the
words to write that will bring glory to His name and advance His kingdom.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Isaiah” (Isaiah 53:5).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said, ‘God will provide
Himself a Lamb for a burnt offering’?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/26/2017 9:52 AM
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