Giving (Acts 20:1b-2a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/30/2018 9:39 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                  Focus:  “Giving”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Acts 20:1b-2a

            Message of the verses:  “he departed to go to Macedonia.  And when he had gone through those districts”

           

            I have tried to includ the map of Paul’s 3^rd missionary so we can follow where he went in the section we are looking at this morning.  MacArthur writes that “Paul planned to travel from Ephesus to Jerusalem through the Greek districts of Macedonia (the northern section) and Achaia (the southern section).  That itinerary took him in the opposite direction from his ultimate goal of Jerusalem.  Paul, however, had a definite purpose in mind—to take up a collection for the poor believers at Jerusalem.  He mentions his plans in three of his epistles written at this time—1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, and Romans.  In 1 Corinthians, written shortly before he left Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:5-8), Paul wrote:

“1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. 2 On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come. 3 When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem; 4 and if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me.

    “5 But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia; 6 and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go. 7 For I do not wish to see you now just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, if the Lord permits. 8 But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; 9 for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries (1 Cor. 16:1-9).”

Paul writes the following from Romans 15:25-28 “25 but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints. 26  For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. 28 Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain.”

            Form these verses here in Romans and in 1 Corinthians we get a feel for what Paul was doing and where he was going.  One of the things that was very important to Paul was to collect funds for the church in Jerusalem as there was a famine going on at that time and Paul had it in his hear to have the Gentile churches to give to the mostly Jewish church in Jerusalem, something that according to Romans 15:30 and following was what he wanted the Romans to pray for.  “30 Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; 32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.”  In my prayer list that I use on many occasions I have written the following about these verses:  “Romans 15:30 “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me,

John MacArthur writes:

“The word ‘to strive together,’ sunagonizomai, the word ‘agony’ is in the middle of that word to agonize, sunis that compounding preposition that intensifies the verb.  By the way, this same verb in John 18:36 is translated by the word ‘fighting…fighting.’  He says I want you to fight with me in your prayers.”  

            In verse 31 we read that Paul wanted the Romans to pray that he would “be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judah.”  That word disobedient means “unregenerate,” so he was writing about the unsaved Jews. 

            I think that it is best that we finish up looking at this section about “giving” in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Matthew 24.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Shall I go up to the Philistines?  Will You deliver them into my hands’?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/30/2018 10:21 AM

 

 

 

PT-3 "Exhortation" (Acts 20:1a, 2b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/29/2018 7:28 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  PT-3 “Exhortation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 20:1a, 2b

            Message of the verses:  “And after the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them…and had given them much exhortation”

            I want to finish the long quote from John MacArthur’s commentary this morning on the problems of not really having a lot of exhortation in the church in our time.

            “A second contribution of the demise of biblical preaching comes from some who claim to uphold the authority of Scripture.  A sad legacy of the fundamentalist and evangelical movements has been those narrow-minded and legalistic pastors who are overbearing, compassionless, and harsh.  They abuse the authority of the pulpit.  Ignoring Peter’s warning against ‘lording it over those allotted to [their] charge’ (I Pet. 5:3), they have in effect set themselves up as little gods in their churches.  They not only exercise abusive authority in the church but often also in their people’s private lives, with tragic results.  God expects the shepherds of His flock to feed the sheep, not beat them.

            “The preaching of such men is often bombastic denunciation of those with whom they disagree, or dogmatic declarations of their particular legalistic concerns.  They play on their people’s emotions, intimidating them into abject fear.  Such ungracious pulpitism may have contributed as much to the demise of biblical preaching as the undermining of Scripture’s authority.

            “How pastors and congregations view the ministry hinders sound doctrinal preaching.  The apostolic focus of the ministry on ‘prayer’ and ‘the ministry of the word’ (Acts 6:4) can be lost amid the demands placed on pastors.  A man who is expected to be visitor, evangelist, counselor, social worker, and administrator of the church schedule will obviously have little time left for long hours of rich study in preparation for preaching.  Personal sin factors, such as laziness and apathy toward study by some pastors, have also contributed to preaching’s demise. (For a biblical view of pastoral ministry, see John MacArthur, ed., Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry [Dallas: Word, 1995].)

            “But nothing currently contributes more to the decline of biblical preaching than the rise of a market-driven philosophy of ministry.  Attempting to be ‘user-friendly,’ churches have jettisoned preaching in favor of movies, drama, concerts, the testimonies of Christian superstars, and other forms of entertainment.  And no wonder, since preaching the biblical truths of sin, judgment, and God’s sovereignty in salvation is decidedly not user-friendly.  In a philosophy of ministry where pragmatism reigns supreme, the large crowds drawn by such alternative ‘worship’ services serve to validate them.  Such shortsighted thinking, however, misses the point.  The problem with churches is not poor attendance but poor spiritual health.  And what people need most is not to be entertained, but to be taught the truths of God’s Word (2 Tim. 4:1-4).  (I critique the market-driven philosophy of ministry that pervades today’s church in my book Ashamed of the Gospel [Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1993].)

            “A sure mark of genuine love for the church is selfless, tireless exhortation from the Word of God.  Though weary, busy, and persecuted, Paul devoted himself to teaching everywhere he went.  His consuming passion, even at the risk of his life, was to see believers brought to spiritual maturity.  As he expressed it in Colossians 1:28, ‘We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”

            So here we have it as far as being able to look for a church that first of all preaches and teaches the Word of God on a regular way, and not look for one that specializes in entertainment as a means to get the people to come to their church.  Nothing can replace the god biblical preaching of the Word of God.

            I just finished a book entitled “Winning the Battle for Your Mind,” last evening and I have to say that this book stepped on my toes in many parts of it.  Richard L. Strauss is the author of one of my favorite books “The Joy of Knowing God,” has a wonderful way of showing that the mind is the first step in understanding God, or it can be what causes a believer to drift from knowing God.  I have to say that being convicted after reading a book, along with understanding what to do about that conviction is worth the read.  Reading wonderful biblical base books can help a person understand how to grow in their walk with the Lord as they too are a part of exhortation.  Once again it is so very important to understand what kind of church to attend, making sure that the focus is on the exhortation of the Word of God, and not the entertainment of the congregation.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Fourteen days” (Acts 27:27).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where is the parable of the fig tree found?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/29/2018 8:07 AM

 

Change in Plans

Today's SD is a bit different as I am going to post something that I posted on the fifth of January of the year 2012.  We will go back and finish the quote from John MacArthur in our next SD. 
Let me explain why I am doing this.  At the beginning of this year I changed the way that I was doing a part of my devotion.  I have been reading or listening to the entire Bible for a number of years, and at the beginning of this year I changed to just read through the four gospels again and again as the year went on and then read through the book of Psalms, on Psalm at a time.  Well after reading through the book of Psalms I decided to look at my Spiritual Diaries that I wrote while studying the book of Psalms.  A few days ago I began to read through my Spiritual Diary that was about Psalm 18, which is a rather long Psalm, as it has fifty verses in it.  This Psalm was written by David right after he became King of the Southern part of Israel.  I hope that this Psalm will be meaningful to all who read through it, as meaningful as it was to me.

1/5/2012 9:09:28 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  David’s Victory Psalm

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 18:1-50

 

            Message of the verses:  Psalm 18 is a fairly long psalm with fifty verses in it and so I will not put the psalm at the beginning of this SD as I have been doing, but will insert it into the different reference points from the outline. 

            The psalm can also be seen in 2Samuel chapter twenty-two.  This psalm was written after David had been named king over all of Israel.  After the death of Saul David was named king over Judah and Benjamin and then seven years later he was named king over all of Israel and it was at that time of his life that he wrote Psalm 18.  This psalm is a worship and witness psalm in that David worships the Lord in parts of it and also wittiness about the goodness of the Lord in other parts.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his introduction to this psalm these words:  “The focus of the psalm is on the Lord and what He graciously did for His servant, but it also tells us what He can do for us today if we will trust and obey.”

 

            God Delivers When We Call on Him (vv. 1-18):  “1 ¶  «For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,» "I love You, O LORD, my strength." 2  The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. 4  The cords of death encompassed me, And the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. 5  The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 6  In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears. 7  Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry. 8  Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it. 9  He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet. 10  He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind. 11  He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12  From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire. 13  The LORD also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire. 14  He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them. 15  Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. 16  He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. 17  He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. 18  They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my stay.”

 

            David begins this psalm with love in verse one, then faith in verse two, and hope in verse three.  Paul wrote in 1Cor. 13, which is the “love chapter” these words, “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  The love that is described in this Hebrew word that is translated love in verse one means to love deeply, to have compassion.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that this word is related to the Hebrew word for “womb” (Jer. 21:7) and this word describes the kind of love a mother has for her baby (Isa. 49:15), a father has for his children (Psalm 103:13) and the Lord has for His chosen people Israel (Psalm 102:13; Hos. 1:7; Deut. 13:17).  It is a deep and fervent love, the kind of love all of us should have for the Lord (Ps. 31:23):  “O love the LORD, all you His godly ones! The LORD preserves the faithful And fully recompenses the proud doer.”

            As we look at the remaining verses in this section we see seven metaphors and all of them are from a man who loved the great outdoors, and that is where David had lived most of his life up to that point.  He was a shepherd, and he was a soldier and then he ran from Saul and lived in caves, so it is understandable that David would use these kind of metaphors.  “Rock” is used for the Lord on many occasions in the Scriptures and is seen in verses 2 and 31.  This word speaks of the strength of the Lord and stability, and also a place of refuge.  Next we see “fortress” and this pictures God as a stronghold much like the city of Jerusalem.  “Shield” speaks of the protection of God and David was Israel’s shield, but the Lord was David’s shield.  “Horn” refers to strength and it also has Messianic connotations (Luke 1:69).  When we look at all of these words that describe God we come to the conclusion that God is worthy of our prayers. 

            In verses 4-6 we see David’s distress and this comes after writing of his devotion to the Lord.  We see a picture of a man who was trapped, hemmed in on all sides, and David uses other words to describe how he was in great trouble.  Perhaps we can say that the Lord had David right where he wanted him, as it was at this point that David cried out for help from the Lord.  These kind of situations that we can be in will cause us to go one way or the other way, we can do as David did and call on the Lord or we can do like those that Jesus spoke about in the parable of the seeds and in that parable we see only one kind of seed that produced fruit and the rest produced nothing, for those described as that kind of seed did not call upon the Lord when trouble came.

            David is describing how God, who had been longsuffering to Saul, now takes action against him and in the end Saul will be killed and David will be king.  Saul was the king that the people wanted while David was the king that God wanted Israel to have.  David was in exile for ten years, but now he was the king over Israel as God had promised him when he was just a youth.

 

            God Rewards When We Obey (vv. 19-27):  “19  He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.  20 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 21  For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. 22  For all His ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me. 23  I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity. 24  Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes. 25  With the kind You show Yourself kind; With the blameless You show Yourself blameless; 26  With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute. 27  For You save an afflicted people, But haughty eyes You abase.”  (Humiliate)

            Dr. Wiersbe writes that “God enlarged David’s trials and used them to enlarge David!”  God called David a man after God’s own heart and God said that when David was a young man.  This does not mean that David was perfect, as we discussed that in the last SD, but we saw that David was blameless and we see that again in this psalm.  When you look at the life of Saul and the sins that he committed and compare them with the sins that David committed we see that David’s sins were in fact worse sins than Saul’s. David knew much more about the Lord than Saul did and I have said earlier that Saul was man’s choice and so he acted like it when he sinned, while David was God’s man and David acted like that when he sinned, for David knew God much better than Saul did and that was the difference. 

            We see in verse nineteen that the Lord had set David on a broad place, where he had been in a tight place full of trouble before.  David then speaks of his righteousness and how he had kept the Law of God even in difficult situations. 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “The way we relate to the Lord determines how the Lord relates to us (vv. 25-27).  David was merciful to Saul, and God was merciful to David (Matt. 5:9).  David was loyal (blameless), and God was faithful to him and kept His promises to bless him David wasn’t sinless, but he was blameless in his motives.  The ‘pure in heart’ (Matt. 5:8) and those hearts are wholly dedicated to God.”  As mentioned above Saul was just the opposite, for he was man’s choice to be king.

 

            God Equips When We Submit to Him (vv. 28-45):  “28  For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness.  29 For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall. 30  As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. 31  For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God, 32  The God who girds me with strength And makes my way blameless? 33  He makes my feet like hinds’ feet, And sets me upon my high places. 34  He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35  You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great. 36  You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped. 37  I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed. 38  I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet. 39  For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. 40  You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me. 41  They cried for help, but there was none to save, Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them. 42  Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets. 43  You have delivered me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me. 44  As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners submit to me. 45  Foreigners fade away, And come trembling out of their fortresses.  

            What was God doing in those years that David was in exile, running from Saul?  God was disciplining His people for they were going ahead of God in asking for a king.  God spoke about Israel having a king in the Law and gave laws on how a king was to rule.  You can look at the things that Solomon did when he was king and if he would have done the opposite of what he did then he would have been keeping the laws God set up for his kings.

            As mentioned above God was also being longsuffering in the life of Saul, but Saul did not take advantage of God’s longsuffering for him as on the day before his death Saul actually contacted a witch to find out what was going to happen to him.  That is how far he sunk.

            God was also preparing David to be king and this took ten years to prepare him, and yet it took thirteen years to prepare Joseph, and forty years to prepare Moses and Joshua for the rolls that God had planned for them. 

            We see the image of a lamp in verse 28 and this speaks of the grace that God gave to David to keep him alive while in exile all of those years.  It also speaks of David’s family for through his family the Lord Jesus Christ would come through who is the Light as He spoke of in John’s Gospel.

            We also see that God protected him and enabled him to fight the battles of the Lord by giving him strength and the ability to be a great warrior for the Lord’s battles.  David did not fight other nations just to gain land for Israel, but he fought against those nations that fought against Israel and the result was gaining territory for Israel.  David speaks about his ability to do this in this section (verses 29, 32-34, 37-45).  In verse thirty-two we see David describing his feet to be like hinds’ feet.  There is a book entitled “Hinds’ feet in High Places.”  I remember the title because the author spoke of the animals (mostly sheep that live in the mountains) having the ability to put their back feet in the exact same places as their front feet have stepped.  This gives these animals the ability to climb in very difficult places in safety.  David is saying that God had given him the ability, through His grace) to move in difficult places.

            David was not only a warrior, but he also learned to be gentle, and this surely is a characteristic of God that He had given to David, and that is another reason that David was a man after God’s own heart.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “God condescended to look down and call David (1Sam. 16), bend down and mold David (v-35), and reach down and save David (v-16); and then He lifted him up to the throne (vv.39-45).  This reminds us of what Jesus, the Son of David, did when He ‘stepped down’ to come to earth as a servant and die for our sins (Phil. 2:1-11; see John 8:1-11 and 13:1-11).  Because David was submitted to the Lord, God could trust Him with the authority and glory of the throne.  Only those who are under authority should exercise authority.”

 

            God is Glorified When We Worship Him (vv. 46-50):  “46  The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation, 47  The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me. 48  He delivers me from my enemies; Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man. 49  Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD, And I will sing praises to Your name. 50  He gives great deliverance to His king, And shows lovingkindness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.”

46 The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. (AV)

This section is similar to what John the Baptist said in John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  David is praising the Lord for the good things that He has done through David and how God has lifted David up to the throne of Israel, but David knows it was all of the Lord and therefore David breaks out in praise to the Lord.  We see that Paul quoted verse 49 in Romans 15:9 and Paul use it there to apply it to the Jews praising God among the Gentiles and then in verses 10-11 Paul writes that the Jews and the Gentiles will rejoice together which was a result of Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles.  Then we see in verse twelve these words:  “Again Isaiah says, "THERE SHALL COME THE ROOT OF JESSE, AND HE WHO ARISES TO RULE OVER THE GENTILES, IN HIM SHALL THE GENTILES HOPE.’”

David ends this psalm by exalting the Lord for His covenant to him and to his descendents (v-50).  David seems to always end his psalms with praise to the Lord no matter what circumstance in his life he is writing about.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  David praised the Lord for making him king over Israel even though he had to go through ten years of difficulties.  This encourages me to continue to praise the Lord in all circumstances, knowing that He is in control of my life and even when things get tough God still has a plan and is working out that plan for my life to bring glory to Him.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.      Continue to trust the Lord each and every day of my life to guide me on the path He wants me on.  (Proverbs 3:5-6)

2.      Continue to learn contentment in the Lord.

3.      Romans 12:1-2.

4.      Psalm 139:23-24.

5.      Ephesians 6:10-18.

 

1/5/2012 11:12:56 AM

 

Answer to yesterday's Bible question:  "The tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:16-17)

 

Today's Bible question:  "How long was the ship ride through the storm that Paul was on when he was heading for Rome. 

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

 

              

PT-2 "Exhortation" (Acts 20:1a, 2b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/27/2018 8:48 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                  Focus: PT-2 “Exhortation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 20:1a, 2b

            Message of the verses:  “And after the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them…and had given them much exhortation”

            I have to believe that the exhortation that Paul was preaching with to the Ephesians after this riot does not go on nearly as much as it should be going on in today’s church.  John MacArthur adds:  “Preaching that exhorts from the Word no longer holds the central place it held in the early church (Acts 10:42; 13:5, 32; 14:7, 15, 21; 15:35; 16:10; 17:3, 13; 20:25; 28:31).  Paul’s charge to Timothy to ‘give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching’ (1 Tim. 4:13) is too often ignored.

            “The results of downplaying strong, biblical preaching are tragic.  When pastors neglect their responsibility for ‘the equipping of the saints’ (Eph. 4:12a), then the saints cannot do their ‘work of service’ (Eph. 4:12b).  As a result, the ‘building up of the body of Christ’ (Eph. 4:12c) does not take place.  The disastrous consequences include lack of true unity (4:13a), imperfect knowledge of Jesus Christ (4:13b), and lack of spiritual maturity (4:13c), resulting in immature ‘children’ who are ‘tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming’ (4:14).”

            In John MacArthur’s commentary he continues with two more pages talking about the preaching that goes on today in many places.  I have to make a decision as to whether or not I am going to quote this entire section as there is many good thoughts and instructions in it that may benefit some who read these Spiritual Diaries. 

            I think that it best that I go ahead and quote this entire section, which I will break up into the next two days for our Spiritual Diary.

            “Why is preaching being minimized?  First, because of the widespread assult on the authority of Scripture.  Never in the history of the church has the Bible been subjected to the savage attacks it has endured in the last century and a half. Skeptical unbelievers deny the inspiration of the Scriptures, deriding them as the pre-scientific myths of the Hebrew tribes.  They assert that the Bible is rife with gross scientific blunders historical errors, even moral blemishes.

            “More subtle attacks have come from those within the church.  Some agree with the skeptics that the Bible contains errors, yet claim that it is still authoritative.  The absurdity of such a view is obvious,

‘for while it is no doubt a mystery that eternal truth is revealed in temporal events and presented in human words, it is sheer unreason to say that this truth is revealed in and through that which is erroneous.  (Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ‘The Authority of Scripture,’ in Donald Guthrie, J. A. Motyer, Alan M. Stibbs, and Donald J. Wiseman, eds., The New Bible Commentary:  Revised [Grand Rapids:  Eerdmans, 1970], 10)

  “Others affirm the Bible’s inspiration and inerrancy but deny in practice its uniqueness as a source of divine revelation.  The claim that God speaks today through prophecies, visions, and dreams denies that the Bible alone contains ‘the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3) and ‘everything pertaining to life and godliness’ (2 Pet. 1:3).

  “Paul’s exhortation was firmly based on the authoritative Scriptures (as were his writings—cf. Rom. 4:3; 9:17; 10:11; 11:2; Gal. 3:8, 22; 4:30; 1 Tim. 5:18).  Acts 17:2 notes that ‘according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures.’  To the Corinthians he wrote:

‘3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.’

            He instructed the young pastor Timothy to ‘give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching’ (1 Tim. 4:13), since ‘all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

            “The loss of belief in an authoritative Scripture seriously undermines preaching.  In fact, there can be no truly biblical preaching if the Bible’s authority and singular preeminence are rejected, since that would leave no divine revelation to proclaim.  What is left is humanistic rationalism on the one hand or subjective mysticism on the other, both of which are antithetical to biblical preaching.”

            In my opinion one of the greatest things that causes people not to believe the Bible as being true and authoritavely is the theory of evolution, as I have written about in many earlier SD’s.  Evolution not only effects those who are not believers in that it causes people to believe that the universe is just one great gigantic accident, and it causes believers to stumble when the read the first few chapters in Genesis which clearly states that God created all that we see in six 24 hour days.  If you take this part of Scripture and cause people to doubt it, then you can take other parts of Scripture and bring about doubt in it too.  If creation is not true the perhaps salvation is not true either.  You cannot pick and chose different doctrines from the Bible and believe some are true and others are not.

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

Today’s Bible question:  “The fruit of what tree was Adam forbidden to eat?”  (Hint:  It was not the apple tree!)

Answer in our next SD.

6/27/2018 10:02 AM   

PT-1 "Exhortation" (Acts 20:1a, 2b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/26/2018 3:42 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  PT-1 “Exhortation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 20:1a, 2b

            Message of the verses:  “And after the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them…and had given them much exhortation.”

            One of the many reasons that I like John MacArthur’s commentaries is because many times he puts the meaning of the key words that are found in the passages that he is going over, and in this case he writes the following:  “The word thorubos (‘uproar’) is a fitting descriptive for those tumultuous events sparked by Demetrius the silversmith.  Matthew used it to describe the disturbance that took place during Pilate’s trial of Jesus (Matt. 27:24).  Luke used it later in Acts to describe the riot that broke out when Paul visited the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 21:34).  In all three instances the word describes an uncontrollable, hysterical mob.”

            What we read in these two partial verses shows how much Paul truly loved the church.  After the riot it is probably good to say that most people would have just left and gone on to their next destination, but not Paul as before he could leave Ephesus he had “sent for the disciples and exhorted them” for one last time.  A little later on when we get to Acts 20:29-31 we will see the reason that Paul wanted to exhort these Ephesian rulers of this church:  “29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”  When we studied the book of Revelation and looked at the different churches in chapters 2-3 Ephesus was the first church we looked at.  One of the things we studied about this church was to look at its history and we found out that if you visit modern day Turkey which is where Ephesus is we found out that it is now in ruins, so Paul’s fears were realized.  One of the reasons that he was speaking to the leaders of this church was because they probably were wondering if there would be more riots.  MacArthur adds “The cure for both problems was instruction from and exhortation to follow God’s Word.  Only after charging the Ephesian believers did Paul take ‘his leave of them’ to begin his planned trip to Jerusalem via Macedonia and Achaia (cf. 19:21).”

            We have been learning about Paul’s plans to get to Jerusalem and we have learned that Paul spent three years there in Ephesus growing this church.  We know about his great love for all of the churches, but think about him being there for three years and how much he had grown to love them during that time.  Paul is coming to the end of his third missionary journey, one that had brought about much trouble for him and those who were with him, and as mentioned he wanted to get to Jerusalem.  There is a period of time after Paul is released from Rome in his first prison experience that he may have gone to see these churches in Asia once again, but we don’t know that for sure and surely Paul did not know at that time what he would be doing after his prison sentence in Rome, for he would not really known at this time that he would even be going to prison, but Paul learned to take one day at a time, trusting the Lord for the direction that he should be following.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  My SD was a bit late do to the fact that I did not sleep well last night and then I went to visit my sister, who by the way reads my spiritual diaries each day, as she has some surgery this morning.  Praise the Lord that everything went well with that and I trust that here healing will also go well too as I continue to pray for that.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord for the healing of my sister after surgery, and for the confusion to leave my 100+ year old father in law.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Sarah” (Genesis 12:10-20).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who wrote the book of Revelation?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/26/2018 4:11 PM

Intro to Acts 20:1-17

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/25/2018 12:11 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Acts 20:1-17

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 20:1-17

            Message of the verses:  “1 After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. 3 And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. 5 But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. 6 We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.

    7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. 9 And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him." 11 When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. 12 They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

    13 But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. 15 Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

    17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church.”

            John MacArthur entitles this chapter in his commentary “For the Love of the Church.”  In his introductory comments he talks about different pastors and what they did for the church as they loved the church, even giving up their lives for the church.  He talks about people like Luther, Calvin, the different Puritan pastors, and also talks about Charles Spurgeon.  These men, along with the apostle Paul gave their lives for the church, as many actually died for the cause of Christ while others, because of the stress they went through because of problems in the church died probably before their time.  As we have actually been looking at the life of the apostle Paul through the last half of the book of Acts we can see how much Paul loved the church.  He is now on his third missionary journey as it is about to end, and then will go onto Jerusalem where he will be arrested for the cause of Christ, and then eventually sent to Rome, a place where he has always desired to go in order to preach the gospel in the hub of the Roman empire.  Paul suffered a lot for the church as he chronicles in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28:

            “23 Are they servants of Christ?-I speak as if insane-I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”

            Notice the highlighted portion of this section of Scripture and you will see that the greatest thing that caused pain in the life of Paul was not those physical things that happened to him, but the pressure he had concerning the churches.

            As I normally do when we begin a new chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary, I quote the last paragraph in order to give us the outline we will be following here.

“Acts 20:1-17 does not describe love in the soaring terms of 1 Corinthians 13.  In fact, it contains no doctrine or practical exhortation at all.  But this simple, straightforward narrative illustrates Paul’s love for the church in action (where love is best seen).  That love is made visible in his exhortation, giving, persistence, availability, and concern.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In thinking about love, especially in our English language, it is difficult to think that as a husband that I am to love my wife, when perhaps I would use the same word (love) to describe my feelings for say “baked beans.”  We only have one word for love in our language.  However love is action as Jesus stated “If you love me, keep My commandments.”  Love is more than feelings, as it is doing.  God loved us so much that he sent His Son to die for us.  That my friends is doing something.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Love in the Biblical way.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Samaria” (Acts 8:9).

Today’s Bible question:  “To whom was Abram referring when he told the Egyptians ‘She is my sister’?”    Answer in our next SD.

 

PT-2 "The Calming of the Riot" (Acts 19:35-41)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/24/2018 10:15 PM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-2 “The Calming of the Riot”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 19:35-41

            Message of the verses:  “35 After quieting the crowd, the town clerk said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven? 36 “So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. 37 “For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 “So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. 39 “But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly. 40  "For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering." 41 After saying this he dismissed the assembly.”

            We learned in our last SD that the first thing that the town clerk (mayor) was to talk about the idol, although he did not call this god and idol.  He now moves on to a more serious issue:  “37 “For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.”  This town clerk could have told lies about these Christians, but he says that they have done nothing wrong, which of course is against what Demetrius claimed of them.

            The next thing that he does is to criticize Demetrius and the craftsmen for starting this riot.  ““38 So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. 39 “But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly.”  Now I said yesterday that this town clerk (mayor) was looking out for his own job and for himself, for if the riot would continue he would be in danger of losing his job.  With that said he concludes his speech with a sobering warning:  “40  "For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering."”  As I said I think in a selfish way he was looking out for himself and his job.  After this comment we read verse 41 “After saying this he dismissed the assembly.””

            John MacArthur concludes his commentary with the following:  “The Ephesian believers weathered the storm of persecution unleashed by Demetrius’s speech and the resulting riot.  Indeed, the church at Ephesus would play a prominent role in church history for several centuries.  So again in Acts, God caused the wrath of men to praise Him (Ps. 76:10).”    “10 For the wrath of man shall praise You (Psalm 76:10a).”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Peter” (Acts 8:9).

Today’s Bible question:  “Simon the sorcerer bewitched the people of what city?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/24/2018 10:30 PM

 

PT-1 "The Calming of the Riot" (Acts 19:35-41)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/23/2018 10:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  “The Calming of the Riot”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 19:35-41

            Message of the verses:  “35 After quieting the crowd, the town clerk said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven? 36 “So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. 37 “For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 “So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. 39 “But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly. 40 "For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering." 41 After saying this he dismissed the assembly.”

            When we look at the words “town clerk” we may wonder why this man would have the power to do what is described that he did in this section of Scripture.  When I looked up this word “clerk” in my Online Bible dictionary (Greek/English), it said that this position was different in different towns, and so we have to believe that in the case of Ephesus this man indeed had the power to do what is described here, and that is to s top the demonstration that was going on.  John MacArthur states that this man was like a mayor of a modern city.  It is believed that if this demonstration was not stopped that this man would be accountable to Rome, and we can surely believe that he did not want that to happen and that is why he came to stop what was going on in the theater.  One of the things that he said to calm the situation was to talk about this god that many of the Ephesians worshiped:  “, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven?”  In his commentary John MacArthur quotes John Polhil:

“Meteorites were often associated with the worship of Mother Goddess [Artemis].  The most famous of these was the sacred stone taken from Pessinus to Rome in 204 BC.  A meteorite also seems to have been associated with the cult of the Taurian Artemis. Although there is no evidence beyond this text for such a sacred stone being connected with the Ephesian cult, it is altogether likely that one existed, given this common association of the mother goddess with a ‘stone from heaven.’”

            This town clerk continues on by saying “since then there are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.”  If I am correct in my thinking about this I think that this man was doing something to make sure he did not get into trouble with the Romans.  You may call it CYA (Cover Your Anatomy).  Now due to things that are going on this morning at our house we will have to finish this section in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Every eye.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes you whole:  arise, and make your bed?’”

Answer in our next SD.

6/23/2018 11:43 AM