PT-1 of the Intro to "Jesus Power Over Sin" (Matt. 9:1-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/30/2021 10:03 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus: Intro to “Jesus Power over Sin”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 9:1-8

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city. 2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven." 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, "This fellow blasphemes." 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, "Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" — then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home." 7 And he got up and went home. 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”

 

            The Bible begins with perfection, a perfect earth in a perfect universe, and finally perfect people as God created man out of the earth, and the woman out of the rib of man, and all was perfect, that is until we get to the 3^rd chapter of the very first book in the Word of God, the book of Genesis.  From that point on the biggest problem for mankind is the need to have forgiveness of sin, and as we look at this section from Matthew’s Gospel we see that Jesus says that He has the authority on earth to forgive sin and this is the greatest message for sinful man that they will ever hear in their entire life.  Sin is not much of a topic in our world today as man is too consumed with his life, how to make money, how to get a bigger and better house, how to send the kids to the best schools, and how to live comfortably in a world that as some have said is going to hell in a hand basket, and to be honest I don’t know where that saying came from and why it is repeated.

 

            MacArthur writes “Matthew has been focusing on various miracles of the Lord, all of which are meant to demonstrate Jesus’ divinity.  Even more specifically, they precisely and completely fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah’s kingdom work.  The miracles recorded by Matthew under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit therefore have a uniquely Jewish and Old Testament character and significance.”  One of the things that God is teaching me through this Gospel of Matthew and also through the Gospel of John which I am teaching through in a Bible Study, it to see that the different writers of the Gospels have a theme, each one different and the stories and the miracles that they tell in their books about Jesus go along with that theme.  John uses seven miracles which he calls signs to show that Jesus Christ in indeed God come in the flesh, for towards the end of John’s Gospel we read “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”  Matthew portrays Jesus as the King and so the King must have a kingdom, and that Kingdom on earth will take place after what is called the “Tribulation Period” and is called the Millennial Kingdom, meaning a 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on this earth as King.  In order to show that Jesus is King Matthew goes over different miracles that Jesus did to show that as King He has the power and the authority to be this King.  We have seen that He has the power over nature and then the power over Satan, and now we are seeing that He has the authority and the power to forgive sin as we begin looking at chapter nine.

 

            John MacArthur goes into more details about what I have been talking about and we will finish by looking at the following paragraph from his commentary.  “Concerning the natural realm, the Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would have power over the curse in the physical world.  Isaiah predicted there would be in His reign an abundance of rain and crops not known since the fall (Isa. 30:23-24) and that one day even the wilderness would blossom profusely, as waters break forth and scorched land and thirsty ground become pools and springs of water (34: 1-2; cf. 41:17-18; 51:3; 55:13; Ezek. 36:29-38; Joel 3:18).  Animals that had been natural enemies of man and of other animals would no longer destroy or devour, and human longevity would increase so that a person who died at a hundred years of age would be considered to have died young.  By the stilling of the storm (Matt. 8:23-27), Jesus gave a foretaste of His eventual taming of the entire natural world.”  There is more to this kind of things which, Lord willing, we will continue to look at in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Learning more about how the Gospel writers used the different things in the life of Jesus has helped me to better understand these different gospels.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord that He will grant to me wisdom as I study His Word, and that He will give me great Joy as I study His Word each day.

 

4/30/2021 10:32 AM

The Perspective of the People (Matt. 8:33-34)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/29/2021 9:43 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  “The Perspective of the People”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference: Matthew 8:33-34

 

            Message of the verses:  “33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.”

 

            So we first of all see that the herdsmen ran away after they say what happened to the pigs, and they ran into town to tell everyone in the town what happened, and this indicates they realized the connection between the two demon-possessed men and what took place with the animals.  The mass suicide of the pigs proved that Jesus certainly had cast the demons out of the two men.  There is another thing that happened to prove that the demons were cast out by Jesus and that is that the two men were sitting clothed and in their right mind as seen in Luke 8:35.

 

            One wonders what the owners of the pigs were thinking, were they thinking that they lost their fortune, which is probably what they were thinking, but did they realize that two men who had wreck havoc on the town, not to mention the hardship they had gone through were now in their right mind and were able to be good citizens of their town now. 

 

            So we see the whole town came out to see Jesus, perhaps a revival will take place.  Well not the case.  I have to believe that these people had heard of Jesus and what He was doing with the many miracles and His preaching, but this does not seem to matter to these people, for they all seemed to be more concerned with the pigs and not the two healed men of demon possession.  One thing I want to point out and that is the owners of the pigs are not mentioned here or in the other two gospel accounts of this story.  The issue was not the demons, the pigs, or the two men but the issue was Jesus.

 

            MacArthur writes “The people of the city (probably Gerasa) did not even give Him the reluctant reverence shown by the demons. They did not seem the least interested in finding out who He was or why He had come to their area.  They wanted nothing to do with Him, and ‘entreated Him to depart from their region.’  They had at first simply come out ‘to see what it was that had happened,’ but when ‘they came to Jesus and observed the very man who had the ‘legion’,…they became frightened’ (Mark 5:14-15).  They were not angry or resentful but scared.”  Now we have seen people frightened before after a miracle had been done by Jesus, like His own disciples were more afraid of the miracle of calming the sea and the storm than the sea and the storm itself.

 

            Let us look at Isaiah 6 for a moment to understand that when unholy men come face to face with holy God what happens. I am not saying that Isaiah was not a believer, but all believers still sin and that was Isaiah’s reaction to facing God as he knew that like Peter he was a sinful man.  1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your

sin is forgiven." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!’” (Notice the highlighted verses)

 

            There is nothing said of what happened to the people of the city, as we only know that they saw or at least heard of a great miracle, and saw the evidence of it, and yet rejected the Man who performed that miracle, and thus rejected the miracle of receiving eternal life from this same Man if they would have been interested in it.

 

            In this section we see the first opposition to Jesus recorded in the Gospels.  Now we don’t see the people ridicule or persecute Jesus; they simply asked Him to leave them alone.  This happens to people in the world every day as they just don’t want to bother with the Person who can change their lives forever, forgiving their sins, and giving them the promise of living with Him forever and ever.

 

            Think for a moment of a class of students taking a test and none of the students pass the test, in fact only one gets a great grade and the rest have scores in the 30’s.  What do those people in the 30’s think of that person who scored almost a perfect score?  I have to say that they were very uncomfortable being around that person as that person is head and shoulders above them.  That is something like the city people who failed the test being around Jesus who is perfect, they were all uncomfortable being around Him.  I have to say that I am not uncomfortable being around Jesus, but if in my humanness I meet Him in His holiness I would do just like Isaiah did.

 

            Well at the end of the story we see one of the former demon possessed men begging Jesus to let him go with Him.  Jesus wanted that man to become a missionary for Him and to tell others the great miracle that had happened to Him.  We are not told what exactly happened to this person, but I have to believe that this man was a very successful missionary for the cause of Christ.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Being uncomfortable around Jesus is okay, not being somewhat uncomfortable around Him is certainly not okay.  Awe and respect and being worshipful is what I should be everyday to my Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue more about Jesus each and every day so that I can serve Him while on this earth.

 

4/29/2021 10:19 AM

The Power of Christ (Matt. 8:32)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/28/2021 11:15 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  “The Power of Christ”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 8:32

 

            Message of the verse:  “32 And He said to them, "Go!" And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.”

 

            Let us begin with a couple of verses that shows more about what happened when the disciples of Jesus were commissioned to cast out demons.  “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21 KJV).  “And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer’” (Mark 9:29 NASB95).  Now as we look at our verse today and what it took for Jesus to cast out a legion of demons we see that He did with one word “Go!”  This is what this word in the Greek is “hupago” and this is what it means “to lead under, bring under.”  I think that the meaning of this word in the Greek helps us to understand what these demons obeyed our Lord in a very rapid way.  MacArthur writes “He gave permission to the demons (see Luke 8:32) in the form of a command that they were powerless to disobey, and immediately ‘they came out, and went into the swine.’”  “Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission” (Luke 8:32).

 

            Why did the swine run down the cliff and drown themselves?  Was it just the present of the demons that caused them to be so frightened that they did this?  I live in a development and have for close to 44 years and the other day a large bird was hanging around, the kind of bird that usually is around a pond of other body of water.  I was wondering why it was around my house until my neighbor told me that this bird came down and ate a couple of his fish that he has in a big wooden container that he has water plants and fish in.  He told me that he had to cover it up for the night because he could see that the fish were extremely nervous.  I never heard of nervous fish, but I suppose if a big bird was after them then that could make them nervous.  Now the other reason as to why these swine went into the lake and drowned was because that is what Satan likes to do, he likes to kill people, and if it was not for the grace of God and for the plan of God then Satan would be involved in the killing of more people.  He is a murder and a lire as we learn from John 8:44 “44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” 

 

             We can learn from the following verses that demons are very powerful, and I have heard of a couple of stories that show how powerful they can be.  “Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead” (2 Kings 19:35).  This was a good angel here that we are speaking of, and the “bad demons” are nothing but fallen “good” angels who also have great power.  “Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!” (Ps. 103:20).  “whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord” (2 Pet. 2:11).  There is a story in the 10^th chapter of Daniel that also shows the power of these evil angels “"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia” (Daniel 10:13).  MacArthur adds “It is therefore hardly surprising that Paul warns us that even as God’s own children we cannot withstand the attacks of demons apart from the Lord’s armor, especially the shield of faith (Eph. 6:16).”

 

            I think that the question that I asked in our last SD can be answered as to why the demons went into the pigs is that this shows all that the demons came out of the two men and one could also see that the men were in their right mind after that, but going into and killing the pigs shows us where the demons went and the result of what happened when they entered the pigs.

 

            Some “animal people” think that it was wrong for Jesus to allow these pigs to drown.  MacArthur writes “But animals were created for man’s use and consumption, and those pigs were destined for slaughter anyway.  Their being drowned brought considerable financial loss, but if the owners were Jews—as they may well have been—they had no business raising pigs in the first place.  But the souls of the two possessed men were of infinitely greater value than the two thousand animals, and Jesus did not hesitate to permit such a relatively small sacrifice to be made on the men’s behalf.” 

 

            MacArthur gives the primary lesson of this passage, but it does not have to do with the right to raise or eat pigs or with the relative value of pigs and human beings.  “The Lord’s supreme purpose in casting out the demons and Matthew’s purpose in reporting it were to demonstrate Jesus’ authority and power over Satan and his forces.  The fact that the demons ‘went into the swine’ and the swine reacted in the frenzy they did was dramatic and convincing evidence that they had left the two men.  Their fierceness and violence was transferred to the pigs and there could be no doubt in the minds of observers as to what had happened.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the things that I am learning from stories like this is that I can better understand them as I better understand the main focus that the Author (The Holy Spirit) and (Matthew) had in mind in writing this gospel book.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Do the things that I can do, and then leave the results to the Lord.

 

4/28/2021 12:04 PM  

The Request of the Demons (Matt. 8: 30-31)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/27/2021 10:04 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  “The Request of the Demons”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Matthew 8:30-31

 

            Message of the verses:  “30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.’”

 

            It seems that the demons were desperate and as they looked around they saw a herd of pigs, and figured that this would be a good way of escape.  The pigs were spotted feeding in a pasture.  Mark tells us that it was a large heard of pigs, some 2000 animals feeding on the hill overlooking the water.  Next we here from the demons “If You are going to cast us out” and this is not a statement of uncertainty or was it mere possibility for they knew that Jesus was going to cast them out of these two pour souls.  How do you think that they knew this?  For one reason Jesus was compassionate, and therefore would do the right thing.  Let us look at 1 John 3:8 to see another reason “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”  Notice the highlighted portion of this verse and you will see another reason that Jesus would cast these demons out of these men, and keep in mind that there were probably 2000 demons inside these men. 

 

            This request from these demons seems bizarre, and we are not told why they asked to be sent “into the heard of swine.”  MacArthur writes “Perhaps they thought the Lord had changed His timetable for judgment and would otherwise immediately throw them into the great abyss.”  Now let me comment on this observation and that is as we studied the book of Revelation we learned that there were certain very evil demons that were put into a place where they could not get out until the time when they would be cast into hell, and some would be allowed to come out for a short time during the tribulation period.  Perhaps they thought that Jesus would put them there out of the way until the tribulation period.  At any rate Jesus would allow them to go into the pigs and this would be better for the demons than going into the great abyss.  I remember while listening to the sermon from John MacArthur on this subject that he was saying that there were some “animal lovers” who would say that what Jesus was doing was to cruel, “as they were eating a ham sandwich.”   We know that the demons knew that before the incarnation, before Jesus became the God/Man that there was no way that He could ever sin, but perhaps these demons thought that because that He was now the God/Man perhaps they could get Him to sin, but I have to say that that was impossible for Jesus to sin.  Tempted, yes, but sin, never!!

 

            Why do you suppose that Jesus would allow the demons to go into the heard of swine?  Well think about that and we will try to answer that question in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Sometimes, and perhaps many times, while reading and studying the Word of God I don’t really understand everything about it.  What do I do?  Well first I keep looking and studying and if no answer is found I go to Deuteronomy 29:29 “"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to teach me more about revival, and to bring more people into our prayer meeting as we continue to pray about revival.

 

4/27/2021 10:28 AM

The Recognition by the Demons (Matt. 8:29)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/26/2021 11:49 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  “The Recognition by the Demons”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 8:29

 

            Message of the verse:  “29 And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?’”

 

            “What business do we have with each other” is the question that these demons had for Jesus as they then called Him “Son of God?”  The demons wanted to know why He was there at this time bothering them, and as the recognized Jesus in calling Him Son of God they knew exactly who He was.  Let us look at Mark 5:6 “Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him,” and this actually happened before the demons began a conversation with Jesus.  MacArthur writes “The word from which ‘bowed down’ comes (proskuneo) is usally translated ‘worship,’ because it represents the most common Near Eastern act of adoration and reverence.  The term carries the idea of profound awe and respect.  Demons hat and loathe everything about God, yet they are powerless to do anything but bow down before Him when in His presence—just as one day at His name every knee will ‘bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth’ (Phil. 2:10).”  So here is the bottom line from this quote from Philippians, and that is that it is much better to bow the knee to the Lord and ask Him into your heart as your Savior and your Lord now while you are alive at this time than to do it later on when it will be too late to do it.

 

            Demons are fallen angels who when Satan fell these angels followed him, as he took one third of them with him, one third of how ever many the Lord created, and I have to believe that that was many millions, perhaps many billions of angels were created.  Now these demons (fallen angels) had never seen Jesus in human form, they instantly recognized Jesus as the second person of the Godhead.  I have to say that is more than many people who follow cults today do as they do not believe Jesus is God come in the flesh, nor believe in the trinity.  As spirits these demons recognized His spirit.  The demons knew without any doubt that they were standing in the presence of the “Son of God,” the “Son of the Most High God,” as Mark 5:7 and also Luke 8:28 report.  In another encounter with Jesus from Luke 4:41 we read “Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, "You are the Son of God!" But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.”

 

            These demons knew that Jesus had the full power and authority to destroy them as well, and one may wonder why Jesus did not do this at this time.  I remember when studying the gospel of Mark that this question also came up.  Jesus could have destroyed all the demons and even Satan when He came the first time, but that was not the reason that He came, as He came to die for the sins of the world, to defeat the world system, the flesh, and the devil and although one may not clearly see that He did this at this time it is true.  Satan and these demons do not have the power that they had before Jesus died on the cross. 

 

            Now let us look at “Have you come here to torment us before the time?”  This shows us that these demons knew eschatology, the study of the end times as they knew when it would be that Satan, demons, and unregenerate man will be judged and then punished in the lake of fire.  I have to say again that they knew more than many believers and unbelievers know at this time.  MacArthur writes “Their eschatology, like the rest of their theology, was factually correct.  As James tells us, ‘the demons also believe, and shudder’ (James 2:19).  They shudder because their belief is that of recognition but not acceptance, and they fully realize the consequence of rejecting God.”

 

            I think it best that I also quote from the next paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary on this subject as it may clear up some questions that people have about this section of Scripture we are looking at.  “In light of their knowledge about His divine power and plan, it seems strange that Satan and his fallen hosts bothered to tempt and attack Jesus.  But the supreme deceivers are also supremely self-deceived, and in their evil delusions they somehow hoped to frustrate Christ in His humanity.  By inducing Him to sin, perhaps they could hoped to frustrate Christ in His humanity.  By inducing Him to sin, perhaps they could drag Him down to the lake of fire with them when judgment came.  Perhaps they thought He was somehow less powerful and righteous on earth than they knew Him to have been in heaven.  In any case, it is the nature of Satan and of those who belong to him to oppose God, no matter what the consequences or prospects for success.”

 

            When we look at Matthew 16:16-17 we see the confession of Peter as to who Jesus was, and that would be a long way from this section we are now looking at, so it took the disciples that long to know what these demons already knew at this point.

 

            We mentioned that the demons knew when they would be judged and sent into hell, which is after the millennium, and yet at this time we see that Jesus will stop what they were doing to these two men who would soon come to know who Jesus really was.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To know who Jesus is and to invite Him to be my Savior and Lord was by far the very best thing that has ever happened to me in my life.  Life is not always easy but life is impossible without know who I put my faith and trust in to guide me through the storms of life.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the Lord to pick up my spirits as I continue to talk about and learn about revival.

 

4/26/2021 12:28 PM

The Reception by the Demons (Matt. 8:28b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/25/2021 9:52 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  “The Reception by the Demons”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 8:28b

 

            Message of the verse:  “two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.”

 

            I mentioned when we began to look at this entire section that the other two gospel writers, Mark, and Luke, mentioned only one man and went over why Matthew may have mentioned two while the others only one.  Let us look at the word “demon-possessed” in the Greek as John MacArthur writes about it:  “Daimonizomai  simply means to be demonized, to be under the control of a demonic spirit, without regard to the kind of degree of control.  Although its accounts of demonized people reflect many different conditions and degrees of control, Scripture does not clearly distinguish between being possessed, obsessed, or oppressed by demons.”

 

            He goes on to explains: “Demonization may be defined as a condition in which one of more demons inhabits and gains control over a human being.  Demons can attack men spiritually, mentally, and physically.  In the spiritual realm they promote false religions, demon worship, the occult and innumerable kinds of immorality, including murder (Rev. 9:20-21; 18:23-24).  In the intellectual and psychological realm, they promote such things as false doctrines; insanity and masochism, as in this ‘demon-possessed’ man, who gashed himself with stones (Mark 5:5); and inability to speak and suicidal mania (see Mark 9:17-22).”

 

            During the NT times of when Jesus was on the earth, all the way up to the early church we can read about people being possessed by demons.  Interestingly though we never find any person ever in Jerusalem who was possessed by a demon.   Even in today’s world we see that demon possession is more apt to happen in rural places.  I remember a missionary friend of mine who ministered in the Philippines telling me of a story when he saw stones fall out of a clear sky on the roof of a house, and the only way that the person living in that house could stop it was to kill a chicken and pour its blood in the ocean. In more advanced societies, a person who is seriously deranged by demons is likely to be considered insane and so what they will do with people like this is to place them in a mental intuition, and it seems certain that many people who are diagnosed as mentally ill are actually demon possessed.

 

            Jesus never gave any blame to a person who was possessed by a demon as He recognized them as victims of powers beyond their own control.

 

            As we listen to the voice that came out of this man it was actually the voice of one of the demons that was possessing him, and not his own voice.  Jesus asked him his name and he responded by saying Legion as there were many demons in these men.

 

            No one wanted to get around these men as our verse says as they lived among the tombs.  It is possible they were Jews, for whom touching a dead body was the greatest ceremonial defilement.  If, so their being forced by the demons to live in the cemetery was an additional humiliation and torment. 

 

            MacArthur concludes “They were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road.’  We learn from the other gospel accounts that at least one of the men word no clothes and that he had such great strength that no chain could keep him bound.  He was often driven into the desert by the demons and spent much of his time ranting and raving, ‘crying out and gashing himself with stones’ (Mark 5:4-5; Luke 8:27-29).”

 

4/25/2021 10:17 AM 

The Possession By the Demons (Matt. 8:28-31)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/24/2021 10:32 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  “The Possession By the Demons”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 8:28-31

 

            Message of the verses:  “28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.’”

 

            I have mentioned many times how I set up my Spiritual Diaries by looking at main points from the outline of the author that I am following at this time and the “Focus” of this one is a main point with sub-points or sub-sections under it.  So what we will look at today is the intro to this section and then begin to look at the different sub-sections as we proceed through these verses.

 

            John MacArthur writes in this introduction “After the miraculous stilling of the storm, Jesus and His disciples continued across the Sea of Galilee ‘to the other side.’  By now it was daylight and the group of boats (see Mark 4:36) landed in the ‘country of the Gadarenes.’  Those whom Matthew calls ‘Gadarenes’ were also called Gerasenes (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) or Gergesenes, as found in some Greek texts.  The small town of Gerasa, or Gergesa (from which come Gerasemes and Gergesenes. Respectively) was on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee, about six miles across the water from Capernaum, and the steep cliffs nearby fit the geographical setting described here.  The town of Gadara (from which comes ‘Gadarenes’) is located farther south and is inland; but the general region, including Gerasa, was often referred to as ‘the country of the Gadarenes.’”

 

            As we look at this introduction we find some rather technical things in it, and perhaps the reason is because there are at times people who want to pick apart the Word of God.  They will compare the different gospels and see different words in them that speak of the same subject and instead of digging in and trying to find what they are written a bit differently in each gospel writing, they will simply say that the Bible cannot be trusted.  Let me say with assuredness that the Bible can be trusted as it is, in the original language perfect, and if you look at scrolls that were found in 1948 which are thousands of years old they say the same as what you read in your Bible today.

 

4/24/2021 10:51 AM   

PT-2 "Intro to Matt. 8:28-34

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/23/2021 12:21 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus: PT-2 “Intro to Matt. 8:28-34”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Matthew 8:28-34

 

            Message of the verses:  “28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." 32 And He said to them, "Go!" And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.”

 

            I first want to report that I listened to the sermon that goes along with this section by John MacArthur and there were some pretty interesting things in it as far as talk about the supernatural.  I will mention one thing and perhaps we will look at it in more detail sometime later on.  MacArthur was talking with a woman who was possessed with 7 demons and when she talked there were seven different voices coming out of her mouth. 

 

            You may remember when we looked at Matthew chapter four that speaks of Jesus going out into the wilderness after His baptism and being tempted by Satan, which I believe happened near the end of His forty day fast where He would have been physically weakest.  Jesus demonstrated His power to resist Satan during that time, and now He demonstrates His power to overcome and completely subdue Satan in the section we are looking at today.  In this section we can see that Satan was not allowed to have Jesus bend, but Jesus caused Satan to bend, and He did it with just one word “go.”  1 John 3:7-8 says “7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8  the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”  The highlighted part is what I really want you to read, but I hate to break in on the middle of a verse and that is why I copied both verses here.  MacArthur writes “The Lord became a Man and came into the world in order to destroy the works of Satan.  When He comes again to establish His kingdom, He will incarcerate Satan for a thousand years at the end of which, after a brief freedom, he and his evil co-workers will be cast into the lake of fire, where ‘they will be tormented day and night forever and ever’ (Rev. 10:2, 7-10).  By casting out demons during His earthly ministry, Jesus gave dramatic, powerful, and repeated evidence of His power over Satan.  As He explained to a multitude near Jerusalem, ‘If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you’ (Luke 11:20).”

 

            There were times when the disciples cast out demons, but it was difficult for them to do it.  Although Jesus had given them “power and authority over all the demons” as seen in Luke 9:1, they discovered that casting out demons was not as easy for them as it was for our Lord to do.  Remember when Jesus came down the mountain after being transfigured He found a demon possessed boy which His disciples could not cast out.  This story is found in Matthew 17:16-19.  Jesus did cast out the demon from this man’s son and as we look in the KJV when the disciples asked Jesus whey they could not cast it out He said that this one comes out by fasting.  I like the story that is found in Acts 19:13-16 “13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." 14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”  There are other stories found in the NT, but we won’t go over them at this time.

 

            MacArthur concludes this introduction:  “In the account of the two-demon-possessed men, Matthew first describes the possession by the demons, then the power of Christ over the demons, and finally the perspective of the people in regard to Jesus.”

 

That is where we will be heading as we look through this unique story.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One thing that I can learn from this section is that I need to put on my spiritual armor each day.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord to go before me as I meet with a lady for the first time in over 45 years tomorrow, that God’s hand will be upon me and that the Lord will bring salvation to her in a wonderful way.

 

4/23/2021 12:52 PM

PT-1 "Intro to Matt. 8:28-34)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/22/2021 10:51 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-1 “Intro to Matt. 8:28-34

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference: Matthew 8:28-34

 

            Message of the verses:  “28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." 32 And He said to them, "Go!" And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.”

 

            We begin a new paragraph, a new chapter from MacArthur’s commentary which he entitles “Jesus’ Power over the Supernatural,” and as you can see it covers the very last paragraph in the 8^th chapter of the book of Matthew.

 

            Matthew continues to write about Jesus powers showing that He is truly the Messiah, by showing His power over the supernatural as well as over disease, deformity, and the natural world.  MacArthur adds “For Jesus to redeem the earth and reverse the curse, He would have to have total power over Satan and his demon hosts.  In order to rescue fallen humanity, He would have to be able to overpower the evil forces that hold men in physical, mental, and spiritual bondage.  Throughout the gospel record, therefore, we repeatedly find accounts of Jesus’ ability to cast out demons from those under their evil control.  He exercised His power instantaneously, authoritatively, and with total success—often by the use of but a single word, as in the present instance.”

 

            I would like to insert her something that will probably come up as we got through this section, and that is in Matthew’s account we see two men who are possessed by demons and in Mark’s and Luke’s account we see only one man, and it seems even from Matthew’s account that one of these men was the more dominant of the two and perhaps that is why the other gospel writers only write about the one.  When we read the Bible we have to remember that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, but the Holy Spirit of God does use the personalities of the different authors who have been chosen to write the Word of God, so if Mark and Luke only want to write about only one of these men then there is no problem with that being done, for as stated before it was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.  “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pet. 1:21). 

 

            I think that it best that I continue writing about this introduction in our next SD as my life is very full at this point working on doing two Spiritual Diaries a day, and then teaching two classes a week, along with trying to prepare something short to talk about before we have our prayer time for revival on Wednesday evenings.

 

4/22/2021 11:27 AM

 

The Portent (Matt. 8:27)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/21/2021 10:09 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  “The Portent”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 8:27

 

            Message of the verse:  “27 The men were amazed, and said, "What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’”

 

            Let us begin by looking at what John MacArthur writes about the word “marveled.”  Thaumazo (‘marveled’) refers to extreme amazement and can carry the idea of portending.” (“transitive verb. 1: to give an omen or anticipatory sign of. 2: indicate, signify.”  MacArthur goes on “The men could not imagine ‘what kind of a man’ Jesus was, ‘that even the winds and the sea obey Him.’  Mark reports that, along with their great amazement, the men were also ‘very much afraid’ (4:41).  They were now more afraid of the One who had stilled the storm than they had been of the storm itself.  Many of them had encountered dangerous storms, but none had encountered such supernatural power as Jesus here displayed.”  I find the definition of the word “portending” and” Portent” very interesting.

 

            Let us look at what happened after God had declared His great power to Job as seen in Job 42:5-6 “5  "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; 6  Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.’”  Another example comes from Isaiah’s experience in Isaiah 6:1-5 “1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." 4 And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.5 Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’”  Just a comment on this and that is some have wrongly stated that this section of Isaiah speaks of his conversion, not so.

 

            Two more experiences, one from Daniel 10:8-9, and then the conversion of Saul of Tarsus found in Acts 9:4, and 8.  “8 So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. 9 But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.”  I did miss one and that was from Luke 5:8 as Peter experienced the great catch of fish “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’”  “And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 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” (Acts 9:4 and 8).

 

            I really cannot imagine what these men went through while in the boat where Jesus stopped the storm and calmed the sea, when Job saw the Lord, when Peter saw the great catch, or when he was allowed to walk on the water in another storm, even though his faith seemed to slip, or what went through Saul of Tarsus when Jesus came to him as he was going to destroy believers in Damascus. 

 

1 We sing the mighty power of God
that made the mountains rise,
that spread the flowing seas abroad
and built the lofty skies.
We sing the wisdom that ordained
the sun to rule the day;
the moon shines full at his command,
and all the stars obey.

2 We sing the goodness of the Lord
that filled the earth with food;
he formed the creatures with his word
and then pronounced them good.
Lord, how your wonders are displayed,
where'er we turn our eyes,
if we survey the ground we tread
or gaze upon the skies.

3 There's not a plant or flower below
but makes your glories known,
and clouds arise and tempests blow
by order from your throne;
while all that borrows life from you
is ever in your care,
and everywhere that we can be,
you, God, are present there.

On Thee each moment we depend,

If Thou withdraw we die

O may we ne’er that God offend,

Who is forever nigh.

 

            MacArthur concludes this section and this chapter with these words “The same Christ who stilled the Sea of Galilee is the Christ who keeps every atom and every star in its orbit.  He keeps the universe in balance and provides for each plant and animal.  One day He is coming to restore the world that sin defiled, to make completely new the heavens and the earth.  Even He is the God who gives eternal life to those who trust in Him, and who will calm their every storm and give strength for their every tragedy.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am very thankful to worship a God who has the power to calm the storms in my life, who cares for me more than I can even realize, and for that I am truly grateful.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord, who is in control of all things, will bring the people to our prayer meeting for revival this evening that He desires to be there and that through His Spirit things will progress on His time schedule. 

 

4/21/2021 10:43 AM