SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/15/2021 9:42 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to
Matt. 8:23-27
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
8:23-27
Message of the verses: “23 When He got
into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great
storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus
Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying,
"Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" 26 He said to them,
"Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and
rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were
amazed, and said, "What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the
sea obey Him?’”
We will continue looking at the
introduction of these verse from the sermon by John MacArthur on this subject
which we began in yesterday’s SD.
“We say, “Well, gravity holds it up.”
What
is gravity? What power is gravity that holds this thing in space? Not only
that, but makes it spin. Where are the rockets that make us spin a thousand
miles an hour? That’s how fast we’re going this morning folks, one thousand
miles an hour in a circle. And, you know, it’s so accurate that you can measure
time to the split second. And not only that, we’re not only going around at a
thousand miles an hour, but we’re careening in an orbit around the sun that
covers 580 million miles, at a speed of a thousand miles a minute. And not only
that, our whole solar system is careening through endless space in an orbit
that takes billions of years to complete at a faster speed than that. We’re
going in three speeds. Where’s the fuel? Where’s the energy? What makes us go?
And
did you know that a codfish at one shot lays nine million eggs? Just thought
I’d throw that in. God is not only the God of the big, but He’s the God of the
little. Do you know that they have measured that the horsepower of the sun is
500 million-million-billion horsepower? And there are at least 100,000 million
suns in our galaxy, and who knows how many millions of galaxies? Where’s the
power? What keeps it all moving? And did you know that a teaspoon full of water
has a million billion trillion atoms in it? And do you know what an atom is? An
atom is nothing but energy. That’s all. Just a little energy thing.
You
say, “Well, there’s matter in the middle.”
Do
you know how much of an atom is actual matter? One trillionth.
You
say, “There are a million billion trillion atoms in a teaspoonful of water, and
one trillionth of that atom is volume, and the rest is just energy and motion?”
That’s
right. Put it another way, if you took me – and some of you wouldn’t for a
minute – but anyway, if you could take me and squeeze out of me all the empty
space, and just reduce me to the matter, do you know how much of me is actual
matter? Figuring just a little over six feet, one one-hundred millionth of a
cubit inch is matter. The rest is energy and motion.
Now,
what makes this whole thing go? When the Bible says Jesus upholds the world
with His power, it doesn’t mean He holds up the matter; it means He energizes
every atom in the universe. And the universe goes so far it’s inconceivable.
The power of God. What kind of power. Do you think God has the power to
recreate the earth? I think He does. He has the power to reverse the curse. He
has the power to bring back Eden, the power to create a new heaven and a new
earth. And I believe that’s why Jesus came, to show us that power.
I
believe Jesus came in the word to declare, once and for all, that He was God,
and that He as God the Son had the power to bring the kingdom of God to a
cursed earth. That He was the promised King, the promised Messiah. That He
could give back the sovereignty to man; that He could restore the earth; that
He could eliminate sin. He had all the credentials.
In
Matthew 1, Matthew said He had the right genealogy; he was of the line of
Abraham and David. In Matthew 2, He had the right birth; He was born of a
virgin. And then He had the right baptism; He was affirmed by the Father and
anointed by the Spirit. And then He had the right test, the temptation in which
He showed His power over Satan. And then He gave the right message; He
confirmed the Word of God with absolute authority. And now he says in Matthew 8 and
9, He has the right power.
If
there is one who is going to reverse the curse, God said He’ll come through the
line of David; Jesus did. God said He would be born of a virgin; Jesus was. God
said He would be approved by the Father, and Jesus was. He would be more
powerful than Satan, and Jesus was. He would speak the truth, and Jesus did.
And here it says He would have the power, and He had it.
Look
at Matthew
9:6, “But that ye may know that the Son of Man
hath power.” You see, that – and you can stop right there – that is the whole
issue in the miracles, that men might know He has power. The miracles were
foretastes of kingdom power. When He healed the sick, He was giving a preview of
a glorious kingdom where there would be no sickness. When He raised the dead,
He was giving a preview of a glorious kingdom where there would be no dying.
When He calmed the waves on the sea, He was previewing a glorious kingdom where
natural elements would never be out of control. When He cast out demons, He was
previewing a kingdom where there would be no demonic activity at all. When He
spoke the truth, He was previewing a kingdom where there would be no lies but
only truth. When He manifested His holiness, He was previewing a kingdom where
there would be righteousness and that’s all.
You
see, everything He did was to say to man, “I am the one who can reverse the
curse. I am the one who can bring back sovereignty to man in a glorified,
eternal kingdom. And in chapter 9, for example, verse 8, “The multitudes saw.
They marveled and glorified God, who had given such power unto men.”
In
chapter 10, verse 1, “And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He
gave them power.” He gave them power in two areas: over demons and over
disease. And those are the only two areas of miracles. The apostles never, ever
were given power to do miracles that dealt with nature. Only Jesus did those.
But they were given power. In Matthew 28, He said, “All power is given unto
Me.” All power.
In Mark 9:1,
“He said unto them, ‘Verily I say unto you, there be some of them that stand
here who shall not taste death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with
power.’” What was He talking about? Some of you are going to be alive when you
see the kingdom of God come with power. He was referring to His
transfiguration. Immediately He went into a mountain, and there were those that
were dead – Moses and Elijah – appearing there. And He had brought them back.
That’s power. He transfigured Himself and let His glory be seen. That’s power.
They saw the power that would be fully manifest in the kingdom.
In
Luke 4, verse 32, “And they were astonished at His doctrine, for His word was
with power.” Verse 36, “And they were amazed, for with authority and power He
commanded the unclean spirits.” In Romans 1, verse 4, Paul sums it up, “he is
declared to be the Son of God with power.” And where was that power most revealed
but in His own resurrection from the dead. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 1:24,
it is said that He is “Christ the power of God.”
Now,
what Matthew is showing us is that Jesus Christ has power over every facet of
the curse: over disease, and death, and Satan, and demons, and natural
elements, and animals, and pain, and everything, and therefore qualifying
Himself as the rightful heir to the earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: All I can
say is who would not want to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, the God/Man who has
not only the power to change the earth, but has the power to change me into
someone who will serve Him forever.
My Steps of Faith
for Today:
I have a number of things on my mind that I need my faith to be
increased for. A sick person and revival
in our church.
4/15/2021 9:53 AM
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