PT-1 "Peter's Raw Material" (Matt. 10:2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/31/2021 10:07 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-1 “Peter’s Raw Material”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “The first, Simon, who is called Peter”

 

            In our last SD we began to look at what I called the introduction to what we will be learning about Simon Peter, as we will be doing this for all the rest of the Twelve disciples of Jesus.  Today we want to begin by looking at what the raw materials of Peter were, and how they were used to cause Peter to become the man that he became.

 

            As we look at all of Peter’s life and what God made him into we can say that Peter had the right raw material from which Jesus could fashion the sort of leader He intended Peter to be.  Peter was a big beginning, as he had potential, however while he was the one in control of his own life, his beginnings never got further than that and his potential was not always easy to see.

 

            If we want to look at one of the reasons that Peter’s qualifications for leadership we could say that Peter was always asking questions; Peter wanted to know the what, when, where, and why of everything the Lord said and he did this by asking questions. We can figure out as we look at the life of Peter in the New Testament gospels that many of his questions were superficial and immature, but they reflected a genuine concern about Jesus and about His work.  MacArthur writes “A person who does not ask questions has little chance for success as a leader, because he has no desire or willingness to inquire about what he does not understand.  When the other disciples failed to understand something, they appear to have been more likely to keep quiet or simply discuss their doubts and questions themselves.  Peter, on the other hand, was never reluctant to ask Jesus about whatever was on his mind.”  I have to say that I can relate to wanting to know things and as an example of that while teaching Sunday school last Sunday a topic came up about whether or not Jesus has always been the Eternal Son of God, of He became that at His incarnation as some believe.  It seems that when John MacArthur was teaching through the book of Hebrews that he believed that Jesus became the Son of God after the incarnation, and then after challenged about this changed his mind as he now believes that Jesus has always been the Eternal Son of God.  This whole subject seemed to bother me as I confess that I had never studied this before, and so I went to the internet to find some answers and found a great article that explains both sides, and also talks about men who believed like MacArthur did while preaching through Hebrews.  The article actually mentions that MacArthur had changed his position.  The author surely believes that Jesus Christ was always the Eternal Son of God, but goes into evidence to show both sides.  I have to say after looking at this article that I have learned much about this subject, a subject as mentioned that I had never going over in my mind before but am happy to do some studying about it.

 

            Whenever Peter did not understand the things Jesus meant when He said that it is “not what enters into the mouth [that] defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth,” Peter then said “Explain the parable to us” (Matt. 15:11, 15).  Another time when Peter was concerned about the reward he and his fellow disciples would get for leaving all and following Jesus, he did not hesitate asking about it as seen in Matt. 19:27.  Another time Peter was wondering about a fig tree that Jesus had cursed to cause it to wither as seen in Mark 11:21, and another with James, John and Andrew, he asked Jesus to explain when and how the temple would be destroyed as seen in Mark 13:4.  I have to say that I am thankful that Peter asked that question as the answer that Jesus gave is found in three of the four gospels and also that answer goes along with what is found in Revelation chapter 6-19.  In John chapter 21 we see that Jesus told Peter that he would be a martyr for the Lord, Peter then asked about what would happen to John.  MacArthur writes “Peter’s questions seldom received the answer he expected, because the usually were self-centered or completely missed the primary truth Jesus was explaining.  But the Lord used even his poor questions to patiently train him in leadership.  Peter’s questions, immature as many of them were, gave the Lord an opportunity to him him grow.”

 

7/31/2021 10:41 AM

PT-1 "Simon Peter" (Matt. 10:2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/30/2021 10:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  PT-1 “Simon Peter”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “The first, Simon, who is called Peter.”

 

            I suppose that this may be a surprising statement, but then maybe not for those who have studied the Bible for a while.  All of the twelve, including Judas, were integral parts of the Lord’s plan.  However when we look at Peter, he was by far the central figure, both during those three years of Jesus’ earthly ministry on earth and also during the early years of the church that took place right after Pentecost, as Peter was the one who preached the very first sermon of the church age when 3000 people came to know Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord.  As we look through the gospels we can determine that Jesus spent more time with Peter than any of the other twelve, and this was partly because Peter was constantly at the Lord’s side, which is a very good place to be.  Peter never was far from Jesus and was constantly asking Him questions, and also giving advice, and even giving commands, and all I can say is that was Peter, and yet the Lord would greatly use him in spite of all his faults.  Here is a fact that you may not know and that is that apart from that of Jesus, no name is mentioned more often in the New Testament than Peter’s.  There is no other person who speaks as often or is spoken to as often.  Then there is this fact, which may not be a surprise and that that there is no other disciple who was reproved as often or as severely as Peter, and only he was presumptuous enough to reprove the Lord.  No other disciple so boldly confessed Christ or so boldly denied Him.  There is no other disciple who was so praised and blessed by Jesus, and yet no other did He call Satan.

 

            John MacArthur writes “How could Jesus take such an ambivalent, inconsistent, and self-centered man and make him into ‘the first—the protos—of the apostles?  For the gospel record we can discern at least three instructive elements that were instrumental in the Lord’s preparation of Peter:  the right raw material, the right experience, and the right lessons.”

 

            As you can see this is also an introduction into the life of Peter, and we will go over those three topics mentioned at the end of John MacArthur’s quotation in our next several SD’s and then as mentioned in our last SD we will do that for all of those twelve men that were chosen by Jesus to bring about the kingdom of God in what is called “The Church Age” an age that we are still in, but I am praying that it will end soon as our Lord comes back at what is called the Rapture of the church to take us, His bride back to heaven to be with Him forever.  The church age is what we have called in the past “The invisible kingdom” as the King is ruling from heaven as He sits at the right hand of God in heaven ruling over His church on earth.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is good for me to understand the lives of all of Jesus disciples that will be His apostles, minus Judas, knowing that as I see their faults and their strong suits, and still be used by Jesus, then I can have the hope that He will use me with all of my faults too.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to use me to bring glory to His Son today.  7/30/2021 11:21 AM 

PT-9 "Intro to Matt. 10:2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/29/2021 10:08 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                    Focus:  PT-9 “Intro to Matt. 10:2a”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter,”

 

            Yesterday while on a fairly long walk I listened to two and a half sermons from John MacArthur from Matthew 10:2-4 as when he was preaching through Matthew he decided not to just read the names of the twelve disciples, but to go into detail about each of them, and in some cases they are only mentioned once in all of the Bible.  After doing this I began to understand why this introduction to Matthew 10:2a has been so long as we are being prepared for learning about all twelve of the disciples.  I have to say that after the resurrection of our Lord that these disciples, minus Judas, had some rewarding times and some very difficult times as they were picked out by the Lord to begin the church.  The interesting thing about these eleven men is that they actually at the time of His selecting them had no qualifications for the job, and for that matter we don’t have any qualifications for doing what the Lord desires for us to do as we get our instructions from the Holy Spirit of God as He uses His Word, the preaching of His Word, circumstances, and fellowship with other believers to bring us along in doing what He wants us to do for the cause of Christ.  Knowing this about these eleven men has to give all believers encouragement to know that if the Lord used them with all of their “problems and issues” that He can use us to if we make ourselves available.

 

            We were talking about each of the three groups of four making up the twelve disciples and we know less about the last groups than those who are in the first group of four, with the exception of knowing a lot about Judas.  There is not only a decreasing amount of information about the members of each group but also a decreasing intimacy with Jesus.  When we look at the first four which constituted Jesus’ inner circle of disciples and actually three of the first four as we know more about Peter, James, and John, but not a lot about Andrew as not a lot is said about him, and as mentioned little is said about the other groups, about Jesus’ direct instruction or work with the second group, and even less about the third group.  MacArthur writes “He loved all the apostles equally, empowered them equally, and promised them equal glory; but because of the physical limitations common to all men, He was not able to give them equal attention.  It is impossible for any leader to be equally close to everyone with whom he works.  By necessity he will spend more time with and place more responsibility on certain people who are particularly capable and trustworthy.

 

            This first group included two sets of brothers, Peter and Andrew and James and John, and all of these four men were fishermen.  We know that Matthew was a tax collector, but after that we don’t know the occupations of the other seven.  We do know that the two sets of brothers were acquainted even before Jesus called them, and the reason is that they all fished near each other on the Sea of Galilee as seen in Matthew 4:18-21.

 

            Earlier in this SD I mentioned that the makeup or the temperaments of the apostles, the ones that we know a lot about are very much different.  We know, for example that Peter was impulsive, that he was a natural leader, and that he was a man of action.  Peter was the one to react to something that was said or done first.  Sometimes he would put his foot in his mouth.  John was more quiet and pensive under Christ’s teaching or tutelage.  As we go through the first 12 chapters of Acts we see that Peter and John worked closely together during those early days of the church.  I suppose that it must have been a helpful learning experience for both of them with Peter anxious to charge ahead and then John wanting to think things over at first.  We know that Peter did all the preaching as men of equal status and office and even of similar giftedness may have different functions relative to the uniqueness of their gifts.

 

            MacArthur concludes this very long introduction by writing “Thomas was clearly the most skeptical of the twelve (John 20:25), and Simon the Zealots’ very name indicates he was a radical Jewish revolutionary, dedicated to driving out the Roman oppressor.  Before he met Christ he doubtlessly would have willingly plunged a knife into the heart of Matthew a traitorous collaborator with Rome.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Understand that all of these men had different temperaments and were still used by the Lord teaches me that the Lord can use even me as long as I am available to Him to be used by Him.  This was a great truth that I have learned from this section.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to use me in the ways that He planned to use me in eternity past as seen in Ephesians 2:10, and to be available to do those things He planned for me to do.

 

7/29/2021 10:47 AM   

PT-8 "Intro to Matt. 10:2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/28/2021 8:42 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  PT-8 “Intro to Matt. 10:2a)

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter,”

 

            As we look at the twelve disciples of Jesus we know that for the most part they were just ordinary men, none had a lot of money with the exception of Matthew who got it from being a tax collector for Rome.  We know that none of them were highly educated, but that after being with Jesus for three years their spiritual education became great.  There are some of these disciples that there is not much written about in the Scriptures or even in extra Biblical writings and so some of them as far as what happened to them after the ascension of Jesus is still hidden to this day.

 

            With this said we know that there has never been a task in the history of the world equal to that of those common men whom the Lord Jesus chose to be His first agents of ministry in setting in motion the advancement of the kingdom of God right here on planet earth, something that surely was planned by God before the world was even created by Him.  MacArthur writes “They had the monumental assignment of finishing the foundation work of the church that the Lord Himself had begun.  Luke mentions this transition of responsibility in the introductory words of Acts:  “The first account [i.e., the gospel of Luke] I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.  To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (1:1-3).

 

            Let us take a look at some of the things that we can learn from the spiritual listings of their names.  The first thing is that in the four New Testament lists of the apostles which are found in Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; and Acts 1:13 and we could also look at verse 26 too.  As we look at these lists we find that Peter was always named first.  As we look at the section in Matthew chapter ten we can conclude that the first does not refer to the order of selection, because Jesus called Andrew, Peter’s brother, before He called Peter as seen in John 1:40-42.  We can see from this context that the word first (protos) indicates foremost in rank.  The apostles were equal in their divine commission, authority, and power; and we know that one day that they will sit on equal thrones as they judge the twelve tribes of Israel as seen in Matthew 19:28.  However in terms of function, we see Peter was “the first” as he was the foremost member of the Twelve.  Protos is used with the same meaning in 1 Timothy 1:15, where Paul speaks of himself as the ‘foremost of all’ sinners.  I guess that is not something that anyone wants to be foremost in, but the truth is that we are all as bad off as we can be.  In Revelation 1:17, Christ speaks of Himself as ‘the first protos and the last.”  No group can function properly without a leader, and Peter was the leading member of the twelve from the very beginning.

 

            Second we can see that in all four of these groups that list the apostles they are divided into the same three subgroups.  The first group includes Peter, Andrew, James, and John; the second includes Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew; and the third includes James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.  Judas Iscariot is always named last as he was the one who betrayed Jesus.  We will find that the names are in different order within the groups, but they are all in the same group and Peter is always first and Judas is always last.  Another thing is that the first name in all of the different groups is always the same and this suggests that each group had its own identity and leader.  The first group includes those Jesus called but not in the individual order, the second includes those He called next, and the third group those He called last.

 

            We will continue in speaking of these apostles in what will be our last SD in the introduction of Matthew 10:2a, as Lord willing we will complete it tomorrow.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I remember an incident in my life that happened close to fifty years ago that I was listening to a local preacher preaching about how the Lord will bring different sections of Scripture together to help you understand the Word of God better.  That surely is happening to me this week as I am preparing my Sunday school lesson from Hebrews 1:4-14, and am looking at older SD’s to place onto my second blog from Ephesians, and studying the book of Matthew and while looking at these three books the book of Colossians has also been mentioned and there are things in common in all of these books that will help me in my Sunday school class this coming Sunday.  Yes God is truly good.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to give me the right words to say this week in our Sunday school class on Hebrews, that His name will be glorified.

 

7/28/2021 9:30 AM

PT-7 "Intro to Matt. 10:2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/27/2021 9:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  PT-7 “Intro to Matt. 10:2a)

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter,”

 

            I want to review something we looked at in an earlier SD, and that is that the third phase of the disciples’ training under Jesus was what we perhaps could be called their internship, and this began immediately after their conversion and calling but preceded their final commissioning and sending after or Lord’s ascension seen in Acts 1:8.  We will see that it is this third phase of training that occupies Matthew in chapter 10.  It is by this time that the disciples under Jesus’ instruction for probably about 18 months, however they had not participated directly in the ministry.  As we have been studying chapters 8-9 we see that they were only observers and learners, so now they began to have a direct involvement as the Lord will send them out two by two as seen in Mark 6:7.  “And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”  This sending out was so that they could try their wings in the work for which Jesus had given them authority to do.

 

            We have already mentioned that the apostles were essential for the future of the Christian faith, because they were the only ones called and empowered to build the foundation of God’s only plan for telling the world of redemption through His Son.  We stated that this was God’s only plan, and when you come down to think about that God only needs one plan in order to accomplish something, unlike humans who may try something and then see that it does not work and so they try something else.  When one looks at this plan that God has for the Christian faith to get off the ground and then continue working until Jesus comes at the rapture one may think from a human perspective that it won’t work.  We know that Satan has tried to stop this plan since God implemented it, but we also know that it will never happen, and when Satan turns up the heat on believers that is when the Word gets out all the more, so the bottom line is that God’s plan will be fulfilled even though at times it seems like it is failing. 

 

            Now as Jesus sends out His apostles it is time for them to be more than mere hearers and observers, so we see that they were given “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness as seen in Matthew 10:1.  However their first responsibility was to preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand,’ as seen in verse seven.  When Jesus came on the scene and began to preach and teach He also healed and cast out demons, raised the dead and did many miraculous works.  One of the reasons He did all of this was to show that He was and is the Messiah, the coming One from the Lord.  The apostles were able to do this as He sent them out and were able to do this once Jesus went back to heaven because they were empowered by the Holy Spirit.  They did it for the same reason that Jesus did and that was to show that God was the One sending them out.  The point I am trying to make is that the gifts that these apostles had in the early church were what we call “sign gifts” and these are not available today.  Our Pastor spoke of praying for a person who was very ill and a week or so later God answered the prayers that he was lifting up to the Lord.  The formerly ill person thought it was because of his prayers that the healing took place, but he quickly said that this was all of God.  We pray for healings and sometimes God grants our requests, but if He doesn’t He is still God and has a better plan.  There is a movement that has been going on in the world and in our country where people get things mixed up thinking that they have the healing powers that the apostles have, which they don’t have as none have it since the last apostle died.  The most important thing a believer can do is to do what the apostles did and that is to preach the gospel for when a person is saved they will eventually go to heaven which is far more important than having a healed body and not understand the gospel and end up in hell.

 

            The writer of Hebrews asked “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, after it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will” (Hebrews 2:3-4).  It was the Lord who was the first preacher of the gospel, and it was the apostles, the ones who heard who confirmed what He preached, and God the Father confirmed their testimony by the divinely empowered “signs and wonders…various miracles and … gifts of the Holy Spirit” that accompanied their preaching.  It was the word of the apostles that was miraculously attested as they laid down the foundation for the church.

 

            Looks like we will have at least one more SD for this introduction, but probably it will take two more as we still have much ground to cover.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Keep the most important things first, and the most important thing is the salvation of souls, for without that people will spend a Christless eternity.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Pray the Lord of the harvest will continue to send forth laborers in order to complete His church very soon.

 

7/27/2021 9:50 AM

 

 

 

 

PT-6 "Intro to Matthew 10:2a

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/26/2021 10:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-6 “Intro to Matt. 10:2a

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter,”

 

            We continue into this long introduction to the first part of Matthew 10:2 as we continue to talk about the apostles of Jesus and in today’s SD we want to begin by talking about false disciples, something we were talking about yesterday.  There were false disciples in Jesus’ time and there have been false disciples throughout the history of the church age, including today.  These false disciples are willing to accept whatever of the gospel that fits their personal inclinations and their personal lifestyles.  These false disciples are perfectly willing to be identified as Christians, even belong to a church, and be active in its work, and give money to its support.  However they have no intention of giving themselves to Jesus Christ as Lord and Master, for when such a demand is made of them, or even suggested, they vanish as quickly and as permanently as those disciples at Capernaum.  Remember the story of the prostitute that John MacArthur meet with in an earlier SD to better understand this point better.  Why do you think this kind of a thing happens?  Well for one thing as we look back to some of the difficult teachings that Jesus taught it would offend these false disciples so much that in most cases they would just walk away, like the woman I just mentioned.  His teaching caused these people to stumble as seen in John 6:61.  MacArthur writes “Stumble’ translates skandalizo which means to put up a snare or stumbling block, and is the term from which we get scandal.  The original meaning pertained to a trap held up by a stick. When an animal grabbed food that was attached to the stick, the stick would fall, causing the trap to capture or kill the animal.  The offended disciples at Capernaum understood clearly that to accept Christ’s demand to eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to receive eternal life meant to give up their old life—which they would not relinquish even for heaven.  Consequently, they had nothing more to do with Jesus.”

 

            We continue with the story found in John chapter six as in verse 67 we read “So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?"  Verse 64 has given us a clue to what their answer would be in verse 67 “64 "But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.”  We believe that Jesus wanted to make sure that the Twelve realized in their own minds the cost of true discipleship and so Peter replied, probably for the group as he seemed to be their spokesman “68  Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God."   Verses 70-71 says “70 Jesus answered them, "Did I Myself not choose you,

the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?" 71 Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.”  Judas was the only one who decided not to eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood, in other words completely follow Him no matter what.

 

            Perhaps these twelve men that Jesus chose to be His apostles did not know it at the time but they had in their hands the full responsibility for initially taking the gospel to the rest of the world.  How were they to do this?  The same way that all believers can accomplish the Lord’s work that has been assigned to each believer, and that is through the power of the Holy Spirit as believers study the Word of God, pray asking God what it is that He has chosen for them to do throughout their lives. 

 

            Ephesians 2:20 tells us that the church was “20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.”  Jesus promised them, “"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26).  As we have mentioned “through the Holy Spirit the apostles received God’s divine revelation and were the ones responsible for writing the most of the New Testament.  It was therefore to ‘the apostles’ teachings’ to which the true and faithful church has always devoted itself, beginning in Jerusalem immediately after Pentecost (Acts 2:42).  Through them the doctrine of the new covenant was established, explained, and proclaimed.”

 

            There is more that they did as not only were they the channels of Christian theology and also evangelism, but they were also the first examples of godly, virtuous living for the church in order to follow God which confirmed their authority as true apostles as seen in 2 Cor. 12:12 “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”  One more verse to look at as we conclude this SD “which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Eph. 3:5).

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful to better understand a bit more about the responsibilities of these twelve men, knowing that I serve the same Lord as they did and have the same Spirit within me in order to do things that God has called me to do.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to continue to give me the victory in order to walk with Him and do what He has called me to do.

 

7/26/2021 11:38 AM

PT-5 "Intro to Matthew 10:2a

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/25/2021 9:52 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus: PT-5 “Intro to Matt. 10:2a”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon,”

 

            As we look at the disciples, and the word in the Greek is mathetes, which has the root meaning of follower or learner, we find that that term does not necessarily carry the idea of commitment, as it is made clear from several gospel accounts.  We have talked about the feeding of the 5,000 many times in different Spiritual Diaries, and this is a good example of what we are talking about of not having commitment as we can see this in John chapter six in different verses from that chapter.  “Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”  A short while later Jesus said to this same group “"But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe” (v-36).  According to verse 60 there were among this crowd “many…of His disciples” who were disturbed when they heard Jesus say, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (v.54).  Then after Jesus further explained what He meant, they were even more offended, and “as a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore” (v-66).  We see that those disciples were only observers and were hearers who had no desire to trust and follow the Lord.  Perhaps there are still many of those kinds of people in our world today.  As I was listening to a sermon by MacArthur, not sure if it was on this section or not, he told the story of a prostitute that came into his office and told him that she was fed up with the life she was living.  He shared the gospel message with her and she agreed that she needed to trust Christ as her Savior.  Afterwards he asked her if she had the book that contained all the names of her “Johns” and she said that it was in her purse.  He told her that it was time to burn it up and offered to do so.  She said that that book was worth a lot of money and refused to burn the book up.  He went on in this story to say that even though the book was worth a lot of money what she would be getting by following Christ was worth so very much more.  She walked out saying that she did not want to follow the Lord.  He went on to conclude that story by saying that he thought about her and prayed for her from time to time.

 

            The following quotation speaks of what we have looked at in the verses from John chapter six:  “Those disciples accepted Jesus as a great teacher and wonder worker, but only on the physical level.  They were quite willing for Him to heal their bodies and fill their stomachs, but they did not want Him to cleanse their sins, re-create their hearts, and transform their lives.  They gladly came to Him for the ‘food which perishes,’ but they had no appitite for ‘the food which endures to eternal life’ (John 6:27). 

            “Jesus’ teaching was not ‘difficult’ (v. 60) because it was hard to understand but because it was hard to accept.  The people knew that Jesus was not talking of eating and drinking His physical body and blood but of accepting everything that He was, said, and did.  His statement was difficult for them to accept for the very reason that they did understand it.”

7/25/2021 10:13 AM

PT-4 "Intro to Matt. 10:2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/24/2021 11:32 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-4 “Intro to Matt. 10:2a)

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter,”

 

            Now as we have been studying the gospel of Matthew over the last 20+ months we have seen that Jesus has had many people following Him.  We know that He called twelve men who were a part of the disciples that were following Him to become apostles, which when you think about it is a seemingly insignificant number for the task ahead.  These twelve apostles will not only be going up against the world system, but also the ruler of the world system, Satan.

 

            We can all remember stories of men or women going against great odds and coming out on top, but for the many who have there are more who have gone down to defeat, but remembered for their courage.  MacArthur adds “Against supernatural enemies, however, man can never be successful in his own power, no matter how great his courage.  On the other hand, when God empowers His people, no obstacle or enemy can withstand them.”

 

            The following are some heroic stories from the Old Testament.  Shamgar, who was one of the Judges of Israel, killed 600 men with an ox goad.  Many of know the story of Gideon who was another Judge of Israel and how he began his conquest of an uncountable number of Midianites and Amalekites began with 32,000 men, yet the Lord showed Gideon that he only needed 600 men to defeat this enemy, which is what happened.  Then there is the story of Samson who slaughtered 1,000 Philistines with only the jawbone of a donkey as his weapon.  Jonathan, the son of King Saul and His armor bearer, who was probably only a boy, killed twenty armed Philistines who were waiting for them at the top of a hill; and that victory led to the defeat of the entire Philistine army by Israelites who were armed with only farm implements.  Who can forget what Elijah singlehandedly did as he slaughtered 850 pagan prophet on top of Mount Carmel.  What can we learn from these stories?  We can learn that the Lord can display His divine power through a handful of men, or even at times only one man, just as surely as through a multitude—so the small number of the apostles was no hindrance to the work of the gospel.  I have heard it said with God and one man makes us a majority.   

 

            We will close this SD with a quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary:  “Henry Drummond, the Scottish author and evangelist who wrote the well-known booklet The Greatest Thing in the World, was once invited to speak to an exclusive men’s club in London.  He began his talk with a provocative analogy that those men easily understood:   ‘Gentlemen, the entrance fee into the kingdom of heaven is nothing; however, the annual subscription is everything.’

 

            “Because Jesus Christ paid the total price for salvation, it costs nothing to become His disciple.  But to follow Him as a faithful disciple costs everything we have.  We are not only saved by Christ’s blood but are bought with it and therefore belong totally to Him (1 Cor. 6:19-20; 7:23).

            “The twelve men Jesus called as disciples and transformed into apostles were willing to pay everything.  They turned their backs on their occupations, their lifestyles, their homes, their own plans and aspirations.  They committed themselves totally to following Jesus Christ, wherever that would lead and whatever that would cost.

 

            “They were a committed few among the unbelieving many.  From early in His ministry, and especially after He began performing miracles, Jesus never lacked for an audience.  The multitudes followed Him wherever He went, so much so that He often had difficulty being alone by Himself or with the Twelve.  The crowds were attached by the right of authority in His voice, by the uniqueness of His message, by the wonder of His miracles, and by His concern for common people and for the sick, diseased, and sinful.”   We will continue looking at this introduction in our next SD, Lord willing.

 

7/24/2021 12:15 PM

PT-3 of Many "Intro to Matthew 10:2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/23/2021 9:23 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-3 “Intro to Matt. 10:2a”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter,”

 

            The following quotation is not really new, as far as I am concerned, but I don’t think that I have ever learned about in this way:  “The New Testament does not teach Christian leaders to follow the individual methods or styles of the apostles.  It does not explain their methods or give details of their specific strategies for evangelism or other ministry.  The focus of apostolic power in the New Testament is always on the Lord.  As with the lowliest believer, the apostles’ power and effectiveness were exclusively the work of the Holy Spirit.”

 

            In his commentary MacArthur tells the story of an artist who had spent a lot of time painting “The Lord’s Supper” and asked a friend what he thought about the painting.  His friend said that he really liked the cups that were in the painting.  The artist then painted over the cups because it was his desire to have the focus on Jesus Christ and nothing else.  “It is a wonderful thing to be a vessel fit for the Master’s use, but the vessel is not the source of spiritual power and should never be the focus of attention.” 

 

            This last statement goes along with what the quotation of the first paragraph had to say as we cannot emphasize on the methods and practices of famous and visibly successful Christian leaders, as this will weaken the church, which is happening in our churches around the globe today.  I think that the access to the internet and being able to see people like Moody, and Spuregon’s methods can make us want to follow those and not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.  MacArthur writes “When men are elevated, Christ is lowered; and when men’s power and resources are relied on, Christ’s work is weakened.”

 

            Here are a few examples of what Christ can do in a person’s life.  Think about a great writer who takes a cheap piece of paper and writes a wonderful poem, or an artist taking a cheap piece of canvas and painting what would become a famous painting, or a wealthy man who takes a piece of paper, signs his name to a large amount of money, and then think about what Christ can do as He takes a worthless corrupted, and repulsive life and then transforms it into a righteous child of God and a useful worker for the kingdom of Christ.  That kind of thing takes great power.

 

            It was during WWII that a church in Strasbourg, France was greatly damaged because of bombings.  In the church was a beloved statue of Christ that had survived, but when the beam from the ceiling came down both arms were broken off.  A man in the city offered to replace the arms to the likeness of what they were, but the town’s people who were members of the church turned his offer down because they thought that the best thing that they could do was to be the arms and hands of Christ on earth, something that the Bible certainly teaches.

 

            MacArthur writes “Jesus Christ chooses human hands—and minds and arms and feet—as the instruments of His eternal work of redemption.  Those who are not offended by His demands for discipleship and who, like the apostles, give their imperfect and flawed lives to Him as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1), become His means for drawing all men to Himself.”

 

            As we read through the gospels it is evident that Jesus Christ did not intend to proclaim the kingdom alone.  We have spent several months looking at all of the things that Jesus did as He ministered in Galilee and not as we begin chapter ten we find that He, for the first time send out His disciples to get a taste of what they will be doing once He goes back to heaven, as this was a part of their training that Jesus was preparing them for.  Paul states this to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2 “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”  In 2^nd Timothy and 2^nd Peter we see some things in them that seem to me to be a bit different, and I believe that because these two letters are the last letters these men wrote that became a part of the Bible that some of these things found in them have more urgency in them, and this verse above seems to be one of them.  Jesus had taught Paul many things soon after he became a believer, things that no one else had learned and now Paul wants to remind Timothy to pass things on to the next generation of believers so that they in turn can pass them onto the next and so on.

 

            Lord willing we will continue on our quest to get through this introduction, which actually makes up the greater amount of pages in this portion of MacArthur’s commentary on this first half of the 2^nd verse of the tenth chapter of Matthew.

 

7/23/2021 10:05 AM

PT-2 "Intro to Matthew 10:2a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/22/2021 8:36 AM

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  PT-2 “The Master’s Men, Peter: A Lesson in Leadership”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter,”

 

            I want to begin by saying that this introduction to this section is going to take a very long time to get through, but I do believe it will be worth our while in looking at it.  We want to begin by talking about the greatness of God’s grace, as it is seen in His choosing the undeserving to be His people along with the unqualified to do His work.  I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that the only people that the Lord has to work with are sinners as all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Because God chooses to work through us, that, then should be a great encouragement to every believer to realize this great truth.  Let us look at an example from James 5:17 “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.”  We can see from this verse that just like Elijah, the apostles had a nature like ours.  As mentioned that there was no other way, so God chose to bestow sanctifying grace on those who believe in His Son and by His own power to then transform them into men and women of having great usefulness.

 

            John MacArthur writes the following, something that I truly can relate to on many, many occasions:  “We are tempted to become discouraged and disheartened when our spiritual life and witness suffer because of our sins and failures.  Satan attempts to convince us that those shortcomings render us useless to God; but His use of the apostles testifies to the opposite.  They did not lead the church in turning the world upside down because they were extraordinarily talented or naturally gifted, but because—in spite of their human limitations and failures—they surrendered themselves to God, whose power is perfected in man’s weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

 

            “That has always been God’s way, since He has never had anything but imperfect and sinful men through whom to work.”  (I love it when MacArthur agrees with me.)  “Soon after God delivered Noah and his family through the flood, Noah became drunk and acted indecently.  Abraham the father of the faithful, doubted God, lied about his wife, and committed adultery with her maid.  Isaac told a similar lie about his wife when he thought his life was in danger.  Jacob took advantage of his brother Esau’s weakness and extorted the birthright from him.  Moses was a murder, and in pride he struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God had instructed.  His brother Aaron, the first high priest, led Israel in erecting and worshiping the golden calf at the very time Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the law from God.  Joshua disobeyed the Lord by making a treaty with the Gibeonites instead of destroying them.  Gideon had little confidence in himself and even less in God’s plan and power.  Samson was repeatedly beguiled by Delilah because of his great lust for her.  David committed adultery and murder, was an almost total failure as a father, and was not allowed to build the Temple because he was a man of blood.  Elijah stood fearlessly before 850 false prophets but cowered before one woman, Jezebel.  Ezekiel was brash, crusty, and quick to speak his mind.  Jonah defied God’s call to preach to the Ninevites and resented His grace when they were converted through his preaching. 

 

            “Apart from the brief ministry of His own Son, the history of God’s work on earth is the history of His using the unqualified.  The twelve disciples who became apostles were no exception.  Even from the human standpoint, they had few characteristics or abilities that qualified them for leadership and service.  Yet God used those men, just as He did Noah, Abraham, and the others, in marvelous ways to do His work.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am so thankful that God gives me something that I need at just the correct time in my life, and that is what this long quotation from John MacArthur has been.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to be thankful to the Lord for using me in the way that He has chosen to use me, and that He will continue to do so.

 

7/22/2021 9:06 AM

Intro to Matthew 10:2a

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/21/2021 10:09 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  PT-1 “Intro to Matthew 10:2a”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:2a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter,”

 

            I think that it is best to give the different titles that John MacArthur gives to this chapter in order for us to better understand where we are going.  “THE MASTER’S MEN—PART1: PETER: A LESSON IN LEADERSHIP”

 

            MacArthur begins his introduction to this 12^th chapter in his second book on the gospel of Matthew with a quotation from a man named S. D. Gordon from his book entitled “Quiet Talks on Service.”  In this portion of his book Gordon gives an imaginary account of Jesus’ return to heaven after His ascension.  “As the angel Gabriel greets Jesus, he asks, ‘Master, You died for the world, did You not?’  To which Jesus replies, ‘Yes.’ You must have suffered much,’ the angel says; and again Jesus answers, ‘Yes.’  Do they all know that You died for them?’  Gabriel continues.  ‘No.  Only a few in Palestine know about it so far,’ Jesus says.  ‘Well, then, what is Your plan for telling the rest of the world that You shed Your blood for them?’  Jesus responds, ‘Well, I asked Peter and James and John and Andrew and a few others, and they in turn could tell still others, and finally it would reach the farthest corner of the earth and all would know the thrill and power of the gospel.’  But suppose Peter fails?  And suppose after a while John just doesn’t tell anyone?  And what if James and Andres are ashamed or afraid?  Then what’  Gabriel asks.  ‘I have no other plans,’ Jesus is said to have answered; ‘I am counting entirely on them.’”  This story was cited in Herbert Lockyer’s book All the Apostles of the Bible which was written in 1972.

 

            I think that it is safe to say that Jesus needed no other plans because although these men did not fail, the church that began in Acts chapter two has had an up and down ride, but I have to believe that all of those that the Lord has chosen before the world began have certainly heard the gospel message and have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

 

            For all who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior the power of the gospel has changed them as the Holy Spirit of God has come to live in their lives and given them a new direction to follow which will finally end when they get to heaven, and then live with the Lord forever and ever serving Him without the obstacles that all believers face while living here on planet earth.

 

            In our society that we live in we know that there are standards set in order to get a job.  For instance if one wants to be a secretary there is probably a set number of words per minute that they would have to be able to type.  I think you see where I am going here as we compare the standards that God has set forth in His Word for His people, especially those in leadership, as they are extremely high. We see these standards found in what is called the Pastoral Epistles that mostly were written by Paul, but also by Peter too.  What are the standards for believers?  Jesus speaks of this in Matthew 5:48, a section we have already gone over where we read “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Now here is what we call tension found in the Scriptures stating things like “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Paul writes the following in Romans 7:18 “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”  Earlier in this same letter Paul writes “10 The scriptures endorse this fact plainly enough. There is none righteous, no, not one. 11 There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God; 12 They have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one” (Philips).  I think that you can see the tension as we compare Scripture with Scripture speaking of the subject of salvation. 

 

            I believe that this will be a fairly long introduction and so we will stop here and Lord, willing take up where we left off today in tomorrow’s SD.

 

7/21/2021 10:42 AM