SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/15/2021 9:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “John”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 10:2b
Message of the
verses: “and
Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;”
Today we want to finish up on our
study of not only John, but the first four men that are always mentioned first
when the disciples are mentioned in the gospel records. They are always mentioned first of the twelve
and always in order with Peter being first.
We spent much time looking at the life of Peter, and not as much time
studying the lives of these last three apostles, but from the lives of these
three men, as from the loves of the other disciples, it becomes very obvious
that the Lord uses a variety of people.
John MacArthur gives us a bit of a review of these men as he writes “Andrew
was humble, gentle, and inconspicuous.
He saw the individual more than the crowd. He was not a dynamic evangelist, but he
continually brought people to Jesus Christ.
James, like Peter, was dynamic, bold, and a natural leader. He initiated, took charge, and moved ahead;
but he could also be self-willed, self-assured, prejudiced, and ambitious. John was also a son of thunder, but of a
milder sort. He was a truth seeker who was sensitive to those to whom he taught
the truth.” Now this is the review of
what we have been looking at in more detail, and I have mentioned all along
that this gives me hope that like the old song says “Just as I am” that this is
how Jesus will use me.
Now I have to say that as we look at
the lives of these men that we will see that the Lord Jesus Christ transformed
all three into effective fishers of men and foundation layers of His church,
and the truth is that all of them suffered for their faithfulness. Jesus said that this would happen to these
men, and Jesus gave us the example of what can happen to a believer when he
stands for the truth, which is what these men would have happen to them just as
the Lord told them. MacArthur writes the
following: Tradition says that Andrew
led the wife of a provincial governor to Christ, and that when she refused to
recant her faith, the governor had Andrew crucified on an X-shaped cross—which subsequently
became his symbol in church lore. He is
said to have hung on the cross in agony for two days, preaching the gospel to
those who passed by for as long as he was able.
“According to tradition, when James
had been sentenced to death and was about to be beheaded, the Roman soldier who
guarded him was so impressed with his courage and constancy of spirit that he
knelt at the apostle’s feet, begging forgiveness for the rough treatment he had
given him and for his part in the execution.
James is said to have lifted the man up, embraced and kissed him, and
said, ‘Peace, my son. Peace to you and
the pardon of your faults.’ The soldier
is said to have been so moved by James’s compassion that he publicly confessed
Christ and was beheaded alongside the apostle.
“Scripture reports that John was
banished to the small and barren Isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, off the west
coast of Asia Minor. He died about A. D.
98, during the reign of Emperor Trajan.
Some sources suggest that those who knew him well said their reminder of
John was the echo of a constant phrase that was on his lips: ‘My little
children, love one another’ (Cf. 1 John 3:11, 14; 4:7, 11, 20-21).
“These were three men with ordinary
temperaments, ordinary strengths and weaknesses, and ordinary struggles. Yet in the power of Christ they were
transformed into men that turned the world upside down. It was not what they were in themselves but
what they were sovereignly and willingly made to become that rendered them such
powerful instruments in the Master’s hands.
The fishermen of Galilee became fishers of men on a vast scale, and in
God’s power they gathered thousands of souls into the church and played a vital
part in the salvation of millions more.
Through the testimony of their lives and writings, those fishermen are
still casting their nets into the sea of mankind and bringing multitudes into
the kingdom.”
In our next SD we will begin looking
at the next group of “The Master’s Men,” Philip, Bartholomew (Nathanael).
8/15/2021 9:43
AM
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