SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/26/2021 9:29 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Confirming Credentials”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 10:8
Message of the verse: “8 "Heal the
sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely
you received, freely give.”
Yesterday
while finally being able to walk for a little over an hour I listened to the
second sermon from this 10th chapter of Matthew beginning with verse
five and I got the picture of what the points are to help us better understand
what Jesus was sending out the Twelve to accomplish in their first ever “short
missions trip.” Today we begin looking
at the “confirming credentials” found in verse eight, something that in our
world today believers will not be able to do, but during the time of Christ He
gave power to the Twelve to accomplish the things that are mentioned here in
verse eight. What we are looking at here
is the fourth principle of ministry that is presented here and that is that of
confirming credentials, something as mentioned we can’t do today.
John
MacArthur writes “Doctors, lawyers, and other professionals prominently display
the diplomas that certify their qualifications and authority to practice. In a far more important way, those who
represent Christ must have credentials that confirm their divine mission and
message. Jesus gave confirming signs for
His own ministry, and now He calls the apostles to demonstrate their authority
by performing similar signs and wonders.”
I remember that a pastor that I sat under for five years, as that was
all I could stand, when he got his doctorate degree he posted it in the men’s
bathroom in his office. Now you may
understand better what I had to leave that church soon after that. Another thing that I want to mention is that
when the Lord started something new, some new ministry, like when He called
Israel to be a nation, or when He was working on beginning the church that
there were different miracles that He used to affirm the ministries. Once the ministries became established then
the miracles would stop, but what we are looking at now is the very early
stages of Jesus training His Twelve Apostles and so that is why these miracles
mentioned in verse eight would be used.
We
have mentioned that all of the Apostles came from Galilee with the exception of
Judas who came from Judah. The disciples
were looked down upon as they did not have the “superior” training that the
scribes and Pharisees received in Jerusalem.
In
2 Corinthians 12:12 Paul gives the signs of a true apostle “The signs of a true
apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders
and miracles.” Notice how similar what
Paul wrote with what we have in Matthew 10:8 “"Heal the sick, raise
the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you
received, freely give.”
In
the 9th chapter of John’s gospel Jesus healed a man born blind and
the man recognized that Jesus was from God otherwise He could not do what He
did. The man even scolded the Pharisees
for not understanding this great truth.
MacArthur
writes “The signs, wonders, and miracles Jesus commanded the apostles to
perform were not for the purpose of simply demonstrating raw supernatural
power. Jesus did not tell the apostles,
for example, to disappear and reappear, to move the temple from one place to
another, or any such thing. The miracles
they performed created wonder and demonstrated the character of God and the
nature of His kingdom.” Once again
remember that is one of the great themes of Matthew’s gospel, “The Kingdom of
God.”
We
will look in more detail at these miraculous credentials in our next SD.
9/26/2021 9:52 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment