SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/27/2021 11:45 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “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.”
We
want to begin by looking at the first of the miraculous credentials which was
the ability to heal the sick and cleanse the leper. It was not that Jesus just wanted people
simply to know God’s power but to know that He offered His power to help
them. These miracles are signs pointing
to God’s compassion and mercy as they demonstrate the sympathetic heart that
God has, who cares for the suffering, the hurting, the afflicted, and the
needy. Now as we again talk about the
future kingdom which is a big theme in Matthew’s gospel which will be coming to
planet earth, as this will bring the removal of disease and the restoration of
broken bodies just as God’s Word had predicted.
Let us look at some verses from the book of Isaiah. “18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a
book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see”
(Isa. 29:18). “5 Then the eyes of the
blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6 Then the
lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For
waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah” (Isa.
35:5-6). “To open blind eyes, To bring
out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison”
(Isa. 42:7). Thus these miracles not
only revealed the nature of God but predicted the millennium.
There
is a story in the 11th chapter of Matthew’s gospel when John the
Baptist sends messengers to Jesus to ask Him if He was the coming One or should
they be looking for someone else. Here
is the answer that Jesus gave to John’s disciples “4 Jesus answered and said to
them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the
dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.” Jesus knew that John would recognize those
miracles as the confirming marks of God’s Messiah and God’s kingdom.
John
MacArthur writes “Though such apostolic miracles ceased with termination of the
apostles’ work, those who genuinely represent Jesus Christ still give
themselves to the sick, the suffering, the downtrodden, and the needy of every
sort. The Christian leader who spends
all of his time and effort working with those who are healthy and well-to-do
either is not sent by God or is not fully faithful to his calling. Every person needs the gospel and every
believer continues to need God’s help and provision, but God has compassion for
those who are in great need.”
The
following are some verses from the Psalms and also one more from Isaiah to show
that the Old Testament made this truth clear about God’s compassion: “For the needy will not always be forgotten,
Nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever” (Psalm 9:18). “5 “Because of the devastation of the
afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise," says
the LORD; "I will set him in the safety for which he longs’” (Psalm
12:5). “All my bones will say,
"LORD, who is like You, Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too
strong for him, And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?’” (Psalm
35:10). “12 I know that the LORD will
maintain the cause of the afflicted And justice for the poor (Psalm 140:12). “6 You would put to shame the counsel of the
afflicted, But the LORD is his refuge” Psalm 14:6). “"The afflicted and needy are seeking
water, but there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the LORD,
will answer them Myself, As the God of Israel I will not forsake them”
(Isa. 41:17).
Now
in our SD for tomorrow we will begin by looking by contrast, the world and its
representatives who have little compassion.
After
being down with covid for three weeks I have studied a lot about where it came
from and who is making money and killing people through this Satanic disease
and they fit right into the contrast of what God does for the afflicted.
9/27/2021 12:13 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment