PT-2 "Vindication by God" (Matt. 10:26-27)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/31/2021 8:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                    Focus:  PT-2 “Vindication by God”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 10:26-27

 

            Message of the verse:  “26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.”

 

            We begin this SD by looking at Luke 8:16 “"Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.’”  The point is that when God gives truth to declare, the business of Christians is to make it known, not to hide it—just as one day God Himself will instantly and perfectly make every truth known.  So in view of what is coming, it is both faithless and shortsighted to hide the light now in order to avoid criticism and persecution. 

 

            John MacArthur quotes a couple of verses from Eccles. “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.”  MacArthur says that with mock encouragement Solomon wrote these verses.  “13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” It seems to me that it took Solomon a long time in this book to get around to something really worth listening to, and he did not keep it to himself.

 

            The person who is a disciple should have the same perspective that God’s perspective is.  In God’s eternal view He already sees the final outcome of every life.  The one’s in the world’s eyes who seem like winners will turn out to be losers, and those who seem to be losers will be winners.

 

            There should be no secrets in Christianity, that is what the Lord has, in effect, revealed to us in the darkness we are to speak in the light; and what has been whispered in our ear we are to proclaim upon the housetops.  I have mentioned Deuteronomy 29:29 many times in my Spiritual Diaries and in that verse Moses writes that the secret things belong to the Lord, but then he goes on to say that what God has shown us we are to proclaim.  God has not told us everything, but what He has told us we are to obey and proclaim.

 

            I will conclude this SD by quoting a paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary:  “Fraternal orders and lodges that have secret rites and ceremonies have no part in the work of Christ’s kingdom, no matter how much they may try to defend their religious purposes and standards.  All spiritual and moral truth that man needs to know and can know, God has already fully made known; and His desire is for that truth to be proclaimed, not hidden.  Christians are not elite defenders of man-made secrets but bold proclaimers of God-given truth.  Secrecy has no part in the gospel.”      10/31/2021 8:33 AM

PT-1 "Vindication by God" (Matt. 10:26-27)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/30/2021 10:13 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-1 “Vindication by God”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Matthew 10:26-27

 

            Message of the verse:  “26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.”

 

            In our last SD we looked at the introduction to “A Disciple Does Not Fear the World,” which was the introduction to Matthew 10:26-31.  Now today we look at the first sub-section under this main section.  Now the first thing we can learn from this is that believers should never be afraid of the world because they know God will one day vindicate the.  Now verse 26 begins with the familiar word “therefore” and this looks back to what Jesus had said in verse 25, “25  "It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!”  We know from our study of the Word of God that there are times when God’s children will be mistreated and accused of being wicked and even demonic.  Jesus’ Words are “do not fear them that is those who cause you trouble.  The next word we look at is “for” and this looks forward, introducing the promise that in the end God will make everything right.  MacArthur adds “All truth and goodness and all falsehood and wickedness will be seen for what they really are.”

 

            MacArthur goes on to write “The world is highly successful at illusion and deception.  It can make an impressive and convincing case for sin by covering it over with seemingly good motives and helpful benefits.  The world puts the best face on wickedness and the worst face on righteousness.  But the Lord has decreed that “there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.”  The worlds wickedness will be shown for what it is, and believers’ righteousness will be shown for what it is.  God has bound Himself to vindicate His children.”

 

            Now as believers we should not be concerned about what the world says at this time, but about what God will say on that final day.  When the Lord returns, and He will return, He “will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” (1 Cor. 4:5).  So what greater motive could we as believers, have for faithfully serving the Lord and fearlessly facing the world?  Why should we worry about unpopularity in this life when we know we will be fully vindicated in the life to come, and that life will come for both unbelievers in hell and believers in heaven.  Both believers and unbelievers will be resurrected, believers to a place in heaven and unbelievers in hell.  Paul calls this great coming event “the revealing of the sons of God’ (Rom. 8:19) and “the freedom of the glory of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:21; compare also 1 Timothy 5:24-25).

 

10/30/2021 10:33 AM

A Disciple Does Not Fear the World (Matt. 10:26-31)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/29/2021 9:38 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  “A Disciple Does Not Fear the World”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matt. 10:26-31

 

            Message of the verses:  “26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 "And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

 

            In our SD for this morning all I want to do is to write about a rather long introduction to these verses, and then Lord willing in our next SD we will begin to look more closely at verses 26 and 27.

 

            As disciples of Jesus Christ we are not only to emulate Him but we are to also not be afraid of the world.  Now notice the three highlighted times in these six verses that Jesus says “do not fear.”  He tells us this in light of what He had just promised, His exhortation not be afraid was in order.  Jesus had told His Apostles that He was sending them out as sheep in the midst of wolves, that they would be tried and scourged in Jewish courts, “brought before governors and kings” for His sake, delivered up in various ways, betrayed by their families, hated and persecuted by the world in general, and called satanic (vv.16-25).

 

            Proverbs 29:25 warns us that “the fear of man brings a snare.”  MacArthur writes “Fear of what people may think, say, or do has strangled many testimonies and hindered much service in the Lord’s name.  Human nature wants to avoid problems and conflicts, especially if they might bring ridicule and hardship.  People do not naturally want to be though little of or mistreated and even less to suffer or die.  Christians who have fallen prey to today’s great emphasis on self-preservation find it especially difficult to confront sinful society with the demands and standards of the gospel.  Our culture has produced an unacceptable ‘softness’ among evangelicals.”

 

            MacArthur goes on in his introduction to these six verses by writing “Continued refusal to confront the world gives strong evidence that a professed believer may not belong to Christ at all.  ‘If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,’ John says. ‘For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world’ (1 John 2:15-16).”

 

            We all probably know the story of what happened to Peter while the Lord was going through His trials, something that the Lord warned him would happen to him, but Peter said it never would, and that is as he was warming himself by a fire in the courtyard found that it was difficult to speak out for the Lord for fear of being considered foolish, backward, extremist, unsophisticated, obtrusive or even strange.  As believers we can all find ourselves in that kind of situation.

 

            MacArthur concludes “Because criticism, abuse, and danger would become frequent companions of the apostles, Jesus repeatedly exhorted them not to be afraid (see, e. g., Matt. 14:27; 28:10; Luke 12:32; John 14:27).  At this time Jesus gave three reasons for His followers not to be afraid; their vindication by God, their veneration of God, and their valuation by God.”

 

            Lord willing we will begin “Vindication by God” in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Fear can be a compelling problem, something that I need to trust the Lord to teach me not to fear because He is in control of all things that come into my life each day.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord as many believe that we are to go through a great problem of not being able to get the things we need, things that we are use to having in our country, but God has promised to care for His children, and I believe that He will.

 

10/29/2021 10:05 AM

           

PT-3 "A Disciple Emulates His Master" (Matt. 10:24-25)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/28/2021 11:11 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  PT-3 “A Disciple Emulates His Master”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 10:24-25

 

            Message of the verses:  “24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!”

 

            We begin this SD by talking about “Beelzebul” or as sometimes spelled “Belzebub” which probably means “lord of the flies,” and it was later changed to Baalzebul, “lord of the dwelling.”  Now it was because he was an especially despicable deity, his name had long been used by the Jews as an epithet for Satan.

 

            MacArthur writes “Jesus’ point was that, if people called Him Satan, they would surely call His disciples the same thing.  The Pharisees had already done precisely that when they accused Jesus of casting ‘out demons by the ruler of the demons’ (Matt. 9:34), who was often referred to as Beelzebul (Mark 3:22; cf. Matt. 12:24)”  As I look at these statements about Jesus being accused of doing His work by the power of Satan, I am reminded that once this happened in the ministry of our Lord that He then pretty much stopped His ministry with the people and began to concentrate more on His disciples.

 

            Now once again I want to talk about our Lord’s message to His disciples as being telescoped into the future for all of His disciples, for the things that He is saying here will not all be fulfilled during this first missionary trip that His apostles will be taking.  The things that He is saying, and I want to talk about the warnings that He is making  are also repeated in different parts of the four gospels, as this was obviously something very important that the Lord wants us to understand.

 

            MacArthur concludes this section by writing “Thus the call to discipleship is the call to be like Christ, including being treated like Christ.  To people who are truly seeking God, the lives of His faithful saints are beautiful and attractive.  It is often the Christlike qualities of love, joy, peace, and kindness in Christians that attract unbelievers to the Lord.  The more we emulate Christ, the more attractive we will become to those God is calling to Himself.  But at the same time we will become more unattractive to those who reject God.  Because they want nothing of Him, they will want nothing of us.”

Spiritual meaning of the verses:  One of the things that I have been praying for over the last many months is revival, and a very small prayer group has been started in our church on Wednesday evenings after our regular prayer group.  I have become convinced that if there is to be a revival in the church in our country that that will led to persecution which is what Jesus is saying in the sections we have recently been looking at.  Persecution is not something any believer wants to be a part of but during the times when persecution has happened in the church it has grown and become stronger.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  If the Lord is going to bring persecution into my lives my prayer is that I will be found faithful.

 

 

 

PT-2 "A Disciple Emulates His Master" (Matt. 10:24-25)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/27/2021 12:47 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  PT-2 “A Disciple Emulates His Master”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 10:24-25

 

            Message of the verses:  “24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!”

 

            We want to move to the second point that Jesus makes here and this is also an unquestionable point that He makes, and that is that the true disciple is to learn from his teacher in order to “become as his teacher, and that the purpose of a faithful slave is to serve and become “as his master.”  Luke 6:40 gives us another similar teaching of our Lord “"A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”  So a disciples single, overriding purpose is to emulate his “teacher.  It is enough “for him to become as his teacher, not only in the teacher’s wisdom and character but also in the teacher’s treatment.  The disciple desires nothing more and settles for nothing less.

 

            1 John 2:6 says “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”  We find in the great commission the function of discipleship, which is clearly stated:  “to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt. 28:20).  When a believer (disciple) becomes like Christ, his Teacher, when he learns and obeys Scripture.  The disciple is the one whom the Word of Christ richly dwells according to Colossians 3:16.  Growing in discipleship is growing in Christlikeness, as we look forward to the day when “we shall be like him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1John 3:2).

 

            Here is the logical thing that happens when we are like Christ, and that is that we will be treated like Him, and as we look toward the last part His ministry we know that He was not treated well at all.  Jesus speaks to this at the end of verse 25 “. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!”  MacArthur writes “Jesus continues to develop the same truth but changes the figure from those of disciple/teacher and slave/master to that of head of the house/members of his household.  Family members and servants should not expect to be treated better than “the head” of the family is treated.”

 

            Paul understood this truth as he declares in Philippians 3:10 “the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,”  As we read through the book of Acts and also some of Paul’s writings, especially 2 Corinthians, we will see that Paul suffered much for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  MacArthur adds “The ture disciple does not demand to be accepted and loved by the world, when his Lord was rejected and crucified by the world.  He does not expect his commitment to the Lord to cause him to become famous and respected, when his Lord was considered infamous and was despised.”

 

Lord willing we will finish this section in our next SD. 10/27/2021 1:12 PM

 

 

PT-1 "A Disciple Emulates His Master" (Matt. 10:24-25)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/26/2021 11:39 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  PT-1 “A Disciple Emulates His Master”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:   Matt. 10:24-25

 

            Message of the verses:  “24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!”

 

            Verse 24 is the negative aspect of the truth, while verse 25 then the positive (25a), and then the consequence (25b). 

 

            It is pretty self-evident that a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.  Now I want to talk about one who tried to do this and did not succeed in doing so, and as a result has plunged the entire universe into a curse from God.  Of course I am speaking of Satan and if one looks at Isaiah 14 then they will see the five “I wills” of Satan who tried to be over His creator and failed.  As we look at the word disciple we see that it means learner and it is obvious that the learner is under the teacher in knowledge and wisdom, and also a slave is beneath his master in social and economic standing.  Also by definition, a disciple who is genuinely a disciple learns from his teacher, and a slave who genuinely is a slave obeys his master.

 

            John MacArthur writes “Man’s volition” (decision) “is represented by the figure of disciple and teacher, and God’s sovereignty is represented by that of slave and master.  The two illustrations unite to emphasize that the first and most obvious principle of discipleship is submission.”  On my other blog which I am reposting my SD’s from Ephesians I have been looking at humility, which of course is the opposite of pride.  It seems to me that pride is the one great reason why people will not submit to the Lord.

 

            We have mentioned in earlier SD’s that Matthew’s gospel has the purpose of revealing Jesus Christ as the divine King of kings, the Messiah and the Son of God who came to redeem and to eventually rule the world, and for my thinking I wish that would begin today.  Jesus is the only King, the only Messiah, the only Son of God, the only Savior and the only Lord.  In all of those roles He demands and is deserving of total submission and as mentioned pride will be the first thing that gets in our way from submitting totally to the Lord.

 

            We will conclude with a Biblical story that John MacArthur includes in his commentary to help us better understand this concept we have been looking at.  “After David finally became king of Israel, there was still scattered loyalty to the family of Saul, despite that king’s poor showing as a ruler.  Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, refused to recognize David as king and managed to temporarily establish Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, as ruler over part of the kingdom for a period of two years.  But when Ish-bosheth made a foolish and ill-founded accusation against Abner, the commander came to his senses, finally realizing how unqualified Ish-bosheth was to rule and how foolish his own thinking had been in opposing David, God’s chosen and anointed man for leadership (see 2 Samuel 2:8-3:21).

            “Matthew calls the Abners of the world, as it were, to abandon their foolish allegiances to false leaders and false gods and to become subjects of Jesus Christ, God’s anointed Savior and Lord.”

 

10/26/2021 12:08 PM

PT-4 "Intro to Matthew 10:24-31

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/25/2021 10:33 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-4 “Intro to Matthew 10:24-31”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 10:24-31

 

            Message of the verses:  “24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! 26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28  

"And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill thesoul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

 

            As we look at these instructions that Jesus gave to the twelve we find that they were the only ones present on this occasion, but also because some of the instructions that He is giving them was only for Israel as seen in verse six.  The apostles are the only ones who could do the  things that are described in this section of Matthew as this as we mentioned is telescoped to future events and so there were certain sign gifts that the apostles could do, things like healing people, raising the dead, and also casting out demons, things that were theirs to do.  MacArthur writes “In verse 24 Jesus begins using the indefinite third person (‘a disciple,’ ‘a slave,’ ‘everyone,’ ‘whoever’) in addition to the second person ‘you’—clearly indicating that He is speaking about every believer, every true disciple.  Jesus here teaches with the widest possible perspective.  ‘For every person who would be My disciple,’ He says, in effect, ‘here is what I ask.  For all who follow Me, this is the cost of discipleship.”  So we can see that things have changed as we get to verse 24.

 

            Jesus refused to disguise or to minimize the cost of discipleship, and so many of the would be disciples left him as seen in John 6:53-66, which is the section about drinking His blood—“many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore.  We have already looked in earlier SD’s about when a scribe came to Him, but in truth did not really want to follow Him. 

 

            We conclude this introduction with a rather long quote from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew.  “Jesus’ teaching and the gospel writers’ presentation of it are always logical and clear.  Only the person who doubts either the intelligence or the integrity of Jesus and those writers can miss the purpose and progression of His instruction when it is carefully studied.  Jesus was not teaching only for scholars, and the writers were not writing only for scholars.  They were teaching and writing for the common man, and their purpose was not to obscure and complicate the message but to make it clear enough for the simplest believers to grasp.  Only the blindness of willing unbelief can prevent a person’s understanding the way of salvation and the path of obedience.

            “In the remainder of the chapter (10:24-42), Jesus identifies a comprehensive definition of discipleship, in which He lists some six hallmarks.  The true disciple of Jesus Christ emulates his Master; he fears God rather than the world; he confesses the Lord; he forsakes family; he follows his call; and he receives a reward.”  Now if I am not mistaken these things will be talked about as we look at the last two chapters of MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew a chapter that we have been looking at for a very long time.

 

10/25/2021 10:56 AM

PT-3 "Intro to Matt. 10:24-31

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/24/2021 8:01 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  PT-3 “Intro to Matthew 10:24-31”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Matthew 10:24-31

 

            Message of the verse:  “24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! 26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

 

            The following is the quotation from MacArthur’s commentary from Jonathan Edwards, the great preacher and theologian whom God used to bring revival to colonial America.

 

“I claim no right to myself, no right to this understanding, this will, these affections that are in me.  Neither do I have any right to this body or its members, no right to this tongue, to these hands, feet, ears or eyes.  I have given myself clear away and not retained anything on my own.  I have been to God this morning and told Him I have given myself wholly to Him, I have given every power so that for the future I claim no right to myself in any respect.  I have expressly promised Him, for by His grace I will not fail.  I take Him as my whole portion and felicity, looking upon nothing else as any part of my happiness.  His law is the constant rule of my obedience.  I will fight with all my might against the world, the flesh and the devil to the end of my life.  I will adhere to the faith of the gospel however hazardous and difficult the profession and practice of it may be.  I pray God for the sake of others to look on this as self-dedication.  Henceforth, I am not to act in any respect as my own.  I shall act as my own if I ever make use of any of my powers to do anything that is not to the glory of God or to fail to make the glorifying of Him my whole and entire business.  If I murmur in the least at affliction, if I am in any way uncharitable, if I revenge my own case, if I do anything purely to please myself or omit anything because it is a great denial, if I trust myself, if I take any praise for any good which Christ does by me, or if I am in any way proud, I shall act as my own and not God’s.  But I purpose to be absolutely His.”

 

            Now as I look at this quotation from Edwards and think about it, all I can say is that I am blown away because I know that this man was the one that God used to bring about a great revival in our land before we became a country as the revival was greatly necessary to happen right before the Revolutionary War.  Another would come right before the Civil War, and I pray that in God’s mercy and grace that another one will come to our land before the Rapture of the Church which I pray is not far off.

 

10/24/2021 8:33 AM

PT-2 "Intro to Matt. 10:24-31

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/23/2021 8:39 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  “Intro to Matthew 10:24-31”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 10:24-31

 

            Message of the verses:  “24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! 26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28  

"And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

 

            There is no doubt that Jesus was a wonderful teacher, and like good teachers Jesus taught the same truths with many formats, in various circumstances and with various applications.  We see here that the Lord is providing that twelve apostles with the body of His basic teaching on discipleship.  He is using a variety of phrases and also illustrations throughout His ministry, and He would repeat these truths over and over again to the disciples and to the multitudes. 

 

            MacArthur writes “Because the truths of Matthew 10 are so foundational and so profound, believers who have wholeheartedly lived out these truths are the men and women who have made great marks on the world for Jesus Christ.  They are the ones with total dedication, total commitment, and total obedience.”

 

            The following quotation from MacArthur’s commentary comes from Florence Nightingale as she wrote the following in her diary:  “I am thirty years of age, the age at which Christ began His mission.  Now, no more childish things, no more vain things.”  Years later, near the end of her heroic life of service, she was asked the secret of her ability to accomplish so much for the Lord.  She replied, “I can give only one explanation, and that is this:  I have kept nothing back from God.”  That is exactly what Jesus is talking about in this passage—keeping nothing back from Him.”

 

            We have some more quotations from MacArthur’s commentary of different people:  “When the famous surgeon Howard A. Kelly graduated from medical school, he wrote in his diary:  ‘Today I dedicate myself, my time, my capabilities, my ambition, everything to Him.  Blessed Lord, sanctify me to Thy uses; give me no worldly success which may not lead me nearer to my Saviour.’”

 

            “Soon after graduating from college, Jim Elliot wrote in his diary:  ‘God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life that I may burn for Thee.  Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine.  I seek not a long life but a full one like You, Lord Jesus.’  God answered that prayer, and in the flower of young manhood, Jim Elliot’s life was cut short by the spear of an Auca Indian as he and several other young men sought to take the gospel deep into the jungles of Ecuador.

 

            Lord willing we will began our next SD with a rather long quotation from Johanthan Edwards.

 

10/23/2021 8:57 AM

PT-1 "Intro to Matt. 10:24-31)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/22/2021 10:01 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  PT-1 “Intro to Matthew 10:24-31”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Matthew 10:24-31

 

            Message of the verses:  “24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 “It is enough for the disciple that he become as his teacher, and the slave as his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! 26 “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28 “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

 

            John MacArthur entitles this chapter on Matthew 10:24-31 “The Hallmarks of Discipleship—Part 1,” and we will probably take a few days just looking at the introduction, but I will probably not post all the verses each day as we look at the introduction.  I listened to the sermon yesterday and at the end of the sermon MacArthur gives a story that his father use to tell, as he was a pastor also.  The story is powerful, yet heartbreaking, and when the right time comes I will quote that story in one of the SD’s that will go along with our verses above.

 

            MacArthur begins his introduction with the following “Jesus’ most crucial and definitive teaching about discipleship, setting forth its true nature and its real demands, is presented in the remainder of this chapter.  The call of the Great Commission is the call to ‘make disciples of all the nations’ (Matt. 28:19).  Disciple-making is the central work of the people of Christ’s church, the work of bringing men and women to a saving relationship to Jesus Christ and of helping them grow in His knowledge and likeness.  It is what Paul calls ‘the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ’ (Eph. 4:12).”

 

            As we go through these verses we will see that when Jesus called the twelve disciples to Himself, that He carefully instructed them about what they would be expected to do and also what they would endure.  One has to think about this to get a grasp on the enduring things that these men would eventually go through, and yet for eleven of them it was their love for the Lord that they were willing to endure what He would take them through, a love that is very powerful.  Now as Jesus spoke of what they would endure He would keep out the half-hearted people from following Him, as all they wanted were the benefits of the Kingdom but not its commitments.  Jesus elected to Himself only those who were willing to enter the narrow gate and walk the narrow road.

 

            MacArthur writes “In Matthew 10:24-42 Jesus sets forth the essence of this Christian dedication and consecration.  The truths He teaches here were obviously a great imp;ortance to Him, because He repeated them frequently throughout His ministry.  Like every effective teacher, He understood the importance of emphasizing and reemphasizing basic truths.  Each area of study has a core of information that is absolutely foundational, and the good teacher continually goes back to that information and reinforces it.”  One more paragraph from this important introduction and that will end our SD for today.

 

            “As an aside, it should be noted that redaction” (to edit something) “criticism fails largely at the very point.  Because certain biblical analysis do not recognize the validity and importance of respective teaching, they assume that the gospel writers pulled together various sayings of Jesus and arbitrarily decided to insert them at different places in His ministry.  They maintain that we therefore cannot be sure of what Jesus actually spoke on any given occasion.  But to accept the redaction critic’s view is to reject the integrity of the gospel writers and therefore of Scripture itself.”  All I got to say about this is that my God is fully capable of making sure what He wants to say to us in the Scriptures will be said to us, for after all I worship a God who knows how many hairs are on my head, and a God who actually cares so much for birds, like sparrows that He knows not only when they die but keeps track of all the times that they hop.

 

I want to praise the Lord for having the best week of people looking at my Spiritual Diaries as well over 4,000 of them have been viewed.

 

10/22/2021 11:02 AM

The Response (Matt. 10:23)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/21/2021 8:33 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  “The Response”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matthew 10:23

 

            Message of the verse:  23 "But whenever they persecute you in this city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you shall not finish going through the cities of Israel, until the Son of Man comes.”

 

            In today’s SD we come to the end of the things we have been looking at from the 19^th chapter of John MacArthur’s commentary which he entitles “Sheep Among Wolves.”  We began looking at these verses on the 5^th of this month, and we began looking at the 10^th chapter of Matthew on the 12^th of July of this year and so I have to believe that by the time we finish looking at this 10^th chapter of Matthew that it will be the longest time we ever spent looking at a chapter since I began doing these Spiritual Diaries.

 

            MacArthur begins this section by writing “Persecution is never to be sought or endured for its own sake; nor should we intentionally bring it on ourselves, supposedly for Christ’s sake.  We have no right to provoke animosity or ridicule. And Christ here urges escaping persecution when doing so is expedient and possible.  We are not obligated to stay in a place of opposition and danger until we are killed, or even imprisoned.  ‘Whenever they persecute you in this city,’ Jesus says, ‘flee to the next.’”  As I read over this section it made me think of Paul’s teaching in Thessalonica, and then fleeing to Berea, but I suppose as you look over his missionary journeys in the book of Acts that was a pretty common theme.  During that time when Paul was on these Missionary trips as seen in the book of Acts we read of some of the times when he was beaten, but also he writes about the beatings and other things that happened to him in his letters, especially in his second letter to the Corinthians.  Paul suffered a lot for the cause of Christ just as the Lord told Ananias “for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake’ (Acts 9:16).”

 

            Not every believer will suffer like the way Paul suffered for the cause of Christ, but if we live a life that is pleasing to the Lord it is a good probability that some feathers will be ruffled by the world, and so as a believer the pattern that Paul had gone through is one that we should be ready to go through.  I have mentioned that we have a very small prayer group that prays for revival, and last night there were three of us who meet after our prayer meeting to pray for revival.  I remind the two other men that as we pray for revival that perhaps persecution would be the way that God answers that prayer, and that thought came from my study in this section of Matthew 10.  Persecution has a way of causing people who attend a church but are not believers to leave and then we are left with those who are willing to do whatever it takes for the cause of Christ, and that makes the church stronger.

 

            An example of those who will stand true to the Lord is seen in the 7^th chapter of the book of Revelation where we see John writing about the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who stand firm for the cause of Christ in what will be the most difficult time for any believer to live as all will be wanted by the government, the world, and the family.

            The disciples who were listening to Jesus in this section knew that He was the only One who could care for them, and in this short term missions trip they would get their first experience of ministering for the cause of Christ when He would not physically be there with them. 

 

            MacArthur concludes this section and this chapter by writing:  “The Lord would indeed send the Twelve out among wolves into dangers they could never have imaged while they were with Him.  But just as He promised to send them out among wolves, He also promised to send His own Spirit to indwell, empower, and encourage them.  If the world persecuted the Master, it would certainly persecute His servants (John 15:20), and a time would soon come when those who killed His followers would actually think they were ‘offering service to God’ (16:12).  It was therefore both advantageous and necessary that Jesus go away, in order that the Holy Spirit, the divine Helper and Comforter, could come to them (v. 7).  ‘These things I have spoken to you,’ Jesus told them, ‘that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world’ (v 33).”

 

10/21/2021 9:03 AM

PT-2 "The Hatred by Society" (Matthew 10:22)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/20/2021 11:28 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  PT-2 “The Hatred by Society”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 10:22

 

            Message of the verse:  “22 "And you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

 

            I have to say that coming under persecution is not something that any of us would want to go through, but as Jesus says in this verse, and I mean between the lines, is that persecution is proof of a person’s salvation.  Endurance does not produce or protect salvation, which is totally the work of God’s grace, however endurance is evidence of salvation, proof that a person is truly redeemed and a child of God.  Our God gives eternal life “to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality” writes Paul in Romans 2:7.  Let us also look at Hebrews 3:14, a verse that is becoming more and more familiar with me as it is my joy, and at times frustration to teach through this book.  “For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.”  As mentioned we do not earn our salvation through endurance, but prove it.  MacArthur writes that “theologians call this the perseverance of the saints.  The following Scriptures also emphasize perseverance:  Matt. 24:13; John 8:31; 1 Corinthians 15:1-2; Colossians 1:21-23; Hebrews 2:1-3; 4:14; 6:11-12; 10:39; 12:14; 2 Peter 1:10.”

 

            Persecution will quickly burn away chaff in the church.  I remember listening to a message by John MacArthur when this Pandemic began as he was talking about different churches being closed down because of it.  He stated something like we would probably be better off if some of the churches never did come back.  On the other hand as the state of California shut down the church he is preaching in people began to just show up and things got back to a normal existence with the exception of the state of California trying to shut them down, but that was not in the will of God.  Believers will come to church because that is what we are suppose to do.  Hebrews tells us that.  The unbelievers did not care if their churches were shut down as they had an excuse not to go. 

 

            I know that none of us look forward to having to go through persecution, but the church has always grown in times of persecution.

 

            MacArthur concludes this section:  “It is because God’s Word assures us that absolutely nothing can separate us from Christ that we can count on such unshakable endurance.  ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?’ Paul asks rhetorically.  ‘Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?’  He then answers his own question.  ‘But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom. 8:35, 37-39).”

 

            These are good things to dwell on, especially in the times that we are living in.  10/20/2021 11:58 AM