SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/11/2021 11:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
The Persecution
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:17-18
Message of the verses: “17 "But
beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the courts, and scourge
you in their synagogues; 18 and you shall even be brought before governors and
kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.”
When Jesus says beware of men He is speaking of them
being the wolves and then gives warnings about four areas in which they
persecute believers. 1)in religion, 2)
in government, 3) in the family, and 4) in society in general. Interspersed within the warnings are further
instructions about the attitudes that His disciples should have and the
provision their heavenly Father will supply.
Now
the ultimate enemy that we face are the devil and his demons as seen in
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
These men don’t really have a beef with us but because we belong to
Jesus Christ that is who they hate, and so they will harm believers in order to
get to Christ. It is these men, the
agents of the devil and his demons who will kill men.
Beware of these opponents; Jesus
says to be on guard, to be watchful, to be perceptive. We are to be innocent, but certainly not naïve. MacArthur writes “When well-meaning believers
insist on putting the best face on every evil, they are not demonstrating love
but foolishness and self-deception. Not
to beat an unbeliever over the head with the vileness of his sin is one thing;
to minimize his sin and his lostness apart from Christ is quite another. To love our enemies and not return evil for
evil is one thing; to deny they are enemies is quite another.”
In the fifth chapter of Matthew and
verses 10-11 we see that Jesus had already promised blessing for those who have
been persecuted. Here He promises the
persecution that ultimately brings the blessing.
At the time when Jesus gives this
talk to his disciples they had not experienced any persecution, as we have said
this passage telescopes all the way to the tribulation period. At this time resistance to Jesus had not
grown strong, but He knew it would, and He knew that it would end up in His
death on a cross.
Now Jesus purpose in warning about
persecution was not to frighten the apostles and make them suspicious of every
human being who was not a true believer.
The very mission of the apostles was to convert the unsaved and win them
to Christ’s kingdom. But they needed to
be warned not to expect the world to receive the gospel and its messengers with
open arms, for they certainly would not do that. However the apostles and for that matter all
believers needed to be warned not to expect the world to receive the gospel and
its messengers with open arms. MacArthur
concludes “Satan’s world system, of whom every unbeliever is a part, is diametrically
opposed to Christ, His people, and His kingdom.
Satan will enlist the support of every unbeliever possible in his fight
against God. Jesus’ purpose in the text
was to caution the apostles, and all of His people, not to be surprised when
they are criticized, ostracized, and even imprisoned and put to death for His
sake.
Living in the
world of today, which I believe is so very close to the time of Christ’s return
for His church, I can see more and more trouble brewing for believers.
10/11/2021
12:18 PM
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