PT-1 "Intro to Blaspheming the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 12-22-32)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/31/2022 9:50 AM

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus: PT-1 Intro to “Blaspheming the Holy Spirit”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matt. 12:22-32

 

            Message of the verses:  “22 Then there was brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. 23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and began to say, "This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?" 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons." 25 And knowing their thoughts He said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. 26 “And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? 27 “And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges. 28 "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. 31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 "And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.”

 

            The first thing that I want to do is go back to the 3^rd chapter of the book of Genesis and talk a bit about what happened there when man first sinned.  I have to say that if God was not a forgiving God that He would have just destroyed mankind at that point, and started over if He desired to do so.  Even before that when Lucifer sinned and became the devil, God could have destroyed him and then start over if that was what He wanted to do.  The point that I want to make here is that God is a forgiving God, and we can see that through many different passages found in the Old and New Testaments.  Let me say one more thing here and that is before God created man everything was perfect, and as one looks at God’s attributes they too were perfect, needing nothing.  However as one looks at His attributes of justice, mercy, and graciousness there were not being used, as far as I can see, and as far as others that I have read who wrote on the attributes of God.  Once man sinned than God’s justice, mercy and also graciousness would be seen along with His forgiveness, and perhaps  that is why God created man.

 

            Verses that speak of God’s forgiveness in the OT:  “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You” (Ps. 86:5).  “Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases” (Ps. 103:3).  “"To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;” (Dan. 9:9).  “6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations’” (Ex. 34:6-7).

“18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:18-19).

 

            I have already mentioned the fact that God forgave Adam and Eve for sinning, but as we move on through the Old Testament we also see that God forgave the sinfulness of the patriarchs, as he forgave Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the sons of Jacob when as we read about them they committed many sins, but because of God’s forgiveness and God’s plan for them He forgave them, and He will forgive us if we only come to Him in repentance, as we confess our sins before Him and invite Jesus Christ into our hearts.

 

            We will conclude this first section of this intro into looking at “Blaspheming the Holy Spirit” by looking at some New Testament verses that speak of God’s forgiveness.  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7).  “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14).  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).  “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake” (1 John 2:12).

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I suppose that I at times, take for granted of the truth that God has forgiven me of all my sins, past, present, and future.  However it takes a section like this that I am studying in Matthew’s gospel to remind me what it cost God, and what it cost my Savior to pay for those sins, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord to give me wisdom as I work on my Spiritual Diaries this week, along with preparing my two lessons that I teach too.  I cannot do this on my own, but need to have power as I rely on God’s Holy Spirit to teach me what I am to prepare and what I am to say to the classes.

 

1/31/2022 10:26 AM

 

 

Consummating the Victory (Matt. 12:20a-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2022 8:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  “Consummating the Victory”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Matthew 12:20a-21

 

            Message of the verses:  “Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

 

            A quotation from John MacArthur as we conclude this section from Matthew twelve:  “Ultimately right will win.  In spite of oppression, persecution, and rejection, Jesus was destined to be victorious.  As ‘He leads justice to victory,’ He will bring with Him all who belong to Him and who have themselves been opposed, persecuted and rejected by the world.  When Christ takes His rightful place as Lord and King, justice will ‘roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream’ (Amos 5:24).”

 

 

“Down in the human heart

Crushed by the tempter,

Feelings lie buried

That grace can restore,

Touched by a loving heart,

Wakened by kindness,

Chords that were broken

Will vibrate once more.”

 

(Rescue the Perishing,” Fanny J. Crosby).

 

1/30/2022 8:10 AM

 

 

 

Comforting the Weak (Matt. 12:20a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/29/2022 10:22 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  “Comforting the Weak”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 12:20a

 

            Message of the verse:  “A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out.”

 

            I want to mention again the same two things that I mentioned in our last SD, and that is we are still in the section of Matthew where it comes from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, and both today’s and tomorrow’s SD’s will be very short.

 

            Her are some interesting facts about how reeds were used in ancient Israel, and may still be used like this in the Middle-East even today.  Reeds were used for many different purposes and once they became bent or battered they were useless.  There were times when a shepherd would take a reed and actually make music from playing it, and this was done to help calm the sheep while they stopped for the night, but once it became cracked, it would no longer make music and thus the shepherd would have to throw it away.

 

            Now we want to talk about lamps and wicks.  When the lamp burned down to the end of the wick, it would only smolder and smoke without making any light, and since such a smoldering wick was useless, it was put out and then it was thrown away, just like the broken reed.

 

            Now the application is that the reed and the wick represent people whose lives are broken and worn out, ready to be discarded and replaced by the world.  It was because they could no longer make music or give light that society casts off the weak and the helpless, the suffering and the burdened, and these were the kind of people the Romans ignored as useless and we also know that the Pharisees felt about them just like the Romans did.

 

            John MacArthur writes “One of the most obvious legacies of the fall is man’s natural tendency to destroy.  Small children will often step on a bug just for the sake of killing it, or snap off a beautiful bud just before it flowers.  A tree branch is broken for the sake of breaking it, and a stone is thrown at a bird just to see it fly away or fall to the ground.  On a more destructive scale, adults devour and undercut each other in business, society, politics, and even in the family.

            “The nature of sinful man is to destroy but the nature of the holy God is to restore.  The Lord will not break off or put out even the least of those who come to Him, and He gives dire warning to those who would do so.  ‘Whoever causes one of the little ones who believe in Me to stumble,’ Jesus said, ‘it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea’ (Matt. 18:6).”

 

            What can we learn from this?  Well we can learn that in the hands of the Savior, that the battered reed is not discarded but restored, and also that the moldering wick is not put out but rekindled.

1/29/2022 10:41 AM

 

 

Committed to Meekness (Matt. 12:19)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2022 9:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  “Committed to Meekness”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 12:19

 

            Message of the verse:  19 “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT;

NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS.”

 

            A couple of things before I get started: First we are still in the quotations from Isaiah, and second this SD will be a very short one, and it is a good day for me to do a short one as my former Pastor’s wife died a week ago and we must go to her funeral this afternoon.  I still miss my former Pastor who went to be with the Lord in 2009.  It is good that his wife is now in heaven with her Lord and with her husband.

 

            MacArthur writes “Epizo (to ‘quarrel’) carries the idea of wrangling, hassling, or even brawling.  Kraugazo (to ‘cry out’) means to shout or scream excitedly.  The term was something used of a dog’s barking, a raven’s squawking, and even a drunk’s bawling.”

 

            Jesus did not come to sermonize and sweet-talk people with the gospel like a rabble-rousing zealot who inflames his hearers by appealing to their emotions and prejudices.  If you think about people who do these kind of things you may think of a TV evangelist who is trying to make people feel guilty and then to get them to feel better he wants them to send money to his organization so he can get rich and you can get poorer.  On the other hand Jesus spoke with dignity and was always in control, and He used no means of persuasion but only the truth.  As we read through the gospel accounts we can see that Jesus never organize a mob or resorted to trickery, lies, or scheming, as His opponents routinely did against Him, and we know that his opponents were mostly made up of the scribes and the Pharisees.  Jesus was the way of gentleness, meekness, and lowliness; Jesus was perfect in every way.  Even though He was the Son of God, the divine Messiah, and the rightful King of kings, He never tried to secure a hearing, much less a following, by political power, physical force, or emotional protest.

 

            MacArthur concludes this short section by writing:  “Even the wisdom of man knows that no real persuasion can be made by force or intimidation.  As Solomon reminds us, ‘The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools’ (Eccles. 9:17; cf. 1 Cor. 2:1-5).”  “1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4  and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5  so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

 

            As we look over the different places where we find the Apostle Paul in Scripture, and I am mostly talking about in the book of Acts, but other places too we find that Paul patterned his life after the Lord Jesus Christ, the very best pattern to follow.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I had an experience last night with my neighbors as I had taken them some of our left over dog food we had and gave it to them for their three dogs.  I believe that the wife is a Christian, as I have had a chance to talk to her on a few occasions.  I presented the gospel message to her husband, who says he is a believer, but shows no signs of being one.  I had the chance to very calmly tell him my testimony as on Wednesday I celebrated my 48^th “New Birth Birthday.”  He understood what God had done for me, but did not understand the important part of being born again.  In talking with his wife who has a decision to make I suggested that she take it to the Lord, something she said she would do, but I don’t think she would have until I gave her the suggestion.  I pray for this couple a lot and will continue to pray for them.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord to give me the wisdom to teach a Bible Study this afternoon, and then to teach our Sunday school class this Sunday.

 

1/28/2022 9:49 AM 

Communicating the Message (Matt. 12:18c)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2022 8:44 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  “Communication the Message”   

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Matthew 12:18c 

 

            Message of the verse:  “and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.”

 

            We are still in the section of Matthew 12 that comes from the book of Isaiah, as he is prophesying about the Messiah, and in this last part of verse 18 Isaiah is prophesying that the Lord’s beloved Servant would proclaim a message of truth and justice to the Gentiles, which is exactly what Jesus did.  This certainly goes against the thinking of the Jews in that day and probably the Jews of our day too, that is that the Messiah would also redeem Gentiles around the entire world, and not just Israel.  MacArthur adds “Israel was, in fact, to be the channel of God’s grace to the rest of the world.  In His first great promise to Abraham, God declared, ‘And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ (Gen. 12:3).  Israel was called to be God’s agency for reaching the world for Himself; and when the Jews as a nation rejected God, He had to raise up a new agent, the church, to accomplish that purpose.”  Israel was certainly blessed by God in bringing them into existence, but Israel became selfish with their God, and did not want the Gentiles to have any part of their God.  This is still going on today as in one of the sermons on the book of Hebrews I heard of a Rabbi who said we have 14 million Jews and we are not looking to add any more.  He was talking about Gentile proselytes.

 

            I think that it was interesting that the first person that Jesus told that He was the Messiah was a woman who was a Samaritan, that is half Jew and half Gentile.  Both women and Samaritans were people that the Jews of Jesus’ day hated.  It was early in His ministry that He had Gentile followers from Idumea, the Trans-Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon as seen in Mark 3:8.  Jesus healed the servant of a Gentile centurion which is seen in Matthew 8:10, and Jesus talked about this man’s great faith. 

 

            As we read through the gospels we see that the Jews of His day certainly hated any attention that Jesus gave to the Gentiles, and especially His treating them equally with the Jewish people.  They certainly did not even want to think about “their” Messiah coming to redeem Gentiles, but that is exactly what their prophet Isaiah wrote about.  There is a story in the 22^nd chapter of the book of Acts where we find Paul being arrested and almost killed by a mob.  Paul was able to talk to the crowd as the Roman soldiers came and had thing under control.  The Jewish crowd listened to Paul about his vision that he had when God saved him, but when he told them that God called him to go to the Gentiles they again wanted to kill him.  MacArthur concludes “Almost no truth of the gospel was as hard for Jews to accept as the truth that salvation and fellowship with God were for Gentiles as well as Jews.  The notion was utterly inconceivable to them, and, as clear from the account just mentioned, (the account from Acts 22), they considered it a form of blasphemy.  

            “But God’s plan for redemption had always included the Gentiles, and to them the Messiah was to proclaim justice and deliverance from sin just as to the Jews.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I realize that there is no way that I deserve God’s grace, and also there is no way that I could ever in my own strength earn my way to having a relationship with God, and that is why I am so very thankful that through the wonderful grace of God that He sent His Messiah in order to save me.  I am beginning my 49^th year of serving the Lord and I desire to continue that as long as God allows me to do so, hopefully until He comes at the Rapture of the church, hopefully very soon!

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  By God’s grace and the empowering of His Holy Spirit to fight the good fight.

 

1/27/2022 9:27 AM

Commissioned by The Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:18b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2022 9:48 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  “Commissioned by the Holy Spirit”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 12:18b

 

            Message of the verse:  “I will put My Spirit upon Him.”

 

            It is good to remember that Matthew is quoting the prophet Isaiah in verses 18-21 of this 12^th chapter of the book of Matthew, and so it is through Isaiah, God promised that He would put His Spirit upon the Messiah in a very unique way.  It was at the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ that the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove as seen in Matthew 3:16 where we read “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him.”  Now notice the highlighted portion of this verse “as a dove” and the words as and like are similes, so this means that the Spirit of God came down on our Lord in the same way that a dove lands, which is very slowly, and it does not mean that the Holy Spirit was in the form of a dove.  John MacArthur writes “But that was not when He was indwelt by the Spirit.  Unique to all mankind, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20); and if John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit from His mother’s womb (Luke 1:15), how much more so was Jesus.

            “Yet, if Jesus was the preexistent Son, eternally one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in what way could the Spirit have come upon Him during His humanity?  First of all, the coming of the Spirit upon Jesus was a bestowing of power to His human nature.  His divine nature was already one with the Spirit and did not require special assistance, but His human nature did.  Jesus was fully human, even to the point of being tempted in the same way every human being is, yet without sinning (Heb. 4:15).  As a child, He grew in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52).  He had human feelings and human emotions.  He was hungry and thirsty, and He became tired and felt pain and sorrow.  His humanness received the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit in order for it to function in concert with His deity.  Therefore ‘God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power’ (Acts 10:38).”  “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

 

            There is something more and that is that Jesus required the anointing of the Spirit in order to attest to His royal service as Messiah.  There is not much said about the early years of our Lord with the exception of His birth and circumcision, and then a little bit of information while He was 12 years old, but other than that He lived in obscurity.  However when His ministry began He was given a special confirmation of authority and approval by the Father.  Let us look at Luke 4:18-19 to show us that there was a prophecy about the Messiah that Jesus applied to Himself at a synagogue in Nazareth:  “18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.’”  Now remember when I quote Scripture from the NASB and the NASB95 versions of the Bible the passages in the Old Testament when quoted in the New Testament are always in all caps.  I want to also add verse 21 to our quotation from Luke chapter four.  “21 And He began to say to them, "Today

this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

 

            MacArthur concludes by writing “As the perfect submissive Servant, Jesus functioned not only in the Father’s will and by the Father’s commendation but in the power of the Father’s Spirit.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at this very short portion of Matthew chapter 12 I can see that my Lord was under the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish what His Father desired for Him to accomplish, and so in order for me to accomplish what the Father has planned for me to do in my life (Eph. 2:10) I also must be filled with the Holy Spirit too.  He is the key for me to live out the Christian life, as He was the key for Christ to accomplish what the Father’s will was for Him.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Live my life with agape love to those around me.

 

1/26/2022 10:18 AM

Commended by the Father (Matt. 12:18a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/25/2022 9:17 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  “Commended by the Father”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 12:18a

 

            Message of the verse:  “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased:” (Phillips).

 

            John MacArthur points out that “Pais (Servant) is not the usual word for ‘servant’ and is often translated ‘son.’  In secular Greek it was used of an especially intimate servant who was trusted and loved like a son.  In the ancient Greek edition of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), pais is used of Abraham’s chief servant (Gen. 24:2), of Pharaoh’s royal servants (41:10, 38), and of angels as the Lord’s supernatural servants (Job 4:18).”

 

            It is Jesus Christ who is God’s supreme Servant, as He is His holy Son whom He has chosen to redeem the world.  MacArthur adds “The Greek phrase translated ‘I have chosen’ (from hairetizo) indicates a firm and determined decision and is used nowhere else in the New Testament. It is used in secular Greek of irrevocably (permanently) adopting a child into the family as an heir who could never be disenfranchised.  The Father had irrevocably ‘chosen’ His ‘beloved’ Son to be His divine ‘Servant,’ the only One qualified for the task of redemption.”

 

            As we look into the prophets of the Old Testament we can see that they spoke of God choosing the Messiah that He was referred to as “The Chosen One.”   In Luke’s gospel we see that the rulers were sneering at our Lord and even called Him “His Chosen One” referring to God’s chosen One.  They knew so much about Jesus being the “Chosen One” but would not put their trust in Him for salvation.  I have mentioned before that the more you know about how salvation can be gotten, and then not chose to follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the greater the punishment will be in Hell.

 

            It is Jesus who is the Father’s ‘beloved, in whom’ His ‘soul is well-pleased.’  Now it is through the grace of God, and according to Ephesians 1:6-7 “which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved,” that “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”  John MacArthur writes “Against the testimony of Israel and of the world is the testimony of the Father.  Jesus said, ‘If I along bear witness of Myself, My testimony is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the testimony which He bears of Me is true,…the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness of Me’ (John 5:31-32, 36-37).”

 

            We will look at two times that the Father spoke from heaven.  “"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." This occurred at our Lord’s Baptism.  “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!’”  This occurred at the transfiguration found in Matt. 17:5, the first in Matthew 3:17.

 

            Here is the truth that needs to be understood, and that is it is impossible for men to be well-pleasing to God unless they come to Him through His Son, and He is the One whom is well pleased.  Romans 8:8-9 says “8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Col 2:6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”  This verse speaks to me in showing me that the way that I was saved is the way that I should walk with the Lord, and that is through the power of the Holy Spirit, the same One who 48 years ago tomorrow gave me an effectual call that I could not say no to and I became a new person in Jesus Christ my Savior and my Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that I am walking in the power of the Holy Spirit doing the things that He desires me to do.

 

1/25/2022 9:59 AM

 

 

PT-4 "Conformed to God's Plan" (Matt. 12:15-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/24/2022 11:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  PT-4 “Conformed to God’s Plan”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 12:15-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to make Him known, 17 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, saying,”

 

            We have been talking about why Jesus had told those whom He did miracles for not to make Him known, and so we want to begin this SD with another possible reason as to why He did not want them to make Him known.  This possible reason was not to make Him known is the possibility of making too much and exaggerate what was going on.  These miracles that He was doing were evidence of His divine power and His rightful claim to messiahship. Jesus did not perform them in order to become popular or famous or to build up a popular base of power and influence—as many of His followers expected Him to do.  MacArthur writes “An although He had great compassion for the physical afflictions of the people, His primary work was to save souls, not bodies.  Not only enthusiasm for Him as a military and political deliverer, which most Jews expected the Messiah to be but which Jesus refused to be.  It was for that reason that He withdrew from the crowds after the feeding of the 5,000.  ‘Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone’ (John 6:15).”

 

            As Jesus continued to do these miracles they would continue to insight the rage of the “religious” system in Israel, the ones who would be used by Lord to put Him to death in order that while on the cross, in those hours of darkness, that Jesus would pay for the sins of the world, including my sins and yours.

 

            We will look at one more reason, and it may be the most important reason to not want His miracles to be too highly acclaimed was that this was not the time of His exaltation but of His humiliation.  One must remember that as noted here that Jesus came the first time to bring about salvation, but the next time He will be the lion of Judah, and not the lamb.

 

            I am sure that many of the people around Jesus were wondering if He was the Messiah why He didn’t take on Rome.  Well the answer is in the above paragraph.

 

            As Matthew continue his gospel he will assure his readers that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, just as this was foretold by Isaiah the prophet.    “17 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, saying.”  Jesus did not come to fulfill the confused and the unscriptural expectations of the people.  He came to fulfill His divine mission as was predicted in His very own Word.  Jesus was to make sure that every divine prediction about His mission written in the OT would be fulfilled.

 

            As we will be taking a look soon at Matthew 12:18-21, we will see in the NASB95 version that it is in all caps and this is because it is a modified quotation of Isaiah 42:1-4 and this is one of the most striking beautiful descriptions of Jesus Christ that is found anywhere in Scripture.  It is here we will see that Jesus was commended by Father and that He was commissioned by the Holy Spirit, that He communicated His Father’s message, and that He was committed to meekness and to the comforting to the weak, and then also that He would consummate the victory over sin and Satan.  Here are these verses to look at “18  

 

18 "BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. 19 “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. 20  "A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. 21 "AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE."

 

“18 Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, And he shall declare judgment to the gentiles. 19 He shall not strive, nor cry aloud; Neither shall anyone hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, And smoking flax shall he not quench, Till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21 And in his name shall the gentiles hope” (Phillips).

 

1/24/2022 11:39 AM

 

PT-3 "Conformed to God's Plan" (Matt. 12:15-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/23/2022 8:07 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  PT-3 “Conformed to God’s Plan”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 12:15-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to make Him known, 17 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, saying,”

 

            We want to move a little further into the verses that we are looking at in this section of Matthew as we look at verse sixteen “and warned them not to make Him known.”  This is the same thing that Jesus told the leper in Matthew 8:4 “See that you tell no one.”  He also told the two blind men in Matthew 9:30 “See here, let no one know about this!”

 

            Some may think this to be a strange command, but there are probably several reasons why Jesus gave such instructions on certain occasions.  MacArthur writes “In the case of the leper, Jesus prescribed the Old Testament procedure for going to the priests to have a cleansing verified (Lev. 14:2-32).  The testimony of the priests would give official recognition of the man’s healing and therefore give more dramatic evidence of Jesus’ messianic credentials.”

 

            Another reason for Him not wanting to have this told to others is that once again we go back to the leper who did not follow His instructions, and therefore there were so many people around Jesus that He was unable to do any work in healing others and telling them the Good news.  Perhaps Jesus did this so that He could confront people in doing more miracles Himself, and thus they too could see that He was indeed the Messiah as He did the miracles and not have someone tell them that He had done them.  As we think back about when John the Baptist sent people to ask Jesus if He was really the Messiah, Jesus did not really answer them in speaking to them, but He did it by performing many miracles in order for those that John sent could see for themselves that He was indeed the Messiah.  Luke writes about this as seen in Luke 7:21 “At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.”

 

            It is Sunday morning and the snow is coming down and I am to go and teach our Sunday school class, but before that I have to make sure the driveway is cleaned out so Lord willing, we will finish this section in our next SD.

 

1/23/2022 8:23 AM

 

PT-2 "Conformed to God's Plan" (Matt. 12:15-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/22/2022 11:05 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  PT-2 “Conformed to God’s Plan”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matt. 12:15-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to make Him known, 17 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, saying,”

 

            We see in verse fifteen that after Jesus left the synagogue that “many followed Him, and He healed them all.”  Jesus healed many people who did not believe in Him for salvation.  Remember the story about the ten lepers that Jesus healed and only one of them returned, and the one who returned was a Samaritan.  Jesus said to that Samaritan “your faith has made you well” and I believe that this refers to the man’s spiritual healing through salvation, and not to his physical healing, which had already taken place while he was walking away.  All ten lepers were physically healed, but only one was healed spiritually as seen in the story from Luke 17:11-19.  I have heard that while Jesus was on the earth that in the places where He was healing that there could not have been many people with illness left.  I think the point of this is that this will picture what will happen in the millennial kingdom when Jesus sits on the throne of King David.

 

            The miracles that Jesus did demonstrated His divine power, but they also demonstrated His divine love and His great compassion for suffering people, something that all believers should be demonstrating, and I am talking about compassion for suffering people.  The people that Jesus healed were mostly the down and outers who were despised and neglected by the scribes and Pharisees, as well as the priesthood.  These are all the ones who thought that they were better than anyone else in Israel.  We have recently talked about the man with the withered hand and one of the things that came out of that story was the disgust that the Pharisees had for this man.  MacArthur writes “Not only were they oppressed by the Romans but by their own religious leaders, those who should have been their shepherds.  Those leaders were wolves dressed like shepherds, and instead of feeding the sheep they devoured them (Matt. 7:15; 23-14).  They were like the wicked shepherd spoken of by Zechariah who devoured the flesh of the fat sheep and tore off their hooves (Zech. 11:16.”  “"For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or sustain the one standing, but will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs” (Zech. 11:16).

 

            There was a great difference when the true shepherd came to Israel as we have been seeing, as He had great compassion for His suffering people and He lovingly healed them of every kind of disease and affliction.  Remember what our Lord said in Matthew 11:28-30 “28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’”  MacArthur adds “False shepherds impose burdens, but the true Shepherd lifts them.  That is why Peter tells us to cast our burdens and anxieties on the ‘Chief Shepherd,’ because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:4, 7).

            “Christ feels the pain that hurts us and the weight of burdens that grind us down; and in His gracious loving-kindness He heals our hurts and lifts our burdens.”

 

            Lord will we willing continue to look at these verses in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have been experiencing some similar things with the people of the small Bible study that I have been teaching at a friend’s house as there are two of the people that have come who have had problems with either drugs or alcohol.  One has had the great love of her father for so many years and now she lives with him, taking care of him in his old age.  He never gave up on her, and now she is a believer who is growing in the Lord.  One man gave his heart to the Lord a month or so ago as God graciously gave me the opportunity of leading him to faith in Christ, and he also seems to be growing.  His son was coming but now is in rehab for his drinking issues, and we prayed for him after the study yesterday.  His dad, the new believer is hurting over this.  If you desire, please pray for Steve. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord to continue to give me wisdom and compassion for the people in this Bible Study that I have been teaching.

 

1/22/2022 11:44 AM   

 

 

PT-1 "Confromed To God's Plan" (Matt. 12:15-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/21/2022 11:21 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  PT-1 “Conformed to God’s Plan”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 12:15-17

 

            Message of the verses:  “15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16 and warned them not to make Him known, 17  in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, saying.”

 

            I kind of find it different when we begin in the middle of a paragraph while looking at John MacArthur’s commentary and so I will quote verse fourteen now so that we can get a better flow of the verses:  “14 But the Pharisees went out, and counseled together against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”  We look at this verse in an earlier SD.

 

            We can see according to verse fifteen that Jesus was aware of what was going on found in verse fourteen, and of course He knows everything that is going on all of the time.  As Jesus knew what it was that the Pharisees were wanting to do He then moves on as seen in verse 15.  In my study of John’s gospel, and then looking at it again yesterday as I am teaching a very small Bible study this afternoon on John 7:53-8:11.  The point is that the theme of the Gospel of John is that Jesus became a man in order to come to earth to do His Father’s will, and that is what He will do, and so as we look at this section we know that it was not the will of the Father to have His Son’s crucifixion at this time.  MacArthur writes “When the time came, Jesus accepted His arrest, trial, and crucifixion without complaint or resistance—although at any time He could easily have saved Himself and destroyed those who sought to destroy Him.  When the soldiers came to arrest Him in the garden of Gethsemane, the fell down in awe simply at hearing Him say, “I am He” (John 18:38).  When, a few moments later, Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s slave, Jesus said, ‘Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.  Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?’ (Matt. 26:52-53).”   Know for sure that Jesus was the One who was in control of all that happened to Him while on planet earth, including His crucifixion.

 

            I have mentioned that as we look at the life of our Lord while on earth that the first part of it was very calm, compared to what the last part of it was as the last part would involve a lot of harassment from the “Jews.”  We are now beginning this second part of Jesus ministry, the harassment part.  The first part was a continual cycle that consisted of going to a particular city or region; or preaching, teaching, and healing; of acceptance by some and then there was rejection by other, but not a lot of harassment.  I have always thought that in the synoptic gospels that when we come to the point of Jesus life when the Pharisees said that He was doing His miracles in the power of Satan, (which He was really doing them in the power of the Holy Spirit), that this was the typing point, and this is where Jesus told them that they could not be pardoned from that sin.  We will get to that part soon in the gospel of Matthew and perhaps have more to say about it then.

 

            Now we see in verse 15 “Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there,” and this shows us that Jesus was never forced away from a place of ministry but always withdrew on His own volition.  It is for certain that if Jesus chose to use His power that He could have stayed there, but as mentioned His life was doing what His Father planned for Him to do, and so He withdrew. 

 

            I will conclude this SD with a quote from MacArthur’s commentary:  “The essence of Jesus’ life, His very food, was to do His Father’s will and ‘to accomplish His work’ (John 4:34).  Jesus had the true heart of a servant, and He was submissive to His Father and wholly given to redeeming a lost world.  There was never a servant like this Servant, ‘who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross’ (Phil. 2:6-8).”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have always loved those verse from Philippians as they tell of how great a Servant that Jesus was, and they show me that I should be a servant too.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to remember that God has a plan for me to do, and I suppose unlike Jesus whose desire was always to do His Father’s Will, because I am a sinful man there are times when I don’t do His will, and that makes me very sad.

            I am still trying, but doing better in getting over the death of my dog, a member of our household for close to 16 years.

 

1/21/2022 11:57 AM

 

           

Intro to "God's Beloved Servant" (Matt. 12:15-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/20/2022 12:05 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  “Intro to God’s Beloved Servant”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 12:15-21

 

            Message of the verses:  “15 But Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed Him, and He healed them all, 16  and warned them not to make Him known, 17  in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, saying, 18  "BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM I HAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES. 19 “HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. 20  "A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. 21 “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.’”

 

            Now because this introduction is so short I want to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary what he has written as he introduces these verses from Matthew 12:15-21.

 

            “Scripture ascribes many titles to Christ (Messiah), and none is more fitting or lovely than My Servant, a title first used by Isaiah (42:1).  Just as the prophet predicted of the Messiah, Jesus came in wonder, beauty, and majesty as the divine Servant, serving the Father and serving mankind in the Father’s name.

            “This brief passage is an oasis of refreshing beauty in the desert of chapters 11 and 12—which chronicle the first major rejection of Christ, led by the scribes and Pharisees.  After Jesus put them to shame by showing that their Sabbath traditions were hard-hearted, illogical, and unscriptural, ‘the Pharisees went out, and counseled together against Him, as to how they might destroy Him’ (12:14).  Those ungodly leaders believed the very opposite of the truth about Jesus, even to the point of accusing Him of doing His work by the power of Satan.

            “In the midst of his account of that mounting antagonism, Matthew here presents some of the outstanding characteristics of this Servant whom the world despises by God dearly loves.”

 

            At this point of the introduction I want to give the main section titles as we move through these verses.  “Conformed To God’s Plan,” (verses 12:15-17).  “Commended by the Father” (verse 12:18a).  “Commissioned by the Holy Spirit” (verse 12:18b).  “Communicating the Message” (verses 12:18c).  “Committed to Meekness” (verse 12:19).  “Comforting the Weak” (verse 12:20a). “Consummating the Victory” (verses 12:20b-21).

 

1/20/2022 12:22 PM