The Pleading of the Father (Matt. 17:14-15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/31/2022 11:48 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Pleading of the Father

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 17:14-15

 

            Message of the verses:  “14 And when they came to the multitude, a man came up to Him, falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic, and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water.”

 

            From the gospel of Mark we learn that some of the multitude included some scribes, the Jewish legal experts, who were arguing with the nine disciples who had remained below, and that as soon as the crowd saw Jesus coming, “they were amazed and began to greet Him” (Mark 9:14-15).

 

            We can see from these verses that from somewhere from this multitude this man came up to Jesus and fell on his knees before Him.  I suppose that only a parent can understand the grief and heartache that this man felt.  I have felt that heartache when I found out our son had to eventually have open heart surgery, and I was on my knees before the Lord praying for my son many hours before the event happened.  This man called Jesus Lord, but we are not sure of his spiritual condition, but perhaps afterwards this man did realize who Jesus truly was.

 

            “The words “Have mercy” translates the aorist imperative of deed, which means to demonstrate sympathy and compassion.  In his deep anguish, the father pleaded with Jesus to have compassion on his son and restore him to health” writes John MacArthur.

 

            I found it interesting that the word lunatic used here means moonstruck, which has something to do with the moon as we see the word lunar in it.  This is based on the ancient belief that mental illness or madness was caused by the influence of the moon. The Greek word used here describes what we now understand to be various nervous disorders, including epilepsy, that causes convulsions.

 

            We can tell from the description that the father gives that this boy was very ill, indicating that his condition was unusually serious.  It was so severe, that as the father explains that he would often fall into the fire, and often into the water.  I think that we can understand that open fires were very common during this time period as they still are in different parts of the world today.  This boy also would fall into the water, and the father was in fear that the boy would drown.

 

            We have to think that the boy’s father knew that this was no ordinary problem, but was caused by demons.  Mark tells us that when he brought the boy to Jesus he said that he was being “possessed with a spirit which makes him mute” (Mark 9:17).  In addition to having seizures the boy was not able to speak and probably was deaf.  This demon that possessed him was very violent.  The father explains that “when the spirit seizes him he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth, and as it mauls him, it scarcely leaves him” (Luke 9:39).  Now remember Luke was a medical doctor and gives us great information that he gets from his field of medicine. 

 

            MacArthur concludes “Every unsaved person is subject to the control of Satan, ‘the prince of the power of the air’ (Eph. 2:2), and the more a person willfully sins and rejects God the more he leaves himself open to Satan’s influence.  But there is no indication that this boy’s demonic affliction was due to any unusual moral or spiritual wrongdoing on his part or on the part of his parents.  For his own reasons, Satan caused the demon to torment this particular child.”

 

10/31/2022 12:13 PM

PT-2 "Intro to The Power of Faith" (Matt. 17:14-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/30/2022 7:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  PT-2 “Intro to The Power of Faith”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 17:14-21

 

            Message of the verses:  “14 And when they came to the multitude, a man came up to Him, falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic, and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 “And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." 17 And Jesus answered and said, "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20  And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. 21 “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.’”

 

            I want to begin by continuing the quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary where we left off yesterday.

 

            “From Hebrews 11 we learn that ‘by faith Able offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain’ (v-4), that ‘by faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death’ (v-5), that ‘by faith Noah…prepared an ark…and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith’ (v-7), and that ‘by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed,…went out,…[and] lived as an alien in the land of promise,…for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God’ (vv. 8-10).  The rest of that chapter names a host of other Old Testament saints who ‘gained approval through their faith’ (v-39).  In view of ‘so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,’ the writer continues, ‘let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith’ (12:1-2). 

 

            We mentioned that Jesus is beginning to teach His disciples and will continue this theme for a number of chapters in Matthew’s gospel.  The first lesson is about faith, and this began right after Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain of transfiguration.  These three disciples just had a glimpse of the power and majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 17:2), which the apostle Paul may have been referring to when he spoke of “the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).  Now we see that the other nine disciples were brought face to face with their own lack of power, which was due directly, Jesus told them to their lack of faith.

 

            We go from the great mountain-top experience to trouble in the valley as we begin this section of Scripture, from seeing Moses, Elijah, and the glorified Lord, a preview of His second coming to the reality of the sin-cursed world at its worst.

 

            MacArthur concludes his introduction by writing “The Lord used the first tragic situation He encountered after the transfiguration as a living illustration of a principle He wanted to teach.  Within this story can be seen four key elements:  the pleading of the Father (Matt. 17:14-15), the powerlessness of the followers (v. 16), the perversion of the faithless (vv. 17-18), and the power of faith (vv. 19-21).”

 

            I look forward to studying these verses, as I know that I will be taught much more about these verses than I have ever known in the past.

 

10/30/2022 8:20 AM

Intro to "The Power of Faith" (Matt. 17:14-21)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/29/2022 11:10 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus: Intro to “The Power of Faith”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference: Matthew 17:14-21

 

            Message of the verses:  “14 And when they came to the multitude, a man came up to Him, falling on his knees before Him, and saying, 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic, and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire, and often into the water. 16 “And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." 17 And Jesus answered and said, "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. 21 “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

 

            I find it kind of amazing to be just finishing teaching the 11^th chapter of Hebrews and then coming to these verses from Matthew chapter seventeen and they all have to do with faith.  I think that the Lord wants me to understand more about faith, and it is my prayer that I will be a good listener. 

 

            As we begin looking at Matthew 17:14 it marks the beginning of a special period of instruction by Jesus to the Twelve that will continue all the way through chapter 20.  MacArthur writes “Having given them a revelation of His person as King and of His program for the kingdom, He now gives them further principles for living in the kingdom.  The first is the foundational principle of faith.  Just as spiritual life must be received by faith, so also it is to be lived by faith.”  Colossians 2:6 is a verse that has always meant a lot to me and it goes along with this quote from MacArthur.  “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” How does a person receive Christ Jesus into their life?  8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).  If you combine  Colossians 2:6 with Ephesians 2:8 you will see that  that a person is saved, by faith, is the same way the same way that we are to walk, by faith.  The truth is that from the moment we are saved until the moment we go to be with the Lord, either by dying, or by being alive at the rapture we are to live by faith, faith in God, and that is what the Lord is teaching in this section of Matthew chapter 17.

 

            Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on the book of Hebrews entitles the tenth chapter of his book which teaches the 11^th chapter of Hebrews “FAITH—THE GREATEST POWER IN THE WORLD.”  John MacArthur actually has eight chapters in his commentary on the 11^th chapter of Hebrews and as you may guess all of the titles have to do with faith.  Like I said I believe the Lord is getting my attention to learn more about faith, and I have to say that I am very happy to do so.

 

            I will close this SD with a quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary:  “Scripture gives continual testimony to the power of faith in God in the lives of believers.  It was faith in God’s power that caused young Caleb to look at the land of Canaan with its giants and report to Moses, ‘We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it’ (Num. 13:30).  It was faith in God’s care that enabled Job to say of Him in the midst of personal disaster, ‘Through He slay me, I will hope in Him’ (Job13:15).  It was faith in God’s protection that enabled Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego to stand at the edge of the fiery furnace and declare to King Nebuchadnezzar, ‘Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up’ (Dan. 3:17-18).  It was faith in God’s protection that enabled Daniel to continue faithfully worshiping God even though it meant being thrown into the lion’s den (Dan. 6:10).  It was faith in Jesus to forgive her sins that brought spiritual deliverance to the woman who entered the Pharisee’s house and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair (Luke 7:37-50).”

 

            Lord willing, we will look at another paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary and this one will what he writes about the people from the 11^th chapter of Hebrews.

 

10/29/2022 11:51 AM

PT-2 "The Tie with the Forerunner" (Matt. 17:10-13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/28/2022 9:55 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: PT-2 “The Tie With the Forerunner”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 17:10-13

 

            Message of the verses:  “10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 11 And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.”

 

            Yesterday as my wife and I were listening to the Bible we began listening to the gospel of Luke and I want to quote the verse that was talking about John the Baptist as the Forerunner of the Messiah.  "It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). 

 

            We will get to the prophecy of the forerunner found in the Old Testament book of Malachi in a moment, as I promised to write about John the Baptist being prophesied as the coming forerunner in the Old Testament in our last SD.

 

            It is a true statement that all teaching that is only based on Scripture, as the Scribes and Pharisees liked to teach becomes misleading, and thus was the case about having Elijah come before the Messiah.  Jesus responded to the question of His disciples by saying “Elijah is coming and will restore all things.” He is saying that there is an Elijah who is yet to come; and when he comes he will restore all things, just as Malachi prophesied.  Jesus goes on to explain that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.”

 

            We will again quote the passage from Malachi 4:5-6 “5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse" (Mal. 4:5-6).  This is what Luke writes in Luke 1:17 as quoted above.

 

            John MacArthur explains:  “The Elijah prophesied by Malachi was not to be a reincarnation of the ancient prophet.  Rather, as the angel told Zacharias regarding his son John the Baptist, the prophesied forerunner would come ‘in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17).  John would not be the ancient prophet come back to earth but would minister in much the same style and power as had Elijah.  In that way, as Jesus had told the disciples at least once before [John] is Elijah, who was to come (Matt. 11:14).

 

            “Why then, some wonder, did John himself disclaim being Elijah?  When the priests and Levites from Jerusalem asked him, ‘Are you Elijah?’…he said, I am not’ (John 1:21).  He denied being Elijah because, though he knew of the prophecy of Luke 1, like Jesus he realized the question was about a literal, reincarnated Elijah.  And, though John did not share Jesus’ omniscience, he doubtlessly also realized that the questioning of the priests and Levites originated from unbelief, not sincere faith.  They were not interested in learning the truth but of finding a way to discredit John, just as they would later seek ways to discredit the One whose way he came to prepare.”

 

            These Jewish leaders were only out for not allowing any other person to step on their territory even if it was in fulfillment of God’s written Word.  They were phonies and when 70 A.D. came around their false system of Judaism would be done with.  I believe that it is fair to call what they were teaching as being a cult.  They did not want to recognize that John was the one prophesied by Malachi because that would mean that the real Messiah was on the way, and that would be trouble for them.  John the Baptist was treated cruely and would eventually be killed, to which I have to believe made them happy. 

 

            The full wickedness of the Jewish leaders would come about when they rejected “the Son of Man,” and would have Him killed as He would “suffer at their hands” as Jesus tells His three disciples. MacArthur writes “Because they rejected the restoration work of Messiah’s Elijah- like precursor and then rejected the Messiah Himself, the messianic kingdom was postponed.”

 

            I have mentioned that in the book of Revelation that many believe, and me included, that the Lord will send Elijah to the earth and at time He will bring about the kingdom promised to the Jewish people.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for having a better understanding of this prophecy about John the Baptist, especially that the Jewish leaders were doing what cult leaders have done and that is give half truths.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord will continue to do a work of revival in my heart.

 

10/28/2022 10:35 AM  

 

PT-1 "The Tie With The Forerunner" (Matt. 17:10-13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/27/2022 9:39 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  PT-1 “The Tie With The Forerunner”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 17:10-13

 

            Message of the verses:  “10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" 11 And He answered and said, "Elijah is coming and will restore all things; 12 but I say to you, that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.”

 

            We begin today looking at the fifth and final confirmation of Jesus’ deity as it is seen in His messianic relationship to John the Baptist.

 

            The disciples of Jesus had just seen Elijah on the mountain, and I am sure that they knew that Elijah was to come first as this was the question that they were asking Jesus.  They knew for sure by now that Jesus was the Messiah, but they did not know why Elijah had not come before and so Jesus will set this straight in their minds as we move on through these verses.

 

            This part of the teaching of the scribes was not just based simply on rabbinical tradition but on Scriptural teaching.  Let us look where this comes from at this time:  “5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. 6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."  In our Bible the next verse that follows this verse is Matthew 1:1, and so these are the last two verses in the book of Malachi. 

 

            John MacArthur writes “The prediction that the actual Old Testament person of Elijah would be the forerunner of the Messiah and His judgment was well-known to Jews of Jesus’ day.  Therefore, as Peter, James, and John came down the mountainside with the Lord, they could not have helped wondering how the appearance of Elijah they had just witnessed fit in with Malachi’s prophecy.”

 

            The Jewish leaders probably were using the same argument that Peter, James, and John were using when they ask the Lord about why Elijah had not come before He came. 

 

            We conclude this SD with another quote from John MacArthur’s commentary:  “That misunderstanding was made easier by the many embellishments that Bible interpreters throughout the ages, including many in our own day, they liked to ‘fill in the blanks,’ as it were, where a Bible prediction was not as clear and detailed as they would have liked.  Consequently, they taught that Elijah would come again as a mighty miracle-working reformer who would bring order out of chaos and holiness out of Unholiness.  They maintained that when the Messiah arrived, the world, or at least Israel, would be morally and spiritually prepared for Him, and He would execute swift judgment and establish the kingdom for Israel.”

            I have to say that this previous paragraph has got me thinking about Elijah’s coming before the Lord Jesus comes back to earth.  I believe that John the Baptist was also seen in the Old Testament Scriptures and hopefully we will get to the bottom of this in our next SD.

 

10/27/2022 10:04 AM   

PT-2 "The Tapestry of the Scene" (Matt. 17:7-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/26/2022 9:48 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  PT-2 “The Tapestry of the Scene”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 17:7-9

 

            Message of the verses:  “7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid." 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus Himself alone. 9 And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."

 

            The first thing that Jesus did was to show loving care to Peter, James, and John, as He knew that this must have been difficult for them to see what they saw, even though it was truly a wonderful experience.  He knew that great fear was upon these men and so Jesus came to them and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid."  Perhaps it was a great relief for them to only see Jesus alone and back in the way that He was when they went up the mountain.

 

            John MacArthur writes “The impressions of the experience were now indelibly inscribed in their minds.  They could testify with certainty and boldness that Jesus had indeed manifested Himself in glory before some of them had tasted death (16:28).  Some thirty years later, Peter wrote, ‘We did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, This utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain’ (2 Pet. 1:16-18)”

 

            Now as these men saw Jesus alone it must have came to them that they saw a preview of the second coming of Jesus Christ as He will come in His glory.  I have to believe that after thinking about this for a while that the first thing that they wanted to do was to tell others of what they just saw, as they probably could not wait to tell the other disciples of what they just experienced. But as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead." 

 

            In Matthew 16:20 Jesus told the twelve not to tell anyone that He was the Christ, and now He tells these three not to speak of what they just saw on the mountain.  We have talked more than once especially in our time in Matthew that the Jews were looking for a political Messiah, and so if this got out that He was the Messiah the Jews would want to make Him their political Messiah and this was not in the timing of God’s plan. 

 

            MacArthur writes “For the people to have learned then about the experience on the mount would, as already mentioned, only have incited them to try as they did on other occasions (John 6:15; 12:12-19) to make Jesus into a king of their own kind to fulfill their immediate selfish and worldly expectations.  But when they would hear the story after the son of Man had risen from the dead, it would be clear that He had not come to conquer the Romans but to conquer death.”

 

            In conquering death Jesus was fulfilling the plan that the Father had for Him before the foundation of the earth, and nothing was going to stand in His way from dying on the cross for our sins at the exact time that He was suppose to on the exact day He was suppose to.

 

10/26/2022 10:12 AM

 

PT-1 "The Tapestry of the Scene" (Matt. 17:7-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/25/2022 8:39 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  PT-1 “The Tapestry of the Scene”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 17:7-9

 

            Message of the verses:  “7 And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, "Arise, and do not be afraid." 8 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus Himself alone.

            9 And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, "Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.’”

 

            As we began looking at this section from the 17^th chapter of Matthew we stated that this section confirms the deity of Jesus Christ, and so as we begin this section we will see the fourth confirmation of Jesus’ deity, which was the entire tapestry of the scene that gave testimony to Christ’s majestic power and royal splendor.  This was less specific and dramatic than the first three, but in its own way was impressive as we will see as we go on looking at these verses in more detail.

 

            We can see here that Jesus was still the center of the scene, and He will also be the center of the scene at His second coming which is seen in the 19^th chapter of Revelation.  When Jesus returns to planet earth His foot will touch down on the Mt. of Olives which is where He left planet earth as He ascended up into heaven, and so at this time we see Him also standing on a mountain, so the scenes are similar.  “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south” (Zech. 14:4).  When He comes, He will come with His saints as seen in 1 Thess. 3:13; and also in the letter of Jude.  Now just as here He is accompanied by Moses and Elijah, saints of the Old Covenant.  And then when He comes, He will also come to His saints (2 Thess. 1:10; Rev. 21:3-7).  Moses therefore represented the saints who will have died by the time Jesus returns, and Elijah represents those who have been raptured.

 

            “Now symbolically, the mountain is there.  The people with whom He comes are there.  The people to whom He comes are there.  And both the saints who have died and the saints who have been translated are there.”  (This is a quote from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew.)  I have to say that this is one scene that I have never put together like this before, but it surely does make it all come to gether.

 

10/25/2022 8:59 AM

           

PT-3 "The Terror of the Father" (Matt. 17:5-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/24/2022 10:15 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-3 “The Terror of the Father”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 17:5-6

 

            Message of the verses:  “5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" 6 And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid.”

 

            I think at times that I really don’t have the right respect for God that I should.  I am reading a book about this and have been convicted that I need more reverence for God.  As we look at these verses we can see that even at the voice of God the disciples “fell on their faces and were much afraid.”  When we look at the words “much afraid” in the NASB, and then look at it in the NASB95 the word is changed to terrified.  I looked up the meaning of this word and that is a very good translation of what the Greek word means.  I have thought about what would happen to me if I meet the Lord this side of heaven, and I think terrified would be what I would experience, terrified because of the awesomeness of His person.  I look at the first chapter of the book of Revelation and in that chapter this is what we read about the Apostle John when he sees the glorified Christ, and remember this is who in John’s gospel we see John resting his head on our Lord’s shoulder at the Last Supper.  “17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man” (Rev. 1:17a).  Isaiah had a similar experience, and so did the father of Samson along with his wife as after they knew who it was that they were talking to they both thought that they would soon die.  Well let me get back to finishing up on these verses as I just had to write what I wrote before continuing our look at these verses.

 

            I guess it is entirely possible that the voice of the Lord who was speaking was talking directly to Peter when He said “Listen to Me.”  He may have been saying in effect “If My Son tells you he must go to Jerusalem to suffer and die, believe Him.  If He tells you He will be raised up on the third day, believe Him.  If He tells you to take up your own cross and follow Him, that is what you are to do.  If He says He will come again in glory, then believe Him and live accordingly.” 

 

            Peter and his companions knew at this time that they were standing in the presence of God as I was talking about in the first paragraph.  John MacArthur writes “As would be expected, when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid.  Peter was probably so utterly traumatized that he promptly forgot about his presumptuous suggestion to build the three tabernacles.”

 

            MacArthur goes on:  “The combined awareness of the Lord’s grace and His majesty, His love and His justice, His friendship and His lordship should cause a kind of spiritual tension in every believer.  On the one hand he rejoices in his loving fellowship with the Lord because of His gracious kindness, and on the other hand he has reverential fear as he contemplates His awesome holiness and righteousness.  As the believer walks in obedience to God, he experiences the comfort of His presence.  But as he walks in disobedience, he should feel the terror of that same presence.  Proverbs declares that spiritual wisdom begins with the fear of God (Prov. 9:10).”  I feel good when MacArthur aggress with me.

 

            The truth is that sinful men in the presence of God always want to hide.  This is seen in the very first chapters of the Bible as we see that when the Lord created Adam and Eve that they had perfect fellowship with Him, but then after they sinned they hid from the Lord as seen in Genesis 3:8 “They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”  I mentioned Isaiah in the first paragraph and so let’s look at Isaiah 6:5 “Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’”  Now as Isaiah stood in the presence of perfect holiness, the sense of his own utter sinfulness overwhelmed him.  One of my favorite characters in the Old Testament is Daniel and in Daniel 8:15-17 we read “15 When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. 16 And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, "Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision." 17  So he came near to where I was standing, and when he came I was frightened and fell on my face; but he said to me, "Son of man, understand that the vision pertains to the time of the end.’”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The fear of the Lord is something that I continue to learn about, and I am thankful for the Lord’s teaching me about this, and pray He will continue to do so.

 

            My Steps of Faith for Today:  As I continue to read the book that I am reading, my prayer is that the Spirit of God will continue to teach me about the Lord.

 

10/24/2022 10:52 AM

PT-2 "The Terror of the Father" (Matt. 17:5-6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/23/2022 7:44 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-2 “The Terror of the Father”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 17:5-6

 

            Message of the verses:  “5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" 6 And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid.”

 

            We want to begin with, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased, and think about what this can mean.  In calling Jesus “My Beloved Son” this speaks of His relationship with Him in divine nature, however it also speaks of divine love.  They had a relationship of mutual love, commitment, and identification in every way.  Now we move onto with whom I am well-pleased, and see that the Father has declared His approval with everything the Son was, said, and what He did.  Everything about Jesus was in perfect accord with the Father’s will and plan, for after all in eternity past is where this plan was made for the Son and He has kept it just the way that it was planned.  Here are some verses that we can look at to show that Jesus was doing His Father’s will.

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner (John 5:19).

"And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him" (John 8:29).

37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38  but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father" (John 10:37-38).

49 “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. 50 “I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me" (John 12:49-50)

 

            Lord willing we will continue looking at the last part of these verses in our next SD.

 

10/23/2022 8:03 AM

PT-1 "The Terror of the Father" (Matt. 17:5-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/22/2022 10:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “The Terror of the Father”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 17:5-6

 

            Message of the verses:  “5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" 6 And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were much afraid.”

 

            We have been looking at this total section from Matthew chapter 17:1-13 which teaches us that Jesus Christ is truly God incarnate.  I know we are not to the end but this section in verses 5-6 is a third confirmation of Jesus’ deity, which is the terror caused by the intervention of the Father while Peter was still speaking.  It was through the form of a bright cloud God overshadowed the three disciples and spoke to them in a voice out of the cloud.  So to the testimony of the transfiguration itself and the testimony of the two Old Testament saints was now added the surprising testimony of God the Father.

 

            John MacArthur writes “Throughout the wilderness wanderings of Israel the Lord manifested Himself through ‘a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way’ (Ex. 13:21; Nub. 9:17; Deut. 1:33).  Isaiah predicted that ‘when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy’ (Isa. 4:4-5).  In his vision of the last days John ‘looked and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having  a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.  And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Put in your sickle, and reap, because the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.’  And He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth; and the earth was reaped’ (Rev. 14:14-16).”

 

            You may be like me and wonder why MacArthur wrote this paragraph, but I think that we will get his point, even if it will take a little.    As we look at the light that he was speaking of in this previous paragraph we can compare it to the bright cloud with which His Father overshadowed Peter, James, and John, and then He spoke to them in an audible voice,…saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him.!”  In Matthew 3:17 which is at the baptism of Jesus Christ, the Father said "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."  The first was at the beginning of His ministry and this one is towards the end of His ministry, and in John’s gospel we find another time that the Father spoke, which is very close to the time when Jesus was to be crucified for the sins of the world.  "Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again’" (John 12:28). 

 

            As we have looked at these three times that the Father called Jesus His Son, we can see that the Father declared Him to be of identical nature and essence with Himself.  Here are some verses that speak of this truth:  John 5:17-20; 8:19, 42; 10:30, 36-38.  As we look through the Scriptures we will find that frequently they refer to believers as children of God, however they are adopted children, brought into the heavenly family only through the miracle of His grace as seen in Romans 8:15, 23; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5.  Jesus is the essence of the divine nature, as the apostles repeatedly emphasize, and they did that in verses like Rom. 1:1-4; 2 Cor. 1:3; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:3; 1 John 1:2; 2 John.  Notice that all of these take place at the beginning of the letters that the apostles wrote.  They wanted to make sure this truth was seen right away, and this surely is a very important truth to understand.

 

10/22/2022 10:43 AM 

PT-3 "The Testimony of the Saints (Matt. 17:3-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/21/2022 7:47 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “The Testimony of the Saints”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference: Matthew 17:3-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’”

 

             I promised to continue the quotation from John MacArthur as we began this last portion from verses 3-4 of Matthew 17.  “Zechariah predicted that during the Millennium, when ‘the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one.  Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths’ (Zech. 14:9, 16).  That is the only week-long Old Testament festival that will be celebrated during the millennial reign of Christ.  The feast of Tabernacles will be remembered every year for a thousand years as a picture of God’s deliverance and preservation of His people.”

 

            We mentioned that this feast being close at hand may have been the reason that Peter suggested to make three tabernacles on the mountain.  That possibility is even more likely in light of the fact that this festival commemorated the Exodus from slavery in Egypt and the wilderness wanderings of Israel under Moses.  We talked in an earlier SD that Moses and Elijah was talking to the Lord about His departure, and mentioned that the word departure means exodus, or could be translated exodus, this is seen in Luke 9:31.  Now the second-coming and infinitely greater deliverance of believing mankind will be from sin.  How appropriate then, Peter may have thought, to celebrate the feast in that sacred place, not only in the presence of Moses himself but in the presence of the even greater Deliverer whom Moses foreshadowed and of whom Elijah was to be the forerunner.  I also mentioned that I believe that both Moses and Elijah will be the ones called witnesses in the book of Revelation, which means that Elijah would then be the forerunner of the Messiah when the Lord comes back to planet earth as seen in Revelation chapter 19.

 

            Peter’s idea was not foolish, but in the fact that Jesus would not have to die, that was the foolish part of his idea, for there had to be Christ’s death before His glory, which would happen when He arose from the dead.  MacArthur writes “Peter was also foolish in placing Moses and Elijah, great as they were, on the same level as Christ by wanting to build tabernacles for all three of them.  As previously noted, when Peter made this suggestion, Moses and Elijah were already departing (Luke 9:33).  They knew their mission was temporary and their testimony to Christ was now completed.  In their ministries they had merely proclaimed the word of the law and the prophets.    But Jesus Christ, the living Word was both the giver and the perfect fulfillment of the law and prophets, whose purpose was to point men to Himself (see Rom. 8:3; 10:4; Gal. 3:24).  Leaving Christ in unchallenged supremacy, Moses and Elijah faded away so that the sole reamaing object of adoration was the glorious Lord Himself.  Once their testimony to Him was finished, they would not stay and risk detracting from Him.”

 

            I have learned from this last quotation from MacArthur, and it is my prayer that those who read this will also learn new things too.

 

10/21/2022 8:11 AM

PT-2 "The Testimony of the Saints" (Matt. 17:3-4)

 

SRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/20/2022 10:34 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “The Testimony of the Saints”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 17:3-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’”

 

            Let us begin by looking at Luke 9:33 which speaks of when Moses and Elijah were parting from Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah” — not realizing what he was saying.” 

 

            Here is the part of the story that gets interesting to me as there are some who say that at this time of the year, in the month that they were in was the time of the “Feasts of Booths.”  This feast happened to show the children of Israel “camping” in the wilderness and was celebrated each year to remember this.  This feast which is also called “Tabernacles” will be celebrated in the Millennial Kingdom.  If you want more information about this look at the following website

https://israelmyglory.org/article/tabernacles-in-the-millennium/

 

            When we read that Peter was not realizing what he was saying,”  we can see that Peter completely failed to comprehend the significance of Jesus’ glory or of Moses’ and Elijah’s testimony.  I think that it would be fair to say that Peter would have been fine with just staying on the mountain top, something that all of us like to do when things are going well in our walk with the Lord, but like Peter we all have to come down.  The reason that this took place was to show those who were with Jesus that He had to die for the sins of the world before this mountain top experience would take place, which happens in the Millennial Kingdom.  If Jesus did not die for the sins of the world then there would not be a Millennial Kingdom.  Suffering had to take place for this to happen.

 

            I want to close this SD with a paragraph that actually speaks of what I have written about earlier, but I will let MacArthur address this subject.  “New Testament chronologists have determined that the Jewish month in which the transfiguration took place was Tishri (October), the sixth month before Passover and therefore six months before Jesus’ crucifixion.  During this month the Jews celebrated the feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, and it is possible that at this very time the feast was being observed in Jerusalem.  During a period of seven days the people lived in small shelters, or booths, made of boughs, symbolizing the temporary dwelling of their forefathers in the wilderness.  It as a memorial to God’s preserving His chosen and redeemed people (Lev. 12:33-44).

 

            I want to continue this quotation in our next SD, Lord willing.

 

10/20/2022 11:10 AM