SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/19/2023 8:04 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: PT-1 “Intro to Matt. 24:1-3”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
24:1-3
Message of the verses: “1 And Jesus came
out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out
the temple buildings to Him. 2 And He answered and said to them, "Do you
not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left
upon another, which will not be torn down." 3 And as He was sitting on the
Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us,
when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and
of the end of the age?’”
I begin my fifth year in my study of the gospel of
Matthew and I get to me, what is the most important part of this book. I say to me and the reason is because it was
through the study of the end times that the Lord brought me to Himself and
saved me almost 50 years ago. Matthew
chapters 24-25 are what is called “The Olivet Discourse,” and the reason is that
Jesus gave this “sermon” to His disciples on the Mount of Olives. The theme of the discourse is Christ’s second
coming at the end of the present age to establish His millennial kingdom on
earth. Let me just say that the study of
these two chapters a far as looking at MacArthur’s fourth commentary on Matthew
are 126 pages long, and so all I can say is buckle up for this will take a few
months to get through this wonderful section in Matthew’s gospel.
3
And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately,
saying, "Tell us,
when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and
of the end of the age?’” This
questions prompted by the disciples is why Jesus gives this message that is
found in the rest of chapter 24 and all of 25. MacArthur writes “Now the answer
Jesus gave is the longest answer given to any question asked in the New
Testament, and its truths are absolutely essential for understanding His return
and the amazing events associated with it. It is the revelation of our Lord,
directly from His own lips, about His return to earth in glory and power.” In my study of the book of Revelation, and I
did it two times, three if you count when I taught it in Sunday school class, I
learned that chapters 6-19 parallel these two chapters in Matthew’s gospel.
I
will conclude this rather short SD with another paragraph from MacArthur’s
commentary, but before I do this I wish to state the title of this chapter that
covers these first three verses in Matthew 24.
“The Sings of Christ’s Coming—part 1 The Background.”
The teaching of the Olivet discourse is much debated
and frequently misunderstood, largely because it is viewed through the lens of
a particular theological system or interpretive scheme that makes the message
appear complex and enigmatic. But the disciples were not learned men, and Jesus’
purpose was to give them clarity and encouragement, not complexity and
anxiety. The intricate interpretations
that are sometimes proposed for this passage would have left the disciples
utterly dumbfounded. It is preferable to
take Jesus’ words as simply and as straightforwardly as possible.”
Lord
willing, we will begin to look at what the author calls “PROPHETIC EXPECTATIONS
IN JUDAISM” in our next SD.
11/19/2023 8:30 AM
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