SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/28/2023 9:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Intro to Matthew 24:4-14”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
24:4-14
Message of the verses: “4 And Jesus answered and said to
them, "See to it that no one misleads you. 5 “For many will come in
My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 “And you will be
hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those
things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 “For nation
will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places
there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 “But all these things are merely
the beginning of birth pangs. 9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and
will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. 10 “And
at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one
another. 11 “And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. 12 “And
because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 “But the one who endures to the
end, he shall be saved. 14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end
shall come.”
We are finally into what we can call the Olivet
discourse proper, which begins in verse four as Jesus gave response to the
disciple’s question, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the
sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (v.3). I think, from what I
learned that this is the longest answer to any question found in the
Scriptures, as this answer will go from verse four of chapter twenty-four to
the end of chapter 25. There are
parallel passages in Mark 13, and also in Luke 21, but this are much shorter
than this one in Matthew’s gospel. Now
as we have observed in earlier SD’s that the disciples though that the kingdom
would begin right away. “11 While they
were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was
near Jerusalem, and they
supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” (Luke
19:11). Notice the highlighted portion
of this verse. In the past SD’s I have
talked at length why it was that the disciples thought that the kingdom would
come very shortly, but when one looks at the Old Testament they will not see
prophecies about the church age despite what some think. Paul calls the church age a mystery because
it was not seen in OT prophecy. I have
heard it described of one looking off into the distance and seeing two mountain
peaks which seem to be right next to each other, but when looked at when
getting closer it is seen that there is a very large valley between the two
peaks. That large valley represents the
church age.
In
John MacArthur’s commentary on his introduction to these verses he has a lot to
say again about why the disciples believed that the kingdom was actually coming
within a week or so. Now going back to
talking about the church age and how it was not seen in the OT and was a
mystery I want to look at a series of verses from the 61st chapter
of Isaiah’s prophecy.
“1
¶ The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And
freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the
favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all
who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in
Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of
mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be
called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be
glorified.
4 ¶ Then
they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former
devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many
generations. 5 Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners
will be your farmers and your
vinedressers. 6 But you will be called the priests of the
LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the
wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. 7 Instead of your shame you
will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they
will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will possess a double portion
in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs. 8 For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery
in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And
make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Then their offspring will be known among the
nations, And their descendants in the midst of the peoples. All who see them
will recognize them Because they are the offspring whom the LORD has
blessed.
10 ¶ I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul
will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has
wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a
garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, And
as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, So the Lord GOD will
cause righteousness and praise To spring up before all the nations.” Now as you
read over these eleven verses you will see that they speak of Messiah’s coming,
and there is nothing in them to indicate the two comings of the Messiah.
Ok
Now we want to look at Luke 4:18-21 “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." 20
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the
eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them,
"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” I have mentioned that in the NASB that when a
passage comes from the Old Testament the letters are all caps and this
quotation from the Old Testament comes from Isaiah 61. Notice that Jesus did not repeat all of
Isaiah 61, and that is because the rest of those verses will not be fulfilled
until the Lord comes back at His second coming.
With
that I will close this SD, but we will continue looking at more of the
introduction to these verses in the next SD, Lord willing.
11/28/2023 10:23 AM
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