SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/13/2024 12:12 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Disciples Ignorance”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
26:33-35
Message of the verses: “33 But Peter said
to Him, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never
fall away." 34 Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you that this very
night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." 35 Peter said
to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." All
the disciples said the same thing too.”
There are times when I read through John MacArthur’s
commentaries that he just writes long sections that don’t have the verses that
he is going over in these sections and those are the times when I like to quote
from the commentaries.
“The
disciples were still ignorant about many things. They were ignorant of their own weakness and
of Satan’s strength. They were ignorant
of the great power that fear would soon have over them. And they would not accept Jesus’
interpretation of the Old Testament prophecy He had just quoted regarding the
shepherd’s being struck and the sheep being scattered. In other words they were willfully ignorant,
because they persisted in trusting their own understanding above the Lord’s.
“Like
the disciples, believers only parade their ignorance when they claim to be
wise, courageous, and self-sufficient.
And often, as with the disciples, the Lord allows them to learn the hard
way that they are really foolish, cowardly, and weak.
“In
humble, sinless grace Jesus was willing to go to the cross and shed His blood
for the proud, foolish, and sinful disciples.
Although He knew they soon would be ashamed of Him and even desert and
deny Him, He was not ashamed of them. In
spite of their pride, weakness, desertion, and denials, He would draw them
again to Himself in perfect love. In a
gracious act of divine mercy He would forgive and restore them.
“Thankfully,
our Lord is devoted to restoring disciples who have fallen and been
unfaithful. In his first epistle John
reminds his readers of that comforting truth.
‘If we confess our sins,’ he wrote, ‘He is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John
1:9). Paul echoes that wonderful grace
of recovery when he instructs spiritual believers to act as Christ’s agents to
restore in love fellow believers who have fallen into sin (see Gal. 6:1).
“After Pentecost the eleven men who had deserted
their Lord in fear and shame were hardly recognizable. When they were imprisoned by the high priest
for preaching and healing and then were miraculously released by an angel, ‘they
entered into the temple about daybreak, and began to teach’ again. And when they were rearrested, flogged, and
ordered by the entire Sanhedrin ‘to speak no more in the name of Jesus,’ they
were ‘rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His
name. And every day, in the temple and
from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the
Christ’ (see Acts 5:12-42).
Lord
willing we will finish this section and chapter in the next SD.
5/13/2024 12:38 PM
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