SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/29/2024 7:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “Intro to Matt. 28:1-10”
“Resurrection of Christ”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
28:1-10
Message of the verses: “1 Now after the Sabbath,
as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and
the other Mary came to look at the grave. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had
occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled
away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and
his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became
like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I
know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as
He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 “Go quickly and tell His
disciples that He has
risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee,
there you will see Him; behold, I have told you." 8 And they left the tomb
quickly with fear and
great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met
them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped
Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My
brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.’”
In these Spiritual Diaries on the introduction of
Matthew chapter 28 I have mostly been quoting from the commentary of John
MacArthur so that we will know where he is going in explaining these verses.
“Even
the most irreligious person who knows anything about Christian history and
doctrine knows that Christians believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead. But the unbelieving world has many reactions
to that belief, most of them negative and all of them wrong.
“One
of the most common modern reactions is that of rationalism, which rejects the
idea of resurrection and all other supernatural elements of Scripture because
such things cannot be explained by scientific observation and human
reason. This humanistic philosophy
considers man’s mind to be the ultimate reality, and only that which his own
mind can perceive and comprehend is recognized as true or significant.
“Many
people are simply indifferent to the resurrection, not caring whether it is
true or not. Religion in general, and
Christianity in particular, are of no concern to them. Other people do not believe in resurrection
because of ignorance about its nature and meaning. They may never have heard of such a thing or
never have heard it explained accurately and clearly.
“Some
people are intentionally hostile. They
do not reject the resurrection because it seems unprovable to human reason or
because they hate the things of God.
Some people even seem to consider in their role in life and history to
try to discredit the resurrection.
“The
gospel writers, however, and every other leader in the early church realized
that their supreme role in life and history was to proclaim the reality of the
resurrection and the many other truths about Jesus Christ. Although the disciples, and mot of Jesus’
other followers, were slow to believe their Lord actually rose from the dead,
they soon became so overwhelmed by its reality that they could think or talk or
little else.
Although
they reveal the same divine truths in perfect harmony with one another, each of
the gospel writers presents the resurrection from a distinctive
perspective. Matthew does not approach
the resurrection from a scholarly, historical, analytical, or evidential
perspective but focuses rather on the emotional reaction of a group of women
who loved Jesus deeply.”
In
the next SD. Lord willing I will begin to look at the first verse of Matthew
chapter 28. Now I want to write to those
of you who have perhaps “stumbled” onto my blog and may even be reading about
the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the first time in your life and have great
wonder of what it is all about. Well let
me begin to tell you that the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is
one of if not the most important truths in all of the Word of God. Jesus Christ came to earth in order to die on
the cross for the sins of the world, and since He is the Son of God come in
human flesh He was able to take the place of sinners on the cross in order to
pay for their sins so that they could be forgive of their sins. Being a sinner is an offense to God and God
cannot let any person into His heaven without being perfect, and because all
people are born with a sin nature they sin and on their own cannot ever enter
heaven, so by the grace of God He sent His Son to die in the place of everyone,
but everyone has to realize that they are sinners and cannot make themselves
right with God on their own. Once a
person realizes they can do nothing on their own to be forgiven of their sin,
(sins) they can then realize that Jesus paid for all their sins, past, present
and future and humbly ask Him to come into their life and forgive all their
sins. He will do this to every sincere
person who comes to Him and asks for forgiveness. At that time their “address” will change from
hell to heaven and will go to be with the Lord to heaven when they die or even
better will go to be with Him in the clouds of the earth at what is called the
rapture of the church. If you look at my
Spiritual Diaries on the letters to the Thessalonians you will then understand
what the rapture of the church is. Let
me tell you it is something that I have been looking forward to for over fifty
years. Think about this and I pray that
the Lord will deal with you in a gracious way so you can come to Christ and
then He will become your Savior and your Lord.
9/29/2024 8:02 AM
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