EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/29/2026
6:18 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“Intro to ‘The
Messiah’s Divine Confirmation’”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
3:21-22
Message of the verses: “Now when all the people were
baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,
and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice
come out of heaven, “You are My Beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
I realize that one has to go to the other gospel
accounts to find out what the Lord Jesus Christ did after His baptism, as He
went out into the wilderness to fast for 30 days and then was tempted by the devil,
which was difficult on Him because He was without food for thirty days. I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that when
one looks at the words “and then He became hungry,” is the truth about what
happens when one fast for a long period of time. I have read of a person fasting for up to
three months, and it was not dangerous for him because he had not yet become
hungry. Jesus’ body was in perfect
condition because He did not have a sin nature, and so He became hungry after
only thirty days.
Now the central theme of both Old
Testament prophecy and New Testament preaching is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the Bible, particularly the Gospels, is
filled with testimony of Him (Luke 24:44; John 5:30; Revelation 19:10).”
(Luke 24:44; John 5:30; Revelation
19:10)
“44 Then he said to them, “These are my words
that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about
me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’”
“39 You search the Scriptures because you think
that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,”
“10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him,
but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and
your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
“After her
conversation with Jesus in which He revealed Himself to be the Messiah (John
4:26), the Samaritan woman went back to her village “and said to the men, ‘Come,
see the man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ
is it?’” (v. 29). As a result, “From
that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the
woman who testified, ‘He told all the things that I have done’’’ (v. 39). Now Jesus’ supernatural knowledge of him
moved Nathanel to testify, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of
Israel” (John 1:49).
John MacArthur then writes “Not only
His omniscient knowledge, but also His miraculous works testified to
Jesus. In John 5 :36 Jesus said to His
opponents, ‘The works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very
works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me’ (cf. 10:25).
As befitting those chosen to be His
witnesses (Acts 1:8), the apostles
continually testified about Jesus Christ.
In response to the Lord’s query, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ (Matt. 16:15) Peter replied, ‘You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God’ (v. 16).
The apostle John twice recorded his testimony to Jesus: ‘And he who has
seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling
the truth, so that you also may believe’ (John 19:35); ‘This is the disciple
who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his
testimony is true’ (John 21:24; cf. 1 John 1:2; 4:14; Rev. 1:1-2, 9). Jesus told the apostles, ‘You will testify…because
you have been with Me from the beginning’ (John 15:27), and the book of Acts
records that they did just that (Acts 4:33; 10:42; 18:5; 20:21).
“As has been noted in previous
chapters of this volume, it was the mission of John the Baptist, the forerunner
of the Messiah, to bear witness to Jesus.
John ‘came as a witness, to testify about the Light’ (John 1:7; cf. v-8); he ‘testified about Him and
cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a
higher rank that I, for He existed before me’’’ (v. 15); ‘Behold, the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world!’…I myself have seen, and have
testified that this is the Son of God’ (vv. 29, 34). Both John’s disciples (John 3:26) and Jesus
(John 5:33) referred to John’s testimony to Jesus.
“Holy angels gave testimony to the
deity of our Lord (1:35; cf. Matt. 1:23).
Even demons gave testimony to the Lord Jesus as God: ‘I know who You are—the
Holy One of God!’ said the demon in the
synagogue in Capernaum (Mark 1:24; cf. v. 34).
“Moving to the Trinity, the Holy
Spirit has testified to Jesus. ‘When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you
from the Father,’ Jesus told His disciples, ‘that is the Spirit of truth who
proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me’ (John 15:26).
In John 16:13-14, He added,
“13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide
you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but
whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are
to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he
will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
“Peter and
the apostles declared to the Sanhedrin, ‘The [Christ] is the one whom God
exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to
Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we
are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to
those who obey Him’ (Acts 5:31-32).
Speaking of the Spirit’s testimony to Jesus the apostle John wrote,
“6 ¶ This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus
Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is
the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and
these three agree.”
There is more to this introduction,
but I will save it until tomorrow morning’s SD.
4/29/2026
6:57 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment