MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/27/2026
9:55 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: Introduction
to Luke 3:18-20
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-1 Intro. To “The Boldness of John the
Baptist”
Message of the verses: “So with many other exhortations he
preached the gospel to the people. But
when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s
wife, and because of all the wicked things Herod had done, Herod also added
this to them all: he locked John up in prison.”
The following introduction to these verses comes from
the pen of John MacArthur: “Throughout
redemptive history fearless preachers have paid the price of boldly confronting
sin. It should come as no surprise then
that the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest preacher who ever lived (John 7:46;
cf. Matt. 7:28-29), was executed by His enemies.”
(John 7:46; cf. Matt. 7:28-29)
“46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke
like this man!””
“28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the
crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29
for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their
scribes.”
“According
to traditions (of varying reliability) handed down from the early church, the
same fate befell all of the apostles except for John, who was exiled to
Patmos. Peter was crucified (upside
down, at his request, because he felt unworthy to be crucified as his Lord had
been [Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, ILL, 1]). His brother Andrew reportedly
was also crucified; tied instead of nailed to the cross to prolong his
suffering. James the brother of John is
the only apostle whose death is recorded in Scripture’s he was executed by
Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-2). Philip
was said to have been stoned to death in Asia Minor, but not before multitudes
came to faith in Christ through his preaching.
The traditions vary concerning how Philip’s close companion Nathanael
(Bartholomew) died. Matthew may have
been burned at the stake. Thomas likely
reached India, where some traditions say he was killed with a spear. According to the apocryphal Martyrdom of
James, James the son of Alphaeus was stoned to death by the Jews for preaching
Christ. Simon the Zealot, according to
some traditions, preached the gospel in Egypt, North Africa, and Persia, where
he was martyred by being sawn in to.
Other traditions place his ministry in Britan, where he was eventually
crucified by the Romans. Thaddeus (also
known as Judas the son of James [Luke 6:16) reportedly took the gospel message
to what is now modern Turkey, where he was clubbed to death. Paul was likely beheaded at Rome during Nero’s
persecution of the church. The New
Testament also records the martyrdoms of the fearless evangelist Stephen (Acts.
7:58-60) and Antipas, a faithful pastor of the church at Smyrna (Rev. 2:13).
“In the postapostolic era faithful
preachers continued to face martyrdom, Ignatius was martyred at Rome early in
the second century. Diligently carrying
out his ministry to the end, he wrote a series of letters to various churches
while he was being taken to Rome for execution, exhorting them to stand firm in
the faith. Polycarp, martyrdom at Smyrna
in the middle of the second century, refused to renounce Christ. ‘Eighty and six years have I served Him, and
He never did me any injury’ he replied. ‘How
then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?’
When the proconsul threatened to burn him alive Polycarp fearlessly
replied, ‘You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a little
is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of coming judgment and of eternal
punishment, reserved for the ungodly.
But why tarry you? Bring forth what you will.’
John Chrysostom, fourth-century bishop
of Constantinople, was perhaps the greatest preacher of the early church (the
nickname Chrysostom means ‘golden-mouthed’).
He was exiled when his bold, uncompromising preaching offended many of
the rich and powerful in Constantinople (especially the vain Empress
Eudoxia). No longer able to preach,
Chrysostom turned to writing. So
powerful and effective was his continuing ministry that he was banished to a
more remote location. Treated harshly by
the soldiers escorting him, Chrysostom became ill and died along the way. Historian Justo Gonzalez describes the scene:
‘When he perceived that death was near, he asked to be taken to a small church
by the roadside. There he took
communion, bid farewell to those around him, and preached his briefest but most
eloquent sermon: ‘In all things, glory to God. Amen’’ (The Story of
Christianity [Peabody, Mass.” Prince, 1999), 1:199-200).
“Two notable medieval forerunners to
the Reformation were John Wycliffe and Jan Huss. Wycliffe (1339-1384) sometimes called the ‘Morning
Star of the Reformation,’ was an English reformer who affirmed the Bible to be
the only authority in matters of doctrine and practice. He sought to translate it into English, so
more people could read it. Wycliffe
taught that Christ, not the pope, was the head of the church, denied the Roman
Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and (like Luther later would) opposed
the granting of indulgences (remissions of some or all of the punishments of
purgatory, often sold in the Middle Ages to raise money for the Catholic
Church). Wycliffe and his followers, the
Lollards, helped pave the way for the Reformation in England. For his bold opposition to the false teaching
of his day, Wycliffe was condemned and forced to leave his position at
Oxford.
“Wycliffe’s younger contemporary,
the Czech reformer Jan Huss (1373-1415) paid a steeper price for opposing some
of the false teaching of the Roman church.
Huss, like Wycliffe, taught that the Bible, not the pope, was the
supreme authority. He also rejected
indulgences. When the pope, was issued a
decree that forbade preaching in chapels such as the one Huss preached in, Huss
ignored it and continued to preach. For
doing so, he was excommunicated. Huss
was summoned to appear before the Council of Constance (1415) and was promised
safe conduct to and from the council by the emperor of the Holy Roman
Empire. But Huss was condemned and
burned at the stake, the emperor’s guarantee of safe conduct notwithstanding.”
Spiritual
Meaning for My Life today: I am thankful to the Lord to be
able to have the freedom in our country to be able to study the Word of God, to
go to the church of my choice, and to be able to write my Spiritual Diaries,
and put them onto the internet so the Holy Spirit of God will then send them around the world
to use for the glory of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord.
My
Steps of Faith for Today. To continue to write my Spiritual
Diaries each day so that the Lord can use them to bring glory to my Savior and
Lord, Jesus Christ.
4/27/2026
10:46 AM
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