PT-2 “Bartholomew (Nathanael) (Luke 6:14f)

 

EVENNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/30/2026 6:01 PM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-2 “Bartholomew (Nathanael)

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Luke 6:14f

            Message of the verse:  “Bartholomew”

            I want to finish copying the rest of this section from John MacArthur’s commentary as we continue to look at Nathanael, one of Jesus’ apostles.

            “Unfazed by Nathanael’s cynical comment, Philip issued a simple challenge: ‘Come and see’ (v. 46).  To his credit, Nathanael’s seeking heart overcame his prejudice, and he went with Philip to meet Jesus.  To his utter amazement, the Lord greeted him as ‘an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!’ (v. 47).  Jesus’ words were a powerful commendation of Nathanael’s character.  His characterization of him as ‘an Israelite indeed (alethos; ‘truly,’ ‘actually,’ ‘in reality’)’ means far more than that Nathanael was a physical descendant of Abraham.  Abrahamic descent alone does not make on a true Jew.  As the apostle Paul wrote, ‘They are not all Israel who are descended from Israel’ (Rom. 9:6), since ‘he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.  But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter’ (Rom. 2:28-29).  Jesus identified Nathanael as one of the believing remnants, who worshiped the true and living God.  Simeon and Anna were also examples of such (Luke 2:25-38).

            “Surprised that this man whom he had never met would greet him that way, Nathanael asked incredulously, ‘How do You know me?’  (v. 48).  How could Jesus know what was in his heart?  The Lord’s answer, which revealed His omniscience, shocked Nathanael.  ‘Before Philip called you,’ He replied, ‘when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’  But there is more to Jesus’ response than merely His supernatural knowledge of Nathanael’s location; He also knew the state of Nathanael’s heart (cf. John 2:24-25).”  “24  But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25  and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.”  “To escape the noise and, in hot weather, the stuffy heat of their houses, people often sought solitude under the shade of a fig tree.  That was where Nathanael went to study, pray, and think.

            “The Lord’s knowledge of Nathanael’s heart removed all his doubts about Him and he exclaimed, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel’ (v. 49).  Nathanael affirmed his belief in Christ’s deity as the ‘Son of God’ (cf. Ps. 2:12) and that he was the Messiah, the ‘King of Israel’ (cf. Zech. 9:9).”

(cf. Ps. 2:12)

“12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

(cf. Zech. 9:9)

“9 ¶  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’

“Jesus in turn affirmed Nathanael’s faith ‘and said to him, ‘Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe?’’ (v. 50).  The Lord’s reply should probably be taken as a statement, not a question.  His omniscient knowledge of Nathanael’s heart had convinced Nathanael of Jesus’ identity, but far more was to follow.  ‘You will see greater things than these,’ Jesus promised, ‘You will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man’ (v. 51).  The reference here is to Jacob’s dream in which he saw a ladder descending from heaven (Gen. 28:12).  Jesus is in reality what that ladder symbolized, the link between heaven and earth and thus the revealer of divine truth to mankind (cf. John 1:14, 17; 3:13; 6:33; 1 Tim. 2:5).”

(Gen. 28:12)

“12  And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!”

“(cf. John 1:14, 17; 3:13; 6:33; 1 Tim. 2:5).”

“14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

“17  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

“13  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”

“33  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’”

“5  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

            “As is the case with his close companion Philip, little is known about Nathanael’s life and ministry after Christ’s resurrection and ascension.  According to some accounts, he ministered in India.  Other traditions place his ministry in Persia, Egypt, Armenia, and Asia Minor.  Nor is there any agreement about how he died.  Some accounts claim that Nathanael was martyred in Armenia, but those accounts differ over the manner of his death.  Some say he  was beheaded, others that he was skinned alive and then crucified (thus some works of art portray him holding his skin in his hands).

            “What is clear is that Nathanael remained faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ to the end, as he had been in the beginning.  His life and ministry are testimony to God’s ability to use common, insignificant people to His glory.”

6/30/2026 6:37 PM

 

 

 

 

PT-1 “Bartholomew (Nathanael) (Luke 6:14f)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/30/2026 11:46 AM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-1 “Bartholomew (Nathanael)

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Luke 6:14f

            Message of the verse:  “Bartholomew”

            This morning I begin the first part of what John MacArthur has to write about the apostle “Bartholomew.”  I believe that it will take this morning’s SD along with this evenings SD to complete it.

            “Philip’s close companion Bartholomew appears by that name in all four New Testament lists of the Twelve, but the apostle John calls him Nathanael. Both names refer to the same individual.  Bartholomew means ‘son of Tolmai’ in Hebrew; thus, his full name was Nathanael, son of Tolmai.  In the lists in the Synoptic Gospels, his name immediately follows Philip’s, indicating the close relationship between the two.  In fact, it was Philip who introduced Nathanael to the Savior.

            “The New Testament records even less information about Bartholomew than Philip.  His only recorded appearance, apart from the lists of the apostles, is in John’s account of his call by Christ (John 1:45-51).  That encounter reveals both the strengths and weakness of Nathanael’s personality.”

 “45  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46  Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48  Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49  Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50  Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51  And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’” 

            “After the Lord called Philip (v. 43), he immediately ‘found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’’ (v. 45).  His use of the plural pronoun ‘we’ indicates that Philip already considered himself on of Jesus’ followers. His description of Him as the one of whom Moses and the Prophets wrote (i.e., the Messiah) indicates that Philip knew that Nathanael was a student of the Old Testament; a seeker after divine truth. It may be that Philip and Nathanael had spent hours together poring over the Scriptures.  Perhaps they had even come to the Jordan together to hear John the Baptist.

            “But Nathanael’s reaction to his friend’s excited claim reveals a different aspect of his personality.  Responding with skepticism, if not outright scorn, he asked rhetorically, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’ (v. 46).  This was not a question based on the Old Testament’s prediction that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); it was an expression of prejudice.  The Galileans were despised by the Judeans as uncouth and unsophisticated.  Nathanael was himself a Galilean, from the village of Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine (John 21:2).  His remark indicates that Nazareth was despised even by other Galileans—hardly the place one would expect the Messiah to hail from.  So insignificant was Nazareth that it is not even mentioned in the Old Testament, the Talmud, or the writings of Josephus.  It was inconceivable to Nathanael that the Messiah would come from such an obscure town.

            “Prejudice often blinds people to the truth.  It was in one sense prejudice that kept the nation of Israel from accepting Jesus as the Messiah.  Most of them shared Nathanael’s disdain for Nazareth, and rejected Jesus out of hand.  Had they taken the time to investigate, they would have discovered that He was born in Bethlehem, just as the Old Testament predicted the Messiah would be.  That most of the men in His inner circle were Galileans and that He Himself had not been trained in the rabbinic schools (John 7:15) also did not endear Jesus to the elitist religious establishment.  Nathanael’s reaction reveals that he had not escaped the prejudice that was rampant in Jewish society.”

Spiritual Meaning for My life today:  Think things through before you make unwise comments on different situations as did those who did not research the truth that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and thus kind of made a fool out of themselves.

My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord that he will guide my steps as I go through what is the most difficult time in my life dealing with the terrible cancer that has ravished the body of my wife.

6/30/2026 12:32 PM

PT-2“Philip” (Luke 6:14e)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/29/2026 8:36 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  PT-2“Philip”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Luke 6:14e

            Message of the verse:  “Philip”

            I will now pick up where I left of in this morning’s SD. 

            “An incident recorded in John 12 provides another example of Philip’s analytical and overly cautious personality.  Verse 20 introduces ‘some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast.’  Those were God-fearing Gentiles (cf. Acts 10:22; 17:4, 17), maybe even full-fledged converts to Judaism, who had come to Jerusalem for Passover.  In the aftermath of the triumphal entry, they sought an audience with Jesus.  Why they approached Philip (v. 21) is not clear, but John’s note that Philip ‘was from Bethsaida of Galilee’ suggests that may have been the reason.  Bethsaida was near the Gentile region known as the Decapolis (Matt. 4:25; Mark 5:20; 7:31), and they may have been from that region.  Further, since he was a Galilean Philip likely spoke Greek.

            “Their simple request to Philip, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’ (v. 21) caught him completely off guard.  He was a ‘by the book’ person, and there was no precedent for introducing Gentiles to Jesus; it was not in the manual.  In fact, two of Jesus’ previous statements argued against it, at least in Philip’s mind.  When He sent the Twelve out to preach the gospel Jesus had instructed them, ‘Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Matt. 10:5-6).  And Philip had also heard the Lord say to a Canaanite woman, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24).  That was enough to make him hesitate to bring these Gentiles to Jesus.

            “But in his narrow focus of methods and procedures, Philip missed the point.  The Lord’s statements were not intended to prohibit Gentiles from coming to Him, but merely emphasized that the priority of His ministry was Israel (cf. Rom. 1:16).” “16 ¶  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  “Philip forgot that Jesus had also said that ‘the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out’ (John 6:37) and, ‘I have other sheep [Gentiles], which are not of this fold [Israel]; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd’ (John 10:16).  And He had commended the ‘great faith’ of the Syrophoenician woman (Matt. 15:21-28). 

            “Uncertain about how to proceed, ‘Philip came and told Andrew’ (v. 22).  Unlike Philip, Andrew had no doubt about how to handle the situation.  If people wanted to come to Jesus, he was going to bring them…Andrew’s reaction was swift and decisive; he ‘and Philip came and told Jesus’ about the request (v. 22).

            “The last glimpse of Philip in the New Testament (the Philip in Acts is Philip the evangelist, not the apostle Philip) comes in the upper room on the night of Christ’s betrayal and arrest.  The Lord had just made the monumental statement, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’ (John 14:6).  He alone is the source of salvation (cf. Acts 4:12) and no one will go to heaven who does not by faith alone embrace Him alone as the Savior.  Jesus followed that statement with an explicit declaration of His absolute deity and equality with the Father: ‘If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from no on you know Him, and have seen Him’ (v. 7).  To know Jesus is to know the Father (cf. John 1:18), since the Persons of the Trinity are one in their very essence.”   (cf. John 1:18) “18  No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”  “Having known Jesus through the years of His earthly ministry, the disciples in effect already knew the Father as well.

            “At this point Philip made one of the most distressingly foolish and ignorant statements any of the apostles ever made.  He said to Jesus, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us’ (v. 8).  Unbelievably Philip, who had so eagerly embraced Christ as the beginning, missed the point.  He failed to grasp not only what Jesus had just said, but also all the teaching he had and the miracles he had observed over the years of Christ’s ministry.  His skepticism, lack of faith, and inability to understand the significance of what he had seen and heard was heartbreaking.

            “Jesus rebuked Philip for his disappointing statement by demanding, ‘Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?’ ‘ The Lord then reiterated plainly the truth that He had taught the apostles in verse 7: ‘He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’  (v. 9).  He then reprimanded Philip for failing to grasp that reality, despite what he had seen and heard (v. 10), and challenged him to believe; to take his faith in Jesus as the Messiah to its logical conclusion (v. 11).  The evidence Philip had seen pointed conclusively to one inescapable conclusion, Jesus was God incarnate, one in essence with the Father.

            “There is little reliable information about Philip’s later life and ministry.  The early Christian writers had a tendency to confuse him with Philip the evangelist (Acts 6:5; 8:26-40; 21:8).  The fourth-century church historian Eusebius, for example, wrote of a Philip who lived in the city of Hierapolis in Asia Minor with his virgin daughters.  But whether this was the apostle Philip or Philip the evangelist is unclear.  According to the apocryphal Acts of Philip, the apostle Philip  reached in Phrygia, Greece, and Syria before being martyred in Hierapolis in Asia Minor.  The Acts of Philip, however, is not considered a reliable historical source.

            “It is perhaps to be expected that such a quiet, unassuming, behind the scenes person’s history would be so obscure.  That in no way, however, diminishes Philip’s importance.  This skeptical, analytical, pessimistic man of limited ability, weak faith, and imperfect understanding was nonetheless one of the twelve most important people in the history of the world.”

6/29/2026 9:49 PM

 

PT-1“Philip” (Luke 6:14e)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/29/2026 8:42 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  PT-1“Philip”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Luke 6:14e

            Message of the verse:  “Philip”

            In this morning’s SD I begin to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary on Jesus’ disciple Philip.  I am thinking that this will take at least two SD’s in order to accomplish this.

            “In all four of the New Testament lists of the Twelve, Philip’s name appears fifth overall and first in the second group of for, which likely means that he was the leader of the group.  Philip is a Greek name, which means ‘lover of horses.’ Like the rest of that Twelve, Philip was Jewish, but his Jewish name is not recorded.  Since he had a Greek name, Philip may have come from a family of Hellenistic Jews (cf. Acts 6:1), who had adopted the Greek language and some aspects of Greek customs and culture.  Like Andrew and Peter (John 1:44), Philip was originally from Bethsaida (John 12:21).  As its name implies (Bethsaida means ‘house of fishing’).  Bethsaida was primarily a fishing village, although Philip the Tetrarch, son of Herod the Great (Luke 3:1), enlarged  and beautified it.  Growing up in the same small village, Philip, Peter, and Andrew undoubtedly knew each other well.  Like Peter and Andrew, Philip was probably also a fisherman (he was most likely one of the two unnamed disciples who went fishing with Peter in John 21:2-3).  Philip is not mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels except in the list of the apostles; all that is known about him comes from four incidents recorded in the gospel of John.

            “Philip first appears in John 1:43.  The day after He called Anderew, John, and Peter (vv. 35-42), Jesus ‘purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip.  And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me’’ (v. 43).  Like the other three apostles, Philip apparently had also gone to the Jordan to hear John the Baptist.  But while they had sought out Jesus at the direction of the Baptist, the Lord found Philip.  This is the first time Jesus initiated contact with one whom He called to be an apostle.  That is not to say, of course, that Jesus did not sovereignly choose and call the rest of them.  ‘You did not choose Me,’ He told the Twelve, ‘but I chose you, and appointed you’ (John 15:16; cf. 6:70).  The unregenerate, being ‘dead in [their] trespasses and sins’ (Eph. 2:1), alienated from God and hostile to Him (Col. 1:21), blinded (2 Cor. 4:4) and held captive (2 Tim. 2:26) by Satan, enslaved to sin (John 8:34), and unable to understand spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14), blinded (2 Cor. 4:4) and held captive (2 Tim. 2:26) by Satan, enslaved to sin (John 8:34), and unable to understand spiritual truth (1 Cor. 2:14), cannot seek God on their own initiative.”  I will now quote the verses found in this highlighted section above in the order that they are mentioned.

(John 15:16; cf. 6:70)

“16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

“70  Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.’”

(Eph. 2:1)

“1 ¶  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”

(Col. 1:21)

“21  And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,”

(2 Cor. 4:4)

“4  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

(2 Tim. 2:26)

“26  and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

(John 8:34)

“34  Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

(1 Cor. 2:14)

“14  But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.”

(2 Cor. 4:4)

“4  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

(2 Tim. 2:26)

“26  and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.’

(John 8:34)

“34  Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.”

(1 Cor. 2:14)

“14  The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

“Therefore as Jesus declared, ‘No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day’ (John 6:44), and, ‘No one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father’ (v. 65).  That God was drawing Philip to seek Jesus is evident from his reaction:  he immediately went and told Nathanael that he had found the Messiah.”   We will look at this discussion of John 1:45 below.

            “Such a bold, impulsive reaction makes it clear that God was working in Philip’s heart.  To instantly, unhesitatingly commit himself to Christ, with no hint of doubt or disbelief, was completely out of character for Philip, as his role in the feeding of the five thousand demonstrates.  Seeing the huge crowd, which would have included thousands of women and children in addition to the five thousand men (Matt. 14:21)  Jesus ‘said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?’’(John 6:5).  That the Lord asked Philip that question suggests that he may have been the apostolic administrator, the one in charge of logistics such as arranging meals and lodging.  Jesus, of course, was not trying to come up with a plan, ‘for He Himself knew what He was intending to do’ (v. 6).  Instead, ‘He was saying [this] to test’ Philip, to reveal to him the weakness of  his faith.  True to form, he responded in unbelief.  In typical bean counter fashion Philip, anticipating the difficulty of finding food for such a large crowd, had apparently been mentally estimating its size.  By the time the Lord spoke to him, he had crunched the numbers and concluded that the situation was hopeless; hence his reply, ‘Two hundred denarii [about eight months wages for a common laborer] worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little’ (v. 7).  Too bogged down in arithmetic to be adventurous, Philip failed one of the key tests of leadership.  Instead of having a sense of the possible, he had a sense of the impossible.  His focus on facts and figures stifled his faith.  Andrew, on the other hand, brought a boy with a small lunch to Jesus, and his faith was honored when Jesus miraculously used that meager resource to feed the crowd.”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life today:  My faith in the Lord should be more like Andrew’s faith than Philip’s faith.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to do the things that He knows best for what is going on with my wife, who right now is declining very fast.

6/29/2026 10:08 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

PT-2 “Common Men, Uncommon Calling PT-5: Philip, Bartholomew”

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/28/2026 8:47 PM

PT-2 “Common Men, Uncommon Calling PT-5: Philip, Bartholomew”

(Luke 6:143, f)

Message of the verse:  “and Philip, and Bartholomew,”

            “The Apostle Paul is the New Testament model of a bold, courageous leader.  He fearlessly preached the gospel, in the face of threats, hostility, and persecution everywhere he went.  That opposition began immediately after his conversion in Damascus, where his proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah so enraged the Jews that they sought to kill him (Acts 9:22-24).  Paul faced similar opposition from his countrymen in Antioch (13:46), Iconium (14:1-2), Corinth (18:4-6, 12-16), Jerusalem (21:27:-22:23); cf. 21:10-13), before the Sanhedrin (22:30-23:10), and in Rome (28:16-31).

            “Paul’s preaching of the gospel also aroused hostility from the Gentiles.  In Philippi he was beater and imprisoned (16:16-40); in Athens he was mocked by the skeptical Greek philosophers (17:16-34); in Ephesus his success in preaching the gospel sparked a riot by the devotees of the pagan goddess Artemis (19:23-41).  Paul also courageously testified to the Lord Jesus Christ before Gentile authorities, including Felix (24:1-26), Festus (25:1-12), Agrippa (26:1-32), and the emperor (25:12, 21-27; cf. 28:17-19).  When the ship taking him to Rome encountered a severe storm, Paul though only a prisoner, took charge of the situation (27:9-10, 21-26, 30-36).

            “Unlike many pastors today, Paul did not hesitate to denounce false teachers.  He confronted the ‘Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus’ on the island of Cyprus (Acts 13:6), the Judaizers at Antioch (15:1-2), and Hymenaeus and Alexander at Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:20).  He also repeatedly warned Christians to beware of such ‘savage wolves’ (Acts 20:29; cf. 2 Cor. 11:2-4; Gal. 1:6-7; 6:12-13; Phil. 3:2, 18-19; Col. 2:8, 18-23; 1 Thess. 2:14-16; 1 Tim. 1:3-7; 4:1-3; 6:3-5, 20-21; 2 Tim. 2:14, 16-18, 23; 3:1-9, 13; 4:14-15; Titus 1:9-16; 3:9-10).

            “But not every leader is a Moses, Elijah, or Paul.  The Lord also uses quiet, contemplative, analytical, cautious men.  One such man was Paul’s dear son in the faith, Timothy.  Timothy was unquestionably a man of conviction, in whom Paul had the utmost confidence (Phil. 2:19-20).  The apostle sent him to deal with the troubled situation at Corinth (1 Cor. 4:17), to Thessalonica (1 Thess. 3:2, 6), and possibly to Philippi (Phil. 2:19).  Paul also installed Timothy as the pastor of the important church at Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:1-3).  Timothy endured imprisonment for the cause of Christ (Heb. 12:23), possibly because of his loyal service to Paul (cf. 2 Tim. 4:9, 11, 13, 21).

            “Yet Timothy could also be fearful, hesitant, and lacking in self-confidence.  Paul had to encourage and exhort him not to allow others to intimidate him because of his youth and lack of experience (1 Tim. 4:12-16).  Timothy also needed to be more faithful in the exercise of his spiritual gift (2 Tim. 1:6), to stop being timid (v. 7; cf. 1 Cor. 16:10), and not to be ashamed to be identified with either the Lord or Paul, but be willing to suffer for the gospel (v. 8).  Later in that same epistle, the apostle repeated his exhortation to Timothy to renew his commitment to his ministry and to be willing to suffer for the cause of Christ (2:1,3).

            “Like all spiritual leaders, the apostles also were men of diverse temperaments.  As noted in earlier chapters of this volume, Peter, James and John were dynamic, upfront, take-charge individuals.  Andrew, consistently overshadowed by his more prominent brother Peter, operated more in the background.  The next two individuals on Luke’s list of the Twelve, Philip and Nathanael (Bartholomew), were also quiet, analytical, reflective men content to work behind the scenes.” 

6/28/2026 9:12 PM

 

 

 

“Common Men, Uncommon Calling PT-5: Philip, Bartholomew” (Intro. PT-1)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/28/2026 10:44 AM

“Common Men, Uncommon Calling PT-5: Philip, Bartholomew”

(Luke 6:143, f)

Message of the verse:  “and Philip, and Bartholomew,”

            In this morning’s SD I will begin to look at the introduction to what John MacArthur wrote about Philip, and Bartholomew from his commentary.  I believe it will take to SD’s to complete the introduction.

            “All those whom God calls to lead His people must meet the standards set forth in Scripture (cf. 1 Tim. 3:1-12; Titus 1:6-9).  But beyond those required standards, the Lord uses men of widely divergent temperaments and personalities to lead His church.

            “Some are bold, assertive men of action.  When Moses ‘saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren…he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand’ (Ex. 2:11-12).  Despite his doubts about his speaking ability (Ex. 4:10-13), Moses repeatedly confronted Pharaoh with God’s demand that he let Israel go.  He also did not hesitate to confront his own people when they complained (Ex. 17:2), sinned (Ex. 32:19-28), or challenged his leadership (Num. 16:1-50).  His aggressive, forceful personality ultimately cost Moses the privilege of enter the Promised Land after he disobeyed God.  Faced with yet another round of grumbling and complaining by the Israelites (Num. 20:2-5), Moses sought God’s counsel (v. 6).  The Lord instructed him to take his rod and speak to a rock, which would then produce the water the people were crying for (vv. 7-8).  But instead of speaking to the rock, Moses spoke to the people, angrily denouncing them as rebels (vv. 9-10).  He then struck the rock with his rod (v.11), thereby, ironically, also rebelling against God (Num. 27:14).  As a result, Moses forfeited the right to lead the people in Canaan (Num. 20:12).

            “Elijah was another bold leader.  In the third year (1 Kings 18:1) of a devastating drought God had proclaimed through him (1 Kings 17:1), Elijah was confronted by Israel’s wicked king Ahab.  The king angrily said to him, ‘Is this you, you troubler of Israel?’  (1 Kings 18:17).  Not intimidated in the least, Elijah replied, ‘I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals’ (v. 18).  Elijah then fearlessly challenged hundreds of false prophets to a public contest to see who was the true God, the Lord or Baal, and ordered the false prophets to be killed afterwards (vv. 19-40).

            “Later, after Ahab had murdered a man so he could seize his vineyard (1 Kings 21:1-16), Elijah once again boldly confronted him.  Ahab said to him sarcastically, ‘Have you found me, O my enemy?’  Refusing to back down Elijah replied, ‘I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord’ (v. 20).  Hen then pronounced God’s judgment on Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel (vv. 21-26).  Shocked and terrified, Ahab ‘tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently’ (v. 27).  Because  the king humbled himself, the Lord postponed the judgment (v. 29).  Toward the end of his ministry, Elijah also rebuked Ahab’s son and successor as king, Ahaziah (2 Kings 1:3-4).  That confrontation included Elijah dramatically calling down fire from heaven to consume two detachments of soldiers sent to bring him to the king (vv. 9-12).”

            That is as far as I am going to go with this introduction this morning, but Lord willing I will finish this section in this evening’s SD.

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  As I broke from writing this SD this morning to go and listen to the sermon our Pastor was preaching I was convicted by some things that have been problems for me in my walk with the Lord.  I am very upset with how things are going on in our countries battle with Iran, hoping that our military will just destroy those certain types of Muslins.  I have mentioned that there are two types of Muslins, one is peaceable, the other is trying to bring great troubles in the world to bring what they call the 12^th Iman, and these are the ones who have been in control of Iran since 1977 when they took over that peaceful country.  My point in all of this is not to get so excited about this and trust the Lord who certainly has a plan to care for this issue.  So I pray for our President to receive insight from the Lord to do what He desires to be done, and pray for the peaceful Muslins in Iran that through all of this that the Lord will save many of them, to which I believe He is doing.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the Lord to give peace and comfort to my wife and to me as she continues to go downhill from the cancer that has invaded her body.

6/28/2026 12:36 PM

PT-2 “John’s Commitment to Love”

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/27/2026 8:46 PM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-2 “John’s Commitment to Love”

            In this evening’s Spiritual Diary I desire to complete what John MacArthur has written in his commentary on the Apostle John.  I have to say that John is my favorite apostle, and I suppose the reason for that is that John is the author of my favorite book in the Bible, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”  I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that the Lord used end time prophecy’s to open my heart to accept the forgiveness that I have through Jesus Christ my Savior and Lord.  That was 52 years ago this past January 26^th. 

            John MacArthur writes “John’s life after the close of the gospel accounts reflects his continuing commitment to both truth and love.  As was the case in the Gospels, he was closely connected with Peter in the book of Acts (Acts 3:1-11; 4:13-20; 8:14-25) in proclaiming the truth—so much so that Paul referred to him as one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church (Gal. 2:9).

(Acts 3:1-11; 4:13-20; 8:14-25)

“1 ¶  Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2  And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3  Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4  And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5  And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6  But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7  And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8  And leaping up he and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9  And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10  and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11  While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s.”

“13  Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14  But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.  15 ¶  But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16  saying, "What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17  But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name." 18  So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19  But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20  for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.’”

“14 ¶  Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, 15  who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16  for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17  Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. 18  Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19  saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20  But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21  You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22  Repent, therefore, of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 23  For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." 24  And Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.” 25  Now when they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans.”

“John’s unwavering, unceasing preaching of the truth eventually led to his exile to the rocky, barren island of Patmos, off the coast of Asia Minor.  It was there that he received the amazing, incomparable series of visions that comprise the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8).

            “According to early Christian writers, John spent the last decades of his life in Ephesus, overseeing the churches in that region (Clement of Alexandria, Who Is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?, 42).  According to Irenaeus (Against Heresies, 3.3.4), John lived until the time of the emperor Trajan (A.D. 98-117).  He was the last of the apostles to die.  Two vignettes from his years at Ephesus reveal that the apostle of love had lost none of his zeal for the truth.  According to Polycarp, the second-century bishop of Smyrna who had been a disciple of the apostle John, ‘John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving [the heretic] Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing exclaiming, ‘Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within’’ (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 3.3. 4).  Clement of Alexandria relates how at the risk of his own life John fearlessly entered the camp of a band of robbers and led its captain, who had once professed faith in Christ, to true repentance (Who Is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?, 42).

            “But John also never ceased to emphasize the importance of love.  Nearing the end of his life, the apostle became so weak that he could no longer preach and had to be carried to church.  According to the fourth-century church father Jerome, he constantly exhorted the congregation to love one another.  When they finally asked him why he kept repeating that John replied, ‘It is the Lord’s command, and if only this be done, it is enough’ (Alfred Plummer, The Epistles of St. John [Reprint; Grand Rapids; Baker, 1980], xxxv).

6/27/2026 9:09 PM

 

 

PT-1 “John’s Commitment to Love”

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/27/2026 9:17 AM

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  PT-1 “John’s Commitment to Love”

            In the last two SD’s we looked at John’s commitment to truth, and now in this SD, and probably the one this evening we will look at his commitment to love, as truth and love go together.

            MacArthur writes “No one was more committed to the truth than the apostle Paul. Yet he understood that devotion to the truth is of little value apart from love, as he wrote in his first inspired letter to the Corinthians:

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3).”

            “The pivotal turning point in which John, the Son of Thunder, began to see the importance of love came in the only incident in the Gospels in which he alone speaks.  After the overwhelming experience of the transfiguration (Mark 9:1-10), the disciples got involved in another episode of their long-running debate over which of them was the greatest (vv. 33-34).”

(Mark 9:1-10)

“1 ¶  And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” 2  And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3  and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4  And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5  And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6  For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7  And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” 8  And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. 9  And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10  So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.”

(Mark 9:33-34)

“33  And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34  But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.”

“Jesus gently rebuked the disciples, reminding them, ‘if anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all’ (v. 35).  He took a child in His arms and used him to illustrate the point that the disciples needed to receive each other as they would Him (v. 37).”

(v. 37)

“37  “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

            “Convinced by the Lord’s rebuke, John confessed to another instance of the disciples’ misguided zeal: ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us’ (v. 38).  This was sectarianism, and expression of intolerance toward those outside of their group.  John’s confession elicited another rebuke from Jesus, who told the disciples, ‘Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is for us’ (vv. 39-40).

            “John was characterized by courage, ambition, drive, passion, boldness, and a strong devotion to the truth and people with those qualities are vital to the kingdom of God.  But John’s zeal for the truth had been deficient in love and compassion for people.  If love without truth is characterless hypocrisy, truth without love is indecent brutality.  This confession and the Lord’s rebuke began moving him toward a proper balance of truth and love.  Although never wavering in his fierce devotion to writings—so much so that he became known as the ‘apostle of love.’

            “John used the word ‘love’ more than one hundred times in his writings.  He taught that God is love (1 John 4:8), that the Father loves the Son (John 3:35; 5:20) and the Son loves the Father (John 14:31), that God loves all people in general (1 John 3:16) and Christ’s disciples in particular (John 14:21, 23; 16:27; 17:23), that Jesus loves those who believe in Him (John 14:1; 15:9) and that the supreme example of that love was His sacrificial death on their behalf (John 15:13; 1 John 3:16), that Jesus commanded believers to love one another (John 13:35; 15:12; cf. 1 John 3:11, 23; 2 John 5), that God’s true spiritual children will love Jesus Christ (John 8:42) and that that love will manifest itself in obedience (John 14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:10; 1 John 2:5; 5:3; 2 John 6), that God’s love motivated His adoption of believers as His children (1 John 3:1), that true love will manifest itself in actions (1 John 4:7-8, 20), that the supreme manifestation of God’s love for His people was sending Christ to be the propitiation for their sins (1 John 4:9-10), that love removes fear of punishment (1 John 4:18), and that God’s love motivates Him to disciple believers (Rev. 3:19).”  Now like in my last SD’s on this section of looking at John, I will begin to quote these verses in the order that they are given from MacArthur’s commentary.

(1 John 4:8)

“8  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

(John 3:35; 5:20)

“35  The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.”

“20  For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.”

(John 14:31)

“31  but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.”

(1 John 3:16)

“16  By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

(John 14:21, 23; 16:27; 17:23)

“21  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’”

“23  Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

“27  for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

“23  I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

(John 14:1; 15:9)

“1 ¶  "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

“  9 ¶  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”

(John 15:13; 1 John 3:16)

“13  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

““16  By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

(John 13:35; 15:12; cf. 1 John 3:11, 23; 2 John 5)

“35  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’”

“12  "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

“11 ¶  For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

“23 ¶  And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.”

“5 ¶  And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.”

(John 8:42)

“42  Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.”

(John 14:15, 21, 23-24; 15:10; 1 John 2:5; 5:3; 2 John 6)

“15 ¶  "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

“21  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.’”

“23  Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”

“10  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”

“5  but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:”

“3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

“6  And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.”

(1 John 3:1)

“1 ¶  See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

(1 John 4:7-8, 20)

“7 ¶  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

“20  If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

(1 John 4:9-10)

“9  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

(1 John 4:18)

“18  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

(Rev. 3:19)

“19  Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  I should add that beyond truth and love is something that I need to continue to better understand.  I think of what Jesus did while on earth as He came to earth to tell truth and show love, and that is important for all believers to also demonstrate in their walk with the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Contentment is another thing that I, as a true believer need to have as a part of my walk with the Lord, and I think better understanding truth and love will certainly give me more contentment.

6/27/2026 11:06 AM