MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/26/2026
9:38 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“John’s
Privileged Calling”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
7:26-27
Message of the verses: “But what did you go out to see? A prophet?
Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold,
I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’”
MacArthur writes “As noble as John’s
character was, an even more significant element of his greatness was his
privileged calling. When the people
trekked into the wilderness to see John, they all knew that they were going out
to see a prophet. As noted above,
John was highly regarded by the people, so much that they even wondered if he
himself might be the Messiah (Luke 3:15).”
(Luke 3:15)
“15 ¶ As the people were in expectation, and all
were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the
Christ,”
“John had
all the marks of a prophet; he powerfully proclaimed the word of God,
confronted sin, warned of coming judgment, called for repentance, and lived a
life of self-denial.”
However Jesus went beyond merely
identifying John as prophet, as He declared him to be one who is more than a
prophet. John was not only a prophet
himself, but also one who was prophesied to come. Now we could paraphrase
Malachi 3:1 to give its correct interpretation Jesus reminded the crowd.
MacArthur then writes “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I
send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’’ John
was the prophet whom Malachi predicted would prepare the way for the Messiah
(cf. Isa. 40:3-5; Luke 3:4-6).”
(cf. Isa. 40:3-5; Luke 3:4-6)
“3 ¶ A voice cries: "In the wilderness
prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and
every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and
the rough places a plain. 5 And the
glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for
the mouth of the LORD has spoken."’
“4 As it is written in the book of the words of
Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made
low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become
level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see
the salvation of God.’"
“It was
his unique privilege of being Messiah’s forerunner that set him apart for
unparalleled greatness. While the other
Old Testament prophets predicted that Messiah would come; John announced that
He had arrived. For them it was a matter
of faith; for John it was sight. He had
the privilege of not only seeing the Messiah, but also of talking with Him, and
hearing the Father’s audible testimony concerning Him.
“Malachi’s identification of this
coming prophet as Elijah (Mal. 4:5) raises the question of whether John the
Baptist was Elijah returned, since John explicitly denied that he was (John
1:21).”
(Mal. 4:5)
5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”
(John 1:21)
“21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you
Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
“The true
interpretation of Malachi’s prediction was made clear before John was
born. In his announcement of John’s
miraculous birth to his father Zacharias, the angel Gabriel said of him, ‘It is
he who will go as a forerunner before Him [Messiah] in the spirit and power of
Elijah’ (Luke 1:17). Thus, when John denied
that he was Elijah, he meant that he was not that very Old Testament prophet
returned from heaven, and clarified what the Jews wrongly expected (see Luke
9:8 and the discussion of Luke 7:18-20 in chapter 15 of this volume).” Ok I will quote Luke 9:8 and then Luke
7:18-20, but not the discussion from chapter fifteen as it was in an earlier
SD.
Luke 9:8
8 by some that Elijah had appeared, and by
others that one of the prophets of old had risen.”
Luke 7:18-20
“18 The disciples of John reported all these
things to him. And John, 19 ¶ calling
two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one
who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said,
“John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come,
or shall we look for another?’”
“The truth is that had the Jews
believed in Jesus, John the Baptist would have become the fulfillment of the
Elijah-like prophet of whom Malachi wrote.
In Matthew’s parallel account of this passage, Jesus noted, ‘If you are
willing to accept it [the truth that He was the Messiah], John himself is
Elijah who was to come’ (Matt. 11:14).
When the apostles asked Him, ‘Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah
must come first? “Mark 9:11) Jesus replied,
“12 And he said to them, "Elijah does come
first to restore all things. And how is it written of the Son of Man that he
should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they
did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him."
“Since
Israel rejected Messiah and His kingdom, there must be another Elijah-like prophet
who will come in fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy just before Christ’s return
to establish His glorious, earthly, millennial kingdom. Unrelated to that prophet to come, who will
bear some resemblance to the ministry of Elijah, there will also appear two
witness who will minister during the tribulation (Rev. 11:3-12), one of which
may actually be Elijah.”
(Rev. 11:3-12)
“3 ¶ And I will grant authority to my two
witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."
4 These are the two olive trees and the
two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours
from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is
how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They
have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their
prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to
strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony,
the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer
them and kill them, 8 and their dead
bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called
Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the
peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and
refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10
and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and
exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who
dwell on the earth. 11 But after the
three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up
on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven
saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and
their enemies watched them.”
“But Israel’s unbelief does not
diminish John’s stature. He was the
forerunner of the Messiah, the fulfillment of Malachi’s (Ma. 3:1) and Isaiah’s
(40:3-5) prophecies.”
(Mal. 3:1)
“1 ¶ "Behold, I send my messenger, and he
will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come
to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold,
he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.”
Isaiah’s (40:3-5)
“3 ¶ A voice cries: "In the wilderness
prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and
every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and
the rough places a plain. 5 And the
glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for
the mouth of the LORD has spoken.’”
“His
privileged calling made him the last and greatest of the Old Testament
prophets, the last preacher of the age of promise, the bridge into the age of
fulfillment, and the first preacher in the New Testament.”
Now I want to include some verses
that speak about Jesus and a few of His disciples going up onto a high mountain
where they meet up with Moses and Elijah, as I think that it goes along with
what I have been looking at this morning.
“28 ¶ Now about eight days after these sayings he
took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his
face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him,
Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory
and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32 Now Peter and those who were with him
were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and
the two men who stood with him. 33 And as the men were parting from
him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make
three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not
knowing what he said. 34 As he was
saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as
they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice
came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”
36 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus
was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of
what they had seen.”
I believe that it will be Moses and
Elijah who will be the two witnesses found in the book of Revelation, and thus
that means that Elijah will return to finish his ministry.
Spiritual Meaning for my life
today: I just love studying the
prophecies in the Word of God and so this was very meaningful to me this
morning.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To trust the Lord as I move on with life
after my dear wife went home to be with her Lord.
8/26/2026
10:29 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment