PT-2 "The Provision Delivered" (Matt. 7:27b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/15/2022 5:15 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  PT-2 “The Provision Delivered”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                  Reference:  Matthew 17:27b

 

            Message of the verse:  “go to the sea, and through in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a stater.  Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

 

            I mentioned that we would look at what Peter wrote in his first letter, as he no doubt still vividly remembers the miraculous provision of the stater in the fish’s mouth and the teaching of Jesus that accompanied this miracle.  We see this in the second chapter of First Peter and verse nine;  “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

 

            John MacArthur comments “Peter reminds his Christian readers that they are elected by God to be His own people and to minister as His priests to the unbelieving world around them.  They are uniquely the Lord’s possession, His children, and citizens of His divine kingdom, with their assignment on earth being to fulfill a divine mission.  Having previously been a people of no consequence, they are now the people of God.  Having previously been apart from God’s mercy, they now live under His abundant mercy (v. 10).  Because of that high standing, Peter says, ‘I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul.  Keep you behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them glorify God in the day of visitation’ (v. 11-12).”

 

            Paul had something to say regarding the same issue, and in spite of the godlessness of Rome and the claim to deity by Caesar, Paul wrote, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.  Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves…For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God devoting themselves to this very thing.  Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor” (Rom 13:1-2, 5-17).

 

            Let me just say that after living all of my life in the USA and see how it seems to me that it is crumbling from the inside as many things going on in our country are in direct opposition to the Word of God, I have to say that these verses that we are looking at and continue to look at are things that I am in need of being reminded of.  Now because all has gone pretty well ever since I was born, shortly after WWII, and so this makes it harder on me than if I was just born say 20 years ago.  I hate to see what is happening to our country, but I have said over and over again that all the way back to 1974 when I first became a believer that I knew that the USA would have to fall from the power that they have because we are not in the end time events that are written in the Word of God.  I suppose that this is true of many nations too, and so we, along with these other nations that are not mentioned will have some kind of role in the end times, and when I say that I am talking about the seven year tribulation period that is seen in the book of Daniel and also in the book of Revelation chapters 6-19.  Other books also speak of this too, but these are the two dominant ones that speak of it.

 

11/15/2022 5:40 PM

 

 

PT-1 "The Provision Delivered" (Matt. 17:27b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/14/2022 11:03 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  PT-1 “The Provision Delivered”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 17:27b

 

            Message of the verse:  “go to the sea, and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a stater.  Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

 

            I guess my first thoughts are to go fishing where Peter went and maybe I will find a fish with money in it.

 

            The Bible doesn’t tell us of any other time that Jesus provided tax money through a miracle, and I don’t remember that He ever paid this tax before, so I have to believe that it was a set up by the Jewish leaders.  As we look at this occasion, however, the miracle reinforced the point that He was the Son of God and had the right with perfect impunity to refuse to pay the tax if He had chosen to do so.  Jesus agreed to pay the tax entirely on His own divine choice.

 

            Jesus told Peter to go to the sea, and it would have had to been the Sea of Galilee which Peter was surely familiar with, but Jesus did not tell Peter exactly where to go, as this must have been up to him.  He was told to throw in a hook, but he was not told to put any bait on it, so I suppose that he just threw in a bare hook with no bait.  Jesus tells him to take the first fish that comes up.  Then when you open its mouth, you will find a stater.  Then he was told to Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

 

            John MacArthur writes “Because there was no two-drachma coin, it was customary for two Jewish men to pay the tax together, using a stater, which was equal to two didrachma.  The coin Peter found in the fish’s mouth was the exact amount needed to pay the tax for Jesus and himself.”

 

            We have talked about what the tax was suppose to be used for, the Temple services, we can believe it is for certain that the hypocritical and corrupt Jewish leaders misappropriated a large part of what was collected.  Kind of sounds like the leaders in our country at this time, the hypocritical ones.  MacArthur adds “It is even more certain that the taxes Jesus paid to Rome were used for many ungodly and immoral purposes.  Most of the Roman tax collectors were traitors to their own people, and the taxes they extorted from their fellow countrymen not only were excessive and unjust but were used to support the occupying army, the pagan rulers, and even pagan religions.”  Yes it sounds like our country at this time.

 

            Now we want to begin to talk about what this section means to believers today, as we will see it is clear as a believer is obligated to fulfill his duties as a citizen of this world.  Although his ultimate and eternal citizenship is in heaven and the governments of men are all in varying degree of corruption, while he remains on earth he is also under obligation to human government.  Except when it would  cause him to disobey God directly, he is bound by divine law to be subject to human law. 

            In our next SD we will look at some things that Peter wrote when he wrote his first epistle as he no doubt remembered this incident we are looking at today.

 

11/14/2022 11:28 AM

 

PT-2 "The Principles Discussed" (Matt. 17:25b-27a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/13/2022 7:55 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-2 “The Principle Discussed”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  Matthew 17:25b-27a

 

            Message of the verses:  “And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" 26 And upon his saying, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Consequently the sons are exempt. 27 “But, lest we give them offense,”

 

            It was when Peter answered "From strangers," Jesus” stated the corollary (result) truth "Consequently the sons are exempt.”  We mentioned in our last SD that in human governments of that day the family of the ruling person was exempt from paying taxes.

 

            Jesus did not end the argument there but went on, and if He had not then there would be believers today, and there are some, who say that they don’t have to pay taxes, but Jesus went on is saying ““But, lest we give them offense,” as Jesus told Peter, the tax was to be paid.  Clearly implied was the idea that it was not only to be paid in full but paid willingly without any argument.  If Jesus, being the Son of God, paid taxes, then as a believer today I must do the same.

 

            MacArthur concludes “Regardless of how unjust a tax is assessed or how blasphemously or irresponsibly it is sent, it is to be paid.  If the Son of God claimed no exemptions for Himself in paying taxes to the ‘den of thieves’ run by the wicked, false teachers and leaders of Israel, how much less can His followers claim exemption for themselves.   And if He was concerned about not giving offense to unbelievers over that issue, how much more should His followers have such concern.”  My answer to that is none.

 

11/13/2022 8:16 AM

 

PT-1 "The Principle Discussed" (Matt. 17:25b-27a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/12/2022 9:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-1 “The Principle Discussed”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                           Reference:  Matthew 17:25b-27a

 

            Message of the verses:  “And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" 26 And upon his saying,”

 

            We can be assured that because of the omniscience of Jesus that he knew exactly what Peter was going to relate to Him about the tax.

 

            When Jesus spoke to Peter to tell him what He wanted him to do, what Peter was thinking is not indicated, but perhaps because of all the miracles  Jesus did while Peter was with Him, that he just thought that this would be another one of them.  Now as far as the fact that Jesus was going to pay the tax, even though Peter knew who He was, we have no idea about what he was thinking about. 

 

            John MacArthur writes “Using a method of teaching common in that day and beneficial in any day, Jesus answered Peter’s unspoken question by first asking a question Himself.  Addressing Peter by his original family name, Jesus said, What do you think, Simon?  From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?’”

 

            Many countries in that day had a leader, and when that leader died then one of his family would take over the leadership of that country.  This is what happened after David became king, and it extended all the way until the Southern Kingdom went into captivity in Babylon. The point is that the family of the leader certainly did not have to pay taxes, unlike the people who are elected to office in our country who are supposed to pay taxes.  Now the taxes that are spoken about in this section were customs (levied on goods) and poll-tax (levied on individuals).

 

            The question that Jesus gave was rhetorical, and the answer was obvious.  It would not make sense for a father who was the leader to make his children pay taxes.

 

            I desire to finish this section in our next SD.

 

11/12/2022 9:20 AM

PT-3 "Intro to Matt. 17:22-27

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/10/2022 10:47 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  PT-3 “Intro to Matthew 17:22-27

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Matthew 17:22-27

 

            Message of the verses:  “22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.”And they were deeply grieved.

    24 And when they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter, and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" 25 He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" 26 And upon his saying, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Consequently the sons are exempt. 27 “But, lest we give them offense, go to the sea, and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a stater. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.’”

 

            In our previous SD we were talking about Jesus telling His disciples that He would die as seen in verses 22-24.  Let us look at Mark 9:32 as it goes along with this section:  “But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.” I can’t say that I blame them for not asking Jesus about this.  It is because they could not fully comprehend what going on that this was what caused them to deeply grieve. After Jesus died and then the Holy Spirit was given to all those who were believers then they began to remember what He had said about His death, and resurrection.  In our listening to the Bible in a year my wife and I just finished up the gospel of John last night.  I mentioned to her that John was the last gospel written and it could have been written some 60 years after Jesus left to go back to heaven.  I told her that in my early walk with the Lord that I had heard that John could have been written after John wrote Revelation.  Whether or not that is true I don’t know, but I do know that the gospel of John was written a long time after the other gospels were written.  The point that I am making is that it was the Holy Spirit who wrote the entire Bible, that is inspired the writers to write what the wrote, and so I have to believe that the Holy Spirit inspired John to remember all the things that he wrote.

 

            MacArthur points out that it is possible that the in speaking of the three days they could have though it was merely figurative.

 

            This was not the first time that Jesus had spoken to them about his soon upcoming death and resurrection and He knew that they were slow in understanding truth and therefore He told them about this a number of times, actually all the way up until He was arrested.  John MacArthur writes “They (the disciples) also needed assurance that His suffering and death were in God’s plan, that those events horrible as they were, would not interrupt, much less destroy, the Messiah’s work.  That was, in fact, the ultimate work He come to accomplish, without which His other divine work—His teaching and miracles—would have left men better informed and in getter health but still lost and eternally condemned in their sin.  The crucifixion did not catch Jesus or His heavenly Father by surprise; it was the reason the Father sent Him to earth and that He willingly came.  ‘For this purpose,’ He said, ‘I came to this hour’ (John 12:27).”

 

            It was after Jesus gave the twelve disciples this third prediction of His death and resurrection that He had some alone time with Peter and gave to him a lesson about the believer’s obligation to human government.  In spite of what that hostile leadership would do to the Lord Jesus Christ, the disciples had a certain obligation to it, strange as it may seem.

 

            The following lessons on government as we go through them are very important to those of us living in this sin cursed world that we are living in, and it seems to get worse and worse each and every day as we draw closer to the time when the Lord Jesus will return to take His bride to heaven with Him, and then the last seven years will soon after that began to tick down and that will end with the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to planet earth, and the beginning of His thousand year rule on planet earth from Jerusalem.

 

11/10/2022 11:22 AM

PT-2 "Intro to Matt. 17:22-27

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/9/2022 7:06 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-2 “Intro to Matthew 17:22-27

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 17:22-27

 

            Message of the verses:  “22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.”And they were deeply grieved.

    24 And when they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter, and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" 25 He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" 26 And upon his saying, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Consequently the sons are exempt. 27 “But, lest we give them offense, go to the sea, and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a stater. Take that and give it to them for you and Me."

 

            As we look at the first verse in this section (v-22) it tells us that after the things that we have been looking at in chapter 16, and there were many, that Jesus and His disciples were gathering together in Galilee.  We really don’t know the exact location for it is not told to us.

 

            One of the things that we have been talking about for a while is that in the last six months of Jesus’ ministry on earth that he was speaking less and less to the crowds, and more and more to His disciples as He was preparing them for life after He goes back to His Father in heaven.  Another thing that we see in this time period is that Jesus interjects more and more about His upcoming death and resurrection to His disciples, even though they really did not at that time understand it, and whenever He spoke of it they were alarmed.

 

            We see an example of this in verse 22-23a “22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.”

 

            John MacArthur writes:  “Jesus was neither helpless nor passive in going to the cross.  ‘When the days were approaching for His ascension…He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:51; cf. 13:22).  As He later explained, He willingly accepted the cross in order that ‘all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished’ (18:31).  He willingly laid down His life (John 10:15, 17), which no one could have taken from Him without His consent.  ‘No one has taken it away from Me,’ He said,’ but I lay it down on My own initiative.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again’ (v-18).

 

            “But in His willingness to give His life a ransom for many, Jesus submitted Himself both to the evil plans of men and to the gracious and righteous plan of His heavenly Father (see Acts 2:22-23).  Because of His willing submission to wicked men, He was going to be delivered, by the treachery of Judas, into the hands of men.  Also because of His willing submission to wicked men they (the Jewish and Roman leaders) would kill Him.  But because of His willing submission to His righteous heavenly Father, He would be raised on the third day.’”

 

            Looks like one more SD for this introduction.

 

11/9/2022 7:26 PM

 

 

 

           

PT-1 "Intro to Matt. 17:22-27

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/8/2022 9:36 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-1 “Intro to Matthew 17:22-27

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 17:22-27

 

            Message of the verses:  “22 And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; 23 and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.”And they were deeply grieved.

    24 And when they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter, and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?" 25 He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" 26 And upon his saying, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Consequently the sons are exempt. 27  "But, lest we give them offense, go to the sea, and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.’”

 

            I suppose that because today is Election Day in our country, and a very important one at that, that it is good to go over some things that we find in this section of Scripture. 

 

            It is my opinion that believers, if they believe that they are called by the Lord, do run for political office.  I remember in years past that there was an orinization called “The Moral Majority” that wanted to speak their views in our government, views that were supposed to be Christian views.  As stated I believe that true born-again believers are to get involved in the political process by first of all voting, and voting for candidates who first of all are pro-life as that should be the first thing that they look for in a political candidate.  This year there are two people, a mother  and her son, who are basically in the political party that I vote for, but they are pro-choice and so when they text me I tell them that I cannot support them. 

 

            John MacArthur writes “The New Testament certainly makes clear that a believer’s primary citizenship is not in this world.  Paul charged the church at Philippi, ‘Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.  For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.’  In contrast to such people, he goes on to say, ‘our citizenship is in heaven, from which we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, but the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself (Phil. 3:17-21).  To the Ephesians Christians Paul wrote, ‘You are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household’ (Eph. 2:19).  The writer of Hebrews says to believers, ‘You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven’ (Heb. 12:22-23).”

 

            Now the question comes up how then, some Christians argue, can those who have such a glorious heavenly heritage contaminate themselves by becoming involved in the earthly affairs of unbelieving society and government?  I suppose that this is a good question and it should be answered.  There are passages in both the Old and New Testaments that I suppose can be taken out of context that my give an answer that I really don’t follow, and so in light of these passages, some Christians have opted out of any government involvement, including paying taxes, which is wrong in my opinion and I believe that Jesus said to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God’s.   There is no doubt that true believers are citizens of heaven, but right now we are living on earth. 

 

            In our section we will be looking as Jesus gives an answer to this question, but before that we read that Jesus told Peter that He was going to Jerusalem and would die, and then be raised from the dead in three days. 

 

            We will continue to look into this subject in our next SD as we continue to look at the intro to these verses in Matthew chapter 17, verses that will actually finish chapter 17.

 

11/8/2022 10:08 AM