The Importance of the Reserrection of Jesus Christ (Happy Easter)

HAPPY EASTER

            Since today is Easter I thought that I would tell you what Easter means to me.  When I look at Easter in terms of why we celebrate it I think of only one thing and that is that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead on what we call Easter morning.  Jesus Christ had spent the last three days in the grave after His death on the cross.

            Now why is His resurrection so important to us as believers?  Well His resurrection from the grave shows us that God had accepted His payment for sin when He suffered and then died on the cross.  This was the reason that He came to earth, to die in our place, to become sin for us, and then taking that penalty for our sins in His own body on the cross so that we may have eternal life and live with Him eternally serving Him and worshiping Him.

            Easter is more than bunnies and candy and new clothes, it is much more than that.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important event to happen in the history of mankind, for without it we would have no hope.
            We could call the book of Acts the story of the Apostles telling others about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave.  That was their hope and that is our hope too.    

            As believers in Jesus Christ we have the same power living in us that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, for it was the Holy Spirit who raised up Jesus from the dead and it is the Holy Spirit who lives within all believers.  Sometimes I wonder if I use this power given to me very well.

            Paul though that the resurrection of Jesus Chris was so important to believers that He spent the entire fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians writing about it.  Let us take a look at some of the verses in this chapter and he begins this chapter by telling his readers exactly what the Gospel message is:  “1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (verses 1-4).”  He then moves on to question why some of these believers did not believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and this is important: “12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.  

            20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. 21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 23  But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 24  then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.”  These verses tell us of the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Paul goes on to tell the order of the resurrection as Christ is the first to be raised from the dead and at the end of the chapter He speaks of what we call the “rapture” of the church where all believers in the Church age will be raised from the dead.  Paul writes to Titus about the return of Jesus Christ to take us in the rapture and says that it is our hope, and in this case hope means it is a sure thing, not like I hope the sun will shine tomorrow type of hope. 

            Yes the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most important thing that has ever happened on this earth.  In order for people to take part in what the Bible teaches about the rapture of the Church one has to belong to Jesus Christ.  How do we do that?  First we have to admit that we are sinners for Paul writes “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  Think about that little word “all” as it is very important.  Now that we have admitted that we have sinned we then must realize that we cannot pay for our sins without spending eternity away from God in hell.  But then we must realize that there was One who came and paid for our sins, and that one is Jesus Christ who took all of our sins upon Him while on the cross and suffered and died for them.  This is the best news ever told for not only did He die for our sins but when we confess that we are a sinner and believe in our hearts that Jesus paid for them we will receive eternal life, we will be as Jesus put it “born-again.”  Paul writes about more good news that happens to us when we become born again:  “17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21),”  This can be called the exchange that is Christ took on our sins and then gave us His righteousness.  My prayer is that anyone who reads this and is not a believer in Jesus Christ will accept the payment that He paid for you and receives Him as your Lord and Savior.  Just confess your sins to Him and invite Him into your life and you will be born again.

The Jew's Rejection of God's Word (1 Thess. 2:15a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/19/2014 8:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  The Jews Rejection of God’s Word 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Thessalonians 2:15a

            Message of the verses:  When we come to verses 15-16 we see a shift in what Paul was writing about and it is as if when he began to start writing about the Jews that he could not help but write about the things that they have done to him and his companions while they were out trying to spread the gospel.  Paul always made it a practice to go to the Jews first when possible, for in some of the cities that he spoke in there were not enough Jewish men to begin a Synagogue so he could not go to them first.  This was true in Philippi.  In John MacArthur’s commentary on this section he sites different passages in the book of Acts that speak of how the Jews were hindering the work of the Lord and then at the end of his introductory commentary on this section he writes:  “Knowing that the Jews’ hateful attitude had not changed but rather had intensified since their original hostility in the early days at Thessalonica, Paul made a strong statement about their spiritual condition.  His statement consists of three reasons they are a people to be sad for:  they rejected God’s Word, they hindered the saint, and they faced punishment in suffering.  These three are in direct contrast to the reasons Paul was joyful over the Thessalonians.”  We will take the next three SD’s to look at these three issues that cause us to be sad for the Jews.

            “Who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out (1 Thessalonians 2:15a).”

            I continue to think of John 3:36 as I go through this portion of Scripture in 1 Thessalonians and the reason that I think about it is that in that verse John the Baptist states that there are only two kinds of people who live on planet earth: the saved, those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and the lost those who have rejected Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Jesus spoke while on the earth about how families would be divided over him, and I have seen this first hand in my extended family.  There is a division between these two kinds of people and when there is a division there is conflict and Paul is describing this conflict in these two verses.  Those that love the Lord are those in the church as Thessalonica, and those who do not know the Lord are the unbelieving Gentiles and the unbelieving Jews who are bringing persecution to the believing Thessalonicans.

            We see in this first contrast between the believing Thessalonicans and the unbelieving Jews is that the Thessalonians loved the Word of God and the Jews rejected the Word of God.  The Word of God was given to the Jews to record it and most of them did not believe in it.  What they did believe in was the traditions that others made up from reading the Word of God and we saw this in our study of Mark, and it was this reason, among others why Jesus was executed.  There is undeniable truth in the Old Testament about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to planet earth and not only about His birth, but also about His life, and His death and also about His resurrection from the dead.  The Jews should have been looking for the coming of the Messiah, for in the book of Daniel, the ninth chapter is a road map of time that tells when the Messiah would come and also tells that He would die, but not for Himself.  However they were so steeped in their tradition that they missed His coming altogether as they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah and therefore took part in His death.  (I used the writings of Warren Wiersbe to explain whose fault it was that Jesus was killed in my previous SD.) 

            Paul records in this verse how the Jews had killed not only the Lord, but also the prophets.  Jesus speaks of this in Matthew 23:31-35 “31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? 34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous bloodshed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.’”  Jesus follows this up with a parable in Matthew 21:33-46 and this parable vividly reveals their murderous acts toward the prophets and the Lord.

            “33 "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. 34 “When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35 “The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 “Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 “But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ’They will respect my son.’ 38 “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ’This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 “They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 “Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?" 41 They *said to Him, "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons." 42  Jesus *said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, ’THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES’? 43  "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44 “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.”

            John MacArthur writes on the statement that Paul makes in this verse “Jews killed the Lord Jesus.”  “The Romans executed Him, but only at the instigation of the Jews (John 19:12-16).  Obviously it is not all Jews of all time who were responsible for killing Christ.  However, the apostate Jewish mob that insisted Pontius Pilate should carry out the crucifixion of Jesus was guilty of murdering Him.  Those Jews represented the historic apex of their people’s unbelief and opposition to God’s will (Acts 2:22-23; 36; 4:10; 5:30; 10:39).  Thus Paul’s strong words in verse 15 are without doubt in harmony with God’s centuries-old disapproval of the Hews who apostatized (cf. 2 Kings 17:13; 2 Chron. 15:1-2; 36:16; Jer. 25:4; Lam. 2:9; Ezek. 3:19; Matt. 23:35-58).”

            Now as far as the killing of the prophets we do not see how each individual prophet was murdered, but we do read about how Zechariah’s murder in the portion of Matthew we have already quoted where Jesus spoke of the Jews killing the prophets and sited that they had killed Zechariah. 

            One more quote from John MacArthur on the words “drove us out:”  “The verb rendered ‘drove us out’ refers to the hunting down of an animal with the intention of killing it.  Such stubborn and overt Jewish rejection of God’s Word profoundly saddened the apostle’s heart (cf. Rom. 9:1-5; 10:1).”  You can see from the verses in Romans that Paul felt sad for the Jewish people, and that he had a great love for them, but at the same time he was very upset with those who were doing the ungodly things that they were doing.  I believe in my heart that we are near the time in history where Paul’s statement in Romans will come true where he writes that all the Jews will be saved.  I believe that this will happen during the last part of the tribulation period and from the looks of things in this world today I don’t think that it is too far off.  I have mentioned that I am not a date setter, but just as the Jews were responsible for knowing the time when Christ came the first time, I think that believers today are responsible for knowing the times that we are living in and how they reflect what the Bible teaches us about the end times, and the most important event that speaks of this is the nation of Israel being reborn in May of 1948.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want to continue to have a love for the Jewish people and continue to pray for their leaders each day of my life. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  22 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

Memory verse for the week:  Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Calvary” (Luke 23:33).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who were the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah?”

Answer in our next SD.  4/19/2014 9:58 AM                                                     

A Good Firday Message from 1 Thessalonicans 2:14b

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/18/2014 9:24 AM

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  More from 1 Thess. 2:14b

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1 Thess. 2:14b

            Message of the verses:  “for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.”

            I want to look at a bit of history as to why Paul wrote that the Thessalonicans were suffering the same kind of persecution that the church in Judea was undergoing.  I have mentioned that I believe part of the reason that persecution came upon the church in Judea, mostly in Jerusalem was because they failed to fulfill the great commission that Jesus gave them which is seen in the last chapter of Matthew.  The first wave of persecution came from Saul of Tarsus who as we know later became the great Apostle Paul.  After the Lord Jesus spoke to him on the road to Damascus the persecution slowed down for a while, but then Herod had James killed, this James was one of the Apostles who was one of our Lord’s disciples.  Herod wanted to kill Peter too, but the Lord had promised the way that Peter would die, and that was by crucifixion and not by the sword.  Peter was let out of prison by an angel and left Jerusalem.  The persecution continued in the church at Judea and it was done by both the Jews and some Gentiles, for Herod was a Gentile. 

            As this time I want to give some quotes from Warren Wiersbe that will help us understand more about anti-Semitism. We know that God had called the nation of Israel to be a blessing to the whole world as seen in Genesis 12:1-3, and that the Word of God was given to the nation of Israel along with the Living Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus said that salvation is of the Jews in John 4:22, so we know that salvation comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. As we celebrate “Good Friday” today we remember how it was that God provided salvation for all those who would accept the payment that our Lord made for us on the cross as He suffered and died and was made sin in order to pay the penalty for sin and thus save those who believe in Him. 

            We will see later on in 1 Thessalonians chapter two that Paul accused the Jews of killing the Lord Jesus.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Was Paul giving evidence of ‘religious bigotry’ when he accused the Jews of killing Jesus Christ and persecuting the Christians?  No, he was simply stating a fact of history.  Nowhere does the Bible accuse all Jews of what a few Jews did in Jerusalem and Judea when Christ was crucified and the church founded.  The Romans also participated in the trial and death of Christ, and, for that matter, it was our sins that sent Him to the cross (Isa. 53:6).  There is no place in the Christian faith for anti-Semitism.  Paul himself loved his fellow Jews and sought to help them (Acts 24:17; Romans 8:1-5).”

            In conclusion let us look at Acts 17:5-8 to see what Dr. Luke wrote about how persecution began in Thessalonica: “5 But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people.   6 When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have upset the world have come here also; 7  and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus." 8  They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I think about today being Good Friday I can also relate to what I highlighted in verse six above.  The reason that I can relate these two together is because that is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did when He died on the cross to pay for the sins of those who would accept His forgiveness, He upset the world as this man said in verse six.  Jesus divided those who believe in Him with those who do not believe in Him as John the Baptist said in John 3:36.  As we look at the world around us I can’t help but think that we are getting closer to the return of our Lord to snatch His bride out of the world.  The world is getting smaller all of the time through the technology that man is achieving and it looks more and more like a one world government is very close to becoming a reality as the prophets have prophesized.  It is my prayer that the Holy Spirit of God will begin a great revival before the Lord comes to take those of us who have believed in Him home to be with Him where we will be with Him forever serving Him forever.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  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. (Romans 1:16)

Memory verse for the week: Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus” (Luke 22:61).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where was Jesus crucified?”  (I did not plan to have this question asked on Good Friday, it is just how it worked out on the cards that I am using.)

Answer in our next SD.

4/18/2014 10:25 AM  

Never Persecute the Jews (1 Thessalonians 2:14b)

                                       SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/17/2014 10:19 PM       

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  The Thess. Perseverance in Suffering

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Thessalonians 2:14b

            Message of the verses:  “for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.”

            As I was looking at my emails this morning I got an email from Joel Rosenberg’s blog that he writes sometimes once a day and sometimes more.  He was quoting a story from a newspaper in the US about something that is going on in Ukraine that has been going on many occasions before and that something is anti-Semitism.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “There is no place in the Christian faith for anti-Semitism.”  This happened during the Second World War in Europe when six million Jews were killed just because they were Jews.  Now we see this going on in Ukraine at this moment.  In Genesis 12:1-3 we read these words that God spoke to Abram:  “1  Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2  And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”  I have heard that you can chart the rising and falling of nations throughout history on how they treated the Jews.  In chapters 38-39 of Ezekiel we read about a future war that will take place against Israel and in that war which is called the war of Gog and Magog there will be a number of countries going against Israel which Ezekiel writes about and most Bible scholars believe that Russia will be one of those nations, in fact will be leading this attack against Israel.  The timing of this prophecy is not agreed upon as to when it will happen as some believe it will happen before the rapture of the church and some believe it will happen during the tribulation period.  We cannot identify all of the nations, but Iran is surely one of them and we can see in our time that Iran has stated they want to destroy the nation of Israel.  According to God’s Word this will not happen and also according to God’s Word all of these nations will be destroyed. 

            Paul writes about how the Gentiles were persecuting the believers in Thessalonica just as the Jews were persecuting the Church in Judah.  The Jews were wrong in doing this as the Gentiles were wrong in persecuting the believes in Thessalonica. 

            I think that it is in the book of Jeremiah where God calls Israel the apple of His eye, and we can see from the passage quoted in Genesis that He will care for Israel. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When God saved me in January of 1974 I knew little about the Jews, but it did not take long for God to put a deep love in my heart for them.  I have learned that it is wrong to dislike a Jew because he is a Jew and I am glad that God has put a love in my heart for the children of Israel.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to keep all of His Word that speaks of what will happen to the children of Israel, and what will happen to those who hate them.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “All Night” (Luke 6:12).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘"Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.’”

Answer in our next SD.

4/17/2014 10:48 PM

The Thessalonians' Honoring of the Saints (1 Thess. 2:14a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/16/2014 8:55 AM

My Worship Time                                            Focus:  The Thessalonians’ Honoring of the Saints 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1 Thess. 2:14a

            Message of the verses:  “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.”

            Perhaps an obvious question here is why what was it that made the Thessalonian Church like the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judah?  A little history of the church in Judah may help us understand the answer to this question.  Let us begin at the beginning of the Church age, for it all began in Jerusalem which is a part of Judea.  After the resurrection of Jesus Christ and just before His going back into heaven He told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem   “Acts 1:4  Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; 5  for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”  Later on in chapter two we see that the Holy Spirit did come upon them as they were all baptized with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages to those who were gathered in Jerusalem for the celebration of Pentecost.  This was the beginning of the Church, and despite the fact that there are actually some today who believe that the Church began in the Garden of Eden, it started there in Act Chapter two on the day of Pentecost.  The Church will end when the Lord Jesus Christ comes to the clouds above the earth and “raptures” the entire Church into the air to be with Him, both those who had died in Christ and those who are still alive on that day.  (See 1 Thess 4:13-18 and 1 Cor. 15:51ff.) 

            As we read through the book Acts we see that as time went on the church in Jerusalem began to grow as on the first day there were some 3000 people added and we then read of other great numbers being added to the church.  However one of the things that they did not do was to go into all the world to preach the gospel:  “19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”  (Matthew 28:19-20)  We know this as the great commission and I suppose that the people who were in the church in Jerusalem were too comfortable to leave their surroundings to do this, but then came the persecution and this caused many of them to leave and with them they took the gospel to begin to tell others about how the Lord had saved them.  Warren Wiersbe writes “The churches in Judea had not been exterminated by suffering; if anything; they had been purified and increased.”  As we read this we can see why the church in Thessalonica and the churches in Judea were alike as they both suffered persecution.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at John 2:36 which says “"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.’”  This statement was made by John the Baptist and it says to me that there are two kinds of people in this world, those who are saved by believing in Jesus Christ who actually became sin and paid the price of sin for all those who believe in Him, and those who will pay for their own sins in hell for all eternity who have not accepted the gift that He offers.  Some people think that all people are born good, but that is not true for all are born sinners and they sin because they are sinners.  Saying this I can understand why believers are persecuted for their faith in Christ, and it is happening more today than at any other time in the history of the church.  It is beginning to happen in our own country and if the Lord does not return to snatch us out of here we will see great persecution in the United States of America, which will purify the church as it did in Judea.  On my prayer list I pray for God to raise up a spiritual giant in this country to be used by God to bring about a great revival in this country before the Lord returns to take us to be with Him.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to bring about a revival in me and in His Church in our country and around the world.

Memory verse for the week:  Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “God” (1 Corinthians 3:9).

Today’s Bible question:  “How long did Jesus pray on the mountain?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/16/2014 9:39 AM

 

A Second Look at 1 Thessalonians 2:13

SPIRITIUAL DIARY FOR 4/15/2014 9:18 AM

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The Thessalonians Reception of God’s Word

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1 Thess. 2:13

            Message of the verse:  “13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

“13  And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers! (The Message)”

            We are looking at this verse for the second day as I wanted to use much of Warren Wiersbe’s commentary in looking at it yesterday, and now today we will look as some of the things that John MacArthur has to say about this verse, a verse that is very important to all who name the name of Christ as their Savior and Lord.  The reason being is that it speaks about the Word of God!

            The Thessalonians willingly “received” the Word of God that was spoken to them by Paul, Silas, and also Timothy.  MacArthur points out that the word received in the Greek is “Paralabontes.”  “This refers to an objective reception of a particular message, in this case the gospel.”

            He goes on to talk about the phrase “the Word of God which you heard from us.  “Literally reads ‘A word heard from us out from God.’  The missionaries spoke the words, but those words came from God.”  Remember that Paul has used the phrase “The Gospel of God,” and this is one of the reasons that he used that term as on many occasions it is referred to as the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

            We have talked about how Paul was being talked about badly by some of those in Thessalonica who were saying that Paul was doing all that he was doing for himself but of course this was not true.  The people who were accusing him of this could only use human terms as we spoke about in yesterdays SD where we quoted from 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.  Paul was not using human wisdom in talking to the Thessalonians, but he was preaching Jesus Christ crucified which was nonsense to those who were accusing him, but the Thessalonians received it with joy and thus became believers.  Let’s look at the word accepted as John MacArthur explains it:  “Edexasthe (accepted) connotes an inward welcome of the message, a transference from the mind to the heart. Such an eager embracing of what the Thessalonians had heard indicated that God had granted them faith and regeneration.”  This can be seen from the text in Acts 17:4 written by the beloved physician Luke.  Paul writes in Romans how this happens “10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:10, 17).”

            We also see in this verse that Paul makes sure that it was not the word of men that they received, but the Word of God, and again we want to look at 1 Corinthians 15:1, 3-4 to see what it was that they had received for in these verses we see what the gospel is:  “1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,  3  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”  This is the Gospel explained in a nutshell and this is the Word of God that the Thessalonians received and excepted and not only them but every person who has ever been saved has received and accepted.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In my prayer time each day I pray that God will direct my path and this comes from Proverbs 3:5-6.  By doing this I want to have the wisdom of God directing my life and not human wisdom, for human wisdom is not what I want to follow. 

I desire to put to memory a verse in Galatians:  “20  "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”  (Gal. 2:20)  This verse shows me that I was crucified with Christ and so my old nature is dead even though many times it does not act like it.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “His back parts” (Exodus 33:23).

Today’s Bible question:  “We are laborers together with whom?”

Answer in our next SD.

4/15/2014 10:01 AM

The Word of God as seen in 1 Thessalonins 2:13)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/14/2014 8:34 AM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  The Word of God

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  1 Thess. 2:13

            Message of the verses: “13 For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”  “13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worked also in you that believe.”

            I have read a lot of material on this verse from both Warren Wiersbe and John MacArthur, and so what I think that I will do here is in this SD we will look at some of the things that Warren Wiersbe wrote about and then in our next SD we will look at what John MacArthur has to say about this verse.  It is amazing to me how when I study the New Testament that in many cases one verse takes a very long time to understand, when in the Old Testament I can look at perhaps an entire paragraph to study in one Spiritual Diary. 

            I have stated on many different occasions that when I read the commentaries of Warren Wiersbe that if is very understandable as it has been said of him that he puts the cookies on the shelf where you can reach them.  We will look at some cookies about the importance of the Word of God.

            As we first look at this verse we can see that the Thessalonians truly appreciated the Word of God.  When Paul, Timothy and Silas came to Thessalonica they preached the Word of God in the Synagogue and then when the Jew rejected the Word of God they preached to the Gentiles:  “1 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ." 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women (Acts 17:1-4).”  Paul preached to them Christ Jesus who was crucified and then buried and three days later was raised from the dead.  “1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2  by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5  and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve (1 Cor. 15:1-5).”  This is the message that Paul preached wherever he went and this is the Word of God, unlike the words that humans make up and talk about like those who also lived in Thessalonica.  Paul writes more about this human wisdom to the Corinthians:  “18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE." 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24  but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor. 1:18-25).”

            The Bible is unlike any other book ever written:  Dr. Wiersbe writes “It was inspired by the Spirit of God (2 Tim. 3:16) and written by men of God who were used by the Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21).  God’s Word is holy, pure, and perfect (Psalm 19:7-9).  The Bible was written at great cost, not only to the writes, but to Jesus Christ who became Man that the Word of God might be given to us.” 

            He goes one to write:  “The way a Christian treats the Bible shows how he regards Jesus Christ.  He is the living Word (John 1:1, 14), and the Bible is the written Word; but in essence they are the same.  Both are bread (Matt. 4:4; John 6:48), light (Psalm 119:105; John 8:12), and truth (John 14:6; 17:17).  The Holy Spirit gave birth to Jesus Christ through a holy woman (Luke 1:35), and He gave birth to the Bible through holy men of God (2 Peter 1:20-21).  Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God forever (Rom. 1:25), and the Word of God will live forever (Psalm 119:89; 1 Peter 1:23, 25).” 

            Now we will look at how the Thessalonians appropriated the Word.  Verse thirteen in the KJV uses the word “received two times, while in the NASB it is only used one time.  The first time it is used it means “to accept from another” while the second time it means “to welcome.”  As we look at these two word we can determine that one means hearing with the ears while the other means hearing with the heart.  The people of Thessalonica not only heard the Word of God but also appropriated the Word of God into their hearts thus bringing salvation to them.  In Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary he writes about different times that our Lord spoke about the wrong kind of hearing and we will look at these now.  In Matthew 13:9 we read “"He who has ears, let him hear.’”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “In other words take heed that you hear.  Use every opportunity you have to hear the Word of God.”

            Mark 4:24 says “"Take care what you listen to.”  After we hear the Word of God we should take time to think and meditate upon it, not just leave church and then do something else, but think about what we have learned. 

            Luke 8:18 says “"So take care how you listen.”  Listening to the Word of God takes discipline, for some people listen in a lazy way, not really hearing what has been spoken to them.  Maybe they have their minds on what game they will watch after church or where they are going to go to eat.  I can honestly say that has happened to me on more than one occasion. 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes:  “How do we appropriate the Word?  By understanding it and receiving it inot our hearts, and by meditation on it so that it becomes part of the inner man.  Meditation is to the spiritual life what digestion is to the physical life.  If you do not digest your food, you would die.  It takes time to meditate, but it is the only way to appropriate the Word and grow.”

            Lastly we look at how the Thessalonicans applied the Word of God.  We are not only to appreciate the Word of God, and appropriate the Word of God but we are to apply the Word of God in our hearts and lives.  We know that the Word of God is powerful as seen in Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  We read in Luke 1:37 “"For nothing will be impossible with God.’” 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes “The Word of God within us is a great source of power in times of testing and suffering.  If we appreciate the Word (the heart), appropriate the Word (the mind), and apply the Word (the will), then the whole person will be controlled by God’s Word and He will give us the victory.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The Word of God has to be the most important book ever written for in it we find what the Lord has to say to His children.  The entire 119^th Psalm is dedicated to the Word of God, and I believe that only three of its 176 verses do not have in it something that refers to the Word of God.  I read or listen to the Word of God each and every day as it is a great part of my life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to study the Word of God to see what the Lord has for me each day.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “An officer in the Roman army, commanding 100 men.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What part of God did Moses see as he talked with God in the tabernacle?

Answer in or next SD.

4/14/2014 10:09 AM