PT-3 "The Temple" (Acts 7:52-53)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/22/2017 12:28 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  PT-3 “The Temple”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 7:52-53

            Message of the verses:  “52 “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53 you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it."”

            John MacArthur writes:  “Stephen then draws the parallel to its bloody conclusion.  As their fathers had ‘killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One,’ the Messiah, so had they become His ‘betrayers and murderers.’  While priding themselves on having ‘received the law as ordained by angels,’ they ‘did not keep it.’  They were without excuse, since the law pointed to Christ (John 5:39).  Stephen once again echoes the words of his Lord, who said to these same leaders, ‘If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote of Me’ (John 5:46).  They had no real respect for Moses or the law or they never would have murdered the One Moses promised (Gen. 18:14) or the One of whom the law spoke.”

            Matthew 23:29-32:   “29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ’If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 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

            All I have to say is that Stephen was a very gracious man even though it may seem that what he is saying is pretty harsh, yet when we look at the life of Jesus while on earth He said many of the same things, he like we will see of Stephen was murdered although Jesus’ death was planned by the Father in order to pay for our sins, and Stephen’s death was surely also planned by the Father, yet for a different reason.  Stephen would become the very first Christian martyr as we will see in our next SD which will cover Acts 7:54-8:1a.

            Tomorrow in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving and for that I am very thankful to live in a country that has a special holiday to give thanks to the Lord for all He has done for us.

11/22/2017 12:44 PM  11/22/2017 2:54 PM

Memory verse:  “Philippians 4:8”  “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “About 30 years” (Luke 3:23).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said ‘Behold and Israelite indeed, in whom is no gile’?”

Answer in our next SD.

11/22/2017 2:58 PM