SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/1/2018 10:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Defense”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
24:10-21
Message of the verses: “10 When the
governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded: "Knowing that for
many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,
11 since you can take note of the fact
that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12
“Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself
did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot. 13
“Nor can they prove to you the charges of which they now accuse me. 14
“But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do
serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with
the Law and that is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, which
these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both
the righteous and the wicked. 16 “In view of this, I also do my best to
maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.
17 “Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings;
18 in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified,
without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia- 19
who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation, if they should
have anything against me. 20 “Or else let these men themselves tell what misdeed
they found when I stood before the Council, 21
other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing
among them, ’For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you
today.’"”
I
mentioned at the end of our last SD that I would quote a paragraph from John
MacArthur’s commentary. “In contrast to
his Jewish accusers (who were mostly Sadducees), Paul believed ‘everything that
is in accordance with the Law, and that is written in the Prophets.’ He turned the tables on his adversaries,
points out that they were the real heretics.
They did not truly worship God, since they rejected His Son (John
5:23). Paul accepted the plenary (full)
inspiration of the Old Testament Scriptures, believing ‘everything’ written in
them. The Sadducees accepted only the
Pentateuch as divinely inspired, while the Pharisees accepted the entire Old
Testament. But both rejected the clear testimony
of the Law and the Prophets to Jesus Christ (John 5:39, 46; cf. Luke 24:27, 44;
John 1:45). Far from being a heretic,
Paul was more orthodox than his accusers, since he served the God of his
fathers, believed in the inspiration of the entire Old Testament, and accepted
everything it taught.”
Because
Paul believed the Old Testament it gave him “a hope in God, which these men
cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the
righteous and the wicked.” The Old
Testaments gives is several verses that speak of the resurrection of the dead,
something Mary knew as she spoke to Jesus about her dead brother. Job 19:25-27; Isa. 26:19; and Daniel 12:2 are
verses from the Old Testament which speak of the resurrection of the dead. It was unfortunate that the Sadducees did not
believe past the first five books of the Bible or they would have had their
hope in the Lord to raise people on the last day.
One
of the main themes found in the book of Acts is the resurrection of the dead,
for after all Jesus did rise from the dead, and the Bible tells us that He is
the “firstfruits” of those who will follow after Him. Paul wrote to Titus that the resurrection was
our hope that is the believers hope. The
rapture of the church brings forth the next resurrection as Paul wrote in 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18, and also in the 15th chapter of 1
Corinthians, which is known as the resurrection chapter.
This
is a good time to have a break in this section and so my hope will be to finish
this section in our next SD.
I also want to mention that my wife and
I are going to be going on a vacation or as some call it a “holiday” as we
leave next Tuesday. My reason for saying
this is that it is possible that there will not be any internet service where
we will be staying and so it may be that I will have to put multiple blog posts
on when I get to a place where the internet is found.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “To first be reconciled to his
brother before offering his gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).
Today’s Bible question: “Who said ‘I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him’?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/1/2018 10:39 AM
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