From Time To Time - Part Forty Two Sep 08, 2024 by: John Herbert | Series: From Time to Time Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T026_20240908.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Jn 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. This will be the last message in this present series. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday September 8th 2024 From Time to Time – Part 42 1). Lk 19:11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Mk 9:31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” 32 But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him. Jn 20:9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. We had seen last time that as the disciples came to the night of the Lord’s betrayal there were certain things that they as yet had not understood. And because they did not understand that the Lord would be raised on the Third Day, we can see why they were in such a state of fear and confusion when what they had hoped for seemed to be ending in front of their eyes with the Lord’s betrayal and arrest. a). However, the Lord had said important things to the disciples recorded in John’s Gospel, shortly before He prayed the prayer for them that we have seen recorded in John Chapter 17. This is what He said – Jn 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. [in the sense of receiving and understanding and carrying them forward] 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. 16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’ ?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.” 19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. We can see from v12, that there were ‘many things’ that the disciples would need to know in order to be His witnesses and bring the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to the Jews. ‘Many things’ that the disciples would need to know as the Lord began to build His church with those taken from among the Gentiles – Acts 15:14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: 16 ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; 17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.’ 18 “Known to God from eternity [from the beginning of the world] are all His works. Many things for them to know, but the night of His betrayal was not the time to know them. Rather, these ‘many things’ would wait for the coming of the Spirit of Truth, who would guide them into all truth and tell them things to come. And the coming of the Spirit of Truth is what took place when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, as recorded in Acts Chapter 2. b). And then in vv16-20 of John Chapter 16, the Lord made known to them what they would soon experience, 16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”……. 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. These verses deal with the Lord’s death, ‘a little while and you will not see Me’, and His resurrection, ‘and again a little while and you will see Me.’ The verses deal with the sorrow the disciples will experience because of His death. Not only because of the very fact of it but also because they all would desert Him at the time of His betrayal. And then the joy that would be theirs when they saw Him following His resurrection. c). These verses contain not only a promise concerning the disciples’ immediate experience, but a promise to the Jewish people as a whole concerning their future – Mt 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ” The ‘world’ would rejoice over the Lord’s death as the rulers of this world thought they had overcome the Seed of the Woman, and the disciples would be sorrowful because they thought the Lord’s death meant that He was not the One who was to redeem Israel. The disciples’ sorrow would be turned into joy through the Lord’s resurrection and all that would be accomplished because of it. Then in that future day, the ‘world’ will rejoice as the ‘Beast’ kills the two witnesses in the streets of Jerusalem – Re 11:9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. And the events that will follow this will bring sorrow to the Jewish people such as they have never experienced before – Jer 30:7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. But their sorrow will be turned to joy as the One whom they had pierced, the One they will see again, delivers, cleanses and restores His chosen people. When they will say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ 2). To return to the disciples. We know from our previous studies that they were all sifted as wheat the night of the Lord’s betrayal. A sifting that brought their faith to a point at which it could have been overthrown. And we have also seen that the Lord had prayed for them that this would not happen, that their faith would not fail. And it was on the day of His resurrection that the Lord began to strengthen their shaken faith and to prepare the disciples for the coming of the Spirit of Truth – Lk 24:25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself……… 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. 36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. ….44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. And so, how did the Lord go about strengthening the disciples’ faith? The only way it could be done – Ro 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. He began at Moses. And from Moses to the rest of the OT Scriptures [the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms] opening their understanding of the Scriptures so that they would see Him and God’s purpose for and through Him. That which is subject and content of the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi. And when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, the ‘Promise of My Father’ was sent upon them – Jn 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you…….15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. And with the opening of the Scriptures to their understanding and the power given through the ‘Promise of My Father’ coming upon them, Peter would stand up and say – Acts 2:29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear…………36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And then, a little later – Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. And from the numerous details we could note from these verses from Acts Chapters 2-3, let’s pay particular attention to Peter’s use of the OT Scriptures. Quoting from David concerning the Lord’s resurrection and from Moses, Samuel and all the prophets, concerning the Lord’s identity. a). And not only that, but those who fled on the night of the Lord’s betrayal out of fear and self-preservation had been changed – Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 5:40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. 3). And of all the disciples whose faith was shaken on the night of the Lord’s betrayal, it was given to Peter and John to record two Books and five Books of Scripture respectively. And as Peter approached the end of his life, to be baptized with the same baptism as his Lord, he wrote his second letter – 2 Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Peter’s primary description of himself here is as ‘a bondservant’ and then an ‘apostle of Jesus Christ.’ And he is writing To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ…. The same faith that is more precious than gold which perishes, although tested by fire, that he wrote of in his first letter. The faith that would lead to the saving of the soul. He speaks about ‘His divine power’, the wisdom brought forth from above that has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. He talks about the ‘exceedingly great and precious promises’ we have received that we might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And because of this he then wrote – 2 Pe 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The focus is the abundant entrance into the coming Kingdom of Christ, the Kingdom of the heavens on offer to Christians whom Peter exhorts to be even more diligent to make their call and election sure with respect to this Kingdom – 2 Pe 1:12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. 13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. Peter’s desire was that when the time came to ‘put off’ his tent that those he left behind would have a constant reminder of the things he had just written. And his passion to make this constant reminder a reality had been fueled by one particular event – 2 Pe 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That which drove Peter was the reality of what he had witnessed on the mount of transfiguration, the event we find recorded at the beginning of Matthew Chapter 17. And we will notice that in the recollection of this extraordinary event he makes clear that what he saw was ‘the prophetic word confirmed’. A part of the prophecy of Scripture that God alone gave to ‘holy men of God’ as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It is not the event purely of itself then, but the confirmation of that previously written in the Scriptures. a). And it is within the context of the certainty of Christ coming in His Kingdom that he then reminds everyone – 2 Pe 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And between these two points in his letter, he deals with the false message of false teachers who will speak things contrary to the Word of God, blaspheming the way of truth. b). And again, in Peter’s final letter, just as we had seen on and following the Day of Pentecost, Peter took his readers, us, back to the veracity of the Scriptures. Just as Jesus had done with Peter and John and the others on the day of his resurrection. 4). And as we turn to the Apostle John, the fact that Jesus opened John’s understanding of the Scriptures, beginning with Moses, is self-evident – Jn 1:1 In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Whereas Moses recorded the restoration of the fallen material creation, so John’s Gospel begins with the restoration of fallen Man. And in John this restoration is presented in an overview, within a framework of seven days, just as Moses gave at the beginning of Genesis, with Moses revealing a Man and a Woman to rule together in the Seventh Day and John presenting a wedding at Cana of Galilee on the Seventh Day – Jn 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And we will remember that it is at this wedding that Jesus gave the first of eight particular signs, recorded by John, upon which John’s Gospel is built. A Gospel written during the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to the Jewish people by the church – Jn 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. And it was this same John, sifted on the night of the Lord’s betrayal, to whom the Lord, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. And John began the first of his letters at the same place as Moses began once again – 1 Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. And this same John whom He had given to write the last Book of all of Scripture, the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, in which the Christ of the OT Scriptures, beginning at Moses, is unveiled – Re 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. And at the completion of His unveiling we find the Seventh Day, the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Lord Jesus the Christ with His Wife ruling from the Lord’s throne in the New Jerusalem above, and the restored Wife of Jehovah ruling with the Christ who will sit on the throne of His father David in the Jerusalem below. A Man and a Woman ruling together in the 7th Day just as the Lord had set out through Moses in the first 34 verses of Genesis. a). And if this foundation in Moses is so important to Peter and John and indeed the other writers of the NT epistles, we might consider how important understanding this foundation is for us. And this consideration is where we will leave it until next time, if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. From Time To Time - Part Forty Two Sep 08, 2024 Speaker: John Herbert Series: From Time to Time Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T026_20240908.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Jn 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. This will be the last message in this present series. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday September 8th 2024 From Time to Time – Part 42 1). Lk 19:11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. Mk 9:31 For He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” 32 But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him. Jn 20:9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. We had seen last time that as the disciples came to the night of the Lord’s betrayal there were certain things that they as yet had not understood. And because they did not understand that the Lord would be raised on the Third Day, we can see why they were in such a state of fear and confusion when what they had hoped for seemed to be ending in front of their eyes with the Lord’s betrayal and arrest. a). However, the Lord had said important things to the disciples recorded in John’s Gospel, shortly before He prayed the prayer for them that we have seen recorded in John Chapter 17. This is what He said – Jn 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. [in the sense of receiving and understanding and carrying them forward] 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. 16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” 17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’ ?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.” 19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. We can see from v12, that there were ‘many things’ that the disciples would need to know in order to be His witnesses and bring the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to the Jews. ‘Many things’ that the disciples would need to know as the Lord began to build His church with those taken from among the Gentiles – Acts 15:14 Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: 16 ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; 17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the LORD, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the LORD who does all these things.’ 18 “Known to God from eternity [from the beginning of the world] are all His works. Many things for them to know, but the night of His betrayal was not the time to know them. Rather, these ‘many things’ would wait for the coming of the Spirit of Truth, who would guide them into all truth and tell them things to come. And the coming of the Spirit of Truth is what took place when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, as recorded in Acts Chapter 2. b). And then in vv16-20 of John Chapter 16, the Lord made known to them what they would soon experience, 16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”……. 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. These verses deal with the Lord’s death, ‘a little while and you will not see Me’, and His resurrection, ‘and again a little while and you will see Me.’ The verses deal with the sorrow the disciples will experience because of His death. Not only because of the very fact of it but also because they all would desert Him at the time of His betrayal. And then the joy that would be theirs when they saw Him following His resurrection. c). These verses contain not only a promise concerning the disciples’ immediate experience, but a promise to the Jewish people as a whole concerning their future – Mt 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ” The ‘world’ would rejoice over the Lord’s death as the rulers of this world thought they had overcome the Seed of the Woman, and the disciples would be sorrowful because they thought the Lord’s death meant that He was not the One who was to redeem Israel. The disciples’ sorrow would be turned into joy through the Lord’s resurrection and all that would be accomplished because of it. Then in that future day, the ‘world’ will rejoice as the ‘Beast’ kills the two witnesses in the streets of Jerusalem – Re 11:9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. And the events that will follow this will bring sorrow to the Jewish people such as they have never experienced before – Jer 30:7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. But their sorrow will be turned to joy as the One whom they had pierced, the One they will see again, delivers, cleanses and restores His chosen people. When they will say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ 2). To return to the disciples. We know from our previous studies that they were all sifted as wheat the night of the Lord’s betrayal. A sifting that brought their faith to a point at which it could have been overthrown. And we have also seen that the Lord had prayed for them that this would not happen, that their faith would not fail. And it was on the day of His resurrection that the Lord began to strengthen their shaken faith and to prepare the disciples for the coming of the Spirit of Truth – Lk 24:25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself……… 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. 36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. ….44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. And so, how did the Lord go about strengthening the disciples’ faith? The only way it could be done – Ro 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. He began at Moses. And from Moses to the rest of the OT Scriptures [the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms] opening their understanding of the Scriptures so that they would see Him and God’s purpose for and through Him. That which is subject and content of the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi. And when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, the ‘Promise of My Father’ was sent upon them – Jn 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you…….15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning. And with the opening of the Scriptures to their understanding and the power given through the ‘Promise of My Father’ coming upon them, Peter would stand up and say – Acts 2:29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear…………36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” 37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” And then, a little later – Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. And from the numerous details we could note from these verses from Acts Chapters 2-3, let’s pay particular attention to Peter’s use of the OT Scriptures. Quoting from David concerning the Lord’s resurrection and from Moses, Samuel and all the prophets, concerning the Lord’s identity. a). And not only that, but those who fled on the night of the Lord’s betrayal out of fear and self-preservation had been changed – Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 5:40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. 3). And of all the disciples whose faith was shaken on the night of the Lord’s betrayal, it was given to Peter and John to record two Books and five Books of Scripture respectively. And as Peter approached the end of his life, to be baptized with the same baptism as his Lord, he wrote his second letter – 2 Pe 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Peter’s primary description of himself here is as ‘a bondservant’ and then an ‘apostle of Jesus Christ.’ And he is writing To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ…. The same faith that is more precious than gold which perishes, although tested by fire, that he wrote of in his first letter. The faith that would lead to the saving of the soul. He speaks about ‘His divine power’, the wisdom brought forth from above that has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. He talks about the ‘exceedingly great and precious promises’ we have received that we might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And because of this he then wrote – 2 Pe 1:5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The focus is the abundant entrance into the coming Kingdom of Christ, the Kingdom of the heavens on offer to Christians whom Peter exhorts to be even more diligent to make their call and election sure with respect to this Kingdom – 2 Pe 1:12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. 13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. Peter’s desire was that when the time came to ‘put off’ his tent that those he left behind would have a constant reminder of the things he had just written. And his passion to make this constant reminder a reality had been fueled by one particular event – 2 Pe 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That which drove Peter was the reality of what he had witnessed on the mount of transfiguration, the event we find recorded at the beginning of Matthew Chapter 17. And we will notice that in the recollection of this extraordinary event he makes clear that what he saw was ‘the prophetic word confirmed’. A part of the prophecy of Scripture that God alone gave to ‘holy men of God’ as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. It is not the event purely of itself then, but the confirmation of that previously written in the Scriptures. a). And it is within the context of the certainty of Christ coming in His Kingdom that he then reminds everyone – 2 Pe 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And between these two points in his letter, he deals with the false message of false teachers who will speak things contrary to the Word of God, blaspheming the way of truth. b). And again, in Peter’s final letter, just as we had seen on and following the Day of Pentecost, Peter took his readers, us, back to the veracity of the Scriptures. Just as Jesus had done with Peter and John and the others on the day of his resurrection. 4). And as we turn to the Apostle John, the fact that Jesus opened John’s understanding of the Scriptures, beginning with Moses, is self-evident – Jn 1:1 In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Whereas Moses recorded the restoration of the fallen material creation, so John’s Gospel begins with the restoration of fallen Man. And in John this restoration is presented in an overview, within a framework of seven days, just as Moses gave at the beginning of Genesis, with Moses revealing a Man and a Woman to rule together in the Seventh Day and John presenting a wedding at Cana of Galilee on the Seventh Day – Jn 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And we will remember that it is at this wedding that Jesus gave the first of eight particular signs, recorded by John, upon which John’s Gospel is built. A Gospel written during the re-offer of the Kingdom of the heavens to the Jewish people by the church – Jn 20:30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. And it was this same John, sifted on the night of the Lord’s betrayal, to whom the Lord, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. And John began the first of his letters at the same place as Moses began once again – 1 Jn 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. And this same John whom He had given to write the last Book of all of Scripture, the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, in which the Christ of the OT Scriptures, beginning at Moses, is unveiled – Re 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. And at the completion of His unveiling we find the Seventh Day, the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Lord Jesus the Christ with His Wife ruling from the Lord’s throne in the New Jerusalem above, and the restored Wife of Jehovah ruling with the Christ who will sit on the throne of His father David in the Jerusalem below. A Man and a Woman ruling together in the 7th Day just as the Lord had set out through Moses in the first 34 verses of Genesis. a). And if this foundation in Moses is so important to Peter and John and indeed the other writers of the NT epistles, we might consider how important understanding this foundation is for us. And this consideration is where we will leave it until next time, if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.
