Imagine what a pathetic spectacle it would be if a child never grew. Physical growth
is expected, and so too it is expected that a ‘child of God’ should grow spiritually.
But how can spiritual growth be measured? D. L. Moody (February 5, 1837 – December
26, 1899) the famous American evangelist, collected quotes and anecdotes he could
use in his preaching. On the subject of spiritual growth, he wrote, “Doctor Bonar
once remarked that he could tell when a Christian was growing. In proportion to his
growth in grace he would elevate his Master, talk less of what he was doing, and
become smaller and smaller in his own esteem, until, like the morning star, he faded
away before the rising sun. Jonathan was willing to decrease that David might increase;
and John the Baptist showed the same spirit of humility.” -
‘… that ye may grow …’ -
“He must increase, but I must decrease” -
The words above were spoken by John Baptist. He had in mind that his own ministry, that of proclaiming the coming Messiah, was drawing to a close. He had fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy [40:3] and had been ‘the voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord!’ Christ would now be in the ascendancy and John’s voice would soon be still. Christ must INCREASE! In Daniel ch.2 we are introduced to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, in which he sees a large human image symbolising four great world kingdoms that would dominate world history. This unusual statue is broken in pieces by ‘a stone was cut out without hands’: a picture of the Second Coming of Christ. ‘The stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and FILLED the whole earth.’ Isaiah anticipated this future global Messianic kingdom when he wrote, ‘of the INCREASE of His government and peace there shall be no end’ Isaiah 9:7
John Baptist, at first, was unwilling to baptise Jesus as he recognised that He, being sinless, had no sins to confess. Following His baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ William Barclay points out, ‘The voice which Jesus heard at the baptism is of supreme importance … That sentence is composed of two quotations. "This is my beloved Son", is a quotation from Psalm 2:7. Every Jew accepted that that Psalm as a description of the Messiah, the mighty King of God who was to come. "With whom I am well pleased" is a quotation from Isaiah 42:1, which is a description of the Suffering Servant …’ In a later chapter, the prophet Isaiah will reveal more about this ‘suffering Servant’ – ‘by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.’ [Isaiah 53:11]. This takes us to the cross!
‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ -
‘It is another who bears witness concerning me’ -
In legal matters, the principle set down in Deuteronomy is well accepted -
‘Jesus said to them, “Come and dine” -
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911 – 2004) was the 40th president of the United States from
1981 to 1989. In his own autobiography, Reagan shared his early fascination with
how nature points beyond itself to Almighty God. At age five, his family rented a
house in Galesburg, Illinois, and the attic contained “a huge collection of birds’
eggs and butterflies enclosed in glass cases.” Reagan recalled how he “escaped for
hours at a time into the attic, marvelling at the rich colours of the eggs and the
intricate and fragile wings of the butterflies.” He said “the experience left me
with a reverence for the handiwork of God that never left me.” Following his death,
they found among his personal papers, a set of ‘one-
Having been rescued from certain death by the Roman commander in Jerusalem, the apostle Paul was allowed to speak to the frenzied Jewish mob, who, just moments earlier, had attempted to tear him to pieces. He spoke to them in Hebrew. This surprised the crowd who’d assumed he was a Greek. A noticeable stillness prevailed, and the mob listened well as Paul gave his personal testimony. Their attentiveness, however, was short lived, and soon they cried out, “Away with such a fellow … he is not fit to live!” What was it that caused this sudden outburst? Paul had just told them that Jesus had commissioned him, “TO WITNESS TO THE GENTILES.” That God should bless the Gentiles with salvation, was a step too far for these Jews who prided themselves in being the CHOSEN people. They overlooked the fact that it had always been God’s intention to bless the Gentile nations – See Genesis 12:3
‘And they listened to him until this word’ -
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