The New Rick Livermore Site has moved back to the old address which is Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog
Friday, July 17, 2020
Tabletalk Devotions with R.C. Sproul - July 17, 2020
*Click to view this email in your browser.
Small but Powerful Faith
Matthew 17:14–21 "If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you" (v. 20).
Matthew's gospel depicts the essential part faith plays in the events of Jesus' life as well as in His teaching. Joseph believed that Mary's son was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by an illicit affair (1:18–25). Christ trusted the Father to sustain Him in His temptation (4:1–11) and marveled at the faith so often displayed by those outside of God's covenant with Israel (8:5–13; 15:21–28). Peter was given the ability to identify Jesus as the Messiah, though His grasp of all that means was initially incomplete (16:13–23).
Faith is the focus of today's passage as we resume our exposition of Matthew. Having come down from the Mount of Transfiguration (17:9–13), Jesus and His disciples run into a crowd. Apparently, He gets temporarily separated from the Twelve because a distraught father updates Jesus on an encounter he and his son had with the disciples alone. The man asked Christ's followers to heal his epileptic son but they were unable to restore the boy (vv. 14–16).
Jesus then laments the faithlessness of His generation, which the disciples' failure reveals clearly (v. 17). If those appointed to cast out demons, perform miracles (10:8), and sit at Christ's feet did not have the faith to heal others, what hope is there for all who are not apostles? We do not know the way in which the disciples' faith has been lacking; perhaps they had been trusting in the power of their words to exorcize demons, not the Creator Himself. The epileptic seizures may also have startled them, causing their faith to waver.
Jesus uses the moment to emphasize the power of faith no matter its size (v. 20). That faith can move mountains is not a literal expression, it is a metaphor that means faith can accomplish the impossible (see 1 Cor. 13:2). Of course, power does not inhere in faith itself; faith is not a magical way to manipulate reality. Instead, faith is effective because it is the means by which we access the help of God Himself, with whom all things are possible (Matt. 19:26). Faith is the conviction, John Calvin comments, that "God will never forsake us, if we keep the door open for receiving his grace." And He cannot help but move in the lives of those who cry out to Him day and night (Ex. 2:23–3:8; Luke 18:1–8).
Coram deo: Living before the face of God
Today's passage does not define faith exhaustively; thus, it must be read in concert with other passages like 1 John 5:14, which emphasizes the importance of God's will when we pray. As Dr. John MacArthur writes: "True faith, by Christ's definition, always involves surrender to the will of God" (The MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1,156). Faith believes that God can move mountains, but it also knows to anticipate only those things He has promised.
For further study: Exodus 14
The Bible in a year: Psalms 28–30
For the weekend: Psalms 31–35
This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog by Bible Gateway, 3900 Sparks Drive SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 USA. This email is part of a devotional or newsletter that you signed up for on BibleGateway.com. For information regarding our privacy policy, click here. If you have questions or comments about this newsletter, please contact us.
*Manage all Bible Gateway subscriptions — *Opt Out of all Bible Gateway communication
*the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally
Affiliate marketer links: Affiliate marketer Rick Livermore with Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog will earn a commission on the Bible Study Material you buy from faith gateway store and alibris.
Jesus Christ is alive and living in the hearts and lives of billions of Christians. I am interested in what He is saying and doing in the lives of those who know and love Him and interested in being a familiar and trusted blogger about Him
Dallas Theological Seminary Fighting Human Trafficking video on youtube
Human Trafficking Victims Program Introduction
She said two urls that are no longer the urls to use. The first one, www.dhs.gov/humantrafficking automatically becomes www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign The facebook site was the old site which does not automatically update to the following, the new facebook site is http://facebook.com/dhsbluecampaign Click this link to search all of the DHS site for mentions of the Blue Campaign
2,140,727 views May 27, 2015
This song is on the album "Sovereign" From Michael W. Smith Sky Spills Over · Michael W. Smith Sovereign ℗ 2014 The MWS Group, under exclusive license to Sparrow Records Released on: 2014-01-01 Producer: Christopher Stevens Composer Lyricist: Michael W. Smith Composer Lyricist: Christopher Stevens Composer Lyricist: Ryan Smith
The following request applies to any of the christian ministries that are currently getting visitors from my blog:
I am currently blogging: https://webmaster220.blogspot.com I would like to place a banner on the right side of my home page that promotes your ministry If I do that and it helps your ministry grow and expand do you have a suggestion as to what type of commission or contribution could be paid to my ministry. The reason I am saying that is there are a lot of ministries out there that are buying advertising space online and yours could be one of them for all I know. I have been an affiliate marketer for years on my blog but no commissions have ever been earned even though I am doing everything required to be done to earn the commissions. My blog readers are just not interested in spending any money on any of the goods or services discussed in my banner ads and text links. To reply, use the contact form below this paragraph Thanks, Rick Livermore - Webmaster220
Contact Form to contribute or pay the blog a commission
Contact Form Introduction
Notice to authors: I would like to add like minded authors to my blogger.com site. If you would like to be added email me a sample of what your writing is like to the "contact us" form here on this site. I will invite you as long as your example is suitable. Take a look at what type of a blog it is here
No comments:
Post a Comment