Podcast Introduction

Our reading today is Matthew 3-4, after which I’ll have a gripe about something in one of our chapters, and then a close examination of a verse in another chapter. After than, there’s the “On This Day In Church History” segment, and we don’t have any prayer requests today, but given that today is 9/11, I think we should pray for our nation. We’ll do that at the end of the show.

Thoughts on Matthew 3

John the Baptist’s appearance here in Matthew chapter three is significant because God has not had a prophet on the earth since Malachi, who lived roughly around 400 BC. 

God had been silent. He had left Israel to their own devices, and they had grown proud of themselves and their supposed observance of the Law, and they were insensitive to sin.

Then, all of a sudden, out of the wilderness, comes this crazy looking guy dressed in a robe of camel’s hair with a leather belt. This outfit, besides being unusual, would have signaled to the people that this was a prophet, because they were known to wear rough materials , not fine worldly things. 

His diet was as unusual as his dress. He ate locusts and wild honey. This also showed that he was not interested in earthly niceties, but ate only to maintain life.

After a silence of 400 years, God sent John the Baptist to wake up the people. They had truly fallen spiritually asleep. And John came as a voice crying in the wilderness. What happens when a baby cries? It commands everyone’s attention. John’s mission was to get the people’s attention. What was his message? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”

Repent? Repent from what? John was telling them to wake up and change their way of thinking. To repent is to have a change of mind and heart. Once that happens, behavior changes. 

The people thought they were just fine. Remember, they had grown complacent during God’s silence. But they were far from Him. John was telling them that they were NOT fine. They needed to change and get ready for the soon coming of the kingdom of heaven. 

And many people heard John’s message, believed and were baptized. However, the religious establishment, those who relied most on their outward observance of the Law to feel self righteous and smug, came to see John but did not believe his message was for them. And he told them of the coming wrath.

Of course we know that many of them never did allow themselves to believe.

Just as there were smug, self righteous non believers in John the Baptist’s time, there are smug, self righteous non believers today who do not believe that Jesus is coming. Our job, my friend, is to be a voice to them. Not many believed then, and not many will believe now. But we are not responsible for the numbers. That is in God’s hand. We must simply do that which we are called to do. Be his voice.

Thoughts on Matthew 4

After Jesus was baptized by John in chapter three, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness. After 40 days and nights of fasting, the enemy came to tempt Him, with three different offers. Do you remember how Jesus responded to him? Right. Jesus said to Him, “It is written…”, and He quoted scriptures to him. The enemy tempted Him three times, and Jesus responded four times with “It is written…”

Jesus gives us the way we need to respond when we are tempted. Not by force of will, but by applying scripture. 

We are in a spiritual battle. Paul tells us this in Ephesians 6:11-17, and tells us how we can be properly prepared. Paul writes, “11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

The items listed by Paul are belt, body armor, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword.

Notice that the first five items are more or less defensive. Belt, body armor, shoes, shield, and helmet. They are protective in nature. 

But the last item is offensive. The sword. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Jesus used this to defeat the enemy’s attacks of temptation.

So many believers handicap themselves by not being properly equipped. The way to win a battle is by having the right armament, both defensive and offensive.

How does a soldier who hopes to be effective with their armament ensure that they will be successful when they need it? First, they have to have it with them. It does no good at all if it’s back at the armory. But then, once they have it with them, they have to know how to use it, don’t they? They practice. And of course, no one wins a battle without knowing how to use their offensive weapon very, very well. 

So how are we going to use our sword, the word of God, if we don’t prepare? If we don’t have a very good familiarity with it? Most believers have a sword, but it’s rusting on the shelf. They rarely take it out of its sheath. They don’t train with it. They don’t know how to handle it.

I commend you for being here, making a commitment to listen to Lifespring Family Audio Bible. This is just one way that you can become more adept at handling God’s Word. More familiar with it. But listen very carefully. This is only part of your training. Listening is great, but it does not replace reading, studying, digging into it on your own. My prayer is that this podcast will give you a thirst for more. I want you to come away from each day’s show with a desire to dig deeper. 

I publish the newsletter each week so that you will have the week’s reading schedule ahead of time, so that maybe you will read ahead, and maybe study a bit. Maybe see if the points that impress you are the points I’ll talk about. If you’re not subscribed, news.lifespringmedia.com

My prayer is that when temptation comes to you, you’ll be well prepared.

Beloved, if Jesus used the Word of God to stand against temptation, shouldn’t we?

The Chosen

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 3-4 NET

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