LifeLink Devotional

Monday, May 11, 2020

It was such a blessing to be able to sit in my car yesterday with my wife and enjoy our drive-in church service at Calvary. Pastor Josh brought out some meaningful truths from the story of Moses’ mother. I was especially blessed to hear him rise up and praise his own mother for those qualities at the end of the sermon.

This Sunday we will return to our study of the Gospel of John. Each day this week, as we have been doing for the last several weeks, we will go treasure hunting for precious gems of truth from the Scripture that will be the basis for the upcoming sermon. Today I want to make a personal challenge to you from John 1:43-45.

“The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

Philip is the fourth man that Jesus calls to follow Him. Then, just like Andrew, he goes and finds another man to come and join them. When Andrew found his brother Peter, he made a simple statement that he had found the Messiah. But when Philip finds Nathanael, he goes into much more detail. He tells Nathanael that he had found the One person to whom the Old Testament Scriptures pointed. He declares that the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets all declared that the Son of God was coming. They describe Him as Messiah, Prophet, King, and so much more. Philip is so full of the knowledge of the Old Testament that he is immediately able to confirm that Jesus fulfills everything spoken.

Here’s my point to ponder for today.

When someone asks me to tell them the purpose of the Old Testament, can I show them how it all points to Jesus?

If you have your doubts, let me help you. This is just a minimal start, but maybe it will motivate you to find more.

• From the Law of Moses –
  • Deuteronomy 18:18-19 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
• From the Prophets –
  • Isaiah 52:13-15 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. (See also Isaiah 53)
  • Daniel 7:13-14 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

There are multiple prophecies about Christ in the Psalms, in Micah, in Zechariah, and more. In fact, the entire Old Testament is a massive prophecy of God’s redemptive plan that would be fulfilled in Jesus. It is worth your time to study it and understand the Scripture in that context.

Philip did. Maybe that’s why the Holy Spirit chose him to be the one to explain the prophets to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. I think the Holy Spirit is ready to use each one of us as a witness to Christ if we will dedicate ourselves to studying His Word.

Pastor John