PT-2 “True Repenters Reveal Spiritual Transformation” (Luke 3:8a-14)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/25/2026 6:47 PM

My Worship Time     Focus:                  PT-2 “True Repenters Reveal Spiritual Transformation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference:  Luke 3:8a-14

            Message of the verses:  “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance…Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”  And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”  And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”  And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”  Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?”  And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

            I continue to look at this section that I began this morning, and will see how far I can get this evening.

            Picking up from where I left off this morning I can see that the judgement pictured here is on individuals, as the singular every tree  suggests.  However if enough individuals fail to repent, it becomes a national issue, and that is what is happening here in Israel at this time period when both John and Jesus began their ministries.  Most of the people during this time period of their preaching did not follow the message of salvation, and the reason was, at least one of the reasons is that they thought that they were ok because they were born Jews.  What happened after the Lord was crucified sometime around 30 A.D. was that the church age began, but because the Jewish people had rejected the Lord, and also rejected being a part of the church so much that they were persecuting the church, that the Lord brought the Romans into their country and they defeated them and tore their temple down and slaughtered thousands of Jewish people, who were cast into the fire of eternal damnation.  The same axe of divine judgment will fall on all who fail to repent, both Jew and Gentiles alike (cf. Joel 3:1-2, 12-14; Zeph. 3:8).

            John had a sobering message and it prompted at least some in the crowd to reflect on their sinful lives.  Wanting to know what specific actions they needed to take to manifest genuine repentance, they began questing him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”  John would habitually, and MacArthur then adds the following (as the imperfect tense of the verb translated say indicates) answer them by giving practical advice.  He told the crowds in general, ‘The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.’  Though seemingly trivial, sharing such basic necessities as clothing and food with those in need fulfills the command to love one’s neighbor (10:27; cf. Lev. 19:18; Romans  13:8-10; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8)—which is second in importance only to the command to love God (Matt. 22:37-38).

            “Luke then recorded the questions of two specific groups.  When some tax collectors also came to be baptized and asked him, ‘Teacher, what shall we do?  John said to them, ‘Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.’  Tax collectors were hated vilified, and scorned because they collected taxes for the Roman oppressors.  Despised as traitors and robbers, they were cut off from Jewish religious life and forbidden to testify in court.  John did not order them to give up their jobs, since it is not wrong for a government to collect taxes (Matt. 22:17-21; Rom. 13:7).  But he did tell them not to collect any more than what they had been ordered to collect.  Tax collectors normally increased their profits by extorting exorbitant tools beyond what was mandated by Rome (Luke 19:8), and demanding kickbacks and bribes.  They could manifest true repentance by treating people fairly and honestly and not abusing their authority.  Some of the tax collectors took John’s message to heart and repented (Matt. 21:31-32; Luke 19:1-10).

            Soldiers were another group prone to abusing their authority for selfish gain.  These soldiers could have been under the authority of Herod Antipas or Rome and may also have included some members of the Judean police.  John gave them three ways to manifest genuine repentance.  First, they were not to take money from anyone by force.  The verb translated take money by force literally means ‘to shake violently.’ The soldiers were not, to use contemporary idiom, to shake people down for money through intimidation or force.  Nor were they to accuse anyone falsely.  They were not to abuse their authority to twist and pervert the evidence in any attempt to extort money from the innocent.  Finally, John charged the soldiers to be content with their wages, since failing to do so might motivate them to abuse their power.”

            MacArthur concludes this section by writing “By selecting tax collectors and soldiers as examples of those who repented, John was making the general point that true repentance produces a life that is transformed from being characterized by sin to being benchmarked by virtue.”

4/25/2026 7:17 PM

 

“True Repenters Reveal Spiritual Transformation” (Luke 3:8a-14)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/25/2026 9:57 AM

My Worship Time                               Focus:  “True Repenters Reveal Spiritual Transformation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference:  Luke 3:8a-14

            Message of the verses:  “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance…Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”  And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”  And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”  And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”  Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?”  And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

            I suppose that everyone who has been reading my Spiritual Diaries lately on the gospel of Luke have noticed that the theme is “repentance.”  It does not stop here as one can see in the title of this SD, and true repentance is something that every person who claims to be a born-again believer in Jesus Christ needs to understand fully.  Genuine repentance will inevitably manifest itself in changed attitudes and behavior; therefore John challenged those coming to be baptized to bear fruits in keeping with their professed repentance.  This certainly was not just true with those who John was talking to, but for everyone who claims to follow Jesus.  Now the apostle Paul also challenged people to prove the reality of their repentance as He described his ministry as one of “declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance” (Acts 26:20).  Because the evidence of the repentance that leads to salvation is a changed life, God “will render to each person according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6).  MacArthur adds “That does not mean, of course, that people can earn salvation by good works, but rather that good works are the inevitable result of repentance.  The repentance that God grants (Acts 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25) does not take place in a vacuum, but in the context of the transformation brought about by conversion and regeneration (2 Cor. 5:17).”  Let us take a moment to look at these verses.

(Acts 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25)

“18  When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’”

“25  correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,”

(2 Cor. 5:17)

“17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

“As a result, the redeemed ‘are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them’ (Eph. 2:10).

            “None of this was new to the Jewish people.  In Isaiah 1:4-5 the prophet lamented concerning Israel,

“Alas, sinful nation, people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evil-doers, sons who act corruptly!  They have abandoned the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away from Him.  Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion?  The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint.”

“In verses 16 and 17, God commanded the people, ‘Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight.  Cease to do evil, learn to do god; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow’  If the presence of those deeds confirmed the genuineness of their repentance, God promised that ‘though [their] sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool’ (v. 18).  In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God declared, ‘[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land’ (cf. Ezek. 33:19; Jonah 3:10).” 

(cf. Ezek. 33:19; Jonah 3:10)

“19  And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this.”

“10  When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

            “John followed his exhortation to repent with a warning of the severe consequences of failing  to do so.  Indeed, he declared, the axe is already laid at the root of the tree; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  (Jesus used the same graphic imagery to depict judgment in Matthew 7:19).”

(Matthew 7:19)

“19  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

“God’s judgment was imminent, John warned; His axe was already laid at the root of the trees.  And every tree that does not bear good fruit would be cut down and thrown into the fire.  Those trees symbolize people whose repentance is demonstrably false, since they do not bear good fruit—the attitudes and actions that manifest righteousness, love for God, and obedience to His word.  They will be thrown into the fire; ‘the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels’ (Matt. 25:41; cf. 18:1; Jude 6-7).”

(Matt. 25:41; cf. 18:1; Jude 6-7)

“41  "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

“8  And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.”

“6  And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7  just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  Repentance is not just for those who become true believers in Jesus Christ, it is for all believers, for we all sin and we need to confess our sins before the Lord in order to continue to walk with Him in the way He desires us to.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will be with our family in a very special way as we all continue to pray for my wife’s recovery from her cancer.

4/25/2026 10:42 AM

 

“True Repenters Reject Religious Ritual” (Luke 3:7b)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/24/2026 9:04 PM

My Worship Time                                             Focus:  “True Repenters Reject Religious Ritual”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 3:7b

            Message of the verse: “who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

            Here is something that I think I have already mentioned in an earlier SD, perhaps more than one, and that is that the Jews hoped to gain right standing before God through their own self-righteous achievements, and I think that I am right in saying that is true with most peoples today and for a long time.  Keeping the Sabbath, celebrating the annual feasts, offering formal prayers, giving alms to the poor, and observing the law, and I have to add (at least eternally), was the essence of their religion.  So thus it was just natural for them to see John’s baptism as just another ritual to perform.  However perhaps a number of them did realize something was different about John, something they needed to follow.

            But that legalistic, external approach was antithetical to true repentance, and John boldly confronted them.  He said to them “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” in this manner, he demanded.  Did they think they could escape the inferno of God’s wrath by slithering into the Jordan River like snakes fleeing a brush fire?

            John MacArthur writes “God detests mere outward, ritualistic, hypocritical religion.  In Isaiah 29:13 He said to Israel, ‘This people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.’  Later in Isaiah God rebuked His people because they ‘swear by the name of the Lord and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth nor in righteousness’ (48:1).  Jeremiah lamented to God concerning his fellow Jews, ‘You are near to their lips but far from their mind’ (Jer. 12:2; cf. Ezekiel 33:31-32).  In His masterful discourse on salvation commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), the Lord Jesus Christ destroyed any hope of salvation through human achievement.”  Now let me just add a thought of my own here.  The more a person when they become believers knows about God the more they learn that He has to be the One to bring about salvation on His own, and He did that by sending His Son, the second person of the godhead, to planet earth to become the God/man in order to preach and teach for three years, and then to die on the cross in order to provide salvation to those who will come to Him realizing that they can do nothing on their own to become true believers in Jesus Christ for salvation.  It’s all about God.  “He attacked the works-righteousness religion of His day, denouncing its prayers as nothing but vain repetition, its almsgiving as the parading of self-righteous pride, and its outward keeping of the law while ignoring the inner attitudes of the heart as rank hypocrisy.  In short, He pointed out the utter inability of all their ceremonies and rituals to earn salvation.  After his conversion the zealous (Gal. 1:14), outwardly blameless Pharisee Saul of Tarsus acknowledged that all his self-righteousness amounted to nothing more than a heap of rubbish (Philippians 3:4-8).”

(Philippians 3:4-8)

“3  Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. 4  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

            “Like the crowds that flocked to hear John, churches today are filled with people merely going through the motions.  They may be baptized as infants, attend services, perform rituals, pray, read their Bibles, even serve as pastors and leaders in the church.  But superficial penitence will not deliver anyone from divine wrath and judgment.”

4/24/2026 9:27 PM

pt-2“True Repenters Recognize Divine Wrath” (Luke 3:7a)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/24/2026 9:00 AM

My Worship Time                                Focus:  pt-2“True Repenters Recognize Divine Wrath”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                      Reference:  Luke 3:7a

            Message of the verse:  “So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers,”

            I want to continue to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary and I will try and also quote the verse references that he has in this very important section.

            “John’s hearers were well aware of God’s coming wrath, since it was a constant theme of the Old Testament prophets.  The familiar term ‘the day of the Lord,’ which depicts God’s  catastrophic future judgment of the wicked, is mentioned explicitly nineteen times in the Old Testament (Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18 [two times], 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14 [two times]; Zech 14:1; Mal. 4:5).”  Now because all of these verse references are similar I will only quote a few of them.

(Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15)

“12  For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up— and it shall be brought low;”

“6  For a man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying: "You have a cloak; you shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule";”

“9 ¶  For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.”

“5  You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the LORD.”

“3  For the day is near, the day of the LORD is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.”

“15  Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.”

“It is the time when God pours out His watch on the wicked, which is why Scripture three times calls the day of the Lord ‘the day of vengeance’ (Isa. 34:8, 61:2; 63:4).

            “The Old Testament passages dealing with the day of the Lord often convey a sense of imminence, nearness, and expectation:  ‘Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!’ (Isa. 13:6); ‘For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near’ (Ezek. 30:3); ‘For the day of the Lord is near’ (Joel 1:15); ‘Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near’ (Joel 2:1); ‘Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision’ (Joel 3:14); ‘For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations’ (Obad. 15); ‘Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near’ (Zeph. 1:7); ‘Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly’ (Zeph. 1:14).

            “Those imminent past historical days of the Lord were merely a prelude to the final eschatological day of the Lord, which will be far greater in extent and more terrible in its destruction.  The Old Testament day of the Lord passages often have both a near and a far fulfillment.  Isaiah 13:6 points to an historical day of the Lord, while verse 9 of that same chapter has the final, eschatological day of the Lord in view.  Joel 1:15 and 2:1, 11 describe an historical day of the Lord; Joel 3:1-14 the eschatological day of the Lord.  Obadiah 1:14 depicts the historical day of the Lord in which Edom was judged; verses 15-21 describe the eschatological day of the Lord.  Zephaniah 1:7-14 predicts an imminent, historical day of the Lord judgment on Judah, which was fulfilled shortly afterward in the Babylonian captivity; 3:8-20 predicts the final day of the Lord.

            “John’s decidedly non-sinner-friendly characterization of the crowds as a ‘brood of vipers’ reflects the sobering truth that there is more to repentance than scrambling to avoid the fires of divine wrath.  Led by their religious leaders (Matt. 3:7; cf. 12:24; 23:33), hordes of shallow, superficial repenters flocked to hear John.”

(Matt. 3:7; cf. 12:24; 23:33)

“7 ¶  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

“24  But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.’”

“33  You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”

“But as he was well aware, they were not interested in changing their nature.  By denouncing them as a brood of vipers, John identified them with their father, Satan (John 8:44), whom Scripture depicts as a serpent (Gen. 3:1-4, 13-15; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:2).  Their superficial repentance and their vicious, hostile, poisonous natures revealed that they were children of the devil.”  This finishes this section, however I want to quote these verses seen above.

(John 8:44)

44  You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

(Gen. 3:1-4, 13-15; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:2)

“1 ¶  Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?" 2  And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3  but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’" 4  But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”

“13  Then the LORD God said to

the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."14 ¶  The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’”

“3  But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”

“9  And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

“2  And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,”

Spiritual Meaning for My Life Today:  I am thankful that the Bible makes it clear that Satan will end up in the Lake of Fire along with all of his angels that followed him.  I am thankful also for the Judgment Seat of Christ where all believers in the church age will receive rewards for how they followed the Lord in doing what the Holy Spirit has called them to do.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Knowing that the Lord is in perfect control of all the things that are going on in the world, as He prepares the world for the Tribulation period, give me encouragement to know that He also is in control of what is going on in my families lives at this time.

4/24/2026 9:40 AM

 

 

 

 

 

PT-1 “True Repenters Recognize Divine Wrath” (Luke 3:7a)

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/23/2026 10:22 PM

My Worship Time                                           Focus:  “True Repenters Recognize Divine Wrath”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                       Reference:  Luke 3:7a

            Message of the verse:  “So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers,”

            We begin by writing about a legitimate motive for repentance, and this is fear of God’s wrath.  Sin must be dealt with not merely because it creates problems in this life, but even more so because of its far-reaching, eternal consequences, and I think we know what that is all about.  John’s message to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him included warnings of God’s coming wrath (cf. Rom. 2:5, 8; 5:9; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; Rev. 6:16-17).   Now because of the great importance of this section we are looking at this evening I will quote these verses.

(cf. Rom. 2:5, 8; 5:9; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6; Rev. 6:16-17)

“5  But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

“8  but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.”

“9  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

“6  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

“6  On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”

“16  calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’”

Now the notion of some that the suffering in this world is all the hell anyone will ever know is terribly, tragically wrong.  MacArthur writes that “The Bible clearly and unmistakably teaches—in graphic terms—the reality of eternal punishment.  Jesus, who preached more about hell than He did about heaven, described hell as the place ‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’ (Mark 9:48); ‘the outer darkness’ (Matt. 8:12; cf. 22:13;25:30; and ‘the furnace of fire’ (Matt. 13:42, 50.”

(Matt. 8:12; cf. 22:13;25:30)

“12  while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

“13  Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

“30  And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

(Matt. 13:42, 50)

“42  and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

“50  and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

“In Luke 13:28 He warned His hearers, ‘In that place [hell] there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out.’  In hell the lost ‘will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power’ (2 Thess. 1:9; cf. Matt. 25:41, 46).  In that awful place ‘they will be tormented day and night forever and ever’ (Rev. 20:10; cf. 14:10-11).”  I will conclude this evening’s SD by quoting those verses above.

(2 Thess. 1:9; cf. Matt. 25:41, 46)

“9  They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” 

“41  "Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

“46  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”

(Rev. 20:10; cf. 14:10-11)

“10  and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

“10  he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11  And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.’”

            As mentioned earlier in this SD, these verses that are mentioned and then copied and pasted are very important verses to look at and to think about, especially if you are not a true believer in Jesus Christ for your salvation, for if you are not then these verses speak of what will happen to you.

4/23/2026 10:50 PM

 

  

“True Repenters Reflect on Personal Sin”

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/23/2026 9:47 AM

My Worship Time                                            Focus:  “True Repenters Reflect on Personal Sin”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Luke 3:3-4

            Message of the verses:  4  As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” 5  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways,”

            These are not really the verses that go along with this section but are verses that are mentioned in MacArthur’s commentary.  We will be looking at Luke 3:7-17 but in MacArthur’s commentary he did not have any verses there in this section which is unusual for him.

            I will just quote this one paragraph in this SD from his commentary:  “As noted in the discussion of 3:4-5 in the previous chapter of this volume, John’s ministry as Messiah’s forerunner involved preparing the hearts of the people to receive Him.  In the words of Isaiah’s prophecy, John was ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness.  His message, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight’ (v. 4) called on the people to prepare their hearts to receive the Messiah.  The imagery of Isaiah’s prophecy pictures the work of preparing a pathway through the wilderness of the heart.  As noted in the previous chapter of this volume, filling in the ravines pictures bringing to light the hidden sins of the heart.  Bringing down the mountains and hills symbolizes the abasement of sinful pride. Making the crooked things straight speaks of straightening out anything perverse, twisted, deceitful, or dangerous by confession and repentance.  Finally, smoothing out the rough roads refers to removing any hindrance or obstacle, such as self-love, apathy, indifference, lust, or unbelief, that might obstruct the Lord’s entrance into the heart.  True repentance involves a complete and full dealing with sin in response to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I mentioned that this was going to be a very short SD, but as I read over this one chapter there are many great things in it that I certainly need to follow in my life each day. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the Lord to see my family through what could happen to my wife’s cancer treatment, new treatment that she may be getting early next month, as the previous treatments did not take care of the problem.

4/23/2026 10:07 AM

Intro to “True Repentance: God’s Highway to the Heart” (Luke 3:7-17)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/22/2026 7:33 PM

My Worship Time                    Focus:  Intro to “True Repentance: God’s Highway to the Heart”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                   Reference:  Luke 3:7-17

            Message of the verses:  “So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ "Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ "Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

¹⁰ And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" ¹¹ And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise." ¹² And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" ¹³ And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." ¹⁴ Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages."

¹⁵ Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, ¹⁶ John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ "His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

            I will copy from John MacArthur’s commentary as he writes the following introduction to the verses above:  “Having set the scene for John’s ministry in 3:1-6, Luke gave an illustration of it in verses 7-17.  The message John preached, and his dialogue with the crowd, the tax collectors, and the soldiers were not one-time occurrences but were typical of what John routinely did.  This brief look at the ministry and message of the one whom Jesus called the greatest man who had ever lived up to his time (Matt. 11:11) is invaluable.  John’s blunt, forceful, and uncompromising preaching is a model for all who proclaim the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

            “First and foremost, John was a preacher of repentance, calling on the people of Israel to turn from their sin and embrace the Messiah.  Repentance is at the heart of the gospel message; salvation is granted only to those who repent of their sin and acknowledge Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Lord (Acts 4:12).  It is impossible to truly preach the good news of forgiveness and grace without calling sinners to repent, and a gospel message devoid of the call to repentance is foreign to the New Testament (cf. 15:7, 10; 24:47; Acts 5:31; 11:18; 17:30; 2 Peter 3:9).

            “John’s message stands in sharp contrast to the ‘cheap grace’ and ‘easy-believism’  that characterizes much watered-down contemporary preaching.  Such deficient preaching strips the gospel of its warning that sinners have violated God’s law and face His wrath and judgment in eternal hell unless they repent.  The predictable result of a shallow, superficial gospel presentation devoid of a biblical call to repentance is a shallow, superficial, non-saving response.  As a result, churches are filled with many who profess to know Jesus Christ, but since they have never repented, the Lord will say to them, ‘I never knew you; depart form Me, you who practice lawlessness’ (Matt. 7:23).  Although they imagine themselves to be on the narrow way that leads to eternal life, they are in reality on the broad way that leads to eternal destruction (vv. 13-14; cf. 25:12; Acts 8:13, 18-23; 2 Tim. 3:5; Titus 1:6).

            “Even most who heard the powerful preaching of John the Baptist and underwent his baptism failed to manifest genuine repentance.  The vast crowds (Matt. 3:5) came to see John and listen to his preaching because they were eagerly anticipating the Messiah.  Many even wondered if John himself might be the Messiah, a notion that John quickly dismissed (vv. 16-17).  But when Jesus did appear and was announced by John as the Messiah and the ‘Lamb of God’ (John 1:29), in spite of being baptized by John, the people ultimately rejected Him.

            “In light of the ever-present danger of false repentance, it is crucial to be able to distinguish it from true repentance.  Six progressive marks of true repentance emerge from this passage as necessary.  True repenters must reflect on personal sin, recognize divine wrath, reject religious ritual, reveal spiritual transformation, renounce ancestry, and receive the Messiah.”

4/22/2026 7:58 PM