SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
11/18/2015 10:01 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 of The
Invitation
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Rev. 22:17
Message of the
verse: “17 The Spirit and the bride
say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let
the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life
without cost.”
Before we pick up where we left off from our SD yesterday
I want to quote from the Spiritual Diary that I wrote on this passage in
December of 2005: “The hope of all true believer in the Church age is for the
Lord Jesus Christ to come again to earth as He has promised so many times in
the New Testament. In this verse the
Holy Spirit and also the bride say “Come.”
These are the Spirit’s and the Churches answer to the promise of the
Lord Jesus Christ coming to earth again.
“There are two invitations in this verse, one of them is
for the Lord Jesus Christ to come back to the earth, and the other is for the
people of the earth who are reading and hearing this letter to come to the Lord
Jesus Christ for salvation. The verse
speaks of the ones who are thirsty to come and they will one day drink of the
water of life without cost. The lost
come to Jesus because they are thirsty for something that is missing in their
life, just as the women at the well drank of the water of life that Jesus
offered her so others over the century’s have come to that well that has
satisfied them, the well of the water of life.”
Now we want to add to our writing on “the one who is
thirsty” to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As mentioned in my Spiritual Diary from 12-14-05 Jesus used this
metaphor with the woman at the well which is found in the fourth chapter of the
gospel of John. I am sure that this was
familiar with John who was with Jesus during their time in Samaria where the
woman lived. The woman was drawing
physical water from a well and Jesus then told her that she actually needed
spiritual water; actually He was telling her that she needed Him, the One who
can satisfy her “spiritual thirst.” That
spiritual thirst is a need to have ones sins forgiven and Jesus Christ is the
only way to have this done for He took the place of sinners on the cross and
paid for their sins through His death on the cross, as God was satisfied with
that payment because He then raised Jesus from the dead to show that He was
satisfied with His sacrifice. John
MacArthur writes on thirst “Thirst is a familiar biblical metaphor picturing
the strong sense of spiritual need that is a prerequisite for repentance. In Isaiah God calls ‘everyone who thirsts
[to] come to the waters’ of salvation (Isa. 55:1).” This is a promise from the Lord that everyone
who hungers and thirsts for righteousness that they will be satisfied (Matthew
5:6). Jesus promised “I will give to the
one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost” (Rev. 21:6).
John then goes on to write “Let the one who wishes take
the water of life without cost.”
MacArthur writes “That unlimited invitation is typical of the broad,
sweeping, gracious offer of salvation made in Scripture (cf. Isa. 45:22; 55:1;
Matt. 11:28; John 3:15-16). It also
illustrates the biblical truth that salvation involves both God’s sovereign
choice (cf. John 6:44) and human volition.
God saves sinners, but only those who recognize their need and
repent. The water of life (r the washing
of regeneration, Titus 3:5) is offered without cost (cf. Isa. 55:1) to the
sinner because Jesus paid the price for it through His sacrificial death on the
cross (Rom. 3:24). God freely offers the
water of life to those whose hearts are thirsty for forgiveness, whose minds
are thirsty for truth, and whose souls are thirsty for Him.” So here we see what this invitation is all
about, here we have seen that the Spirit and the Bride want the Lord Jesus
Christ to return to planet earth to set up His kingdom, and here we see that
the Lord Jesus Christ is offering His last invitation found in the Scriptures
for salvation. We know that the Lord
will return, for He came the first time and He will return as promised. The question is whether those who read this
will be with Him when He returns to put his foot in the garden where He left to
go to heaven almost 2000 years ago.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Keep my life clean
each day, a day at a time so that when the Lord comes I will not be ashamed.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your
hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give
an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (1
Peter 3:15).”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Adam” (genesis 4:25).
Today’s Bible question:
“What does testament mean?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/18/2015 10:33 AM
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