SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/21/2016 12:01 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
Spiritual Blindness Receives
Judgment
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 9:39
Message of the verses: 39 And Jesus said, "For judgment I came
into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see
may become blind.’”
We begin
the last main point for this 9th chapter of John and I will quote
the small paragraph from John MacArthur’s commentary as he introduces this last
main section “Spiritual Blindness.”
“By
contrast, for features of spiritual blindness may also be recognized in this
passage (39-41), illustrated by the Pharisees in the final verses of the
chapter: it receives judgment, refuses
to admit its blindness, rejects spiritual sight, and results in doom.”
I have
always wondered about the first part of this verse “For judgment I came into
this world,” as it seems to contradict the truth that “God did not send the Son
into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through
Him” (John 3:17). Let us look at 5:22
and 27 “"For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all
judgment to the Son,” “and He gave Him
authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” John MacArthur says that these verses are not
contradictory, but they are complementary, “they are two sides of the same
reality. To reject Jesus’ peace is to
receive His punishment; to reject His grace is to receive His justice; to
reject His mercy is to receive His wrath; to reject His love is to receive His
anger; to reject His forgiveness is to receive His judgment. While Jesus came to save, not to condemn (cf.
Luke 12:47; Luke 19:10), those who reject His gospel condemn themselves, and
subject themselves to judgment (John 3:18, 36).
Spiritual sight comes only to those who acknowledge that they do not
see, who confess their spiritual blindness and their need for the Light of the
World. On the other hand, those who
think they see on their own apart from Christ delude themselves, and remain
blind. They will not come to the Light,
because they love the darkness and do not want their evil deeds to be exposed
(3:19).”
We have
been studying the 7th chapter of the book of Zechariah and it
teaches us that the reason that the Jews went into captivity was because they
depended upon their rituals, and the same problem is prevalent in Jesus’ time
on earth. People thought that they did
not need the Lord because they had rituals to follow, like the offering of
sacrifices, giving of their money, and things like that. The sacrifices in and of them self were not
the problem it was the issue of the heart of those who offered them. Dr. Wiersbe has often said that the “heart of
every problem is the issue with the heart.”
People of
that time and today’s time who think they can be saved by their works, by doing
spiritual things like being baptized, by taking Communion, and things like this
are in the same boat as those in Jesus’ day, again nothing wrong with these
things for we should be baptized, but only after we become a believer, and we
should partake of the Lord’s Table, but only if we are a believer, and have
confessed all of our sins before partaking of it. People who do this without being saved are
blind, as they have rejected the light of the glorious gospel. Be careful if you are in this place in your
life. Think about what the Lord did to
Pharaoh who hardened his heart so much that God hardened it so that he could
never become a believer. It still
happens today.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am thankful for the Lord opening my blind
eyes in January of 1974. I didn’t know
much about it then, but the Lord has been gracious and taught me more to which
I am grateful.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Continue my desire to spread
His Word around His World through the use of my Spiritual diaries that go upon
my blogs.
Memory verses for the week:
(Romans 6:1-4) “1. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may
increase? 2. May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in
it? 3.
Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ
Jesus have been baptized into His death.
4. Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so
that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we
to might walk in newness of life.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Ephesus” (Revelation 2:1-4).
Today’s Bible question:
“Who, with his armor bearer, defeated a garrison of Philistines?
Answer in our next SD.
7/21/2016 12:35 PM
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