SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/23/2017
9:24 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Root of True Unity”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 17:20
Message of the
verse: “20 “I do not ask on behalf
of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word;”
Jesus further identified those future believers as those
who would believe in Him as seen in the last part of this verse. We will look at other NT verses that speak of
believing in Him.
John 1:12 “12 But
as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,
even to those who believe in His name,”
John 3:15-16 “15
so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved
the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
John 3:36 “36 “He
who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will
not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."”
John 6:40 “40 "For this is the will of My Father, that
everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I
Myself will raise him up on the last day."”
John 6:47 “47 “Truly,
truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.”
John 7:37-38 “37 Now
on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying,
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 “He who believes
in Me, as the Scripture said, ’From his innermost being will flow rivers of
living water.’"”
John 11:25-26 “25
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in
Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will
never die. Do you believe this?"”
John 20:31 “ but
these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
Acts 13:38-39 “38
"Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness
of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and through Him everyone who believes is freed
from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.”
Acts 16:31 “31
They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household."”
Romans 10:9-10 “9
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a
person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses,
resulting in salvation.”
Gal. 3:22 “22 But the
Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus
Christ might be given to those who believe.”
These verses remind us of the truth that salvation comes
from believing in Jesus Christ alone, and as we have been studying in the book
of Colossians in the evening we see that Paul makes that very clear that belief
in Jesus Christ along with nothing else added (like good works) is how a person
is saved from their sins. We also have
learned that God’s forgiveness is the most important doctrine found in the Word
of God, for without that no one would ever be saved.
John MacArthur writes “The Lord’s reference to believing
in Him again preserves the biblical balance concerning salvation. On the one hand, only those given by the
Father to Christ will come to Him (v. 6; cf. 6:44). But on the other hand, their salvation does
not take place apart from personal faith (cf. Rom. 10:9-10). In much the same way, the reality that the
Lord will draw those whom He chooses to Himself (John 6:44; Acts 2:39; 11:18;
13:48; 16:14) does not obviate the church’s responsibility to evangelize the
lost (Matt. 28:19-20; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8).”
Now as we look at the phrase “believe in Me through their
word,” we have to understand that all people who have come to know Christ as
Savior and Lord since the church age began have been saved through their word
as it was the apostles who the Holy Spirit used to write the New Testament or
at least had influence on those who were the human authors. Of course some people during the early days
of the church age would hear directly from the apostles as we can see when we
read through the book of Acts, but mostly it has come through the written Word
of God.
Now as we once again look back at the condition that the
disciples were at the time when Jesus was praying this prayer we know that if
we were to put it into modern terms we would say that they were all “a basket
case.” They surely were not ready to
spread the news of the gospel at this time, but Jesus was praying for them, and
His prayers for them in this seventh chapter of John which is called His “High
Priestly Prayer” is a preview of what Christ is doing even today in heaven
serving as our Great High Priest.
MacArthur concludes this section by writing “But Christ’s
prayer ensures that the apostles’ ministry would be successful. In His omniscience, Jesus knew that they
would fulfill their role in redemptive history.
The gospel would prevail, despite the apostles’ weakness, the world’s
hatred, and Satan’s opposition.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts. 1:8; 2:1-4), those early disciples
would begin the chain of witnesses that continues unbroken down to the present
day (cf. 2 Tim. 2:2). All of the church’s
evangelistic success is the result of the Lord’s request in verse 20 for those
who would believe in the future. This
request guaranteed the successful establishment of the church, and the success
of its evangelistic ministry from apostolic times to the present. ‘I will build My church,’ Jesus declared. ‘and
the gates of Hades will not overpower it’ (Matt. 16:18).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am blessed to
be a part of, as all believers are, being associated in the building of Christ’s
church.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Trust that the Lord will continue to use me in the growth of His church.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Judah” (Genesis 43:8-9).
Today’s Bible
question: “What request did Elisha make
of Elijah?”
Answer in our next SD.
3/23/2017 10:03 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment