SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/13/2017
8:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “Purity”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
5:12b-14
Message of the
verses: “They were all with one
accord in Solomon’s portico. 13 But none of the rest dared to associate with
them; however, the people held them in high esteem. 14 And all the more
believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to
their number;”
2 Timothy 2:19-21 speaks of purity, and being pure means
you can be useful to the Lord: “19 Nevertheless,
the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those
who are His," and, "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness."
20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also
vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses
himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified,
useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
John MacArthur quotes from the nineteenth-century
Scottish pastor and evangelist Robert Murray McCheyne as he gives the following
sage advice to a young man who was about to enter the ministry:
“Do not forget the culture
of the inner man—I mean of the heart.
How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp;
every stain he rubs off with the greatest care.
Remember you are God’s sword, His instrument—I trust a chosen vessel
unto Him to bear His name. In great
measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the
success. It is not great talents God
blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus.
A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hands of God.” (Andrew A. Bonar, ed., Memoirs of McCheyne [reprint, Chicago: Moody, 1978], p. 95)
As we look at what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in
recent SD’s we see that God intervened in the church to make the church
pure. As we read this quote from
McCheyne to this young man who is about to go into the ministry we can say that
what he is saying to this young man can be said to the church, for purity of
the church begins with the individual’s who are in it. Now as we look at how God intervened in this
early church what we can learn is that the church is to take the responsibility
of discipline, something that is not done much in churches today. John MacArthur writes that “it has fallen
prey to the unbiblical notion that loving people and building up their
self-esteem means tolerating their sin.
Biblical love, however, seeks the well-being of others. Since the goal of discipline is to deal with
sin, which is harmful, love and discipline are not mutually exclusive (cf.
Prov. 27:6). [“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the
kisses of an enemy.”] It is because God loves believers that He chastens them
(Heb. 12:5-6).” “5 and you have
forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO
NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED
BY HIM; 6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY
SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."”
Now as we look at the New Testament we see that there are
examples of confronting sin in the church.
I remember what Paul writes to the Corinthians who were tolerating a
step-son living with his step-mom which certainly goes against the Law of
Moses. Now the Corinthian church was mistakenly
proud of tolerating this sin as they were mixed up with what Paul told them
about unbelievers. Paul tells them that
they must judge the things that were going on in their church, not the things
going on in the world, as the Lord will care for that. There are other examples from the New
Testament, but we want to look at the most extensive teaching on how to
exercise church discipline as this comes from the lips of our Lord from Matthew
18:15-20.
“15 "If your brother
sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won
your brother. 16 "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more
with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE
CONFIRMED. 17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if
he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a
tax collector. 18 "Truly I say to
you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever
you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. 19 "Again I say to
you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it
shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 “For where two or
three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."”
MacArthur writes “The church pays a steep price for
disobeying the Lord’s clear teaching on this matter. The impure, worldly church that is the
inevitable result of the absence of confrontive holiness will not be an effective
witness for Jesus Christ. Discipline of
sinning saints is not an option but and obligation.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: If I keep myself
pure before the Lord, if I ask each day for the Lord to search my heart and
listen to what the Spirit of God speaks to my heart through His Word or
preaching or other means He uses and then confess that sin to the Lord,
repenting and turning away then this will help me to live a pure life. Jesus washed the feet of the disciples
telling them that they were saved but as they walked around in the world they
would sin and in need of a spiritual foot washing each day. John tells us in his letter of 1 John that we
do sin and when we sin we need what he writes in 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.” He goes on in
verse ten “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word
is not in us.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will give me the verses I
need to fight against the evil one when I am tempted to sin, that I may use
them as Jesus did in Matthew chapter four.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Canaan” (Genesis 12:5).
Today’s Bible
question: “To whom did Elijah say it
would not rain until he said so?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/13/2017 9:30 AM
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