SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/16/2020
10:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The
Condemnation”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
3:8-10
Message of the verses: “8 "Therefore
bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can 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. 10 “The axe is already laid at the
root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.”
I
recently listened to John MacArthur’s sermon on these verses in which he talked
mostly about true repentance, something that these Pharisees and Sadducees did
not have. The marks of a true repentant
heart are not seen with this group. Paul
talked about this to King Agrippa where he said about repentance: “Deeds appropriate to repentance.” This is similar to what John the Baptist is
saying to the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Luke in his parallel account mentions several examples of the kind of
fruit that John was talking about here. “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” (Luke 3:11). Next to the tax collector he says “"Collect
no more than what you have been ordered to”’ (v. 13). “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’” (v. 14). Now let me say that just because you do these
things you will not get into heaven, but if you are doing these things because your
heart has been changed, because you have repented of your sins, and because you
have asked Christ into your heart to save you then that makes all the
difference in doing them. James writes
about this in 2:17 “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by
itself.” John writes in 1 John 3:7 “Little
children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is
righteous, just as He is righteous.” 1
John 4:20 “If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he
is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot
love God whom he has not seen.” John
MacArthur writes “Our actions toward our fellow men are indicators of our true
attitude toward God.” I have to say to
this statement that sanctification is a work in progress.
MacArthur
states “Axios (‘in keeping with’) has
the root idea of having equal weight or worth, and therefore of being
appropriate. True ‘repentance’ not only
should but will have correspondingly genuine works, demonstrated in both
attitudes and actions. Right
relationship to God brings right relationship to our fellow human beings, at
least as far as our part is concerned (Rom. 12:18). Those who claim to know Christ, who claim to
be born again, will demonstrate a new way of living that corresponds to the new
birth.”
One
of the ancient Jewish Rabbis said “Great is repentance, for it brings healing
upon the world. Great is repentance, for
it reaches to the throne of God. A man
can shout an arrow for a few furlongs, but repentance reaches to the throne of
God. There are some rabbis who claim
that the law as made before the earth was and two thousand years before the
world was made we see repentance. Not
sure that I agree with that statement entirely.
It is my belief that if one looks at the attributes of God, and they
always are the same, they never change, as this is one of His attributes, being
immutable. When you look, for instance
at God’s wrath, and God’s justice in eternity past they were not really used as
there was only the Triune God. Now that
sin has come into God’s creation then these attributes are being seen and used
by God, and perhaps that is one of the reasons that God created the heavens and
the earth, the angels and humans. Another
reason could be what is seen in the 2nd Psalm where we see that the
creation was made for the Son. “7 "I
will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ’You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You. 8 ’Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as
Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. 9 ’You
shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware’’”
(Ps. 2:7-9). Ok I am off the subject of
repentance, but Lord willing we will continue on this subject in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Repentance is a most important part of
growing in the Lord as it is a major part of the sanctification process. I desire to pay more attention to repenting
when I sin, to keep a short list with the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: It is difficult to have joy in reading and
learning from the Scriptures if I don’t confess any sins, to repent of any sins
to the Lord.
1/16/2020 11:01 AM
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