PT-4 "Intro to Matt. 7:21-29

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/28/2021 9:31 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  PT-3Intro to Matt. 7:21-29

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 7:21-29

 

            Message of the verses:  “21 "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your

name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall." 28 When

Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

 

            We are talking about or at least trying to answer what lulls people into such deception, that is deception into not realizing the true meaning of salvation, and we looked at the first reason yesterday, and now we want to look at the second contributor to self-deception, and that is the failure of self-examination.  The heart of this deception is that there are many people who believe that they are truly born-again believers, but have the issue of being oblivious to and unconcerned about their sins.  Paul writes in the last chapter of 2 Corinthians the following “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test?”  (2 Cor. 13:5).  I can also think for what David wrote at the end of Psalm 130:23-24 “23  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24  And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”  I have just read a book about revival and in that book the author said that the word search can mean “to ransack” which means a very inclusive search.

 

            Of course we need to understand what John has to say in 1 John 1:8-9 “8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

 

            John MacArthur writes “When a couple lives together without being married, when a person practices homosexuality, is deceptive and dishonest in business, is hateful and vengeful, or habitually practices any sin without remorse or repentance, such persons cannot be Christian—no matter what sort of experience they claim to have had or what sort of testimony they now make.  God’s Word is explicit:  ‘Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God’ (1 Cor. 6:9-10).  Again Paul warns, ‘For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience’ (Eph. 5:5-6).  In each of those extremely somber warnings Paul pleads with his readers not to be deceived.

 

            “The person who professes to be a Christian but who habitually and unrepentantly continues in known sin makes out God to be liar, because His Word expressly denies that any such person belongs to Him (1 John 3:6-10).”  “6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.”

 

2/28/2021 9:56 PM

 

PT-3 "Intro to Matt. 7:21-29

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/27/2021 9:49 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-3 “Intro to Matt. 7:21-29

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Matthew 7:21-29

 

            Message of the verses:  “21 "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23  "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and

the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall." 28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

 

            We want to begin by asking this question:  “What lulls people into such deception?”  MacArthur answers “First of all, many professed Christians—and even many true Christians—hold a false doctrine of assurance.  Often it is because the person who witnessed to them told them that all they had to do was make a profession of faith, walk and aisle, raise a hand, say a prayer, and never doubt what the Lord had done in their lives.  Perhaps they had bee taught that to ever doubt their salvation is to doubt God’s Word and integrity.  Unfortunately, many evangelists, pastors, and personal workers attempt to certify a person’s salvation apart from the convincing work of the Holy Spirit, and the evidence of fruit with continuance in obedience to the Word (John 8:31).”  “31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.”  “But we have no right to assure a person of something we cannot be certain is true.  God’s own Holy Spirit will witness His reality to those who truly belong to Him (Rom. 8:14-16).  “14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.”

 

            I have mentioned a number of times why it is that John MacArthur desires for a person who is truly born-again to have Jesus Christ as their Lord along with their Savior.  Many people have a problem with this, but I am not one of them.  I realize that after my salvation that it took some time for me to understand the truth that Jesus is my Lord, but I also know that I was truly saved on that  January 26^th day of 1974 because of what the Lord did in my heart, and how He changed my vocabulary as the four letter swear words were miraculously taken away from me as I had no desire to use them again.

 

            I want to finish up this first point as I conclude this SD as we take a look at what Peter has to say about this as he makes clear that one’s calling and choosing are made secure by increasing qualities of fruitfulness that demonstrate the genuineness of salvation and also eliminate stumbling over doubts that people have.  The verses that I am talking about are found in 2 Peter 1:3-11.  The Lord Jesus Christ also teaches that some people appear saved, but are not as seen in Matthew 13:20-22).  MacArthur concludes “Quick and easy assurance can deceive.”

 

2/27/2021 10:18 AM  

PT-2 "Intro to Matt. 7:21-29

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/26/2021 9:11 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  PT-2 “Intro to Matt. 7:21-29”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 7:21-29

 

            Message of the verses:  “21"Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 "And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall." 28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

 

            We ended up from our SD yesterday with these thoughts “Sinful man is biased in his own favor and because of pride, tends to reject the true gospel.”  Now we want to talk about two categories of self-deception and those are of mere verbal profession and of mere intellectual knowledge.  We see the first described in verses 21-23, and this involves those who say but do not do, and then the second is found n verses 24-27, and this involves those who hear but do not do. 

 

            One of the things that perhaps we have mentioned in our study of the Sermon on the Mount is that the Lord is not speaking to irreligious people, to atheists or even to agnostics.  He is not speaking to pagans, heretics, or apostates.  However we know that the Lord is speaking specifically to people who are devotedly religious; however they are deluded in thinking that they are on the road to heaven when they are really on the broad road to hell.  These people are certainly not unlike those in the last days who the Apostle Paul says will hold a form of godliness but will deny its power as seen in 2 Timothy 3:5).

 

            In polls that were taken when John MacArthur was preaching through Matthew it was found that 50% of Americans believed that they were born-again believers.  That would be wonderful if it were true, but we know that in the late 1970’s this poll was not correct, and probably not nearly correct.  I wonder what would have happened if Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount sermon at that time in our country, but of course anyone in our country could have read over it, but as we look at this last section in it I wonder how many people really understand why Jesus gave this sermon and who was really hearing it when He gave it.

 

            John MacArthur writes “The New Testament not only give extremely high standards for judging the true Christian life, but also gives many warnings about spiritual-deception in regard to salvation.  In Matthew 25 Jesus tells of the five foolish virgins who pretended devotion to the bridegroom but missed meeting him because of their unpreparedness (vv. 1-12), and those professed believers (symbolized as goats) who are surprised that the Lord rejects them because they never truly served Him (vv. 32-33, 41-46).

 

            In Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on Matthew 7 verses 21-29 he entitles that section “God’s Judgment on Us,” and I want to quote his first paragraph in that section as it is like an introduction of what these verses are saying:  “From picturing two ways and two trees, our Lord closed His message by picturing two builders and their houses.  The two ways illustrate the start of life of faith; the two trees illustrate the growth and results of the life of faith here and now; and the two houses illustrate the end of this life of faith, when God shall call everything to judgment.  There are false prophets at the gate that leads to the broad way, making it easy for people to enter.  But at the end of the way, there is destruction.  The final test is not what we think of ourselves, or what others may think.  The final test is: What will God say?” 

 

            That is a good question to end this SD on.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The question that Warren Wiersbe asks is not only for unbelievers but also for believes and so it is my desire to have the Lord say to me when I meet Him face to face is “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  As I continue to try, through the Spirit of God, to organize a small prayer team to begin to continue to fast and pray for revival I am going to meet with a dear friend this morning for lunch to get his help.

 

2/26/2021 9:47 AM

 

           

Intro to Matthew 7:21-29

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/25/2021 11:47 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-1 Intro to Matthew 7:21-29

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 7:21-29

 

            Message of the verses:  “21 "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ 24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall." 28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

 

            We began our study of Matthew on November 17,2019 and today we begin the very last study in the Sermon on the Mount, and this too is the last chapter in MacArthur’s first commentary on the book of Matthew.  It has been a joy to study the Sermon on the Mount, as the Lord has been tugging on my heart concerning revival ever since we studied the “Lord’s Prayer” in the sixth chapter of Matthew.

 

            As we begin these last familiar verses in Matthew chapter seven we can see that Jesus is still giving the invitation of His sermon—calling people from false “religion” to the true kingdom.  That is what the theme of the Sermon on the Mount is as many in Israel at this time were following the scribes and the Pharisees who were false prophets, but Jesus has been telling the crowd in a sense not to follow these men as they are wolves in sheep’s clothing.  We have learned that Jesus said that few enter the narrow gate of salvation because first of all it must be found as seen in verse 14, and this implies that it must be sought and searched for.  I certainly can understand this searching as I searched for almost 27 years before I found what the true meaning of life was all about.  There is no one who stumbles into the kingdom inadvertently first of all and second, the narrow and the demanding way of salvation is the complete opposite of the way in which the world is, which is broad, easy, and indulgent.  Then thirdly, the narrow gate into the kingdom requires going through it naked, as we take no possessions, or any works, no ride, or no self-righteousness.  We move to number four, as the Lord mentions in the parallel account which is found in Luke 13:24 as we learn we must strive to enter in penitence and brokenness of heart.  One more and that is what we have just been studying, and that is that false prophets must be avoided, and the reason is because they deceive many people by luring them into the broad way and that broad way leads to destruction as we saw in verses 15-20.

 

            John MacArthur writes “Now Jesus gives a final reason why so few enter the narrow gate of salvation ; self-deception.  J. C. Ryle says, ‘The Lord Jesus winds up the Sermon on the Mount by a passage of heart-piercing application.  He turns from false prophets to false professors, from unsound teachers to unsound hearers.’  Not only can false prophets deceive us about the way of salvation, but we can deceive ourselves.  After warning us about false prophets, the Lord now warns men about themselves.  Sinful man is biased in his own favor and, because of pride tends reject the true gospel.” 

 

            I have to say that I look forward to studying these last verses of Matthew chapter seven especially the verses about the men that built their houses on a rock and on the sand as I remember singing about this early on in my life while attending Sunday school in a very small town called Lafayette.

 

2/25/2021 12:11 PM

PT-2 "The Creed" (Matt. 7:16-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/24/2021 9:47 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  PT-2 “The Creed”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 7:16-20

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

 

            We have talked about the wide and the narrow gate in past SD’s and as we looked at it we stated that the wide gate many could come through and many do come through.  Now as look at the “creed” or perhaps “doctrine” of the false prophets we know that no one will come through the narrow gate who continues to follow the false prophets’ doctrine.  On the surface their message may sound to be difficult and demanding, however it will always rest on the foundation of man’s works and will therefore always be accomplishable by man’s own efforts, something that will endeavor to give a person a guilty conscience they wonder if they had done enough.  The false prophets will never reveal the depth or the danger of sin and depravity, thus having a need for repentance, for forgiveness, and for submission to the Lord, or even the destiny of judgment, condemnation, and eternal destruction for those who are apart from God.  People who follow these false prophets will never be broken over their sin and will have no longing for righteousness.  The false prophets have easy answers for small problems.  Jeremiah writes “"They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace” (6:14).  In their teaching there is no humility, no warning of judgment, and no call for repentance and a contrite heart of obedience.

 

            MacArthur writes “They have a ready hearing among most people, because they say only what people like to hear.  Just as ancient Israel in Jeremiah’s time, people today like it that way (Jer. 5:31).”  “The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?”  “They want to hear illusions, not truth.  They are enamored with pleasure and fantasy and resent being confronted with anything disquieting and condemnatory. They want encouragement but not correction, positive words but not negative truth.  They will accept grace as long as it is cheap grace and does not reflect against their own sinfulness, inadequacies, and lostness.”

 

            If the false prophets do have a creed it he has any at all, it will be vague, indefinite and also insubstantial. There will be no demanding truth that will be absolute or clear-cut, and also every principle will be easy and attractive.  I have heard a statement that in the past have not followed it as I should have, and that statement is that if it is too good to be true it probably is, and that is the case of all false prophets’ teachings.

 

            MacArthur again quotes Arthur Pink as he declares “Any preacher who rejects God’s law, who denies repentance to be a condition of salvation, who assures the giddy and godless that they are loved by God, who declares that saving faith is nothing more than an act of the will which every person has the power to perform is a false prophet and should be shunned as a deadly plague”  (This quote like the other one from Pink in yesterday’s SD came from his book “An exposition of the Sermon on the Mount” from page 362.)

 

1.                                  In my prayer list that I use most every day with the exception of Saturday when I pray for our Pastors I have a section where I praise the Lord for His Attributes, and we will look at this in a moment, but my point here is that false prophets do not talk much about all the different attributes of God as they, like many people focus in on “God is love.”  Yes God is love, but there is much more to God than love.  “Praise the Lord for His attributes, for who God is:  God is HOLY, good, glorious, pure, sovereign, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, truth, measureless, omnipresence, omnipotent, omniscience, all wise, immutable, eternal, God is wrath, God pardons, God is Jealous, faithful, God is love and just.”   MacArthur concludes “Their message is a message of gaps, the greatest gap of which leaves out the truth that saves.”  Don’t miss that or you will be going through the wide gate that leads to destruction.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Live my life in the truth of God’s Word, through the power of the Holy Spirit so that the false prophets and teachers will not affect me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to have a good meeting with Pastor Odle on Friday as I talk to him about revival and other things.

 

2/24/2021 10:22 AM

 

 

PT-1 "Creed" (Matt. 7:16-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/23/2021 9:03 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  PT-1 “Creed”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference: Matthew 7:16-20

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

 

            Today we begin a new sub-section as we continue to look at verses 16-20 in our study of Matthew chapter seven, the concluding chapter in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  As I looked for synonyms for the word “creed” I find a number of them that seems to help me out in better understanding what we will be looking at.   “Statement of Faith; doctrine, belief, and article of faith are several that I found.

 

            There is a second area in which a false prophet can be judged and that would be his doctrine, or I suppose his creed.  One has to really know their Bibles and also be in tuned with the Holy Spirit of God in order to catch the unscriptural and the absence of a strong, clear theology that a false prophet has.  He may seem to be telling the truth, but in subtle ways is teaching a lie.  He will give false ideas as he teaches or perhaps at least important truths will be omitted.  Many times there will be a combination of both.  Then eventually the fruit will show a tree for what it truly is because “a good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”  Jesus is saying that it is impossible for a false prophet to entirely speak truth, and the reason is because they do not have the Spirit of God in them because they truly are not believers.

 

            Let us take a look at something Jesus told to the Pharisees, something that John the Baptist had already told them and Jesus’ statement is found in Matthew 12:34-35:  “34 "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35 "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”

 

            Isaiah helps us to be able to judge whether or not a teaching is from God as seen in Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.” MacArthur adds the following about the word dawn “That is, they have no light.”  The analysis of a false prophet cannot withstand the teaching of Scripture because they are not a true believer.

 

            MacArthur writes “Jesus has just shown that the way of salvation, the gate to God’s kingdom and life, is narrow and demanding, whereas the gate to hell and destruction is broad (Matt. 7:13-14).  Immediately He begins the warning about false prophets and how to identify them.  The false shepherd’s way to heaven will never be God’s way, and their way of living will never be according to God’s standards.”

            He goes on then to quote Arthur Pink, and we will conclude with this quotation:  “False prophets are to be found in the circles of the mot orthodox, and they pretend to have a fervent love for souls, yet they fatally delude multitudes concerning the way of salvation. The pulpit, platform, and pamphlet hucksters have wantonly lowered the standard of divine holiness and so adulterated the Gospel in order to make it palatable to the carnal mind.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Jesus tells me to be continually on the lookout for false prophets and through the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God know when I spot one.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will give me His plan in order to begin a prayer group to pray for revival.

 

2/23/2021 9:30 AM

PT-3 "Character" (Matt. 7:16-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/22/2021 10:16 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                    Focus:  PT-3 “Character”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference: Matthew 7:16-20

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

 

            I mentioned in our last SD that I would give a quotation from Martyn Lloyd-Jones as we begin this SD, and then after that there will be a few more comments and then we will be finished with this sub-section on character.

 

“A Christian can generally be known by his very appearance.  The man who really believes in the holiness of God, and who knows his own sinfulness and the blackness of his own heart, the man who believes in the judgment of God and the possibility of hell and the torment, the man who really believes that he himself is so vile and helpless that nothing but the coming of the Son of God from heaven to earth and His going to the bitter shame and agony and cruelty of the cross could ever save him, and reconcile him to God—this man is going to show all that in his personality.  He is a man who is bound to give the impression of meekness, he is bound to be humble.  Our Lord reminds us here that if a man is not humble, we are to be very wary of him.  He can p;ut on a kind of sheep’s clothing, but that is not true humility, that is not true meekness.  And if a man’s doctrine is wrong, it will generally show itself at this point.  He will be affable and pleasant, he will appeal to the natural man, and to the things that are physical and carnal; but he will not give the impression of being a man who has seen himself as a hell-bound sinner, and who has been saved by the grace of God alone. (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount vol.2 [Grand Rapids:  Eerdmans, 1977], pp. 258-59).”

 

            Talking about false prophets or mostly in the case of “false pastors” as we are talking about the church today is a very important subject that we have been looking at for some time now, and again it is important to be diligent in knowing how we as believers can spot them.  I have set under, for the most part wonderful men of God, and when there came a time when I had a great deal of problems with one of our Pastors it was time to pick up and leave a church where I had been for over 32 years, but that is what I did and am so thankful to the Lord that He moved our family to First Baptist Church of Elyria where I can continue to learn and grow in the Lord.

 

            John MacArthur writes “It is nearly always the case that the false prophets will attack avowed (affirmed) unbelievers as well as nominal and carnal believers.”  If you think about this important statement then you will understand the importance of staying in the Word of God each day, to be like what Paul writes to Timothy which I have chosen for the name of my Blogs “2Ti 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”  MacArthur goes on “He appeals to the natural man and carefully avoids anything that is offensive to man’s proud, fallen nature.  He makes a point of being attractive, likeable, and of giving no offense.”

 

            We conclude this SD with a quotation from John Calvin who said “Nothing is more difficult to counterfeit than virtue.”  He is talking about a false prophet who will eventually let people know that he is not the genuine leader that has been called by the Lord to lead people.  Watch out for false believers.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to be on alert and not be affected by any false prophet or teacher, that the Holy Spirit of God would be the One who protects me from them.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to show me how He wants me to proceed in revival.  I trust the Lord to do this as I continue to pray to Him about this very important work that truly needs to be done.

 

2/22/2021 10:46 AM

PT-2 "Character" (Matt. 7:16-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/21/2021 3:11 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                    Focus:  PT-2 “Character”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 7:16-20

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

 

            We continue to look at how the false prophets can bring about the wrong teachings to those that they talk to.  They can disguise and also hide their “bad fruit” for a while with what we call religious trappings, biblical knowledge, and evangelical vocabulary.  Another thing is that they can cover it by belonging to Christian organizations, as they associate with Christian leaders and by talking about divine things.  They know enough truth to cause those who listen to them to believe that they are not false prophets or false teachers.  However how they talk, act, and react when not in the view of Christians will eventually express their t rue loyalty and convictions.  What is in the heart of these false teachers will emerge, and corrupt theology with result in a corrupt life. So false teaching and perverted living are inseparable, and eventually will become clear.

 

            Peter tells us that as true and mature believers we will grow in faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love as seen in 1 Peter 1:5-8.  “5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Peter then talks about false prophets in 2:18-19 “18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.”

 

            We will finish this rather short SD with a quotation from John MacArthur, and then by God’s grace will finish this section in our next SD.  Before I give this quotation I want to tell you that I got my Online Bible Program in the mail yesterday and finally got it put onto my computer so that was a load off of my mind to which I am thankful for.

 

            “Unless those who claim to be God’s spokesmen give evidence that their deepest motives and life patterns are to honor, glorify, and magnify God, and to grow in humility, holiness, and obedience, we can be sure that God has not called or sent them.  If they are oriented to money, prestige, recognition, popularity, power, sexual looseness, and selfishness, they do not belong to Jesus Christ.  If they are proud, arrogant, resentful, egotistical, and self-indulgent, they clearly are false prophets. The true test, a beatitude attitude of humility, can be summed up in Jesus’ words:  “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the one who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him’ (John 7:18).”  Now hold that though as we will begin our next SD with a quotation from Martyn Lloyd-Jones at the beginning of that SD.

 

2/21/2021 3:44 PM

PT-1 "Character" (Matt. 7:16-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/20/2021 9:20 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                    Focus:  PT-1 “Character”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 7:16-20

 

            Message of the verse:  “16 “You will ^1aknow them by their fruits. ²Grapes are not 17 “So ^aevery good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 “^aEvery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will ¹know them ^aby their fruits.”

 

            We looked at the introduction to these verses in our last SD and entitled it “Warning” and now we want to begin to look at the first sub-section under “Warning” which is entitled “Character.”

 

            Let us begin by giving a brief look at what character is in a person.  A person’s basic character is his inner motives, standards, loyalties, attitudes, and ambitions.  Now these will eventually show through in what he does and how he acts.  An example of this from the Scripture is seen in Luke 3:8 where John the Baptist is the one speaking:  ““Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and ^ado not begin to say ¹to yourselves, ‘^bWe have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”  I just love the greatness of John the Baptist as he had no problem in telling his enemies what they were doing wrong.  We know from our recent study of the scribes and the Pharisees that their character was not what it should be, and that is saying it mildly. John MacArthur speaks more about this subject as he writes more about John the Baptist:  “When the multitude then asked John what good fruit was, he replied, ‘Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise’ (v. 11).  To the tax-gatherers who asked what they should do, John said, ‘Collect no more than what you have been ordered to’ (v. 13).  John was saying that the person who is genuinely repentant and who truly t rusts and loves God will also love and help his fellow man (cf. James 2:15-17; 1 John 3:17; 4:20).”

 

            The truth is that there is no person ever who has been or will be saved by good works, but true believers are saved for good works.  We have talked about this as it comes from Ephesians 2:10, a very favorite verse of mine:  “For we are His workmanship, ^acreated in ^bChrist Jesus for ^cgood works, which God ^dprepared beforehand so that we would ^ewalk in them.”  We want to now look at another Scripture verse where Paul admonishes us to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).  Then John 15:8 & 10, which is what could be called the “fruit chapter.”  “8 “My ^aFather is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so ^1bprove to be My disciples.”  10 “^aIf you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as ^bI have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.’”

 

            What is the point that we are looking at here?  “As with everything that is godly and righteous, true fruit-bearing begins on the inside, in the heart.  Paul speaks of our ‘having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ’ (Phil. 1:11) and informs us that ‘the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’ (Gal. 5:22-23).”

 

            MacArthur goes on “A person who belongs to Jesus Christ and who is called by God and given God’s message will give evidence of ‘good fruit’ both in his attitudes and his actions.  A person who does not belong to God, especially a false prophet who claims to be God’s messenger, will sooner or later manifest the ‘bad fruit’ that the ‘bad tree’ of his sensual life inevitably produces.”

 

            Lord willing we will continue to look at this section in our next SD as this is a very important portion of Scripture to understand.

 

2/20/2021 9:49 AM