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
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