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 26th 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
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