SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/2/2021 8:45 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Empty Words”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
7:21-23
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.’”
As
we begin our study on these verses I can tell you, and I am sure you can see
why John MacArthur entitled this section “Empty Words” as we certainly can see
that the words were empty in these unbelievers calling our Lord, Lord, Lord.
I
remember when I studied the book of Genesis where Sarah called her husband “lord”
and this was simply as a title of respect and honor given to him. One of the New Testament books also shows
this as a reminder to us. Now it is
different for those people to say “Lord, Lord” as this suggests much more than
human respect as we can see in their following comments which makes that clear. They were claiming that they had power in His
name to do some miracles in His name.
They were acknowledging Him as Lord, a common Jewish substitute title
for Jehovah, or Yahweh which name they considered too holy to even utter. So we can see that they were addressing Jesus
as Lord was to address Him as the one true God.
MacArthur writes “To address Him as Lord, Lord was to add a spirit of
intense zeal to demonstrate strength of devotion and dedication. In verse 22, the three references to ‘Your
name’ are emphatic and convey the significance of who He is. Jesus is therefore talking about those who
make a profession of faith in Him.”
We
can see that these people claim to be followers of the God of Israel, of the
Creator Lord of all the earth. There is
more for not only that, but they acknowledge Jesus Himself to be divine, as
seen in the way the “will say to Me’ [speaking of Jesus] “on that day, Lord,
Lord.” Now the fact that they have
claimed so many outstanding works in His name certainly tells us that they are
especially fervent religious workers.
MacArthur
writes “The final judgment, ‘on that day,’ is presented here in general,
without reference to the distinction between the separate tribunals for
believers (2 Cor. 5:10) and for unbelievers (Rev. 20:11-15). ‘That day’ is a frequently used reference to
the era of divine judgment known throughout Scripture as ‘the day of the Lord’
(Isa. 2:12; Joel 2:1; Mai. 4:5; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10; etc.) Matthew uses ‘that day’ here and in 24:36,
where it refers to the second coming of the Savior. It is noteworthy that the second coming
parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13) makes reference to those virgins who
are shut out of the kingdom as crying out, ‘Lord, Lord,’ to which He also
replies, ‘I do not know you’ (vv. 11-12).
These few passages together revealed that Matthew has in mind the unspecified
season of judgment that will accompany the return of Jesus Christ.”
I
believe that it is very important to understand the timing that Jesus is
talking about in order to better understand these three verses. I also believe that Jesus is certainly making
the point that the things that the scribes and the Pharisees were doing, supposedly
in the name of God and their religion, is not what it takes to become a child
of God, so I am sure that those “religious” leaders who were there were upset
at what Jesus is talking about here, and not only here but throughout this
entire Sermon on the Mount.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: In looking over some older SD’s from the book
of 1 Thessalonians I see that the work of the Holy Spirit is what has to happen
in a person’s life in order for them to become a true born-again believer.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to trust the Holy Spirit of God to
led me in the process of beginning a prayer group to pray for revival. I pray that there are other groups of
believers whom the Spirit of God is moving at this time in order to be praying
for the same thing, revival.
3/2/2021 9:17 AM
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