SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/25/2021 11:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “A Clear Message”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 10:7
Message of the verse: “7 "And as you
go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
This
message that Jesus gave to His disciples is very simply stated “The Kingdom of
heaven is at hand.” Obviously they were
to elaborate and also explain what this meant, but the basic truth was
unmistakable.
John
MacArthur writes “In Scripture, the kingdom of heaven can be viewed in three
aspects. First, it is manifest in
conversion, when a person enters the sovereign rule of God by trusting in
Christ for salvation (cf. Matt. 18:3).
Second, it is manifest in consecration, as believers live out the divine
principles of God’s revelation by obedience to His Word. ‘The kingdom of God is…righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom. 14:17).
Third, the kingdom will be seen in its glorious millennial form when
Christ returns to earth to establish and rule it in person and then sets up His
eternal kingdom (Matt. 25:31; Acts 3:19-21; Rev. 11:15; 20:4).”
As
we look at the title “The Kingdom of Heaven” we have to realize that the
central message of the kingdom is the message of the King. So by definition, a kingdom is the domain
ruled by a king, its sovereign. However
the essence of a kingdom is not the geographical area but the actual ruling of
the king, the administration of his will over the citizens of the kingdom. So the Kingdom of heaven is above all the
domain of God’s lordship, where He rules by His divine will. MacArthur adds “All of Jesus’ teaching—from His
public instruction of the multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount through His
private instruction to the twelve disciples at the Last Supper and for forty
days after His resurrection—was teaching the truths and principles of life in God’s
kingdom.” As we have been studying the
gospel of Matthew for close to 18 months we have been stating that this is the
gospel about the kingdom of God showing Jesus as the King.
MacArthur
concludes “The gospel of the kingdom has many practical ramifications, social
as well as personal. But until its
central message of God’s sovereign provision for man’s salvation is clearly understood,
accepted, and obeyed, trying to apply it to any other area of life is both
disobedient to Christ’s command and futile.
The gospel transforms society only as it transforms individuals.” As I look around the great evil found around
the world today I would have to say that we are in great need of a Holy Spirit
revival so that the end result of that revival is to have many souls
transformed into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and then it is my hope
and prayer that at the climax of that revival that the Lord would return for
His revived church at the rapture.
9/25/2021 11:44 AM
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