SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/7/2021 7:47 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “A Disciple Confesses the Lord”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
10:32-33
Message of the verses: 32 “Everyone
therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My
Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also
deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
The first thing that I wish to do this morning in
this SD is talk about the word “everyone.”
Everyone is an inclusive term that gives a sober warning to all would-be
and all professing believers for careful self-examination. I think that 2 Corinthians 13:5 is a good
verse that will help us here: “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?” If a person
is willing to confess Christ before men, that will determine Christ’s
willingness to claim that person before His Father. Paul writes in Romans 1:16 “For I am not
ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” MacArthur adds “He was not ashamed to
acknowledge the person and work of Christ because His is the only message that
offers salvation and hope to a corrupt and dying world.” I certainly have to add an AMEN to that
statement.
As
we look back at the history of the Church we will find that those believers who
have been unashamed to confess Jesus before men are those the Lord uses to
bring others to Himself. It could be
through preaching, teaching, personal witnessing, or the courage of martyrdom,
those who confess Him boldly and also unapologetically before the world not
only are the Lord’s most faithful disciples but also His most effective
disciple makers.
I
will now finish this short SD, as it is Sunday morning, with a paragraph from
MacArthur’s commentary. “Confess means
to affirm and agree with. It is not
simply to recognize a truth but to identify with it. Even the demons, for example, recognize that
God is one (James 2:19), but they by no means confess God, because they are His
implacable enemies. We do not confess
Christ simply by acknowledging that He is Lord and Savior but by acknowledging
and receiving Him as our Lord and Savior.
‘If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,’ Paul says, ‘and believe
in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with
the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he
confesses, resulting in salvation’ (Rom10:9-10). Outward confession with the mouth is a
reflection of genuine belief in the heart.”
Just
so you know our grandson’s team was defeated in the championship game
yesterday, but it was a great season for the team and I believe that my
grandson grew a lot because of his being on this team, as they have a great
coaching staff to guide the boys, both physically and spiritually.
11/7/2021 8:09 AM
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