SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/9/2021 7:54 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “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.”
We
want to talk about the negative side of Jesus’ warning as it is sobering: “But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will
also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” MacArthur writes about this verse: “This warning applies to a person who makes
an outward profession of Christianity but turns away when hard testing comes.” A verse that comes to my mind is a verse that
has been talked about in our Sunday school class on Hebrews and that is 1John
2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they
had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so
that it would be shown that they all are not of us.”
MacArthur
explains “It is possible to deny Christ before men by silence, by failing to
witness for Him and trying to be an unnoticed Christian—whose friends and
neighbors, and perhaps even family, would never suspect of being a
believer. It is also possible to deny
Christ by actions, living like the rest of the world lives, with no higher
standards or values. It is possible to
deny Christ by words, using the world’s profanity, vulgarity, and
blasphemy. It is possible to deny Christ
in many ways that are short of verbally and publicly renouncing Him.
“The
future tenses in verses 32-33 tell us that Jesus is speaking of future
judgment. In that day, those who confess
Him, he ‘will also confess,’ and those who deny Him, He ‘will also deny.
“The
difference between true and false discipleship is a much-repeated theme in
Matthew Near the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "For I
say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes
and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Later during the sermon He distinguished between
false disciples, who enter by the narrow gate and walk in the narrow way
(7:13-14).” “13 “Enter through the
narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to
destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 “For the gate is small
and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Following
on in chapter seven of Matthew our Lord spoke of those who bear good fruit and
those who bear bad fruit as seen in verses 16-20 “16 "You will know them by their fruits.
Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are
they? 17 “So every 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 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.” Next we want to look at verses 21-23 “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.’ In verses 24-27
Jesus spoke of those who built their houses on the rock and those who built
them on the sand.
I
want to quote a paragraph that I wrote on the 9th of March 2019
while looking at the introduction a Ephesians 4:7-11, verses that have to do
with Spiritual gifts, and at the end of that SD I wrote the following which has
to do with a quotation from John MacArthur which I will also include: “John MacArthur writes “Paul begins this
passage by referring to what God has done for those who have trusted in His
Son. The worthy Christian walk he has
just described (4:1-6) is carried out through the ministry of the gift He has
given us. In verses 7-11 the apostle
first assures us that every believer has been individually gifted; then he
shows us how Christ obtained the right to give gifts; and finally he mentions
some of the specially gifted men through whom the Lord blesses the whole
church.”
As
I look at this quotation from John MacArthur it confirms what I have been
learning for some time as I have studied the Word of God, and that is that what
I am to do for the cause of Christ is to do the things that He has planned for
me in eternity past, and in order for me to do that I have received His gifts
so that I can accomplish those things He wants me to do. This all boils down to having everything I do
bring glory to my Lord, for after all Jesus paid it all so that I can be a
believer, and I must remember that He came to earth doing the will of His
Father, and then I must also remember that the Spirit of God gave me an
effectual call 45 years ago so that I could become a born-again believer in
Jesus Christ. All of this was done by
the triune God in order for me to bring glory to God. I can do all things through Christ who gives
me strength to do them so that He will be glorified.
As
I was preparing for my Sunday school lesson for the third chapter of Hebrews a
point came up about how can one tell if one is really a true believer, and the
answer was that a person continues doing things to show that they are
believers. To continue from the time you
receive Christ until He comes to take you in the Rapture or takes you home to
be with Him through death. The point is
that you life is not a splash in the pan and then nothing else, but you continue
in the faith.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: The Christian life is a series of new
beginnings is a quote I have used often, and the point is that there are new beginnings
that believers have, those who confess the Lord and trouble comes the new
beginnings will not happen.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord has I go and have some minor surgery
on my face this morning.
11/9/2021 8:24 AM
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