SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/1/2022 8:14 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1“The
Kingdom may be entered from Different Circumstances”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
13:44-46
Message of the verses: “44 "The
kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and
hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and
buys that field. 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and
sold all that he had and bought it.”
Today we begin looking at a fifth principle found in
these two parables, and that is that a person may come into the kingdom out of
different circumstances. I have to say
after listening to John MacArthur’s sermon on both of these parables that the
first parable certainly struck home with me in the way that God saved me, which
I will talk about more later on in this SD.
MacArthur writes “There is no precondition for turning from sin and
turning to Christ in faith. A person
does not have to become anything else before he becomes a Christian, and he can
come from whatever he may be.”
There
are some very similar things found in these two parables, as the main character
in each is a man who discovers something of extreme value and then that person
will sacrifice everything he owns to buy it.
However in the ways in which they come across their wonderful and
precious treasures are vastly different, as it is almost opposite. As we look at the first parable the man comes
upon the treasure completely by accident, now I have to say that I don’t
believe that there are accidents in a believer’s life, only innocents, I am not
really sure that it was an accident how the man in the first parable found his
treasure. Now as far as we were told, he
was not looking for anything and certainly not a priceless treasure. Now in the
second parable, however, the man was diligently looking for the very thing he
eventually found and bought. It is the
first parable that certainly fits into how the Spirit of God brought me to a
saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as I certainly was not looking for this
wonderful treasure while I was in Florida in 1974, but just like the first man
I found it as God found me and saved me and my life has never been what it was
like before that wonderful day in Florida after listening to sermons on the end
times by Hal Lindsey.
Continue
talking about the first character this man was going about his business trying
to make a living when he was walking through a field, perhaps this was a part
of a job that he had looking for buried treasure, and perhaps he was just
walking through that field randomly as we are not told. However finding a t reassure
was the last thing on his mind and on my mind too.
We
will end this SD with a quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary as today is
Sunday and I will be leaving to teach my Sunday school class on Hebrews this
morning. “In a similar way, many people
come across the gospel while pursuing the activities of their daily life, with
no expectation or concern for salvation or anything else spiritual. While busily occupied with earning a living,
caring for a family, getting an education, or building a career, they hear a
sermon, read a book, listen
to a tape, or have a conversation that presents the gracious claims and
promises of Christ. By the Spirit’s
gracious power, they recognize the priceless value of the message, and they
believe, are saved, and inherit the kingdom.”
I would like to add that I was on a little vacation and listened to a
tape.
5/1/2022 8:41 AM
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