PT-8 "Matt. 18:1-4

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/26/2022 8:06 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-8 “Matt. 18:1-4”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                        Reference:  Matt. 18:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 

            A couple of things before I quote the story that I promised to do in yesterday’s SD.  First of all I put yesterday’s SD on my other blog and only found out this morning, and so I canceled it from the other blog and put in its right place this morning.  Second, as mentioned we will look at a story from MacArthur’s past, and when you think of when he wrote this that makes this story over forty years old.

 

            “A number of years ago I ministered to a group of black schools in the south.  At one rural elementary school, I presented a simple message about God’s love and the unique and lovely person of Jesus Christ, who especially loved children and died as a sacrifice for them on the cross to pay the punishment for all our sins.  At the end of the message I asked, ‘How many of you would like to have  Jesus live in your heart and forgive all your sin and desire to follow such a wonderful Lord and Savior and have Him take you to heaven some day?’  To my amazement, every one of the one hundred or so hands in the room immediately went up.  There was no skepticism, no doubting, no hesitation, no looking around to see how their friends would react.  When the invitation was asked for, the heart of each one of those children was ready to respond positively to the claims of Jesus Christ.  To be sure that they understood the commitment they were making, I asked, ‘Now how many of you are willing to let Jesus control your life and to obey whatever He says?’  Again, every hand went up.

 

            “God knew the intent of their hearts and what that simple affirmation meant as a step toward Him.  But what I saw was the illustration of saving faith.  None of those children felt adequate in himself or so perfect as not to recognize sin and the need of forgiveness.  None was reluctant to give his life to One who was so lovely and gracious and could provide all they would need in time and eternity.  Nor were they reluctant to do what He asked them in obedience.

 

            “That is the kind of unpretentious, nonhypocritical, humble, childlike faith Jesus was talking about.  That sort of response of His Son is the greatest in God’s sight.  The greatest in the kingdom of heaven is the one who is humble, unaffected, genuinely sincere, undemanding, nonself-centered, receptive in whatever God offers, and eagerly obedient to whatever He commands.

 

            “The popular ‘gospels’ that propagate self-fulfillment and personal success are the antithesis of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They are a mockery of New Testament Christianity and strike at the heart of salvation and of Christian living.  The Lord made no provision for the elevation of self, but rather declared unequivocally that the person who, on his own terms, ‘has found his life shall lose it’ (Matt. 10:39).  The way of self is the way of disqualification from the kingdom.  Those who glorify self not only will not be great in the kingdom but will never enter it.

 

            “James presents an invitation to salvation that unarguably reiterates what our Lord demands in the passage of Matthew: 

 

6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." 7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

 

            I think back on the year 2003 when we got some new neighbors who moved in next to us and they had three children, Ashley, Bridget, and Collin.  In the summer of the following year I presented the gospel to the mother, Beth, and both she and her mother who lived not far from us received the Lord.  Eventually all the family with the exception of her husband made professions of faith.  Later on Beth’s husband also received salvation.  Collin was the youngest and when he went to school, a catholic school, he shared Christ with his teacher and his classmates and he said that they all said the prayer, the prayer of salvation.  All the kids are grown up and whether or not they still walk with the Lord I am not sure.  Beth’s mom and her sister have gone to be with the Lord as both had cancer.  The story of Collin and his classmates is similar to that of John MacArthur’s story.  All I can say is that was a great time of harvest for the  kingdom of God that He allowed me to be a part of and I am thankful for the memories of it as they will always be with me, and hopefully we will all get together after the Lord calls His Church home at the Rapture.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life:  Humility is something that when you think you have it then you don’t.  Humility can be seen in all its greatness in the life of Jesus Christ as Paul writes about in Philippians 2:5-11. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to get me through the different trials that I am going through at this time, difficult trials.

 

11/26/2022 8:46 AM