SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/27/2023 9:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “False Leaders Lack Authority”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 23:2b
Message of the verse: “[they] have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;
I
mentioned at the end of our last SD that we would look at what God told Isaiah,
as we ended up looking at what God told Jeremiah at the end of the last
SD. God told Isaiah that many of the
people would not listen to his words in Isaiah 30:8-10 “8 Now go, write it on a tablet before them And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may serve in the time to come As a witness forever. 9 For this is a rebellious people,
false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; 10 Who
say to the seers, "You
must not see visions";And to the prophets, "You must not prophesy to us what
is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions.” John MacArthur writes “Sinful people resist
God’s truth because it is a rebuke to them, and they just as naturally turn to
false religions and philosophies because those systems in one way or another
approve and indulge their wicked inclinations and desires. They are therefore easy prey for false
teachers who appeal to their base natures.”
I totally agree with this statement from John MacArthur, and I believe
that the reason it is true is because of the lostness of those who do not know
Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and their Lord. I mentioned in earlier Spiritual Diaries that
there are only two kinds of people living in this world, the lost, and their
lost because everyone is born lost, and the saved because only the saved have
been born again from above, through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
as He died on the cross to save sinners.
Now
back to our subject about false leaders lacking authority. Jesus had warned about these false teachers
earlier in His ministry. "The thief
comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and
have it abundantly (John 10:10).’”
These false teachers do not represent God or speak in His name or in His
authority, but they are deceivers, usurpers, and destroyers of God’s Word, God’s
work, and God’s people.
These
false leaders are a marked
contrast to those who are genuinely sent by the Lord as true ministers
of His gospel, which He committed to them as seen in Gal. 1:15-16 “15 But when God,
who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through
His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him
among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood.” Paul says similar things to his son in the
faith, Timothy “Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was
bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the
presbytery.” In John 20:22 we read that
Jesus breathed on His disciples telling them “Receive the Holy Spirit” and to
whom He later said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on
earth. Go therefore and make disciples
and of all the nations” (Matt. 28:18-19).
It is on the other hand that false leaders lack
divine authority in what they say and do.
They are self-appointed ministers of human ideas and traditions, and as
they promote their false notions they obscure God’s truth and prevent God’s
righteousness for their own selfish purposes.
MacArthur
concludes this section by writing: “As
in the prophets’ times and in Jesus’ time, the world still abounds with
teachers who claim to speak in God’s name and power but do not. They usurp the place of the Lord’s true
shepherds with lies, fake promises, delusions, dreams, visions, and usually are
guilty of immoral living.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It was because the Lord called me to be His
own on the 26th of January, 1974 that I serve Him, and write these
Spiritual Diaries for the cause of Christ.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: “Continue to do the things that God has
called me to do through the power of His Holy Spirit as He uses His Word to
instruct me.
9/27/2023 9:37 AM
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