SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/20/2024 8:35 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Intro to Matthew 25:31-46”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
25:31-46
Message of the verses: “31 "But when the
Son of Man comes in
His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious
throne. 32 “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate
them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and
the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come,
you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something
to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a
stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and
you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 "Then the
righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or
thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a
stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You
sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them,
‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of
Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ 41 "Then He
will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the
eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was
hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me
nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and
you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 "Then they themselves also will answer,
‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or
sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 "Then He will answer
them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the
least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 "These will go away into
eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
As
many know I listen to John MacArthur’s sermons on the verses that are included
in my Spiritual Diaries, and there are three sermons that go along with this
section of Scripture, sermons that I found very interesting. The first two are actually introductions and
cover verses 31-32, and then the last sermon covers the rest of the verses, and
thus ends the Olivet Discourse which is found in Matthew 24 and 25.
This
last part of Matthew 25 speaks of judgment and all sin must be judged, and all
sin will or has been judged. When Jesus
died on the cross He paid the price for all sin, but a person has to understand
that they are a sinner and can do nothing about having their sins forgiven on
their own. Because Jesus paid it all
then a person needs to confess to the Lord that they are sinners, born sinners,
and that they desire to have the forgiveness that Christ offers through His
death on the cross. This is how sins
have been forgiven, but if a person does not desire to receive the forgiveness
that Christ offers then their judgment will come after they die, and that is
not good.
The
Bible does make it clear that all sin is known to God as He knows everything,
and that all sin must be punished as I have written about. Let us look at a couple of verses that speak
of this: “"But if you will not do
so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find
you out” (Num 32:23). “Adversity pursues
sinners, But the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity” PR. 13:21). “You have placed our iniquities before You,
Our secret sins in the light of Your presence” (Ps. 90:8 written by
Moses). “Woe to the wicked! It will
go badly with him, For what he deserves will be done to him” (Isa.
3:11).
MacArthur writes that “Paul sums up that basic truth
in his letter to the Romans: ‘The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men’ (1:18 emphasis added). Later in that
same letter the apostle wrote, ‘There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil’ (2:9
emphasis added). No sin and no sinner is
exempted from God’s judgment and punishment.”
Now
as we look through the Old and New Testaments we will find that God’s judgment
is a repeated theme. In the Old
Testament judgment is primarily temporal, however in the New Testament it is
primarily eternal. MacArthur writes “With
significant exceptions, the Old focuses on punishment suffered in this world
and the New on punishment suffered in the next.
The Old more often speaks about God’s physically destroying nations,
punishing cities, or afflicting individuals because of their wickedness. The New, on the other hand, more often speaks
of judgment that lasts through all eternity.”
I
think that many people believe that love is what our Lord spoke most of while
on earth, but no one spoke more about judgment that Jesus, more than love. “Jesus spoke of sin that could not be
forgiven, of the danger of losing one’s soul forever, of spending eternity in
the torments of hell, of existing forever in outer darkness, where there will
be perpetual weeping and gnashing of teeth.
No pictures of judgment are more intense and sobering than those Jesus
portrayed.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: As I read about judgment, and then read about
forgiveness the Christ offers, I am so very thankful that a little over 50
years ago that Jesus saved me and assures me of a home with Him in heaven.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord through His Holy Spirit
that He will use the Spiritual Diaries that I write to speak to the hearts of
those who do not believe so that the Holy Spirit can work in their hearts to
bring them to Christ.
3/20/2024 9:07 AM
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