SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/1/2024 9:44 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Inheritance of the Saved”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
25:34-40
Message of the verses: “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.’”
I
want to begin by looking at Matthew 25:35-36 and then make some comments on
these verses. 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.’” As we look at these verses it can be seen
that what is being done are what we call good works or good deeds, and these
are the fruit, but not the root, of salvation.
I mentioned Ephesians 2:8-10 in the last SD and what is seen in verse
ten is the fruit of what the root of salvation is as explained in verses
8-9. MacArthur writes that “It cannot be
emphasized too strongly that they are not the baiss of entrance into the
kingdom. Christ will judge according to
works only insofar as those works are or are not a manifestation of redemption,
which the heavenly Father has foreordained.
If a person has not trusted in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, no
amount of seemingly good works done in His name will avail to any spiritual
benefit. To such people the Lord will say, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me,
you who practice lawlessness’ (Matt. 7:23).’”
Now if you are depending on your works to get you
into heaven, and have not put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and
Lord, then reread this quote from John MacArthur which is in the last
paragraph. If you are not sure if this
is true of you, that is being a true born-again believer then ask God to search
your heart as He will faithfully give you the answer to this most important
question that you will ever answer. We
celebrated Resurrection Day yesterday, and the true Resurrection Day when
Christ rose from the dead is the most important day in the history of the World
as without that day, which was proof that God had accepted the sacrifice that
Jesus Christ offered three days before was accepted by God and now those who
confess that they are sinners and desire to trust Christ for salvation as they
invite Him into their life to receive the forgiveness that He offers will one
day as Paul writes to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 be a part of
what is called the Rapture of the Church and when that happens a person who has
died in Christ or is alive when He comes in the clouds to take His bride to
heaven will be with the Lord forever.
What a day that will be!!!
Now
as we look at the good deeds that are mentioned in verses 35-36, those
genuinely righteous deeds that Jesus mentions are measurable evidence of
salvation, and He therefore highly commends those who have performed them, and
that is a wonderful thing. What Jesus is
saying in effect is “Come into My kingdom, because you are the chosen children
of My Father, and your relationship to Him is made evident by the service you
have rendered to Me by ministering to your fellow believers, who, like you, are
My brothers.” “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.’”
There
is still a lot to look at as we continue to look at this section of Scripture
for at least a couple more days.
4/1/2024 10:06 AM
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