MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/24/2026
9:00 AM
My Worship
Time Focus: pt-2“True Repenters Recognize
Divine Wrath”
Bible Reading & Meditation
Reference: Luke 3:7a
Message
of the verse: “So he began saying to the crowds who were going
out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers,”
I want to continue to quote from John MacArthur’s
commentary and I will try and also quote the verse references that he has in
this very important section.
“John’s hearers were well aware of
God’s coming wrath, since it was a constant theme of the Old Testament
prophets. The familiar term ‘the day of
the Lord,’ which depicts God’s
catastrophic future judgment of the wicked, is mentioned explicitly nineteen
times in the Old Testament (Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3; Joel 1:15;
2:1 11, 31; 3:14; Amos 5:18 [two times], 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14 [two
times]; Zech 14:1; Mal. 4:5).” Now
because all of these verse references are similar I will only quote a few of
them.
(Isa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezek. 13:5; 30:3;
Joel 1:15)
“12 For the LORD of hosts has a day against all
that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up— and it shall be brought
low;”
“6 For a man will take hold of his brother in
the house of his father, saying: "You have a cloak; you shall be our
leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule";”
“9 ¶ For the look on their faces bears witness
against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to
them! For they have brought evil on themselves.”
“5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or
built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the
day of the LORD.”
“3 For the day is near, the day of the LORD is
near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.”
“15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is
near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.”
“It is the
time when God pours out His watch on the wicked, which is why Scripture three
times calls the day of the Lord ‘the day of vengeance’ (Isa. 34:8, 61:2; 63:4).
“The Old Testament passages dealing
with the day of the Lord often convey a sense of imminence, nearness, and expectation: ‘Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!’
(Isa. 13:6); ‘For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near’ (Ezek.
30:3); ‘For the day of the Lord is near’ (Joel 1:15); ‘Let all the inhabitants
of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near’
(Joel 2:1); ‘Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of
the Lord is near in the valley of decision’ (Joel 3:14); ‘For the day of the
Lord draws near on all the nations’ (Obad. 15); ‘Be silent before the Lord God!
For the day of the Lord is near’ (Zeph. 1:7); ‘Near is the great day of the
Lord, near and coming very quickly’ (Zeph. 1:14).
“Those imminent past historical days
of the Lord were merely a prelude to the final eschatological day of the Lord,
which will be far greater in extent and more terrible in its destruction. The Old Testament day of the Lord passages
often have both a near and a far fulfillment.
Isaiah 13:6 points to an historical day of the Lord, while verse 9 of
that same chapter has the final, eschatological day of the Lord in view. Joel 1:15 and 2:1, 11 describe an historical
day of the Lord; Joel 3:1-14 the eschatological day of the Lord. Obadiah 1:14 depicts the historical day of
the Lord in which Edom was judged; verses 15-21 describe the eschatological day
of the Lord. Zephaniah 1:7-14 predicts
an imminent, historical day of the Lord judgment on Judah, which was fulfilled
shortly afterward in the Babylonian captivity; 3:8-20 predicts the final day of
the Lord.
“John’s decidedly
non-sinner-friendly characterization of the crowds as a ‘brood of vipers’ reflects
the sobering truth that there is more to repentance than scrambling to avoid
the fires of divine wrath. Led by their
religious leaders (Matt. 3:7; cf. 12:24; 23:33), hordes of shallow, superficial
repenters flocked to hear John.”
(Matt. 3:7; cf. 12:24; 23:33)
“7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers!
Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
“24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said,
“It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.’”
“33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are
you to escape being sentenced to hell?”
“But as he
was well aware, they were not interested in changing their nature. By denouncing them as a brood of vipers, John
identified them with their father, Satan (John 8:44), whom Scripture depicts as
a serpent (Gen. 3:1-4, 13-15; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:2). Their superficial repentance and their
vicious, hostile, poisonous natures revealed that they were children of the
devil.” This finishes this section,
however I want to quote these verses seen above.
(John 8:44)
44
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s
desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own
character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
(Gen. 3:1-4, 13-15; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev.
12:9; 20:2)
“1 ¶ Now the serpent was more crafty than any
other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman,
"Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the
garden’?" 2 And the woman said to
the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit
of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it,
lest you die.’" 4 But the serpent
said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your
eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”
“13 Then the LORD God said to
the woman,
"What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent
deceived me, and I ate."14 ¶ The
LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you
above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall
go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and
you shall bruise his heel.’”
“3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived
Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure
devotion to Christ.”
“9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that
ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole
world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with
him.”
“2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient
serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,”
Spiritual
Meaning for My Life Today: I am thankful that the Bible makes
it clear that Satan will end up in the Lake of Fire along with all of his
angels that followed him. I am thankful
also for the Judgment Seat of Christ where all believers in the church age will
receive rewards for how they followed the Lord in doing what the Holy Spirit
has called them to do.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Knowing that the Lord is in perfect
control of all the things that are going on in the world, as He prepares the
world for the Tribulation period, give me encouragement to know that He also is
in control of what is going on in my families lives at this time.
4/24/2026
9:40 AM
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