MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/20/2026
8:44 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT -1 Intro
to “A Portrait of True Discipleship”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
9:23-26
Message of the verses: “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone
wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and
follow Me. For whoever wishes to save
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one
who will save it. For what is a man
profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory
of the Father and of the holy angels.”
This morning we begin looking at the verses above,
which begin a new chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary, number 28 in his
second book on the gospel of Luke. I
have mentioned that it took him ten years to preach through the entire gospel
of Luke, and we are only on the second commentary that he wrote on Luke’s
gospel. I will begin this morning to
quote the introduction to these verses.
“The brief passage is a diamond of
truth, clear and brilliant, and it contains the heart of Jesus’ invitation to
sinners contemplating becoming one of His disciples. In His own words the Lord laid out what it
means to be a genuine believer in Him; to be included in His salvation
kingdom. It consequently reveals truth
that is unsurpassed in importance.
“What is most striking about the
Lord’s call to discipleship is that it demands radical self-denial, perhaps to
the point of dying, while also living in complete obedience to His
commands. That puts the true gospel,
preached by Jesus, in sharp contrast with the contemporary pseudo-gospel of
self-fulfillment popularly proclaimed and received by many who identify
themselves as Christians. Such false
teachers in effect view the Lord as little more than a utilitarian genie, who
grants people whatever they wish. Some
claim that Jesus wants people healthy and rich, and if they are not, it is
because they have failed to claim their blessings. Others maintain that God’s primary goal is to
make people feel better about themselves by elevating their self-image (as if
sinners had humility issues and needed more self-love) and eliminating their
negative thinking. Some have even called
for a ‘new reformation,’ abandoning biblically of self-esteem. This ‘seeker-friendly’ approach came along to
replace the biblical gospel of salvation from sin with a set of psychological
props to elevate people to fulfillment and higher life purposes. The quasi-Christian narcissism unabashedly promises
self-love, which characterizes the false teachers who preach it (2 Tim. 3:2)
and focuses, as they do, on their satisfaction instead of God’s glory.”
(2 Tim. 3:2)
“2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of
money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy,”
“A prayer from the pen of a godly
saint of the past reveals the difference between today’s man-centered false
gospel and the attitude consistent with true saving faith:
Lord,
high and holy, meek and lowly…
Let
me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing
spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious
soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive…
Let
me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin
they riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my [humiliation].
(Arthur
Benett, The valley of Vision [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977], xv)
“This is not an obscure passage that
differs from Christ’s normal teaching.
Our Lord’s teaching on the occasion of this passage is also recorded by
Matthew (16:24-27) and Mark (8:34-38).
(Matthew (16:24-27)
“24 ¶ Then Jesus told his disciples, "If
anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. 25 For whoever would save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he the whole
world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
27 For the Son of Man is going to come
with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person
according to what he has done.”
(Mark (8:34-38)
“34 And calling the crowd to him with his
disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his
soul? 37 For what can a man give in
return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed
of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the
Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the
holy angels."
“The
principles it contains are the same ones He repeatedly taught and modeled
throughout His ministry. And since Jesus
was the prototypical divine evangelist, He has given believers the pattern of
how to evangelize. In Matthew 10:34-36
Jesus cautioned,
Do not
think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace,
but a sword. For I came to set a man
against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his
household.
Believing
in Him may actually make one’s situation on earth worse. But instead of promising that their
circumstances would improve, Jesus insisted that His followers be willing to
pay whatever price is necessary for following Him:
He who love
father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or
daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of
Me. He who has found his life will lose
it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it. (vv. 37-39)
The
supreme goal for believers is not the development of their self-confidence by
the betterment of their life perspective and situation, but following Christ no
matter how severe the consequences.”
I will try and finish this
introduction in this evening’s SD.
Spiritual
Meaning for my life today: These are serious matters being spoken about
in this SD, and I must heed to what is written here.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I
am trusting the Lord to help me do the things that I believe need to be done
for a person that I am acquainted with.
10/20/2026
9:34 AM
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