EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/5/2026
10:14 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Intro
to ‘The Mark of True Greatness’”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
9:46-50
Message of the verses: “46 Now an argument started among them
as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But Jesus,
knowing what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand
by His side, 48 and He said to them, “Whoever receives this
child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me;
for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.” 49 John
answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and
we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.” 50 But
Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for the one who is not against
you is for you.”
The following is a quotation from John MacArthur’s
introduction to these verses, something that I have been doing for a while now.
“This section stands at a critical
juncture in Luke’s gospel, as it records the close of the Lord’s Galilean
ministry. Beginning in 9:51 and
continuing through 19:27 Luke records His final journey to Jerusalem. While traversing the towns and villages of
Judea for those months leading up to His death, Jesus focused on more intensive
training of the Twelve. This passage is
also a crucial part of their preparation for future ministry.
“The overarching theme of these two
incidents is the importance of humility, set against the backdrop of the
disciples’ blatant pride. The first
incident finds them arguing among themselves about which one was the greatest;
in the second one John confessed that they had attempted to hinder the ministry
of someone outside of their group.
“Nothing comes more naturally to
fallen human beings than pride, manifesting itself in self-centeredness,
self-love, self-promotion, and self-fulfillment. Pride is the defining sin of fallen human
nature, the soil in which all other sins sprout, take root, and grow. It is the damning sin that produced angelic
rebellion against God and sought to topple Him from His throne as the sovereign
ruler of the universe. It produced the sin of Eve and Adam, plunging the peace
into corruption. That pride has been
reclassified as virtue throughout history and in contemporary society only
reveals the depts of human depravity.
Isaiah wrote of such a wicked reversal of reality, ‘Woe to those who
call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for
darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!’ (Isa. 5:20).
“In contrast to the pride that marks
fallen humanity, those who come to Chris for salvation are transformed and
become characterized by self-hate, self-denial, and self-abasement (see the discussion
of 9:23 in chapter 28 of this volume” I began looking at that chapter on
10-19-2026). “Only when pride is
divinely overpowered by the conviction of one’s sinfulness and wretchedness can
a person truly repent and come to saving faith.”
“The apostle Paul’s spiritual
biography illustrates that truth. His
resume, from a human perspective, was impressive (Phil. 3:5-6).”
(Phil. 3:5-6)
“5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people
of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a of Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a
Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of
the church; as to righteousness under the law,, blameless.” “He had adhered to all the rites, rituals,
and traditions of Judaism, starting with his being circumcised when he was eight
days ole. Paul was not only an
Israelite, but also a member of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the most noble of
the twelve tribes. The zeal for the law
that made him a Pharisee also made Paul a persecutor of the church. In terms of the external righteousness of the
law, he was a blameless ‘Hebrew of Hebrew; (v.5; cf. Gal. 1:14).”
(Gal. 1:14)
“14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of
my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my
fathers.”
“But when he was confronted by
Christ and convicted by the Holy Spirit, Paul’s view of himself was
reverses. Those things that had been in
the plus column he now wrote off as losses.
So strongly did he repudiate the achievements of which he had once been
proud that he described them as rubbish, or manure (Phil. 3:8).”
(Phil. 3:8)
“8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of
the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have
suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may
gain Christ.”
“When
through the convicting work of the Spirit, Paul understood that he was actually
condemned because he was living as a consistent violator of God’s law, he was
brought face-to-face with the condition of consequences of his spiritual bankruptcy. As he explained in Romans 7:9-11:
“I was once
alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin because alive and
I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in
death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived
me and through it killed me.”
“Although pride is broken at
conversion, when the repentant sinner approaches God with what the Old
Testament calls a ‘broken and contrite heart’ (Ps. 51:17 cf. Isa. 57:15; 66:2),
it is by not means permanently defeated.”
(Ps. 51:17 cf. Isa. 57:15; 66:2)
“17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a
broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
“15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted
up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and
holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive
the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
“2 All these things my hand has made, and so all
these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will
look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
“Even
after his salvation, Paul still struggled with the sins that flow from pride:
15 For I do not understand what I am
doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very
thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do
not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But
now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For
I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is
present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For
the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not
want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am
no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I
find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do
good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the
inner person, 23 but I see a different law in the parts
of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner [d]of the law of sin, the law which is
in [e]my body’s parts. 24 Wretched
man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
11/5/2026
11:05 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment