SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/24/2017 7:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Be Aggressive in seizing Opportunities”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 4:8-13
Message of the verses: “8
Then Peter, filled with
the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people,
9 if we are on trial today for a benefit
done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the
people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead-by
this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 “He is the
STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF
CORNER stone. 12 “And
there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that
has been given among men by which we must be saved." 13 Now as they
observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were
uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”
I suppose that once a
person is being lead to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior that
someone will most always quote Acts 4:12 to show that He is the only way to be
saved. In the context here Peter is
actually offering salvation to the Sanhedrin, the ones who were mostly behind
the death of Jesus Christ. John
MacArthur writes “Saved’ is the form of the same verb (sozo) used in verse 9 to describe the healing of the lame man. Not only was Jesus the source of physical
healing, but He is also the only source of spiritual healing. Deliverance from the devastating effects of
sin comes only through Jesus Christ.
Peter did not invent that truth; he is merely echoing is Master. In John 14:6 Jesus declared, “I am the way,
and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.’”
MacArthur writes “The
exclusivism of Christianity goes against the grain of our religiously
pluralistic society. A chapel built at
the North Pole in February 1959 by men of Operation Deep Freeze 4 typifies the
prevalent attitude today toward religious belief. The structure contained an altar, over which
was hung a picture of Jesus, a crucifix, a Star of David, and a lotus leaf
(representing the Buddha). On the wall
of the chapel was an inscription that read ‘Now it can be said that the earth
turns on the point of faith.’”
I realize that people
of the world do not like it when they are told that Jesus is the only way to
get to the Father as it goes against their sin nature which tells them that
there has to be more than one way of salvation, but Jesus and Peter (who is
really quoting Jesus) says different, and they are right. There is a wide road of works that leads to
destruction and a narrow way which is faith only in Jesus Christ that leads to
salvation.
Even though Peter’s
plea to the Sanhedrin fell on deaf ears they were smart enough to realize that
although according to their standards these men were not educated in their
ways, they did realize that they had been with Jesus.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: My prayer is that people will realize that I
too have been with Jesus.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will be with me in a special way as I led our
Sunday School class this morning.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:
“Breast plate, ephod, robe, coat, mitre, girdle” (Exodus 28:4).
Today’s Bible question: “Who
sits on the right hand of God?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/24/2017 7:35 AM
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