SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/6/2018 4:32 PM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Content”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
17:2b-3, 11
Message of the
verses: “and for three Sabbaths
reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and giving evidence that
the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This
Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ."… 11 Now these were more
noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great
eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”
We move from courage to content and this is also a rather
long section so we will take our time to try and get as much out of these
verses as we can.
We can have courage but little content and that will not
give us much to say when we talk to people.
We know that Paul had both, a lot of courage to talk about the things
that needed to be talked about in order for the people who he talks to
understand what the Word of God has to say about salvation. So what we are saying is that a person needs
both courage, and content to be able to tell others about the Word of God and
salvation.
There is a clear message to the gospel in the Word of
God, and so it is the job of believers to present that clear message to the
unbelievers that the Lord brings into our live.
As a believer we are not to approach an unbeliever by putting him down
or telling the wrong that he is doing which will cause him to end up in
hell. We are to say that all are sinners
and come short of the glory of God. We
are to perhaps have them put their name in John 3:16 where we would say “For
God so loved ‘__________________’ and gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him will have eternal life.”
I have heard that when a believer tells an unbeliever about salvation
that they are actually telling another hungry person where they can get bread.
John MacArthur writes about this imbalanced
approach: “Such an imbalanced approach
to evangelism finds no support in Scripture.
The true gospel must offend
the nonbeliever by confronting him with his sin and judgment. Romans 9:33 says, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and he who believes in Him will not
be disappointed.’ Peter quoted that same
Old Testament passage (Isa. 28:16), as well as Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 8:14:
‘6 For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," 8 and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.’
Sinners are a constant
offense to God (cf. Ps. 7:11); they need to know that.”
So this is a part of the truth of the Gospel that
unbelievers need to hear, yet we are all in the same boat when we are born.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Arimathea” (Matthew 27:57).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who were the sons of Noah?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/6/2018 4:53 PM
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