PT-1 "Be Right With God"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/15/2018 9:30 PM

My Worship Time                                                                    Focus:  PT-1 “Be Right With God”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Acts 20:28a

            Message of the verses:  “Be on guard for yourselves”

            These five little words have great meaning, and when one looks at these words they can be words that will step on a person’s toes, something that is not pleasant to have happen to you.  I just finished up a book “Win the Battle for Your Mind” and that book stepped on my toes a lot, and then just last week our Pastor preached a sermon from Philippians chapter two that focused in on the fact that as believers we are not to wine, and that also stepped on my toes.  Wonder what God is doing in my life?

            Remember that Paul is talking to the leaders of the church at Ephesus.  James has this to say about spiritual leaders:  “1 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment (James 3:1).”  John MacArthur writes “The first priority for anyone involved in spiritual leadership is his own relationship with God.  Effective ministry is not mere outward activity; it is the overflow of a rich, deep relationship with God.  As John Owen wisely observed,

‘A minister may fill his pews, his communion roll, the mouths of the public, but when that minister is on his knees in secret before God Almighty, that he is and no more.’”  John Owen was a Puritan.

            A person must be right with God in order to face the pressures and responsibilities of ministry.  A leader must also be on their guard in order to be effective:  “"But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them (Mark 13:9).”  “"Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap (Luke 21:34).” 

            How do we stay on guard???  One has to do self-examination in order to stay on guard.  Paul spent a lot of time writing to Timothy giving exhortation to him and then near the end of his first letter (4:16) he writes “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.”  In 2 Timothy he writes “20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work (2 Tim. 2:20-21).”  I know that this confused me too and so I quote from John MacArthur to conclude this first section here:  “In a house there were vessels for dishonorable users, such as garbage and other waste.  There were also vessels for honorable uses, such as food and drink.  Only clean ones of high quality were fit for honor, self-examination and forsaking sin are essential for leaders.  Although God does bless His truth in spite of the preacher, He does not bless the unholy leader, no matter what title, position, or office he might hold.”

            I have written in earlier SD’s that the person who told me the truth of the gospel when I got saved was not a believer.  The things he told me were true, but he did not believe them.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “One shall be taken, the other left.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world’?”

Answer in our next SD.

7/15/2018 9:59 PM