Awe and Reverence – Continuously Devoted to God – Purity 1178

 

Awe and Reverence – Continuously Devoted to God –
Purity 1178

Purity 1178 10/21/2023  Purity 1178 Podcast

Purity 1178 on YouTube: 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the heavens touching the earth
through the awesome power of a lightning strike touching down on the waters off
of Hallet Cove in South Australia comes to us from Dave Baun Photography (https://www.facebook.com/DaveBaunPhotography)
, as Dave shared this scene, from the stormy Monday night of October 2^nd,
on his photography FB to “light up 
Saturday night!” back on October 7^th.  

Well, it is Saturday and I share Dave’s photo
because of its beauty and power to fill us with awe and wonder, and because
rain is in the forecast in my neck of the woods, but it is my prayer that all
my friends who hear or read this message will recognize the awesome power of
God, be humbled by it, obey His commands, and take some time this weekend to thank
and worship Him.

While lightning may have been used as a conduit of
God’s wrath in the past, (Elijah’s “fire from heaven” in 2 Kings 1) it is definitely
listed as an accompanying sign of the “final chapter of“ God’s future wrath as
it coincides with the sounding of the seventh trumpet (Rev 11:19) and the
pouring out of the seventh bowl of God’s wrath (in Rev 16:17-20). which some theorize
as simultaneous events of God’s judgment on the “Day of the Lord”, when those
who don’t stand with God through faith in Jesus Christ will be destroyed as Jesus
comes back to reclaim the earth to rule and reign for 1,000 years (Rev
20:4-6). 

While the idea of God’s wrath and the events of
Revelation can be scary, Christians should not be afraid for they have been
forgiven of their transgressions, have peace with God, and are members of His
kingdom -right now- because of Jesus. But at the same time, we should never
lose our sense of reverence and respect for the Lord because of His magnificent
power and because of our love and respect for God seek to do His will
always.  

My morning Bible study today had me in Acts 2, and I
was reminded of the reverence and obedience of those who put their faith in the
day of Pentecost.  

After the three thousand heard Peter’s message of
how Jesus was the promised Messiah, whom they had crucified, they were compelled
to put their faith in Jesus and repent to be “saved from this perverse
generation (Acts 2:40). The text then tells us in:

Acts
2:41-42 (NASB)
⁴¹  So then, those who had
received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three
thousand souls.
⁴²  They were continually
devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and to prayer.

The thing that struck me to the heart this morning
as I read these words is the fact that I know and love many people who would
call themselves Christians who have either lost the awe, wonder, and reverence for
the Lord and are not “continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching,
fellowship and prayer” or who may have never had love or reverence for the Lord
at all – as they have not only – not continued in -displaying the fruits of
Christian discipleship practices – they have steadfastly refused to participate
in them or in the clear command to be baptized.  

Devotion is an act of love, not discipline. So while
I of all people understand the great value of grace and our freedom in Christ,
I fear that those who claim their freedom as a reason to NOT devote themselves
to the apostle’s teachings, fellowship, and prayer and refuse to be baptized may
discover that their hopes of heaven or claims to God’s kingdom will be denied
as their wanton disobedience and rebellious spirit will revealed as the
evidence that Jesus never knew them and they will instead face God’s wrath rather
than receiving His mercy.   

When I hear supposed “Christians”, say things like: 

“I don’t believe that!” or “I don’t have to do that!”
 when they are confronted with Biblical
truth, I truly wonder and worry about their eternal destiny and whether they
will be saved. 

But I don’t worry too much. I can’t believe for them,
and I trust that God will do what is right with all of us. He knows who has
trusted in Jesus and while those things – those spiritual practices – we should
be continually devoted to can be a wonderful way to express our understanding
and love of God – none of them will save us. 

It doesn’t matter if you take the plunge of baptism,
read the Bible, go to church, or pray if you don’t have genuine faith in Jesus.  Our faith is a relationship with God and
while those outward expressions of spirituality could fool our fellow man, and
possibly ourselves, into believing that we are united with God. the Lord knows
who are His and who are just “going through the motions.”

When the truth of God is revealed to us and we say “Yes”
to Jesus, the Lord invades our minds and hearts with the Holy Spirit and He
drives us to seek and live by God’s truth. 
The realization of our wicked condition prior to Christ and the generous
grace and mercy that has been given to us by God breaks our hearts, causes us
to love God, and drives our devotion to follow Him in all our ways.   

That’s what happened to the three thousand who
surrendered to the Lordship of Christ on the day of Pentecost, and that is what
continues to happen today to those who believe and trust in Jesus.  

So this weekend, let’s remember the Lord and how
awesome He is and let’s continue to devote ourselves continuously to prayer, knowing
the Apostle’s teaching in the New Testament, and to regular Christian
fellowship. 

MacArthur’s commentary states that “fellowship”
literally means “partnership” or “sharing” and that:

 “Because
Christians become partners with Jesus Christ and all other believers (1Jn 1:3),
it is their spiritual duty to stimulate one another to righteousness and
obedience (cf. Ro 12:10; 13:8; 15:5; Gal 5:13; Eph 4:2, 25; 5:21; Col 3:9; 1Th
4:9; Heb 3:13; 10:24, 25; 1Pe 4:9, 10).

So let me stimulate you by encouraging you to pursue
righteousness and to walk in obedience to God’s word but to also remember to draw
close to the Lord in love for our life in Christ is demonstrated not by regular
disciplines but by a heartfelt continuous devotion to Him.  

John F. MacArthur Jr., The MacArthur Study Bible:
New American Standard Bible. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006),
Ac 2:42.     

——————————————————————————————–

Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By
John G. Kruis.

(
While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google
search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s
work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )

This
morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Bitterness, Resentment,
& Hate.

Leviticus 19:16-17 (NASB)
¹⁶  ‘You shall not go about as
a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your
neighbor; I am the LORD.
¹⁷  ‘You shall not hate your
fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but
shall not incur sin because of him.

Today’s
verses fall under the seventh point of our counseling reference guide
resource’s section on Bitterness, Resentment, & Hate.

 7. Hatred is forbidden.

Today’s verses are clear
commands from the Lord that instruct us to be the people He created us to be by
telling us what NOT to do. 

We are not to slander. We
are not to act against the lives of our neighbors. We are not to hate people in
our hearts (our interior thoughts and emotions matter).  And while we are to be loving, we are also called
to speak the truth in love as it is indicated here that we “may surely reprove
our neighbor” – but not incur sin because of him.  

That’s a delicate balance
there.  I thought the word “reprove”
meant to “correct someone” but a quick google search revealed that while I wasn’t
necessarily wrong with my definition – the word “reprove” goes a little beyond
just “correction” as the words that define “reprove”, provided by Oxford
Languages, include:

Reprimand, rebuke, scold, chastise,
admonish, and berate.   Some colorful
phrases were also listed for the word reprove that give you a sense of the
severity of what the word means.  “Read
someone the riot act”. “Haul over the coals” “Give someone a talking to (or telling
off)”, “Slap someone’s wrist” and “Let someone have it” are all phrases that are
listed to tell us what reprove means and obviously that goes beyond mere “correction”,
and it is no wonder that the Lord warns us to “not incur sin because of him.”

So even though we should
be clear in telling people what is true and righteous according to God’s word –
we have to remember God’s word and not become a slanderer, work against someone’s
life, or hate them in our hearts when we do so.  

As always, when we
consider anger, bitterness, or hatred, we have to remember that we too have been
wrong in the past and needed to be “Reproved” by God and brought to faith and
repentance.  We have been forgiven and if
we remember that we could very well reprove someone without hating or harming
them by forgiving them for not knowing how wrong they were – because we were
wrong once – and still are quite often on occasion. 

So be careful in “offering
correction” and know that being a “hater” was not who God created you to be.

——————————————————————–

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from  The Holy Spirit By A.W. Pink.

As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online
for $0.99 (https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Spirit-Arthur-Pink-Collection-ebook/dp/B008CM5292/ref=sr_1_3?crid=AHKAQOM39CTN&keywords=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit&qid=1684376225&sprefix=a.w.+pink+the+holy+spirit+%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3) 

A.W. Pink’s The Holy Spirit

31 – The Spirit Endowing

Nine
Gifts

In 1 Corinthians 12:8–10 we are supplied with
a list of those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit which then obtained—we use
the word “extraordinary” in contrast from His ordinary gifts, or those which
obtain in all ages and generations. “For to one is given by the Spirit the word
of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another
faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning
of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation
of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:8–10). It will be noted that just as “the fruit of the Spirit” is divided into
nine graces (Gal. 5:22, 23), so “the ministration
of the Spirit” is here described under nine distinct gifts. A very few words
must now suffice upon them.

“The word of wisdom”
(1 Cor. 12:8) was a special gift bestowed upon the Apostles (hence it heads
this list of gifts) for the defense of the Gospel against powerful adversaries:
see Luke 21:15! “The word of
knowledge” was a special gift bestowed on all then called of God to preach the
Gospel: it supernaturally qualified them to expound Divine mysteries without
protracted study and lengthy experience: see
Acts 4:13! “To another faith,” a special gift which enabled its possessor to
trust God in any emergency, and to boldly face a martyr’s death: see Acts 6:5.
The “gifts of healing” and “the working of miracles” are seen in their exercise
by the Apostles in the Acts. “To another prophecy” or immediate inspiration and
revelation from God. Upon “tongues” and their “interpretation” we shall have
more to say later.^[1]

—————————more
tomorrow————————

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Breaker”, “Freedom in Christ” series of Discipleship Classes via the
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship