DRAWING NEAR
March 20
Building God's Kingdom
"Thy kingdom come" (Matt. 6:10).
Conversion to Christ involves three elements: invitation, repentance
and commitment.
Someday Christ will return to earth to reign in His kingdom. In the
meantime He rules in the hearts of those who love Him.
Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus gave us a mandate to evangelize
the lost and teach them His Word (Matt. 28:19-20). When we do,
sinners are converted and transferred from the kingdom of darkness to
the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13). That's how His kingdom grows.
Conversion is a work of the Spirit in the heart of unbelievers. He
uses a myriad of people and circumstances to accomplish that work,
but common to every true conversion are three key elements:
invitation, repentance, and commitment.
In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus, by way of a parable, invites people to come
into His kingdom. As an evangelist, you too should not only present
the gospel, but also invite others to respond to what they've heard.
In Mark 1:14-15 we read, "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'" Repentance is
feeling sorrow over your sin and turning from it (2 Cor. 7:9-11).
True repentance results in a commitment to respond to the righteous
demands of the gospel. In Mark 12:34 Jesus says to a wise scribe,
"You are not far from the kingdom of God." The scribe had all the
information necessary for entering the kingdom. What he lacked was a
commitment to act on what he knew. Luke 9:62 says, "No one, after
putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom
of God." You might know everything about the kingdom, but Christ's
rule is not established in your heart until you've made a complete
commitment to it.
When you pray for Christ's kingdom to come, you are praying an
evangelistic prayer that you take part in answering. Be faithful to
proclaim the gospel and make intercession for unbelievers a regular
part of your prayers.
Suggestions for Prayer:
Pray for unbelieving family and friends. Ask the Lord for the
opportunity to share Christ with an unbeliever today.
For Further Study:
Read John 4.
How did Jesus broach the subject of salvation with the Samaritan
woman? Did He extend an invitation to her? Explain.
How did the townspeople react to her report about Jesus?
Drawing Near, Copyright 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
Matthew 28:19-20 (NKJV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
Colossians 1:13-14
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us
into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins.
Matthew 22:1-14
1 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:
2 "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a
marriage for his son,
3 "and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the
wedding; and they were not willing to come.
4 "Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are
invited, "See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle
are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding."'
5 "But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own
farm, another to his business.
6 "And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and
killed them.
7 "But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out
his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8 "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those
who were invited were not worthy.
9 'Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite
to the wedding.'
10 "So those servants went out into the highways and gathered
together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall
was filled with guests.
11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there
who did not have on a wedding garment.
12 "So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a
wedding garment?' And he was speechless.
13 "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot,
take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
14 "For many are called, but few are chosen."
2 Corinthians 7:9-11
9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow
led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that
you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to
be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner:
What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what
indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what
vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this
matter.
John 4
1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that
Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the
plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from
His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me
a drink."
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being
a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no
dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and
who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked
Him, and He would have given you living water."
11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and
the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
12 "Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and
drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"
13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water
will thirst again,
14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never
thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not
thirst, nor come here to draw."
16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."
17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to
her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,'
18 "for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is
not your husband; in that you spoke truly."
19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
20 "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in
Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."
21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when
you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the
Father.
22 "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews.
23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is
seeking such to worship Him.
24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit
and truth."
25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is
called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things."
26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He
talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why
are You talking with her?"
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and
said to the men,
29 "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could
this be the Christ?"
30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."
32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not
know."
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought
Him anything to eat?"
34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent
Me, and to finish His work.
35 "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the
harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the
fields, for they are already white for harvest!
36 "And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal
life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
37 "For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.'
38 "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others
have labored, and you have entered into their labors."
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because
of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever
did."
40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay
with them; and He stayed there two days.
41 And many more believed because of His own word.
42 Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what
you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is
indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."
43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to
Galilee.
44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his
own country.
45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having
seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also
had gone to the feast.
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the
water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at
Capernaum.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he
went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he
was at the point of death.
48 Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders,
you will by no means believe."
49 The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"
50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." So the man
believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him,
saying, "Your son lives!"
52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they
said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus
said to him, "Your son lives." And he himself believed, and his whole
household.
54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of
Judea into Galilee.
~~~
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:
http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/
and
http://www.gty.org.uk/
You may email John MacArthur in care of Grace to You at:
letters@gty.org
NOTE for those of you reading via newsgroups: If you wish to reach
me, please contact me via e-mail for quickest results.
In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
STOP! Who do you think Jesus is?
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To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
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