SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
3/17/2020 11:28 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: “Why Study The Sermon on the Mount”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
5:1-2
Message of the verses: “1 And when He saw
the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His
disciples came to Him. 2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them,
saying,”
I
finally got around to listening to John MacArthur’s message on these two verses
of Matthew chapter five and I was certainly glade that I did as I learned some
things that had been puzzling to me as I was using his commentary on these two
verses. What was the reason that we have
been looking at the different sections was the biggest challenge to me and
perhaps to those who read these Spiritual Diaries. As I listened to the sermon what I wanted to
know about came towards the end of this sermon and it was kind of the answer
that I was looking for on what do these sections in his commentary have to do
with the actual sermon on the mount. I
decided to take this SD and quote from his sermon which I hope will bring more
light into what we have been learning over these last few days.
“Now,
on the basis of that context and that overview I want you to know it’s
important to study this. You see? Really important. I believe
there are at least five reasons why it’s important. I’m just going to
give them to you real quick. Number one, because the Sermon on the Mount
will show you the absolute necessity of the new birth. The Sermon on the
Mount will show you that you can never please God on your own, in your
flesh. Never. And as I said at the very beginning, the only people
who will know blessedness are the people who know that blessedness insofar as
it is an attribute of God and insofar as they are partakers of the divine
nature, they can know and experience it.
“Listen, the Sermon on the Mount to me goes way
beyond the law of Moses in showing us the need for salvation. You can’t
live one day in a blessed condition apart from the new birth in Jesus
Christ. It is the greatest thing in the New Testament to show man the
desperate situation that he’s in without God.
“The second thing: I think we ought to
study the Sermon on the Mount not only because it shows the absolute necessity
of the new birth, but because it clearly points to Jesus Christ. It is
perhaps the single greatest insight into the mind of our dear Lord Jesus
Christ. You want to know how he thinks? Study his sermon. You
want to know where His heart really beats? Study his sermon. You
want to know what he really feels about living and about the standards for
life? Study the sermon.
“Third thing: We ought to study the
Sermon on the Mount because it’s the only way to happiness for
Christians. If you want to be happy, if you want to be really filled with
the Spirit, you don’t go seeking some mystical experience. You don’t go
chasing some elusive dream. You don’t go popping from meeting to meeting
trying to catch it in the air. If you want to know happiness, and
blessedness, and bliss, and joy, and gladness, then you just study the Sermon
on the Mount and put it to practice.
“I’ll add another thing. I think we ought
to study it because it’s the best means I know of evangelism. You say,
“What do you mean, evangelism?” I’ll tell you this. If we ever live
the Sermon on the Mount, it will knock the world over. It’s the greatest
tool of evangelism there is, to live this kind of a life.
“And then lastly, we should study the Sermon on
the Mount and live it because it pleases God. And you know, that’s a
privilege, that sinful John MacArthur, just plain old me, like Paul was
singing, just ordinary me could please God. What an incredible
thought. Plenty of reason to study the Sermon on the Mount and plenty of
reason to give ourselves to it.”
Now
I want to add to what is quoted here what MacArthur calls this sermon which is “Happiness
Is” and as we go through the things that are taught in this greatest of all
sermons we must understand first of all that this sermon is for believers as no
one can live up to what is taught in this sermon by our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is talking to His disciples and all of
the rest of the people that were gathered on that hillside by the Sea of
Galilee and to be sure there were those who were not believers there. While they were listening to this sermon
perhaps many or at least some of the people were saying that what Jesus was
saying I can never live up to, never be able to follow what He is saying here
for after all He was bringing thing up which were stricter than what was in the
Law of Moses. For instance the law
states you shall not commit adultery and Jesus goes on to say that if you look
at a woman with lust in your heart you have already committed adultery.
The question comes in as to why did MacArthur
name his sermon “Happiness Is?” The
answer is that a person can be happy by doing what the Lord Jesus Christ states
in this sermon which can only be done through the power of the Holy
Spirit. I can remember things in my life
that I thought if I had that I they would make me happy and once the newness of
what I got I found out that in fact they did not make me happy at all. I believe that is God alone who can give
happiness to me and that comes through the Lord Jesus Christ and the
satisfaction that I can have by following Him.
Oh yes I will fall as I have always fell, but He is there to pick me up
and bring me back to Himself. As we go
through this sermon over the next few months remember that what we will learn
from it will truly make us happy.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: True happiness can only come from the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Contentment, humility, and joy from studying
and reading the Word of God.
In
our last SD on this section I left out a verse that went along with what we
were talking about and so I begin with that verse today which has to do with
humility: “And Paul echoed this
truth: ‘For who regards you as superior?
What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast
as if you had not received it?’ 1
Corinthians 4:7.
“To
boast of your gifts is a sin, because God gave them to you and you cannot take
credit for them. But to deny your gifts
is also sin. We must accept our gifts
and affirm our gifts to the glory of God.
We must not think more highly of ourselves than we ought, but neither
should we think less of ourselves!
“So
when Satan comes with pride to attack your will, surrender immediately to the
Holy Spirit and let him work in you to produce humility and submission before
God. Do not attempt to go beyond your
gifts or the faith you have to exercise those gifts. Satan can use spiritual things
to make you proud: your ability to teach
or preach the Word; your prayer life; your success in witnessing and
soul-winning.”
3/17/2020 12:05 PM
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