SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/25/2020
11:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-4 “The
Beatitudes”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:3
Message of the
verses: “3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
John MacArthur states that
blessedness is on a higher level than anything in the world, and as I think
about that I would have to conclude with his statement as being blessed by God
is something that is so special that nothing else can compare to that for a
part of that blessing is being born-again into His family. The flowing verse was the verse that I
studied back on March 18, 2006 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”
(Gen. 6:8).” We could say that the world
grace could also be viewed as favor, and so we could say also that Noah was
blessed by the Lord, and if that were not true then not one of us would be here
on planet earth today. Now as we
continue to look at the Sermon on the Mount as it begins with blessed or
blessing we can understand why this sermon was really spoken to believers, and
as mentioned before it does have an evangelistic message too, but it is for
believers. The Sermon on the Mount is a
completely new way of life, based on a completely new way of thinking, and that
world thinking is important for us to understand, for it does indeed take
thinking for believers to understand this wonderful sermon. MacArthur states that this sermon “is in fact
based on a new way of being. The
standard of righteousness, and therefore the standard of happiness, is the
standard of selflessness—a standard that is completely opposite to man’s fallen
impulses and unregenerate nature.”
We cannot follow Jesus without having
His new life within us, and that surely comes through the power of the Holy
Spirit who is the author of all Scripture including this Sermon on the
Mount.
There are some that think that this
sermon if for the millennial kingdom and fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy of things
like during the kingdom that the lion will lie down with the lamb. Suppose a person goes to the zoo and talks to
a lion for a long time about how the lion should not hurt the lamb and then
finally puts a lamb in with the lion.
Because the lion still acts like a vicious beast it will eat the lamb as
talking has done no good for the sake of the lamb. This is the same with people as like a lion
has its own nature and that is to do harm so people who are not born into the
family of God still have their own nature and having that nature cannot do the
things that Jesus is speaking of in this sermon. As I have said many times before I was born
again I was born wrong, but being born-again I am born right and with the help
of the Holy Spirit my life has changed. It
is called sanctification, as it is a process, and it is a process to understand
this sermon that Jesus gave almost 2000 years ago.
John MacArthur writes “It is important to remember that
the Beatitudes are pronouncements, not probabilities. Jesus does not say that if men have the
qualities of humility, meekness, and so on that they are more likely to be
happy. Nor is happiness simply Jesus’
wish for His disciples. The Beatitudes
are divine judgmental pronouncements, just as surely as are the ‘woes’ of
chapter 23. Makarios is, in fact, the opposite of ouai (woe), and interjection that connotes pain or calamity. The opposite of the blessed life is the cursed
life. The ‘blessed’ life is represented
by the true inner righteousness of those who are humble, ‘in spirit,’ whereas
the cursed life is represented by the outward, hypocritical self-righteousness
of the proud religionists (5:20).
“The Beatitudes are progressive. As will be seen as each one is discussed in
detail, they are not in a random or haphazard order. Each leads to the other in logical
succession. Being poor in spirit
reflects the right attitude we should have to our sinful condition, which then
should lead us to mourn, to be meek and gentle, to hunger and thirst for
righteousness, to be merciful, pure in heart, and have a peacemaking
spirit. A Christian who has all those
qualities will be so far above the level of the world that his life will rebuke
the world—which will bring persecution from the world (5:10-11) and light to
the world )vv. 14-16).”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: That is
surely a lot to take in, and my thoughts are that sanctification is something
like what people say about doing something difficult is like answering the
question “How do you eat an elephant?”
The answer is “One bite at a time.”
Sanctification is a process that the Holy Spirit does in my life through
doing things like reading and studying, and memorizing the Word of God along
with meditation on it. Listen to good
preaching and also in some cases different circumstances that He brings into my
life.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To continue
to be open to learning contentment, humility and to continue to find joy as I
study God’s Word.
3/25/2020 12:12
PM
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