SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/17/2020
8:25 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “The
Meaning”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:8
Message of the
verse: ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God.”
Let us begin this SD by
looking at the word “pure” which is found in our verse. MacArthur writes “Pure translates katharos, a form of the word four which
we get catharsis. The basic meaning is
to make pure by cleansing from dirt, filth, and contamination. Catharsis is a term used in psychology and
counseling for a cleansing of the mind or emotions. The Greek word is related to the Latin castus, from which we get chaste. The related word chasten refers to discipline
given in order to cleanse from wrong behavior.”
I remind you that I
worked in a foundry for most of my career at Ford Motor Company, and where I
worked we melted cast iron, some 3000 tons per day. One of my jobs was to make sure that the iron
that I melted was pure and this goes along with the Greek term for our word “pure.” In the sense of metal purity means unmixed,
unalloyed, unadulterated, and if one applies that to the heart, the idea is
that one would have pure motives. They
would also have undivided devotion, spiritual integrity, and also true
righteousness.
A believer does not have
to think too hard to remind himself that being double-minded has always been a
problem that has plagued the church. The
problem is that we want to serve the Lord and we also want to follow the world
at the same time. Jesus tells us that is
impossible in Matthew 6:24 “"No one can serve two masters; for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and
despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” James actually gives the same
truth in another way from James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know
that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever
wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Then
he goes on to write in verse 8b “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and
purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Christians have the right heart
motive concerning God, but as Paul writes we sometimes get ourselves in trouble
as he writes about in Romans 7:15, 21, and 25 “15 For what I am doing, I do not
understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but
I am doing the very thing I hate. 21 I
find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do
good. 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus
Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the
law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Let me say that there are those who think
that Paul was not a believer when he had these problems, and think perhaps he
was looking back at them. However that
is not the truth in fact, I ham mentioned in earlier writings that according to
John MacArthur, and I suppose many others that the verb tense shows that Paul
continued to have this problem all his live.
It was Paul’s deepest spiritual desire that he and also his readers
would be pure, although the sin dwelling in his flesh sometimes overrode those
desires. I really think that I
understand that for the Christian life is surely a battle.
I will conclude this section with a
short quote from MacArthur and then a father lengthy quotation of Romans 7:15-25. “Those who truly belong to God will be
motivated to purity. Psalm 119 is the
classic illustration of that longing and Romans 7:15-25 is the Pauline
counterpart. The deepest desire of the
redeemed is for holiness, even when sin halts the fulfillment of that desire.”
“15
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would
like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the
very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing
that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which
dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my
flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is
not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil
that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer
the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the principle that
evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in
the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging
war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which
is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body
of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on
the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other,
with my flesh the law of sin.”
5/17/2020 8:52 PM
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