SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/21/2020 9:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The Presupposition: Corruption and Darkness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
5:13-16
Message of the verses: “13 "You are
the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made
salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out
and trampled under foot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set
on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives
light to all who are in the house. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such
a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in
heaven.”
The
first thing that I want to do is to wish all of you dads out there a very happy
father’s day hopping that your day will be wonderful.
MacArthur
tells a story about a man named Bertrand Russell who spent his whole life
studying philosophy, but in the end he realized that meant little or even
nothing as this study did not help to deal with man’s problems which of course
is being born a sinner.
There
are some scientist who believe that the stimulation of the brain either by
surgery of some kind of electric pulse to the brain can help mankind, but in
the end even if it did help some, which is really doubtful man is still dead in
his trespasses and sins. I have
mentioned this before what I have written in the front of one of my Bibles
about what total depravity is all about.
“Man is not as bad as he can be but he is as bad off as he can be. Psalm 51:5 states “Behold, I was brought
forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” This Psalm is of course one of the Psalms that
David wrote after he had sinned with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah. MacArthur adds “There is no good part in man
from which a better can be constructed or from which his corrupt part can be
isolated. Isaiah said, ‘The whole head
is sick, and the whole heart is faint’ (Isa. 1:5). Jeremiah babbled the heart as ‘more deceitful
than all else’ and as desperately sick’ (Jer. 17:9).
Mankind
is in a downward spiral as Paul writes about in Romans 1:18-32, verses that we
have looked at in different SD’s in the past but worth looking at again: “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident
within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the
world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been
clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks,
but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was
darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the
glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and
of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave
them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would
be dishonored among them. 25 For
they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to
degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that
which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural
function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with
men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty
of their error. 28 And just as they did
not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those
things which are not proper, 29 being
filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant,
boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy,
unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that
those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to
those who practice them.”
MacArthur
concludes this section by writing “Just as every person is affected by the sin
problem, every person also contributes to the sin problem.”
6/21/2020 9:33 AM
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