SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/18/2020 8:36 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-5 “The
Permanence of Scripture”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:18
Message of the verse: “18 Indeed, I
assure you that, while Heaven and earth last, the Law will not lose a single
dot or comma until its purpose is complete.”
As
we continue to look at Matthew 5:18 I want to begin this SD by stating that it
is impossible to accept Christ’s authority without accepting Scriptures authority
and vice versa. Some people want to
accept Christ in their own way, or perhaps they want to change Scripture to
their own liking, but this will not at all work, for we must accept Christ’s
authority and also Scripture authority in order to become a born-again
believer, because they stand together.
If a person desires to be a kingdom citizen he must accept what the King
says about the Word of God. If we are to
have kingdom character and also a kingdom testimony it means we are to obey the
King’s manifesto, the Scriptures authority as it is Christ’s authority, and if
we obey the Lord that means we must obey His Word. John 8:47 tells us “He who is of God hears
the words of God’ for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of
God.” In John 6:68 Peter states of Jesus
“You have words of eternal life.”
John
MacArthur writes “If the Old Testament contains any errors we must conclude one
of two things about Jesus Christ. One
possibility is that He was ignorant of those errors, in which case He was not
omniscient and was therefore not God.
The other possibility is that He knew of the errors but denied them, in
which case He would have been a liar and a hypocrite, and therefore not holy
God.”
Now
we want to look at several things that talk more about the Word of God and
although we will not get through all of them today, when we do get through with
them, perhaps tomorrow we will be through with our discussion of Matthew 5:18
at this time.
1.
Now
if not a single letter or stroke or tense of God’s Word is going to pass away,
then we must first receive it according to what James writes in James 1:21b “in
humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” Why should we receive it? Well we should receive it because of the
infinite majesty of the Author and His authoritative statements about it. We should also receive it because of the
price that God paid to get it to us, and also because it is the standard of
truth, joy, blessing, and salvation. One
more: We should receive it because not
to receive it brings judgment. Judgment
is also a part of the authoritative Word of God.
2.
I
will quote this one from MacArthur’s commentary and then leave the rest for our
next SD, Lord willing. “Second, we are
called to honor God’s Word. “How sweet
are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps.
119:103). Charles Spurgeon said, ‘They
called George Fox a Quaker. Why? Because when he spoke he would quake
exceedingly through the force of the truth he so thoroughly apprehended.’ He went on to say, ‘It were better to break
stones on a road than to be a preacher, unless God had given the Holy Spirit to
sustain him. The heart and soul of a man
who speaks for God will know no ease, for he hears in his ears that warning
admonition, ‘If the watchman warned them not, they perished, but their blood
will I require at the watchman’s hands.’
Is the infallible revelation of the infallible Jehovah to be moderated,
to be shaped, to be toned down to the fancies and fashions of the hour? God forbid us if we ever alter His Word. Martin Luther never feared men, but when he
stood up to preach he often fest his knees knock together under a sense of
great responsibility to be true to the Word of God.”
7/18/2020 9:05 AM
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