SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/21/2020 8:20 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The
Character of the Law”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:19
Message of the verse: “19 This means that whoever
now relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men to do the same
will himself be called least in the kingdom of Heaven. But whoever teaches and
practices them will be called great in the kingdom of Heaven” (Philips).
“19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches
others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but
whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of
heaven” (ESV).
As we look at the highlighted
portions of this verse we can see that the “this means” and the “therefore”
refers to what Jesus has just said about the law. Since we are taking a longer time in going
through these verses, taking mostly one verse per week or so it may be good for
me to quote the previous verses to help us remember what He had already said
about the law. “17 "Do not think that I came to
abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For
truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter
or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 "Whoever
then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do
the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and
teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven”
(NAS95).
We
know that the Bible was written by men through the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, so therefore it is the written Word of God, it is what God has written,
so therefore we can determine that the law is utterly pertinent to all of us
who trust in God, and the reason is because it is His Word and is exalted by
the prophets and accomplished by the Messiah Himself. I know that sometimes we kind of take the Word
of God for granted, perhaps because we have on our computers, we have it on our
smart phones, and maybe some have it on a smart watch. Take a moment to think that the Word of God
is the very words that God is using to communicate to us, it is the very words
that God uses to save people, for without the Word of God then no one would
ever be saved from their sin, no one would ever truly know that they are
sinners in need of salvation. No one
would know the history found in the Word of God, or even the science that is
found there.
John
MacArthur writes “Because the Bible is not a collection of men’s religious
ideas but God’s revelation of divine truth, its teachings are not speculations
to be judged but truths to be believed; its commands are not suggestions to be
considered but requirements to be followed.
“Because
Scripture is given by God for man, nothing could be more relevant to man than
this revelation. Scripture is the standard of relevance by which
all other relevance is measured.”
THE CONSEQUENCE OF MEN’S
RESPONSE TO THE LAW
In the preview that I gave yesterday on how this
study will be looked I mentioned this main section that we see from the bold
letters above, and then we will move, Lord willing, into some sub-sections
under this second main section, the first being “The Negative Consequence,”
which we will begin to look at tomorrow, Lord willing.
MacArthur
writes the following short paragraph in his introduction to this main
section: “The consequences of the law
depend on a person’s response to it.
Whoever responds to it positively will receive a positive result, but
whoever responds to it negatively will receive a negative result.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: The law of God shows His character, and
therefore is so very important to study about.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to pay close attention to this very
important section found in the “Sermon on the Mount,” in order to continue to
learn more about what the Spirit of God is going to teach me so that I can pass
it on to those who will read it on my blog.
7/21/2020 8:47 AM
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