Sunday, August 16, 2020

Intro to Matt. 5:27-30

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/16/2020 9:42 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  “Who is an Adulterer?”

 

My Worship Time                                                                             Reference:  Matthew 5:27-30

 

            Message of the verses:     27 "You have heard that it was said, ’YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; 28  but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 “If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”

 

            We move into some very difficult verses as we begin this section from Matthew 5:27-30, difficult in different ways.  Now because that it is Sunday I will make this a very short SD.  I would like to mention that the church that I am a member of is having services and so I want to put in this SD the website of our church so that if you want to listen to live-stream services or look for different ones that are on the web page you can do it.  Right now the service is live-streamed at 11:00 AM Eastern time.  Here is the website:  https://firstbaptistelyria.org/

 

            If you live in the United States of America for a while you will have heard the term “unmasked” and that is exactly what our Lord was doing as He continues to unmask the self-righteous externalism that typified what the scribes and the Pharisees had.  He does this by showing that the only righteousness that is acceptable to God is purity of heart.  If a person does not have purity of heart then the outward life makes absolutely no difference.  God’s divine evaluation takes place in the heart.  God judges the source and also the origin of sin, not its manifestation or lack of manifestation.  We read from 1 Proverbs 23:7 “As [a person] thinks within himself so he is.”  We can also look at 1 Samuel 16:7  But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”

 

            MacArthur writes in the last paragraph of his introduction the following:  “Jesus’ second illustration of heart righteousness has to do with adultery and sexual sin in general.  In verses 27-30 He focuses on the deed of adultery, the desire behind it, and the deliverance from it.”

 

            I totally look forward in looking at and studying these verses.

 

8/16/2020 9:57 AM

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