SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/7/2020 9:35 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to “Who
Is a Murderer?”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
5:21-26
Message of the verse: “21 “You
have heard that it was said to our ancestors, Do not murder, and
whoever murders will be subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his
brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Fool!’
will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You moron!’ will be
subject to hellfire. 23 So if
you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your
brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with
your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while
you’re on the way with him, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge,
the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 I assure you: You will never get out of there
until you have paid the last penny!”
After we read about the fall of man
in Genesis chapter three we read about the first murder that happened which was
man’s first crime: “Cain told Abel his brother. And it came
about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother
and killed him.” This that day when Cain
killed his brother Able murder has been a constant part of human society.
Murders
have certainly increased as time goes on as we can see from our news each day,
especially in the times that we are living in.
If you count the number of abortions in our nation and around the world
then the murder rate even sores more.
John
MacArthur writes “The first of six illustrations of heart-righteousness that Jesus
gives in 5:21-48 deals with the sin of murder:
‘You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit
murder.’ As discussed in the previous
chapter, ‘the ancients’ refers to the rabbis and scribes of old who had devised
the many traditions with which Judaism had become encumbered and which had
virtually replaced the authority of the Scriptures. In the first two illustrations the ancient
teaching to which Jesus refers are traditional interpretations of scriptural commands.”
Let
us look at Genesis 4:9 and 13 to show us that Cain knew that murder was
wrong: “9 Then the LORD said to Cain,
"Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I
my brother’s keeper?" “13 Cain said
to the LORD, "My punishment is too great to bear!” I suppose that some have wondered why Cain
was not put to death by the Lord at this time, I know that I have thought about
that. Let us move onto Genesis 9:6 which
in time is a long ways away from Cain killing Able, perhaps more than 2000
years. “"Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. We see here that the penalty of murder was to
put to death the one who committed the crime.
“To take the life of a fellow human being is to assault the sacredness
of the image of God” writes John MacArthur.
I am sure that not many people who commit murder think about this truth,
but someday they will.
What
was Jesus using to talk about the crime of murder? It is in what is called the Decalogue and
every Jew knew that. "You shall not murder” (Exodus
20:13). Now this does not mean that all
killing is murder which is what some have stated this means. Killing in what the Bible describes as a “righteous
war” is not considered murder. Defending
yourself from someone who is trying to kill you and you kill them is not
murder. Defending your family is not
murder. MacArthur writes “The
commandment is against the intentional killing of another human being for
purely personal reasons, whatever those reasons might be.”
Jesus
says that not only is Satan the father of lies and those who reject and rebel
against God, but he is also the original murder “"You are of your
father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is
no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature,
for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Mankind is responsible for every sin
committed but those who do not confess their sins and turn to Jesus for
forgiveness and salvation will have to pay for their own sins including murder
as we cannot blame Satan for all the sins that are committed. Let us look at Matthew 15:19 “"For out
of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, slanders.” I have read
the following from Warren Wiersbe many times from his books “The heart of every
problem is the problem of the heart.”
Both
the Old and New Testaments are filled with names of murderers including David
in the Old Testament and I suppose that we could include Saul of Tarsus from
the New Testament.
We
can be sure that all those listening to Jesus were aware of the prevalence and
seriousness of the sin of murder and I would suppose that capital punishment
for murder was not a real problem with any of His listeners.
MacArthur
concludes his introduction: “But no
Jesus attacks such self-confidence by changing that no one is truly innocent of
murder, because the first step in murder is anger. The anger that lies behind murder—anger which
many people think is not really a sin—is one of the worst sins. To one degree or another, it makes all men
would-be murders.
“The
Lord’s teaching about murder; whether the act is committed outwardly or not, affect our view of ourselves,
our worship of God, and our relation to others.” Those highlighted portions are the main
sections that we will go over as we look at these verses, Lord willing.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: There is righteous anger, something that God
has, and then there is sinful anger something we all have to deal with.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Allow God to be God when it comes to what is
going on in our country so I don’t become unrighteously angry about it.
8/7/2020
10:25 AM
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