SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/5/2020 9:07 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Attitude Behind the Act”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
5:21-48
Message of the
verses: I mentioned in our last SD
that I will not be putting all of these verses onto the Spiritual Diaries that
will remain in this section, but if you have not looked at the Spiritual Diary
for 08-04-2020 then go back and read these verses that we will be looking at
for a fairly long time in the future.
The chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary is just a preview of what we
will be looking at as we finish looking at the 5th chapter of
Matthew. There are some verses that I
will use here as they are perhaps the most important, (if you can say that) in
this long section.
Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said
to our ancestors, Do not murder, and
whoever murders will be subject to judgment.”
Matthew 5:27 “You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery.
Matthew 5:31 “It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give
her a written notice of divorce.
Matthew 5:33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to our
ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must
keep your oaths to the Lord.”
Matthew 5:38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth.”
Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor
and hate your enemy.”
Now as we move through
these verses in the future, Lord willing, we will look in dept at each section
as MacArthur has a chapter for each one of them so that means including this
introduction to Matthew 5:21-48 we will be looking at six chapters that are
covered in his commentary. I want you to
notice the words “you have heard” in each of these verses as Jesus is talking
here about what the scribes and the Pharisees were saying as opposed to what
the Law of God actually said in the OT.
We have been looking at
this fifth chapter of Matthew for a long time and there is a theme in this
chapter that we have been looking at and that theme is found in the “focus”
section of this SD, which is the attitude behind the act. Jesus has been talking about what is going on
in the inside of a person as opposed to the actually acts that they do. If we look at the Pharisees they thought that
only their actions would be the righteousness that they needed to get into the
kingdom of heaven, but Jesus is saying that the inside of a person is truly
what matters, and then if the inside is right with God, then the outside
actions will be right with God and that is how His people are to live in his
kingdom. Now remember that believers
today are a part of the kingdom of God, the invisible kingdom of God that is
seen in the church age.
I will now quote from
John MacArthur: “In the six
illustrations found in verses 21-48, Jesus first refers to two of the Ten
Commandments, then to two more general principles in the law of Moses, and
finally to the two broad principles of mercy and love. Murder and adultery deal with the
foundational issues of individual and social preservation. Protection of life is the foundation of individual
welfare, and protection of marriage is the foundation of social welfare. Divorce and truth-telling involve a wider
area of social relationships, and mercy and love a wider areal still. The illustrations progress from the
protection of each human life to the love of all human life, including
enemies. Together, those illustrations
affirm that every area of our lives should be characterized and measured by God’s
perfect standard of inner righteousness.
“Patrick Fairbairn
wrote,
‘In the revelation of law there was a substratum
of grace recognized in the words that prefaced the Ten Commandments, and
promises of grace and blessing also intermingled with the stern prohibitions
and injunctions of which they consist.
And so, inversely, in the Sermon on the Mount, while it gives grace the
priority and prominence [such as in the Beatitudes], is far from excluding the
severer aspect of God’s character and government. Now sooner, indeed, had grace poured itself forth
in succession of beatitudes, than there appear the stern demands of righteous
and law.’”
I have one more quote
that MacArthur gives from Fairbairn which has to do with something I mentioned
above, when I was talking about the things that the Pharisees have changed from
the law into their traditions. He writes
“The scribes and Pharisees of that age had completely inverted the order of
things. Their carnality and
self-righteousness had led them to exalt the precepts respecting ceremonial
observances to the highest place and to throw the duties inculcated in the Ten
Commandments comparatively into the background.” This quote from MacArthur actually comes from
a quotation from Pink’s book “An Exposition on the Sermon on the Mount.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I truly have a need to keep my heart clean
from sinful thoughts so that my actions will not be sinful.
My Steps
of Faith for Today: Allow the Lord to continue
to bring about revival in my heart.
8/5/2020 9:48 AM
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