PT-2 "Perversion by Addition" (Matt. 5:43)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/30/2020 9:57 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “Perversion by Addition”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Matthew 5:43

 

            Message of the verse:  “43 "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’”

 

            We begin to look at the last part of the perversion by addition which is the last part of verse 43 “and hate your enemy.”  In our last SD we lastly looked at what is called the imprecatory Psalms that were written by David.  However such words did not represent David’s personal vendetta but they represented his concern for God’s holiness and also His justice that it would be executed on those who despised the Lord’s glorious name and to those who were persecuting His people.  You see that before Christ was born the blood line that He would come through had to remain intact so that He would be born at the exact time that God desired for Him to be born.  Now as we go back to look at Psalm 69 again we want to look at verse nine today as it is the basis for David’s imprecations “For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”  We can see from this verse that David is angered about what had been done against God, and in John 2:17 we read these very words that came from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ at the beginning of His ministry.  He will then cleanse the Temple at the end of His ministry too.

 

            Let us now look at the superscription at the beginning of Psalm 3 and then look at verse seven of that verse:  “«A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.”  “Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked.”  We can see that this Psalm was written by David after the demise of his son Absalom as he tried to usurp his father’s kingdom.  David loved his son dearly, and mourned a long time after his death, but he knew Absalom was ungodly and the enemy of God’s people and of His anointed king.

 

            We can see a similar experience from John in the book of Revelation “I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter” (Rev. 10:10).  The book contained what was going to happen as millions of people would die, but John knew that these people, for the most part were against God.

 

            John MacArthur writes “It is one thing to defend the honor and glory of God by seeking the defeat of His detracting enemies, but quite another to hate people personally as our own enemies.  Our attitude toward even the worst pagans or heretics is to love them and pray that they will turn to God and be saved.  But we also pray that, if they do not turn to Him, God will judge them and remove them in order to prepare the way for His Son Jesus Christ as the rightful ruler of this world.”

 

            When we look at the scribes and the Pharisees we can see that they had no such balance.  They had no love for justice, but only for vengeance.  They certainly had no love for their enemies but only for themselves.  We can see words from David in Psalm 139:22-24 that are needed to be looked at now:  “22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”

 

            MacArthur concludes “The scribes and Pharisees, by contrast, knew nothing either of righteousness indignation or righteous love.  Their only indignation was that of personal hatred, and their only love was that of self-esteem.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  We have a lady in our church who stands in front of an abortion clinic every Wednesday, rain, snow, cold or hot she stands there to minister to ladies who about to kill their baby.  At first there was hatred for the women who were about to kill an innocent person, but then she, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit began to have love for them.  There now has been lives changed because of her love for her enemies and I praise the Lord for that.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the person but hate their sin.

 

9/30/2020 10:27 AM

PT-1 "Perversion by Addition" (Matt. 5:43)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/29/2020 11:34 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  PT-1 “Perversion by Addition”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:43

 

            Message of the verse:  “43 "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’”

 

            We move from omitting things to adding things in our SD for today.  We are talking about love in this section and the addition to the scribes and Pharisees is “and hate your enemy” which we do not find in the OT.  This addition is even more perverse than their omission; however it was the logical extension of their all-consuming self-interest.

 

            I find the following paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary very interesting:  “It goes without saying that Gentiles were not considered neighbors.  A saying of the Pharisees has been discovered that reads, ‘If a Jew sees a Gentile fallen into the sea, let him by no means lift him out, for it is written, ‘Thou shalt not rise up against the blood of thy neighbor,’ but this man is not thy neighbor.’  It is little wonder that the Romans charged Jews with hatred of the human race.”

 

            I don’t know if this is a good excuse for the Jews to hate Gentiles, but it comes from what the Lord had told the children of Israel to do to those “Gentiles” living in the Promised Land when God told them to drive them out.  However if one looks at why the Lord had the Jews drive these nations out of the Promised Land we see that they were a very sinful lot and God gave them 400 years to repent while Israel the family became Israel the country while living in Egypt.  So this is not by any means an excuse.  The things that God was doing through the children of Israel to drive out these heathen nations was totally just as Dietrich Bonheoffer writes “The wars of Israel were the only holy wars in history, for they were the wars of God against the world of idols.  It is not this enmity which Jesus condemns for then He would have condemned the whole history of God’s dealing with His people.  On the contrary, He affirms the Old Covenant.” 

 

            MacArthur brings up another reason of why the Jews hated the Gentiles as he cites the imprecatory psalms that David wrote.  “May their table before them become a snare; and when they are in peace, may it become a trap.  May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, and make their lions shake continually.  Pour out Thine indignation on them, and may Thy burning anger overtake them” (Psalm 69:22-24). 

 

            We will, Lord willing give an explanation for this in our next SD.

 

9/29/2020 11:51 AM

Perversion by Omission (Matt. 5:43)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/28/2020 9:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  “Perversion by Omission”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:43

 

            Message of the verse:  “43 "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’”

 

            As we looked at the passage from Lev. 19:18 we see a difference than what the Pharisees had come up with:  “’You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”  The highlighted portion of the verse in Leviticus is what is different than the traditions of the Pharisees as it was simply inconceivable that they should care for any other person as much as they cared for themselves.

 

            In my Bible reading for today I was reading from the 22^nd chapter of Matthew among other chapters and in that chapter one of the Pharisees asked Jesus what is the greatest commandment in the Law and His answer was that we are to love the Lord and then added that we are to love our neighbors, so we realize that the Pharisees knew the correct way, but chose not to follow it.

 

            I suppose that this same kind of problem exists in churches today as they teach things that they think are correct, but when it comes down to Scriptures they are not correct.  The problem with the scribes and the Pharisees is that they loved themselves more than they loved to keep the Word of God in their lives.  They thought that they were a step above all the people and let them know that.  The same is true in our country with the majority of the politicians in our country who are voted in by the people only to think that they are better than the people who voted them in.

 

            As believers we are to love the Lord first and foremost and then love our neighbors and the parable of the Good Samaritan found in the book of Luke shows who are neighbors are. 

 

            John MacArthur writes “But the standard God had given the Jews was supernatural rather than natural, and they must have chafed under it, because they knew they could not live up to it in their own power.  Besides that, they did not want to live up to it, and therefore simply excised ‘as yourself’ from God’s standard of love.  Our example will always be our Lord Jesus Christ as He left heaven to become a man and He did it because of His great love for us, and then took our sin upon Him on the cross so that we could then have His righteousness that the Father now sees all believers.

 

            MacArthur goes on to explain “Along with that significant omission, tradition had narrowed the meaning of neighbor to include only those people they preferred and approved of—which amounted basically to their own kind.  Such obviously profane people as tax-collectors and ordinary sinners were despised as outcasts and as not being worthy even to be considered Jews.

 

            We know that the tax-collectors were Jews and they prayed upon their own people becoming rich because they collected too much taxes so that they could become rich and that is why the Jews hated them, but Jesus, as seen in Matthew and Zacchaeus who both became believers. 

 

            MacArthur concludes “But even that restriction of ‘neighbor’ was not narrow enough.  The scribes and Pharisees also despised and looked down on the common people.  They dismissed those who believed in Jesus by saying, ‘No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?  But this multitude which does not know the Law is accursed’ (John 7:48-49).  Ironically, the proud and arrogant religious leaders who knew, but perverted, the law disdained as ‘accused’ the common people who they felt did not know it.”  This paragraph kind of reminds me of being a deplorable. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Learn to love others as Christ loves me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord that the little trip we had planned for today will work out.

 

9/28/2020 9:29 AM    

Intro to "The Perversion of Rabbinic Tradition" (Matt. 5:43)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/27/2020 8:29 PM

 

My Worship Time                                    Focus:  Intro to “The Perversion of Rabbinic Tradition”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:43

 

            Message of the verse:  “43 "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

 

            We will just be looking at the introduction to this topic this evening and then we will take several days to look at two sub-points this topic.  The first one is entitled “Perversion by Omission” and the second is entitled “Perversion by Addition.”

 

            Introduction:  We will quote from John MacArthur to help us understand this introduction.  “As in each of the first five preceding illustrations, Jesus repeats the essence of the contemporary traditional teaching, in this case the teaching about love.  Love, said the ancients, was to be reserved for those you get along with.  Enemies were to be hated.”

 

            All I got to say about that teaching is that I am totally happy that God does not do that to me, for I certainly was an enemy of God the very second that I was born, and even though that was true God loved me and still loves me to which I am very thankful.

 

            We have to believe that the Pharisees message had to come from Satan and his perversion of God’s revelation almost always touch on the truth at some point as he always has a little truth and that makes deception more believable and acceptable.  History tells us that the rabbis and scribes had kept a part of God’s truth about love.  We have already spoke of “You shall love your neighbor,” and this is clear teaching that comes from the Old Testament.  Leviticus 19:18 tells us “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.”

 

            MacArthur concludes “In spite of such clear revelation, rabbinic tradition had perverted Old Testament teaching both by what was omitted and by what was added.”

 

9/27/2020 8:42 PM   

PT-2 "Teaching of the Old Testament" (Matt. 5:43b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/26/2020 9:20 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  PT-2 “Teaching of the Old Testament”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:43b

 

            Message of the verse:  “You shall love your neighbor.”

 

            As we closed the SD from yesterday I stated that we will look at what David has said and we will begin with Psalm 7:4-5 “4 If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, 5 Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.”  We can see from this Psalm that David knew that it was wrong to do something bad to someone who wronged either friend or enemy.  (Again we are not talking about times of war.)  Let us move onto Psalm 35:12-15 “12 They repay me evil for good, To the bereavement of my soul. 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, And my prayer kept returning to my bosom. 14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother. 15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together; The smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me, They slandered me without ceasing.”  MacArthur adds “David grieved over and prayed for his enemies when they were sick and in need, despite that fact that they repaid him ‘evil for good’ and rejoiced when he himself was in trouble.”

 

            We have look a lot at David in some of the SD’s that I have written and we know that those were not mere words for David, because we know he lived out that spirit of love.  Remember when Saul was seeking to kill him, David had and easy opportunity to take Saul’s life.  This happened when Saul went into a cave to relieve himself, but David would not kill Saul, David knew that even though he was his enemy that he was still the king at that time and David had no right to kill him.  There were other times that were similar after David became king that he would not take the life of some of Saul’s family as seen in 2 Sam. 16:5-10.

 

            In the book of Proverbs we read, “He who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished,” the writer of Proverbs is saying that even though an enemy dies we are not to rejoice over it.  I have to say that I had a friend of mine whose wife had died last Saturday the day after one of the Supreme Justices died and my thought was that my friends wife was rejoicing with the Lord in heaven while the other person was not one who was pro-life now.  Proverbs 24:29 “Do not say, ‘Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me, but “If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink” (2 5:21).  Paul would use these verses in the book of Romans later on.  MacArthur concludes “Throughout the Old Testament, God’s standard for His people was to treat even their enemies like their friends and families.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Sometimes it is hard to be willing to remember that the Lord is the One who gives out justice.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Remember when this world is about to be burned up that God’s justice will prevail.  9/26/2020 11:30 AM 

PT-1 "Teaching of the Old Testament" (Matt. 5:43b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/25/2020 9:22 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  PT-1 “Teaching of the Old Testament”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:43b

 

            Message of the verse: “You shall love your neighbor.”

 

            This statement was first seen in Leviticus 19:18 “’You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”  This command was then seen also in the NT:  (Matt. 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8).  “Love for others, shown in sympathetic concern and actual care for them, had always been God’s standard for human relations” writes John MacArthur.  I have to say that at times this is hard to understand and harder to do and I suppose the reason has to do with the old nature, and also perhaps the way people were brought up while living at home.

 

            We are told in Deuteronomy that the children of Israel were to take care of a lost animal until the owner came to recover it.  Likewise, a countryman was to be helped with an animal when it fell down as seen in Deut. 22:1-4.  Now we want to look at Exodus 23:4-5 for info on what is to be done with an enemy:  “4 “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. 5 "If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.”

 

            John MacArthur writes “As in all the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is speaking here about personal standards of righteousness, not civil law.  The ‘enemy’ spoken of in Exodus 23 is not the enemy soldier met on the battlefield, but an individual—whether fellow countryman or foreigner—who in some way or another is antagonistic.  God has never had a double standard of righteousness.  His ‘commandment is exceedingly broad’ (Ps. 119:96), and in the fullest sense an Israelite’s ‘neighbor’ was anyone in need whom he might come across in his daily living.”  The answer to the question of who is my neighbor is seen in Luke 10:30-37, a familiar passage to most who even read the Scriptures in a casual way.

 

            Job tells us the following in Job 31:29-30 “29 “Have I rejoiced at the extinction of my enemy, Or exulted when evil befell him? 30 “No, I have not allowed my mouth to sin By asking for his life in a curse.”  Job did nothing when he heard of an enemy of his dying, nothing at all.  He was neutral and did nothing.  Job did more than simply refrain from doing others harm; Job gave them help as seen in verses 31-32 “31 "Have the men of my tent not said, ’Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat’? 32 “The alien has not lodged outside, For I have opened my doors to the traveler.”

 

            It is good to remember the time when most experts believe that Job lived in and that was during the time o the patriarchal period.  Job certainly had not seen any of the Law of God that was given by Moses and yet Job lived a life that one could say came under the laws of God and as we read Job 1:1 we see that “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.”  Lord willing we will look at some of the things from the life of David as we begin our next SD.

 

9/25/2020 9:47 AM

 

 

Intro to Matthew 5:43-48 "Love Your Enemies"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/24/2020 8:55 AM

 

My Worship Time                                         Focus:  Intro to Matt. 5:43-48 “Love your Enemies”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Matthew 5:43-48

 

            Message of the verses:  “43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

 

            We have been looking at five illustrations that contrast the false righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees with the true righteousness of God, and as we begin looking at Matthew 5:43-48 we will be looking at the sixth as Jesus contrast their [scribes and Pharisees] kind of love with God’s.  There is no where found a greater difference from the scribes and Pharisees self-system of religion than from God’s divine standards when it comes to love.  MacArthur writes “Nowhere had God’s standard been so corrupted as in the way the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees viewed themselves in relation to others.  Nowhere was it more evident that they lacked the humility, mourning over their own sin, meekness, yearning for true righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, and peacemaking spirit that are to belong to God’s kingdom citizens.

 

            “As with the previous illustrations, we will look at the teaching of the Old Testament, the perversion of rabbinic tradition, and the perspective of Jesus Christ.”

 

            I want to say that this chapter that is found in MacArthur’s commentary is a long chapter and so it will take us a fairly long time to go over the important things that are found in these six verses, and as already mentioned this will be the last time we will be looking at chapter five, a chapter we began back in mid-March.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As mentioned we have been looking at five sections in which Jesus is comparing the scribes and Pharisees system of religion with what God desires of His people who are living in His kingdom.  Sometimes it is easy to go along with the scribes and Pharisees, but I must not do that.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Follow the way of the Lord for living in His wonderful kingdom.

 

9/24/2020 9:09 AM

Property (Matt. 5:42)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/23/2020 10:34 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                                Focus: “Property”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Matthew 5:42

 

            Message of the verse:  “42 “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

 

            Today we are looking at the fourth right we are to surrender and that is of our property.  Possessiveness and I know that this will hurt, is another characteristic of fallen human nature.  One of the things that we certainly dislike is giving up, even temporarily, the things that belong to us.  I once heard of a man who came to visit our country and he was with the former Larry Burkett and every time that someone gave this poor man something he would give it away, including suits that were given to him.  I think he understood this section from Matthew 5:42.  As believers we are stewards of the things that God has entrusted us with, and therefore if it is time to give them up then we are to do it.  It is easier to give up things from our wealth, but not from things that we believe we need.  In the end, whether at the Rapture or in Christian death we will give up everything, however we can send things ahead.  “By right it is ours to use or dispose of as we see fit.

 

            “But that right, too, should be placed on the altar of obedience to Christ if required.  When someone asks to ‘borrow’ something from us, we should ‘not turn away from him.’  In other words, we should give him what he wants.  The implication is that the person who asks has a genuine need.  We are not required to respond to every foolish, selfish request made of us.  Sometimes to give a person what he wants but does not need is a disservice, doing him more harm than good.”

 

            Another part of this principle is that we should give to the person as soon as we know that there is a need even if they do not ask.  My wife and I support from time to time a wonderful man from Bangladesh who has several ministries.  He has had to give us some of those ministries because of the Covid 19 problem and there were many of his friend who had not job and therefore had no money to buy food.  We were not asked but gave to him money so that he could help feed those who lost their jobs.  We truly were led by the Spirit of God to do this and were grateful to help out as it is more blessed to give than receive.

 

            MacArthur writes “Jesus does not undercut civil justice, which belongs in the courtroom.  He undercuts personal selfishness (characteristic of the false religionists listening to Him on the mountain), which belongs nowhere and especially not in the hearts of His kingdom people.”

 

            So how does this all work that we are able to give things to people who are in need?  The answer is to die to self.  “To fight for one’s rights is to prove that self is still on the throne of the heart.  The believer who is faithful to Christ lives for Him and, if necessary, dies for Him (Rom. 14:8).  It is impossible to live for self and for Christ at the same time.”

 

            We now have a quote from a very famous person who lived a while back in England, George Mueller wrote:  “There was a day when I died, utterly died to George Mueller and his opinions, his preferences, and his tastes and his will.  I died to the world, to its approval and its censure.  I died to the approval of the blame of even my brethren and friends.  And since then I have studied only to show myself approved to God.”

 

            MacArthur concludes this section and this chapter with the following:  “That is the spirit Jesus teaches in this passage, a spirit all men fail to possess apart from saving grace.  It is the spirit Abraham manifested when he gave the best land to his nephew Lot.  It is the spirit of Joseph when he embraced and kissed the brothers who had so terribly wronged him.  It is the spirit that would not let David take advantage of the opportunity to take the life of Saul, who was then seeking to take David’s life.  It is the spirit that led Elisha to feed the enemy Assyrian army.  It is the spirit that led Stephen to pray for those who were stoning him to death.  It is the spirit of every believer who, by the Holy Spirit’s power, seeks to be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect (v. 48).

 

            Lord willing tomorrow we begin the study of our last section in this wonderful 5^th chapter of Matthew.  It has been a very long study, as I do not believe that I have ever taken so long in a chapter as this one, but well worth it.  I look forward to finishing this chapter in the next few days and move onto chapter six.

 

9/23/2020 11:03 AM

 

           

"Liberty" (Matt. 5:41)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/22/2020 10:00 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                                Focus:  “Liberty”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Matthew 5:41

 

            Message of the verse:  “And whoever shall force you to go one mile, go with him two.”

 

            I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that the Sermon on the Mount speaks of what the Kingdom life will be like, and also mentioned that we as believers are living in what is sometimes called the invisible kingdom with our King ruling from His seat in Heaven beside His Father.  In the past few SD’s we have been looking at things that believers will be willing to give up as a part of the kingdom life things like indignity, security, liberty, (one we will look at today), and then the last one which Lord willing, we will look at tomorrow which is property from Matthew 5:42.  So our focus for today is giving up liberty, the third right the Lord indicates kingdom citizens are to be willing to sacrifice as part of the kingdom.  I believe that the Bible teaches that God’s original intention was for everyone made in His image to live in freedom, and as we can see that sin certainly has prevented that to happen.  We see human bondage and slavery are consequences of the Fall and have no part in God’s original plan for His creation.  As we look throughout history we can see that the best human governments have always tried to protect the freedom of their citizens, and sometimes even of foreigners.  In light of God’s will and also proper human justice, men have the right to certain freedoms.  However like other rights, freedom is not to be cherished and protected at the expense of righteousness or even of faithful witness.

 

            If we look back at the Roman law it gave a soldier the right to force a civilian to carry his pack for a (million), a Roman mile, which was slightly shorter than our modern mile.  That law, designed to relieve the soldier, not only caused great inconvenience to citizens but was made even more despicable by the fact that the opposed were made to carry the equipment and weapons of their oppressors.  This probably was the most hated thing that the Roman soldiers did outside of being in combat.

 

            MacArthur concludes this section:  “Yet even so despised a burden should be carried willingly, Jesus says—not only willingly but with magnanimity.  When we are forced to go ‘one mile,’ we should willingly go ‘two.’  When we are robbed of some of our cherished liberty, we should surrender even more of it rather than retaliate.  In so doing we are obedient to our Lord and testify to His righteousness, knowing that in Him we have a dearer freedom that the world cannot take from us.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to admit that the things that we have been studying lately are very difficult for me to comprehend, and I suppose the reason for this is because of living in a free country all of my life and have become spoiled.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to live my life in this country the way that the Lord desires me to live as I am a part of the indivisible kingdom of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

9/22/2020 10:21 AM

Security Matt. 5:40)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/21/2020 11:14 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                                   Focus:  Security

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:40

 

            Message of the verse:  “40 “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.”

 

            Some versions of the Bible use the word “shirt” instead of “tunic” which is found in the NASB95, and the shirt is a type of tunic worn as an undergarment and the coat was an outer garment that also served as a blanket at night.  I am not sure that many people today in our country would use a coat as a blanket, but perhaps in the olden day of our country.  In the Mosaic law it was required for the tunic to be returned at the end of the day “before the sun set” as seen in Exodus 22:26-27.

 

            MacArthur writes “Jesus is not speaking of a robbery, in which a person tries to steal your clothes, but of the legitimate claim of ‘anyone who wants to sue you.’  When a person had no money or other possessions, the court often would require the fine or judgment be paid by clothing.  The attitude of a kingdom citizen, one who is truly righteous, should be willingness to surrender even one’s coat, his extremely valuable outer garment, rather than cause offense or hard feelings with an adversary.  The court could not demand the coat, but it could be voluntarily given to meet the required debt.  And that is precisely what Jesus says we should be willing to do.”

 

            It is MacArthur’s feelings that if a person today has a legal judgment against them that they should even do more that what the judgment has against them as this would show the love of Christ and that we are “sons of our Father who is in heaven” as seen in verse 45.  Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians 6:1-8, something unfortunately I have become all too familiar with in recent years.  “1 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? 4 So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? 5 I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, 6 but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud. You do this even to your brethren.”  What Paul is saying among other things is that it is better to be defrauded than to be resentful and spiteful.  In summing up this section MacArthur adds “Paul alter instructs Christians regarding lawsuits in 1 Cor. 6:1-8, emphasizing a similar principle of willingness to forfeit one’s due rather than be vengeful.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Doing what Jesus and what Paul says can only be done by the work of the Holy Spirit living in me.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to give me peace in a very un-peaceful world that I am living in.

 

9/21/2020 11:33 AM

           

PT-2 (Dignity) (Matt. 5:39b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/20/2020 9:12 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “Dignity”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matthew 5:39b

 

            Message of the verse:  “but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

 

            I have mentioned this truth in another SD, one I don’t remember which one, but we can see from the Scriptures that Jesus strongly resisted evil that was directed against others, especially His Father.  We can see this as we look at the two times that Jesus cleansed the Temple, once at the beginning of His ministry and one at the end.  However we can also see that Jesus did not resist personal vengeance and evil that was directed at Him.  This can be seen as Jesus was about to be crucified and all of this was foretold in the 52-53 chapters of Isaiah, and the crucifixion can be seen very clearly in the 22^nd Psalm.  In Luke 23:34 we read “But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.”  Peter writes the following “20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. 21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2:20-23).

 

            We conclude this very short SD with a quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary as he concludes this section:  “When someone attacks our right to dignity, we too are not to defend that right by retaliation.  We are to leave the protection and defense of our dignity in God’s hands, knowing that one day we will life and reign with Him in His kingdom in great glory.”

 

9/20/2020 9:24 AM

Dignity (Matt. 5:39b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/19/2020 10:32 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                       Focus:  PT-1 “Dignity”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Matt. 5:39b

 

            Message of the verse:  “but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

 

            Exactly what is Jesus talking about here in this partial verse?  Let me begin by saying as human beings that we have the right to be treated with basic dignity, respect, and consideration, and the reason for this is that we are all created in the image of God and so God demands that we treat one another with respect.  However He knows that we will not always be treated this way as often for the very reason that we belong to God and so go by the name of His Son that we will be mistreated.  This is very evident in our country today as the very reason that our country was founded in order to be able to practice our faith freely, that right is slowly being taken away from us.  So the answer to the question posed is that it is the way we react to mistreatment and insult that Jesus is talking about here.

 

            I can say that probably no one likes to be slapped in the fact, but among the Jews, a slap or other striking in the face was among the most demeaning and contemptuous of acts. A person may be injured worse but striking them in other parts of their body, but a slap in the face was an attack on one’s honor and was considered to be a terrible indignity.  That was to be treated with disdain, as being less than a human being when slapped in the face.  This goes along with a slave as they would rather have been struck across the back with a whip than to be slapped in the face by his master’s hand.

 

            Now because of the lateness of the hour I will close this SD with a quotation from MacArthur’s commentary:  “To strike someone on the right cheek would then be a vicious angry reaction, indicating an act of insult.  Yet when we are insulted, maligned, and treated with contempt—literally or figuratively struck on the cheek by someone—we are to turn to him the other also.  But Jesus’ point pertains more to what we are not to do than what we are to do.  Turning the other cheek symbolizes that nonavenging, nonretalitory, humble, and gentle spirit that is to characterize kingdom citizens. (cf. vv 3, 5). 

 

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

 

9/19/2020 10:51 PM

PT-2 "The Perspective of Divine Truth" (Matt. 5:39-42)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/18/2020 9:33 AM

 

My Worship Time                                               Focus:  PT-2 “The Perspective of Divine Truth”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 5:39-42

 

            Message of the verses:  “39 “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

 

            I write the following quote from John MacArthur that surely has much to do with the days that we are living in here in the USA:  “As long as the natural human heart exists, evil will have to be restrained by law.  Our crime-wrecked society would do well to reexamine—and reapply—biblical law.  When God is forsaken, His righteous standards are forsaken, and His law is forsaken.  Antinomianism, the doing away with law, is as much an enemy of the gospel as legalism and works righteousness.  The Old and New Testaments are never at odds in regard to law and grace, justice and mercy.  The Old Testament teaches nothing of a righteous and just God apart from a merciful and loving God, and the New Testament teaches nothing of a merciful and loving God apart from a righteous and just God.  The revelation of God is unchanging in regard to moral law.”

 

            During the church age in which we live there have been times when the church stopped preaching God’s righteousness, justice, and eternal punishment of the lost, and it stopped preaching the fulness of the gospel, and then both society and the church suffered greatly for these mistakes.  During these times the church began to stop holding its own members accountable to God’s standards and stopped disciplining its own ranks, a great deal of its moral influence on society was sacrificed.   MacArthur adds “One of the legacies of theological liberalism is civil as well as religious lawlessness.

 

            “Not to restrain evil is neither just nor kind.  If fails to protect the innocent and has the effect of encouraging the wicked in their evil.  Proper restraint of evil, however, not only is just but is beneficent as well.

 

“Arthur Pink says,

 

‘Magistrates and judges were never ordained by God for the purpose of reforming reprobates or pampering degenerates, but to be His instruments for preserving law and order by being a t error to evil.  As Romans chapter 13 says, they are to be ‘a revenger to execute wrath on him that doeth evil.’…Conscience has become comatose.  The requirements of justice are stifled; maudlin concepts now prevail.  As eternal punishment was repudiated—either tacitly or in many cases openly—ecclesiastical punishment are shelved.  Churches refuse to enforce sanctions and wink at flagrant offenses.  The inevitable outcome has been the breakdown of discipline in the home and the creation of ‘public opinion,’ which is mawkish and spineless.  School teachers are intimidated by foolish parents and children so that the rising generation are more and more allowed to have their own way without fear of consequences.  And if some judge has the courage of his convictions, and sentences a brute for maiming an old woman, there is an outcry against the judge.’ (An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1974], p. 112-113).’

 

            “To lower God’s standard of justice is to lower God’s standard of righteousness—which Jesus came to fulfill and clarify, not to obviate or diminish.”

 

            In verse 39 we see the word resist, and the Greek word is Anthistemi, and this means to set against or oppose, and in this context obviously it refers to harm done to us personally by someone “who is evil.”  MacArthur concludes “Jesus is speaking of personal resentment, spite, and vengeance.  It is the same truth taught by Paul when he said, ‘Never pay back evil for evil to anyone…Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord’ (Rom. 12:17, 19).  Vengeful retaliation has no place in society at large, and even less place among those who belong to Christ.  We are called to overcome someone’s evil toward us by doing good to them (Rom. 12:21).

 

            “After establishing the basic principle in Matthew 5:39a, in verses 39b-42 Jesus picks out four basic human rights that He uses to illustrate the principle of nonretaliation:  dignity, security, liberty, and property.”  Lord willing we will begin with “Dignity” in our next SD.

 

9/18/2020 10:09 AM