SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/13/2021 10:10 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “Intro to Matt. 7:1-6
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 7:1-6
Message of the verses: “1 "Do not
judge so that you will not be judged. 2 “For in the way you judge, you will be
judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do
you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log
that is in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ’Let me take
the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 “You
hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly
to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6 “Do not give what is holy to
dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under
their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
We
ended up talking about what is called “The Reformation” in our last SD as we
quoted a paragraph from John MacArthur’s commentary as he wrote about it. This week I am preparing two lessons, one for
a Bible Study that I was asked by a good friend of mine to teach, and one for a
Sunday school class that I have the privilege to teach each Sunday
evening. I have been going through the
book of Psalms but this week I will be talking about revival, as I believe that
believers are in need of a great revival like the two that happened in our
country’s earlier history. As I look at
this next paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary it reminds me of the truth that
the church in our country and around the world is need of a Holy Spirit
Revival. While studying for this upcoming
class I was searching the Bible for the words “revival” and “revive” and found
out that revival is not in the Bible, but revive is found a number of times in
the book of Psalms. I went to the
Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament and found that the word for
revive in the Psalms is not found there as the English word “quicken” is used
instead of revive. I got some help from
a friend of mine to find out what this word meant and he wrote to me that the definition
of this word is as follows “The word is the verb form of the common word for
life so the verb is ‘live’ or make to live or to give life. The specific form of the verb in 143:11 is
used 2 other times with slightly different English rendering…Refer to the last
rendering: ‘to be in full vigor’, etc.”
The word can also mean to be fresh, strong, efficient.
MacArthur
goes on to talk about the Reformation: “Reformation
is needed when spiritual and moral life are low; and for the very reason they are
low they will resist every effort to reform.
The power of sin, whether in an unbeliever or believer, is opposed to
righteousness and will always resist God’s truth and God’s standards. To the carnal person, absolute doctrine and high
moral standards are inherently controversial.
“Christ
does not here or anywhere else forbid courts of law, as claimed by the Russian
novelist Leo Tolstoy and others. Both
the Old and New Testaments uphold not only the right but the divine necessity
of human courts of law (e. g. Deut. 19:15-21; Rom. 13:1-7). Nor does this or
any other part of Scripture teach that we are never to evaluate, criticize, or
condemn the actions or teachings o another person.
“The
entire thrust of the Sermon on the Mount is to show the complete distinction
between true religion and false religion, between spiritual truth and spiritual
hypocrisy. Jesus places God’s perfect
and holy standards beside the unholy and self-righteous standards of the
scribes and Pharisees and declares that those who follow those unholy and
self-righteous standards have no part in God’s kingdom (5:20). No more controversial or judgmental sermon
has ever been preached.
“If
this greatest sermon by our Lord teaches anything, it teaches that His
followers are to be discerning and perceptive in what they believe and in what
they do, that they must make every effort to judge between truth and falsehood,
between the internal and the external, between reality and sham, between true
righteous and false righteousness—in short, between God’s way and all other
ways.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I believe that during the time of the
Reformation, some 500+ years ago that the church was in such bad shape that it
surely was needed and provided by the Lord.
It is my belief that the church in our country and around the world is
in need of a Holy Spirit Revival or a quickening as the word revive means, and
it is my prayer that it will come before the Rapture of the church.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to pray for this quickening in my
heart, and in the hearts of my family, and also my church so that it can spread
throughout our community and eventually even further.
1/13/2021 10:56 AM
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