PT-4 "Intro to Matt. 7:1-6

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/14/2021 9:52 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-4 “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.”

 

            First I have to admit that I am having trouble with these verses and trouble with the things that John MacArthur is writing about as he introduces this section of Scripture.  This section has always caused problems for me in the understanding of it, and so it is my prayer that the Lord will surely open my spiritual eyes to better understand this section.  One of the reasons that I am having trouble with this is that I am working on two lessons this week, as I mentioned in earlier SD’s.  This morning the Lord has opened my eyes to the subject of revival that I will be teaching about this upcoming Sunday evening in our Sunday school class.  The Bible Study that I am to teach this evening has been a struggle for me on what to teach about, but God has given me peace as I will teach about the fundamentals of the end times, something that has always been near and dear to my heart as that is how the Holy Spirit of God opened my eyes to except the effectual call to salvation almost 47 years ago (Jan. 26, 1974).  Understanding the prophecies of the Bible has convinced me that the Bible is the Word of God with no mistakes in it.

 

            I desire to finish the introduction this morning and so I first want to look at the word “judge” for that is a very important word in this passage.  MacArthur writes “Krino’ (‘to judge’) means basically to separate, choose, select, or determine, and has a dozen or more shades of meaning that must be decided from the context.  In our present passage Jesus is referring to the judgment of motives, which no mere human being can know of another, and to judgment of external forms.  Paul says, ‘Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way’ (Rom. 14:13).

 

            “The Bible consistently forbids individual or vigilante justice that assumes for itself the prerogatives of a duty establish court of law.  It also consistently forbids hasty judgments that do not have full knowledge of the heart or of the facts.  ‘He who gives and answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him’ (Prov. 18:13).  Sometimes what appears to be wrong is nothing of the sort.

 

            “The significant that , through God is omniscient, He gives us many examples of the care we ourselves should take before making judgments, especially those that involve serious consequences.  Before He judged those who were building the tower of Babel, ‘the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built’ (Gen. 11:5).  Before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah He said ‘I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry which has come to Me; and if not, I will know’ (Gen. 18:21).

           

            “What Jesus here forbids is self-righteous, officious, hasty, unmerciful, prejudiced, and unwarranted condemnation based on human standards and human understanding.  He gives three reasons why such judgment is sinful’ it reveals an erroneous view of God, and erroneous view of others, and an erroneous view of ourselves.”  So there we have our outline that we will be following over the next days as we look deeper into this very difficult passage.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for John MacArthur’s teaching of this passage, for as stated it has always been a very difficult passage for me to understand and it seems to always have given me a guilty conscience, but perhaps some of that is warranted.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  To continue to trust the Lord to give me insight into the lessons that I am teaching this week.  To keep all of those who are attending these classes safe.

 

1/14/2021 10:21 AM