SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/26/2021 10:00 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-4 “Humility and Dependence”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
11:25b-26
Message of the verses: “that You have
hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them
to infants. 26 "Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.”
We want to talk about the “infants” as we begin this
SD. The infants or spiritual babes as is
seen in other translations are those who acknowledge their utter helplessness
in themselves, and to whom God has sovereignly chosen to reveal the truths of
His kingdom. Just a little reminder that
we have been studying the book of Matthew for some 27 months now and the
reminder is that Matthew’s gospel focuses in on the kingdom of God. Back in the beatitudes we learned about “the
poor in spirit” and it is those who humbly confess their dependency that God
makes the way of salvation clear and understandable. It is by the Holy Spirit that they recognize
they are spiritually empty and bankrupt and so they abandon all dependence on
their own resources to have a relationship with the Lord in order to be
saved. They realize that they can’t do
this on their own. They are the cringing
spiritual beggars to whom Jesus refers in that first beatitude—they are absolutely
destitute who are ashamed to lift up their head as they hold out their hands
for help.
The
“infants” or spiritual babes are the exact opposite of the kind of person that
the scribes and the Pharisees, and those that the rabbis taught about how to be
pleasing to God. “They are also the
exact opposite of the imagined ideal Christian touted by many popular preachers
and writers who glorify self-assertion and self worth,” writes John MacArthur.
He
goes on to write “The contrast between wise and intelligent and babes is not
between the knowledgeable and the ignorant, the educated and the uneducated,
the brilliant and the simpleminded. It
is a contrast between those who think they can save themselves by their own
human wisdom, resources, and achievement and those who know they cannot. It is a comparison between those who rely on
themselves and those who rely on God.
“People
who are famous, highly educated, wealthy, powerful, or talented are often
difficult to reach for Christ, simply because human accomplishments easily lead
to pride and pride leads to self-sufficiency and self-satisfaction.”
Now
we move onto the last phrase in our verses where Jesus says "Yes, Father,
for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.”
What is it that God is well pleased with? God is well pleased with the gospel of grace
because it brings glory to Him, which is the supreme purpose in the
universe. “Q. What is the chief end of man? A.
Man's chief end is
to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” “Westminster Shorter Catechism”
MacArthur
quotes and unknown author:
“Still
to the lowly soul
He doth
Himself depart,
And for
His dwelling and His throne
He
chooses the humble heart.”
Paul
writes the following in 1 Cor. 1:26-27 “26
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise
according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world
to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the
things which are strong.”
MacArthur
concludes this section by writing:
“Jesus referred to Nicodemus as the ‘teacher of Israel,’ suggesting that
he was perhaps the most highly respected rabbi in the land. He was a student of the Old Testament and of
the many traditional writings of Judaism.
Yet with all his religious training and knowledge, he could not grasp
Jesus’ teaching that ‘unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God.’ Even after Jesus explained,
Nicodemus did not understand, and Jesus said to him: ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that
which we know; and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not
receive our witness. If I told you earthly
things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly
things?’ (John 3:3-12). Before he could
comprehend or receive the gospel, Nicodemus had to go all the way back and
start over as a spiritual babe, putting aside his human knowledge and
achievements and coming to Christ with no merit of his own.” The end of this story is that is what
Nicodemus finally did.
12/26/2021 10:33 AM
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