SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/14/2022 11:43 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Power of Relationship”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
12:46-50
Message of the verses: “46 While He was
still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing
outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 And someone said to Him, "Behold,
Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to
You." 48 But He answered the one who was telling Him and said, "Who
is My mother and who are My brothers?" 49 And stretching out His hand
toward His disciples, He said, "Behold, My mother and My brothers! 50 “For
whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and
sister and mother.’”
Lord willing we will finish the commentary on this
12th chapter of Matthew today.
We began on the 4th of January and so this has been a long
chapter, and I am very much wanting to get into the 13th chapter
tomorrow because, as I have mentioned this is the turning point in Matthew’s
gospel as from here on out the anger will grow against our Lord and will
finally end with His death on the cross in order to pay for our sins.
I
want to begin by looking at the word “whoever” found in verse fifty. This word indicates the universality of the invitation,
and this certainly does make sense. In
my Sunday school class on Hebrews we looked at the tabernacle in pretty much a
detail yesterday as this entire structure is a picture of Jesus Christ
especially when one gets to the holy place and the Holy of Holies. This structure has a 30foot wide gate on the
East side of it which allows all who want to come into it able to come in. Jesus Christ said that He is the Door and as
we look at this 50th verse of Matthew 12 we see the similarity of
whoever wants to enter through this gate will be able to have access to Jesus
Christ. John MacArthur writes “On the other hand, no one who does not believe
will be included. God’s first and most
absolute desire and requirement for mankind is belief in His Son, ‘This is the
work of God,’ Jesus said, ‘that you believe in Him whom He has sent’ (John 6:29). Until a person believes in Christ, God cannot
give him any spiritual help, and that person cannot give God any spiritual
service.” The people who enter that gate
in the outer court first had to make a sacrifice for their sins at the bronze
altar, and that pictured Jesus Christ who is our sacrifice. They next had to be washed in the bronze
laver and believers all need to think about Psalm 139:23-24, best to do it in
the morning, or late at night before they go to sleep. “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.” Next if there are any sins that the Lord
brings to mind then go to 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
MacArthur writes “God’s supreme will for mankind is
for them to be well-pleased with the Son, just as He is—and to trust in Him,
listen to Him, follow Him, and obey Him.”
This is what the Father said right after Jesus’ baptism and then again
on the Mount of transfiguration.
In
Jesus’ parable about the lost sheep we can see this great truth as described in
the paragraph above, and then Paul echoed it when he wrote “God our Savior…desires
all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tim.
2:3-4). Then Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:9 “The
Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
If
we are to be in a right relationship with the Lord it requires more than a mere
verbal declaration of loyalty, as Jesus said “21 "Not everyone who says to
Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of
My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 “Many will say to Me on that
day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out
demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And then I will declare to
them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS’’” (Matt.
7:21-23). Let us look at Acts 4:12 “"And
there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that
has been given among men by which we must be saved.’”
We conclude this last section on Matthew chapter
twelve with a quotation from John MacArthur:
“At best, reformation changes only the outside of a person; at worst it
becomes a barrier to his being changed on the inside. A right relationship to Christ, however,
brings completely new life, both inside and outside. All the rest of Scripture surrounds the
central truth that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners—to transform
them, not reform them. Until a person
claims that truth, no other can be on any benefit.
“The
great message of the gospel, and therefore of the church, is not a call to
morality but a call to deliverance from sin through the Lord Jesus Christ.”
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