SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/25/2022 8:43 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Repentant”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
15:22a
Message of the verse: “22 And behold, a
Canaanite woman came out from that region, and began to cry out, saying,
"Have mercy on me,”
I mentioned in our last SD that what we were looking
at then was an introduction to verses 22-27, and that today we would begin with
the first sub-section of that set of verses.
We
know that this woman was a Canaanite woman, and Mark 7:26a adds a bit
more: “Now the woman was a Gentile, of
the Syrophoenician race.” MacArthur adds
that “she was probably a worshiper of Astarte and other pagan deities that were
popular in that region. The fact that
she came to Jesus, a Jewish teacher and healer, indicates she was disillusioned
with the idolatry and immoral debauchery that characterized her religion. In turning to Jesus, she turned from the way
of Satan and sin to the way of God, and that is the essence of repentance.”
In
this story from Matthew’s gospel and also seen in Marks we see a woman who is
fed up with the religion that she had been practicing, probably all of her
life. She now comes to Jesus, who is
Jewish, and as mentioned it was the children of Israel who were suppose to have
killed all of the Canaanite population after they entered the Promised
Land. To know this truth and then come
to Jesus must have meant that she believed that He could heal her demon
possessed daughter, and I have to think that it was the Holy Spirit of God who
brought this woman to Jesus. This woman
was looking for mercy as we will see as we move along in the text, mercy is
something no one deserves and we can see that she knew this as she was not at
all demanding of Jesus, simply asking for mercy for her daughter. “She did not ask Jesus’ help on the basis of
her own goodness but on the basis of His.”
MacArthur
writes “Mercy is integral to God’s redemptive work for man. From the time of the fall, man has had no way
back to God except through His merciful grace.
It is not surprising, therefore, that in the New Testament and the Greek
Old Testament (Septuagint), various forms of the verb deed (to have mercy) are used some five hundred times.”
Let
us look at some Old Testament verses, first from the 34th chapter of
Exodus and then from the 51st Psalm and make a few comments on
them. “5 The LORD descended in the cloud
and stood there with him (Moses) as he called upon the name of the LORD. 6 Then
the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD
God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness
and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity,
transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty
unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the
grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." 8 Moses made haste to
bow low toward the earth and worship. 9 He said, "If now I have found
favor in Your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go along in our midst, even
though the people are so obstinate, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take
us as Your own possession.’”
This section of Scripture happens after the
sinfulness done by Israel while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the Ten
Commandments and so Moses was looking for mercy from the Lord, knowing that the
people of Israel did not want God’s judgment, knowing that only mercy was what
they needed. Psalm 51:1 also happens
after a sin, a great sin committed by King David as he had slept with Bathsheba
and then had her husband killed. David
likewise comes to God asking for mercy as he writes “Be gracious to me, O God,
according to Thy lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Thy compassion
blot out my transgressions.”
John
MacArthur writes “Faith that apprehends the blessing of Christ involves
repentance that comes from a deep and sincere sense of unworthiness. In the book All of Grace (Chicago: Moody, pp. 97-100), Charles Spurgeon wrote:
‘Repentance is the
inseparable companion of faith. All the
while that we walk by faith and not by sight, the tear of repentance glitters
in the eye of faith. That is not true
repentance which does not come of faith in Jesus, and that is not true faith in
Jesus which is not tinctured with repentance.
Faith and repentance, like Siamese twins, are virtually joined together…Faith
and repentance are but two spokes in the same wheel, two handles of the same
plow. Repentance has been well described
as a heart broken for sin and from sin, and it may equally well by spoken of as
turning and returning. It is a change of mind of the
most thorough and radical sort, and it is attended with sorrow for the past and
a resolve of amendment in the future…Repentance of sin and faith in
divine pardon are the warp and woof of the fabric of real conversion.’
“Repentance
adds nothing to faith but is rather an integral part of it. Saving faith is repentant faith. ‘Repentance toward God and faith in [the]
Lord Jesus Christ’ are inseparable (Acts 20:21). Because they are inseparable, Scripture
sometimes refers to salvation as repentance.
Paul declares that ‘the kindness of God leads you to repentance’ (Rom.
2:4), and Peter says that God does not desire ‘for any to perish but for all to
come to repentance’ (2 Pet. 3:9).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: “It is a change of mind of the most thorough and radical sort, and it is
attended with sorrow for the past and a resolve of amendment in the future.” I can see 1 John 1:9 in this statement, at
least the last part of this statement “If we confess our sins He is faithful
and Just to forgive us of our sin, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the
Lord to continue to bring about a more sensitive heart today, remembering that
repentance is what is needed when and if I sin.
Thankfulness for what Christ did for me at the cross.
7/25/2022 9:30 AM
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