SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/19/2022 8:00 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The
Principle Elucidated” (Enlightened)
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
15:15-20
Message of the verses: “15 And Peter
answered and said to Him, "Explain the parable to us." 16 And He said,
"Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17 “Do you not understand
that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is
eliminated? 18 “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the
heart, and those defile the man. 19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 “These
are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not
defile the man.’”
11 “Not
what enters into the mouth defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth,
this defiles the man.’” This is the parable that Peter wanted Jesus
to explain, and if one looks at the book of Acts they will see that Peter still
did not really understand this parable.
Peter was unable to accept fully the idea that all foods were clean as
seen in Acts 10:14 and also Gal. 2:11-12.
Jesus
must have been a bit disappointed over the fact that they did not understand
what He was talking about as we see in verse 16 "Are you still lacking in understanding
also? I think that it is more
understandable that the crowds did not understand what Jesus was talking about
here, but the disciples had by this time spent two years with our Lord.
Jesus
continues with the figure of eating as He says in verse 17 “Do you not
understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and
is eliminated? Let us look at Mark 7:19 because
it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus
He declared all foods clean.) This
verse makes what Jesus said easier to understand. MacArthur adds “Because food is only
physical, it can only affect the physical.
It cannot defile the inner person, represented by the heart, because the
physical and the spiritual are two different orders. Physical pollution, no matter how corrupt,
cannot cause spiritual or moral pollution.
Ceremonies, rituals, and other external practices cannot cleanse a person
spiritually, and failure to observe them cannot defile a person spiritually. Ceremonial cleansing, even under the old
covenant, never did more than picture
spiritual cleansing.”
Jesus
goes on to explain that it is the things that proceed out of the mouth come
from the heart, and those defile the man (Verse 18). It is the heart that represents the inner
person, his thoughts, attitudes,
desires, loyalties, and motives, and I might add that only the Lord can
understand this in a person totally. As
I have been laboring over the study of apostates in Hebrews chapter ten, this
causes me to be convinced that people cannot totally understand what other
people are really thinking about.
Whenever the heart is filled with evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders (verse 19), and other such
ungodliness, these are the things which defile the man (verse 20).
MacArthur writes “It was the Pharisees’ inner
unrighteousness—shown in the extreme by their evil thoughts to destroy Jesus—that
corrupted them. The central moral thrust
of the Sermon on the Mount is that the basis of all sin is the inner thought,
not the outward act. A person commits
the sin when he wants to do it,
whether or not he ever carries it out in action. Murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,
false witness, slanders, and all other sins begin in the heart (see Matt.
5:21-37).
It
is the unwashed heart that defiles a man, and not the unwashed hands. The need is for God to cleanse men’s hearts,
not for men to wash their hands.
Let
us look at how Paul is warning this type of things to Titus in 1:10-11 and then
in 13-14. “10 For there are many
rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the
circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole
families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid
gain.” “13 This testimony is true. For
this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not
paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the
truth.” Paul then writes the following
in verses 15-16 “15 To the pure, all things are
pure; but
to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their
conscience are defiled. 16 They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him,
being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”
MacArthur concludes this 41st chapter in
his commentary by writing “When a person is defiled on the inside, what he does
on the outside is also defiled. But when
a person is pure in heart—undefiled on the inside—he will see God (Matt. 5:8).”
In
our next SD, Lord willing, we will begin to look at Matthew 15:21-28 as
MacArthur entitles this 42nd chapter of his commentary “The Quality
of Great Faith.” I find this something
that only God could have put together in my life at this time because in our
Sunday school class I will begin to teach the 11th chapter of the
book of Hebrews which many entitle as the faith chapter. I have to say that I am thankful that God has
put this all together for me, as this really excites me.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I think that learning my thoughts and motives
to be in line with what the Lord desires me to live like is from time to time
very difficult for me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I need to be
reminded that because I belong to God through what Christ did for me on the
cross that I am pure in heart, undefiled on the inside, and need to act like
that.
7/19/2022 8:46 AM
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