SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/7/2023 9:32 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: PT-1 “The Process and the Place for Discipline”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 18:16-17
Message of the verses: “16 "But if he
does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE
MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17 “And if he
refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen
even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer.”
We have been talking about discipline for some time
now and have learned that the first step is for one individual taking the time
to talk to another believer who has been sinning and rebuking him for his sin.
Now
we want to look at what is suppose to happen if the sinning brother does not
listen to the one who has rebuked him privately, then the next step in the
discipling process is to take one or two
more believers along, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact
may be confirmed. MacArthur adds “This
basic procedure for confirming facts in a dispute or in an allegation of
wrongdoing has been set forth by Moses (Deut:19:15) and was therefore familiar
to every Jew. To guard against a person’s
being slanderously or spitefully accused of sin, crime, or other offense he did
not commit, the Mosaic law required that at least two or three witnesses must
corroborate any charge brought against someone.
That was an important protection against the false accusation of an
innocent person.” One of the things that
I like but have a problem with in the NASB and NASB95 versions of the Bible is
when an OT quotation is used in the NT that it is always put in all capital
letters. I can’t explain why this
bothers me because it is good to know when quotations come from the OT, but it
just does.
I
have just been going over the life of Stephen and have learned many things
about how wonderful his life was for the cause of Christ. In the SD that I posted on my other blog this
morning there was a quotation from John MacArthur at the end of the study in
Stephen’s life and then death, and he compared it to the life of Christ. I am going to add this quotation here because
it shows that in Stephen’s case and in the case of Jesus Christ that discipline
can be wrong because the ones who are bringing the charges against the one who
they say is sinning are actually the ones who are doing the sinning, and I
suppose that this goes on and has gone on in the world today. In the news are those accused of doing
something wrong on January 6, 2020, who were innocent, but the ones bringing
the charges are the ones who are guilty, so this goes on even today.
“John MacArthur concludes his writings on Stephen: “Both in life and in death, Stephen was so
much like his Lord. Jesus was filled
with the Spirit; so was Stephen. Jesus
was full of grace; so was Stephen. Jesus
boldly confronted the religious establishment of His day; so did Stephen. Jesus had a mock trial; so did Stephen. Jesus was executed though innocent of any
crime; so was Stephen. Both were accused
of blasphemy. Both died outside the city
and were buried by sympathizers. And as
already noted, both prayed for the salvation of their executioners. Was there ever a man more like Jesus?”
That is all that I am going to write on this subject
today, but Lord willing we will continue with another short SD tomorrow,
because it is Sunday, and I have to go and teach Sunday school in the morning.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Trusting that my
heart will be like that of our Lord and of Stephen when things like that is
going on in our country are happening that are wrong.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I must remember that the Lord is in control,
and that he will give me the grace to live like He did when situations come
about in our country which we know are wrong.
I have to say that if one looks at what is going on in our country we
can go back to a quotation from Billy Graham many years ago when he said “If
God does not judge our country soon then He is going to have to apologize to
Sodom and Gomorrah.
1/7/2023 10:31 AM
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