SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/12/2023 9:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 "The Precept of True
Greatness"
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 20:26-27
Message of the verses: “26 "It is not
this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your
servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;”
The first thing that I want to say this morning is
that there is no way that I will be finishing this section today. I said yesterday that that would happen, but
after further looking at what we have in this section I have come to the
conclusion that it will take several more days to finish. I certainly enjoy looking at John MacArthur’s
commentaries, and listening to his sermons, of which I have over 2600, and
usually listen to them while I am taking my walk each day. He never gives what is called an “airplane
view” as he digs deep into the Word of God to find, as my old friend used to
say “nuggets of gold.” My friend that I
am talking about has been with the Lord for a while now and I miss emailing my
Spiritual Diaries to him. He lived most
of his life in Brazil, and when we both were younger he stated that he owned a
4 X 6 piece of property in Brazil and that is where he was buried. He became sick when his children, also living
there were coming back to the US and the Lord took him home to be with him
before he would have moved.
John
MacArthur writes “Servant is from diakonos,
from which the term deacon us derived. The original Greek word was purely secular,
referring to a person who did menial labor, such as house cleaning or serving
tables. It was not necessarily a term of
dishonor but simply described the lowest level of hired help, who needed little
training or skill.
“But
Christ elevated diakonos to a place
of great significance, using it to describe His most faithful and favored
disciples. He could have chosen any
number of more noble words to characterize obedient discipleship, but He chose
this one because it best reflects the selfless, humble life that He
honors. It is also the life that He
Himself exemplified, as He would go on to say (v. 28).” “28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’”
The surest mark of the true servant is willing
sacrifice for the sake of others in the name of Christ. The fraud servant avoids suffering, while the
true servant accepts it.
As
a person studies the New Testament they will discover that Paul had a pure,
genuine heart of a servant. Paul readily
acknowledged his apostleship and the divine authority that came with that
unique, high office. However he even
more readily acknowledged that his office and authority belonged to God and were only entrusted to him as a
steward as seen in 1 Cor. 4:1 “Let a man regard us in
this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” Paul wrote earlier to the proud,
self-centered, factious, and worldly Corinthians in 3:5 “What then is Apollos?
And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity
to each one.” I will conclude this SD
with what Paul says in this letter sarcastically in 1 Corinthians 4:8-13.
“8 You are already filled, you have already
become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that
you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. 9 For, I think, God
has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we
have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake,
but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are
distinguished, but we are without honor. 11 To this present hour we are both
hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are
homeless; 12 and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we
bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we try to
conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even
until now.”
There
is more to say about this subject which, Lord willing we will look at tomorrow.
5/12/2023 10:28 AM
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