SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/30/2023 8:31 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “False Leaders Lack Sympathy”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 23:4
Message of the verses: “And they tie up heavy loads, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”
We begin today by looking at the third aspect of
false leaders which is false religious leaders are characterized by lack of
sympathy. They not only are usurpers and
hypocrites but are loveless and uncaring.
As one looks at these three descriptions of these false leaders one may
ask the question “why are they like this?”
I think that there are several reasons why they are like this and the
first reason is that, like all others they were born spiritually dead. Remember what I said my friend said “I was
born wrong.” I think the next reason why
they are like this is because they think that they are better than other
people. After going to the schools that
they went to, which by the way taught them to be like they were, that is when
they begin to think that they were better than others.
John MacArthur writes “The picture Jesus gives here
reflects the common custom of that day, and of people in many underdeveloped
countries today, of loading up a donkey, camel, or other beast of burden to the
point where it can hardly move. As they
traveled down the road, the owner would walk alongside, carrying nothing
himself, berating and beating the animal if it happened to stumble or balk,
with no concern for the animal’s feelings or welfare.”
Now as we look at the first part of this verse we see
that this description MacArthur gives here in the quote above, is exactly what
the scribes and Pharisees treated their fellow Jews as they piled up heavy
loads of religious regulations, rules, and rituals on men’s shoulders until
they were unbearable and impossible to carry.
MacArthur then adds “And when the people failed to keep all of the
requirements, as they were doomed to do, they were chided and rebuked by the
leaders, who thereby added the burden of guilt to those of weariness and
frustration.”
In
a lot of religious systems today the people are taught that Jesus did die for
their sins, but then that was just the first step as there were things that
they had to do in order to really become children of God. Now I want to quote one of my favorites
verses and then try to explain how I understand the meaning of them. “8 For by grace you have been saved through
faith; and that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may
boast. 10 For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so
that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10). Notice the first highlighted part of verse
eight and you will see that Paul is writing that this salvation that happened
to his readers was past tense, it had already happened “by grace…through faith.” He then goes on to say “not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God.” We see here that it was God who gave the gift of
salvation, and so all one has to do is to accept it. Then Paul goes on to say in verse nine, “not as a result of works, so
that no one may boast.” He is
saying that a person does not work for their salvation as it is a free gift
from God. Ok now that a person has been
saved as seen in verses eight and nine they will then do work for the cause of
Christ as seen in verse ten: “For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works.”
Paul does not stop there but goes on to say, and this is very important
to understand, “which God
prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Now the way that I understand this is that in
eternity past that God has chosen believers work for them to do for the cause
of Christ as He prepared beforehand what these works were to be done by each
believer. Once more understand that the
works that believers do for the cause of Christ are not done in order to save
them, but are done after their salvation to bring glory to the Lord. Now there is one more thing that I want to
say and that is that one has to be open to learn what the Lord has planned for a
believer to do, and that can be done by reading and studying the Bible along
with listening to sermons and then do those things He has planned for you to do
for the cause of Christ. As we look at
the different descriptions of these false leaders it is pretty much the
opposite of what we can see in these three verses in Ephesians chapter two.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I desire to understand the gifts that God has
given me to do for the cause of Christ, and this can be done by carefully
studying the Word of God and then asking the Lord to show me what I am to do
for the cause of Christ.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to do the things that the Lord has
called me to do for Him.
9/30/2023 9:06 AM
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