PT-2 "The Content" (Matt. 5:2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/21/2020 11:11 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “The Content”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:2

            Message of the verses:  “2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying,”

            Now as we ended our last SD we were talking about a new way of thinking and I stated that I wanted to continue that thought and so I will just quote a paragraph from MacArthur to help us better understand more about this new way of thinking:  “Jesus’ new way of living comes from a new way of thinking, and the new way of thinking comes from new life.  Here are God’s standards for those created in His own image and recreated into the image of His own dear Son (Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:49; 2 Cor. 3:18).  Those who do not follow them as a general direction of life have an unacceptable righteousness (Matt. 5:20).”  “20 “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  I remember a really long time ago when I was listening to a sermon by Hal Lindsey, and I believe it was his testimony about how the Lord saved him that he mentioned this verse and said that he knew that the scribes and Pharisees were not the best, but he did feel that it would be pretty hard to have a righteousness better than there’s.   Hal Lindsey was saved while a Tug Boat Captain living in New Orleans and his testimony was rather unique and in some ways reminds me of mine, in fact it was his taped messages that I was listening to when I received that effectual call from the Holy Spirit.  Lindsey was saved as he looked at some verses in the third chapter of John’s gospel that he opened up his New Testament too one night after he was almost killed on his boat.

            God is the maker, the Creator of all humans and just like when you buy a new car or something else new and you want to know more about it you trust the manufacturer instructions to find out to operate it.  God knows more about humans than humans know about humans so the best place to find out about humans is in God’s Word, He can best show us what we lack and what we are in need of, and by the way we all need Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord so we can understand what He wants us to do, how to live our lives.

            MacArthur writes “As the Sermon on the Mount itself makes clear, internal changes also bring external changes.  When our attitudes and thinking are right, our actions will fall in line.  F our inner life does not make our outer life better; our inner life is deficient or nonexistent.  ‘Faith without works is useless,’ James says (James 2:20).  Paul tells us that we are ‘created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them’ (Eph. 2:10).”

            David Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes the following point more understandable and that is the true outside life can only be produced from a true inside life.  He makes this point as he compares the Christian life to playing music.  “A person may play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata accurately and without a single mistake—yet not really play what the composer had in mind.  Even though the notes are played correctly, they do not produce the sonata.  The pianist may mechanically strike the right notes at the right time, yet miss the essence, the soul, of the composition.  He may not at all express what Beethoven meant to be expressed.  The true artist must play the right notes at the right time.  He is not exempt from the rules and principles of music.  But accurate playing is not what makes him a great musician.  It is his expression of what lies behind the notes that enthralls his listeners.  In the same way, faithful Christians are concerned about the letter of God’s Word; but beyond that they are also concerned about the spirit, the deeper will and purpose that lie behind the letter.  That concern reveals an obedient heart filled with the desire to glorify the Lord.

           

            “To claim to follow the spirit without obeying the letter is to be a liar.  To follow the letter without following the spirit is to be a hypocrite.  To follow the spirit in the right attitude and the letter in the right action is to be a faithful child of God and a loyal subject of the King.”

            Yesterday while walking on my treadmill I listened to a sermon by John MacArthur that was an hour long and it was on the third verse of Matthew chapter five.  The title of our next section from MacArthur’s commentary on this third verse is “Happy Are our Humble.”  I suppose that after mentioning that I wanted to learn more about humility for over a year that God is now answering my prayers to which I am thankful.  I also think that this is a lifelong process to learn and to be humble as in one of MacArthur’s later sermons from a year or so ago he mentioned his need for humility. 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Check out the highlighted paragraph above for what my spiritual meaning is for today.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Since learning humility and also contentment is a lifelong process I desire to continue to be taught and to learn contentment and humility as the Lord teaches me.  I also desire to have joy in my heart as I study the Word of God each day.

3/21/2020 11:55 AM

PT-1 "The Content" (Matt. 5:2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/20/2020 9:41 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-1 “The Content”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:2

            Message of the verses:  “And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying”

            John MacArthur states that when Matthew states that Jesus was opening His mouth that it was not something that we would consider to be obvious, “but was a common colloquialism used to introduce a message that was especially solemn and important.  It was also to indicate intimate, heartfelt testimony or sharing.  Jesus’ sermon was both authoritative and intimate; it was of the upmost importance and was delivered with the upmost concern.”

            Jesus in this sermon was establishing a standard of living that was counter to everything that the world practiced and that they held dear to them.  One who lives by the standards that Jesus speaks of in this sermon was to live a life of blessed happiness.  Jesus gives and utterly new approach to living, which is one that results in joy instead of despair, and in peace instead of conflict which is a peace that the world does not understand and cannot have as seen in John 14:27 and Philippians 4:7.  Jesus sermon gives us a blessedness which is not produced by the world or by circumstances, and this cannot be taken away by the world or by circumstances.  This is not produced externally and cannot be destroyed externally.

            There are some evangelicals who maintain that the Sermon on the Mount only pertains to the kingdom age, which is the Millennium, (the 1000 year period that follows shortly after the Tribulation period, which will follow shortly after the Rapture of the church).  They say this because of what is found in Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’”  John MacArthur answers this by writing “For several reasons, however, that interpretation cannot be correct.  First of all, the text does not indicate or imply that these teachings are for another age.  Second, Jesus demanded them of people who were not living in the Millennium.  Third, many of the teachings themselves become meaningless if they are applied to the Millennium.  For example, there will be no persecution of believers (see. 5:10-12, 44) during the kingdom age.  Fourth, every principle taught is the Sermon on the Mount is also aught elsewhere in the New Testament in contexts that clearly apply to believers of our present age.  Fifth, there are many New Testament passages that command equally impossible standards, which unglorified human strength cannot continually achieve (see Rom. 13:14; 2 Cor. 7:1; Phil. 1:9-10; Col. 3:1-2; Heb. 12:14; 1 Pet. 1:15-16).

            “The teachings of the Sermon on the Mount are for believers today, marking the distinctive lifestyle that should characterize the direction, if not the perfection, of the lives of Christians of every age.  Unfortunately, those standards do not always characterize Christians.  The world’s standards and objectives too often have engulfed believers and conformed them to its own image, squeezed them into its own mold (Rom. 12:2, Phillips).”

            So how do we, as believers follow what is taught in the Sermon on the Mount?  Let us first of all go back to what Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2 to help us out with this answer:  “1  WITH eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. 2 Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed. Thus you will prove in practice that the will of God is good, acceptable to him and perfect” (Phillips).  I have used the Phillips paraphrased version of the New Testament to help us better understand what we are to do.  First of all we are to give ourselves to the Lord, and even though this is a one-time thing to do it is good to remind yourself to do this each day, something we learned from the quotations that we made from Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s book “The Strategy of Satan.”  Next as verse two says we are to have a new way of thinking, we are to let the Word of God, as we read, study, and meditate on change our minds and in the case of our verses from Matthew this is a good place to begin as we continue to study the Sermon on the Mount we need to have our minds changed by what Jesus teaches.  We live in a world that has been changed by a virus over the last few months and as believers if we understand God’s Word we will know that He is still on the throne and we are to live our lives by practicing what the Word of God teaches, things like are in the Sermon on the Mount.  God has allowed this to happen and perhaps one of the reasons is that we can see how soon that the whole world has changed in a very short amount of time.  As I think about this in reference to a couple of phone calls I very recently had both people stated that when we look at the things that will happen at the beginning of the book of Revelation that they all happen very fast and so this could be a picture of how things change very fast.  If it were not for our technology it would not happen fast, but we have the technology to have it happen fast.  Bottom line is for believers to understand that God is in control and to trust Him even though times are tough, and to use this time to tell others the good news of the gospel.

            Lord willing we will talk more about a new way of thinking in our SD for tomorrow.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I certainly desire to have the Lord continue to change my mind from any worldly things to what is true that are found in His Word.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Learn more about contentment, humility and have joy as I study His Word.

3/20/2020 10:23 AM

The Location and the Style (Matt. 5:1)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/19/2020 12:04 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  “The Location & The Style”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 5:1

            Message of the verse:  “1 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.”

            The Location:  When some folks from our church went to Israel a couple of years ago our Pastor was one who went along and preached little sermons when they got to different places in Israel and one of the places this happened was on a hillside or what the Bible calls a mountain where it is possible that the Sermon on the Mount was given by our Lord.  From what he said it was like an amphitheater which would mean that the sound traveled really well.  I am sure that all who were there heard the words of Jesus very well.  This was probably on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.

            The Style:  We know from the text that Jesus sat down while he was speaking and this was the way that Rabbis would teach.  If He spoke while standing or while walking that would have been considered as to be informal or unofficial, however when He was sitting what He was saying was authoritative or even official.  MacArthur adds “When Jesus ‘sat down’ and delivered the Sermon on the Mount, He spoke from His divine chair with absolute authority as the sovereign King.”  Remembering once more that Matthew’s gospel speaks of Jesus as King, something we continue to mention.

            We mentioned earlier and I believe this is very important and that is that those who were there would be receiving an evangelistic sermon, as the standards of spiritual life that Jesus gave here could not apply to this audience or even be followed by them unless they belonged to Jesus Christ.

            We know that his disciples were there and here is where I have some trouble for we know that only eleven of them were believers so I suppose that they were the possibility the only believers there when Jesus gave this great sermon. 

            John MacArthur states “An archbishop of the Church of England once remarked that it would be impossible to conduct the affairs of Britain on the basis of the Sermon on the Mount, because the nation was not loyal to the King.  The sermon of the King can be understood and followed only by faithful subjects of the King.”

            He goes on to write “Tying to apply Jesus’ teachings without receiving Him as Lord and Savior is futile.  Those, for example, who promote the social gospel, endeavoring to institute Jesus’ teaching apart from His saving and regenerating work, prove only that His principles cannot work for those who do not have a transformed nature and God’s indwelling power.  One cannot behave like Christ until one becomes like Christ.  Those who do not love the King cannot live like the King.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What I have highlighted above is surely something that I desire to live like, that is I desire to behave like the King and to do that I have to love the King.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To live like the King means to be humble, and to love the King means that I will find joy in studying His Word. 

3/19/2020 12:34 PM

The Importance (Matt. 5:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/18/2020 9:44 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  “The Setting”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matthew 5:1

            Message of the verses:  “1 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.”

            We move from the importance of the Sermon on the Mount which we looked at yesterday to a new Main section in John MacArthur’s commentary.  I think that I will quote this brief introduction to this section from MacArthur’s commentary and then we will look at the first sub-point under this main point today and then move on with perhaps two more sub-points in our next SD tomorrow, Lord willing. 

           

            “Jesus was always concerned for ‘the multitudes,’ for whom He had great compassion—whether they ‘distressed and downcast’ (Matt. 9:36), sick (14:14; cf. 4:23), hungry (15:32), or in any other need.  Whether the people were physically ill or healthy, emotionally stable or demon-possessed, financially poor or rich, politically oppressed or powerful, religiously insignificant or influential, intellectually ignorant or educated, Jesus had compassion on them.  Jesus attracted to all strata of people because He loved them all.

            “Everything Jesus said on this occasion was spoken publicly, to ‘the multitudes’ (cf. 7:28-29).  His intention was to drive them to recognition of their sin, and thus to the need of a Savior, which He had come to be.  Until they believed in Him, the demands of the sermon could only show them how terribly far they were from meeting God’s standards.  The masterful evangelistic sermon is designed to confront men with their desperate condition of sinfulness.”

            We now move onto the first sub-section “The Preacher” as we move on through this section.

            It is no secret that it was Jesus who was the preacher as He was the One who “saw the multitudes” and then it was He who “went up to the mountain; and” there He sat down.”  This was God’s own Son who delivered the sermon.  Jesus Christ, the greatest Preacher who ever lived preached the greatest sermon every preached, and after He had concluded we read “The multitudes were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes” (7:28-29).  Jesus quoted no sources, not ancient rabbis, or any reserved tradition.  Jesus spoke what He spoke because of who He was and therefore He did not need to quote from some Rabbi or other person for He had the authority to do what He did as He preached this sermon after all it was Jesus who created everything including man and so just as the people said He spoke with authority.

            MacArthur states “The Sermon on the Mount is the supreme model of good preaching, a homiletical masterpiece. It beautifully and powerfully flows from the introduction (5:3-12) to the first point (the citizens of the kingdom, 5:13-16), to the second point (the righteousness of the kingdom, 5:17-7:12), to the third point (the exhortation to enter the kingdom, 7:13-27), and to the conclusion (the effect of the sermon on its hearers, 7:28-29).  The transitions from point to point are clear and unmistakable.”

            As we think of the timeline of this sermon we can compare it with the prophet Ezekiel for at the beginning of his book he states that the Lord was not going to let him speak to the multitudes for they were a rebellious house, and then we read in 33:22 the following “Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the refugees came.  And He opened my mouth and at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer speechless.”  Jesus did not display His truth, His wisdom, and His power until it was time in God’s sovereign will for Him to do so.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Perhaps that is the case for me as a believer as I must wait for God’s timing to do the things that He has planned for me to do in eternity past as seen in Ephesians 2:10, and perhaps the beginning of my blog writing days which began on the 3^rd of July of 2010 was God’s timing for me to begin.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to give me continued insight on humility, and give me joy in studying His Word each day.

            We will now look at the last quotation from “The strategy of Satan,”  as this next quotation will complete the chapter I was quoting from.

“The story may be apocryphal, but it illustrates the point.  A famous Christian businessman was visiting a church and was asked to give a word of greeting.  He got carried away telling all that God had done for Him.  ‘I have a successful business, a large house, a lovely family, a famous name, and enough money to do the things I want to do and be able to give to Christian works.  I have health and opportunities unnumbered.  There are many people who would greatly exchange places with me.  What more could God give me?’  From the back of the auditorium a voice called, ‘A good dose of humility!’”

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.  James 4:10

3/18/2020 10:30 AM

Happiness Is (Matt. 5:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/17/2020 11:28 AM

My Worship Time                                          Focus: “Why Study The Sermon on the Mount”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Matthew 5:1-2

            Message of the verses:  “1 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying,”           

            I finally got around to listening to John MacArthur’s message on these two verses of Matthew chapter five and I was certainly glade that I did as I learned some things that had been puzzling to me as I was using his commentary on these two verses.  What was the reason that we have been looking at the different sections was the biggest challenge to me and perhaps to those who read these Spiritual Diaries.  As I listened to the sermon what I wanted to know about came towards the end of this sermon and it was kind of the answer that I was looking for on what do these sections in his commentary have to do with the actual sermon on the mount.  I decided to take this SD and quote from his sermon which I hope will bring more light into what we have been learning over these last few days. 

“Now, on the basis of that context and that overview I want you to know it’s important to study this.  You see?  Really important.  I believe there are at least five reasons why it’s important.  I’m just going to give them to you real quick.  Number one, because the Sermon on the Mount will show you the absolute necessity of the new birth.  The Sermon on the Mount will show you that you can never please God on your own, in your flesh.  Never.  And as I said at the very beginning, the only people who will know blessedness are the people who know that blessedness insofar as it is an attribute of God and insofar as they are partakers of the divine nature, they can know and experience it.

“Listen, the Sermon on the Mount to me goes way beyond the law of Moses in showing us the need for salvation.  You can’t live one day in a blessed condition apart from the new birth in Jesus Christ.  It is the greatest thing in the New Testament to show man the desperate situation that he’s in without God.

“The second thing:  I think we ought to study the Sermon on the Mount not only because it shows the absolute necessity of the new birth, but because it clearly points to Jesus Christ.  It is perhaps the single greatest insight into the mind of our dear Lord Jesus Christ.  You want to know how he thinks?  Study his sermon.  You want to know where His heart really beats?  Study his sermon.  You want to know what he really feels about living and about the standards for life?  Study the sermon.

“Third thing:  We ought to study the Sermon on the Mount because it’s the only way to happiness for Christians.  If you want to be happy, if you want to be really filled with the Spirit, you don’t go seeking some mystical experience.  You don’t go chasing some elusive dream.  You don’t go popping from meeting to meeting trying to catch it in the air.  If you want to know happiness, and blessedness, and bliss, and joy, and gladness, then you just study the Sermon on the Mount and put it to practice.

“I’ll add another thing.  I think we ought to study it because it’s the best means I know of evangelism.  You say, “What do you mean, evangelism?”  I’ll tell you this.  If we ever live the Sermon on the Mount, it will knock the world over.  It’s the greatest tool of evangelism there is, to live this kind of a life.

“And then lastly, we should study the Sermon on the Mount and live it because it pleases God.  And you know, that’s a privilege, that sinful John MacArthur, just plain old me, like Paul was singing, just ordinary me could please God.  What an incredible thought.  Plenty of reason to study the Sermon on the Mount and plenty of reason to give ourselves to it.”

            Now I want to add to what is quoted here what MacArthur calls this sermon which is “Happiness Is” and as we go through the things that are taught in this greatest of all sermons we must understand first of all that this sermon is for believers as no one can live up to what is taught in this sermon by our Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus is talking to His disciples and all of the rest of the people that were gathered on that hillside by the Sea of Galilee and to be sure there were those who were not believers there.  While they were listening to this sermon perhaps many or at least some of the people were saying that what Jesus was saying I can never live up to, never be able to follow what He is saying here for after all He was bringing thing up which were stricter than what was in the Law of Moses.  For instance the law states you shall not commit adultery and Jesus goes on to say that if you look at a woman with lust in your heart you have already committed adultery. 

The question comes in as to why did MacArthur name his sermon “Happiness Is?”  The answer is that a person can be happy by doing what the Lord Jesus Christ states in this sermon which can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit.  I can remember things in my life that I thought if I had that I they would make me happy and once the newness of what I got I found out that in fact they did not make me happy at all.  I believe that is God alone who can give happiness to me and that comes through the Lord Jesus Christ and the satisfaction that I can have by following Him.  Oh yes I will fall as I have always fell, but He is there to pick me up and bring me back to Himself.  As we go through this sermon over the next few months remember that what we will learn from it will truly make us happy.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  True happiness can only come from the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Contentment, humility, and joy from studying and reading the Word of God.

            In our last SD on this section I left out a verse that went along with what we were talking about and so I begin with that verse today which has to do with humility:  “And Paul echoed this truth:  ‘For who regards you as superior?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?’  1 Corinthians 4:7.

            “To boast of your gifts is a sin, because God gave them to you and you cannot take credit for them.  But to deny your gifts is also sin.  We must accept our gifts and affirm our gifts to the glory of God.  We must not think more highly of ourselves than we ought, but neither should we think less of ourselves!

            “So when Satan comes with pride to attack your will, surrender immediately to the Holy Spirit and let him work in you to produce humility and submission before God.  Do not attempt to go beyond your gifts or the faith you have to exercise those gifts.  Satan can use spiritual things to make you proud:  your ability to teach or preach the Word; your prayer life; your success in witnessing and soul-winning.”

3/17/2020 12:05 PM

The Religious Context (Matt. 5:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/16/2020 9:59 AM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  The Religious Context

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 5:1-2

            Message of the verses:  “1 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying,”

            Jesus grew up in a very religious society with for primary groups which were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots.  We will talk briefly about these groups now but in more detail later on as we move through Matthew’s gospel.

            The Pharisees believed in the Mosaic Law and also in traditions, something that for the most part was not good to believe in.  Some traditions are good, but in the end they are only traditions.  They focused on adhering to the laws of the past.

            The Sadducees on the other hand focused on the present as they were the religious liberals who discounted most things supernatural and they modified both Scripture and tradition in order to fit their own religious philosophy.

            The Essenes were ascetics and they believed that the right religion mean a separation from society.  They pretty much lived near the Dead Sea, and if I remember they were the ones responsible for hiding some scrolls in caves near the Dead Sea that were found in 1948.

            The Zealots were fanatical nationalists who taught that religion centered in radical political activism.  They looked down on fellow Jews who would not take up arms against the Romans.

            MacArthur writes “In essence, the Pharisees said, ‘Go back’; the Sadducees said, ‘Go ahead’; the Essenes said ‘Go away’; and the Zealots said, ‘Go against.’  The Pharisees were traditionalists; the Sadducees were modernists; the Essenes were separatists; and the Zealots were activists.  They represented the same primary types of religious factions that are common today.”

            We know that Jesus was not any of those and He said to the Pharisees that true spirituality is internal and not external.  Then to the Sadducees He said that it is God’s way, and not man’s way.  He said to the Essenes it is a matter of the heart and not the body.  To the Zealots He said that it is a matter of worship and not a matter of revolution.  MacArthur adds “The central thrust of His message to every group and every person, of whatever persuasion or inclination, was that the way of His kingdom is the first and above all a matter of the inside—the soul.  That is the central focus of the Sermon on the Mount. True religion in God’s kingdom is not a question of ritual, of philosophy, of location, or of military might—but of right attitude toward God and toward other people.  The Lord summed it up in the words ‘I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven’ (5:20).

            “The dominant message of the Sermon on the Mount is that one must not find comfort merely in right theology, much less in cotemporary philosophy, geographical separation, or military and political activism.  Right theology is essential; so are being contemporary in the right way, separating ourselves from worldliness, and taking stands on moral issues.  But those external things must flow from right internal life and attitudes if they are to serve and please God.  That has always been God’s way.  He told Samuel, ‘God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’ (1 Sam. 16:7).  In proverbs, wisdom says, ‘Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life’ (Pr. 4:23).”

            There was an incident that Jesus had when eating with some Pharisees which we will close with from Luke 11:39-41 in a translation called the Williams.  “Now you Pharisees have the habit of cleaning the outside of your cups and dishes, but inside you yourselves are full of greed and wickedness.  You fools!  Did not the One who made the outside make the inside too?  But dedicate once for all your inner self, and at once you will have everything clean.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I don’t want to drift into any of the ways of those that we talked about today, but have my life be pleasing to the Lord at all times.

My Steps of Faith for Today:    I still desire the same things to work on and that would be humility and also joy in studying the Word of God each day.  In talking with my sister yesterday she mentioned a good way to remember what we are to give to the Lord each day as she said “BMW,” and I have always been a Ford man BMW is a good way to remember that I am to give my body, mind, and will to the Lord each day. 

From the “Strategy of Satan” for today:  “When God called Moses to go to Egypt to deliver Israel, Moses argued with God.  He protested that he was slow of speech and could not do the job.  Was this humility on Moses’ part?  Of course not!  It was pride; in fact, it was the worst kind of pride: false humility.  The person who is truly humble has these characteristics:  (1) he knows himself; (2) he accepts himself; (3) he yields himself to God; (4) he seeks to better himself that he might serve God better.  The humble man realizes that all that he has comes from God and must be given back to God.  John the Baptist said ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.’ (John 3:27).”

3/16/2020 10:40 AM

The Political Context (Matt. 5:1-2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/15/2020 9:39 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The Political Context

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 5:1-2

            Message of the verses:  “1 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying,”

            We have talked earlier about what the Jewish people were expecting in their Messiah, and also that what they were expecting was not what Jesus was, and yet there came a time when the crowds wanted to make Jesus their king by force, and that came after He feed the 5,000.  They thought if He was their King then they could go and fight against the Romans and defeat them for if they were hungry He would feed them and if they got killed He would raise them from the dead.  Jesus told Pilate in John 18:36 “"My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.’”

            John MacArthur writes “The thrust of the Sermon on the Mount is that the message and work of the King are first and most importantly internal and not external, and spiritual and moral rather than physical and political.  Here we find no politics or social reform.  His concern is for what men are, because what they are determines what they do.

            “The ideals and principles in the Sermon on the Mount are utterly contrary to those of human societies and governments.  In Christ’s kingdom the most exalted persons are those who are the lowliest in the world’s estimation, and vice versa.  Jesus declared that John the Baptist was the greatest man who had ever lived until that time.  Yet John had no possessions and no home, lived in the wilderness, dressed in a hair garment, and ate locusts and wild honey.  He was not a part of the religious system, and he had no financial, military, or political power. In addition to that, he preached a message that in the world’s eyes was completely irrelevant and absurd.  By worldly standards he was a misfit and a failure.  Yet he received the Lord’s highest praise.”

            Yet as we look at Matthew 11:11 we read of John the Baptist “"Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  Jesus characterized in this sermon people of His kingdom as being humble, compassionate, meek, yearning for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers—and who will be persecuted for the sake of the very righteousness that they practice.  As we look into what the world thinks of these people and we can actually see it in our political parties today they are losers.  When people pray who are a part of our political system they are made fun of.  The world says assert yourself, stand up for yourself, be proud of yourself, elevate yourself, defend yourself, avenge yourself, serve yourself, and things like these which is the total opposite of what Jesus teaches in this sermon He is about to give.  John writes in his first letter “15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).  Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2 “1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  To have my mind transformed by the Word of God as the Holy Spirit works to make me more like Jesus.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue to learn humility and to continue to seek joy as I study God’s Word each day.

3/15/2020 10:03 AM