Archive for January, 2009
WOW what a great month
What can I say, to all who have posted, emailed, commented, and inquired about some of these verses….Thank you. This is a group effort. We work together. For those who have not posted but are keeping up with some of those on here…We are praying for you too. I cant begin to say how blessed this has been on my personal prayer time, evangelism, being a husband, father and friend. God’s word fills our hearts and soul with truth and the the result is that we are filled with the words of life. Some things that I look forward to and hope to change in the next month would be writing my chapter summaries in the beginning of the month and read each 3′ X 5′ card when I go into a chapter to help me memorize that chapter summary. This will help me know where to go when faced with a question or looking for a verse. This month I did it at the end of the month. I want to post some pics tonight of my verse’s in my photo album. I look forward to some great questions and digging deeper in to God’s word with you all. If you have fallen off the bus I urge you to jump back on. If you have not yet been commited to reading all the verses with us everyday then make it up today and commit.
Keep it up and lets stay the course.
In Christ
Build Your House On the Rock
Matthew 7:24-27
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
We had a visitor at our church a couple of weeks ago named Frank Zitzman, and he shared something I thought was interesting about these verses. Over the last couple years I’ve learned more and more that understanding the original language is very critical in properly interpreting the scriptures. I’ve heard that in the English language there is only about six thousand words contrasted to the Greek language which has over ten thousand words. So some times when your reading the scripture in English you might miss something.
So notice in verse 25 the phrase beat on, this phrase is also found in verse 27, the same phrase in English, right? Well when you study those two phrases in the Greek you will notice that they are two different Greek words. In verse 25 the Greek word is prospipto which means to violently fall upon; attack; or to rush upon. In the context of the verse with that phrase it means when a global type flood comes or a huge amount of water comes, the house that is built on the rock will stand. Contrast to verse 27 the Greek word there is proskopto which means dash against or surge against. In the context of the verse with that phrase it means when a small amount of water like a creek comes, the house that is built on the sand will fall, and the fall will be great.
So the question is, is your house built upon the Rock Jesus Christ and His Word or is it built upon the sand of the world system? We know that as Christians that the Bible promises trials and tribulations and it will not be too long until heavy persecution comes are way. These verses are a promise and a warning. So build your house on the Rock, so that when the heavy floods come your house will stand.
Here is an excerpt from John Pipers book Spectacular Sins (And their global purpose in the glory of Christ). I think that this drives the point home. Also I would definitely suggest reading this book, you can go to desiringGod.org and read it on line for free. God bless!!
“Christianity is not a game; it’s not a therapy. All of its doctrines flow from who God is and what He has done in history. They correspond to hard facts. Christianity is more than facts, but not less. There is faith and hope and love. But these don’t float in the air. They grow like great cedar trees in the rock of God truth.
And the reason I make this one of my aims in this book is because I am deeply convinced from the Bible that our eternal joy and strength and holiness depend on the solidity of this worldview putting strong fiber into the spine of our faith. Wimpy worldviews make wimpy Christians. And wimpy Christians won’t survive the days ahead. Rootless emotionalism that treats Christianity like a therapeutic option will be swept away in the last days. Those who will be left standing will be those who have built their houses on the rock of great, objective truth with Jesus Christ as the origin, center, and goal of it all.”
Is remarriage permitted?
Here is a conversation I have been kicking around here at work. I am trying to see where others fall on this subject.
Matthew 5:31-32
Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a women who is divorces commits adultery.
Now here is the debate, and I take this on with a humble attitude just looking to find the truth in scripture.
Now as we look at the Old Testament we know that divorce was allowed due to the hardness of peoples heart. But remarriage was not something promoted by God or the Law. The purpose for this is that marriage was so sacred that when you got into a marriage you were under the understanding that if this ends you are to either be reconciled with your husband or stay single to be fully commited to the Lord. This would ensure people only got divorced under desperate situations. Because they knew that this was it. So they would work hard on making it work through the most difficult situations. Now we see in this verse the infactical statment that has no prequalifiers in the context but explanations to the divorce….
32b
whoever marries a woman who is divorced commites adultry.
Now the grammer would seem to imply that the statment is just that. You marry a women divorced you commit adultry. Now the question…
Is remarraige permited or not? Now if you have been remarried I dont think you should get divorced to fix the last marriage because that would be breaking two covenatnts. But is it ok to say that was not Gods best and he never inteded on a person to get remarried?
Side one, Piper says remarriage is not God’s will. Click here.
Side two, Macarthur says it is permitted. Click here.
Reading with the Deductive method of interpertation not the inductive.
Sorry, folks I have been out of the picture for the past week or so. Our family has been sick but here I am and I hope we can jump into it and I pray your personal study time is blessed..
Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”
Question: Does this verse imply that “the salt” (Christians) can become non salt (Non Christians) and/or just “carnal”? If not, how do you explain the text?
Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you
Is Gods forgiviness in this verse earned? Is forgivness based on simply forgiving others?
Matthew 7:14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Is the path to heaven given to sinners by the grace of God or do they “find” it, as the verse states?
“When You”….
Yes it is 1 a.m. here and I am posting. We had a little girl who had some homework she forgot about that took my wife nearly 3 hours to work on and they still did not finish. Our little lady has been making the honor roll for the past two years (beside the last two marking periods from last school year, which is when we moved out here). But she has one C keeping her from making it this semester so we are plugging along to bring that grade up. Pray for Victoria…..and for my wife.
Anyway, I was looking at something that caught my eye today and I just wanted to post some things that peaked my interest in our text tonight.
Chapter 5 has a repetitious saying while applying the law…”You have heard it said…but I say…..”
You have head it said, But I say…hmmm
Now we can get into the fact that Christ takes the law here and applies directly to every human heart when so many self righteous Jews thought they were keeping the external law but the law was never external. But as we go into chapter 6 These words continue to catch my eye…
“When you….give to the needy” (6:2)
“When you….give to the needy” (6:3)
“When you….pray dont be like the hyprocites” (6:5)
“When you…..pray go into your room” (6:6)
“When you…..pray do not heap up empty phases” (6:7)
“When you fast….do not look gloomy” (6:16)
Then we go into the Do Not’s but I will save that for later.
God Bless,
Study Proper
Somethings to do as we turn the corner in our first month would be to write on a 3″ x 5″ index card the meaning of each chapter per card. Also I would encourage you to write your favorite verse on the back of the card and work on memorizing some of them. I would also suggest you start a folder for the book of Matthew and store your cards there as well as other notes.
Some ideas when reading your 7 chapters each day would be reading the first few chapters in the morning and a few at lunch and a few in the evening leaving you with the maximum time of study. I am using my Reformation Study Bible (ESV) to read and use commentary as well as my MacArthur Study Bible to get the best meaning of the text. Something I don’t utilize enough but will be this week is the chain references in the middle of the page.
The point of writing down the main point of the verse is to help memorize the text and location of events. Retaining the information during this study is what will make it most beneficial.
There is so much great stuff to uncover in these first 7 verse’s and we have all enjoyed the post and comments. Try to make a goal of at least once a week leaving a comment or a post. But if you cant, you cant but stay the course on those verse’s each day. I would also enjoy reading some praises about what has happened in your own life since you have signed up for the NT Project. I have heard so many stories and I have been so encouraged.
Here is a clip of email I got from one of our contributors and what they will be teaching there youth group after signing up for the NT Project. Praise be to God for faithful preaching…
The Bible – “Is our power source, God is consistently speaking and teaching as well as transforming us through it.”
Here is a break down of what is ahead in “Basic Training” What you need to do is two things! Read the book of Matthew first 7 chapters and bring your Bible every week to youth Group. We have already completed wk. 1
Wk.1 ~ ‘Golden Rule – Matthew Vs. Simon’ (Matt. 7:12)
Wk.2 ~ ‘Beatitudes – Bee Sting!’ ( Matt. 5:1-12 )
Wk.3 ~ ‘Salt & Light – Discipleship’ ( Matt. 5:13-16)
Wk.4 ~ ‘The Law – You’ve Heard… But I Say’ ( Matt. 5:17-48 )
Wk.5 ~ ‘Worship – Giving & Prayer & Fasting’ ( Matt. 6:1-18 )
Wk.6 ~ ‘Judging – Judge Judy’ ( Matt. 7:1-11 )
Wk.7 ~ ‘Salvation – Paul Washer Message’ ( Matt. 7:13-28 )
God is using the project to effect many life’s. Praise God and pray for others to join us as we continue to press on and study.
-To God Alone be Glory-
Who Is Matthew?
One thing I find interesting is who is Matthew? I have done a little research and found something to be very insightful and thought provoking…
Matthew was of course the author of the first Gospel. But what strikes me is the fact he was a “Publican” also known as a tax collector. I may be jumping a little bit ahead here but this all reflects on the who & why of Matthew. If we look at Matthew 10:2-4 we find two Simon’s: Simon Peter and Simon the Zealot or Cananite or Cananaen. A term for the party Zealots, a group determined to overthrow Roman Domination in Palestine. Simon was most likely a member of this party. The word “Zealot” came from the Aramaic which means to be zealous, and was used for those who were zealous for the law.
One thing I uncovered, about the group called Zealots was they were revolutionaries who hoped to free their country from the Romans even by the means of violence. They were Jews who had a strong dislike or hatred for Romans even more then there fellow country men did. Many Zealots were brutally murdered by the Roman Army, one method of execution was crucifixion. Which must have raised the dislike factor much higher! And not found much favor or harmony with tax collectors working for Caesar!
By all means these guys were enemies! Tax collector’s were Jews collecting money from the Jewish people to give to the Roman Empire! And Zealots were Rebel Jews! Simon and Matthew were two of the least likely men to be together, working for the same cause! Following a long haired preacher from the desert!
Wow! I just found this small but huge! Christ chose both of these men for reason and love. Knowing the strong difference between them!
There is great hope found in the love of Christ! This reminds me of a old boss I had whom I didn’t get along with until both of us put Christ at the fore front of our selfish lives!
Praise be to God
Blessings DJay
MEMORIZE IT.
Matthew 6:25-34
Do Not Be Anxious
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [1] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Was He King?
This is the question that the Jews would want to know the answer of anyone claiming to be the Messiah. This is the main question that Matthew tackles in his gospel. He starts out the most basic and first way a Jew would to see if a person had rightful heir to the throne.
The genealogy. We so often look at the genealogy when reading the Word and skip over it so quickly, maybe thinking it’s insinificent. But to the Jewish mind it was very important. It was a family tree or even like a family photo album. So very important indeed. Matthew used it to show how Jesus Christ was not only the rightful heir to the throne, but also the fulfillment of the promise of the coming Messiah, the Seed of Abrahman(Gen. 22:18, Gal. 3:16).
Interesting enough if you claimed to be Messiah you needed the genealogy to prove your throne right! Well in 70 a.d. the Temple where all genealogies were kept was destroyed by the Romans, making it impossible for anyone to prove their right to the throne! Leaving Jesus Christ as the only possible Messiah!! Wow I think the genealogy just got pretty interesting!! Who are some of the interesting characters you see in the genealogy. Take a closer look!! God bless.
Different theological backgrounds means different views on scripture. We can differ on secondary issues and still have fellowship. So keep theological debates centered on the text in our reading plan (unless needed to cross reference of course) so as not to veer off to far & be a one issue blog. But Truth is important to dialog about, so communicate effectively.
thenewtestamentproject.wordpress.com 