Archive for Posted by Gary M.
January’s Top Three.
Looking at our first seven chapters over the past month I would have to say my favorite top three sermons were the following….
Pastor Eldon Busnitez-Matthew 3:1-6
Pastor John Macarthur-Matthew 4:1-11
Pastor Mark Kielar-Matthew 7:28-29
I will be posting new audio for our current chapters this week and look forward to any particular message that helped you draw out the meaning of the text or just blessed you in regards to those first 7 chapters.
In Christ,
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
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-
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.
Whats so great about the Genealogy?
I want to take the oppurtinity to show how amazing God’s word is. So I want to open up with this question in mind. What is so great about the Genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1? What are some things you have found that have made that text interesting? So many others (even my kids) pretty much just laugh at me trying to sound out the names. But there had got to be more to it, right? I dont want to over spiritualize this but the genealogies are Holy Spirit inspired so what reasons is it there and why is it so good?
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3 and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, [1] 4 and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6 and Jesse the father of David the king.
And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7 and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, [2] 8 and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9 and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, [3] and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.
12 And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, [4] and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.
17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.
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 