SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/9/2019 10:10 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to
Eph. 5:18b-21
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph.
5:18b-21
Message of the verses: “but be filled
with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving
thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the
Father;”
As
many know we are looking at the book of Ephesians by following the outline from
John MacArthur’s commentary and as we begin this section today it comes under
the chapter title “Be Filled with the Spirit—PT-1.” I have to say that one of the reasons that I
use MacArthur’s commentaries to help me work through different books of the
Bible is because he digs deep into the Scripture to help me to better
understand what is in the Word or God, and then I am able to place what I learn
onto my blogs in order for the Holy Spirit of God to use them to bring glory to
my Lord Jesus Christ.
MacArthur
begins his introductory comments by writing “Apart from the truth in verse 18, which is the heart of Paul’s
message, the book
of Ephesians would appear to be legalistic.” I have to say that although this though has
not entered into my mind, after reading this quote I have to say that it makes
sense to me. Legalism is something that
the Pharisees had along with the rest of the religious leaders during the time
when our Lord walked on planet earth and He was not at all happy with
them. MacArthur goes on “Every exhortation he gives
would have to be fulfilled through the power of the flesh. Believers would need to rely on their own
resources and strength to follow the great road map of the Christian life that
the apostle presents in chapters 4-6—and would, of course, find themselves
completely deficient. Christians cannot walk in humility, unity, separation,
light, love, and wisdom apart
from the energizing of the Holy Spirit.
To walk without the Spirit is to walk unwisely and foolishly (see vv.
15-17). We can ‘be imitators of God, as
beloved children’ (5:1) only
as we are filled with the Spirit (cf. John 15:5).
As
we look at Ephesians 5:18-21 we see that Paul first presents the contrast of
the way of the flesh with the way of the Spirit. MacArthur concludes that what we just looked
at over the last 12 days is “the way of the flesh is characterized by the pagan
religion out of which many of the Ephesian believers had come, a religion that
centered around drunken, immoral orgies of supposed ecstasy, in which a person
tried to progressively elevate himself into communion with the gods. It is the
way of self, pride, immorality, greed, idolatry, confusion, deception, fantasy,
falsehood, and even demonism. It is the
way of darkness and foolishness (see 5:3-17).
“In
vv. 18b-21 the apostle gives the other side of the contrast—the godly walk of
God’s children that expresses itself in the Spirit-controlled life and worship
of beauty and holiness. He first gives
the central command of the epistle (which is the focal point of the New
Testament for believers) and follows it with an outline of the consequences of
obedience to the command.”
In
our next SD, Lord willing, we will begin to look at the first main point “The
Command,” which will have many sub-sections.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I think about the filling of the Holy
Spirit I am coming to realize that just as MacArthur points out that it is how
I as a believer can get things done for the Lord, things that I believe He has
set aside for me to do, and all believers in eternity past.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Humility is
something very important when it comes to being filled with the Spirit, for I
have to set self aside, along with pride in order to do the things that God has
planned for me to do.
Today’s quotation is from C. S. Lewis “I
do not know how much you ought to give.
I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.”
7/9/2019 10:39 AM
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