Page 34 - The MacArthur Daily Bible

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JANUARY 5
I will make my words known to you. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
24 Because I have called and you refused, For they shall see God.
I have stretched out my hand and no 9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
one regarded, For they shall be called sons of God.
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Because you disdained all my counsel, Blessed are those who are persecuted
And would have none of my rebuke, for righteousness’ sake,
I also will laugh at your calamity; For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm, 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and perse-
And your destruction comes like cute you, and say all kinds of evil against you
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a whirlwind, falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceed-
When distress and anguish come ingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven,
upon you. for so they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.
Matthew 5:1–26 13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt
loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on
5 a mountain, and when He was seated His then good for nothing but to be thrown out
disciples came to Him. Then He opened His and trampled underfoot by men.
2
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that
mouth and taught them, saying:
is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they
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3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on
For theirs is the kingdom a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in
of heaven. the house. Let your light so shine before
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Blessed are those who mourn, men, that they may see your good works and
4
For they shall be comforted. glorify your Father in heaven.
Blessed are the meek, “Do not think that I came to destroy the
5 17
For they shall inherit Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy
the earth. but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till
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Blessed are those who hunger and heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tit-
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thirst for righteousness, tle will by no means pass from the law till all is
For they shall be filled. fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of
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Blessed are the merciful, the least of these commandments, and teach-
7
For they shall obtain mercy. es men so, shall be called least in the kingdom
of heaven; but whoever does and teaches
them, he shall be called great in the kingdom
of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your
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righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the
5:3 Blessed. The word literally means “happy,
fortunate,blissful.”Here it speaks of more than scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means
a surface emotion. Jesus was describing the enter the kingdom of heaven.
divinely bestowed well-being that belongs 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of
only to the faithful. The Beatitudes demon- old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever mur-
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strate that the way to heavenly blessedness is ders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I
antithetical to the worldly path normally fol- say to you that whoever is angry with his
lowed in pursuit of happiness. The worldly brother without a cause shall be in danger of
idea is that happiness is found in riches,merri-
ment,abundance,leisure,and such things.The the judgment. And whoever says to his broth-
real truth is the very opposite. The Beatitudes er, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But
give Jesus’description of the character of true whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of
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faith. poor in spirit. The opposite of self-suffi- hell fire. Therefore if you bring your gift to
ciency. This speaks of deep humility of recog- the altar, and there remember that your broth-
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nizing one’s utter spiritual bankruptcy apart er has something against you, leave your gift
from God. It describes those who are acutely there before the altar, and go your way. First
conscious of their own lostness and hopeless- be reconciled to your brother, and then come
ness apart from divine grace (9:12;Luke 18:13). and offer your gift. Agree with your adver-
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theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Notice that
the truth of salvation by grace is clearly pre- sary quickly, while you are on the way with
supposed in this opening verse of the Sermon him, lest your adversary deliver you to the
on the Mount. Jesus was teaching that the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer,
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kingdom is a gracious gift to those who sense and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I
their own poverty of spirit. say to you, you will by no means get out of
there till you have paid the last penny.
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