INTERESTING FACTS : Thomas Jefferson, Draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the nation's first secretary of state (1789-94), second vice president (1797-1801), and, as the third president (1801-09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase.

 

The elective franchise, if guarded as the ark of our safety, will peaceably dissipate all combinations to subvert a Constitution, dictated by the wisdom, and resting on the will of the people.[1]

 

Daily Reading : MATTHEW 1 - 4

 

TEXT : Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Mat 4:2  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

 

Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

 

Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Mat 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him

 

THEME : THE WORD OF GOD

 

Matthew

 

"Matthew, surnamed Levi, before his conversion was a publican, or tax-gatherer under the Romans at Capernaum. He is generally allowed to have written his Gospel before any other of the evangelists. The contents of this Gospel, and the evidence of ancient writers, show that it was written primarily for the use of the Jewish nation. The fulfilment of prophecy was regarded by the Jews as strong evidence, therefore this is especially dwelt upon by St. Matthew. Here are particularly selected such parts of our Saviour's history and discourses as were best suited to awaken the Jewish nation to a sense of their sins; to remove their erroneous expectations of an earthly kingdom; to abate their pride and self-conceit; to teach them the spiritual nature and extent of the gospel; and to prepare them for the admission of the Gentiles into the church." [Matthew Henry][2]

 

TRUTH FOR TODAY : "'IT IS WRITTEN AGAIN' - YOU MUST RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE BIBLE."

 

The first time you encounter the Devil in the New Testament he is the same as he is in the Old Testament - the Tempter. Moreover, he tempts the LORD Jesus exactly as he did Adam, that is, he uses the Word of God. The difference is only a matter of formality. With Eve Satan says - "Yea, hath God said...?"[4] With Jesus he says - "It is written." The difference is, with Eve, the Devil used God's spoken Words, not yet recorded, or written. With Jesus, four thousand years later, he uses the Scriptures. Either way, the temptation and the method is the same. The Devil perverts the Word[s] of God to use them incorrectly and entice Man to sin.

 

It is equally interesting to note the first time you meet Jesus He is quoting the Scriptures. That is, He uses as His [chief] weapon against the Devil - the Written Word of God. With more writing to come [in the form of 27 Books of the New Testament], Jesus initiates His ministry as the Second Adam with quotations from the Holy Scriptures. Thus, you have a foundation to build your faith on - The Written Word of God - the Bible.

 

However, as the Devil employs the Scriptures against Jesus saying as Christ says - "it is written," we have an engaging modification in Jesus' original statement in that he answers Satan with - "it is written again." The word "again" makes all the difference in the world when it comes to teaching, preaching, or quoting the Bible. The Bible must "rightly divided."

 

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

 

The phrase - "rightly dividing," has an intriguing root in the Greek language "orthotomeo." This Greek word means - "to make a straight cut," or "dissect correctly.""[5]  This is the great need of the hour - dissecting God's Word accurately, that the truth of any text of Scripture is understood properly. The method of the Devil from the beginning is to pervert the words of the Most High.[6]

 

If you have ever seen, heard of, or had a CAT scan, you had a Computerized Axial Tomograph [Tomography]. CAT is an acronym. What a CAT scan does [as all tomographic radiographs do] is "slice" the section of the body under scrutiny giving the physician a more accurate identification and location of the pathology. By slicing the section of the body, the radiologist can measure the exact location and size for instance, of a tumor. Therefore, the word tomography or tomograph has interest to you - the student of Scripture.

 

Chiefly, the teacher - preacher, or the pastor - teacher has the responsibility of feeding the flock of Christ the Word of God. This means, he must first be a student of the Bible. Today, we have such great sin in the Church and lack of Biblical order etc. because so many pastors have abandoned their first and principal duty - to be a teacher of the Word of God. In a survey conducted by Barna Group, Focus in the Family, Fuller Seminary, and Francis Schaeffer Institute, among the many distressing statistics about pastors, two of them stated - that "eighty percent of pastors surveyed spend less than fifteen minutes a day in prayer," and" seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons." [7]

 

As you study the Bible, pray the LORD would grant you wisdom [especially when the Devil misquotes the Scriptures to you] that you may be knowledgeable enough to counter with - "it is written again." Also, pray for your pastor that he would be a man of the Word, studying to dissect the Scriptures correctly. This is the great need of our age.

 

Pastors:

 

• Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.

 

• Four thousand new churches begin each year, but over seven thousand churches close.

 

• Fifty percent of pastors' marriages will end in divorce.

 

• Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.

 

• Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

 

• Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years. Ninety percent of pastors said their seminary or Bible school training did only a fair to poor job preparing them for ministry.

 

• Eighty-five percent of pastors said their greatest problem is they are sick and tired of dealing with problem people, such as disgruntled elders, deacons, worship leaders, worship teams, board members, and associate pastors. Ninety percent said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people.

 

• Seventy percent of pastors feel grossly underpaid.

 

• Ninety percent said the ministry was completely different than what they thought it would be before they entered the ministry.

 

• Seventy percent felt God called them to pastoral ministry before their ministry began, but after three years of ministry, only fifty percent still felt called.

 

Pastors' Wives:

 

• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses feel their spouse is overworked.

 

• Eighty percent of pastor' wives feel left out and unappreciated by the church members.

 

• Eighty percent of pastors' spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.

 

• Eighty percent of pastors' wives feel pressured to do things and be something in the church that they are really not.

 

• The majority of pastor's wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

 

Pastors' Marriages:

 

• Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.

 

• Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.

 

Pastors' Children:

 

• Eighty percent of adult children of pastors surveyed have had to seek professional help for depression.

 

Pastors' Relationship With the Lord:

 

• Seventy percent of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant, or mentor.

 

• Ninety-five percent of pastors do not regularly pray with their spouses.

 

• Eighty percent of pastors surveyed spend less than fifteen minutes a day in prayer.

 

• Seventy percent said the only time they spend studying the Word is when they are preparing their sermons.

 

© 2007 (research from 1989 to 2006) R. J. Krejcir Ph.D. Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development, http://www.intothyword.org/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=36562 , Accessed September 8, 2012