DRAWING NEAR
March 7
Denying Yourself
"I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed" (Dan. 9:4).
God will not respond to self-righteous prayers.
In Luke 18 Jesus told a parable to people who were trusting in their
own self-righteousness. He said, "Two men went up into the temple to
pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee
stood and was praying thus to himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am
not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like
this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I
get.'
"But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even
unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast,
saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'
"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than
the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he
who humbles himself shall be exalted" (vv. 10-14).
Apart from God's mercy we cannot enter into God's presence. The tax
-gatherer knew that and pled for forgiveness. The Pharisee missed the
point and went away without forgiveness.
Like the tax-gatherer, Daniel approached God with an attitude of
confession and self-denial. He could have reminded God of his years
of faithful service while in Babylon, but that didn't enter his mind.
He knew that in himself there was nothing to commend him to God. His
only thought was for mercy for himself and his people, that God's
purposes could be realized through them.
As a Christian, you have the wonderful privilege of boldly entering
into God's presence "with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith"
(Heb. 10:22). That privilege is rooted in God's grace through
Christ's sacrifice and leaves no room for presumption or self
-righteousness. Always guard your attitude in prayer so that you
don't unwittingly slip into a Pharisaic mentality.
Suggestions for Prayer:
Memorize Psalm 117:1-118:1 and recite it often as a hymn of praise to
the Lord.
For Further Study:
Jesus had much to say about the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees
of His day. Read Matthew 23, noting His scathing denunciations of
their hypocritical attitudes and practices.
Drawing Near, Copyright c 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
Psalm 117:1-118:1 (NKJV)
117:1 Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!
2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the
LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!
118:1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy
endures forever.
Matthew 23
1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 "Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do,
but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4 "For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's
shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers.
5 "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their
phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.
6 "They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the
synagogues,
7 "greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi,
Rabbi.'
8 "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the
Christ, and you are all brethren.
9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father,
He who is in heaven.
10 "And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the
Christ.
11 "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 "And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted.
13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut
up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in
yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
14 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour
widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you
will receive greater condemnation.
15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel
land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him
twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the
temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple,
he is obliged to perform it.'
17 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple
that sanctifies the gold?
18 "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever
swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'
19 "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar
that sanctifies the gift?
20 "Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all
things on it.
21 "He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells
in it.
22 "And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by
Him who sits on it.
23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe
of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier
matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to
have done, without leaving the others undone.
24 "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse
the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of
extortion and self-indulgence.
26 "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish,
that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside
are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
28 "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside
you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build
the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30 "and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would
not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'
31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons
of those who murdered the prophets.
32 "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.
33 "Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation
of hell?
34 "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:
some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will
scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
35 "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth,
from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of
Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 "Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this
generation.
37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and
stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your
children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but
you were not willing!
38 "See! Your house is left to you desolate;
39 "for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say,
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"
~~~
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
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In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
http://www.gty.org/Gospel/
http://www.nwbible.org/
To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
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