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P.O. Box 416, Gravette, AR 72736
501-787-6026
Dr. Arnold Murray, DRE
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Many times Jesus Christ would
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answer questions with a question.
Have you not read? Jesus also I
said many times, "It is written".
When He utilized these terms,
Jesus was telling those He was teaching, or correcting,
if you had read God's Word, you wouldn't be asking
these questions. The point Christ often was making is
that we must focus on the subject and object to read
the Bible with understanding. Let's turn to an example
of Christ teaching us to focus. Christ had just taught
the chief priests and Pharisees the parable of the house­
holder which planted a vineyard and let it out to
husbandmen. When it was time to harvest the fruit, the
householder twice sent servants to collect his portion of
the harvest. The servants were beaten, stoned and some
killed. The householder sent his own son to collect his
portion of the harvest thinking surely they would rev­
erence his son. The husbandmen killed his son. Christ
then asked them what the householder should do. The
chief priests and Pharisees said he should destroy the
wicked husbandmen and let out his vineyard to those
that would give him his portion of the harvest. Christ
then taught the chief priests and Pharisees what was
going to happen to them, because they would soon kill
the Son of God.
MATTHEW 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, "Did ye never
read in the scriptures, The Stone Which the builders
rejected, the same is become the head of the corner:
this is the LORD'S doing, and it is marvellous in our
eyes?'
Notice, Christ spoke in the present tense. At this
. ",ery moment Jesus, "is become the head of the comer".
MATTHEW 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The king­
dom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a
nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
The kingdom of God will be given to those bring...
ing forth the fruits of the tree of life, Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ, properly translated, means YHVH's Saviour. He
was sent to earth to be the Saviour of all that believe.
He also 1!as another responsibility.
MATTHEW 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this
Stone shall be broken~ but on whomsoever It shall fall,
It will grind him to powder."
One of Christ's responsibilities will be to destroy
Satan and his anny of fallen angels. He will grind them
to powder. Jesus was telling the chief priests and Phari­
sees that if they had read God's Word, they would know
what he was talking about.
MA TTHEW 21 :45-46 And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard His parables, they perceived that
Newsletter # 196 - February 1995
he spake of them. ~ But when
they sought to lay hands on
Him, they feared the multitude,
because they took Him for a
prophet.
There you have the religious community seeking to
bring about the death of the chief comer Stone. You
must remember to focus. When Christ said "Did ye never
read in the scripture", you should have instantly thought
that there must be scriptures in the Old Testament that
teach the same lesson Christ was teaching. There ~e.
PSALMS 118: 19 Open to me the gates of righteous­
ness.' I will go into them, and I will praise THE LORD:
Christ is our gate to righteousness. Righteousness
simply means to do that which is right.
PSALMS 118:20-21 This gate of the LORD, Into whi~-:;h
the righteous shall enter. 21 I will praise Thee: for Thou
hast heard me, And art become my salvation.
He will always hear you. This is part of your in­
heritance. Christ will not only save you from burning in
hell, He is able to save you from problems in your daily
life. Read His Word with understanding and He will
always hear you.
PSALMS 118:22-23 The stone which the builders refused
Is become the head stone of the corner. ~ This is the
LORD'S doing; It is marvellous in our eyes.
You might think of the comer stone as the capstone
on a pyramid. Jesus is the Capstone. He is King of kings
and Lord of lords.
PSALMS 11~ This is the day which the LDRD.hath
made; We wl1f rejoice and be glad in it.
Are you happy? Do you rejoice? It's your choice.
You may accept and believe in the Saviour, or you may
stumble on the Coruer Stone by going the way of the
world. .
PSALMS 118:25 Save now, I beseech Thee, 0 LORD:
o LORD, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity.
The Hebrew word for "save now" is "hosanna". The
people, as most of you know, cried out "Hosanna", when
Christ entered Jerusalem. What would Christ have us
learn from this. Perhaps, He would want us to understand
that He was not some "new religion". The prophecy that
told of His coming was written over one thousand years
prior to His coming. It had been written long before, that
the Father would send His Son to be our salvation, if
we would believe in Him. Understanding prophecy allows
an intelligent person to plan for the future. Are you
planning your future into the eternity? Let's look at
/
another test of your ability to focus.
MATTHEW 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of
God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the
temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers,
and the seats of them that sold doves,
Is this anyway to act in church? You bet it is! Jesus
knew what was going on was evil and put a stop to
the evil.
MA TTHEW 21:13-14 And said unto them, "It is written,
'My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye
have made it a den of thieves. '" H And the blind and
the lame came to Him in the temple; and He healed
them.
Again, Christ was telling them if they had read and
understood the Old Testament, they wouldn't be doing
evil in the temple of God.
MATTHEW 21:15 And when the chief priests and scribes
saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children
crying in the temple, and saying, "Hosanna to the Son
of David;" they were sore displeased,
Why were they sore displeased? It had been written
the Son of David would come to save the world; how­
ever, the religious community was being hit right in the
"old pocketbook".
MATTHEW 21.16 And said unto Him, "Hearest thou
what these say?" And Jesus saith unto them." Yea; have
ye never read, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
Thou has perfected praise'?"
If you are in focus, you should immediately pick up
on Christ's Words, "have you not read". Which babes'
words does Jesus want us to understand? Let's follow
through on this subject and look to the Old Testament.
Jesus gave us the clue. Let's tum to a Psalm of David.
PSALMS 8:1-2 0 LORD our LORD, How excellent is
Thy name in aI/ the earth! Who hast set Thy glory above
ihe heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
hast Thou ordained strength Because of Thine enemies.
That Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
Ordained means appointed. You all know the story
of David and Goliath. Israel's army was afraid of Goliath;
however, the babe David stilled the enemy.
PSALMS 8:3-4 When I consider Thy heavens, the work
of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou has
ordained; ~ What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?
What is mortal man that Thou care enough to give
him dominion over the earth?
PSALMS 8:5-9 For Thou hast made him a little lower
than the angels. And hast crowned him with glory and
honour. ~ Thou madest him to have dominion over the .
works of Thy hands; Thou hast put a/l things under his
feet: l All sheep and oxen, Yea, and the beasts of the
field; ~ The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, And
whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. ~ 0
LORD our LORD, How excel/ent is Thy name in all the
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Let's focus and document that Christ was speaking
of David and Goliath in Matthew 21. The title of Psalm
9 follows:
To the Chief Musician upon Muth-Iabben.
Those of you with Comparuon Bibles will find Muth­
lab ben re1ates directly to the death of the enemy cham­
pion Goliath. "Ben" in Hebrew means son and "muth"
means death or to kill. Psalm 9 carries on with this
theme. Focus! Christ said in Matthew 21 that out of the
mouth of babes would come the strength to overcome
your adversaries. Have we read what the babe David said
to Goliath yet? No. Let's follow through.
I SAMUEL 17:43 And the Philistine said unto David,
"Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?" And
the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
Goliath cursed David for coming out to meet him
in battle with sticks.
I SAMUEL 17:44 And the Philistine said to David,
"Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls
of the air, and the beasts of the field."
Sharpen up for me. We are focusing on what came
out of the mouth of the babe David that Christ would
want us to understand.
I SAMUEL 17:45-46 Then said David to the Philistine,
"Thou com est to me with a sword, and with a spear,
and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of
the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel,
Whom thou hast defied. §. This day will the LORD
deliver thee into mine hands; and I will smite thee, and
take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases
of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls
of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that aI/
the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
David told Goliath that the Lord would defeat Goliath
through himself to prove there is a God in IsraeL
I SAMUEL 17:47 And all this assembly shall know that
the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the
battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our
hands."
What came out of the mouth of the babe? Our
instructions to this very day came out of that mouth.
The battle is the Lord's. Does this mean all we need to
do is pray? That is not all that David did. God expects
us to have the courage to put the gospel armour on to
stand up to the enemy. He gave us dominion over the
earth. Are you on top of it, or is it on top of you?
If you read God's Word with understanding, you will be
in controL By understanding prophecy, you will know
what tomorrow brings and be prepared to handle any
situation as God would have you to.
I hope you are beginning to see the importance of
focusing on the "ubject. Christ told us that out of the
mouth of babes we would find understanding and we
did. Jesus told us how to win battles. He taught us that
we don't have to fear the enemy. Don't let Satan ruin
your life. Order him out of your life in the name of
Jesus Christ. You don't have to put up with Satan. Have
you not read?
In His Service,
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Arnold Murray