SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/10/2014
8:14 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Soberness
and Drunkenness
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1
Thessalonians 5:6-8
Message of the
verses: “6 So then let us not sleep
as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their
sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the
day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a
helmet, the hope of salvation.”
It seems to me as I read through the commentary that
Warren Wiersbe wrote on this and then looked briefly at the commentary that
John MacArthur wrote on this section that I will have to do two SD’s on these
three verses, first with the help of Warren Wiersbe, and then with John
MacArthur’s help.
This section is directed to believers, but also speaks of
unbelievers in it too. Verse six begins
with “so then let us not sleep as others,” and this is speaking of believers
not acting like unbelievers, for unbelievers do not have the Person of the Holy
Spirit living in them, and they do not understand, nor probably what the Bible
has to say either, but believers do have the Holy Spirit living in them, and
they should care what the Bible has to say, and they should be studying and
reading and memorizing and meditating on the Word of God.
We do see two different types of people in this section,
but we as believers must understand that Paul is encouraging us to act like
what we are, and that is people of the day, and people who are sober. When someone is drunk they will not see the
danger that is coming upon them, but as believers we dare not be drunk and not
see when danger is coming upon us. Now
this section in 1 Thessalonians Paul writes about the Day of the Lord, and so
believers today will not be here on earth when this happens, but there will be
believers alive when this happens and hopefully they will have access to what
Paul has written here. In the mean time
believers should live their life being alert and sober, and live with our eyes
wide open, for we will always have troubles and we need to know how we are to
live in the midst of those troubles.
Paul writes the following in his letter to the Romans “12
The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the
deeds of darkness and put
on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in
carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in
strife and jealousy.”
Paul writes about armor in more than one of his letters,
and we have seen it in our verses from 1 Thessalonians and also have seen it in
his letter to the Ephesians, and now we see it in Romans too. We need our armor on in order to be protected
as believers from the things of the world and the attacks that Satan brings
against us, and also to protect us from our old nature which never wants to do
good.
Dr.
Wiersbe writes: “The sober-minded
believer has a calm, sane outlook on life.
He is not complacent, but neither is he frustrated and afraid. He hears the tragic news of the day, yet he
does not lose heart. He experiences the difficulties
of life, but he does not give up. He
knows his future is secure in God’s hands, so he lives each day creatively, calmly,
and obediently. Outlook determines
outcome; and when our outlook is the uplook,
then your outcome is secure.”
This is not true of the unbeliever, for they are like
drunken men, who live in a false paradise and they also enjoy false
security. I remember looking back at the
auto industry when I worked in it many years ago and how the people that I
worked with felt secure because of their jobs and boasted that this would last
forever. The plant that I use to work in
has been torn down and the security that was there is no more. I have to learn not to put my trust in the things
of this world, and I am learning this day by day, for I was not surprised that
the factory that I worked in is gone because in the end I did not put my trust
in things like this, and after looking at the past six years in our country I
have little faith in it either for when the Lord wants to get rid of our
country because of how the people are living in it then that will happen
too. Our faith has to be in the security
of our Lord, and in the hope of our salvation that God has provided for us, for
hope of salvation means “the hope that salvation gives to us” which actually
has three tenses in it. “(1) Past—I have
been saved from the guilt and penalty of sin; (2) Present—I am being saved from
the power and pollution of sin; (3) Future—I shall be saved from the very
presence of sin when Christ returns.”
Now let us talk about the word “sleep” a word that we
looked at in chapter four that spoke of the believers’ body sleeping when death
comes to the believer, however when this happens the spirit of that person goes
to be with the Lord immediately. Now we
have a different meaning to this word in our text today for Paul tells us not
to be sleeping when we should be working for the Lord. Dr. Wiersbe states “But in this section,
sleep does not mean death. It means
moral indifference and carelessness about spiritual things. Jesus used the word sleep with this meaning in Mark 13:32-37.” “32 “But of that day or hour no one knows,
not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 33“Take heed,
keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
34 "It is like a man away on a
journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning
to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. 35 “Therefore, be on the alert-for you
do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at
midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning- 36 in case he should
come suddenly and find you asleep.
37 “What I say to you I say to all, ’Be on the alert!’"”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I think that last
statement that Jesus says in Mark 13:37 is something I need to hang onto today,
and that is “Be on the Alert.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Be spiritually awake and not asleep like the
unbelievers are.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:1-5.
1 Therefore is you have
been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. 2 Set your
mind on things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden
with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also
will be revealed with Him in glory. 5
Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity,
passion, evil desire, and greed, which amount to idolatry.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Barnabas” (Acts 15:39).
Today’s Bible
question: “During his two year imprisonment
in Rome, how many epistles did “Paul write?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/10/2014 9:20 AM
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