SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/9/2014
11:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Distinctiveness of Believers’ Nature
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1
Thessalonians 5:4-5
Message of the
verses: “4 But you, brethren, are not in
darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor
of darkness.”
Anyone who is a believer and reads this should be very
thankful that they are of the light, of the day, and not of the night, but
whoever reads this and is not sure if they are of the light or of the day
should be wondering how to become of the day and not stay in the darkness, for
those who are in the darkness during the time that Paul is writing about, that
is the Day of the Lord, will be forever lost and separated from God. When we look back at verse three it reads “3
While they are
saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor
pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” Notice the highlighted words “they” and “them.”
And now when we get to verses 4-5 we see these highlighted words “you” and “we.” These words introduce the contrast between
those in the light or of the day and those who are in darkness or in the
night. We also see the familiar word “brethren,”
which furthermore shows that Paul is speaking of believers. John MacArthur writes: “The spiritual night that engulfs unbelievers
includes both intellectual and moral darkness.
It is the intellectual darkness of ignorance on the one hand, and the
moral darkness of sin on the other; of not knowing what is true, and of not
doing what is right. God invaded the
sin-darkened world in the Person of Jesus Christ (John 1:4, 9). Tragically, however, most people choose to
remain in darkness; though ‘the Light shines in darkness,…the darkness did not
comprehend it’ (John 1:5).” Jesus said
the following to Nicodemus in John 3:19-20 “19 “This is the judgment, that the
Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the
Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for
fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
How very true these words are for a person who is lost does not want to
be around those who are believers for they feel guilty and afraid that their
deeds will be exposed. However everyone
is born spiritually dead and needs the miracle of the new birth in order to be
saved, so if anyone reading this knows that he is not a believer, but desires
to become one as the Spirit of God is drawing them to repentance then the first
thing they should do is to believe that they are a sinner and believe that
their sin separates them from a Holy God.
Next they should agree with God (Repentance) that they are a sinner and
then follow what Paul writes in Romans 10:9-10 “9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as
Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in
salvation.” Now in Ephesians 2:1-3 Paul explains that those whom he was writing
to were lost as all people who are born are lost, but those he was writing to
were not saved: “1 And you were dead in
your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to
the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the
sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the
lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and
were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
The Bible teaches us that Hell was made for Satan and his
demons, as when Satan fell, probably soon after God created him, he took one
third of the angels with him, and so hell was created for them, however all
people who have not been saved, that is born-again as we have described, will
end up there in hell with Satan. Let us
look as some verses to show the truth of hell:
“but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness;
in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (Matthew 8:12).” “For if God did not spare angels when they
sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness,
reserved for judgment; 17 These are
springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness
has been reserved (2 Peter 2:4, 17).” “6 And angels who did not keep their own domain,
but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness
for the judgment of the great day, 13
wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering
stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever (Jude 6, 13).”
We mentioned earlier that believers are not lost in this
darkness or ignorance, sin, and rebellion for Jesus said “"I am the Light
of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have
the Light of life’ (John 8:12b).” John
later wrote of believers in his first letter “but if we walk in the Light as He
Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7.” When one thinks of light one has to think of
power, for when we turn on a light it takes power to make the light shine. When we look at the last book in the Bible,
the book of Revelation we read the following:
“Re 21:23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined
it, and its lamp is the Lamb. Re
22:5 And there will no longer be any
night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the
sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and
ever.” The glory of God shines brighter
than the son, and this shows the power of the Lord, the same power that raised
Jesus Christ from the grave, and the same power given to believers to use for
His glory. God not only is love but God
is all powerful.
John MacArthur concludes his commentary on this section
by writing: “To drive home his point,
Paul declared emphatically, We are not of night nor of darkness. Believers live in an entirely different
sphere than those who will experience God’s wrath in the Day of the Lord. As sons of light and sons of day, believers ‘walk
in newness of life’ (Rom. 6:4), and new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), are
new creations (Gal. 6:15), and ‘seated…in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus’
(Eph. 2:6), and have their lives ‘hidden with Christ in God’ (Col 3:3). Therefore, the Thessalonians did not need to
fear missing the Rapture, being caught in the Day of the Lord, or experiencing
God’s wrath and condemnation. Believers
live in a separate sphere of life, where judgment cannot come.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: As I think of all
that I have in Christ I am very thankful, for I know that I do not deserve
this, and therefore do not want to be proud as to think that I have done
something to receive this gift of salvation.
I also think of the word sanctification and the meaning of this
word. It means holiness, but is also has
three steps involved in it. When I was
saved I became sanctified, I was placed in the body of Christ. As I live my life I am being sanctified, and this
means as I grow up in the Lord and live my life so that it is pleasing to the
Lord. Lastly when I get to heaven I will
be fully sanctified, for there will be no more sin in my life, and I am looking
forward to this state, for then there will be no more battles to fight or
temptations to win over by the power of the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to trust the Lord to give me the
power and desire to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:1-4.
1 Therefore if we 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 died and you life is not hidden
with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who
is our life, is raveled, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Into the air.”
Today’s Bible
question: “Who did Mark go with when
Paul refused to take him on the second missionary journey?
Answer in our next SD.
8/9/2014 12:13 PM
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