The Question "How?" from 1 Thessalonians 1:6b, and 9

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/30/2014 10:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                     Focus:  How?

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2 Thess. 1:6b, 9

            Message of the verses:  “with affliction….These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

            The question “How” is a question on how will God repay those who are afflicting the Thessalonian believers, and I must stress that this is not only for those believers in Thessalonica, but believers throughout all the ages.  The answer is that God will afflict those who they are afflicting, but it will be with God’s affliction.  John MacArthur tells us that the word for affliction is Thlipsis in the Greek and it can mean “trouble,” “distress,” “difficult circumstances,” or “suffering.”  “Paul specifically defined it in this passage as ‘the penalty of eternal destruction.  Aionios (eternal) refers in the overwhelming majority of its New Testament uses to things of endless duration, such as God (Rom. 16:26), the Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14), the covenant (Heb. 13:20), the gospel (Rev. 14:6), God’s kingdom (2 Peter 1:11), hell (Matthew 18:8; 25:41, 46; Heb. 6:2; Jude 7), and most frequently, eternal life.”  There are far too many verses for me to copy from this section of MacArthur’s commentary on this subject.  “Like all of the above-mentioned things, the destruction of the wicked will have no end but will last forever.”  Now that is something to think about when one is thinking about becoming a believer in Jesus Christ, for your choice is to be with Christ throughout all eternity or to be in hell throughout all eternity.

            Next we look at the Greek word for destruction (Olethros), and this does not refer to annihilation, but it does refer to ruination.  This word does not mean that someone will not exist any longer as some think, for everyone who is conceived has an eternal soul and will either exist in heaven or hell, there is no between or no stop existing.  MacArthur writes “It does not mean the cessation of existence but rather the loss of all that makes existence worthwhile,” and then tells his readers to look at 1 Tim. 6:9 to help them understand what he has just written “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” 

            As we continue to look at our verses for today we will find that there are two conditions under which the lost will serve their eternal sentence.  The first one is found in verse nine where Paul writes that it will be “away from the presence of the Lord.”  The second is that they will live “away from the glory of His power.”  The glory of His power is something most people take for granted, but should not.  We get up every morning and the sun comes up to warm the earth, to make things grow so we have food to eat.  We have good air to breathe so we can continue to live.  We see the glory of the Lord at night when we look up at the stars and the moon which controls all the tides.  I could go on and on, but the point is that when we think of God’s glory we probably don’t stop and think about praising Him for it, and those who will end up in hell will never see it again.  I think that is what Paul is referring to when he wrote that part of verse nine.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Father I am thankful for Your glory that I see each and every day, but must confess I rarely give thanks to you for all the wonderful blessings that You give me each and every day of my life.  Most of all I want to thank You for the gift of salvation that was provided by the death, burial, and resurrection of You One and Only Son!

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to think more about the glory of the Lord, and praise Him for it.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you 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 you earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Solomon.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How did the Lord smite Azariah?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/30/2014 11:13 AM

"Who" (2 Thessalonians 1:6c, 8b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/29/2014 11:07 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                     Focus:  “Who”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:6c, 8b

            Message of the verses:  “with affliction those who afflict you…to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus,”

            Yesterday we asked the question “why,” why was it just for God to afflict those whom He was going to afflict.

            Today we ask the question “who,” who is it that this affliction from God will come. 

            Let’s look at a couple of OT verses that tell us who God will actually curse if they harm His people:  Genesis 12:3 is a verse that God is speaking to Abraham, and it is actually a part of the covenant that God made with Abraham:  “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."”  The highlighted portion of the verse is what we are focusing on at this time.  Next we look at Zechariah 2:8 which states “For thus says the LORD of hosts, "After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.”  Now we will look at Matthew 18:6-10 and comment on it afterward looking at it:  “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea 7 "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8  "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”  Jesus is speaking of those who are new in the faith as being those “little ones,” and not necessarily young in age.

            In the verses we are looking at today we see the phrase “those who do not know God,” and this refers to those who do not have a personal relationship with the Lord.  James says the following:  “Jas 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”  People can know about God, as even the demons do, but that does not mean that they have a personal relationship with the Lord.  These people who think that they know God may think that they are serving Him by persecuting true believers as was the case of Paul when he persecuted the true believers of Jesus Christ. 

            John MacArthur writes:  “The reason they do not know God is not ignorance but wickedness that causes them to suppress the truth that they know:  “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Romans 1:18-21).”

            There will be people who stand in front of God at the Great White Throne Judgment who will think that they were working for the Lord, but will find out that they did not know Him as Jesus speaks of in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 25:12 “"But he answered, ’Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’”  Now here is what the word “know” means “1) belonging to a house or family, domestic, intimate 1a) belonging to one’s household, related by blood, kindred 1b) belonging to the household of God 1c) belonging, devoted to, adherents of a thing.”  We can see here that this word means more than just knowing about someone.  When we look at verses 20-21 of Romans chapter one we see that God has made it possible for everyone to know him “20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

            Next we look at the phrase “those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord, “ for these too will be afflicted by the Lord.  MacArthur writes “This description intensifies their guilt.  It is damning to reject an innate knowledge of God; it is to incur severer judgment to openly reject the gospel.  The hottest hell, the severest punishment, is reserved for those who do not obey the gospel.  In Luke 12:47-48 Jesus taught that there are varying degrees of punishment:  “47  "And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48  but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

            Hebrews 10:26-31 shows clearly that rejecting the gospel intensifies unbelievers’ guilt “26  For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27  but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

            Salvation is a gift to receive, however the gospel is a command to obey as Paul spoke of in his sermon on Mars Hill in Athens when he said “God is no declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.”  MacArthur writes “for that reason, Paul wrote that his apostolic mission was ‘to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake’ (Rom. 1:5; cf. 15:18; 16:19, 26; 1 Peter 1:22).  Therefore, those who remain disobedient to the command to believe the gospel will face God’s retribution.

            This judgment is not rendered by God because He is angry at unbelievers for hurting His children but rather because the persecutors did not come to the Lord Jesus Christ and embrace the gospel.  Specifically, this Day of the Lord judgment comes in two phases on the ungodly:  First, at the close of the seven-year Tribulation (Rev. 19:11-21), and second, at the end of the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:7-10).  It will then be the fate of all the ungodly of all ages to be judged at the Great White Throne and sentenced forever to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15).”

            This is the most serious manner that a person can think about in all of their lives, as accepting the Lord Jesus Christ and obeying His gospel is the only way to live out one’s life.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There is a song that comes to mind as I think about what I have just wrote, and it is a song of thanksgiving to the Lord for my salvation.

The Family of God

 

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God.

You will notice we say "brother and sister" 'round here,
It's because we're a family and these are so near;
When one has a heartache, we all share the tears,
And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God.

From the door of an orphanage to the house of the King,
No longer an outcast, a new song I sing;
From rags unto riches, from the weak to the strong,
I'm not worthy to be here, but praise God I belong!

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to pray for a young lady who is a new believer and is going through some persecution.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1 Therefore if 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 the things of God, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you 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 amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Elijah” (1 Kings 17:2-7).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who wrote most of Proverbs?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/29/2014 12:09 PM

"Why" (2 Thessalonians 1:6a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/28/2014 8:42 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                      Focus:  Why

Bible Reading & Meditation                                         Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:6a

            Message of the verse:  “For after all it is only just for God to repay.”

            No matter what country you live in there is a series of laws that you must follow, if you do wrong then you will be punished.  The question is where did all of this come from, and the answer is that because man is made in the image of God that man wants justice for those who do wrong.  However man’s justice is flawed because man is sinful, but God’s justice is not flawed, for God is perfectly holy.  In the 18^th chapter of the book of Genesis God is about to destroy the nations of Sodom and Gomorrah and is talking to Abraham about what He is about to do.  Abraham’s nephew Lot was living there and therefore he did not want Lot to be destroyed with the wicked so there is like a bargaining going on between Abraham and God as to if they found so many righteous people there then God would not destroy the cities.  At the end of that bargaining Abraham makes this statement:  “shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”  Of course the answer is that God would do justly and so He rescued Lot and his two daughters from the city before He destroyed both cities.  God did not have to do that but that is what He chose to do. 

            John MacArthur writes “Isaiah 45:20-25 illustrates God’s just dealing with those who reject Him:

            “20 "Gather yourselves and come; Draw near together, you fugitives of the nations; They have no knowledge, Who carry about their wooden idol And pray to a god who cannot save. 21  "Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. 22 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. 23 “I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. 24 “They will say of Me, ’Only in the LORD are righteousness and strength.’ Men will come to Him, And all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. 25 “In the LORD all the offspring of Israel Will be justified and will glory."”

            Now we will look at Isaiah 55:6-7 “6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”  MacArthur writes the following about these verses:  “God, as if were, summons people into court and demands to know why they should not be punished for violating His law and rejecting His commandment to repent and seek His gracious forgiveness (Isa. 55:6-7).  No one, of course, can offer any viable reason for having done so.  Therefore, God judgment is just and sinners are justly condemned for rejection Him.”

            The question “why” is asked in the Spiritual Diary, that is why is it just for the Lord to punish those who have been bringing persecution on the Thessalonians, and it goes further than them, for God will bring about punishment on all of those who have not trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, for Luke writes in Acts 4:12 the following to show this to be true:  “"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."”  I have mentioned this before that when people look at God they generally look at the fact that God is love, and for sure God is love, but God is also just, among other characteristics that are found in who God is.  We cannot just take one of these attributes of God and say that this is what God is all about we have to look at all of His attributes in order for us to better know who God is and what He does.  It is just for God to bring retribution to those who have been persecuting the Thessalonians, and they will receive greater punishment in eternity for doing this than those who have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation and have not persecuted believers.  I am saying that there are different degrees of punishment for those who will spend eternity away from God in hell, just as there are different degrees of rewards given to believers in heaven.  Some believers will not receive any rewards even though they will be saved as Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

            The point in all of this is that God is not only love, but God is just and because He is just He has to do what is right, and because He is perfect and perfectly holy we can trust that God will do justly to all who have ever lived on planet earth whether unbelievers or believers.

            MacArthur writes “When the Lord Jesus Christ brings vengeance on those who reject Him, He will be acting in perfect harmony with God’s pure justice, for He is ‘Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war (Rev. 19:11).  Those who accuse the absolutely holy God of being unjust are in fact unjust themselves.  He has given His law and called people to obey it and will judge those who do not.  The truth is that God would not be righteous if He did not.”

            We will not look at what MacArthur writes about the word “repay:” Antapodidomi (Repay) means ‘to give back,’ or ‘recompense,’ it is a strong, compound word that conveys the idea of a full and complete repayment.  The God who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution’ (Deut. 32:25), will just repay sinners for violating His law.”

            We find, what may seem strange to some who read the following words of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke 13:1-5 “1 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus said to them, "Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? 3 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."”

            MacArthur explains “The fate of the victims was exactly that which all sinners deserve—divine judgment.  All sinners deserve death and hell; therefore, Jesus twice warned His hearers that they would suffer a similar fate unless they repented.  The threat of God’s vengeance, retribution, and judgment is not only just but also a deterrent, a roadblock on the way to hell.  Those who ignore that roadblock are without excuse (Rom. 1:18-20).  “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”  9/28/2014 9:37 AM    9/28/2014 9:15 PM

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am so glad that I have been able to spend time with some good books learning about the attributes of God, for if I did not have a fairly good understanding of who God is then I would have problems with some of the things that are in His Word, like the passage from today.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Seeing that it is near the end of the day I want to thank the Lord for seeming me through this wonderful Lord ’s Day, and for also giving us a perfect day for us to spend time together with my oldest daughter yesterday.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.  (I am having some difficulty in putting some of these verses to memory, but am learning much from the ones that I have been able to memorize.)

1 Therefore if 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 the 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 amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But no you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Cyprus” (Acts 4:36).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was fed by a raven?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/28/2014 9:26 PM   

           

Retribution PT-2 (2 Thess. 1:6, 8-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/27/2014 8:12 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus: Retribution PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:6, 8-9

            Message of the verses:  “6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,”  “8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

            One of the attributes of God is immutability, meaning that God never changes, and so when people come to the conclusion that God is different in the OT from the NT they are not entirely correct.  God does deal with people in a different way after the Lord Jesus Christ paid for sins on the cross, for in the OT times the people who came to know the Lord knew that one day their Messiah would come and pay for their sins.  They looked forward to the cross, but in today’s time we look back to the cross.  When it comes to retribution there is no difference from OT and NT.  We looked at some of the verses that spoke of this in the OT in our last SD, and today we will look at different verses from the NT that speak of retribution of the Lord.  Now the verses we are studying are from the NT and they surely speak of retribution for that is the word we see in the text.

            In 2 Timothy 4:14 we read the following “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.”  Now it is good to remember that 2 Timothy was Paul’s last letter that he wrote that is recorded in Scripture.  I say this to show that when people are about to die and they know this that they will say or write things that are near to their heart.

            Matthew 3:12 is our next verse and it is the words of John the Baptist who is speaking about the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ:  “"His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."”  We must remember that the first time Jesus came to the earth it was to die for the sins of those who will accept Him while the second time He comes it will to be in judgment, and this is what this verse speaks of.

            In the book of Revelations, chapter six and verse ten we read the following:  “and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"”  This verse speaks of those who had been killed for their faith in Christ during the tribulation period.  The answer is “And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also (Rev. 6:11).”

            Jesus told a parable in Luke 20:15-18 that speaks of judgment, and He spoke this to the Pharisees, but it will apply to all those who reject Him as Savior and Lord:  “15 “So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 “He will come and destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others." When they heard it, they said, "May it never be!" 17 But Jesus looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written: ’THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone’? 18 “Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust."”

            In Matthew 23:13-35 we see that Jesus denounced the scribes and Pharisees and He declared to them that they would be condemned to hell in verse thirty-three.  He also promised more insensitive judgment on different cities in which He had ministered to, and Tyre and Sidon are two of the cities.  It is interesting that Ezekiel speaks of this judgment on Tyre and Sidon in chapters 26-28, and part of the judgment was fulfilled by Alexander the Great when he actually built a causeway through a part of the sea to get to them which is prophesized in Ezekiel. 

            When we studied “The Day of the Lord” in 1 Thessalonians we said that the full fulfillment of the Day of the Lord will happen when the Lord Jesus comes back to the earth at the end of the tribulation period, and as we read through the different judgments that the Lord will use as seen in the book of Revelations we can be assured that a part of the attributes of God are both wrath and justice, and they will be fulfilled during that time period.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am so thankful that when I read about all the judgment that the Lord will do on those who have not accepted Him as Savior and Lord, that God has taken all of the wrath on Christ while He hung on the cross.  This all happened when the earth went dark while He hung on the cross.  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I pray that as our entire family gets together with my first daughter that God will bless our time together, and give opportunity for witnessing. 

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is your 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 amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Nicodemus” (John 3:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “From what country was Barnabas?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/27/2014 8:54 AM  

Retribution PT-1 (2 Thess. 1:6, 8-9)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/26/2014 8:49 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  Retribution

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:6, 8-9

            Message of the verses:  6  For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you…8  dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

            We will look at the word retribution from the Greek and what its meaning is in a moment, but first I want to look at three of the memory verses that I am working on from Colossians three to make a point.  “5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6  For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7  and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.”  We see in these verses that two of them have lists in them that we as believers are not suppose to do and one of them is wrath, but in verse six we see that it is because of the things listed in verse five that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience.  We can see in other Scripture verses that God does not want us to care for wrath when someone does something wrong to us, but we are to allow the Lord to do this, and that is what we are looking at in the verses in 2 Thessalonians.  Wrath is one of the attributes of God even though it is not one of the attributes that many people want to look at, as they would rather look at “God is love,” and this is true, but if it were not for the wrath of God taken out on His Son while He was hanging on the cross there would be no possibility of anyone to be saved.

            John MacArthur actually had three sermons on this subject, to it is something that we could spend a lot of time on, and probably will spend at least to Spiritual Diaries looking at.  He writes in his commentary “Ekdikesis (retribution), meaning ‘to give full punishment,’ is variously translated ‘justice,’ ‘punishment,’ ‘retribution,’ ‘vengeance,’ and ‘avenging of wrong.’  In his defense before the Sanhedrin, Stephen said, ‘And when he [Moses] saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance [ekdikesis] for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian’ (Acts 7:24).  Just as Moses brought retribution to the Egyptian for  mistreating his fellow Israelites, so also will God bring retribution to those who reject Him and mistreat His people.”

            We have already mentioned that God’s justice is just, and we cannot bring about justice in the way that God does for we are sinners and we want to get even with people for what they do to us and not wait for the wrath of God to be done by Him.  When we look at what are referred to as imprecatory Psalms there are times when we have a hard time reading and believing them, but these Psalms are speaking of the justice of God, justice that He will care for.  David knew that God was a just God and would deal out retribution on those who deserved it.  The following is some of the verses that are found in the imprecatory Psalms: 

10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked (Psalm 58:10).”

21 Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies, The hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds (Psalm 68:21).”

27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, And may they not come into Your righteousness (Psalm 69:27).”

12 And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom The reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord (Psalm 79:12).”

12 Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children (Psalm 109:12).”

9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones Against the rock (Psalm 137:9).”  I remember when I studied this Psalm and Dr. Wiersbe pointed out that the little ones would go directly into heaven when this happened to them, and that made a difference to me when I looked at that verse.

21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies (Psalm 139:21-22).”  I believe that these verses speak of the attribute of God jealously, and the author was jealous for God.

            In his commentary on 2 Thessalonians John MacArthur quotes a passage from a book that was written in 1975 about something that happened in 1962.  The incident that a number of church study groups in that year looked at some of the Psalms and found them unfit for Christians to sing.  It was a practice for believers to sing out of “A New Testament Psalter” which was comprised of OT Psalms.  The quote he uses says “These psalms and parts of many others are full of tribal jealousies, bloodthirsty threats and curses, whining and moanings, which are shocking in themselves and time-wasting to God and man.”  Time wasting to God and man is a statement that borders on blasphemy, and the reason that I say that is because it was the Spirit of God who inspired the authors of these Psalms to write them. 

            There are other portions in the Word of God that are similar to those in these psalms.  We have just finished our study on Jeremiah and when Jeremiah learned that men in his home town were about to kill him he wrote “18 Moreover, the LORD made it known to me and I knew it; Then You showed me their deeds. 19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying, "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, And let us cut him off from the land of the living, That his name be remembered no more." 20 But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously, Who tries the feelings and the heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You have I committed my cause. 21  Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, so that you will not die at our hand"; 22  therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, "Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; 23 and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth-the year of their punishment."” (Jeremiah 11:18-23)

            There is more of this that is found in the book of Jeremiah but I will not take the time to quote it, but it is found in Jeremiah 18:19-23 as Jeremiah cries out to the Lord, and then the Lord answers the prophets prayer in Jeremiah 19:3-9.

            Now if you think that these kind of things only happen in the OT, we will look at the NT in our next SD, (Lord willing).

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are times when I don’t understand what I read in the pages of Scripture, and times that I don’t understand what is going on in my life, but I have to trust that the Word of God was inspired by the Holy Spirit and is never wrong, and that God is in control of my life and loves me so much that He never makes a mistake.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  God will give me victory over temptations that I face.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is your 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 amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said “No man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/26/2014 9:57 AM

Introduction to "The Vengeance of the Lord Jesus" PT-2 (2 Thess. 1:6-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/25/2014 8:14 AM

My Worship Time                     Focus:  Introduction to “The Vengeance of the Lord Jesus” PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:6-10

            Message of the verses:  “6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10  when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed-for our testimony to you was believed.”

            I am reading a book entitled “One Minute after You Die,” written by Moody Church Pastor, Erwin Lutzer, and in the book he explains exactly how and when what we read about in the passage we are looking at.  He tells what happened to those who knew God in the OT and where they went after they died, and those who did not know God and what their fate was, along with showing what will happen to the NT saints who have died in the Lord, for there is a difference in that according to the parable that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees about the rich man and Lazarus.  In that parable both the rich man and Lazarus died and went to a place called Hades, but there was a division between the two places, one where the rich man went and one where Lazarus went, Lazarus in what He called Abraham’s bosom.  After the Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead the people in that side of Hades went to heaven, and that is where the NT saints go after they die.  I want to mention that just because the man was rich that that was not the reason he went into the bad part of Hades, it was he did not believe in God in a personal way.

            In our last SD we talked about a motive why the Lord returns to earth at His second coming, but there are several other reasons why He returns.  The church is His bride and He must return to receive His bride, and take her to the wedding feast.  I believe that this will happen at the rapture of the Church and the wedding feast will happen in heaven.  We know that Satan is a usurper and wants to rule the earth and so the Lord must return to prevent this from happening, and this will be at the end of the tribulation period.  When Christ came the first time it was in humiliation and this demands that He return in glory at His second coming, for the last view of the world must not be His death on the cross.

            MacArthur writes “The return of Jesus Christ is therefore the climax of all redemptive history and brings God’s purposes to culmination.  Paul reminded the Thessalonians of this great hope to encourage them to stand firm despite the severe persecution they were undergoing.  Their hope—like that of all suffering Christians—was that Jesus would return and bring them relief.”  We read of this in the book of Revelations when the saints who had died in the Lord during the tribulation period were pleading with Christ to bring justice for their death, which came at the hands of Antichrist.

            In the world we live in today the glory of the Lord is hidden, and for this reason many people believe that He is dead “but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive (Acts 25:19).”  Now as believers we do not experience the fullness of His glorious presence “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8).”  There is a day when His coming will be visible to both believers and non believers.  I am very much looking forward to that day.

            We need to understand this next point and so I will again quote from John MacArthur’s commentary:  “When Paul referred to the Second Coming in relation to believers, he favored the word parousia (‘presence’; ‘coming’).  For believers, Christ return is the presence of One they know and have an eternal relationship with.  They know Him as revealed in the Old Testament prophecies, the New Testament gospel records of His life, and the elucidation of His life, death, and resurrection in the epistles.  But in verse 7when Pau wrote ‘the Lord Jesus will be revealed,’ he  used a different word, apokalupsis (‘revelation’; ‘unveiling’; ‘uncovering’).  That word, which has the idea of manifesting what was previously hidden or secret, views the return of Christ in relation to unbelievers.  The One who has been hidden will be revealed in all His sovereign glory to a world that does not know or worship Him.  He will be unveiled as Judge (v-8).  This will be the Day of the Lord.”  We have already gone over the Day of the Lord in our study of 1 Thessalonians chapter five and verses 1-3.

            MacArthur goes on to talk about three prepositional phrases that describe the apokalupsis of the Lord, and the first one is that he will come from heaven.  He had ascended to heaven in bodily form and after this happened His apostles were staring up into heaven when two angels dressed in white robes told them that this same Jesus would return in the same way.  Jesus Christ will return and touch down on the Mount of Olives where He left from almost 2000 years ago.

            Next we see that He will not return alone when He returns but with flaming angels, which means angels with power.  Billy Graham wrote a book about angels a few years back and the study of angels is what is called angelology and we surely do not have time to go into that at this time.

            The last prepositional phrase is He will return in “flaming fire.”  This fire that is describe here is the fire of judgment.  We see this fire in Exodus 3:2 when the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and it was also seen at Mt. Sinai when the Law was given.  MacArthur writes “The fire of God’s judgment is so closely associated with God’s nature that Scripture declares, ‘The Lord your God is a consuming fire’ (Deut. 4:24; cf. 9:3; Heb. 12:29).

            MacArthur continues “These three modifying phrases provide striking confirmation of the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will return from heaven, where He is seated on the throne of God (Rev. 3:21).  He will return with the same mighty angels who attended and serve only God; they are also His angels.  Finally, Jesus Christ will return in the same flaming fire that marked God’s glorious judgment presence.  By associating with the Son the realities characteristic of the Father, the apostle affirms His deity as the Second Person of the Trinity.”

            As I wrote about the book Lutzer wrote concerning when a person dies, believers and unbelievers, so the second coming of Jesus Christ will have a great difference on believers and unbelievers.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that I am a believer in Jesus Christ, for it was the grace of God and the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the certain call of the Holy Spirit that has caused me to become a believer and because of this privilege I desire to tell others about His salvation.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Your heart” (Luke 12:34).

Today’s Bible question:  “Complete the beatitude ‘Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall…’”

Answer in our next SD.

9/25/2014 9:07 AM

Introduction to the Vengeance of the Lord Jesus PT-1 (2 Thess. 1:6-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/24/2014 2:18 PM

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Introduction to The Vengeance of the Lord Jesus

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thess. 1:6-10

            Message of the verses:  “6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10  when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed-for our testimony to you was believed.”

            We will only begin to look at the introduction to these verses, and I don’t know how long it will take to do that.

            One more thing and that is how these verses seem to intertwine with the memory verses that I have been working on from Colossians 3:1-11.  Now what we will be looking at in this section is the wrath of God, and that is not a good thing to come under if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

            We know from Scripture that at this time the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven at the right hand of God, and according to the book of Hebrews is our High Priest, and He intercedes for us to the Father, for Satan is the accuser of the brethren, and then the Lord will tell His Father when this happens that He has already died for the sins of who Satan is accusing.  Now there will be a day when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to planet earth, and life like is now lived on planet earth will be completely different when this happens, for Jesus Christ will reign from Jerusalem for 1000 years.

            I want at this time to include a fairly long quote that is actually quoted from the John MacArthur Study Bible in his commentary on the book of 2 Thessalonians.  With this quote we will conclude this portion of this SD.

            “This crucial component of Scripture brings the whole story to it God ordained consummation.  Redemptive history is controlled by God, so as to culminate in His eternal glory.  Redemptive history will end with the same precision and exactness with which it began.  The truths of eschatology are neither vague nor unclear—nor are they unimportant.  As in any book, how the story ends is the most crucial and compelling part—so with the Bible.  Scripture notes several very specific features of the end planned by God.

            “In the OT, there is repeated mention of an early kingdom ruled by the Messiah, Lord Savior, who will come to reign.  Associated with the kingdom will be the salvation of Israel, the salvation of Gentiles, the renewal of the earth from the effects of the curse, and the bodily resurrection of God’s people who have died.  Finally the OT predicts that there will be the ‘uncreation’ or dissolution of the universe, and the creation of a new heaven and new earth—which will be the eternal state of the godly—and a final hell for the ungodly.

            “In the NT, these features are clarified and expanded.  The King was rejected and executed, but He promised to come back in glory, bringing judgment, resurrection, and His kingdom for all who believe.  Innumerable Gentiles from every nation will be included among the redeemed.  Israel will be saved and grafted back into the root of blessing from which she has been temporarily excised.

            “Israel’s promised kingdom will be enjoyed, with the Lord Savior reigning on the throne, in the renewed earth, exercising power over the whole world, having taken back His rightful authority, and receiving due honor and worship. Following that kingdom will come the dissolution of the renewed, but still sin-stained creation, and the subsequent creation of a new heaven and a new earth—which will be the eternal state, separate from the ungodly in hell. (John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible [Nashville: Word, 1997], x).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I get excited when different Scripture comes together like what I am in the (slow) process of putting to memory and what I am studying in my devotions as is the case today. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will show me all He wants me to learn from these verses of study, and including my memory verses.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1 Therefore if 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 the things above, not on the things 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 amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practice,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Eleven” (Genesis 37:9).

Today’s Bible question:  “What will also be where your treasure is?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/24/2014 2:59 PM