SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2015
11:26 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Counsel
for Smyrna
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
2:10b-11
Message of the
verses: “Be faithful until death,
and I will give you the crown of life. 11 ’He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the
second death.’”
I think that everyone on earth can use some counsel from
time to time and the best counsel as far as I am concerned comes from the Word
of God, and now we see the Glorified Jesus Christ who walks among the churches
giving counsel to this little suffering church.
Now to be fair as we look at each of these churches we
will see something similar at the end of each message, something that I went
over when we looked at Ephesus, but there will also be something different when
we look at each of the churches, something unique to their situation, something
to give encouragement to them if they would only follow what our Lord has to
say to them, and that something unique in this case is that the Lord wants them
to faithful until death, and then they will receive the crown of life. There is no one better to give this advice
than our Lord as He went through suffering and pain and then died a death that
brought salvation to those who will accept His forgiveness. He was raised from the dead because He had
done what His Father had sent Him to do and now will receive much from His
Father for being obedient even unto death.
“1 Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain
thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel
together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us tear their fetters apart And
cast away their cords from us!" 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs
at them. 5 Then He will speak to them in
His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My
holy mountain."
7 "I will surely tell of the decree of
the LORD: He said to Me,
’You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 ’Ask of Me, and I will surely
give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your
possession. 9 ’You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them
like earthenware.’"
10 ¶ Now therefore, O kings, show
discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. 11 Worship the LORD with
reverence And rejoice with trembling. 12 Do homage to the Son, that He not
become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How
blessed are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalm 2 1-12).” This is a wonderful Messianic Psalm that
gives us a glimpse of what the Father will do for His Son.
John MacArthur explains the Greek for “the crown of life.” “Those who prove the genuineness of their
faith by remaining faithful to the Lord until death will receive as their
reward the crown (stephanos; the
victor’s crown) of life (cf. James 1:12).
The crown (reward, culmination, outcome) of genuine saving faith is
eternal life, and perseverance proves the genuineness of their faith as they
endure suffering. The Scriptures teach
that true Christians will persevere. The
biblical truth was understood by the authors of the Westminster Confession of Faith,
when they wrote ‘They, whom God has accepted in His Beloved, effectually
called, and sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away
from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and
be eternally saved.’ That is the
unmistakable teaching of Scripture (e. g., Matt. 10:22; 24:13; Mark 4:13-20;
John 8:31; Col. 1:21-23; 1 John 2:19).”
Now go back to the end of the writings on the church at
Ephesus in order to understand verse eleven as it is the same. (See SD dated 1-19-2015).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I desire to
be faithful to the Lord to the end of my life, to do the things that He calls
me to do for the cause of Christ whatever that may be, and that being said I
pray for grace from Him to see me through the things that He has called me to
do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to better understand and live in the love He has for
me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “King Agrippa” (Acts 26:19).
Today’s Bible
question: “In which book of the Bible is
Enoch’s prophecy found?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/26/2015 11:54 AM
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