SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/5/2015
9:22 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Introduction
to Rev. 14 PT-1
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Rev 14:1-5
Message
of the verses: “1 Then I looked, and
behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and
forty-four thousand, having
His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I
heard a voice from heaven, like
the sound of many waters and like
the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of
harpists playing on their harps. 3 And
they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and
the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and
forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 These are the ones
who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste.
These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased
from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found
in their mouth; they are blameless.”
My wife and I have been enjoying
watching the World Cup Soccer tournament over the last few weeks and we just
finished watching the United States team defeat Japan for their third overall
title and also their first since 1999.
There will be a great celebration for their efforts and rightfully so,
and they will become heroes in the eyes of many Americans too. In the sermon on these verses John MacArthur
spoke also of some American heroes from our past. He first spoke of General Paton who was one
of the great generals from world war two.
He next spoke about an author Ernest Hemmingway who also was a hero in
many eyes of Americans after the war ended.
Lastly he spoke of Pet Rose, a baseball player who had more hits than
any other baseball player in the history of the game. He then went on to talk about how Paton lost
face when during the war he yelled at a soldier who was afraid of going to
battle and was in the hospital, he even kicked him and sent him back to his
unit. The papers around the world made a
big issue of this and Paton was relieved of his duty for a while. Hemmingway, although a great writer had four
wives, drank a lot and during the end of his life when he did not want to face
what would happen to him in old age killed himself. Pete Rose eventually was banned from baseball
because of a gambling habit he could not control as he even bet on games he
played in and also managed. I don’t know
what will happen to our latest heroes who are the soccer team, but with social
media someone will begin to find things about them that will bring about a disappointment
to people.
As we begin to look at Revelation
chapter 14 we will see some real heroes, heroes we meet back in chapter seven
of Revelation. We meet the 144,000
Jewish evangelists back in chapter seven, as they men, 12,000 from each tribe
of Israel began to spread the gospel during the toughest time in the history of
man, the Tribulation Period.
Now at this time I want to quote
some Scripture which shows what the Bible has to say about being successful in
life, being heroes in the eyes of the Lord.
First let us look at Romans 8:37 “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer
through Him who loved us.” Next 1
John 5:4-5 “4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that
has overcome the world-our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but
he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
We have looked a lot at the word “overcome” when we looked at chapters
2-3 of Revelation, and we learned it met believers, all true believers are
overcomers. Next we look at 1
Corinthians 15:57 where we read “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Believers have victory because of what Jesus Christ has done for
them. Near the end of Paul’s life he
wrote a letter to his son in the faith, Timothy and I suppose that when a
person knows that he is near the end he writes some things he wants to
say. Paul wrote the following from 2
Timothy 4:7-8 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have
kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that
day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” These are truly words of a real hero.
Paul was a man just like all men as
he had the old sinful nature living in him and as we read about what he had to
say just before he died we also have to read what some of the lower points of
his life were for we all have them: “14 For
we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing
the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to
do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer
am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for
the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For
the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20 But if I am doing the very thing I do
not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I
find then the principle that
evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in
the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging
war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which
is in my members. 24 Wretched
man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” All true believers have been at the points
that Paul speaks of in their lives, and probably on many occasions for we all
have that same kind of evil in us that Paul writes about here.
In this first part of my
introduction to chapter fourteen I am bringing about the bad news, and have a
little more to talk about before we talk about the good news that we will find
in this chapter from men who can be classified as true heroes.
Let’s think of Abraham who God
called His friend. Two times he lied
about his wife Sarah, claiming she was his sister and not his wife, for
actually she was a half sister, but once they were married she was always his
wife. We read of David a man after God’s
own heart, but we know some of the sins that he committed for they are right in
the Word of God for all to read, sins like adultery and murder. When we get to the New Testament we find that
Peter, who loved the Lord actually denied he knew Him three times. John MacArthur writes “Believer’s greatest
triumphs are flawed because ‘there is no man who does not sin…there is not a
righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins’ (1 Kings
8:46; Eccl. 7:20), and thus no one can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am
pure from my sin’ (Prov. 20:9).”
Spiritual
meaning for my life: I want to
remember that “The successful Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Keep a short
list with the Lord and remember that there are going to be many times in my
life when I need to have a new beginning.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible question: “Rebekah”
(Genesis 28:5).
Today’s
Bible question: “What book gives the account
of the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Answer
in our next SD.
7/5/2015
10:02 PM
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