SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/13/2015
9:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
The Return of Satan
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
20:7
Message of the
verses: “7 When the thousand years
are completed, Satan will be released from his prison.”
Before we begin looking at verse seven I want to quote
what I wrote on verses 5-6 of Revelation 20 on Nov. 16, 2005.
“I have been taught that at this point all of the
righteous will have been raised from the dead and the one’s being written about
in verse six are those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior. Dr. Wiersbe points out that
verse six contains the sixth of seven beatitudes that are in the letter of
Revelations.
“Another thing has just come into my mind as I was again
reading the sixth verse and that I have read some commentators who have said
that those who come out of the tribulation, who are saved may die during the
1000 year reign of Christ on the earth, but if I understand these verses
correctly the only other resurrection will be those who are lost and then go
into the Great White Throne Judgment, with this having been said I think that
not only all of those who have come out of the tribulation period alive and
were believers, along with all of their offspring that they have will stay
alive until the 1000 years is complete.”
When I think about the last portion of what I read back
in November 2005 it does make sense to me that only those who die during the
Tribulation period will be unbelievers.
I read a fictional book that was a part of the “Left Behind Series” that
took place during the millennial kingdom and the authors wrote about if people
had not accepted Christ as Savior by the time they were one hundred years old
that they would die, but as I said it was fictional and I have to say that this
was one part that I did not agree with.
We have been looking at what will go on with Satan and
because I had a difficult time sleeping last night I was reading the Bible in
the middle of the night in chapters 9-10 or Revelation and I was reading about
someone with a key coming down to release some very awful demons from the
abyss, and we learned that this was probably Satan who had the key to the abyss
and who opened it to let them out as this was the fifth trumpet judgment we are
talking about here. Anyway my thoughts
if that Satan had the key to the abyss he must have given it back because we
learned in our recent SD’s that a strong angel had the key to the abyss in
order to put Satan into it where he would be for one thousand years. Now we see in verse seven that Satan will be
released from his prison. It doesn’t say
who had the key to let him out, but perhaps it was the same strong angel who
put him in that lets him out.
John MacArthur writes “To review briefly, Scripture
teaches that no unsaved people will enter the kingdom. Only the redeemed from among the Jewish
(12:6, 13-17; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:26) and Gentile (7:9-17) survivors of the
Tribulation will go into the kingdom in their normal, physical bodies. The perfect environmental and social
conditions of the Millennium, coupled with the lengthened life spans of those
physically alive (Isa. 65:20), wil cause their children to proliferate.
“Though the initial inhabitants of the millennial kingdom
will all be redeemed, they will still possess a sinful human nature. And as all parents have done since the Fall,
they will pass that sin nature on to their offspring. Each successive generation throughout the
thousand years will be made up of sinners in need of salvation. Many will come to saving faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. But amazingly, despite the
personal rule of Christ on earth, despite the most moral society the world will
ever know, many others will love their sin and reject Him (cf. Rom. 8:7). Even the utopian conditions of the Millennium
will not change the sad reality of human depravity. As they did during His incarnational presence
on earth, sinners will refuse the grace and reject the lordship of the King of
all the earth. That is not surprising, since even the perfect conditions of the
Garden of Eden were not sufficient to keep sinless Adam and Eve from rebelling
against God. The issue regarding salvation
is never lack of information (cf. Rom. 1:18-20); it is love of sin (John
3:19). Those who openly rebel will face
swift judgment (2:27; 12:5; 19:15; Ps. 2:9), including the withholding of rain
on their land (Zech. 14:16-19). But enough
unrepentant sinners will be alive at the end of the Millennium for Satan to
lead a worldwide rebellion.”
Lord willing we will look at the detains of that revolt
in our next SD, but we know that it would not happen if Satan would not be
released from his prison where he will have been for 1000 years. When he is released he will provide the
leadership that these unbelievers will need to bring about this revolt. When he is released this will be his goal to find
those who are not believer and begin the final revolt against God in human
history.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: This verse adds
to the many verses that speak of Satan and how evil he is and that as Paul
writes that in our own strength we cannot defeat him, but the Lord Jesus Christ
has defeated him at the cross and as a believer I need to put on my Spiritual
armor as directed in Ephesians chapter six.
At this time I want to include the prayer that I have taken much time to
put together in order for me to put on the spiritual armor:
“Putting on the Spiritual Armor: I desire to put on the different pieces of
the Spiritual Armor as found in Ephesians chapter six. I know that when I put these on that I am putting
on the Lord Jesus Christ as described in Ro 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.” I desire to please the Lord as I am protected
by the Spiritual Armor. I now take up
the belt of truth, knowing that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life,
knowing that His Word is truth and I desire to be protected by His truth. I put on the breastplate of righteousness
thanking God for the righteousness that I have in Christ Jesus, and it is my
desire to be protected by His righteousness and live before Him in
righteousness. I put on the shoes of the
Gospel of Peace, thanking God for his provision of peace with Him through the
blood of the cross, and also thanking God who provides the peace that passes
all understanding. I take up the shield
of faith to stop all of the fiery darts of Satan, and I ask God to not allow me
to add fuel to those darts Satan shoots at me.
I put on the helmet of the hope of Salvation, knowing Jesus Christ will soon
come again therefore I am not to have my roots in this world. I am to be living as if the Lord will come
back today. I take up the first offensive
weapon which is the Sword of the Spirit and this is the Word of God to be used
to combat the devil with its truth.
Second I desire to pray which is the second offensive weapon, and an
example of how I am to pray is found in “Mark 14:38 "Keep watching and praying that you may
not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”
My Steps of Faith for Today: Remember
that I, along with every believer are in a battle and in need of the armor God
has provided us with.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible question: “Bethesda”
(John 5:2).
Today’s
Bible question: “After the death of
Stephen, who went to Samaria to preach Christ?”
Answer
in our next SD.
10/13/2015
9:55 AM
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