SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/10/2015
8:41 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 Introduction to Rev. 22:6-12
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
22:6-12
Message of the
verses: “6 And he said to me,
"These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord, the God of the
spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things
which must soon take place. 7 “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he
who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." 8 I, John, am the one
who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to
worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. 9 But he said to
me, "Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren
the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God." 10
And he said to me, "Do
not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
11 "Let the one who does wrong,
still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who
is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep
himself holy." 12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me,
to render to every man according to what he has done.”
Now we want to begin with the threefold repetition of the
phrase “I am coming quickly,” which is in verses 7, 12, and also in verse
20. This phrase reinforces the reality
of the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. John MacArthur writes “The adverb tachu (‘quickly’) does not refer to the
speed at which Christ will travel from heaven to earth when He returns;
instead, it has the connotation of ‘soon,’ or ‘before long.’ The point is that ‘the Judge is standing
right at the door’ (James 5:9), poised to return at any moment.” It really does not matter to us at what speed
that it takes our Lord to return, but that He is going to return and what
happens when He gets here is really what matters.
MacArthur goes on to write “As the epilogue opens, John
records that he (the angel who had shown him the New Jerusalem; 21:9; 22:1)
said to me, ‘These words are faithful and true.’ The angel’s words provide heavenly attestation
to the validity of all that John had heard and seen throughout the
Apocalypse. The angel repeats the same
affirmation given earlier to John by God Himself: ‘He who sits on the throne said... ‘Write,
for these words are faithful and true’’(21:5).
The phrase ‘faithful
and true’ also appears twice in Revelation as a title for the Lord Jesus Christ
(3:14; 19:11). The words of the
Apocalypse are as faithful and true as the One who revealed them to John.”
Now this paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary is also
important and so I must also quote it: “The
angel’s words reinforce an important truth:
Everything John has seen in Revelation will come to pass. What the inspired apostle has written is not
mystical; the Apocalypse is not a record of his bizarre dreams or the result of
an overactive imagination. It is not an
allegory from which readers can extract hidden meanings of their own
concoction. It is an accurate
description of events and persons yet to come.
Verse 18 and 19 of this chapter give a sobering warning against
tampering with Revelation: ‘I testify to
everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him
the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life
and from the holy city, which are written in this book.’”
John affirms that what the angel had told him in an
emphatic testimony to the truthfulness of what he had seen and what he had
heard by writing “"These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord,
the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His
bond-servants the things which must soon take place.’” We have seen a similar thing in Peter’s
writings when he wrote “19 So we have
the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to
a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises
in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is
a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an
act of human will, but men
moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” John was moved by God’s Spirit and was also
told by God and His angels what must soon take place and so the point is that
what we have in this book is true and the things that are written in this book
will indeed come true just as they are written.
I have a hard time imagining what the Bible would be without the book of
Revelation and yet there are many believes today that will not even pick up
their Bibles to read this book, and to me that is a great shame on their parts.
As we are also looking at the books of the OT, and have
been looking at them for almost ten years we have seen that the things that are
written in them that were predicted by God have all come true. God said that Abraham and Sarah would have a
child and they did, and that that child would have a son who would begin the
twelve tribes of Israel and that they would go into bondage for four hundred
years and they did. God said that they
would be brought out and they were, go into the Promised Land and they
did. Come out of the Promised Land and
they did. God back into the Promised
Land and they did. Go back out of the Promised Land and be dispersed all around
the world and they were. Be brought back
into the Promised Land and they were in 1948.
God’s Word also spoke of the coming Messiah and He came, and that He
would die for our sins and He did, and go back into heaven and He is there interceding
for us at this moment of history waiting for the trumpet to blow so He will
return to gather His Church, and then the Tribulation Period will begin and
then He will return to set up the promised kingdom for 1000 years, uncreate the
earth and universe and bring to justice those who have not believed, set up the
New Jerusalem and begin the eternal kingdom.
These things will happen just as the other things written in the Word of
God happened and therefore we must heed the things found in this book.
John MacArthur concludes this introduction by
writing: “The reality of our Lord’s
imminent return calls for four responses on the part of every believer:
immediate obedience, immediate worship, immediate proclamation, and immediate
service.” We will begin to look at these
in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I learn
theses four responses that I am to learn I will follow what the Word of God
teaches about them.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord to give my daughter and
grandson a safe and successful trip so see the doctor in Amish country, and
that he will help both of us to live more healthy fruitful lives. We will not to forget to give the glory to
the Lord.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Assyria” (2 Kings 15:29).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who killed James the brother
of John?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/10/2015 9:21 AM
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