SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/29/2017
6:21 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: The Mystery
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 1:6-7
Message of the
verses: “6 So when they had come
together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are
restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them, "It is not for
you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;”
I certainly can understand the question that the
disciples asked Jesus as seen in verse six and I suppose that if I were there I
would have wanted to know the answer to that question too. We have to believe that one of the reasons
that all of Jesus’ disciples came to follow Jesus was they thought that He
would bring in the earthly kingdom of God that was promised in the Old
Testament. We often think of the disappointment
that Judas had when he found out that Jesus was going to the cross instead of getting
rid of the Romans and beginning the earthly kingdom at that time, but all of
the disciples felt the same way but reacted differently. While Jesus was on earth with His disciples
He mentioned prophetically about the future.
Let us look at some verses from both Matthew and from Luke where this is
seen: “40 “So just as the tares are
gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 "The Son of Man will send forth His
angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those
who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in
that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS
WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears,
let him hear. 44 "The kingdom of
heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again;
and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 "Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon
finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought
it. 47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea,
and gathering fish of every kind; 48 and
when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and
gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 “So it
will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the
wicked from among the righteous, 50 and
will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:40-50).”
“24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom
of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 “But
while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat,
and went away (Matthew 13:24-25).” “36 “Be
like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding
feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and
knocks. 37 "Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the
alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve,
and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. 38 “Whether
he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed
are those slaves. 39 “But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had
known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to
be broken into. 40 “You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour
that you do not expect’ (Luke 12:36-40).”
There are two more references from the book of Luke which I will
mention, but not put onto this SD because of the length of them: Luke 17:20-37; and 21:5-36, feel free to look
them up on your own. One thing more that
I want to mention here and that is that once the Pharisees said that Jesus was
doing His miracles in the power of Satan Jesus began to teach in parables while
out in public. This is seen in different
places of the first three gospel writings, and in Matthew we see this beginning
in chapter thirteen. So we see here that
Jesus did talk about the kingdom of God that would come on the earth as
promised in the Old Testament with the length revealed in the New Testament
from the book of Revelation.
John MacArthur writes the following about the answer that
Jesus gave to the disciples:
“Jesus, however, quickly
brings them back to reality. It was not
for them ‘to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own
authority.’ The Scriptures teach many
things about the earthly and glorious reign of Jesus Christ in His kingdom, but
no the precise time of its establishment.
‘Times’ (kairo) refers to
features, characteristics of eras, and events.
God, ‘by His own authority,’ has determined all the aspects of the
future and the kingdom. But as far as
men are concerned, that remains one of ‘the secret things’ that ‘belong to the
Lord our God’ (Deut. 29:29). All that
believers can know is that the kingdom will be established at the second coming
(Matt. 25:21-34). The time of the second
coming however, remains unrevealed (Mark 13:32).”
There is another important thing that we can learn from
this question and answer that we are looking at this morning, and that is that Jesus
does not deny that He will have a kingdom on earth as some today say will not
happen. Not only does Jesus say this
here but as mentioned the length of His kingdom is given in the following
verses from Revelation: “1 Then I saw an
angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain
in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the
devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it
and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer,
until the thousand years
were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4 Then
I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw
the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus
and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or
his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand;
and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did
not come to life until the thousand
years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy
is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second
death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will
reign with Him for a thousand
years. 7 When the thousand
years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison (Rev.
20:1-7).”
Now since we don’t know the exact hour when our Lord will
return in the rapture to take His bride, (the church) back to heaven we are to
live our lives as if He were to come back today, and that includes telling
others about how they too can be ready to go to heaven with our Lord but
telling them the truth of the gospel message, that Jesus came to earth as a man
to die in their place and now they need to accept this forgiveness, admitting that
they are sinners in need of His salvation.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Understanding
that Jesus will be coming back to the clouds to take away His bride, and that
many believe that it will happen very soon was the vehicle that the Lord used
to bring me to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and even though I thought
that His coming was very soon back in 1974, I am not disappointed, but still
look for His return as the Bible makes it clear that He will come back someday
soon.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to live my life like Jesus will come
back today.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and
Titus.”
Today’s Bible
question: “Who was warned by his wife
not to condemn Jesus to death?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/29/2017 7:08 AM
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