Wednesday, September 13, 2017

PT-1 "The Kingdom Will Come" (Acts 3:19c)


SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/13/2017 9:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-1 “The Kingdom Will Come”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:   Acts 3:19c

            Message of the verse:  “in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”

            John MacArthur states that the phrase “times of refreshing” refers to the Millennial kingdom, and that is what happens when people repent, as it is not only an individual blessing, but also this ultimately will be a collective blessing.  All one has to do is to study the Old Testament and they will find that God promised them a kingdom, and that kingdom will be fulfilled at the end of the tribulation period, the 7 years of great trouble that will come upon the earth shortly after the church is taken out in the event called the “Rapture.”

            John MacArthur writes “Kairos (times) points to a fixed, set or predetermined time.  Jesus used it in Acts 1:7 to answer the disciples’ query about the restoration of the kingdom.  He told them, ‘It is not for you to know the times of epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.’  God’s sovereign determination of the time of the kingdom encompasses Israel’s repentance.  It is only when ‘all Israel [is] saved’ that ‘the Deliverer will come from Zion’ (Rom. 11:26).”

            It was in December of 2006 that my former Pastor, Dr. Jack Jacobs wrote a paper in preparation to speak to a group of leading Pastors in what is called “The Hebron Fellowship,” a group of Baptist Pastors that are in North Eastern Ohio.  His paper and talk were entitled “Covenant Theology vs. Dispensationalism,” and this paper which I could not find after he also spoke to our Bible Study around the same time.  A packrat friend of mine who never throws anything away found his copy and now I have it and have been passing it out to those in my Sunday school class on the book of Revelation.  The reason I did this is because if one is to understand the book of Revelation one has to realize that all of the things that are written in it that is things from chapters 4-22 will happen in the future.  Those of Covenant Theology think differently, and it has been my desire to tell people the contents of this paper because what is in this paper can be backed up by Scripture, while what the Covenant Theologists believe cannot. 

            Why do I bring this up now?  Well Peter is talking to the people of Israel about the promised kingdom that God promised in the Old Testament, something that was on the hearts of all who were in Israel, and because we are looking at what we learn in the book of Revelation as being the Millennial Kingdom it is important to me to make sure that people who read my Spiritual Diaries know exactly where I stand as to when this will happen.  Many Covenant Theologists do not even believe that there will be a kingdom, and some believe that it will be ushered in when all of mankind is living so well that God will just bring this into the world.  Tell those who are tearing up the Middle East that this will happen, and tell the people of North Korea who want to blow up the United States that we are truly getting to be a better people and are awaiting the kingdom of God to be brought in.  This kind of thinking causes my blood to boil as it comes straight from the enemy of our soul’s mouth, and people believe it.

            In our next SD we will look at some of the Old Testament prophecies about what the kingdom of God will be like.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Trust the Lord to bring in the Millennial kingdom just as He has promised.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will use my Spiritual Diaries in a way that will bring glory to His Son.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Daniel” (Daniel 7:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where were the Abna and Pharpar Rivers?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/13/2017 10:16 AM

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