SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/13/2020 11:16 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The Promise”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
5:10-12
Message of the verses: “10 “Blessed are
those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and
persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way
they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Living
in our country believers may not think so much about persecution or dying for
your faith, but things are changing in our country very fast. As one thinks about this we can say that even
a martyr’s price is small, and once it is over then the wonderful gift of
heaven is where the martyr will spend eternity and receive a martyr’s
crown. In the Beatitude we are looking
at we see that like all of them that it begins with the word “blessed.” However in this last beatitude Jesus
pronounces a double blessing on those who are persecuted for the sake of
righteousness, which is for His own sake.
We have talked about this specific blessing that is promised to those
who are being persecuted which is “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” MacArthur writes “The citizens of the kingdom
are going to inherit the kingdom. Paul expresses a similar thought in 2
Thessalonians 1:5-7 ‘5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous
judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which
indeed you are suffering. 6 For after
all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict
you, 7 and to give relief to you
who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from
heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire.”
Perhaps
when Jesus speaks of the kingdom He is talking about a threefold blessing: 1. The present kingdom that we are living in
at this time. 2. The millennial kingdom that all believers
will go to. 3. Finally the eternal kingdom where all
believes will spend eternity in. I want
to look at Mark 10:29-30 “29 Jesus said,
"Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s
sake, 30 but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present
age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along
with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.”
The
first thing mentioned was the blessings here and now and there are two examples
that I want to site in order to help us better understand this. The first one comes from the life of Joseph
as he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers and then was accused
falsely by Potiphar’s wife. Next he was
imprisoned but through it all God was with him.
Finally God elevated to the second in command in all of Egypt in order
for him to save God’s people from starvation and extinction. Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den because
he refused to serve God. God spared his
life and he was restored to his high position as the most valued commissioner
of King Darius and then the king makes this declaration that “in all the
dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel;
for He is the living God and enduring forever” (Dan. 6:26).
Lord
will we will continue to look at this section in our next SD.
6/13/2020 11:39 AM
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