SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/8/2022 8:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Principle”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 13:49
Message of the verses: “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.”
We see in this verse that Jesus begins His
interpretation of the parable by explaining that the separation of the good and
the bad fish represents God’s judgment at the end of the age. MacArthur writes “The parable of the wheat
and tares illustrates the coexistence of believers and unbelievers in the
present form of the kingdom, and this parable illustrates their separation as
the form of the kingdom changes.
“In
His interpretation of the parable of the wheat and tares, Jesus stated the same
truth He gives here: At the end of the
age [His] angels shall come forth, and take out the wicked from among the
righteous (cf. vv. 29-41). During the
present era, which is the church age, God permits unbelief and
unrighteousness. But the time is coming
when His toleration will end and His judgment begin. The first phrase of judgment will be the
separation of the wicked from among the righteous, the tares from among the
wheat. The dragnet of God’s judgment
moves silently through the sea of mankind and draws all men to the shores of
eternity for final separation to their intimate destiny—believers to eternal
life and unbelievers to eternal damnation.”
We
have talked about how large the net is and so men move within it as if they
were forever free. From time to time it
may touch them, as it were, startling them.
But the quickly will swim away and as they do this they will be thinking
that they have escaped, but the truth is that they do not realize they are
completely and inescapable encompassed in God’s sovereign plan. The invisible web of God’s judgment
encroaches on every human being just as that of the dragnet encroaches on the
fish which is a major part of what this parable is representing. The truth is that most people do not perceive
the kingdom, and they do not see God working in the world. Perhaps they may be briefly moved by the
grace of the gospel or be frightened by the threat of judgment; but they soon
return to their old ways of thinking and living, as they are oblivious to the
things of eternity. However when man’s
day is over and Christ returns to set up His glorious kingdom, then judgment
will come.
I
think it best if I finish this section in our next SD, Lord willing as we begin
then to talk about the truth that Jesus is not at all giving a complete
description of the last days in this parable.
5/8/2022 8:46 AM
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