SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/26/2023 9:55 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Intro to Matthew 24:16-28
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
24:16-28
Message of the verses: “16 Then those who
are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 “Whoever is on the housetop must
not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 “Whoever is in the
field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 “But woe to those who are
pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 “But pray that
your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 “For then there will
be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the
world until now, nor ever will. 22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no
life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be
cut short. 23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There
He is,’ do not believe him. 24 "For false Christs and false
prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if
possible, even the elect. 25 “Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 “So if
they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold,
He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 “For just as the
lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming
of the Son of Man be. 28 “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will
gather.”
I have to say at the beginning of this SD that this
introduction to these verses will be very short. Another thing is that John MacArthur entitles
this chapter “The Sings of Christ’s Coming—part 4 Perils to Come.” I think that it is important to understand where
we will be going as I begin a new section, and that is why I take the time to
quote from MacArthur’s commentary the last paragraph as he gives us a kind of a
road map as to where we will be heading as we move through the Scriptures that
we will be looking at.
“Perhaps
no subject in Scripture is more intriguing than the second coming of Jesus
Christ, and none should be more motivating to the believer and the unbeliever
alike. Realizing that Christ will one
day come in terrible judgment, the sensible unbeliever should be motivated to
repent and receive Him as Lord and Savior.
The obedient Christian will be motivated to faithfully present the
gospel to unbelievers in order that they might have the opportunity to be
saved. The faithful Christian is also
motivated by the reward he will receive when his Lord returns, and with Paul he
has the ‘ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”
“In
Matthew 24:16-28 Jesus continues to describe some of the perils that will
accompany His return to establish His earthly millennial reign. But before giving those additional signs of
His coming, He tells all Jews and all believing Gentiles who are living in
Judea during the Tribulation what their response to the abomination of
desolation should be.”
Now
unlike many of MacArthur’s introductions he does not give us a list of what his
titles are and so I will give them now.
1) “The Response” (verses 16-20); 2)”The Perils” 24:21-28). Now under this last named section there are three
sub-sections 1) “Severe Calamity (24:21-22); 2) “Subtle Confusion” (24:23-27);
and 3) “Sinful Corruption” (24:28).
12/26/2023 10:18 AM
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