SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/25/2024 10:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “An Unmistakable Application”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
24:33-34
Message of the verses: “33 so, you too, when you see all these things,
recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not
pass away until all these things take place.”
I have to begin this SD with what I think is an
important quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary: “When the context is studied carefully, Jesus’
application of the parable is as unmistakable as its analogy is
uncomplicated. All these things can only
refer to what He has been talking about—the birth pains (vv. 4-14), the
abomination of desolation (v. 15), the need to flee because of the impending
perils (vv. 16-28), and the catastrophic upheaval of the universe (v. 29). Those things will indicate that He is near, just
as the budding fig tree indicates that summer, the harvest time, is near.”
This
definition that I just quoted may seem very simple, but that is ok, as simply
understanding this section of Matthew 24 is what we need, as we don’t need to
make it more difficult than it really is.
MacArthur
goes on to write “In the NASB text, He translates the Greek verb estin, which literally means ‘it is,’ as
the term is most commonly rendered. In
Luke’s account Jesus says, ‘the kingdom of God is near’ (21:31), which is
consistent with the reading of ‘it’ (KJV) in Matthew 23:33. The supreme event of the last day, and the
event about which the disciples had queried Jesus (v. 3), was the Lord’s
personal coming to establish His kingdom.
The basic idea is therefore the same, whether the pronoun is He or ‘it’
or whether the antecedent is the appearance of Christ, Christ Himself, or
Christ’s kingdom. When Christ’s appearing is near, He Himself will be near and
His kingdom will be near. When those
signs occur, the divine King will be right at the door, knocking and ready to
come in.
Now
we want to look at verse 34 and comment on some things that go along with
it. 34 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not
pass away until all these things take place.”
I may have talked about what I am about to write in an earlier SD, but I
believe that even if I did it will be worthwhile to write about it again. I want to say that tomorrow January 26, 2024
is a special day for me, for it was on that date 50 years ago that the Lord
Jesus Christ saved me while visiting a high school friend of mine who lived in
Florida. One may wonder what this has to
do with verse 34, but bear with me as I try to explain. While visiting my friend in Florida he
suggested that I listen to a series of tapes which were sermons on the end
times by Hal Lindsey. In one of these
lessons Lindsey spoke about this section in Matthew 24 and what he said about
the words “this generation” in my opinion now was not what the text really
means. He like others taught that the
meaning of “this generation” were the people who were alive during the time
when Israel became a nation on May 5, 1948.
There is more to my story, and that happened in November of 1973 when I
got a whim to get on an airplane to visit my friend in Florida for a
weekend. Flying from Cleveland, Ohio to
Florida routed me through Atlanta, GA, where I had a layover. I ran into a young couple who began to talk
to me about this very verse from Matthew 24, and they were explaining to me the
same thing which I learned from Hal Lindsey’s message. God was preparing my heart for
salvation. So what does this mean when
the Lord was talking about “this generation?
I have one more little story that goes along with this, and it has to do
with when I was studying the gospel of Mark a fairly long time ago. I was using the sermons that John MacArthur
was preaching on Mark because his commentary had not yet come out and I would
listen to them while walking on my treadmill.
Mark 13 is also about the Olivet Discourse and that was what I was
listening to that day. When the subject
of “this generation” came up I believe that Lord spoke to my heart before
MacArthur said what he thought this meant, and that is “this generation” is
speaking of those who are alive on planet earth during the tribulation period,
those who are believers that is, as they will not pass away until all these
things take place, and I have already mentioned what “these things” mean
earlier in this SD.
I
have to say that looking back 50 years ago from tomorrow that the Lord has
truly been very faithful to me by saving me that day and then a few months
later saving my wife. We have two grown
children ages 47 and 45, and have seven grandchildren, eight if you count one
who is in heaven after a miscarriage a long time ago that my daughter had. Thinking about what the Lord has done in my
life after that wonderful event 50 years ago has gotten me emotional, and very
thankful to the Lord for saving me what seems to be a long time ago.
Lord
willing we will pick up where we left off today in the next SD.
1/25/2024 11:05 AM
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