SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/5/2024 7:32 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “Subtle Confusion”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
24:23-27
Message of the verses: “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 “If therefore they say to
you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go forth, 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 shall the
coming of the Son of Man be.”
I have been waiting to write about verse 27 as this
verse intrigues me, and so let us take a look at it this morning. The question is “How, then, will those
protected ones know when the true Lord really does appear to establish His
kingdom?” This is a good question and
the Lord answers it in verse 27 but helping those believers in the tribulation
period to discern the differences between the false teachers that He spoke of
in verses 23-24, which will tell His true coming from the many
counterfeits. “For just as the lightning
comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the
Son of Man be.” In this verse Jesus is assuring them that they will know when
He will come. “His coming will not be
stretched over a long period of time but will be quick, sudden, public, visible,
universal, and unimaginably glorious. As
the astonished disciples stood staring up into the sky after Jesus had ascended
into the clouds the two angels said to them, ‘This Jesus, who has been taken up
from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go
into heaven’ (Acts 1:11). An angel said
to John in his vision on Patmos, ‘Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and
every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him’ (Rev.1:7). Christ’s appearance not only will be
unmistakable to those in hiding on that day but to every human being on earth,
including His most implacable enemies.”
(MacArthur)
The
even just described, the second coming of Jesus Christ will bring great joy to
those who have put their trust in Him for salvation, but to those who have not
this marks the beginning of a very unmanageable time of punishment which will
take place after the Millennial Kingdom has been completed at the Great White
Throne judgment as seen in Revelation 20:11-14). Let us now look at Revelation 6:15-17 which
also talks about what will happen to the unsaved. “15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men
and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid
themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they *said to the mountains and to the
rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for
the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
MacArthur concludes this section: “Until the Lord appears in that predicted and
unquestionable way those who are hiding should remain where they are. After the true Christ appears, however, His
people and His enemies will exchange places, as it were. Those who had been hiding in the mountains
and caves will be released to freedom and blessing, and those would-be captors
and murderers will themselves seek refuge, as the righteous wrath of God
replaces and punishes the evil wrath of man and of Satan.”
The
question as to what will happen to those who read this Spiritual Diary is posed
as to what will you do with the truth that Jesus Christ came to planet earth to
become a sacrifice to pay for all of your sins, and what you must do in order
to inherit eternal life is to first of all realize that you are a sinner, and
you sin because you are a sinner. Jesus
Christ paid for your sins and just take the time to realize that He did it in
order to give you eternal life. Admit to
the Lord that you are a sinner and that you sin, and then ask Him to forgive
you and invite Him into your life in order to give you eternal life. After that miracle which you receive begin to
read you Bible but before you do that ask the Holy Spirit of God to cause you
to understand what you are reading. Tell
others what has happened to you, and find a Bible believing church to attend to
so that you can grow in your faith. The
very last words that the Apostle Peter wrote are: “but grow in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the
day of eternity. Amen.”
1/5/2024 8:04 AM
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