SPIRITUAL DIARY
FOR 11/16/2012 9:50:29 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Don’t Be Discouraged
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Mark 13:9-13
Message of
the verses: In Today’s SD we will pick up on the second
sub-point from the outline that Dr. Wiersbe has in his commentary on Mark. The main point is entitled “The First Half of
the Tribulation.” We understand that
this chapter is speaking of the period called the tribulation from verse
nineteen, “19 "For those days will
be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the
creation which God created until now, and never will.” When reading this 19th verse and
thinking of the advanced technology that man has developed, especially in
regards to making war we can understand what this verse means. Now there are some who believe that all of
the judgments that will take place on planet earth come directly from God by
using mankind to fulfill them, and there are some who believe that the
judgments come directly from God without the aid of man. John writes the following in Revelations, “Re
11:18 ‘And the nations were enraged, and
Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to
reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your
name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.’” I suppose that man is perfectly capable of
destroying the earth were it not for the restraint of the Holy Spirit, but we
believe that the Holy Spirit gives up that role in the tribulation period. Paul writes, “3 Let no one in any way deceive
you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts
himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his
seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not
remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And
you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For
the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will
do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one will be
revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an
end by the appearance of His coming; 9
that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan,
with all power and signs and false wonders, 10
and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because
they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this
reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe
what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the
truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”
Paul writes these words as he describes the person the Bible calls the
antichrist, and the reason that he writes them is because the Thessalonians
believed that they had a letter sent to them stating that they were in the
tribulation period and so Paul writes and tells them that this is not the case
because the antichrist has not been revealed, and when he is revealed there
will be someone whose restraint is removed.
Now many people, including me, believe that this will happen after the
rapture of the Church. The entire 12th
chapter of Daniel also gives wonderful insight concerning the tribulation
period. Daniel was an old man who was
nearing the end of his life, and he had seen things that probably now other
human had seen, things that frightened him greatly and as he neared the end which
is described in the 12th chapter he wants to know what will happen
and when it will happen, and there were angels speaking to him and one of the
angels stated, “"But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up
the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will
increase.’” At the end of this chapter
the angel describes the length of the tribulation period, “11 "From the time that the regular
sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will
be 1,290 days. 12 "How blessed is
he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days! 13 "But as for you, go your way to the end;
then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the
end of the age.’” I have read that the
reason the last number is larger is because when the Lord returns to planet
earth with His bride, (the Church), that it will take some time to separate the
sheep from the goats and this is why the angel states that those would be
blessed who keep waiting and attains to the 1335 days.
I guess it is time to get back to the
verses in Mark. “9 "But be on your guard; for they will
deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you
will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.
10 "The gospel must first be
preached to all the nations. 11
"When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand
about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it
is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. 12 "Brother will betray brother to death, and
a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put
to death. 13 "You will be hated by
all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”
We can see from this section that
the persecution would begin at the local Jewish courts, but then it would move
to the higher courts, and it was during this time that believers would have
opportunity to witness for the Lord.
This pattern is seen in the book of acts (Acts 4-5; 7; 12; 16;
21-28). Remember that Jesus is telling
His disciples that these events would begin after He goes back to heaven and
would escalate until the tribulation period where they would be the most severe
in intensity. Dr. Wiersbe writes, “But persecution
would only result in proclamation! The
believers would suffer for His sake and in that way declare His Gospel. ‘We multiply whenever we are mown down by
you,’ said Tertullian to his persecutors.
‘The blood of Christians is seed!’
While I do not think that taking the Gospel to all nations (Mark 13:10)
is a condition for our Lord’s return, it is certainly Christ’s commission to
His people (Matt. 28:19-20). The ‘end’
here means ‘the end of the age,’ the Tribulation period.”
Some take this passage to mean that
the Holy Spirit will help a poorly prepared sermon to receive aid from the Holy
Spirit, but that is not the case, but this is an encouragement to all believers
who are walking with the Spirit to give a witness to those whom the Lord brings
their way.
We see in verse twelve that family
members will betray family members when one of the family members becomes
believers in Christ. This is happening
around the world, especially in the Muslin world, and it is in that world that
many believers are being martyred for the cause of Christ. I have read about that there are some 1000
people in the world today who are martyred for the cause of Christ, and that
there have been more martyred in this time period than all others combined. Why is it that believers are martyred? Verse 13 gives us the answer, “You will be
hated by all because of My name.”
Dr. Wiersbe states, “Do not
interpret Mark 13:13 as a condition for salvation, for it applies primarily to
witnesses during the Tribulation. In any
period a person lives, if he is truly born again, God will love him and keep
him.” “During the Tribulation, the true
believers will prove their faith by their faithfulness. They will not give in to the godless pressures
of false religion (Rev. 13).”
Spiritual
meaning for my life: I think that is
because I was brought to the Lord through the message of the end times, along
with the gospel as the messages that brought me to the Lord were end time
messages with the gospel included, that I have believed that we are close to
the time of the end. I want to be
faithful to the Lord in giving witness to those who don’t know Him so that they
too can be in heaven when the horrible time of the Tribulation period comes
upon the earth.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to
learn contentment, to continue to witness for the Lord, and to continue to be
transformed by the Word of God.
Memory verses for the
week: Psalm 130:1-4
1Out of the debts I cried to You, O
LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my
supplications. 3 If You, LORD, should
mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
11/16/2012 10:58:15
AM
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