SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/16/2014 8:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
A Joyful Endurance in Tribulation
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 Thess. 1:6b
Message of the
verses: “having received the word in
much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”
We are going to take a look at the sixth characteristic
of the elect in today’s SD.
The second half of verse six tells us that the
Thessalonian believers received the Word, and later on we will see that Paul
tells them that they knew what he was telling them was the Word of God, they
received it in much tribulation, that is they were under much pressure, but it
goes on to tell them that they had joy in the Holy Spirit. Paul is not talking about joy that a person
can have because they are happy, but the kind of joy he writes about in Romans
14:17 “God’s kingdom isn’t a matter of what you put in your stomach, for
goodness’ sake. It’s what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it
together, and completes it with joy.”
(Message) “After all, the kingdom
of Heaven is not a matter of whether you get what you like to eat and drink,
but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Philips)
We have discussed the fact that Paul was not with these
new believers very long, but the Bible does not tell us how long he was with
them as far as an amount of weeks or months.
We do know that Paul taught in the Synagogue for three Sabbaths but the
Jews did not want to hear any more of his teachings so he went to the
Gentiles. We also know that Paul worked
there so that he would not be a burden to this new church, and we also know
that according to Philippians 4:16 that he received two gifts from the
believers at Philippi. We then can
conclude that he was there for a few months, but exactly how long we cannot say
for certain. He was there to teach them
much about the Word of God, and especially about the end times as we can
conclude from both of his letters to them.
Let’s look briefly at the tribulation that Paul went
through in taking the Word of God to the Thessalonian believers from Acts
17:5-10 “5 But the Jews, becoming
jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a
mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were
seeking to bring them out to the people. 6 When they did not find them, they
began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting,
"These men who have upset the world have come here also; 7 and Jason has
welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that
there is another king, Jesus." 8 They stirred up the crowd and the city
authorities who heard these things. 9 And when they had received a pledge from
Jason and the others, they released them.
10 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea,
and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.” Paul seems to many times was preaching and
teaching the Word of God in tribulation, that is in extreme pressure. We can read about this in the book of 2Cor.
11: 22 “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they
descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ?-I speak as if
insane-I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number,
often in danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine
lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I
was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. 26 I have been on
frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from
my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the
wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27 I have been in
labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often
without food, in cold and exposure. 28 Apart from such external things, there
is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.” Paul was defending the fact that he was a
real Apostle of Jesus Christ in these verses written to those in Corinth. We can rest assured that Paul, in all of his
sufferings received the true joy in the Holy Spirit. Let us now look at the joy that Christ had in
dying for our sins: “1 Therefore, since
we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside
every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, 2
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by
sinners against Himself, so
that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3) I think that we can conclude that the
highlighted part of verse three was true of the believers from Thessalonians.
John MacArthur writes the following about the word
“tribulation.” “The Greek word rendered
tribulation is thlipsis, which means
‘intense pressure,’ as opposed to something mild. So the new believers in Thessalonica
experienced severe persecution, but the genuineness of their salvation
transcended that affliction so that they never lost their joy (cf. 1 Thess.
3:4; 2 Thess. 1:4; in contrast, see Ps. 51:12).” “Restore to me the joy of Your
salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit (Ps. 51:12).” This psalm was written by David as he
confessed the sin he had done in reference to sleeping with Bathsheba and then
killing her husband.
In explaining the fact that the Thessalonian believers
acted similar to those from the church in Judah MacArthur writes “But one
should not consider those Spirit-filled responses of joy strange or
incomprehensible—joy is a divine benefit of the Christians standing in Christ,
one of the ‘spiritual blessing (s) is the heavenly places in Christ’ (Eph.
1:3). Romans 5:1-4 declares: ‘1 Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our
introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope
of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that
tribulation brings about perseverance; 4
and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope.’”
“Mere human joy will die under persecution; the joy of
the Holy Spirit will transcend it and grow.
Yet again, though such joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), all
believers are called on to pursue greater and greater joy (Phil. 4:4).”
3/16/2014 2:03 PM
I am back from church service and while there I thought
of a parable that Jesus taught that I would like to include on this SD. “1 That day Jesus went out of the house and
was sitting by the sea. 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a
boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach. 3 And He
spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out
to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came
and ate them up. 5 "Others fell on
the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they
sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen,
they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “Others
fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 “And others
fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and
some thirty. 9 “He who has ears, let him hear." 10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why
do You speak to them in parables?’”
Before we look at this parable let us try and answer the question that
the disciples asked from verse ten. In
chapter twelve of Matthew Jesus was told by the Pharisees that He was doing
miracles through the power of Satan, and so Jesus told them that they had
committed the unpardonable sin by saying that His parables were done in the
power of Satan. When we come to chapter
thirteen we now see Jesus teaching in parables so that those who did not belong
to the Lord would understand them, but those who did not would not understand
them. “11 Jesus answered them, "To
you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to
them it has not been granted’” Matthew 13:11.
Next we will look at the meaning of the parable of the
sower and the seeds: “11 “Now the
parable is this: the seed
is the word of God. 12 “Those beside the road are those who have heard;
then the devil comes and
takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and
be saved. 13 "Those on the rocky soil are those who,
when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they
believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 "The seed which fell among the thorns,
these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked
with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to
maturity. 15 "But the seed in the
good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good
heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance (Luke 8:11-15).” My point in all of this is to show that not
all people who hear the Word of God will be saved, something we discussed in
our last SD, and also that the seed that was sown on the rocky soil were people
who had joy when they heard it, but then when troubles came they lost their
joy. The Thessalonian believers did not
lose their joy because it was joy in the Holy Spirit, while those in the parable
was joy of their own. The Thessalonians
would fall into the last part of the parable the part that the seed fell into
the good ground and a great crop would come from it, for this is the only part
of the parable that speaks of true believers.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Having joy in the
Holy Spirit is something that is real joy, and it does not mean that I will be
happy all of the time, but that I will be assured that God is in control, that
God is sovereign, and that God will work out all things for His glory and for my
good.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Proverbs 3:5-6.
Memory verses for the
week: Philippians 2:5-9
5 Have this attitude in
yourself which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form
of God did not regard equality with a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied
Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness
of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a
man, He humbled Himself by being obedient to the point of death, even death on
a cross. 9 For this reason also, God
highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Yes” (2 Kings 25:7).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who did Paul send unto the
Corinthians?”
Answer in our next SD.
3/16/2014 2:34 PM
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