SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/8/2014 9:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Introduction to Night People/Day People
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1
Thessalonians 5:4-11
Message of the
verses: “4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that
the day would overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We
are not of night nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep as others do, but
let us be alert and sober. 7 For those who sleep do their sleeping at night and
those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8 But since we are of the day, let us
be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the
hope of salvation. 9 For
God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord
Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us,
so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one
another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
Did you ever wonder how many times the word “therefore”
is used in the Word of God? Why would
you want to know that? Well according to
my online Bible program the word “therefore” is used 902 times in the NASB
Bible. The reason I wanted to know this
is because of the importance of the word “therefore” has when one reads the
Word of God. When we look at verses 4-10
we see Paul giving us an exhortation of the difference between day people and
night people and so we see the word “therefore” found at the beginning of verse
eleven which points us back to verses 4-10 as he tells us how we can apply and
what we can do because of what he wrote in verses 4-10. Anyway I thought that was interesting.
John MacArthur entitles the 13th chapter of
his commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians “Night People/Day People,” and this
is with good reason for that is exactly what the Apostle Paul is writing about
in verses 4-11 of chapter five of 1 Thessalonians. Warren Wiersbe writes the following
information from his commentary on 1 Thessalonians that will help us better understand
what the Apostle is saying: “Note
carefully the contrast between ‘they’ and ‘you’ (or ‘us’) throughout this
entire section, ‘they’ referring to the unsaved.” With this said I want to say that I have been
thinking about the order that Paul puts into this letter, and I know that there
were no verses or chapters in the original letter he wrote but there are
divisions we can see. Paul tells the
Thessalonians about the Rapture of the Church in chapter four and then he tells
us about the coming day of the Lord in chapter five. I believe that we can see the same thing in
the early chapters of the book of Revelation where Jesus tells John about seven
churches in chapters 2-3 and then in chapter four we read “After these things I
looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I
had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up
here, and I will show you what must take place after these things’ (Rev.
4:1).” Many believe that this is a
picture of the Rapture and then after John is taken to heaven in the spirit he
sees the things that will take place and those things are all about God’s
judgment upon planet earth and those who dwell on it during this time. The judgment ends in chapter nineteen with
the “Day of the Lord” as Jesus return physically to planet earth to end the war
and bring judgment on the earth as He separates the sheep and the goats and
also sends the Devil, the Antichrist, and the False prophet into hell where
they will spend eternity. Next we see
the 1000 year reign of Christ on planet earth and then another judgment along
with the “Great White Throne Judgment” where all unbelievers will be judged,
and then we see the New Jerusalem come down to the New earth after the old
heaven and earth are burned with fire as Peter talks about, and finally
eternity begins and will never end. What
I am saying is that there is order in what will happen as described in 1
Thessalonians and Revelation where first the believers will be caught up in the
Rapture and then Judgment will come. In
light of all of this Paul writes in verse eleven “Therefore encourage one
another and build up one another, just as you are doing.” The same thing is true of us today for we are
not children of the darkness, but we are children of the light and we are to be
a light to those who are in darkness so that they can be transformed into
children of the light. We are not to go
on top of a mountain and not do anything as we wait for the Lord to return, but
we are to be working, living like He could return today, but also living in a
way that will please the Lord when we stand before Him in heaven at the
judgment seat of Christ where we will receive our rewards for our work on earth
for the cause of Christ.
John the Baptist says the following in John 3:36 “"He
who believes in the
Son has eternal life; but
he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him."” He is saying that there are
two kinds of people that live on earth, the saved who are headed to be with the
Lord and the lost who are heading for judgment.
Paul is saying the same thing in verses 4-10 of 1 Thessalonians chapter
five. John MacArthur writes “In this
passage Paul contrasts night people (unbelievers) with day people
(believers). Night people are associated
with darkness, sleep, and drunkenness; day people with light, alertness, and
soberness.
“The truth that unbelievers are in darkness and believers
in the light has it roots in the Old Testament.
In Psalm 107:10-12 the palmist described unbelievers as ‘those who dwelt
in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in misery and chains, because
they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most
High. Therefore He humbled their heart
with labor; they stumbled and there was not to help.’ Then in verses 13-16 the psalmist described
the transformation of those night people into day people: “13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their
trouble; He saved them out
of their distresses. 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow
of death And broke their bands apart. 15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for
His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 16 For He has
shattered gates of bronze And cut bars of iron asunder.’”
There are other OT passages that speak of this too: “The
people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark
land, The light will shine on them. 6
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government
will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 7 There will be no end to the
increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his
kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From
then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this
(Isaiah 9:2, 6-7).”
MacArthur goes on to write: “The apostle’s purpose in contrasting the
saved and the lost in this passage were to comfort the Thessalonians (4:18;
5:11). Despite Paul’s teaching during
his stay in their city (2 Thess. 2:5), they were worried about their
future. Exacerbating their fears were
false teachers who were attempting to deceive them (2 Thess. 2:1-3). As a result, numerous questions troubled
them, questions no doubt relayed to Paul by Timothy, who had recently returned
from Thessalonica (3:2, 6). They feared
that their loved ones who had died would miss the Rapture, so Paul assured them
in 4:13-18 that they would not. In fact,
‘the dead in Chris will rise first’ (4:16).
The apostle addressed the Thessalonians’ curiosity about when the Day of
the Lord would come by reminding, ‘As to the times and the epochs, brethren,
you have no need of anything to be written to you’ (5:1). Because ‘the day of the Lord will come just
like a thief in the night’ (5:2), the time of its coming will not be
revealed.” Now Paul also wrote about
birth pangs which come before a woman has a child, and in the case of the day
of the Lord there will be different birth pangs as we have already looked at,
but the result of them when they get closer and closer will be the birth of the
1000 year kingdom of Christ ruling on planet earth.
In the book of Malachi we see that the people were in a
similar situation as the people were in Thessalonica as they also were
frightened about judgment and so we read as a result of that fear the
following: “16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one
another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name.
17 "They will be Mine," says
the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I
will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him." 18 So you will again distinguish between the
righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve
Him (Mal. 3:16-18).”
We will look at these verses from 1 Thessalonians five in
our next SD, Lord willing, and go into more detain about what Paul has written
here.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am thankful
that I am not in darkness, but in the light and I want to look forward to the
coming of the Lord to take me to be with Him at the Rapture and not be ashamed
of my life here on planet earth in my service for the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Keep fighting in the power of the Lord that
battles and temptations that come my way and pray that there will be victory as
I serve the Lord each day.
Memory verses for the
week: Colossians 3:1-4.
1 Therefore if we have been
raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. 2 Set your
mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you died and your life is not hidden
with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who
is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Job’s wife” (Job 2:9).
Today’s Bible
question: “Where did the seventh angel
in Revelation 16:17 pour out his vial?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/8/2014 10:13 AM
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