SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/6/2014 8:28 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 The Day
of the Lord
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference 1 Thess. 5:1-3a
Message of the
verses: “1 Now as to the times and
the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For
you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a
thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!"”
In yesterday’s SD we looked at what the Day of the Lord
was as described in both the Old Testament and the New Testament and discovered
that it was the judgment by the Lord that will happen at the end of the
tribulation period and also at the end of the 1000 year kingdom of Christ when
He will reign from Jerusalem. Now in
today’s SD we will look at several signs that will help us understand when the
Day of the Lord will be near.
In his commentary on the Thessalonians letters John
MacArthur gives several signs that help us to see when the Day of the Lord is
near. Now I want to make it clear that I
do not believe that any true members of the Church will be here when the Day of
the Lord comes, for I have stated in previous SD’s while studying the Rapture
that I believe that the Rapture will happen before the Tribulation Period and
that the Church will be in heaven when the events leading to the Day of the
Lord will happen on earth.
1.
“The first sign that the Day of the Lord is
drawing near will be the appearance of an Elijah-like forerunner. In Malachi 4:5 the Lord declared, ‘Behold, I
am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
terrible day of the Lord.’” When our
Lord came the first time to care for our sin problem by dying on the cross in
our place He stated to His disciples that John the Baptist was like Elijah and
if the people would have accepted Him as their Messiah and King then John the
Baptist would have served as Elijah.
However since He was rejected we see that Elijah will indeed come and be
the forerunner for Christ. Some believe
that when we study the book of Revelation that Elijah will be one of the two
witnesses that that book describes.
2.
The second sign
will be world-wide rebellion against the Lord as seen in Paul’s second letter
to the Thessalonians. “For it will not
come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed,
the son of destruction (2 Thess. 2:3b.)”
We will look at this more in detail when we study this chapter, perhaps
in October of this year.
3.
The third sign
is that the man of lawlessness comes as seen in the verse we just quoted, and
that man is the Antichrist. He will come on the scene soon after the Rapture of
the Church and will sign a peace treaty with Israel which will usher in the
Tribulation Period. He will be the
second person of the unholy trinity.
4.
The nations
will assemble in the valley of decision for that battle of Armageddon as seen
in Joel 3:2-14). Remember that there
will be the war of Armageddon and also the battle of Armageddon and this is the
battle or Armageddon.
5.
There will be
dramatic signs in the heavens before the Day of the Lord as seen in Joel
2:30-31; 3:15. We can also see this in
Isa. 13:10; Matt. 24:29; Luke 21:25; Rev. 6:12-13; and 8:12.
Now
in John MacArthur’s commentary he compares what Jesus said in Matthew 24,which
is the Olivet Discourse with Revelations chapter six which shows us the first
signs of what will happen during the Tribulation Period. I am not going to do this comparison in this
SD because of time restraints that I have today, but perhaps we will briefly
look at them in our next SD as it is an interesting study in itself.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I enjoy the study
of the end times as much as any subject that is in the Scriptures. One of the reasons that I enjoy it is because
when I talk to unbelievers about it I have had the opportunity to not only tell
them what the Bible has to say about how the world will end, but I can also
tell them about how they can have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and
because of that relationship they can be assured of not be here when the Day of
the Lord happens, but will be in heaven as they will be a part of the
Rapture. I pray that the Lord will bring
someone into my life today that is ready to hear this truth.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord with the problems that I am
physically having at this time and also trust the Lord to see me safely to our
men’s Bible study this morning.
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 sits, at the
right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on
things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you died and you life is 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: “Christ” (Hebrews 1:9).
Today’s Bible
question: “How did Jesus teach His
disciples humility at the last supper?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/6/2014 9:09 AM
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