SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/7/2014 9:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 The Day of the Lord
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1 Thess.
5:1-3A
Message
of the verses: We will continue to
look at The Day of the Lord in this SD by looking at a compression between
verses in Matthew chapter 24 and Revelations chapter 6. What we will be seeing from Matthew chapter
24 is what Jesus called “birth Pangs” and we will compare them with the “seal
judgments” that are described in Revelations chapter 6. These are precursors to the Day of the Lord;
however the Day of the Lord will happen soon after these prophecies are
fulfilled.
John MacArthur writes of birth
pangs: “The Lord described these
judgments as ‘birth pangs’ an apt analogy to the labor pains that come suddenly
upon a pregnant woman and intensify until she gives birth. Just as a woman’s birth pangs should warn her
that her time to give birth is imminent, so these birth pangs should warn
people that the Day of the Lord is near.”
Matthew
24:5 “"For many will come in My name, saying, ’I am the Christ,’ and will
mislead many.” There will be one that
comes who is the epitome of all of them and he is antichrist. He is described in Daniel 7:8; 11:36-45; 2
Thess. 2:3 and Rev. 11:7; 13:2-8. Now we
will look at the first seal judgment from Rev. 6:2 “I looked, and behold, a
white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and
he went out conquering and to conquer.”
This is a description of the antichrist and he is riding a white horse
and has a bow, but has no arrows. This
means that he will conquer with words and his charismatic personality. He will
come to power shortly after millions of people will have disappeared from the
earth and the world will be in need of answers which will make them ripe for a
false dictator.
Let
us look at Matthew 24:6-7 “6 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars.
See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is
not yet the end. 7 “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against
kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.” We will compare this with Rev. 6:3-4 “3 When
He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying,
"Come." 4 And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on
it, it was granted to take
peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great
sword was given to him.” These
prophecies speak of war, something that people thought would not happen when
antichrist took over, but people do not understand who he really will be.
Matthew
24:7 describes the third and forth seal judgments: “7 “For nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and
earthquakes.” Rev. 6:5-6 “5 When He
broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying,
"Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had
a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice in the
center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a
denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil
and the wine."” These judgments are
natural disasters that precede the Day of the Lord. Now a denarius was how much a working person
made in a day during the writing of these two books, so it took a whole day to
just make enough money to feed one’s self.
MacArthur
states “The fourth seal pictures death on a scale unprecedented in human
history: “7 When the Lamb broke the
fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying,
"Come." 8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it
had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to
them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with
pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” We can compare this judgment with the fourth
birth pang which describes the martyrdom of many of the Tribulations believers. Where do these believers come from? We see in Revelation chapter seven that there
will be 144,000 Jewish evangelists who will spread the good news of the gospel,
and also in Revelations 11:2-6 we see the effect of the two witnesses. We have mentioned them earlier when we
supposed that one of them was Elijah, and perhaps the other will be Moses. Elijah went into heaven before he finished
his ministry and Moses was not allowed to go into the Promised Land because of
his sin and thus did not finish his ministry so many Bible scholars believe
that this identifies these two witnesses as Moses and Elijah. Matthew 24:9 says “9 “Then they will deliver
you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations
because of My name.” The following is
the breaking of the fifth seal as found in Rev. 6:9-11 “9 When the Lamb broke
the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been
slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had
maintained; 10 and they cried out with a
loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain
from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11
And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they
should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow
servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
MacArthur describes the final birth
pang as “unlike the first four, it’s a positive sign. Jesus said in Matthew 24:14 “14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall
be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the
end will come.’ As noted above, there will be vast numbers of people
converted during the Tribulation as a result of the preaching of the two
witnesses, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, and the angel flying in midheaven.”
What
is the problem with this? Well none for
those who accept the Lord has theirs Savior as far as their eternity is
concerned, but for most of the people they will not see the things happening in
the world at this time as something that is coming from the Lord, that is
judgment upon the world for being sinful and they will be like those false
prophets we have been reading about in Jeremiah and will read about when we get
to Ezekiel who say “peace and safety.”
There will be false prophets during this tribulation who will be saying
the same and suddenly the entire world will be thrust into the last Great War
the war of Armageddon and then the Lord Jesus will return and the Day of the
Lord will be upon all who do not believe and there will be no peace and
safety.
Now let us look at “The Character of
the Day of the Lord” from 1 Thessalonians 5:3b:
“then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a
woman with child,”
MacArthur writes Olethros (destruction) does not refer to
annihilation, but separation from God (cf. 2 Thess. 1:9). It does not mean the destruction of being,
but of well-being (cf. 1 Tim. 6:9); not the end of existence, but the
destruction of the purpose for existence.
God will accomplish the destruction of unbelievers by casting them into
the eternal torment of hell (2 Thess. 1:9).
Revelation 6:12-17 graphically
depicts the destructiveness of the Day of the Lord:
“‘12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and
there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of
hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13
and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its
unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a
scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places. 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?’
“Acts 2:19-20 describes the Day of
the Lord as a time of ‘wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and
vapor of smoke. The sun will be turned
into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and glorious day of the
Lord shall come.’”
We see in 1 Thess. 5:3b that Paul
uses the term “them” and this shows us that this will happen to those who are
not believers in Jesus Christ.
Lastly we will look at “The
Completeness of the Day of the Lord” as seen in 1 Thess. 5:3c: “and they will not escape.”
The unbelievers at this time will be
just like those whom we have been looking at in the book of Jeremiah who
believed the false prophets and so when the Babylonians came upon the city they
destroyed it and many lost their lives or at best were taken into
captivity. The unbelievers during the
Day of the Lord will not escape and will eventually have their final day in court
at the “Great White Throne Judgment.” Read the following words
carefully and take them to heart and if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ
make sure that you repent of your sins and ask the Lord into your heart to be
your Savior and Lord so that you will not have to be a part of the following: “11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him
who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place
was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is
the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written
in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which
were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they
were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown
into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown
into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15)
Now read the following verses to see
how you will not have to be a part of the scene mentioned above: “9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus
as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved; 10 for with the heart a person
believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses,
resulting in salvation. 11 For the
Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Be ready to
tell others of the hope that is in me: “but
sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone
who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with
gentleness and reverence.”
bring
glory to Himself, by bring souls into the kingdom.
Memory
verses for the week: Colossians 3:1-4.
1
Therefore if you 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 things above, not on the
things that are on earth. 3 For you died
and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be
revealed with Him in glory.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible question: “He
washed the disciples feet” (John 13:1-17).
Today’s
Bible question: “Who said ‘Do you still
hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!’?”
Answer
in our next SD.
8/7/2014 10:20 AM
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