SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/15/2017 12:18 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Messiah will Return
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 3:20-21
Message of the verses: “20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ
appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration
of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from
ancient time.”
We truly
have to understand that there will be no kingdom without a King to rule over
the kingdom, and we have learned in our study of Revelation that during the millennial
kingdom the Lord Jesus Christ will rule over it from David’s throne in
Jerusalem. John MacArthur writes “Peter
told the crowd that if they would reverse the verdict of Passover evening, God
would ‘send Jesus, the Christ appointed for’ them. Our Lord expressed that truth in Matthew
23:39 when He said to the unbelieving city of Jerusalem, ‘From now on you shall
not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord1’’
He will not return until after repentant Israel acknowledges Him as their
Messiah (Rom. 11:26; Zech. 12:10-14:9).”
I suppose
that some have wondered why it was that Jesus did not just set up the kingdom
right after He arose from the dead, but there were still many prophecies about
Israel that had not yet been fulfilled, prophecies that go all the way back to
the book of Deuteronomy, and of course prophecies found in Daniel, and
Zechariah to mention only a few. Jesus
would return when Israel repents of not recognizing their Messiah and then as
Paul says “All Israel will be saved.”
Peter uses
the term for the millennial kingdom “the period of restoration of all
things.” This is similar to what Jesus
spoke of in Matthew 19:28 “And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you,
that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious
throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.” The regeneration and the
restoration are similar indeed. John
MacArthur writes It is then that the apostles’ question in Acts 1:6 will be
answered (cf. Mark 9:12). The kingdom
will be marked by peace, joy, holiness, the revelation of God’s glory, comfort,
justice, knowledge of the Lord, health, prosperity, and freedom from
oppression. The universe will be
dramatically altered in its physical form (Joel 2:30, 31; 3:14-16; Rev.
16:1-21) as the curse of man and his world is reversed.”
These
truths that Peter spoke to his audience are not new but he says that “by the
mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
We have spoken earlier that the Old Testament prophets wrote of these
truths, and as stated many haven’t been fulfilled, but surely will be fulfilled
beginning when the Antichrist signs a peace treaty with the nation of Israel
for seven years as Daniel spoke of and this will begin the last seven years on
this earth before our Lord will return, a time of tribulation which was promised
by Daniel and other prophets, a time when at the end the world will be much
different than it is now.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am thankful for the Word of God which
cannot change, and thankful that all the OT prophecies concerning Israel will
be fulfilled despite what those of the Covenant Theology think.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to enable me
to teach things in our Sunday school class that will make a difference in the
people who hear it and will bring glory to the Lord.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Merab” (1 Samuel 18:17).
Today’s Bible question:
“For whom was the Epistle to Philemon written?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/15/2017 12:44 PM
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