Thankful to Hear the Word vv.1-4

Thankful to be able to hear the Word of God preached, read, and shared!!!

There will be a time when hearing the Word of God will be difficult.  This is referring to the tribulation.  We may, like many countries, have to meet in secret.  A mark of true salvation is a thirst for the Word of God!  I’m never going to beat you up about church attendance or lack of, but there is a thirst among believers to study God’s Word.  So those who care, they’ll be here, morning and evening.     

Amos 8:11-12 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.  They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.”

How is anyone saved?  Through faith!  How do they come to faith?  By hearing!

Romans 10:9-10

Romans 10:14

Romans 10:17

v.1 “…and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.” 

“Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” This is called pre-tribulation eschatology.  I want be careful to not paint a picture of time here!  Why?  Because what is really important is salvation today!  Those who are written in the book.  What book?  Revelation 21:27 “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

v.2 is clear about the reality of Heaven and Hell.  A relationship with Jesus Christ is the only way!  Everyone wants Heaven, but few want Christ! 

Thankful to Not Worry vv.5-9

Thankful that our hope is in Him!  We don’t worry about His return, because the payment for our sins is found in a relationship with Him.

We do not hope in good works, in time tables, bank accounts, yet our hope is in Christ!  We haven’t gotten it figured out, but we’ve figured out the most important thing, give our lives to Jesus! 

Psalm 20: 5-8 “May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions! Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.”

v.6- The man in linen?  Christ!  Daniel 10:5 refers to Daniel’s vision of Christ in which Jesus had a gold belt!

“So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

Thankful for Wisdom vv.10-12

He brings wisdom to those who humble themselves.  Wisdom is a product of salvation!

“but those who are wise will understand” Those who humble themselves before the King of kings will be given the Holy Spirit.  Do you know the number one reason people go to Hell?  They never surrender all glory and honor to Christ, they want all the glory!  It’s all about them.  That is not wisdom!  Wisdom is the godly application of knowledge!  Matthew 16:25 “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

  2 Corinthians 4:4 “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Those who place faith in Christ, will be forgiven, and become heirs of the Kingdom.  They will be given wisdom, the Holy Spirit!  1 John 5:12 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”