PT-1 "Intro to 2 Timothy 2:1-7"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/31/2024 8:36 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  Introduction to 2 Timothy 2:1-7

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2 Timothy 2:1-7

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops. 7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”

 

            Today is the last day of 2024 and so that means that I have two more Spiritual Diaries to complete before the day is over.  This has been a difficult year in some respects, but the thing that always comforts me is to know that God is in complete control of all things that have happened in 2024, and will be also in complete control of what happens in 2025, and my prayer is that 2025 will be the year when my Lord and Savior Jesus Christs returns for His bride in what is called the Rapture of the Church.  I so look forward to that wonderful event so that the entire Church will go to meet the Lord in the air and thus ever be with the Lord throughout eternity. 

 

            Well I begin looking at the second verse of Paul’s letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, which is the very last New Testament letter that Paul writes.  2 Timothy is a special letter to me as from its content I have named my blogs “15 Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).  I look forward to study this verse more in depth in a few weeks, as this verse has been so very important to me for a very long time.

 

            John MacArthur begins his commentary on these verses with a story:  “Some years ago, two teenagers were discovered n an attic room chained to their beds, where they had been confined since early childhood.  They were totally disoriented and almost animalistic in behavior.  They had been undernourished and unloved, and, as would be expected, were underdeveloped in every way—physically, emotionally, socially, and mentally.  They were the product of child abuse at its most malevolent extreme.”  He thing goes on to make the point that he wants to make after writing about these children.

 

            “Equally tragic is the condition of many children of God today who are undernourished spiritually and consequently, are underdeveloped, confused, disoriented, and immature in the things of the Lord.  There are more popular preachers today than at any time in church history, but few powerful ones.  There also are more popular churches, but few powerful ones.  There also are more popular churches, but few powerful ones. There is much activity, but little spiritual fruit; much talk about Christianity, but little conviction; high moral proclamations, but little accountability; doctrinal creeds, but much compromise.”

            I guess that the obvious question is who is a fault for this problem.  I think that it is fair to say that in the great majority of cases, that weak churches are the result of weak leadership, especially weak pastoral leadership.  Spiritual weakness makes both leaders and congregations subject to almost every religious fad, no matter how frivolous.  I might add the importance of 2 Timothy 2:15 here as it is so very important to study the Word of God each and every day of your life, to ask that the Holy Spirit open your spiritual eyes so that you can understand what He is teaching you as you study the Word of God each day.  Have a plan to study the Word, a plan to not only read it but to study it so that the Spirit of God can teach you and led you in the direction that He desires you to go.  If you do that and then you find yourself in a church with weak pastors and teachers then you can do the obvious thing and find a church where you can be fed and even perhaps feed others from what the Spirit of God is teaching you.

 

            MacArthur goes on to write “Like an undernourished and anemic physical body, they have little resistance to disorders and maladies that weaken them still further.  And because they have no resources but their own smallest difficulty is distressing.  Because they have so little understanding of and confidence in the Word of God, they turn to psychological bandages and worldly solutions.  They have little defense against Satan and are easy prey for false teachers.  They are spiritual ‘children tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming’ (Eph. 4:14; cf. Heb   13:9). Because they have left ‘the elementary teaching about the Christ,’ and failed to ‘press on to maturity’ (Heb. 6:1), they may even find themselves ‘paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons’ (1 Tim. 4:1).”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the problems that I experience in my walk with the Lord is a problem with my mind and I suppose that is a problem with many believers today and also for a long time before.  However the mind has many ways of being distracted today than any other time in history, and the reason is because of modern technologies. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Keep my mind focused on the things of God and not on the things of the world.

 

12/31/2024 9:24 AM

PT-1 "Hope is Characterized by Purity" (1 John 3:3)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/30/2024 9:07 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                Focus:  PT-1 “Hope is Characterized by Purity”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  1 John 3:3

 

            Message of the verses:  “”And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

 

            The hope of the return of Jesus Christ makes a practical difference in the lifestyle and the behavior of believers.  I have mentioned in earlier Spiritual Diaries what my life was before the Lord saved me on the 26^th day of January in the year of our Lord 1974.  As I think back on that week which I was visiting my high school friend near Orlando Florida my life has never been the same.  From the salvation that the Lord gave to me and then to my wife and then later on to our two children and then our seven grand children all I can say is that it was not only a plan of the Lord but was a miracle that has happened beginning almost 51 years ago.  Now when this hope is fixed on Him, it produces a growing desire to become like Him now (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-32; Col. 3:1-17).  Jesus Christ is the saint’s Lord and Savior, who provides the ideal pattern for holy living.  Jesus Christ is the goal of our lives, the One whom we must follow with increasing diligence and fervor, which the Apostle Paul did as seen in Phil. 3:12-14; cf. 1 Cor. 9:24-27; 1 Tim. 6:12; Heb. 12:1).  Now ultimately, it should be said of each and every believer that he purifies himself, just as Christ is pure. MacArthur writes “The idea of purifying oneself does not mean believers can generate their own sanctification.  Rather, it emphasizes that the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit does not take place apart from the believer’s obedience and use of the means of sanctifying grace.  This is a typical call to Christians to obey Scripture in all things.”

 

            At this time I am going to quote from a sermon that I just listened to while taking my walk this afternoon.  I will quote from this sermon and then will see how I want to finish this section, with the possibility of continue looking at this section from MacArthur’s commentary in the next SD.

 

            “And then one final thought. There are so many other verses I was going to give you on that, but I don’t have time. One final thought. Our hope is guaranteed by abiding, realized in righteousness, established by love, fulfilled in Christ’s likeness. But here’s the – the practical aspect. Our hope is characterized by purity. It is characterized by purity and that’s verse 3. “Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him, on Christ, purifies Himself just as He is pure.” If your hope of heaven is to be like Christ – this is what he’s saying – if your hope of heaven is to be like Jesus Christ, He’s your Lord, He’s your Savior, He’s your model, He’s your example, He’s the one who sets the pattern, He’s the one you press after, in the words of Paul. He’s the goal of life. If that’s true, if you really want to be like Christ, if that’s – if that’s your heavenly hope, then that will become your passion in time.

 

            “When you think about heaven then, don’t think about clouds and gold streets and limit your thoughts to that. Think of this. When I get to heaven I am going to be like Jesus Christ. That is God’s ultimate purpose for my salvation. That’s why He foreknew me. That’s why He predestined me. That’s why He justified me to conform me to the image of His Son, eternally, to make me like Christ. That’s where I’m headed. That’s my hope. That is heaven to me. And if that is my hope in eternity, then that becomes my desire in time.

            “And so, as I look at the pure Christ and as I long to be like Him in the future, I’ll find that longing realized in the present. If you fix this hope on Him, not on a place, not on activity, but on a person, that in itself becomes purifying, purifying. I cannot gaze at the glory of Christ, 2 Corinthians 3:18. I cannot gaze at His glory and have a heart that longs to be like Him so that I can perfectly serve and worship and praise God as He does without that leaking in to my life here. I can’t have a passionate longing to be like Christ in the life to come without it affecting the life I live here. So when you think about heaven, fix your hope on Him and see how it purifies your life here. Living in this hope is absolutely life-transforming.

            “Father, we thank You for our time tonight. We have so many more things that should be said, so many portions of Scripture, Philippians 3:21, to talk about. We’ll have someday a body like unto His glorious body. First Corinthians 15:49 again saying the same thing. An incorruptible, powerful glorified body like that of Christ.

            “We know that the day will come when we will see Jesus Christ in His glorious appearing at the Rapture of the church. In that moment we will be transformed into His image and forever we will be like Him. What joy. Not so much like Him in external features, but like Him in virtue, character, service and worship offered to You and to Him. This is our hope.

            “It is to this hope that we cling and for its realization in Christ’s likeness that we long and longing to be like Christ, we purify ourselves even now. And we know this pleases you because you desire our sanctification as well as our glorification. May these great truths be ever rich to our hearts. We pray in Christ’s name, Amen.

12/30/2024 9:39 PM

 

PT-2 "Choose Your Associates" (2 Tim. 1:15-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/30/2024 10:13 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  PT-2 “Choose Your Associates”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  2 Tim. 1:15-18

 

            Message of the verses:  “15 You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me —  18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day — and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.”

 

            It is my desire to finish the eight means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ in my SD for today, and with that finish the second chapter looking at MacArthur’s commentary.  This will also finish the work on the first chapter of 2 Timothy. 

 

            Now the first group Paul mentions included all who are in Asia [who] turned away from me, [Paul].  This group were ashamed of Paul because they were ashamed of the gospel that he preached and defended, and the truth is that they became even more ashamed and fearful when Paul was put in prison for the faith.  I suppose there fear was that if they associated with Paul that they would end up like Paul, and be put in prison.  “8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,” (2 Tim. 1:8).  Timothy was aware of [that] fact, and the reason was because he had been pasturing for some years in Ephesus, a city in the Roman providence of Asia.  Once Paul was imprisoned, many of the men who had been with him, and this included all who are [were] in Asia, were afraid of being found guilty by association. It was because there first priority was self-preservation, that they had nothing more to do with Paul, who not only had ministered with them but to them.

 

            John MacArthur writes “To be rejected by the world, is not pleasant, but to be deserted by fellow workers in the service of Christ is particularly painful.  To have those you have spent your life spiritually nurturing turn away from you, and sometimes even against you, is heartbreaking in the extreme.”  (My thoughts are that this has happened to John MacArthur a number of times, and I sense that from listening to many of his sermons.)

 

            There was a time in the life of the Apostle Paul that he died to himself and began to daily live for the cause of Christ and so when he went through the ups and downs of the ministry it was done for the cause of Christ and he accepted it because he in effect was living for the cause of Christ.  Paul in doing that had given himself without reservation to those men from Asia.  Like the Galatian believers, they were Paul’s spiritual children, with whom he would be in ‘labor until Christ [was] formed in’ them (Gal. 4:19).  So it was no wonder that he expressed at the beginning of this second epistle his deep longing to see Timohty, one of the few who had not deserted him “longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy” (2 Tim. 1:4).

 

            MacArthur writes “Among the deserters were Phygelus and Hermogenes, about whom we know nothing but their cowardice.  Because Paul says nothing more to identify them, we can assume they were known to Timothy.  And because he bothers to name them specifically out of the many others, it seems likely that they were well known in Asia, that they were close to Paul, and that they were leaders who had shown promise.  They probably would have been the last ones to be suspected of cowardice, ingratitude, and being ashamed of Christ and of Paul.

 

            “Although Paul no doubt continued to love those men who proved they did not love him, his love would not allow him to hide their defection.  ‘Those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives’ (Heb. 12:6).  Likewise, the Lord’s people are to discipline those among them who are immoral and unfaithful.  Even elders who ‘continue to sin’ are to be rebuked ‘in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning’ (1 Timothy 5:20).”

 

            That concludes the first group and the second group Paul mentions stands in stark contrast to the group from Asia.  Paul ended that first group by naming names, and he begins this commendation also by naming a name.  Paul prays, The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, who like Phygelus and Hermogenes, were known to Timothy.  Not it is because Paul asks Timothy to greet them as seen in (4:19), this family obviously lived in or near Ephesus.

 

            MacArthur explains the relationship that Paul had with these men:  Onesiphorus had befriended Paul while he was in prison.  He often refreshed Paul and was not afraid of his chains, that is, of his being a prisoner.  He regularly visited the aging apostle and ministered to his needs, without fear and without shame.  When this friend first come to Rome, perhaps on business, he eagerly searched for Paul until he found him, suggesting that the search involved considerable time, effort, and possibly danger.

 

            “Now it was in deep gratitude, Paul again prays that the Lord [would] grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day, the same day of believer’s judgment for works he mentioned in verse 12 and refers to again in 4:9.  Onesiphorus’s devotion to Paul had begun many years earlier.  He had proved his courage and faithfulness by the service he rendered at Ephesus, when the apostle ministered there.

 

            “Like Onesiphorus, Martin Luther, the leading instrument of God in the Reformation, possessed such godly courage in great abundance.  One biographer, Roland Bainton, writes of him:  ‘Luther had set his face to go to Jerusalem and would not be turned aside.  He would enter Worms though there were as many devils as tiles on the roofs..He disregarded all human considerations and threw himself utterly upon God’ (Here I Stand:  A Life of Martin Luther [New York:  Abingdon, 1950]. 181).”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Jesus said right before His crucifixion that it was good that He go away, and the reason for that statement was that Jesus could only be in one spot while He ministered on planet earth, and once He went back to heaven the church would be made up of many believers doing the work of the Lord.  Paul certainly was one of those who gave himself totally to the Lord to do His work and there was no fear in him even though he suffered much for the cause of Christ.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I do not want to fear anything but the Lord for He is always with me to strengthen and comfort me.

 

12/30/2024 11:04 AM

"Hope Is Fulfilled by Christlikeness" (1 John 3:2)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/29/2024 11:28 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  “Hope Is Fulfilled by Christlikeness”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  1 John 3:2

 

            Message of the verses:  “2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

 

            As one looks at this verse they can come to the conclusion that heaven is very attractive for believers, and the reason is because there believers will not only see the Lord Jesus Christ, but will become like Him.  Now concerning that dramatic and eternal change, the apostle Paul wrote the following in 1 Corinthians 15:49-53:

 

“49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. 50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

 

            John MacArthur writes “Even though all who exercise saving faith in the person and work of Christ now…are children of God (cf. Rom. 8:14-18), it has not appeared as yet what they will be when they experience what Paul called ‘the freedom of the glory of the children of God’ (8:21).  It is then that ‘the Lord Jesus Christ…will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself’ (Phil. 3:20-21; cf. Ps. 73:24; Rom. 9:23; 1 Cor. 15:42-49; Col. 3:4; 1 Thess. 4:16; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 2:10).  As a result, believers will be like Him, because they will see Him just as He is.  God has promised to bring about such a climactic transformation because ‘those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among ma brethren   

(Rom. 8:29).  That transformation will make the redeemed perfectly holy and righteous, with a pure capacity to worship and glory God in a totally satisfying, joyful, undiminished fashion forever (cf. Rev. 5:11-14).

 

            “It has been rightly said that imitation is the highest form of praise, and this transformation will be a supreme tribute to Jesus Christ—that He is the Chief One, the prototokos, among many who are made like Him.  Those whom the Father has elected to salvation through the Son will be made like the Son, conformed to the image of Christ.  He will be the first among His elect and redeemed humanity who will join with the holy angles to praise and glorify His name, reflect His goodness, and proclaim His greatness, as they worship Him endlessly.”

 

12/29/2024 11:59 PM

 

           

 

             

PT-1 "Choose Your Associates" (2 Tim. 1:15-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/29/2024 9:58 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                            Focus:  PT-1 “Choose Your Associates”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  2 Tim. 1:15-18

 

            Message of the verses:  “15 You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me —  18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day — and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.”

 

            This morning I begin the eight means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ, and that is of carefully choosing one’s associates, which is a means Paul here implies.  MacArthur writes “In these four verses he contrasts fellow workers who were ashamed of the gospel with those who were not.”

 

            It was a warm January day almost 51 years ago when after being married since August 11^th of the previous year I decided to go down to Florida and visit a high school friend of mine.  My previous marriage ended with a great deal of heartbreak for me and so I thought it would be a good thing to go on a vacation by myself.  My friend and his girlfriend were living together near Orlando and once I got there he offered me to listen to a series of tapes that had been given to him from his former boss.  “Two Years After The Late Great Planet Earth” was the name of the series of tapes.  I began to listen to the first one and was hooked and listened to one a day for several days.  The messages were on what the Bible had to say about the end times and at the end of each message there was what is called an altar call, and offer to receive Christ as your Savior and Lord.  It was on, I believe, the 26^th of January of 1974 that I put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and my life has never been the same since.  I write this because it was at that time that I pretty much changed my friends as I could not hang with the friends that I had and slowly withdrew from them and found new friends who were also born-again Christians.  I still pray for my good friend that I use to hang around with and it took a while for me to distance myself from him, but even though I don’t hang around with him, I still see him on occasions along with others I used to be around before I became a believer. 

 

            Paul, as MacArthur writes contrasts fellow workers who were ashamed of the gospel with those who were not, and although this is not exactly my case with my former friends I still care for them and pray for them to accept the Lord Jesus Christ into their hearts and lives.

 

            Paul wrote the following to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals.’”  The truth is “if we associate with spiritually courageous Christians, our own courage will be strengthened.  On the other hand, if we associate with those who are ashamed of Christ and His gospel, we will soon be tainted by that shame,” writes MacArthur.

 

            Now in my next SD, Lord willing I will begin to look at the first group that Paul mentions as seen in these words all who are in Asia turned away from me, [Paul].

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I desire to live my life in a way that shows that I am not ashamed of my Lord Jesus Christ.

 

12/29/2024 10:27 AM

PT-2 "Hope Is Established by Love" (1 John 3:1)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/28/2024 9:12 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: PT-2 “Hope Is Established by Love”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  1 John 3:1

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

 

            I ended the last SD on this section by quoting the following verses:  “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (4:9-10; cf. vv. 16, 19; John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; 8:39; Eph. 2:4; Titus 3:4).”

 

Such love seeks, at a great cost to itself, but only to give freely and spontaneously for the benefit of another, even if that person is not worthy of such an expression (cf. Deut. 7:7-8).  “7 “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

 

            Now I need to write a little bit about the attributes of God and all of His attributes work in perfect harmony, His love necessarily operates in conjunction with each of His other attributes.  God is lovingly holy (Rev. 4:8; 15:4).  8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.’”  “4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.’”  God is lovingly just, and I will list some verses that go along with this:  (Isa. 30:18; Rom. 3:26; 1 Peter 3:18).  God is lovingly merciful (Ps. 86:15; Luke 6:36; 2 Cor. 1:3).  God is lovingly gracious (Ps. 103:8; 1 Peter 5:10).  God is lovingly patient (2 Peter 3:9, 15).  God is lovingly omnipresent (Ps. 130:7-10; Jer. 23:23-34).  God is even lovingly wrathful (Ps. 145:9; Matt. 5:45; cf. Mark 10:21a).  God is specific toward believers (special grace; cf. John 13:1; Rom. 5:8; 8:38-30; 9:13-15; Eph. 5:25).  It is this specific and unique love of God for His own that stands as one of the unshakeable foundations of eternal hope.

 

            Now once again I want to remind you that when we see this word “hope” found in the way it is being used here in this section it is a noun and not a verb.  Hope is something that surely will happen. 

 

            MacArthur writes “In other words, believers can live in hope because they have experienced God’s love in an eternal, saving way—having been adopted into His family (Rom. 8:16) and called children of God (John 1:12; cf. 2 Peter 1:4).  They became His children solely because He lavishly bestowed on them a gracious, unmerited, sovereign love apart from any that has human merit.  Such love is inexplicable in human terms. It is not surprising, then, that the world does not know the nature of the relationship between God and His children (cf. Heb. 11:38a), because it did not know Him.  Those outside of Christ cannot fathom (1 Cor. 2:15-16; 1 Peter 4:3-4) the true essence and character of believers, which shines forth in their likeness to the heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, their Savior and Lord (Matt. 5:16; Phil. 2:15; 1 Peter 2:12; cf. 1 Cor. 14:24-25).  Even for believers it is a challenge ‘to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and dept, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge’ (Eph. 3:18-19a).  Because Christians are so intrinsically different from the world around them, having been transformed by the Father who adopted them, the New Testament appropriately describes them as ‘strangers and exiles’ (Heb. 11:13), ‘aliens’ (1 Peter 1:1), and ‘aliens and strangers’ (1 Peter 2:11).  They are those who, in hope, ‘desire a better country that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them’ (Heb. 11:16).  And having declared them righteous in justification, He is making them righteous in sanctification and will perfect that righteousness in glorification when hope is realized.”

 

12/28/2024 9:48 PM

 

PT-2 "Affirm Your Doctrine" (2 Tim. 1:13-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/28/2024 10:05 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  PT-2 “Affirm Your Doctrine”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  2 Tim. 1:13-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “13 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”

 

            I want to begin by quoting from John MacArthur’s commentary as he explains “Standard translates hupotuposis, which was used of a writers outline or an artist’s sketch, which set the guidelines and standards for the finished work.  The Christian’s standard is God’s Word, which encompasses the sound words which you have heard from me [Paul], an apostle of Jesus Christ.  In Scripture we have God’s own truth and standards, all we need or should want to have.  It is the own divinely inspired, divinely revealed, absolute, unique, perfect, and sufficient truth.  In it is found everything necessary for salvation and for living out the saved life.  Later in this letter Paul commends Timothy, saying, ‘From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work’ (2 Tim. 3:15-17).”

 

            I have mentioned in earlier SD’s from 2 Timothy that I truly believe that it was God who lead me to the study of this very last epistle that Paul wrote and one of the reasons is some of the things that Timothy was dealing with that I am dealing with too, and courage is something that I need to deal with.  Now courage in Christian ministry, as well as in Christian living in general, is not possible apart from strong biblical convictions. MacArthur goes on to write “But Paul gives necessary balance to his counsel.  Strong convictions are to be held and taught in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.  When we defend God’s Word in self-righteous, un-loving spirit, the resulting controversy and oppositition are not caused wholly by the offense of the truth itself but also by the offensive and unspiritual way in which we proclaim it.  We are to defend God’s Word in the faith, that is, with the right attitude of confidence toward God; and we are to defend it in love and toward poorly taught and immature believers.  ‘Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ’ (Eph. 4:15).  Although we must not have doubting or a dead orthodoxy, neither should we have a loveless, cold, and insensitive orthodoxy.”   One of the things that I have learned which has something to do with what I just quoted from MacArthur’s commentary is that one of the keys to living the Christian life is balance and I suppose that is a good rule to follow in all aspects of life.  If I allow that Holy Spirit to give me balance in my walk with the Lord then that would mean that I never get too high or too low.  Yes balance is very important in my walk with the Lord.

 

            Now I suppose that most believers know that the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of all believers is a cardinal New Testament doctrine.  Jesus promised this shortly before He went to the cross to pay for our sins:  “15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you” (John 14:15-17).  Then immediately before His ascension Jesus promised once more this truth as seen in Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.’”  Paul wrote the following to the Romans “You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him (Rom. 8:9).  Paul asked the Corinthians rhetorically “Do you know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16; cf. 6:19).

 

            MacArthur then writes “Therefore, just as God has power to guard what we have entrusted to Him (v. 12), He also gives us power to guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which He has entrusted to us.  Theologians would say this depicts both sides of our security, the keeping power of God and the Spirit-energized perseverance of the saints.  At the close of the previous letter, Paul gave a similar command:  ‘O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you,’ specifically warning him to avoid ‘worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’’ (1 Tim. 6:20).”

 

            One thing we can be sure of and be very thankful for and that is that the deposit of our lives with God is secure.  However the question is, How secure is His deposit of truth with us?  Now don’t be fooled by what some Christian colleges, seminaries, pastors, and other church leaders who deviate from Scripture, defecting to what Scripture calls a different gospel’ and wanting ‘to distort the gospel of Christ’ (Gal. 1:6-7).  They will face a dreadful day of reckoning before God.  MacArthur concludes “The most solemn responsibility that any believer has, especially those the Lord has called to be preachers and teachers, is to uphold and defend the integrity of His Word.”

 

            There is one more means for guarding against being ashamed of Christ, which is “Choose Your Associates” which, Lord willing I will begin tomorrow.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I find this section of not being ashamed of Christ very helpful and informative, something that takes a great deal of courage to be able to follow.  Something the I desire to do, and will surely need the help of the Holy Spirit to teach me from His Word so that I will better understand how to live my life in a way so that I won’t be ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Spirit of God will help me to continue to understand His Word so that I can tell others who read the blogs that I write.

 

12/28/2024 10:55 AM

 

PT-1 "Hope Is Established by Love" (1 John 3:1)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/27/2024 9:20 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: PT-1 “Hope Is Established by Love”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  1 John 3:1

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

 

            As I began to read the first part of this verse my thoughts were what an awesome truth it is to realize that because God bestowed love on me.  I know that what I am and I know that I don’t deserve God to bestow His love on me, yet because of His grace, and what Christ did for me I receive that wonderful love that comes from my heavenly Father.

 

            MacArthur writes “The opening phrase of this verse, see how great a love, reflects the apostle’s amazement.  The word translated see (idet) is both a command and an exclamation that exhorts readers to give close attention to the rest of the statement.  How great (potapen) is a seldom-used term that has no precise parallel in English.  Concerning this word, D. Edmond Hiebert wrote,

 

“The adjective rendered ‘what manner’ [‘how great’] (aotapen) occurs only seven times in the New Testament and implies a reaction of astonishment, and usually of admiration, upon viewing some person or thing.  The expression conveys both a qualitative and quantitative force, ‘what glorious, measureless love!’ (The Epistles of John [Greenville, S. C.: Bob Jones University Press 1991], 133; cf. Matt. 8:27; 2 Peter 3:11).”

 

            The truth is that God loves believers with a love that is impossible to articulate in any human language and that is utterly foreign to normal human understanding and experience.  I have talked about the word for love that in the Greek is agape love.  God’s volitional love that He, or His own free and uninfluenced choice, has bestowed on all whom He has called to bring salvation to believers through Jesus Christ.  Now the Lord summarized it this way according to John MacArthur “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13).  And later in this letter, John notes,

 

            “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (4:9-10; cf. vv. 16, 19; John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; 8:39; Eph. 2:4; Titus 3:4).”

 

12/27/2024 9:43 PM

PT-1 "Affirm Your Doctrine" (2 Tim. 1:13-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/27/2024 10:32 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  PT-1 “Affirm Your Doctrine”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  2 Tim. 1:13-14

 

            Message of the verses:  “13 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”

 

            As I begin this section of 2 Timothy I have been thinking about this very last letter that Paul wrote, which is found in the New Testament.  What I have been thinking about is what kind of letter that Paul writes to his son in the Lord, Timothy.  I have mentioned in earlier SD’s that the letters that are found in the new Testament which are written by different authors, all inspired by the Holy Spirit are written because of issues that the readers of these letters have.  In the case of 2 Timothy we realize that Timothy is timid and because of that is fallen away from the Lord in his service to Him.  I have also written that being timid is something that I have had to deal with for most of my life and so it is my hope that as I study this letter that Paul wrote to Timothy that the Spirit of God will deal with this issue in my heart.  I desire to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

 

            Today we begin looking at a seventh guard against being ashamed of Christ and that is affirming and holding onto right doctrine.  Doctrine is so very important in the life of a believer, having and making sure that the doctrine is correct.  It is true that our ultimate confidence is in Christ Himself, His truth is also of great importance.  MacArthur writes “It is in fact, absolutely required for faith living as well as for certainty of our security.  If we belong to Christ, we will be secure, but if we neglect His truth, our confidence in that security will wane.  Many Christians, perhaps most, do not have the courage of their convictions simply because they have no clear convictions. Before you put your life on the line for what you believe, you must believe it.”

 

            John MacArthur writes what he said in a radio interview some years ago:  He said “What is particularly tragic about the many scandals that plague evangelicalism today is the fact that so many churches, and so many individuals who call themselves Christian, have little concern for biblical truth and biblical standards of living.  In the name of love, understanding, and peace within the church and with society, almost any theology is accepted, or at least not challenged, no matter how much it may contradict Scripture.”

 

            I will now quote one more paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary, something that is very important as it goes along with the previous paragraph.

 

            “Much of the professing church is atheological, that is, without any significant theological convictions.  Like the world around them, many people who go by the name of Christ believe that to hold and teach absolute doctrines is to be unloving, antagonistic, and even ‘un-Christian.’  The fit Paul’s description of those in the last days who ‘will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths’ (2 Tim. 4:3-4).  When you examine those today who deride doctrine, you discover they are also like those in the last days who Paul says ‘will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; [They are ] always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth’ (2 Tim. 3:2-5, 7).  Sound doctrine leads to holy living, and the absence of it to unholy living.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  This is 2 Timothy 2:15 and it is the verse that I have named my blogs after, and the reason is because understanding the truth of God’s Word is the most important thing that I can do and it is what I strive to do as I write my Spiritual Diaries and put them onto my blogs. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To continue to follow 2 Timothy 2:15 each and every day.

 

12/27/2024 11:09 AM  

"Hope is Manifested by Righteousness" (1 John 2:29)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/26/2024 11:18 PM

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus: PT-1 “Hope is Manifested by Righteousness”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  1 John 2:29

 

            Message of the verses:  “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”

 

            Now think about this truth as we begin to look at this verse, and the truth is that the new birth is inevitably and necessarily accompanied by righteousness.  The righteousness that a person receives when being born-again comes from what Jesus Christ did on the cross which paid for the sins of those who have or will accept Christ as their Savior and Lord.  God sees those who are born-again as being in Christ, which means that they are righteousness, and I realize that this is the greatest miracle that anyone can receive.  When a person is truly born-again then their lives will begin to reflect the righteousness that was given to them.  By the same token, all who profess to be saved but do not demonstrate any tangible fruit of righteousness prove that they are actually unforgiven and have an empty hope.  “43 "For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44 “For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush” (Luke 6:43-44).”  “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).”  Such individuals can make no legitimate claim to eternal promises, since their lives betray a heart that is still unregenerate.

 

            John MacArthur writes “It is important to understand the different meanings of the words rendered know in this verse.  The first occurrence is from oida and has the sense of perceiving an absolute truth, whereas the second occurrence (from ginosko) conveys ‘to know by experience,’  ‘recognize,’ or ‘come to perceive.’  The apostle John asserts first that if believers know that God is righteous, they can recognize that everyone also who practices righteousness is reflecting His life (cf.1 Peter 1:13-16); that is, they are born of Him (1 Peter 1:3; cf. John 3:7, where the same verb translated born is used).  Thus John reiterates the point that real believers are not verified so much by what they claim as by how they live (Rom. 6:18; cf. Luke 1:6).”

 

            Now John’s call to personal holiness was not a new concept, as the book of Leviticus repeatedly sets for God’s standard of purity and righteousness.  Thinking about this it is no wonder that younger Jewish children had to memorize the entire book of Leviticus.  Now in he New Testament, Paul’s letters continually exhort believers to pursue holiness and Romans 12:1-2 is a notable and familiar example:

 

1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

            MacArthur concludes:  “In this verse, the apostle John looks from the effect (righteous behavior) to the cause (the new birth) and shows that righteous living—not mere outward profession—evidences that fact that regeneration has truly take place (James 2:20, 26; 2 Peter 3:11; cf. Rom. 14:17).”

 

12/26/2024 11:52 PM