EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12-02-2024
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Characteristics of Christians”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1John 2:20-21, 24-25, 27
Message of the verses: “20 But you have an
anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you
because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no
lie is of the truth. 24 As for you, let
that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from
the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25
This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received
from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as
His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and
just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”
I want to say that what we are looking at in these
verses is actually an introduction to these verses, which will make this SD
another short one. I remember a long
time ago when I was listening to a Pastor whose name was Jay Vernon McGee, a
great man of God who is now with the Lord.
He went through the Bible on his radio program and was praying that the
Lord would allow him to live to go through it one time, however the Lord
allowed him to go through the entire Bible two times before he called him
home. What I remember that goes along
with 1 John is that he stated that there were really no big words in John’s writing,
but that does not mean that at times it is difficult to understand.
We
have just finished yesterday looking at “The Characteristics of Antichrists”
and today we begin to look at “The Characteristics of Christians,” but the
verses are very close together in John’s writings and so John MacArthur decided
to look at these verses which are very close together to show us these two
characteristics, of antichrists, and of believers.
I
am going to quote the short paragraph in MacArthur’s commentary on the
introduction to these verses and then Lord willing, will look at the first
section in tomorrow’s SD, which will probably take a number of days to get
through it.
“Opposite
antichrists are true Christians who are people committed to the truth. In the second letter, John wrote to the
church, ‘I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth’)v.
4a); and again in his third epistle he encouraged his readers with the
following: ‘I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in
the truth’ (v. 4). The apostle’s
portrait of Christians as ones who walk in the truth (cf. 2 Cor. 4:2; Eph.
6:14; 1 Thess. 2:13) is in sharp distinction to the antichrists who propagate
spiritual lies. In the end, there are
two obvious reasons that believers are not led astray: they accept the faith, and they remain
faithful to it.”
Let
us take a moment to look at the verses above that are in parentheses.
2 Cor. 4:2 “but we have renounced the things hidden because
of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the
manifestation of truth
commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”
Ephesians 6:14 “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR
LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,”
1 Thessalonians 2:13 “For this reason we also constantly
thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you
accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really
is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
12/2/2024 9:47 PM
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