"Appreciation For The Indwelling Holy Spirit" (1 John 3:24)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/31/2025 10:26 PM

 

My Worship Time                                     Focus:  “Appreciation For The Indwelling Holy Spirit”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  1 John 3:24

 

            Message of the verse:  “24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

 

            I begin by writing about the blessing promised to the one who keeps His commandments and that is he abides in Christ and He in him.  MacArthur writes “The term translated abides (from the verb meno, ‘to stay, remain’) is one of John’s favorite words for salvation (see John 15:4-10) and is a repeated reference in this letter (cf. 2:6, 10, 24, 28; 3:6; 4:13, 16).  (For more on the theme of abiding see the earlier discussions of 2:6 and 2:28 in chapters 5 and ten, respectively, of this volume.)”  (This can also be seen on what I wrote about these matters in my earlier blogs on 1 John).  “That shared life is possible only by the Spirit whom He has given (cf. Luke 11:13; 12:12; John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; Acts 1:4-8; Rom. 5:5; 8:11, 16; Gal. 4:6; 5:16, 22; Eph. 1:13-14; 1 John 2:20, 27; 4:1-2, 13).”

 

            I suppose that the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit include an element of the mysterious, they cannot controlled of fully understood by frail, sinful human beings.  However the results of those working are readily apparent, as Jesus told Nicodemus by means of a familiar illustration when Jesus said to him:  “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the should of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).  It is certainly true that the effects of the wind can be seen, felt, and heard, so the Spirit’s working in lives is manifest and those who see that work will know by this that He [Christ] abides in them.

 

            Now let us go on and talk about something that has happened to every believer as it was the Spirit of Christ as seen in Romans 8:9 (“However, 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,”) who made saints’ spiritually dead souls alive (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5), gave sight to their blind eyes, caused their sinful hearts to repent (cf. Acts 16:14), and drew them in faith to Jesus (1 Peter 1:2).  MacArthur writes “It is through His illuminating instruction that Scripture comes alive for believers as they read and meditate on it (1 Cor. 12:13) and gifted them for ministry in the church (1 Cor. 12:7; cf. Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11).  It is through His illuminating instruction that Scripture comes alive for believers as they read and meditation on it (1 Cor. 2:10-14; cf. Eph. 6:17).  The Spirit also energizes the saints’ prayers (Eph. 6:18; Jude 20) and intercedes for them (Rom. 8:26-27).  He leads and guides Christians (8:14) and assures them that they are children of God (vv. 15-16; Eph. 1:13-14).

 

            “Salvation is not a one-time event but a way of life and entails a willingness to follow Jesus no matter the cost (cf. Luke 9:23, 57-62).  The presence of genuine holy affections—gratitude toward God, boldness in prayer, submission to His commandments, fait in the Lord Jesus Christ, and an appreciation of the Holy Spirit’s power in their lives—all characterized and undergirded by a continual love for other believers—marks those who perseverein this true faith (cf. Rom. 2:7; Col. 1:21-23).  The presence of those godly virtues gives those who manifest them true assurance (2 Peter 1:8-10; cf. Phil. 1:6; 2 Tim. 1:12b) and confidence that they have been born from above by the power of God.”   

 

1/31/2025 11:04 PM

PT-1 "The Purpose of the Work" (2 Timothy 2:10)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/31/2025 7:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-1 “The Purpose of the Work”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                   Reference:  2 Timothy 2:10

 

            Message of the verse:  “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”

 

            This morning we begin to look at the third motivation for faithfulness and that is the divine purpose of the Lord’s work on earth before He returns to earth to rapture His saints.

 

            For this reason is how Paul begins this 10^th verse in the second chapter of 2 Timothy, and this refers to what Paul has said in the preceding verses which was about remembering the preeminence of Christ and also the power of God’s Word.  It was those divine motivations that gave the apostle the willingness to endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen.  I have to say that I am so glad that he did that.  Paul is not speaking here of fellow believers, but of God’s chosen who had yet to obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.

 

            John MacArthur explains “That translates hina, which, when used with a subjunctive, as here with tunchano (to obtain), indicates a purpose clause.  A more exact rendering, therefore, would be ‘in order that’ the unbelievers to whom he witnessed might obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.  Paul not only suffered because his faithfulness to Christ provoked it but also because, like the Lord, he was ‘not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance’ (2 Peter 3:9).  His heart  reflected God’s heart, because, like Peter, he knew with certainty that ‘there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).” 

 

            Now I realize that there are those who will not agree with what I am about to quote from MacArthur’s commentary as I would have disagreed with it earlier in my walk with the Lord. I was struggling trying to understand what I am about to quote, and so I called a radio pastor from a very important radio station based in Chicago and when I asked him about this he acted like I was not on the line and kept calling out my name wanting (my thinking) that he wanted his audience to think that I had hung up, but I had not.  Now as I sought the Lord to make things clear in my mind He did, not all at once but gradually and not, for a long time they have been clear in my mind.  Humaningly speaking it does not really make sense, but in the Bible we have things that are called mysteries and I believe this is one of them.

 

            “God’s Word clearly reveals that ‘He chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, [and] predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will (Eph.1:4-15), and that ‘whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son’ (Rom. 8:29).  Disregarding other Scripture, some fatalistic interpreters use texts such as those just cited to argue that evangelism not only is unnecessary but presumptuous, claiming that God will sovereignly save those whom He has predestined, regardless of whether or not they hear and believe the gospel.  But God’s Word just as clearly teaches the necessity of faith for salvation as it does that salvation is by God’s free and sovereign grace.  Jesus said, ‘No one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father’ (John 6:65).  But He also said, ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life…He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God’ (John 3:16, 18 emphasis added; cf. v. 36).  Paul succinctly states those companion truths in the familiar and priceless words By grace you have been saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God’ (Eph. 2:8).”

 

            That is all that I am going to write this morning as I desire those who read this to stop and think, to read over what has been written, and think about it, asking the Lord to aid you in understanding it.

 

Spiritual Meaning for my life Today:  The story goes of an undertaker asking one of his dead clients which color of tie he wanted the undertaker to put on him.  Now of course he got no answer.  The Bible says that after the first sin was committed by Adam and Eve that we are all born spiritually dead, just like the physical death of the man in this story.  It takes a miracle for the new-birth to happen as God, through His Holy Spirit speaks to our dead spiritual heart and causes us to come to Christ for salvation.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  I trust the Lord that although I still have a part of me that is called the flesh that is active in my life that through the power of the Spirit will do the things that please the Lord and bring glory to His name.

 

1/31/2025 8:34 AM

"Faith In Jesus Christ" (1 John 3:23)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2025 10:10 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  “Faith In Jesus Christ”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  1 John 3:23

 

            Message of the verse:  “23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”

 

            This is the second to last section in this chapter from John MacArthur’s commentary as they have been rather short after a long introduction to this section.

 

            Now as believers we enter the Christian life through the God-given- gift of faith that endures as seen in Ephesians 2:8-9, Christians can draw assurance from the reality that they never stop believing in the name of His Son Jesus Christ; the faith that saves can never die, and for that wonderful truth I am thankful, and will be thankful forever.  This foundational faith is in response to His [God’s] command and results in continued obedience to His mandate which is to love one another (Eph. 2:8-10; Heb. 12:1-2).

 

            Now quoting from John MacArthur’s commentary we learn that “Saving faith contains three inseparable and essential elements, which John has reiterated throughout the epistle; faith, love, and eagerness to obey.  In this verse, believe translates an aorist form of the verb pisteuo and refers to a point in time when one believed.  But that act produces continuing results that last for the remainder of a believer’s life.  The object of faith is the name of…Jesus Christ; His name denotes all that He is (including the fact that He is both Savior and Lord, cf. Phil. 2:9-11).  Believing in the name of Christ is an important, oft-repeated New Testament theme (John 3:15-16; 20:31; Acts 16:31; cf. Mark 1:15; Luke 24:47), especially in this letter (2:12; 4:2, 15).  It was the reason John wrote both his gospel (20:31) and his first epistle (5:13).”  Let us take a moment to look at these two verses found in this last sentence:  “but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).  “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

 

            This verse has two different peoples spoken of.  The first is for those who do not believe, and the second is for those who have believed as it has a direct bearing on the lives of the redeemed.  To those who already believe, R. S. Candlish exhorts”

 

“Keep on believing.  Continue to believe more and more, simply because you see and feel it more and more to be ‘his commandment that you should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.’  Unbelief, in you who have believed, is aggravated disobedience.  And, such it is and must be especially displeasing to God.  It is his pleasure that his Son should be known, trusted, worshipped, loved; honored as he himself would be honored.  You cannot displease the Father more than by dishonoring the Son; refusing to receive him, and rest upon him, and hold him fast, and place full reliance upon him as redeemer, brother, friend.  Do not deceive youselves by imagining that there may be something rather gracious in your doubts and fears, you unsettled and unassured frame of mind; as if it betokened humility, and a low esteem of yourselves. Beware lest God see in it only a low esteem of his Son Jesus Christ.” (R. S. Candlish, 1 John [Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of truth, 1993] 330).”  Now this quotation came from MacArthur’s commentary.

 

A mark of genuine saving faith is that its level on confident trust in Christ only grows deeper and stronger over time.

 

            MacArthur concludes this section by writing “Love translates a present, active form of the familiar New Testament verb agapao; the sacrificial love not of feeling, but of will and choice.  The present tense of the verb signifies that love is to continually and habitually characterize a believer’s attitude and actions, as the apostle John has repeatedly made clear (cf. Luke 6:31-35; Gal. 5:13, 22; Phil. 1:9; 1 Thess. 4:9; Heb. 10:24; James 2:8).  That love will express itself to all men (Gal. 6:10), but especially to fellow believers, just as Jesus commanded (John 13:34-35; 15:12, 17).  This is another reminder from John to his readers that faith in Christ and love for the brethren are inseparable, and that they are both realities and imperatives for all Christians.”

 

            Lord willing we will look at 1 John 3:24 tomorrow evening “Appreciation For The Indwelling Holy Spirit.”

 

1/30/2025 10:45 PM

PT-2 "The Power of the Word" (2 Timothy 2:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2025 7:17 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “The Power of the Word”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  2 Timothy 2:9

 

            Message of the verse:  “for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.”

 

            I begin the rest of this section talking first of all about John Bunyan’s famous work, Pilgrim’s Progress, a book that he wrote while in prison in Bedford, England.  He was in this jail or prison for preaching the gospel and he used his time wisely while there.  However for several centuries that book was second in sales only to the Bible.  “Bunyan’s cell window faced a high stone wall” writes John MacArthur, “that surrounded the prison, making it impossible to see into or out of his cell.  On many days, however, he would preach loudly enough for his voice to be heard on the outside of the wall, where hundreds of listeners, believers and unbelievers, eagerly awaited his proclamation of God’s Word, which was unconfined by stone walls or iron bars.”  This certainly goes along with what Paul was writing to Timothy as seen in the highlighted portion of verse nine above.

 

            In this closing section of his commentary on this verse MacArthur writes about three different events to show that “the word of God is not imprisoned.”

 

            Second he writes “Before the Communist conquest in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, there were more than 700,000 Christians in China.  During the subsequent ‘cultural revolution,’ at least 30 million Chinese were slaughtered, including most of the Christians.  Yet, after more than forty years of brutal oppression, imprisonment, and executions, the church of Jesus Christ in that vast country has a current membership of an estimated 30 million to 100 million.  Although written copies of Scripture are still scarce, the truth of God’s Word endures in their hearts.  Its power cannot be bound.  The more it is assailed, the more it prevails.”

 

            Lastly MacArthur writes what went on in the Scottish Reformation.  “Andrew Melville was the successor of John Knox in the Scottish Reformation.  On one occasion, a certain official had him arrested and said, ‘There will never be quietness in this country till half a dozen of you be hanged or banished [from] the country.’  With perfect composure, Melville fearlessly replied, ‘It is the same to me whether I rot in the air or in the ground.  The earth is the Lord’s; my fatherland is wherever well-doing is.  I have been ready to give my life, when it was not half as well worn, at the pleasure of my God.  I lived out of your country ten years as well as in it.  Yet God be glorified, it will not lie in your power to hang nor exile His truth!’”

 

            I am sure that there many more of these kind of stories that can be told.  Remember that there are only two kinds of people living in this world, the ones who God has saved and the ones that have turned down the truth of the Gospel.  The question is which one are you and if you are what will you do to make sure that the Word of God is told to others who are not believers.

 

Spiritual meaning for my Life Today:  I realize that the word of God is not imprisoned, and it is my prayer that the Holy Spirit of God will use these Spiritual Diaries that I have been writing for many years to get to people who need to hear the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and then that they would tell others about my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s story of redemption through His blood.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will keep my life pure so that I can tell others about the saving knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in places where the Holy Spirit takes it through these blogs that He has led me to write.

 

1/30/2025 7:42 AM

 

 

"Submission To God's Command" (1 John 3:22b)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/29/2025 7:54 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  “Submission To God’s Command”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  1 John 3:22b

 

            Message of the verse:  “because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.”

 

            Now we have already looked at how John emphasized boldness in prayer, He continues to focus on assurance by again highlighting that believers willingly submit to God’s commands, and the reason is because they desire to bring Him pleasure.  MacArthur writes “John’s purpose here, however, in tying the concepts of answered prayer and active obedience together is not to give believers a selfish, ulterior motive for obeying.  As one commentator explains,

 

“Is John stating two perquisites to answered prayer?  Really not. Obeying God’s commands must never be done under compulsion or for the purpose of [selfishly] receive [earthly] rewards.  The Christian fulfills God’s command with a cheerful heart that expresses gratitude.  John is saying that when we obey his commands, we are doing what is pleasing to God.  By adding the clause and do what pleases him, John rules out any notion of merit; pleasing God flows forth from love and loyalty.  Implicitly John reminds his readers of Jesus. During his earthly ministry, Jesus always sought to please the Father by doing his will (John 8:29).

            “The basis for answered prayer is not blind obedience but a desire to please God with dedicated love.  And God fulfills our requests because of the bond of love and fellowship between Father and child.  (Simon J. Kistemaker, 1 John, New Testament Commentary [Grand Rapids; Baker, 2004], 317).”

 

“John’s emphasis then is not true, heartfelt obedience (motivated by love), as opposed to a false, external legalism (motivated by selfish ambition and pride).  Jesus declared this truth to His apostles in the upper room:

 

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.  Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.  If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:7-10).”

 

            It is throughout the New Testament, the necessity that believers keep His commandments is explicitly or implicitly indicated by every command given to them.  Now let us look at some verse references that back up this truth.  (e. g., Matt. 7:21; 16:24; John 14:15; James 1:22).  Now doing the things that are pleasing in His sight should motivate every Christian do; as the rich benediction of the epistle to Hebrews says, and I have to say that this is one of my very favorite benedictions in all the Word of God.

 

20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21  equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

 

1/29/2025 8:20 PM

 

 

PT-1 "The Power of the Word" (2 Timothy 2:9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/29/2025 9:01 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                              Focus:  PT-1 “The Power of the Word”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  2 Timothy 2:9

 

            Message of the verse:  “for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.”

 

            Today we begin to look at a second great motivation for faithfulness, which is the power of God’s Word.  In this verse Paul is contrasting his own rather weak power while he is in prison to the freedom of the word of God, which is not imprisoned (2:9).  MacArthur writes “As suggested in this translation, the Greek noun behind imprisoned is from the verb that is here rendered is…imprisoned.  Even though Paul was a man under the authority of Jesus Christ, he was subject to imprisonment by ungodly men, just as Jesus Himself had been subject to evil treatment by ungodly men during His incarnation.  Although Paul was not sinless, as was his Lord, he nevertheless was like his Lord in being guiltless of the charges for which he was imprisoned.  Paul was not a robber, murderer, or traitor, even by the standards of Roman law. Yet he was incarcerated as a criminal, probably in the infamous Mamertine prison in Rome, awaiting certain death.”

 

            You would not hear Paul lamenting the injustice of his imprisonment as he had already admonished Timothy not to “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).  It is not certain that Paul would have been familiar with Peter’s first letter which was written several years before Paul wrote 2 Timothy, however if not he certainly would have agreed with the attitude of his fellow apostle, who, as quoted above, wrote, “If when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.  For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:20-21).  Paul wrote the following in 2 Corinthians 12:10 “well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” Paul testified!

 

            MacArthur explains “Paul’s point in the present verse, therefore, is not to complain about his own lamentable condition but rather to point up, by contrast, the sovereign, unfettered word of God.  The apostle would have agreed fully with the writer of Hebrews, who declared, ‘The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart’ (Heb. 4:12).  As Paul had written the Ephesian church, ‘The sword of the Spirit…is the word of God’ (Eph. 6:17), and this divine ‘sword’ cannot be taken out of the Spirit’s hand-by men, by demons, or even by Satan himself.”

 

            It is true that there have always been people in the church, and never more than in the day that we are living in, who believe that the power of the gospel is restricted by social or political opposition.  MacArthur adds “Consequently, they argue that risking public censure, not to mention arrest and imprisonment for boldly preaching sin, repentance, and the gospel, should be avoided.  They counsel discretion and sometimes even compromise in order to make the message more acceptable and, supposedly, more effective.”

 

            I think that it important that I quote one more paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary, or perhaps two more.

 

            “Many Christians are under the illusion that God’s Word has been influential in the Western world, especially in such democracies as the United States, primarily because of legal guarantees of freedom of religion, and that the fight to keep that freedom is therefore a fight to preserve the power of the gospel.  In fact, some Christians who would never think of confronting society with the bold and demanding gospel and being censured for it will strongly fight for some social or political issue in ways that might get them arrested.  Religious freedom is certainly commendable, and Christians who enjoy it should it should be grateful for and take advantage of the opportunities it affords for worship, witness, and service.  But the power of God’s Word has never been dependent on man’s protection or subject to man’s restriction.  That is precisely Paul’s point. The Word of God is not, and cannot be, imprisoned.

 

            “At one time there were some 600 miles of catacombs under the city of Rome, nearly all them dug and used by ten generations of Christians over a period of 300 years.  In the early centuries of the church, the catacombs served as meeting and burial places for perhaps as many as four million Christians.  A common inscription found on walls there is ‘The Word of God is not bound.’  In his famous hymn ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,’ Martin Luther declared, ‘The body they may kill; God’s truth abideth still.’”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One can look at the history of the Word of God from the time that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible until John penned the last book “Revelation,” and it can be said just like Paul said that the word of God is not imprisoned.  It has outlasted all the empires of the world, and I believe that we will be reading it in heaven.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to continue to read and study the Word of God as long as God allows me to live on His earth, or better yet until He comes in the clouds to take all in the Church to be with Him.

 

1/29/2025 9:58 AM

"The Boldness in Prayer" (1 John 3:21-22a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2025 6:41 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                               Focus: “Boldness in Prayer”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1 John 3:21-22a

 

            Message of the verses: “21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him,”

 

            It is my belief that this section will be something that all of us will benefit with as it has to do with our boldness in our prayer life.  Truth is that doubt ceases when believers are walking in faithfulness and obedience, because the heart does not condemn so that insecurity and fear give way to confidence before God.  I know that this is true but I can also say that there are far too many times in my life with I have to battle with this as at times it is because of fear, and dealing with an overacting conscience.  This is the kind of things that I need to help me with these problems and maybe for some who read this too, and that is why I write these Spiritual Diaries each day.  MacArthur writes “Such assurance causes believers to enter God’s presence with certainty (Eph. 3:12; Heb. 10:19; cf. 2 Cor. 3:4; 1 Tim. 3:13).”  Perhaps it is best for me to copy these verses in this SD, and they will be in the order that are listed above.

 

12 in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.

 

19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus,

 

4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.

 

13 For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

 

            I don’t always quote the verses that MacArthur has in his commentaries, but there are times when I think that they will be very helpful.

 

            MacArthur continues right after the last verse reverence by writing “so that whatever they ask in prayer they will receive from Him.  The word rendered confidence (parresia) means ‘boldness’ and ‘freedom of speech.’  It describes the privilege of coming before someone of importance, power, and authority and feeling free to express whatever is on one’s mind.  For believers it means coming into the presence of our loving heavenly Father without fear (cf. 2:28; 4:17) and with full assurance that whatever we ask we receive from Him (cf. 5:14; John 14:13-14; 15:7, 16, 16:23-24).  The writer to the Hebrews used a form of parresia in 4:16:  ‘Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’”

 

            Now because some might consider that approach presumptuous, however obviously, any requests believers make to God must be in accordance with His will as seen in Matt. 26:39, 42.  MacArthur writes “John R. W. Stott provides insight in this regard.”  I will now quote those comments that Stott writes as I finish up this SD.

 

“John does not mean ti imply that God hears and answers our prayers merely for the subjective reason that we have a clear conscience and an uncondemning heart.  There is an objective, moral reason, namely because we keep his commandments and, more generally, do those things that are pleasing in his sight.  Obedience is the indispensable condition, not the meritorious cause, of answered prayer.  Whatsoever we ask, we receive describes the Christian’s habitual experience (the verbs are in the present tense), and Candish is right to point to the incarnate Son as the supreme example of pleasing God and so being heard by God (Jn. Viii. 29, xi. 41, 42). The statement echoes our Lord’s promise, where the same two verbs occur:  “Ask and it shall be given you …for every one that asketh receiveth” (Matt. Vii. 7, 8).  (The Epistles of John, They Tyndale New Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964], 149; emphases in orginial)

 

            MacArthur concludes this rather short section:  “Boldness in prayer is therefore clear evidence of a changed heart.  Because they know God as ‘Abba Father!’ (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), believers realize that anything they ask within His will (cf. John 14:113-14) He is going to hear because He has promised to meet all their needs (Phil. 4:19; cf. Ps. 23:1; 2 Cor. 9:8).”

 

1/28/2025 7:21 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

PT-4 "The Preeminence of the Lord" (2 Tim. 2:8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2025 9:29 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: PT-4 “The Preeminence of the Lord”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  2 Timothy 2:8

 

            Message of the verse:  “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel.”

 

            This morning we continue to look at Jesus Christ, but this morning we want to look at His humanity descendant of David.  Here we find in His humanity His identification with fallen mankind, for we read in Romans 1:3 the following “concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh.”  Now before Jesus was born, at His conception the angel proclaimed the following to Mary “32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’” Our Lord’s human descent from David not only speaks of His humanity as our sympathetic and merciful High Priest who knows all our suffering and has felt all our pain (Heb. 2:14, 18), but also of His royalty and majesty which is seen in the verses above from Luke’s gospel.  MacArthur writes “In his last direct words to the apostle John on Patmos, Jesus spoke of Himself as ‘the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star’ (Rev. 22:16).”

 

            Now as I think about God becoming a man in order to understand what sinful man has to go through, although I know it is impossible for Him to sin, but by living among sinful men He understood what it was like, and that is something for me to think about as I realize that Jesus did not have to become a man, He did not have to leave heaven and He did not have to save us, but because of love HE DID.

 

            MacArthur then goes on to write “Therefore, if Jesus Christ is our divine Savior and sovereign Lord, why should we worry about what happens to us in this life?  As our perfect High Priest, He is able to ‘sympathize with our weaknesses,’ because He ‘has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need’ (Heb. 4:16).”  Now in a sense these verses from Hebrews go along with what I wrote in the paragraph above.

 

            More from MacArthur’s commentary:  “As our sovereign Lord, Jesus Christ controls everything that we are and everything that happens to us.  We must resist temptation, but we need not fear ti, because our Lord will not allow [us] to be tempted beyond what [we] are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that [we] may be able to endure it’ (1 Cor. 10:13).  We have no need to worry about the depts. of our troubles or our sorrows.  Isaiah gives comfort to all those who belong to the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  ‘Like a shepherd He will ten His flock, in His arm He will gather the lambs, and carry them in His bosom’ (Isa. 40:11).  ‘Surely our griefs He himself bore, and our sorrows He carried’ (53:4), the prophet later writes.”

 

            Now here is something that I have written about recently and that is as true believers we have no need to fear the loss of salvation, because our Lord assures us of our perfect and absolute security in Him.  I mentioned 1 John 5:13 as proof of this, which I will quote now and then some other verse from John’s gospel after that.  “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  “27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28).  “25Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25).  “19"After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).  “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).  Now if you are having trouble realizing that you salvation in Christ is secure read over these verses again and take some time to think and to meditate on them which will give you confidence in the Lord that what is written in these verses is true.

 

            MacArthur concludes this section by writing “According to my gospel does not refer to Paul’s personal opinion about the gospel but to the divinely revealed message of Jesus Christ entrusted to him and that he proclaimed as ‘an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God’ (2 Tim. 1:1).  It was the One who was the theme of the gospel he was referring to when he said, ‘Timothy, keep your eyes on the preeminent Jesus Christ as the Son of God as well as the Son of man, and as Savior as well as Lord and King.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am so very thankful that I can know for sure that when the Lord saved me 52 years and 2 days ago that He saved me for eternity.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord through His Holy Spirit to use me in the way that He has planned to use me in eternity past as seen in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  It is my prayer that I will do all the things that He has planned for me to do for the cause of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

1/28/2025 10:19 AM

 

PT-4 "Gratitude For God's Grace" (1 John 3:19-20)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2025 10:20 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-4 “Gratitude For God’s Grace”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  1 John 3:19-20

 

            Message of the verses:  “19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him 20 in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”

 

            John MacArthur writes “Believers enjoy an assurance based not only on what Scripture promises to those who believe (Ps. 4:3; Phil. 1:6; 2 Tim. 1:12), but, on a practical level, based on the presence of a serving love for fellow believers (cf. vv. 13-18) and a desire to live in holinesses (cf. vv. 4:-12).  These qualities, because they come from God, cannot exist in a person who is still unregenerate.  Assure comes from the future active indicative of the verb peitho and means ‘will persuade.’  Some lexicographers give ‘to tranquilize’ as a possible definition, which could have an interesting connotation in this context.  Even though believers stand before Him, in the awesome, intimidating presence of the absolutely holy God (Ex. 15:11; 1 Sam. 2:2; Rev. 15:4), they can have a calm, tranquil, confident heart and an affirming conscience (Acts 23:1: 24:16; 2 Cor. 1:12; 1 Tim. 1:5; 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3).”

 

            Now I have talked as I looked at these verses about a person can be assured about their salvation, which is what John is talking about here, and will continue to talk about this letter as in the fifth chapter he writes:  “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”  This is just one of the different verses that John uses in the different letters that he wrote that are in the Word of God.  John wrote the gospel of John, 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd John along with Revelation, so he wrote a good portion of the New Testament, and it is my belief that he wrote most of this very late in his life, sometime late in the first century, probably in the 90’s.  I have written about how I came to the Lord which was 52 years ago, yesterday, and because I did not attend church until some four years later I was involved in Bible studies and also a lot of reading as the Lord was grounding me in the faith.  It took me a couple of years to realize that my salvation was secure and that I could not lose it, and this makes a great difference in my life and in the lives who realize this truth. 

 

            “Being in the presence of God terrified even the noblest of saints.  Moses ‘hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God’ (Ex. 3:6).  The prophets Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-5) and Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:26-28) also felt great fear as they stood in the presence of holiness.  After witnessing one of His miracles, the apostle Peter ‘fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying ‘God away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’’ (Luke 5:8).  He and fellow apostles James and John were traumatized on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-8), as was John when he saw the glorified Christ (Rev. 1:12-18).  Although believers are no longer slaves to sin but to righteousness (Rom. 6:16-18), the remaining sin within their unredeemed humanness (cf. Rom. 7:14-25) could make God’s holy presence very frightening were it not for the gracious gift of assurance.”

 

            I want to quote one more paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary and then we will be done with this section, a very important section, and a very important paragraph for us to understand, to help us understand what John was writing here.

 

            “Those who have been justified by faith are a peace with God (Rom. 5:1) and enjoy the peace of God (Phil 4:7).  Nevertheless, a believer may experience unnecessary guilt as his heart condemns him.  But there is a higher court than the human heart, for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.  If he has declared believers righteous in Christ, then they are righteous.  Thus Paul wrote, ‘Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ Ro’m. 8:1).  And no one can ever separate them from the saving love of God in Christ (8:31-39).  He sees believers’ greatest, most profound failures, and He knows far more about their weaknesses than even their consciences do (Pss. 1:6; 103:14; 139:1-6; Prov. 24:12; Heb. 4:13).  Yet God has forgiven those who by faith in Christ have been adopted into His family (Rom. 8:14-17).  Moreover, He is at work in their hearts, continuing to cleanse them from the sin that still lingers there (cf. Phil.2:12-13).  He looks beyond the remaining sin and sees the holy affections He has planted in them that demonstrate the transformed natures of His children.  Therefore even when overwhelmed by their sinfulness believers can say with Peter, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You’ (John 21:17b; cf. Rom. 7:14-25).”

 

            As I close this very important section please look at the following God is greater than our heart and knows all things.”  Think about this when you are doubting your salvation and realize that God does know all things which includes if you have been born-again that God has saved you forever, and now one can snatch you out of His hands.  Also if you are in the United States or Europe, as I have already mentioned, you can go to www.gty.org and ask for the free booklet about the assurance of salvation.

 

1/27/2025 11:02 PM

 

PT-3 "The Preeminence of the Lord" (2 Timothy 2:8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/27/2025 8:18 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: PT-3 “The Preeminence of the Lord”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  2 Timothy 2:8

 

            Message of the verse:  “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel.”

 

            I continue looking at this verse with the help of John MacArthur and first of all talk about what our Lord promised difficulty: “22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. 23  "But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. 24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master” (Matt. 10:22-24).  Now I have been going over my study from the book of Ester, a story that every time I read or study it shows me that God is in control.  Many of those who read these Spiritual Diaries that I write will be familiar with the book of Ester, a book in the Bible that does not mention God in it but His fingerprints are all over the book.  I am going to quote from my Spiritual Diary from the 8^th chapter of Ester something that Dr. Warren Wiersbe wrote that ties in with what we are looking at here:  “God doesn’t always give this kind of a ‘happy ending’ to everybody’s story.  Today, not all faithful Christians are promoted and given special honors.  Some of them get fired because of their stand for Christ!  God hasn’t promised that we’ll be promoted and made rich, but He assured us that He’s in control of all circumstances and that He will write the last chapter of the story.  If God doesn’t promote us here on earth, He certainly will when we get to glory.”  I cannot answer how some believers are not persecuted like others, but I can say that if we take a stand for Christ in our everyday life that there will be some who desire to bring harm to us, which is what Jesus is saying in these verses form Matthew 10:22-24 seen above.

 

            John MacArthur writes “Paul is not speaking of remembering the resurrection, important as that is, but rather of remembering Jesus Christ, who is alive because of the resurrection, having been risen from the dead.  We do not serve a past event or a merely historical person.  Jesus did indeed live a human life and die a human death.  But we worship and serve Him because He is no longer dead but alive.  We remember and worship and serve the living Jesus Christ.”

 

            Now it is by His resurrection that Jesus Christ became “the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place [preeminence] in everything’ (Col. 1:18).  So not only that, however; for our sakes, He also became “the first-born among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29), in order that we might be raised and live with Him through all eternity, and to that I can say that I am very much looking forward too.  Now as “the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven” (Heb. 12:23).  That is the hope of all believers, and remember that in this case the word “hope” is a noun, and not a verb, which is important to understand.

 

            I want to quote one more paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary and then Lord willing will finish this section in tomorrow’s SD.

 

            “When we remember Christ as our resurrected Lord, we focus on His nature as God and His role as Savior.  Through His death and resurrection, Christ broke the shackles of sin and of its wages, death, which is the greatest weapon of Satan.  When we trusted in Him, He became our Savior and our Lord, breaking the power of sin, of death and of Satan in our own lives.  What greater motivation for service to Him could there be than to serve the One who conquered death and did it for us (John 14:19)?”  “"After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is wonderful to remember the resurrected Lord knowing that because He lives that I will live with Him in heaven someday.  What He did for me is something that on my own could never do, and that truly is love, and I am thankful beyond measure for that.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Because He lives I will live also and that means that I am to happily tell others what the Lord has done for me so they too can receive the forgiveness that only can come from Him.

 

1/27/2025 8:47 AM