PT-1 "Perfect Love and the Christian's Confidence in Judgment" (1 John 4:17-21)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/23/2025 10:25 PM

 

My Worship Time              Focus:  “Perfect Love And The Christian’s Confidence in Judgment”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  1 John 4:17-21

 

            Message of the verses:  “17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

 

            Just to let all of you know that this section is the last section in the 4^th chapter of 1 John and it has one of my favorite verses in it, the one that is highlighted.

 

            Let us begin with what is stated in verse 17b we may have confidence in the day of judgment, and this is the experience of believers who not only know when they have an accurate grasp of the gospel and other biblical doctrines, but also when love is perfected within them. 

 

            MacArthur explains that “The day of judgment refers in the broadest sense to the final time of reckoning before God (cf. 2:28).  John says believers can live their lives with confidence (literally, ‘boldness’) as they look to the day when Christ returns and they stand before God (1 Cor. 3:9-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; cf. James 1:12; Rev. 2:10).  In 3:21 John used the same word (parresia) to refer to the confidence believers can have that God will grant their prayer requests.  In the present verse the apostle declares that boldness and lack of fear should characterize believers (cf. Rom. 5:2; Heb. 6:19) whenever they think ahead of God’s time of judgment (cf. Titus 2:13).”

 

            Now one may ask why can believers have such confidence?  Because as He is, so also are we in this world.  Now this is a stunning statement which means that the Father treats the saints the same way He does His Son Jesus Christ.  Now think about that statement for a moment.  God clothes believers with the righteousness of Christ (Rom. 3:21-22; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9), and grants the Son’s perfect love (Matt. 9:36; John 10:11, 14-16; 13:1; 14:21) and obedience (cf. John 4:34; 5:30; 18:37).  The truth is that someday believers will stand before God’s throne as confidently as their Lord and Savior does.  (Think about that statement).  When they reach that final accounting, they will see the fulfillment of 1 John 3:2b, “We [believers] know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

 

            Ok it is Sunday evening and my Spiritual Diaries are shorter than on the week days, and so it is my desire to be able to finish looking at the great and wonderful verses in tomorrow’s evening SD. 

 

2/23/2025 10:49 PM 

PT-1 "False Teaching Characterizes Those Who Do Not Belong to the Lord" (2 Tim. 2:19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/23/2025 8:04 AM

 

My Worship       Time Focus: “False Teaching Characterizes Those Who Do Not Belong to the Lord”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference: 2 Timothy 2:19

 

            Message of the verse:  “19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness."

 

            This morning we begin the last danger of false teaching which is mentioned here, and that it fits those who are unsaved and ungodly.

 

            As we look at the first word, nevertheless we can see that Paul is again making his point by contrast, he continues the firm foundation of God stands.  Now unlike those who trust in a satanic scheme of religion, those who are truly saved, who are God’s spiritual children and genuine disciples of Jesus Christ, are part of the firm foundation of God.

 

            Now in this context, writes MacArthur, the firm foundation of God seems most likely to refer to the church.  In the previous letter to Timothy, Paul speaks of ‘the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth’ (1 Tim. 3:15, emphasis added).  The foundation of Christ’s church stands on the truth, ‘and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it’ (Matt. 16:18).

 

            “On that promise, we have God’s seal.  A sphragis (seal) was a sign of ownership and God has placed His divine seal of ownership on the church.  In the end times, those ‘who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads’ will be tormented by the locusts (Rev. 9:4).  It is also doubtless that God’s seal on their foreheads will protect believers from taking the mark of the beast (see Rev. 13:16).”  “16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead.”

 

            One more quote from MacArthur’s commentary for this SD as today is Sunday and my Spiritual Diaries are rather short on Sunday mornings. 

 

            “God’s seal of ownership is on the church in two ways.  First, every member of the body of Christ, the church, has God’s divine assurance of election, in that ‘the Lord knows those who are His.’  The source of this quotation is not certain, but is possibly from the book of Numbers.  When some Israelites were about to rebel against the Lord and His appointed leaders Moses and Aaron, Moses declared to Korah and the other rebels, ‘The Lord will show who is His, and who is holy and will bring him near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself’ (Num.16:5).”

 

Spiritual Meaning for My Life Today: I am thankful to know that the Lord has chosen me to be His child, and for that I truly do not understand, but truly am thankful.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am trusting the Lord for His will to be done as my wife has some surgery on Tuesday afternoon.  It is suppose to be short, but this is something that I have to trust the Lord to do His will, and to comfort her during and after the procedure.

 

2/23/2025 8:31 AM

PT-2 "Perfect Love And The Christian's Claim of Faith" (1 John 4:12-16)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/22/2025 6:39 PM

 

My Worship Time                  Focus: PT-2 “Perfect Love And The Christian’s Claim of Faith”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  1 John 4:12-16

 

            Message of the verses:  “12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

 

            Now before I continue on looking at these five verses I want you to notice something as you read over these verses and that is that the entire Trinity is seen in these verses.  Notice that God is mentioned in verse twelve two times.  Now in verse thirteen I believe that the Him is speaking of the Son, and then at the end of the verse we see the Holy Spirit.  Verse fourteen we see again the Father and the Son.  Verse fifteen we see Jesus is the Son of God, then again God two more times.  Verse sixteen we see God four more times.

 

            Now I want to continue to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary, picking up where I left of yesterday.  “Jesus compared the Holy Spirit to the wind (John 3:8) and said people can see on the Spirit’s effects; there are no visible, physical signs that guarantee that someone is filled with the Spirit.  But the reality of their faith enables believers to know they have the indwelling Spirit, as John reminds his readers: We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  Belief in the gospel (the doctrinal test) provides evidence of the Spirit’s ministry and presence (cf. 1 Cor. 12:3).”  Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus is accursed"; and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.  Because sinners are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1, 5), they cannot come to God on their own (cf. Matt. 12:35; John 1:12-13).  Saving faith is possible only because God grants it (Eph. 2:8).  In John’s case, his own experience of seeing and being with Jesus verified his faith (1 John 1:1-3).  He bore witness that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world, but he would not have believed had the Father not chosen him (John 644; 15:16, 19) and the Spirit opened his eyes to the truth.” 

 

            Now thinking back on my life a little over 51 years ago I would not have understood all of this that was just written in the paragraph above.  It took a series of events for me to understand that I was born a sinner, born spiritually dead, and on my own could do nothing about it.  I have given this illustration in earlier Spiritual Diaries, but think of a dead person, best illustrated by a man and the undertaker is about to dress him for the funeral service.  He looks at the man trying to decide which color of tie to put on him, and then asked the dead man lying there, perhaps without thinking “what color of tie do you want on?”  Well you know that he will not get an answer because the man is dead.  Spiritually speaking we are born dead, dead in are trespasses and sins, and there is nothing we can do on our own about that as far as becoming a believer.  The Holy Spirit is the One who gives an effectual call to a person and then they become spiritually alive as they are given a new nature, but are now alive in Christ.  At that point as I look back 51+ years ago that is what happened to me, but I did not understand it, just knew I was different, for at that time the Lord cleaned up my mouth and I never swore again, as He took it away from me.  I knew that but little else and it was the patience of the Lord through the Holy Spirit who now lived in me and the Word of God along with help from different Pastors and teachers that has caused me to grow in the Lord.  Yes it is a struggle from time to time, but God is faithful throughout all of it, and for that I am very thankful.

 

            “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God, knows that abides in him, and he in God.  The true believer has discerned the presence of the Holy Spirit, and has come to know and [has] believed the love which God has for us.  Such persons understand the eternal love of God, who is love, for all believers.  They can rest confidently in the assurance that the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  They will further demonstrate the genuineness of their salvation by loving the Father and the Son, loving righteousness and fellow believers rather than the world’s system, and even loving their enemies.  In summary, they will increasingly love the way God loves (cf. Matt. 5:48; 22:37-40; 2 Cor. 3:18).”

 

            I have to say that a few weeks ago I sent a letter to John MacArthur who was then in the hospital having a number of operations on his heart.  I referenced that I was using his commentaries to help me to write my Spiritual Diaries and that by the grace of God were going around the world each and every day.  Years earlier I had sent a similar letter to Dr. Warren Wiersbe explain to him that at the time I was using his commentaries in order to help me write my Spiritual Diaries.  These two great men of God never said a word about me using some of their material, and I believe the reason was because they were thankful that the Word of God was being spread around the world, and for that I am very thankful.

 

2/22/2025 7:13 PM

 

 

PT-2 "False Teaching Upsets The Faith of Some" (2 Timothy 2:17b-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/22/2025 7:43 AM

 

My Worship Time                                  Focus: PT-2 “False Teaching Upsets The Faith of Some”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference: 2 Timothy 2:17b-18

 

            Message of the verses: “Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some.”

 

            I begin by saying that the particular heresy of Hymenaeus and Philetus was their claiming the resurrection has already taken place.  “12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” (1 Cor. 15:12).   Now Paul does not explain what resurrection they had in mind.  Neither Jesus’ resurrection, the one that has taken place, nor the physical resurrection of believers, which had not take place yet, makes sense in this context.  It would seem provable, therefore, that they men propounded some form of spiritual resurrection as the only resurrection.  It is possible that they were teaching that the only resurrection was the spiritual union with Christ in His death and resurrection (cf. Rom. 6:1-11).  Such a view would have been based on pagan Greek philosophy, perhaps incipient Gnosticism, whose adherents believed that the body and all other material things are intrinsically evil.  It is possible that they got this false idea from the fact that once a person is born-again that the old nature has died, but believers still have the flesh which certainly can cause a believer to sin.  In Acts 17:32 we read “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this."  This happened at the time when Paul was along in Athens and had a chance to witness to some Greeks there.  The ones that he was talking to, MacArthur reports “were doubtless into such philosophical dualism and were horrified at the idea of the body’s being restored in the afterlife.  Hymenaeus and Philetus possibly held the belief of many pagans that the only immortality is in life carried   on through progeny.  By denying the bodily resurrection, they were destroying the very foundation of the Christian faith—denying both the reality and the implications of Christ’s resurrection.”

 

            Now in the first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul makes clear the monumental importance of both Christ’s and also the believer’s resurrection and of a right understanding of those truths.  “12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; 17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:12-17).

 

            “To deny or distort the truth about the resurrection is to deny and distort the heart of the gospel.  It is therefore a tragic and damnable thing to teach falsehood about that doctrine.  Not only does it blaspheme God and denigrate His Word but inevitably it will upset the faith of some.

 

                        “Anatrepo (to upset) carries the idea of overturning or overthrowing, indicating that the faith held by some of those who listened to false teachers was not saving faith, which cannot be overthrown or destroyed.  Those hearers apparently had heard the gospel and been attracted to Christianity as a possible answer to their religious quest.  But because they had not placed their faith in Christ as Savior and Lord and were exposed to deception, they fell prey to corrupt teaching and remained lost.

 

            “Again, that sad truth reveals one of the greatest perils of a false gospel: It keeps some souls—over the centuries, countless millions of them—out of the kingdom.”

 

            I have to say in conclusion that that is a very sad, sad situation to be in, to believe a lie that will keep you out of the kingdom of God.

 

2/22/2025 8:12 AM

 

           

PT-1 "Perfect Love And The Christian's Claim of Faith" (1 John 4:12-16)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/21/2025 5:03 PM

 

My Worship Time                  Focus: PT-1 “Perfect Love And The Christian’s Claim of Faith”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  1 John 4:12-16

 

            Message of the verses:  “12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

 

            Let us look at verse 12 as it is quoted in the paragraph above, and in this verse John makes the simple point that if “no one has seen God,” and he is talking about the Father, so no one has seen the Father at any time.  (cf. John 4:24; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16), and also we know that Jesus is in heaven and so no one can any longer see Him, then people will not see God’s love unless believers love one another.  Now if they love one another, then God will be on display, testifying that He abides in [them], and His love is perfected in [them] (cf. John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:24).  The unseen God will thus reveal Himself through the visible love of believers; the love that originated in God and then was manifested in His Son is now demonstrated in His people.

 

            MacArthur writes “In this section the apostle John also sets forth a key sequence of evidences to remind readers once again that they can know they are saved.  Assurance begins with the work of the Holy Spirit (2:20, 27; Rom. 8:9, 14-16; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Eph. 1:13-14).  Bruce Milne summarizes it for believers this way:

 

The heart of Christian experience of the Holy Spirit lies in his bringing us into a living relationship to Jesus Christ so that we share in his redemption and all its blessings.  All Christian experience can be focused in this one gift of God to us through His Spirit, our union with Christ. ( [Downers Grove, Ill.” InterVaristy, 1982], 182)

 

“Therefore John assures his believing readers they can know that [they] abide in God and He in [them], because He has given [them] of His Spirit.

 

            “Having already focused on the Father and the Son within his discussion on perfect love, John now emphasizes that role of the Spirit.  By noting the work of each member of the Trinity, the apostle underscores the Trinitarian orgins of perfect love.  Such love, which is accomplished through the work of each member of the Trinity and subsequently manifested in the lives of believers, finds it source in the triune God, who from eternity past enjoyed perfect fellowshipas Father, Son, and Spirit.  As those who abide in God, believers will reflect His love, because God abides in them and His Spirit is a work in their hearts.”

 

            I think that I will complete this section in my next Evening Spiritual Diary even though there is not a lot to do, but sometimes it is best to make my Spiritual Diaries shorter so that the readers can think about the things that are in them, and this one has much to think about.

 

2/21/2025 5:30 PM

PT-1 "False Teaching Upsets The Faith of Some" (2 Tim. 2:17b-18)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/21/2025 8:13 AM

 

My Worship Time                                  Focus: PT-1 “False Teaching Upsets The Faith of Some”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference: 2 Timothy 2:17b-18

 

            Message of the verses: “Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some.”

 

            Hymenaeus has already been denounced in Paul’s first letter to Timothy so we can be sure he had been a threat to the Ephesian church for some time.  Paul had actually put him out of the church when he was at Ephesus, having “delivered [him] over to Satan,” Hymenaeus obviously persisted in his efforts to mislead believers there in Ephesus, and Philetus had replaced Alexander as his coconspirator (see 1 Timothy 1:20).  “Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.”

 

            John MacArthur writes “Those men were apostates, like those of whom the writer of Hebrews wrote:  4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame” (Heb. 6:4-6).  They have ‘trampled under foot the Son of God, and [have] regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which [they were] sanctified, and [have] insulted the Spirit of grace’ (Heb. 10:29).  As Jesus said to Judas (Matt. 26:24), it would have been better if those men had not been born.”

 

            A couple of things, and first is that I have chosen to split this section into two parts even though it is not that long.  Second when I taught the Sunday school class on the book of Hebrews there were some who were upset over what I taught about some of these verses that we have just gone over.  Let me say that it is my belief, and the belief of those who I trust in helping me to understand the Bible better that if a person is genuinely saved that they can never lose their salvation, so if the Bible speaks about those who are not saved, even though it seemed that they were at one time then they never were.

 

            Jesus began to speak in parables in Matthew chapter 13, and the reason was that He was accused of being Beelzebul in chapter 12, who is Satan.  Jesus told them that they could not ever come to salvation because of what they were saying about Him.  Now because of this Jesus then began to speak in parables and the first parable was about the sower and the seeds.  Now I will quote this in two parts, just like it is written in Matthew, and the reason that I am quoting this parable is because to tells of how people seemingly come to the Lord for salvation, but there is only one of the “seeds” that were planted that represents true salvation.

 

            “3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 “And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 “He who has ears, let him hear." (Matt. 13:3-9).

 

17 “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18 “Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20  "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22  "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23  "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matt. 13:17-23).

 

2/21/2025 8:47 AM

 

 

"Perfect Love and the Coming of Christ" (1 John 4:9-11)

EVINING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/20/2025 8:50 PM

 

My Worship Time                                              Focus:  “Perfect Love and the Coming of Christ”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  1 John 4:9-11

 

            Message of the verses:  “9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

 

            I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed looking at Warren Wiersbe’s commentary yesterday on these verses, and I learned that this was the second of three comments that he wrote on what I have been going over for the last few days, and so perhaps I will go back and write some of the things that he had to say on the verses that I recently went over from 1 John.  Today I will look at what John MacArthur has to say about these three verses.

 

            It is not too hard to understand that Jesus Christ is the preeminent manifestation of God’s love (John 1:14, cf. Rom. 5:8); He is God’s only begotten Son, meaning unique.  “For to which of the angels did He ever say, "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU"? And again, "I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME"? (Heb. 1:5).  It is known that Jesus Christ came in the flesh to planet earth as seen in (Luke2:7-14; John 1:14, 18; Heb. 5:5).  It is the incarnation that was the supreme demonstration of a divine love that was and is sovereign and seeking; it was not that [believers] loved God, but that He loved [them] and sent His Son to be the propitiation for [their] sins.  MacArthur explains “The term propitiation refers to a covering for sin (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17), and is a form of the same word (hilasmos) used in 2:2.”  Now we wrote about this in an earlier SD back beginning on 9-12-2024.  Now hundreds of years before Christ came to planet earth, the prophet Isaiah foresaw His propitiatory sacrifice: 

 

“4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him” (Isa. 53:4-6; cf. 2 Cor. 5:21: Gal. 3:13; 1 Peter 3:18).

 

            MacArthur writes:  “By this the perfect love of God was manifested in [believers], John wrote, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that [believers] might live through Him.  The apostle’s point is that since God, in sovereign mercy, graciously displayed His love in sending Christ, the saints should surely follow His example and love others with sacrificial, Christlike love (Eph. 4:32).  The Father not only gave His children a perfect love when He redeemed them (Rom. 5:5), but He also gave them the ultimate model in Christ of how that love functions in selfless sacrifice.  The cross of Christ compels believers to such love.  Thus John exhorted his readers:  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (cf. John 15:13).  The apostle really just restated his admonition from 3:16, ‘We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.’ Now one who has ever savingly believed in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and thus been granted eternal life, can return permanently to a self-centered lifestyle.  Instead such persons will obey Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians to ‘be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma’ (Eph. 5:1-2; cf. 1 Peter 1:15-16).”

 

2/20/2025 9:25 PM 

"False Teaching Spreads Rapidly" (2 Timothy 2:17a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/20/2025 8:55 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  “False Teaching Spreads Rapidly”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2 Timothy 2:17a

 

            Message of the verse:  “and their talk will spread like gangrene.”

 

            Let us look again at verse 16 before I make comments on 17a.  “16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene.

 

            MacArthur writes “Not only that, but false doctrine propagated by the talk of false teachers will spread its infection like gangrene.  Gangrene transliterates gangraina, the Greek word from which it is derived.  In the ancient world, the term was used of cancer as well as gangrene, both of which diseases spread rapidly and are deadly.  Even in modern warfare, gangrene is one of the worst dangers in battlefield injuries.  If not treated promptly and carefully, it can quickly lead to amputation or death.  False religion and satanic lies spread faster than the truth, because the sinful human heart is more receptive to them.

 

            “Religious deceptions are so infectious, malicious, and insidious that they are to be handled only with protective mask and gloves, as it were.  Using another figure, Jude says that those who are in grave spiritual danger should be snatched ‘out of the fire’ (Jude  23) like a hot ember.  It was in a similar figurative way that the high priest Joshua, who had become corrupted like the rest of the priesthood, was divinely retrieved and spared, like ‘a brand plucked from the fire’ (Zech. 3:2).

 

             ‘The whole world lies in the power of the evil one’ John says in his first letter (1 John 5:19).  Earlier in that epistle he says we are not to ‘love the world, the love of the world, nor the things in the world,’ because ‘if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him.  For all that is in the world, the sust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world’ (1 John  2:15-16).  James likewise warns, ‘Do you know that friendship with the world makes himself an enemy with God’ (James 4:4).  The world is the partner with demons in developing and spreading the epidemic of deadly spiritual gangrene.

 

            “It is because false teachers are of the world and serve the prince of this world that they are so dangerous.  And rapidly growing tehnology has helped worldliness and every other form of ungodliness to also grow more rapidly, esposing more people to more evil teaching than those who lived even a few generations ago could have imagined.  Consequently, Christians today have more reason than ever to ‘test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world’ (1 John 4:1).  ‘They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them” (v. 5).  Christians therefore have no excuse even for listening to them, much less buying into their ungodly beliefs and ways.”

2/20/2025 9:20 AM

"What God Did: 'He Sent His Son" (1 John 4:9-11)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/19/2025 7:51 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                     Focus:  “What God Did: “He Sent His Son”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  1 John 4:9-11

 

            Message of the verses:  “9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 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. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

 

            I want you who read this SD to know that I am changing things up a little bit this evening as I am going to look at what the late Dr. Warren Wiersbe has to say about these verses, and then in tomorrow evening SD I will look at what John MacArthur has to say about these verses.  I have mentioned before that I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Warren Wiersbe and enjoy reading what he has written in what he calls his “Be Books” as he has written these books for all of the books of the Bible, but in some cases he will combine a couple of either Old Testament books or New Testament books together.

 

            “Because God is love, He must communicate—not only in words but in deeds.  True love is never static or inactive.  God reveals His love to mankind in many ways.  He has geared all of creation to meeting men’s needs.  Until man’s sin brought creation under bondage, man had on earth a perfect home in which to love and serve God.

 

            “God’s love was revealed in the way He dealt with the nation of Israel.  ‘The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people.  But because the Lord loved you…hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand” (Deut. 7:7-8).

 

            “The greatest expression of God’s love is in the death of His Son.  ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’ (Rom. 5:8), NASB).

 

            The word manifested means ‘to come out in the open, to be made public.’  It is the opposite of ‘to hide, to make secret.’  Under the Old Covenant, God was hidden behind the shadows of ritual and ceremony (Heb. 10:1); but in Jesus Christ ‘the life was manifested’ (1 John 1:2).  ‘He that hath seen Me,’ said Jesus, ‘hath seen the Father (John 14:9).

 

            “Why was Jesus Christ manifested?  ‘And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins’ (1 John 3:5).  ‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil’ (1 John 3:8).  Where did Jesus take away our sins and destroy (render inoperative) the works of the devil?  At the cross!  God manifested His love at the cross when He gave His Son as a sacrifice there for our sins.

 

            “This is the only place in the epistle where Jesus is called God’s only-begotten Son.  The title is used in John’s Gospel (John 1:14).  It means ‘unique, the only  one of its kind.’  The fact that God sent His Son into the world is one evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ.  Babies were not sent into the world from some other place; they were born into the world.  As the perfect Man, Jesus was born into the world, but as the eternal Son, He was sent into the world.

 

            “But the sending of Christ into the world, and His death on the cross, were not prompted by man’s love for God.  They were prompted by His love for man.  The world’s attitude toward God is anything but love!

 

            “Two purposes are given for Christ’s death on the cross:  that we might live through Him (1 John 4:9) and that He might be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10).  His death was not an accident; it was an appointment.  He did not die as a weak martyr, but as a mighty conqueror.

 

            “Jesus Christ died that we might live ‘through Him’ (1 John 4:9), ‘for Him’ (2 Cor. 5:15), and ‘with Him’ (1 Thess. 5:9-10).  A sinner’s desperate need is for life, because he is ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (Eph. 2:1).  It is something of a paradox that Christ had to die so that we may live!  We can never probe the mystery of His death, but this we know:  God died for us (Gal. 2:20).

 

            “The death of Christ is described as a ‘propitiation.’  John has used this word before (1 John 2:2), so there is no need to study it in detail again.  We should remember that propitiation does not mean that men must do something to appease God or to placate His anger.  Propitiation is something God does to make it possible for men to be forgiven.  ‘God is light,’ and therefore He must uphold His holy Law.  ‘God is love,’ and therefore He wants to forgive and save sinners.  How can God forgive sinners and still be consistent with His holy nature?  The answer is the cross.  There Jesus Christ bore the punishment for sin and met the just demands of the holy Law.  But there, also, God reveals His love and makes it possible for men to be saved by faith.

 

            “It is important to note that the emphasis is on the death of Christ, not on His birth.  The fact that Jesus was, ‘made flesh’ (John 1:14) is certainly an evidence of God’s grace and love, but the fact that He was ‘made sin’ (2 Cor. 5:21) is underscored for us.  The example of Christ, the teachings of Christ, the whole earthly life of Christ, find their true meaning and fulfillment in the cross.

 

            “For the second time, believers are exhorted to ‘love one another (1John 4:11).  This exhortation is a commandment to be obyed (1 John 4:7), and its basis is the nature of God.  ‘God is love; we know God; therefore we should love one another.’  But the exhortation to love one another is presented as a privilege as well as a responsibility:  ‘If God so loves us, we ought also to love one another’ (1 John 4:11).  We are not saved by loving Christ; we are saved by believing on Christ (John 3:16).  But after we realize what He did for us on the cross, our normal response ought to be to love Him and to love one another.

 

            “It is important that Christians progress in their understanding of love.  To love one another simply out of a sense of duty is good, but to love out of appreaction (rather than obligation) is even better.

 

            “This may be one reason why Jesus established the Lord’s Supper, the Communion service.  When we break the bread and share the cup, we remember His death.  Few men, if any, want their deaths remembered!  In fact, we remember the life of a loved one and try to forget the sadness of his death.  Not so with Christ.  He commands us to remember His death: ‘This do in remembrance of Me!

 

            “We should remember our Lord’s death in a spiritual way, not merely sentimentally.  Someone has defined sentiment as ‘feeling without responsibility.’  It is easy to experience solemn emotions at a church service and yet go out to live the same defeated life.  True spiritual experience involves the whole man. The mind must understand spiritual truth; the heart must love and appreciate it; and the will must act on it.  The deeper we go into the meaning of the Criss, the greater will be our love for Christ and the greater our active concern for one another. 

 

            I hope that whoever reads this SD will appreciate Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s ministry even though he is now with the Lord.

 

2/19/2025 8:52 PM

"False Teaching Leads to Ungodliness" (2 Tim. 2:16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/19/2025 8:32 AM

 

My Worship Time                                               Focus:  “False Teaching Leads To Ungodliness”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                   Reference:  2 Timothy 2:16

 

            Message of the verse:  “16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,

 

            This morning we will look at the third danger of false teaching which is leading to ungodliness.  Now we have to look at the word “But” as this indicates the contrast of “handling accurately the word of truth” with the warning to avoid worldly chatter.  This kind of talk should not be “handled” at all.

 

            Let us look at the similar advice that Paul gave to his son in the Lord Titus:  Shun foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law; for they are unprofitable and worthless” (Titus 3:9).  Paul had also given Timothy such advice earlier, as he was adding the warning to also avoid “the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” (1 Tim. 6:20).  That kind of talk is time-wasting and confusing at best and also spiritually harmful at the worst, which obviously is what Paul has in mind here talking to Timothy.  Words of worldly human opinion are no more than evil chatter.

 

            What exactly is Paul talking about here?  Well his is not talking of idle chitchat or gossip, which certainly can do great damage in a church.  However Paul is speaking of destructive heresy that perverts divine truth and will lead to further ungodliness.  The chatter itself is evil enough, but when it infects the hearers, the evil is compounded.

 

            John MacArthur writes:  “This danger is not restricted to unbelievers or even immature believers.  Paul is speaking directly to Timothy, who, despite his timidity and temporary discouragement, was nevertheless a gifted spiritual leader in whom the apostle had much confidence.  He had been appointed leader as the official representative of Paul in the church at Ephesus.  No one is exempt from the corruptive influence of falsehood.  Just as a doctor cannot help being exposed to a dangerous disease he is treating, a godly preacher or teacher cannot help being exposed to dangerous ideas.  But just as a doctor keeps exposure to the minimum and concentrates on destroying the disease, so the godly preacher or teacher must keep exposure to falsehood at a minimum, while opposing and seeking to exterminate it with the truth.

 

            “When false teachers are unopposed or unexposed, ‘many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned’ (2 Peter 2:2). The spiritual plight of many denominations and Christian institutions that once were solidly biblical is abundant proof of the pernicious and pervasive destructiveness of false doctrine.  The legacy of false doctrine is the further ungodliness of false living.  Error cannot restrain the flesh, cannot halt the devil, and cannot protect from the world.  False teaching provides no defense against iniquity and no strength for doing what is right and God-horning.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Trust that the Lord will keep me from false teaching so I do not ever fall into that evil practice.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  2 Timothy 2:15.

 

2/19/2025 9:17 AM  

PT-3 "Perfect Love and the Character of God" (1 John 4:7-8)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/18/2025 8:14 PM

 

My Worship Time                                      Focus:  PT-3 “Perfect Love and the Character of God”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                        Reference:  1 John 4:7-8

 

            Message of the verses:  “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

 

            “That God is love explains a number of things in the biblical worldview,” is how John MacArthur writes in his commentary and there are four “things” that he is referring to and the first two were looked at in my last SD, and so as promised I begin with the third in this Spiritual Diary.

 

            “Third, the reality that God is love also explains His providence.  He orchestrates all the circumstances of life, in all their wonder, beauty, and even difficulty, to reveal many evidences of His love (Pss. 36:6; 145:9; Rom. 8:28).”  And so we will look at these three verses to help us understand what was just written.

 

6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.

 

9 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works.

 

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

 

            “Fourth, that He is love explains the divine plan of redemption.  If God operated only on the basis of His Law, He would convict people of their sin, and justly consign everyone to spend forever in hell (cf. Ps. 130:3).  But His love provided a remedy for sin through the atoning work of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:21; Gal. 4:4-5) on behalf of all who repented and trust in His mercy (John. 13:14-15).  In the most well-known statement of His earthly ministry, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16; cf. 2 Cor. 5:19-20; 1 Tim. 4:10; Titus 3:4-5).”

 

            “ God’s general love for mankind manifests itself in several ways.  First, He expresses His love and goodness to all through common grace.  The psalmist wrote, ‘The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works’ (Ps. 145:9; cf. Matt. 5:45).  As part of this, God reveals His love through His compassion, primarily in that He delays His final judgment against unrepentant sinners (Gen. 15:16; Acts 17:30-31; Rom. 3:25; cf. Gen. 18:20-33).  That compassion is further expressed in His myriad of warnings to sinners (Jer. 7:13-15, 23-25; 25:4-6; Ezek. 33:7-8; Zeph. 2:1-3; Luke 3:7-9; 1 Cor. 10:6-11; Rev. 3:1-3).  He finds no pleasure in the damnation of anyone (Ezek. 18:23, 32; 2 Peter 3:9).  Accompanied with His warnings, God extends His love to every part of the world through His general offer of the gospel (Matt. 11:28; John 7:37; 1 Tim. 2:4; Titus 2:11).  As Jesus told the apostles, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation’ (Mark. 16:15; cf. Matt. 28:19).”  Now in thinking about this last statement and verse along with Ephesians 2:10 which says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them,” this explains why I write my Spiritual Diaries and put them onto my blots which the Spirit of God takes around the world each and every day, and this is a joy for me to do by obeying what I believe the Lord has called me to do.

 

            “That general love, however, is limited to this life.  After death, unrepentant sinners will experience God’s wrath and judgment for all eternity (Dan. 12:2; Matt. 25:41; 2 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 20:12-15).  But God has a special, perfect, eternal love that He lavishes on everyone who believes.  The apostle John aptly characterized that love Jesus displayed to the apostles when he wrote at the beginning of the upper room narrative:  ‘Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love’ (John 13:1b NIV).  Paul later celebrated tat special love in his letter to the Ephesians:

 

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6  and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-7).

 

            Now if anyone is looking for more information on the discussion of the love of God, John MacArthur has written a book entitled The God Who Loves and this was first published in 1996, and then again in 2001 by Nashville: Word.

 

2/18/2025 8:46 PM