SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/7/2025 8:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 Intro to “The Danger of False
Teaching”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy 2:14-19
Message of the verses: “14 Remind them
of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to
wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the
hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who
does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. 16 But
avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further
ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are
Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that
the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. 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.’”
I can say that this section has some of my favorite
verses in it so I am ready to look into these verses and see what the Lord has
for me as I study them.
It
has been my practice for a while to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary on
his introduction to the verses that he is about to comment on and so that is
what I will continue to do.
“Christian’
cults abound today as never before, as does every type of false religion. Many Protestant denominations that once
championed God’s inerrant Word and the saving gospel of Jesus Christ have
turned to human philosophy and secular wisdom.
In doing so, they have abandoned the central truths of the biblical Christianity—including
the Trinity, the deity of Christ, His substituionary atonement, and salvation
by grace alone. In rejecting God’s
truth, they have come to condone and embrace countless evils—universalism,
hedonism, psychology, self-salvation, fornication and adultery, homosexuality,
abortion, and a host of other sins. The
effects of ungodly teaching have been devastation and damning, not only for the
members of those churches but for a countless number of the unsaved who have
been confirmed in their ungodliness by false religion.”
Let
me just say that as one reads the second and the third chapters of the book of
Revelation that they would not be surprised as to what is going on in the world
today as far as what John MacArthur wrote in the previous paragraph. I have mentioned that when I became a
believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that is when the Lord saved me a little over
51 years ago that it was my desire to find out how the world was going to end
and so it was suggested to me that I read the book of Revelation. I would not suggest that to any new believer,
but I began to read it and to be honest I did not get a lot out of it then. Ok the point that I want to make is that in the
second and third chapters of Revelation that John writes about seven churches
and it is my belief, and has been for a long time, that these seven churches
were in prophetic order of the dominant church in the world at different times
in history. In his book “There’s A New
World Coming” Hal Lindsey gives the dates of these churches as to when they
would be the dominant church in history.
Now to be sure all of these types of churches described in Revelation
2-3 are around all of the time, but I am talking about being dominant during
certain times of history. I will give
you what Hal Lindsey has for these seven churches. “1) Ephesus A. D. 33-100; 2) Smyrna A. D.
100-312; 3) Pergamos A.D. 312-590; 4) Thyatira A.D 590-1517; 5) Sardis A.D
1517-1750; 6) Philadelphia 1750-1925; 7) Laodicea 1900-Tribulation.” Let me at this time quote from Revelation
chapter 3 about the church of Laodicea “14 "To the angel of the church in
Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the
creation of God, says this: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold
nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and
neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 ‘Because you say,
"I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and
you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and
naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may
become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that
the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your
eyes so that you may see. 19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore
be zealous and repent. 20 ‘Behold,
I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I
will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 ‘He who
overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame
and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.’’”
There are two churches that the Lord has
noting good to say about and this is one of them. Notice the highlighted portion above and
perhaps you have seen a picture of Jesus knocking at the door as described in verse
20, but perhaps you did not notice that there was no doorknob on the Lord’s
side of the door, so the only way the door could be opened was from the
inside. How about you, will you open the
door when the Lord knocks on your heart to receive Him as your Savior and
Lord?
Ok,
there are times when I kind of get off the track of what I am writing about,
and in this case the quoting from MacArthur’s commentary on his introduction to
2 Timothy 2:14-19, but praying this morning that the Spirit of God would fill
me to do what He desires to do through me it seemed that to me this was what He
wanted me to write.
Spiritual
Meaning For my Life Today: When I talk about being filled with the
Holy Spirit as one looks at that term it means to be continually being filled
with His Spirit which is what believers are to be.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
May my life be pleasing to the Lord today and all of the time so that He can
use me for His glory.
2/7/2025 9:35 AM
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