EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/23/2025 4:37 PM
My Worship Tim Focus:
PT-3 “Sacrificial Love for Those
Faithful to the Truth”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 3 John 1-8
Message of the verses: “1 The elder to the
beloved Gaius, whom I love
in truth. 2
Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health,
just as your soul prospers. 3 For I was very glad when brethren came and
testified to your truth,
that is, how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear
of my children walking in the truth. 5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you
accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6
and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their
way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of the Name,
accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be
fellow workers with the truth.
In the last SD on these verses we looked at a quote
from William Barclay who talked about the false god Zeus Xenios. Now we know from reading the Bible that it
stresses the importance of hospitality, and what the false god Zeus Xenios was
suppose to do, but the true God actually did and still does. Let us look at Psalm 146:9a which says “The
Lord protects the strangers,” and then in Deuteronomy 10:18-19 we read “18 “He
executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien
by giving him food and clothing. 19 "So show your love for the alien, for
you were aliens in the land of Egypt.”
Now I want to look at Malachi 3:5 to show us that God indicted those who
turned away aliens: “5 “Then I will draw
near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers
and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against
those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the
alien and do not fear Me," says the LORD of hosts.”
John MacArthur in the following paragraph from his
commentary on 3 John writes the following:
“The Old Testament relates many examples of hospitality. Melchizedek provided Abraham with bread and
wine after he returned from rescuing Lot (Gen. 14:18). Abraham provided food for the Lord and two
angels (Gen. 18:1-8), and soon afterward Lot took the two angels into his house
(Gen. 19:1-3). Laban offered hospitality
to Abraham’s servant (Gen. 24:31-33), Jethro to Moses (Ex. 2:20), Samson’s
parents to the angel of the Lord (Jud. 13:15), an old man in Gibeah to a Levite
(Judg. 19:15, 20-21), and the Shunammite woman to Elisha (2 Kings 4:8). Defending his integrity against the false
allegations of his friends, Job declared, ‘The alien has not lodged outside,
for I have opened my doors to the traveler’ (Job 31:32).
Hospitality is equally stressed in the New
Testament. The general Jewish cultural
view of hospitality underlies Jesus’ charge to the seventy in Luke 10:4-7
4 “Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and
greet no one on the way. 5 “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be
to this house.’ 6 “If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but
if not, it will return to you. 7 “Stay in that house, eating and drinking what
they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from
house to house.
Zaccheus extended hospitality to Jesus
(Luke 19:5-7), as did the Samaritan village to Sychar (John 4:40), Simon the
Pharisee (Luke 7:36), another unnamed Pharisee (Luke 14:1), Mary, Martha, and
Lazarus (Luke 10:38), Simon the leper (Matt. 26:6), and the two disciples on
the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:29-30).”
There
are more examples that I will look at in the next SD, but hospitality should
always be a part of the believers walk with the Lord.
5/23/2025 5:03 PM
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