SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/19/2025 9:47 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 "Intro to 2 Timothy 4:1-5)
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Tim. 4:1-5
Message of the verses: “1 I solemnly
charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge
the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and
out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own
desires, 4 and will turn away
their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in
all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry.”
I guess that I am saddened to realize that this
final section of 2 Timothy, which includes all of chapter four are the last
words found in the Word of God that are written by Paul. I have read every word that Paul has written
in the Word of God many times as I listen to the Bible in the morning or afternoon
as I take my walk each day, and to realize that the Lord saved what was a very
evil man as he was persecuting the Jews who believed that Jesus Christ is the
Messiah, and then in the 9th chapter of the book of Acts the Lord
Jesus Christ spoke to Paul on the road to Damascus which is where Paul was
saved, and then his whole life was turned around because of this and the rest
of his life was used by God to serve Him.
Let us again take a look at what the Lord said would happen to Paul
after He saved him: “10 Now there was a
disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision,
"Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said
to him, "Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the
house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he
has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so
that he might regain his sight." 13 But Ananias answered, "14 and here he has
authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name." 15 But
the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear
My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he
must suffer for My name’s sake.’” Now I don’t believe that Paul’s sufferings
for the cause of Christ happened to him because of his former life, and the
reason that I believe this is because God forgave all of his sins as He
forgives all of all believer’s sins when He saves them, past, present, and
future. Suffering was in the will of God for Paul as he went out to preach the
Word of God, and also write the Word of God for the cause of Christ. I hate to think what the Word of God would be
without Paul’s letters in it, and now as we come to the last words that Paul
would pen for the cause of Christ it does make me sad because his writings have
been used by God to save many, and now his work is almost done and these are
the last words that he would write for the cause of Christ. Paul knew he was about to die for the cause
of Christ and he was ready to do that, for after all Paul had been to heaven
and knew what he was about to experience.
Paul wrote the following as I will quote from John MacArthur’s
commentary: “I am already being poured
out as a drink offering’ he wrote, ‘and the time of my departure has come’ (v.
6). With that bittersweet prospect in mind
(cf. Phil 1:23), in his final charge he beseeched his beloved Timothy to be
faithful in his ministry to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
He
goes on to write: “In what had been an
exemplary church at Ephesus, some believers, including men in positions of leadership,
had begun to defect, just as Paul predicted (Acts. 20:28-30). Timothy had been
placed by the apostle as defender of the faith in that congregation, where
sound doctrine and godliness had lost their primacy.” Let us now look at the sad words that Paul
said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:17-35 as I end this SD with those
words: “17 From Miletus he sent to
Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. 18 And when they had come
to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I
set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with
all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the
plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that
was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 solemnly
testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our
Lord Jesus Christ. 22 “And now, behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to
Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy
Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions
await me. 24 “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course
and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of
the gospel of the grace of God. 25 “And now, behold, I know that all of
you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.
26 “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all
men. 27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28 “Be on guard for yourselves
and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to
shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 “I know
that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the
flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse
things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 “Therefore be on the alert,
remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to
admonish each one with tears. 32 “And now I commend you to God and to the
word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you
the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 “I have coveted no one’s
silver or gold or clothes. 34 “You yourselves know that these hands ministered
to my own needs and to the men who were with me. 35 “In everything I
showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed
to give than to receive.’"
First of all notice those highlighted words in
verses 28-31, and then I want to look at what the Lord Jesus Christ said for
John to write in the second chapter of the book of Revelation as this was
fulfilled. “1 "To the angel of the
church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand,
the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 2 ‘I know your
deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men,
and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not,
and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for
My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left
your first love. 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and
repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand
out of its place — unless you repent. 6 ‘Yet this you do have,
that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 ‘He who has an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I
will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’”
These
word that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke here were fulfilled as Ephesus would be
destroyed later and there is not much left of Ephesus at this time, and this is
a sad ending to this city where Paul spent three years there preaching and
teaching for the cause of Christ.
Spiritual
Meaning For my life Today: I certainly do not want my life to be like
the city of Ephesus was, but I desire to continue to serve the Lord in what I
believe He has called me to do, which is to “Study to show yourself approved to
God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”
(2 Tim. 2:15).
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to overcome through the power of the
Holy Spirit things that have from time to time caused me to stumble in my walk
with the Lord.
6/19/2025 10:31 AM
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