EVENING
SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/24/2025 11:59 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The Apostate
Gentiles”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Jude 7
Message of the verse: “Just as Sodom and
Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these
indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an
example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”
The
time is actually 12:42 A.M. as our house and our neighborhood had a power
outage for at least 5 hours and so I did not get to this “Evening Spiritual
Diary” until now as I had to get my generator out to help with keeping things
pretty good as I waited for the power to come back on, and then I had to clean
up around the house getting things back in order, so I think that this “mornings”
SD will have a great deal of quotations from John MacArthur’s commentary.
He
begins by writing “Somewhat like the perverted angels before them, the Sodomites
in the same
way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh. They too perverted
God’s intended design for them by soliciting sexual favors from His holy
messengers. Gross immorality translates a compound word (ekporneuo), which suggests that their homosexual behavior and
attempted fornication was especially deviant from the God-ordained design for
human sexuality (cf. Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Tim.
1:9-10). That they went after strange flesh indicates that, like the apostate angels,
the men of Sodom pursued creatures (angels) outside of what was proper for
them.” Now when we get to 2 Peter which
will be after Jude is finished then there will be more things about this.
“The
people of Sodom and Gomorrah are
exhibited as an example that God will certainly and severely punish
apostates (Matt. 11:23; Rom. 9:29; 2 Peter 2:6; cf. Isa. 1:9-10). That will finally be sentenced to the punishment of eternal fire, the
burning hell of horrific torment, where punishment lasts forever (Matt. 3:12;
13:42, 50; 25:46). It is God’s final,
permanent judgment on the unregenerate, especially on those who scorn His truth
or defect from it (cf. Rev. 19:20). The
apostle John described hell this way: ‘The devil who deceived them was thrown
into the lade of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are
also; and the will be tormented day and night forever and ever’ (Rev. 20:10;
cf. Isa. 30:33).
“This powerful passage, with its three dramatic illustrations of
apostasy, is a sobering reminder of the ultimate fate that awaits those who
defect from the faith. As such, it
provides a fitting motivation for believers as they continue to contend for the
truth. And it also serves as a solemn
warning to anyone who knows the truth but, for whatever reason, is inclined to
walk away from the gospel (Heb. 6:4-8).
After all, if Jude’s admonition is ignored, the consequences are
terrifying:
“29 How
much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under
foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by
which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know
Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE
LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the
hands of the living God.”
“Thus the severest eternal suffering
will belong to those who know and reject the truth. Even more terrible will judgment be to those
who, having done that, go on to teach demonic lies as if they are true (cf.
James 3:1).” “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that
as such we will incur a stricter judgment.”
Now in tomorrow’s Evening SD I will
begin looking at “Apostates Illustrated” from Jude 8-13). It is my prayer that all who have been
keeping up with this study in Jude are enjoying it as much as I am.
7/25/2025 1:10 AM
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