SPIRITUAL
DIARY FOR 7/20/2025 8:18 AM
My
Worship Time
Focus: PT-3
Intro to “The Triumphant Epitaph of Paul”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy 4:6-8
Message of the verses: “6 For I am already
being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the
faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only
to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
It is my desire to finish quoting
John MacArthur in this introduction to these verses this morning.
“Paul
knew that his present imprisonment would be his final one, from which he would
escape only by martyrdom. It was a
difficult time for him, not because of his own physical predicament but because
of the spiritual predicament of so many of the believers for whom he had poured
out his heart and his life. He had
special concern for Timothy, at Ephesus and for the problems of timidity and
apprehension he faced in his personal life.
Again and again in his two letters to Timothy, he challenged him to have
courage, consistency, and faithfulness, and to resist the onslaught of evil and
error with the power of God’s Word. In
the words of a sixteenth-century theologian, Paul was ‘laying down his arms
that Timothy might take them up.’ He
wanted his son in the Lord to be able one day to write a similar epitaph for
himself.
“Yet
despite his deep concerns for the church and for Timothy, the apostle’s final
words reflect the eloquent calmness that comes only from settled confidence in
the Lord.
“Although
he was not of Paul’s spiritual stature, Timothy nevertheless was in a
wonderfully select group among the saints of God. He was Paul’s successor in somewhat the way
in which Joshua was the successor of Moses.
‘Now it came about after the
death of Moses the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of
Num, Moses’ servant, saying, ‘Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise,
cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to
them, to the sons of Israel’ (Josh. 1:1-2).
He also was similarly blessed as Elisha, on whom was placed not only
Elijah’s mantle but also his spirit (2 Kings 2:12-15).
“In
this passage, Paul examines his life from three prospective. In verse 6, he looks at the close of his
earthly life, and ministry and declares he is read. In verse 7, he looks at the past and declares
he was faithful. In verse 8, he looks at
the future and anticipates heavenly honor and reward.”
Lord
willing, I will begin to look at the first sub-section, “THE PRESENT: THE
CLOSE, FOR WHICH HE IS READY”, in tomorrow’s SD.
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life Today: I can say that this year of 2025 has started out
with “bad” news for my family as my wife was diagnosed with cancer, then
operated on, which we believe was successful, and the a very dear friend of
mine passed into the presence of the Lord earlier this year, then this past
week Dr. John MacArthur went to be with the Lord, a man who has been such a
great help to me from listening to his sermons and reading his commentaries, and
then the daughter of my friend who passed in April died on the same day John
MacArthur died. I know that the Lord is
in control of all of this and I trust him, but there is still a great deal of
pain in my life at this time.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the
Lord to do as Romans 8:28 promises in my life “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.”
7/20/2025
8:40 AM
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