EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/7/2025 8:44 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “Introduction to 2 Peter”
It was in last night’s evening Spiritual Diary that I finished the study of the book of Jude, and I have mentioned that when I ordered the commentary from John MacArthur that I did not realize that Jude was also in this volume with 2 Peter, and since I had been looking at Jude as I waited for this commentary to arrive I decided to go ahead and study Jude first. Now when studying Jude I began with the Introduction to it which was written in MacArthur’s commentary, and so I have decided to do the same thing for 2 Peter, which I will begin this evening and it will take a fairly long time to quote from MacArthur’s commentary his introduction to 2 Peter, but I believe it will be well worth it because it will set the stage for looking at Peter’s second letter found in the New Testament.
“Second Peter (along with Jude) is viewed by some as the ‘dark corner’ of the New Testament. As a result, it is not often preached, studied, discussed, or quoted. The book is even neglected in scholarly circles, where critics dismiss it as a pseudonymous (forged) letter, unworthy of serious study.” This is the kind of thing that causes me to be upset, for I believe that every verse in every chapter, in every book of the Bible is worthy of studying, and I have done that as it took me a little over 25 years to do it.
“But the church of Jesus Christ ignores this epistle at its peril. After all, Peter wrote it to help believers face a world filled with subtle spiritual deception, Knowing that his death was imminent (1:14), the apostle wanted to remind his readers of the truths he had already taught them, so that those truths would continue to safeguard them after he was gone (v. 15). Peter also knew that the deadly threat of false teachers loomed large on the horizon; he wanted to expose the apostates in order to expel their demon doctrines from the church.
“Never has Peter’s warning been more timely than it is today. The rapid advancement of mass media, coupled with the church’s lack of discernment, has allowed doctrinal error to spread like wildfire. False teachers propagate their heresies via television, radio, the Internet, books, magazines, and seminars—doing whatever they can for their own self-promotion. In the process, their deceit lures multitudes to exchange the truth for utter lies (cf. 1 Tim. 1:19; 2 Tim. 2:16-18).” Let us take a look at these verses in the order they are referenced. “19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.” “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.” Back to MacArthur’s introduction: “To make matters worse, some in today’s church, motivated by cowardly fear of rejection or misguided notions of love, are reluctant to expose today’s apostates. Instead of countering error, they either embrace it or ignore it in the name of tolerance.
“The apostle Peter, however, had no qualms about denouncing the deceivers who threatened his beloved flock. He recognized them for what they were; wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15; Acts 20)29), lurking to devour the ignorant with their beguiling lies. Peter understood that false teachers are the emissaries of hell and pawns of Satan, motivated by the love of money, power, prestige, and prominence. Because they are masters of deception, they successfully peddle the doctrines of demons to unsuspecting souls, marketing eternal ruin as f it were eternal live.
“The only sure defense against their tactics is found in the truth of God’s Word. Peter knew this, of course, which is why he penned this epistle. As a true man of God, he was deeply concerned to protect those under his spiritual care.”
Now Lord willing we will look at the “Author” in tomorrow evening’s SD, and that should be very interesting.
9/7/2025 9:13 PM
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