"Brevity" (2 Peter 1:14-15)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/31/2025 10:05 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                                Focus:  “Brevity”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference: “2 Peter 1:14-15”

            Message of the verses: “14 knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind.”

 

            I will begin with a quotation from John MacArthur as he begins writing on these verses by saying “Finally, Peter’s passion and motivation for ministry includes a clear understanding of the brevity of his life itself (cf. Job 7:6-7; 9:25-26; 14:1-2; Pss. 39:5; 89:47a; 90:6, 10; James 4:13-17).  Thus he wrote of knowing for certain that laying aside of his earthly dwelling was imminent.  Clearly, Peter believed that his death was near.  He described death in the analogy of laying aside his tent, the same imagery Paul used in his second letter to the Corinthians:

 

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven. (2 Cor. 5:1-2)

 

            “The term imminent carried a dual meaning in that it can denote ‘soon’ or ‘swift.’  Perhaps here it conveys both.  When he wrote this he was already in his seventies; thus it was reasonable for Peter to expect that his death was not far off.  He also knew that his death would be sudden or swift, as also… Christ … made clear to me.  The Lord Jesus had clearly indicated to the apostle that his death would be rather sudden, about forty years before, during Peter’s restoration and recommissioning, between the Lord’s resurrection and ascension:

 

18 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go." 19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!"

 

            By knowing that his death could come at any time, come quickly, Peter was not really sure when this was going to happen, and because he was in his early 70’s he must have known that it was coming quickly.  Peter lived four decades or more being faithful to feed the Lord’s sheep, knowing all the while that at any moment his life could swiftly end.  Now tradition states that Peter’s wife was also crucified and Peter waited for her death to come, and then he requested to be crucified upside down because he did not want to die like his Lord had died.  I have read this in a couple of places, but not really sure if this is tradition that is true or not.

 

            Now in view of the brevity of his life and ministry, Peter was relentlessly diligent to make sure that he remind believers of the truth, so that at any time after his departure they would be able to call these things to mind.  There is no reason to restrict his words, “these things,” to what he wrote just prior seen in 1:1-11, as some do, but I think that these could be just nit pickers.  All that is in this letter is part of essential doctrine, to be imbedded unforgettably in believer’s minds.

 

            MacArthur writes “The apostle used the term departure (exodus) to refer to his death because the word connotes the leaving from one place (earth) to go to another (heaven)—the exodus that every believer will enjoy (1 Cor. 15:50-57; Heb. 4:9-10).  Peter, like Paul (Acts 20:24), was not concerned that his audience remember him or his death, but that they would remember the truth he taught them.

 

            “That Peter truly understood the urgency, kindness, faithfulness, and brevity of ministry is clear from this epistle, especially as summarized in the legacy statement of this passage.  The leader of the Twelve wanted believers to avoid the hazards of spiritual negligence; therefore, he labored diligently through his preaching and writing to reiterate the important issues.  He desired to leave a final will and testament to remind saints of the greatness of salvation, the blessedness of assurance, and to make certain that false doctrine did not rob them of their rich spiritual heritage.”

 

            It is my desire that all who read these Spiritual Diaries that I am writing on the second letter of Peter that they are learning and enjoying them as much as I do in writing them.  Now Lord willing we will begin to look at 2 Peter 1:16-21 in tomorrow evening’s SD, as this will be the last set of verses in the first chapter of 2 Peter.

 

10/31/2025 10:45 PM

PT-1“A Royal Mandate” (Jonah 3:7-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/31/2025 12:15 PM

My Worship Time                                                                       Focus:  PT-1“A Royal Mandate”

Bible Reading and Meditation                                                                  Reference: Jonah 3:7-8

            Message of the verses: “And he cried out and said, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles:  Do not let man, animal, herd, or flock taste a thing.  Do not let them eat, and do not let them drink water.  But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God with their strength that each may turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands.”

            I begin this SD by trying to answer why did the king cry out with a loud shout after Jonah began to walk around the city shouting that Nineveh was going to be overthrown in 40 days.  I suppose that if you think about this kind of thing you may remember seeing on the news from time to time that people are doing the same kind of thing in different parts of the world and the only results that they get is that people think that they are crazy.  Nor so with Jonah’s “preaching” for he was doing exactly the thing that God had called him to do, and because of that the people of Nineveh, including the king are paying attention to him and acting in a way that will bring glory to the Lord.  I would definitely call this a planned revival by the Lord, and that is the only kind of revival that counts.  There were two great revivals in the early part of the United States, one before the Revolutionary War and on before the Civil War and these were true “Holy Spirit Revivals.”  The church that I attend goes back before the civil war, and so I have to believe that God is still using it to bring glory to the Lord. 

            Now think back to the sailors that are in the first chapter of Jonah, and remember that they came to know the true God because of the storm and because of what Jonah told them.  Ironically, the Gentile king and the Gentile sailors responded to the prospect of divine judgment with far more urgency than Jonah had done on the ship. 

            We can see in our verses that the king immediately issued a desperate decree, beginning with, “In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles.”  We can see that the king understood that drastic measures were very necessary, involving everyone in Nineveh.  There was no one who was exempt from this royal mandate.  Now because this command was sow sweeping, it was backed by the decree of the king and his nobles.  John MacArthur writes “The word decree is actually the Hebrew word for ‘taste,’ any food…This association reinforced that the king’s taste (i.e., his decree concerning repentance) dictated what others could or could not taste (i.e., his decree concerning repentance) dictated what others could or could not taste (i.e, the food prohibited during a fast to demonstrate repentance).   Such an edict can not only from the king the highest authority in the land, but also the nobles, the officials who would execute the decree.  The term nobles is literally ‘great ones,’ reinforcing that truly those ‘from the greatest to the least of them’ turned from their wickedness to God (Jonah 3:5).  With the backing of all those in authority, no one would dare defy the king’s order, lest they face fearsome punishment.”

Spiritual Meaning for My life Today:  A few years ago I, of course with the desires of the Lord, began a prayer group in our church after our Wednesday evening Prayer Meeting.  There were not a lot of people who came, but that was ok as we just wanted to pray for revival in our country.  A couple of years ago the Wednesday evening’s were changed as people went to different homes to talk over Sunday’s sermon and this pretty much stopped our prayer time for revival.  Those who did not want to join a group came to the church like before.  I miss that time together and it has caused me to not pray as much for revival, something that I need to do.  I wonder how many people were praying for revival during the two great revivals in our country.  I have read that there were small groups who did pray for revival, which God answered.  I wonder how many, if any, were praying for revival in Nineveh before Jonah came to town.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Pray for revival in our country as it seems the death of Charlie Kurk has caused some revival in our country, and for that I give thanks to the Lord.

10/31/2025 12:47 PM

“Kindness” (2 Peter 1:12b)

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/30/2025 9:00 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                             Focus:  “Kindness”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  2 Peter 1:12b

            Message of the verses: “even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.”

            In the first part of verse twelve that we looked at yesterday that part of the verse states that Peter was already to remind his readers of these things, and then as we begin the second part of the verse, the part we are looking at this evening he tells his readers that they actually knew these things.  I think that it is good to be reminded of things that are important to us to remember because we probably will forget certain things that we should not forget.  This happened to me in the Spiritual Diary that I posted on my other blog this morning, as it was kind of an extra SD, but reading over it seemed to me that this was just what the Lord wanted me to read, as some of the things in it I needed to be reminded of and am thankful that the Lord used that SD to remind me of those things, so this kind of goes along with what Peter writes in this last half of verse 1:12b.

            It was gook that Peter was a kind shepherd as he truly understood and exhibited sensitivity for his flock.  The Scripture extols gentleness writes MacArthur and then gives the following verses which show this:  (2 Cor. 10:1; Gal. 5:A23; 6:1; 1 Thess. 2:7; 2 Tim. 2:25).  Then we look next at meekness and the verses that MacArthur gives (cf. Matt. 5:5, KJJV; 1 Tim. 6:11, KJV; James 3:13 KJV).  Next is tenderness and this verse (Eph. 4:32), characteristics Peter displayed when he acknowledge that his readers already possessed godly virtue.  He was encouraging, not condescending or indifferent to their devotion to Christ (cf. 1 Peter 5:2-3).

            MacArthur concludes this short section by writing the following:  “The recipients of this letter undoubtedly had heard other inspired New Testament letters read and preached (cf. 3:15-16) so they knew and believed the truth, so as to be established in it.  The verb rendered established (sterizo), meaning to ‘firmly establish,’ or ‘to strengthen,’ is a perfect passive participle indicating a settled condition.  They had given evidence by their faithfulness that the true gospel was strongly present with them.  Peter affirmed them without doubt as genuine, maturing believers.  He could have echoed Paul’s words to the Colossians, ‘You previously heard in the word for truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth’ (Col. 1:5b-6; cf. 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 John 2:27;2 John 2).  When anyone comes to know Christ, the truth abides in him (2 Peter 1:12; 1 John 2:14, 27; 2 John 2; cf. John 17:19; 2 Cor. 11:10; Eph. 4:24; 6:14).  It was still imperative that Peter’s readers receive this reminder, in view of the threat they faced from the powerful infiltration of false teachers (chapter 2 of this letter).”

            Looks like we have one shorter one tomorrow, and then Saturday will be a bit longer probably breaking it into two parts.  10/30/2025 9:29 PM

 

PT-2“A Remorseful Monarch” (Jonah 3:6)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/30/2025 10:42 AM

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-2“A Remorseful Monarch”

Bible Reading and Meditation                                                                       Reference: Jonah 3:6

            Message of the verses: “Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his mantle from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes.”

            In yesterday’s SD we began looking at these verses and in John MacArthur’s commentary on these verses he stated “When the message God gave Jonah to preach broke through to the courts of the palace, it struck the king and he immediately carried our four actions.”  We look at the first action in yesterday’s SD and now in this SD we will start by looking at the second action.

            Second, the king laid aside his mantle from him.  This would be similar to a modern-day uniform; the mantle was an outer garment that depicted a person’s role or job.  Here is an example, from Elijah who wore a mantle that designated him as a prophet “19 So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with twelve pairs of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. And Elijah passed over to him and threw his mantle on him” (1 Kings 19:19).  Now in casting aside his mantle, a symbol of royalty, the king denounced his own position, and this signaled his full surrender to Yahweh.  Let us now look at Ezekiel 26:16 to help us better understand this:  “16 "Then all the princes of the sea will go down from their thrones, remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe themselves with trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment and be appalled at you (Ezek. 26:16).”  His action acknowledged that he was no better than his subjects; together, they were all subjects before the holy Judge of heaven.  Such abject humility reflected a profound recognition of God’s threatening power and supremacy.

            Now we move to the third action which is the king covered himself with sackcloth.  Like the rest of the city as seen in Jonah 4:5, the king donned sackcloth to express sorrow and mourning over his transgressions, compare 1 Chronicles 21:16 “Then David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces.”  Here are some other verse examples (Neh. 9:1; and Ester 4:1-9).  The king did not cling to his royal status and his royal robes.  Instead, in humiliation he acknowledged the severity of his sin symbolized by the sackcloth.  Now to display the extent of his remorse, the king did not merely clothe himself with a few small pieces of sackcloth (cf. Jonah 3:5) but completely covered himself with it, layering this coarse and scratchy goat-hair over his entire body.  By that open act of repentance, he acknowledged his sin, here are some verses to look up that go along with this (Psalm 32:3-7; 51:1-9; Joel 2:12-17; James 4:8-10), demonstrating the fruit of repentance (cf. Jonah 3:8; Matt. 3:8).  “"But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.”  “8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”

            Now we will look at the final display of humiliation, the king sat on the ashes.  Now these ashes would have been outside the city in a garbage dump where waste was burned—a place full of filthy refuse and foul orders.  Think about this as this man was moments ago was sitting on his throne, and now he is in the garbage dump, trading the highest honor for the lowest degradation.  This truly demonstrates humiliation.  Here is an example from the book of Job “8 And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes” (Job 2:8).  Nineveh’s ruler placed himself on these ashes to illustrate he was himself as condemned and unworthy before God.  “8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,” (Phil. 3:8).  The king acknowledged that he had no standing in the sight of the Lord, being void of merit and under judgment, and he thus depicted the contriteness of the chief of sinners.”  “13 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ (Luke 18:13).  “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (1 Tim. 1:15).

            John MacArthur concludes this section by writing “With the condescension of the king, truly the entire city was impacted by Jonah’s message—“from the greatest to the least of them’ (Jonah 3:5).  The immediate, humble, remorseful, and destitute repentance of the king embodied the words of Job 42:6; cf. Dan. 9:3-6; Matt. 11:21; Luke 10:13; Heb. 9:13-14).  The radical transformation of Nineveh’s ruler stands as a remarkable testimony to the power of God’s work in salvation.  The Lord demonstrated in this act of conversion that He loves all kinds of sinners, and that even a wicked king is not outside the reach of His mercy (cf. 2 Chron. 32:12-15; Dan. 4:34-35; Phil. 1:13; 4:22).”

Spiritual meaning For My Life Today:  There are times in my life when the Lord brings things into my life that I know needs addressing, and as I look at how the Lord used Jonah to bring the message of salvation to the Ninevites to bring about the greatest change in their lives, the Lord can also do that to those who are in need of some changes in their lives even though they are believers.  He spoke to my heart this morning.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord through His Holy Spirit to make the necessary changes in my life to bring glory to Him.

10/30/2025 11:48 AM