EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/16/2025 7:35 PM
My Worship Time Focus: “Pt-2 Peter 2:1-3a)”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Peter 2:1-3a
Message of the verses: “1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words;”
In last night’s evening SD we looked at a couple of passages from the Old Testament, from Deuteronomy 13:1-5, and also Deuteronomy 18:20-22 and these helped to explain early warnings against false prophets, as it was actually Moses who was the one writing about this, and I probably have mentioned this before, but if it were not for all the troubles that the children of Israel got into and just went right into the Promised Land then there would have been no need for the book of Deuteronomy to be written, but one thing is for sure it was in the plan of God to have this book written, and our Lord Jesus Christ quoted the book of Deuteronomy, if I am not mistaken the most of any Old Testament book.
With that said this same sobriety is echoed in the New Testament by Christ, and also the apostles, who carefully warn believers about false teachers and their deceptions. Now I will list three examples of this and then quote them in the order that I have listed them: Matthew 24:11; Luke 6:26; 2 Cor. 11:13-15.
11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.
13-15 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Now in light of this satanic threat, the New Testament writers emphasize the importance of being armed with the truth (cf. Ephesians 6:14-17) for the purpose of discernment (1 Thess. 5:20-22). Now we will look at these verses also, and in order of how they are in:
14-17 “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
20-22 “do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.”
John MacArthur concludes this thought: “For them, doctrinal purity was a very high priority (1 John 4:1) and a heartfelt concern (2 Cor. 11:28). In fact, the apostles reserve their harshest criticism for those who distort the truth (cf. Gal. 1:9; Phil. 3:2).” Now we again will look at these verses mentioned above.
4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
28 Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;
Now I am going to quote the next three paragraphs from MacArthur’s commentary, and as always he references many verses, but this time I will leave it up to you to look them up.
“The verdict from both Old and New Testaments is unmistakable. God does not tolerate false prophets (cf. Isa. 9:15; Mic. 3:5-7; Matt. &:15-20; 1 Tim. 6:3-5; 2 Tim. 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 7-11). Ironically, many in today’s church do exactly the opposite—tolerating any teacher who claims to be Christian, regardless of the content of his teaching. Such mindless acceptance, in the name of love and unity, has tragically produced a careless indifference to the truth. As a result, some Christians view biblical absolutes as an embarrassment, preferring to embrace false teachers despite the Bible’s clear protest (Jer. 28:15-17; 29:21, 32; Acts 13:6-12; 1 Tim. 1:18-20; 3 John 9-11).
“To be sure, Satan’s attacks are often external, through the propagation of false religions and cults. But he also uses internal tactics, seeking to destroy God’s people from within. Hence, his servants, as wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 71:15), do their best to infect the flock with the doctrine of demons (1 Tim. 4:1). Because this false teaching comes in subtle forms, the undiscerning are often deceived, being unable to distinguish the error from the truth.
“Peter understood the danger that false doctrine posed for his readers. In his first epistle, he had already warned them to be aware of the devil’s tactics (1Peter 5:8). In this passage, he again addresses the strategies of the Evil One—exposing Satan’s servants for who they really are. In fact, he gives us a clear portrait of false teachers—looking specifically at the sphere, secrecy, sacrilege, success, sensuality, stigma, and sustain motive of their operations. As a result, Peter’s insights are as relevant today as they were two millennia ago, since they address a problem that continues to plague the contemporary church (cf. 2 John 7).” “7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”
11/16/2025 8:20 PM
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