PT-2“The Pattern of Judgment” (2 Peter 2:9-10a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/10/2025/8:05 PM

My Worship Time                                                              Focus: PT-2“The Pattern of Judgment”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                               Reference:  2 Peter 2:9-10a

            Message of the verses:  “then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.”

            This evening I am going to begin this SD by quoting from John MacArthur’s commentary of 2 Peter where we left of yesterday’s Spiritual Diary.

            “For Peter, then the pattern of divine judgment is clear.  First, there is comfort in the fact that the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation.  God knows how to save those who belong to Him; therefore they have absolutely nothing to fear (Ps. 27:1; Prov. 1:33; John 14:27; 2 Timothy 1:7; cf. Isa. 8:12).”

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?

“But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.”

            “In this context, the word rendered temptation (peirasmos, which really conveys the concept of testing) connotes the idea of an attack with intent to destroy.  (See Mark 8:11; Luke 4:12; Acts 20:19;and Rev. 3:10 for other instances where peirasmos is used in the same way.)  Believers, then are called to trust in the infinite wisdom and sovereign power of their divine protector (Rom. 8:28, 38-39).

“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.

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height , nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

            “God not only knows hot to rescue His children but how to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.  He is holding them for the day of final reckoning while continuing their punishment in the meantime.  The unrighteous are like prisoners in jail who await final sentencing and transfer to their final fate.  While they wait, they continue to accumulate mor guilt (cf. Rom. 2:3-6).”

“But do not suppose this, O man, When you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, nor knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?  But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Who will render to each person according to his deeds:”

            “They will then face judgment at the Great White Throne, the future tribunal where God condemns all the ungodly from all the ages to eternal hell, the lake of fire.”  Now I am going to give you a list of verses that has to do with this, but you will have to look them up for yourself. (Rev. 20:11-15; cf. Matt. 11:22, 24; 12:36; John 12:48; Acts 17:31).

            “The Lord especially targets those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.  Thus Peter brings the discussion full circle, again recounting the false teachers’ two primary characteristics.  Like the wicked contemporaries of Noah and Lot, false teachers are slaves to sin.  The Greek indicates that their lives are characterized by a continual ‘going after flesh in defiling lust.’  They are dishonest, disrespectful, and displeasing to God—actively pursuing their sensual fantasies (as mentioned earlier in 2:2; cf. Jud 6, 7) and eagerly parading their irreverent blasphemies (cf. 2:1).  Corrupt translates miasmou, meaning ‘pollution.’  The English word miasma, meaning unpleasant and unwholesome, is derived from the term.  Authority (kuriotes) means ‘lordship (cf. Eph. 1:21; Col. 1:16; Jude 8), and in this context indicates that the false teachers rejected the sovereign lordship of Jesus Christ over their lives.  As discussed in verse 1, they superficially identified with Him but refused to live by His commands.

            “In keeping with God’s unmistakable promise, divine judgment will ultimately come upon all His enemies (cf. 1 Cor. 15:25-26).”

“For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”

            “The historical precedent leaves no room for doubt.  As in the past, God will finally destroy any who oppose Him—including the false teachers and their followers.  At the same time, however, He will rescue believers from such a terrifying end.  This passage thus echoes Paul’s words to the Thessalonians:

“We ought always to five thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.  This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.  For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who afe afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His might angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thess. 1:3-10).”

12/10/2025 8:54 PM