EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 01/01/2026
8:05 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Ridicule”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
2 Peter 3:3a
Message of the verses: “Know this first of all, that in the
last days mockers will come with their mocking,”
Last evening we looked at what I called the
introduction to the section of verses from 2 Peter 3:3-4, and now this evening
I will look at the first sub-point from these verses by looking at the first
part of 2 Peter 3:3a, and will begin by quoting from John MacArthur’s
commentary on 2 Peter.
“Throughout church history, false
teachers have commonly tried to intimidate people through contemptuous mocking
and sarcastic ridicule. In this case,
the hope of Jesus’ coming bore the brunt of their derision.
“Without question, the early church
believed Christ’s return was imminent.
The apostle Paul, for example, thought it could occur even within his
lifetime (cf. 1 Thess. 4:17)—a view that was probably shared by all of the
disciples.”
(cf. 1 Thess. 4:17)
“17 Then we, who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
“As
followers of Christ, they longed to be reunited with their Lord and to see His
kingdom established on the earth.”
“But the passage of time soon
threatened the church’s sense of expectancy.
Apparently, some of the Christians to whom Peter wrote were beginning to
doubt if Jesus was even coming back at all.
They worried that their hope was not as sure as they had first believed.
“The false teachers, of course, were
quick to capitalize on such fears—planting seeds of further doubt and nurturing
apocalyptic anxiety. As a first line of
defense, Peter exhorted his readers to know this first of all. The phrase first of all is not
speaking about chronological sequence, but rather about first priority. Before developing his counter-arguments,
Peter’s primary goal was to warn his readers about the false teachers’ tactics—namely,
that they were purposefully denying the return of Christ in order to indulge
their own sinful exploits without facing consequences.” Now John MacArthur has written his
commentaries on all of the New Testament books, and if one looks at his
commentaries on 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 then there is
more information about the second coming of Jesus Christ from those two places. I will now take the time to quote both of
these passages which he mentions at this time, and then give some info on them
as I have already studied them a few years ago.
(1 Thessalonians 2:1-5)
“13 ¶ But I do not want you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning those who are fallen asleep, lest you be
sorrowful as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose
again, even so, God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the
Lord: that we who are alive and remain until the coming of
the Lord will not precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the
trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we, who are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort each other with these
words.”
“In these verses Paul is explaining
the events of the rapture of the church to the Thessalonians, as I am sure that
they were curious of this. Paul was only
in Thessalonica for a very short time as the Jews forced him and those who were
with him out of town, and so in his letter he wants to make sure that they
remember the events of what is the end of the Church age, what is called “The
Rapture.” He goes over this and I for
one am very happy that he does this as what he is writing about is our hope,
the hope of the second coming of Jesus Christ and at the end of it he
encourages them: “Therefore, comfort
each other with these words.”
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-5)
“1 ¶ Now, brethren, we ask you, concerning the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken in mind
or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter as if from us, as though
the day of Christ had come.
“ 3 ¶ Do not let anyone deceive you by any means;
for that day will not come unless a falling away comes first, and the
man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is
called God or is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of
God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was
still with you, I told you these things?”
In this section what we learn is
that there were some false teachers telling the Thessalonians that the rapture
had already happened and they were left behind, and so Paul goes over these events
telling them that if the rapture had indeed happened then they too would be
gone.
Lord willing I will finish this
section in my next evening SD.
1/1/2026
8:43 PM
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