EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/3/2026
9:00 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-2
“Doctrinal Perceptiveness”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 2
Peter 3:15b-17
Message of the verses: “just
as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to
you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are
some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as
they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this
beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of
unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,” (NASB).
“just as our beloved brother Paul
also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks
in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to
understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as
they do the other Scriptures. 17 You
therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried
away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.” (ESV)
John MacArthur writes:
“Here he appeals to Paul’s inspired letters for support—reminding his
readers to reject the false teachers and remember what Paul wrote to them
according to the wisdom given him. Interestingly,
Peter does not specify a particular Pauline letter or letters. Instead, he gives a general endorsement for
Paul’s inspired writings, demonstrating the divine origin of the revelation
given to Paul.
“It is safe to assume that Peter
sent this letter to the same regions of
Asia Minor as his first epistle (cf. 1 Peter 1:1-2; 2 Peter 3:1).”
(cf. 1 Peter 1:1-2; 2 Peter 3:1)
“1 ¶ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those
who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
and Bithynia, 2 according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for
obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and
peace be multiplied to you.”
“1 ¶ This is now the second letter that I am
writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by
way of reminder,”
“If so,
his readers were most likely familiar with several of Paul’s letters—since Paul
wrote many of his letters to that area (eg., Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians). So Peter’s reference to all of Paul’s letters
suggests Peter’s audience was familiar with much of Paul’s correspondence. Because Paul was speaking in his
letters of these same things (namely, eschatological events), it
makes sense that Peter would cite Paul’s words here.
“However, in Paul’s writings about
the day of the Lord, the return of Christ, and the glories of eternity, Peter
acknowledged there are some things hard to understand, such as the
rapture of the church (1 Thess. 4:15-17), the coming man of sin (2 Thess. 2:1-4),
the return of Christ in judgment (1 Thess. 5:1-11; 2 Thess. 1:3-10), and the
glories of heaven (2 Cor. 5:1; 12:2-4).”
(1 Thess. 4:15-17), (1 Thess. 5:1-11; 2
Thess. 1:3-10), and the glories of heaven (2 Cor. 5:1; 12:2-4)
“15 For this we declare to you by a word from the
Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will
not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven
with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of
the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be
caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so
we will always be with the Lord.”
“1 ¶ Now concerning the times and the seasons,
brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the
day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and
security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon
a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for
that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of
the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 ¶ So then let us not sleep, as others do, but
let us keep awake and be sober. 7 For
those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. 8
But since we belong to the day, let us
be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the
hope of salvation. 9 For God has not
destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10
who died for us so that whether we are
awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 ¶ Therefore encourage one another and build one
another up, just as you are doing.”
“3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you,
brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love
of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the
churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and
in the afflictions that you are enduring.
5 ¶ This is evidence of the
righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of
God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay
with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted
as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty
angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance
on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our
Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment
of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of his might, 10 when he comes on that day
to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have
believed, because our testimony to you was believed.”
“1 ¶ For we know that if the tent that is our
earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens.”
“2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago
was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do
not know, God knows. 3 And I know that
this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I
do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard
things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.”
“The word
rendered hard to understand (dusnoetos) carries the additional
connotation of ‘difficult to interpret.’
In using this term, Peter was not implying that Paul’s teachings are
impossible to understand. He is simply
recognizing that some are more complex than others, especially prophetic
revelation (cf. 1 Peter 1:1-12).”
(cf. 1 Peter 1:1-12)
“1 ¶ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those
who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
and Bithynia, 2 according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for
obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and
peace be multiplied to you. 3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again
to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable,
undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through
faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 ¶ In
this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been
grieved by various trials, 7 so that the
tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though
it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at
the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though
you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe
in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation
of your souls. 10 ¶ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who
prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired
carefully, 11 inquiring what person or
time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the
sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving
not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you
through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from
heaven, things into which angels long to look.”
2/3/2026
9:25 PM
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