“Their Success” (2 Peter 2:2a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/26/2025 7:00 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                        Focus: “Their Success”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                  Reference: (2 Peter 2:2a)

            Message of the verses: “Many will follow”

            I mentioned in my last evening SD that since I have finished the long portion of this section that I will begin with this evening, and it will be a very short SD.

            Now the Bible is clear that many will more people follow the broad way that leads to destruction than adhere to the narrow way that leads to live and we will now look at several verses in Matthew chapter seven that shows this truth.

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it” (Matthew 7:13).

10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold (Matt. 24:10-12).

 

            Now in part, credit is due to the false teachers for the popularity of the “wide road,’ as they usher people onto the broad way and then encourage them not to look back.  You know as I have mentioned that every human being is born with an “old nature,” and so when these false teachers preach false things this attacks’ this old nature and so it is no problem for them to follow it.  Their message of independence, personal freedom, and self-exaltation is inherently appealing to fallen human hearts, who would rather serve themselves than submit to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

            Now in the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” (Matthew 7:21).  Superficial, insincere claims to be followers of Christ are meaningless; only those who fully submit to His lordship and obey His will demonstrate that they truly belong to Him.  Now we will look at a series of verses which speaks to this:

 

“14 "You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you (John 15:14-16)”.

 

“22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).

 

“3 By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5  but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:3-6).

 

“1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:1-5)

 

11/26/2025 7:22 PM

           

PT-5 “A Fitting Analogy” (Jonah 4:6-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/26/2025 

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  PT-5 “A Fitting Analogy”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Jonah 4:6-8

Message of the verses:  “So Yahweh God appointed a plant, and it came up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his miserable evil.  And Jonah was extremely glad about the plant.  But God appointed a worm at the breaking of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and it dried up.  Then it happened that as the sun rose up, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun struck down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and asked with all his soul to die and said, “Death is better to me than life.”

            I will continue to quote from John MacArthur’s commentary:

            “Because of the relentless heat under the blistering sun, Jonah became faint.  The term translated became faint (wayyitallaph) is different than the word used earlier with Jonah ‘fainting’ in the water (behitatteph; see Jonah 2:7). Previously, the term referred to the prophet losing consciousness, but here the term depicts collapsing from thirst and weariness (cf. Isa. 51:20; Amos 8:13).  Though different in nuance, the words are similar in sound and meaning, forging a parallel between the two moments in which Jonah became faint—previously, in the depths of the sea, and then in the desert heat.  The Lord’s choice of discipline was fitting.  Jonah had been hot with anger (Jonah 4:1), having hoped too to see the fiery destruction of the city (4:5).  So, God exposed Jonah to the heat of His judgment, as the scathing wind and the searing heat tormented him.

            “Strangely, instead of asking God to relieve his suffering and spare his life, Jonah asked with all his soul to die and said, ‘Death is better to me than life.’  He still could not accept the grace of God to Gentile enemies.  He would rather be dead!  Throughout the book, the prophet in his twisted selfishness repeatedly asked to die, requesting the sailors to throw him overboard (1:12) and then asking God to take his life (4:3).  This final instance was no different.  Jonah exclaimed the same words he had uttered earlier, ‘Death is better to me than life’ (cf. 4:3).  He had reached an even deeper level of defiant intolerance, for in this case he made this request with all his soul.

            “Jonah’s words are also reveal an addition to his death wish.  Earlier, the prophet had asked for death out of spite for God’s grace. He pleaded to die when God spared the Ninevites (4:3).  In that instance, Jonah believed that death was preferable to life in which the Lord extended grace to Israel’s enemies.  But here, Jonah wished to die not only because God had extended grace to his enemies, but also because He had removed grace from him.  By graciously providing a plant and then taking it away, the Lord gave Jonah a taste of both the goodness of Hi grace and the misery of its absence.  The prophet here realized that death is better…than life without God’s grace, since a life in which grace is removed leaves the sinner with nothing to experience except judgment and calamity.  Though Jonah was still indigent, and important lesson began to break through to him; that the Lord’s ‘lovingkindness is better than life’ (Ps. 63:3).  11/26/2025 7:38 AM

 

 

PT-6 “Their Sacrilege” (2 Peter 2:1-c)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/25/2025 6:30 PM

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus: PT-6 “Their Sacrilege”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference: (2 Peter 2:1-c)

            Message of the verses:  “even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.”

            Tonight is the night that I will finally finish this section, and I have to say that I truly enjoy this kind of learning from the Word of God.  One of the things that seems to be going on in the church that I attend is we now have a Pastor who seems to preach in a way that he does not get too deep into the passages that he preaches from.  For example in the last two Sundays he has covered the entire 24^th chapter of Matthew and half of the 25^th chapter.  My thoughts are that one should take their time when preaching from the Word of God, and that is what I am trying to do as I write my Spiritual Diaries each day and evening.  Now this evening we will begin with a quote from MacArthur’s commentary who writes “Contemporary writer David Clotfelter adds these observations:”

            Now according to my cell phone here is an overview of him.  “David Clotfelter (M.A., Yale University: M. Div., Fuller Theological Seminary; Ph. D., Claremont Graduate University) is the founding pastor of Saints in Motion Christian Church in Taichung, Taiwan.”  Now the following is what He wrote:

From the Calvinist point of view, it is Arminianism that presents logical impossibilities.  Arminianism tells us that Jesus died for multitudes that will never be saved, including millions who never so much as heard of Him.  It tells us that in the case of those who are lost, the death of Jesus, represented in Scripture as an act whereby He took upon Himself the punishment that should have been ours (Isa. 53:5), was ineffective.  Christ has suffered once for their sins, but they will now have to suffer for those same sins in hell.

The Arminian atonement has the initial appearance of being very generous, but the more closely we look at it, the less we are impressed. Does it guarantee the salvation of any person?  No.  Does it guarantee that those for whom Christ died will have the opportunity to hear of Him and respond to Him?  No.  Does it in any way remove or even lessen the sufferings of the lost?  No.  In reality, the Arminian atonement does not atone.  It merely clears the way for God to accept those who are able to lift themselves by their own bootstraps.  The Calvinist does not believe that any fallen person has such power, and so he views the Arminian atonement as unsuited to the salvation of sinners and insulting to Christ.  (Sinners in the Hands of a Good God [Chicago:  Moody, 2004], 165; emphasis in original).

            “Therefore, false teachers’ were not paid for in the atonement of Christ.

            “Contrary to what some Christians believe today, people who reject Christ’s lordship are merely to be designated as second-class Christians (as believers but not disciples).  Instead, those who reject Christ’s sovereign lordship will face swift destruction if they do not repent from such rebellion (cf. Heb. 10:25-31).”  “25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. 26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  “Swift (tachinos) means ‘quick,’ or ‘imminent,’ and destruction (apoleias) refers to perdition or eternal damnation in hell (cf. Matt. 7:13; John 17:12; 2 Thess. 2:3).”  “13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.”  “12 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”  “3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.”  “This horrible fate, coming either at death or at Christ’s return (John 12:48; 2 Thess. 1:7-10) awaits false teachers and all who follow their unrepentant path.”  “48 “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.” 

 

            “7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 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.”

 

            I will have to make a decision as to how much I will do in tomorrow evenings SD because there are three short sections and then the next day is Thanksgiving day which we will spend with my family.  Blessings to all who read these Spiritual Diaries.

 

11/25/2025 8:18 PM

 

PT-4 “A Fitting Analogy” (Jonah 4:6-8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/25/2025 

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  PT-4 “A Fitting Analogy”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Jonah 4:6-8

Message of the verses:  “So Yahweh God appointed a plant, and it came up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his miserable evil.  And Jonah was extremely glad about the plant.  But God appointed a worm at the breaking of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and it dried up.  Then it happened that as the sun rose up, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun struck down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and asked with all his soul to die and said, “Death is better to me than life.”

            I have mentioned that this section of Job chapter four is to me, the most misunderstood of all the book of Jonah, and that is why I continue to quote what John MacArthur has written in his commentary on this last chapter of Jonah.

            “God sent the worm at the breaking of the dawn, literally ‘when the dawn came up.’  Just as the plant ‘came up.’  God suddenly removed the experience of the goodness He had supernaturally bestowed on Jonah, assuring that the prophet felt the loss.  The Lord ordained the worm to kill the plant at dawn, so that the prophet would feel the full torment of exposure to the rising of the scorching sun.  The Lord also allowed Jonah to enjoy the shade of the plant for only one day to take it away the next day, maximizing his discomfort.

            “So the worm that the Lord appointed struck the plant such that the plant dried up and withered away.  The God who showed grace by bringing the sailors and Jonah to dry land (1:9; 2:10) is the same One who removed His grace by drying up the plant.  As the sun increasingly beat down on Jonah’s head, Jonah was feeling the effect of God’s grace being removed.

            “Following the destructive work of the worm, then it happened that as the sun rose up, God appointed a scorching east wind.  Just as God had sovereignly appointed a fish (1:17) and a plant (4:6) for Jonah’s benefit, He also appointed a worm and then a scorching east wind to inflict suffering on Jonah.  The scorching east wind, a Sirocco, came across the arid desert with a fury, collecting sand and dust to blast everything in its path.  Like other items in the book of Jonah—the storm, boat, sailors, Ninevites, and worm—this wind immediately and fully submitted to Yahweh’s control.  The Lord ensured that the Sirocco rushed in just as the sun rose up so that the prophet would find no relief, not even in the morning.  God added to the beating heat of the son the blistering wind, as it stung Jonah’s skin with sand and filled his chocking lungs with dust.

            “So, just as the worm struck the plant (4:7), the sun struck the prophet, intensifying his discipline.  While the plant had previously shaded Jonah (4:6), the sun now beat down on Jonah’s head.  The blessing Jonah had lost and the misery he experienced in its place was to teach him what it meant to enjoy grace, to have grace removed, and to suffer judgment.”

            Lord willing I will finish this section in tomorrow’s SD as there is not too much left in it, but I wanted to think about this last sentence that I have highlighted as I am wondering whether or not this kind of thing could happen to a New Testament believer or not.  Grace in the Word of God sometimes speaks of salvation, and I do believe with all my heart that once a person is a true believer that he can never stop being a true believer, in other words “loose his salvation.”

Spiritual Meaning for My Life today:  I desire to trust the Lord, and to live for Him, and to enjoy the life in the Lord He has given to me. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To fully understand the last sentence that is highlighted in yellow, as I am going to have to get some help on that one I think.

11/25/2025 8:49 AM