PT-2 Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:6, 9b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04/04/2004

My Worship Time                                                                    Focus:  PT-2 Sodom and Gomorrah

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2 Peter 2:6, 9b

            Message of the verses:  “6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;” “and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the Day of Judgment,”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Having cited these three examples of certain judgment, Peter then applied the lesson to the subject at hand, the false teachers (2 Peter 2:9b).  God has reserved the unjust for special punishment on that Day of Judgment.  The false teachers may seem successful (for ‘many’ follow them), but in the end, they will be condemned.  Their judgment is being prepared for (‘lingereth not’ 2 Peter 2:3), and what is prepared will be reserved and applied on that last day.

            What a contrast between the false teachers and the true children of God!  We have an inheritance reserved for us (1 Peter 1:4) because Jesus Christ is preparing a home for us in heaven (John 14:1-6).  We are not looking for judgment, but for the coming of the Lord to take His people home to glory!  ‘For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Thes. 5:9).

            “Peter next turned his attention to the believers themselves.  How could they stay true to the Lord in such a wicked world?”

            We will begin to look at that section in our next SD.

8/31/2017 8:03 AM

           

PT-1 "Sodom and Gomorrah" (2 Peter 2:6, 9b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04/03/2004

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-1 Sodom and Gomorrah

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Peter 2:6, 9b

            Message of the verses:  “6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; 9b and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the Day of Judgment,”

            First of all we want to see what God’s opinion is on the people in these cites is “Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD.”  In Genesis chapters 18-19 we see the judgment that God put on these cities.  Jude 7 says “7  just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” 

            This all happened before the Law of Moses was given to the people of Israel, but it was surely against what the Lord hand in mind for people to do, and so it is just as wrong today as it was in that day.  One can see a preview of what would happen earlier in the book of Genesis as one of Noah’s son’s committed homosexual sex with his father and Moses then cursed his grandson because of this act, and it is believed that his grand-son was not even born yet.  The descendants of “24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 25 So he said, "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers’ (Genesis 9:24-25).”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “The flagrant sin of Sodom and the other cities was unnatural sex, sodomy, or homosexual behavior, a sin that is clearly condemned in Scripture (Lev. 28:22; Rom. 1:24-27; 1 Cor. 6:9).”  “22  ’You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”  “24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”  “9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals.”

            We will look at a conclusion from the pen of Warren Wiersbe in our next SD from these examples that Peter wrote in the verses we have been looking at in our next SD.  8/30/2017 9:24 AM

The Old World (2 Peter 2:5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04/02/2004

My Worship Time                                                                                        Focus:  The Old World

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                           Reference:  2 Peter 2:5

            Message of the verse:  “5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;”

            The first thing that I wish to say is that I believe that the Bible is true, all of it, including the account of the flood over the entire earth spoken of in Genesis chapter six. 

            We see in Genesis 6:3 that God waited for 120 years for people to repent, as it took Noah and his sons that long to build the ark, and so God waited that long before He brought the judgment of the flood onto the earth.  The man who has the longest life span in the Bible, Methuselah who lived 969 years, his name means in the Hebrew “when I die it will come.”  The flood of Genesis came after the death of Methuselah. 

            Noah preached for 120 years that God was going to judge the world, but no one believed him.  In the 17^th chapter of the book of Luke where Jesus speaks of this judgment of the flood by saying that everyone was living their normal lives right before the flood came and took them all away.  The people were evil and one of the things that John MacArthur has stated is that there were demons who were having sexual relations with women making very large people and so a race of people was being born whom could not be redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ and this is why God judged the world at this time.  “4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown (Gen. 6:4).”   This term “sons of God” is used in the book of Job to talk about demons and that is one of the reasons MacArthur states this belief.

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes “When you compare our world with Noah’s world, you see some frightening parallels.  The population was multiplying (Gen. 6:1), and the world was filled with wickedness (Gen. 6:5) and violence (Gen. 6:11, 13).  Lawlessness abounded.  True believers were a minority, and nobody paid any attention to them!  But the flood came and the entire population of the world was destroyed.  God does indeed judge those who reject His truth.”

8/29/2017 8:17 AM

The Fallen Angles (2 Peter 2:4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04/01/2004

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The Fallen Angles

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2 Peter 2:4

            Message of the verse:  “4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.”  “4  For God did not spare angels when they had sinned, but hurling them down to Tartarus consigned them to caves of darkness, keeping them in readiness for judgment (WEY).”

            I chose the WEY version of the Bible because of the word that it uses in place of “hell” that is used in most other translations.  The following quote comes from the Greek/English dictionary found on my Online Bible.  “1) the name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds; it answers to Gehenna of the Jews 2) to thrust down to Tartarus, to hold captive in Tartarus.”  After reading a book by Erwin Lutzer entitled “One Minute after you Die” I learned that hell will not be occupied until after the “Great White Throne Judgments” which don’t happen until the end of the book of Revelation.  After everyone who is not saved is judged they will receive new bodies, bodies that will never burn up but bodies that they will receive just punishment in as they will end up in hell for eternity. 

            Ok back to our lesson and I am actually writing this lesson on the 28^th of August in the year 2017 as once again I cannot find my Spiritual Diaries for 2^nd Peter on my computer.  It is a good time for me to go over the verses that I cannot find.

            I remember reading in a book that I taught in a Bible Study entitled “The Battle for the Beginning,” written by John MacArthur.  In that book he writes that it is his belief that angels were created right around the time that God created the earth and the heavens, not much before God created man.  If this is true then it did not take Lucifer too long to fall and thus take one third of the angels that God created with him.  We can read about his fall in Isaiah 14:12-15 and also Ezekiel 28:11-19.  Lucifer was the brightest creation God created, but pride caused him to fall as he wanted to be like God which is the temptation that he used against Eve to cause her to fall too.  Now when we speak of the fallen angels we know that not all of them are kept in darkness as Satan heads up those who are not yet in this prison.  When we look at what Jesus said to the demons that He was casting out in the book of Mark “23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God!" 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"(Mark 1:23-25).”   These demons were afraid that Jesus would put them where the worst demons were located, but Jesus did not put them there. 

            In conclusion there are many things that we do not know about angels, especially the ones who God put in what most versions call hell, but we must trust the Lord to show us if it is His desire to do so.  I for one am happy that these most evil demons are where they are.

8/28/2017 9:43 AM

False Teachers in Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed (2 Pet. 2:6, 9b)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 03/29/2004

 

                                                                                                                       

My Worship Time                  Focus: False teachers in Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2Peter 2:6, 9b

 

            Message of the verse:  “and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter; and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,” (NASB) “Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.  Even while punishing the wicked right up until the Day of Judgment.” (NLT)

            I want to point out that I am following the outline that Dr. Wiersbe has given in his book on 2Peter, and in it he takes verses 3-6, and 9b to explain about the false teacher’s being destroyed, and the in the next section of his book, which cover verses 5-9, he writes about how the true believers are delivered. 

            In verse 6 Peter writes about the judgment that came upon Sodom and Gomorrah because of their gross sin, which Jude explains as “going after strange flesh.”  I must say that it seems to me that the Lord has shown me this morning that this certainly could be a picture of the judgment of hell that these lost sinners received.  After all it was fire and brimstone that God rained down upon them and many believe that the lost cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are under the Dead Sea.  At any rate the point of these verses that I have been looking at in these last few days is that God will indeed execute judgment upon false teachers, as the last part of verses six and nine, which says, “He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.  Even while punishing the wicked right up until the Day of Judgment.”  Both of these verses give a warning to those who are false teachers and those who listen to them.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today: I believe that the Lord is showing me that I, like Peter, should make known to those whom God leads into my life the truth of the Gospel so that the Holy Spirit can use that truth to bring about salvation in their lives.

 

The Word of God was a challenge to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to allow God to do His work through me His way, and I would pray that the Holy Spirit would keep me from doing these works of God in the power of the flesh. 

 

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:5-9

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your won understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increases.

 

 

           

The False Teachers of the Old World were Destroyed (2 Peter 2:5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 03/27/2004

 

                                                                                                                       

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The false teachers of the old world destroyed

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  2Peter 2:5

 

            Message of the verse:  “Neither did he let the ancient ungodly world off. He wiped it out with a flood, rescuing only eight people—Noah, the sole voice of righteousness, was one of them.”  (Message)  “If He did not spare the ancient world but only saved Noah, the solitary voice that cried out for righteousness, and his seven companions when He brought the flood upon the world in its wickedness;”  (Philips)

            Peter is writing about what happened to Noah, his wife, three sons, and three daughter-in laws in this verse.  It is recorded in Genesis 6.  It took Noah 120 years to build the ark, and while he was building it he preached to the population around them that God was going to send rain that would flood the entire earth and destroy everything upon the earth, except those who were in the ark with Noah.  No one believed him, but they did believe the false teachers who said that it would not rain, for it never had rained before.  Noah is described, as a preacher of righteousness in this verse, and nowhere else is he called that in the Bible.  He preached righteousness to the people, but none believed, and then all of them perished because of their unbelief.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  That would be a good way to be remembered as a preacher of righteousness; for that is the most important message that anyone could ever give to another person.  I would pray that God would give me more opportunities to be a preacher of righteousness in the days ahead that he leaves me on this planet.

 

The Word of God was challenging to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord with all of my heart, and that I may not lean upon my own understanding, but in all of my ways acknowledge Him and then He will direct my path.

To be an open vessel unto the Lord so He can use me as He sees fit.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:5-9

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct your paths.

Do not be wise in your own understanding; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase.

  

The False Teachers will be Destroyed (2 Peter 2:3-4)

SPIRTIUAL DIARY FOR 03/26/2004

 

                                                                                                                       

My Worship Time                  Focus:  The false teachers will be destroyed

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  2Peter 2:3-4

 

            Message of the verse:  “In their lust to make converts these men will try to exploit you too with their bogus arguments. But judgment has been for some time hard on their heels and their downfall is inevitable.  For if God did not spare angels who sinned against him, but banished them to the dark imprisonment of hell till judgment day;” (Philips) “In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way.  For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day.”  (NLT)

            I looked at verse three yesterday, but it ties in with verse four, so I will look at the last section of verse three again today.  The point of 3b and four is that God does indeed pay all His accounts, the false teachers along with the fallen angels will be judged, for even now these fallen angels are chained in hell.  There is some mystery to this verse, for God does not tell us everything.  In Ezekiel and also Isaiah there seems to be verses that describe the downfall of Lucifer, who is now Satan, and in Revelations it is said that Satan took a third of the angels with him when he fell.  In the same way that these fallen angels have been judged, so also will these false teachers that Peter is describing in this section of his letter.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In a number of the books I have read by Warren Wiersbe he has mentioned the mystery of God.  This is one of the things that God is convicting me about, His mysterious aspect, and the fact that God says in His Word that He has not told us everything, and that is where faith comes into play.  I am the type of person who has to figure out everything and because of that sometimes I don’t figure it out correctly and get myself in trouble.  God is gracious with me, as He is beginning His work or correcting this problem, and I am thankful for that.

 

The Word of God was a bit mysterious to me, and yet it did challenge my heart this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord in my life with things that I do not understand so that He will, perhaps in time show me what He is doing, or to just leave it with Him and not try so hard to figure it out on my own.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:5-9

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path.

Do not be wise in your own eyes, Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the first fruits of all your increase;

Sensuality and Greed Also Describe the False Teachers (2 Peter 2:2-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 03/25/2004

 

                                                                                                           

My Worship Time                    Focus:  Sensuality and greed also describe the false teachers

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                        Reference:  2Peter 2:2,3

 

            Message of the verse:  “Many will follow their flagrant immorality and thereby bring discredit on the way of truth.  In their lust to make converts these men will try to exploit you too with their bogus arguments. But judgment has been for some time hard on their heels and their downfall is inevitable.”  (PHIIPS)  “Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered.  In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way.”  (NLT)

            Many people are willing to listen to lies because they cannot handle the truth.  False teachers give just enough truth to ease the conscience of their prey, and then they can exploit them because they believe their lies.  Having sexual relations outside the will of God has been one of the tricks of false prophets and teachers for a long time.  There were many times in OT Israel that they had shrine prostitutes of both male and female as part of their worship that they got for the pagan nations that surrounded them.  People want just enough “religion” to scratch their itching ears.

            The sad part about this is that many of these people are part of the church, at least that is where they attend, and because of this they bring down the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus told a parable about a farmer who went out to sow good seed, and then in the night an enemy went out and sowed weeds in the same ground that the farmer had sown good seed.  The farmers servant ask if he should go out and dig up the weeds, but the farmer told him not to do so because he might dig up some of the good seed along with the weeds.  His orders to the servant was to let them both grow up together and when both were fully grown they would be able to tell the difference between the two and then burn up the weeds.  The weeds that the enemy had sown was called darnel and as it grows it looks just like the good seed, but it will not produce any fruit when fully grown like the good seed does.  It is obvious that the weeds are the false teachers, and they grow up in the setting of the church, and sometimes it is difficult to tell the darnel from the good seed.

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I do not want to fall into the traps that these false teachers have fallen into.  I also want to know the truth so well that they will not fool me.

 

The Word of God was again challenging to me as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To put into the Lord’s hands the decision about buying Beth’s car and then trust Him for the answer.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:5-9

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.

Do not be wise in your own eyes, Fear the Lord and depart from evil

It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.

Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase.

The Deception and Denial of False Teachers (2 Peter 2:1)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 03/24/2004

 

                                                                                                                       

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The deception and denial of false teachers

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  2Peter 2:1

 

            Message of the verse:  “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end.”  (NLT)  “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”  (KJV)

            As Peter begins this chapter in his letter he begins by contrasting false teachers with those who he had just been writing about at the end of chapter one, those who had been the ones who God used to write the Bible.  Peter then changes from false prophets to false teachers in this chapter, because there are no more prophets in the Church today, there are only those who teach what has already been written in the completed Word of God.

            These teachers bring about deception to those who will listen to them.  Satan deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Satan first questioned God’s Word, and then he denied God’s Word, and then he substituted for God’s Word, by using his own, when he said “you shall be like gods.” Peter uses the words “destructive heresies” in this verse, and the word heresies has some different meanings:  “1) act of taking, capture: e.g. storming a city 2) choosing, choice 3) that which is chosen 4) a body of men following their own tenets (sect or party) 4a) of the Sadducees 4b) of the Pharisees 4c) of the Christians 5) dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims.”

            These false teachers also denied the faith, and the Lord who bought them.  Now Dr. Wiersbe teaches that these false teachers were not saved, and says that Christ bought the entire world when He died on the cross, but not all will be saved.  He goes on to say that Christ bought the whole field, (the world), to get the treasures that were in it.  (I know that some will not agree with this).  These false teachers will deny the teachings of the Gospel, and deny that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and God who came in the flesh, and also that it is not necessary for a person to accept His forgiveness through His work upon the cross.

 

             Spiritual meaning for my life today: The subtleness of these false teachers is what is so deceptive in the works.  I am so glade that I have the Spirit of God in me to give me the wisdom to understand His Word, so that the Lord will protect me from these false teachers who are in the Church today.

 

The Word of God was challenging to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord in the circumstances of our investments, and also our church.  I am thankful to the Lord that Sandra is beginning to understand more fully the problems that Andrew is going through.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:7-9

7  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.

8  It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

9  Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 

 

The Holy Scriptures (2 Peter 1:20-21)

SPIRITUAL DAIRY FOR 03/20/2004

 

                                                                                                                       

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  The Holy Scriptures

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                        Reference:  2Peter 1:20-21

 

            Message of the verse:  “20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”  (NASB) 

            These two verses, along with 2Timothy 2:14-17, give readers of the Bible the way in which the Bible was written.  It is good to remember at this point that Peter was writing to expose some false prophets, and one of the ways that he has been doing this is to explain the truth concerning the Christian faith, so that his readers would be able to spot false prophets.  By understanding how the Scriptures were written is part of this education that he is giving his readers. 

            Peter is telling his readers that the prophets did not make up what they wrote on there own, but the Holy Spirit gave them the message, it was God-breathed, as Paul wrote in 2Timothy.  However the Holy Spirit in his writings did not prohibit the personality of the writer.  God gave a calling to those He wanted to write His Word, and gave them the special ability to accomplish the task.  This is the point that Peter is making to his readers, that God is the One who was in control of the writing and the writers, so that what turned out was exactly how He wanted it.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The Scriptures is an endless well of knowledge that is completely spiritual, and as the writer to the Hebrews writes, “it is alive.”  Knowing these truths I can come to the conclusion that I will never complete the task of knowing or understanding everything that is in the Bible.  The Word of God is described as “food,” food for my spiritual life, and just as I have to eat each day in order to stay alive and that job is never completed, so I need to feed upon the Word of God each day in order to gain the “spiritual nutrition” to get through my day.  The Bible is spiritual as said before, and it is an awesome wonder to be able to have the Spirit of God use the Word of God in my life each day.  I must have a humble attitude in order to be feed.

 

The Word of God was very inscriptional to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I want to hear for the Lord each day as I open His Word to feed upon His endless supply of wisdom and wealth that He has put into His Word.  Lord I pray that You would always make me humble before You as I approach You and Your Holy Word so that, by Your grace, You can teach me and enable me to do the works that You have planned for me to do.  Thank You, and in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:5-8

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding,

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path.

Do not be wise in your own eyes, Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

 

The Light of the World (2 Peter 1:19)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 03/19/2004

 

                                                                                                                       

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The Light of the Word

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2Peter 1:19

 

            Message of the verse:  “Because of that, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. Pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a light shining in a dark place—until the day Christ appears and his brilliant light shines in your hearts.”  (NLT)  “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”  (NKJ)

            Peter just finished a paragraph on the experience he had at the transfiguration of Christ, and now he is writing about the certainty of the Scriptures in verses 19-21.  He begins by referring back to the fulfillment of prophecy that he just wrote about, in the transfiguration.  He then moves on to writing about the prophets, and how we can have great confidence in what they have written.  He writes that the prophetic word is a great light, and the Word of God is described as a light in many portions of Scripture.  “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path,” is among the many Scriptures written on the Scripture being “light.”  The Scripture is the light for the dark world, and the world is getting darker each and every day.  However Peter goes on to explain that, just as the prophets proclaimed, there is coming a day when the day will dawn and the morning star will rise in our hearts, and this refers to when the Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth and set up His kingdom upon the earth.  This is the hope of all believers, whether they realize it or not.  

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This verse speaks to my heart in different ways, for in this verse there are different things it has to say.  I can recall a sermon by Pastor Burns, where he was speaking about the crowns the believer could earn, and said there is a crown for loving the return of the Lord, and that this crown was not to be given to those who just knew the itinerary of the Lord’s return, but for those who are loving the Lord’s return.  This verse speaks about the love one should have for the return of the Lord, and that love needs to be cultivated in my life.  This verse also speaks about a light that needs to shine into this very dark world, and that light is to be taken by all believers, including me.  Jesus said that we should not hide our light, but let is shine.

 

The Word of God was convicting to me, and it was also a challenge to my heart, as I read it this morning.

 

My Step of Faith Today:  Today is the day that Andrew is to return our investment, along with everyone else’s too, and I trust the Lord will accomplish exactly what He wants to accomplish in all of this.  The Lord is in control of this entire situation.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:5-8

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not upon your own understanding.

In all you ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path.

Do not be wise in your own eyes, Fear the Lord and turn away from evil,

It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.

Lessons from the Transfiguration (2 Peter 1:16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 03-18-2004

 

                                                                                                                       

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Lessons from the “transfiguration”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                          Reference:  2Peter 1:16

 

            Message of the verse:  “We were not following a cleverly written-up story when we told you about the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ—we actually saw his majesty with our own eyes. He received honour and glory from God the Father himself when that voice said to him, out of the sublime glory of Heaven, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ We actually heard that voice speaking from Heaven while we were with him on the sacred mountain.” (PHILIPS) 

            There are many important lessons to be learned from the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, and Peter is writing about this event in these three verses.  It is good to remember that he is writing to his original readers to alert of those who were trying to teach them false doctrine, and he is reminding them of the experience that he saw, along with James and John, and that experience was true and not made up.  His letter to them is now apart of the written word of God, and believers around the world can read about it now. 

            The transfiguration is written about in three of the four Gospels, and in John is it not recorded.  It takes place on a mountaintop and Jesus Christ is shown in His glory, His glory is revealed to His disciples who are there, Peter, James, and John.  The word transfiguration in the Greek is the word “metamorphoo,” and we get the word metamorphose from it.  This word means a change from the inside, and that is what happened to Christ upon that mountain, His glory was revealed from the inside out, in other words, there were no outside lights shining upon Him to make Him look as He did, but the Light shone from the inside out. 

            Dr. Wiersbe points out three lessons to be learned from the transfiguration:  1. The transfiguration confirms Peter’s testimony about Jesus Christ, for Peter heard the voice from heaven, along with seeing the majesty with his own eyes. (V-2).  2.  The Father used this event to strengthen the Son for the awful ordeal He would go through in paying for the sins of the world.  This also shows that suffering leads to glory.  3.  The third lesson has to do with the “kingdom of God,” for in all three references in the Bible that is mentioned.  Matthew 16: 28 “Verily I say unto you, There will be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”  As the disciples looked at the cross, and were very confused as to why that all took place at first, the Holy Spirit could remind them of this truth about the transfiguration, that there would indeed be a kingdom coming. 

            The transfiguration affirms several important doctrines of the Christian faith.  First of all it shows that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and being the Son of God shows His deity.  It also speaks of the work on the cross.  In Luke 9:30-31 we read:  “And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”  This says that Moses and Elijah spoke of Christ’s departure, or decease, and that word is the word “exodus.”  Christ would make a way for sinful men to come out of the bondage of sin, just as Moses did for the children of Israel, when he lead them out of the slavery of Egypt.  The transfiguration also shows the affirmation of the truth of the Scriptures, for Moses represented the Law and Elijah represented the Prophets, and both spoke about the Christ.  And as mentioned before the transformation also represented the “kingdom of God.” 

            Again the transformation shows that suffering comes first and then glory, and this is a lesson that every believer must learn at some time in his life, just as Peter, James, and John learned.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As our world and our nation grow darker and darker, it does not seem like it will be very long before great suffering will begin for believers in the country that we live in.  Jesus promised that in the world you will have tribulation, but He also encouraged us by saying that we are to be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world.  I do take courage in this truth.

 

The Word of God was very challenge to my heart today, and yet it was refreshing at the same time.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  As March 19^th will be upon us tomorrow, I want to trust in the Lord that His perfect will, will be done in all of our lives that are connected with Andrew Leck.  We many not get, what we would say is “good news,” yet God is in control and will work things out for our good and His glory.  This has been a very long trial for those of us who have not been through things like this before, yet God is faithful, and has taught many of us who are willing to learn many wonderful things while going through it, including the blessing of seeing nine people come to know the Lord.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:5-8

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding,

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path.

Do not be wise in your own eyes, Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

           

More on Remembering (2 Peter 1:15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 03/17/04

 

                                                                                                                       

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  More on Remembering

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                        Reference:  2Peter 1:15

 

            Message of the verse:  “Consequently I shall make the most of every opportunity, so that after I am gone you will remember these things.”  (PHILIPS)  “So I will work hard to make these things clear to you. I want you to remember them long after I am gone.”  (NLT)

            It seemed from this writing that Peter had it in his mind that his readers remember the things that he was writing to them, so that they would not be fooled by those who would want to teach them false doctrine in the future.  He was reminding them again and again because it is easy to begin to forget these important truths that he is teaching them. 

            Looking at this from another prospective would be to look at how short life is, and another way to look at this would be to remember that the body of the believer is a tent or a tabernacle in which the Holy Spirit of God dwells.  This tabernacle is movable so the Lord can be shown to others while there.  Peter knew that his tent or tabernacle would soon be put away, and so that is why he wanted his readers to receive this message.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The Lord has been impressing upon my heart about worship, and one of the verses that He has been using is a verse in John chapter four where Jesus told the woman at the well that there would be coming a day, very soon, in which the believer would worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth, and not just in Jerusalem.  He, or course was speaking of the believer’s body as being the temple of the Holy Spirit, and one of the notes on this verse in 2Peter talked about our body, as being a tabernacle or tent, and that is just what the first means of worship was for the nation of Israel after God brought them out of Egypt.  Next it moved into a permanent place, the Temple in Jerusalem, and now it is in the believer’s body.

 

The Word of God was refreshing to my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord with the investment that we have with Andrew Leck, and to be assured that He is in control of all of the things pertaining to it.  To continue to trust the Lord with the situation at our church, believing that He has everything in His control, and that I as a member of GBC am to ask the Lord to prepare my heart for the next man that the Lord sends our way, knowing that he will be the one who will be leading this church, and will be the one whom God uses to speak to us so we can learn what the Lord has for us.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Proverbs 3:5-8

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding,

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.

Do not be wise in your own eyes, Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.