Remembering the Word of God (Jude 17-19)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-07-04

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Remembering the Word of God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jude 17-19

 

            Message of the verse:  “17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:  18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. 19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.”  (AV)  “17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.  18 They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”  (NIV)

            In verse 17, Jude is explaining who we had gotten the Word of God from.  It came from the apostles, and they are the ones that Jesus Christ has sent out for a mission, for that is what the word means.  It was the responsibility of some of the apostles to write the NT, or to pass on the information to another so that they would write it down.  The book of Mark is an example of that.

            Jude gives an example of what was written in verse 18, and this portion of Scripture has been written about in different books of the Bible.  He writes that mockers and false teachers will come into the Church and will spread their poison. 

            In verse 19, he writes what these false teachers will do and the reason that they do these things; they live “natural” lives instead of living Spirit filled lives, because they do not have the Spirit of God in them.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This passage teaches me the need of staying in the Bible and searching for the truths that are in it so that I will not fall prey to those who are peddling poison.

 

The Word of God challenged my heart as I read it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Trust the Lord with the trials that are still going on in my life, and seek His wisdom.

Memory verse for the week:  1Cor. 13:4

 

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

 

 

The King is Coming (Jude 14-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-04-04

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  The King is coming

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jude 14-15

 

            Message of the verse:  “14  It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

            Jude brings up the OT saint, Enoch in this section of his letter.  Enoch is only mentioned three times in the Scriptures, and they are in Genesis, Hebrews, and here in Jude.  Jude, I have read, is quoting from The Book of Enoch, which is an apocryphal book.  As Dr. Wiersbe writes in his commentary on Jude that this does not mean that his entire book was inspired or trustworthy, but it does mean that the Spirit of God used this portion of Enoch’s book to be inspired, for it is found in the inspired Word of God now.

            It can be seen from this quotation that Enoch was a prophet, and this prophecy may have been written about the then soon coming flood, however this prophecy can also be applied to the end times.  Enoch has written that the Lord will come with ten thousand of His saints to execute judgment upon the ungodly.  Enoch uses the work “ungodly” four times in this fifteenth verse, (KJV).  In the book of Revelations it also can be seen that Jesus Christ will return to the earth with His saints, and they will help Him judge the ungodly who are upon the earth at that time.  Enoch goes on to talk a bit about some of the reasons why these ungodly will be judged, and says it is because of their speeches which they has spoken out against God.  God has been and still is patient with the ungodly, but there will come a day when His patience will run out and His judgment will begin.

            I wish to make a comment about the phrase “seventh from Adam,” which comes from verse fourteen.  In some of the versions that I have read the word “generation” is inserted after seventh, but in other versions it is not there.  From what I can see it is not there in the original language, and therefore it is possible that the word generations should not be there.  Cain had a son named Enoch, but the Enoch that is referred to here came from the godly line of Seth. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the world that I live in today, for one thing it is much different than the one that I was born in, in many ways.  It is certainly more evil, or at least the evilness has come “out of the closet.”  People today have more ways to be evil because of our modern technology.  Sometimes I get so upset over the things that are going on and cannot wait for the judgment of God to come upon the ungodly.  This section of Scripture says that it will happen one day, and for that I am truly thankful.

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Trust the Lord for the judgment of the ungodly.  Trust the Lord for the safe return of Kim and her students and other teachers.  Trust the Lord for His will to be done with Andrew Lech and our investments with Him.  Trust the Lord in providing a job for me if that is His will for me.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13: 1-3

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

             

  

The Apostates are Hypocrites (Jude 12-13, 16)

SPIRITUALL DIARY FOR 06-03-04

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  The apostates are hypocrites

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Jude 12, 13, & 16

 

            Message of the verse:  “12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved for ever…16 These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.”  (NIV)

            Jude uses some very descriptive language to describe the hypocrisy of the false teachers in these three verses.  The first thing he says is that they are blemishes at your love feasts, and that means that they should not even be there because they are not true believers, and all they will do is disrupt the love feast for others who are true believers.  The love feast was a meal that the early Church would have before taking the Lord’s Supper, and it was suppose to be a time of fellowship and preparation for the Lord’s Supper.

            Jude next describes them as false shepherds only looking out for themselves.  True shepherds are doing the Lord’s bidding and looking out for His interest, and for the interest of His children, but false shepherds are like the hiring that Jesus spoke of in John’s Gospel who only looks out for themselves and not the sheep.

            He next says that they are clouds without rain in them.  When a farmer needs rain and he looks up in the sky and gets excited because there are clouds blowing in, he then can become really frustrated when they have no rain to drop for his crops.  These clouds are not helping him at all, just as the false teachers are not helping anyone at all either.

            Next the description is of autumn trees that not only do not have fruit on them, but they also have been uprooted and thus are doubly dead.  Psalm 1:3 says, “and he will be like a tree firmly standing by streams of water, which yields it’s fruit in it’s season, and it’s leafs never wither.”  This is just the opposite of the false teachers.

            He next says that they are wild waves that can only bring up the useless refuge from the sea, and can only accomplish destruction, just like the apostates.

            Jude next compares them to falling stars or meteors, which are useless if you are trying to use them as a fixed point because they are moving.  In the same way you these apostates are not someone you can trust to get good solid doctrine from.

            Verse sixteen says that they are grumblers and faultfinders.  There is quite a difference between a faultfinder and a fact finder.   Fact finders do not find someone to blame, but speak the truth in love.  These apostates follow their own evil desires so that they can have their own way as they are only looking out for themselves. 

            Jude concludes by writing that these false teachers only boast about themselves and flatter people only to get their own way.  Flattery is being nice to someone to get you own way with them, even though it is probably no the truth being spoken.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I have been reading and studying about false teachers and apostates over these last few weeks I am learning that some of the things that they do, I do at times, and I am also learning how to recognize them when I would come in contact with them.

 

The Word of God has been both informative and challenging to me as I have read it and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Trust the Lord to convict me when I start showing some of the characteristics of the apostates.  To trust the Lord with the “job” situation, and also to trust the Lord with our investment situation, and to trust the Lord to keep Kim safe and faithful to Him as she travels with the 8^th grade in Washington DC.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13: 1-3

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophesy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

The Apostates Reject Divine Authority (Jude 8-11)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-02-04

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The Apostates Reject Divine Authority

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jude 8-11

 

            Message of the verse:  “8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.  9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"  10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.  11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.”  (NIV)

            The key word in this section is “reject or rejection.”  The apostates reject the way that God has ordained things and are doing things the way that they want it to be done.  Satan told Eve “the lie” in Genesis 3:5, which is “that you shall be like God,” and this is exactly what these apostates are doing, for they are making up their own rules that go against the authority of God, and that is rebellion against God.

            In verse nine Jude gives an example of one who knew proper authority, and that was the archangel Michael, who did not argue with Satan, but rather told him “the Lord rebuke you.”  Satan does have great power and authority, so Michael did not go against that, but appealed to the Lord, who has power and authority over everything. 

            In verse ten Jude describes these apostates in a similar way Peter described them when he said that they were like animals, and animals live only by instinct, and he goes on to say that is what destroys them.

            In verse eleven Jude writes about three men from the OT who rebelled against God, they are Cain, Balaam, and Korah.  Cain killed his brother Abel because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but had rejected Cain’s.  The sin of Cain was the rebellion of God’s way for salvation.  Cain did it his way and that was not God’s way.  Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way the truth and the life, know one comes to the Father except through me.”  People today still try to come to the Father through there own way, which is the sin of Cain. 

            Balaam tried to merchandise the gifts that God had given him to make money, which is rebellion against God’s authority in separation, for he prostituted his gifts to make money and led Israel to mix with the nations of the world when they were suppose to be separate.

            Korah rebelled against God in service, and this means that he did not accept the authority that God had given Moses, and went off and did what he wanted to do, not listening to Moses words.

 

The Word of God has taught me new insights, and has also convicted me about some things that I already know.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord with the things He is doing concerning our investments, to trust the Lord as to whether or not He wants me to work in South America, and also to trust the Lord will take care of Kim as she travels with her class in Washington D.C.

Memory verses for the week: 1Cor. 13:1-3

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 

God's Victory (Jude 5-7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-01-04

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  God’s Victory

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Jude 5-7

 

            Message of the verse:  “5  Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.  6  And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”  (NIV)

            In these three verses Jude gives examples of God’s victory over sin.  The first example is that of the nation of Israel, and their sin was rebellious unbelief, for they would not believe the Lord could use them to defeat their enemies who lived in the promise land.  Their reason was they thought the people were too large and thus they were afraid.  Their sin is written about in many places of the Scriptures.  One of these places is in the book of Hebrews, where the writer quotes from the Psalms saying that these people would not enter into God’s rest.  Jude writes at the end of this verse that these people had already seen the miracles of the Lord as He led them out of Egypt with many mighty miracles and also promised them He would led them into the promise land.  He concludes the verse by saying that God destroyed those who did not believe.

            The sin of the angels was rebellion against the throne of God, and Jude describes this in verse six.  There has been some discussion that this refers to what happened in Genesis 6:1-4, which tells the story of “the sons of God” coming to the daughters of men and after that God destroyed the earth with the flood.  The thought is that these “sons of God” were these angels that Jude is writing about in verse six.  In Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary he gives a number of reasons why he does not think this is what Jude is writing about and it seems to me that they are good reasons that Jude was not referring to that incident here.  At any rate there sin was rebellion against the Lord and there sin was so great that they are now kept in chains because of their sin.

            Jude describes the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah in verse seven, and that is going after “strange flesh.”  He goes on to write that these people serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire, in other words this seems to be a picture of hell.  The “strange flesh” was surely homosexual activity, but it also could have been having sexual relations with animals.  Both of these are described as sin in Lev. 18:22-25.

            Jude was citing these examples to show that God does indeed judge sin, and He will thus judge the sin of these apostates that he is writing about in his letter.  These sins are sins that the apostates were prone to commit and thus they will be judged as surely as those being cited in Jude’s examples.  

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful to the Lord that Jesus Christ was judged for all of my sins when He hung upon the cross.  Because of this I need to continually be reminded of this cost when I rebel against the Lord by sinning.

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord in the trials He is taking me through.  To meditate more on God’s Word. 

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1-3

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Our Enemy (Jude 3-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-31-04

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Our Enemy

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference: Jude 3-4

 

            Message of the verse:  “3 Dearly loved friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the truth of the Good News. God gave this unchanging truth once for all time to his holy people.  4 I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God’s forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”  (NLT)

            “3 ¶ Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.  4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”  (NASB) 

            Jude packed a lot of truth in these two verses, truth that all believer need to get hold of and to stand up for.  The first part of verse three Jude tells his readers what he had hoped to write about to them, and that was about salvation, however he felt it necessary to write to them about false teachers, the enemy of God.  He describes the enemy in these two verses so that those who read this letter will know what they are up against.  He writes to his readers as if they are an army ready to do battle with God’s enemy, defending for the Truth.  The words he uses in the original Greek language were used for athletes who would strain every muscle and nerve in an attempt to compete successfully. 

            Jude goes on in verse three to say that this Truth was unchanging and was given for all time to His holy people.  Paul writes about this to his son in the faith Timothy, as he told Timothy that he would pass on to him the truths of the faith and he in turn was to pass it on to others that he knew would pass it on to others, and so on until it has reached this generation that we live in know.  All generations who know these truths are responsible to pass it on to the next generation.  There have been many saints down through the years that have paid with their lives to tell others the good news of Jesus Christ.  It is fitting that I am doing this lesson when we in our country commemorate those who have gave up their life for this country in order to protect our way of life.

            Jude goes on to talk about these apostates in verse four and says that they have crept in unnoticed into the church assembly in order to try and pass on false doctrine to those in the church.  He writes that their punishment is ordained for them, as told by God long ago.  They are denying the Lord Jesus Christ, which means that they are denying His Deity, saying He is not God who came in the flesh. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is good again to be reminded that I am in the Lord’s army, and that there is a real battle going on that I am to be involved in, and that I am to fight the good fight.  It is also good to be reminded that it is part of my responsibility, as a believer in Jesus Christ; to pass on the Truth to the next generation, and as this is being done to urge them to pass it on to the next generation.

 

The Word of God was a great encouragement to my heart as I read it this morning, and it was also a very big challenge.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord with what is going on in Canada with our investments, and to continue to trust the Lord with the possible opportunity to work in S. America.  To trust the Lord with the opportunities of ministry that He has given me to do, that I will rely upon Him to do what He has given me to do.

 

 

 

 

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1-3

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it prophets me nothing.

 

Introduction to Jude

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-29-04

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Introduction to Jude

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Jude 1-2

 

            Message of the verse:  “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:  May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”  (NASB)  “JUDE, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who have obeyed the call, who are loved by God the Father and kept in the faith by Jesus Christ—may you ever experience more and more of mercy, peace and love!”  (PHILLIPS)

            Jude writes this letter to believers about the apostates that were, and still are, invading the Church of Jesus Christ.  In these first two verses he goes over some of the things that prove to them that they are in fact true believers, and this might be done so that they do not get confused as he begins to describe the apostates.  An apostate is not a true believer who lost his salvation, but he is a person who has professed to accept and put his trust in the Savior, and then turns from “the faith, which was once delivered to the saints.”  (Jude 3)

            The author is the half brother of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James, who wrote the letter of James.  He did not believe in Jesus Christ until after His resurrection, and may have been present with the believers in the upper room waiting for the Spirit of God to come.  (Acts 1:14)  His letter may have gone to the same group of people that Peter sent his too, and in Peter’s letter he did say that these apostates would come, and in Jude’s letter they were there.

            It is interesting that Jude identifies himself a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and not the half brother of Jesus Christ.  This shows the humility and also the respect He has for Jesus Christ.  He also identifies himself as the brother of James. 

            He identifies his readers as “those who are the called,” and this speaks of the sovereign election of God.  As stated before this is something that is difficult, and probably impossible, to understand this side of glory, but the Bible teaches it. 

            He next writes that those who are called are beloved by God, and kept for Jesus Christ.  Not only does God call the believer, but also He is surely loved by God, and is kept, so that he can never be lost, for the Savior Jesus Christ.

            In verse two Jude speaks of mercy, grace, and peace, and this is in many of the NT letters, so it may have been something standard, but it does have a deeper meaning to it.  Mercy is God holding back from us what we deserve, and putting what we do deserve onto Jesus Christ.  Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve, because of our position in Jesus Christ, and because Christ died for our sins.  Peace is what we receive from God because we have this peace through the blood of the cross, and Jude is writing about the fact that the believer is now at peace with God.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  In Dr. Wiersbe’s book that he has written about Jude he states that Jude is writing to those who are believers as in the army of the Lord, and says this because we are in a full time battle with our enemies.  There are times when I realize the truth of this and there are times when I slack up and am not a good solider of the cross.  It is very important to realize that I am in a battle, and that Christ has given me all of the equipment that is needed for me to stand firm while in the battle. 

 

The Word of God has brought a challenge to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord with the trials that I am in, and to trust the Lord to equip me and sustain me for the task of teaching Sunday School tomorrow.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1,2

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.  If I the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

             

 

 

Demetrius, Worthy to be Imitated (3 John 11-14)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-28-04

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Demetrius, worthy to be Imitated

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  3John 11-14

 

            Message of the verse:  “11  Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.  12 ¶  Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we also bear witness, and you know that our witness is true.  13  I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink; 14  but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.”  (NASB)

            In verse eleven John is giving encouragement to Gaius, and also cautioning him not to do what is evil, like what Diotrephes was doing in the church.  He then goes on in verse twelve to talk about Demetrius who is a man that can be imitated.  John writes that Demetrius is a man who has received a good report from everyone, with I sure the exception of Diotrephes.  I believe that John is speaking of all the members of the church and or course John himself.  He is a man who walks in the truth of the Word of God and gives testimony that what John and the others who know the truth to be. 

            John concludes his letter in verses thirteen and fourteen in a very similar way he did 2John.  He says that he plans to visit them and to talk face to face with them, and I am sure deal with the problem Diotrephes is causing in the church.  He goes on to say “peace be with you.”  Peace is the possession of adequate resources, says George Morrison.  The adequate resource that all believers have is Jesus Christ.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Te definition of peace is the one thing that jumped out at me as I read over this portion of Scripture.  There are far too many times when I do not rely upon the Adequate Resource that I have.

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to open the doors that He would like me to go through, to separate the best from the good.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1,2

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

 

 

Diotrephes the Dictator ( 3 John 9-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-27-04

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Diotrephes the dictator

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  3John 9-11

 

            Message of the verses:  “I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, does not acknowledge our authority.   When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the wicked things he is saying about us. He not only refuses to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.  (NLT)

 “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.  (NIV)

            It is hard to tell whether or not Diotrephes was a true believer or not, hard because of his actions, but this does not mean that he was an unbeliever because believers who are carnal can act like unbelievers, and sometimes even worse.  He certainly was full of pride, because he was lifting up himself and not the Lord Jesus Christ as he should have been.  It is no surprise that John was very upset with his actions and that he planned to set the matter straight when he came to them. 

            It is the personalities in a church body that often cause trouble and such was the case with Diotrephes, for he was not only going against the apostle John, but he was also certainly going against the Lord.  John knew that Diotrephes was not allowing the traveling missionaries or pastors to stay with him or for that matter to stay with any of the people in the church.  If any in the church allowed the traveling pastors or missionaries to stay with them he would have them kicked out of the fellowship.  This was certainly wrong, because these traveling pastors were godly people, for they knew John and he had accepted them as godly people.  During the time when the apostles were alive they had authority over the matters of the Church, and so John was within his rights as an apostle to do what ever was correct in disciplining Diotrephes when he arrived.  Another of the things he was doing wrong, as verse 10 says, is that he was speaking evil things about John and those in fellowship with John. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the things that I have learned from this passage, or one of the things that it has reminded me of is that everything I do must be to the glory of Christ, and that is not always the case, for it is far to easy to fall into sin, and then sin by justifying the sin that I have fallen into.

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to meditate upon Romans 12:1,2; to continue to trust the Lord to either open the door to work with Tim in South America, or to close that door, and to continue to trust the Lord with the investments that we have with Andrew Lech.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor. 13:1,2

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

 

Gaius' Practical Ministry (3 John 5-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-26-04

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Gaius’ practical ministry

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  3John 5-8

 

            Message of the verse:  “5  Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers; 6  and they bear witness to your love before the church; and you will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.  7 For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.  8 Therefore we ought to support such men, that we may be fellow workers with the truth.”  (NASB)

            “ 5 Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God when you take care of the traveling teachers who are passing through, even though they are strangers to you.  6 They have told the church here of your friendship and your loving deeds. You do well to send them on their way in a manner that pleases God.  7 For they are traveling for the Lord and accept nothing from those who are not Christians.  8 So we ourselves should support them so that we may become partners with them for the truth.”  (NLT)

            In this section John describes the practical ministry that Gaius had, and that was helping the traveling Pastors that came to minister to the church he attended.  By doing this Gaius became a partner with them in the Truth.  Dr. Wiersbe describes four reasons as to what was the motivation for this practical ministry to fellow servants of the Lord.  The first reason for this kind of motivation is that it is honoring to God as seen in verse five where John writes, “Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God when you take care of the traveling teachers who are passing through, even though they are strangers to you.”  Also in verse six where John writes, “send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.”  The second reason is that this is a wittiness to the lost as seen in verse sever where we read, “and accept nothing from those who are not Christians.”  When the lost world sees that believers give to other believers and that they do not look to unbelievers to meet their needs in a financial way this can attract them to the Savior.  The third reason is obedience to God, “Therefore we ought to support such men, “is how John put it in verse 8a.  John’s letter is the Word of God and so when I read that I should do something as it comes from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  The last reason or motivation for this practical ministry that Gaius has is seen in the last part of verse eight, “so that we may become partners with them for the truth.”  Missionaries could not do the work they are doing without the support that they receive from the people of God, and by giving to the work of the Gospel we become a part of that work.  Paul describes the Church as a body that has many different parts and these parts each have different functions so that the body will work as a whole.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think in order to wrap this section of Scripture up in what I have learned it is in obedience, I am to be obedient in a practical way in which I minister to others, things like providing a place to stay for traveling ministers and their families, and providing gifts to ministers who are laboring in other parts of the world.  I need to be obedient in using the gifts that God has entrusted me with for the cause of Christ.

 

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

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Continue to trust the Lord and see if He opens this door of opportunity to go to South America to minister and to work in order to get myself out of the financial trial that I am in.

 

Memory verses for the week:  1Cor.  13:1-2

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 

Gaius (3 John 3-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-25-04

 

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  Gaius

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference:  3 John 3-4

 

            Message of the verse:  “3. It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth.  4. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”  (NIV)

            “3. For I was very glad when brethren came and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth.  4. I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”  (NASB)

            John had recently gotten some reports from some of his brothers in Christ that Gaius was walking in the Truth, and this pleased him very much.  In fact the next verse reveals how much it pleased John because he said that when he knew that his spiritual children were walking in the truth it gave him not greater joy. 

            In order for Gaius to be walking in the truth he had to know the truth.  The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Truth, the Word of God is the Truth, and also the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.  The Spirit of Truth takes the Word of Truth and shows people about the Truth of Jesus Christ.  Gaius was certainly meditating upon the Truth, and that cause him to walk in the truth.  When a person eats food it goes into his stomach and then through the rest of his digestive track in order to be digested, and this is a good picture of meditation.  A person reads the Word of Truth, and then begins to think on it and the Holy Spirit then begins to give wonderful insights on the Word, and then the person realizes how to apply this truth to his life, and thus he is walking in the truth.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must confess that meditation is something that I have not done too much of, and there surely is a need for that to be done in my life. 

 

The Word of God has brought conviction to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith For Today:  To think on the Word of Truth, to meditate upon God’s Word and allow the Spirit of Truth to teach me the deeper meanings of His Word.  To continue to trust the Lord in our financial trial, and to trust the Lord to give me wisdom as to whether or not to go and work with Tim on this job if he gets it. 

 

Memory verse for the week:  1Cor. 13:1,2

 

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.