In Acts 24 the Lord gives us a graphic contrast of speech in the orations of Tertullus and Paul before Felix, the former being recruited by the Jewish elders as a prosecutor.
One can't help but notice Tertullus' florid speech. He uses big words (seven are unique in scripture) to flatter Felix and misrepresent Paul, showing himself a liar on both accounts--albeit an eloquent one!
Paul uses plain speech to defend himself, in keeping with his statements in 1 Cor. 2:1 ("...I..came not with excellency of speech...") and 2 Cor. 3:12 ("...we use great plainness of speech"), and it truly is a "demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor. 2:4).
Nothing wrong with eloquence, as long as it's used for the glory of God. Apollos provides a fine example of that for us in Acts 18:24-28. He's eloquent, but also a sincere truthseeker who humbly receives correction from Aquila and Priscilla.
Moral: big words are not what win the day, but a big God working through men with big hearts!
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
What Exactly Is Worldliness?
A weighty quote to share on this, from J.G. Mantle's Beyond Humiliation:
"What, then, is the world, and what is it to be, worldly or unworldly? Worldliness is a spirit, a temper. It is not so much an act as an attitude. It is a pose, a posture. It is a certain disposition toward God. It is a certain inclination, a certain aspect of the soul. Worldliness is human activity with God left out. Worldliness is life without heavenly callings, life without ideals. life without heights. Worldliness recognizes nothing of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus: Worldliness has no hill country. Worldliness is horizontal life. Worldliness has nothing of the vertical in it. It has ambition; it has no aspirations. Its motto is success, not holiness. It is always saying, "Onward," never "Upward." A worldly man or woman is a man or woman who never says, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills." --Dr. J.H. Jowett
Are you worldly?
Whatever passes as a cloud between
The mental eye of faith and things unseen,
Causing that brighter world to disappear,
Or seem less lovely, or its hope less dear,
This is our world, our idol, though it bear
Affection's impress, or devotion's air.
"What, then, is the world, and what is it to be, worldly or unworldly? Worldliness is a spirit, a temper. It is not so much an act as an attitude. It is a pose, a posture. It is a certain disposition toward God. It is a certain inclination, a certain aspect of the soul. Worldliness is human activity with God left out. Worldliness is life without heavenly callings, life without ideals. life without heights. Worldliness recognizes nothing of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus: Worldliness has no hill country. Worldliness is horizontal life. Worldliness has nothing of the vertical in it. It has ambition; it has no aspirations. Its motto is success, not holiness. It is always saying, "Onward," never "Upward." A worldly man or woman is a man or woman who never says, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills." --Dr. J.H. Jowett
Are you worldly?
Whatever passes as a cloud between
The mental eye of faith and things unseen,
Causing that brighter world to disappear,
Or seem less lovely, or its hope less dear,
This is our world, our idol, though it bear
Affection's impress, or devotion's air.
Are You Getting the "Message"?
The Bible study lesson in church this morning touched on 1 John 1:5, and one word in that verse captured my attention: "message."
Through a quick referral to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, I found that this word is only used seven times in the Authorized Version, as summarized below:
1. Judg. 3:20: Ehud's "message from God" for King Eglon of Moab (a dagger!)
2. 1 Kings 20:12: Ahab's defiant message for Benhadad, as he laid siege to Samaria
3. Prov. 26:6: Sending a message by a hand of a fool is harmful
4. Hag. 1:13: the LORD's message unto the Judean remnant through Haggai
5. Luke 19:14: the rebellious citizens' message to the nobleman in the parable of the pounds
6. 1 John 1:5: a doctrinal aspect of the kingdom gospel preached by the Lord Jesus (Mt. 4:17, 9:35, 15:24; John 1:11; Rom. 15:8) concerning God's character
7. 1 John 3:11: a practical aspect of the kingdom gospel--loving the brethren
So in the AV, "message" is used in a prophetic, kingdom context every time it appears. It's not used by the apostle Paul in his epistles a single time. True, our gospel of grace is indeed a message, but it's interesting that Paul doesn't use the word.
I believe that the AV's use of a word fixes its connotation within the Bible and in life itself. So if you come across a "Bible" called The Message, you might proceed with caution, if you're trying to follow Paul. The Message is a free paraphrase of the scripture, not a word-for-word translation of the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek texts like the AV, so it's technically not a Bible at all. In my opinion, if one heeds The Message, it will lead him away from Paul, who commanded us to "Consider what I say;" (e.g. words he used or didn't use), and to "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:13).
The point of this post is this: take note of how the AV uses or doesn't use certain words, and let that guide you as to whether something is good or bad. For homework, look up the words philosophy (Col. 2:8) and policy (Dan. 8:25). Both of these words are used one time in the AV. Good or bad contexts? What has your real life experience been with these words? Paul's wasn't very good (Acts 17:18) :)...
Through a quick referral to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, I found that this word is only used seven times in the Authorized Version, as summarized below:
1. Judg. 3:20: Ehud's "message from God" for King Eglon of Moab (a dagger!)
2. 1 Kings 20:12: Ahab's defiant message for Benhadad, as he laid siege to Samaria
3. Prov. 26:6: Sending a message by a hand of a fool is harmful
4. Hag. 1:13: the LORD's message unto the Judean remnant through Haggai
5. Luke 19:14: the rebellious citizens' message to the nobleman in the parable of the pounds
6. 1 John 1:5: a doctrinal aspect of the kingdom gospel preached by the Lord Jesus (Mt. 4:17, 9:35, 15:24; John 1:11; Rom. 15:8) concerning God's character
7. 1 John 3:11: a practical aspect of the kingdom gospel--loving the brethren
So in the AV, "message" is used in a prophetic, kingdom context every time it appears. It's not used by the apostle Paul in his epistles a single time. True, our gospel of grace is indeed a message, but it's interesting that Paul doesn't use the word.
I believe that the AV's use of a word fixes its connotation within the Bible and in life itself. So if you come across a "Bible" called The Message, you might proceed with caution, if you're trying to follow Paul. The Message is a free paraphrase of the scripture, not a word-for-word translation of the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek texts like the AV, so it's technically not a Bible at all. In my opinion, if one heeds The Message, it will lead him away from Paul, who commanded us to "Consider what I say;" (e.g. words he used or didn't use), and to "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:13).
The point of this post is this: take note of how the AV uses or doesn't use certain words, and let that guide you as to whether something is good or bad. For homework, look up the words philosophy (Col. 2:8) and policy (Dan. 8:25). Both of these words are used one time in the AV. Good or bad contexts? What has your real life experience been with these words? Paul's wasn't very good (Acts 17:18) :)...
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