A Good Servant of Christ Jesus!

1Ti 4:6-16.     If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;

for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

 Command and teach these things.

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.

 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.

Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

 

1Ti 4:6

Mind for remembrance, A.V.; Christ Jesus for Jesus Christ, A.V. and T.R.; nourished for nourished up, A.V.; the faith for faith, A.V.; the good for good, A.V.; which thou hast followed until now for whereunto thou hast attained, A.V. If thou put the brethren in mind of these things (παῦτα ὑποτιθέμενος τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς); if thou suggest these things to the brethren, lay them down as principles upon which their conduct is to be based; or, enjoin them (Liddell and Scott). It only occurs in this metaphorical sense here in the New Testament, but is very common in classical Greek, and not infrequent in the LXX. It has often the meaning of "to advise" or" counsel." Of course, "hypothesis," the assumed basis from which you start, is the same root. The brethren (τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς). The distinctive name for the members of Christ’s Church, throughout the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles. The whole body is called ἡ ἀδελφότης "the brotherhood" (1Pe 2:17; 1Pe 5:9). A good minister (διάκονος). The application of this term to Timothy, like that of ἐπίσκοπος to presbyters (1Ti 3:2), is an indication of the early date of the Epistle, before the distinctive names of the Church officers had quite hardened down into a technical meaning. Nourished (ἀντρεφόμενος); here only in the New Testament, and not used in the LXX.; but in classical Greek not uncommon in the sense of "brought up in," "trained in from childhood." In Latin, innutritus. The phrase, "nourished in the words of the faith," etc., explains the καλὸς διάκονος, and shows what a man must be to deserve the appellation—one, viz., who is nourished in the words of the faith, etc. The faith; here again objective, as in verse 6 (see note). The good doctrine, etc. In opposition to the "doctrines of devils" in verse 1. The different epithets of this true Christian doctrine are ἡ καλή (as here); ὑγιαίνουσα (1Ti 1:10; Tit 1:9; Tit 2:1); ἡ κατ ̓ εὐσεβείαν διδασκαλία (1Ti 6:3); and in 1Ti 6:1-21. I we have simply ηδιδασκαλία, without any epithet. In like manner, ἡ πίστις ἡ, ἀληθεία ἡ εὐσεβεία, severally denote the Christian religion. Which thou hast followed until now (ᾖ παρηκολουθήκας). This is a rather more faithful rendering than that of the A.V.; it is, literally, which thou hast kept close to, either for the purpose of imitating it, or, as 2Ti 3:10, for the purpose of observing it. Or, to put it differently, in one case so as to teach it identically, and in the other so as to know it perfectly. In this last aspect it is also used in Luk 1:3. The classical use is "to follow closely any one’s steps," or "the course of events," when used literally; or, metaphorically, "to follow with one’s thoughts," "to understand."

1Ti 4:7

Unto godliness for rather unto godliness, A.V. The R.V., by putting a full stop after "fables," disturbs the natural flow of the thought. The two imperatives παραιτοῦ and γύμναζε connect and contrast the thoughts in the two clauses of the verse, as the A.V. indicates by the insertion of "rather." Profane (βεβήλους; 1Ti 1:9, note) Old wives’ (γράωδεις); only here in the New Testament; not used in LXX.; rare in classical Greek. Exercise thyself unto godliness (γύμναζε σευτόν). The verb γυμνάζειν occurs in the New Testament only in this place, twice in the Epistle to the Hebrews (1Ti 4:14; 12:11), and once in 2Pe (it. 14). In the LXX. it occurs only once, but is common in classical Greek. The metaphor is drawn from training for gymnastic exercises. As regards the whole passage, it seems that there were current among the Jews at this time many "fables" (1Ti 1:4; 2Ti 4:4; Tit 1:14; 2Pe 1:16), childish legends and doctrines, some of them directed especially to enforcing certain rules about eating and drinking, and other "bodily exercises," which St. Paul utterly discountenances, and contrasts with that "good doctrine" which he directs Timothy continually to teach. This would account, naturally, for the introduction of the phrase, γύμναζε σεαυτόν.

1Ti 4:8

Is profitable for a little for profiteth little, A.V.; for, for unto, A.V.; which for that, A.V. Bodily exercise. Exercise which only affects the body, such as those rules which the Jewish ascetics enforced. Γυμνασία only occurs here in the New Testament, and not at all in the LXX., but is not uncommon in classical Greek. Another form is γύμνασις, and γυμνάσιον is the place where such γύμνασις takes place. For a little; margin, for little, which is the best rendering, Πρὸς ὀλίγον, as Ellicott well remarks, may mean either "for a little while" or "for a little" (better, "for little"), but cannot mean both. The contrast with πρὸς πάντα determines its meaning here to be "for little," which is exactly the same meaning as the A.V. Promise of the life. The genitive here is the genitive of the thing promised, as in Act 2:33; Gal 3:14; 2Ti 1:1. And the thing promised is "the life that now is," meaning, of course, its enjoyment in peace and happiness (comp. Psa 34:12 [33., LXX]., where θέλων ζωήν is parallel to ἀγαπῶν ἡμέρας .. ἀγαθάς); and "that which is to come," viz. eternal life). There is no occasion to strain after greater grammatical precision. There is no contradiction between tiffs statement of the happiness of a godly life and St. Paul’s statement in 1Co 15:19. Another possible way of construing the words is that of Bishop Ellicott and the ’Speaker’s Commentary:’ "Having the promise of life, both the present and the future." But in this case we should have had τῆς τε νῦν καὶ κ.τ.λ.

1Ti 4:9

Faithful is the saying for this is a faithful saying, A.V. (1Ti 1:15, note). Here, however, the πιστὸς λόγος is that which precedes, viz. that "godliness is profitable for all things," etc., which we thus learn was a proverbial saying.

1Ti 4:10

To this end for therefore, A.V.; labor and strive for both labor and suffer reproach, A.V. and T.R.; have our hope set on for trust in, A.V.; them for those, A.V. For to this end; or, with this in view. He thus justifies his assertion that the saying he had quoted is a faithful one, by showing that the promise and all that it contained was the ground of all his labors and those of his fellow-laborers in the gospel. Strive (ἀγωνιζόμεθα); so many good manuscripts, instead of T.R. ὀνειδιζόμεθα; but the reading is doubtful. The sense of the T.R., "suffer reproach," seems preferable, and the expression more forcible, as conveying something more than mere labor—the bitter reproaches and persecutions which he endured (2Ti 3:11; 1Co 4:9-13; 2Co 11:23-27); and all because of his firm trust in the promises of the living God. Our hope set on. Rather a clumsy phrase, though it expresses accurately the ἠλπίκαμεν ἐπὶ Θεῷ ζῶντι; but it was hardly worth altering the A.V., "we trust in the living God." In 1Ti 5:5 we have ἤλπικεν ἐπὶ Θεόν, with no appreciable difference of sense. Specially of them that believe; and therefore we who believe have special cause to hope in him, and to trust his promises.

1Ti 4:11

Command (παράγγελλε; see 1Ti 1:3, note; 1Ti 5:7; 1Ti 6:13, 1Ti 6:17). It is used very frequently in the Gospels of our Lord’s commands to the apostles and others, and by St. Paul of his own apostolic directions to the Churches (1Th 4:11; 2Th 3:4, 2Th 3:6, etc.).

1Ti 4:12

An ensample to them that believe for an example of the believers, A.V.; manner of fife for conversation, A.V.; love for charity, A.V.; R.T. omits in spirit, A.V. and T.R. Let no man despise thy youth. The construction of the sentence is manifestly that adopted in the A.V. and followed in the R.V. Timothy would certainly be under forty years at this time, and might be not above thirty-five. Either age would be decidedly early for so responsible an office—one in which he would have many elders (πρεσβύτεροι) under him (1Ti 5:1, 1Ti 5:17, 1Ti 5:19). An ensample (τύπος); properly the original "pattern" or "model" after which anything is made or fashioned; hence a "pattern" or "example." It is used in the same sense as here in Php 3:17; I These. Php 1:7; 2Th 3:9; Tit 2:7; 1Pe 5:3. Them that believe. The R.V. has apparently so translated τῶν πιστῶν in order to assimilate it with the πιστῶν in 1Pe 5:10. But οἱ πιστοί are simply "believers," or "Christians"—"the flock," as St. Peter has it, and had better be so rendered. Timothy is exhorted to make it impossible for any one to question his authority on the score of his youth by being a model of the Christian graces required in believers. In word. Specially in his teaching. The exhortation to Titus (Tit 2:1, Tit 2:7, etc.) is very similar, "Speak thou the things which befit the sound doctrine. In all things showing thyself an ensample of good works; in thy doctrine showing uncorrupt-ness, gravity, sound speech (λόγον ὑγιῆ)" etc. (comp. too 1Ti 5:17; 2Ti 1:13). Manner of life (ἀναστροφῇ; see 1Ti 3:15, note). Purity (ἁγνείᾳ); elsewhere in the New Testament only in 1Ti 5:2, where it has the same special sense (compare ἀγνός, 2Co 11:2; 1Ti 5:22; Tit 2:5; 1Pe 3:2).

1Ti 4:13

Heed for attendance, A.V.; teaching for doctrine, A.V. Till I come (1Ti 3:14; 1Ti 1:3). Reading (τῇ ἀναγνώσει). The public reading of the Scriptures (the Lessons, as we should say). This we know was the practice in the synagogue (Luk 4:16, etc.; Act 13:27; Act 15:21; 2Co 3:15). We see the beginning of reading the New Testament in the Christian assemblies in Eph 3:4; and Col 4:16; and generally in the fact of Epistles being addressed by the apostles to Churches. The ἀναγνώστης, the reader, lector, was a regular order in the third and fourth centuries. The Grace is being revived in our day. Exhortation (τῇ παρακλήσει); see Act 4:36, where Barnabas’s name is interpreted as meaning "Son of exhortation" (R.V.), and Act 13:15; comp. Rom 12:7 (where, as here, παράκλησις and διδασκαλία are coupled together); 1Th 2:3, etc. Teaching (διδασκαλία); almost always rendered "doctrine" in the A.V. But here, where the act of teaching (like the act of reading, the act of exhorting, in the two preceding clauses) is intended, "teaching" is perhaps the best word according to our modern usage. As regards the difference between διδασκαλία and παράκλησις, the former would express "doctrinal teaching," whether of dogma or of precept, the latter entreaties to believe the one and practice the other (see Act 11:23 and Act 14:22 for good examples of πράκλησις).

1Ti 4:14

The gift (χάρισμα). The verb χαρίζομαι means "to give anything freely," gratuitously, of mere good will, without any payment or return (Luk 7:42; Act 27:24; Rom 8:32; 1Co 2:12, etc.). Hence χάρισμα came to be especially applied to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are preeminently "free gifts" (see Act 8:20). It is so applied in Rom 1:11; Rom 12:6; 1Co 1:7; 1Co 12:4, 1Co 12:9, 1Co 12:28, 1Co 12:30, 1Co 12:31; 1Pe 4:10. Here, then, as in the similar passage, 2Ti 1:6, the "gift" spoken of is the special grace given by the Holy Ghost to those who are separated for "the office and work of a priest in the Church of God by the imposition of hands" (Ordering of Priests). This gift St. Paul bids him not neglect (μὴ ἀμέλει). The word contains the idea of contemptuous neglect—neglect as of an unimportant thing. In Mat 22:5 the persons invited to the feast made light of it, and went away to other things which they cared mere about. In Heb 2:3, τηλικαύτης ἀμελήσαντες σωτηρίας, and Heb 8:9, imply a contemptuous disregard. So here Timothy is reminded that in his ordination he received a great χάρισμα, and that he must value it duly, and use it diligently. It must not be let lie slumbering and smoldering, but must be stirred up into a flame. The lesson here and in 2Ti 1:6 seems to be that we must look back to our ordination, and to the spiritual grace given in it, as things not exhausted. The grace is there, but it must not be lightly thought of. Which was given thee by prophecy. This seems to be explained by Act 13:1-3, where Barnabas and Saul were separated for their work by the laying on of the hands apparently of the prophets and teachers, at the express command of the Holy Ghost, speaking doubtless by the mouth of one of the prophets. Timothy, it appears, was designated for his work by a like command of the Holy Ghost, speaking by one of the Church prophets, and received his commission by a like "laying on of hands" by the elders of the Church. If St. Paul refers, as he appears to do, to the same occasion in 2Ti 1:6, then it appears that he laid his hands on Timothy, together with the presbyters, as is done by the bishop in the ordination of priests. The presbytery (τοῦ πρεσβυτερίου). The word is borrowed from the Jewish nomenclature (see Luk 22:6; Act 22:5). In a slightly different sense for "the office of a presbyter," Sus. 5.50 (Cod. Alex.).

1Ti 4:15

Be diligent in for meditate upon, A.V.; progress for profiting, A.V.; be manifest unto for appear to, A.V. Be diligent, etc. (αῦτα μελέτα). Give all your attention and care and study to these things. It is just the contrary to μὴ ἀμέλει in 1Ti 4:14. The verb μελετάω, besides this passage, occurs in its classical sense of "premeditating" or "getting up a speech," in Mar 13:11 (where, however, the reading is doubtful), and again in Act 4:25, in the sense of "premeditating" certain actions. A kindred use in classical Greek is "to practice" or "exercise" an art, as rhetoric, dancing, shooting with a bow, and the like. It is very common in the LXX., in the sense of "meditating," practicing in the thoughts. Give thyself wholly to them (ἐν τούτοις ἴσθι); literally, be in these things; i.e. be wholly and always occupied with them. The similar phrases in Greek and Latin classics are Ἑν τούτοις ὁ Καῖσαρ ἧν (Plutarch); "Omnis in hoc sum" (Her., ’Ep.,’ Eph 1:1. 1); "Nescio quid meditans nugarum, et totus in illis" (Her., ’Sat.,’ 1. 9. 2); and in the LXX., Ἐν φόβῳ Κυρίου ἰσθι ὃλην τὴν ἡμέραν (Pro 23:1-35. 17). Thy progress (ἡ προκοπή). Progress, advance, or growth, is the idea of προκοπή. It is used twice in Phip Act 1:12, Act 1:25. A good example of its use in classical Greek is that in Polyb., Act 3:4, Αὔξησις καὶ προκοπὴ τὴς Ρωμαίων δυναστείας. The use of the verb προκόπτω for "to advance," "make progress," is still more common (Luk 2:52; Rom 13:12; Ga L 14; 2Ti 2:16; 2Ti 3:9, 2Ti 3:14). It is used equally of progress in good or evil. Unto all. The R.T. reads πᾶσιν for ἐν πᾶσιν in the T.R., which may be rendered either "to [or, ’among’] all persons" or "in all things."

1Ti 4:16

To for unto, A.V. (twice); thy teaching for the doctrine, A.V.; these things for them, A.V.; save both for both sate, A.V. Take heed (ἔπεχε); as in Act 3:5 (see too Luk 14:7). Thy teaching. The A.V., the doctrine, is the better rendering, though the difference of meaning is very slight. The use of ἡ διδασκαλίς in 1Ti 6:1 and 1Ti 6:3, and Tit 2:10 strongly supports the sense of "doctrine," i.e. the thing taught (see note on Tit 2:13). Continue in these things (ἐπίμενε αὐτοῖς); comp. Act 13:43; Rom 6:1; Rom 11:22, Rom 11:23; Col 1:23. It is impossible to give a satisfactory solution to the question—What does αὐτοῖς refer to? It seems to me necessarily to refer to what immediately precedes, viz. σεαυτῷ καὶ τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, and so to refer rather to the sense of the words than to the exact grammar. The things which he was to "take heed to" were his own conduct and example (included in σεαυτῷ) an d the doctrine which he preached; and in a steady continuance in these things—faithful living and faithful teaching—he would save both himself and his hearers. The application of the words to the ταῦτα of Col 1:15, or to all the things enumerated from Col 1:12 onwards, or, taken as a masculine, to the Ephesians, or the hearers, as variously proposed by eminent commentators, seems alike impossible.

The Fruit Of The Spirit In Us!

Galatians 5:22&23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,KJV

Galatians 5:23  

Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.KJV

Galatians 5:22KJV

But the fruit of the Spirit,.... 

Not of nature or man's free will, as corrupted by sin, for no good fruit springs from thence; 

but either of the internal principle of grace, called the Spirit, Galatians 5:17 or rather of the Holy Spirit, 

as the Ethiopic version reads it; the graces of which are called "fruit", and not "works", as the actions of the flesh are; 

because they are owing to divine influence efficacy, and bounty, as the fruits of the earth are, 

to which the allusion is; and not to a man's self, to the power and principles of nature; and because they arise from a seed, either the incorruptible seed of internal grace, which seminally contains all graces in it, or the blessed Spirit, who is the seed that remains in believers; and because they are in the exercise of them acceptable unto God through Christ, and are grateful and delightful to Christ Himself, being "His pleasant fruits"; which as they come from Him, as the author of them, they are exercised on him as the object of them, under the influence of the Spirit; and because they are profitable to them that are possessed of them, seeing the promise of this life and that which is to come is annexed to them; and the good works which are done in consequence of them are profitable to men: 

once more, as the works of the flesh are the unfruitful works of darkness, and make men so, and therefore cannot be called fruit properly; these, as they are fruits, and are rightly and properly so called, so they make men fruitful, and to abound in divine things, and are as follow:

Love.

 This the apostle begins with, it being the fulfilling of the law, the bond of perfectness, and without which a profession of religion is insignificant; it may be understood of love to God, of which every man's heart is destitute, being enmity against God, until regenerated by the Spirit of God; when He sheds abroad the love of God in the heart, and which is the ground and reason of any man's truly loving God: and also of love to Christ, which the natural man feels nothing of till the spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of Christ, opens his eyes to see the loveliness of his person, the suitableness of his grace, righteousness, and fulness, and the necessity of looking to Him for life and salvation; and likewise of love to the saints, which a carnal man is a stranger to, until he is renewed by the Holy Ghost, who in regenerating him teaches him to love the brethren; and which is the evidence of his having passed from death to life, through the mighty power of His grace. Moreover, love to the house and worship of God, to the truths and ordinances of the Gospel, all which men have naturally an aversion to, may be included in this first fruit of the Spirit: the next follows, which is

Joy.

even that which is in the Holy Ghost, and has Him for its author. 

The object of it is God, not as an absolute God, but as a covenant God and Father in Christ; as the God of salvation, as clothing with the robe of His Son's Righteousness, and as pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin, full atonement being made by the sacrifice of Christ; who also is the object of this joy in His person, fulness, righteousness, offices, relations, and when beheld, embraced, and enjoyed in a way of communion. 

This joy, likewise, which is the produce of the Spirit, lies in spiritual things, and arises from an apprehension or good hope of interest in them, as justification, pardon, peace, adoption, and eternal glory; and is peculiar to such who have the Spirit, for a stranger intermeddles not with this joy, nor can he form any judgment of it, and is even unspeakable by the believer himself. Moreover, joy in the good of others, of fellow creatures and fellow Christians, in their outward and inward prosperity, in their temporal, spiritual, and eternal good, which, as it is a grace of the Spirit, may well enough be thought to be at least part of the sense of the word here; since it follows upon, and is joined with love, and stands between that and

Peace.

which is another fruit of the Spirit: and designs peace with God in a man's own conscience, produced there by the Spirit of God, in consequence of peace being made by the blood of Christ; and that through the application of the blood of Christ for pardon, and of his righteousness for justification to the soul of a sensible sinner by the blessed Spirit, the effect of which is peace, quietness, and tranquillity of mind; also peace with men, with the saints, and with all others; for such who are under a work of the Spirit of God, and are influenced and led by him, seek after the things which make for peace and edification among the brethren, and are desirous if possible to live peaceably with all men: hence appears another grace in them,

Long Suffering.

which intends not so much a patient waiting for good things to come, for more grace, and for glory, through the Spirit; but a patient bearing and enduring of present evils with joyfulness, being strengthened by the Spirit with all might, according to his glorious power; being slow to anger, ready to forgive injuries, put up with affronts, and bear with, and forbear one another: and which is usually accompanied with gentleness, humanity, affability, courteousness, shown both in words, gestures, and actions; in imitation of the gentleness of Christ, and agreeably to that wisdom, that heavenly doctrine of the Gospel, which, among other things, is said to be gentle, and easy to be entreated. To which is added

goodness; and what else can come from the good Spirit of God, the author of the good work of grace upon the soul? and which disposes it to acts of goodness unto men, in a natural, civil, moral, spiritual, and evangelic way, for the benefit both of soul and body; and which must here be understood, and which is well pleasing to God when done in the exercise of the following grace,

Faith; for though fidelity, both in words and actions, which is very ornamental to the Gospel, and a profession of religion may be meant; yet faith in Christ is not to be excluded, as it is generally by interpreters; for this is not of a man's self, nor have all men it: it is a gift of God, the operation of his power, and the work of his Spirit, whence he is styled the spirit of faith; and which therefore must have a place among his fruits; and which lies and shows itself in believing in Christ for salvation, in embracing the doctrines of the Gospel, and making a profession of them, which is called the profession of faith; all which, when right, comes from the Spirit of God.

Galatians 5:23

Meekness,.... Humility and lowliness of mind, of which Christ is an eminent example and pattern; and which the Holy Spirit from him transcribes into the heart of a regenerate person; and lies in having mean thoughts of himself, in walking humbly with God, acknowledging every favour, being thankful for every blessing, and depending on his grace, and in behaving with modesty and humility among men. The last of the fruits of the Spirit mentioned is

Temperance, or "continence"; and designs both chastity and sobriety, and particularly moderation in eating and drinking. It may be observed, that these fruits of the Spirit are opposed to the works of the flesh. 

So love is opposed to hatred; joy to emulations and envying; peace to variance, strife, and seditions; longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and meekness, to wrath and murders; faith to idolatry, witchcraft, and heresies; and temperance to adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, drunkenness, and revellings.

Against such there is no law; meaning, against such fruits, graces, and good things; these being perfectly agreeable to the law of God, which is holy, just, and good, and spiritual; and are so far from being forbidden by it, that they are highly esteemed and approved of by it: or against persons that are possessed of such fruits; for these appear to be in the spirit, and to be led by the Spirit; and therefore are not under the law, and have nothing to fear from it, as a terrifying, accusing, cursing, and condemning law. 

The works of the flesh, and they that are of the flesh, are such that come under the notice and lash of the law; and not the fruits of the Spirit, and they that are after the Spirit, as such are who partake of His fruit.

SPIRIT, SOUL, BODY!

It is important to understand how Spirit, Soul and Body operate in relation to one another.  Your soul, often described as your personality, has three principal functions;

1.  Your mind or intellect, giving you the ability to reason and understand.

2.   Your emotions or feelings which are affected considerably by your thinking.

3.    Your Will;  your ability to make choices or decisions.   In the soul life this ability is influenced greatly by both your thinking and feelings.

Before your new birth you were spiritually dead.  It was as if your human spirit was in a coma waiting to be brought to life by God’s Spirit.   This happened when you were born again.

God’s is Spirit and therefore He makes direct contact with us through our human spirits.   It was not possible for you to have a spiritual relationship with Him until your new birth.                 At that moment His Spirit came to live in your spirit.

Jesus made it clear that a person must be born again of the Spirit if he/she is to see God’s Kingdom.   He knew that it was possible to serve God, love Him even, with the Soul;  but this did not make a person spiritually alive.

Among many Christians here is considerable confusion between the Soul and the spirit;  some even erroneously equate the two.   Paul says:

     May your spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.    The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it.  (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

Clearly Paul sees a distinction between the Soul and spirit and asserts firmly that God Himself will ensure both are kept blameless!   In Hebrews we read:

In dividing for us the Soul and spirit, the Word shows us what is of self. (the Soul) and what is truly of God, working through the Spirit.

Growing in the Grace of God!

Growing in the Grace of God

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2Pe 3:18)

Let's reflect upon some of the heavenly territory we have explored thus far. Grace is for spiritual growth and progress in the Lord. It is not intended only for birthing and starting out with the Lord. "But grow in the grace . . . of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Growth in Christ is to be produced by God's grace at work in us. 

Often, God's people are apprehensive about an emphasis upon His grace. We become concerned that irresponsibility, ungodliness, laziness, or indulgence will result. We can rest assured on the promises and purposes of God that true grace does not produce such consequences. Such effects are produced by the flesh of man, either by licentiousness or by legalism. 

Licentiousness hopes to turn grace into a means by which sinful indulgence is acceptable. "For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness" (Jud 1:4). Legalism aspires to add religious performance to grace, thereby appealing to the self-righteous hopes of man. "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" (Gal 3:2-3). 

When a person truly lives by the grace of God, righteousness results, not ungodliness. 

When a person increasingly learns to draw upon the grace of God for daily living, Christlikeness develops, not worldliness. When grace becomes more and more the resource for life, sin diminishes; it does not increase. "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under law but under grace" (Rom 6:14). 

The temptation is to rely upon the law of God in order to generate godliness. The demand of the law to be holy, loving, and perfect becomes a false security to our flesh. 

We think that by hearing, repeating, or depending upon this demand, we can thereby accomplish it. Let us not forget that "the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope" (Heb 7:18-19). God's grace is the "better hope" that does not fail to bring forth what God desires. 

The Lord has ordained for us a life-long involvement with His grace. He wants to work "grace for [upon] grace" (John1:16) for the rest of our days. This is the "new and living way" (Heb 10:20). Perhaps this could all be summarized in another acrostic on grace: Glorious Realities As Christ Empowers. 

Gracious Father, how bountiful is Your provision for my spiritual growth. How foolish of me to think that I need more for developing in godliness than Your grace supplies. O Lord, I long to grow in the image of Christ. I beseech You, remind me and convince me that Your grace is the only sufficient hope. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS FOR ALL!

https://youtu.be/k5w7MgTgVVs

Righteousness through Christ in Justification

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace (Rom 3:21-24)

The basic manner in which Jesus fulfills the law of God for us is by justifying us "freely by His grace." He does this by offering us "the righteousness of God which is through faith." 

In the gospel of Jesus Christ, "the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed." It is the same righteousness that is spoken of in the law, that is, "being witnessed by the Law." However, in the law righteousness is an impossible standard being imposed. In the gospel, it is a gracious gift being offered. 

This gift of righteousness is available to all who believe, to all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Savior and Lord. This gift is, of course, free to the recipients. Yet, it was made available at great cost to the giver. This gift cost the Father His only begotten Son. This gift cost the Son His own life, as He paid the price of redemption to buy us back from the slave market of sin and death. 

Every person ever created needs this redemption price paid for them. "For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Now, for all who believe in the Lord Jesus, the righteousness of God is imputed to them, that is, credited as a gift to their heavenly account. Thereby, the Lord God justifies us "freely by His grace." The Lord declares us righteous is in sight by giving to us "the righteousness of God which is through faith." 

Dear Lord, I am so grateful that Your message of righteousness did not come through the law alone. Otherwise, Lord, I would have stood condemned before You forever. Thank You for speaking to us of righteousness through Your glorious gospel of grace. I exult in You that I am now righteous in Your sight, through faith in Your beloved Son. Lord, I am learning that the righteousness I need for daily sanctification must also come from Jesus, by that same grace, through that same kind of trust. What good, good news is Your grand gospel! I magnify and praise You through Christ, my Lord, Amen.

MY HELP AND MY DELIVERER!

https://youtu.be/ECa7WBb8zQs

My Help and My Deliverer

Psa 40:1-17.   To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. I WAITED patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings.

And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord. [Psa 5:11]

Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who makes the Lord his refuge and trust, and turns not to the proud or to followers of false gods.

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done, and Your thoughts toward us; no one can compare with You! If I should declare and speak of them, they are too many to be numbered.

Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, nor have You delight in them; You have given me the capacity to hear and obey [Your law, a more valuable service than] burnt offerings and sin offerings [which] You do not require.

Then said I, Behold, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me;

I delight to do Your will, O my God; yes, Your law is within my heart. [Heb 10:5-9]

 I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great assembly [tidings of uprightness and right standing with God]. Behold, I have not restrained my lips, as You know, O Lord.

 I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart; I have proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation. I have not hid away Your steadfast love and Your truth from the great assembly. [Act 20:20, Act 20:27]

Withhold not Your tender mercy from me, O Lord; let Your loving-kindness and Your truth continually preserve me!

 For innumerable evils have compassed me about; my iniquities have taken such hold on me that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed me and forsaken me.

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me!

Let them be put to shame and confounded together who seek and require my life to destroy it; let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil and delight in my hurt!

Let them be desolate by reason of their shame who say to me, Aha, aha!

Let all those that seek and require You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified!

 [As for me] I am poor and needy, yet the Lord takes thought and plans for me. You are my Help and my Deliverer. O my God, do not tarry! [Psa 70:1-5; 1Pe 5:7]

Contents: God’s salvation extolled and prayer for deliverance.

Characters: God, David.

Conclusion: Those who seek God in all their perplexities shall rejoice and be glad in Him, for He will not only be found of them, but will be their bountiful rewarder, wherefore, they should say continually, “the Lord be magnified.”

Key Word: Praise and prayer, Psa 40:3, Psa 40:13.

Strong Verses: Psa 40:2, Psa 40:16.

Striking Facts: Psa 40:6-8. The offerings had their worth only as types of the sacrifice of Christ, but when He came, as it was foretold in the volume of the Book, they ceased to be of worth. He alone completely did the will of God. Our expiation from sin is due not to us, but our Substitute’s obedience to the will of Jehovah.

THE closing verses of this psalm reappear with slight changes as an independent whole in Psa 70:1-5. The question arises whether that is a fragment or this a conglomerate. Modern opinion inclines to the latter alternative, and points in support to the obvious change of tone in the second part. But that change does not coincide with the supposed line of junction, since Psa 70:1-5 begins with our Psa 40:13, and the change begins with Psa 40:12. Cheyne and others are therefore obliged to suppose that Psa 40:12 is the work of a third poet or compiler, who effected a junction thereby. The cumbrousness of the hypothesis of fusion is plain, and its necessity is not apparent, for it is resorted to in order to explain how a psalm which keeps so lofty a level of confidence at first should drop to such keen consciousness of innumerable evils and such faint-heartedness. But surely, such resurrection of apparently dead fears is not uncommon in devout, sensitive souls. They live beneath April skies, not unbroken blue. However many the wonderful works which God has done and however full of thankfulness the singer’s heart, his deliverance is not complete. The contrast in the two parts of the psalm is true to facts and to the varying aspects of feeling and of faith. Though the latter half gives greater prominence to encompassing evils, they appear but for a moment; and the prayer for deliverance which they force from the psalmist is as triumphant in faith as were the thanksgivings of the former part. In both the ground tone is that of victorious grasp of God’s help, which in the one is regarded in its mighty past acts, and in the other is implored and trusted in for present and future needs. The change of tone is not such as to demand the hypothesis of fusion: The unity is further supported by verbal links between the parts: e.g., the innumerable evils of Psa 40:12 pathetically correspond to the innumerable mercies of Psa 40:5, and the same word for "surpass" occurs in both verses; "be pleased" in Psa 40:13 echoes "Thy pleasure" (will, A.V.) in Psa 40:8; "cares" or thinks (A.V.) in Psa 40:17 is the verb from which the noun rendered purposes (thoughts, A.V.) in Psa 40:5 is derived.

The attribution of the psalm to David rests solely on the superscription. The contents have no discernible points of connection with known circumstances in his or any other life. Jeremiah has been thought of as the author, on the strength of giving a prosaic literal meaning to the obviously poetical phrase "the pit of destruction" (Psa 40:2). If it is to be taken literally, what is to be made of the "rock" in the next clause? Baethgen and others see the return from Babylon in the glowing metaphors of Psa 40:2, and, in accordance with their conceptions of the evolution of spiritual religion, take the subordination of sacrifice to obedience as a clear token of late date. We may, however, recall 1Sa 15:22, and venture to doubt whether the alleged process of spiritualising has been so clearly established, and its stages dated, as to afford a criterion of the age of a psalm.

In the first part, the current of thought starts from thankfulness for individual deliverances (Psa 40:1-3); widens into contemplation of the blessedness of trust and the riches of Divine mercies (Psa 40:4-5); moved by these and taught what is acceptable to God, it rises to self-consecration as a living sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8); and, finally, pleads for experience of God’s grace in all its forms on the ground of past faithful stewardship in celebrating these (Psa 40:9-11). The second part is one long-drawn cry for help, which admits of no such analysis, though its notes are various.

The first outpouring of the song is one long sentence, of which the clauses follow one another like sunlit ripples, and tell the whole process of the psalmist’s deliverance. It began with patient waiting; it ended with a new song. The voice first raised in a cry, shrill and yet submissive enough to be heard above, is at last tuned into new forms of uttering the old praise. The two clauses of Psa 40:1 ("I" and "He") set over against each other, as separated by the distance between heaven and earth, the psalmist and his God. He does not begin with his troubles, but with his faith. "Waiting, he waited" for Jehovah; and wherever there is that attitude of tense and continuous but submissive expectance, God’s attitude will be that of bending to meet it. The meek, upturned eye has power to draw His towards itself. That is an axiom of the devout life confirmed by all experience, even if the tokens of deliverance delay their coming. Such expectance, however patient, is not inconsistent with loud crying, but rather finds voice in it. Silent patience and impatient prayer, in too great a hurry to let God take His own time, are equally imperfect. But the cry, "Haste to my help" (Psa 40:13), and the final petition, "My God, delay not," are consistent with true waiting.

The suppliant and God have come closer together in Psa 40:2, which should not be regarded as beginning a new sentence. As in Psa 18:1-50, prayer brings God down to help. His hand reaches to the man prisoned in a pit or struggling in a swamp; he is dragged out, set on a rock, and feels firm ground beneath his feet. Obviously the whole representation is purely figurative, and it is hopelessly flat and prosaic to refer it to Jeremiah’s experience. The "many waters" of Psa 18:1-50 are a parallel metaphor. The dangers that threatened the psalmist are described as "a pit of destruction," as if they were a dungeon into which whosoever was thrown would come out no more, or in which, like a wild beast, he has been trapped. They are also likened to a bog or quagmire, in which struggles only sink a man deeper. But the edge of the bog touches rock, and there is firm footing and unhindered walking (here, if only some great lifting power can drag the sinking man out. God’s hand can, and does, because the lips, almost choked with mire, could yet cry. The psalmist’s extremity of danger was probably much more desperate than is usual in such conditions as ours, so that his cries seem too piercing for us to make our own; but the terrors and conflicts of humanity are nearly constant quantities, though the occasions calling them forth are widely different. If we look deeper into life than its surface, we shall learn that it is not violent "spiritualising" to make these utterances the expression of redeeming grace, since in truth there is but one or other of these two possibilities open for us. Either we flounder in a bottomless bog, or we have our feet on the Rock.

God’s deliverance gives occasion for fresh praise. The psalmist has to add his voice to the great chorus, and this sense of being but one of a multitude, who have been blessed alike and therefore should bless alike, occasions the significant interchange in Psa 40:3 of "my" and "our," which needs no theory of the speaker being the nation to explain it. It is ever a joy to the heart swelling with the sense of God’s mercies to be aware of the many who share the mercies and gratitude. The cry for deliverance is a solo: the song of praise is choral. The psalmist did not need to be hidden to praise; a new song welled from his lips as by inspiration. Silence was more impossible to his glad heart than even to his sorrow. To shriek for help from the bottom of the pit and to be dumb when lifted to the surface is a churl’s part.

Though the song was new in this singer’s mouth, as befitted a recipient of deliverances fresh from heaven, the theme was old; but each new voice individualises the commonplaces of religious experience, and repeats them as fresh. And the result of one man’s convinced and jubilant voice, giving novelty to old truths because he has verified them in new experiences, will be that "many shall see," as though they behold the deliverance of which they hear, "and shall fear" Jehovah and trust themselves to Him. It was not the psalmist’s deliverance, but his song, that was to be the agent in this extension of the fear of Jehovah. All great poets have felt that their words would win audience and live. Thus, even apart from consciousness of inspiration, this lofty anticipation of the effect of his words is intelligible, without supposing that their meaning is that the signal deliverance of the nation from captivity would spread among heathens and draw them to Israel’s faith.

The transition from purely personal experience to more general thoughts is completed in Psa 40:4-5. Just as the psalmist began with telling of his own patient expectance and thence passed on to speak of God’s help, so in these two verses he sets forth the same sequence in terms studiously cast into the most comprehensive form. Happy indeed are they who can translate their own experience into these two truths for all men: that trust is blessedness and that God’s mercies are one long sequence, made up of numberless constituent parts. To have these for one’s inmost convictions and to ring them out so clearly and melodiously that many shall be drawn to listen, and then to verify them by their own "seeing," is one reward of patient waiting for Jehovah. That trust must be maintained by resolute resistance to temptations to its opposite. Hence the negative aspect of trust is made prominent in Psa 40:4 b, in which the verb should be rendered "turns not" instead of "respecteth not," as in the A.V. and R.V. The same motion, looked at from opposite sides, may be described in turning to and turning from. Forsaking other confidences is part of the process of making God one’s trust. But it is significant that the antithesis is not completely carried out, for those to whom the trustful heart does not turn are not here, as might have been expected, rival objects of trust, but those who put their own trust in false refuges. "The proud" are the class of arrogantly self-reliant people who feel no need of anything but their own strength to lean on. "Deserters to a lie" are those who tail away from Jehovah to put their trust in any creature, since all refuges but Himself will fail. Idols may be included in this thought of a lie, but it is unduly limited if confined to them. Much rather it takes in all false grounds of security. The antithesis fails in accuracy, for the sake of putting emphasis on the prevalence of such mistaken trust, which makes it so much the harder to keep aloof from the multitudes and stand alone in reliance on Jehovah.

Psa 40:5 corresponds with Psa 40:4, in that it sets forth in similar generality the great deeds with which God is wont to answer man’s trust. But the personality of the poet breaks very beautifully through the impersonal utterances at two points: once when he names Jehovah as "my God," thus claiming his separate share in the general mercies and his special bond of connection with the Lover of all; and once when he speaks of his own praises, thus recognising the obligation of individual gratitude for general blessings. Each particle of finely comminuted moisture in the rainbow has to flash back the broad sunbeam at its own angle. God’s "wonders and designs" are "realised Divine thoughts and Divine thoughts which are gradually being realised" (Delitzsch). These are wrought and being wrought in multitudes innumerable, and as the psalmist sees the bright, unbroken beams pouring forth from their inexhaustible source, he breaks into an exclamation of adoring wonder at the incomparable greatness of the ever-giving God. "There is none to set beside Thee" is far loftier and more accordant with the tone of the verse than the comparatively flat and incongruous remark that God’s mercies cannot be told to him (A.V. and R.V). A precisely similar exclamation occurs in Psa 71:19, in which God’s incomparable greatness is deduced from the great things which He has done. Happy the singer who has an inexhaustible theme! He is not silenced by the consciousness of the inadequacy of his songs, but rather inspired to the never-ending, ever-beginning, joyful task of uttering some new fragment of that transcendent perfection. Innumerable wonders wrought should be met-by ever-new songs. If they cannot be counted, the more reason for open-eyed observance of them as they come, and for a stream of praise as unbroken as is their bright continuance. If God’s mercies thus baffle enumeration and beggar praise, the question naturally rises, "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits?" Therefore the next turn of thought shows the psalmist as reaching the lofty spiritual conception that heartfelt delight in God’s will is the true response to God’s wonders of love. He soars far above external rites as well as servile obedience to unloved authority, and proclaims the eternal and ultimate truth that what God delights in is man’s delight in His will. The great words which rang the knell of Saul’s kingship may well have sounded in his successor’s spirit. Whether they are the source of the language of our psalm or not, they are remarkably similar. "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams," (1Sa 15:23) teaches precisely the same lesson as Psa 40:6-8 of this psalm. The strong negation in Psa 40:6 does not deny the Divine institution of the sacrificial law, but affirms that something much deeper than external sacrifices is the real object of God’s desire. The negation is made emphatic by enumerating the chief kinds of sacrifice. Whether they are bloody or bloodless, whether meant to express consecration or to effect reconciliation, they are none of them the true sacrifices of God. In Psa 40:6 the psalmist is entirely occupied with God’s declarations of His requirements; and he presents these in a remarkable fashion, intercalating the clause, "Ears hast Thou pierced for me," between the two parallel clauses in regard to sacrifice. Why should the connection be thus broken? The fact that God has endowed the psalmist with capacity to apprehend the Divine speech reveals God’s desire concerning him. Just because he has ears to hear, it is clear that God wishes him to hear, and therefore that outward acts of worship cannot be the acknowledgment of mercies in which God delights. The central clause of the verse is embedded in the others, because it deals with a Divine act which, pondered, will be seen to establish their teaching. The whole puts in simple, concrete form a wide principle namely that the possession of capacity for receiving communications of God’s will imposes the duty of loving reception and obedience, and points to inward joyful acceptance of that will as the purest kind of worship.

Psa 40:7 and Psa 40:8 are occupied with the response to God’s requirements thus manifested by His gift of capacity to hear His voice. "Then said I" As soon as he had learned the meaning of his ears he found the right use of his tongue. The thankful heart was moved to swift acceptance of the known will of God. The clearest recognition of His requirements may coexist with resistance to them, and needs the impulse of loving contemplation of God’s unnumbered wonders to vivify it into glad service. "Behold, I am come," is the language of a servant entering his master’s presence in obedience to his call. In Psa 40:7 the second clause interrupts just as in Psa 40:6. There the interruption spoke of the organ of receiving Divine messages as to duty; here it speaks of the messages themselves: "In the roll of the book is my duty prescribed for me." The promise implied in giving ears is fulfilled by giving a permanent written law. This man, having ears to hear, has heard, and has not only heard, but welcomed into the inmost recesses of his heart and will, the declared will of God. The word rendered "delight" in Psa 40:8 is the same as is rendered "desire" in Psa 40:6 (A.V); and that rendered by the A.V. and R.V. in Psa 40:8 "will" is properly "good pleasure." Thus God’s delight and man’s coincide. Thankful love assimilates the creature’s will with the Divine, and so changes tastes and impulses that desire and duty are fused into one. The prescriptions of the book become the delight of the heart. An inward voice directs "Love, and do what Thou wilt"; for a will determined by love cannot but choose to please its Beloved. Liberty consists in freely willing and victoriously doing what we ought, and such liberty belongs to hearts whose supreme delight is to please the God whose numberless wonders have won their love and made their thanksgivings poor. The law written in the heart was the ideal even when a law was written on tables of stone. It was the prophetic promise for the Messianic age. It is fulfilled in the Christian life in the measure of its genuineness. Unless the heart delights in the law, acts of obedience count for very little.

The quotation of Psa 40:7-8, in Heb 10:5-7, is mainly, from the LXX, which has the remarkable rendering of Psa 40:6 b, "A body hast Thou prepared for me." Probably this is meant as paraphrase rather than as translation; and it does represent substantially the idea of the original, since the body is the instrument for fulfilling, just as the ear is the organ for apprehending, the uttered will of God. The value of the psalm for the writer of Hebrews does not depend on that clause, but on the whole representation which it gives of the ideal of the perfectly righteous servant’s true worship, as involving the setting aside of sacrifice and the decisive pre-eminence of willing obedience. That ideal is fulfilled in Jesus, and really pointed onwards to Him. This use of the quotation does not imply the directly Messianic character of the psalm.

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and thus the passage is easy from inward delight in God’s will to public declaration of His character. Every true lover of God is a witness of His sweetness to the world. Since the psalmist had His law hidden in the depths of his being, be could not "hide" His righteousness within his heart, but must magnify it with his tongue. That is a feeble and doubtful love which knows no necessity of utterance. To "love and be silent" is sometimes imperative, but always burdensome; and a heart happy in its love cannot choose but ripple out in music of speech. The psalmist describes himself as a messenger of glad tidings, a true evangelist. The multiplicity of names for the various aspects of God’s character and acts which he heaps together in these verses serves to indicate their manifoldness which he delighted to contemplate, and his long, loving familiarity with them. He sets his treasure in all lights, and views it from all points, as a man will turn a jewel in his hand and get a fresh flash from every facet. "Righteousness," the good news that the Ruler of all is inflexibly just, with a justice which scrupulously meets all creatures’ needs and becomes penal and awful only to the rejectors of its tender aspect; "faithfulness," the inviolable adherence to every promise; "salvation," the actual fulness of deliverance and well-being flowing from these attributes; "lovingkindness" and "troth," often linked together as expressing at once the warmth and the unchangeableness of the Divine heart-these have been the psalmist’s themes. Therefore they are his hope; and he is sure that, as he has been their singer, they will be his preservers. Psa 40:11 is not prayer, but bold confidence. It echoes the preceding verse, since "I did not restrain" (Psa 40:9) corresponds with "Thou wilt not restrain," and "Thy lovingkindness and Thy troth" with the mention of the same attributes in Psa 40:10. The psalmist is not so much asserting his claims as giving voice to his faith. He does not so much think that his utterance is deserving of remuneration as that God’s character makes impossible the supposition that he, who had so loved and sung His great name in its manifold glories, should find that name unavailing in his hour of need.

There is an undertone of such felt need even in the confidence of Psa 40:11; and it becomes dominant from Psa 40:12-17, but not so as to overpower the clear note of trust. The difference between the two parts of the psalm is great, but is not to be exaggerated as if it were contrariety. In the former part thanksgiving for deliverance from dangers recently past predominates: in the latter, petition for deliverance from dangers still threatening: but in both the psalmist is exercising the same confidence; and if in the beginning he hymns the praises of God who brought him out of the pit of destruction, in the end he keeps firm hold of Him as His "Help and Deliverer." Similarly, while in the first portion he celebrates the "purposes which are to usward," in the latter he is certain that, needy as he is, Jehovah has "purposes" of kindness to him. The change of tone is not so complete as to negative the original unity, and surely it is not difficult to imagine a situation in which both halves of the psalm should be appropriate. Are there any deliverances in this perilous and incomplete life so entire and permanent that they leave no room for future perils? Must not prevision of coming dangers accompany thankfulness for past escapes? Our Pharaohs are seldom drowned in the Red Sea, and we do not often see their corpses stretched on the sand. The change of tone, of which so much use is made as against the original unity of the psalm, begins with Psa 40:12 : but that verse has a very strong and beautiful link of connection with the previous part, in the description of besetting evils as innumerable. Both words of Psa 40:5 are repeated, that for "surpass" or "are more than" in Psa 40:12 c, that for "number" in a. The heart that has felt how innumerable are God’s thoughts and deeds of love is not utterly reduced to despair, even while it beholds a sea of troubles rolling its white-crested billows shoreward as far as the horizon. The sky stretches beyond them, and the true numberlessness of God’s mercies outdoes the great yet really limited range of apparently numberless sins or sorrows, the consequences of sin. "Mine iniquities have overtaken me" like pursuing foes, and every calamity that held him in its grip was a child of a sin of his. Such consciousness of transgression is not inconsistent with "delight in the law of God after the inward man," as Paul found out, (Rom 7:22-23) but it sets aside the attempt to make this a directly Messianic psalm. "I am not able to see." Such is the only possible rendering, for there is no justification for translating the simple word by "look up." Either the crowd of surrounding calamities prevent the psalmist from seeing anything but themselves, or, more probably, the failure of vital power accompanying his sorrow dims his vision. (Psa 38:10)

From Psa 40:13 onward Psa 70:1-5 repeats this psalm, with unimportant verbal differences. The first of these is the omission of "Be pleased" in Psa 40:13, which binds this second part to the first, and points back to "Thy pleasure" (Psa 40:8). The prayer for the confusion of enemies closely resembles that in Psa 35:1-28, Psa 40:14 being almost identical with Psa 40:4 and Psa 35:26 there, and Psa 40:15 recalling Psa 35:21 of that psalm. The prayer that enemies may fail in their designs is consistent with the most Christlike spirit, and nothing more is asked by the psalmist, but the tinge of satisfaction with which he dwells on their discomfiture, however natural, belongs to the less lofty moral standard of his stage of revelation. He uses extraordinarily forcible words to paint their bewilderment and mortification-may they blush, turn pale, be driven back, be as if paralysed with shame at their baffled malice! The prayer for the gladness of God’s servants and seekers is like Psa 35:27. It asks that fruition as complete as the disappointment of the foesmay be the lot of those whose desires set towards God, and it is prophecy as well as prayer. Seekers after God ever find Him, and are more joyful in possession than they hoped to be while seeking. He alone never eludes search, nor ever disappoints attainment. They who long for His salvation will receive it; and their reception will fill their hearts so full of blessedness that their lips will not be able to refrain from ever-new outbursts of the old praise, "The Lord be magnified."

Very plaintively and touchingly does the low sigh of personal need follow this triumphant intercession for the company of the saints. Its triple elements blend in one believing aspiration, which is not impatience, though it pleads for swift help. "I am afflicted and needy"; there the psalmist turns his eye on his own sore necessity. "Jehovah has purposes for me"; there he turns to God, and links his final petitions with his earlier trust by the repetition of the word by which he described (Psa 40:5) the many gracious designs of God. "My God, delay not"; there he embraces both in one act of faithful longing. His need calls for, and God’s loving counsels ensure, swift response. He who delights when an afflicted and poor man calls Him "my God" will not be slack to vindicate His servant’s confidence, and magnify His own name. That appeal goes straight to the heart of God.

RESURRECTION OF CHRIST!

https://youtu.be/nQWFzMvCfLE

The Resurrection of Christ

1Co 15:1-11.    Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time—this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.)

The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it;

that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says;  that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest followers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died);

that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him;  and that He finally presented himself alive to me.

It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don't deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God's church right out of existence.

But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am. And I'm not about to let his grace go to waste. Haven't I worked hard trying to do more than any of the others? Even then, my work didn't amount to all that much. It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it.

So whether you heard it from me or from those others, it's all the same: We spoke God's truth and you entrusted your lives.

The Resurrection of the Dead

1Co 15:12 -34.      Now, let me ask you something profound yet troubling. If you became believers because you trusted the proclamation that Christ is alive, risen from the dead, how can you let people say that there is no such thing as a resurrection?

If there's no resurrection, there's no living Christ.

And face it—if there's no resurrection for Christ, everything we've told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you've staked your life on is smoke and mirrors.

Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there's no resurrection.

If corpses can't be raised, then Christ wasn't, because he was indeed dead.

And if Christ wasn't raised, then all you're doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever.

 It's even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they're already in their graves.

If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we're a pretty sorry lot.

But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries.

There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man.

Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ.

But we have to wait our turn: Christ is first, then those with Him at His Coming,

the grand consummation when, after crushing the opposition, He hands over His kingdom to God the Father.

He won't let up until the last enemy is down— and the very last enemy is death!

As the psalmist said, "He laid them low, one and all; He walked all over them." When Scripture says that "He walked all over them," it's obvious that He couldn't at the same time be walked on.

When everything and everyone is finally under God's rule, the Son will step down, taking His place with everyone else, showing that God's rule is absolutely comprehensive—a perfect ending!

Why do you think people offer themselves to be baptized for those already in the grave? If there's no chance of resurrection for a corpse, if God's power stops at the cemetery gates, why do we keep doing things that suggest he's going to clean the place out someday, pulling everyone up on their feet alive?

And why do you think I keep risking my neck in this dangerous work?

I look death in the face practically every day I live. Do you think I'd do this if I wasn't convinced of your resurrection and mine as guaranteed by the resurrected Messiah Jesus?

Do you think I was just trying to act heroic when I fought the wild beasts at Ephesus, hoping it wouldn't be the end of me? Not on your life! It's resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there's no resurrection, "We eat, we drink, the next day we die," and that's all there is to it.

But don't fool yourselves. Don't let yourselves be poisoned by this anti-resurrection loose talk. "Bad company ruins good manners."

Think straight. Awaken to the holiness of life. No more playing fast and loose with resurrection facts. Ignorance of God is a luxury you can't afford in times like these. Aren't you embarrassed that you've let this kind of thing go on as long as you have?

The Resurrection Body

1Co 15:35-49.   Some skeptic is sure to ask, "Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this 'resurrection body' look like?"

If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing.

We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a "dead" seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant.

You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don't look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different.

You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form.

You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies— sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we're only looking at pre-resurrection "seeds"—who can imagine what the resurrection "plants" will be like!

This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body—but only if you keep in mind that when we're raised, we're raised for good, alive forever!

The corpse that's planted is no beauty, but when it's raised, it's glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful.

The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural—same seed, same body, but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!

We follow this sequence in Scripture: The First Adam received life, the Last Adam is a life-giving Spirit.

 Physical life comes first, then spiritual—

a firm base shaped from the earth, a final completion coming out of heaven.

The First Man was made out of earth, and people since then are earthy; the Second Man was made out of heaven, and people now can be heavenly.

In the same way that we've worked from our earthy origins, let's embrace our heavenly ends.