Proverbs 27:17
Friday, July 26, 2024
Bible Study: 8:00 AM PDT on 07/27/2024
07/27/2024 - Civil Disobedience – Con’d
1) Learn legal positivism contradicts natural law, we are bound by morality to disobey it;
2) Learn to think clearly about remedying injustice in our day;
3) Thoreau – we are to be men first and citizens second;
4) Thoreau – That government is best which governs least;
5) Self-love (pride) is a part of man’s sinfulness and thus some government is needed;
6) Too much government dehumanizes us, promotes injustices. Insist government be a tool of justice;
7) Serving the state bodily, but not mindfully is a recipe for mass complicity in evil;
8) A. Hudson, Duties of citizenship require us to act in the face of injustice, not wait-ing passively for others to act on our behalf; and
9) Mentally adopt a fundamental respect/affection for others to change minds.
[2 Timothy 4:6-8] – Waiting for the Crown – What is the relationship between God and the people regarding rewards? Do we anticipate a reward because we believe? Worship? Try to obey? Some Christians think that way. Some live w/o God or little time for God; but at the end create a flurry of piety, expecting God to be nice. They lack genuineness. God will always be gracious and merciful, ready to welcome us no matter how muddled. However, that is not what the NT had in mind. Paul’s [v. 8] agrees with [Matt. 6] where Jesus speaks of giving away money from the heart; who prayed and fasted out of genuine penitence and love of God. Paul warns about giving away for show and no inner reality. However, Paul still used ‘reward’. We have to be clear: there is no valid Christian spirit-uality that consists of pure disinterested love of God. What is love? What is a reward for loving? Genuine love is multi-faceted – we want to do things for and with those we love. Plus being loved in return. Most struggle with ‘justification by faith’. Our ‘good works’ do not justify us. [Rom.; Gal.] Paul is talking about our present standing with God. We will be judged not only on our faith, but on the total substance of our lives. [Rom. 2:1-16; 2 Cor. 5:6-10] We will learn to understand the logic of working for God as we learned the logic of love. Working for God, i.e., working in the power of the Holy Spirit: God retains the initiative and is the ultimate source of the energy, but Christians are called, required to work hard with that energy. When that happens there is a reward – not a gift. There is a glory and honor in God’s new world that corresponds to the work that has been done. There are four overlapping sources of hope, vis-a-vis our reward. 1) sacrifice, Jesus referred to his own imminent death [Phil. 2:17] 2) Paul refers to himself having fought the good fight, meaning a good or noble fight. Paul, has run the course and stayed on track and was awarded ‘the crown’. the gold medal.3) Picture a court in the legal system. Picture one righteous judge -Jesus. Paul trusts Him unqualifiedly and anticipates he will be vindicated. Paul faced other judges and may face the emperor himself. [v. 6] 4) Picture a crowd of citizens waiting for the emperor. Some are delighted, happy to see the emperor. Others resent the emperor’s rule and wish they were free of the obligations. The last three verses could not be any clearer than Paul himself. (Read) [2 Tim. 4:6-8]
[2 Tim. 4:9-22] - Come to Me Soon – This is interesting, [v. 13]. Paul asks for a cloak and a book he left in Troas. I assume T. is in Ephesus (perhaps as a bishop). The walking distance along the coast is 180 miles. In all probability Troas is within the physical jurisdiction of Ephesus. Paul, on his 3d Mission trip left a cloak and manuscript there and he wanted T. to bring it to him. Troas was the major port city in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, it is likely that T. would take a local ship from Ephesus to Troas and then board a long-distance ship heading west, to arrive in Rome. In a period from 100 BC to 150 AD folks made great strides in transitioning from rolled scrolls to bound books. Christians needing an easier system than scrolls propelled this major advance. The four gospels eventually found their way into a single codex (book).The art of bookbinding was born.
Winter was coming, Paul wanted his own cloak. However, many scholars think Paul is more interested in the manuscript. We do not know what the manuscript contained. Paul must have thought they were important; could they have been a part of what we now call the NT? If Paul had been a bit more forthcoming, but then we might have been confused by some thought, partially formed. This is certainly true of the final nine verses. [v. 14-22]
We find Paul in prison. He is sending some to preach; sending some with messages; and asking others to visit. We seek to know exactly where Paul was and how all the travelling joined together. We are very apt to be frustrated, but what are we able to glean? Central to these verses is Paul and his task to be the royal voice of King Jesus. He is on trial for his life, yet able to speak on the message about his master. Meanwhile, do we assume he is in Rome [1:17] (best choice) or Caesarea [Acts 23-26] and the preponderance of the local Christians were too frightened to appear at his trial. This is disappointing, but Paul does not hold this against them. Nor should God. Paul was aware the Lord was with him, giving him strength. In court, he spoke of Jesus as the Messiah, the true Lord of the world. He realized this was his last time he would be able to complete the work of Jesus as the royal herald. The audience contained senior and influential non-Jews.
Paul was not actually rescued from the lion’s mouth. As a Roman citizen he was not sent to the arena to be eaten by wild beasts. If Paul were executed it would be by the sword. [Dan. 7] It is clear some form of ‘wild animal’ was ready to devour anyone who would affirm ‘another king.’ Nor could the empire prevent the Lord from rescuing Paul and giving him glorious status as a member of the coming kingdom; which currently is a heavenly reality, but one day it will be earthly as well. Demis is with Paul in [Col. 4:14; Philemon 24] We pray for his knowledge of Paul and more so his knowledge of Jesus will lead him to return toHello All,
07/27/2024 - Civil Disobedience – Con’d
1) Learn legal positivism contradicts natural law, we are bound by morality to disobey it;
2) Learn to think clearly about remedying injustice in our day;
3) Thoreau – we are to be men first and citizens second;
4) Thoreau – That government is best which governs least;
5) Self-love (pride) is a part of man’s sinfulness and thus some government is needed;
6) Too much government dehumanizes us, promotes injustices. Insist government be a tool of justice;
7) Serving the state bodily, but not mindfully is a recipe for mass complicity in evil;
8) A. Hudson, Duties of citizenship require us to act in the face of injustice, not wait-ing passively for others to act on our behalf; and
9) Mentally adopt a fundamental respect/affection for others to change minds.
[2 Timothy 4:6-8] – Waiting for the Crown – What is the relationship between God and the people regarding rewards? Do we anticipate a reward because we believe? Worship? Try to obey? Some Christians think that way. Some live w/o God or little time for God; but at the end create a flurry of piety, expecting God to be nice. They lack genuineness. God will always be gracious and merciful, ready to welcome us no matter how muddled. However, that is not what the NT had in mind. Paul’s [v. 8] agrees with [Matt. 6] where Jesus speaks of giving away money from the heart; who prayed and fasted out of genuine penitence and love of God. Paul warns about giving away for show and no inner reality. However, Paul still used ‘reward’. We have to be clear: there is no valid Christian spirit-uality that consists of pure disinterested love of God. What is love? What is a reward for loving? Genuine love is multi-faceted – we want to do things for and with those we love. Plus being loved in return. Most struggle with ‘justification by faith’. Our ‘good works’ do not justify us. [Rom.; Gal.] Paul is talking about our present standing with God. We will be judged not only on our faith, but on the total substance of our lives. [Rom. 2:1-16; 2 Cor. 5:6-10] We will learn to understand the logic of working for God as we learned the logic of love. Working for God, i.e., working in the power of the Holy Spirit: God retains the initiative and is the ultimate source of the energy, but Christians are called, required to work hard with that energy. When that happens there is a reward – not a gift. There is a glory and honor in God’s new world that corresponds to the work that has been done. There are four overlapping sources of hope, vis-a-vis our reward. 1) sacrifice, Jesus referred to his own imminent death [Phil. 2:17] 2) Paul refers to himself having fought the good fight, meaning a good or noble fight. Paul, has run the course and stayed on track and was awarded ‘the crown’. the gold medal.3) Picture a court in the legal system. Picture one righteous judge -Jesus. Paul trusts Him unqualifiedly and anticipates he will be vindicated. Paul faced other judges and may face the emperor himself. [v. 6] 4) Picture a crowd of citizens waiting for the emperor. Some are delighted, happy to see the emperor. Others resent the emperor’s rule and wish they were free of the obligations. The last three verses could not be any clearer than Paul himself. (Read) [2 Tim. 4:6-8]
[2 Tim. 4:9-22] - Come to Me Soon – This is interesting, [v. 13]. Paul asks for a cloak and a book he left in Troas. I assume T. is in Ephesus (perhaps as a bishop). The walking distance along the coast is 180 miles. In all probability Troas is within the physical jurisdiction of Ephesus. Paul, on his 3d Mission trip left a cloak and manuscript there and he wanted T. to bring it to him. Troas was the major port city in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, it is likely that T. would take a local ship from Ephesus to Troas and then board a long-distance ship heading west, to arrive in Rome. In a period from 100 BC to 150 AD folks made great strides in transitioning from rolled scrolls to bound books. Christians needing an easier system than scrolls propelled this major advance. The four gospels eventually found their way into a single codex (book).The art of bookbinding was born.
Winter was coming, Paul wanted his own cloak. However, many scholars think Paul is more interested in the manuscript. We do not know what the manuscript contained. Paul must have thought they were important; could they have been a part of what we now call the NT? If Paul had been a bit more forthcoming, but then we might have been confused by some thought, partially formed. This is certainly true of the final nine verses. [v. 14-22]
We find Paul in prison. He is sending some to preach; sending some with messages; and asking others to visit. We seek to know exactly where Paul was and how all the travelling joined together. We are very apt to be frustrated, but what are we able to glean? Central to these verses is Paul and his task to be the royal voice of King Jesus. He is on trial for his life, yet able to speak on the message about his master. Meanwhile, do we assume he is in Rome [1:17] (best choice) or Caesarea [Acts 23-26] and the preponderance of the local Christians were too frightened to appear at his trial. This is disappointing, but Paul does not hold this against them. Nor should God. Paul was aware the Lord was with him, giving him strength. In court, he spoke of Jesus as the Messiah, the true Lord of the world. He realized this was his last time he would be able to complete the work of Jesus as the royal herald. The audience contained senior and influential non-Jews.
Paul was not actually rescued from the lion’s mouth. As a Roman citizen he was not sent to the arena to be eaten by wild beasts. If Paul were executed it would be by the sword. [Dan. 7] It is clear some form of ‘wild animal’ was ready to devour anyone who would affirm ‘another king.’ Nor could the empire prevent the Lord from rescuing Paul and giving him glorious status as a member of the coming kingdom; which currently is a heavenly reality, but one day it will be earthly as well. Demis is with Paul in [Col. 4:14; Philemon 24] We pray for his knowledge of Paul and more so his knowledge of Jesus will lead him to return to full allegiance to the Gospel. This had happened when Mark (referred to as John) had abandoned Paul on his first missionary trip, [Acts 13:13] Paul now regards him as useful and helpful. Alexander was a coppersmith, and may have been the one who gave Paul difficulty during the riot in Ephesus. [Acts 19:33] He was probably not the one Paul refers to in [1 Tim. 1:20] There were many Alexanders. This letter is personal, we find Paul in serious trouble, facing death and beset by problems and anxieties, but seems possessed with the task of bringing all aspects of his life together. He wants to be encircled by the Gospel and the proclamation Jesus is Lord. He lives in the present world, Caesar’s and a cheerful citizen of the world to come, Jesus’ world. He longs to see T. who is hard working and effective for Jesus, just as Paul has done. We must listen very carefully to his conversation nor should we have any doubts – that is the kind of advice he would give us today! AMEN
Cell: 541-973-5442
hankhohenstein@gmail.comfull allegiance to the Gospel. This had happened when Mark (referred to as John) had abandoned Paul on his first missionary trip, [Acts 13:13] Paul now regards him as useful and helpful. Alexander was a coppersmith, and may have been the one who gave Paul difficulty during the riot in Ephesus. [Acts 19:33] He was probably not the one Paul refers to in [1 Tim. 1:20] There were many Alexanders. This letter is personal, we find Paul in serious trouble, facing death and beset by problems and anxieties, but seems possessed with the task of bringing all aspects of his life together. He wants to be encircled by the Gospel and the proclamation Jesus is Lord. He lives in the present world, Caesar’s and a cheerful citizen of the world to come, Jesus’ world. He longs to see T. who is hard working and effective for Jesus, just as Paul has done. We must listen very carefully to his conversation nor should we have any doubts – that is the kind of advice he would give us today! AMEN
Cell: 541-973-5442
Back to school or not—everyone saves
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