I (continually) THANK GOD: Charin echo (1SPAI) to theo:
(See Torrey's Topic
for excellent cross references on the healthy spiritual discipline of "THANKSGIVING").
A
PAULINE ATTITUDE
OF GRATITUDE
I thank God
- Paul lived with a continual attitude of gratitude. And so it is only
fitting that he break into a chorus of
thanksgiving. What is the
context
(this is why it is important to read the entire chapter/book before
beginning to interpret individual passages = to first establish the
context rather than too quickly glancing at the study notes or the
commentaries which will "steal" your joy of self discovery!)?
Where is Paul as he gives thanks to God (To answer check the
context)? In prison (2Ti 1:8), in chains (2Ti 1:16), in Rome (2Ti 1:17). Incarcerated
like a criminal (Why? 2Ti 1:12 What "reason" [note "for
this reason" =
term of conclusion]
Why does Paul suffer "these things"? In context he is suffering for the gospel
- cp 2Ti 1:10 11 12) and most likely in a dark, damp, dungeon
(see ancient prisons in following paragraph). So how is it
possible for Paul to manifest a spirit of thankfulness in such dire
straits? From the context, we can deduce that he is enabled by the Spirit
Who indwelt him 2Ti 1:14 and Who empowered him 2Ti 1:7, 2Ti 1:8 [Acts
1:8] and was depending on God's gift of grace in Christ 2Ti 1:3 which
strengthened him 2Ti 2:2. Thus supernaturally supplied, he was able to manifest an attitude of
genuine gratitude,
a "count it all joy" attitude (cp Jas 1:2, Acts 5:41). What else
do we know about Paul from 2Ti 4:6? And so here we find Paul suffering
for the Gospel and aware that his life would soon end, and yet he was
supernaturally enabled to maintain this attitude of thankfulness to God!
Paul continually sought to model what he taught (2Ti 3:10, 11), and in
one of his first letters (the letter to the Thessalonians), Paul had
explained that "in everything (we are to)
give thanks
(present
imperative =
command as our habitual practice - remember what God commands, He always
enables!) for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus" (note "in
Christ Jesus" speaks of our inseparable union with Christ [see
in Christ]!
Christ is our supernatural Source!)" (1Th 5:18-note).
Thank -
This is actually 2 words in Greek, and could be literally rendered
"having" (echo) "grace" (charis). The
present tense
pictures Paul's
continual attitude of thankfulness. Gratitude should not be an
occasional "accident" but a continuous attitude for a saved sinner, for we
are are objects of God's grace and it is only fitting that He be the
object of our gratitude.
God's
giving deserves
our thanksgiving!
Are you
in dark, dreary "prison like" circumstance
today? Do you feel like your life is being poured out? Let me encourage
you to lean on the everlasting arms of His grace and His Spirit, and
supernaturally enabled to make the conscious choice to give thanks to
Him for His grace, mercy and peace and the promise of life in Christ
Jesus?
It is good for
us to remember that...
When an attitude of gratitude is absent
from our heart, joy will not be far behind in departing.
On the other hand, joy thrives in the soul offering thanksgiving. So let us pause to think of what God has done, and then we will find that
we always have cause to thank Him.
Some thankful quotes...
In thanking God, we fasten upon His
favors to us; in praising and adoring God, we fasten upon His
perfections in Himself. - Matthew Henry
Thanksgiving is good but
thanks-living is better. - Matthew Henry
It is only with gratitude that life
becomes rich. -Dietrich Bonhoeffer (From a man who was martyred for His
Lord!)
It ought to be as habitual to us to
thank as to ask. - C. H. Spurgeon
How worthy it is to remember former
benefits when we come to beg for new. - Stephen Charnock
Prayer without thanksgiving is like a
bird without wings. - William Hendriksen
Thankfulness is a flower which will
never bloom well excepting upon a root of deep humility. - J. C. Ryle
We are the objects of God's grace.
Let Him be the object of our gratitude.
Harper's Bible
Dictionary gives us some insight into what Paul's physical
circumstances may have been like....
Prison Conditions: Despite various
efforts to promote reforms, conditions in ancient prisons were often
harsh. Most prisoners wore chains; their feet might be shackled, their
hands manacled or even attached to their neck by another chain, and
their movements further restricted by a chain fastened to a post. The
existence of laws prohibiting chains that were too short or too
restrictive indicates that jailers sometimes employed such practices.
The very word ‘chains’ became a synonym for imprisonment. Some prisoners
were also kept in wooden stocks, devices to restrain the feet, hands, or
even the neck of an individual (see Acts 16:24). Prisons often were very
dark (see Isaiah 42:7); the inner area of the prison mentioned in Acts
16:24 was probably without windows. Although solitary confinement was
known, prisoners generally were kept grouped together, accused and
condemned, men and women alike. Overcrowding was not infrequent (Isaiah
24:22). Prisons often had poor air circulation, a lack of hygienic
facilities, rats and vermin, and food of poor quality. Unscrupulous
guards might at times use the withholding of food or even outright
torture to extort money from prisoners or their relatives. Although
various rulers, especially in Roman Imperial times, struggled to prevent
such abuses, the quality of prison life largely remained the
responsibility of local officials, and conditions undoubtedly varied
considerably from place to place." (Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P.,
& Society of Biblical Literature. Harper's Bible dictionary. San
Francisco: Harper & Row)
And yet, despite such dismal,
depressing conditions, Paul was filled with a spirit of thanksgiving to
God! May his tribe increase!
A PROPER PERSPECTIVE
PRODUCES PRAISE
ILLUSTRATION - After one of the terrible battles of the Civil War, a
dying Confederate soldier asked to see the chaplain. When the chaplain
arrived, he supposed the young man would wish him to beseech God for his
recovery; but it was very different. First the soldier asked him to cut
off a lock of his hair for his mother, and then he asked him to kneel
down and thank God.
"What for?" asked the surprised chaplain.
"For giving me such a mother. Thank God that I am a Christian. And thank
God for giving me grace to die with. And thank God for the Home He has
promised me over there."
And so
the chaplain knelt down by the dying man, and in his prayer he had not a
single petition to offer, but only praise and gratitude.—Christian
Herald
WHOM I (continually) SERVE: ho latreuo (1SPAI):
Serve
(3000)
(latreuo
from latris = one hired or latron =
reward, wages) means to work for reward, for hire or for pay, to
be in servitude, render cultic service. Latreuo was used
literally for bodily service (e.g., workers on the land, or slaves), and
figuratively for “to cherish.”
In the NT the idea
is to render service to God, to worship, to perform sacred services or
to minister to God in a spirit of worship (in fact in the NT uses below,
note several passages clearly associate worship with serving.)
I Serve
=
present tense emphasizing the habit of Paul was that of
ministering and serving God in a spirit of worship. In short, Paul's day
to day life was one dominated and directed by an attitude of worship.
When daily life is lived as an act of worship to the Most High God,
otherwise "mundane" chores take on an entirely different significance.
Oh, to live such a God focused,
God glorifying life! Amen
Latreuo
is found 21 times in the NT (see
uses below)
and is translated: offer service (1), serve (15), served (1), serving (1),
worship (1), worshiper (1),worshipers (1).
In the
non-apocryphal
Septuagint latreuo describes the service of the
priests. The service/worship as in the NT uses in some contexts refers to worship of idols
rather than
God. There are over 100 uses of latreuo in the
Septuagint (LXX)
(Ex 3:12; 4:23; 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3, 7f, 11, 24, 26; 12:31;
20:5; 23:24f; Lev 18:21; Num 16:9; Deut 4:19, 28; 5:9; 6:13; 7:4, 16;
8:19; 10:12, 20; 11:13, 16, 28; 12:2; 13:2, 6, 13; 17:3; 28:14, 36, 47f;
29:18, 26; 30:17; 31:20; Josh 22:5, 27; 23:7, 16; 24:2, 14-15, 18-22,
24, 31; Jdg 2:11, 13, 19; 3:6f; 2 Sam 15:8; 2 Ki 17:12, 16, 33, 35;
21:21; 2 Chr 7:19; Ezek 20:32; Dan 3:12, 14, 17f, 28; 4:1; 6:16, 20, 26;
7:14)
In secular Greek latreuo meant to work for wages,
then to serve without wages. It originally referred
predominantly to physical work then later was used more generally.
Vine adds that latreuo, and its corresponding noun
latreia (word study),
originally signified the work of a hired servant, as distinguished from
the compulsory service of the slave. In the course of time this word
group
largely lost the significance of work as a hired servant, and in Scripture
took on the sense of adoration in addition to free (freewill) obedience.
John MacArthur
explains that latreuo
might best be translated “to render respectful spiritual service.” True
worship goes beyond praising God, singing hymns, or participating in a
worship service. The essence of worship is living a life of obedient
service to God. “Do not neglect doing good and sharing,” exhorts the
writer of Hebrews, “for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Heb 13:16-note).
True worship involves every aspect of life.
(MacArthur,
J. Philippians. Chicago: Moody Press
or
Logos
or
Wordsearch)
(Bolding
added)
Latreuo
can therefore convey either the idea of worship or service
and frequently appears to mean both which suggests that service
(to God) cannot be truly separated from worship (of God)!
WORSHIP
OF GOD
AND
WORKS OF
GOOD
Many Christians desire
to "worship" the Lord on Sunday but are too busy to "serve" Him at other
times. The New Testament knows nothing of such a dichotomy or
compartmentalization of our spiritual life from our secular life. In
other words our secular life always includes our spiritual life. On the other
hand notice that the order in Scripture is first “worship” and
then “serve”. Acknowledgment of God Himself must have precedence
over activity in His service. Service to God derives its effectiveness
from engagement of the heart with God. Any true
worshipper of God is also a servant, ready to do his Master's bidding,
discharging his or her priestly duties. The corollary truth is that good
works should be those initiated by and empowered by the Spirit of God,
so that we engage in the works that God has prepared for each of us even
before the foundation of the world (see good works in Eph 2:10-note,
cp Jesus' formula for works that will endure throughout eternity). These
thoughts beg the question beloved - Are you busy doing "good" works that
really are not "God's" works? Even as we were saved by grace through
faith, we are to carry out good works by grace through faith (see Paul's
formula for good works in 1Cor 15:10-note).
(See also related discussion -
Good Deeds)
Anna the prophetess
exemplifies latreuo in action for even though she was
a widow ... age of
eighty-four...she never left the temple, serving (latreuo) night
and day with fastings and prayers. (Lk 2:37)
Comment: How did Anna serve? With fastings and prayers!
From Anna's beautiful example, we can readily see
how the serving aspect of latreuo overlaps
with the idea of worship.
Paul's introduction to the Romans
conveys a similar nuance:
For God, Whom I serve in my
spirit ("with my whole spirit" Amp) in the preaching of the
gospel of His Son (So what is Paul's service?), is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of
you. (Ro 1:9-note)
Comment: Paul served God "holistically" beginning with
his spirit, for he knew that those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth
(Jn 4:24). God pleasing and
God honoring service calls for total, unreserved commitment on the part
of the worshiper (cp our "holistic" spiritual service [latreia]
of worship in Ro 12:1-note).
MacDonald
comments on Paul's use of latreuo noting that for the great
apostle this worshipful service...
was not that of a religious drudge (to do hard, menial, monotonous
work), going through endless rituals and reciting prayers and liturgies
by rote. It was service bathed in fervent, believing prayer. It was
willing, devoted, tireless service, fired by a spirit that loved the
Lord Jesus supremely. It was a flaming passion to make known the Good
News about God’s Son. (MacDonald,
W., & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
Writing to the Philippians Paul warned them to beware
of the false circumcision (probably Judaizers who wanted to add works to
faith) declaring
we are the true circumcision (Ro
2:28 29-note), who worship (latreuo - render sacred service and obedience) in the Spirit of God
(true worship is supernatural, in the power of the Holy Spirit and not
through prescribed physical rituals, cf Isaiah 29:13) and glory
(kauchaomai
= boast with exultant joy about what one is most proud of -
35/37 uses of this word are by Paul) in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in
the flesh (sarx
= man’s fallen, unredeemed humanness which
pictures human ability apart from God). (Philippians 3:3-note)
Comment: In this passage in Philippians we see that worship (latreuo) is supernatural
(prompted by the Spirit), not prompted by culture, fear, tradition,
desire for popularity, etc and is far more than acts of praise and the
singing of hymns, but includes the living of a life of obedient
service to God.
The writer of Hebrews asks
(If
the ashes of a heifer had such power to cleanse from one of the most
serious forms of outward defilement) how much more will the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself
(voluntary, self-offering) without
blemish (spotless - perfectly righteous, sinless , perfectly and
voluntarily obedient to the Father’s will) to God, cleanse
your conscience (the superior nature of Messiah’s
sacrifice is seen in its deeper effect. While the Levitical ritual
accomplished only formal ritual expiation, and left the inner man
untouched, the sacrifice of Messiah reaches the very center of the moral
and spiritual being of the individual thus doing its work where only an
eternal spirit can do it) from dead works (the character
of the works done by the individual is changed in that before salvation,
the sinner did so-called "good works" in the strength of his own sinful
nature. They were dead works. After salvation has wrought its mighty
transformation within the individual, the good works are motivated,
empowered, and produced by the Holy Spirit and are, therefore, living
works produced by one who serves the living God) to serve (latreuo) the living God?" (He
9:14-
note)
The blood of Christ frees men from lifeless works
(see discussion of
Good Deeds) -- Before salvation,
the sinner did so-called good works in the strength of his or her own sinful
nature. But they were dead works. After salvation has wrought its mighty
transformation within the individual, the good works are motivated,
empowered, and produced by the Holy Spirit, by the one who has the "Word
of Christ richly" dwell within them (Col 3:16-note). They are, therefore, living
works, most appropriate for serving (latreuo)
the living God.
Therefore, since we receive (literally "are
receiving" = a continuous process) a kingdom which cannot be shaken
(asaleutos = immovable thus firm, unchangeable and enduring),
let us show gratitude (literally "let us be having grace")
(this great truth that we will never be taken from this
kingdom and it will never be taken from us should inspire fervent
worship and adoration), by which we may offer to (latreuo) God an
acceptable (euarestos
[word study]
= to be well pleasing = that
which God wills and recognizes) service (latreuo) with reverence
(eulabeia = caution, circumspection, discretion = internal
attitude of reverence toward) and awe (deos = timid
apprehension of danger; while another word for fear, phobos,
is the terror which seizes one when the danger appears. In a
primitive forest an undefined sense of possible danger possesses one and
makes his heart beat quickly at every rustle of a leaf. This is deos.
When a wild beast is distinctly heard close at hand, the deos becomes
phobos - thus deos has to do with the apprehension felt due to being in
God’s presence) for our God is a consuming (katanlisko
= consume wholly - God's anger burns against those who reject the
privileges offered in the New Covenant) fire. (He 12:28,
29-note)
Notice that our motive for
latreuo is gratitude...worshipful,
reverential, awe filled service should spring from a heart overflowing
with thankfulness. Dearly beloved, how would you describe your "latreuo"
before the living God -- living or dead works of worship?
Hodges
reminds us of this loyalty and allegiance of Paul to fulfill his sacred
duties:
Shut up in prison, cut off in a final way from active ministry, he
nonetheless finds the joy of the priestly ministry of prayer both in
praise (cp - the sacrifice of praise He 13:15-note) and in intercession.
Edwards
rightly observes that...
One of our primary
tasks and privileges as believer-priests is that of serving God with a
clear conscience going to God on
behalf of men in the form of intercession. Paul took this priestly service
seriously. (2
Timothy: Call to Completion)
><>><>><>
Here
are the 21 uses of latreuo in the NT. Observe several
associations with worship. Note the frequency in Hebrews. Note
that serving has a "negative" aspect (idols) but more often
the positive aspect of orientation toward God.
Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said
to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the
Lord your God, and serve (latreuo) Him only.'"
Luke 1:74 To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of
our enemies, Might serve (latreuo) Him without fear,
Luke 2:37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. And she
never left the temple, serving (latreuo) night and day with
fastings and prayers. (Observe: 1 - Frequency 2 - How she served)
Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said to him, "It is written, 'You
shall worship the Lord your God and serve (latreuo) Him
only.'"
Acts 7:7 "'And whatever nation to which they shall be in bondage
I Myself will judge,' said God, 'and after that they will come out and
serve Me in this place.'
Acts 7:42 "But God turned away and delivered them up to serve
(cp
Romans 1:9
below) the host of
heaven (idolatry); as it is written in the book of the prophets, 'It was
not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the
wilderness, was it, O house of Israel? (Observe: Wrong worship.
God is jealous. He Alone is worthy and deserving of worship.)
Acts 24:14 "But this I admit to you, that according to the Way
which they call a sect I do serve the God of our fathers,
believing everything that is in accordance with the Law, and that is
written in the Prophets;
Acts 26:7 the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain,
as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O
King, I am being accused by Jews. (Observe: Frequency - cp Luke
2:37. Clearly this speaks of his lifestyle as was true of Anna in the
Luke passage.)
Acts 27:23 "For this very night an angel of the God to Whom I
belong and Whom I serve stood before me,
Romans 1:9 (note)
For God, Whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel
of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, (Observe:
How serving manifests itself)
Romans 1:25 (note)
For they exchanged the
truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served (cp Acts
7:42 above) the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed
forever. Amen.
Philippians 3:3 (note)
for we are the true circumcision, who worship (latreuo) in the
Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the
flesh, (Observe: Worship in Spirit and truth - cp John 4:23, 24)
2 Timothy 1:3 (note) I
thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my
forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and
day (Observe: What makes serving/worship acceptable? Note again
the phrase "night and day"? What is he saying about one's lifestyle?)
Hebrews 8:5 (note)
who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses
was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, "See,"
He says, "that you make all things according to the pattern which was
shown you on the mountain."
Hebrews 9:9 (note)
which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and
sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper (verb is
used as a noun - note again the
present tense
speaks of one's lifestyle) perfect in
conscience,
Hebrews 9:14 (note)
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from
dead works to serve the living God? (Observe: Condition of
real worship, in spirit and truth - a clean conscience. What is the
implication for us before we begin to "worship" on Sunday mornings? Do
we not need to confess and seek clean hands and pure heart? cp Ps
24:3-4. Is this a common practice in churches today?)
Hebrews 10:2 (note) Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered,
because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have
had consciousness of sins?
Hebrews 12:28 (note) Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be
shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an
acceptable service with reverence and awe; (Observe: A lofty
motive to stimulate genuine worship. We are "practicing" for eternity
future!)
Hebrews 13:10 (note) We have an altar, from which those who
serve the
tabernacle have no right to eat.
Revelation 7:15 (note) "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and
they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on
the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. (Observe: Even
in eternity, our "lifestyle" is to be one of continual worship/service!)
Revelation 22:3 (note) And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall
serve Him; (Observe: And some say heaven will be boring! They either have not
read or do not understand this verse!)
WITH A CLEAR
CONSCIENCE: en
kathara suneidesei:
(Acts 23:1; 24:16;
Ro
1:9-note;
Ro 9:1
-note;
2 Co 1:12; 1Ti 1:5;19; Heb 13:18)
In Acts
Luke records that...
Paul, looking intently at the
Council, said, “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly
good conscience before God up to this day.” (Ac 23:1)
In view of this (What? Check context
= Ac 24:15), I also do my best (Askeo [present
tense =
continually] = exercise myself, exert all my diligence, study and
industry) to maintain always a blameless (aproskopos = not leading
others into sin or causing them to stumble) conscience both
before God and before men. (Ac 24:16).
With
- This word
is the Greek word en which is usually translated as the
English preposition in and here it conveys the idea that the
spiritual sphere in which his worshipful service was
offered - it was in the "atmosphere" (background) of a completely cleansed
conscience.
Clear
(2513) (katharos;
English = catharsis = purifying, cleansing, a term used in
psychology and counseling for a cleansing of the mind or emotions - a
"soul cleansing" if you will; cathartic = any substance used to
induce purging or to cleanse a wound or infected are in order to make it
pure; Cathar = member of a medieval sect which sought the purging
of all evil from its members) literally describes that which is free of
dirt and thus clean.
Katharos describes that which
is free from admixture or adulteration and thus is pure and
in an ethical sense that which is “free from corrupt desire, sin, and
guilt." In short, it describes
that which is clean,
pure, clear, in a natural sense unsoiled, unalloyed
and free of adulterating matter and then that which is free from moral
guilt. Thus a "katharos"
conscience
is one that is free from sin and guilt, from
every admixture of what is false with the result that it is
sincere, blameless and unstained.
Katharos - 27x in 23v in
NAS - Mt 5:8; 23:26; 27:59; Lk 11:41; John 13:10 11; 15:3; Acts
18:6; 20:26; Ro 14:20; 1Ti 1:5; 3:9; 2Ti 1:3; 2:22; Titus 1:15; Heb
10:22; Jas 1:27; 1Pe 1:22; Rev 15:6; 19:8, 14; 21:18, 21. NAS =
clean(12), clear(3), innocent(1), pure(10).
Conscience
(4893)
(suneidesis
is derived from
sun/syn = with +
eido = know) literally means a "knowing with", a co-knowledge with oneself
or a being of one's own witness in the sense that one's own conscience
"takes the stand" as the chief witness, testifying either to one's
innocence or guilt. It describes the witness borne
to one's conduct by that faculty by which we apprehend the will of God.
Suneidesis - 30x in 29v in
NAS - Acts 23:1; 24:16; Ro 2:15; 9:1; 13:5; 1Co. 8:7, 10, 12;
10:25, 27, 28; 2Co. 1:12; 4:2; 5:11; 1Ti 1:5, 19; 3:9; 4:2; 2Ti 1:3;
Titus 1:15; Heb 9:9, 14; 10:2, 22; 13:18; 1Pet. 2:19; 3:16, 21. NAS
= conscience(24), conscience'(4), consciences(1), consciousness(1).
Related Resources:
Conscience
R A Torrey topic
Click
for more notes on conscience
Devotional
on conscience by F B Meyer
Diverse Kinds of Conscience
Conscience
by William Arnot in his discussion of Proverbs 28:1
Conscience: The Voice of
God Within
by Timothy Lin
Webster defines conscience as the sense or
consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own
conduct, intentions, or character together with a feeling of obligation
to do right or be good.
The Greek noun
suneidesis is the exact counterpart of the Latin con-science,
“a knowing with,” a shared or joint knowledge. It is our awareness of
ourselves in all the relationships of life, especially ethical
relationships. We have ideas of right and wrong; and when we perceive
their truth and claims on us, and will not obey, our souls are at war
with themselves and with the law of God
Suneidesis is that
process of thought which distinguishes what it considers morally good or
bad, commending the good, condemning the bad, and so prompting to do the
former and avoid the latter.
To have a
"clear
conscience"
does not mean that we have never sinned or do not commit acts of sin.
Rather, it means that the underlying direction and motive of life is to
obey and please God, so that acts of sin are habitually recognized as
such and faced before God (1Jn 1:9, cp David's attitude Ps 139:23 24, cp
Ps 19:13-note)
Spurgeon commenting on these passages in Ps 139 says...
He (David) will have God Himself
search him, and search him thoroughly, till every point of his being is
known, and read, and understood; for he is sure that even by such an
investigation there will be found in him no complicity with wicked men.
He challenges the fullest investigation, the innermost search: he had
need be a true man who can put himself deliberately into such a
crucible. Yet we may each
one desire such searching; for it would be a terrible calamity to us for
sin to remain in our hearts unknown and undiscovered.
Try me, and know my thoughts.
Exercise any and every test upon me. By fire and by water let me be
examined. Read not alone the desires of my heart, but the fugitive
thoughts of my head. Know with all penetrating knowledge all that is or
has been in the chambers of my mind. What a mercy that there is one
being who can know us to perfection! He is intimately at home with us.
He is graciously inclined towards us, and is willing to bend His
omniscience to serve the end of our sanctification.
Let us pray as David did, and let
us be as honest as he. We cannot hide our sin: salvation lies the other
way, in a plain discovery of evil, and an effectual severance from it.
And see if there be any wicked
way in me. See whether there be in my heart, or in my life, any evil
habit unknown to myself (Ed: cp a "clean conscience"). If there
be such an evil way, take me from it, take it from me. No matter how
dear the wrong may have become, nor how deeply prejudiced I may have
been in its favour, be pleased to deliver me therefrom altogether,
effectually, and at once, that I may tolerate nothing which is contrary
to thy mind. As I hate the wicked in their way, so would I hate every
wicked way in myself.
And lead me in the way everlasting. If thou hast introduced me already
to the good old way, be pleased to keep me in it, and conduct me further
and further along it. It is a way which thou hast set up of old, it is
based upon everlasting principles, and it is the way in which immortal
spirits will gladly run for ever and ever. There will be no end to it
world without end. It lasts for ever, and they who are in it last for
ever. Conduct me into it, O Lord, and conduct me throughout the whole
length of it. By thy providence, by thy word, by thy grace, and by thy
Spirit, lead me evermore.
Think and be careful what thou art
within,
For there is sin in the desire of sin:
Think and be thankful, in a different case,
For there is grace in the desire of grace.
--John Byron, 1691-1763.
Edwards
explains that a...
A "clear
conscience" consists in
being able to say that there is no one (God or man) whom I have
knowingly offended and not tried to make it right (either by asking
forgiveness or restoration or both). ). Acts 24:16. Christ spoke of this
very issue in the Sermon on the Mount where He made it clear that our
priestly service must be done with a clear conscience to be acceptable
before God. "Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there
remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift
there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your
brother and then come and offer your gift." Mt. 5:23 24 25-note.
We are being told here that a clear conscience must precede priestly
service.
(2
Timothy Call to Completion)
Paul wanted
Timothy to have no doubt that he endured his present physical
afflictions, as he had countless others, because of his unswerving
faithfulness to the Lord, not as a consequence of unfaithful, ungodly
living. So as Paul neared his death, he could testify that his
conscience did not accuse or condemn him. His guilt was forgiven, and
his devotion was undivided. To continually reject God’s truth causes the
conscience to become progressively less sensitive to sin, as if covered
with layers of unspiritual scar tissue. Paul’s conscience was clear,
sensitive, & responsive to its convicting voice. Click on the books
below to study the NT picture of conscience.
Conscience
is like a window that let's in the light. When the window becomes
soiled, the light gradually becomes darkness. Once conscience is defiled
(Titus 1:15-note),
it gradually gets worse, and eventually it may be so "seared" that it
has no sensitivity at all (1Ti 4:2). Then it becomes an "evil
conscience" (He 10:22-note),
one that functions just the opposite of a good conscience (1Pe 3:16-note).
J C Ryle in
his comments on a woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, 11) speaks of
The power of conscience. We
read of the woman's accusers, that when they heard our Lord's appeal,
"being convicted by their own conscience, they went out one by one,
beginning at the eldest, even into the last." Wicked and hardened as
they were, they felt something within which made them cowards. Fallen as
human nature is, God has taken care to leave within every man a witness
that will be heard.
Conscience is a most important part of our inward man, and plays
a most prominent part in our spiritual history. It cannot save us. It
never yet led any one to Christ. It is blind, and liable to be misled.
It is lame and powerless, and cannot guide us to heaven. Yet conscience
is not to be despised. It is the minister's best friend, when he stands
up to rebuke sin from the pulpit. It is the mother's best friend, when
she tries to restrain her children from evil and quicken them to good.
It is the teacher's best friend, when he presses home on boys and girls
their moral duties. Happy is he who never stifles his conscience, but
strives to keep it tender! Still happier is he who prays to have it
enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and sprinkled with Christ's blood. (John
- chapter 8)
(Ryle in "Looking Unto Jesus") We
need inward peace. So long as our conscience is asleep, deadened
by indulged sin, or dulled and stupefied by incessant pursuit of the
things of this world—so long can that man get on tolerably well without
peace with God. But once let conscience open its eyes, and shake
itself, and rise, and move—and it will make the stoutest child of Adam
feel ill at ease. The irrepressible thought that this life is not
all—that there is a God, and a judgment, and a something after death, an
undiscovered destiny from which no traveler returns—that thought will
come up at times in every man's mind, and make him long for inward
peace.
It is easy to write brave words about "eternal hope," and strew the path
to the grave with flowers. Such theology is naturally popular: the world
loves to have it so. But after all, there is something deep down in the
heart of hearts of most men, which must be satisfied. The strongest
evidence of God's eternal truth, is the universal conscience of
mankind. Who is there among us all, who can sit down and think over the
days that are past—school days, and college days, and days of middle
life, their countless things left undone that ought to have been done,
and done that ought not to have been done—who, I say, can think over it
all without shame, if indeed he does not turn from the review with
disgust and terror, and refuse to think at all? We all need peace. (Ryle
Looking Unto Jesus!)
(Ryle in "Without Christ") Moreover,
to be "without Christ" is to be without peace. Every man has a
conscience within him, which must be satisfied before he can be
truly happy. So long as this conscience is asleep or half dead,
so long, no doubt, he gets along pretty well. But as soon as a man’s
conscience wakes up, and he begins to think of past sins and present
failings and future judgment, at once he finds out that he needs
something to give him inward rest. But what can do it? Repenting and
praying and Bible reading, and church going, and sacrament receiving,
and self–mortification may be tried, and tried in vain. They never yet
took off the burden from anyone’s conscience. And yet peace must
be had!
There is only one thing can give peace to the conscience, and
that is the blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on it. A clear understanding
that Christ’s death was an actual payment of our debt to God, and that
the merit of that death is made over to man when he believes, is the
grand secret of inward peace. It meets every craving of conscience. It
answers every accusation. It calms every fear. It is written "These
things I have spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace." "He is
our peace." "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jn 16:33; Ep 2:14; Ro 5:1). We have peace
through the blood of His cross: peace like a deep mine—peace like an
ever–flowing stream. But "without Christ" we are without peace. (Without
Christ)
J C Philpot
writes that there can be
there is a receiving of the gospel as
the word of men into the natural CONSCIENCE; for there is a
natural conscience as well as a spiritual conscience. This is
very evident from the language of the apostle when speaking of the
Gentiles–
"Who show the work of the law written
in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts the meanwhile accusing or excusing one another." (Ro 2:15.)
And do we not read of those in the
case of the woman taken in adultery, who were
"convicted by their own conscience,
and went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to the last." (Jn
8:9.)
The apostle also speaks of
"commending himself to every man's
conscience, in the sight of God." (2Co 4:2.)
Now as he preached to thousands, he
could not have done this unless there was a conscience in every
man, as well as in every good man. Scarcely anything seems to approach
the work of grace so nearly as this; and yet we see in the cases of
Saul, Ahab, and Herod, that there may be the deepest convictions of
conscience and yet no saving conversion to God. Thus there is a
receiving the gospel into the natural conscience, producing moral
convictions, and a work that seems at first sight to bear a striking
similarity to the work of God upon the soul; and yet the whole may be a
mere imitation of grace, a movement of nature floating upon the surface
of the mind, and at times touching upon the domain of conscience,
yet not springing out of the word of God as brought with a divine power
into the heart. (The
Word of Men and the Word of God)
Archibald
Alexander writes...
Peace of conscience is a fruit
of reconciliation with God. The blood which reconciles, when sprinkled
on the conscience, produces a sweet peace which can be obtained
in no other way. If the atonement of Christ satisfies the law which
condemned us, and we are assured that this atonement is accepted for us,
conscience, which before condemned, as being the echo of the law,
is now pacified. (The
Peace of God)
John Calvin
wrote that...
The torture of a bad conscience is
the hell of a living soul...There is no greater torment than an evil
conscience.
Timothy Lin writes that...
In the mid 1950’s near Ashville, NC,
an adult male walked into the police station and openly confessed to a
murder he had committed 13 years earlier. He gave the deceased person’s
name and related to the authorities how he had murdered this person by
shooting him in the back of the head with an arrow. The police reviewed
his story from their files and found that the local coroner had ruled
the deceased man’s death to be from natural causes. However, when they
dug up the dead man’s remains, they found a hole in the base of his
skull made by an arrow. The murderer was brought to justice, not by the
police, but by his own conscience....At the Children’s Hospital
seven-year-old Jimmy was a constant troublemaker. One day a weekly
visitor who knew him well said to him, “Jimmy, if you are a good boy for
a week, I will give you a quarter when I come back.” A week later she
again stood by Jimmy’s bed and said, “Jimmy, I am not going to ask the
nurse how you have behaved. You must tell me yourself. Do you deserve to
have the quarter?” There was a moment’s silence. Then from under the
sheets came a small voice saying, “Gimme a penny.” This illustrates that
conscience speaks very clearly even in small children, (Conscience:
The Voice of God Within - {I'm not sure I fully agree with all his
points - Be a Berean}
- Lin has more on conscience on page 50-54 in
Genesis -
Biblical Theology)
Kenneth Osbeck
writes that...
The conscience has been
described as the “rudder of the soul” or the believer’s “principle
within.” One of the prime responsibilities of Christian living is to
keep the conscience clear as to the things of God so that we might live
worthy lives before our fellowmen. But the conscience must be
continually enlightened and developed by an exposure to God’s Word if it
is to serve as a reliable guide for our lives. A conscience that is
allowed to become hardened and insensitive to sin will ultimately lead
to spiritual and moral disaster. We must allow God to develop our
consciences and then our consciences are able to develop us. (Osbeck,
K. W. Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions.
Kregel Publications)
I Want a Principle Within
by Charles Wesley (Play
hymn)
I want a principle within of watchful, Godly fear,
A sensibility of sin, a pain to feel it near.
Help me the first approach to feel of pride or wrong desire,
To catch the wand’ring of my will and quench the Spirit’s fire.
From Thee that I no more may stray, no more Thy goodness grieve,
Grant me the filial awe, I pray, the tender conscience give.
Quick as the apple of an eye, O God, my conscience make!
Awake my soul when sin is nigh and keep it still awake.
Almighty God of truth and love, to me Thy pow’r impart;
The burden from my soul remove, the hardness from my heart.
O may the least omission pain my reawakened soul,
And drive me to that grace again which makes the wounded whole.
Conscience is the
judgment which we pronounce on our own conduct by putting ourselves in
the place of a bystander. (Adam Smith)
Here are a number
of truisms regarding conscience all from anonymous
sources...
A good conscience is a soft pillow.
A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.
Conscience warns us as a friend before it punishes us as a judge.
The best tranquillizer is a clear conscience.
When a man says he has a clear conscience it often means he has a bad
memory.
When a man won't listen to his conscience, it may be because he doesn't
want advice from a total stranger.
When you have only one thing on your conscience, it is probably a
silencer.
A guilty conscience is a hell on
earth, and points to one beyond.
A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
Quite often when a man thinks his
mind is getting broader it is only his conscience stretching. (John
Blanchard - Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations for
Christians OR
Computer Version
- One of the best resources
for Christian quotes which I have ever read)
John MacArthur
writes that...
In 1984 an Avianca Airlines jet
crashed in Spain. Investigators studying the accident made an eerie
discovery. The "black box" cockpit recorders revealed that several
minutes before impact a shrill, computer-synthesized voice from the
plane's automatic warning system told the crew repeatedly in English,
"Pull up! Pull up!"
The pilot, evidently thinking the system was malfunctioning, snapped,
"Shut up, Gringo!" and switched the system off. Minutes later the plane
plowed into the side of a mountain. Everyone on board died.
When I saw that tragic story on the news shortly after it happened, it
struck me as a perfect parable of the way modern people treat guilt--the
warning messages of their consciences.
The wisdom of our age says guilt feelings are nearly always erroneous or
hurtful; therefore we should switch them off. But is that good advice?
What, after all, is the conscience--this sense of guilt we all seem to
feel?
The conscience is generally seen by the modern world as a defect that
robs people of their self-esteem. Far from being a defect or a disorder,
however, your ability to sense your own guilt is a tremendous gift from
God. He designed the conscience into the very framework of the human
soul. It is the automatic warning system that cries, "Pull up! Pull up!"
before you crash and burn.
The conscience, Puritan Richard Sibbes wrote in the seventeenth century,
is the soul reflecting upon itself. Conscience is at the heart of what
distinguishes the human creature. People, unlike animals, can
contemplate their own actions and make moral self-evaluations. That is
the very function of conscience. (See
John MacArthur's full article "The Conscience Revisited")
Conscience is a
dainty, delicate creature, a rare piece of workmanship of the Maker.
Keep it whole without a crack, for if there be but one hole so that it
break, it will with difficulty mend again. (S. Rutherford)
The Christian can
never find a “more faithful adviser, a more active accuser, a severer
witness, a more impartial judge, a sweeter comforter, or a more
inexorable enemy.” (Bp. Sanderson.)
A gnawing
conscience keeps the memory terribly alert. (W. E. Sangster)
Conscience in
everything: — Trust that man in nothing who has not a conscience in
everything. (Sterne)
Conscience
is the still small voice that makes you feel still smaller. (James A.
Sanaker)
Conscience makes
cowards of us; but conscience makes saints and heroes too. (J.
Lightfoot)
Conscience is a
marvelous gift from God, the window that lets in the light of His truth.
If we sin against Him deliberately, that window becomes dirty, and not
as much truth can filter through. Eventually, the window becomes so
dirty that it no longer lets in the light. The Bible calls this a
defiled, seared conscience...Do you keep a clean conscience? It is a
part of your inner being that responds to God's truth. When you sin, the
window of your conscience becomes dirty and filters out truth. Avoid sin
in your life and live with a clean conscience. Every day feed yourself
truth from the Word of God. (Wiersbe, W: Prayer, Praise and Promises: Ps
51:3-6)
Hurt not your
conscience with any known sin. - S. Rutherford
Conscience
is that faculty in me which attaches itself to the highest that I know,
and tells me what the highest I know demands that I do.
When there is
any debate, quit. There is no debate possible when conscience
speaks.
Once we assuage
our conscience by calling something a “necessary evil,” it begins to
look more and more necessary and less and less evil. - Sidney J. Harris
Conscience is
God’s spy and man’s overseer. -John Trapp
A good conscience
and a good confidence go together. -- Thomas Brooks
Conscience is a small, still voice that makes minority reports.
-- Franklin P.
Jones
Conscience is also what makes a boy tell his mother before his
sister does.
Pop used to say about the Presbyterians, 'It don't prevent them
committing all the sins there are, but it keeps them from getting any
fun but of it.' - Christopher
Morley
The late
General Omar Bradley was more serious in commenting on conscience
"The world has achieved brilliance without conscience," he conceded.
"Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."
On the subject of
conscience Martin Luther declared before the court of the Roman
Empire at Worms in 1521
"My conscience is captive to the Word of God. ... I am more afraid of my
own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the
great pope, Self."
When a person
comes to faith in Christ, his conscience becomes acutely sensitive to
sin. No longer as a Christian can he sin with impunity. The story is
told about an old Indian chief who was converted. Later a missionary
asked him:
"Chief, how are you doing spiritually? Are you experiencing victory over
the devil?"
"It's like this," the chief replied. "I have two dogs inside me: a good
dog and a bad dog. They are constantly fighting with each other."
"Which dog wins?" asked the puzzled missionary.
"Whichever one I feed the most," retorted the wise old man. His
conscience was being shaped by the Scriptures.
Billy Graham
set out the importance of a clear conscience
"To have a guilty conscience is a feeling. Psychologists may define it
as a guilt complex, and may seek to rationalize away the sense of guilt,
but once it has been awakened through the application of the law of God,
no explanation will quiet the insistent voice of conscience."
C H Spurgeon
spoke frequently about conscience as seen in the following quite
pithy quotations...beloved if you are contemplating sinning as you read
this or are caught in the web of some sin, may the Holy Spirit of the
Living God convict you of sin, righteousness and the judgment to come,
not only for your sake of your Christian life but even more so for the
sake of His name...
Conscience may tell me that something
is wrong, but how wrong it is conscience itself does not know. Did any
man's conscience, unenlightened by the Spirit, ever tell him that his
sins deserved damnation? Did it ever lead any man to feel an abhorrence
of sin as sin? Did conscience ever bring a man to such self-renunciation
that he totally abhorred himself and all his works and came to Christ?
A man sees his enemy before him. By
the light of his candle, he marks the insidious approach. His enemy is
seeking his life. The man puts out the candle and then exclaims, "I am
now quite at peace." That is what you do. Conscience is the candle of
the Lord. It shows you your enemy. You try to put it out by saying,
"Peace, peace! Put the enemy out!" God give you grace to thrust sin out!
Conscience is like a magnetic needle,
which, if once turned aside from its pole, will never cease trembling.
You can never make it still until it is permitted to return to its
proper place.
I recollect the time when I thought that if I had to live on bread and
water all my life and be chained in a dungeon, I would cheerfully submit
to that if I might but get rid of my sins. When sin haunted and burdened
my spirit, I am sure I would have counted the martyr's death preferable
to a life under the lash of a guilty conscience
O believe me, guilt upon the
conscience is worse than the body on the rack. Even the flames of the
stake may be cheerfully endured, but the burnings of a conscience
tormented by God are beyond all measure unendurable.
This side of hell, what can be worse
than the tortures of an awakened conscience?
He was a fool who killed the watchdog
because it alarmed him when thieves were breaking into his house. If
conscience upbraids you, feel its upbraiding and heed its rebuke. It is
your best friend.
Give me into the power of a roaring lion, but never let me come under
the power of an awakened, guilty conscience. Shut me up in a dark
dungeon, among all manner of loathsome creatures—snakes and reptiles of
all kinds—but, oh, give me not over to my own thoughts when I am
consciously guilty before God!
Fire such as martyrs felt at the stake were but a plaything compared
with the flames of a burning conscience. Thunderbolts and tornadoes are
nothing in force compared with the charges of a guilty conscience.
When a swarm of bees gets about a man, they are above, beneath, around,
everywhere stinging, every one stinging, until he seems to be stung in
every part of his body. So, when conscience wakes up the whole hive of
our sins, we find ourselves compassed about with innumerable evils: sins
at the board and sins on the bed, sins at the task and sins in the pew,
sins in the street and sins in the shop, sins on the land and sins at
sea, sins of body, soul, and spirit, sins of eye, of lip, of hand, of
foot, sins everywhere. It is a horrible discovery when it seems to a man
as if sin had become as omnipresent with him as God is.
The conscience of man, when he is really quickened and awakened by the
Holy Spirit, speaks the truth. It rings the great alarm bell. And if he
turns over in his bed, that great alarm bell rings out again and again,
"The wrath to come! The wrath to come! The wrath to come! "
Nothing can be more horrible, out of hell, than to have an awakened
conscience but not a reconciled God—to see sin, yet not see the
Savior—to behold the deadly disease in all its loathsomeness, but not
trust the good Physician, and so to have no hope of ever being healed of
our malady.
I would bear any affliction rather than be burdened with a guilty
conscience.
It is a blessed thing to have a conscience that will shiver when the
very ghost of a sin goes by—a conscience that is not like our great
steamships at sea that do not yield to every wave, but, like a cork on
the water, goes up and down with every ripple, sensitive in a moment to
the very approach of sin. May God the Holy Spirit make us so! This
sensitiveness the Christian endeavors to have, for he knows that if he
has it not, he will never be purified from his sin.
There are thousands of people in this country who would be greatly
troubled in their minds if they did not go to church twice on Sundays.
And they get comfort in this because their conscience is dead. If their
conscience were really awakened, they would understand that there is no
connection between conscience and outward forms.
THE WAY
MY
FOREFATHERS DID
AS I
CONSTANTLY REMEMBER YOU: apo progonon os adialeipton echo (1SPAI) ten peri sou mneian:
(Ro 1:9-note;
1Th 1:2,3-note;
1Th 3:10-note)
Forefathers
(4269)
(progonos from pros = before + ginomai = to be)
(only other NT use 1Ti 5:4)
is literally born before or born earlier and thus refers to
forefathers or ancestors.
Paul does not explain specifically whom he meant by forefathers, but he
obviously was speaking of godly men with clear consciences who had lived
in former times.
I constantly
remember you - Recall the context - Suffering in prison (2Ti 1:8-note,
"parents" - 2Ti 1:16-note),
deserted by all in Asia (2Ti 1:15-note),
staring death in the face (2Ti 4:6-note)
and his concern extends outward not inward. This is surely not evidence
of a strong man but a Strong God, Who is faithful to strengthen us when
we are weakest (cp 2Ti 4:17-note
2Co 12:9-note,
2Co 12:10-note)
Constantly
(88)
(adialeiptos
from a = without +
dialeipo = leave an interval or gap) means
unceasing, unintermitting, continual, without intermission, incessant. This
adjective is not used in a strict literal sense to
imply there was never a break in
his praying.
Note that this
word is similar to adialeiptos
(see study)
(Strong's #89)
Adialeiptos has only one other NT use
that I have great sorrow and
unceasing grief in my heart (Ro 9:2-note)
Here in 2 Timothy
the context conveys the idea that Paul never omitted an
occasion to pray. He "left the phone off of the hook" so to speak and was
always ready to converse with God. He heard of a need or sensed a need
and his first reflex was to pray. What a model for believers today. Oh
how much more peace we would have if we would take it first to God in
prayer before we act or speak.
As you can also discern Paul is writing a very
personal letter, one which unmistakably shows the personal
affection Paul had for Timothy ("beloved
son" "longing to see you", etc - 2Ti 1:3, 4, 5, 6-see note
2Ti 1:3;
1:4;
1:5;
1:6;
"my son"
see 2Ti 2:1-note; "make every effort to come to me
soon" - 2Ti 4:9-note).
Remember (3417)
(mneia) means a recalling to mind = memory, recollection,
remembrance.
><>><>><>
Who's Praying? - Jim Cymbala's (of the Brooklyn Tabernacle) daughter had been running
from God for a long time. Chrissy had rebelled against her family, had
left home, and was living as far from God as she could. But one night,
this teenager awoke with the distinct feeling that someone was praying
for her. And someone was. The entire congregation of the church her
father pastored was talking to God about her. During their weekly prayer
meeting, a member suggested they should all pray for Chrissy. Two days
later, she came home. The first question she had for her startled father
was this: "Who was praying for me?" She begged forgiveness and
recommitted her life to Christ. In the apostle Paul's second letter to
Timothy, he told the young first-century pastor that he was praying for
him night and day (2Ti 1:3). Timothy was facing some big challenges, so it
must have been encouraging to know that Paul was praying specifically
for him. Are there some people we know who are in bondage to sin as
Chrissy was, or who are facing a challenge as Timothy was? Are we
willing to spend some concentrated time praying for them? Are we
confident that God will answer? To influence others for God, intercede
with God for others.
Commit to pray and intercede—
The battle's strong and great is the need;
And this one truth can't be ignored:
Our only help comes from the Lord.
—Sper
IN MY PRAYERS NIGHT AND DAY:
en tais deesesin mou nuktos kai hêmeras: (1Sa 12:23)
What an encouragement this must have
been to Timothy to know that Paul was praying without ceasing for his
young disciple. Are you praying for anyone on a regular basis?
Are you
aware of anyone praying for you on a regular basis? Are you praying for
anyone on a regular basis?
Prayers
(1162)
(deesis)
refers to
urgent requests or supplications to meet a need and are exclusively
addressed to God. Deesis prayers arise from one's sense of need (which
reflects a humble heart) and in knowing what
is lacking. This individual's plea is in turn made to God to supply for
the need. Deesis in the New Testament always
carries the idea of genuine entreaty and supplication before God.
It implies a realization of need and a petition for its supply. In Classical Greek deesis
(in
contrast to the Biblical uses) was not restricted to sacred uses, but was
employed of requests preferred to men.
Deesis is used 18 times in the
NT (click
for all verses) (See Torrey's
Topic "Intercessory
Prayer") There are 54 uses in the non-apocryphal
Septuagint (LXX)
(1 Ki. 8:28, 30, 38,
45, 52, 54; 9:3; 2 Chr. 6:19, 21, 29, 35, 39f; Esther 4:17; Job 8:6;
16:20; 27:9; 36:19; 41:3; Ps. 5:2; 6:9; 17:1; 22:24; 28:2, 6; 31:22;
34:15; 39:12; 40:1; 55:1; 61:1; 66:19; 86:6; 88:2; 102:1, 17; 106:44;
115:18; 119:169; 130:2; 140:6; 141:1; 142:2, 6; 143:1; 145:19; Isa.
1:15; Jer. 3:21; 11:14; 14:12; Lam. 3:56; Dan. 2:18; 4:33; 9:3, 17, 23)
Deesis was used by
the angel who assured the godly father of John the Baptist,
Do not be afraid
(stop fearing indicating he already was fearful), Zacharias
(means "Jehovah remembers"), for
your petition (deesis -
specifically their need for God to open his wife's womb) has
been heard, and your wife Elizabeth (means "my God is an
oath") will bear you a son, and you will
give him the name John (means “Jehovah has shown grace”) (Luke
1:13).
Luke uses deesis again
of the disciples of John the Baptist, who were said to “often fast
and offer prayers (deesis)" (Luke 5:33).
Deesis was used by Paul
of his “prayer for the salvation of his fellow Israelites...
Brethren, my heart's
(deepest, consuming) desire and
my prayer prayer (deesis - conveys idea
of pleading and entreaty, of persistent petition) to God for them is for their salvation. (Ro
10:1-note).
In Paul's letter to the saints at
Philippi, he wrote these encouraging words...
I thank (eucharisteo
> Eucharist used of Lord’s Supper when believers give thanks to God in
remembrance of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on the cross) my
(reflects Paul's deep intimacy) God in all my
remembrance of you, always offering prayer (deesis)
with joy in my every prayer (deesis) for
you all, in view of your (joint) participation (with me) in the gospel from the first day
(when Lydia opened her home for the preaching of the Word) until now.
(Php 1:3 4 5-note)
In fact Paul used deesis two more
times in the short letter to Philippi once of their prayers for him and
the last use encouraging believers to pray instead of worry...
For I know that this shall turn
out for my deliverance through your prayers (deesis)
and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Php 1:19-note)
Be anxious (stop
fretting and worrying - implying you already are - about even one thing) for nothing
(absolutely nothing because Nothing is outside of God's sovereign
control or too difficult for Him to handle), but in
everything by prayer (proseuche = the essence of this
word for prayer is worship) and
supplication (deesis - definite requests
issuing as a cry for personal needs) with thanksgiving
(instead of a spirit of rebellion against what God allows) let your requests
(such prayer is the antidote to worry and cure for anxiety) be made known to God.
(Philippians 4:6-note)
Comment: Be anxious in
nothing, prayerful in everything, thankful for anything
Stayed upon Jehovah,
Hearts are fully blessed;
Finding, as He promised,
Perfect peace and rest.
(Play
Like a River Glorious)
by Frances Ridley Havergal
In Paul's first epistle to Timothy he
wrote...
First of all, then, I urge that
entreaties (deesis) and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf
of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we
may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. (1Timothy
2:1 2)
And once again in this first
letter to Timothy...
Now she who is a widow indeed, and
who has been left alone (Gk verb = monoo = perfect
tense = completely and permanently alone, forsaken, desolate and without
resources) has fixed her hope (permanently) on God, and continues
(perseveres constantly) in
entreaties (deesis - petitions for her
needs) and prayers night and day. (1Timothy 5:5)
Deesis is used to describe the
character of our Lord's prayers, the writer of Hebrews recording that...
In the days of His flesh, He offered
up both prayers (deesis) and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One
able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. (Heb
5:7
see note)
In a well known verse on the effect
of prayer, James writes...
Therefore (marks
a turn from speaking to individuals to the entire congregation - confess
is plural),
confess
(present
imperative
= we are to continually confess our sins. Thus confession is not
optional but is necessary to cleanse one's soul) your sins (paraptoma
= slips, false steps, offenses, sins) to one another,
and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective
(energeo = gives us word energy) prayer (deesis) of a righteous man can accomplish much
(literally “is very strong”; Amplified = "makes tremendous power
available [dynamic in its working]")." (James 5:16)
John MacArthur comments on
this passage in James writing that...
Weak prayers come from weak people;
strong prayers come from strong people. The energetic prayers of a
righteous man are a potent force in calling down the power of God for
restoring weak, struggling believers to spiritual health. To further
demonstrate the power of righteous prayer and provide an illustration
that captures the essence of his discussion, James turns to ...Elijah.
(Macarthur
J. James. Moody)
From a review of these NT uses of deesis one can see that one of
the main characteristics of this type of prayer is that it originates
from one's needs such as: Zacharias' petition for his barren wife
Elizabeth (Lk 1:13), Paul's prayer for the salvation of his fellow (Ro
10:1 see
note),
righteous men praying for those who have " trespassed" God's boundaries
(James 5:16)
How is your intercessory prayer life?
Charles Simeon observed
that...
It is scarcely ever that we can
intercede with fervor unless we enjoy habitual nearness to God.
Intercession is standing in other
people's shoes
and representing them before God.
If you are discipling someone
take Paul's example and write them a note or email to let them know that you are praying for
them "night and day" (but only if you actually are)
as such a message will encourage them to
be all they can be for the Lord.
Teach Me, Lord, to Intercede!
Lord, I see the countless millions
In the land far o'er the sea,
Dying with no hope of Jesus,
Lost through all eternity;
And I feel so weak and helpless
As I view this desperate need,
Humbly, Lord, I do beseech Thee,
Teach me, now, to intercede.
Lord, I see my friends and neighbors
In a death march toward the grave;
Not one thought of Christ, who bought them,
Nor the priceless gift He gave;
Then I feel my own undoneness
Viewing thus this crying need,
And I cry with heartfelt anguish,
"Teach me, Lord, to intercede."
Lord, I have no wealth to bring Thee,
And my talents are so few;
But I long for all to know Thee,
Love Thee as we ought to do.
So while men with brains and talents
Warn the wicked of their need,
I, within my secret closet,
Close to God, would intercede.
—Anna Van Buren Prat, in Way of Holiness
Below are the 18 uses
of deesis in the NT. Even a cursory study of the uses of
deesis in the context of these NT passages helps give one a sense of
the meaning of this word for prayer.
Luke 1:13 But the angel said
to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been
heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give
him the name John.
Luke 2:37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. And she
never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and
prayers.
Luke 5:33 And they said to Him, "The disciples of John often fast
and offer prayers; the disciples of the Pharisees also do the
same; but Yours eat and drink."
Romans 10:1
(note) Brethren, my
heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their
salvation.
2 Corinthians 1:11 you also joining in helping us through your
prayers, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for
the favor bestowed upon us through the prayers of many.
2 Corinthians 9:14 while they also, by prayer on your
behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.
Ephesians 6:18 (note)
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and
with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition
for all the saints,
Philippians 1:4 (note)
always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you
all,
Philippians 1:19 (note)
For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance through your
prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
Philippians 4:6 (note)
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties
and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
1 Timothy 5:5 Now she who is a widow indeed, and who has been
left alone has fixed her hope on God, and continues in entreaties
and prayers night and day.
2 Timothy 1:3 (note)
I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers
did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,
Hebrews 5:7 (note)
In the days of His flesh, He
offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and
tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because
of His piety.
James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray
for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer
of a righteous man can accomplish much.
1 Peter 3:12 (note)
"For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And His ears attend to
their prayer, But the face of the Lord is against those who do
evil."
Night (3571)
(nuktos) defines the period between sunset and sunrise.
Day (2250)
(hemera) defines the period between sunrise and sunset.
Night
and day - (9 NT uses of
this phrase = Mk 5:5; Lk 2:37; Acts 20:31; 26:7; 1Th 2:9; 3:10; 2Th 3:8;
1Ti 5:5; 2Ti 1:3)
This phrase is not literally 24/7 but
is a figure of speech re-enforcing the idea that Paul is constantly
remembering Timothy in his prayers. Some of Paul's prayers are being
offered during the long hours of the night in his dark dungeon, while
other prayers for Timothy ascend to God during the day. It is notable
that Paul always uses this order --"night and day."
It is good to pray for
individuals; it is good also to tell them that you pray for them. Does it encourage you when another
saint tells you they have prayed or are regularly praying for you? Imagine how Timothy must
have felt knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that this great man of God
was interceding with the Almighty on his behalf.
Genuine concern
for others
is the mark of a great spiritual coach.
It should be noted that some commentators take the night and day as modifying Paul's
longing to see Timothy.
The Psalmist David declared...
Evening and morning and at noon, I
will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice. (Ps
55:17)
Spurgeon comments: Evening and morning, and at noon,
will I pray. Often but none too often. Seasons of great need call
for frequent seasons of devotion. The three periods chosen are most
fitting; to begin, continue, and end the day with God is supreme wisdom.
Where time has naturally set up a boundary, there let us set up an altar
stone. The psalmist means that he will always pray; he will run a line
of prayer right along the day, and track the sun with his petitions. Day
and night he saw his enemies busy (Psalms
55:10), and
therefore he would meet their activity by continuous prayer.
And cry aloud. He would give a tongue to his complaint; he would
be very earnest in his pleas with heaven. Some cry aloud who never say a
word. It is the bell of the heart that rings loudest in heaven. Some
read it, "I will nurse and murmur;" deep heart thoughts should be
attended with inarticulate but vehement utterances of grief. Blessed be
God, moaning is translatable in heaven.
A father's heart
reads a child's heart.
And He shall hear my voice. He
is confident that he will prevail; he makes no question that he would be
heard, he speaks as if already he were answered. When our window is
opened towards heaven, the windows of heaven are open to us.
Have but a pleading heart
and God will have a plenteous hand.
Paul practiced what he
preached for writing to the Thessalonian saints he commanded them to
Pray
(present
imperative =
commands continual
prayer ~ an attitude of prayer), without ceasing. (1Th 5:17-note)
Pray
Without Ceasing
Having trouble praying without
ceasing? Not even sure what this description means in a practical sense? A good audio
overview is available from Dr John Piper - on the following link
right click, select "Save Target As", then save to your computer or Ipod
-
Mp3 Audio - Pray Without Ceasing.
Unceasing prayer is a frequent theme
in the NT...In the following passages related
to praying without ceasing, notice the repetitive use of the
present imperative
and the
present tense.
