The pragmatic life in Christ demands daily living…
Feb 25
"And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come." (Luke 19:13) This "parable of the pounds" indicated to His disciples that they should not wait idly for the second coming of Christ, thinking "that the kingdom of God should immediately appear" (Luke 19:11), but that they should stay busy, using whatever abilities and opportunities they had in the Lord's service until His return. The word "occupy" is an unusual word, the Greek pragmatenomai, from which we derive our modern word "pragmatic," meaning "practical," and it only occurs this one time in the New Testament. There is another related word, however, also occurring only one time, in 2 Timothy 2:4. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." Here the word "affairs" is the Greek pragmateia, and Paul is cautioning those who would be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ" against becoming involved in the pragmatic affairs of civilian or business life, if they would really be pleasing to their commanding officer.
Walk by faith
Feb 25
Although our text for today appears in parentheses in the King James Bible, it is a most important concept in Scripture and is the summary of an extensive passage which precedes it. Beginning with II Corinthians 4:8, Paul continually contrasts the seen and the unseen, finishing up with the admonition to "walk by faith." "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" (vv.8-9). Though we have trials on the outside, through faith we have inward triumph. "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus . . . that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (vv.10-11). Even though "death worketh in us," that same persecution results in "life in you" (v.12). Through faith we know "that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus" (v.14).
Fools
Feb 25
"Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not He thy father that hath bought thee? hath He not made thee, and established thee?" (Deuteronomy 32:6). fool This rebuke was by Moses, as he warned the people of God just before their entrance into the Promised Land. It contains the first use of the Hebrew nabal (translated "fool" or "foolish") in the Bible. Here it is applied to God's chosen people after they had been redeemed out of Egyptian slavery by God. This implies that the most foolish of all people are those who have known about God and His great salvation and yet have turned away from His Word. Paul writes in similar scathing terms of those who had known of God's great deliverance of their fathers from the evil world before the Flood, and yet then abandoned Him for idolatry. "When they knew God, . . . their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1:21-22).
Under the sun?
Feb 25
"What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?" (Ecclesiastes 1:3) This is the first of 29 occurrences of the striking phrase, "under the sun," found only in the Book of Ecclesiastes. The question it asks is a common age-long question, for "there is no new thing under the sun" (v. 9). A man works to eat so he can work again, and what's the purpose of it all? And this question was asked, not by a day laborer who lived from hand to mouth, but by King Solomon, reputed to be the richest and wisest man of all the ages. He set about to try everything which might bring fulfillment. Here was his conclusion: "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun" (2:11).
Jesus’ warning about diluting His word…
Feb 25
"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book." (Revelation 22:19) This final testimony and warning of Christ to those who profess to be His followers is a clear command not to either augment (Revelation 22:18) or dilute the inspired "words" (not just "thoughts") of the Bible. There are many people in the various cults following some leader who think he or she has received some new inspired word from God. That is very unwise. But it is usually certain leaders in the mainline denominations who presumptuously either cull out or explain away those Bible verses they consider unscientific or offensive in some way. That is even more dangerous, for those whose names are not found "in the book of life" will be "cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15).
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