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Charles Spurgeon · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Spurgeon - Oh, blessed, blessed state of heart to feel that now we are born into the family of God, and that the choice word which no slave might ever pronounce may now be pronounced by us, “Abba”! It is a child’s word, such as a little child utters when first he opens his mouth to speak, and it rune the same both backwards and forwards,-AB-BA. Oh to have a childlike spirit that, in whatever state of heart I am, I may still be able to say, in the accents even of spiritual infancy, “Abba, Father”! (Commentary on Romans) Wayne
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Spurgeon - “Be perfectly at home with me, for I am so with you. Though you Galatians have treated me very badly, yet ye have not really injured me, and I freely overlook your ill manners toward me.” Galatians 4:13 but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; KJV Galatians 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. NLT Galatians 4:13 Surely you remember that I was sick when I first brought you the Good News. CSB Galatians 4:13 you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a physical illness. NIV Galatians 4:13 As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. but you know that it was because of a bodily illness 1 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 10:10; 11:6,30; 12:7-10; 13:4 the first time Galatians 1:6; Acts 16:6 Galatians 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Galatians 4:12-20 - Don Anderson Galatians Study 8; More Notes on Galatians Study 8 Warren Wiersbe's sermon Born Free - Galatians 4 - one of the simplest and most profound expositions you will ever hear on Galatians 4! In this section of personal appeal, Paul writes first of their attitude toward him (Gal 4:13-16) and then of his attitude toward them (Gal 4:17-20). But you know that it was because of a bodily illness - The phrase but you know indicates that the readers understood to what illness Paul was referring. The interpretation of this statement is very difficult and one best avoid being dogmatic. We can only do some "educated" speculation so the following is to be read with that understanding. Some say it refers to Paul's "thorn in the flesh" (2 Cor 12:7) that was given to keep him humble. A few think this refers to the opposition Paul experienced (e.g., Acts 13:45, 50+; Acts 14:19+, cf his allusion to scars in Gal 6:17+). Most interpreters think that Paul is referring to a serious physical affliction he had at this time. Douglas Moo on "thorn in the flesh" - Witherington (1998: 309) argues that they are not the same because the “thorn in the flesh” was given to Paul “fourteen years” before he wrote 2 Corinthians (see 2 Cor. 12:2), that is, around AD 42–43, whereas Paul first visited the Galatians at the earliest in AD 46–47. But in 2 Cor. 12:7 the present tenses of the verbs ὑπεραίρωμαι (hyperairōmai, becoming conceited) and κολαφίζῃ (kolaphizē, torment) imply that the thorn was a persistent condition (e.g., Harris 2005: 857)....Why Paul’s physical problem led him to evangelize in Galatia simply cannot be known. (Galatians Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament) Thomas Schreiner - The welcome Paul received among the Galatians was remarkable because his presence among them was not attractive. He apparently suffered from sickness when he proclaimed the gospel to them. Hays suggests that Paul needed “to recuperate from being flogged, beaten, or stoned,”and a number of interpreters now argue that his physical problem was due to his suffering as an apostle. But the phrase “because of weakness of the flesh” is more naturally understood as referring to sickness rather than persecution.Therefore, most scholars think that Paul refers to a bodily ailment or sickness rather than his being persecuted. (Galatians - ZECNT)
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Spurgeon - Knowledge of God Creates Abhorrence of Idols - Paul tells the Galatians in 4:8 that when they did not know God, they served them which by nature are no gods. But when they knew God, or rather were known by Him, they turned from their idols at once. A knowledge of God creates an abhorrence of idols, especially of those that have enslaved our own hearts. It seems most monstrous that the ancient Greeks and Romans could have worshiped the deities that their poets invented for them, and yet at this very time men imagine for themselves a god such as they would choose, and then they worship this god of their own fabrication. Only let the Lord reveal Himself to the soul. Let the heart know the true God, and away these idols go; with loathing they are cast to the moles and to the bats. God so enamors the soul of the converted man, so engrosses every spiritual faculty, that he cannot endure an idol, however dear in former times. If perchance in some backsliding moment an earthly love intrudes, it is because the man has withdrawn his eye from the splendor of the Deity (ED: See "Expulsive Power of a New Affection"). When once he gets his eye back again to the God of love, then Dagon falls before the ark of the Lord (1 Sa 5:3–4), and not so much as the stump thereof is left. Blessed Lord, let us know you, for then we shall know our idols no more. Galatians 4:9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? KJV Galatians 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? That you have come to know God 1 Kings 8:43; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Ps 9:10; Pr 2:5; Jer 31:34; Hab 2:14; Matthew 11:27; John 17:3; 1 Cor 15:34; 2 Cor 4:6; Eph 1:17; 2 Pe 2:20; 1 Jn 2:3,4; 5:20 rather to be known by God Ex 33:17; Ps 1:6; Jn 10:14,27; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 8:3; 13:12; 2 Timothy 2:19 how is it that you turn back again Gal 3:3; Romans 8:3; Colossians 2:20-23; Hebrews 7:18 turn back again Hebrews 10:38,39 Galatians 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Galatians 4:1-11 - Don Anderson Galatians Study 7; More Notes on Galatians Study 7 Warren Wiersbe's sermon Born Free - Galatians 4 - one of the simplest and most profound expositions you will ever hear on Galatians 4! THE ENIGMA OF KNOWING GOD BUT TURNING BACK Enigma means something that baffles understanding and can't be readily explained or understood. It describes something that is a puzzling and even inexplicable. In Galatians 4:8 Paul reminded his readers of their hopeless, helpless condition outside of Christ, a truth echoed in Ephesians 2:12+. And then Paul opened the gates of heaven and hope writing But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off (AND WITHOUT HOPE) have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Eph 2:13+) But now - This is one of those great "but now's" in the Bible (cf Ro 3:21, Ro 6:22, Ro 7:6, Ro 11:30, Eph 2:13, Eph 5:8, 2 Ti 1:10, 1 Pet 2:10). This is both a dramatic term of contrast and a time phrase (contrasts with Gal 4:8 "However at that time"), from those who were slaves to an "unknown god" (so to speak) to those who are sons knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ. That you have come to know God - " come to know by experience through faith in Christ." (Robertson) They did not just know about God, but they knew Him personally and intimately and enjoyed fellowship with the Holy One of Israel. This is salvation from the man's perspective. The more important knowing is to be known by God, which is salvation from His perspective! Without His "perspective," man would have not "perspective" regarding salvation! John speaks of us knowing God the Son And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding (dianoia) (NOTE GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY IN SALVATION - WE KNOW BECAUSE HE GIVES US THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND) so that we may know (ginosko - experientially) Him Who is true; and we are in Him (IN COVENANT, IN ONENESS, IN IDENTIFICATION WITH HIM) Who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20+) Know...know (1097)(ginosko) involves experiential knowledge, not merely the accumulation of known facts. The idea is to know intimately, experientially and personally. Knowledge possessed through the intellectual process of learning is one thing. Knowledge gained by experience, by an active relationship between the one who knows and the person or thing known, is far superior to the former. Ginosko describes the latter and is what every Christ follower has experienced as their personal, permanent possession regarding the Person of Christ (e.g., see ginosko in Jn 8:32, Jn 17:3, Php 3:10+). Barber on “Come to know God” notes that "the word for knowing God is to experience Him, ginosko. It’s a different word than know (oida) in Gal 4:8. It means to know Him by experience. And it’s in the aorist tense and it’s active voice. It means there was a time when this event took place in your life. You experienced God. You knew Him the very moment you bowed in faith before Him. That was a knowing of God. Isn’t that awesome! I got to tap into and actually experience the God that created the air that I breathe. I got to know Him and experience Him the moment I bowed and received Him as my Savior. (Sermon)
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Spurgeon - How can ye go back to the things of your spiritual childhood? As well may full-grown men begin again to read their A B C, and learn from baby picture books!
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Spurgeon - To keep holy days and practise symbolical ceremonies is contrary to the very spirit of Christianity; and those who do so lead us to suspect that they do not know the gospel at all....Among the heathen, there were divers “lucky” and “unlucky” days; sacred days, and days in which they indulged in sensual excess. They had even “holy” months and “unholy” months. Now, all that kind of thing is done away with in the case of a Christian: he is set free from such weak and beggarly superstitions. Among the Jews, there were certain sacred festivals, times that were more notable than other seasons; but they also were done away with in Christ. We observe the Christian Sabbath; but beyond that, to the true believer, there should be no special observance of days, and months, and years. All that is a return to “the weak and beggarly elements” from which Christ has delivered him. That bondage is all ended now; but there are some who still “observe days, and months, and times, and years;” and Paul says to them, “I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.” Everyday is holy, every year is holy, to a holy man; and every place is holy, too, to the man who brings a holy heart into it. John
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Spurgeon - The apostle remembers how they received him at first, his gospel was to them like life from the dead; and though he was full of infirmities,—perhaps had weak eyes,—perhaps had a stammering tongue,—perhaps was at that time very much depressed in spirit,—yet, he says, “You received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. You loved me so much that, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.” Galatians 4:16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? KJV Galatians 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? become Galatians 3:1-4; 1 Kings 18:17,18; 21:20; 22:8,27; 2 Chronicles 24:20-22; 25:16; Psalms 141:5; Proverbs 9:8; John 7:7; 8:45 by telling you the truth Galatians 2:5,14; 5:7 Galatians 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Galatians 4:12-20 - Don Anderson Galatians Study 8; More Notes on Galatians Study 8 Warren Wiersbe's sermon Born Free - Galatians 4 - one of the simplest and most profound expositions you will ever hear on Galatians 4! So (hoste) therefore, ‘for this reason, so, so then, so now, now. Matthew Henry -The more to impress upon them a just shame of their present conduct, he again asks, "Am I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? How is it that I, who was heretofore your favourite, am now accounted your enemy? Can you pretend any other reason for it than that I have told you the truth, endeavoured to acquaint you with, and to confirm you in, the truth of the gospel? And, if not, how unreasonable must your disaffection be!' THOUGHT - It is no uncommon thing for men to account those their enemies who are really their best friends; for so, undoubtedly, those are, whether ministers or others, who tell them the truth, and deal freely and faithfully with them in matters relating to their eternal salvation, as the apostle now did with these Christians. Ministers may sometimes create enemies to themselves by the faithful discharge of their duty; for this was the case of Paul, he was accounted their enemy for telling them the truth. Yet ministers must not forbear speaking the truth, for fear of offending others and drawing their displeasure upon them. They may be easy in their own minds, when they are conscious to themselves that, if others have become their enemies, it is only for telling them the truth. (M. Henry) Henry's comment begs the question "Have you made any enemies recently?" "Have they spurned you or ignored you now that you have told them the truth of the Gospel in love?" Take heart, because you do not know what the sovereign God might do with the "Gospel seed" you have sown! Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? - Paul contrasts the behavior of the Galatian believers toward him in the past (see Gal 4:13-15) with their new attitude toward him as he writes. Paul asks this question as a means of trying to wake up the Galatians to what was really transpiring as a result of the agitators being in their midst. Notice that the verb become (ginomai) is in the perfect tense which depicts a continued state or condition. And note how ironic that these Judaizing enemies of the Gospel were calling Paul the enemy!
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Spurgeon - The Responsibility of Those Who Would Win Souls - Paul speaks of himself as the very mother of those to whom he was the means of conversion: “My children, for whom I am having birth pains again, until Christ is formed in you” (Gal 4:18). God so uses those who seek to win souls that, as it were, He puts the very paternity of those souls upon them. Let it teach us this lesson that if God works by means, as He does, He will not have us neglect those means, or we will be found unfit for the Master’s use. Someone complains that there are no conversions under his ministry; will he ask himself whether he has aimed at conversion? A Sunday school teacher says that she has seen no girls in her class brought to Christ; has her teaching been such as to tend that way? Has Christ been set forth in His sweet attraction? Has prayer been offered that the girls might come to Christ? Have they been pleaded with? Have they been taught their lost condition? Have they been shown the excellence of Christ as a Savior? You see, if we live in a region of means suited to ends, it is the path of wisdom to find out the means best suited to the desired end, and to use it in dependence upon God. I believe that if we preach Christ crucified with crucified hearts, if we set forth Christ with earnest longing that men may see Him, they will see Him. I believe, teachers in the Sunday school, that if Christ is taught in the classes earnestly and prayerfully, the children will receive Him. Ask those who have tried it. They would tell you that though they may have been at times slack in their service, God has never been slack concerning His promise. His word has not returned to Him void; it has accomplished what He pleased and prospered in the thing for which He sent it. Let there be no listless indifference, no falling back upon the sovereignty of God as an excuse for halfheartedness. Galatians 4:19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you-- KJV Galatians 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, 20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. My children 1 Corinthians 4:14; 1 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 1:10,19; James 1:18; 1 John 2:1,12; 5:21 with whom I am again in labor Numbers 11:11,12; Isaiah 53:11; Luke 22:44; Phil 1:8; 2:17; Col 2:1; 4:12; Hebrews 5:7; Rev 12:1,2 until Christ is formed in you Ro 8:29; 13:14; Eph 4:24; Phil 2:5; Col 1:27; 3:10 Galatians 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Galatians 4:12-20 - Don Anderson Galatians Study 8; More Notes on Galatians Study 8 Warren Wiersbe's sermon Born Free - Galatians 4 - one of the simplest and most profound expositions you will ever hear on Galatians 4! PAUL'S PASSIONATE PLEA FOR THEIR CHRIST-LIKENESS My children ("my born ones"), with whom I am again in labor - Note his tender touch calling them My children (KJV "My little children" - teknion), for indeed many were like "spiritual children" to him for they had first heard the Gospel from him, which the Spirit used to save them. Notice the word again, which indicates he was in labor with them before, presumably when he first proclaimed the Gospel to them (see Acts 13 and Acts 14). Because of what Paul has learned about the adverse effects of the Judaizers on his "spiritual children" in Galatia, he is again having "labor pains." The first time Paul was in labor for their deliverance from slavery to idolatry and now he is in travail for them to be delivered from the slavery of legalism of the Jews (Gal 4:9+). Paul's addressing them tenderly as my children (tekna mou) uses an expression found only here in Paul’s epistles. Ponder what Paul is saying here by using this maternal metaphor to describe a second bout of labor pains -- he so loves them that he is willing to go through the incredibly painful process of childbirth (men don't fully grasp the pain) again for their sakes. W E Vine - There is a suggestion of reproach in his words, as though he would ask them whether they had ever heard of a mother enduring the birth pangs twice for her children. There is no thought here of a second regeneration necessitated by their defection; for one reason because the apostle does not charge them with having actually turned away from the true gospel, but only with being in danger of doing so. (Collected Writings) The mental/emotional pain Paul is feeling reminds me of the painful words of Jesus when He declared "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!" (Lk 13:34+) Paul used a similar maternal figure of speech in 1 Th 2:7-8 declaring "But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. " Matthew
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Spurgeon - All his anxiety arose from their falling into ritualism and legalism. He wanted to see them living by faith upon Jesus and worshiping God with free spiritual worship. The fashionable religion of the present day is overlaid with pompous forms, and the plain gospel of salvation by faith in Jesus is despised. Nevertheless, to the doctrine of grace let us steadfastly cleave, for it alone is truth, and in it alone is salvation....The point of doubt was, that they had been led astray by legal teachers; they had been made to believe that, after all, there was something in outward ceremonies, something in the works of the law, and so they had come under bondage again. In vain the trembling conscience seeks Some solid ground to rest upon; With long despair the spirit breaks, Till we apply to Christ alone. Should all the forms that men devise Assault my faith with treacherous art, I’d call them vanity and lies, And bind the gospel to my heart.
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Spurgeon asks “What is God’s law now? It is not above a Christian – it is under a Christian. Some men hold God’s law like a rod in terrorem (by way of threat or intimidation), over Christians, and say, ‘If you sin you will be punished with it.’ It is not so. The law is under a Christian; it is for him to walk on, to be his guide, his rule, his pattern . . . Law is the road which guides us, not the rod which drives us, nor the spirit which actuates us.” (The Allegories of Sarah and Hagar - Galatians 4:24) John