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You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth. 2 Timothy 4:16 http://www.dailybiblestudy.org
16 At [en] my [mou] first [protos] answer [apologia] no man [oudeis] stood [sumparaginomai] with me, [moi] but [alla] all [pas] men forsook [egkataleipo] me: [me] I pray God that it may [logizomai] not [me] be laid [logizomai] to their charge. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. NASB In the Roman court system, there are two hearings. The first is to establish the charges and the second is to establish innocence or guilt. Paul is referring to the first appearance. And in that hearing, apparently of those people who were with Paul, none stood up in defense for Paul. The word for stood, 'sumparaginomai,' means to stand with, to speak for. During the latter years of the 60's A.D., there was tremendous persecution in Rome. Nero was burning the city and blaming the Christians, Christians were being burned and butchered in the coliseum, and just to be a Christian let alone profess it, was extremely dangerous. So, many folks ran away from Rome, and certainly those who were with Paul, ran away from him as well. But here, Paul forgives them and prays that their fears and abandonment are not held against them. And in life in general, we are all going to face situations where we have to make a decision either for or against Christ and our faith. For some it may be just the day to day pressures of life wherein we could easily get frustrated or dejected or unhappy, and begin to look for someone to blame, in order to make our feeling sorry for ourselves, more acceptable to us. For others, life may be filed with social choices allowing us to reject Christ in order to join in, or get ostracized from the fun things of life as we view them. In some cultures, Christianity may very well come with a death sentence, because of the fanaticism of other religions. But for whatever reason, all things in life happen, not by accident, but for a good reason. And therein lies the test of your character. Do you stand by doctrinal principles or do you run or condemn? Do you look to Christ for help, or do you whine about your life? Our purpose in this life is not to succeed in this world, not to necessarily have it easy in this life, but to prepare for the next world, and with that preparation comes many challenges and tests, that could easily push you to the edge of your wits. Remember that this is the devils world and he desperately wants you to fail. The big question is, how will you react to pressures when they strike? Some folks get upset at a broken fingernail, while others get upset with messed up financial transactions or storm losses. Certainly those folks back then, had Nero to keep them looking over their shoulder, and death or torture, only an accusation away. Nothing in life happens by accident. God is there for those who are positive, poised, confessed and growing. To them, all pressures should be of no consequence, for their future is far more important than the present. For those who fall apart over any type of pressure, there is a much longer road of testing and more testing and more testing, until they simply give up or until they finally get it. What do you suppose that you need to do in order to make life easier on yourself?
Now is the time to post a prayer. End Of Lesson Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth. |
