Gálatas 6
Kent Hughes · Citado em PreceptAustin
Gálatas 6
Hughes says that believers "ought to be like the little boy whose family clock malfunctioned and struck 15x so that he rushed wide-eyed to his mother crying, “Mommy, it’s later than it’s ever been before!” What sanctifying logic! We should also keep in mind that if Christ does not return in our time, He will certainly come individually for us in death. Each ache, pain, gray hair, new wrinkle or funeral is another reminder that it is later than it has ever been before. It is time to love our neighbors as ourselves. It's later than you think. Redeem the time!...May God help us to love with a sense of urgency and selflessness. Let us cultivate a sense of debt. Just as when we owe someone money and our debt is the first thing we think of when we see him, so may it be with our debt of love (see Ro 13:8, 9-note, Ro 13:10, 11-note). Let us enlarge our definition of neighbor as, “My neighbor is not necessarily someone like me. It is any person God has (Ed: sovereignly, providentially, not accidentally) put in my way whom I can help.” Let us cultivate a sense of the time—“It is later than it has ever been before.” Ob Portu - In the days before modern harbors, a ship had to wait for the flood tide before it could make it to port. The term for this situation in Latin was ob portu, that is, a ship standing over off a port, waiting for the moment when it could ride the turn of the tide to harbor. THOUGHT: What a great picture of a believer waiting for others who are passing by, intentionally [as led by the Spirit] watching for and seizing opportunities to do good! Lord give us eyes to see those "golden opportunities" You have placed in our path that we might be like ships ob portu, seizing the moment for Your glory. Amen) The English word opportunity is derived from this original meaning. The captain and the crew were ready and waiting for that one moment for they knew that if they missed it, they would have to wait for another tide to come in. Shakespeare turned this background of the exact meaning of opportunity into one of his most famous passages. It’s from Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3: There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. TICK, TICK, TICK - Do you have a clock or watch available with a secondhand on it? Stop and follow that hand as it ticks away 1 minute. Those seconds, of course, are the way we measure time, and time is the very essence of our lives. By the time you reach the age of 75, the clocks and watches of this world will have ticked away a total of nearly 2.5 billion seconds. Bernard Berenson, an internationally famous art critic, had a zest for life. Even when he was in ill health, he cherished every moment. Shortly before he died at age 94, he said to a friend, “I would willingly stand at street corners, hat in hand, asking passersby to drop their unused minutes into it.” Oh, that we would learn to appreciate the value of time! We certainly don’t want to be so time-conscious that we become driven workaholics, neglecting our families, never relaxing with our friends, too busy to smell the roses or admire a sunset. Yet Paul urged us to redeem the time (Ephesians 5:15-16), and Moses prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Let’s ask the Lord to help us appreciate the value of time. May we wisely invest our seconds, minutes, hours, and days, realizing that beyond time lies eternity. Galatians 6:11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. NET Galatians 6:11 See what big letters I make as I write to you with my own hand! GNT Galatians 6:11 Ἴδετε πηλίκοις ὑμῖν γράμμασιν ἔγραψα τῇ ἐμῇ χειρί. NLT Galatians 6:11 NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING. KJV Galatians 6:11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. ESV Galatians 6:11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. ASV Galatians 6:11 See with how large letters I write unto you with mine own hand. CSB Galatians 6:11 Look at what large letters I use as I write to you in my own handwriting. NIV Galatians 6:11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand! NKJ Galatians 6:11 See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! NRS Galatians 6:11 See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand! YLT Galatians 6:11 Ye see in how large letters I have written to you with my own hand; NAB Galatians 6:11 See with what large letters I am writing to you in my own hand! NJB Galatians 6:11 Notice what large letters I have used in writing to you with my own hand. GWN Galatians 6:11 Look at how large the letters in these words are because I'm writing this myself. BBE Galatians 6:11 See the size of the handwriting which I myself have made use of in writing to you. I am writing to you with my own hand: Ro 16:22 1Co 16:21-23 Galatians 6 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries LARGE LETTERS Longenecker notes that "the subscription [Gal 6:11-18] provides important clues for understanding the issues discussed throughout Galatians, particularly those having to do with the judaizing threat brought into the churches by certain legalistically oriented Jewish Christians, for it not only summarizes the main points dealt with earlier in the letter but also allows us to cut through all of the verbage and see matters in their essence as Paul saw them." (Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 41, Galatians) We know one of Paul's main purposes for writing this letter was to warn the Galatians of the danger of falling from grace if they listened to the Judaizers. Now in this final section it seems that he himself may have taken up the the pen so that he could (1) authenticate the letter (cf similar idea in 1Cor 16:21; Col 4:18; 2 Thess 3:17) and (2) to graphically call their attention to his main points. Imagine reading this letter and from Galatians 6:11-18 every word was "large" and/or in capital letters. That would certainly get the reader's attention! See (aorist imperative) with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand - We cannot be dogmatic but the large letters may reflect poor eyesight which might be what he alludes to in Gal 4:13, 15+. These large letters could have been all capital letters (see NLT rendition below) Some think that the previous part of this letter was dictated by Paul and only here did he take up the pen and personally write down letters. We cannot state with certainty and so will have to wait until Heaven to ask Paul what this statement means. NLT has "NOTICE WHAT LARGE LETTERS I USE AS I WRITE THESE CLOSING WORDS IN MY OWN HANDWRITING." MacArthur on the phrase with my own hand - Whatever else it may indicate, with my own hand shows that Paul normally dictated his letters to a scribe, or amanuensis, who did the actual writing. It was his custom, however, to write a short salutation in his own handwriting (see 1 Cor. 16:21; Col. 4:18; 2 Thess. 3:17) in order to prove the genuineness of the letter. During the time of the early church, many forged documents were circulated in the name of the apostles in order to gain credibility. Paul referred to that practice of deception when he cautioned the Thessalonian believers not to "be quickly shaken from [their] composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from [him], to the effect that the day of the Lord [had] come" (2 Thess. 2:2). (Galatians MacArthur New Testament Commentary) Some like Robertson are dogmatic - Paul now takes the pen from the amanuensis (cf. Romans 16:22) and writes the rest of the Epistle (Galatians 6:11-18) himself instead of the mere farewell greeting (2 Thes. 3:17; 1 Cor. 16:21; Col. 4:18). (Galatians 6 Commentary) Writing (1125)(grapho from root graph- = primarily means to scratch on or engrave as on an ornament, reports, letters, etc; English = graph, graphic, etc) means to engrave or inscribe with a pen or stylus characters or letters on a surface which can be wood, wax, metal, leather, stone, parchment, dirt (John ), paper, etc.
Gálatas 6:10
Hughes says that believers... ought to be like the little boy whose family clock malfunctioned and struck 15x so that he rushed wide-eyed to his mother crying, “Mommy, it’s later than it’s ever been before!” What sanctifying logic! We should also keep in mind that if Christ does not return in our time, He will certainly come individually for us in death. Each ache, pain, gray hair, new wrinkle or funeral is another reminder that it is later than it has ever been before. It is time to love our neighbors as ourselves. It's later than you think. Redeem the time!... May God help us to love with a sense of urgency and selflessness. Let us cultivate a sense of debt. Just as when we owe someone money and our debt is the first thing we think of when we see him, so may it be with our debt of love (see Ro 13:8, 9-note, Ro 13:10, 11-note). Let us enlarge our definition of neighbor as, “My neighbor is not necessarily someone like me. It is any person God has (Ed: sovereignly, providentially, not accidentally) put in my way whom I can help.” Let us cultivate a sense of the time— “It is later than it has ever been before.” Let us consciously put off the deeds of darkness (we individually know what these are) and put on Jesus—every day! (Ro 13:12-note, Ro 13:13, 14-note) Let us not be planning out in our mind beforehand how we will carry out the sinful desires that deceptively, continually emanate from our old nature (flesh) (which will constantly wage war with us until we are home [1Pe 2:11-note]). (Hughes, R. K. Romans: Righteousness from heaven. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books) Do (ergazomai) is in the present tense and so calls for continuous activity to accomplish or bring about some good through work. This will require dependence on the Holy Spirit in Whom Paul had just commanded them to continually walk (Gal 5:18) and be led by (Gal 5:18). Good works cannot be produced by self-effort or self-reliance but only by the good Spirit working in us to initiate and enable those good works. So the order is - First, BE filled, BE walking by the Spirit. Second, DO the good works. Do (2038) (ergazomai from ergon = work) means to engage in an activity involving considerable expenditure of effort. To work effectively. The NT uses ergazomai in a literal (to do manual labor) and figurative (especially spiritual - see below) sense. To labor, do work. Ergazomai speaks of "an action as something that stands in contrast to inactivity or talk." (Richards) To trade or do business (be involved in buying and selling). To work at a trade. To make a gain by trading. (Mt 25:16). Ergazomai is frequently used of business, or employment. Paul used ergazomai of literal work (1Cor 4:12, 9:6, 9:13, Eph 4:28, Col 3:23, 1Thes 4:11, 2Thes 3:8, 10-12). Richards - A number of Greek words explore the different aspects of "work" seen in the OT. Among the most common are ergazomai and ergon. Words in this group speak of such things as labor, activity, achievement, and business. God is particularly at work in the deeds and actions of Jesus (e.g., Jn 4:34; 17:4)....Ergazomai is also used often in the sense of everyday labor or occupation (e.g., Mt 21:28; Jn 6:27; 1 Co 4:12; 9:6; 1Th 2:9; 4:11; 2Th 3:10, 11, 12).