The expression is archaic in some ways.

What does it mean to be “cast down?”

As in this verse describing our great God … “God, that comforteth those that are cast down.” 2 Corinthians 7:6

Paul here seems to be describing a Trait of God, one that is a permanent Aspect of His Character. It is today called one of God’s “Attributes.”

God the Comforter!

Actually “cast down” is an adjective. It is spelled “tapeinous” in Greek, the language of the New Testament. Pronounce it “tap-i-nos’.” It means, quoting a simple little lexicon, “humble, lowly, poor, meek mild, of humble circumstances,” and also (probably better fitting our context) “downhearted.”

The verb “comforteth” is “parakaleo” and suggests that God comes right “alongside” us! (That’s the “para” part of the word.) And that he will stay there! He fells it is part of His Duty to do so, “kaleo” meaning “called” to some task. Furthermore, the verb’s root is “kello,” meaning “to urge onward!”

When we are saved, from that moment forward … God is by our side, as a function of His very Character! (“I will never leave you,” He once promised!) And He is there to “urge us” to greater spiritual growth, to more fervent prayer lives, to more intense Bible study, etc.

Wow!

When I am meek, I will most notice (and appreciate) His Presence.

And particularly, when I am discouraged or depressed … He is there to aid, to strengthen, to be a Cheerleader in my life.

And the astounding thing … Paul in our Verse today needed that kind of “comfort!” And God, for the Apostle, did so (encouraged him) by sending him a young Preacher named Titus!

The whole Verse now … “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.”

So here we learn that not only is God Himself a Comforter. He uses us Christians to be “comfort” to each other as well!

Another New Testament word for this duty (privilege) is “exhorter.” As in Hebrews 3:13 … “Exhort one another daily.”

I end where I began.

Anyone today “cast down?”

Get out you Bible and read!

In Romans 15:4 Paul teaches us that “Through the comfort (parakaleo) of the scriptures we might have hope.”

Then lean today on the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Be aware, conscious of His Presence. He too is our “Comforter,” Jesus’ favorite Name for Him. Also built on the verb “parakaleo!”

Soon … that spirit of being so “cast down” will yield to an attitude like this … “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Trust and obey!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

Initially it seems like an almost passing Remark Jesus made. Yet both Matthew and Mark record it.

The Disciples, most of them, had tried to cast a devil out of a young, tormented lad. They failed.

Then Jesus arrived, along with three more Disciples (Peter, James and John) … men who had just been with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Immediately our Lord solved the problem! “Our Lord rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” Mark 9:25

Jesus of course easily does what we cannot do. The Disciples logically asked: “Why could not we cast him out?”

That’s when Jesus taught them a valuable Lesson. “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:29

Prayer unleashes the answer to many a problem. But, apparently, not all problems!

Then, how does one intensify his or her prayer life?

“By prayer AND FASTING!”

We hear little of this “fasting” business in our modern decadent society, yes even among us professing Christians!

But it’s in the Bible.

It’s on Jesus’ Cirruculum!

And it works!

So, I guess today … the rest is up to us.

“Oh, pass the biscuits and gravy please.”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

I just read a sermon by an American Preacher named Clarence Macartney. Powerful, to say the least! (One of my heroes suggest that every Preacher read a Sermon a day, for devotional and educational and motivational purposes.)

Well, in that Message the Preacher shared his belief that PRAYER was that word. Prayer that touches the Heart of God! That moves the heart of God! (The God Who promises: “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Quoting Jeremiah 33:3.)

Jesus taught two parables (the importunate neighbor and the unjust judge) illustrating that persistence in pleading (unrelenting prayer) gets results! The Jesus enacted one miracle toward that same end. The healing of the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter. After much persistence on the mother’s part!

The first specific (and detailed) prayer in Scripture involves Abrham praying for the sparing of the City of Sodom and its environs. From 50 all the way down to 10 … he kept asking!

Had that minimum number been found, Sodom might still be on the map yet today!

Prayer, powerful!

Maybe Dr. Macartney was right.

Friends, try this privilege yourself.

Pray … and see if God does not hear and answer.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

A Disciple of Jesus writes … “Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to STIR YOU UP by putting you in remembrance.” 2nd Peter 1:14, King James Version.

The word “meet” as used here actually means that which is “righteous, just, proper or appropriate” in God’s Eyes.

And by “this tabernacle” Peter means as long as he is alive, inhabiting an earthly “body.”

And behind “remembrance” stands the idea of “repetition, review, a rehearing” of the great Truths of the Bible!

But now, what does the verb “stir up” imply?

Its Greek root, spelled “egeiro,” means “to arose, to wake up, to cause to rise” … plus here an added prefix, “dia,” a preposition meaning “through, by means of, for the sake of” … further empowering the verb!

“Being stirred up,” in an energetic way. Fervently so!

Peter does not want us to go to sleep, spiritually speaking.

And he planned, as long as he breathed, to repel laziness, slumber, carelessness from all our minds and hearts. Our bodies too, it sounds like!

Reader here today, are you “stirred up” to serve the Lord?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

.

Admittedly, our Lesson title is a bit opinionated! Especially since the Gospels are sitting at the Head of the New Testament! Still, Colossians says some things about Jesus that are vital to our faith.

As I studied late last night, I read from a Book that summarizes Paul’s Presentation of Jesus in Colossians’ four relatively short chapters.

I share with you.

First, Jesus in His Relationship with God the Father!

For example, in Colossians 1:15 Jesus is the very “Image” of the “invisible God!” In ancient Greek culture, that would have been the equivalent of calling Jesus the very “Portrait” of God! (Jesus did say to His Disciple Philip one day … “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” John 14:9)

Second, Jesus in His Relationship with the world!

Right off, in Colossians chapter 1, Paul declares about Jesus … “By Him were all things created.” He is the Creator of the world! Of “all things!” (More detail … “All things that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him.” Colossians 1:16)

Third, Jesus in His Relationship to any other so-called “means” of salvation!

There simply is no other way to God! There is no other God, in fact! Paul, tell us please … “In Him (Jesus) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” ALL of God is in His Son! No “idol” is needed! No other “religion!” No other “Saviour!” See Colossians 2:9, quoted above.

Now dear readers, Bible students, that’s being Jesus-centered! Or, Christo-centric some call it. (And I have here barely scratched the surface!)

But WHY is Paul being so “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” in his writing to the Colossians?

Because certain Jesus denying heretics had tried to infiltrate the Church there in the Lycus Valley (where Colossae and Laodicea and Hierapolis were located. See Colossians 4:13, where these cities are mentioned by name.)

Men who did not believe Jesus was God. Or certainly did not accept Him as God in the flesh, with a human body!

Note … Paul did not choose to attack them negatively, listing all their false tenets or beliefs. HE JUST PRESENTED JESUS IN ALL HIS GLORY AND EXALTED PERSONHOOD!

And that’s the underlying reason why Colossians is so very, very “HIGH” on JESUS! And we, two thousand years later, are still reaping the benefits of Paul’s “High Christology!”

Paul even believes that Jesus is the Reason atoms and solar systems (from microscopically small to telescopically large) “hold together!” Read it, and believe it … “By Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:17, where “consist” literally means “to hold together!” Jesus is the Cohesive Power of the universe!

Wow!

And I know Him personally! You can as well …

— Dr. Mike Bagwell