Author: Charlie Garrett

2 Timothy 4:10

Charlie Garrett 2 Timothy (Written)

Tuesday, 8 May 2018

for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. 2 Timothy 4:10

Paul had just said, “Be diligent to come to me quickly.” The reason for this is forthcoming, but it is more urgently necessitated because of the words of this verse. He says, “for Demas has forsaken me.” Demas is mentioned in Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 1:24. He had obviously been around Paul for some time, and during his previous imprisonment, but now he has abandoned him.

Though we can only speculate, he was probably afraid of the persecution Paul was experiencing, feeling it may come to him as well. It was seemingly assured that Paul would be martyred, and he didn’t want to be the next one on the chopping block. Paul says that instead of staying by his side Demas had forsaken him, “having loved this present world.”

The word translated as “world” here, aión, signifies the present age in contrast to the future age. It is the time in which he is living. Therefore, this doesn’t necessarily mean he loved the world and the things in the world, but he loved his life and did not want it to end. Obviously, if he didn’t care about the things of the world, he wouldn’t care about his life in the same way either, but Paul’s choice of the word shows that he was probably more afraid of the termination of this present life. He had believed in Christ’s resurrection, thus he was a saved person, but his unsurety about his own mortal life seems to show a failure to stand fast on what the resurrection meant to him personally.

Because of this failing, Paul says that he “has departed for Thessalonica.” By leaving the reason why Demas chose Thessalonica unstated, it can be assumed that Timothy knew, or would have understood, the reason for the choice. It may have been his home; it may be that during their travels he really liked the place and wanted to go back and get established there; or he may have seen it as an opportunity to get reestablished in life in a new spot. Thessalonica at this time was one of the great Roman cities. It thus had many opportunities for someone to live out life in the present age.

Paul then says, “Crescens for Galatia.” Crescens, or as the Greek reads, Kréskés, is found only here in the Bible, but he was obviously known to Timothy. His name is actually Latin. Paul doesn’t say that he departed for a negative reason such as Demas did. He merely notes that he had departed. The same is true with Titus who had gone on to Dalmatia.

Dalmatia was a part of Illyricum, a Roman province which lays on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea. As nothing is said about why Demas and Titus had left, and nothing negative is indicated by Paul, we can only speculate as to the reason for their departure. It would be nice to think that both were commissioned by Paul to continue preaching the gospel in places that Paul was now unable to go to.

Life application: Paul often writes about those who had moral failings in his epistles. He also notes things about people, such as Demas today, showing that they were imperfect beings. However, there is not a single instance in his writings that he says, “That person was never saved,” or “That guy has lost his salvation.” Paul’s writings show us, time and again, that salvation is eternal, but we will be judged based on our actions after salvation. Let us stand steadfast in our faith, not be counted as those who shy away from our duties, and let us instead go forward in the Lord’s strength, applying His word to our lives always.

Heavenly Father, it sure is wonderful to know that You are ever-present in our lives. There is no time that You are on vacation or unavailable to us. Throughout the span of our lives, and wherever we go, we can seek Your face. And more, we can come to You with our needs, desires, and hopes. It is a wonderful thought that we are always in Your presence. Glory to You, O God. Amen.

2 Timothy 4:9

Charlie Garrett 2 Timothy (Written)

Monday, 7 May 2018

Be diligent to come to me quickly; 2 Timothy 4:9

The word translated as “Be diligent,” is used in verse 2:15 while encouraging Timothy to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God.” It gives the sense of hastening, and that is the sense borne out here. Paul wants Timothy to “hasten to come to me quickly.” There is an urgency in the words, and it is an urgency repeated in verse 4:21. One main reason for this urgency is found in verse 13, which will be explained then. But there are secondary reasons which will be noted as well. For now, this is a short request which seems completely out of place with the words of a man who has just said that “my departure is at hand.”

However, it also shows us the authenticity of the epistle. Nobody claiming to be Paul, and who has stated he was about to die, would then implore the person he is writing to leave behind his church and come for a visit. But Paul would. When Paul says, “my departure is at hand,” it is indicating that he feels his imprisonment will end in his execution. However, he was – as a Roman citizen – entitled to a trial, appeals, etc. This could be a long, drawn-out thing. Though his departure was at hand based on his circumstances in prison, that same place of incarceration may be his home for a while. And so, with the desire to see Timothy, and to assist him with several important things in his visit to Rome, Paul encourages his young protege to hasten to his side.

Life application: The only contradictions to be found in Scripture are those that come from a lack of study, or a presupposition that the Bible is not the word of God. When we take all things concerning Scripture in context, and without presupposition, and then study them carefully, we will always find that those things which seem contradictory are actually not at all so.

Wow Lord! It is always exciting to wake up and read Your word. It starts the day off beautifully. It is then marvelous to read the word during the day. It may lift us up from a low spot, or it may direct our feet on a path we have been considering. Yes! It is great to read Your word during the day. And of course, the evening time is a fantastic time to read Your word. As the day is ending, we find comfort and rest in it as we commit our sleep to You, pondering the treasure we have read. And, of course, at night when we wake and need to settle our thoughts… that is a magnificent time to read Your word. It does settle our racing thoughts, and it also brings sweet sleep to us once again. Wow Lord! It is always exciting to read Your word. Amen.

Hidden Treasures: Ancient Hebrew

Charlie Garrett Special / Holiday (Written)

Hidden Treasures: Ancient Hebrew
Sergio Voitenko
6 May 2018

7 years ago I asked this question: “Can a perfect God speak imperfect words?”. I wanted to know if the Bible has flaws?

There are multiple ways to prove the authenticity of the Scriptures. Just google it and you’ll find thousands of sermons and videos. There are multiple ways to logically prove that God is perfect and so His Word must be perfect. There are tools to find translation errors. And there are experiences and testimonies like the one I shared last week, which all add weight to finding the answer to these questions.

But the strongest answer I ever found is the evidence of a supernatural intelligence in the Bible. This evidence is hidden in plain-sight throughout the pages of the Old and New Testaments, evidence that points to the fact that no human mind could have ever written this text in its original form.

Some of this evidence I am going to present to you today.

But like with any evidence, one must have the proper tools to inspect it. So before I begin, I’m going to give you a tool from the scholar’s toolbox.

And the first tool in the toolbox is the Ancient Hebrew alphabet.

Why Hebrew? Because Hebrew is the main language God chose for the writing of the OT.

Now keep in mind that there is modern Hebrew today. It is the Hebrew that I grew up speaking, and even though it is based on the ancient Hebrew, it has slight differences. This is similar to the difference between Middle English used by John Wycliffe in the 14th century and Modern English used in the NIV.

On the screen, you can see an example. @ These are the first three verses as they appear in the Wycliffe Bible of the 14th century.

Okay I’m going to read this, and make a fool out of my self. Nonetheless, I must do it, in order to make an important point. @

“1 In the bigynnyng was the word, and the word was at God, and God was the word. 2 This was in the bigynnyg at God. 3 All things weren maad bi hym, and withouten hym was maad no thing. That thing that was maad.”

I believe we have a few Church members from Ireland and Scotland, watching this live right now who would have done a much better job at reading this than me.

But now the point is this, someone speaking Modern English would have thought the text is about someone who has gone mad. What sounds and looks like the same word, in fact, has a different meaning in the Middle English. It is the same way that Ancient Hebrew compares to the Modern. With a few extra grammatical differences.

So how do the translators know what is the meaning of certain Hebrew words that have been lost over millenniums? Context.

Can you imagine the responsibility and the difficulty of a Bible translation job?

So without any further ado, please pay your attention to the screen. @ This is the ancient Hebrew Alphabet.

Look at it very well. I’m going to show you some really awesome stuff. And by the end of this presentation, you will be one step closer to becoming an expert in Ancient Biblical Hebrew! Or at the least, you’ll be able to impress some of your Hebrew friends, or maybe even Charlie when he comes back!

Let’s begin. @

Hebrew is read from Right to Left.

So these @ would be the first letters.

And just like we live in a four-dimensional world, so also the Hebrew alphabet has four dimensions that apply to each letter. @ Let me explain.

  1. @ the first dimension is The Phonetic Sound – Just like in English, each Hebrew letter produces a phonetic sound. @ ⟨a⟩, @ ⟨b⟩, @ ⟨g⟩. This one is quite easy to understand because we have the same in English. However, this is the only dimension the English language has. Hebrew, on the other hand, has three more. So let’s take a look at them.

  2. @ the second dimension is the Name of the letter, which also gives it a meaning – That’s right, each letter is an actual word that has a meaning. For example – @ the first letter is El and it means strength. Does that ring a bell? Elohim is the plural of El and that is the Hebrew word for God. So if we were to literally translate the word ‘Elohim’ it would mean Strengths).
    The second letter is @ Bet and it means a house. The third is @ Gam and that means “to walk”, and so forth.
  3. @ the third dimension is the Numerical Value – the numbers as we know them today were not invented until 500 AD. Back then the Hebrews used letters instead of numbers. @ El – 1, @ Bet – 2, @ Gam – 3, and so forth.
    Now, this leaves us with the last and the most interesting dimension. Take another look at these letters. What do you see? Can you guess the last dimension?
  4. @ the fourth and the last dimension is the Pictograph – each letter is an actual drawing, an ancient picture, if you may. @ El is an Ox Head. Do you see it? It’s really cool. The second letter Bet is a drawing of a @ Tent Floor-plan. Can you try to guess what the third letter looks like? 
    @ a Foot. I challenge you to go through the rest of these at home. Simply rewind a few minutes back to the time when I showed the entire alphabet and try to figure out what they mean. After you’re done guessing, you can see if you were right by googling Ancient Hebrew alphabet.

Now in these four dimensions of the Hebrew alphabet are hidden great mysteries and marvelous treasures. And now that we know how to read it, we can take a look at some of those mysteries.

@ The first mystery we’ll look at is in Ezekiel 9:4-6

This chapter deals with the judgment day. In these verses, Ezekiel sees a vision where the Lord instructs His angels to execute judgment upon the disobedient people. But these verses conceal one of the coolest mysteries of the OT. @ Let’s read it together,

“and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it. To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.”

A very scary passage, unless you have @ the mark! What is this mark? And why does it protected them from death? Let’s check this verse out in it’s Hebrew form: @

עַל־כָּל־אִ֨ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָלָ֤יו הַתָּו֙ אַל־תִּגַּ֔שׁוּ

This very verse had been read and sung in the synagogues for thousands of years. Yet it hides a magnificent mystery.

You see, in Hebrew, the word for “the mark”, in this verse is Tav @

This Tav, whatever this mark looks like, if it appears on the forehead of those people mentioned in this verse, it would protect them from God’s wrath. So the question is – “What is this mark; what is this Tav?”

What is interesting is that this is not the regular word for “a mark”. @ Hebrew has much better words to describe a mark on a forehead, like Siman or Ot. So why did Ezekiel use this particular rare word? And do you know how rare it is? @ it appears only three times in the entire Old Testament. @ Two appearances are in the verses we just read, and the other one is in Job @ when he yearns for salvation from God’s punishment. @ Take a look:

“Oh, that I had one to hear me!
Here is my mark.
Oh, that the Almighty would answer me,
That my Prosecutor had written a book!”

Isn’t that interesting? The only three times this word was used, it is used in the context of protection from God’s wrath. Fascinating!

So what is the meaning of this word – Tav? To understand that, we’ll reach out to our toolbox and pull the Ancient Hebrew Alphabet. @

As you remember, the first letter of the Hebrew Alphabet is Alpeh. @ Which means Strength, it represents the El Elyon, the God in the Highest, the Father. But now let’s go to the end of the Hebrew alphabet. @  I’m not ready to reveal what this letter looks like just yet. You see, it is the last letter of the alphabet. @ Its number is 400 and it’s phonetic sound @ is /T/.

And it happens to be that the name of this letter @ is Tav. 

## This is the same word that Ezekiel uses to describe the Mark on the foreheads. But there are other words to say “a Mark”, which are much more common, why use this rare, yet significant word “Tav” which also happens to be the name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The answer lies in the pictograph. Take a look at the screen.

@

Does that look like something you know?

This letter is a cross! Isn’t that incredible?? Do you remember the first letter? It was Aleph, OX Head, Strength. While the last letter is a cross? Does that remind you of anything?

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am the beginning and the End” said the Lord. He is Elohim, the Ox Head, the Strength, the Beginning and He is the End, Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross, and rose from the dead on the third day. 

## Ezekiel was seeing a cross on the foreheads of the people who were spared from utter destruction!

At the time of Ezekiel, the cross did not bear the symbolism that it does today. Back then, if he saw this symbol on the foreheads of the people, it is very likely that what he saw was what he knew looked like that – the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

This, together with the verse from Job, is fascinating.

@ Job is crying out “Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark.” @ Here is my cross.

How can there be any other explanation than a divine inspiration of the Scriptures?

## No man on earth can come up with these “coincidences”. One, sure; two, maybe; three, okay. But when 7 years ago I was set to find all the flaws of the Bible, instead I found hundreds of these supernatural ‘coincidences’. Take this is in addition to the harmonious unity in the narrative of the entire Bible, despite the fact that it was written by over 40 different authors over a period of 2,000 years. This book is so rich in detail, and yet has a simple message of salvation to all mankind; to you and me! wow!

——

Now, if you already knew this beautiful mystery of the cross in Ezekiel, that’s awesome. But I’m ready to put my bets that you don’t know the next one.

@

Ecclesiastes 3:1

“To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven”

Have you heard anyone quote that before?

These are very famous words. 

## But how many people have said ‘let me look at the pictographic meaning of the ancient Hebrew letters in this verse’? I know I haven’t.

But my better half, Rhoda, did. And what she found is absolutely marvelous!

@ The Hebrew word used for time in this verse and the rest of the verses of this chapter, like you have already guessed, is not a regular word. The regular word is ‘Zman’. Solomon, who wrote this book, used the common word ‘Zman’ in the previous chapters. But here he uses the word Et. @ Et is sometimes translated as a moment rather than time. So why was Et used instead of the regular word Zman?

What you see now on the screen is actually the modern Hebrew letters. Let’s take a look at the ancient Hebrew, the pictographs:

The last letter we already know. @ It’s Tav.

But the first letter is Ayin, and in ancient biblical Hebrew, it looks like this @

Look at these two pictographs combined together. Does anyone want to take a shot at deciphering this riddle?

@ Fix your eyes on the cross!

So when you read the rest of Ecclesiastes chapter 3, think of Jesus: @

“A time to be born,

    And a time to die;

A time to plant,

    And a time to pluck what is planted;”

@ This is what Jesus had done!

## Isn’t that incredible?

Here’s another usage of this word:

@ Psalm 105:19:

“He sent a man before them—

Joseph—who was sold as a slave,

They hurt his feet with fetters,

He was laid in irons,

Until the time that his word came to pass,

The commandments of the Lord tested him.

The king sent and released him,

The ruler of the people let him go free.”

This Psalm speaks about Joseph, being tested before he was redeemed.

And here, the word @ time in Hebrew appears as Et.

Let’s read the verse again, but this time consider the cross: @ “until the eye sees the cross, that his word came to pass, the commandments of the Lord tested him. Then the king sent and released him… let him go free” – Reminds you of someone?

There are only 64 appearances of this word ET in the OT. If you go through each and one of them and consider the meaning of the letters, you will find marvelous things. ##

(btw… ordinal value of Alef and Tav (אלף ותו) sums up to 64…)

—

I’ve got one more hidden treasure to reveal to you today.

Does anyone remember John 14:6 by heart?

@ “Jesus answered, ‘I am the TRUTH and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

I bet you all remember these words. But there’s more to them than meets the eye.

##

Let’s reach out to our scholar’s toolbox one more time. Tool of choice? The Ancient Hebrew alphabet! But this time, let’s go to the drawing board.

——

—

I’d like to finish with a proverb 25:2 @

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; But it is the glory of kings to search it out.”

And in Hebrew this proverb is even more significant. It goes like this: @

כְּבֹ֣ד אֱ֭לֹהִים הַסְתֵּ֣ר דָּבָ֑ר וּכְבֹ֥ד מְ֝לָכִ֗ים חֲקֹ֣ר דָּבָֽר׃

A word-to-word translation would sound like this:

@ “It is the Glory of God to conceal the Word. And it is the Glory of Kings to investigate the Word.”

Today I’ve shared with you just a few treasures that can be found with just one tool – the Ancient Hebrew alphabet. But there are so many other tools too. Poetry. Symbolisms. Prophecies. Numbers. Acrostics. Chiasms. The Bible is full of treasures. We just need to search them out.

## If there’s any chance that you do not know Jesus yet, or have not accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. Today is the day. Do not wait for tomorrow, because it might never come.

The God who is in heaven, who spoke this perfect Word, He loves us so much. In fact, while we were still sinners, He loved us so much that He sent His Son to die instead of us. This Son is Jesus Christ. He was nailed to the cross, died and sealed in a grave. But death could not hold Him, because it was not His sin but ours, and so He rose from the dead on the third day. The Bible tells us that everyone who believes this in his heart and confesses with his mouth Jesus Christ as Lord will be saved. It’s that simple.

And what’s after that?

Pick up the Bible,

start reading,

and don’t stop.

Amen.

2 Timothy 4:8

Charlie Garrett 2 Timothy (Written)

Sunday, 6 May 2018

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8

The word “Finally” here gives the sense of “henceforth.” Paul isn’t so much summing up his thoughts as he is saying, “From this point on, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.” He is acknowledging that what he has worked for has been attained. His work is complete, and the Lord has the crown of righteousness set aside for him. His words look to the thought of the Grecian games. For the one who successfully worked through the games, there was a crown kept in hand for him. The same is true for the believer. A crown is laid up for him. Charles Ellicott says, “It is called ‘the crown of righteousness,’ it being the crown to which righteousness can lay claim—that is, the crown awarded to righteousness.”

Paul then says, “which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me.” He ties the righteous nature of Christ in with the bestowal of this crown of righteousness. Only one who is righteous can truly determine who has conducted life’s affairs righteously. Being God, His character is one of absolute righteousness, and thus He can and will judge righteously. For Paul, he is certain that he has conducted his affairs in a manner which will lead to his receiving this crown of righteousness “on that Day.”

The term, “on that Day,” is speaking of the day when the saints stand before Christ Jesus’ bema seat for judgment. It is not a judgment for salvation or condemnation, but one for rewards and losses. The judgment for salvation of believers was accomplished at the cross. The judgment for rewards and loss will be at this bema seat. It will be a judgment which is completely impartial, and perfectly fair.

From there, Paul says that the reception of this crown of righteousness is not limited to him alone. Rather, it is “not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” This is an important addition because the word “crown” has a definite article in front of it. It is “the crown of righteousness.” Because of this, one might say, “Gee, Paul got the only crown of righteousness.” But such is not the case. It is for “all who have loved his appearing.” It is a crown to be bestowed upon everyone who falls into this category. It is not “a crown of righteousness” (see incorrect KJV), but “the crown of righteousness.”

It is the same crown of honor to be bestowed upon all who love the appearing of Christ. It is His righteousness, once and forever bestowed upon the faithful soul who has trusted in Him, and anticipated His return. A taste of this is seen in the taking of the Lord’s Supper. There Paul writes, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” We take the Lord’s supper in anticipation of His coming. We do not worship a dead Savior, we remember the death of the Savior. From there, we anticipate the return of this resurrected and forever-alive Savior when He comes for His people. This is what is worthy of the bestowal of this crown of righteousness.

Life application: Have you called on Jesus, but let go of the eager anticipation of His return? If so, you should reconsider what it meant to you to have trusted Him and been saved by Him. Re-nourish your early faith in Christ, remind yourself of the depths from which He pulled you. Remember the difference between your life before that day and after that day. And then look forward to a change which will outshine that first change by a million-fold. What has happened in you was glorious. What is yet to come for you is exceedingly so. Re-ignite within you the fire of anticipation in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord God, I once was lost, but then was saved by You. The change from who I was to who I am now was immeasurable. Once we were enemies, but through Christ, we are reconciled. And yet, the change which has taken place is only a glimpse of the glory which lies ahead. O! May we eagerly anticipate that Day when we come before You in the crown of righteousness which is to be granted to all who have loved Christ’s appearing. Amen.

2 Timothy 4:7

Charlie Garrett 2 Timothy (Written)

Saturday, 5 May 2018

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

Paul has just spoken of his coming death, being poured out as a drink offering. This referred to the time of his departure. Now he reflects on the conduct of his life in Christ leading up to that point. Did he do what he was called to do? Did he fulfill his mission? His words now answer that for Timothy to reflect upon. First, he says, “I have fought the good fight.” Paul uses a metaphor to describe his conduct in Christ. He may be speaking of a wrestling match, as if engaged in direct combat with the enemy (see Ephesians 6:12), or he may be speaking of being a warrior who has been engaged in battle (see 2 Timothy 2:3, 4). Either way, he is comparing his life to that of one who was in a fight, working against the foes of the gospel, and against both human and spiritual enemies.

From there he says, “I have finished the race.” Again, it is a metaphor which he uses to describe the life he was called to. He used that metaphor several times elsewhere, such as in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 –

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

As we can see from his words, Paul not only looked at his life as a wrestler, but as one in a race who must endure to the end. Now with the fight complete and the race finished, he says with a note of surety, “I have kept the faith.” This is similar to what he had encouraged Timothy to do in his first epistle to him –

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12

The terminology conveyed to Timothy was of the Grecian games. They were as well known then as the Olympics are for us today. In this expression, he equated Timothy to a fighter on a set team (the faith) and he encouraged him to fight that good fight on its behalf. The goal of such a fight is to “lay hold on eternal life.” This is what Paul had done, and he was now awaiting his reward, having kept the faith.

Life application: Paul is writing as a minister of the gospel to a minister of the gospel. His words are to be taken as such, but there is no reason that what he says, unless limited to an ordained minister, cannot be applied to one’s own life. We all have a fight to fight in Christ. We all have a race to run in Christ. And, we all have faith which was exercised in coming to Christ. We should keep that faith, and cause it to grow until the very end.

Lord God, help each of us to not fritter away the few short days of this life you have granted to us. Give us wisdom to contemplate that sure end which we all will face, and the judgment which is set to follow that end. Give us wisdom to accept Your pardon for our sins, granted through Christ, and then give us wisdom to fight the good fight, run the race to the finish, and keep the faith which we have professed. Surely with these things, You will be pleased with our conduct. Amen.