Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
There are certain things which prayer cannot change, and which prayer cannot accomplish.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
“Could wish” -
imperf- mid-ind - euchomai = to pray, to wish for something; here it means to wish or desire.
Voluntative imperfect tense - expresses a wish or a desire which cannot be realized because of an intervening obstacle.
“I would like to pray, but I cannot; I can only wish for the impossible.”
Paul is stating what he recognizes, because of some great principles, such as the omniscience of God, in which He knows all of the facts before they happen.
Voluntative imperfect tense - Paul recognizing that he faces a hopeless situation as far as Israel is concerned.
He understands thoroughly and completely their problem, their difficulty, and he is so burdened for them, knowing that they are destroying themselves.
He does not know the exact time, but we can look back and say it was around 22 years from the time that Paul was writing, and over 20 years after Paul would write, they would be destroyed.
ROM 9:3 For I could wish that I myself, would be accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, but I cannot be because I am a believer, so this is impossible.
For I could wish, or I could pray, that I myself would be accursed, consequently separated from the Christ, but I cannot be.
1. This is just another illustration of the fact that there are certain things which prayer cannot change, and which prayer cannot accomplish.
2. To pray effectively you must understand doctrine, so as not to waste your shots on impossible targets.
3. As an unbeliever known as Saul of Tarsus, Paul tried to keep the Jews away from Christ, as the youngest of all of the Pharisees; now as a believer the apostle Paul is burdened for the Jews that they will come to Christ.
4. These two extremes demonstrate Paul’s great love for the Jews.
5. In his burden for Israel, Paul has gone as far as he can go to demonstrate his love, his concern, and his desire for the Jews.
6. In the pain of his soul, Paul could wish no more than this.
(Let me suffer so that my loved ones may live = the mind of Christ.)
7. The obstacle then to fulfilling the wish or prayer is the fact of Paul’s eternal salvation, which cannot be canceled even by his own intense wish, his own burden for the salvation of the Jews.
8. Under the principle of individual self-determination, there is no sacrifice Paul can make by which the Jews will be saved.
9. Under the principle of freewill, the principle of self-determination, each Jew must make that decision for himself; he must decide for himself whether he will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or not.
10. Self-determination is the volitional issue in the angelic conflict.
Accursed - predicate nominative singular - anathema = a very technical word, used for in the Septuagint for a very strange noun called cherem.
Jericho was said to be cherem or a city under a curse.
Once a believer is in union with Christ, to be cursed or accursed is absolutely impossible.
“Amen, amen” - these are two participles which are very important to understand.
JOH 1:51 - to introduce our Lord’s relationship with the angelic conflict -
“The heavens opened, and the angels of God ascended and descended on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
JOH 3:3 - used to introduce the importance of being born again.
JOH 5:19 - used to introduce our Lord’s equality with the Father.
JOH 6:26 - used to warn us against false motivation.
JOH 8:34 - used to warn us about the bondage of sin -
“Everyone who sins habitually is the slave of sin.”
JOH 8:58 - used to indicate the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ -
“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
JOH 10:7 - used to describe the only way of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
JOH 12:24 - used to bring out the importance of losing your life.
JOH 16:23 - it is used to describe the importance of prayer.