THE VERB BOULOMAI

1. In the New Testament there are two contrasting verbs.

2. One verb (thelo) can have the sense of an impulsive wish.

3. This term reminds me of a military Captain who once worked with me.

4. She, I and a bunch of other people had been sent to Florida for temporary duty.

5. While we were there she went downtown and bought a new car because she was in the mood for one.

6. She came back and told everyone and a one star general happened to overhear the conversation.

7. This general criticized the younger officer’s impulsive purchase.

8. While one verb in the New Testament describes impulsive actions, a second describes deliberate choices.

TODAY WE WANT TO LOOK AT SOME OF THE PLACES WHERE THIS SECOND TERM (THE ONE DESCRIBING PLANNED CHOICES) IS FOUND.

a) When I think of people making intentional choices, politicians come to mind.

b) Someone who is in politics considers how their votes and decisions will affect their job.

c) If they vote for something, will it help them or hurt them during reelection season?

2) This is not a new thing; we have an example of it in the Bible.

3) For our Scripture reading we heard a few verses from Mk. 15.

4) Let’s look at that passage once again, paying closer attention to Mk. 15:15 – READ.

a) Pilate was “wishing” to content the people. In the KJV the text says “willing.”

b) Here is our verb which has a strong sense of deliberation.

c) Pilate was not acting on an impulse.

d) If he did not have a plan, he was at least acting carefully and slowly.

e) Pilate was a man who acted with definite deliberation, but he still made unwise choices.

5) Another striking place in the Lord’s life where we find this word is in the next Bible book.

6) Lk. 22:42 is the exact passage.

7) By this time Jesus knew it was about time to lay down His life.

8) He was in the garden praying to the Father.

a) It was a very difficult time so an angel appeared.

b) Verse 43 says this angel “strengthened” Him.

c) Then Jesus began to pray more earnestly (verse 44).

d) Before these events verse 42 says – READ.

9) Once again our special term is translated “willing.”

10) Sometimes a person is willing to do something on the spur of the moment.

11) In other cases a person says, “I have to think about it.”

12) Jesus was not asking the Father to act impulsively.

a) He was seeking a deliberate and carefully planned response from Heaven.

b) I for one am glad that Christ used the verb He did.

c) Suppose Jesus had asked for a snap decision and the Father had responded.

d) What if the Father had as we say “off the cuff” responded with, “Okay, don’t go.”

i) Too much was at stake. This was a time for care, exactness, and the right choices.

e) I do not know what all of us think about when the Lord's Supper is being passed.

f) Here is a new thought if we were not aware of it.

g) Jesus prayed for heaven to evaluate His prayer in the most careful kind of way.

h) He made that request for you and me.

13) Outside the gospels we find this same term being used quite a few times.

14) The first example after John is Acts 5:28.

15) At this point the apostles had been told to stop preaching the gospel; they had kindly refused.

16) In Acts 5:28 officials said the apostles “intended” to bring “Christ’s blood upon them.”

17) These men understood the meaning of the verb being discussed this morning.

18) Officials believed the apostles had a deliberate plan in preaching.

a) This reference illustrates another worthwhile point.

b) There are people who embrace Christianity in a manner that is impulsive.

c) A person might learn of the church and say, “I want to be a member of it.”

d) In many cases this impulsive reactin lasts for a very short period of time.

e) With the apostles, they were not impulsive.

f) About three years had been spent with the Lord. They had been taught about the cost.

g) These men were deliberate about their Christianity and their work just as we should be.

19) Outside of Acts we see this term being applied to spiritual gifts, 1 Cor. 12.

a) Three chapters discuss spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12-14).

b) Many of the gifts are identified in 1 Cor. 12.

c) The duration fro the gifts is explained in 1 Cor. 13.

d) Using these gifts in the way God intended is found in 1 Cor. 14.

20) Since the gifts are identified in the 12^th chapter, we have a small but important detail.

21) Verse 11 – READ.

a) When gifts were given, the Holy Spirit had some say in who got what.

b) Sometimes when we divide things we may do it randomly or impulsively.

c) We may pass out slips of paper and the goal is just to insure that each person gets one.

d) In other cases, we want certain people to receive certain things.

e) The Holy Spirit “willed” (12b—the verb being discussed) who got which gift.

22) Here is a very interesting point to consider.

23) Why would the Holy Spirit determine who got which gift?

a) There could be a lot of reasons.

b) Perhaps it was partly based upon where a Christian was located.

c) If everyone in a 500 mile radius always spoke the same language, tongues would not be too helpful.

d) Another consideration might be the person’s abilities.

e) If a person were shy and withdrawn, making them a tongue speaker might be contrary to their nature.

f) The Holy Spirit made some type of assessment of each person who received a gift.

g) He would have known the circumstances as well as what a person was like.

24) Today God has the same knowledge of us.

25) Though we do not have spiritual gifts, God still knows us inside and out.

26) He knows our strengths, weaknesses, faults, and successes.

27) We serve a God who knows us through and through and is thus in a good position to help us.

28) Another place where today’s special word has important meaning is 1 Tim. 2:8.

a) This is a passage where Paul said he wanted people to pray.

b) When Paul spoke of “every place,” he used wording that should attract our attention.

c) The four times “every place” occurs in the Scriptures, it describes the church.

d) It is therefore my conclusion that 1 Tim. 2:8 describes a church setting.

e) In a church setting Paul said “men” are to pray.

f) With English, “guys” and “men” can include men and women.

g) Paul used a word that specifically means males; men in the sense of non-females.

h) Here is the full thought – READ.

29) Paul said “I desire” (“will,” KJV).

30) We may “desire” a second house on Lake Wawasee but that may not be our lot in life.

31) Desire is the word we have already studied in several passages.

32) It does not describe a wish or something impulsive.

33) It is something planned, studied, deliberate, considered, intentional, and purposeful.

34) It is not a suggestion; it is a deliberate statement and teaching because this is God’s will.

35) In our day and time many have shrugged off God’s plan for the role of men and women in the church.

36) Such an action is a flagrant disrespect and disregard for passages such as 1 Tim. 2:8.

37) Later in this letter this term is applied to young widows, 1 Tim. 5:14.

38) When coming to the end of this book, we see it a third time.

a) Paul spoke of those who “will” to be rich.

b) There are, of course, people who act on an impulse to get rich.

c) Others make deliberate plans.

d) Over the past year I have seen some historical information about people who wanted to cheat casinos.

i) Most of the “good cheaters” (if we can call them that) planned their schemes very, very carefully.

e) Many do deliberately plan to get very, very wealthy.

39) A related thought (and a well known verse) is Jas. 4:4.

40) James warned his readers about being a “friend” to the world.

a) On impulse a person might choose the way of the world.

b) When James wrote James 4:4, he used the term being studied this morning.

c) He pictured an individual who deliberately chooses the way of the world.

d) Such a person might look at the glitz, glamour, and all the signs that say “come on, it’s fun.”

e) James says that kind of willful choice makes us God’s enemy.

f) Certainly making this same choice impulsively is also wrong.

g) It is especially sad when a person weighs God against the world and says, “I choose sin.”

41) For a final reference I cite one of the opening verses in Jude (Jude 5).

42) Jude said to his readers, “I desire” (“will,” KJV).

a) Jude deliberately sat down and wrote about important matters to his readers.

b) As Christians Jude 5 offers a helpful point to us.

c) Much of what we do as Christians will be bettered if we try to be deliberate.

43) God has acted deliberately, precisely, and purposefully.

44) Many recognize the value of these qualities in the secular world.

45) They also have a great deal of importance in the church.

46) If we look at our life, are we doing anything at all that involves planning and deliberation?

a) As we list those items, are spiritual matters on the list?

b) Do we have any definite and intentions to the spiritual part of our life?

c) A long term plan should be salvation in heaven; eternity with God.

d) Shorter term deliberate plans help us reach that long term plan.

e) If we are not being deliberate about and with Christianity, it is time to make some adjustments.

47) Today is a good day to make those changes.