Ohio Independent Baptist, June/July 1938

limpses of Truth from the Greek New Testament By Dr. Geo. Lawlor SYMPHONY OF AGREEMENT ne r the m , t jnteresting , ord. in th ev Te tament i t he word .rn111plw11os. ··agreeing, harm in , ac- rd ." It i, comp vd f the prepo– . 1t1 n . 1111, " ith,' and tJhe noun phonei, ·· und, tone, " o come Ito mean lit rall : "agreem nt in sound ." We h uld re ognize the word as the b i f r our E ngli h word " ym- ph n . f rm of tihe word appear in Luke 15 :25 (sump honia ) , where there i a d cription of the celebrn– tion o er the return of the prodigal on. As the elder on, ooming in from hi work, drew near ito the house he ' heard mu ic aind d anaing. " The word "mu ic" i swnphonias, de criptive of the harmony of ound made by the mu ician play1ing their iiinsitrument winhin the hou e. 'vhe verb form oc– cur al o ~n Luke 5 :36, of agreemenlt: or oorr, pondence of things oon– gruou in n a ture: "No man puHeth a piece of a new garmem upon an old; if other i e then bOillh the new make-th a renit, and the piiece 11:ha!l was CLEVELAND HEBREW MISSION INC. Founded 1904 Witnessing to Jews in Cleveland, Oh io; Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The larg est staff in the history of the Mission a ugme nted by a radio ministry at home and abroad , and a mailing ministry in the United States and abroad. Presenting Ch rist to our Lord's b reth ren by visitation, Bibl e classes, correspond– ence cou rses and lite ratu re. Staff members a re happy to visit churches in the spirit of Acts 15:4 to present the w ork of the Mission through insp iratio nal re po rts and by colore d slides. "Brethren . my (ou r) heart's d esire and p rayer to Go d fo r Israel is, that they might be saved." Write fo r you r free · copy of " The Trumpeter fo r Israel" our, qua rterly mag– azine devoted to the w ork of Jewish evangelism. 12 Gerald V Smelser, Supt. Cleveland Hebrew Mission P. 0 . Box 18056 Cleveland, Ohio 44118 JUNE-JULY, 1968 tal-cn out of the nev agrcc th nnt (011 """f'honci.l'<·i) v ith th e n ld ." I hi" i, till' \, nrd l'ot111d in M all . _o:_, IJ,, hi ch (k-.c ,ihc-; th ' arrang· – mcrt agreed up n b the hou h Ider and h i orkme n wher by the latter v utd re ~ei e a certai n wage per d ay fo r their w rk : " nd when he (the h u h Ider) had agreed (su111phone– isas) , ith hi labour r for a peinny a d a . . ." (v . 2 ) . In A ct 5 : 9, the word app ar aga in , u ed by P e ter a h,e addr e a pphi ra a nd speaks of th e oheme pl a nned by heri If a.nd h r hu ba nd Ana ni a ,to keep back part of the pri oe of the ir land and make th eir offering rep,resenrt the whole. P e te r says: "How ~s it that ye h ave ·agreed together ( sunephonrdthei ) bo t,emp t ithe Spirit of rthe Lord?" And in ,an initere ti ng u 1age al o in Acts ( 15: 15) , we note 1lhe verb form aip,pearing in the tatemenit of fames when he 1 aittests the puripo e of God in calil•ing out f,rom among ,the Genti les a people for His nairne. J ames siays: "And to this agree (sumphonousin) the word of the prophert . . ." T h is is a most effective w,itne IJo the harmonious unity of ith e mess1age of tihe prophet , a nd thus an effeotual testimony to the fact of insipfration. The Word in Ancient Times llhe use of .rhis word jn early Greek i initeresting and in£.onmaltlive. A mother wrttes ito a alose f.rJend and ask : "To i 1t better ,for my son Pihaniias and hi w1ife nolt ito agree (mei sumphoneisai) now with bis father, but to oppose him?" There is anOltlher letter daited 2 A.D ., in wh~ch the writer assuT it.he iindivtidual to whom he wnites oonoerning !himself and a certain relaltJive: " D o not be anxious about us for there is nothing the matte r wirt:h us ,and we are at h armon y with each other (sumpho~ nournen alleilois) . . ." With refer– ence itlo a rprice for omething, a note recond thi tatement: "Our friend s1aiid that he h aid agreed (sumpephone– ikenai) wit,h ,t he people of his village thankful,ly over t he raite of 32 drach– mae" - evidently referring to a wa ge to be paid for a p air:tii cula r work to be done by the friend. The noun form appears as related to mus,ic in the foagment of an aooounit dated 3 A.D., on whioh there i an entry concerning a " co,mpany of musici,ans" (sum– phonias tumpanon). Ano1ther Jiaiter document dated 550 A.D. h as a nota– tion ~n whioh itwo peopJe ubsoribe rtio .the contenit of ,a cer,tai n legal paper, saying: "We agree (sumphoni) to all that i herein contained as it is above written." T hese uses of .tJhe word by th e people of Bi ble times :-. how us c learly th e se nse of the te rn a-; th ey und e rstood ,i 1 t and spoke it ' I o th em it cx pre'io-;c cl harmoniou , agreeme111t, a concord and corire-;pond e nce f th ought and action, th blend ing together of both mu ical sound• a nd v cal opinion , a unity and har moniou s aclju tment of idea and en deavor. Three Significant Passages In t he light of this tesitimony con cerning ,the u e of the word, the thr~ remaiini ng u e of tihe term ~ n th1 New Te tament ar,,e of particula sig nifica nce. In M,aitt. 18 : 19, then a speoial instruotiien concerntlni prayer given to u by ,the Lord Him elf: "If '1:wo o.f you hall agre1 (sumphoneisosin) on eanth as touch ing anyth ing th a,t they hall ask, i 1 hall be done for them of My Fa1he f wh ich i in ,heaven." Here i a direc tive which reminds us that in our earth ly state we have o many needs tha often we must help ea:ah other in thi realm wihere there ,is o much sit and wretch edness. Hence two be lievers, or even more than ,two , ma , oome ,to,geither and 1iawk over a par ticuliar matter, weighing iii: well a n, , oonsidering it careful ly before the· formulaite their pray,er about it. The , hey wi ll lay it down before t,h Lord in a s,peoific pelt:iition, "makin rthe request k nown unro God" (Ph i 4: 6), seeking His w ill in ithe situa ion, asking of Him iaod 111ot aski n aimiss. The Lord olemnly promi e "iit h all be done for them." I Cor. 7: 15 has the word in Paul' dLreotion with regard to ,the norm sexual relaitionship in mauiage. Th ver e hould be r,ead very carefull ) T he in truotion ooncern wiithhol ing that which is due in ·tJhe marriag bond. Husba nd a nd wife are not t -ab t,ain from t h e sexual obli gatio except they mutually agree (sun phonou) , and <then o nly fo r a ,tern , porary period , and for ,a pecial de- ' votional 1and piri,tual purpose. Th a Apostle ,i speaking generiail ly, so Con~nued on page 19) FOR THE MAN IN THE SERVICE Send for your free packet of gospel tracts including "Will Dying fo r your Coun try take you < to Heave n?" and several others beamed to the Se rviceman. Write today: BIBLE TRACTS, Inc Box 508, Waterloo, la . 50704 Over 100 million tracts distributed. THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIS