Call To Die

Then [Jesus] said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. (Luke 9:23-24, HCSB)

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Location: Louisville, Kentucky, United States

follower of Christ, husband of Abby, father of Christian, Georgia Grace, and Rory Faith, deacon at Kosmosdale Baptist Church, tutor with Scholé Christian Tradition and Scholé Academy

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Cyprian of Carthage on "Your will be done" in the Lord's Prayer

Earlier this week, my family had the opportunity to visit Tim and Jennifer Scott and their family. [Tim was a former elder at Kosmosdale Baptist Church, where Abby and I are members; he is now a pastor of Salem Baptist Church outside of St. Louis, Missouri.] While we were visiting the Scotts, I just happened to pick up a book that he had about Cyprian, who was a bishop in Carthage in the late 3rd century, and who died as a martyr under the persecution instituted by Emperor Valerian. One fact about Cyprian, which I did not know until nearly the end of the book, is that he authored a commentary on the Lord's Prayer, and for centuries his commentary was the most influential examination of the Lord's Prayer in Western Christianity. This fact is especially interesting to me right now, since I'm teaching through the Lord's Prayer in the young adults' Sunday school class at Kosmosdale. The following is a section from Cyprian on Matthew 6:10b, "Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven":

"Now [this] is the will of God which Christ both did and taught:


I. Humility in conversation;

II. Steadfastness in faith;
A. Modesty in words;
B. Justice in deeds;
C. Mercifulness in works;
III. Discipline in morals;
A. To be unable to do a wrong,
B. And to be able to bear a wrong when done;
C. To keep peace with the brethren;
IV. To love God with all one's heart;
A. To love Him in that He is a Father;
B. To fear Him in that He is God;
C. To prefer nothing whatever to Christ, because He did not prefer anything to us;
D. To adhere inseparably to His love;
E. To stand by His cross bravely and faithfully when there is any contest on behalf of His name and honor;
1. To exhibit in discourse [in trials] that constancy wherewith we make confession;
2. In torture that confidence wherewith we do battle,
3. In death, that patience whereby we are crowned—

"This is to do the commandment of God; this is to do the will of the Father."


[From Cyprian, On the Lord's Prayer, 15. Quoted in Brian J. Arnold, Cyprian of Carthage: His Life and Impact, 124. The outline format for the text is my own.]

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