This Week's Focus Passage: Acts 27:21 'Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have set sail from Crete.' This involves Luke's record of the voyage of himself and Paul, along with, as we are informed in the first verses of this twenty-seventh chapter of the book of Acts, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica. The beginning of this voyage, recorded by Luke i...

This Week's Focus Passage: Matthew 17:2 'And He was transfigured before them; and His face did shine as the sun.' The Transfiguration of Jesus, is recorded by each of the three evangelists, in their Gospel accounts, which have become denominated as 'the Synoptic Gospels.' Synoptic, in simple terms, merely means, as an encyclopedia informs us, when it has declared that, ...

This Week's Focus Passage: Psalm 37:1 'Fret not thyself because of evil-doers.' The American Standard Version-1901, (ASV-1901), is one of the many English versions of the Holy Bible, of which we are aware, that contains the word, 'fret' and it contains it in seven places; and three of those seven are found in our Psalm. Here as a negative action verb,Fret not.In Levitic...

This Week's Focus Passage: Psalm 27:13 'I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah.' A Methodist theologian, preacher, and commentator, has left on record his thoughts upon this verse of David, the thirteenth of his twenty-seventh psalm, when he wrote, very interestingly: '"I had fainted."The words in italics are supplied by our translators; ...

This Week's Focus Passage: Psalm 23 'Jehovah is my Shepherd, I shall not want.' It may well be the case that the 23rdPsalm is the best-known 'passage,' or 'chapter,' in the Bible. It is extremely likely that, even the historical usage of this psalm over many years, as a 'comfort' or 'eulogistic' portion of Scripture by families and funeral directors with, probably, as ...

This week's Focus Passage: Genesis 49:10 'The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.....until Shiloh come. Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise: Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall ...

This Week's Focus Passage: Acts 6:1-6 'But we will continue steadfastly in prayer, and in the ministry of the word.' These words uttered by Peter on the occasion of a discrimination scandal regarding the care of the widows in the recently formed Jerusalem church right after Pentecost, were his response, his answer to this apparent dilemma. It strikes us that it corres...

This Week's Focus Passage: Acts 2:39 'For to you is the promise, and to your children.' How does this statement provide support for the idea, at least in the New Testament economy, of the children of believers being considered thereby to be, 'covenant children,' or, 'children of the covenant?' Or, how is it related to the argument of the paedo-baptist, that is, that...

This Week's Focus Passage: Daniel 3:17 'Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace.' Sermons, books, and Sunday School lessons have resounded over the years with the exhortation, in one form or another, in some words or other, that the hearers, readers, or students, should, 'Dare to be a Daniel!!' The great, marvelous faith of Daniel, rig...

This Week's Focus Passage: Job 42:5 'But now mine eye seeth thee.' Wishing to make it absolutely clear that it is not, in any way, being suggested that this experience of Job recorded in the 42ndchapter of that inspired book of the Older Testament, we nonetheless, suggest that it does give every indication, in its progress and process, that what Job has been led to utt...

This Week's Focus Passage: Micah 7:18 'Because He delighteth in lovingkindness.' The grand and gorgeous pericope from whence this blessed truth emanates cannot but be replicated below as a gracious and glorious statement about our God: Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage? he retainet...

This Week's Focus Passage: John 17:23 'Thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me.' Wow! Allow me to state that once again for your reading pleasure. Jesus here informed His disciples in the midst of what is frequently referred to as, His 'High Priestly Prayer,' in John 17. The sentence has its beginning in verse 22, and flows into, and includes, ve...

This Week's Focus Passage: Hosea 4:17 'Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone.' A relatively recent translation of the Holy Scriptures, the GOD'S WORD translation, renders this verse in the following manner;The people of Ephraim have chosen to worship idols. Leave them alone!When we consider communion as a "being joined" and "having chosen to be joined", it is diffic...

This Week's Focus Passage: John 13:21 'One of you shall betray me.' We may read, in Psalm 41:7-9, the following, rather astounding words of deception and betrayal, in this predictive Davidic psalm, when the Holy Spirit says;All that hate me whisper together against me; Against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast un...

This Week's Focus Passage: Daniel 4:37 'Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of Heaven.' The book of Daniel begins with this historical note;In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jeru-salem, and besieged it.Nebuchadnezzar is, to say the very least, a very interesting character, related to...

This Week's Focus Passage: John 9:25 'One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.' And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, neither did this man sin, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifes...

This Week's Focus Passage: 1 John 1:1-4 'These things we write, that our joy may be made full.' John's epistle, which we know as 1 John, may, some have implied, been an accompaniment to his gospel; they may have been written almost together. John writes from, perhaps Patmos, to his church in Ephesus. Again, it may be that this epistle is complementary, in some way or ...

This Week's Focus Passage: Ezekiel 36:26 'A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.' This glorious promise of Jehovah is frequently paralleled with that found in Jeremiah 31:31, which is expressly declared to be, by Jehovah Himself, a new covenant. And it is cited by the author; the writer/preacher of Hebrews, in his eighth and tenth ch...

This Week's Focus Passage: John 6:66 'Upon this many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.' This rather remarkable statement is found in the midst of a confrontationone of many between Christ and the Phariseesand here the focus is to be found back in verses thirty-seven and forty-four, where the Son of God, in undaunted boldness, declared to His audien...

This Week's Focus Passage: John 5:25 'The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son.' The blessed context, in which this statement is to be found, may be thought of as verse 20 through verse 25, which we duplicate below: For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and greater works than these will he show...

This Week's Focus Passage: Jeremiah 6:16 'Ask for the old paths, where is the good way.' We read, at the beginning of a new paragraph, the word of Jehovah, spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, in Jeremiah 6:16; words to the wayward Israelites: Thus saith Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and ye...

This Week's Focus Passage: Luke 24:27 'And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets.' 'But we don't see Jesus in the Psalms; we want to sing songs of praise unto Jesus Christ; we want to be able to pronounce His Name; He is our Savior and our Lord. The Psalms are so restricting.' It is, of course, more than just sad, to ever have multitudes of Christians, in mult...

This Week's Focus Passage: Isaiah 42:6 'Iwill give thee for a covenant of the people.' The important context of the statement chosen for this week's focus passage is found in verses 6-7, which are more than worthy of being reproduced below: I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the p...

This Week's Focus Passage: Luke 22:5 'And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money.' We may read in Luke 22:14-20 of the institution of the Lord's Supper, that memorable last supper that our Savior ate with His disciples before His passion. Luke has told us of this occasion, for the most part, in very similar language as did Matthew and Mark. Interestingly, ...

This Week's Focus Passage: Isaiah 1:2 'I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.' Empathy? Actually a very interesting matter; is it not? What is empathy; what does the word mean? A particularly 'lightweight' dictionary informs a seeker that empathy is an "ability to share in another's emotions, thoughts, or feelings." Another diction...

This Week's Focus Passage: Proverbs 13:20 'Walk with wise men, and thou shalt be wise.' There are a multitude of expressions, warnings, guidelines, directions, in the Scriptures, that have the features that we see in this text from Proverbs; namely, the feature of what we may call 'pro and con,' or in biblical language perhaps, 'yea and nay.' We speak of the entirety o...

Read Through the Bible 2020 08/09/20 Luke 16:1-9 1 Timothy 6:1-10 Proverbs 9 Nehemiah 1-2 08/13/20 Luke 17:11-19 2 Tim. 2:1-13 Pr. 11:16-31 Neh. 7 08/10/20 Luke 16:10-18 1 Tim. 6:11-21 Prov. 10:1-16 Nehemiah 3 08/14/20 Luke 17:20-37 2 Tim. 2:14-26 Pr. 12:1-14 Neh. 8 08/11/20 Luke ...

Read Through the Bible 2020 08/09/20 Luke 16:1-9 1 Timothy 6:1-10 Proverbs 9 Nehemiah 1-2 08/13/20 Luke 17:11-19 2 Tim. 2:1-13 Pr. 11:16-31 Neh. 7 08/10/20 Luke 16:10-18 1 Tim. 6:11-21 Prov. 10:1-16 Nehemiah 3 08/14/20 Luke 17:20-37 2 Tim. 2:14-26 Pr. 12:1-14 Neh. 8 08/11/20 Luke ...

This Week's Focus Passage: Luke 13:3, 5 'Except ye repent, ye shall all in like manner perish.' Now there were some present at that very season who told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered and said unto them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they have suffered these thi...

This Week's Focus Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:16 'But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep.' But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will...

This Week's Focus Passage: 1 Thessalonians 1:5 'Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power.' After the salutation that Paul offered in his first epistle to the church of the Thessalonians, he began immediately to engage in thanksgiving and praise to God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, in verses two through five in the first chapter. Read carefu...

This Week's Focus Passage: 2 Kings 2:11 'Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.' What a dramatic exit from the earth was granted to this prophet, Elijah. The first notice given him in the Word of God is almost as dramatic;read at the beginning of the seventeenth chapter, simply that he 'said unto Ahab, As Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, th...

This Week's Focus Passage: Psalm 119:176 'I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant.' While even the 'Prince of Preachers', as Charles Spurgeon was called, of London in the 19thcentury, was forced to concede that he could not with absolute certainty maintain that 'the man after God's own heart' was the inspired author of the 119thpsalm, he nonetheless decla...

This Week's Focus Passage: Colossians 1:12-13 'Who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.' Considering the phrase utilized by the apostle Paul in this epistle to the church, that is the 'saints at Colosse,' when he speaks to them as those, along with himself, and as he does so in verses twelve and thirteen of the first chapter of Colos...

This Week's Focus Passage: Luke 2:25 'Looking for the consolation of Israel.' Are we Christians today not looking for the consolation of Israel? This text before us this week, speaks of the man Simeon, about whom Luke has told us, in Luke 2:25-35, that he was encountered by Mary and Joseph as they were bringing their child into Jerusalem; it was afterthe days of their ...

1 Kings 2:27 'That he might fulfill the word of Jehovah.' And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord Jehovah before David my father, and because thou wast afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. So ...

Mark 16:18 'They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing. This portion of the gospel according to Mark, that is, Mark 16:9-20, is one of a few contested passages in our bibles, and also in the annals of textual criticism. It has been under the microscope of this form of criticism for a good number of years. It should be noted that textual criticism ...

This Week's Focus Passage: Galatians 1:7 'There are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.' Paul continues, in his epistle to the churches of Galatia, to speak of what he has called 'a different gospel.' What has he said is this thing, this 'different gospel?' He defines this in the next verse, verse eight, where he has written,But though we, o...

This Week's Focus Passage: Psalm 110 'Jehovah saith unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand.' Most writers seem to be in agreement with one another, that Psalm 110 is the most frequently quoted, or cited, passage from the Older Testament found in the books of the Newer Testament. Moreover, there is also agreement with regard to which is the most frequently cited verse ...

This Week's Focus Passage: 2 Corinthians 5:20 'We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ.' What is involved in the office of an ambassador? Indeed, what is an ambassador after all? If we are called to be such, we ought to know what it is. Qatar is an oil-rich emirate on a peninsula jutting into the Persian Gulf: recently, their ambassador to the U.S., Ali Bin F...

2 Corinthians 1:3 'Father of mercies and God of all comfort.' And it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, that when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Father, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us day by day our daily bread. A...

This Week's Focus Passage: 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4 'According to the Scriptures.' As far as we were able to determine, these two verses from 1 Corinthians, chapter fifteen, are the only places in the primary English translations of the Bible, where this phrase,According to the Scriptures,is to be found. Those versions include the King James, the New King James, the Amer...

This Week's Focus Passage: 1 Corinthians 6:11 'And such were some of you: but ye were washed.' This is the blessed conclusion at which our apostle, Paul, arrives in his significant litany of the past lives and offences of many in the church; many who were rescued by the grace of God from the bondage they were in to these sins. Let us review the context found in verses ni...

Psalm 74:9 'Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.' We may read in Luke 13:3, 5, the twice repeated asseveration of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He said to His auditory,Except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish. This was spoken firstly after His allusion to the folk whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, and those who died under the tower ...

Matthew 27:54 'Truly this was the Son of God.' There are at least two great confessions from the lips of individuals to be found in the gospel narratives given us, and this attestation, found in our focus passage and ascribed to the centurion after that he had witnessed the convulsions that rocked the earth as the Lord of Glory 'yielded up his spirit,' (which convulsions...

Psalm 62:1 - 'My soul waiteth in silence for God only; from him cometh my salvation.' One of the modern 'translations' of the Scriptures,The Message, the very centuries they have given here, not a translation, but a paraphrase of what they think that the Psalmist, and thus of course the Holy Spirit, intended to communicate. If one is content with a paraphrase, there is...

Romans 8:28 'And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good.' In the 'Authorized Version,' the 'A. D. 1611,' best known as the King James Version, this passage from Romans 8:28 has been rendered, as follows: And we know that all things work together for good. This is, of course, not a complete sentence in any translation of which we are awar...

Matthew 21:45 - 'They perceived that He spake of them.' "They perceived that he spake of them;they plainly saw that they were designed by the son that promised to go into the vineyard, but did not; only talked of works, but did not do them: and that they were the husbandmen that acted the ungrateful part to the householder, and the cruel one to his servants, and would to...

Psalm 46: 'God is our Refuge and Strength.' One who has written '101 Hymn Stories,' adding at a later date, '101 More Hymn Stories,' is, quite apparently, excited to inform us that this hymn of Martin Luther, 'A Mighty Fortress is our God,' is based on Psalm 46. In fact, our own hymn book has the Scripture reference at the top of the page where this hymn is found,God i...

This Week's Focus Passage: Psalm 40:7 'In the roll of the book it is written of me.' Then said I, Lo, I am come; In the roll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do thy will, O my God: Yea, thy law is within my heart. These beautiful and astounding words are, in all reality, the substance of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They are the embodiment (...

This Week's Focus Passage: Leviticus 1 'Behold, the Lamb of God.' Our readers may read, in their own copies of the Word of God, in Genesis 22:1-2, of the 'proving' or 'tempting' of Abraham by Jehovah. It is rather startling to consider that God would require anyone to offer a human sacrifice, but this is precisely what we read in that particularly astounding passage: ...

Focus Passage, Sunday, Feb. 2: Matthew 11:12 'The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.' In John Bunyan's famous allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, the reader discovers early in the travels of Christian, the Pilgrim, that he arrives at the house of the Interpreter. At one point in his travels, he encounters a grave person who name w...

Weeks Focus Passage: Matthew 10:16 'Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.' We wish to consider the direction that our Lord Jesus has given to His church as He sent out His twelve disciples. He has informed them, in this passage from Matthew, that they are being sent out into a dangerous world. He sent them forthas sheep in the midst of wolves.He fu...

Psalm 119'O How Love I Thy Law! It Is My Meditation All The Day' In our Scripture reading schedule for this week, we find the texts from Psalm 119 to include verses 41-104. While it is frequently noted that apart from only two particular verses in this, the 11 9th Psalm, the word of God is referred to in every other single verse, so that it is to be expected, and no surpr...

1 Kings 13:18'But he lied unto him.' When we read this somewhat disturbing narrative in the book of 1 Kings and the 13th chapter, we come away with many questions upon our minds as well as our hearts; not the least of which is 'who was this man of God'? The narrative begins for us with a simple pronouncement regarding his appearing, when it tells us; And, behold, there c...

Ephesians 1:4'He chose us in him from before the foundation of the world.' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: even as he chose us in him from before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him, in love having foreordained us unto ...

Psalm 116:15'Precious in the sight of Jehovah is the death of his saints.' David has, in his songs and prayers that have been recorded and preserved in the book of Psalms, made frequent references to death, both the death of the righteous as well as the death of the unrighteous. Most notable of the latter, perhaps, is found in the 49th psalm, in the provocative language o...

Galatians 1:6'A different gospel.' The devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And he is well able, we are informed, to transform himself into an angel of light. His fervent desire and plan is to take down the King of glory, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. In order to bring this about, he exercises the fullness of his duplicity and hatred a...

This Week's Focus Passage: Psalm 100 'All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.' The inspired heading of this popular psalm states that it is, 'A Psalm of Thanksgiving,' 'A Psalm for the Thank-offering.' One of the greatest privileges of the believer is that privilege of offering thanksgiving and praise unto the Lord for all His mercies. ...

Matthew 4:10'Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God.' This passage is conspicuous as the narration of 'The Temptation' of Jesus by the Devil. It is most worthy of notice that Satan chose to make this attempt [no pun intended] immediately after His baptism by John, of which we may read: Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan un...

Matthew 1:21'For it is he that shall save his people from their sins.' The entire pericope actually begins with an angel's appearance unto Joseph, at vs. 20, where we do well to listen to all that was spoken unto Joseph, the betrothed of Mary: Butwhen he thought on these things [being minded to put her away], behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, say...

Job 42:5'I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee.' And Job answered Jehovah, and said, I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be restrained. Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that which I understood not, things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseec...

Micah 6:8'.but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God.' This is, of course, the answer to the question, What is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, O man? The Lord says here that He has showed us what is good and that which He requires of us is to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly before Him. These words are, by far...

Amos 3:2'You only have I known of all the families of the earth.' What does the prophet Amos have to say unto the people of God today? The words of Amos, who Hearwas among the herdsmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. Keep in mind that...

John 14:16'And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter.' And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him; ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you. John 16-17. Is this not mo...

1 John 2:12-15'I write unto you, my little children,fathers,,,,,,young men.' I write unto you, my little children, because your sins are forgiven you, for his name's sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye know him who is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the evil one. I have written unto you, little children, because ye know th...

3 John'Gaius the beloved, Diotrephes, who loveth preeminence, Demetrius hath the witness.' John the apostle who leaned upon the breast of Jesus at the Table, is one who lived to many years. He has borne witness in his third epistle of three individuals that may be found in the church of Jesus Christ. We must infer that the references and warnings certainly are presented f...

John 8:58'Before Abraham was born, I am.' In Exodus, chapter three, we are granted the privilege of witnessing a dialogue between Moses and God; an interview that impregnates the memory of every serious believer in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This interview evolves out of the circumstances of what one writer has described as 'God Commissions Moses to Deliver Israel out o...

John 6:66'Upon this many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.' In the verses which have preceded this sixty-sixth verse of John, chapter 6, we are told, in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself: But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray him. A...

John 6:66'Upon this many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.' In the verses which have preceded this sixty-sixth verse of John, chapter 6, we are told, in the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself: But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was that should betray him. An...

John 5:46'If ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me.' If ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? This seems to powerfully connect the Old Testament scriptures with those of the New Testament. Is it not fair to consider this to be true from these very words of Jesus ...

John 2:19'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' This is a sequel to John's account of the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem. Well known are the details of that cleansing that Jesus performed with a scourge of cords. He drove out all those merchandizers that were dishonoring His Father's house. And He said to them, Make not my Father's house a hous...

James 1:18'He brought us forth by the word of truth.' The most blessed and entire sentence that constitutes verse 1:18 of the epistle of James is absolutely full even to overflowing with beautiful and wonderful truths. Read for yourself and ponder each pregnant word or expression: Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first...

Luke 23:43'Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.' When anyone passes away from this life, we invariably hear someone make the statement that 'they are with God,' or, 'they are in heaven.' And although the Roman Catholic Church teaches the doctrine of purgatory, we virtually never hear it said of one of their communicants, upon passing, that they are in purgatory. What ...

Luke 23:12'And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day.' We are informed by Luke in this passage that during the passing back and forth of Jesus between them, that Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day. Luke has not told us how or why this period of the trial of Christ made them to become friends. The only clue Luke has left i...

Luke 20:46'Beware of the scribes.' And in the hearing of all the people he said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at feasts; who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive greater condemnation. The ...

Proverbs 19:5, 9 'A false witness shall not be unpunished.' Repetition, repetition, repetition; is that not the way of learning? We were taught that from our youth, weren't we? How often in classes did we not go over the same material again and again until we had it stored in our hard drives (a conspicuous anachronism)? There is an old Latin saying making the very same p...

Titus 'To Titus, my true child after a common faith.' Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal; but in his own seasons manifested his word in the message, wherewith I was i...

Luke 17:3 'And if he repent, forgive him. And what if he does not repent? What if he refuses to repent? What if he hardens his heart? How did that work for Pharaoh? Jesus here disciples His disciples. Take heed to yourselves: if thy brother sin, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to th...

Proverbs 8:30 'And I was daily his delight.' This brief statement of fact contains, in the English, only six words, but of what beautifully grand realities those words speak to the understanding of our hearts. They are found in this eighth proverb among. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of und...

1 Timothy 2:5 'For there is one God, one mediator also between God and men.' Mankind is religious by his very nature. This is attested through history. Man throughout the ages has held this in common. In every century; in every generation, men have sought the way of connection with the 'higher being,' whether it be with 'Mother Nature' or 'the Man upstairs.' Mankind inst...

2 Chronicles 33:13 'Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God.' This is what Paul Harvey would have referred to as 'the rest of the story.' For our purposes, the story begins in 2 Kings 20:21. We may read that simple verse, And Hezekiah slept with his fathers; and Manasseh his son reigned in his stead. Actually, this single verse is quite remarkable; we should therefore...

Psalm 142 'Maschil of David, when he was in the cave; a Prayer.' This superscription is what is written and underlined in an introductory fashion. These are a part of the inspired Word, and by many writers are counted as the first verse. The seven versesof course the verse divisions are not inspiredshall be set down in a prose, rather than a poetic form for the ease of ...

Luke 9:30 'There talked with him two men, who were Moses and Elijah.' Moses and Elijah were attendants at the transfiguration of our Lord on the mount along with the apostles, Peter, James, and John. Many commentators point out to their readers that the likely purpose of this event was to foreshadow the exaltation of Jesus that would result from His resurrection to His s...

Psalm 130'If thou, Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?' John Owen wrote a treatise which, in a Banner of Truth reprint from 'The Works of John Owen,' and titled by this publisher, 'The Forgiveness of Sin,' the 'little' volume is made up of 448 pages. This independent puritan pastor and theologian has written 448 pages commenting upon a psalm which...

Ephesians 1:4'In Him before the foundation of the world.' Verses one through fourteen of the first chapter of Paul's epistle to the saints that are at Ephesus are somewhat well known, in the original, to comprise one sentence. This may, perhaps, be disputed among students of the Greek. Yet, the very concept of these many grand and glorious blessings, even possibly, being ...

Luke 6:10'Stretch forth thy hand.' And it came to pass on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man there, and his right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath; that they might find how to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man that had his han...

Luke 3:21-22'The Holy Spirit descended.and a voice came out of heaven.' Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that, Jesus also having been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. The passage above...

Psalm 106:30'Then stood up Phinehas.' There seem to be, on record in the Scriptures, only two men having the name of Phinehas. The first, chronologically, is Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the first high priest of the nation of Israelthis Aaron was also the brother of the renowned and honored Moses. Almost ironically, the only other individual bearing th...

Psalm 71:18'Yea, even when I am old and gray-headed, forsake me not.' This is a glorious example of a child of God praying the promises of God; something of which we should each take personal note. The bottom line, to put it that way, of all of our prayingas exemplified by our Lord and Saviorshould always be, 'thy will be done.' And how could that summation possibly be sa...

The Old Hundredth -'Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all ye lands.' "All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;Him serve with fear, His praise forth-tell, Come ye before Him and rejoice. The Lord ye know is God indeed, without our aid He did us make;We are His flock, He does us feed, and for His sheep He doth us take. O enter then His gate...

Ruth 1:16'Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.' We find the name of Ruth the Moabitess repeated thirteen times in the Word of God; twelve times in the Older Testament, and just once in the Newer Testament. There are surely many notable items to be gleaned from that which surrounds the inclusion of this woman of Moab into the Holy Scriptures. The notability a...

And from thence he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered into a house, and would have no man know it; and he could not be hid. But straightway a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Greek, a Syro-phoenician by race. And she besought him that he would ca...

Judges 2:10'And there arose another generation after them, that knew not Jehovah.' Why? Did Joshua and his contemporaries fail in bringing up their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord? What is it that would account for this 'new generation' not knowing Jehovah? Is this a fair picture of our families today? Is it a fair picture of much of the church today? It ...

Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, b...

My mouth shall tell of thy righteousness, and of thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Jehovah: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth; and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Yea, even when I am old and gray-headed forsake me not, ...

Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city, and told unto the chief priests all the things that were come to pass. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor’s ears,...

A question was put to our Lord Jesus Christ by His disciples as it is recorded for us in Matthew 24. This question has been asked by His disciples over and again ever since. It is the question of the return of our Lord, or His second advent. ...

These words spoken by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, are words that immediately precede perhaps the most well-known verse of the Holy Scriptures, namely John 3:16, which it may well be unnecessary to set before my reader, but I will do so, for convenience, anyway; For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not...

The New International Version translation of the Bible...

And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him. ...

This grand declaration from the lips of our Savior were uttered in response to the blessed and renowned statement of Peter; his confession of faith, if you will, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God....

Psalm 27:4 -One thing have I asked of Jehovah, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, And to inquire in his temple....

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ...

These words of the apostle Paul are cited from the words of the prophet, Habakkuk, found in chapter one, verse five. This prophecy is spoken of by Habakkuk as The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. ...

Arise, O Jehovah, Confront him, cast him down: Deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword; From men by thy hand, O Jehovah, From men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly thou fillest with thy treasure: They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their substance to their babes....

Yet I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will tell of the decree: Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vesse...

Wow! Are we already approaching another year? It hardly seems that an entire year has passed since this thought was set before us. What is there that we ought to do, or be doing, as we look back upon the year 2017?...

One twentieth-century writer, I believe, is quite helpful in his attempts at setting before us this awe-striking portrait which John through God the Holy Spirit has set before us in lovely, simple words; And I saw a new heaven and a new earth....

No less than five times in this single chapter from John’s gospel account did our Savior speak of those believing on Him as those given unto Him by the Father Himself. ...

This third chapter in the prophecy of Amos, who was among the herdsmen of Tekoa, was directed by God toward the hearing of the children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt. The remarks of Thomas Scott (1747-1821) on this verse are well worth noting....

If I may be excused for doing so, I intend to communicate a rather large extract from the 12 volumes of his Practical Observations on Job by the Puritan Joseph Caryl (1602-1674). A recent purchaser of this reprint (the first after 400 years) offered the following remarks:...

This rather simple statement by the apostle John toward the conclusion of his first epistle is full of Gospel reality. It is interesting to note that this particular phrase, ‘whosoever believeth,’ of this verse is found in only four other places of the Word of God....

“Alexander Henderson (1583-1646), Scottish minister, described as ‘the Second Reformer’. Born probably in the Fife parish of Creich, he graduated with distinction at St. Andrews (1603) and was appointed regent there. Favored as a supporter of Episcopacy, not later than 1614 he was given the parish of Leuchars, an induction carried out against the wishes of the parish...

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto t...

And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Jehovah fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and, lo, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his loins and downward, fire; and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of br...

‘Upon this,’ or, ‘after this’? We may understand that the rendering, ‘upon,’ is intended to signify ‘built on,’ or, ‘coming on,’ that is, ‘with connection to,’ but the rendering ‘after,’ almost certainly must suggest a time frame....

We must needs have before us the entirety of this enigmatic passage if we are to have any opportunity to grasp the enormity of what our Savior has spoken to those Jews that were so completely perplexed over His speech. ...

Behold, we call them blest that endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful....

Behold, we call them blest that endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful....

Great is the number of men that have, not only imagined but, taught that salvation is a product of the human will. ...

And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned chi...

It is difficult to pass by an opportunity to offer remarks on one of the most blessed portions of the Word of God, namely the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah is the Old Testament volume frequently referred to...

If the Christ, the God-man, Emmanuel, God with us; our Champion; God Himself manifest in the flesh, retaining omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, required the sustenance and/or comfort that this angel was able to render, how much more do we weak and frail humans stand in need of such strengthening. How in the world could we even begin to conceive of ‘standing it alon...

How has He spoken in his Son? Is it not through the Word and His Spirit? May we not ‘hear’ the voice of the Son through His Spirit as we read the Scriptures? ...

This verse powerfully suggests a common scenario among men. We should say mankind for, surely, it has infected both man and woman; both men, women, and yes, the offspring of these men and women; that is, their progeny; their children. We are reminded of the psalmist’s asseveration when he cried, All men are liars! This, happily, is not absolutely true....

I thought that we were justified by faith! What goes on here? Has not Paul clearly stated, in Romans 5:1, Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Did the apostle write to the church at Rome telling them that they were justified by faith, and then later write to his follower, Titus, that we are justified by grace?...

I well recall reading a small volume about the translation of Scripture. The author was actually critiquing the most recent translation among the four most used renderings of the Word of God; namely the New International Version, or N.I.V....

This astounding cry of lament over the city of Jerusalem by our Savior is surely remarkable for its somewhat enigmatic nature. How is it that the Son of God, God Himself, must cry over this great city of His own people according to the flesh? Is it that He could not save them?...

In the days of the so-called Second Great Awakening there arose practices that are continued even into our own day. It may not be unfair to attribute the initiation of these methods to the developed thought of the ‘great revivalist’ Charles Grandison Finney....

According to theologians and biblical historians, the Hallel...

The kings of Judah were descendants of David, the second king of Israel succeeding Saul of Benjamin. God had made a covenant with David that his seed always be seated on the throne of Israel forever; 2 Samuel 7:16:...

hat is a conspiracy? I ask the question because this text brings to my mind what I believe to be a conspiracy in the church at large. We find in our dictionary that a conspiracy may be defined as:...

Who was John Mark? Who was Barnabas? Both John Mark and Barnabas have excellent scriptural pedigrees. By scriptural pedigrees, I mean the records of the Scriptures by which we have come to know these men. ...

In what is frequently declared to be His ‘farewell address,’ our Lord Jesus Christ intended to impart confident encouragement to His own. He encouraged their very hearts early in this discourse with the deservedly well-known exhortation:...

The 119th psalm, it has been frequently observed by writers, is inundated with references to the Word of God. In all but a very few of the 176 verses there is an express reference to the Word. The Word has been spoken of in the many characters that it bears. The Psalmist...

In his Old Testament Word Studies, William Wilson has given to us the meaning of the noun, surety. He has offered this definition; ‘To become surety for any one, properly to exchange with him, to stand in his place; to become surety for one’s life, to pledge oneself for the life of another; for another’s debt, to give security for the payment.’...

This demonstration took place after Jesus had read the Scriptures to those before Him in the synagogue. He had been asked to read, we may presume according to their custom. They had delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah, which He opened to a particular place where, we are told, it was written, and He read;...

The pericope under our purview for this week’s commentary is that which is related in context with king Solomon’s following his father David’s instructive warnings and advice which he gave to his son shortly before he died. He warned Solomon about Joab and Shimei, giving suggestive counsel recommending how he should behave toward each of them. This may be applied, by...

The verse cited above for our focus passage this week is found joined together with the previous verse which should probably be taken as a piece. We put them together for consideration in that way; I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places. I watch, and am become like a sparrow that is alone upon the housetop....

Is this a classic case of misjudgment on the part of a ‘church leader’? If it is, indeed, not classic, it is at least most pointed. And does it not speak volumes to the issue of pastoral oversight and, particularly, to several other integral matters? Matters such as not judging empirically; in other words, not basing your judgment entirely, or primarily, on appearances...

‘O death, where is thy victory?’ These words of the apostle Paul in 15:55 of his first letter to the church of God at Corinth are citations from a pair of Old Testament prophets. Isaiah, in his twenty-fifth chapter had written, many years before Paul, these blessed promises from God to His covenant people for their faith and encouragement:...

While the majority, even most, of the Psalms have a superscription at their beginning...

Paul is here referencing the account found in Exodus 17:1-7 which took place in the course of the march of the children of Israel through the wilderness after that God had delivered them from the bondage in Egypt under Pharaoh. We are told;...

This word of the cross; just what is it, and why would it be foolishness to any of the sons of men? What does foolishness involve? How may we recognize it? In ourselves? In others? How do people determine if they are being given a pure line of bologna? Is there some clue that will betray for us whether what we are being told and expected to believe is really only an ‘urb...

More often than not when the question of Rahab the harlot is admitted into any conversation, whether it be about the sinfulness of harlotry, or whether or not she lied about having knowledge of the whereabouts of the two spies, the matter of her surprising faith is, sadly only infrequently, brought to bear upon this truly amazing Old Testament narrative. ...

Although the 18th verse of this 28th chapter of Matthew’s gospel account is indisputably the best-known portion of this disciple’s closing remarks, the 15th verse may be one of the most intriguing. After the resurrection of our Savior and His giving of this directive, Fear not: Go tell my brethren that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me...

These individuals were quite evidently deceived, perhaps even self-deceived, but deceived nonetheless. Like their counterparts in 7:22, they may have spoken of the many things that they had done, claiming, even believing, that they had done them “by His name,” that they had been living lives, doing ‘mighty works’ in the name of religion; in the name of Christianit...

How fearful it is that we may ever have spoken these glorious words tritely, or without due consideration of their incomprehensible depths: the depths of the love of Christ that truly passes our understanding; the depths of the love of the Father in giving His Son for us; the depths of the love of God the Holy Spirit in applying the infinitely costly salvation to any of th...

A new translation of the Scriptures, the Word of God for Protestant Christians, namely, that is, the Bible, appeared in full in the year of our Lord, 1978, the New Testament had earlier made its appearance in 1773; the publishers evidently not wishing to wait for the entirety of both the Older and the Newer Testaments to be ready....

And as they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Lord, have mercy on us, thou son of David. And the multitude rebuked them that they should hold their peace: but they cried out the more, saying, Lord, have mercy on us, thou son of David. And Jes...

The inspired words of the focus of our attention this week are found on only four occasions, at least in the American Standard Version (1901) of the Scriptures. Three of these four occasions are to be located in the psalm under consideration, namely the 37th Psalm, ‘a psalm of David’ according to its inspired inscription. The fourth employment of ‘Fret not thyself’...