Bible Commentaries

Exodus 14:26-31 — the righteousness of God. Most of the specifics in this paragraph have already been noted in the comments above, and what we have here is somewhat a recapitulation and summary of the mighty act of Jehovah. The result is stated in Exodus 14:31, where faith in God and in his servant Moses was established in Israel. It is a sorrow that this faith did not continue unabated. Wherever and whenever the occasion came, Israel always seemed ready to murmur and complain. "The horsemen" (Exodus 14:26). The text

Psalms 11:1-7 — devices of the wicked, who are doomed to destruction.J. R. Dummelow, On the Old Testament (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 333. We appreciate also Rhodes' comment that: Psalms 11 is one of the gems of the Psalter classified as affirmations of faith in spite of danger to himself, in spite of advice of friends to flee, and in spite of the seeming hopelessness of the cause.Arnold B. Rhodes, The Layman's Bible Commentary (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1960), p. 38. Some have classified this as one

Jeremiah 6:16 — thought. "Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask." What a stupid folly it is for men to proceed through life without a thoughtful, careful examination of "the way" they have chosen. II.    In this text, the ancient ways were the ways of faith, devotion, and honor of the One True God of Israel, as revealed and certified unto the people in the Pentateuch. In our own times the "good way" is the way of the Gospel of Christ. III.    There is the call for action. It is

Jeremiah 7:8-11 — commandment. As Green noted, "This amounted to a near-total breach of the covenant stipulations." Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 62. "Here is further and conclusive evidence of Jeremiah's deep anchorage in the Mosaic faith."Ibid. "We are delivered" The Jews actually believed that merely because they frequented the temple and brought their sacrifices as usual, that, they were fully protected in the commission of every crime in the catalogue, "all of this on the mere

Amos 9:7 — rejection of a great portion of Abraham's literal descendants, such as Esau, Ishmael, and the sons of Keturah, Abraham's fleshly posterity was never the true possessor of the promise, which pertained to his "spiritual seed" alone, i.e., those of a like faith and disposition of their great progenitor. The Jewish race, all of them, northern and southern kingdoms, had further perverted and misconstrued the promise by applying it, without reservation, to their secular kingdoms. This prophecy put an end

Zephaniah 3:9 — but all men. "This section is reminiscent of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11)."Frank E. Eakin, Beacon Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972), p. 287. "It means the confusion of Babel shall be done away, and all shall speak the language of faith in one God."J. W. Deane, op. cit., p. 51. Deane also added that, "This, of course, points to Messianic times."Ibid. In fact, the miracle of tongues on the Day of Pentecost was a token fulfillment of this promise.

Malachi 3:14 — allowed that there are many situations in which the wicked clearly have an advantage. However, the Word of God teaches that there is a judgment of Almighty God, upon which occasion the wicked will be punished and the righteous rewarded. The child of faith should therefore be established and grounded in the conviction that the Father will surely see to it that he receives all, and far more, than he could deserve, and that, "Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink, because ye are Christ's,

Matthew 10:32 — 21:27). Inscriptions in the book of life do not wait upon the judgment, nor even upon the death or proved fidelity of the persons thus honored; but their names are written there while they still live and work on earth (Philippians 4:3). Confession of faith in Jesus Christ as God's only begotten Son is a basic requirement of the Christian religion (Romans 10:10). Paul called it "the good confession" twice in a single utterance (1 Timothy 6:12-13); and the following reasons may be cited for

Matthew 10:40-42 — Christ is equivalent to receiving God. The importance of the apostolic mission is underscored by these words. It is "through their word" (John 17:20) and "through your apostles" (2 Peter 3:2) that all the benefits of the Christian faith may be acquired. Note also the limitation, "in the name of a disciple," equivalent to "for my sake" in Matthew 10:39. All spiritual blessings are of and through Christ; and unless related to him, the best of good works must fail

Matthew 23:15 — scribes. Matthew 23:15 does not condemn the making of proselytes, far from it. It condemns the making of a proselyte to human opinion rather than to God's word. This was the guilt of the scribes and Pharisees. Had they made converts to the true Jewish faith, that would have been all right; but, instead, they made converts to THEIR PARTY. Boles said, "They exalted the opinions of men above the word of God, which rendered them worthy of such condemnation."H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Matthew

Luke 14:31-32 — A significant difference appears in the fact that the first of these two parables regards building, and this regards fighting, the same being two phases of the Christian life. The great London preacher, Spurgeon, made these the sum and all of true faith. He named his newspaper, "Sword and Trowel." And, while it is true that there is much fighting in the Christian life (1 Timothy 6:12), such is not in view in this parable. Hence, the situation demands that an ambassage be sent and peace

Acts 14:5-7 — better in Lycaonia than it had been in Iconium and Antioch. The pagan population were a fierce, primitive breed. The very name Lycaonia, interpreted traditionally as Wolf-land (the local legend derived it from Lycaon who had been transformed into a wolf) faithfully represented the character of the inhabitants. E. H. Plumptre, in Ellicott's Commentary on the Holy Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 59. It is a tribute to the Christian gospel that such a population should

Acts 4:27 — fulfillment of an expectation they had so long cherished of some spectacular leader on a white horse who would overthrow the power of Rome and restore the defunct Solomonic empire. In the case of the Romans, human nature at last turned upon the new faith with the fury of a vicious animal; and, although at first not opposed to Christianity (because they did not understand it), when it finally became clear to Roman authorities that the new religion was not merely seeking a place ALONG WITH OTHER RELIGIONS,

Acts 6:12-14 — opposition of the Sadducees had largely failed; and the circumstances that made it so were: (1) the Pharisees, by far more popular than the Sadducees, were the leaders, their engagement in the opposition deriving, in all probability, from the inroads the new faith had made upon their own party (Acts 6:7); (2) they directed their murderous purpose, not against the Twelve, but against a prominent new personality but recently elevated to popular esteem; (3) it was directed against a single individual, not against

1 Corinthians 3:14-15 — once baptized into Christ and served as elders of God's church, whose children are paying to get them prayed out of purgatory! What this verse actually means is that the persons led to Christ through the efforts of any Christian may defect from the faith, proving themselves wood, hay or stubble, and that the loss of such souls will not affect the salvation of a Christian teacher, whose reward would in some manner unknown to us have been far greater if they had not defected, and whose salvation "so

Ephesians 1:4 — CHRISTIANS The requirement of Almighty God was bluntly stated by the Lord himself in the Sermon on the Mount: "Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). This is the master imperative demanding perfect faith, perfect love, perfect obedience and perfect holiness. This eternal demand of the Father upon the part of those who would be his children has never been repealed. Jesus referred to this when he said to the rich young ruler, "If thou wouldest

1 Timothy 2:15 — but she shall be saved through her childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety. All kinds of fanciful interpretations of this verse have been advocated; but, in all probability, "child-bearing" is a synecdoche for "the entire status of women in their relationship to

Hebrews 6:17-18 — "more abundantly" as used in the text here; and the meaning is that God went over and beyond what was necessary, and that his doing so sprang solely from his desire to demonstrate ("being minded to show") what solid ground supported faith in his eternal designs. Who have fled for refuge refers to Christians who had sought and received refuge in Christ from all their sins and is a reference to the ancient cities of refuge in Canaan which appear in this place as a type of the refuge

James 5:14-15 — Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. James in this remarkable paragraph plainly has under consideration the charismatic gift of healing, one of the special gifts that

Revelation 4 overview — person; and associated with him, indeed identified with him, is the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, also personal, and identified both with the Father and with mankind. It is lack of belief in a personal God that has devastated and destroyed religious faith to a great extent in the current era. William Buckley, many years editor of the National Review, and a personal friend of this writer, once published an article in his paper regarding the "Three `R's of Religion," identifying these as