Bible Commentaries

Psalms 112:1-10 — be successful everywhere; an entire generation of godly people will be blessed. 3 They themselves will be wealthy, and their good deeds will last forever. 4 Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous. 5 Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. 6 Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered. 7 They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

Isaiah 61:1-11 — has & can breakdown prison doors, but normally this liberation speaks of freedom from a greater slavery!!! We are living in the “year of acceptance”, the day of grace! Possibly pointing to the year of Jubilee – (Lev.25:8-13) Thus, it’s a time of releasing slaves, canceling all debts, & making a new beginning. (sounds lie being Born Again) Trust Christ, & begin your Jubilee now! Reject Him, & face judgment! Q: Have you entered your Jubilee? It’s

Jeremiah 15:1-21 — THE COMING CAPTIVITY! (15:1-21) God had judged them “in” the land(Judges), now “from” the land. THE LORD’S RESPONSE! (1-9) Vs.1 – At critical times in Jewish history Moses & Samuel interceded & God heard & answered. “I

Daniel 10:1-21 — THE 21 DAY PRAYER (1-3) Chapter 10 is really an intro to chapters 11 & 12’s prophecies (this is Daniel’s 4th Vision). Breakdown: 10:1-11:1 Intro; 11:2-35 deals w/immediate future; 11:36-12:4 deals w/far future. At this time the Jewish exiles have already returned to the land & were rebuilding the temple. (1) In Cyrus’ 1st year as king of Persia, he gave the Jews permission to return to

Matthew 13:47-58 — doing. Jerry Vines, adapted from. James Montgomery Boice, A day of reckoning will come in which God will separate the true believers from mere pretenders, and those found to be false will be cast into hell. DRAGNET - Good Fish, Bad Fish (47-50) Dr Seuss in his 1960 children’s book: One fish Two fish Red fish Blue fish. Black fish Blue fish Old fish New fish… Yes. Some are red. And some are blue. Some are old. And some are new. Some are sad. And some are glad. And some are

Matthew 14:1-21 — conscience, friends, enemies, the world. Conscience - The voice of Conscience can be a powerful voice. It can also be silenced. Herod decided instead to listen to the voice of cowardice & plunged himself into terrible sin. (3-5) The Prophet John was another voice that warned him & boldly warned him to repent. Herod laid hold on John, because John’s word laid hold on Herod. Let’s note these 3 things... sorry, nevertheless, he commanded it. (9) The King was sorry

Matthew 2:1-23 — be better to learn about the X-mas story w/o all the distractions. Lil different angle of the Christmas story, you might pick up by my outline: THE KING OF THE JEWS HUNTED BY THE KING OF THE JEWS (1-12) THE REDEEMER BECOMES A REFUGEE (13-15) JESUS, A TARGET OF GENOCIDE (16-18) FROM REFUGEE TO IDP (19-23) Title: Redeemer, Refugee, IDP THE KING OF THE JEWS HUNTED BY THE KING OF THE JEWS (1-12) ​​​​​​​(1) Wise men/Magoi/Magi -

Matthew 26:31-56 — Things but Opportunities What we call adversity, God calls opportunity. Warren Wiersbe ~ Peter missed many important opportunities… ​​​​​​​Peter boasted when he should have listened (32-35) Peter slept when he should have prayed (36-46) Peter fought when he should have surrendered (47-56) Peter followed when he should have fled for safety (57-75) But, when the opportunity came to repent, he wept. PROPHECY

Matthew 3:1-17 — Jesus to the churches of Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, & Laodicea...Repent! Acts 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. DESERT THUNDER (3) The Voice Voice in Heb. לוק is call aloud, noise, thunder - so msg says, Thunder in the desert! Jesus was the Word...John the voice to declare the Word. John is the voice, his tone is crying, his place is in the wilderness, his mission is to prepare the way

Matthew 5:13 — witness. Remember, the Beatitudes are impossible to live out in private, they are powerfully social & outward. Jesus didn’t tell us we should Be salt & light. He tells us we Are salt & light (ie. believers) Eph.5:8, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. We cannot CHANGE what we are, but we can WASTE what we are. The Salt can lose its saltiness, &

Luke 7:1-17 — Gentiles” have been honored by trees planted along the road to Israel’s Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial, because they risked their own death to save Jewish lives. (Adapted from; Stern, D. H. (1992). Jewish New Testament commentary : (1st ed.) (Lk 7:5).) A Roman Centurion caring about his slave? - Loving him? - Loving him enough to approach Jesus on his behalf? Wow! 3 opinions concerning this Gentile Roman Centurion: [1] The Jewish elder’s opinion! He’s worthy/deserving!

Romans 5:12-21 — had laid out your real state of your present discipleship w/the hidden agenda, the mixed motives, & the dark desires buried in your psyche, you would feel His acceptance & forgiveness. (Ibid, pg.63.) Read intro to Ragamuffin Gospel, pg.14,15. What is Christianity to you? Is it: Do it yourself spirituality? Is your emphasis on what you do rather than on what God is doing? Are you a self-made man/woman? You are not ready to accept true biblical Christianity until you accept your inadequacy

2 Timothy 2:1-13 — – free grace, saving grace, gifting grace, enabling grace, providing grace, abounding grace, strengthening grace. We are not only to guard the treasure(1 Tim 6:20) but pass it on to others! A Sunday School teacher, a Mr. Kimball, in 1858, led a Boston shoe clerk to give his life to Christ. The clerk, Dwight L. Moody, became an evangelist. In England in 1879, he awakened evangelistic zeal in the heart of Fredrick  Meyer, pastor of a small church. F. B. Meyer, preaching to

2 Timothy 4:1-5 — in his own personal life; now he exhorts him to share it with others! We must receive before we can transmit. We’ve said, “get it straight & give it straight!” [Kent Hughes] PREACH THE WORD & REACH THE WORLD! (1-5) (1) I charge you before…! This isn’t a man to man charge, but in the very presence of God the Father & Jesus Christ. Paul calls upon Christ to witness his charge to Timothy, reminding Timothy that Christ would one day return

1 Peter 2:18-25 — slave-trafficking in our own days. Nevertheless, slavery in the ancient world could still be miserable, even deadly, especially if a master didn’t appreciate his slave’s faith in Christ. Slaves were considered a social class. Somewhere between 25-40% of the population of the day. Many ways to become a slave: as a spoil of war; children of slaves automatically became property of their masters; you could sell yourself into slavery to fulfill debt or other obligations. Slavery in the ancient

1 Samuel 17:1-58 — before he took the throne & ruled, & our Lord is King of Kings even though He is not yet reigning on this earth. Like David, our Lord has had to experience rejection & exile before reigning. Our story this morning sits in a little valley 15m W of David’s city of Bethlehem in Elah. Outline: Goliath, A Pint Size Giant! - David, A Genuine Giant! [note: Title] GOLIATH, A PINT SIZE GIANT! (1-11) ​​​​​​​A LITTLE MAN, IN A BIG BODY! (1-11) To

1 Samuel 17:1-58 — before he took the throne & ruled, & our Lord is King of Kings even though He is not yet reigning on this earth. Like David, our Lord has had to experience rejection & exile before reigning. Our story this morning sits in a little valley 15m W of David’s city of Bethlehem in Elah. Outline: Goliath, A Pint Size Giant! - David, A Genuine Giant! [note: Title] GOLIATH, A PINT SIZE GIANT! (1-11) ​​​​​​​A LITTLE MAN, IN A BIG BODY! (1-11) To

2 Samuel 19:1-15 — country, & were now treated like criminals! The king turned a military victory into an emotional defeat. Remember Absalom was a liar, a murderer, a traitor, & a rebel against his dad. Faithful Are The Wounds Of A Friend! (5-8) Joab sternly rebukes David, claiming that he seems to love those who hate him and hate those who love him! He warns David that his troops will desert him unless he congratulates them for winning the battle. Joab delivered a very cutting

2 Samuel 19:16-39 — Barzillai (Heb Iron Man) 1st we need to reacquaint ourselves with 2 other men. Shimei & Mephibosheth. Outline: Shimei, Singing a Different Tune-Man; Mephibosheth, Misunderstood-Man; Barzillai, The Original Iron-Man. Read starting from vs.15. SHIMEI, SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE-MAN! (16-23) As a gesture of goodwill, David let Shimei live. David gives Shimei Amnesty (from a Gk word amnesia/forgetfulness) We want to ask the Shimei’s of this world, “You’re repenting

2 Samuel 21:1-14 — Gibeonites. Saul killed several but intended to wipe them all out, so it was a case of “ethnic cleansing” & genocide. Another weird twist...Jeiel(Ja-EYE-l), Saul’s great-grandfather was the ancestor of the Gibeonites(1 Chron.9:35-39). So he slaughtered his own relatives. Gibeon was located in the tribe of Benjamin’s territory (which was Saul’s tribe). Maybe that is a clue to his behavior? It was bad enough they had to live in Israel, but in my neighborhood?