Bible Commentaries

Exodus 20:12 — REVERENCIA PARA LOS PADRES Honra a tu padre y a tu madre. Éxodo 20:12 I. Considere varias formas en las que un hombre puede honrar a su padre ya su madre: (1) haciendo todo lo posible en el camino de la superación personal; (2) por hábitos de cuidado y frugalidad; (3) manteniéndose en sobriedad, templanza y castidad. II.

2 Kings 17:7 — ISRAEL’S DECLINE AND FALL ‘The children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God.’ 2 Kings 17:7 As to the causes which led to the captivity—the one great evil was idolatry, it lies at back of all else. We have here (1) a picture of this idolatry in some of its prominent features; then (2) a description of the way in which Israel defied Jehovah.

2 Kings 2:1 — A MEMORABLE PARTING ‘And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.’ 2 Kings 2:1 I. In this last journey the first thing to impress us is the loyal attachment of Elisha.—He reminds us of Ruth, pleading with Naomi and saying to her, ‘Entreat me not to leave thee.’ Elijah was not afraid to be alone—no man who ‘dwells deep’ is afraid

2 Kings 22:1 — THE BOY-MONARCH ‘Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign.’ 2 Kings 22:1 For all the years Josiah had been represented as one of the models of the Bible. Nothing appears in his history which the Lord seems to have disapproved. Four things there are in our verse which show the remarkableness of this boy-monarch’s piety;

Psalms 127:2 — ‘IF HE SLEEP, HE SHALL DO WELL’ ‘So He giveth His beloved sleep.’ Psalms 127:2 We take the ‘sleep’ in our text as denoting death, and confine ourselves to an illustration of the passage under this one point of view. Here we have an idea which it would be well to work out in detail. God values death. He must value that which

Psalms 149:1 — A HYMN OF SALVATION ‘Praise ye the Lord.’ Psalms 149:1 This psalm begins with the two well-known formulas—‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Sing unto the Lord a new song.’ It designates itself as intended to be sung in the ‘congregation of saints.’ That is to say, it belongs to the inner circle; it is a record of experience;

Psalms 22:19 — THE GREATEST OF THE PASSION PSALMS ‘O my Strength, haste Thee to help me!’ Psalms 22:19 I. There are feelings and instincts in human nature the very antiquity of which is a proof of their universal reality.—Foremost among such instincts is the aching sense of severance between man and the Infinite Being outside and above himself. Long

Song of Solomon 2:15 — LITTLE FAULTS THAT SPOIL OUR LIVES ‘Little foxes that spoil the vines.’ Song of Solomon 2:15 I. Little faults are like the little foxes so plentiful in Palestine, which destroy the fruitfulness of the vineyards.—The beautiful vineyards of Solomon’s Song point to the covenant of love between Christ and His people. The little foxes which might

Daniel 5:23 — I. Man exists for the glory of God.—This is a theological assertion which no professing Christian would challenge, though few have an adequate apprehension of its truth. In what sense, then, is the glory of God the end and object of man’s existence? (1) By witnessing to the power of His grace to sustain, defend, and exalt the soul that by faith commits itself to Him, Who is thus seen perfecting His strength in human weakness. (2) By the voluntary acceptance of the Divine Will as the law of human conduct.

Nahum 3:1 — NINEVEH’S DIRGE ‘Woe to the bloody city!’ Nahum 3:1 I. We now come to stanzas of triumph over the great city’s fall.—For convenience and clearness we may take the closing verses of chapter 2 (i.e., Nahum 3:11-13) separately, as they contain a kind of dirge which fitly closes the vivid description of

Matthew 4:12-13 — THE MINISTRY BEGUN ‘Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum.’ Matthew 4:12-13 We approach now the beginning of our Lord’s ministry. He left His quiet country home and went forth to the great work He had come to achieve. As priests of old were washed and anointed in preparation for their priestly office, so Christ, our Prophet,

Matthew 4:19 — FISHERS OF MEN ‘I will make you fishers of men.’ Matthew 4:19 The object of the preaching of the Gospel is to catch men. I. Only Christ can make fishers of men.—Christian people should be willing to give up their cleverest and brightest boy to preach the Gospel, but when they have done all, all is not done,

Mark 5:2 — Timothy 2:26)—a slave to sin. II. His healing.—Notice the stages:— ( a) He came to Jesus. ( b) Jesus commanded the spirits to come out, when the demons made him cry out, ‘What have I to do with Thee.’ These spirits always knew Jesus (see ch. Mark 1:24). St. James ( Mark 2:19) says of demons that they ‘believe and shudder” (R.V.). After begging our Lord not to send them into the deep they came out of the man. ( c) The change. When the Gerasenes came—probably next morning—what did they see? ( Mark

John 6:51 — THE EUCHARIST ‘The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ John 6:51 The Jews expressed no desire to know how to obtain this promised blessing, but perplexed themselves with the inferior question—how the thing promised could be accomplished. ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’ In answer to this our Blessed

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 — PRIVILEGE AND RESPONSIBILITY ‘I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; … But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.’ 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 It is with us exactly as it was with these Israelites: we too enjoy the same privileges, we have all been baptized with one baptism, confirmed with one hope and one promise; we are in a Christian country, all enjoying the recurring

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 — WAITING FOR THE SON FROM HEAVEN ‘Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead.’ 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 These conditions marked the life of those to whom the Apostle wrote: ( a) The turning from idols. ( b) The service of the living and true God. ( c) The waiting for the Son from heaven as they who expect the return of a King. Are

1 Timothy 1:11 — IN TRUST FOR THE GOSPEL ‘The gospel … which was committed to my trust.’ 1 Timothy 1:11 The gospel of the glory of the Blessed God, says St. Paul, was committed to my trust. Nothing moved the Apostle more deeply than this. Whenever he alludes to it, it seems to bring him to the very dust. It is in connection with this he

1 Timothy 4:7 — RELIGION AND MORAL LIFE ‘Exercisx thyself rather unto godliness.’ 1 Timothy 4:7 It is often said that you cannot make a man moral by Act of Parliament. Well, that means that all that Parliament can do is to diminish the opportunities and occasions of doing wrong. I. You must come to religion to give a man moral strength.—A

1 Peter 1:12 — LIGHT FROM DARKNESS ‘Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister.’ 1 Peter 1:12 Those holy men of old, who spake as moved by the Holy Ghost, were sometimes in darkness as to the things they uttered. They understood them only in part, even when they spoke most freely of the grace that should come. So these inspired men

1 Peter 1:17 — SOJOURNING IN FEAR ‘Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.’ 1 Peter 1:17 That seems to be a discouraging kind of exhortation to give, and it contrasts very remarkably at first hearing with the raptures of the previous part of this chapter. But it is not really so. Let us think for a moment of what the temper