For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. Mt. 12:8 Many of us at one time or another have struggled with how to apply the Fourth Commandment to our lives: “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.” There are a number of problems. One problem is that, strictly speaking, the Sabbath Day …
I'm referring, of course, to the ruler of Babylon at the fall of the empire to the Medes and Persians in 539 B.C. He is an interesting figure because for a long time scholars took the book of Daniel to be a later work of fiction; after all, everyone knew that Nabonidus, not Belshazzar (as seems to …
"[How] shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed according to thy word" Psalm 119:9. The question is revealing. Notice the psalmist doesn’t say, “ Why should a young man cleanse his way?” Neither does he ask, “ Shoulda young man cleanse his way?” He has already moved past the point that so …
Called to be saints. Romans 1:7 In the NT, there are two different types of calling. There is the general call of the gospel, which is the call that goes out to all men to repent and believe the gospel. This is what is being referred to, for example, in Matthew 22:14, when our Lord says that …
To all that be in Rome, beloved of God. Romans 1:7 Let us not miss the implications of this grand statement. Every believer is loved by God. Now, I want to push back here at a notion of the love of God that waters down the force of these words. It comes from a failure to distinguish between the …
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Mt. 6:13 Commentators on this verse to this day have spent a lot of time trying to sort out the difficulty of this petition. The difficulty comes in like this. The word behind “temptation” is the Greek word peirasmos, and could be …
[Christ] shall…put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet – 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 Together, these two verses form one of the most encouraging and comforting pictures of reality to be found anywhere in Scripture! Every minute of …
Power belongeth unto God – Psalm 62:11 There is no power — past or present, spiritual or physical, heavenly or earthly — that does not come from God. The only autonomous, self-sufficient being is God himself. All power belongs to him, so he is omnipotent, all-powerful. This is a great comfort to …
As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God – Romans 14:11-12 Today there are many who are blatantly shaking their fists in the face of God, daring Him to judge them for their evil works, …
Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me– Genesis 21:6 Sarah did not have an easy life. Her husband Abraham traveled as a nomad, following God’s leadership, until his death. She therefore had no permanent place, plot, or structure where she could make a home …