And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. Luke 4:13 The ESV translates "for a season" as "until an opportune time." I think that is right. It is not just that the devil left our Lord for a time, but that he left him until an opportune moment presented …
The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. Job 17:9 It is truly amazing that Job says this when he says it. For Job considered himself to be righteous. But he also said, "My breath is corrupt, my days are extinct, the graves are ready for …
Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours: Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. 1 Cor. 3:21-23 In Romans 8:38-39, the apostle Paul gives us a similar …
Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. Job 14:1 I am thankful for the Bible's frank embrace of our earthly realities: there is no denial of suffering, no minimizing our pain and trouble in the pages of Scripture. We are never asked to pretend that things are better than …
That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 1 Cor. 1:31 A few verses previously, the apostle had written, "That no flesh should glory in his presence" (29). Why? We are not to glory or boast as if our wisdom were the ultimately decisive reason why we chose to …
I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea. Rom. 16:1. (See verses 1-16) This is a passage suffused with love. We especially see the love the apostle had for the believers at Rome, but it is clear that this was love that was reciprocated. It becomes …
So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. Gen. 45:8 Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery out of jealousy and hatred. The slavers had then sold him in Egypt, where Joseph …
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead …
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; …
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Rom. 12:1 To be a living sacrifice is essentially to give oneself up to God completely. Sacrifices are offered to God, and are given …