Bible Search

4:2

@@@^@0@9Verses 7, 8 — “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.”@7@^Though these were the popular groups of John’s day, he not only refused to baptize them, but also plainly and politely gave them to understand that baptism is not something with which to cover sins, but something with which to wash them away. He made it clear that he was not in the business of making hypocrites. John left no doubt in their minds that God did not have need of them, but that they had need of Him. The Pharisees and the Sadducees then went away with full knowledge that the great wide-awake preacher of the day was not taken up with their popularity, much less with their pedigree. In view of John’s firmness of purpose, and the fact that the Lord said no greater prophet than he had ever risen, we know that John was wide awake, and so all preachers should be.

5:2

@@@^Though God’s servants be awake and do their work right, yet some of the members may fail to put on the wedding garment. A garment, you know, is something to put on the outside of the body. The garment, therefore, denotes a daily Christ-like deportment — the righteousness of Christ in one’s daily life.

14:2

@@@^@0@9Ezek. 9:1-11 — “He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.@7@^“And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon He was, to the threshold of the house. And He called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; and the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

17:2

@@@^@0@9Verse 6 — “And them that are turned back from the Lord; and those that have not sought the Lord, nor enquired for Him.”@7@^The backslider and the indifferent, those who are unstable and those who see no need of God, are to perish along with the tares.

22:2

@@@^M.B., p. 177 — “The effort to earn salvation by one’s own works, inevitably leads men to pile up human exactions as a barrier against sin. For, seeing that they fail to keep the law, they will devise rules and regulations of their own to force themselves to obey. All this turns the mind away from God to self. His love dies out of the heart, and with it perishes love for their fellow-men.... The atmosphere of selfish and narrow criticism stifles the noble and generous emotions, and causes men to become self-centered judges and petty spies....

23:2

@@@^@0@9Zeph. 2:1, 2 — “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.”@7@^Of all the verses in this chapter, these two are the most difficult to place. Some years ago I heard a preacher give an exposition on the first three verses, isolating them from the rest of the chapter and connected them with other passages of the Scriptures. He gave an excellent discourse, and endeavored to show that the “nation” mentioned in verse 1 is God’s church and that “the decree” is that of the two horned beast’s of Revelation 13:15-17. The study was well presented and the thoughts he brought out looked plausible enough, but as we now know that the Scriptures cannot be rightly understood isolated from their continuity, we need to study these verses first in connection with the chapter itself.

26:3

@@@^@0@9Verses 3, 6, 7 — “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.... And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the Lord their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.”@7@^Now, the fact that the Lord is to destroy all the inhabitants in the land of the Philistines (Zeph. 2:5), and at the same time make it dwellings for “shepherds, and folds for flocks,” shows that He is first to drive out of the land all the wicked, all those who are not seeking meekness, then He is to set up the “house of Judah” in it.

27:3

@@@^@0@9Verses 10, 11 — “This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be terrible unto them: for He will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship Him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.”@7@8@9Verses 12, 13 — “Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by My sword. And He will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.”@7@8@9Verse 14 — “And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her [in Nineveh], all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds; for He shall uncover the cedar work.”@7@^Who wants to ignore the truth that these conditions are definitely pre-millennial? Moreover, these prophecies show that the renewal of the ancient kingdom of Judah is to be a real thing, not something imaginary. Its subjects are to be real people, not ghosts. Now we can see that the common expression, “going to heaven,” means first going to the Promised Land, there to be fitted for the society of the pure and eternal.

28:2

@@@^The summary of this chapter is this: The hated Jews of today are not to be the admired Jews of tomorrow. The means which the Jews now pursue to gain admission to Palestine are not the means that would establish them there for ever even if they should succeed in getting there. The only Jews and Arabs that may remain in the land will be those who seek the Lord, the God of Moses.

28:4

@@@^Since we are now definitely and directly counselled to seek meekness and righteousness, we dare not neglect our opportunity. Moreover, we are not left to conjecture as to what is required of us in order to prepare for the great and dreadful day of the Lord. But let us remember that if we invent barriers of our own, regulations by which automatically to force ourselves into obedience of the Word in accordance with our own preconceptions, we would be working out nothing less than our own righteousness. We must not be like the Pharisees of old, and must not judge others by our prescribed human standards. We are not to mount the judgment seat and not to encroach upon another’s conscience, not to judge another in matters that lay between the soul and God. All we are called to do is to teach and practice the Truth for today, to let the people make up their own minds for or against It. We are not to force them into anything.

29:1

@@@^Let us remember that it is concerning just such a spirit and practice of intruding upon the conscience of others that Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7:1). We have no right to enforce our opinions and our views upon others. Just because others do not come up to our expectations and ideals, is by no means good reason to condemn them in order to help them. Far from it. “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” 1 Cor. 4:5.

29:3

@@@^“But gradually a change came. The believers began to look for defects in others. Dwelling upon mistakes, giving place to unkind criticism, they lost sight of the Saviour and His love. They became more strict in regard to outward ceremonies, more particular about the theory than the practice of the faith. In their zeal to condemn others, they overlooked their own errors. They lost the brotherly love that Christ had enjoined, and saddest of all, they were unconscious of their loss. They did not realize that happiness and joy were going out of their lives, and that, having shut the love of God out of their hearts, they would soon walk in darkness....

30:1

@@@^“It is not the opposition of the world that most endangers the church of Christ. It is the evil cherished in the hearts of believers that works their most grievous disaster, and most surely retards the progress of God’s cause. There is no surer way of weakening spirituality than by cherishing envy, suspicion, fault-finding, and evil-surmising.” — “Acts Of The Apostles,” pp. 548, 549.

31:1

@@@^And ever remember that if the Truth Itself cannot persuade the sinner to repent, force and human effort will do less good and much harm. Our time is too short and our work too great to engage in matters that are foreign to our duty. We cannot afford to waste our strength picking flaws in others. Let us get ready for the kingdom, for there is a church and a world to save, and God is anxious that we get down to business and very quickly if we are to be among the admired Jews of tomorrow and live in perfect peace under everlasting security.

4:3

@@@^Thus far is seen that the Assyria of this chapter represents a people who have been well instructed in the things of God, the law and the sanctuary. But instead of obeying the Lord and ruling justly and righteously, they have greatly transgressed, have gone down into sin as deep as any people can possibly go.

7:2

@@@^@0@9Verses 10, 11 — “From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My suppliants, even the daughter of My dispersed, shall bring Mine offering. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against Me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of My holy mountain.”@7@^When the Gospel is proclaimed in “a pure language,” then even from the ends of the earth God’s people will come with an offering to the Lord.

8:3

@@@^@0@9Verse 14 — “Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.”@7@^A great day is coming for the righteous, a dreadful one for the wicked. We, therefore, as children of Zion, are encouraged to sing and shout for joy because we have finally come to the time of God’s great deliverance.

9:1

@@@^@0@9Verses 16-20 — “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord.”@7@^The Lord wants us to know that when He turns away our captivity He will also make us a name and a praise among all the people of the earth. This kingdom of Judah (the church purified and set apart), is therefore, not only pre-millennial, but also probationary. And how glad we ought to be for the privilege to be among the first of the first fruits.

9:2

@@@^In order to bring to all this unspeakable joy of God’s promises, the expectation of the ages, these studies are published and sent without charge or obligation to all who wish to have them. Send your name and address to The Universal Publishing Association, to the address on the back cover page.

12:1

@@@^@0@9Nah. 1:12, 13, 15 — “Thus saith the Lord;... Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder... Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.”@7@^The people whom God has afflicted (by their dispersion among the nations) and whom He promises to afflict no more, and to break the Assyrian yoke from off their shoulders, are His people, His church — antitypical Judah. They are, therefore, the other people.