Recent Commentaries

The death of Stephen brought on a wave of persecution against the Jerusalem church (vv. 1-2). One of the chief perse¬cutors was Saul, from Tarsus (Acts 22:3), a “Hebrew of the Hebrews” (II Corinthians 11:22), the “son of a Pharisee” (Acts 23:6) and a Roman citizen (Acts16:37). In fact …

It is interesting to note that people who deify human leaders often turn on them when those leaders do not submit and fit into the mold they have in mind for them. This is what happened as the crowd, which had just tried to make Paul and Barnabas gods, turned against them (vv. 19-20). They …

Earlier in Mark we saw the conflict of the Pharisees with Christ over the Sabbath. Now we see a clash over the traditional religious ceremonies. The scribes and Pharisees saw that Jesus and His disciples did not keep the traditions of the oral law in regard to washing their hands…

Peter wisely had taken some Hebrew Christians with him when he went to Cornelius’ house, because it was not long before he was to be confronted for ministering to Gentiles (vv. 1-3). When he returned to Jerusalem he was met by members of the strong legalistic party in the church of …

Joash was the youngest king ever to mount the throne of Judah. He did the Lord’s will as long as his mentor, Jehoiada the priest, lived. However, after Jehoiada died Joash turned away from following the Lord. He had a lengthy reign of forty years but never did remove …

In this section of Paul’s letter he allows us to understand his heart-beat as he focuses on some of his personal feelings and emotional reactions. When the Word of God is within us, the enemies of God will be upon us. This brings us to three motivating factors for Christian growt …

The next item Paul brings to their attention in this chapter is the “love feast.” From the very early days of the church, it was customary for the believers to eat together before they partook of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42, 46). The called this meal the “love feast.” This meal was part of the …

Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the commandant, May I say something to you (v. 37). The chief captain was surprised to hear Paul speak in the cultured Greek language. He had thought that Paul was perhaps the Egyptian who had led a group of bandits t …

In the previous verses, we were told how dead works are judged. Now we are told how wickedness is judged (v. 16). The inadequacy of the old sacrificial system is especially shown by the list of sins given in these verses: 1.? Hateful attitudes – (v. 17)2.? Sharing with th …

As this book comes to a close, Paul’s hired house in Rome became the headquarters for world evangelism. He was under house arrest and could not go, but others could. People flocked to him. He led people to Christ, inspired others to go, won members of the Roman guard (Phil …