48th St. Church of Christ assembles at 14 48th St. in Billings, MT. Come for instruction, edification, & encouragement Lord’s Days at 9:00 AM & 7:00 PM.

Also join us for Bible Study and Prayer Session, Wednesday Evenings at 7:00 PM. Click Read More to find out who is Preaching and Teaching.

The Bible Question for the week of February 28th is as follows:

How is the Church told to “comfort and strengthen your hearts”?

The Bible Question for the week of February 21st is as follows:

According to the New Testament, by what means will you “gain your lives”?

The Bible Question for the week of February 14th is as follows:

Of what does the Scripture say these shall be “a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes” ?

The Bible Question for the week of February 7th is as follows:

What does the New Testament say we are to “put on”?

The Sovereign God’s Goodness, Mercy, and Compassion

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." Romans 9:14-15

The Old Testament passage that the apostle Paul cites in our text is found in Exodus 33:19. It is the LORD’s answer to Moses’ request that he be allowed to see Yahweh’s glory. The LORD said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Ex. 33:19-20)

Laborers Worthy of Their Wages

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages." 1 Tim 5:17-18

Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit, twice in the New Testament invokes this Old Testament quote from Deuteronomy 25:4. “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.” (NAS) Here in his first letter to Timothy concerning elders, and in 1 Corinthians 9:9 to the Corinthian church concerning himself and his work of evangelist.

In our selected text, what is often overlooked, is the latter part of the apostle’s statement averring that the Scripture says “the laborer is worthy of his wages”.  Type that into your electronic concordance and see what pops up. You won’t find that statement in the Old Testament, brethren. Paul isn’t wrong; he’s alluding to a scriptural principle found in the Law as a whole, and particularly, in the context preceding his quote from Deuteronomy 25:4.

Bingeing and Purging

“For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside,God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (NAS)

The apostle Paul, in dealing swiftly and severely with the grievous sin of immorality between a man and his father’s wife in the body of the Corinthian church, quotes from the book of Deuteronomy as to how this wicked man’s behavior should be handled.

Paul quotes from the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament. Here is a sample of how it is translated in the book of Deuteronomy in the NASB translation: “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.”

I Have Kept For Myself

Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? "Lord, they have killed Thy prophets, they have torn down Thine altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life." But what is the divine response to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Rom. 11:2b-4

Here in Romans chapter eleven, the apostle Paul, describes the spiritual condition of the physical nation of Israel in his time. His quotes come from 1 Kings 19 and events in the life of the prophet Elijah following his title fight with the prophets of Baal about who was the true God in Israel.

Every Man According To His Deeds

“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds:” Romans 2:5-6 (NASB)

We’ve a few more forays into the book of Romans before we sally forth into other rich New Testament scriptural soil supplemented by Old Testament quotations. Today we consider our text from Romans 2:6 and the apostle Paul’s citation of the inspired psalmist’s utterance as found in Psalm 62:12. Although Paul does not say, ‘as it is written’, in prefacing his citing of the psalmist, it would be very clear from whom he references in light of who he is addressing (the Jews) in this section of his letter.

Here is the passage in Psalms from which Paul quotes in its context.  “Once God has spoken; twice I have heard this: That power belongs to God; and lovingkindness is Thine, O Lord, for Thou dost recompense a man according to his work.”  (Ps. 62:11-12). We offer here an alternate translation from the Rotherham’s version for your consideration.  “One thing, hath God spoken, two things (there are) which I have heard, that, power, belongeth unto God; and thine, O my Lord, is lovingkindness—for, thou, wilt pay back unto every man—according to his deed.”

Accepting And Acting Upon The Things Revealed

But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? At the first Moses says,"I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation, by a nation without understanding will I anger you."

Romans 10:19 (NAS)

We will prolong our stay in the book of Romans for a while longer yet as we study the Old Testament quotes found in the New Testament. This week, it’s to chapter 10 and Paul’s citation from the song of Moses as found in Deuteronomy 32:21. The full verse reads, “They have made Me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their idols.  So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation”

That The Lord’s Name Might Be Proclaimed

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.  Romans 9:17-18

Well, it only seems logical that we take a look at the next Old Testament citation by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans that follows on the heels of last week’s text, since this passage too deals with the topic of God’s sovereign will being executed in the light of His foreknowledge and omniscience.

48th St. Church of Christ assembles at 14 48th St. in Billings, MT. Come for instruction, edification, & encouragement Lord’s Days at 9:00 AM & 7:00 PM.

Also join us for Bible Study and Prayer Session, Wednesday Evenings at 7:00 PM. Click Read More to find out who is Preaching and Teaching.

The Bible Question for the week of January 31st is as follows:

What does the New Testament say we are to “lay aside” ?

The Bible Question for the week of January 24th is as follows:

What are the three things Paul says he did for a church “as a father would his own children” ?