Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• War ch. 20
  These instructions deal with how Israel was to come into possession of the Promised Land (cf. Num. 33:50-56). They are in the context of civil legislation because Israel did not have a standing army. Soldiers volunteered to g...
• 1. The setting of these revelations 24:1-3 (cf. Mark 13:1-4; Luke 21:5-7)
  24:1 The connective "and"(NASB, Gr. kai) ties what follows to Jesus' preceding denunciation of the generation of Jews that rejected Him and the divine judgment that would follow (23:36-39). However the "apocalyptic"or "eschat...
• Historical background
  First Corinthians did not dispel the problems in the church at Corinth completely. While it resolved some of these, opposition to the Apostle Paul persisted and Paul's critics continued to speak out against him in the church....
• Outline
  I. Introduction 1:1-11A. Salutation 1:1-2B. Thanksgiving for comfort in affliction 1:3-111. Thanksgiving for comfort 1:3-72. Thanksgiving for deliverance 1:8-11II. Answers to insinuations about the sincerity of Paul's commitm...
• B. The supreme motive for giving 8:8-15
  Paul cited the example of Jesus Christ's gift of Himself for needy humanity to motivate his readers further to finish their work of assembling the collection.8:8 Paul wanted his readers to understand that he did not want them...
• IV. APPEALS CONCERNING PAUL'S APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY 10:1--13:10
  In this third and last major division of his epistle the apostle Paul defended his apostolic authority. He did this to silence his critics in Corinth and perhaps elsewhere permanently and to confirm the united support of the ...
• 1. Reply to the charge of cowardice 10:1-6
  10:1-2 Paul may have identified himself by name here so his readers would have no doubt that what he proceeded to say indeed came from him. He began by gently asking his readers to respond to his appeal to submit to his apost...
• 2. Reply to the charge of weakness 10:7-11
  As Paul defended himself against the charge of cowardice leveled by his critics, so he also claimed ability to deal forcefully with them in person as well as by letter. He referred to this to explain his conduct further and t...
• 1. Paul's reasons for making these claims 11:1-6
  In the first subsection he explained his need to present this evidence.11:1 Paul found it necessary to remind and reveal to the Corinthians some of the evidences of the Lord's commendation of his ministry (cf. 10:18). He call...
• 3. Paul's service and sufferings 11:16-33
  To answer his critics and prove the extent of his own service and sufferings for Christ, Paul related many of his painful experiences as an apostle.11:16 Paul apologized again for having to resort to mentioning these experien...
• Paul's previous conduct in Corinth 12:11-13
  12:11 Again Paul reminded his readers that he had spoken of his own qualifications as an apostle as he had only because the Corinthians required such proof. He had not done so because he wanted to commend himself or because h...
• 1. Paul's concerns 12:19-21
  12:19 The first part of this verse may have been a statement or a question. The meaning is the same in either case. Paul said what he did, especially in 10:1-12:18, primarily to build up the Corinthian believers in their fait...
• 2. Paul's warnings 13:1-10
  13:1 There are at least four possibilities about what Paul meant by the two or three witnesses that would confirm his credibility and his critics' guilt. First, he may simply have been saying that the church would pass judgme...
• A. The exhortation 13:11-12
  13:11 Obedience to five commands would result in one condition that Paul wanted his readers to express in a particular practice.1. They were to rejoice, probably because they had the opportunity to judge themselves before God...
• Paul's prayer 3:11-13
  This prayer illustrates Paul's genuine concern for the Thessalonians, and it bridges the narrative material in chapters 1-3 and the parenetic material in chapters 4-5.633:11 Paul summarized the content of his prayer in the fo...
• 1. Qualifications for elders 3:1-7
  The Ephesian church already had elders long before Paul wrote this letter (Acts 20:17-35)."If our identification of the false teachers as elders is correct, then Paul's reason for this set of instructions is that Timothy must...
• 1. The importance of humility 3:13
  The real qualifications of a teacher (v. 1) are wisdom (the ability to view life from God's perspective) and understanding (mental perception and comprehension).145We can perceive understanding in others quite easily, but wis...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• A Militant Message
  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, when your ...