Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

Conspiracy to kill Paul.  Acts 23:12-15  And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.  13)  And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.  14)  And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.  15)  Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.  The pattern of God blessing His church and Satan swiftly opposing it, continues in this text.  Luke recorded the great blessing of Jesus Christ standing by Paul, and strengthening His apostle. Right after this, we find that a devious plot to kill Paul was set in motion.  Who were these Jewish men? They were "sicarii" al

Psalm 119:17,18  GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.  18)  Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. We studied the first verse in the GIMEL section of Psalm 119. It is a prayer for life in order that the Psalmist might live a holy life, dedicated to pleasing and honoring God.  It is a prayer showing that we cannot keep God's word without a steady supply of His wondrous grace.  We need God to open our eyes to His truth.  Psalm 119:18  Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Not only are we unable to keep God's Word without His grace, we cannot even know it and of His glorious salvation without divine help.  Here is a second prayer petition asking Jehovah to open our eyes for the purpose of seeing the wonderful things God has in His law. We need divine illumination and this comes from the indwelling Spirit of God. We need to understand what is meant by opening our eyes.  It is a

Jews demand Paul's death.  Acts 22:22,23  And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.  23)  And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,  Paul spoke to the Jewish people and shared the account of his conversion to Christ. He preached of repentant faith in Christ but when he told the people that the gospel was going to include the Gentiles, they erupted with violent protests.  They demanded that Paul be crucified by the Roman soldiers and they threw off their outer garments and tossed dust into the air.  Truly, this scene was like a child throwing a spiritual temper tantrum, except the consequences of Christ's rejection are eternal in nature.  Roman captain prepared to scourge Paul Acts 22:24  The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wh

Live this life with a desire to obey God's Word.  Psalm 119:17  GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.  The third eight verse section begins with a prayer by the Psalmist that he might live his life with a desire to obey the Word of God.  We certainly do not deserve the least of God's mercies because we are born inheriting Adam's sin nature. Then, we are individually condemned by God for our own sins that we commit. It is a double portion of a death sentence and yet, God gave us the way of salvation.  Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The whole world is guilty of sin before God. Furthermore, death comes to all of us because we have all sinned (Romans 5:12).  Jehovah has a heart of love toward all mankind. Psalm 78:37-39  For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.  38)  But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: ye

I am thankful for all that our Lord Jesus Christ is doing with this Bible study blog. He is putting His power, plan and purpose into His word that is contained in each post we publish. We have completed two of the 22 eight verse sections of Psalm 119. Today, we begin the third section headed by the Hebrew letter GIMEL. A prayer to live by in order to obey God's Word.  Psalm 119:17  GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.  Eleven times in sixteen verses we see the Psalmist saying "I have done this" or "I will do that." In between his expressed desire to serve Jehovah, are his prayers.  The "GIMEL" section of Psalm 119 begins with a prayer, whereas the last section began with a question and the first section began with a statement of blessing. The Psalmist's prayer is not just that God provide so that he can live, but that he might live in a holy way by keeping God's Word.  This text reminds us what a great