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A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,  

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely,

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; before the “gods” I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept  when we remembered Zion.  There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”  How can we sing the songs of the LORD  while in a foreign land?

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

I’ve received several questions again about various rapture positions.  Several of these questions have to do with the claim that in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25) Jesus in effect said the Church will have to endure all of the seven years of Daniel’s 70th Week including the Great Tribulation.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD;  praise him, you servants of the LORD, you who minister in the house of the LORD,  in the courts of the house of our God.  Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. 

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Last time we discovered Pentecost was not the day the Disciples received the Holy Spirit, but instead, it was a time when He came upon them with an unmistakable display of power (Acts 2:1-4). Remember, they had already performed miracles in the Lord’s name.

Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who minister by night in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head,  running down on the beard,  running down on Aaron’s beard,  down upon the collar of his robes.

It is as if the dew of Hermon  were falling on Mount Zion. 

O LORD, remember David  and all the hardships he endured.  He swore an oath to the LORD  and made a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob: “I will not enter my house or go to my bed- I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids,

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

I’ve gotten a raft of comments on my comparison of John 20:22 with Acts 2:1-4 in my answer to a recent question. Some were more diplomatic than others in suggesting my understanding of these verses leaves something to be desired.

My heart is not proud, O LORD,  my eyes are not haughty;  I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.  But I have stilled and quieted my soul;  like a weaned child with its mother,  like a weaned child is my soul within me.  

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.

They have greatly oppressed me from my youth — let Israel say, they have greatly oppressed me from my youth, but they have not gained the victory over me. Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long. But the LORD is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.

Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.

Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,

When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

If the LORD had not been on our side – let Israel say – if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,

I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD,