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Showing 351 to 375 of 975 results

351. His Plan For Me

Illustration

Staff

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ And He shows me His plan for me; The plan of my life as it might have been Had He had His way, and I see How I blocked Him here and I checked Him there And I would not yield my will, Shall I see grief in my Savior's eyes; Grief though He loves me still? Oh, He'd have me rich, and I stand there poor, Stripped of all but His grace, While my memory runs like a hunted thing Down the paths I can't retrace. Then my desolate heart will well-nigh break With tears that I ...

352. Coincidence or Providence?

Acts 16:11-15

Sermon

King Duncan

Way back in 1669 a most unusual occurrence took place. The entire village of Runswick, England, slipped into the sea. Yes, such tragedies occur from time to time. The entire town was swallowed up in the raging tides. Here’s what is interesting, though not a single inhabitant of Runswick drowned! Why? All the residents of the town were attending a funeral in a neighboring village at the time of the catastrophe. (1) Amazing! Now, if you had been a resident of that village where not a single life was lost in ...

353. An Invitation to a Wedding

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

King Duncan

An older couple was being married. Both had lost their spouses to death and had grown children. The combined children sent out this wedding invitation in their behalf: “Phil, Richard, Karen and Allison, and John, Matt and Steve request the honor of your presence at the marriage of their Mother and Father. Because they are combining two households, they already have at least two of everything. So please, no presents! Reception and garage sale immediately following the ceremony.” (1) There is no more hopeful ...

354. Israel Punished and Restored

Hosea 2:2-23

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

The Desire of the Lord (2:2-15): Once again the disciple who arranged chapters 1–3 has included a passage that serves as a summary of much of Hosea’s preaching (2:16–14:9). All of 2:2–15 represents genuine oracles of Hosea, but it is possible that this unit as a whole has been put together from originally independent oracles, such as 2:2–4; 2:5–7a; 2:7c–10; 2:11–13; and 2:14–15. As it now stands, however, the pericope forms a rhetorical whole. The setting for these words is a court of law, indicated by the ...

355. Punishment for Israel

Hosea 9:1--10:15

Understanding Series

Elizabeth Achtemeier

Israel’s Loss of the Stuff of Life (9:1-4): Some commentators would regard 9:1–9 as the first complete unit in this chapter. Others would point to 9:1–6. Judging on the basis of rhetorical criticism, it seems best to divide the chapter into five separate oracles: verses 1–4, 5–6, 7–9, 10–14, 15–17. What we have here are several oracles, strung together by the redactor/disciple of Hosea on the basis of the common theme of the loss of vitality. In this instance, however, the beginnings and endings of the ...

356. Jesus' First Disciples

John 1:35-42, John 1:43-51

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

John the Baptist repeats his testimony to Jesus as Lamb of God in the presence of two of his disciples (v. 36). This is how he makes Jesus known to “Israel.” In effect, he delivers his own disciples over to Jesus. One of the two is said to be Andrew (v. 40), but the other is not identified. It is widely assumed that the second disciple is the Gospel writer himself, the “beloved disciple” mentioned five times in the latter half of the Gospel. But not all anonymous disciples have to be the same. More likely ...

357. The Beginning

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Understanding Series

John E. Hartley

The Creation of the Earth: Genesis opens with the account of creation, which is as profound as it is simple. It focuses on the way God ordered the earth. The text addresses the heavens only as they have an impact on life on earth. The purpose of this account is threefold. First, it teaches essential facts about the way God ordered the world so that humans might understand their place and role in creation. Second, it leads us to praise God as the wise, all-powerful Creator. Third, it preempts the ...

358. Miscellaneous Oracles of Judgment

Ezekiel 21:1-32, Ezekiel 22:1-31

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

In the Hebrew Bible, a new chapter starts at 20:45—appropriately, as 20:45–49 is less in continuity with the preceding judgment God pronounced on the leaders of the exilic community than with the following oracles God directed against Jerusalem (21:1–17, 18–24; 21:1–16; 22:1–16) and its leadership (21:25–27; 22:23–31; see the discussion below of the curiously-placed oracle against Ammon, 21:28–32). While it is difficult to find unity in this section, there are clear signs of intentional arrangement here: ...

359. Oracles of Restoration

Ezekiel 34:1-31, Ezekiel 35:1-15, Ezekiel 36:1-38, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Ezekiel 37:15-28

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

Ezekiel’s Message of Hope and Restoration: Ezekiel 34–48, the second major part of this book, is concerned with a message of hope for the exiles and with the promise of Israel’s future restoration. That message has broken through in a muted sense in chapters 1–33 (11:14–21; 16:53–63; 20:33–44; 28:25–26), but it now becomes the central theme. These fifteen chapters fall into three sections. The first, chapters 34–37, is a series of seven oracles dealing with the restoration of Israel. The second section ...

360. More Parables of the Kingdom

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:21-25

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The kingdom is guaranteed by God to grow exponentially, and its concealed realities are soon to be brought to light; so now is the time to open our hearts and minds to its truths. Understanding the Text The basic theme for the parables in this chapter has already been established in 4:1–20: hearing and obeying the word of God by making certain that we are receptive to the kingdom truths. In the four parables that follow in 4:21–34 this is explored further in two ways. First, the lamp and the ...

361. Jesus Defines Himself as Lord in Contrast to the Leaders of Israel

Mark 12:41-44, Mark 12:35-40

Teach the Text

Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: In three final conflicts between Jesus and the leaders, he (1) reveals himself as more than the royal Messiah, (2) warns about the hypocritical scribes, and (3) contrasts them with the humble widow, who gives her all to God. Understanding the Text While verses 35–37 belong with the controversy stories of 11:27–12:37, they also are part of the final three narratives that conclude the section, presented together as Jesus’s teaching in the temple grounds. There is a double contrast: (1) Jesus’s true ...

362. Sabbath Year and Year of Jubilee

Leviticus 25:8-55, Leviticus 25:1-7

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

Big Idea: God wants people to be free to serve him and not be trapped in permanent poverty. Understanding the Text Leviticus 23 describes special religious days during Israel’s calendar year. Leviticus 25 describes special religious years: the Sabbath Year and the Year of Jubilee. These “consecrated” and “holy” years (25:10, 12) contribute to making Israel a holy people, the theme of Leviticus 17–27. This chapter’s introduction (25:1) also serves to introduce the next chapter (see further comments there). ...

363. The Power of Persistence

Luke 11:1-13, Luke 18:1-8

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

A hesitant driver, waiting for a traffic jam to clear, came to a stop on the expressway ramp. The traffic thinned, but the timid driver still waited. Finally, an infuriated voice came from behind shouting: “The sign says Yield, not give up.” The primary actors in today’s parables neither yielded nor gave up. In fact, that really is the lesson of these parables: The Power of Persistence. Jesus told two parables with almost identical messages about persistence. The stories are different only in their setting ...

364. Proverbs of Solomon

Proberbs 10:1--22:16

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

10:1–29:27 Review · Proverbial Collections: Advanced Instruction in Wisdom: If one views Proverbs 1–9 as a basic introduction to proverbial wisdom, then chapters 10–29 serve as the advanced course. Or, to express it differently, the prologue presents and commends wisdom, while the collections that follow illustrate the scope and variety of situations in which wisdom is advantageous (without absolutely guaranteeing success) if employed properly and in a timely manner. Proverbs 1–9 also gives the reader a ...

365. Questions about Marriage, Divorce, and Celibacy

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

7:1–16:9 · Paul’s Response to Questions from the Corinthians: In the first verse of chapter 7, Paul moves from oral reports about the church and begins to address questions posed by the Corinthians themselves in a letter. The letter is now lost but originally was perhaps carried to Paul by the three Corinthians mentioned in 16:17. The recurring expression “now for” or “now about” introduces Corinthian questions throughout this section. 7:1–40 · The questions to which Paul responds in 7:1–16 probably had ...

366. One Heaven of a Party

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Sermon

Charley Reeb

Moses saw that look in their eyes. He saw that glimmer of hope on their faces. For when those words dripped like honey from his mouth, the people of God dreamed about what it was going to be like. At first glance, they really do not seem to be very exciting words, but for those who had been toiling in the wilderness, these words were like living water to a parched soul: “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it ...

367. The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

Chapter 5 marks the beginning of the third section in John’s apocalyptic letter (see outline), shifting the reader’s attention from epistolary thanksgiving to the main body of his composition. The study of the main body of religious letters has received little attention from scholars. They agree, however, that the importance of the body segment is substantive and rhetorical (see introduction). In this section of his letter, the writer deals with and seeks to resolve the crisis that threatens his audience’s ...

368. The Seventh Trumpet

Revelation 11:15-19

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

The seventh trumpet blows a note of rejoicing in heaven. The heavenly chorus resumes its praise of God’s reign and God’s Christ, continuing the doxology sung at the Lamb’s coronation (cf. Rev. 5:13). Together with the great hymns of chapter 5, John brackets his vision of divine wrath and global devastation (6:1–11:14) with dissonant images of praise (5:13; 11:15–18) for rhetorical effect—to make it even more clear that God’s judgment of a sinful world is grounded in the triumph of the Lamb. The twenty-four ...

369. Daniel’s Vision of a Ram and a Goat

Daniel 8:1-14

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Vision of the Ram and the Male Goat: Here in chapter 8 the language reverts back to Hebrew. When the Aramaic section began, the narrator introduced it by saying, “The astrologers answered the king in Aramaic” (2:4). There is no explanation given in chapter 8 for the change back. The author inherited the Aramaic material (2:4b–7:28) but shaped it for his purposes. He then added chapters 1 (actually, 1:1–2:4a) and 8–12 in Hebrew. Chapter 8 is linked to chapter 7 explicitly by informing the reader that ...

370. Daniel’s Vision of a Man

Daniel 10:1--11:1

Understanding Series

William Nelson

The Final Revelation: Prologue: Chapters 10 through 12 form one long unit containing the last apocalypse of the book. This unit can be subdivided into three smaller sections: the prologue (10:1–11:1), the body (11:2–12:4), and the epilogue (12:5–13). The proper divisions do not line up with the chapter breaks in our modern Bibles because those chapter breaks are not original; they were inserted long after the Bible was completed and not always in the most helpful places. The prologue sets the stage for the ...

371. The Parable of the Sower

Luke 8:1-15

Understanding Series

Craig A. Evans

The Parable of the Sower: This section is comprised of three parts: (1) the Parable of the Sower (vv. 4–15), (2) the Parable of the Lamp (vv. 16–18), and (3) Jesus’ definition of his true family (vv. 19–21). What unites these three parts is the theme of hearing and obeying the Word of God (see vv. 8, 15, 18, 21). Luke has obtained these materials from Mark. A comparison of the parallel passages in Matt. 13:3–50 and Mark 4:2–34 highlights the different emphases that the three Synoptic evangelists are able ...

372. The Next Two Days: The Call of the Disciples

John 1:43-51, John 1:35-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

373. Tangled Up in the Vines

John 15:1-8

Sermon

John Jamison

This passage from John is one that has created great comfort for many people, and at the same time has created profound pain and suffering for others. It has pulled us together and brutally split us apart. This simple story of a vine, growing in a vineyard, both heals and destroys. Many who read this story see it as a reason to turn away from the biblical story. Let’s begin by recognizing what was going on when Jesus first told this story of the vine. It will help us to remember that stories about a vine ...

374. The Surrendered Will

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

Laid on thine altar, O my Lord, Divine, Accept my gift this day, for Jesus' sake; I have no jewels to adorn thy shrine, No world-famed sacrifice to make; And here I bring within my trembling hands This will of mine, a thing that seemeth small; Yet thou alone canst understand That when I yield Thee this, I yield Thee all!

375. For This Our Bounty

Illustration

Editor James S. Hewett

We thank thee for this smiling land of ours, For all the beauty and the grandeur here; We thank Thee most for freedom dearly bought By Pilgrim band and sturdy pioneer. Had they not bravely lived and so endured, This priceless gift could never have been gained. In thanks and solemn praise, we raise our hearts, And vow to keep our honor still unstained. For this our bounty, Lord, we give Thee thanks With grateful hearts as brimming as our store. Our flocks are fed, our fields have yielded well. Dear Lord, we ...

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