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Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 4601 to 4625 of 4986 results

4601. How To Revival

Illustration

Michael P. Green

A man once came to Gipsy Smith, the celebrated English evangelist of an earlier time, and asked him how to have revival. Asked Gipsy, “Do you have a place where you can pray?” “Yes,” was the reply. “Tell you what to do, you go to that place, and take a piece of chalk along. Kneel down there, and with the chalk draw a complete circle all around you—and pray for God to send revival on everything inside of the circle. Stay there until He answers—and you will have revival.”

4602. Too Close To Temptation

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... damaging the car. The second felt sure that he could come within six inches. The third believed that he could get within three inches. The fourth candidate said, “I do not know how close I could come to the wall without damaging your car. Instead, I would try to stay as far away from that wall as I could.” This candidate had a different focus. He understood that true skill in driving is not based so much on the ability to steer the car to a narrow miss as on the ability to keep a wide margin of safety ...

4603. Quicksand Isn't Quick

Illustration

Michael P. Green

... is denser than the human body. People and animals can get stuck in it, but they don’t get sucked down to the bottom—they float on the surface. Our legs are pretty dense, so they may sink, but the torso contains the lungs, and thus is buoyant enough to stay out of trouble. See Britannica.

4604. A Pie-Crust Promise

Illustration

Michael P. Green

In the movie Mary Poppins, the two children, Jane and Michael Banks, jumped into bed after their incredible first day with the amazing Mary Poppins. Jane asked, “Mary Poppins, you won’t ever leave us, will you?” Michael, full of excitement, looked at his new nanny and added, “Will you stay if we promise to be good?” Mary looked at the two and as she tucked them in replied, “Look, that’s a pie-crust promise. Easily made, easily broken!

4605. Narrow Doors - Limitless Horizons

Luke 13:22-30

Children's Sermon

King Duncan

... behold, it worked! The little plant continued to grow until Tommy had a large cucumber in the bottle. But now he had a problem. What do you imagine was his problem? That's right. He couldn't get the large cucumber through the tiny neck of the bottle. So it stayed inside until it died. Some people develop bad habits like that--like not telling the truth, or stealing, or doing things we know our parents won't approve of. But these habits grow as we grow, until finally they are as hard to get rid of as Tommy's ...

4606. Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

Acts 1:12-26

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... Jerusalem, but if the words of the Gospel mean simply “toward Bethany” (Gk. pros Bethanian), that difficulty is overcome. In any case, it is hardly likely that Jesus would lead them into the village for the ascension. 1:13 Upstairs to the room where they were staying: The definite article (in the Greek) suggests that this was a place that should have been known to Luke’s readers. The reference may be, then, to the first book, Luke 22:11f., to the room of the Last Supper, though a different word is ...

4607. The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost

Acts 2:1-13

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... -Euphrates Valley, where the spheres of influence of the two empires met. These were the lands to which first the Israelites and then the Judeans had been deported in the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. and in which many of them had chosen to stay. This was the earliest and most populated area of the Diaspora. The inclusion of Judea next in the list has struck many people as odd. So much so, that several alternative readings have been proposed, though with little textual support (see Bruce, Book, p. 62 ...

4608. Peter Addresses the Crowd

Acts 2:14-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... now seen and heard to persuade them that he was indeed the Christ (cf. John 4:35–38). Among the converts there were, no doubt, Jews of the Diaspora, some of whom may subsequently have formed the nuclei of churches in their own lands. Others may have stayed in Jerusalem to swell the ranks and strain the resources of the infant church (see disc. on vv. 44f.). Additional Notes 2:15 These men are not drunk.… It’s only nine in the morning! lit., “the third hour.” Wine was generally drunk by the Jews ...

4609. The Fellowship of the Believers

Acts 2:42-47

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... century is almost unimaginable, but the already desperate case of most Palestinians must have been exacerbated for the church by the fact that many of its early members had abandoned their source of livelihood in Galilee and many of its subsequent converts from elsewhere had stayed on in the city, held there by the intimacy and intensity of the fellowship and the hope of the Lord’s return. 2:46 Every day the believers met in the temple. We are not told what they did there, but we may assume that they ...

4610. The Church Persecuted and Scattered

Acts 8:1b-3

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , many may soon have returned; and of those who remained or returned, the greatest number were Hebrews (see discussion on 15:1). Meanwhile, whoever else fled the city, the apostles did not (on the tradition of Christ’s command that they stay, see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.18.14; Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 6.5). Their known association with the temple would have spared them the charges that were leveled against Stephen. They would therefore have been relatively safe, though safety was never ...

4611. Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Acts 9:19b-31

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... others. 9:23–25 In Galatians 1:17 Paul says that following his conversion he spent some time in Arabia, and in 2 Corinthians 11:32f. he gives further details of his time in Damascus. Putting all this together, it seems likely that after his initial stay in Damascus Paul went to Arabia, which probably means Nabatea (see notes on 2:9ff.). He may have remained there for anything up to two or three years (the Jews reckoned inclusively, so that the “three years” of Galatians need refer to little more than ...

4612. In Lystra and Derbe

Acts 14:8-20

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... the attendants (cf. Virgil, Aeneid 5.366; Euripides, Heracles 529). It is not clear in the Greek to which gate the sacrificial procession was heading. Some see here a reference to the gate of the town, others to the atrium of the house in which the apostles were staying (cf. 10:17; 12:13). The latter is argued on the grounds that when Barnabas and Paul (the order of their names is dictated by the reference to Zeus and Hermes; see disc. on 13:9) realized what was happening they rushed out [of the house] into ...

4613. The Return to Antioch in Syria

Acts 14:21-28

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... watered by the Cestrus and behind it the Taurus Mountains. What results the missionaries had of their preaching in Perga we do not know, though Luke’s silence on the matter has been taken to mean that they were not very encouraging. They appear not to have stayed long in the city before making their way across the Pamphylian plain to the port of Attalia, where they were much more likely to find a ship than in the river port (see disc. on 13:13). From here they returned to Syria. Back in Antioch, they ...

4614. The Council at Jerusalem

Acts 15:1-21

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... of Acts 11:30 cannot be put any later than A.D. 46, when the famine was at its height. But if Stephen met his death in the last years of Pilate’s term as governor, say the mid 30s, which also fits with the evidence relating to Paul’s stay in Damascus (see notes on 7:60 and 9:23ff.), even if we allow for some inclusive reckoning in Galatians, it is impossible to fit the “three years” and the “fourteen years” of that letter into the time required (Gal. 1:18; 2:1). Related to this is that in ...

4615. Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

Acts 16:1-5

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... that began in 13:1 (see also the disc. on 9:31). 16:1–3 Since the missionaries came from the east, the towns are named in reverse order from the previous visit: Derbe and Lystra (v. 1). The verb used in this connection (Gk. katantan) implies that they stayed for a time in each. Here they met up (again?) with a young man named Timothy. He is introduced as a believer (“Look! a disciple named Timothy was there,” v. 1), and from verse 2, it would appear that he was one of relatively long standing. To find ...

4616. In Berea

Acts 17:10-15

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

17:10 Under cover of darkness, perhaps for fear of further violence should they be seen, the missionaries were sent off by “the brothers” to Berea, some forty-five miles southwest of Thessalonica. There is no mention of Timothy; he may have stayed in Thessalonica only to catch up with Paul again in Athens (see disc. on v. 16). Berea, which lay at the eastern slopes of Mount Vermion, had been founded in the fifth century B.C. In 168 B.C. it became the capital of one of the republics into which ...

4617. The Riot in Ephesus

Acts 19:23-41

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , as borne out by the attitude of the asiarchs and the city clerk (see disc. on 18:1–17). Incidentally, this story reveals an accurate knowledge of the municipal institutions of Ephesus (see Sherwin-White, pp. 83ff.). 19:23–24 The last weeks of Paul’s stay in Ephesus were marked by one of those “dangers in the city” of which he writes (2 Cor. 11:26). A certain Demetrius instigated a riot because of the Way (v. 23; see disc. on 9:2). He was a silversmith whose workshop produced silver shrines ...

4618. Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

Acts 20:13-38

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , we do not know. 20:17 Miletus was a natural stopping place for a coastal vessel en route for the south and near enough to Ephesus for Paul to summon the elders. The verb gives a sense of both earnestness and authority. Evidently Paul could reckon on a stay of some days, for if we take into account the time spent in landing, the dispatch of the messenger, and the journey of the elders to Miletus, it could not have been until at least the third day that he addressed them. 20:18 On their arrival, Paul spoke ...

4619. Paul Speaks to the Crowd

Acts 21:37--22:21

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... notice how the word “witness,” martys, applied here to Stephen, was acquiring its sense of “martyr”). Paul’s intention in all this was to show that his life’s work among the Gentiles had not been his own, but the Lord’s, choice. He would have stayed in Jerusalem, but the Lord had been unmoved by his arguments and had sent him far away to the Gentiles (v. 21; cf. Eph. 2:13). Additional Notes 21:39 A citizen of no ordinary city: Originally it had been illegal to hold Roman citizenship along with ...

4620. The Trial Before Festus

Acts 25:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... reflected in Acts is as it was until about the end of the first century A.D., according to which the accused made his appeal before the verdict was given or the sentence pronounced. Once an appeal was allowed, all further proceedings in the matter were stayed, and the magistrate had no choice but to transfer the case to Rome (see Sherwin-White, pp. 68–70, for a full discussion). 25:12 Thus, as soon as Paul had made his appeal, Festus went into conference with his advisers, probably high officials in the ...

4621. Festus Consults King Agrippa

Acts 25:13-22

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... outline of events that were well known to Luke, with a portrayal of Festus’ bewilderment, which was evident to all. 25:13 Not long after Festus had taken office, King Agrippa [Herod Agrippa II] and Bernice arrived at Caesarea—the verb has the sense of “came to stay” (see disc. on 16:1)—to pay their respects to the new governor. As a Roman vassal, involved to some extent in Jewish affairs, it was only proper that the king should do so. The aorist participle that is found in the best texts may mean ...

4622. Paul Sails for Rome

Acts 27:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... with little time left for safe sailing. 27:10 There was some discussion, therefore, about whether they should brave the winter in Fair Havens or attempt to reach a better place in which to lay up. Paul made his contribution to this debate by advising them to stay where they were. His words, I can see that our voyage, may be intended to express a God-given insight (cf. vv. 21–26), but there is no need to read into them anything more than the insight that comes from experience. Paul was a seasoned traveler ...

4623. The God of All Comfort

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... at all, but rather the suffering with Christ that is the common lot of all children of God and part of the sufferings of the present age (cf. Rom. 8:17–18). On Paul’s concept of endurance, see Judith M. Gundry Volf, Paul and Perseverance: Staying In and Falling Away (WUNT 2/37; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1990). 1:8 The NIV supplies the words the province of. While Paul might be thinking of the Roman province, his conception of geography and ethnography seems to be rooted firmly in conceptions drawn from ...

4624. Body / Ambassador

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... becomes a revelation in person of the covenant faithfulness of God (“On Becoming the Righteousness of God: 2 Corinthians 5:21,” in Hay, ed., Pauline Theology, pp. 200–208). 6:1 On receive grace in vain, see Judith M. Gundry Volf, Paul and Perseverance: Staying In and Falling Away (WUNT 2/37; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1990), pp. 277–80. Cf. Hafemann, Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel, p. 345: “Whether those in Corinth accept or reject Paul’s final defense of his ministry in this letter [sc. 2 ...

4625. The Credibility of the Gospel Paul Proclaims

Galatians 1:11-24

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... conversion visit to Jerusalem. The stress is on the length of time, three years, before he went to Jerusalem. The apostle wants to make plain that when he went to Jerusalem he was not a neophyte but a person of some Christian maturity. When he went he stayed for fifteen days. In the ancient world, just as today, two weeks was a significant time to enjoy a host’s hospitality. Paul’s Jerusalem visit was a substantial one: he had one-on-one access to Peter, one of the most important apostles. Paul does not ...

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