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Luke 4:14-30

Sermon

King Duncan

... -esteem are at the highest level ever among young people. But there is a difference between self-esteem and self-respect. Self-esteem has to do with how you feel about yourself. Self-respect has to do with the kind of person you really are. Are you a person of honor? Can people trust you? Are you the kind of person who seeks to do the right thing at all times--whether someone is looking or not? Self-respect has to do with your personal code of conduct. That is the meaning of David Brooks’ book, The Road ...

4977. Second Chances

Luke 13:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... that the owner had the right to cut down the nonbearing tree? Look around you. That is how all of life is ordered. It is part of the law of sowing and reaping. Sow all the wild oats you want to, but eventually there will be a harvest. What kind of harvest can you expect under such circumstances--certainly not a good one? “Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?” The need for a second chance implies that something we’ve done is wrong, and we need to do something about it. Life’s second chance ...

4978. Sunday's Here

John 20:1-9

Sermon

King Duncan

... . Sutherland would position himself in King’s Cross Station and search out every face to see if he might find his son again. He had been doing that for ten years when the Time article was written. (2) There is a great deal of sadness in that story--the kind of sadness that produced the missing children’s network in our own land and lingering concern over soldiers missing in action in such conflicts as Vietnam. But there is also a lot of love in this story--a love only a parent can know. I have no doubt ...

4979. Are You Giving Up Chocolate for Valentine's Day?

Luke 4:1-13

Sermon

King Duncan

... the devil.” Notice that it doesn’t say he was led by the devil into the wilderness, but by the Spirit. Evidently, this was some kind of test. Some have surmised that this was a test to prove that Christ was who he said he was--the sinless Lamb of God ... fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when ...

4980. Solomon Asks for Wisdom

2 Chronicles 1:1-17

Understanding Series

Louis C. Jonker

... want me to give you, leads to Solomon asking in 1:9–10 that the Lord’s promise to his father David be confirmed, as well as for wisdom and knowledge. This is done on account of the great kindness that God showed to David (as expressed by Solomon in 1:8). The Hebrew word for great kindness (hesed) used here (as well as in the source text) is a clear indication of the covenant relationship envisioned between God and David/Solomon. God’s reaction to Solomon’s requests is given in 1:11–12. Solomon is ...

4981. The Choosing of the Seven

Acts 6:1-7

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... . But this is sheer speculation. What we do know of the two will be discussed in the following sections. Here, we need only notice that Stephen is said to have been a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit (v. 5). His was a faith not different in kind from the faith that all Christians have, but exceptional in the extent to which he was willing to trust Christ, to take him at his word and to risk all for Christ’s sake. Of the rest, Nicolas from Antioch is noteworthy in that he was a Gentile by birth ...

4982. Peter’s Vision

Acts 10:9-23a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... for the imagery of the dream. For he saw (lit., “he sees,” a rare use of the historic present by Luke for greater vividness) heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners (v. 11). Within it were all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air (v. 12)—the three categories of living creatures recognized in the Old Testament (Gen. 6:20, RSV; cf. Rom. 1:23). When Peter told this story later, he added to the menagerie ...

4983. Peter’s Miraculous Escape from Prison

Acts 12:1-19a

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... 1:8 and the disc. on 21:10), which remained, as under the Romans, the administrative capital of his realm. Additional Notes 12:2 With the sword (cf. Mark 6:27): According to Mishnah, Sanhedrin 7.1ff., the Sanhedrin had power to inflict four kinds of penalty: stoning, burning, beheading, and strangling. This passage is of particular interest, for it refers to the manner in which beheading used to be carried out “by royal command,” a reference to the Romans, whose practice we may assume Herod followed. 12 ...

4984. In Lystra and Derbe

Acts 14:8-20

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... , because he was the chief speaker (v. 12; cf. Gal. 4:14; see Hanson, p. 148, for other instances of this kind of thing). The Lycaonians had probably long since syncretized their own gods with those of Greece. It has been objected that Hermes ... :27) and in Romans 2:15, to human consciousness and conscience, but simply to God’s presence in nature, demonstrated, first, by showing kindness (v. 17). More specifically, he is shown to be present, second, by giving rain from heaven and crops in their seasons (v. 17 ...

4985. The Council at Jerusalem

Acts 15:1-21

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... that meeting. But “from James” need only mean “from Jerusalem,” and these people could have been recalcitrants who did not abide by the council’s decisions. Nor was Paul in Galatians necessarily recounting all of his visits, and the kind of revelation that he had in mind was not the kind that comes by human beings but directly from God (cf. Gal. 1:1, 12). Besides these things, there are a number of serious difficulties in identifying Galatians 2:1–10 with Acts 11:30. First, the apostles are not ...

4986. In Athens

Acts 17:16-34

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... noun appears to be used in a derogatory sense in 25:19). It is a comparative and can mean either that they were more devout than most in the practice of their religion or more superstitious. Perhaps Paul deliberately chose the word with kindly ambiguity so as not to offend his hearers while, at the same time, expressing to his own satisfaction what he thought of their religion. They would learn soon enough what his opinion really was. Meanwhile, evidence that they were indeed “very religious” abounded ...

4987. The Trial Before Felix

Acts 24:1-27

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... compliment to the governor (the captatio benevolentiae; cf. Cicero, De Orators 2.78f.), though he must have been sorely pressed to find anything complimentary to say. The one thing in his opening remarks that had any foundation of truth was that Felix had brought a kind of peace to the land by suppressing the robber bands that had infested it (v. 2; cf. Josephus, Antiquities 20.160–166; War 2.252–253). What Tertullus did not mention was the ruthlessness with which he had done it, which in the long term ...

4988. Paul Before Agrippa

Acts 25:23--26:32

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... “throughout” Judea (an accusative of extent). His message had been essentially a call to repentance (cf. 2:38; 3:19; 17:30; 20:21), to conversion—they were to turn to God (v. 20; cf. 9:35; 11:21; 14:15; 15:19; 1 Thess. 1:9), and to the kind of conduct that exemplified both. This message had been preached to Jews and to Gentiles alike. 26:21–23 It was his ministry to the Gentiles, and that he had treated the Gentiles as on the same footing as they were, however, that had provoked the ire of the Jews ...

4989. Ashore on Malta

Acts 28:1-10

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... It was now ruled by a procurator, who may have been the Publius whom Luke mentions in verse 7. 28:2 Strangers landing among rustic folk such as these often met with a hostile reception. On this occasion, however, the survivors found themselves treated with unusual kindness. Rain and cold had added to their miseries, and the fire that the locals had lit for them was a most welcome sight. It is difficult to imagine all two hundred seventy-six of the ship’s company crowded around the one blaze, but Luke may ...

4990. Body / Ambassador

2 Corinthians 5:11--6:2

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... the legitimacy of his apostleship is distorted. The apostle’s suffering and dying body and his lack of a glorified face like that of Moses cannot be used to show that Paul is a fraud. Therefore, Paul now applies his own principle to himself in a kind of reverse psychology: we regard no one from a worldly point of view. A more literal translation shows what Paul is really trying to say: “we know no one according to the flesh.” Implied in this is that Paul’s opponents do “know” him “according to ...

4991. Paul's Hardships

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... between self-commendation and defense. Fundamentally, he abhors any appearance of self-commendation (3:1; 5:12; 10:12, 18). By siding with the opponents and failing to commend Paul themselves (3:2; 5:12; 12:11), however, the Corinthians have forced the apostle into a kind of self-commendation that emphasizes both what the Corinthians already know about Paul in their conscience (4:2) and the evident power of God at work in him despite suffering (4:7–12; cf. 12:9). Hence, when Paul states in 6:4 that he ...

4992. Spiritual Blessings in Christ

Ephesians 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... or marks the believer as belonging to Christ. And, since the blessings that are enumerated in this passage are “spiritual,” they are given by the “Spirit.” 1:3 Praise be: The Greek word is eulogētos, which carries the meaning of speaking (legō) well or kindly (eu) of someone. In this context, the phrase could be expressed as “thanks be,” “blessed be,” as well as praise be to God. In the NT, the word is used exclusively for God, since he alone is worthy to be blessed; he is blessed because ...

4993. Made Alive in Christ

Ephesians 2:1-10

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... main verb does not occur until verse 5 (he made us alive). In chapter 2, the apostle develops two specific themes that he has already mentioned: In 2:1–10, he picks up redemption and forgiveness (1:7) and applies it to the reconciliation of sinful humanity kind by God; in 2:11–22, he applies the principle of unity from 1:10 to the specific case of Jews and Gentiles and shows how they have been brought together into one body. Chapter 2:1–10 contains a number of contrasting features: First, there are ...

4994. Wives and Husbands

Ephesians 5:22-33

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... ; Titus 3:5; Heb. 10:22; 1 Pet. 3:20, 21). Second is the relationship between baptism and the word (lit., “the washing of water by/in the word”). Baptism, in the context of the NT, was accompanied by a spoken word. Here it could mean either (a) some kind of gospel utterance; (b) a confession from the candidate in which he or she expresses faith in the Lord; (c) some prebaptismal words of instruction; or (d) a baptismal formula, such as baptism into the name of Christ (Acts 2:38; 8:16; 19:5; 22:16; 1 Cor ...

4995. The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-20

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... . Here the apostle’s concerns are not unlike those in 1 Peter, where, in a similar context of warning his readers about the devil, Peter writes: “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (5:9). 6:19–20 The thought of Christians praying for one another leads the apostle to think of his needs for prayer as well. (Cf. this pattern in Col. 4:3; 1 Thess. 5:25; 2 Thess. 3:1. This verse is almost identical ...

4996. Living to Please God

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... of walking). See the discussion on 5:14 for a further treatment of this theme of the work ethic as a factor in promoting well-being both of the church and of society. Alone among NT writers, Paul insists that one of the criteria of Christian action of any kind is its effect on the world at large (cf. 1 Cor. 14:16, 23f.)—and on the well-being of themselves and the church. Those who could, should work so as not to be dependent on anybody or “not to need anything.” The Greek can be rendered either way ...

4997. Love of Money

1 Timothy 6:3-10

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... brings all of this into focus on the false teachers, who vividly illustrate the truth of what was said in verse 9. For, Paul says, now as supporting evidence, in this case the common proverb is quite right: The love of money is a [better, “the”] root of all kinds of evil. This text neither says, as it is often misquoted, that money is the root of all evil nor intends to say that every known evil has avarice as its root. A proverb very much like this (“The love of money is the mother-city of all evil ...

4998. Paul’s Request for Onesimus

Philemon 1:8-25

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... with him in prison. Somehow Paul envisions that, in spite of his imprisonment, Onesimus’ service could promote the gospel in some way. He could take your place in helping me suggests that Paul is thinking of some kind of service from Philemon himself. Did Philemon owe Paul something? The only hint at some kind of debt comes in verse 19, where Paul may be reminding Philemon that it was through Paul’s ministry that he became a Christian. 14 Here Paul displays extreme caution in building up his case. He ...

4999. The Wrong Question

Matthew 13:1-23

Illustration

Charles Hoffacker (adapted)

An anthropologist worked with the aboriginal people in Australia. The community she lived in had a rich tradition of storytelling. Everyone gathers at night, a story is told, and then another, and another. This young anthropologist named Connie felt privileged to be asked on occasion to join the activity. On one night the first story told is about the animal ancestor of the community and its adventures at the beginning of time. The story overflows with detail, action, creationist imagery. The stuff of ...

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