Sermon and Worship Resources

Synonyms: touch, feel, sense of touch, tactile sense, tactility, contact, using one's hands, sensation, sense, suspicion, sneaking suspicion, notion, inkling, hunch, fancy, apprehension, presentiment, premonition, foreboding, love, care, affection, fondness, tenderness, warmth, warmness, emotion, sentiment, emotional state, compassion, sympathy, empathy, fellow feeling, understanding, concern, solicitude, solicitousness, tender-heartedness, brotherly love, sensibilities, sensitivities, self-esteem, ego, pride, opinion, belief, view, impression, intuition, instinct, estimation, guess, theory, hypothesis, thought, way of thinking, point of view, atmosphere, ambience, aura, air, mood, climate, character, overtone, undertone, tenor, spirit, quality, flavour, colour, aptitude, knack, flair, bent, talent, gift, skill, art, trick, faculty, ability, propensity, inclination, sensitive, warm, warm-hearted, tender, tender-hearted, caring, soft-hearted, sympathetic, compassionate, empathetic, responsive, receptive, intuitive, thoughtful

Antonyms: bad feeling, acrimony, animosity, animus, antagonism, antipathy, aversion, bitterness, detestation, disgust, dislike, disrelish, enmity, friction, grievances, grudges, hatred, hostility, loathing, malevolence, malice

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51. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... parable (cf. the format of Mark 4). The parable itself discusses the legitimate leaders of the sheep. Just as with the corrupt priests of the Maccabean era, Jesus suggests that there may still be false leaders of God’s people whose intentions are malevolent. Two criteria set apart fraudulent leaders. First, their entry into authority is wrong (10:1). Sheepfolds were often protective stone fences with one access gate. If the gatekeeper (10:3) has not ordained the shepherd’s entry, he is to be feared, not ...

52. Jesus and Beelzebub

Mark 3:20-30

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

... by some teachers of the law seems designed to show that the attitude of Jesus’ family, however understandable in one sense, is to be seen as a response like that of these critics. Although the charge He is out of his mind (3:21) is perhaps slightly less malevolent than He has an evil spirit (3:30), Mark presents them both as wrong responses to Jesus. The charge against Jesus in 3:22 is that he is a sorcerer who does his exorcisms by evil power, a charge echoed in the Gospels and elsewhere (see note on ...

53. God's Wrath Against Mankind

Romans 1:18-32

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... , blindness, and total departure from God. “The sin of omitting that which is good leads to the sin of committing that which is positively evil” (Epistle to the Romans, pp. 28–30). Thus, the human predicament results neither from ignorance nor from a malevolent fate. The problem is not lack of knowledge, but failure to acknowledge God and render proper worship and obedience. There is nothing essentially new in Paul’s exposé of human nature; indeed we should be wary if there were, for the human ...

54. God's Sovereign Choice

Romans 9:1-29

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... s) choosing by God. Human effort is a necessary response of gratitude and commitment to God for his grace in Jesus Christ, but it neither merits nor maintains grace. With regard to election God remains totally free, not to employ arbitrary (or worse, malevolent) designs, but to express mercy. It is, then, God’s freedom and mercy which Paul advocates in these verses. God’s superior power, his ability to execute what he desires, is, of course, everywhere acknowledged. Our fear, however, is that God will ...

55. The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... impossibility. John stands within the stream of earliest Christian eschatology. The climactic vision of Christ’s parousia describes the vindication of God and Christ’s true disciples which proceeds from the judgment of the anti-Christian kingdom, of its malevolent rulers, and finally of death itself. This excursus therefore seeks to frame Revelation’s concluding vision as well as its vision of Christ’s coronation. The inertia of God’s salvation which begins with Christ’s exaltation in heaven ...

56. The Beast out of the Sea

Revelation 13:1b-10

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... the unholy trinity. The Christian’s struggle against the anti-Christian impulses of the surrounding world order is not merely an internal and intellectual one; it is also a sociopolitical struggle between two communities that have been shaped and empowered either by malevolent powers for evil or by benevolent powers for good (cf. 1 Pet. 3:13–17). Thus, each portrait concludes with John’s exhortation for Christian virtue in the face of great calamity: those who remain faithful (13:10) and wise (13:18 ...

57. Daniel’s Dream of Four Beasts

Daniel 7:1-14

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... are threatened at times, but the kings are not anti-Jewish. In fact, they can be quite amiable—for example, when Darius clearly sides with Daniel against the conspirators in chapter 6. In the second half of the book, the human potentates are much more malevolent. They are exceedingly evil and destructive (7:2–7), and one king (Antiochus Epiphanes) especially seeks to persecute Jews and abolish Judaism (7:21, 25; 8:10–14, 24–25; 9:26–27; 11:30–39). Chapters 1–6, taking their cue from the story ...

58. More Than Conquerors

Romans 8:28-39

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... angels, nor demons, nor the present nor future Christ is at the right hand of God; nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation (Gnomon, vol. 3, p. 114). Christ is interceding for us. Paul believed that there were both malevolent and benevolent powers at work in the universe. He begins with death perhaps because he ended with the “sword” in verse 35. Nor can the seductive impulses of life inhibit God’s love. Angels, demons, and powers refer to orders of superhuman beings. Height ...

59. Rebellion Against the Lord

Deuteronomy 1:26-46

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... motives in what he had done for them. The LORD hates us . . . (v. 27). The very events that had been the greatest proof of God’s love for them and of God’s faithfulness to the promise to their ancestors are inverted into proof of God’s malevolence (cf. 7:6–8)! Such a reaction, though certainly shocking in its context here, is not surprising as a symptorn of depression and despair. It is sadly typical that even the people of God turn on God in accusation and blame when things go wrong, when obstacles ...

60. The Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... . The exodus story also involved a fresh revelation of the divine name (Exod. 3:13ff.; 6:2–8) and demonstrated its power. No Israelite must attempt to use the power of that name, which had operated for the national benefit, for any personal, malevolent, or frivolous purpose (third commandment). In Egypt, the harshest aspect of reality for Israel was the unrelenting labor imposed on them (Exod. 1 and 5). With no freedom they had no rest. The sabbath commandment was a distinctive gift, explicitly geared to ...

61. Elijah on Mount Carmel

1 Kings 18:16-46

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... an account of a violent prophetic frenzy in the midst of a sacrificial temple ritual in Byblos, a city on the Phoenician coast to the north of Jezebel’s home town of Sidon (cf. ANET, pp. 25–29). The NT, of course, also knows of spirit possession by malevolent rather than beneficent forces, often involving violence and self-abuse (e.g., Matt. 15:21–28; Luke 8:26–39; 9:37–43), and Jesus’ own prophetic ministry was, indeed, seen as “madness” by some (e.g., John 7:14–20; 8:48–59; 10:1–21 ...

62. The Devastating Influence of Faultfinding, Nay-Saying, and Nitpicking

John 12:1-8

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

... commentary. Nitpicking, nay-saying, faultfinders seldom participate in the far more demanding task of making a positive contribution. This minister was always polite. He was not arrogant or angry in his demeanor. He didn’t seem to hunger for the group’s attention. Rather than malevolent he seemed motivated only to perform a helpful service for the speaker and the group. I certainly do not think he set out to join the ranks of Judas at the dinner party in Bethany or the fellow on the back pew in Nazareth ...

The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.

Albert Camus

My specialty is detached malevolence.

Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Is he willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?

David Hume

66. About Those Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

... end. You see, above everything else, Herod the Great was a killer. That was his nature. He killed out of spite and he killed to stay in power. Human life meant nothing to him. The great historian Josephus called him ‘barbaric,’ another writer dubbed him ‘the malevolent maniac,’ yet another named him ’the great pervert.’ “Perhaps his basic character can best be seen by one incident in the year 7 B.C. Herod is an old man now. He has been in power 41 years. He knows he doesn’t have much longer ...

67.

Psalm 124:1-8

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

Providing Escape from the Malevolent This psalm of ascent is a testimony of thanksgiving, perhaps in response to the preceding prayer psalm. It begins with a liturgist’s call to the congregation to join in affirming this testimony (v. 1). A choir, perhaps, then recalls the distress in terms of what would have happened had ...

68. The Interpretation of the Dream

Daniel 7:15-28

Understanding Series

William Nelson

Showing 51 to 68 of 68all results

Showing all results

51. The Shepherd and His Flock

John 10:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

52. Jesus and Beelzebub

Mark 3:20-30

Understanding Series

Larry W. Hurtado

53. God's Wrath Against Mankind

Romans 1:18-32

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

54. God's Sovereign Choice

Romans 9:1-29

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

55. The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

56. The Beast out of the Sea

Revelation 13:1b-10

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

57. Daniel’s Dream of Four Beasts

Daniel 7:1-14

Understanding Series

William Nelson

58. More Than Conquerors

Romans 8:28-39

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

59. Rebellion Against the Lord

Deuteronomy 1:26-46

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

60. The Ten Commandments

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

61. Elijah on Mount Carmel

1 Kings 18:16-46

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

62. The Devastating Influence of Faultfinding, Nay-Saying, and Nitpicking

John 12:1-8

Sermon

R. Robert Cueni

The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.

Albert Camus

My specialty is detached malevolence.

Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Is he willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?

David Hume

66. About Those Magi

Matthew 2:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

67.

Psalm 124:1-8

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

68. The Interpretation of the Dream

Daniel 7:15-28

Understanding Series

William Nelson

Showing 51 to 68 of 68all results