Sermon and Worship Resources

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Revelation 2:8-11

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J. Scott Duvall

... .”4 2:9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! Christians are experiencing economic persecution (e.g., loss of income and jobs, destruction of property, legal trouble), resulting in poverty. This could be related to exclusion from local trade guilds, which provided work but often promoted pagan religious activities that caused Christians to compromise their faith. Yet in spite of their material poverty, Jesus declares them spiritually rich! This stands in contrast to the church ...

727. Message to Philadelphia

Revelation 3:7-13

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J. Scott Duvall

... exemption theology” made popular by end-time novels in favor of “endurance theology” made clear by Jesus himself. Christians will face marginalization from society. Craig Keener, however, rightly cautions us to emphasize the real reason for the exclusion, lest we be tempted toward developing a victim mentality or a persecution complex and thus pursue “unnecessary separatism.” These believers were not excluding others or withdrawing from public witness, but were being excluded “against their will ...

728. The Lamb and the 144,000

Revelation 14:1-5

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J. Scott Duvall

... and used occasionally, as is the case here, to describe the entire group rather than the first of many to follow (e.g., Jer. 2:2–3; James 1:18).3Since Christians have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 5:9), they are living sacrifices, belonging exclusively to the Lord (Rom. 12:1). Finally, they speak without lies or deceit (Zeph. 3:13; Isa. 53:9; contrast with Rev. 3:9; 21:8, 27; 22:15). They are ambassadors of truth and enemies of falsehood in what they say and how they live. For this reason ...

729. The Warrior Messiah Conquers the Two Beasts and Their Followers

Revelation 19:1-21

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J. Scott Duvall

... his people, judge the unrighteous, destroy evil, and transform creation. 2. Christ will return as a mighty warrior ram rather than a docile lamb. There is the constant danger when presenting Christ in a love-starved culture to overemphasize God’s love to the exclusion of his holiness. Jesus will return in power because there is a final battle to be fought against the enemies of God. We dare not attempt to domesticate the Lion. He comes to destroy his enemies and establish his universal reign. Mounce warns ...

730. The Final Judgment

Revelation 20:11-15

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J. Scott Duvall

... , rather than being cancelled out, by the divine initiative and power.”6The “books” are opened not in hopes of making changes in the book of life but “in order to put on public display the concrete and indisputable evidence ratifying the inclusion or exclusion of names from the book of life.”7This point leads naturally to the following area of application. 3. A genuine faith must be not only a believed faith but also a lived faith. Revelation does not stand in conflict with the Pauline doctrine ...

731. Purification from “Leprosy”

Leviticus 14:33-57, Leviticus 14:1-32

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... power to heal? 2. God can purify from sin. As noted in the last chapter, ceremonial impurity serves as an analogy for ethical impurity. David, in Psalm 51, sees this connection. He compares his own alienation from God as a murderer and adulterer to the leper’s exclusion from the community and the sanctuary. He cries out like a leper wanting to be cleansed and restored, “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Ps. 51:7 [alluding to Lev. 14:4–6]). But ...

732. Punishments for Sin

Leviticus 20:1-27

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... derived from the pre-Christian Septuagint translation of Leviticus 20:13.8Thus, Paul’s use of the term presupposes and reaffirms Leviticus’s condemnation of homosexual acts for the Christian. He warns that those engaging in such behaviors are in danger of exclusion from the kingdom of God, but he never implies that homosexuals should be executed. Again, Paul affirms the morality of the law, but in view of the changed historical and theological circumstances, he does not apply its sanction. In the book ...

733. Sabbath Year and Year of Jubilee

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

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... bills of sale that have transferred one’s land inheritance to others become legally null and void, allowing such a person to return free to ancestral land (v. 41). God had redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage so that they can be his slaves exclusively (v. 42). Foreigners can be reduced to chattel slavery, but Israelites are not to be reduced to permanent slavery (vv. 44–46). On the other hand, a wealthy foreigner living among the Israelites can buy an Israelite as an indentured servant (v. 47), though ...

734. Racism and Envy

Numbers 12:1-16

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... Miriam has been the chief instigator of this rebellion against Moses. This is why her name occurs first (Num. 12:1). Moreover, the punishment is not inappropriate given the context. Rebellions like this in Numbers culminate in the disaster of Israel’s forty-year exclusion from the land (see Num. 14). The punishment of seven days of leprosy is not out of proportion for the sort of offenses that lead to catastrophe. Also, it is not true that Aaron goes unpunished, though his punishment is no doubt mitigated ...

735. Failure to Enter the Land

Num 13:1–14:9

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... justice, Caleb will even be given possession of that fortified city of Hebron, whose inhabitants, the Anakites, the ten scouts had so feared (cf. Josh. 14:6–15). Moses and Aaron (v. 26), along with Aaron’s sons, are also (for now) exempt from this exclusion from entering the land, for no Levite had been among the unfaithful scouts, and Aaron has supported Moses, Joshua, and Caleb against the mob (14:5–6). Moses and Aaron are later excluded from entering the land (see Num. 20:12, 24). Aaron’s son ...

736. Condemned to Wilderness Wandering

Numbers 14:1-45

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Joe M. Sprinkle

737. Moses’s and Aaron’s Sin at Meribah

Numbers 20:1-13

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... punishment. They also disobey God’s command (cf. Num. 20:24): they have been told to assemble the congregation and address the rock; instead, Moses addresses the people and strikes the rock. For these offenses, Moses and Aaron are punished with exclusion from the land. Aaron dies in this chapter (Num. 20:28–29), and Moses dies later, before the conquest (Deut. 34). 20:13 Meribah. This oasis came to be called Meribah (“strife/quarreling”) because the “Israelites quarreled with the Lord there ...

738. Joshua Appointed as Moses’s Successor

Numbers 27:12-23

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... lacking in the text. Verse 16’s “spirits of all flesh” (see comments there) suggests that “the spirit” here is Joshua’s human spirit rather than God’s Holy Spirit (against NASB, NIVmg, ESV), though the interpretations need not be mutually exclusive: personal qualities such as wisdom and counsel can come from God’s Spirit (see Isa. 11:2). Joshua’s spirit shows the character and leadership qualities necessary to be qualified to replace Moses, including “the spirit of wisdom” (Deut. 34:9 ...

739. The Road to the Throne Is Covered with Blood

2 Sam 1:1–5:5

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... fast?” he writes. “Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and to exclusive allegiance to God—the responsible man who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God.”5 God may use secondary causes, including human decisions, to accomplish his purposes. Quote: Leap over a Wall, by Eugene Peterson. So ...

740. The Ark Does Some Damage

1 Samuel 5:1-12

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Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... by Jezebel, the Lord proves his power to send the lightning and rain (1 Kings 18).14 Against the backdrop of the exile, God challenges the idol-gods of the nations to demonstrate their power, lampoons their inability to do so, and declares his incomparability and right to exclusive worship (Isa. 40:18–20; 41:5–7, 21–29; 44:9–20; 45:5, 16; 46:1–2, 6–7; 48:5, 14). 2. The Lord’s power transcends any mere tangible reminder of his presence. This story highlights the Lord’s power and makes it ...

741. Job Hears the Whispers of God’s Works

Job 26:1--31:40

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Daniel J. Estes

... from the sight of the holy God (Rev. 6:15–17), because they fear his judgment on their sins. Teaching the Text By this time in the book, Job has lost patience with irrelevant and simplistic answers to his problem. So when Bildad’s exclusive focus on God’s transcendence leads him to regard humans as mere maggots and worms before God, Job has heard quite enough. He jumps in, rejecting Bildad as unhelpful and without insight. No doubt, Bildad means well, but his dogmatic commitment to his one-dimensional ...

742. “You Are My Son; Today I Have Become Your Father”

Psalm 2:1-12

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C. Hassell Bullock

... (also Ps. 100:2). The subsequent command to “celebrate [lit., “rejoice”] . . . with trembling” is a parallel idea and a most appropriate way to combine the notion of awe and joy that must characterize the worship of God. They are complementary, not exclusive. 2:12 Kiss his son. This command is problematic in that it unaccountably uses the Aramaic word for “son” (bar). However, attempts to amend the text (RSV, NRSV: “kiss his feet”) are unnecessary, seeing that it obviously is a call to ...

743. “The Lord Looks Down . . . to See If There Are Any Who Understand”

Psalm 14:1-7

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C. Hassell Bullock

... some minor differences, and the major addition of 53:5b–d. The addition of 53:5 is evidently intended to pronounce judgment on that generation of the godless in whose time the so-called Elohistic Psalter (Pss. 42–83) was collected. The exclusive use of the generic name of the deity, ’elohim (“God”), rather than the tetragrammaton, YHWH (“Lord”), characterizes Psalm 53 (see the sidebar “The Divine Names” in the unit on Ps. 4). Outline/Structure Psalm 14 falls into four parts: 1. The fool ...

744. “You Will Fill Me with Joy in Your Presence”

Psalm 16:1-11

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C. Hassell Bullock

... , my whole desire concerning them is that those who espouse another [god] may have many sorrows!” Thus verses 3 and 4 distance the worshiper from idolatry, which is affirmed in v. 4b–c. Then in verse 5 the psalmist appeals again to the exclusive worship of Yahweh that he has espoused in verse 2, acknowledging that the Lord alone is his “portion” and “cup.” Based on the language of the text, either interpretation is possible, but an overdependence on the Ugaritic language makes this interpreter a ...

745. “The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Lack Nothing”

Psalm 23:1-6

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C. Hassell Bullock

... and joy (Eccles. 9:8; Ps. 92:10), is here more likely an allusion to David’s elevation to the throne. 23:6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me. The word normally translated “surely” (’ak) carries here the nuance of exclusivity: “Only goodness and love,” excluding the psalmist’s enemies.[10] The word picture is that of “goodness and love,” rather than his enemies, benevolently pursuing (rdp) the psalmist for his whole life. The result is the psalmist’s dwelling in the Lord ...

746. “The Earth Is the Lord’s, and Everything in It”

Psalm 24:1-10

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C. Hassell Bullock

... . The concern of the liturgical convoy is “Who may stand in his holy place?” The undefined “who” of 24:3 is given clarity in the answer of 24:4: “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,” and is further defined by the exclusion of idolatry (“who does not trust in an idol,” 24:4b; cf. the second commandment, Exod. 20:3) and the prohibition of false witness, presumably against one’s neighbor (the ninth commandment, Exod. 20:16). This reinforces our observation that the ethical nature of ...

747. “Ascribe to the Lord the Glory Due His Name”

Psalm 29:1-11

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C. Hassell Bullock

... idea of “the glory due his name.” Now it is finally offered by the worshipers in the temple. 29:10 enthroned over the flood. This word for “flood” occurs only in Genesis, in relation to the flood narrative (Gen. 6–11), suggesting by its exclusivity that God’s manifestation in nature, both in Noah’s time and in David’s, was the “supreme example of natural forces,”[15] and that he in both times exercised his dominion over the natural world. This psalm declares in its own lovely way what ...

748. “May the Net They Hid Entangle Them”

Psalm 35:1-28

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C. Hassell Bullock

... 20 and 27, the speaker is assumed to be the king. This psalm belongs among the imprecations (“curses”) of the Psalter, and is one of the three psalms designated as the imprecatory psalms (Pss. 35; 69; 109),[2] although they do not hold exclusive rights to imprecations (see the “Additional Insights” that precedes this unit). In fact, there are really no statements in this poem that can be designated “curses” in a strict sense—35:4–8 provides the closest examples—certainly not in the clear ...

749. “I Confess My Iniquity; I Am Troubled by My Sin”

Psalm 38:1-22

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C. Hassell Bullock

... (38:11–20) 3. Closing invocation and prayer for deliverance (38:21–22) Historical and Cultural Background Psalm 38 keys in to a common theme in the ancient Near East, which explains sin as the cause of suffering. Even though this was not the exclusive explanation for sickness, it was a shared one in that world, Israel included.[6] Job’s friends represent the view that an indissoluble link binds the two together, a view that Job strongly refutes. Our writer espouses the view of Job’s friends, even ...

750. “No One Can Redeem the Life of Another or Give to God a Ransom for Them”

Psalm 49:1-20

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C. Hassell Bullock

... the Text The reality of death Quote: Artur Weiser. German scholar Artur Weiser comments on the inevitability of death: “For in death man inevitably encounters the power of God, no matter how often he may have tried in other respects to evade that power and rely exclusively on his own strength. And because it is the power of God, all human power that is opposed to it is on that account bound to prove unavailing.”15What we know as Christians is that not only is death inevitable, but every person who ever ...

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