Sermon and Worship Resources

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 976 to 1000 of 1185 results

976. Love

Romans 12:9-21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... word for hospitality, philoxenia, literally means “kindness to strangers” and complements Philadelphia, “kindness to the brotherhood,” at the head of the list (v. 10). The word for practice (Gk. diōkein) actually means “to press or pursue.” Practice hospitality, therefore, carries the sense of intentionally striving to embrace strangers and needy individuals. Again, in the modern West where jobs are increasingly characterized by bureaucracy and depersonalization, and where cities contain entire ...

977. Personal Greetings

Romans 16:1-27

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... the immortal words of Romans to a quite overwhelmed amanuensis. That all nations might believe and obey is the goal to which the Holy Spirit bears witness in every age, and it is the prayer which the church must forever hold in its heart and pursue in its life. To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen. Additional Notes The reference to David Schulz’s 1829 article is from Manson’s article, “St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans—and Others,” in Romans Debate—Revised, p. 10 ...

978. Sexual Immorality

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... . The Corinthians contended that what they knew or thought they knew had given them an abstract principle, freedom, that could and had produced less than desirable results. But Paul does not deal in abstractions. Freedom, according to Paul, is characterized by pursuing what it best; freedom does not lead to a new form of slavery. The Corinthians mistakenly claim an inner freedom that places them above the mundane realities of the world, and they are eager to demonstrate their liberation. Yet Paul reminds ...

979. Food Sacrificed to Idols

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... first priority of a believer. In other words, “God knows, and so we know; God loves, and so we love.” To be known by God is to be loved, and to be loved by God enables the one who is loved to love God, not merely to pursue and to possess knowledge. Although he does not advocate any action explicitly, that “love builds up” indicates that the believers’ love for God evinces itself in the constructive doing of God’s work in the world. 8:4 Again, Paul’s rhetoric indicates that he is referring to ...

980. Propriety in Worship

1 Corinthians 11:2-16

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... remaining course of Paul’s presentation. 11:7 Paul’s bewilderingly difficult argument continues, assuming a knowledge of the situation in Corinth and now also assuming a knowledge of the creation stories of Genesis. In general, verses 7–12 continue to pursue Paul’s point concerning appropriate and inappropriate behavior in worship from the perspective of a set of biblical texts. Specifically, in verse 7 Paul restates the idea with which he is working, bringing in the language of the Genesis account ...

981. Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... their message was plain, “Thus saith the Lord.” While prophecy was understood to be a gift of God’s Spirit, a special anointing unto inspired proclamation, Paul presents prophecy in such a way that the believers are encouraged to pursue and to desire this particular gift. Paul’s explicit references to prophecy in chapter 14 make his understanding of the shape and scope of this particular gift clear. Prophecy was deemed especially desirable because it edified, encouraged, and consoled. Prophecy ...

982. Orderly Worship

1 Corinthians 14:26-40

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... the sense of this question to the different verses in light of the particular subjects of the ensuing sentences. The parallel form of the question does make a rhetorical connection between the questions and forms a kind of refrain as Paul pursues his complicated arguments. The manner in which the NIV proceeds after this point is questionable, although not an issue of enormous weight. The NIV’s rendering of Paul’s words When you come together, everyone has … is confusing. Does everyone do everything ...

983. The Resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... for the absolute dependence or relatedness of all aspects of human life. The creature has no independent existence apart from the Creator and the gift of life from God. Humans are not independent spirits trapped in material bodies. The following commentary pursues this line of interpretation: for some of the Corinthians, there is no need of a resurrection of the dead, for the dead live as being truly freed spirits. The dead have superseded mundane physicality by leaving their dead bodies behind. There ...

984. The Angel and the Little Scroll

Revelation 10:1-11

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... of salvation is in accord with the plan of God. Again, we are inclined to think of this interlude in terms of repeated and central themes found in the little scroll given to John in chapter 10 and written down in chapter 11. Many have pursued the precise meaning of the little scroll without success. Most associate it with God’s scroll of seven seals (5:1), containing the heavenly edict of God’s triumph over earthly evil. This seems to us a reasonable conjecture for two reasons. First, the vision ...

985. The Passover

Numbers 9:1-14

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... of the penalties for violations in the Holiness Code in Leviticus. An additional instruction is that an alien, one who is not an Israelite but living with them, may also properly celebrate the LORD’s Passover. 9:15–23 This concluding section of the chapter pursues the theme of divine guidance—here guidance for the upcoming journey. The text refers to the completion of the tabernacle in Exodus 40, and the cloud that covered it. The cloud as a symbol of divine presence descended on Sinai and came to be ...

986. Samuel Anoints Saul

1 Sam 9:1–10:8

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... purpose. The historical writers as much as the prophets resist the tendency to introduce the concept of a natural aristocracy into the mindset of a nation that was founded on the basis of a covenant brotherhood. In this instance, Saul and his father’s servant pursue an extended and fruitless search for the donkeys. It is not clear why they follow the path they do or travel so far, but they eventually find themselves in the area occupied by the Zuphites, Samuel’s clan (1:1). Throughout this journey the ...

987. David Destroys the Amalekites

1 Samuel 30:1-31

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... and that there was hope that their families would be restored to them. It gave them the renewed confidence that was vital if any successful rescue campaign was to be mounted. The tired troops therefore gathered their meager resources of energy and set off to pursue the raiders. The hike across the barren wastelands of this area would have been enough to tax the strength of fully fit troops. When they reached the major hurdle of the Besor Ravine, one-third of the men could not summon enough strength to cross ...

988. The Advice of Hushai and Ahithophel

2 Sam 16:15–17:29

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... in hiding at En Rogel, which was a short distance from Jerusalem where the Kidron and the Hinnom valleys meet. Their presence in or departure from there was considered suspicious, because the young man who spotted them went to Absalom, and they were pursued. 17:18 Bahurim was somewhat further away from the town on the route toward the river. Presumably the loyalty of the family there had already been ascertained. Any civil war brings conflict within small as well as large communities. Bahurim was the town ...

989. Bildad

Job 8:1-22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... events to their children through the ages in order to encourage their continued remembrance of, and dependence on, their covenant relationship with God (Deut. 5:1; 6:3–12). Bildad calls those “who forget God,” who thrust him out of mind in order to pursue their own course in the world, the godless (from the Heb. khnp, “to be defiled, corrupted, polluted”). Like the plants that wither, those who write God out of their lives will see their hope perish. 8:14–15 Shifting from the plant world to ...

990. Job’s Reply to Zophar

Job 12:1--14:22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... the humans he just described. The friends, with their assumption of superior wisdom, could even receive instruction from the rest of the animate and inanimate creation. To ask the animals or to speak to the earth is a way of encouraging sages to pursue the traditional forms of wisdom observation and investigation of the natural world. Many proverbs reflect the end result of this kind of conversation with the earth and its inhabitants (Prov. 30:15–31; Eccl. 1:1–11). The animals and the physical world ...

991. Eliphaz's Second Speech to Job

Job 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... ” (2:11, Heb. reʿut ruakh, meaning “vain, empty striving”). Eliphaz’s phrase is Heb. daʿat ruakh, “vain, empty knowledge.” In Hos. 12:1 the east wind (Heb. qadim; MT v. 2) is an image of vain striving and deceit: “Ephraim feeds on the wind; he pursues the east wind all day and multiplies lies and violence.” In the dream of Pharaoh interpreted by Joseph (Gen. 41), the east wind destroys the grain crops. For similar effects of the east wind see Ezek. 17:10; 19:12; Jonah 4:8; Hos. 13:15. In ...

992. Job's Second Reply to Eliphaz

Job 16:1-17:16

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... , under the attack of Job’s contrary evidence, their determination only grows stronger. There is the possibility, of course, that Job is here talking in an exhortative plural of his own determination to remain undeterred by the ridicule of his opponents from pursuing his quest for vindication. 17:10 Like a confident boxer taunting his opponent to take his best shot, Job calls his detractors to try again their best arguments against him. Assured that their arguments can only fail to impress or persuade, he ...

993. Bildad's Second Speech to Job

Job 18:1-21

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... heighten the tension as they describe these two opponents as hungry for the attack, and ready for the first sign of stumbling (NIV falls, Heb. tselaʿ, “stumbling, slipping, falling”). Again the picture is that of a soldier attacked suddenly from ambush and pursued closely by his enemies, who are seeking every opportunity to carry out their attack and are ready to take full advantage of any sign of weariness or stumbling. The image shifts in verse 13 from ambush to the particularly loathsome effects of ...

994. Job's Second Reply to Bildad

Job 19:1-29

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... the root of the trouble lies in him (Job). These two encapsulate Job’s offense, which has grown throughout the dialogue. The friends show little compassion as companions and fellow sufferers, rather they exhort each other to “hound” (Heb. rdp, lit., “pursue”) Job as an enemy. In addition they refuse to accept any evidence of Job’s innocence, preferring to understand his suffering as well-deserved punishment for the sinful “trouble” that “lies in him.” This absolves them from having to ...

995. Job's Second Reply to Zophar

Job 21:1-34

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... desires, and their good intentions are constantly undermined by their lack of power and control. But the fact is, Job claims rhetorically, God is in control in this world, just as the friends have claimed. God is powerful and in control, and yet the wicked pursue their evil with impunity and all this great evil has come on one who is acknowledged by all to be tam weyashar, “blameless and upright” (1:1). Look at me. If the friends have any lingering questions as to the legitimacy of Job’s annoyance ...

996. Job's Final Concession

Job 42:1-6

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... !). It is the fact that the Almighty allows a righteous man to suffer without public acknowledgment of his righteousness that exercises Job. So this is a reaffirmation of faith in God’s sovereign power. Job acknowledges that God has a plan that he actively pursues. The world is not a place of happenstance or willy-nilly chance. Humans may not understand God’s purposes, but that does not mean he does not have any. God remains sovereign and cannot be thwarted. But this statement is so much more than ...

997. Epilogue

Job 42:7-17

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... and no more. The loss of Job’s children—over the loss of his herds and servants and possessions—is certainly the harshest aspect of the narrative and raises the question of innocent suffering in its own right. While the question is certainly worth pursuing theologically, we must accept that the book of Job is never interested in the question of innocent suffering. Since we know from the outset that Job is blameless and that his suffering is a test of his faithfulness, the book never addresses the ...

998. The King’s Thanksgiving for Military Victories

Psalm 18:1-50

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... 32) and training (he trains my hands for battle, v. 34) of his agent of victory. In addition, Yahweh influences his agent’s circumstances and opponents so his victory would be complete: You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn and so I pursued my enemies and crushed them (vv. 36–38). You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes (v. 40). The victory Yahweh has effected through his agent is so complete that he claims, you have made me the head of nations (v ...

999. My Shepherd and My Host

Psalm 23:1-6

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... divine host. The provision of safe passage is clear from God’s rod and staff that comfort “through the valley of the shadow of death” (cf. Mic. 7:14) and it is implicit in the phrase, Surely goodness and love (i.e., not “my enemies”) will “pursue” (lit.) me. The opening (vv. 1–3) and closing (v. 6) verses refer to Yahweh in the third person while the middle verses (vv. 4–5), which overlap the images of him as shepherd and host, are praise addressed to him. Thus, the psalm opens and closes ...

1000. When I Am Afraid, I Trust in God

Psalm 56:1-13

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... prayer psalms of the individual that laments enemies who are attacking. As is typical, no specifics are offered on the identity of the enemies or the speaker. The opponents are described as lurkers (NIV “slanderers,” Hb. šôrēr) who hound (NIV “hotly pursue”), and press their attack (vv. 1–2). They conspire, hide (NIV “lurk,” Hb. ṣpn) and watch the speaker’s steps (vv. 5–6). While these enemies are depicted as social prowlers hiding in secret, mention is also made of peoples (Hb. ʿamm ...

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