Sermon and Worship Resources

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Luke 21:5-38, Luke 21:1-4, Luke 20:41-47

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R.T. France

... Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things. This is a solemn declaration (as in 9:27) that all that has been predicted in the discourse so far will occur while some of “this generation” are still alive. This makes perfect sense if, as I have argued, the discourse as a whole, including the coming of the Son of Man, relates to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. It is more difficult to explain for those who claim that 21:25–31 relates to the parousia. Some ...

1377. The Reversal of the Deuteronomic Curses and Blessings: Replacing Law with Faith

Romans 9:30--10:21

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C. Marvin Pate

... traditional exegesis of this verse is that Paul is using Leviticus 18:5 negatively to warn people about attempting to achieve righteousness by obeying the law. That is, anyone who intends to find acceptance before God by following the law had better be prepared to obey it perfectly or suffer its curses for disobedience. But, of course, no one is capable of fulfilling the law, for all are affected by sin (see Rom. 3:20; 7:5–11). Nor does one need to obey the Torah, for Christ’s coming has spelled the end ...

1378. God and Government

Romans 13:1-7

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C. Marvin Pate

... that civic authorities—police officers, firefighters, soldiers, and so forth—often place themselves in harm’s way to protect their citizens. That should certainly count for something when speaking of those who are in authority over us. Nevertheless, ours is not a perfect world, and governments can become a part of the problem instead of part of the solution. What should the Christian do in this case? Paul, Peter, and John offer some inspired guidance in that matter. Paul would say that we should pray ...

1379. Church Divisions and Confusion of Allegiance

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

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Preben Vang

... schismata (“divisions”) were not so much caused by disagreements among individual members as they were the result of an errant focus. They had allowed the norms of secular Corinth to influence the thinking of the church. that you be perfectly united. The word kat?rtismenoi (“be perfectly united”) brings the sense of restoration to the context—putting things back to the order they were intended to have (cf. Mark 1:19). It may even contain a subtle reference to God’s original plan for his creation ...

1380. Wisdom and Foolishness

1 Corinthians 1:18--2:5

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Preben Vang

... ? refers not to a pulpit sermon but to any explanation of Christ’s work on the cross in whatever format and whatever avenue it may be given. The content of the proclamation is that Christ “has been crucified.” This use of a perfect passive is deliberate. In Greek, the perfect tense expresses a completed action with lingering effects. Christ’s cross may be an event in the past, but it continues to reveal God’s power and wisdom in the present (1:24). 1:25 the foolishness of God . . . the weakness ...

1381. Being Wronged versus Claiming One’s Right

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

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Preben Vang

... Rather, the very evidence that someone has become a Christ follower is that his or her value system and perspective on life’s purpose have been transformed by Christ’s teaching. Paul expects willing submission to the Spirit’s guidance, not sinless perfection. The behavior of these Corinthian “Christians” parades a blatant disregard for what it means to imitate Christ and be a member of his community. Thus, they have placed themselves among the adikoi and proved to be no different from them. As if ...

1382. Marriage, Sexual Intimacy, and Spiritual Devotion

1 Corinthians 7:1-40

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Preben Vang

... to Christ. In Paul’s own situation, remaining unmarried proves preferable in the pursuit of that goal. 7:39–40 A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. Paul’s last word in this inclusive discussion on relationships concerns widows. The perfect tense of the verb “bound” (de?) explains that the commitment given in the past continues to have effect in the present—“as long as he lives” (cf. 7:27; Rom. 7:2). Divorce for the sake of remarriage is not an option for Paul. Although ...

1383. Resurrection and History

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

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Preben Vang

... (Luke 13:32). Christ was raised on the third day, not three days after his death. Paul’s shift from aorist tense (when speaking about Jesus’s death) to perfect tense (when speaking about the resurrection) is not without significance. Aorist is the default tense that simply gives reference to what has happened; the perfect tense highlights that an event has lingering consequences for the present. The Corinthians’ present experience of Christ is caused and empowered by the resurrection. 15:5–7 he ...

1384. Resurrection and Transformation (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 15:35-58

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Preben Vang

... reality means and having any idea how to live into it fully are still a long way off. That part takes a lifetime to figure out and unpack. In the same way, the moment a person receives the gospel by faith, he or she is declared perfectly righteous in Christ Jesus, eternally accepted as his son or daughter by adoption through faith in Christ, and given the gift of resurrection. On the other hand, living into this takes a lifetime, and an eternity after that. The individual believer begins to experience the ...

1385. Collection and Travel Plans

1 Corinthians 16:5-18, 1 Corinthians 16:1-4

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Preben Vang

... like food, money, and travel companions (Acts 15:3; 2 Cor. 1:16; Titus 3:13; 3 John 6). a great door for effective work has opened to me. Paul uses “open door” as an idiom for opportunity (2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3). His use of the perfect tense (“door has been opened”) brings a sense of permanence to the door’s openness (God has opened a door and left it open).7An open door, however, does not mean he is outside personal danger or that the gospel can be spread without fierce opposition (cf. 15:32 ...

1386. Message to Sardis

Revelation 3:1-6

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J. Scott Duvall

... meaningful because Sardis had been the victim of surprise attacks on at least two occasions during its history.1 Those who are on the verge of spiritual death need to be strengthened or supported (command 2), because while their deeds seem perfectly acceptable to the surrounding society, they are coming up short of God’s standard. From God’s perspective, their works are unfinished or incomplete. They desperately need to “remember” (command 3) what they have received and heard, namely, the truth of ...

1387. Message to Philadelphia

Revelation 3:7-13

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J. Scott Duvall

... religious for simple obedience. And Jesus, not the world or even its religious leaders, determines who gets into the kingdom. Jesus’s words to the apostle Paul come to mind: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). 2. God’s people are not exempt from physical suffering/persecution but will be protected spiritually from demonic assault. There is a big difference between God’s wrath (condemnation or judgment), which believers will never experience ...

1388. The Harvest of the Earth

Revelation 14:14-20

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J. Scott Duvall

... 4:1, 8). Jesus is the Lamb of God who was slain but also the Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes, symbolic of his perfect strength and penetrating insight (5:6). He is both the sacrificial Lamb and the conquering Ram (17:14). The wrath that condemns the wicked ... snail-mail offers you receive over the course of a week. The stack will be high and the lies outrageous. We are offered perfect health in pill form, money for nothing, and real estate for a dime. Most of us understand this. Over time, we can become ...

1389. The Horrific End of Nadab and Abihu

Leviticus 10:1-20

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... traveler drops a nail into the pot, stirring frequently and making much of the aroma. “Ah,” he sighs, “it’s perfect. If only I had a pinch of salt.” The woman, wanting to see the traveler eat a salty nail, acquiesces. After a while, the traveler sighs. “ ... Ah, this will be my best stew ever. Perfect. It’s missing only a bit of onion.” She provides an onion. And so the story goes. Bit by bit, the traveler dupes ...

1390. Balaam’s First Three Oracles

Num 23:1–24:14

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Joe M. Sprinkle

... ” is “iniquity” (KJV, NKJV). This could mean that God finds nothing in them deserving of punishment,7 though the parallelism with “misery” suggests that the meaning here is “disaster/misfortune.” The first two verbs in verse 21 may be perfects of future reference (“prophetic” perfects), speaking of the future as if it had already occurred (compare NJPS: “No harm is in sight for Jacob, no woe in view for Israel”). 23:22 God brought them out of Egypt. The Hebrew participle is better ...

1391. Job Shatters the Silence

Job 3:1-26

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Daniel J. Estes

... that leads to life. For example, Proverbs 4:18 states that the path of the righteous grows clearer and clearer until the perfect day. By contrast, Job asks why life is given to a man whose way is hidden, who cannot understand where his painful ... with him. We do not have to wait until we have calmed down and gotten things under control before we can speak to God. He knows perfectly what is in our hearts, so he understands how to listen even to our shrill tones when we cry out of an embittered spirit. Our pain ...

1392. Bildad’s Final Attempt to Answer Job

Job 25:1-6

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Daniel J. Estes

... (32:3–5, 11–16). 25:4 How then can a mortal be righteous before God? Once again (cf. Eliphaz in 4:15–19; 15:14–16), the comforting words of Psalm 8:4 are distorted by one of Job’s friends. By measuring humans against the perfect righteousness of Almighty God, Bildad concludes that humans are helplessly corrupt. The Bible does teach that all humans are sinful and guilty before God (Ps. 14:1–3; Rom. 3:10–12), but Bildad has left out of the picture what the Bible teaches about divine grace ...

1393. Job Comes to a Good End

Job 42:7-17, Job 42:1-6

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Daniel J. Estes

... do, but the Lord knows completely what is in the hearts of his people, and he has evaluated Job on that basis of perfect understanding. 42:10 the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. These restored divine blessings are ... He who sent the arrows has bound up and dressed the wounds. In His own time and for His good purpose, He will heal them perfectly.”2 Hymn: “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go,” by George Matheson. These words could well have been the exhausted cry of Job ...

1394. “Have Mercy on Me, Lord, for I Am Faint”

Psalm 6:1-10

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C. Hassell Bullock

... that the Lord hears our prayers. The power of suffering Literature: The Agony and the Ecstasy, by Irving Stone. In this novel, Bertoldo, Michaelangelo’s teacher, explains the thorough shaping of a piece of sculpture to his young student: “And so it must be perfect, not only from the front but from every angle. . . . Which means that every piece has to be sculptured not once but three hundred and sixty times, because at each change of degree it becomes a different piece.”11 God is in the process of ...

1395. “I Love You, Lord, My Strength”

Psalm 18:1-50

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C. Hassell Bullock

... Enlightener and Enabler (18:29). 18:29 With your help I can advance against a troop. The benefit of keeping the Torah is not merely spiritual and ethical but includes the practical dimension of David’s military valor. 18:30 As for God, his way is perfect. In 18:30, 32, and 47 the expression “the God,” or “this God” (ha’el), stands at the beginning of the verse, drawing attention to God’s awesome power, and functions as a casus pendens (that is, a pending case), “as for God.” The fact ...

1396. “May the Net They Hid Entangle Them”

Psalm 35:1-28

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C. Hassell Bullock

... of my hands in his sight.” God’s righteousness is the standard by which men’s and women’s righteousness is judged, and in that sense all other good attributes of human character are reflections of God’s character: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). God is favorably responsive to those who reflect his nature and adversely responsive to those who do not. Another issue that Psalm 35 raises concerns the treatment of our enemies. Cursing or Loving Our Enemies ...

1397. “They Will Proclaim the Works of God and Ponder What He Has Done”

Psalm 64:1-10

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C. Hassell Bullock

... see Ps. 10:4, 11, 13). This is why their question (“Who will see it?”) is obviously a rhetorical one, whose implied answer is “no one.” But with God it is not rhetorical. 64:6 They plot . . . “We have devised a perfect plan!” The Hebrew root hps (“search” or “complete”) is used three times in the first half of this verse (NIV: “plot,” “devised,” “plan”), suggesting intensity and aurally producing a beautiful example of alliteration (emphasis on the consonants): “We have ...

1398. The Image of Gold and the Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3:1-30

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Ronald W. Pierce

... the three Judeans (see the comments on 3:17 above). A reasonable argument can be made that they have a moment of doubt about God when they are pushed to the edge of their faith. There is no need to make sure these persons always act perfectly. On the contrary, help your audience to identify with them, remembering a time when they may have experienced doubts about God. The point to make from this passage is that, in the end, the three Judeans choose what is right. Further, encourage believers today to help ...

1399. How Do You Get Rid of Evil without Destroying Good?

Matthew 13:24-30

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

... you think of it as a bizarre act on Groucho’s part, which it was, it really is no more reasonable than some of our reaction to life. We demand the impossible, and we resign when the best is denied us. While we are involved in a search for perfection, we must live with imperfection. And we can apply it to the whole of life—we must learn to live with imperfections in ourselves and in those we love. Our life in the church must be lived out against the backdrop of this truth. In fact, “the early church ...

1400. Unnoticed at Your Own Party

Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:2-11, James 5:7-10

Sermon

King Duncan

... . We grow spiritually and emotionally as we face failures, frustrations, disappointment, and disease. Someone has said that heaven is not a proper place for raising kids. By that he meant that life in heaven is perfect. There are never any problems. However, if a child were to grow up in a perfect environment, he or she would never learn to deal with problems--he or she would never face disappointments, never stumble, never fall. And subsequently, that child would never grow. This world is a training place ...

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