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 1451 to 1475 of 4943 results

1451. The Water of Cleansing

Numbers 19:1-22

Understanding Series

W.H. Bellinger, Jr.

... to be present as we move through Numbers. Death and water are crucial elements in chapter 20. The rite in chapter 19 makes it possible for the community to continue in life, by way of a rite thoroughly enmeshed in that cultural context. The rite moves people from impurity to purity, and so the community can continue to welcome the holy divine presence in its midst. Hebrews 9:13–14 alludes to Numbers 19 and the ashes of the heifer, in the context of the purification brought by the Christ event. Additional ...

1452. The Lord Rejects Saul as King

1 Samuel 15:1-35

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... . Samuel agrees to this request, but he makes sure that the people recognize the significance of obedience to God and his own lack of complicity in Saul’s actions by putting the Amalekite king to death himself. 15:34–35 The poignancy of the account continues with the statement that Saul and Samuel went their separate ways. This was the last time, apart from Saul’s desperate descent into necromancy (1 Sam. 28), that they were to meet. But Samuel’s recognition of the hard truth of God’s judgment on ...

1453. God’s Promise to David

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... s great God. He marvels that the unique Sovereign LORD who controls all of history is able to give assurances about the future in this way. He relates the new idea of a Davidic dynasty to the old ideas of the Sinaitic covenant. This stresses the historical continuity of God’s control and shows that the original covenant may be developed but is not superseded. God’s choice of David and his house stands alongside God’s choice of Israel. This God was able to deliver Israel and can therefore be trusted to ...

1454. Epilogue

Job 42:7-17

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... : Resetting the Clock: Once Job withdraws his demand for vindication at the end of 42:6 we have come, in a very real sense, to the end of the book. The text shifts from poetry back to the prose of the prologue. The prose narrative continues to the end of the chapter and the book. The concluding epilogue exhibits elements that tie it back both to the prologue and to the poetic dialogues. Both prologue and epilogue discuss Job’s blessings in very similar terms: reputation, money, herds, and progeny (42 ...

1455. To Be Spared from the Lord’s Judgment on the Wicked

Psalm 28:1-9

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... of others. The petition thus follows that their punishment be in equal measure to the crime (the three Hb. prepositions, all ke or “according to,” are clearer on this point than the NIV’s threefold for in v. 4). 28:5 If verse 5 had continued in direct address to Yahweh, we might consider it to be a supporting motivation for the preceding petitions (instead of will the verbs of v. 5b could be translated as “should”) or as a petition itself (these verbs could also be translated, “may he tear ...

1456. Living Praise Versus Deathly Silence

Psalm 30:1-12

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... cited in verse 9 may sound like spiritual blackmail. But the issue is not, “Will the praise of God continue?” but “Who may continue the praise of God?” (Note my destruction and my going down into the pit.) Immediately following this recollection of the cry ... for mercy, the speaker expresses joy that he may participate in continuing the praise of God. He affirms in the last two verses that my wailing has turned to dancing, my sackcloth ...

1457. A History Lesson: From Ephraim to Judah, from the Exodus to Zion

Psalm 78:1-72

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... of this, the people responded by being stubborn and rebellious (vv. 8, 17, 40, 56); they forgot (v. 11) and did not remember God’s deeds (v. 42); they did not believe or trust him (vv. 22, 32). They did not keep his covenant (vv. 10, 56). And so they continued to sin (vv. 17, 32) and put God to the test (vv. 18, 41, 56). They were not loyal (lit. “fixed” or “resolved”) or faithful (vv. 8, 37). In response, God became very angry (vv. 21, 31, 58, 59, 62) and slew them (vv. 31, 34) and gave them over ...

1458. Impending Judgment on the Oppressive Wicked and Interim Promises for the Righteous

Psalm 94:1-23

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... down in verse 16. It does so by introducing the speaker’s own testimony of praise, which is addressed to Yahweh directly (vv. 18–19). Yahweh met his slipping with support and his anxiety with consolation. The wicked (on v. 20, cf. 122:5) continue to oppress the righteous, but the liturgist confesses Yahweh as his refuge and reaffirms that the LORD our God will destroy them. These closing verses summarize God’s action in the psalm, namely protection in the midst of oppressors (vv. 21–22) and ultimate ...

1459. The Lord Compassionate and Slow to Anger

Psalm 103:1-22

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... the explicit basis for this love (v. 11) and compassion (v. 13) is traced not to the narrative of the golden calf incident but to the creation narrative (Gen. 2:7): for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The motif of human frailty continues in the simile of humans like grass and like a flower of the field (vv. 15–16), which also appears in 90:5–6 (cf. also Isa. 40:6–8). Other parallels with Psalm 90 are God’s being from everlasting to everlasting (103:17 and 90:2) and ...

1460. The Faith of the Canaanite Woman

Matthew 15:21-28

Understanding Series

Robert H. Mounce

... of his messianic role. Although the Canaanite woman keeps calling out for mercy, Jesus does not respond. The disciples come to him and urge that he send her away (without granting her request). They were annoyed because she was trailing along after them and continuing to cry out. The apparent insensitivity to suffering on the part of Jesus can be explained by the lesson in faith that follows in the next few verses. The disciples are without excuse. Jesus’ delayed answer is that he has been sent only to ...

1461. The Divine King and His Universal Kingdom

Psalm 145:1-21

Understanding Series

Craig C. Broyles

... as does attention to his royal role in the praise of the glorious splendor of your majesty. The final verse of this section turns to the beneficent aspects of Yahweh’s reign: your abundant goodness and your righteousness. The motif that the LORD is good continues in the third-person praise of the name, “Yahweh,” mentioned twice in verses 8–9. Verse 8 is a confession drawn from Exodus 34:6, part of the narrative of Yahweh’s saving acts towards Israel. But in verse 9 this confession is universalized ...

1462. Nebuchadnezzer’s Dream of a Tree

Daniel 4:1-18

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... , but shelam, “peace,” is a rich word that can include “well-being” and “prosperity,” so the NIV is on the mark. Almost the same form is used by King Darius (Dan. 6:25) and by Artaxerxes (in another Aramaic passage in the OT, Ezra 7:12). This kind of salutation continues in the NT epistles of Paul (1 Cor. 1:1–3) and Peter (1 Pet. 1:1–2; 2 Pet. 1:1–2). Wishing peace on others was encouraged by the Lord (Luke 10:5) as well. The king praises the Most High God for his signs and wonders and ...

1463. The Writing on the Wall

Daniel 5:1-31

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... to drink from the holy temple vessels. They are guilty not only of this sacrilege but of idolatry as well. They praise the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone (5:4). We are reminded of the Prayer of Nabonidus: “For seven years I continued praying [to] the gods made of silver and gold, [bronze, iron,] wood, stone, and clay, for I [used to th]ink that th[ey] really were gods” (4Q242; Wise et al., trans., Dead Sea Scrolls: Revised Edition, p. 342 [frags. 1–3, lines 11–13]). It is ...

1464. The Two Witnesses

Revelation 11:1-14

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... are a synecdoche for the community of faithful disciples. The number two has significance as well, referring to the number of witnesses required by Judaism to admit evidence into a court of law. The essential ministry of “two” witnesses (cf. Deut. 19:15), in continuity with the “testimony of Jesus Christ” (1:2), is to provide a valid “testimony” (11:7; cf. 1:2) to God through their death (11:7) and God’s resurrection of them (11:11). Likewise, in the confidence of eternal life (cf. 11:11 ...

1465. Hallelujah!

Revelation 19:1-10

Understanding Series

Robert W. Wall

... invited to the wedding supper. The language of “invitation” was used to speak of the divine election of a true Israel. Jesus used this motif to correct official Judaism’s exclusivist definition of election (cf. Luke 14:15–24). John’s point is in continuity with the testimony of Jesus: divine blessing comes to “both small and great” if “you fear God” (19:5). It is this point that establishes the criterion by which the community of faith must “test the spirits to see whether they are from ...

1466. David's Prayer

2 Samuel 7:18-29

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

1467. The King Who Exalts Himself

Daniel 11:36-45

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... , Daniel, p. 202), but this is debatable. While these verses may turn out to have some correspondence to events at the end of history, we cannot be certain of that. What does seem clear from reading Daniel 11 is that the biblical writer thinks he is continuing in verses 40–45 with the same story he began in verses 2–39, for there is no indication in the text that he has jumped ahead in time over many centuries. However, most modern scholars agree that he was recounting known historical events of his ...

1468. The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

John 4:27-38, John 4:1-26, John 4:39-42

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... water is itself the metaphor for life. The Spirit is the one who “gives life” (6:63; cf. 1 Cor. 15:45). Spirit baptism is an impartation of life, the beginning of a new creation (20:22; cf. Gen. 2:7). Jesus’ ministry is more than merely a continuation of John’s. Whatever baptizing activity Jesus may have carried on in Judea is of secondary importance and is now behind him. His real work is not to baptize in water but to do what John had predicted he would do: baptize in the Holy Spirit. The metaphor ...

1469. Life Through the Son

John 5:16-30, John 5:1-15

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... ), pp. 142–47; J. Wilkinson, Jerusalem as Jesus Knew It (London: Thames & Hudson, 1978), pp. 95–104. 5:3 At the end of this verse, a number of manuscripts add the words “and they waited for the moving of the waters.” Of these, there are some that continue with the words “From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had” (NIV margin). These additions were made by scribes ...

1470. “I Am from Him and He Sent Me”

John 7:25-44

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... v. 12) allows the Gospel writer to append further discussions probably remembered in connection with the same visit of Jesus to Jerusalem. The seams that are now and then visible in the fabric of the narrative only highlight the Gospel writer’s intention to weave a single continuous account of Jesus’ temple ministry from 7:14 to 8:59. The festival ends with Jesus still at large. The Pharisees are no more able to arrest him than the guards they sent out earlier, for still his time had not yet come (v. 20 ...

1471. The Validity of Jesus' Testimony

John 8:12-30

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... ) allows the Gospel writer to append further discussions probably remembered in connection with the same visit of Jesus to Jerusalem. The seams that are now and then visible in the fabric of the narrative only highlight the Gospel writer’s intention to weave a single continuous account of Jesus’ temple ministry from 7:14 to 8:59. The festival ends with Jesus still at large. The Pharisees are no more able to arrest him than the guards they sent out earlier, for still his time had not yet come (v. 20). 8 ...

1472. Jesus Appears to Thomas

John 20:24-31

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... . 6:63: “the Spirit gives life”). The Spirit, depicted in the farewell discourses as a person (“the Counselor,” 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7) is here seen as the divine power by which the disciples will be enabled to complete their mission, that is, to continue the work of Jesus himself (cf. Paul’s allusion to Gen. 2:7: “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being,’ ” to which he adds, “the last Adam, [i.e., Jesus] a life-giving spirit,” 1 Cor. 15:45). Specifically, the work ...

1473. Two Kinds of Wisdom

James 3:13-18, James 3:1-12

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... physical expression to it; first you get into a deep discussion or argument, then you commit adultery or murder. It is to this power of the tongue that James now turns, but both ideas, the difficulty of controlling speech and the fantastic power of speech, are continually playing back and forth in his mind. 3:5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts: The tongue is indeed small, but what great events for good or evil it can claim credit for! And how frequently the events ...

1474. Praise to God for a Living Hope

1 Peter 1:1-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... all-sufficient to support those who belong to him in anything they may have to meet. Provided they firmly believe this as a matter of faith, they can rest assured that God will not fail them in their hour of need. The divine shield (Gen. 15:1) will continue to be the believer’s assurance right to the end, until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. The reference to salvation is not to be confined to that of the individual, but relates to the fulfillment of the whole ...

1475. Moses Returns to Egypt

Exodus 4:18-31

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... his generous father-in-law, Moses sought Jethro’s blessing and received it with his words, “Go, and I wish you well” (shalom). Jethro had welcomed him, given him his daughter, a home, and constant employment (2:20–21; 3:1). He would later continue in a supporting role, taking Zipporah and the children out of harm’s way during the exodus, returning her, and giving administrative advice (18:1–27). Looking forward, the Lord spoke to Moses again in Midian. God will never be far from Moses throughout ...

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