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Showing 1576 to 1600 of 4963 results

1576. Daniel in the Den of Lions

Daniel 6:1-28

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... the unit on 3:1–12). Taken alone, 6:1–28 reflects a concentric structure with four pairs.1 A Daniel succeeds in the kingdom (6:1–3). B Darius signs his first decree (6:4–9). C Daniel’s accusers plan his death (6:10–15). D Darius hopes for Daniel’s deliverance by God (6:16–18). D' Darius witnesses Daniel’s deliverance by God (6:19–23). C' Daniel’s accusers encounter their deaths (6:24). B' Darius signs his second decree (6:25–27). A' Daniel succeeds in the kingdom (6:28). Against this ...

1577. Resurrection and Accountability

Daniel 12:1-13, Daniel 11:36-45

Teach the Text

Ronald W. Pierce

... understood in the Old Testament world as being in “Sheol.” Only a few other passages in the Hebrew Bible allude to a hope of the righteous being raised up or awakened from death (1 Sam. 2:6; Isa. 26:19).7The distinction between “everlasting life ... want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again” (1 Thess. 4:13–14). Through the pain, suffering, and grieving of this life, we can ...

1578. If You Are Looking for a Savior...

Matthew 11:2-11

Sermon

James L. Killen

... have known that his life was in danger. Then he was even more eager to know if, in fact, the messiah for whom he was hoping had indeed come. He sent some of his followers to ask Jesus if he was the one who was to come. Jesus did not answer directly ... all of the bad things that are going on in the world, look for some of the movements that are making things better and bringing hope. Yes, there are some. God may be calling you to become a participant in some of those movements. That commitment will give new meaning ...

1579. Job's Reply to Zophar

Job 12:1--14:22

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... ), a place where he will rest and be far from God. Sheol is now the problem because Job wishes at present to confront God. Sheol will deny Job that satisfaction. We face imagery of Job’s impotence in relation to God. Humanity is a fragile flower (14:2). Though human hope be cast as a mountain, God embodies all the forces that erode it to nothing (14:18–22). Does the very image of human ...

1580. A Prophecy Against Egypt

Ezekiel 29:1-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... . Quite the opposite. Her fault is that she even encouraged Israel to look on her as a source of confidence (29:16). She gave every impression of collaborating with Israel in her fight for independence from Babylon, and as such falsely pictured herself as a hope and a comfort. What good is it, Ezekiel protests, to offer drowning people straws? In the third section (29:9b–16) there is an amazing word. God will punish Egypt for her hubris for forty years. But when the forty years are over, God will ...

1581. The Weak and the Strong

Romans 14:1--15:13

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... follow Jewish scruples in the area of food and drink. Paul asserts in verse 3 that the Scriptures are crucial for understanding both Jesus Christ and their own identity, because the Scriptures give the believers comfort in the midst of their trials, which result in hope (cf. Rom. 5:1–5; 8:25). Paul ends with a prayer wish in which he prays for the unity of the strong and the weak (15:5–6). This is a unity expressed in Gentile believers and Jewish believers living together, which requires perseverance ...

1582. Stand Firm

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... verses constitute the first prayer of the letter, directed equally to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father (2 Thess. 1:2, 8, 12; 3:5): “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope . . .” (2:16). They are loved (2:13) by Christ and the Father, the ones who give them comfort, or rather, encouragement in light of their persecutions (Acts 11:23; 14:22; 15:32; 16:40; 20:1; 1 Thess. 3:2). The aid God gives is not just for ...

1583. Paul’s Charge to Timothy

1 Timothy 6:11-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... prostration and giving place, and all gifts which are prized in each country.” Instead, Paul, sounding much like his master, maintains that Christians “lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age,” that is, for the day when they hope to hear their master’s “Well done” (see Matt. 6:20; 19:21; 25:21, 23; Luke 16:10). 6:20-21 · Closing Admonition: Opposing Spurious “Knowledge” (6:20–21): Paul closes 1 Timothy with one of his shortest letter-endings, perhaps itself ...

1584. Faith Defined and Exemplified

Hebrews 11:1-40

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... was no more the true homeland they sought than it was the true rest of God for Israel (Heb. 4:8–9). God “is not ashamed” to be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that is, not of the dead but of the living who wait in hope (Matt. 22:31–32). The supreme illustration of Abraham’s faith as an invincible confidence in the promise of God and in God’s ability to fulfill it in defiance of appearances is his obedience in offering Isaac as a sacrifice (11:17–18). That such indeed was Abraham ...

1585. Wounded Healers

Isaiah 52:13--53:12

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... father, but those of you who know the experience know it is quite another thing to lose your spouse. My mother was left wondering, “What do I do with these wounds of mine? Will there ever be light in the midst of this darkness? Will there ever be hope in the midst of this hopelessness? Will I ever find healing?” I believe that the Spirit of God gathered up my mother and her wounds and provided a way for healing to occur. And her healing is now a powerful ministry to those suffering from cancer. Every ...

1586. Good to Great

Ezekiel 45:3-5

Sermon

Charley Reeb

... an empty basket among the market place begging for money. And don’t get me wrong. It is important to support charities. Please do! But nothing should take the place of our commitment to God and his church. That comes first because the church is God’s best hope for the world. The church is the only institution that cares for people’s souls. We have the only message that will transform this world. You name for me any other institution that can do what the church does. Many of you know that Brandy is an ...

1587. Death, Risk, and Confidence

Matthew 10:24-39

Sermon

Tom Garrison

... encountered there?" The doctor recognized that the man was in mortal terror, and he prayed for some means to convey to him a sense of hope. At that very moment there was a scratching at the door, and the doctor's prayer was answered. He said softly to his friend, " ... be like? Is there nothing or something when we become totally helpless again? Is death a pier or a bridge?" Jesus always points to hope. God, who made all things, loves all that God has made. It is not God's will that any should perish. But how ...

1588. Righteousness Through Faith

Romans 3:21-31

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... short of the glory of God is surely a reference to Adam’s sin in Genesis 3. Humanity lacks glory not because it has failed in its potential, but because it has lost it through disobedience. The lacking of glory draws our attention not to a hopeful evolutionary spiral, but to the state of sin (“under sin,” 3:9), resultant from humanity’s exchanging the glory of God for its own will (1:21–23). 3:24 In all Scripture there is probably no verse which captures the essence of Christianity better than ...

1589. Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

Romans 5:12-21

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... are two Ways, one of Life and one of Death, and there is a great difference between the two Ways” (Didache 1:1). Paul speaks of Adam and Christ. Ultimately, life is an either-or. Either submission to death and the negation of all longing and hope, or submission to the reign of righteousness and eternal life. Life, however, is greater, for death is not eternal. It is life which is eternal, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Additional Notes 5:12 Fourth Ezra and 2 Apoc. Bar. originate from the late first and ...

1590. Life Through the Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... egotism are socially acceptable does not change their fundamental enmity from God and others. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God (see Heb. 11:6). 8:9–11 Paul now departs from the fulminations of the flesh and turns to the hopeful certainty of the Spirit. The mood shift, accompanied by a shift in person from the third to second person, thus reassures Paul’s readers of the Spirit’s personal advocacy in their lives. The chief idea is that the Spirit unites the objective achievement ...

1591. Bildad

Job 8:1-22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... observe and understand life’s intricacies. As Bildad cautions Job, we were born only yesterday, and as a result we know nothing. The insubstantial and ephemeral nature of human life (our days on earth are but a shadow) prevents individual sages from hoping to gain clear insight into the workings of the world. The tension Bildad describes, between those who would preserve tradition and those who would throw it off, is very real and seen in almost every generation. The tension seems particularly clear today ...

1592. Nebuchadnezzer’s Dream of a Tree

Daniel 4:1-18

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... the earthly kingdoms, and it anticipates chapter 7, where the beastly kingdoms are superseded by the kingdom of God, which is handed over to the lowliest ones, namely the Jews. Therefore, Daniel 4, like the work as a whole, provided a shot of hope for all the persecuted people of God suffering under the Seleucid tyrant. In turn, it comforts all who suffer under despots, whether they are Babylonian, Median, Persian Seleucid, Roman, or modern. The story in this chapter was probably originally about the last ...

1593. Daniel’s Prayer

Daniel 9:1-19

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... the Bible to our modern situations. Likewise, when we read it devotionally, we listen for a message from the Lord specifically for us, because we believe God still speaks to his people through his word. Scripture is meant to teach us and to give us encouragement and hope (Rom. 15:4). God inspired the holy writings in order to instruct us in the way of salvation, to train us in righteousness, and to equip us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:14–17). Some have seen a tension between the seer’s confession that ...

1594. Saul Takes His Life

1 Samuel 31:1-13

Understanding Series

Mary J. Evans

... and took his own life. We can only speculate as to whether this indicates a loyalty to and a love for Saul, a recognition that he had failed to fulfill his role of protecting Saul and therefore deserved to die, or a sense that there was no hope and he too was only hastening a death that was inevitable anyway. 31:6–7 The summary in verse 6 emphasizes the devastation in general and the decimation of the royal family in particular. It could be seen as a statement included by the editor from an alternative ...

1595. The End Times

Daniel 12:1-13

Understanding Series

William Nelson

... to be a matter of theodicy. We have only to look at the writings of Ecclesiastes to see that in the absence of resurrection truth, life seems empty and vain. If in this life the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper (Eccl. 8:14), and there is no hope for redress of grievances in the next life (Eccl. 3:9–13; 9:1–6), “everything is meaningless” (Eccl. 1:2). The apocalyptist was sure that God would invade history to put a stop to the decimation of his people. But what about the people who had already ...

1596. Life Through the Son

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

Understanding Series

J. Ramsey Michaels

... are future. These are clearly set forth in verses 28–29: At the end of the age there will be a resurrection of all who have ever died, either to life with God, or to judgment (i.e., condemnation). Even though this twofold resurrection was a common Jewish hope (at least among the Pharisees, Acts 23:6; 24:15), Jesus suggests that it will be a cause for amazement (vv. 20, 28) because God will accomplish these “greater works” through his Son, who is also Son of Man (v. 27). But if the God of creation is ...

1597. The Glory of the New Covenant

2 Corinthians 3:7-17; 4:1-6

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... Of course, in keeping with the allusion to Exodus 34:34, kyrios in our text refers primarily to Yahweh. From Paul’s perspective, the veil that is now being removed when one returns to the Lord is the same one originally applied in Exodus 34:33. Paul hopes that through his own ministry some Jews will come to faith (Rom. 11:14; cf. 1 Cor. 9:19–20). Eventually, he expects that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25–26), perhaps through a direct encounter with the resurrected Christ at the time of the ...

1598. Faith or Observance of the Law

Galatians 3:1-14, Galatians 3:15-25

Understanding Series

L. Ann Jervis

... the fulfillment of God’s promise. Paul refers to the Spirit also when speaking positively about the character of the Christian life. The Spirit is in the hearts of believers (4:6); the Spirit accompanies, encourages, and undergirds our faith as we wait for the hope of righteousness (5:5). In fact, the Spirit is the life and guide of the Christian (5:25). 3:3–5 Paul asserts that the Galatian believers have continued confirmation that God is at work among them apart from their following the law. The one ...

1599. Idolatry Forbidden

Deuteronomy 4:15-31

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... themselves, then they had a hard lesson ahead. 4:29–31 Moses turns the dynamic of the covenant into a theology of history. No place would be too far and no time too distant for Israel to come back to God. Beyond sin and judgment there was always hope—as their recent past history had already proved. Ever since the apostasy of the golden calf in Exodus 32–34, Israel had known that its very survival depended not on its ability to keep the covenant but on God’s willingness to sustain it by God’s own ...

1600. Jeroboam Rebels Against Solomon

1 Kings 11:26-40

Understanding Series

Iain W. Provan

... has been meted out to David is not, it turns out, eternal punishment. Though it appears that God has treated Solomon very much like Saul (in spite of 2 Sam. 7:15), in reality he is merely handing down fatherly discipline (2 Sam. 7:14). Here is a glimmer of hope to hold on to as the story that follows unfolds. Law does indeed appear to prevail in the last Judean king’s loss of his throne at the end of Kings. But law is not in the end more powerful than grace, and grace, 11:39 implies, does not function ...

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