Sermon and Worship Resources

Showing 1676 to 1700 of 2157 results

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... general good, so that any hindrance of it was an act of hostility to all men. So NIV interprets this charge, linking it to what follows: (5) they keep us from speaking to the Gentiles. The connection is not as explicit in the Greek as in our version, but it is implied in the train of thought by the present participle, which conveys the persistent attitude of the Jews: “They keep on (trying) to keep us from speaking” (see the passages in Acts listed above which bear this out). The speaking was to the end ...

1677. The Coming of the Lord

1 Thessalonians 4:13--5:11

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... Thessalonica (Acts 17:3). God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him: Following NIV, we have construed the phrase “in him” (lit. “through Jesus,” dia tou Iēsou) with the participle “those who sleep.” RSV and several other versions and commentaries, however, take this phrase as qualifying the verb, “will bring”: “through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” The Greek can be read either way, but we accept Bruce’s argument that if both phrases ...

1678. Instructions to Timothy

1 Timothy 4:1-16

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... for self-denial and control over the body” (p. 174). 4:9 For a more detailed discussion of the problems with this saying, see G. W. Knight, The Faithful Sayings in the Pastoral Letters, although he argues for the third option. 4:10 The older versions (Latin and Syriac) and the majority of later Greek manuscripts have “we suffer reproach” for we labor. The variant probably arose from the ideas expressed in 2 Tim. 1:8, 12; 2:9–10. See Metzger, TCGNT, pp. 641–42. Some interpreters (e.g., Calvin ...

1679. Encouragement to Be Faithful

2 Timothy 1:1-2:13

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... a similar appeal to Timothy’s beginnings in 1 Timothy 6:12–14. 1:7 Although the NIV’s translation of “spirit” in this verse with a lower case s is possible (since the definite article is absent in Greek) and follows the traditional English versions (KJV, RSV), it is most highly improbable and quite misses both the relationship of this sentence to verse 6 as well as Paul’s own usage and theology elsewhere. That Paul is referring not to some “spirit” (or attitude) that God has given us (him ...

1680. Godlessness in the Last Days

2 Timothy 3:1-9

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... in this suggestion. 3:8–9 For the phenomenon of naming the nameless in early Christianity, see B. M. Metzger, “Names for the Nameless in the New Testament: A Study in the Growth of Christian Tradition,” in New Testament Studies: Philological, Versional, and Patristic (Leiden: Brill, 1980), pp. 23–43, reprint from the Quasten Festschrift, 1970. Because the names of Jannes and Jambres were such a widespread phenomenon in antiquity, both Jewish and pagan, the suggestion by Kelly that this may belong to ...

1681. The Son Superior to Angels

Hebrews 1:1-14

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... only in the LXX (Deut. 32:43). All of God’s angels must worship him, although there is also a parallel in Psalm 97:7, “worship him, all you gods!” where the LXX has “all his angels.” Most probably our author here as elsewhere depends upon the LXX version of the OT and thus upon Deuteronomy 32:43. What is remarkable in this passage (also in Ps. 97:7) is that the one who is worshipped is the Lord, or Yahweh (i.e., the personal name of God, consisting of the consonants YHWH), and thus the Son is ...

1682. Jesus Greater Than Moses

Hebrews 3:1-6

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... labor in vain.” 3:5 The true difference between Moses and Jesus emerges in this and the following verse. Moses’ role was that of servant in all God’s (lit., “his”) house. In this opening clause we again have a strong verbal allusion to the LXX version of Numbers 12:7. Moses was the servant of something greater than himself—of God’s purposes which were to have their realization only in time to come—testifying to what would be said in the future. Those are the very things indeed of which our ...

1683. The Remaining Promise of Rest

Hebrews 4:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... On sabbatismos, see E. Lohse, TDNT, vol. 7, pp. 34f. 4:10 Enters God’s (lit., “his”) rest is drawn from the language of the original OT quotation. KJV, ASV, and NASB accurately render the Greek aorist tense with the perfect tense “has rested.” Other versions (NIV, NEB, RSV) use the present tense, presumably regarding it as more consistent with the context (see v. 3) and understanding the aorist “has rested” as due to the influence of the same tense in the LXX quotation of Gen. 2:2 in v. 4. The ...

1684. Melchizedek the Priest

Hebrews 7:1-10, Hebrews 7:11-28

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... quotation of Genesis 14:18–20. 7:1–2a The identification of Melchizedek given here, as well as the brief description of his encounter with Abraham, is drawn from Genesis 14:18–20. (The author’s language is heavily dependent on the LXX version of this passage.) Melchizedek appears in the Genesis narrative as an extraordinary person, indeed, but not more than a human king and priest. The Salem, of which Melchizedek was king, was probably Canaanite Jerusalem. He is said to have been priest of God ...

1685. The Legitimacy and Superiority of Christ’s Priesthood

Hebrews 7:11-28, Hebrews 7:1-10

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

1686. Taming the Tongue

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

Understanding Series

Peter H. Davids

... have to guess which of several springs seen in the distance were sweet and travel miles accordingly. See further E. F. F. Bishop, Apostles of Palestine, p. 187; or D. Y. Hadidian, “Palestinian Pictures in the Epistle of James,” p. 228. The King James Version reads, “So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh”; this reading follows an inferior Greek text that harmonized 3:12 with 3:11. The NIV follows a better text and thus shows James’ shifting thought, making a good transition to the next ...

1687. Suffering for Being a Christian

1 Peter 4:12-19

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... used by believers when referring to their Master, but it will also reflect the fact that the messiahship of Jesus was recognized by the general public as a prominent factor in the apostolic preaching (“Christ” is, of course, simply the Greek version of the Hebrew term “Messiah”). Whatever the reason for opponents calling them by the name Christian, let believers praise God when they are so labeled. By the translation that you bear that name, the NIV has paraphrased the Greek (which literally ...

1688. To Elders and Young Men

1 Peter 5:1-11

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... only other NT occurrence of epiriptein is in Luke 19:35, where the disciples cast their clothes upon the animal, so letting it carry the garments. Anxieties: The Greek implies being pulled in several different directions at once, a vivid impression of what worry means. A version of the text is found in Hermas: “Cast your cares upon the Lord, and he will set them straight” (Shepherd of Hermas, Visions 4.2.5). Orders for Active Service 5:8 The exhortations to humility in verses 5b–7 are not to be taken ...

1689. Prophecy of Scripture

2 Peter 1:12-21

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... pay attention” to the word of prophecy. Mark and Luke do not read with him I am well pleased. It is likely that, had 2 Peter been the work not of the apostle but of a later pseudonymous writer, the divine words would have been reported in a version copied from one of the Gospel accounts. As it is, assuming apostolic authorship of this letter, the record in 2 Peter is an early testimony to the Gospel narratives, preceding them in time by some years. This is my Son, whom I love translates a text preserved ...

1690. False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 Peter 2:1-22

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... all its implications, had been entrusted to them. But these men have broken the golden chain of receiving and passing on the gospel. They not only have rejected its teachings for themselves, but have perverted its content and thus criminally misled others by their own twisted version (cf. 2:1–3). The greater the knowledge one has in any field, the greater is one’s duty to accept and to respond to it. To reject the true knowledge of God which Christ has revealed is to commit the most heinous of offenses ...

1691. The Day of the Lord

2 Peter 3:1-18

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... does not refer to the mind in the intellectual sense but to the faculty of spiritual discernment (Eph. 4:18; Col. 1:21; 1 John 5:20). 3:2 This verse has a succession of genitives in the Greek, making translation difficult. The problem is often eased in English versions by the addition of through (NIV, RSV; not in the Greek). But the general sense is clear. Possibly a word has dropped out of an early MS, or the expression tou kyriou sōtēros, of the Lord and Savior, may have been added by the writer as an ...

1692. Crossing the Sea

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... the firstborn son by giving five monetary units (euro, dollar, shekel) to a descendent of a priestly family (kohen). This follows the “five shekels” injunction in Num. 18:16. 13:18 The body of water, in Hebrew yam sup (sea of reeds), is found in most English versions translated as the Red Sea. (The Hebrew sup, “reed,” refers to the papyrus that grew in the margins of fresh water.) In the region between Egypt and Sinai north of the present-day Gulf of Suez at the northern end of the Red Sea, the body ...

1693. The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-21

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... neighbor with a false testimony.” In Egypt God’s people had been victims of exactly this crime. Pharaoh’s false testimony against them was that they wanted to worship God because they were too “lazy” to work. He accused them of lying and offered his own version of the situation. His powerful “false witness” led to the law of increased labor (see comment on 5:7–12, 15–19). God’s new community was to be a place where the truth was told (see Gen. 18:18–19). The Sinai law also addressed ...

1694. Laws of Justice and Mercy

Exodus 23:1-9

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... , and five more imperative commands (vv. 6–9; see Sprinkle, The Book, pp. 178–79) conclude the section. The general command, “Do not spread false reports,” echoes the ninth commandment about bearing false witness (20:13). A more specific, court-based, version follows: “Do not help (lit., “join hands with”) a wicked man by being a malicious witness” (Lev. 19:11, 16; Deut. 19:15–21). The next two commands concern the power of public opinion and the necessity of impartiality for a witness ...

1695. Offerings for the Tabernacle

Exodus 25:1-9

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... . Exodus 26 uses a few of these words in a special sense: “tent” (ʾohel, 26:7) refers to the outer goat hair covering of the tent of meeting; and “tabernacle” here refers only to the inner linen layer (26:1). Moses had used an earlier version of the “tent of meeting” to meet with Yahweh before they constructed the tabernacle court. “Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting.’ Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to ...

1696. The Golden Calf

Exodus 32:1-33:6

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... them and for their future. 32:1–6 The creation of the golden calf god who had supposedly “delivered the people from Egypt” temporarily “set the people free” to serve themselves. Their self-made religion created not only a new god (v. 1), but also a new version of their story of freedom and a new kind of celebration (vv. 4, 6b). It was a perverse reflection of what the living Lord had done for them and promised to them. Their falsely created faith began with the slippery lie that some other god had ...

1697. The New Stone Tablets

Exodus 34:1-28

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... word in the NT is the Greek word agapē, translated “unconditional love.” The OT khesed and the NT agapē communicate God’s unrelenting love for the creation and the people. “Full of grace and truth” is an Eng. translation of a Gk. version of khesed and ʾemet (John 1:14; see Hooker, “Johannine Prologue,” also Belleville, “Tradition”). 34:7 Oddly, the phrase “love to thousands” is the only place the NIV does not include the word “generations,” even though the Heb. is the same in ...

1698. The Lord Commands Joshua

Joshua 1:1-18

Understanding Series

J. Gordon Harris

... into familiar territory. God’s presence is the ultimate contingency plan for believers. It is the final solution for fear and pressures. It ensures the success of God’s mission and servant. Additional Note 1:1 The term servant of the LORD is missing in the Gk. version in vv. 1 and 15. However, that term is used as a title frequently in Deut. It appears in God’s reported speech in vv. 2 and 13. It not only refers to slaves but also describes a person in a subordinate position. That person can be ...

1699. Deborah

Judges 4:1-24

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... this case through his mouthpiece Deborah. . . . The outstanding example of faith [in the book of Hebrews] is not Deborah, let alone Jael. It is Barak.” 4:11 Heber the Kenite: The NIV here reads “descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law,” but other versions read “Moses’ father-in-law.” There is some confusion about this name in the various sources. According to Judg. 1:16, the Kenites were descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, not named here but named Reuel in Exod. 2:21 and Jethro in Exod ...

1700. Tola

Judges 10:1-2

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... implications of this after we have looked more closely at the text. 10:1–2 Tola rose to save Israel. The detailed information about his genealogical history and place of residence conforms to the general pattern for the minor judges. The most complete version appears in the story of Elon (Judg. 12:11–12). Tola lived in Shamir, which means “thornbush,” further linking him with Abimelech (9:14–15), though the Hebrew word is not the same. The exact location of Shamir is unknown, though some scholars ...

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