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Showing 176 to 200 of 4943 results

176. Lost Baggage: Empty Your Suitcase

Matthew 18:10-14

Sermon

James Merritt

... devastates you by their actions. You don’t think about it, you don’t pray about it, and you don’t talk about it. You go to that person privately and tell them about it. Here is where the problem of unresolved conflict starts. Here is why the problem continues and here is where the problem festers. Let me just say this. There is no excuse for not going. Now, we make them. “Well, he or she won’t listen” or “It won’t do any good” or “They’ll just do it again” or “It will just make ...

177. Christians and Grits

Acts 4:32-37

Sermon

King Duncan

... that there’s no such thing as a “grit.” They don’t come by themselves. They come in a community of other grits. You can’t just order one grit. Rev. Bill says, “You know, we’re a lot like grits. Some of us are ‘grittier’ than others,” he continues. “We’re not here on our own. We’ve been created to be in community with others.” (1) He’s right particularly as followers of Jesus. I could go as far as to say that there is no such thing as a solitary Christian. There is no such ...

178. Gift

2 Corinthians 8:16--9:5, 2 Corinthians 8:1-15, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Understanding Series

James M. Scott

... Qumran community is called “the congregation of the poor (ʾebyōnîm)” (4QpPs37 3.10; cf. also 1QpHab 12.3; 1QH 5.22; 4Q434, 436), and an early Christian sect of observant Jews called the Ebionites (from the Hebrew ʾebyōnîm, “the poor”) continued to use the appellation of themselves well into the third century. Paul’s collection for Jerusalem also echoes Ezra’s freewill offering for the second temple (Ezra 7:1–8:34), an offering to be donated not only by the Jews themselves but also King ...

179. Paul's Ministry in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

Understanding Series

David J. Williams

... human life” (Abbott-Smith). God is commonly described in Scripture as the searcher and tester of hearts (1 Chron. 28:9; 29:17; Ps. 7:9; 139:23; Prov. 17:3; Jer. 11:20; 12:3; 17:10; Acts 1:24; 15:8; Rev. 2:23). 2:5–6a Continuing to refute the charges that he sought to please men (v. 4), Paul denies he resorted to tricks of the trade such as flattery. The Greek is literally “neither did we come (ginomai, ‘become’) in a word of flattery,” where “word” refers to their preaching. This denies that ...

180. Advice About Widows, Elders and Slaves

1 Timothy 5:1-6:2

Understanding Series

Gordon D. Fee

... psalms, where the poor (which includes widows) place their trust and hope in God. In this case her hope in God is found as she continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. The words to pray and to ask for appear in 2:1 as the ... night and day, which reflect the Jewish understanding of the day (cf. Gen. 1; 1 Thess. 2:9), reinforce the concept of praying continually. The remarkable way this passage coincides with the description of Anna in Luke 2:36–38 leaves one with the distinct impression that ...

181. The High Priest of a New Covenant

Hebrews 8:1-13

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... into exile, all this by way of judgment upon the people for their disobedience. The root problem, and the reason why the new covenant will be unlike the old (for the old, see Exod. 19:5), is because they did not remain faithful to (lit., “continue in”) my covenant. The old covenant was unable to produce obedience, and hence judgment came upon the nation (and I turned away from them). The new covenant, however, will accomplish what the old could not do: it will produce true righteousness (I will put my ...

182. The Passover

Exodus 12:1-30

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... throughout (13:6–7; 16:4–15, 29–32; 23:5; 25:30; 29:2, 23, 32–34; 34:18, 28; 35:13; 39:36; 40:23). God’s work on this day and the remembrance of that work are the constitutive event and practice of the Lord’s continually renewed people, effective for “generations to come.” Participation in this shapes the life of the people. 12:21–27 “Go at once . . .” here Moses speaks to the Israelites for the first time since they refused to listen to him in 6:9. (We last heard from the elders in ...

183. Israel Fights the Remaining Canaanites

Judges 1:1-36

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... for the entire story. 1:1–3 The book of Judges looks backward as well as forward. Its canonical link with what goes before it is immediately evident from the first words of the book: After the death of Joshua. This important notice both demonstrates continuity with Israel’s history and signals a new epoch in that history. The story of Joshua’s death (Josh. 24:29–30) follows upon a great covenant renewal ceremony at Shechem (Josh. 24:1–27), in which he and all the people made a solemn commitment ...

184. Wives for the Benjamites

Judges 21:1-25

Understanding Series

Cheryl A. Brown

... , specifically directed against Reuben, Gilead (Judg. 5:17), Dan, and Asher. This was pointed out to me in a private correspondence from R. Hubbard. 21:12 They took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan: The specification that Shiloh was in Canaan continues to interest interpreters. Boling (Judges, p. 292) believes that the reference to Canaan points to the fact that the story was very early, as early as, if not earlier than, the material at the beginning of the book of Judges, where references to Canaan ...

185. Rebuilding the Altar

Ezra 3:1-6

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... their own (2:68–69). Now they were to take the first step of reestablishing the worship of the Jerusalem temple by restoring the sacrificial system on a reconstituted altar (3:1–6) and laying anew the temple foundation (3:7–13). 3:1–3 The narrator continued to use his source; here we can see the identification of the new community from Nehemiah 7:73b–8:1a reworked as a fitting introduction to his own story. He returns to the time frame of the beginning of the seventh month in verse 6, thus tying ...

186. The Decree of Darius

Ezra 6:1-12

Understanding Series

Leslie C. Allen

... 56:7). The edict is enforced by a penalty clause affecting the person and property of offenders. 6:13–15 The narrator deduced, from Tattenai’s letter and from Darius’ reply with its generous updating of Cyrus’ decree, the positive sequel in verse 13 and the continuation of the good work of 5:8b. He reminded his readers of the initial stimulus of Haggai and Zechariah, which he had related in 5:1–2. He probably learned from a temple inscription the date of the red-letter day when work on the temple ...

187. Israel Forsakes God

Jeremiah 2:1-3:5

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... with the result that they have been hurt, not helped. Ironically, the defeated and rebellious remnant of Judah will flee to Egypt and end up at Tahpanhes, Memphis, and other Egyptian locations (see 43:1–44:6). 2:17–19 The second half of the oracle continues the interrogation of God’s people. The first question suggests that they have brought this destruction on themselves. How? The answer is given in the next few verses with a play on the word way (derek). They have left the way of the Lord and have ...

188. How Deserted Lies the City

Lamentations 1:1-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... were unable and unwilling to help Judah in her need. Some even turned against her. The third poetic line of the verse continues this idea. Here Judah’s potential allies are called her friends rather than her lovers, but the point in the same. They ... come to her aid. No one comforts her (see 1:17); indeed, her groans bring shouts of joy from her enemies. This verse continues an address to God, so the second person address (you) refers to God and again shows awareness of that Jerusalem’s destruction was ...

189. How the Lord has Covered the Daughter of Zion

Lamentations 2:1-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... and so has reason to weep. The wall also draws the outer boundaries of the city proper and thus represents all the people. But the emphasis is not just on all the people, but also on all the time. They are to weep day and night. Verse 19 continues the call to weep and specifically they are to weep all through the night, starting when the watches of the night begin. Their motivation is to save the lives of their children who are dying of starvation as a result of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. 2 ...

190. Blemished Sacrifices and Admonition for the Priests

Malachi 1:6-14, Malachi 2:1-9

Understanding Series

Pamela J. Scalise

... 1:28; Deut. 28:1–6). 2:4–5 As a result of this punishment the priests would know that God had sent this admonition (see also v. 1) with a purpose—that the Lord’s covenant with Levi, which the priests had “violated” (v. 8), might continue. God was not ready to abolish the priesthood but intended, by means of judgment and the prophetic word, to reform the priests. The ministry of Malachi, the prophet and the book, was to call the priests back to their covenant obligations (vv. 5–7), to call them ...

191. Paul's Chains Advance the Gospel

Philippians 1:12-30

Understanding Series

F. F. Bruce

... point to fruitful labor in the future (as NIV takes it) or to the fruit of labor already done (as NEB takes it, following J. B. Lightfoot: “what if my living on in the body means that I could reap the fruit of my toil!”). So, early death and continued life alike had their attractions, and if the choice between the two were left to him, he would find difficulty in making up his mind. The choice, however, did not lie with him. 1:23 I am torn between the two, he says; more literally, “I am hemmed in on ...

192. The Servant of the Lord

Isaiah 49:1-7

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... —what are they doing having to live under Babylon and what is happening as Babylon’s power in the middle east collapses? It is a problem of mind and spirit—what has having to live there under those pressures done to them and how can it be undone? That problem continues to set the agenda in chapters 49–55, even while the focus on the surface changes. 49:1–6 Listen to me sounds like Yahweh. But it goes on, the LORD called me before I was born. So who now speaks? Read in the context, 49:1–6 becomes ...

193. Praise and Prayer

Isaiah 63:7--64:12

Understanding Series

John Goldingay

... is no point in prayer if we believe that everything depends on us. The challenge of prayer is to get Yahweh to act with the drive and authority that we know Yahweh has, and outrageous statements in laments constitute attempts to do so. In a sense, the affrontery continues with the bidding return for the sake of your servants (v. 17b). It was a prophet’s job to use the verb “return” in the imperative. The Poet did it in 44:22. But that is a bidding to the people by the prophet speaking on Yahweh’s ...

194. An Unholy History

Ezekiel 20:1-29, Ezekiel 20:30-49

Understanding Series

Steven Tuell

... given Israel “statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by” (v. 25). Then, in verses 27–44, an oracle directed to the elders of Israel applies the lessons of this recitation of Israel’s sorry past to their own circumstance. They have continued to act as their ancestors did, and so they have no right to seek any word from the Lord at all. Therefore, God’s promise to save and restore Israel (vv. 32–44) comes as a complete surprise. In no sense does anyone either expect or deserve ...

195. The Priority of Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Teach the Text

Preben Vang

... e.g., 1 Thess. 1:3; 5:8; Gal. 5:5–6; Col. 1:4–5). Still, even among these three, love is the greatest. Because love expresses God’s eternal nature, it is everlasting. Faith and hope are foundational elements of Christian experience, but they will not continue into eternity (2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 8:24).14 Theological Insights God willed to reveal himself to his creation as love (John 3:16). For spiritual gifts to function according to God’s purpose, their use must reveal the character of the God who gives ...

196. Lamps, Cakes, and the Blasphemer

Lev 24:1-23

Teach the Text

Joe M. Sprinkle

... person off a precipice twice the height of a human being—perhaps off the second story of a building or into a pit. Then a second witness was to drop a stone on the condemned person’s chest. If the person was still alive, the others present continued to drop stones until death occurred. One case of modern-day stoning was when Somalia’s al-Qaeda-inspired group stoned a man to death in June 2011 after accusing him of committing rape. Sharma’arke Abdullahi Mohamoud was killed in a square in the Mahas ...

197. “O Absalom, My Son, My Son!”

2 Sam 18:1–19:8

Teach the Text

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.

... Shimei predicted for him (16:12; cf. 16:8). But now that the Lord has delivered David from ruin and death, he wishes that he had died “instead of” (tahat) Absalom.10 David is focusing on divine discipline, not divine deliverance. 19:4 cried aloud. Tamar’s vindication continues here (see the comments on 13:31). Following her rape, she wept aloud (za‘aq, 13:19); now David cries out (za‘aq, 19:4 [5 MT]) over the death of his son. O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son! The repetition of David ...

198. Correcting Cephas

Galatians 2:11-21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... the arriving Jewish contingent. It is doubtful that he actually changed his theological view as to the status of Gentiles before God. Obviously he had not fully thought through the implications of his theology for his relations with all persons, in spite of the continued bias of some. Peter, it seems, was not alone in this problem of integrating faith with living, since even Barnabas followed his example, as well as other Jews present (2:13). From Paul’s description of the actions of the ones who deserted ...

199. Peace and Joy

Romans 5:1-11

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... the saving purpose of God to redeem hostile humanity. God’s love is expressly mediated through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given us (v. 5). Paul is not yet prepared to introduce a discussion of the Holy Spirit, which must await chapter 8. He continues rather with the love of God as it was expressed in Christ’s atoning death. Mention of God’s pouring out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit does, however, establish the significant points that God’s love is personal love communicated through ...

200. Thanksgiving

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... at v. 8). Whether Paul means to speak here of God or of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Corinthians should gather that the basis of their security is not with themselves or their endowments, but with the divine action (of God or Christ) on their behalf. Paul continues the eschatological emphasis that was registered in verse 7 as he speaks of the Corinthians’ being kept strong to the end. Here Paul has in mind the endpoint of time as we know it in our earthy existence. Paul thought and taught that he and the ...

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