Sermon and Worship Resources

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Ephesians 1:15-23

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... that they are now a regular concern of his; he loves them this way, just as they love all the saints (1:16). He prays for these people, that God would foster their understanding by giving them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and enlightened hearts (1:17–18). The expression “glorious Father” (literally “Father of glory”) may allude to the indwelling Spirit as God’s Shekinah glory, as in the temple. Either way, it is unlikely that Paul contemplates here the readers’ need to receive the Holy ...

2. Thanksgiving and Prayer

Ephesians 1:15-23

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... (1:19), as demonstrated in Christ’s resurrection (1:20) and exaltation (1:21–23). 1:18 I pray should not be taken as a second request but as a continuation of the prayer that began in 1:17 (the Greek does not repeat the purpose clause): Enlightenment is the result of knowing God and his will more perfectly. Light and knowledge often are linked together in Scripture. Psalm 119:18, for example, is a form of a petition in which the author asks, “Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things in your law ...

3. Warning Against Falling Away

Hebrews 5:11-6:12

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... the truth” (RSV) that certain persons apostatize. (See below.) The metaphor of moving from darkness to light is frequently used in the NT for conversion and hence also came to have baptismal associations in the early church (e.g., Eph. 5:8–14; 1 Pet. 2:9). The verb enlightened (phōtizō) occurs again in 10:32 (cf. the similar use in John 1:9; Eph. 1:18; 2 Tim. 1:10). See H. Conzelmann, TDNT, vol. 9, pp. 310–58. Some have seen in the words tasted the heavenly gift a reference to the Eucharist or Lord ...

4. A Call to Persevere

Hebrews 10:19-39

Understanding Series

Donald A. Hagner

... 29 underlines the nature and the seriousness of the sin in question. That the sin involves a falling away is further indicated by the words after we have received the knowledge of the truth. The parallel in 6:4 is clear: “those who have once been enlightened … who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away.…” But for those who have turned their backs on the sacrifice of Christ—the sacrifice to which all other sacrifices pointed and upon which ...

5. Paul the Preacher to the Gentiles

Ephesians 3:1-13

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... 17a), a strong grounding in love (3:17b), comprehending the love of Christ (3:18–19a), and being filled with the perfect fullness of God (3:19b). In some ways, these requests are not unlike his earlier mention of wisdom (1:17), knowledge (1:17), and enlightenment for the readers (1:18). There is no specific reference to the problem of the unity of the church. Mention of the Fatherhood of God (3:14) and the comprehension of Christ’s love by all God’s people (3:18) does, nevertheless, remind the readers ...

6. A Prayer for the Ephesians

Ephesians 3:14-21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... of knowledge often led to a kind of spiritual elitism in the church. In Corinth, for example, this developed into a division between the “spiritual,” that is, those who possessed a higher knowledge, and the “fleshly,” those who were less enlightened (cf. 1 Corinthians). The Apostle John confronts a similar problem in his first epistle, where a manifestation of Gnosticism threatened to divide the church. This made it necessary for him to emphasize the close relationship between knowledge and love ...

7. Crossing the Sea

Exodus 13:17--14:31

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... in Egypt the Lord called them to come out of Egypt through Moses. God gathered them in worship in the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now, at the sea, God had enlightened them about who Yahweh is, Lord of creation and salvation. This was the work of the Lord’s Spirit from the beginning: to call, gather, and enlighten the people. The whole deliverance from Egypt was not through ordinary means, but it did involve ordinary people. This was not a revolution, nor was it salvation of the people’s own ...

8. Freedom for Slaves

Jeremiah 34:8-22

Understanding Series

Tremper Longman III

... poverty. If such a relationship were conducted in a proper fashion, it could have been a positive societal institution, a temporary state to help individuals and families get back on their feet. But as far as we know it was never enacted in such an enlightened way. It was then, as in more recent days, an oppressive and exploitative institution. Based on God’s rescue of Israel from Egyptian slavery, verse 17 rehearses the law as we know it best from Exodus 21:1–11 and Deuteronomy 15:12–18. Slavery ...

9. Worshipping Other Gods

Deuteronomy 13:1-18

Understanding Series

Christopher J. H. Wright

... under the sanctions of a theocratic state in which apostasy threatens the constitution and survival of the state itself and is thus criminal and capital. But we then have to face the fact that we owe that social and practical liberation more to the Enlightenment, which broke so-called Christendom’s power to enforce legislation like this, than to an understanding of the implications of the NT gospel and its effect on the relationship of God’s people to the state in the messianic age. But then we need ...

10. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

... metaphor depicts human beings as bearing enormous influence in either direction. As light, they conduct themselves in correspondence to the goodness, righteousness, and truth of God’s nature (contrast 5:3), seeking to know what pleases Christ, which is indispensable for living this way (5:9–10). In addition, enlightened living refuses to share in what does not please the Lord. In fact, avoiding participation in evil exposes it, both negatively by rejecting it and positively by doing what Christ would do ...

11. God's Wrath Against Mankind

Romans 1:18-32

Understanding Series

James R. Edwards

... 14 he seems to hint of a natural morality among the Gentiles who had never been taught the Mosaic law. These passages have been the subject of confusion, due in part to lack of definition of terms. As it was developed during the Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, “natural religion” meant the ability of unaided human reason to perceive and know God. But Paul is not exactly speaking of unaided human reason. His starting point is not humanity (as epitomized by natural theology), but ...

12. Expel the Immoral Brother!

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Understanding Series

Marion L. Soards

... , the likelihood that Paul is emphasizing the universal presence of the Spirit over his own spiritual presence is increased by his saying that he had already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. While the Spirit had already enlightened Paul’s thinking, Paul was not yet spiritually present in the assembly of the church, which had still to meet according to his instructions. 5:4 In the Greek, this verse begins with in the name of [the] Lord Jesus. Some translations attach this ...

13. Job’s Reply to Zophar

Job 12:1--14:22

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... the light of human wisdom seeming to recede and fade before the spreading gloom unleashed by God. The claim that God reveals the deep things of darkness is, of course, deeply ironic. The reader is led to expect a profound revelation that will enlighten as to the mysterious purpose of God, but receives instead the opposite of light: utter darkness. The “deep shadows” which God brings . . . into the light are the Hebrew tsalmawet, “shadow of death” (Pss. 23:4; 107:14; Isa. 29:18), which always carries ...

14. Elihu

Job 32:1--37:24

Understanding Series

Gerald H. Wilson

... Job claims in all of these passages is lack of any awareness of sin that could account for the ferocity of suffering he experiences. He will not repent for sin of which he is unaware, but he is willing to be instructed. The friends have failed to enlighten him as to his misdeeds. Elihu’s accusation fails to acknowledge this willingness on Job’s part. Elihu paints Job as an arrogant rebel refusing to admit to any sin, rather than as one who is confident that no sin can be found to establish his guilt ...

15. Ephesians 1:15-23

Ephesians 1:15-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... secret knowledge or esoteric rituals put the power to obtain knowledge in the hands of the believer. Paul dismisses this self-starting salvation. Only an enduring faithfulness and obedience will make it possible for “the eyes of your heart” to be “enlightened” (v.18). Paul identifies three specific gifts he prays that the Ephesians will come to “know:” 1) “the hope to which he has called you;” 2) the “riches of his glorious inheritance;” and 3) “the great power” that was demonstrated ...

16. Ephesians 1:11-23

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... Any suggestion that this day might also be a day of judgment or divine wrath is banished from this particular discussion. Instead the threefold experience of God's hope, glory and power await these believers. Paul's prayer specifically asks for the gift of enlightenment to open the Ephesians' hearts to the presence of those gifts. In verse 19, this prayer focuses tightly on the crucial notion and nature of God's power, a theme prevalent throughout this letter. Might it have been a point of debate among the ...

17. Ephesians 1:11-23

Ephesians 1:11-23

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

18. Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Sweet

Leonard Sweet

... . Chapters 30-31 are non-Solomonic, dating from a later period. Our text, embedded in the prologue of 1:8-9:18, was probably compiled as an introduction to the larger, primary collection. Moreover, presiding as he did over an enlightened court with far-reaching international connections, Solomon surely would have had foreign secretaries depositing the proverbial wisdom of a multicultural nature, thus contributing to the universal, trans-cultural nature of the aphorisms collected in this book. This section's ...

19. Living as Children of Light

Ephesians 4:17--5:21

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... , will produce the virtues of goodness, righteousness and truth—quite the opposite of the fruit of darkness in 5:3, 5. By insisting on the moral implications of light, the author would be opposing any false theories, such as those in the Gnostic system, that made enlightenment a mystical experience and viewed the ethical life with indifference and even disdain. To be light is to walk in the light (John 3:19, 20; 1 John 1:5–7; 2:8–11). The fruit of light is similar to the fruit of the Spirit mentioned ...

20. Paul's Labor for the Church

Colossians 1:24--2:5

Understanding Series

Arthur G. Patzia

... , is suggested by O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon. O’Brien takes symbibazō in a didactic sense to mean “instruct,” “make known,” or “teach.” The meaning then would be that Paul has instructed the readers in love in order that they become “enlightened in their faith over against heretical teachings and practices …” (p. 93). 2:3 Schweizer points out that knowing Christ is never finished once and for all: “Revelation can only occur when one hears again and again afresh. Indeed, the point ...

21. The Living Stone and a Chosen People

1 Peter 2:4-12

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... 5) a perfectly natural one in Jewish thought. The wording of Psalm 34 may still be in Peter’s mind when he continues, As you come (proserchomai) to him, for Psalm 34:5 (in the LXX, which NT writers normally use) reads “Come (proserchomai) to him and be enlightened,” the last term also being echoed by Peter in verse 9, “his wonderful light.” That aside, the Greek verb is highly appropriate, for it is the one used of approaching God in worship or in priestly service (Heb. 4:16; 7:25; 10:1, etc.), to ...

22. False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 Peter 2:1-22

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... ’s charge of sexual malpractice is frequently alluded to in this letter, and in 2:19 he will point to the fact that these false teachers are assuming that Christian liberty exempts them from the ordinary rules of morality applying to less enlightened people. The phrase corrupt desire is literally “in lust of defilement.” If the genitive of defilement is objective, the sense is “in hankering after lust;” but if subjective, as is more probable, “in lust which defiles.” These men cannot avoid the ...

23. The Sin and Doom of Godless Men

Jude 1:1-16

Understanding Series

Norman Hillyer

... of their dreams” (1 Enoch 99:8). By pollute their own bodies, Jude means by sexual excesses, comparable to the practices of Sodom and Gomorrah (cf. 2 Pet. 2:2, 10, 18). Presumably these men justified their actions by claiming enlightenment through their alleged revelatory dreams. According to one early Christian writer, some later Gnostics, such as the followers of Simon Magus, could refer to promiscuous intercourse as “perfect love” (Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 6.14). Sexual license was a ...

24. Aaron to Speak for Moses

Exodus 6:28--7:7

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... The knowledge of these Gentiles depended on the Lord’s rescue of the children of Israel. The Egyptians would only know the Lord when they were no longer benefiting from the oppression of the people of God. The Lord’s action against them was necessary for their enlightenment. “I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth” (9:14). They knew for sure only after God’s mighty acts had set ...

25. Jethro Visits Moses

Exodus 18:1-27

Understanding Series

James K. Bruckner

... system of administration. Jethro proposed five steps for consideration and approval. First, Moses should remain as the people’s advocate (NIV “representative”) before God. This he did later, with great effect, in Exodus 32–34. Secondly, he should Teach (“enlighten,” “warn”) them the decrees and laws. Moses had been teaching individuals, case by case (v. 16). Here Jethro describes a general teaching role, with Moses as the first law-school professor. His legacy in bringing the commandments to ...

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