Showing 1 to 25 of 220 results
1. Taming the Tongue
James 3:1-12, James 3:13-18
Understanding Series
Peter H. Davids
... that true? It is not true if the person’s language reveals that he or she is really a salty spring trying to be sweet. Having argued above for the danger inherent in the tongue and the need for purity in speech, James now moves behind speech to the ... James never does, for wisdom is his term for the Holy Spirit. The link between wisdom and heaven had already been forged in Jewish teaching (e.g., Sirach 1:1–4; 24:1–12; Wisdom 7:24–27; 9:4, 6, 9–18), as had the link between wisdom and the Spirit ( ...
2. Two Kinds of Wisdom
James 3:13-18, James 3:1-12
Understanding Series
Peter H. Davids
... that true? It is not true if the person’s language reveals that he or she is really a salty spring trying to be sweet. Having argued above for the danger inherent in the tongue and the need for purity in speech, James now moves behind speech to the ... James never does, for wisdom is his term for the Holy Spirit. The link between wisdom and heaven had already been forged in Jewish teaching (e.g., Sirach 1:1–4; 24:1–12; Wisdom 7:24–27; 9:4, 6, 9–18), as had the link between wisdom and the Spirit ( ...
3. Ezekiel's Call
Ezekiel 1:1-28, Ezekiel 2:1-3:15, Ezekiel 3:16-27
Understanding Series
Steven Tuell
... house of Israel. 3:1–15 Ezekiel obeys the divine command: he eats the scroll and discovers that it tastes as sweet as honey in my mouth (v. 3). Given the content of the scroll, this is certainly curious. Other passages describe the words of God’ ... remained independent until its fall to Assyria in 722 B.C.—particularly in the 8th-c. prophets Hosea (1:6; 5:1; 6:10; 11:12), Amos (e.g., 5:1, 3, 4; 6:1, 14), and Micah (1:5; 3:1, 9). In Ezekiel, that usage is assumed in only three passages, Ezek. 4:5; 9 ...
4. The Prophet of Locusts and Honey
Luke 3:1-20, Luke 3:21-38
Sermon
Lori Wagner
... ruins, she fed herself and her children from the jars of vegetables and honey until the farm could be renewed. But more than that, a sweetness had come into her life that she couldn’t explain, except that she had found the Jesus that the pastor had spoken of, and ... given in the chrono-genealogy of Genesis 5, you will see that Methuselah lived until the year of the Flood. (See, e.g., Spirit of Prophecy, v. 1, p. 170: “Methuselah, the grandfather of Noah, lived until the very year of the flood; and there ...
Teach the Text
J. Scott Duvall
... said and do not write it down.” When the mighty angel shouts, the seven thunders speak. Thunder is often associated with judgment in Revelation (e.g., 4:5; 6:1; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18), and here “the seven thunders” are likely yet another series of divine judgments. John hears ... cf. 1 Pet. 1:10–12). 10:10  I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. The heavenly voice commands John to get involved in ...
Understanding Series
Michael S. Moore
... with irony in light of the focus on human kingship preoccupying the end of Judges (17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25; see Introduction). Cognate names are found on second-millenium texts from Egypt and Canaan. Naomi means “pleasant, sweet,” and is related to a word meaning “ardent desire” (e.g., “to gaze on the no’am of Yahweh,” Ps. 27:4) or “mysterious grace” (Zech. 11:7, 10). Here at the story’s outset, life is indeed pleasant for Naomi. Only her children’s names foreshadow trouble. Mahlon is ...
Understanding Series
David J. Williams
... under the covenant. In later years, Pentecost actually became the feast to mark the renewal of the covenant (Jubilees 6:17–22; see J. D. G. Dunn, “Pentecost,” NIDNTT, vol. 2, p. 785) and by the second century was also a commemoration of the gift of the law at the time ... Gains, 36). 2:13 They have had too much wine: The word wine (oinos) can mean either “new wine” or “sweet wine.” If the former is accepted, there is the difficulty that at Pentecost there was no new wine, strictly speaking, the ...
8. Hope For A New Year
Ephesians 1:1-14
Sermon
King Duncan
... all fours due to her proportions. The male equivalent of the Barbie Doll, according to some people, is the gun-toting G.I. Joe action figure. Notice that it is an "action figure" and not a doll. Boys don't play with dolls, ... are always aware of their calling, of course. Some churches operate more like social clubs than organizations devoted to changing the world. Author Leonard Sweet was looking for a good place to have lunch in the community of Cannon Beach, Oregon. He approached a quaint cafe and pulled on ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... something that is far more like the magical genie of "Aladdin." Still others settle for a spirituality that is a sticky-sweet topping over the blandness of their lives. These people fill their homes with a gutless spiritual presence - they think a " ... of conversions: 1. gradual conversions - e.g., St. John 2. crisis conversions - e.g., St. Paul 3. series of crises followed by a conversion - e.g., St. Peter 4. a crisis conversion at the end of a gradual process - e.g., the Ethiopian eunuch Which one are ...
Sermon
Lori Wagner
“If thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.” — Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil Envy is perhaps the deepest root of all evils. Envy is the desire to have what someone else has, to be like someone else, to be given what someone else has received, to obtain what one perceives one deserves. Envy is the opposite of satisfaction in and surrender to God. And it’s at the core of human nature. It’s stimulated by the eye, and desires of the gaze. The gaze here is not the feminist concept of ...
11. Aroma of Christ Church
Ephesians 4:17--5:21
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... is no doubt intended to be satirical, even mocking. But isn’t that what Paul says the church is to be? “For we are to God a sweet smell of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15). In fact, is there any higher compliment to a person than this one: “I smell Jesus in you.” Is ... served to make their lives “futile” and “alienated” from God. Against all those negative behaviors — e.g. licentiousness, greed, impurity — the author next describes the qualities that should be promoted and practiced among ...
12. Exhortations
Philippians 4:2-9
Understanding Series
F. F. Bruce
... [1964], p. 261–62) and T. W. Manson. The adjective loyal (Gk. gnēsios) has suggested Timothy to some, such as J.-F. Collange and G. Friedrich (cf. the adverb gnēsiōs in 2:20, with additional note ad loc.). Timothy could have been given his instructions by word of ... to give way graciously and not insist on one’s rights. Matthew Arnold’s rendering of the word as “sweet reasonableness” has passed into general currency. When Shakespeare’s Portia says to Shylock (in Merchant of Venice 4.1), Though ...
13. Proverbs of Solomon
Proberbs 10:1--22:16
One Volume
Gary M. Burge
... , however, will flourish and nourish like a healthy tree (11:28b, 30a). The soul-winner’s favorite verse, 11:30b (e.g., NIV 1984 “he who wins souls is wise”), could stem from a faulty translation. The expression “to take souls” normally means ... knowledge-rich lips are rare gems (20:15), debts should be carefully secured (20:16), and fraudulent practices can turn a “sweet” deal sour (20:17). Before undertaking something big, seek wise counsel, being careful to avoid those who might betray your ...
14. Let Them Eat Cake
2 Timothy 1:1-2:13
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... nutritionally really bad-for-you things—butter, eggs, sugar, flour. But when cooked together, sliced thin and served, it is a lovely, simple sweet ending to a meal. Pound cake is always eaten in small slices. It is a “bad for you” that becomes a “good for ... is the good-news/bad-news message brought by Paul in this week’s epistle text. The apostle both prepares his protégée for what he might expect, and encourages Timothy, and future generations of Jesus followers, to persevere. At the beginning of ...
15. Sayings of the Wise
Proverbs 22:17--24:22
Understanding Series
Roland E. Murphy
... compared to wisdom (cf. 16:24). However, verse 14a seems incomplete and the NIV fills in from the preceding line (sweet). A variant of 23:18 appears in verse 14b. 24:15–16 An admonition with motivational rationale. The admonition ... will punish you instead of your enemy (v. 18; cf. 17:5). In other words, it is only for God to pass judgment. Others (e.g., McKane, Proverbs) claim that the motive is that God might stop punishing the enemy. Schadenfreude, or rejoicing over the downfall of the enemy, is common ...
Understanding Series
James R. Edwards
... which the Law and the Prophets testify. There is a delicate relationship between righteousness and law, a “sweet antithesis,” to quote Bengel (Gnomon, vol. 3, p. 47). Luther’s bitter controversy over indulgences with sixteenth ... kills, but the Spirit gives life.” In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus repeatedly reinterpreted the law in terms of its motive or intent (e.g., Matt. 5:21–22, 27–28). The purpose of the commandment, in other words, had been to engender a proper attitude and behavior toward God ...
Understanding Series
John Goldingay
... confronts the community, saying things are going well when they are on the way to disaster (v. 20). Even in English, bitter/sweet sounds like a reference to suffering/blessing rather than to wrong/right. In Hebrew this is also the natural way to understand ... 11; 57:17 [KJV]; 59:2, 12), the guilt that follows (1:4; 6:7; 27:9; 59:3), and also the consequent punishment (e.g., Gen. 4:13; Lam. 4:6, 22). Etymologically, ’awon perhaps suggests wandering out of the right way (see BDB), with a hint of perversity, but ...
18. Sermon on the Mount: Final Warnings and Call to Obey Jesus’ Words
Matthew 7:13-14, Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 7:24-29
Teach the Text
Jeannine K. Brown
... 3Matthew’s “kingdom of heaven” speaks to the larger vision of God’s restorative work, bringing all things under Jesus’ reign (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:20–28). the will of my Father. This phrase sums up Jesus’ expectation for his followers in the Sermon ... trusting Jesus as the authoritative speaker of God’s truth means putting Jesus’ teachings into action—it means to obey them. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet, or we’ll walk by His side in the way. What He says we will do, where He ...
Understanding Series
Gerald H. Wilson
... honey (or dew?), which is a symbol of luxury and abundance. The listeners heard Job’s words as a gift of sweetness rather than harsh or unwelcome prodding and coercion. 29:23 They waited . . . as for showers . . . the spring rain. The imagery ... is probably not intended to raise questions about God’s honesty, as if he might manipulate the “scales” in order to prove Job wrong (e.g., Amos 8:5). It is, rather, a case of judgment in kind, where God measures Job’s integrity on the scale of his own deeds ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... watched on tv), and southwestern England. The purpose of Live 8 was laser-focused: bring public pressure to bear on the G-8 countries that hold the world's wealth and well-being in their economic grasp. The Live 8 concerts were preaching ... redemptive act made personal in Jesus the Christ, there's hope. Paul envisions this hope as the first-fruit of the Spirit - a honey sweet sensation in our soul that brings the flavor of forgiveness and salvation to our lips and fills our hearts with hope. But first-fruits ...
21. Hagar and Sally
Galatians 4:21-31
Understanding Series
L. Ann Jervis
... W. Horbury, “Land, Sanctuary and Worship,” in Early Christian Thought in Its Jewish Context [ed. J. Barclay and J. Sweet; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996], pp. 207–24) and of present reality (v. 26; “she is our mother”). ... the new age: a moment in time in which the present and future are uniquely conjoined. The Jewish Scriptures could refer to Jerusalem as a mother (e.g., Isa. 49:14–15; 51:18; Ps. 87:5; cf. 2 Esdras 10:7), as is demonstrated in Paul’s citation from Isaiah (54:1) in ...
22. Abraham Tested
Genesis 22:1-19
Understanding Series
John E. Hartley
... , speaking his name a single time. This style contrasts with the times God repeated a name to get a person’s attention (e.g., v. 11; Exod. 3:4, the call of Moses; 1 Sam. 3:10, the call of Samuel). The ease with which God got Abraham ... coming to the region of Moriah. One can only imagine their exuberant joy as the two of them watched this ram ascend to God as a sweet-smelling aroma. It was possibly the greatest praise offering of all time. The use of the same three verbs here as in God’s ordering Abraham ...
Teach the Text
Daniel J. Estes
... , in which the psalmists turn to God in their times of affliction and, by doing that, find that their pain is transformed into praise (e.g., Ps. 30:8–12). Elihu advises Job to take this well-worn path that is familiar to faithful worshipers of God. 36:27–30 He ... providence He hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err And scan His work in vain; God is His own interpreter, And ...
Teach the Text
C. Hassell Bullock
... 12), who served as both judge and jury. This was an analogy that the prophets sometimes used to portray Israel’s pending judgment (e.g., Isa. 1:2; Hosea 5:1). In this psalm the Levitical prophet summons the heavens and earth as witnesses of God’s judgment of ... , as this psalm attests, we know God through the witness and the actions of others. In one of my pastorates, a sweet little girl in my congregation, about two or three years old, passed through the narthex one Sunday morning after worship and ...
Understanding Series
Gerald H. Wilson
... law commands creditors to return garments taken as pledges of repayment of debt to their owners at night so they can keep warm (e.g., Exod. 22:25–27). Those who have only the clothes on their backs to offer as security for a loan are certainly the most ... of the evil-doers in death. The image is even grosser than the translation admits. The Hebrew verb (mtq) means “to consider sweet” or even “to suck.” The “worm” relishes the flesh of the wicked like a delicate dessert course (see also 21:26). It ...
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