March 13, 2016 – Letters From Home – Love and Life

Love and Life

Revelation 2:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

Who is John instructed to write to (verse 1)?

In your opinion, who is it “who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what can you say about the church in Ephesus based on verses 2 and 3?

What has the church in Ephesus forsaken (verse 4)?

What is the church in Ephesus to consider (verse 5)?

After the church in Ephesus repents, what is it to do (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say “if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (verse 5)?

Whose practices does the church in Ephesus hate (verse 6)?

Who is supposed to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (verse 7)?

Where is the “tree of life” that the “one who is victorious” is to have the right to eat from (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Ephesians 1:15-23 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

What had Paul heard about the Ephesians (verse 15)?

How did Paul respond to what he had heard (verse 16)?

Why did Paul want “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father” to give the Ephesians “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he prays that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (verse 18)?

Why did Paul want “the eyes of your heart” to be enlightened (verse 18)?

What is God’s “incomparably great power” the same as (verses 19 and 20)?

Where did God raise Christ from (verse 20)?

Where did God raise Christ to (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that Christ is “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (verse 21)?

What has God placed “under his feet” (verse 22)?

What is “his body” (verses 22 and 23)?

In your opinion, what does it mean when Paul says “the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what happened in the church in Ephesus 1:15-23 that it goes from Paul hearing about and giving thanks for “your love for all God’s people” to Jesus telling them in Revelations 2:1-7 that “you have forsaken the love you had at first”?

John 3:16-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

Why did God give “his one and only Son” (verse 16)?

What will those who believe in “his one and only Son” have (verse 16)?

What did God “not send his Son into the world” to do (verse 17)?

How did God plan to save the world (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why is “whoever believes in him” not condemned (verse 18)?

Why do those who do not believe stand “condemned already” (verse 18)?

What is the verdict (verse 19)?

Why do those who do evil refuse to come into the light (verse 20)?

Why does “whoever lives by the truth” come into the light (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does it mean to you that Jesus said in John 3:16-21 that “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God” when later Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-10 that “Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath”?

In your opinion, how can we reconcile Jesus statement in John 3:16-21 that “whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” with the warning to those at the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 that “I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first”?

Revelation 22:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”

How does John describe the “river of the water of life” that the angel shows him (verse 1)?

In your opinion, how can the “tree of life” stand on “each side of the river” (verse 2)?

When does the “tree of life” bear “crops of fruit” (verse 2)?

What are the “leaves of the tree” for (verse 2)?

What will no longer be (verse 3)?

Where will the “throne of God and of the Lamb” be (verse 3)?

What will “his servants” see (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why will there “be no more night” (verse 5)?

Why will they “not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the promise of Jesus in John 3:16-21 that “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light” given a more rich meaning when John is told by the angel in Revelation 22:1-5 that “they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light”?

In your opinion, how does Revelation 22:1-5 help us to understand better the things that Paul prayed for in Ephesians 1:15-23 that 1:4-8 show that “you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe”?

In your opinion, how is the description of the tree of life in Revelation 22:1-5 a wonderful hope for those who Jesus tells in Revelation 2:1-7 that if they repent and do what they did at first and are “victorious” they will get to “eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God”?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Revelation, Ephesians and John show us about ourselves today?

Next, back to Revelation 2:8 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

March 6, 2016 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Authority and Love

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Authority and Love

Matthew 28:16-19 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Where did the eleven disciples go (verse 16)?

What did they do when they saw Jesus (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did some doubt (verse 17)?

What has been given to Jesus (verse 18)?

Who were the “disciples of all nations” to be baptized in the name of (verse 19)?

What was to be taught (verse 20)?

Where will Jesus be “to the very end of the age” (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

John 15:9-17 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.”

How has Jesus loved (verse 9)?

Where are we to remain (verse 9)?

What should we do to there (verse 10)?

Why has Jesus given us this instruction (verse 11)?

What does Jesus command (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (verse 13)?

When are we Jesus’ friends (verse 14)?

Why does Jesus not call those who do what He commands servant (verse 15)?

Why does Jesus call those who do what He commands friends (verse 15)?

Why did Jesus chose and appoint (verse 16)?

What is Jesus command (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does John 15:9-17 instruct that we should teach those “disciples of all nations” that are baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” that Jesus commands we teach in Matthew 28:16-19?

1 John 5:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Who is “born of God” (verse 1)?

Who loves “his child” (verse 1)?

How do we “know that we love the children of God” (verse 2)?

What is “love for God” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why does John say “his commands are not burdensome” (verse 3)?

Who “overcomes the world” (verse 4)?

What is the “victory that has overcome the world” (verse 4)?

“Who is it that overcomes the world” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does John saying in 1 John 5:1-5 “this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world” increase our understanding of what he said in John 15:9-17 that “this is my command: Love each other”?

In your opinion, how does John’s statement in 1 John 5:1-5 that “everyone born of God overcomes the world” amplify the statement of Jesus in Matthew 28:16-19 that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”.

 Revelation 22:14-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

Who is blessed (verse 14)?

What will the blessed “have a right to” (verse 14)?

Where will the blessed be able to go (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why are the “dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” outside (verse 15)?

Who sent the angel with this testimony (verse 16)?

Who says “Come” (verse 17)?

Who is commanded to say “Come” (verse 17)?

Who is supposed to come (verse 17)?

Who is to “take the free gift of the water of life” (verse 17)?

What will happen to those who add anything to the “words of the prophecy of this scroll” (verse 18)?

What will happen to the one who “takes words away from this scroll of prophecy” (verse 19)?

Who says “yes, I am coming soon” (verse 20)?

What is to be with “God’s people” (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does the statement “this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” from 1 John 5:1-5 help us to understand the statement “blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city” from Revelation 22:14-21?

In your opinion, how is your understanding of Jesus’ statement “you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” from John 15:9-17 increased by Jesus saying in Revelation 22:14-21 “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”?

In your opinion, how does the statement of Jesus in Matthew 28:16-19 that “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” complemented by the statement in Revelation 22:14-21 that “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, John, 1 John and Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, beginning Revelation 2:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 28, 2016 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Deserving Wrath and Receiving Patience

  

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Deserving Wrath and Receiving Patience

Matthew 28:11-15 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ “While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.”

Who did the guards report everything that had happened to (verse 11)?

How did the chief priests and elders react (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why did the chief priests give the soldiers a “large sum of money” (verse 12)?

What were the soldiers to say (verse 13)?

Who was going to satisfy the governor, if the report got to him (verse 14)?

How did the soldiers respond (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Exodus 7:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. ² You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. ³ But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, ⁴ he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. ⁵ And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. ⁷ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.”

What did the Lord say He made Moses to be like to the Pharaoh (verse 1)?

Who was to say “everything I command you” (verse 2)?

Who was to tell the Pharaoh “to let the Israelites go” (verse 2)?

Why will the Pharaoh not listen, even though God multiplies “my signs and wonders in Egypt” (verses 3 and 4)?

In your opinion, why does God say that the “mighty acts” that He will use to bring out the Israelites are “acts of judgment” (verse 4)?

What will the Egyptians know (verse 5)?

Who did “just as the Lord commanded them” (verse 6)?

How old were Moses and Aaron when they “spoke to Pharaoh” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, why do you think that the Egyptians in Exodus 7:1-7 “will know that I am the Lord” but the Jews were circulating the story that “His disciples came during the night and stole him away” in Matthew 28:11-15 in spite of an even greater miracle being done among them than was done among the Egyptians?

Romans 1:18-32 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ¹⁹ since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Who is the “wrath of God” being revealed from heaven against (verse 18)?

Why is the “wrath of God” being revealed (verse 19)?

What has “been clearly seen” since the creation of the world (verse 20)?

In your opinion, why are people “without excuse” (verse 20)?

What happened to people who knew God but who did not glorify Him as God or give thanks to Him (verse 21)?

In your opinion, why did these people claim “to be wise” but become fools (verse 22)?

What was the “glory of the immortal God” exchanged for (verse 23)?

Where does the “sinful desires of their hearts” lead them (verse 24)?

Who did they worship after “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie” (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why did God give “them over to shameful lusts” (verse 26)?

Why does God give “them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done” (verse 28)?

What fills people who have been given over to a depraved mind (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “invent ways of doing evil” (verse 30)?

What do these people who have been given over to a depraved mind not have (verse 31)?

In your opinion, how is the statement that “although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” a very sad commentary about where these people are (verse 32)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, might the statement by Paul in Romans 1:18-32 that God gives those who have “exchanged the truth of God for a lie . . . over to a depraved mind” help explain how God planned to “harden the Pharaoh’s heart” in Exodus 7:1-7?

In your opinion, how might the discussion about the descent of those who have exchanged the “glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles” as described in Romans 1:18-32 help explain how the soldiers of Matthew 28:11-15 could leave the resurrection of Jesus, the greatest event that has occurred in the world, to go to the chief priests and then agree to take money and lie about the event.

2 Peter 3:3-9 – New International Version (NIV)

³ “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Who will come “in the last days” to follow “their own evil desires” (verse 3)?

What reason will the give for scoffing at the “coming he promised” (verse 4)?

How do they “forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water” (verse 5)?

What was “deluged and destroyed” by waters (verse 6)?

What is keeping the “present heavens and earth” reserved for fire and for “the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (verse 7)?

What “one thing” are we not to forget (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the difference between being “slow in keeping his promise” and in being “patient with you” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is Peter’s statement that God is “patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” in 2 Peter 3:3-9 a message of hope to all who “have exchanged the truth about God for a lie” and have been given over to “a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done” as statement by Paul in Romans 1:18-32?

In your opinion, how is there similarity between God telling Moses that “the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it” in Exodus 7:1-7 and Peter assuring us that the Lord “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” after discussing the “day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly” in 2 Peter 3:3-9?

In your opinion, how are the soldiers in Matthew 28:11-15 who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus and then lied about it because they were paid by the chief priests similar to the scoffers of 2 Peter 3:3-9 who follow their own evil desires and scoff at the idea that Jesus will return?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Exodus, Romans and 2 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 28:15 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)