August 31, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Proclaim from the Roofs

Proclaim from the Roofs

Isaiah 8:11-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:

¹² “Do not call conspiracy
    everything this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
    and do not dread it.
¹³ The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy,
    he is the one you are to fear,
    he is the one you are to dread.
¹⁴ He will be a holy place;
    for both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
    a trap and a snare.
¹⁵ Many of them will stumble;
    they will fall and be broken,
    they will be snared and captured.”

¹⁶ Bind up this testimony of warning
    and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
¹⁷ I will wait for the Lord,
    who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.
I will put my trust in him.

What is the Lord warning Isaiah not to do (verse 11)?

What should Isaiah not “call conspiracy” (verse 12)?

Who should Isaiah “fear” and “dread” (verse 13)?

What is the Lord “for the people of Jerusalem” (verse 14)?

What will many of the people of Jerusalem do (verses 14 and 15)?

Where is “God’s instruction” to be sealed up (verse 16)?

Who will Isaiah “wait for” (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about salvation?

 Matthew 10:24-33 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. ³⁰ And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

³² “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

Who is not “above the teacher” (verse 24)?

What “is enough for students” (verse 25)?

What will happen to everything that is concealed (verse 26)?

Where should what is told by Jesus in the dark to be spoken (verse 27)?

What is to be proclaimed “from the roofs” (verse 27)?

Who should we “be afraid of” (verse 28)?

What will not “fall to the ground outside your Father’s care” (verse 29)?

What “are all numbered” (verse 30)?

Why should we not “be afraid” (verse 31)?

Who will Jesus acknowledge (verse 32)?

Who will Jesus disown (verse 33)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about salvation?

In your opinion, how was Isaiah in Isaiah 8:11-17 an example of obedience to the command of Jesus in Matthew 10:24-33 to acknowledge Him ”before others”?

 Romans 10:9-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

What happens “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” (verse 9)?

Where do you believe and “are justified” (verse 10)?

What happens when your mouth professes faith (verse 10)?

Who “will never be put to shame” (verse 11)?

Who does the Lord richly bless (verse 12)?

Who “will be saved” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about salvation?

In your opinion, was Isaiah’s waiting for the Lord in Isaiah 8:11-17 sufficient to be saved according to Romans 10:9-13?

In your opinion, how do Matthew 10:24-33 and Romans 10:9-13 agree on what it takes to be saved?

1 Timothy 6:11-16 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

What does Paul instruct Timothy to “pursue” (verse 11)?

What is Paul calling for Timothy to “fight” (verse 12)?

When was Timothy called to eternal life (verse 12)?

Who “gives life to everything” (verse 13)?

How long is Timothy to “fight the good fight of faith” (verses 12 and 14)?

When will God bring about the “appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (verses 14 and 15)?

Where does God live (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about salvation?

In your opinion, how do Paul’s instructions to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 provide the alternative to the direction Isaiah was warned not to take in Isaian 8:11-17?

In your opinion, how is the acknowledgement of Jesus in Matthew 10:24-33 further explained in 1 Timothy 6:11-16?

In your opinion, how does Romans 10:9-13 help us understand what the “good confession” in Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 is?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Isaiah, Matthew, Romans, and 1 Timothy about what happens when we proclaim God to others?

In your opinion, how does the “good confession” change us?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

August 24, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Prepared

Prepared

Genesis 45:1-15 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁸ “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. ⁹ Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. ¹⁰ You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. ¹¹ I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’

¹² “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. ¹³ Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

¹⁴ Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

How many were with Joseph “when he make himself known to his brothers” (verse 1)?

Why did the Egyptians hear Joseph (verse 2)?

How did Joseph’s brothers react to him (verse 3)?

What did Joseph say his brothers had done (verse 4)?

Who had sent Joseph “ahead” of his brothers (verse 5)?

What will not happen “for the next five years” (verse 6)?

Why was Joseph sent ahead of his brothers (verse 7)?

What had God made Joseph (verse 8)?

Who did Joseph want to send a message to (verse 9)?

Where will they live (verse 10)?

Who will provide for them (verse 11)?

What are the brothers to do “quickly” (verse 13)?

Who wept (verse 14)?

Who did Joseph weep over (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about making “the most of every opportunity”?

Matthew 10:9-23 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. ¹¹ Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. ¹⁸ On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ²² You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ²³ When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

What did Jesus tell the disciples they were not to take (verse 9)?

Who is “worth his keep” (verse 10)?

What should they do when they enter the house they are going to stay in (verses 11 and 12)?

When do they let their “peace rest on it” (verse 13)?

When should they shake the dust “from their feet” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (verse 16)?

Who will they “be handed over to” (verse 17)?

What will they be when they are “brought before governors and kings” (verse 18)?

What should they “not worry about” (verse 19)?

Who will be “speaking through” them (verse 20)?

Who will be saved (verse 22)?

When should they “flee to another” place (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about making “the most of every opportunity”?

In your opinion, how could God sending Joseph to Egypt in Genesis 45:1-15 be an encouragement to those in Matthew 10:9-23 being sent out like sheep among wolves”?

Acts 20:25-38 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. ²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. ²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶ When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

Who will not see Paul again (verse 25)?

What does Paul declare to them (verse 26)?

What has Paul “not hesitated to proclaim” (verse 27)?

How has God “bought” the church (verse 28)?

What will happen after Paul leaves (verse 29)?

Why will men from their church “arise and distort the truth” (verse 30)?

What had Paul done “for three years” (verse 31)?

What can “the word of” God’s grace do (verse 32)?

How were the needs of Paul and his companions supplied (verse 34)?

What did Paul do when he finished speaking (verse 36)?

What “grieved them most” (verse 38)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about making “the most of every opportunity”?

In your opinion, how is the work that God sent Joseph to do in Egypt in Genesis 45:1-15 similar to the work that Paul is assigning to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:25-38?

In your opinion, how would the instructions to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” that Jesus gave to the people He was sending out in Matthew 10:9-23 apply to the Ephesian elders that Paul was instructing in Acts 20:28-38?

Colossians 4:2-6 - New International Version (NIV)

² Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³ And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

What does Paul say to do while “being watchful and thankful” (verse 2)?

What prayer does Paul request for himself (verse 3)?

Where is Paul (verse 3)?

How does Paul want to “proclaim it” (verse 4)?

How should Christians “act toward outsiders” (verse 5)?

What should each conversation be full of (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about making “the most of every opportunity”?

In your opinion, how does the way that God prepared Joseph for the circumstances of Genesis 45:1-15 and the way that Paul was provided with a way to minister while he was in chains in Colossians 4:2-6 give us confidence as we pray for doors to open today?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s instruction to “make the most of every opportunity” in Colossians 4:2-6 help us understand Jesus’s instructions to those He was sending out in Matthew 10:9-23?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s instruction to “let your conversation be always full of grace” in Colossians 4:2-6 seem difficult when you think about all the things he had warned the Ephesian elders would happen in Acts 20:25-38?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Genesis, Matthew, Acts, and Colossians reveal about God’s ability to prepare people for the circumstances they will face?

In your opinion, how does this change the way we view the challenging circumstances we find ourselves in?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

August 17, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Body Building

Body Building

Numbers 27:12-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. ¹³ After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, ¹⁴ for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)

¹⁵ Moses said to the Lord, ¹⁶ “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community ¹⁷ to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. ¹⁹ Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. ²⁰ Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. ²¹ He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”

²² Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. ²³ Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.

What was Moses to go “up this mountain in the Abarim range” and see (verse 12)?

What will happen to Moses when he has “seen it” (verse 13)?

Why did Moses want the Lord to “appoint someone over this community” (verses 16 and 17)?

Who is Moses to “take” (verse 18)?

What is Moses to “give him” (verse 20)?

Who will “obtain decisions” for him (verse 21)?

Where did Moses have Joshua “stand” (verse 22)?

What happened to Joshua (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, how do we see God caring for His people in this passage?

Matthew 9:35-10:8 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

10 ¹ Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷ As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

What did Jesus do in “all the towns and villages” (verse 35)?

Why did Jesus have “compassion” on the crowds (verse 36)?

What did Jesus say “are few” (verse 37)?

What were the disciples to “ask the Lord of the harvest” (verse 38)?

Who did Jesus give “authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness” (verse 1)?

Where were the “twelve” not to go (verse 5)?

Where were they to go (verse 6)?

What message were they to “proclaim” (verse 7)?

How were they to give (verse 8)?

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

In your opinion, how do we see God caring for His people in this passage?

In your opinion, how does Moses asking God to appoint someone “so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd” in Numbers 27:12-23 help us understand how the crowds Jesus “had compassion on” in Matthew 6:35-10:8 became exactly like that?

1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

13 ¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

What is “each one” a part of (verse 27)?

Where has God placed “first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues” (verse 28)?

What should we “eagerly desire” (verse 31)?

Who is “only a clanging cymbal” (verse 1)?

What is someone who has “the gift of prophecy” and has knowledge and faith that can move mountains and does not have “love” (verse 2)?

What does someone who gives everything to the poor and their body to hardship but does not have love gain (verse 3)?

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

In your opinion, how do we see God caring for His people in this passage?

In your opinion, how does Moses giving Joshua some of his “authority” in Numbers 27:12-23 help us understand the body of Christ sharing the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3?

In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3 help us understand about the “workers” that Jesus ask his disciples to pray would be sent “into his harvest field”?

Ephesians 4:11-24 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Why did Christ give “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers” (verses 11 and 12)?

What is the “body of Christ” being built up to “reach unity” in (verses 12 and 13)?

What blows infant Christians “here and there” (verse 14)?

Who are we growing “to become in every respect” (verse 15)?

What does “the whole body” do (verse 16)?

Where must Christians no longer live (verse 17)?

Why were the Gentiles “separated from the life of God” (verse 18)?

What happens when people lose their “sensitivity” (verse 19)?

Where is the truth that Christians are taught “in accordance with” (verse 21)?

How is the “old self” corrupted (verse 22)?

Where are Christians “made new” (verse 23)?

How is the “new self” created to “be like God” (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, how do we see God caring for His people in this passage?

In your opinion, how are the community in Numbers 27:12-23 and the body Christ in Ephesians 4:11-24 related?

In your opinion, how does Christ’s purpose in giving “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers” in Ephesians 4:11-24 differ from the reason Jesus gave authority to the twelve disciples in Matthew 9:35-10:8?

In your opinion, why is love included in Paul’s discussions about the different kinds of people placed into the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3 and Ephesians 4:11-24?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Numbers, Matthew, 1 Corinthians, and Ephesians reveal about the difference between the “harvest field” and the “body of Christ”?

In your opinion, what can we do to “build up” the body of Christ today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)