June 14, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Love in a Perverse World

Love in a Perverse World

Deuteronomy 32:15-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock their Savior.
¹⁶ They made him jealous with their foreign gods
    and angered him with their detestable idols.
¹⁷ They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God—
    gods they had not known,
    gods that recently appeared,
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
¹⁸ You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹ The Lord saw this and rejected them
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
²⁰ “I will hide my face from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,
    children who are unfaithful.
²¹ They made me jealous by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.

Who “abandoned the God who made them” (verse 15)?

How did they make God jealous (verse 16)?

Who did they sacrifice to (verse 17)?

What did they do to “the God who gave” them birth (verse 18)?

What did the Lord do when He “saw this” (verse 19)?

How is the generation described (verse 20)?

What will the Lord do “by those who are not a people” (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about following God in a perverse world?

Matthew 17:14-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

¹⁷ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

What did the man who approached Jesus do (verse 14)?

Who did the man want Jesus to “have mercy on” (verse 15)?

What could the disciples not do (verse 16)?

How does Jesus describe the generation (verse 17)?

What happened when “Jesus rebuked the demon” (verse 18)?

Where did the disciples ask Jesus why couldn’t we drive it out” (verse 19)?

How much faith does it take to move a mountain (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about following God in a perverse world?

In your opinion, what does Jesus in Matthew 17:14-20 help us understand about what it takes to remove ourselves from the perverse generation described in Deuteronomy 32:15-21, the one that He was talking to, and the one that we live in?

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)

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.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

What makes a person who can “speak in the tongues of men or of angels” into a resounding gong (verse 1)?

What is someone who has “a faith that can move mountains” but not love (verse 2)?

How much does someone gain if they give everything but “do not have love” (verse 3)?

What is patient and kind (verse 4)?

In your opinion, how can love not keep a record of wrongs (verse 5)?

What does love rejoice with (verse 6)?

How long does love persevere (verse 7)?

How is love different from prophecies, tongues and knowledge (verse 8)?

What do we do “in part” (verse 9)?

When are the ways of childhood put behind (verse 11)?

How are we known (by God) (verse 12)?

What is the greatest of “faith, hope and love” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about following God in a perverse world?

In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 help us understand about how the relationship with God of the descendants of those listening to Moses’s song in Deuteronomy 32:15-21 could and abandon God?

In your opinion, how does our understanding of what the disciples lacked change when we read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 after reading Jesus’s accurate emphasis on the lack of their faith in Matthew 17:14-20?

Philippians 2:12-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and :trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good -purpose.

¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

What does Paul want the Philippian Christians to “work out” (verse 12)?

Who works in Christians “to fulfill his good purpose” (verse 13)?

How does Paul instruct the Philippians Christians to do “everything” (verse 14)?

What does Paul recognize about the generation they are living in (verse 15)?

What should they “hold firmly to” as they shine in that generation (verses 15 and 16)?

How does Paul feel, even as he is “being poured out like a drink offering” (verse 17)?

How should the Philippian Christians respond to Paul (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about following God in a perverse world?

In your opinion, what does Moses anticipating the Israelite people abandoning God in Deuteronomy 32:15-21 help us understand why Paul would instruct in Philippians 2:12-18 to “continue to work out your salvation”?

In your opinion, how are the generation that Jesus is talking to in Matthew 17:14-20 and the generation that Christians are living among in Philippians 2:12-18 connected?

In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 help us understand about what we need to work on to follow the instructions of Philippians 2:12-18 to “work out your salvation”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Matthew, 1 Corinthians, and Philippians teach us about not being people of the world?

In your opinion, how do we grow our faith among a people who have abandoned God today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

June 7, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Witnesses

Witnesses

Exodus 33:12-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

What doesn’t Moses know (verse 12)?

What did Moses want the Lord to do if He “was pleased” with him (verse 13)?

How did the Lord reply to Moses (verse 14)?

When did Moses not want the Lord to send them (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why does Moses want people to know God is pleased with them (verse 16)?

Why will the Lord do what Moses has asked (verse 17)?

What did Moses want to see (verse 18)?

Who will the Lord have mercy on (verse 19)?

What can no one see and live (verse 20)?

Where can Moses stand (verse 21)?

What will the Lord do for Moses when His “glory passes by” (verse 22)?

What will Moses be allowed to see (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s glory?

Matthew 17:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. ³ Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” ⁸ When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

¹⁰ The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. ¹² But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

Where did Jesus take Peter, James and John (verse 1)?

How is He described when He is “transfigured” (verse 2)?

Who appeared and talked with Jesus (verse 3)?

What was Peter ready to do (verse 4)?

What did the voice from the cloud say (verse 5)?

How did Peter, James and John react to the voice (verse 6)?

What did Jesus tell them (verse 7)?

When could Peter, James and John tell what they had seen (verse 9)?

Who did the “teachers of the law” say must come first (verse 10)?

What would the one who comes first do (verse 11)?

What is the “Son of Man” going to do “at their hands” (verse 12)?

Who had Jesus been talking about (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s glory?

In your opinion, how is the experience of being in God’s presence different for Moses in Exodus 33:12-23 than for Peter, James and John in Matthew 17:1-17?

2 Corinthians 3:7-18 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, ⁸ will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? ⁹ If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! ¹⁰ For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. ¹¹ And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

¹² Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

What did the “ministry that brought death” come with (verse 7)?

What will be more glorious than “the ministry that brought condemnation” (verse 9)?

What does “what was glorious” not have “in comparison with the surpassing glory” (verse 10)?

What will have greater glory than “what was transitory” (verse 11)?

Why are we “very bold” (verse 12)?

What did Moses do (verse 13)?

How can the veil be taken away (verse 14)?

What happens “when Moses is read” (verse 15)?

When is the veil taken away (verse 16)?

Where is “freedom” (verse 17)?

Who are “being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s glory?

In your opinion, how do you explain the difference between God protecting Moses until His glory had passed by in Exodus 33:12-23 and Christians being able to be transformed by the “Lord’s glory” in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18?

In your opinion, how is the way Jesus was transfigured in Matthew 17:1-13 related to the way Christians are “transformed into his image” in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18?

2 Peter 1:16-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” ¹⁸ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

When did Peter not “follow cleverly devised stories” (verse 16)?

What was Peter an eyewitness of (verse 16)?

Whose voice said, “this is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (verse 17)?

Where was Peter when he heard that voice (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s glory?

In your opinion, how is what Moses witnessed on the mountain in Exodus 33:12-23 different from what Peter and the others witnessed on the mountain in 2 Peter 1:16-18?

In your opinion, how does 2 Peter 1:16-18 help us understand what happened on the mountain in Matthew 17:1-13?

In your opinion, how is Peter in 2 Peter 1:16-18 an example of those who “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Matthew, 2 Corinthians, and 2 Peter teach us teach us about God’s mercy?

In your opinion, how can we be witnesses for Jesus today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)