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)
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