Reputation versus
Book of Life
Revelation 3:1-6 –
New International Version (NIV)
1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These
are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I
know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake
up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds
unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what
you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake
up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to
you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled
their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The
one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot
out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that
name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let
them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
What does He “who holds the seven spirits of God and the
seven stars” know about the reputation of the church of Sardis (verse 1)?
What does He know
about the reality of the church of Sardis (verse
1)?
In your opinion,
what could cause this difference between the reputation and the reality (verse 1)?
What should the
church do for “what remains and is about
to die” (verse 2)?
How are the deeds
found “in the sight of my God” (verse
2)?
What is the church
in Sardis to do after they remember and hold fast to what they “have received and heard” (verse 3)?
How will the one “who holds the seven spirits of God and the
seven stars” come if the church in Sardis does not “wake up” (verse 3)?
Why will the “few people” in Sardis who have not
soiled the clothes walk with Jesus (verse
4)?
In your opinion,
why will “the one who is victorious”
also be dressed in white (verse 5)?
From what will
Jesus “never blot out the name of that
person” (verse 5)?
Who will Jesus “acknowledge that name before” (verse 5)?
What is “whoever has ears” commanded to hear
(verse 6)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
Romans 3:22-31 - New
International Version (NIV)
22 “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all
are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ
Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to
demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins
committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate
his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who
justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what
law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For
we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the
law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of
Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one
God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through
that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith?
Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.”
Who is the given
the righteousness that “is given through
faith in Jesus Christ” (verse 22)?
What have all, including all Jews and all
Gentiles, done (verse 23)?
How are all
justified freely (verse 24)?
How is Christ’s “shedding of his blood” as a “sacrifice of atonement” to be received (verse
25)?
In your opinion,
why had God “in his forbearance . . .
left the sins committed beforehand go unpunished” (verse 23)?
How does God
presenting “Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of his blood” serve to “demonstrate his righteousness at the present time” (verse 26)?
Where is boasting (verse
27)?
In your opinion,
what is the difference between the “law
that requires works” and the “law
that requires faith” (verse 27)?
How is a person
justified (verse 28)?
What is apart from that justification (verse
28)?
How are the circumcised and the
uncircumcised both justified (verse 30)?
In your opinion, how does Paul in Romans
3:22-31 not nullify but uphold the law “by
this faith” (verse 31)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s
discussion about being justified by faith in Romans 3:22-31 help to understand why
Jesus tells the people of the church of Sardis “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but
you are dead”
in Revelation 3:1-6?
John 9:35-41 - New
International Version (NIV)
35 “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found
him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may
believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one
speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so
that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and
asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of
sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
What did Jesus ask the blind man who
He had healed on the Sabbath and who the Pharisees had thrown out of the
synagogue (verse 35)?
How does the man respond (verse 36)?
In your opinion, what is the significance
of Jesus telling the man who had been born blind “you have now seen him” (verse 37)?
How does the man, who now sees, respond to
Jesus (verse 38)?
Why has Jesus “come into this world” (verse 39)?
In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when
He says “so that the blind will see and
those who see will become blind” (verse 39)?
What did the Pharisees who were with Jesus
ask Him (verse 40)?
In your opinion, why do the Pharisees who claim
to see remain guilty (verse 41)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s claim in
Romans 3:22-31 that “all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” help us to
understand the difference between the blind man who now sees and the Pharisees
who claim to see and are blind in John 9:35-41?
In your opinion, how does the contrast of
the blind man who now sees and the Pharisees who are still blind in John
9:35-41 help us to understand the ones who “have
not soiled their clothes” and the ones who “have a reputation for being alive, but . . . are dead” in
Revelation 3:1-6?
Revelation 20:11-15
– New International Version (NIV)
11 “Then I saw a great white throne and him
who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and
there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the
book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded
in the books. 13 The sea gave up the
dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them,
and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of
fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone
whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake
of fire.”
What and who did
John see (verse 11)?
What “fled
from his presence” (verse 11)?
Who did John see “standing before the throne” (verse 12)?
In your opinion, what is the difference
between the books and the “book of life”
(verse 12)?
How were the dead judged (verse 12)?
What did the sea and death and Hades give
up (verse 13)?
Where were death and Hades thrown (verse 14)?
What is the second death (verse 14)?
Who else was thrown into the lake of fire (verse
15)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how
does John’s discussion in John 3:22-31 about the blind man and the Pharisees
help us to understand his vision in Revelation 20:11-15 about the books and the
book of life and those who are thrown into the lake of fire?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s statement
that “all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God” in Romans 3:22-31 help us to understand what might be in
the books of Revelation 20:11-15? In
addition, how does Paul’s discussion about being “justified by faith” in Romans 3:22-31 help us to understand how
people’s names are recorded in the “book
of life” of Revelation 20:11-15?
In your opinion, how
does John’s vision of the books and the “book
of life” in Revelation 20:11-15 help us to understand the statement that
Jesus makes in Revelation 3:1-6 to the church of Sardis that He knows “your deeds” and that “you have a
reputation of being alive, but you are dead”?
In your opinion, what do these passages,
from Revelation, Romans and John show us about ourselves today?
Next, back to Revelation 3:7 –
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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