November 6, 2016 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Heavens and New Heavens

Heavens and New Heavens

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

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

When did God create “the heavens and the earth” (verse 1)?

What was “formless and empty” (verse 2)?

Where was the darkness (verse 2)?

Who was hovering over the waters (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why did God say “let there be light” (verse 3)?

When did God separate the light from the darkness (verse 4)?

What was there the first day (verse 5)?

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

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

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

When was the Word (verse 1)?

Where was the Word (verse 1)?

Who was the Word (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what does John mean by “He was with God in the beginning” (verse 2)?

What was made through Him (verse 3)?

What was in Him (verse 4)?

What is the “light of all mankind” (verse 4)?

Where does the light shine (verse 5)?

What has not overcome the light (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, what does John 1:1-5 help us to understand about the creation of the heavens and the earth that is described in Genesis 1:1-5?

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

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

²¹ Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³ if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Who is the Son the image of (verse 15)?

What is the Son the firstborn over (verse 15)?

What has been “created through him and for him” (verse 16)?

Where is the Son (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the Son is “the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead” (verse 18)?

Where does the fullness of God dwell (verse 19)?

How does God reconcile all things on earth or in heaven to himself (verse 20)?

Why were we “alienated from God” and enemies in our minds (verse 21)?

How have we been reconciled to God (verse 22)?

How are we presented (verse 22)?

Where can we not move from (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, why does John in John 1:1-5 say that “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.   The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” and Paul in Colossians 1:15-23 say that Jesus is the “firstborn from among the dead”?

In your opinion, what does Paul in Colossians 1:15-23 help us to understand about through who and for who the creation took place as described in Genesis 1:1-5?

Revelation 21:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

What did John see (verse 1)?

What happened to the first heaven and earth (verse 1)?

Where was the Holy City coming from (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why would the loud voice from the throne say “God’s dwelling place is now among the people” (verse 3)?

Who will God be with (verse 3)?

Why will there be no more death or mourning or crying or pain (verse 4)?

Who is making everything new (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, why would it be appropriate that the One who Paul said in Colossians 1:15-23 reconciled to “himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” would be the one in Revelation 21:1-5 to create a new heaven and new earth and “wipe away every tear from their eyes”?

What is your reaction to the fact that the God who is the Word and who created everything according to John 1:1-5 is going to make everything new and dwell with His people according to Revelation 21:1-5?

In your opinion, why would the One who created the first heavens and earth as described in Genesis 1:1-5 decide to remake them, according to Revelation 21:1-5?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Colossians, and Revelation help us understand about the Creator and creation?

In your opinion, how can we apply these passages to ourselves today?

Next, back to John 1:4 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

October 23, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Preparing for the Day of the Lord

Preparing for the Day of the Lord

Isaiah 66:22-24 – New International Version (NIV)

²² “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. ²³ From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. ²⁴ “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

Who will make the new heavens and the new earth (verse 22)?

What will endure before the Lord (verse 22)?

Who will come and bow down before the Lord (verse 23)?

What will those who bow down before the Lord go out and look on (verse 24)?

Who do the worms eat (verse 24)?

What will not be quenched (verse 24)?

In your opinion, why will they “be loathsome to all mankind” (verse 24)?

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

Mark 9:42-48 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴² “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.   ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.   ⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where

“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
    and the fire is not quenched.’

What would be better for anyone who causes a little one who believes in Jesus to stumble (verse 42)?

How should the hand that “causes you to stumble” be treated (verse 43)?

What is better than having two feet and being thrown into hell (verse 45)?

In your opinion, how can your eye cause you to stumble (verse 47)?

What happens in hell (verse 48)?

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

In your opinion, what does Isaiah 66:22-24 help us to understand about what causes the stumbling that Jesus mentions three times in Mark 9:42-48?

Galatians 2:11-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³ The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

¹⁵ “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles ¹⁶ know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹ “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

In your opinion, who is Cephas (verse 11)?

Why did Paul oppose Cephas (verse 11)?

What did Cephas used to do (verse 12)?

Why did Cephas begin to “draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles” (verse 12)?

Who joined Cephas in his hypocrisy (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how would Cephas answer the question “how is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs” (verse 14)?

Who knows that “a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ” (verses 15 and 16)?

Who will be justified “by the works of the law” (verse 16)?

What absolutely does not mean that Christ promotes sin (verse 17)?

When would Paul, or we, be lawbreakers (verse 18)?

How did Paul die to the law (verse 19)?

Since Paul has been crucified with Christ, who lives in him (verse 20)?

Why does Paul not set aside the grace of God (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion in Galatians 2:11-21 about the law and being crucified in Christ help us understand Jesus’ parable about cutting off in Mark 9:42-48?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s statements about the law and faith in Galatians 2:11-21 help us understand those who Isaiah sees in Isaiah 66:22-24 bowing before the Lord?

2 Peter 3:10-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

In your opinion, what does Peter mean when he says that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (verse 10)?

What kind of people should we be “since everything will be destroyed in this way” (verse 11)?

How will the heavens be destroyed (verse 12)?

Where does righteousness dwell (verse 13)?

Why should we “make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him” (verse 14)?

What “means salvation” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does Peter mean when he says that ignorant and unstable people distort some of the things found in Paul’s letters to their own destruction (verse 16)?

How do we protect ourselves so that we might not “be carried away by the error of the lawless” (verses 17 and 18)?

When should “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” receive glory (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how does 2 Peter 3:10-18 show what Peter learned from Paul about the “error of the lawless” when Paul confronted him in Galatians 2:11-21?

In your opinion, how do we reconcile the cutting off and plucking out that Jesus talks about in Mark 9:42-48 with the patience and salvation that Peter says Jesus has in 2 Peter 3:10-18?

In your opinion, how does the final message of Isaiah in Isaiah 66:22-24 magnify the forewarning that Peter gives at the end of his letter in 2 Peter 3:10-18?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Isaiah, Mark, Galatians, and 2 Peter help us to prepare today for the day of the Lord that is coming like a thief?

In your opinion, how do these passages speak to us about ourselves today?

Next, back to John 1:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

October 16, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Creation and Judgment

Creation and Judgment

Genesis 1:1-10 and 31 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁷ So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Who created the “heavens and the earth” (verse 1)?

What was the earth like (verse 2)?

Where was the Spirit of God (verse 2)?

When was there light (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why was the light good (verse 4)?

What did God call the light (verse 5)?

How were the waters separated from the waters (verses 6, 7 and 8)?

Why did God gather the water under the sky in one place (verse 9)?

What did God call the gathered waters (verse 10)?

What was “very good” (verse 31)?

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

Mark 13:24-37 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

When will the sun be darkened and the moon not give its light (verse 24)?

What will be shaken (verse 25)?

How will people see the Son of Man coming (verse 26)?

Where will the angels gather the elect from (verse 27)?

How can we know that summer is near (verse 28)?

When will the coming of the Son of Man be “near, right at the door” (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (verse 30)?

What will never pass away (verse 31)?

Who knows when the day or hour is (verse 32)?

Why should we “Be on guard! Be alert!” (verse 33)?

Who puts his servants in charge and tells the one at the door to keep watch (verse 34)?

Why should we keep watch (verse 35)?

What does Jesus say to everyone (verse 36)?

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

In your opinion, what has happened that the world that God said was very good in Genesis 1:1-10 and 31 has changed so that Jesus said in Mark 13:24-37 the sun would be darkened, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken?

1 Thessalonians 1:3-12 - New International Version (NIV)

³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

⁵ All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶ God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷ and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might ¹⁰ on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. ¹² We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why does Paul tell the Thessalonian Christians that “we ought to always thank God for you” (verse 3)?

Where does Paul boast about their perseverance and faith (verse 4)?

What does this evidence prove about God’s judgment (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that God will pay back “trouble to those who trouble you” (verse 6)?

Who will God give relief to (verse 7)?

When will this happen (verse 7)?

In your opinion, who do we “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (verse 8)?

What will those who are punished be shut out of (verse 9)?

Who will marvel at the Lord Jesus on the day He comes to be glorified (verse 10)?

What prayer does Paul have for those who believe (verse 11)?

Who does Paul pray will be glorified in each other (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:3-12 reveal to us about the tasks that Jesus, who reveals in Mark 13:24-37 that a homeowner who is leaving assigns tasks to his servants, leaves for us to do until He returns?

In your opinion, what does Genesis 1:1-10 and 31 reveal about Jesus that, according to Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:3-13, believers will marvel at on the day that He returns?

2 Peter 3:1-9 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ² I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

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.

Why did Peter write two letters to his friends (verse 1)?

What does Peter want us to recall (verse 2)?

When will scoffers come “scoffing and following their own evil desires” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why will they challenge the idea of Jesus returning (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 “deluged and destroyed” the world of that time (verse 6)?

What word keeps the present heavens and earth for the day of judgment (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day" (verse 8)?

Why is the Lord patient (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, what does Peter’s discussion about the Lord’s patience in 2 Peter 3:1-9 show us about God’s desire for those who Paul reveals in 1 Thessalonians 1:3-12 will be “punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might” ?

In your opinion, what sign does Peter reveal in 2 Peter 3:1-9 that could be the “lesson from the fig tree” that Jesus talks about in Mark 13:24-37?

In your opinion, how does God in Genesis 1:1-10 and 31 creating light, seeing that it was good and then separating it from the darkness help us to understand the day of judgment and the “destruction of the ungodly” in 2 Peter 3:1-9?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, Mark, 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Peter help us to understand about how we are to live in the last days to prepare for the day of judgment?

In your opinion, what do these passages show us about ourselves today?

Next, back to 2 Peter 3:10 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

October 9, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Slaves to Sin or Slaves to Righteousness

Slaves to Sin or Slaves to Righteousness

Proverbs 23:29-35 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaints?
    Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
³⁰ Those who linger over wine,
    who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
³¹ Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup,
    when it goes down smoothly!
³² In the end it bites like a snake
    and poisons like a viper.
³³ Your eyes will see strange sights,
    and your mind will imagine confusing things.
³⁴ You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
    lying on top of the rigging.
³⁵ “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
    They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
    so I can find another drink?”

Who do all of these questions describe (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to linger over wine (verse 30)?

What should not be gazed out when it sparkles in the cup (verse 31)?

How does wine bite (verse 32)?

What will the mind imagine (verse 33)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be like one “lying on top of the rigging” (verse 34)?

What does the person want to wake up and find (verse 35)?

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

John 4:10-26 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

What did the woman need to know to ask for living water (verse 10)?

Why did the woman think that Jesus would not be able to get “this living water” (verse 11)?

Who is the woman’s father (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why will everyone who drinks “this water” be thirsty again (verse 13)?

What will the water that Jesus gives become (verse 14)?

Why did the woman want this water (verse 15)?

Who did Jesus ask the woman to get (verse 16)?

What does the woman not have (verse 17)?

How many husbands has the woman had (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why does the woman think that Jesus is a prophet (verse 19)?

What difference did the woman point out between the Samaritans and the Jews (verse 20)?

What is coming (verse 21)?

Who is the salvation from (verse 22)?

How will true worshippers worship (verse 23)?

What does the Samaritan woman know the Messiah will do when He comes (verse 24)?

Who does Jesus claim to be (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, why does the drunkard in Proverbs 23:29-35 want to wake up to find another drink but the people in John 4:10-26 who receive the living water from Jesus will not thirst?

Romans 6:15-23 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

¹⁹ I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How does Paul answer the question “shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace” (verse 15)?

Who are we slaves of (verse 16)?

Why is Paul giving thanks to God for the Romans that he is writing to (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be free from sin but be a slave to righteousness (verse 18)?

Why is Paul using an example from everyday life (verse 19)?

When were the readers “free from the control of righteousness” (verse 20)?

What did the things the readers are ashamed of result in (verse 21)?

What benefit is there from being free from sin and slaves of God (verse 22)?

What is the wages of sin (verse 23)?

What is the gift of God (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus’ statement in John 4:10-26 that “the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” help us to understand the truth that Paul shares in Romans 6:15-23 that “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”?

In your opinion, how does the alcoholic of Proverbs 23:29-35 who has woe, sorrow and bloodshot eyes but yearns to wake up and find another drink help us to understand Paul when he says in Romans 6:15-23 that we “are slaves of the one we obey”?

2 Peter 2:17-22 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” ²⁰ If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. ²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

In your opinion, what is bad about a spring without water (verse 17)?

What is reserved for people who are “springs without water” (verse 17)?

How do they “entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, how can they promise freedom while they are slaves of depravity (verse 19)?

When are they “worse off at the end than they were at the beginning” (verse 20)?

What would have been better for them (verse 21)?

Who returns to its vomit (verse 22)?

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

In your opinion, what could the people that Peter says promise freedom “while they themselves are slaves of depravity” in 2 Peter 2:17-22 learn from Paul’s statement in Romans 6:15-23 that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”?

In your opinion, how are the people that Peter says are “springs without water” in 2 Peter 2:17-22 different from the ones in John 4:10-26 that Jesus promises “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst”?

In your opinion, how can the one who has strife, complaints and bruises but wants to wake up and find another drink in Proverbs 23:29-35 help us to understand the effect of “lustful desires of the flesh” that the people who are “springs without water” in 2 Peter 2:17-22 appeal to so they may enslave the ones who just escaped from “those who live in error”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Proverbs, John, Romans, and 2 Peter help us to understand about the choice we have to make between the ones who are empty springs and the One who gives living water?

In your opinion, what do these passages show us about ourselves today?

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