Leaving a
Meaningless World Through the Narrow Gate
Ecclesiastes 9:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)
1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the
righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows
whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the
clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
As it is with the good,
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.
so with the sinful;
as it is with those who take oaths,
so with those who are afraid to take them.
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The
same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people,
moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they
live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who
is among the living has hope even a live dog is better off than a
dead lion!
5 For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate
and their jealousy have long since vanished;
never again will they have a part
in anything that happens under the sun.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful
heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8 Always
be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy
life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that
God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot
in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever
your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead,
where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor
wisdom.
In
whose hands are “the righteous and the
wise” (verse 1)?
What do “the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and
the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not” share
(verse 2)?
In your opinion, why does the Teacher think the
fact that the “same destiny overtakes
all” is “the evil in everything that
happens under the sun” (verse 3)?
Who “has
hope” (verse 4)?
What do the living know (verse 5)?
Who does the Teacher say “never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the
sun” (verses 5 and 6)?
Why does the Teacher say to “eat your food with gladness, and drink your
wine with a joyful heart” (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what does the Teacher mean by
“always be clothed in white, and always
anoint your head with oil” (verse 8)?
How does the Teacher say we should live “all the days of this meaningless life that
God has given you under the sun” (verse 9)?
What should we “do with all your might” (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
Matthew
7:13-14 - New International
Version (NIV)
13 “Enter
through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads
to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But
small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find
it.
What
are we to do “through the narrow gate”
(verse 13)?
How does Jesus describe the gate that “leads to destruction” (verse 13)?
What do “many”
do (verse 13)?
What “leads
to life” (verse 14)?
How many find “life” (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, which part of the choice
Jesus presents in Matthew 7:13-14 does the Teacher describe in Ecclesiastes
9:1-10?
Acts
4:8-14 – New
International Version (NIV)
8 Then Peter, filled with
the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If
we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who
was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then
know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this
man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders
rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no
one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we
must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage
of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they
were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But
since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them,
there was nothing they could say.
What
filled Peter (verse 8)?
How does Peter describe the act that
they are “being called to account today
for” (verse 9)?
How does the man stand “before you healed” (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what does Peter mean
by “the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone” (verse 11)?
What is found in no one other than
Jesus (verse 12)?
Why were the rulers and elders of the
people astonished (verse 13)?
Why was there nothing the rulers and
elders of the people could say (verse
14)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, what did Peter and John, as
unschooled, ordinary men, know in Acts 4:8-14 that the Teacher of Ecclesiastes
9:1-10 did not know?
In your opinion, how is Matthew
7:13-14 explained by Peter in Acts 4:8-14?
1
Timothy 2:1-6 – New
International Version (NIV)
1 I
urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings
and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all
godliness and holiness. 3 This
is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who
wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator
between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who
gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the
proper time.
Who does Paul urge Timothy to make “petitions, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving” for (verse 1)?
Why does Paul urge Timothy topray for “kings and all those in authority” (verse
2)?
What does “God
our Savior” want (verses 3 and 4)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to “come to a knowledge of the truth” (verse
4)?
Who is the “mediator
between God and mankind” (verse 5)?
What did the “mediator” do (verse 6)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s statement in
1 Timothy 2:1-6 add hope to the despair the Teacher had in Ecclesiastes 9:1-10
when he said “the hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is
madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead”?
In your opinion, how does Paul in 1 Timothy
2:1-6 lead us to the “narrow gate” that
Jesus talked about in Matthew 7:13-14?
In your opinion, how do we reconcile the fact
that Peter, “filled with the Holy Spirit”
confronted the rulers and elders in Acts 4:8-14 and Paul in 1 Timothy 2:1-6
urges “petitions, prayers, intercession
and thanksgiving” be made to “all
those in authority”?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Ecclesiastes,
Matthew, Acts and 1 Timothy help us understand about the difference “meaningless days” and “peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness
and holiness”?
In your opinion, what can we do to continue the
witness to “Christ Jesus, who gave
himself as a ransom for all people” and lead others to through the narrow
gate?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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