Pursuing Righteousness
1
Samuel 26:7-13 - New International Version (NIV)
7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was
Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his
head. Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.
8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into
your hands. Now let me pin him to the ground with one thrust of the spear; I
won’t strike him twice.”
9 But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand
on the Lord’s
anointed and be guiltless? 10 As surely as the Lord lives,” he said, “the Lord himself will strike him,
or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and
perish. 11 But the Lord forbid
that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s
anointed. Now get the spear and water jug that are near his head, and let’s
go.”
12 So David took the spear and water jug near Saul’s head, and they
left. No one saw or knew about it, nor did anyone wake up. They were all
sleeping, because the Lord had
put them into a deep sleep.
13 Then David crossed over to the other side and stood on top of the
hill some distance away; there was a wide space between them.
Where did David and Abishai go “by night” (verse
7)?
What was Saul doing (verse 7)?
Who was around Saul (verse 7)?
In your opinion, why did Abishai think that “God
has delivered” David’s enemy into his hands (verse 8)?
Why did David tell Abishai not to destroy Saul (verse
9)?
What did David think would happen to Saul (verse
10)?
What did David say that the “Lord forbid”
(verse 11)?
Where was the spear and water jug that David
took (verse 12)?
Where did David go (verse 13)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 15:6-15 - New
International Version (NIV)
6 Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom
the people requested. 7 A man called Barabbas was in
prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the
uprising. 8 The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for
them what he usually did.
9 “Do you want me to release to you the king of the
Jews?” asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of
self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11 But
the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release
Barabbas instead.
12 “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the
Jews?” Pilate asked them.
13 “Crucify him!” they shouted.
14 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He
had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
Who was customarily released at the
festival (verse 6)?
What had Barabbas done “in the
uprising” (verse 7)?
What did the crowd ask Pilate to do (verse
8)?
Who did Pilate think the crowd wanted
released (verse 9)?
Why did Pilate think the chief priests
handed Jesus over to him (verse 10)?
In your opinion, would the chief priests
have said that they stirred up the crowd for a righteous reason (verse 11)?
Who ask “what shall I do, then, with
the one you call the king of the Jews” (verse 12)?
What did the crowd tell Pilate (verse 13)?
How did the crowd respond when Pilate ask
them “what crime has he committed” (verse 14)?
What did Pilate do to satisfy the crowd
(verse 15)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how was David’s approach in 1 Samuel
26:7-13 to dealing with Saul, who had declared himself an enemy of David, the
opposite of the chief priests’ approach in Mark 15:6-15 of dealing with Jesus?
Acts
21:30-36 –
New International Version (NIV)
30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all
directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and
immediately the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying
to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city
of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He at once took some
officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the
commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33 The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be
bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had
done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some
another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the
uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When
Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be
carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept
shouting, “Get rid of him!”
Who was aroused (verse 30)?
In your opinion, would they have said they were
aroused for a good reason (verse 30)?
What happened after they dragged Paul from the temple
(verse 30)?
Who heard that the “whole city of Jerusalem was in
an uproar” (verse 31)?
When did the rioters stop beating Paul (verse 32)?
In
your opinion, why was Paul, who they were beating, arrested and bound with
chains (verse 33)?
Why
could the commander not get the truth (verse 34)?
Why
was Paul carried by the soldiers (verse 35)?
What
was the crowd shouting (verse 36)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In
your opinion, how has the situation changed from the time that the chief
priests used Pilate to have Jesus killed in Mark 15:6-15 to the time when the
crowd is trying to kill Paul in Acts 21:30-36?
1 Timothy
6:11-16 – New International Version (NIV)
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and
pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and
gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold
of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good
confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to
everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius
Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or
blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God,
the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in
unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be
honor and might forever. Amen.
What is Paul telling Timothy to pursue (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the “good fight of the
faith” that Paul is telling Timothy to fight (verse 12)?
When was Timothy called to eternal life (verse 12)?
What did Christ Jesus make before Pontius Pilate (verse
13)?
How long if Timothy to “keep this command” (verse
14)?
What is God going to “bring about in his own time”
(verses 14 and 15)?
Who is to have “honor and might forever” (verse
16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, how do
Abishai and David in 1 Samuel 26:7-13, demonstrate pursuing “righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, endurance and gentleness” as Timothy was instructed to do in 1
Timothy 6:11-16 instead of the falling prey to temptation to what seemed like a
good thing?
In your opinion, did
Pilate when he tried to release Jesus and ended up releasing Barabbas in Mark
15:6-15 “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and
gentleness” as Timothy was commanded to by Paul in 1 Timothy 6:11-16? Why or why not? How about the high priests? Why or why not? Do you think that Pilate and the high priests
would have said they were pursuing righteousness?
In your opinion, what do these passages from 1 Samuel,
Mark, Acts and 1 Timothy teach us about the challenge of pursuing “righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” as an individual? Do you think it is easier or harder as part
of a group?
In your
opinion, how can we who believe today discern the temptation that we need to
flee and the righteousness we are commanded to pursue?
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