The Testimony of Jesus
Isaiah 25:1-9 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 Lord, you are
my God;
I
will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you
have done wonderful things,
things
planned long ago.
2 You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the
fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
it
will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities
of ruthless nations will revere you.
4 You have been a refuge for the poor,
a
refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and
a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is
like a storm driving against a wall
5 and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
as
heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so
the song of the ruthless is stilled.
6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty
will prepare
a
feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the
best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the
shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will
wipe away the tears
from
all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from
all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God;
we
trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted
in him;
let
us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
What
has the Lord done “in perfect faithfulness” (verse 1)?
What is now “a heap of rubble” (verse 2)?
Who will honor the Lord (verse
3)?
What has the Lord been for the needy (verse 4)?
Whose uproar does the Lord silence (verse 5)?
Where will the Lord Almighty prepare “a
feast of rich food for all peoples” (verse 6)?
Where will the Lord Almighty “destroy the
shroud that enfolds all peoples” (verse 7)?
What will the Lord Almighty “swallow up”
forever (verse 8)?
Whose “disgrace” will the Sovereign Lord
remove (verse 8)?
How should God’s people react to the Lord they
trusted (verse 9)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
John
12:12-19 - New
International Version (NIV)
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard
that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and
went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid,
Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only
after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been
written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from
the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many
people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out
to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another,
“See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
Who “heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem”
(verse 12)?
What did they take to meet Him (verse 13)?
In your opinion, what does “hosanna” mean
(verse 13)?
In your opinion, what is the significance of “blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (verse 13)?
In your opinion, what is the significance of “blessed
is the king of Israel” (verse 13)?
What did Jesus sit on (verse 14)?
How was “Daughter Zion” to react when she saw “your
king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt” (verse 15)?
When did the disciples “understand all this” (verse
16)?
Who “continued to spread the word” (verse 17)?
Why did “many people” go out to meet him
(verse 18)?
How did the Pharisees react (verse 19)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, how
does this passage show us that God is in control even though the world is “under
the control of the evil one”?
In
your opinion, would the knowledge of the crowd that Jesus had called Lazarus
from the dead, have prompted the crowds with Jesus as He entered Jerusalem in
John 12:12-19 to believe that He was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah
25:1-9 that God would “swallow up death forever”? If it is not, then what do you think is the
fulfillment?
1 John 5:14-21 – New International Version (NIV)
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we
ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if
we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we
asked of him.
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead
to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those
whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am
not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All
wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the
One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm
them. 19 We know that we are children of God, and
that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We
know also that the Son of God has come and has given us
understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him
who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal
life.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
What
“is the confidence we have in approaching God” (verse 14)?
In
your opinion, how does the statement “according to his will” in verse 14
help us understand “And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that
we have what we asked of him” in verse 15?
What
should a Christian do if they see “any brother or sister commit a sin that
does not lead to death” (verse 16)?
In
your opinion, what is the “sin that leads to death” (verse 16)?
What
is “all wrongdoing” (verse 17)?
In
your opinion, what is the “sin that does not lead to death” (verse 17)?
Who keeps “anyone born of God” safe (verse 18)?
Can the “evil one” harm
the one who is “born of God” (verse 18)?
What is the whole world
under (verse 19)?
Who has “given us understanding”
(verse 20)?
When are we “in him
who is true” (verse 20)?
What are the “dear
children” to keep themselves from (verse 21)?
In your opinion, what
is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is
the difference between those who are saved by God and those under the control
of the evil one illustrated in Isaiah 25:1-9 and in 1 John 5:14-21?
In
your opinion, how does the statement “being in his Son Jesus Christ” in
1 John 5:14-21 reveal the inadequate understanding of those who were chanting
when Jesus entered Jerusalem in John 12:12-19?
Revelation 19:1-10 – New International
Version (NIV)
1 After this
I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven
shouting:
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
3 And again they shouted:
“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”
4 The twenty-four elders and the four living
creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne.
And they cried:
“Amen, Hallelujah!”
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
both great and small!”
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the
roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for
the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are
those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added,
“These are the true words of God.”
10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me,
“Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and
sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the
Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”
Who was shouting “Hallelujah” (verse 1)?
Why
does “salvation and glory and power belong to our God” (verses 1 and 2)?
Who
has God condemned (verse 2)?
What
does the smoke go up from “for ever and ever” (verse 3)?
Who
fell down and cried “Amen, Hallelujah” (verse 4)?
Where
did the voice come from that said “Praise our God, all you his servants, you
who fear him, both great and small” (verse 5)?
How
loud was the great multitude who shouted “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty
reigns” (verse 6)?
What
has come (verse 7)?
Who
“has made herself ready” (verse 7)?
What
is the “fine linen” (verse 8)?
Who
is blessed (verse 9)?
Who
should be worshipped (verse 10)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does this passage
show us that God is in control even though the world is “under the control
of the evil one”?
In your opinion, how is the salvation
that John records in Revelation 19:1-10 different from the salvation that
Isaiah 25:1-9 proclaims?
In your opinion, why is the “Hosanna”,
in John 12:12-19 appropriate for the people celebrating Jesus’s entry into
Jerusalem, but “Hallelujah” appropriate for the great multitude of
Revelation 19:1-10?
In your opinion, how is the fact that “the
whole world is under the control of the evil one” in 1 John 5:14-21 affected
by the condemnation of “the great prostitute” of Revelation 19:1-10?
In
your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, John, 1 John and Revelation teach
us about the “testimony of Jesus”?
In your
opinion, how, in a world “under the control of the evil one” can we “hold
to the testimony of Jesus” today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
