Stumbling into Salvation
Isaiah 8:11-16 - New International
Version (NIV)
11 This is what the Lord says to me with his
strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:
12 “Do not call conspiracy
everything
this people calls a conspiracy;
do not fear what they fear,
and
do not dread it.
13 The Lord Almighty
is the one you are to regard as holy,
he
is the one you are to fear,
he
is the one you are to dread.
14 He will be a holy place;
for
both Israel and Judah he will be
a stone that causes people to stumble
and
a rock that makes them fall.
And for the people of Jerusalem he will be
a
trap and a snare.
15 Many of them will stumble;
they
will fall and be broken,
they
will be snared and captured.”
16 Bind up this testimony of warning
and
seal up God’s instruction among my disciples.
Whose “strong hand” was on Isaiah (verse
11)?
What way was Isaiah not to follow (verse 11)?
What is Isaiah not to fear (verse 12)?
Who is Isaiah to regard as holy (verse 13)?
Who will be a “holy place” (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to say that
the Lord Almighty will be “a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock
that makes them fall” (verse 14)?
What is Isaiah to do with this testimony (verse
16)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Luke
2:25-35 - New
International Version (NIV)
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous
and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by
the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s
Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple
courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the
custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms
and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you
have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight
of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about
him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his
mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of
many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so
that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your
own soul too.”
Who was Simeon waiting for (verse 25)?
What had been revealed to Simeon (verse 26)?
Why did Simeon go “into the temple courts” (verse
27)?
How did Simeon react when he saw Jesus (verses 27 and
28)?
In your opinion, what did Simeon mean by “you may
now dismiss your servant in peace” (verse 29)?
What had Simeon seen (verse 30)?
What did Simeon say Jesus was for the Gentiles (verse
32)?
What did Simeon say Jesus was for Israel (verse 32)?
How did Jesus’s parents respond to what Simeon said (verse
33)?
What was Jesus destined to cause in Israel (verse 34)?
What will happen to Mary (verse 35)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what
does this passage help us understand about why a stone that causes stumbling is
important in salvation?
In
your opinion, how do the words of Simeon in Luke 2:25-35 echo the prophecy in
Isaiah 8:11-16?
Romans 9:30-10:4 – New International Version (NIV)
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue
righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but
the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of
righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why
not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They
stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:
“See, I lay in Zion a
stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who believes in him will never be put to
shame.”
1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God
for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can
testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not
based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the
righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to
God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is
the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone
who believes.
What
have Gentiles obtain that they did not pursue (verse 30)?
How
have they obtained it (verse 30)?
What
have the “people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness”
not attained (verse 31)?
What
did the people of Israel stumble over (verse 32)?
What did the Lord lay in Zion (verse 33)?
Who will never be “put to shame” (verse 33)?
What is Paul’s “heart’s
desire and prayer” (verse 1)?
What could Paul testify
about (verse 2)?
Why did they “not
submit to God’s righteousness” (verse 3)?
Why may there “be
righteousness for everyone who believes” (verse 4)?
In your opinion, what
is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does
Isaiah 8:11-16 perfectly prophesy the problem with Jesus Christ that we read
about in Romans 9:30-10:4? How is the solution
that God offers for that problem also revealed?
In
your opinion, how is Simeon in Luke 2:25-35 an example of how the solution to
the lack of righteousness found in Romans 9:30-10:4 can be claimed by any of us?
1 Peter 2:4-10 – New International
Version (NIV)
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen
by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living
stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy
priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who
do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the
message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of
him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once
you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Who is “rejected by humans but chosen by God and
precious to him” (verse 4)?
What
are the “living stones” being built into (verse 5)?
What
kind of sacrifices are “acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (verse 5)?
Who
will “never be put to shame” (verse 6)?
What
is the stone “to those who do not believe” (verse 7)?
What
does the stone cause people to do (verse 8)?
Why
do people stumble (verse 8)?
What
may “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession” do (verse 9)?
What
have “the people of God” received (verse 10)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage
help us understand about why a stone that causes stumbling is important in
salvation?
In your opinion, how
does the stone that people stumble over in Isaiah 8:11-16 become so much more
in 1 Peter 2:4-10?
In your opinion, how do Simeon’s words
that “this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in
Israel” in Luke 2:25-35 anticipate how Peter would see Jesus in 1 Peter
2:4-10?
In
your opinion, how does Paul in Romans 9:30-10:41 when he says “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may
be righteousness for everyone who believes”
help us understand how Jesus can be both the stumbling stone and the
cornerstone in 1 Peter 2:4-10?
In
your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Luke, Romans and 1 Peter help
us understand about the stone that Jesus is in our lives?
In your
opinion, how do we “declare the praises of
him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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