Preparing Straight Ways
Isaiah 40:1-5 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s
hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has
spoken.”
Who says “comfort, comfort my people” (verse 1)?
What has happened to Jerusalem’s sin (verse
2)?
Where is the way for the Lord to be prepared (verse
3)?
How is the “highway for our God”
to be made (verse 3)?
What will happen to valleys (verse 4)?
What will become level (verse 4)?
Whose will see “the glory of the Lord” (verse
5)?
What has spoken (verse 5)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about preparing “the way for the Lord”?
Matthew 3:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)
1 In those days John the Baptist came,
preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This
is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a
leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild
honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all
Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing
their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to
where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned
you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in
keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to
yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these
stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is
already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good
fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me
comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His
winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering
his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Where
was John the Baptist preaching (verse 1)?
What
did he say “has come near” (verse 2)?
In
your opinion, why is it significant that Matthew claimed the Isaiah “voice
of one calling in the wilderness” for John the Baptist (verse 3)?
Who
was a way to be prepared for (verse 3)?
How was John the Baptist described (verse
4)?
Where did people come from to see John
the Baptist (verse 5)?
What did the people do before they were
baptized (verse 6)?
Who
did John the Baptist call a “brood of vipers” (verse 7)?
What
kind of fruit were they to produce (verse 8)?
In
your opinion, why did John the Baptist tell them that “God can raise up
children for Abraham” from the stones (verse 9)?
What
will be cut down and thrown into the fire (verse 10)?
How
will the One who comes after John the Baptist baptize (verse 11)?
Where
will the One gather His wheat (verse 12)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In
your opinion, what does this passage teach us about preparing “the way for
the Lord”?
In
your opinion, why does Matthew quote the Isaiah passage that came after Isaiah
was told to “comfort my people” in Isaiah 40:1-5 right before he quotes
John the Baptist calling the Pharisees and Sadducees “vipers” in Matthew
3:1-12?
Acts
19:4-10 - New
International Version (NIV)
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He
told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in
Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name
of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on
them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in
tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men
in all.
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three
months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But
some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly
maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him
and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This
went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the
province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
What did
Paul say about “John’s baptism” (verse 4)?
Who did John the Baptist tell people to “believe
in” (verse 4)?
How were they baptized (verse 5)?
Who came on them “when Paul placed his hands on
them” (verse 6)?
How many were there (verse 7)?
Where did Paul speak “boldly for three months”
(verse 8)?
What did the people who became “obstinate” do
(verse 9)?
How did Paul respond (verse 9)?
Who “heard the word of the Lord” (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what
does this passage teach us about preparing “the way for the Lord”?
In your opinion, can the statement of
Isaiah 40:1-5 about “a voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the
way for the Lord”” in
Isaiah 40:1-5 also apply to Paul in Acts 19:4-10?
In
your opinion, how is the repentance preached by John the Baptist in Matthew
3:1-23 explained and completed by Paul in Acts 19:4-10?
Philippians 1:3-11 – New International Version (NIV)
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In
all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because
of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being
confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to
completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I
have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or
defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with
me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with
the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and
more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may
be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of
Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of
God.
What
does Paul do every time he remembers the Philippians (verse 3)?
How does Paul pray about the Philippians
(verse 4)?
What was Paul’s relationship with the
Philippians (verse 5)?
What is Paul confident of (verse 6)?
Why is it right for Paul to feel this way
(verse 7)?
What does Paul share with the Philippians
(verse 7)?
Who can testify “how I long for all of
you with the affection of Christ Jesus” (verse 8)?
How does Paul pray for their love to
abound (verse 9)?
Why does Paul want them to “discern
what is best” (verse 10)?
What does Paul what them to be filled
with (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage
teach us about preparing “the way for the Lord”?
In your opinion, how is the baptism of
repentance in Matthew 3:1-12 a beginning to the process of “abounding more
and more in knowledge and depth of insight” that Paul prays the Philippians
will have to help prepare for “the day of Christ” in Philippians 1:3-11?
In your opinion, how may dealing with
people who were obstinate, like some of those who resisted Paul and the
Christians in Ephesus in Acts 19:4-10 be a part of “abounding more and more
in knowledge and depth of insight” that Paul prays for the Philippians to
have in Philippians 1:3-11?
In
your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Matthew, Acts, and Philippians
teach us about the importance to “prepare the way for the Lord” today?
In
your opinion, how does abounding “more and more in knowledge and depth of
insight” help to “make straight paths” for the Lord now?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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