Growing in Grace
Isaiah 65:1-9 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I
was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
I
said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my
hands
to
an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
pursuing
their own imaginations—
3 a people who continually provoke me
to
my very face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
and
burning incense on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves
and
spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
and
whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
for
I am too sacred for you!’
Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
a
fire that keeps burning all day.
6 “See, it stands written before me:
I
will not keep silent but will pay back in full;
I
will pay it back into their laps—
7 both your sins and the sins of your
ancestors,”
says
the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
and
defied me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
the
full payment for their former deeds.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“As when juice is still
found in a cluster of grapes
and
people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
there
is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;
I
will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from
Jacob,
and
from Judah those who will possess my mountains;
my chosen people will inherit them,
and
there will my servants live.
Who did the Lord reveal Himself to (verse 1)?
What
has the Lord done “all day long” (verse 2)?
What do the people continually do (verse 3)?
Where do the people sit (verse 4)?
Why do the people warn others to “keep away”
(verse 5)?
How will the Lord pay back (verse 6)?
Where will the “full payment” be measured
(verse 7)?
Why will the Lord “not destroy them all”
(verse 8)?
Who “will inherit” (verse 9)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, where do we see God’s grace in this
passage?
Luke 20:9-19 – New International Version (NIV)
9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a
vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At
harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of
the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away
empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one
also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He
sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will
send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This
is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be
ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed
him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He
will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”
17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the
meaning of that which is written:
“‘The stone the builders
rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone
on whom it falls will be crushed.”
19 The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to
arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable
against them. But they were afraid of the people.
What
did the man who planted the vineyard do (verse 9)?
When
did he send a servant to the tenants (verse 10)?
How
did the tenants treat the second servant (verse 11)?
Who
did the tenants wound and throw out (verse 12)?
How did the owner think the tenants
might respond to his son (verse 13)?
Why did the tenants decide to kill the
son (verse 14)?
“What then will the owner of the vineyard
do to them” (verses 15
and 16)?
How did the people respond (verse 16)?
What has become the cornerstone (verse
17)?
Who will be “broken to pieces”
(verse 18)?
Why did “teachers of the law and the
chief priests” not arrest Jesus (verse 19)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In
your opinion, where do we see God’s grace in this passage?
In
your opinion, who, in Luke 20:9-19, are the people that God says in Isaiah
65:1-12 are the “obstinate people” and who are the ones who ”found” the Lord?
Romans
10:19-11:7 - New
International Version (NIV)
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah
says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently,
faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the
word about Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of
course they did:
“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”
19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,
“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation that has no
understanding.”
20 And Isaiah boldly says,
“I was found by those who
did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”
21 But concerning Israel he says,
“All day long I have held
out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
11 1 I
ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite
myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God
did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what
Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against
Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn
down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill
me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved
for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So
too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And
if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no
longer be grace.
7 What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did
not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,
What did “all the Israelites” not do (verse 16)?
Where does faith come from (verse 17)?
“Did they not hear” (verse 18)?
Who did Moses say “I will make you envious” by
(verse 19)?
Who did
Isaiah say the Lord would be “found by” (verse 20)?
What did
Isaiah say about Israel (verse 21)?
How does Paul answer the question “did God reject
his people” (verse 1)?
Who “appealed to God against Israel” (verse 2)?
How did the Lord answer the appeal “I am the only
one left, and they are trying to kill me” (verses 3 and 4)?
How is the remnant of the present time chosen (verse
5)?
Who obtained what they sought (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, where do we see God’s grace in this
passage?
In your opinion, how does Paul in Romans
10:19-11:7 provide hope for all those, in Isaiah 65:1-12 and in the
world, who live among “an obstinate people”?
In your opinion, what does Romans
10:19-11:7 help us understand about the people who will receive the vineyard in
Luke 20:9-19?
2 Peter 3:13-18 – New International Version (NIV)
13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking
forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make
every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear
in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear
brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He
writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His
letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and
unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to
their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on
your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the
lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But
grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Where
will righteousness dwell (verse 13)?
How
should Christians “make every effort to be found” (verse 14)?
What
“means salvation” (verse 15)?
Who distorts Paul’s letters and “the
other Scriptures, to their own destruction” (verse 16)?
What does Peter instruct Christians be on
guard against (verse 17)?
How are Christians to grow (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, where do we see God’s
grace in this passage?
In your opinion, what does 2 Peter
3:13-18 help us understand about the tenants who will lose the vineyard and the
tenants who will receive the vineyard in Luke 20:9-19?
In your opinion, what does 2 Peter
3:13-18 help those that Romans 10:19-11:7 calls a “remnant chosen by grace” understand
about the source of their salvation?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Isaiah, Luke, Romans and 2 Peter teach us about the attitudes that lead to
rejecting God’s grace?
In your opinion, how can we continue to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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