Building God’s House
Isaiah 66:1-6 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 This is what the Lord says:
“Heaven is my throne,
and
the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build
for me?
Where
will my resting place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things,
and
so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.
“These are the ones I look
on with favor:
those
who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and
who tremble at my word.
3 But whoever sacrifices a bull
is
like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
is
like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
is
like one who presents pig’s blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense
is
like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,
and
they delight in their abominations;
4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for
them
and
will bring on them what they dread.
For when I called, no one answered,
when
I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil in my sight
and
chose what displeases me.”
5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you
who tremble at his word:
“Your own people who hate you,
and
exclude you because of my name, have said,
‘Let the Lord be
glorified,
that
we may see your joy!’
Yet
they will be put to shame.
6 Hear that uproar from the city,
hear
that noise from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord
repaying his
enemies all they deserve.
Where is the Lord’s throne (verse 1)?
What
is the earth to the Lord (verse 1)?
What has “made all these things” (verse 2)?
Who does the Lord “look on with favor” (verse
2)?
What have people “chosen” (verse 3)?
Who answered when the Lord called (verse 4)?
Why are the people who “tremble at” the
Lord’s word excluded (verse 5)?
What is “that uproar from the city” and “that
noise from the temple” (verse 6)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about
God’s house?
Luke 11:24-28 – New International Version (NIV)
24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid
places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the
house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house
swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes
seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And
the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out,
“Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”
28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of
God and obey it.”
What
does “an impure spirit” do after leaving a person when it does not find
a place to rest (verse 24)?
What
does it find “when it arrives” (verse 25)?
Why
is the “final condition of that person” worse than the first (verse 26)?
Who
did the “woman in the crowd” call out as blessed (verse 27)?
Who did Jesus say is blessed (verse 28)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In
your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s house?
In
your opinion, how would Jesus’s answer to the woman in Luke 11:24-28 been
appropriate for all those who Isaiah 66:1-6 was addressed to?
Acts
7:44-60 - New
International Version (NIV)
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with
them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to
the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the
tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the
land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land
until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and
asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But
it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 “However, the Most High does not live
in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still
uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy
Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not
persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the
Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you
who have received the law that was given through angels but have not
obeyed it.”
54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were
furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of
God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,”
he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right
hand of God.”
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their
voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the
city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their
coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried
out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he
fell asleep.
What did “our ancestors” have in the
wilderness (verse 44)?
Who “drove out” the nations before the
ancestors (verse 45)?
Who “asked that he might
provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob”
(verse 46)?
Where does “the Most High” not live (verse 48)?
What is
heaven (verse 49)?
How are
the people Stephen is talking to “just like” their ancestors (verse 51)?
What did they do to the “Righteous One” (verse
52)?
How was the law they received given (verse 53)?
Who was “furious and gnashed their teeth at him”
(verse 54)?
How was Stephen filled (verse 55)?
What did Stephen see (verse 56)?
Who covered their ears (verse 57)?
Where did the witnesses lay their coats (verse 58)?
What did Stephen pray (verse 59)?
When did Stephen fall asleep (verse 60)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about
God’s house?
In your opinion, how was the conflict
between the religious leaders and Stephen in Acts 4:44-59 anticipated in Isaiah
6:1-6?
In your opinion, what does Jesus’s lesson
in Luke 11:24-28 help us understand about the leaders of the house of God in
Acts 7:44-59?
1 Corinthians 3:9-17 – New International Version (NIV)
9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s
field, God’s building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a
wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build
with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than
the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone
builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or
straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it
is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with
fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If
what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If
it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though
only as one escaping through the flames.
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that
God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys
God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you
together are that temple.
What
does Paul say we (the Christian readers) are (verse 9)?
How
was Paul able to lay the foundation (verse 10)?
Who
is the foundation that is “already laid” (verse 11)?
How will everyone’s work “be shown for
what it is” (verse 12 and 13)?
When will the builder “receive a
reward” (verse 14)?
What will happen if the builder’s work is
destroyed (verse 15)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to be “only
as one escaping through the flames” (verse 15)?
Who is “God’s temple” (verse 16)?
What are Christians “together” (verse
17)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage
teach us about God’s house?
In your opinion, how
does 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 help answer God’s question in Isaiah 66:1-6 “Where is the house you will build for
me?”?
In your opinion, what does reading Luke
11:24-28 and 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 help us understand about how we live our
choices today?
In your opinion, how does Stephen’s
statement that “the Most High does not live in houses made by human
hands” followed by Isaiah’s question “What kind of house will you build
for me?” in Acts 7:44-59 provide a basis for understanding 1 Corinthians
3:9-17?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Isaiah, Luke, Acts and Hebrews teach us about who builds the house of God?
In your opinion, how do we build God’s house today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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