October 27, 2024 – A Study of Matthew – Wake Up, the Kingdom is Near

Wake Up, the Kingdom is Near

Isaiah 9:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

² The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.
³ You have enlarged the nation
    and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
    when dividing the plunder.
⁴ For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
    you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
    the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor.
⁵ Every warrior’s boot used in battle
    and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
    will be fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

Who will there be “no more gloom for” (verse 1)?

What have the “people walking in darkness” seen (verse 2)?

What has the Lord Almighty increased (verse 3)?

What three things have been shattered (verse 4)?

Which boot “will be destined for burning” (verse 5)?

Who will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (verse 6)?

How will He establish and uphold His kingdom (verse 7)?

What “will accomplish this” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the kingdom of heaven?

Matthew 4:12-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴ to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁵ “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
¹⁶ the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.”

¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

When did Jesus withdraw “into Galilee” (verse 12)?

Where was Capernaum (verse 13)?

Why did Jesus go (verse 14)?

How is Galilee described (verse 15)?

Who “have seen a great light” (verse 16)?

What has dawned on “those living in the land of the shadow of death” (verse 16)?

Why are the people Jesus is preaching to called to “Repent” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the kingdom of heaven?

In your opinion, how is David’s kingdom that the child will rule in Isaiah 9:1-7 related to the kingdom of heaven that Jesus says has “come near” in Matthew 4:12-17?

Ephesians 5:8-20 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What had the readers of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians once been (verse 8)?

What are they “now” (verse 8)?

What is the “fruit of the light” (verse 9)?

What are they to “find out” (verse 10)?

How are they to react to “the fruitless deeds of darkness” (verse 11)?

What is shameful (verse 12)?

What happens to “everything that is illuminated” (verse 13)?

When will Christ shine on the sleeper (verse 14)?

How should the reader live (verse 15)?

Why should the reader make “the most of every opportunity” (verse 16)?

What does the reader need to understand to avoid being “foolish” (verse 17)?

How should the reader be filled (verse 18)?

Where should the music the reader sings “to the Lord” come from (verse 19)?

What should the reader “always” do (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the kingdom of heaven?

In your opinion, what do we learn about the darkness in Isaiah 9:1-7 from the darkness that believers in Ephesians 5:8-20 used to be in?  How is great light of Isaiah related to the “light of the Lord” in Ephesians?

In your opinion, how is the repenting that Jesus calls for in Matthew 4:12-17 related to the waking that Paul calls for in Ephesians 5:8-20?

James 4:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Where do “fights and quarrels” come from (verse 1)?

What happens when the readers “covet” (verse 2)?

Why do the readers “not receive” (verse 3)?

Who becomes “an enemy of God” (verse 4)?

What says that “he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us” (verse 5)?

Who does God show “favor to” (verse 6)?

Who should the reader “submit” to (verse 7)?

Who should the reader “resist” (verse 7)?

When will God “come near to you” (verse 8)?

What does Paul say will happen if the readers “humble” themselves “before 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 the kingdom of heaven?

In your opinion, what is the difference between God humbling the “the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali” in Isaiah 9:1-7 and people humbling themselves “before the Lord” in James 4:1-10?

In your opinion, what does James 4:1-10 reveal to us about the repenting that Jesus commanded “because the kingdom of heaven has come near” in Matthew 4:12-17?

In your opinion, how is the humbling of ourselves that James 4:1-10 commands related to the invitation to be filled by the Spirit that Ephesians 5:8-20 gives?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Matthew, Ephesians, and James teach us about the difference between the world and the kingdom of heaven?

In your opinion, how is Jesus’s call to “repent” an invitation to becoming people who always give “thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”?

In your opinion, how do we live as “children of light” in the dark world today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)