December 3, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Salvations and Transformations

Salvations and Transformations

Exodus 14:21-31 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, ²² and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

²³ The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. ²⁴ During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. ²⁵ He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. ²⁸ The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

²⁹ But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. ³⁰ That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. ³¹ And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

What did the Lord do when Moses “stretched out his hand over the sea” (verse 21)?

Where did the Israelites go (verse 22)?

In your opinion, how would the individual Egyptian soldier have felt about pursuing the Israelites through the sea (verse 23)?

Who threw the Egyptian army into confusion (verse 24)?

How did the Lord make it difficult for the Egyptian chariots (verse 25)?

What did the Lord tell Moses to do to cause the waters flow back over “the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen” (verse 26)?

When did the sea go “back to its place” (verse 27)?

How many of the Egyptian army survived (verse 28)?

What was the sea like when the Israelites went through (verse 29)?

Who saved Israel from the Egyptians (verse 30)?

How did the Israelites react to the Lord (verse 31)?

How did the Israelites react to Moses (verse 31)?

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

Luke 7:11-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. ¹² As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

¹⁴ Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶ They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” ¹⁷ This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

Who went to Nain (verse 11)?

What was happening when they approached the town gate (verse 12)?

How did Jesus react to the widow (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why would Jesus tell the widow “don’t cry” (verse 13)?

What did Jesus touch (verse 14)?

What did Jesus tell the dead man (verse 14)?

What did the dead man do (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus give the dead man back to his mother (verse 15)?

Who did the people think had come (verse 16)?

What spread “throughout Judea and the surrounding country” (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how is God jamming the wheels of the chariots and then destroying them in Exodus 14:21-31 similar to Jesus confronting the death of the young man from Nain and then restoring him to his mother in Luke 7:11-17?

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

What “cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (verse 50)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says the perishable does not “inherit the imperishable” (verse 50)?

Who will “be changed” (verse 51)?

When will the dead be raised imperishable (verse 52)?

What must the mortal clothe itself with (verse 53)?

What saying will come true when “the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable” (verse 54)?

In your opinion, where is death’s victory (verse 55)?

What is the power of sin (verse 56)?

How does God give us the victory (verse 57)?

How should “brothers and sisters” stand (verse 58)?

Why should we always give ourselves “fully to the work of the Lord” (verse 58)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus victory over the death of the young man in Luke 7:11-17 differ from the victory through Jesus over death that Paul proclaims in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58?

In your opinion, how is God saving the people of Israel by parting the sea and bringing them through on dry land in Exodus 14:21-31 a foreshadowing of what will happen when the trumpet sounds and “the dead will be raised imperishable” as proclaimed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Why does Paul not want the Thessalonians to “be uninformed about those who sleep in death” (verse 13)?

What do we believe about Jesus (verse 14)?

Who will God bring with Jesus (verse 14)?

What will those who are still alive at the “coming of the Lord” not do (verse 15)?

When will the dead in Christ rise (verse 16)?

Who will be caught up together (verse 17)?

What should Christians do “with these words” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what do 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 teach us about what happens for Christians after the trumpet sounds and the Lord comes down?

In your opinion, how do Paul’s instructions in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 allow Christians to react differently to the death of a loved one than the widow from Nain who had lost her only son in Luke 7:11-17?

In your opinion, how will the power that the Lord displayed in saving the Israelites from the Egyptians in Exodus 14:21-31 compare to the power that will be displayed when the trumpet sounds and Christians are called to meet the Lord in the air as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians demonstrate about the Lord’s ability to save?

In your opinion, how should understanding salvation, the future transformation, and ascension of Christians change our attitudes today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

August 13, 2017 – Psalm 23 – From the lives of David and Jesus – Valley of the Shadow of Death

-            The

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:” KJV Psalm 23:4a

1 Samuel 17:32-50 – New International Version (NIV)

³² David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹ David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. ⁴² He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. ⁴³ He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

⁵⁰ So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

What didn’t David want anyone to lose on account of the Philistine (verse 32)?

Why did Saul think David wasn’t “able to go out against this Philistine and fight him” (verse 33)?

What had David rescued his father’s sheep from (verses 34 and 35)?

Who had the “uncircumcised Philistine” defied (verse 36)?

In your opinion, why did Saul say to David “the Lord be with you” (verse 37)?

What did Saul dress David in (verse 38)?

Why couldn’t David go in the armor and bronze helmet (verse 39)?

With what did David approach the Philistine (verse 40)?

Who was in front of the Philistine (verse 41)?

How did the Philistine react to David (verse 42)?

Who did the Philistine curse David by (verse 43)?

What was the Philistine going to do with David (verse 44)?

Whose name did David say he came against the Philistine in (verse 45)?

What will David’s victory over the Philistine show “the whole world” (verse 46)?

In your opinion, why does David say “the battle is the Lord’s” (verse 47)?

How did David approach the battle line (verse 48)?

Where did David’s stone strike the Philistine (verse (49)?

David triumphed over the Philistine without what (verse 50)?

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

John 5:24-27 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

Who has eternal life (verse 24)?

What will not happen to the one who hears and believes (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live” (verse 25)?

What has the Father granted the Son (verse 26)?

What has the Father given the Son (verse 27)?

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

In your opinion, how is the dead hearing the “voice of the Son of God” and living as promised by Jesus in John 5:24-27 similar to David coming against the Philistine “in the name of the Lord Almighty” in 1 Samuel 17:32-50?

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Who cannot “inherit the kingdom of God” (verse 50)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says that “we will all be changed” (verse 51)?

When will “we all be changed” (verse 52)?

What must the perishable clothe itself with (verse 53)?

When will the saying “death has been swallowed up in victory” come true (verse 54)?

What is the sting of death (verse 56)?

How does God give us victory (verse 57)?

How should “brothers and sisters” stand (verse 58)?

What is not in vain (verse 58)?

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

In your opinion, how is crossing “over from death to life” that Jesus talks about in John 5:24-27 different from the change that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58?

In your opinion, how is the victory over sin and death that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 similar to David’s victory over the Philistine in 1 Samuel 17:32-50?

1 John 4:15-19 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

¹⁹ We love because he first loved us.

Who has God living in them and they live in God (verse 15)?

What do we “know and rely on” (verse 16)?

In your opinion, why can those who have love “made complete” have confidence on “the day of judgment” (verse 17)?

What does perfect love do to fear (verse 18)?

What does fear have to do with (verse 18)?

Why do we love (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, how is the “victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 related to the love that John discusses in 1 John 4:15-19?

In your opinion, how is Jesus’ statement that “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life” from John 5:24-27 related to John’s statement in 1 John 4:15-19 that “if anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God”?

In your opinion, how is David’s confidence as he faced Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:32-50 related to the confidence that those who acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God have on the “day of judgment” that John writes about in 1 John 4:15-19?

In your opinion, what do these passages from 1 Samuel, John, 1 Corinthians and 1 John teach us about today’s passage from Psalm 23, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”?

In your opinion, how do these passages help us to move from the fear of death to a life of love in Jesus?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)