July 2, 2023 – John’s Writings – Overcoming by Faith

Overcoming by Faith

Jeremiah 23:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. ³ “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. ⁴ I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

⁵ “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
    and do what is just and right in the land.
⁶ In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

Who is the “woe” to (verse 1)?

What will the Lord bestow on the shepherds (verse 2)?

Where will the Lord gather “the remnant” from (verse 3)?

What will the flock no longer be (verse 4)?

Who will the Lord “raise up” (verse 5)?

How will this King reign (verse 5)?

What will the name of this King be (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God will gather His people?

John 6:35-44 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

⁴¹ At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Who declared “I am the bread of life” (verse 35)?

Who will “never be thirsty” (verse 35)?

What do the listeners not do (verse 36)?

Who will never be driven away (verse 37)?

Whose will did Jesus come to do (verse 38)?

What will Jesus do on the last day (verse 39)?

Who has eternal life (verse 40)?

Why did the Jews who were there grumble about Jesus (verse 41)?

Who did they say Jesus was (verse 42)?

How did Jesus answer the Jews who were there (verse 43)?

Who will Jesus raise “up at the last day” (verse 44)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God will gather His people?

In your opinion, what title does Jeremiah 23:1-6 give to the One who calls Himself the “bread of life” in John 6:35-44?

1 John 5:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Who is “born of God” (verse 1)?

Who “loves his child as well” (verse 1)?

How do we “know that we love the children of God” (verse 2)?

What is “love for God” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why are God’s commands “not burdensome” (verse 3)?

Who “overcomes the world” (verse 4)?

What is “the victory that has overcome the world” (verse 4)?

“Who is it that overcomes the world” (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God will gather His people?

In your opinion, what does 1 John 5:1-5 teach us about how the one who Jeremiah 23:1-6 calls “the Lord our Righteous Savior” will be able to gather the remnant from all the countries where they have been scattered?

In your opinion, what do the grumbling Jews in John 6:35-44 help us understand about what it means to be those who are “born of God” and to overcome the world as promised by 1 John 5:1-5?

Revelation 20:7-15 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Who will be released when the thousand years are over (verse 7)?

What will he gather the nations of the world for (verse 8)?

Who will they surround (verse 9)?

How are they devoured (verse 9)?

Where is the devil thrown (verse 10)?

What did John see (verse 11)?

Who was standing “before the throne” (verse 12)?

What was opened (verse 12)?

Who were judged “according to what they had done as recorded in the books” (verse 12)?

How was each person judged (verse 13)?

What is the lake of fire (verse 14)?

Who is thrown into the lake of fire (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God will gather His people?

In your opinion, how is the gathering in Jeremiah 23:1-6 of the remnant by God from all the countries they are found in different from the gathering of the nations from the four corners of the earth in Revelation 20:7-15?  How is it similar?

In your opinion, how does the opening of the book of life in Revelation 20:7-15 a fulfillment of the promise made by Jesus in John 6:35-40 that He “shall lose none of all those he has given me”?

In your opinion, what does Revelation 20:7-15 help us understand about the statement in 1 John 5:1-5 that “this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith”? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Jeremiah, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about the battle between Satan and “the Lord Our Righteous Savior”?

In your opinion, what is our part in that battle?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

March 1, 2020 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Overcoming Through Faith

Overcoming Through Faith


2 Chronicles 20:20-30 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” ²¹ After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
    for his love endures forever.”

²² As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated. ²³ The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the men from Mount Seir to destroy and annihilate them. After they finished slaughtering the men from Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

²⁴ When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. ²⁵ So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. ²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Berakah, where they praised the Lord. This is why it is called the Valley of Berakah to this day.

²⁷ Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. ²⁸ They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets.

²⁹ The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. ³⁰ And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side.

Who did King Jehoshaphat say the people of Judah and Jerusalem should have faith in (verse 20)?

What were the men at the head of the army to do (verse 21)?

How were the Ammonites, Moabites and men from Mount Seir destroyed (verses 22 and 23)?

What did Judah’s army see when they got to the desert (verse 24)?

How long did it take to gather up the plunder (verse 25)?

Who led the joyful return to Jerusalem (verse 27)?

In your opinion, why did they go to the “temple of the Lord with harps and lyres and trumpets” (verse 28)?

When did the “fear of God” come upon all the surrounding kingdoms (verse 29)?

Why was the kingdom of Jehoshaphat at peace (verse 30)?

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

Mark 5:21-43 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²² Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶ Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

³⁷ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³ He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Who was Jairus (verse 22)?

Why did Jairus plead with Jesus to “please come and put your hands on her” (verse 23)?

How long had the woman in the crowd been bleeding (verse 25)?

Why did she touch Jesus’s cloak (verses 27 and 28)?

What immediately happened (verse 29)?

What did Jesus do when He realized that “power had gone out from him” (verse 30)?

In your opinion, why was the woman “trembling with fear” when she told Jesus “the whole truth” (verse 33)?

What did Jesus tell the woman (verse 34)?

When did the people tell Jairus “your daughter is dead” (verse 35)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus tell Jairus “don’t be afraid; just believe” (verse 36)?

Who did Jesus let follow Him (verse 37)?

How did the people respond when Jesus said “the child is not dead but asleep” (verses 39 and 40)?

What did Jesus say after “He took her by the hand” (verse 41)?

When did the girl stand up and begin to walk around (verse 42)?

Who was to know about this (verse 43)?

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

In your opinion, what role did faith play in dealing with the challenge of the invading kingdoms in 2 Chronicles 20:20-30 and also in dealing with the twelve years of bleeding that doctor’s care had not helped in Mark 5:21-43?

Acts 9:36-43 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷ About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸ Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹ Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰ Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. ⁴² This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. ⁴³ Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.

What was Tabitha always doing (verse 36)?

Where was her body (verse 37)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples urge Peter to “come at once” (verse 38)?

What did the widows do when Peter arrived (verse 39)?

When did Peter get down on his knees and pray (verse 40)?

What happened when Peter said “Tabitha, get up” (verse 40)?

Who did Peter present Tabitha to (verse 41)?

How did many of the people in Joppa react (verse 42)?

Where did Peter stay (verse 43)?

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

In your opinion, how are having the people leading the army in 2 Chronicles 20:20-30 singing and praising the Lord and the kneeling and praying of Peter in Acts 9:36-43 different?  How are they similar?

In your opinion, what can we learn from Jairus coming to Jesus and pleading with Him for help in Mark 5:21-43 and the people of Joppa sending for Peter when Tabitha dies in Acts 9:36-43?

1 John 5:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Who is “born of God” (verse 1)?

Who “loves his child” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why is “loving God and carrying out his commands” proof that we love the children of God (verse 2)?

What is “love for God” (verse 3)?

Who “overcomes the world” (verse 4)?

What is the “victory that has overcome the world” (verse 4)?

“Who is it that overcomes the world” (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, how are the people Jehoshaphat placed “to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness” at the front of the army in 2 Chronicles 20:20-30 help us understand about how John portrays those who are “born of God” having the victory that overcomes the world in 1 John 5:1-5?

In your opinion, how is the faith of the woman who was bleeding in Mark 5:21-43 and our faith in Jesus being able to call us from death in sin to being “born of God” as John described in 1 John 5:1-5 similar?

In your opinion, how is the amazing miracle of God through Peter restoring Tabitha to life in Acts 9:36-43 dwarfed by the amazing miracle of God calling for us to overcome the world by believing that “Jesus is the Son of God” as declared 1 John 5:1-5?

In your opinion, what do these passages from 2 Chronicles, Mark, Acts and 1 John teach us about overcoming through faith?

In your opinion, how should we who have “overcome the world” through our faith that “Jesus is the Christ” respond to the challenges of the world today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

March 6, 2016 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Authority and Love

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Authority and Love

Matthew 28:16-19 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Where did the eleven disciples go (verse 16)?

What did they do when they saw Jesus (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did some doubt (verse 17)?

What has been given to Jesus (verse 18)?

Who were the “disciples of all nations” to be baptized in the name of (verse 19)?

What was to be taught (verse 20)?

Where will Jesus be “to the very end of the age” (verse 20)?

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

John 15:9-17 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.”

How has Jesus loved (verse 9)?

Where are we to remain (verse 9)?

What should we do to there (verse 10)?

Why has Jesus given us this instruction (verse 11)?

What does Jesus command (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (verse 13)?

When are we Jesus’ friends (verse 14)?

Why does Jesus not call those who do what He commands servant (verse 15)?

Why does Jesus call those who do what He commands friends (verse 15)?

Why did Jesus chose and appoint (verse 16)?

What is Jesus command (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does John 15:9-17 instruct that we should teach those “disciples of all nations” that are baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” that Jesus commands we teach in Matthew 28:16-19?

1 John 5:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. ² This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. ³ In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, ⁴ for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Who is “born of God” (verse 1)?

Who loves “his child” (verse 1)?

How do we “know that we love the children of God” (verse 2)?

What is “love for God” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why does John say “his commands are not burdensome” (verse 3)?

Who “overcomes the world” (verse 4)?

What is the “victory that has overcome the world” (verse 4)?

“Who is it that overcomes the world” (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, how does John saying in 1 John 5:1-5 “this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world” increase our understanding of what he said in John 15:9-17 that “this is my command: Love each other”?

In your opinion, how does John’s statement in 1 John 5:1-5 that “everyone born of God overcomes the world” amplify the statement of Jesus in Matthew 28:16-19 that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”.

 Revelation 22:14-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

Who is blessed (verse 14)?

What will the blessed “have a right to” (verse 14)?

Where will the blessed be able to go (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why are the “dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood” outside (verse 15)?

Who sent the angel with this testimony (verse 16)?

Who says “Come” (verse 17)?

Who is commanded to say “Come” (verse 17)?

Who is supposed to come (verse 17)?

Who is to “take the free gift of the water of life” (verse 17)?

What will happen to those who add anything to the “words of the prophecy of this scroll” (verse 18)?

What will happen to the one who “takes words away from this scroll of prophecy” (verse 19)?

Who says “yes, I am coming soon” (verse 20)?

What is to be with “God’s people” (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how does the statement “this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith” from 1 John 5:1-5 help us to understand the statement “blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city” from Revelation 22:14-21?

In your opinion, how is your understanding of Jesus’ statement “you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” from John 15:9-17 increased by Jesus saying in Revelation 22:14-21 “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”?

In your opinion, how does the statement of Jesus in Matthew 28:16-19 that “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” complemented by the statement in Revelation 22:14-21 that “He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, John, 1 John and Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, beginning Revelation 2:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)