Preparing God’s Way
Isaiah 40:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)
1 Comfort, comfort my
people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to
Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid
for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised
up,
every mountain and
hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of
the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it
together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I
cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is
like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and
the flowers fall,
because the breath of
the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the
flowers fall,
but the word of our God
endures forever.”
9 You who
bring good news to Zion,
go up on a
high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your
voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the
towns of Judah,
“Here is
your God!”
10 See, the
Sovereign Lord comes with
power,
and he
rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his
recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his
flock like a shepherd:
He gathers
the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently
leads those that have young.
Who says “Comfort, comfort my people” (verse 1)?
How is Isaiah to speak
to Jerusalem (verse 2)?
Where is the way to
be prepared for the Lord (verse 3)?
What will happen to
mountains and hills (verse 4)?
Who will see “the
glory of the Lord” (verse 5)?
What is the
faithfulness of “all people” like (verse 6)?
Why do “the
flowers fall” (verse 7)?
What “endures
forever” (verse 8)?
What is the one who
brings good news to say (verse 9)?
How does the
Sovereign Lord come (verse 10)?
Where does the Sovereign
Lord carry the lambs (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, how
is our need for the Lord revealed in this passage?
Matthew 3:1-12 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the
wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come
near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in
the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a
leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went
out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing
their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to
where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned
you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce
fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not
think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell
you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is
already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good
fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me
comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His
winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering
his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Where did John the Baptist preach (verse 1)?
Why was he calling for people to “repent” (verse 2)?
What did
“the prophet Isaiah” say about John (verse 3)?
What was John’s food (verse 4)?
Where did people come from to see John (verse 5)?
What did people do as John baptized them “in the Jordan River”
(verse 6)?
Who did John call a “brood of vipers” (verse 7)?
What fruit were the “brood of vipers” to produce (verse 8)?
What did John warn the “brood of vipers” not to say (verse 9)?
Where is the ax (verse 10)?
What does John baptize with (verse 11)?
What will the one who comes after John baptize with (verse 11)?
Where is the wheat gathered (verse 12)?
What happens to the chaff (verse 12)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is our need for the Lord revealed in this passage?
In your opinion, how does Isaiah being instructed to “speak tenderly
to Jerusalem” and proclaim that “her sin has been paid for” in
Isaiah 40:1-11 pave the way for John who Matthew says is “a voice of one
calling in the wilderness” to baptize people who confessed their sins, and
confront the Pharisees and Sadducees?
Hebrews 12:18-29 – New International
Version (NIV)
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is
burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a
trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard
it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because
they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the
mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 The sight
was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon
thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the
church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have
come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made
perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled
blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they
did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much
less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that
time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will
shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words
“once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created
things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence
and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
What had they
“not come to” (verse 18)?
How did
people who heard the words react (verse 19)?
What was to
happen to anything that touched the mountain (verse 20)?
Who said “I
am trembling with fear” (verse 21)?
Where have Christians
come to (verse 22)?
Where are the
names written (verse 23)?
Who is “the
mediator of a new covenant” (verse 24)?
Who should we
“not refuse” (verse 25)?
What has been
promised (verse 26)?
What will be
removed (verse 27)?
How should we
worship God (verse 28)?
What is our
God (verse 29)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is our need for the Lord revealed
in this passage?
In your
opinion, how is the “glory of the Lord” that Isaiah 40:1-11 says will be
revealed now displayed to us in Hebrews 12:18-29?
In your
opinion, what does Hebrews 12:18-29 reveal to us about the clearing of the
threshing floor anticipated by Matthew 3:1-12?
2 Peter 3:10-18 – New International Version (NIV)
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a
thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be
destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid
bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what
kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to
the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the
destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 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.
How will the “day of the Lord” come (verse 10)?
What will be “destroyed by fire” (verse 10)?
What kind of lives should we live (verse 11)?
How will the heavens be destroyed (verse 12)?
What are “we looking forward to” (verse 13)?
Who should “make every effort to be found spotless,
blameless and at peace with him” (verse 14)?
What means “salvation” (verse 15)?
Who distorts Scriptures (verse 16)?
What should we be on guard against (verse 17)?
What should we grow in (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how
is our need for the Lord revealed in this passage?
In
your opinion, why would John, who knew that the Lord was coming as revealed in
2 Peter 3:10-18, confront the Pharisees and Sadducees by calling them a “brood
of vipers” in Matthew 3:1-12?
In your opinion, how
are consequences of choosing either of the two mountains in Hebrews 12:18-29 revealed
in 2 Peter 3:10-18?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Matthew,
Hebrews and 2 Peter teach us about preparing the “way for the Lord” in
our lives today?
In your
opinion, how in today’s challenging world can we “be thankful”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
