Celebrating Heaven
Isaiah 25:6-9 – New International Version (NIV)
6 On this
mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a
feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the
best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the
shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will
wipe away the tears
from
all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from
all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 In that day they will
say,
“Surely this is our God;
we
trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted
in him;
let
us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
Who will “prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples” (verse
6)?
What will be destroyed “on this mountain” (verse 7)?
What will the Lord “swallow up” forever (verse 8)?
How are those who “trusted in him” to react (verse 9)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your
opinion, what does this passage teach us about who celebrate with God?
Matthew 19:30-20:16
- New International Version (NIV)
30 But many
who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
20 1 “For
the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the
morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to
pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
3 “About
nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace
doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my
vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they
went.
“He went
out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same
thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found
still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here
all day long doing nothing?’
7 “‘Because
no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said
to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “When
evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the
workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going
on to the first.’
9 “The
workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a
denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they
expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When
they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These
who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them
equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the
day.’
13 “But he
answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you
agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I
want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t
I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious
because I am generous?’
16 “So the
last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Who will be
first (verse 30)?
What is the “kingdom of heaven” like (verse 1)?
How much was the
landowner to pay the workers (verse 2)?
What did the landowner tell the
workers hired at nine they would be paid (verses 3-4)?
What were the
times that others were hired (verses 5-7)?
Who was paid
first that evening (verse 8)?
How much did
they receive (verse 9)?
What did the ones who were hired first expect (verse 10)?
Why were they unhappy (verses 11-12)?
In your opinion, was the landowner being unfair (verse 13)?
What did the landowner want to do (verse 14)?
In your opinion, were the workers who had been hired first envious (verse
15)?
Who will be last (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your
opinion, what does this passage teach us about who celebrates with God?
In your
opinion, how would the attitude of the workers who were first employed in
Matthew 19:30-20:16 have changed if they viewed what they all received as the
salvation celebrated in Isaiah 25:6-9 instead of the payment for a day’s labor?
Philippians 1:21-26 - New International Version (NIV)
21 For to me,
to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If
I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet
what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I
am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which
is better by far; 24 but it is
more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced
of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for
your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so
that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound
on account of me.
What was living for Paul (verse 21)?
What was dying for Paul (verse 21)?
When would “fruitful labor” occur (verse 22)?
What did Paul desire (verse 23)?
Who would benefit if Paul remained (verse 24)?
Why will Paul “continue with” the Philippian
Christians (verse 25)?
Who will the Philippian Christians boast in (verse 26)?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about who
celebrates with God?
In your opinion, how does Paul in Philippians 1:21-26
embody the trust in God that Isaiah 25:6-9 proclaims?
In your opinion, how is Paul’s attitude about labor in Philippians 1:21-26 different from the workers in Matthew 19:30-20:16?
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 did Paul not want the Thessalonian Christians to be “uninformed
about those who sleep in death” (verse 13)?
What did Paul believe about Jesus (verse 14)?
Who did Paul believe that God would “bring with Jesus”
(verse 14)?
Who will not “precede those who have fallen asleep”
(verse 15)?
When will “the dead in Christ” rise (verse 16)?
Who will be “caught up together” to “meet the
Lord in the air” (verse 17)?
What should we do with these words (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about who
celebrates with God?
In your opinion, how
does 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 help us understand who will join in the
celebration of God’s swallowing up of death in Isaiah 25:6-9?
In your opinion, how are the different times of day that
workers were hired in Matthew 19:30-20:16 represented in 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18?
In your opinion, what is the difference between the
departing to be with Christ that Paul wants in Philippians 1:21-26 and the
catching up to the Lord in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Matthew, Philippians, and 1
Thessalonians help us understand about our place in the Kingdom of Heaven?
In
your opinion, how do we celebrate heaven today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
