November 12, 2023 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Like a Child

Like a Child

Isaiah 28:7-16 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ And these also stagger from wine
    and reel from beer:
Priests and prophets stagger from beer
    and are befuddled with wine;
they reel from beer,
    they stagger when seeing visions,
    they stumble when rendering decisions.
⁸ All the tables are covered with vomit
    and there is not a spot without filth.

⁹ “Who is it he is trying to teach?
    To whom is he explaining his message?
To children weaned from their milk,
    to those just taken from the breast?
¹⁰ For it is:
    Do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that;
    a little here, a little there.”

¹¹ Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues
    God will speak to this people,
¹² to whom he said,
    “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”;
and, “This is the place of repose”—
    but they would not listen.
¹³ So then, the word of the Lord to them will become:
    Do this, do that,
    a rule for this, a rule for that;
    a little here, a little there—
so that as they go they will fall backward;
    they will be injured and snared and captured.

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
    who rule this people in Jerusalem.
¹⁵ You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death,
    with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement.
When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by,
    it cannot touch us,
for we have made a lie our refuge
    and falsehood our hiding place.”

¹⁶ So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
    a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;
the one who relies on it
    will never be stricken with panic.

Who will “stumble when rendering decisions” (verse 7)?

What are the tables covered with (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to, “Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there” (verse 10)?

How will God speak to this people (verse 11)?

How did “this people” respond when God said “this is a place of repose” (verses 11 and 12)?

What will the word of the Lord become to them (verse 13)?

What will happen to the people (verse 13)?

Who is to “hear the word of the Lord” (verse 14)?

Why do the rulers of Jerusalem say “when an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us” (verse 15)?

Who “will never be stricken with panic” (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about the conflict between worldly people and the Lord?

Luke 18:9-17 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

¹⁵ People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Who did Jesus tell “this parable” to (verse 9)?

What did the Pharisee and the tax collector do (verse 10)?

What was the Pharisee thankful for (verse 11)?

When did the Pharisee fast (verse 12)?

Where would the tax collector not look (verse 13)?

What did the tax collector pray (verse 13)?

Who “went home justified before God” (verse 14)?

Who will be humbled (verse 14)?

Who will be exalted (verse 14)?

How did the disciples react to the people “bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them” (verse 15)?

What did Jesus say when He “called the children to him” (verses 16 and 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about the conflict between worldly people and the Lord?

In your opinion, who is Luke 18:9-17 is most like the “priests and prophets” of Isaiah 28:7-16?

1 Corinthians 14:20-26 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. ²¹ In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues
    and through the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
    but even then they will not listen to me,
says the Lord.”

²² Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? ²⁴ But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, ²⁵ as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

²⁶ What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

What does Paul tell the “brothers and sisters” to stop doing (verse 20)?

Where is it written, “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord” (verse 21)?

Who are tongues a sign for (verse 22)?

Who is prophecy for (verse 22)?

What will “inquirers or unbelievers” say if they come in and everyone is speaking in tongues (verse 23)?

How will “an unbeliever or an inquirer” be affected if everyone is prophesying (verses 24 and 25)?

Why must “everything” be done (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about the conflict between worldly people and the Lord?

In your opinion, what does Isaiah 28:7-16 help us understand about Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 14:20-26 that “tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers”?

In your opinion, how is receiving “the kingdom of God like a little child” which Jesus encourages in Luke 18:9-17 different from “thinking like little children” which Paul instructs us to stop doing in 1 Corinthians 14:20-26?

Philippians 2:5-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Where are we to have “the same mindset and Christ Jesus” (verse 5)?

What did Jesus not consider as “something to be used to his own advantage” (verse 6)?

What nature did Jesus take (verse 7)?

How did Jesus “humble himself” (verse 8)?

Where did God exalt Jesus to (verse 9)?

What will “every knee” do (verse 10)?

What will “every tongue acknowledge” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about the conflict between worldly people and the Lord?

In your opinion, how is the mindset of the “priests and prophets” in Isaiah 28:7-16 different from the mindset of Christ that Paul describes in Philippians 2:5-11?

In your opinion, what do both Luke 18:9-17 and Philippians 2:5-11 help us understand about who God exalts?

In your opinion, how does Philippians 2:5-11 help us understand what our tongues can do to fulfill the instruction of 1 Corinthians 14:20-26 that “Everything must be done so that the church may be built up”? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Luke, 1 Corinthians, and Philippians teach us about how we can “receive the kingdom of God like a little child”?

In your opinion, once we are in the kingdom, how do avoid the pitfalls of the world so that we can bring “glory to God the Father”?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

July 3, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – From Meditating on God’s Law to Living in God’s Will

From Meditating on God’s Law to Living in God’s Will

Psalm 1:1-6 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

⁴ Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶ For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Who is blessed (verse 1)?

What is their delight in (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be like a “tree planted by streams of water” (verse 3)?

Who is like “chaff that the wind blows away” (verse 4)?

What will sinners not do (verse 5)?

Who watches of the way of the righteous (verse 6)?

Where does the way of the wicked lead (verse 6)?

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

John 5:24-30 - 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.

²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. ³⁰ By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Who has eternal life (verse 24)?

What have those who have eternal life done (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 authority has the Father granted the Son (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “all who are in their graves will hear his voice” (verse 28)?

Who will “rise to live” (verse 29)?

Who will “rise to be condemned” (verse 29)?

How does Jesus judge (verse 30)?

Who does Jesus seek to please (verse 30)?

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

In your opinion, how is one that John quotes Jesus as saying “has crossed over from death to life” in John 5:24-30 similar to the one the Psalmist says in Psalms 1 “is like a tree planted by streams of water”?

Philippians 2:5-11 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Who should our mindset be the same as (verse 5)?

What did Jesus not use to His own advantage (verse 6)?

How did Jesus make Himself nothing (verse 7)?

How did Jesus demonstrate His humble obedience (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that God has given Jesus “the name that is above every name” (verse 9)?

What will happen “at the name of Jesus” (verse 10)?

What will happen “to the glory of God the Father” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what will be different about the attitude of the people who have done what is good and “will rise to live” and those who have done what is evil and who “will rise to be condemned” that Jesus spoke of in John 5:24-30 when they respond to the name of Jesus by bowing their knees and acknowledging with their tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord as Paul prophesies in Philippians 2:5-11?

In your opinion, how is Jesus, who Paul says in Philippians 2:5-11, “humbles himself by becoming obedient to death-even death on the cross” a perfect example of the one who the Psalmist in Psalm 1 said had delight in the law of the Lord and meditated on it day and night and who then was “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither —whatever they do prospers”?

1 Peter 4:1-6 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. ² As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. ³ For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ⁴ They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. ⁵ But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

What is “whoever suffers in the body” done with (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why would the one who suffered in the body not live for “evil human desires, but rather for the will of God” (verse 2)?

How do pagan choose to live (verse 3)?

Why are the pagans surprised (verse 4)?

Who will the pagans have to give account to (verse 5)?

Why was the gospel “preached even to those who are now dead” (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, what does Paul in Philippians 2:5-11 teach us about the attitude of Jesus that Peter says we should arm ourselves with in 1 Peter 4:1-6?

In your opinion, how does what Jesus says in John 5:24-30 about the ones who have crossed over from death to life help us to understand about the people that Peter, in 1 Peter 4:1-6, says should arm themselves “with the same attitude”?

In your opinion, how is the contrast between the one “whose delight is in the law of the Lord” and the wicked in Psalm 1 built upon by Peter in his discussion about the Christian and the pagan in 1 Peter 4:1-6?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Psalms, John, Philippians and 1 Peter show us about ourselves today?

Next, back to Peter 4:7 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

January 3, 2016 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – From Crucifixion to Triumph

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.”

From Crucifixion to Triumph

Matthew 27:32-44 – New International Version (NIV)

^32 “As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷ Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

³⁸ Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.”

Where was Simon from (verse 32)?

What did the Roman soldiers force him to do (verse 32)?

What does Golgotha mean (verse 33)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus refuse to drink the wine mixed with gall (verse 34)?

When did the Roman soldiers divide “up his clothes by casting lots” (verse 35)?

How did they keep watch over Jesus (verse 36)?

What written charge was placed above His head (verse 37)?

Who was crucified with Jesus (verse 38)?

What did those who passed by and “hurled insults at him” do while they were hurling the insults (verse 39)?

In your opinion, why did the One who was the Son of God not come down from the cross like he was challenged to (verse 40)?

In your opinion, what is the truth hidden in the mocking of the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders (verses 42 and 43)?

Who else heaped insults on Jesus (verse 44)?

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

Isaiah 53:1-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
³ He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.
⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
¹¹ After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.”

In your opinion, why does this prophecy start out with a question that indicates that not many will believe (verse 1)?

Is there anything physical about the Savior to attract us (verse 2)?

How did mankind react to the Savior (verse 3)?

What did mankind think about the Savior when He “took up our pain and bore our suffering” (verse 4)?

How are we healed (verse 5)?

What have we, like sheep, done (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what is the significance of the fact that our Savior “did not open his mouth” (verse 7)?

Why was the Savior punished (verse 8)?

Who was the Savior “assigned a grave” with (verse 9)?

What does the Lord make “his life” (verse 10)?

What will “he” bear (verse 11)?

Who did “he” make intersession for (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, how does Isaiah’s statement “yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted” in Isaiah 53:1-12 help explain the words of the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders in Matthew 27:32-44?

Philippians 2:5-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.”

Whose mindset are we to have in our “relationships with one another” (verse 5)?

What did Jesus not consider “something to be used to his own advantage” (verse 6)?

What was Jesus “made in” (verse 7)?

How did Jesus humble himself (verse 8)?

Where did God exalt Jesus to (verse 9)?

Who will bow to the name of Jesus (verse 10)?

What will every tongue acknowledge (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how do the Old Testament prophet Isaiah and the New Testament apostle Paul both speak so vividly of Jesus humiliation and of His exaltation in words that are so dissimilar and yet both so accurate?

In your opinion, how is the charge that was placed over the head of Jesus in Matthew 27:32-44 that “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS” revealed to be totally inadequate by Philippians 2:5-11?

Revelation 17:3-14 – New International Version (NIV)

³ “Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. ⁵ The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

babylon the great

the mother of prostitutes

and of the abominations of the earth.

⁶ I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. ⁷ Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. ⁸ The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.

⁹ “This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. ¹⁰ They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. ¹¹ The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

¹² “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. ¹³ They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Who did John see when the angel carried him into a wilderness (verse 3)?

What was in the golden cup (verse 4)?

In your opinion, who is “Babylon the Great” (verse 5)?

What was the woman drunk on (verse 6)?

Who is going to explain the “mystery of the woman and of the beast that she rides” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why will “the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world” be astonished when they see the beast (verse 8)?

What is called for (verse 9)?

How many kings are there (verse 10)?

Where is the eighth king, who “belongs to the seven” going (verse 11)?

How long will the ten kings “receive authority as kings along with the beast” (verse 12)?

What is the purpose of the ten kings (verse 13)?

Why will the Lamb win the war that the ten kings and the beast wages against Him (verse 14)?

Who will be with the Lamb (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, will the seven kings and the ten kings and the beast that John sees in Revelation 17:3-14 be among those that Paul says in Philippians 2:5-11 will “acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”?

In your opinion, why is there a difference in the behavior of the Savior that Isaiah portrays in Isaiah 53:1-12 and the Savior that John sees in Revelation 17:3-14?

In your opinion, how is the triumph that is revealed in Revelation 17:3-14 greater than the salvation of Jesus from the cross that the chief priests, teachers of the law and elders say that they would believe in Jesus if God would “rescue him” from in Matthew 27:32-44?

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

Next, back to Matthew 27:45 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)