September 20, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Love and Judgment

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.”

Love and Judgment

Matthew 25:31-46 – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Where will the Son of Man sit when He comes in His glory with all the angels (verse 31)?

How will the Son of Man separate the people (verse 32)?

To whom will the King say “come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (verses 33 and 34)?

What did the King say that these who are blessed by His Father had done (verses 35 and 36)?

How do the righteous respond to the King (verses 37, 38 and 39)?

In your opinion, why does the King say “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (verse 40)?

What did the Son of Man call “those on his left” (verse 41)?

Where were they to go (verse 41)?

In your opinion, why will they say “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you” (verse 44)?

How does the Son of Man answer (verse 45)?

Where do the righteous go (verse 46)?

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

Daniel 7:13-14 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

What was the one that Daniel saw in his vision like (verse 13)?

How was He coming (verse 13)?

Who did He approach (verse 13)?

What was He given (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did “all nations and peoples of every language” worship Him (verse 14)?

When will His dominion end (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, how does it make you feel that the one “like a son of man” who is given “authority, glory and sovereign power” and who has a dominion that is everlasting and a kingdom that will never be destroyed is the one who tells the “sheep” on His right to “come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world”?

John 5:16-30 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

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.”

Why did the Jewish leaders begin to persecute Jesus (verse 16)?

How did Jesus defend Himself (verse 17)?

Why did this cause the Jewish leaders to try “all the more to kill him” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why can the Son “do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing” (verse 19)?

Why will the Father, who “loves the Son and shows him all he does” also show “him even greater works than these” (verse 20)?

Who does the Son give life to (verse 21)?

What has the Father “entrusted” to the Son (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why is it that “whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (verse 23)?

What will not happen to “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me” and has eternal life (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to have “crossed over from death to life” (verse 25)?

What has the Father, who has “life in himself” granted the Son (verse 26)?

Who has the “authority to judge” (verse 27)?

Who will “hear his voice” in a time that is coming (verse 28)?

What will those who “have done what is good” do (verse 29)?

What will those who “have done what is evil” do (verse 29)?

What can Jesus do by Himself (verse 30)?

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

In your opinion, how is Daniel’s statement that the “one like a son of man” would have an “everlasting dominion that will not pass away” in Daniel 7:13-14 expanded on by what Jesus says in John 5:16-30 “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life”?

In your opinion, how should we reconcile what Jesus says in Matthew 25:31-46 about judgment “he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” with what He says in John 5:16-30 “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”?

Jude 17-25 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

What are the “dear friends” supposed to do with “what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold” (verse 17)?

Who will follow “their own ungodly desires” (verse 18)?

How are the “people who divide you” described (verse 19)?

In your opinion, how does “building yourself up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit” result in “keeping yourselves in God’s love” (verses 20 and 21)?

What is the “mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ” going to bring (verse 21)?

How should we treat “those who doubt” (verse 22)?

In your opinion, how do we “show mercy, mixed with fear” (verse 23)?

What is Savior able to do (verse 24)?

What is to “the only God” “through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore” (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus statement in John 5:16-30 that “those who hear will live” and the statement in Jude 17-25 that “scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires” help us to understand the sheep and the goats that Jesus talks about in Matthew 25:31-46?

In your opinion, how does it make you feel to know that the one “like a son of Man” who “approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence” in Daniel 7:13-14 is also able “keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior” according to Jude 17-25?

In your opinion, what does Jude 17-25 show us about the sheep and the goats that Jesus was talking about in Matthew 25:31-46?

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

Next, back to Matthew 26:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 13, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Service 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.”

Service and Love

Matthew 25:14-30 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

In your opinion, what will be like “a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them” (verse 14)?

How did the man decide how many bags to give to each servant (verse 15)?

What did the man with five bags and the man with two bags do (verses 16 and 17)?

What did the man who received one bag do (verse 18)?

When did the master of the servants return (verse 19)?

What did the man who received five bags of gold report (verse 20)?

In your opinion, why was the servant invited to “come and share your master’s happiness” (verse 21)?

What did the man who was entrusted with two bags report (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why was the response of the master the same, even though the amounts they gained were different (verse 23)?

How does the third man describe the master (verse 24)?

Why did the man hide the money in the ground (verse 25)?

How does the master describe this man (verse 26)?

In your opinion, why should the master have received back the money with interest (verse 27)?

Who was the one bag of gold given to (verse 28)?

In your opinion, why is it fair that “whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance” (verse 29)?

What is being taken from the one who “does not have” (verse 29)?

Where will the “worthless servant” be thrown (verse 30)?

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

Ezekiel 3:16-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ “At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. ¹⁸ When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ¹⁹ But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

²⁰ “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ²¹ But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

When did the word of the Lord come to Ezekiel (verse 16)?

What was Ezekiel made into (verse 17)?

What was Ezekiel to do with the Word of the Lord (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why was Ezekiel to be accountable for the blood of the person he does not warn or speak out to dissuade (verse 18)?

What is the effect for Ezekiel if he warns a wicked person but they do not turn from their evil ways and die for their sins (verse 19)?

Who will the Lord put a “stumbling block” before (verse 20)?

Why will the person “die for their sin” (verse 20)?

What will not be remembered (verse 20)?

Who will be accountable (verse 20)?

In your opinion, why will Ezekiel “have saved” himself if he warns “the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin” (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how could the warning to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:16-21 be applied to the three men in Matthew 25:14-30 who received the bags of gold and to the rewards and punishment that they received?

Romans 12:3-8 - New International Version (NIV)

³ “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

With what does Paul tell his readers to think of themselves “in accordance with the faith God has distribute to each of you” (verse 3)?

Who has “one body with many members” (verse 4)?

In Christ who does “each member” belong to (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why do we have “different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (verse 6)?

What should we do if our gift is prophesying (verse 6)?

What should we do if our gift is serving (verse 7)?

What should we do if our gift is teaching (verse 7)?

If our gift is gift is giving then how should we give (verse 8)?

If our gift is leading then how should we lead (verse 8)?

If our gift is showing mercy then how should we show mercy (verse 8)?

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

In your opinion, what can we who have different gifts according to Paul in Romans 12:3-8 learn from Ezekiel, the watchman that the Lord appointed in Ezekiel 3:16-21, and the instructions that he received from the Lord?

In your opinion, should we who Paul says have different gifts in Romans 12:3-8 learn anything from the promise of Jesus in Matthew 25:14-30 that “whoever has will be given more” and the accompanying warning that “whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them”?

1 Peter 4:7-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

What is near (verse 7)?

Why should we “be alert and of sober mind” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does love cover “over a multitude of sins” (verse 8)?

How should hospitality be offered to one another (verse 9)?

What should we use “whatever gift” we have received for (verse 10)?

How should the one who speaks speak (verse 11)?

How should the one who serves serve (verse 11)?

What should happen “in all things” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how do the statements of Paul in Romans 12:3-8 that we have different gifts have an additional impact when combined with the instruction of Peter in 1 Peter 4:7-11 that ends with “so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ”?

In your opinion, how is the stern statement of God to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:16-21 about being a watchman given a different emphasis when combined with the statement of Peter from 1 Peter 4:7-11 to “above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins”?

In your opinion, how does the parable of Jesus about the three servants and the bags of gold in Matthew 25:14-30 illustrate Peter’s instruction to “use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” in 1 Peter 4:7-11?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Ezekiel, Romans and 1 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 25:31 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 6, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Known and Saved by God

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.”

Known and Saved by God

Matthew 25:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

What will the kingdom of heaven be like (verse 1)?

How many virgins were there (verse 2)?

Why were the five virgins foolish (verse 3)?

Why did they all become drowsy and fall asleep (verse 5)?

When did the cry ring (verse 6)?

What did the foolish virgins ask of the wise virgins (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why did the wise virgins say “No, there may not be enough for both us and you” (verse 9)?

When did the bridegroom arrive (verse 10)?

Who went to the wedding banquet (verse 10)?

Why did the foolish virgins say “Lord, Lord, open the door for us” (verses 10 and 11)?

In your opinion, why was the response “truly I tell you, I don’t know you” (verse 12)?

Why is the instruction “therefore keep watch” (verse 13)?

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

Exodus 12:21-30 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ “Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. ²³ When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

²⁴ “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. ²⁸ The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. ³⁰ Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.”

What did Moses tell the elders of Israel to do (verse 21)?

Where were the Israelites to place the blood with the hyssop (verse 21)?

When could they leave their houses (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why were the Israelites ask to do these things, when the Lord knew who they were (verses 21 and 22)?

What would happen when the Lord went through the land to “strike down the Egyptians” and saw the blood on the top and sides of the door frame (verse 23)?

Why were the instructions to be obeyed (verse 24)?

When were they to begin observing the ceremony (verse 25)?

How were the Israelites to answer their children’s question “what does this ceremony mean to you” (verses 26 and 27)?

What did the Israelites do (verse 28)?

When did the Lord strike down “all the firstborn in Egypt” (verse 29)?

Who got up during the night (verse 29)?

Why was there loud wailing in Egypt (verse 30)?

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

In your opinion, how can the preparations of the Israelites in Exodus 12:21-30 for the Passover show us how to “watch” for the coming of the Lord as Jesus instructed in Matthew 25:1-13?

2 Timothy 2:8-19 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

¹¹ Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
    we will also live with him;
¹² if we endure,
    we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
    he will also disown us;
¹³ if we are faithless,
    he remains faithful,
    for he cannot disown himself.

¹⁴ Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶ Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷ Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Who does Paul tell Timothy to remember (verse 8)?

What is not chained (verse 9)?

Why does Paul “endure everything” (verse 10)?

When will we live with Christ (verse 11)?

When will Christ disown us (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say that “if we are faithless, he remains faithful” (verse 13)?

What is Timothy to warn God’s people about (verse 14)?

How is Timothy to do his best to present himself to God (verse 15)?

In your opinion, how does godless chatter cause those who indulge in it to become “more and more ungodly” (verse 16)?

What will spread “like gangrene” (verse 17)?

How did Hymenaeus and Philetus “destroy the faith of some” (verse 18)?

How does “God’s solid foundation” stand (verse 19)?

What is inscribed on “God’s solid foundation” (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, how does the blood on the top and sides of the door in Exodus 12:21-30 so that the destroyer does not enter the homes of the Israelites in Egypt foreshadow the statement of Paul in 2 Timothy 2:8-19 that “The Lord knows those who are his”?

In your opinion, what does Paul’s discussion in 2 Timothy 2:8-19 show us about the differences between the wise and foolish virgins of Matthew 25:1-13?

1 Peter 1:3-9 – New International Version (NIV)

³ “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

How does Peter describe God, who he praises (verse 3)?

What makes the new birth that God, in His great mercy has given us, possible (verse 3)?

Where is the inheritance that “can never perish, spoil or fade” kept for Christians (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why does the shielding by God’s power through faith end at the “coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (verse 5)?

What do the Christians that Peter is writing to do in spite of having to “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6)?

When will the “proven genuineness of your faith” result in “praise, glory and honor” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does believing in Jesus Christ fill people with “an inexpressible and glorious joy” (verse 8)?

What is the “end result of your faith” (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, how does the statement of Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-9 that our God and Father has “given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” help us to understand the statement of Paul in 2 Timothy 2:8-19 that “the Lord knows who is his”?

In your opinion, how does the passing over of the houses that had the lamb’s blood on the top and sides of the door frame by the destroyer in Exodus 12:21-30 foreshadow the new birth that is available because of the “resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” of 1 Peter 1:3-9?

In your opinion, how does Peter’s discussion in 1 Peter 1:3-9 about “new birth” “inheritance” “faith” and “receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” help us to understand what Jesus is trying to teach in Matthew 25:1-13 when He tells the parable of the five wise and the five foolish virgins?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Exodus, 2 Timothy and 1 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 25:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)