October 22, 2023 – Isaiah in the New Testament – The Key to Heaven

The Key to Heaven

Isaiah 22:20-25 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹ I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. ²² I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ²³ I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. ²⁴ All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

²⁵ “In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.

How is “Eliakim son of Hilkiah” described (verse 20)?

What will Eliakim be handed (verse 21?

Who will Eliakim “be a father to” (verse 21)?

What will be placed on Eliakim’s shoulder (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why will “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (verse 22)?

Where will he be driven “like a peg” (verse 23)?

What will hang from Eliakim (verse 24)?

What will happen to the peg (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?

Revelation 3:7-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

How is the One who wrote to “angel of the church in Philadelphia” described (verse 7)?

Who can shut what He opens (verse 7)?

What has He placed before the church in Philadelphia (verse 8)?

In your opinion, how can a church with little strength be able to keep Jesus’s word and not deny His name (verse 8)?

What do the members of the “synagogue of Satan” claim to be (verse 9)?

How will the church of Philadelphia be rewarded for keeping Jesus’s “command to endure patiently” (verse 10)?

When is Jesus coming (verse 11)?

How will “the one who is victorious” be rewarded (verse 12)?

Who is to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?

In your opinion, how is the one who holds the key of David in Isaiah 22:20-25 different from the One who holds the key in Revelation 3:7-13?

Matthew 16:13-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Where were Jesus and the disciples (verse 13)?

What did Jesus ask the disciples (verse 13)?

How did the disciples answer (verse 14)?

What did Jesus next ask the disciples (verse 15)?

How did Simon Peter answer (verse 16)?

Who revealed the answer to Peter (verse 17)?

What will the rock that Jesus will build His church on not be overcome by (verse 18)?

What will Peter be given (verse 19)?

What order did Jesus the disciples (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?

In your opinion, how is the Key of David in Isaiah 22:20-25 more limited than the keys Peter received in Matthew 16:13-20?

In your opinion, how does knowing that the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” that were given to Peter in Matthew 16:13-20 were given to him by the One who Revelation 3:7-13 says has placed an “open door that no one can shut” add significance to the keys?

John 20:19-29 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Why were the doors locked when the disciples gathered (verse 19)?

What did Jesus say when He “stood among them” (verse 19)?

How did the disciples react when they saw “his hands and side” (verse 20)?

How did Jesus say He was sending the disciples (verse 21)?

What did Jesus say after “he breathed on them” (verse 22)?

What would happen to anyone’s sins if the disciples forgave them (verse 23)?

Who was not with the “disciples when Jesus came” (verse 24)?

How did he respond when the disciples told him “we have seen the Lord” (verse 25)?

When did Jesus come and stand among them again (verse 26)?

What did Jesus tell Thomas (verse 27)?

How did Thomas respond (verse 28)?

Who did Jesus say is blessed (verse 29)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the One who gives the key and the one who receives it?

In your opinion, how is Eliakim receiving the key of David and authority to open and shut in Isaiah 22:20-25 different from Jesus blessing the disciples with the Holy Spirit and giving them authority to forgive sins?

In your opinion, how is the promise of Jesus that those the disciples forgive will be forgiven in John 20:19-23 realized by the open door that will not be shut of Revelation 3:7-13?

In your opinion, how the promise of Jesus to give Peter “the keys of the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 16:13-20 fulfilled by Jesus in John 20:19-23? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Revelation, Matthew, and John teach us about the Key to heaven?

In your opinion, how can we share with others the invitation to walk through the open door with others today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

October 15, 2023 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Living Fully

Living Fully

Isaiah 22:12-22 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day
to weep and to wail,
    to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.
¹³ But see, there is joy and revelry,
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”

¹⁴ The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

¹⁵ This is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:

“Go, say to this steward,
    to Shebna the palace administrator:
¹⁶ What are you doing here and who gave you permission
    to cut out a grave for yourself here,
hewing your grave on the height
    and chiseling your resting place in the rock?

¹⁷ “Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you
    and hurl you away, you mighty man.
¹⁸ He will roll you up tightly like a ball
    and throw you into a large country.
There you will die
    and there the chariots you were so proud of
    will become a disgrace to your master’s house.
¹⁹ I will depose you from your office,
    and you will be ousted from your position.

²⁰ “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹ I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. ²² I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.

What has the Lord called for the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do “on that day” (verse 12)?

What did the people say while they were eating meat and drinking wine (verse 13?

Who said “till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why was Shebna, the palace administrator, hewing his “grave on the height” (verses 15 and 16)?

What is the Lord going to do (verse 17)?

Where will Shebna die (verse 18)?

Who will depose Shebna (verse 19)?

How is Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, described (verse 20)?

What will Eliakim become (verse 21)?

Where will the “key to the house of David” be placed (verse 22)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about how we should view death and/or life?

Luke 12:13-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

²¹ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

What did the person from the crowd want Jesus to do (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask “who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you” (verse 14)?

What did Jesus say that “life does not consist” of (verse 15)?

Whose ground “yielded an abundant harvest” (verse 16)?

What was the man’s problem (verse 17)?

How did the man propose to remedy the problem (verse 18)?

Then what was the man going to say to himself (verse 19)?

Why was the man a fool (verse 20)?

What was the man going to get (verse 20)?

For whom will it be like this (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about how we should view death and/or life?

In your opinion, how are the steward who thinks he is going to die in Isaiah 22:12-22 and the rich man who is planning to store even more riches in Luke 12:13-21 alike?

1 Corinthians 15:31-44a – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³² If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”

³³ Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” ³⁴ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

³⁵ But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶ How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. ⁴¹ The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.

⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

Who does Paul board about (verse 31)?

Under what circumstance does Paul say we should “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (verse 32)?

What corrupts “good character” (verse 33)?

What does Paul want the Corinthian Christians to “come back to” (verse 34)?

What must happen for something that is sowed to “come to life” (verse 36)?

Who determines what body “each kind of seed” will have (verse 38)?

What is not the same (verse 39)?

What is different between the sun, the moon and the stars (verse 41)?

How is the body that is sown perishable raised (verse 42)?

How is the body that is sown “in dishonor” raised (verse 43)?

How is the body that is sown as a “natural body” raised (verse 44)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about how we should view death and/or life?

In your opinion, how does Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:31-44 help us understand the mindset of the people of Jerusalem who were saying “let us eat and drink” in Isaiah 22:12-22?

In your opinion, what could the rich man in Luke 12:13-21 have done to comply with Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians 15:31-44 to “come back to your senses as you ought”?

Romans 8:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Who is there “now no condemnation for” (verse 1)?

What does the “law of the Spirit” set believers free from (verse 2)?

How did God accomplish what “the law was powerless to do” (verse 3)?

Who is the “righteous requirement of the law” met in (verse 4)?

What do those who “live according to the flesh” have their minds set on (verse 5)?

What do those who “live in accordance with the Spirit” have their minds set on (verse 5)?

What is “life and peace” (verse 6)?

What can the “mind governed by the flesh” not do (verse 7)?

Who “cannot please God” (verse 8)?

Who is “not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit” (verse 9)?

Who gives life “even though your body is subject to death” (verse 10)?

Who will give life to those “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about how we should view death and/or life?

In your opinion, what does Shebna cutting out a grave for himself in Isaiah 22:12-22 reveal about where his mind was set as defined by Romans 8:1-11?

In your opinion, how are the plans of the rich man in Luke 12:13-21 “hostile to God” in the way that Paul discusses in Romans 8:1-11?

In your opinion, how is the life given by the Spirit “because of righteousness” in Romans 8:1-11 the ultimate solution for the despair the statement “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” expresses in 1 Corinthians 15:31-44? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Luke, 1 Corinthians, and Romans teach us about the difference between living like that we are going to die tomorrow and living eternally in Christ?

In your opinion, how can we overcome living in fear to living fully, completely and eternally today?

October 8, 2023 – Isaiah in the New Testament – A Banner for the Thirsty

A Banner for the Thirsty

Isaiah 11:10-16 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. ¹¹ In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.

¹² He will raise a banner for the nations
    and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
    from the four quarters of the earth.
¹³ Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
    and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
    nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.
¹⁴ They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;
    together they will plunder the people to the east.
They will subdue Edom and Moab,
    and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
¹⁵ The Lord will dry up
    the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand
    over the Euphrates River.
He will break it up into seven streams
    so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
¹⁶ There will be a highway for the remnant of his people
    that is left from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
    when they came up from Egypt.

Who will “the nations rally to” (verse 10)?

Where will the Lord reclaim the “surviving remnant of his people” from (verse 11?

In your opinion, why does Isaiah say the Lord will “raise a banner for the nations” and “gather the exiles of Israel” (verse 12)?

What will happen to the relationship between Ephraim and Judah (verse 13)?

Who will they plunder (verse 14)?

What will the “scorching wind” of the Lord’s hand do (verse 15)?

What will there be “for the remnant of his people” (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, who does this passage teach us that the “Root of Jesse” will stand as a banner for?

John 4:10-26 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

²¹ “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

What would the woman at the well have received if she “knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why is the question “where can you get this living water” important (verse 11)?

What will happen to the people who drink the water from Jacob’s well (verse 13)?

How is it different for the people who drink the water that Jesus gives them (verse 14)?

Why does the woman want to drink the water that Jesus gives (verse 15)?

Who does Jesus want the woman to bring to the well (verse 16)?

Why did the woman say she couldn’t bring him (verse 17)?

What did Jesus know about the woman (verse 18)?

What did the woman now know about Jesus (verse 19)?

How does the woman attempt to move the discussion away from her past and present (verse 20)?

How does Jesus show that the past is not going to limit of the Jews and the Samaritans (verse 21)?

What has now come (verse 23)?

How must God be worshipped (verse 24)?

What did the woman know (verse 25)?

Who did Jesus claim to be (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, who does this passage teach us that the “Root of Jesse” will stand as a banner for?

In your opinion, how is the diversity of the nations and of the surviving remnant of the Lord’s people who return in Isaiah 11:10-16 become unity in John 4:10-26?

Romans 15:5-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, ⁶ so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed ⁹ and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing the praises of your name.”

¹⁰ Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

¹¹ And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
    let all the peoples extol him.”

¹² And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
    one who will arise to rule over the nations;
    in him the Gentiles will hope.”

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

What kind of “attitude of mind” does Jesus pray for the Roman Christians (verse 5)?

How would they react to “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” if they had that “attitude of mind” (verse 6)?

Why should they “accept one another” (verse 7)?

What has Christ become (verse 8)?

Why will the Gentiles “glorify God” (verse 9)?

Who are the Gentiles to rejoice with (verse 10)?

How are “all the peoples” to respond to the Lord (verse 11)?

Who will the Gentiles hope in (verse 12)?

How can someone “overflow with hope”  (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, who does this passage teach us that the “Root of Jesse” will stand as a banner for?

In your opinion, how does having the “same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had” in Romans 15:5-13 cause both the “nations” that rally to the Banner and the remnant of the Jewish people who will be gathered in Isaiah 11:10-16 to have “one mind and one voice”?

In your opinion, how does Jesus’s discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:10-26 help prepare Paul in Romans 15:5-13 to make it clear that “the Root of Jesse” became a “servant of the Jews” in part so that “the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy”?

Revelation 22:16-21 – New International Version (NIV)

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.

How does Jesus identify Himself (verse 16)?

Who says “Come!” (verse 17)?

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

What is John’s warning to “everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll” (verse 18)?

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

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

What does John pray to “be with God’s people” (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, who does this passage teach us that the “Root of Jesse” will stand as a banner for?

In your opinion, how does Isaiah 11:10-16 saying that the “Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples” and that nations will rally to Him made richer by Jesus claiming to be the “Root” in Revelation 22:16-21?

In your opinion, how does the discussion of water with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:10-26 help us understand the significance of the instruction to “let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” in Revelation 22:16-21?

In your opinion, how is your “attitude of mind” changed when you realize that the one that Romans 15:5-13 said became “a servant of the Jews” is the same one who claims in Revelation 22:16-21 to be the “bright Morning Star” who is coming soon? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, John, Romans and Revelation teach us about why the “Root of Jesse” needs to be a banner and a prophet, a servant and a Star? 

In your opinion, how do we worship the “Root of Jesse” “in the Spirit and in truth” today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)