January 18, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Receiving God’s Mercy

Receiving God’s Mercy

Exodus 33:12-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

What did the Lord know Moses by (verse 12)?

Why did Moses want the Lord to “teach me your ways” (verse 13)?

Who will “go with” Moses (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why would Moses not want to be sent “if your Presence does not go with us” (verses 15 and 16)?

Why was the Lord going to do “the very thing” that Moses ask (verse 17)?

What did Moses want to see (verse 18)?

Who did the Lord say He would have mercy on (verse 19)?

Why can Moses not see the Lord’s face (verse 20)?

Where was Moses to stand (verse 21)?

What was the Lord going to do when His glory passed by (verse 22)?

What would Moses be able to see (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s mercy?

Matthew 13:53-58 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables, he moved on from there. ⁵⁴ Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. ⁵⁵ “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took offense at him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”

⁵⁸ And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

When did Jesus move on (verse 53)?

What did Jesus do when He came to “his hometown” (verse 54)?

In your opinion, why did the people ask “where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” (verses 54, 55, and 56)?

How did the people respond to Jesus (verse 57)?

Where is a prophet without honor (verse 57)?

Why did Jesus “not do many miracles” (verse 58)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s mercy?

In your opinion, how is the blessing of seeing God’s glory that Moses pleads for in Exodus 33:12-23 rejected by the people in Jesus’s hometown in Matthew 13:53-58?  Why did they reject it?

Romans 9:14-26 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses,

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. ¹⁷ For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

¹⁹ One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” ²¹ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? ²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— ²⁴ even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”

²⁶ and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

“Is God unjust” (verse 14)?

What did God tell Moses (verse 15)?

What does mercy not depend on (verse 16)?

Who did the Scripture say “I raised you up for this very purpose” to (verse 17)?

Who does God have mercy on (verse 18)?

What might someone say (verse 19)?

In your opinion, “who are you, a human being, to talk back to God” (verse 20)?

Who has God “prepared in advance for glory” (verses 23 and 24)?

Who will God call “my people” (verse 25)?

Where will “they be called ‘children of the living God’” (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s mercy?

In your opinion, how does God’s mercy being extended to Moses in Exodus 33:12-23 after Moses’s request to see God’s glory help us understand the complex application of God’s power and mercy in Romans 9:14-26?

In your opinion, how do the people’s doubts about Jesus in Matthew 13:53-58 help us understand Paul’s discussion following his question about God being unjust in Romans 9:14-26?

2 Thessalonians 2:9-17 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, ¹⁰ and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie ¹² and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

¹³ But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Who will come “in accordance with how Satan works” (verse 9)?

What “deceives those who are perishing” (verse 10)?

Why did God send “a powerful delusion” (verse 11)?

Who will be “condemned” (verse 12)?

How are the “firstfruits to be saved” (verse 13)?

How were the “firstfruits” called (verse 14)?

What are the “brothers and sisters” to do (verse 15)?

What do Paul, Silas and Timothy say that Jesus and the Father has given them (verse 16)?

What do Paul, Silas and Timothy want Jesus and the Father to do for the Thessalonian Christians (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s mercy?

In your opinion, what can the “brothers and sisters loved by the Lord” in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-17 learn from Moses’s interaction with the Lord in Exodus 33:12-23?

In your opinion, how does the interaction between Jesus and the people of His hometown in Matthew 13:53-58 help us to understand the deceptions of Satan that Paul, Silas and Timothy talk about in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-17?

In your opinion, what does 2 Thessalonians 2:9-17 help us understand about those whom Romans 9:14-26 says God “wants to have mercy” on?

In your opinion, who does God have compassion for in these Scriptures from Exodus, Matthew, Romans and 2 Thessalonians?

In your opinion, how is understanding the truth about self and God related to receiving the benefit of God’s mercy?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

January 11, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Priceless Treasure

Priceless Treasure

Isaiah 55:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
² Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.
³ Give ear and come to me;
    listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
    my faithful love promised to David.
⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
    a ruler and commander of the peoples.
⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not,
    and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendor.”

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

How were the readers to “buy wine and milk” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, “why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy” (verse 2)?

What kind of covenant is the Lord making (verse 3)?

What has God made David “to the peoples” (verses 3 and 4)?

Who will “come running” (verse 5)?

When should we “seek the Lord” (verse 6)?

What will the Lord do for the unrighteous who forsake their thoughts and “turn to the Lord” (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about both the cost and value of salvation?

Matthew 13:44-52 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. ⁴⁶ When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

⁴⁷ “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied.

⁵² He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

What did the man do when he found “treasure hidden in a field” (verse 44)?

What did the merchant who was “looking for fine pearls” do when he found one (verses 45 and 46)?

What was caught in the net (verse 47)?

Where did they collect the good fish (verse 48)?

How were the bad fish treated (verse 48)?

Who will separate “the wicked from the righteous” (verse 49)?

What will happen to the wicked (verse 50)?

How did the disciples answer when Jesus ask “have you understood all these things” (verse 51)?

Who is “like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (verse 52)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about both the cost and value of salvation?

In your opinion, what does Isaiah 55:1-7 help us understand about the cost of entering the kingdom of heaven that Jesus is discussing in the parables in Matthew 13:44-52?

Philippians 3:4b-14 - New International Version (NIV)

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. ¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

What does Paul have more of (verse 4)?

How was Paul “a Pharisee” (verse 5)?

What had Paul’s zeal caused him to do (verse 6)?

Why did Paul consider “whatever were gains” now a loss (verse 7)?

What did Paul consider garbage (verse 8)?

What is the basis of “the righteousness that comes from God” (verse 9)?

What did Paul want to participate in (verse 10)?

What resurrection did Paul want to attain (verse 11)?

Who “took hold” of Paul (verse 12)?

What does Paul strain toward (verse 13)?

How did God call Paul heavenward (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about both the cost and value of salvation?

In your opinion, how does Philippians 3:5-14 help us understand why it is difficult for people to accept the absolutely amazing gift that is offered in Isaiah 55:1-7?

In your opinion, how do the parables in Matthew 13:44-52 demonstrate the consequences of the decision about what to consider gain and loss that Paul describes in Philippians 3:5-14?

2 Timothy 3:10-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

What did Timothy know that the Lord had rescued Paul from (verses 10 and 11)?

Who will be persecuted (verse 12)?

Who will “go from bad to worse” (verse 13)?

What was Timothy to “continue in” (verse 14)?

When had Timothy learned “the Holy Scriptures” (verse 15)?

What could “the Holy Scriptures” do for Timothy (verse 15)?

How much Scripture “is God-breathed” (verse 16)?

What does the Scripture do for the “servant of God” (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about both the cost and value of salvation?

In your opinion, what does 2 Timothy 3:10-17 help us understand about what comes after accepting the free pardon in Isaiah 55:1-7?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s statement in 2 Timothy 3:10-17 that “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful” help us understand why Jesus said in Matthew 13:44-52 that “every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven” can get new and old treasures from their storeroom?

In your opinion, what can considering the information in Philippians 3:5-14 and 2 Timothy 3:10-17 help us learn about life before and after salvation?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Isaiah, Matthew, Philippians and 2 Timothy teach us about the true treasure we can seek in our earthly life?

In your opinion, how does life change after we claim that treasure?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)