Search The Scriptures — Study 46 — Acts 23: 11-35

Study 46  From The Book of Acts Is: Acts 23: 11-35

1. Consider how greatly Paul must have needed encouragement because of (a) the physical strain he had undergone, (b) the pain of Israel’s unbelief, (c) the seeming failure of his witness, and (d) the danger of which he would be aware next day. How would the vision and the words spoken by the Lord meet all these needs? What words of the Bible have you found a help in such times?  Do you memorize them?
2. God sends deliverance in many different ways.  How did He send deliverance in this case? Paul must have been greatly encouraged by what his nephew did.  Are you able to do any acts of kindness that will bring gladness to some person in need or loneliness or anxiety?

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Search The Scriptures — Study 25 — Acts 13:44-52

Study 25 From The book of Acts Is: Acts 13:44-52

The Jews Antioch became Jealous (verse 45) because Paul’s message of forgiveness through Christ was drawing away the God-fearers, whom they hoped would eventually become fully committed to Judaism.

1. What was the result of this jealous opposition upon the work of Paul and Barnabas? Cf. 18:5, 6; 28:28. Do you ever allow opposition to silence your testimony or halt your Christian work? Of what may the refusal of some to respond be an indication?
2. Paul and Barnabas now turn to the Gentiles. What two reasons are given in verses 46, 47 (see Note 1), and what two results follow in (a) the wider proclamation of the gospel and the ingathering of believers, and (b) the experience of the converts?

Notes

1. Verse 47. Cf. Is. 49:6. Supremely this refers to Jesus Christ, but Paul sees himself as continuing the mission to the Gentiles that Jesus began.
2. Verses 46 and 48. The Jew’s exclusion was their own fault.  The Gentiles’ inclusion was due wholly to God’s grace and a fulfillment of His foreordained purpose. This illustrates two sides of scriptural truth which need always to be held in balance.  

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Search The Scriptures — Study 07 — Exodus 10 and 11

Study 07 From The book of Exodus Is: Exodus 10 and 11

1.      What was the outcome in Pharaoh’s life of his persistent refusal to heed God’s warnings? See particularly 10:29.

2. What lesson can we learn from Moses’s consistent refusal to compromise where God’s command was concerned? What was the source of Moses’s great courage?  Cf. also Heb. 11:27

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Search The Scriptures — Study 05 — Exodus 8

Study 05 From The book of Exodus Is: Exodus 8

1.      What is mentioned in this chapter as the double purpose of the plagues? Cf. Is. 45:22-25;

Rom. 1: 18.

2.      What new evidences are given of God’s power, and how would these encourage the Israelites?

Note Verse 26.  A reference to the sacrifice in Israelite worship of bulls, cows or oxen, which in Egypt were sacred to Isis and therefore sacrosanct. 

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Search The Scriptures — Study 04 — Exodus 6:10-7:-25

Study 04 From The book of Exodus Is: Exodus 6:10-7:-25

1.      God had called Moses and promised deliverance to the people. Why did He delay so long

in fulfilling His promise? What did Moses learn from these difficult experiences and delays?

2.      Why was Pharaoh so confident and so adamant in disobeying God’s command?  See particularly 7:11-13, 22, 23. How does this kind of opposition to God show itself now? Cf. 2 Tim. 3:1-9.

Note. 6:12. ‘Of uncircumcised lips’: uncircumcision symbolizes unfitness for God’s presence, and hence, more generally, unfitness for His service. Cf. 4:10.

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Search The Scriptures — Study 02 — Acts 1:12-26

Study 02 From The book of Acts Is: Acts 1:12-26

     1.     What two actions did the disciples take during this waiting period? Can you suggest reason why?

    2.     Compare Judas (especially verses 16, 17) with Jesus’s brothers (verse 14). Cf. Jn. 7:5.  What warning and encouragement do they give you?

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Search The Scriptures — Study 07 — Psalms 11 — Psalms 12

Study 7 From The Psalms Is:

Psalms 11 — Psalms 12

As I mentioned to you previously, the book of Psalms is spread throughout the span of this study.  So, with the study of psalms 11 and 12 we will stop for now and start the book of Acts tomorrow.

     1.    In Ps. II why does David not follow the advice of those who see the situation as hopeless (verse 3) and suggest flight?  What gives him confidence to stand firm? Do you have this confidence?

2.    How are the word of man and the Word of God contrasted in Ps.12?

Note. 11:3. See RV mg.  The righteous have not been able to effect any change for the better; why then remain in the midst of danger?

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Previous Study 06: Psalms 09 — Psalms 10

Search The Scriptures — Study 06 — Psalms 09 — Psalms 10

Study 06 From The Psalms Is:

Psalms 09 — Psalms 10

These psalms were probably originally one, as is shown by the fact of their common ‘alphabetic’ structure. In the ixx they are one psalm.  The contents are, however, different. Ps. 9 is mainly a song of praise, celebrating victory over foreign nations; but Ps. 10 consists mainly of prayer, pleading for the overthrow of the wicked within Israel.

   1.    Make a detailed list of the truths we may learn about the Lord from these psalms.

2.    From Ps. 9 what do we learn of the actions and longings of David, and of his experience of the Lord? Contrast this with the thoughts and actions of the wicked as described in Ps. 10. To what extent is your own action, experience and longing similar to David’s?

Note. 9:17. The meaning is that through the judgments which God is executing the life of the wicked will be cut short by death.

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Previous Study 05:  Psalms

Search The Scriptures — Study 05 — Psalms 7— Psalms 8

Study 05 From The Psalms Is:

Psalms 7 — Psalms 8

    1.    In Ps. 7 David is experiencing persecution. On what grounds does he make his appeal to God (verses 1-11) in what two ways does he see judgement will overtake the wicked (verses 12-16)? Learn from verse 17 how prayer should end.

    2.    Ps. 8. What two truths here make the psalmist worship and wonder? And, more particularly, what is here declared concerning the place of man in the mind and purpose of God? Cf. Heb. 2:5-10.

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Previous Study 04:  Psalms6

Search The Scriptures — Study 04 — Psalms 6

Study 04 From The Psalms Is:

Psalms 6

Another example of prayer. David seems to have suffered both from sickness and the taunts of his enemies.  His sickness gave them occasion to point to him as one ‘smitten of God’.

    1.       Verses 1-7. Explain in your own words the state of David’s heart and mind as he made his prayer.  What does he (a) confess to God, and (b) expect from God?

2.      Note in verses 8-10 how David has come to an assurance of answered prayer and certain deliverance-an assurance which he openly confesses before God and men.  Have you had any similar experience?

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Previous Study 03:  Psalms 5 

Search The Scriptures — Study 02 — Psalms 3 — Psalms 4

Study 02 From The Psalms Is:

Psalms 3 — Psalms 4

For the probable circumstances of both Psalms, see 2 Sa. 15-17.

    1.      Ps. 3 is a morning psalm. As David wakes what adverse conditions confront him (verse 1, 2)? Cf. 2. Sa. 16:5-8. How does David react (verses 3, 4)? What are the consequences of his trust in the Lord (verses 5-8)? What may we learn from his example?

2.      Ps. 4 is an evening psalm. In verses 2-5, David addresses his adversaries.  What counsel does he give them?  In what does he find his own strength, joy and security?

Note 3:5. If this psalm was written, as seems likely, on the second morning after David’s flight from Jerusalem, it was a great encouragement to him that the night had passed without an attack. Cf. 2 Sa. 17:1-4, 14.

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Previous Study:  Psalms 1and 2

Search The Scriptures — Study 01 — Psalms 1 — Psalms 2

Study 01 From The Psalms Is:

Psalms 1—Psalms 2

      1.      In Ps. 1.  The righteous and the wicket contrasted. Compare their characters (verse 1, 2), the pictures given of them and their final end (verse 3-6). In what do you delight? And with whom are you most at ease?

      2.      Ps. 2. What is the Lord’s purpose for ‘His anointed”, and what is involved in its accomplishment? 

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PreviousStudy was from the book of Luke: 63

Search The Scriptures — Study 63 — Luke 24:36-53

WITH STUDY 63 WE CONCLUDE THE BOOK OF LUKE. 

Tomorrow we will start with the Psalms. However, because there are 150 of them, they have been spread out into groups throughout three years. The first set of lessons will be from Psalm 1 to 12.

Study 63 From The Book of Luke Is:

Luke 24:36-53

1.       Cf. verse 11. What changed the apostles’ minds? Why do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

2.       What are the fundamental facts of the gospel to which witness must be borne throughout the world? Who are to bear that witness, and in what power? Are you personally involved? OR, if not, why not?

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Previous Study:  62

Search The Scriptures — Study 61 — Luke 24:1-12

Study 61 From The Book of Luke Is:

Luke 24:1-12

     1.      Try to put yourself in the place of the women on Easter morning. Ought they to have been perplexed? Why had they not remembered Jesus’s words?

     2.      To the disillusioned apostles the story was wishful thinking (verse 11). What does it mean to you?

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Previous Study:  60

Search The Scriptures — Study 60 —Luke 23:44-56

Study 60 From The Book of Luke Is:

Luke 23:44-56

    1.     What indication does the narrative give of the significance of Jesus’s death? What was its effect on the various people present? And what gave it this effect?

    2.     Verses 50-56. Jesus had apparently failed. What does the action of Joseph and the women at such a time teach us?

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Previous Study:  59

Search The Scriptures — Study 57 —Luke 22:63-23:12

Study 57 From The Book of Luke Is:

Luke 22:63-23:12

   1.   How would you describe the attitude to Jesus of the following people: the guards, the religious leaders, Pilate, Herod? What sort of people are their counterparts today? Have they anything to teach us?

   2.  Consider what Jesus had to suffer, and how He bore it.  Read 1 Pet.      2:19-23; Phil. 2:5-8.

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PreviousStudy:  56

Search The Scriptures — Study 49 — Luke 19:47-20:26

Study 49 From The Book of Luke Is:

Luke 19:47-20:26

     1.     Observe the atmosphere of hostility and intrigue in this passage. In this situation, what was the purpose of the parable of 20:9-18? To whom does it refer, and what does it imply about the status of Jesus?

     2.     20:19-26. Why was Jesus’s answer so effective? Apply both halves of verse 25 to your own situation.

3.     20:1-8. Why did Jesus answer one question by asking another? Or was He treating their inquiry seriously? If so, why did He refuse to tell them the answer to their original question?

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Previousstudy:  Lesson 48

Search The Scriptures — Study 48 — Luke 19:29-46

And…..we are back into the book of Luke

Study 48 From The Book of Luke Is: Luke 19:29-46

     1.     Verses 29-40.  What was Jesus’ purpose in making this public entry into Jerusalem? Cf. Zc. 9:9. What was he intending to teach about the nature of His Kinship? Contrast Rev. 19:11

     2.     Verses 41-46. What was it about Jerusalem that moved Jesus to pity and to anger? How do these verses show that love does not exclude Judgment?

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LAST LESSON IN GENESIS #42

OUR LAST STUDY IN LUKE WAS: Lesson 47:Luke 19:11-28

Search The Scriptures — Study 40 — Genesis 49

Study 40 of "Search The Scriptures” Is:

Genesis 49

     1.     Consider how diverse and unpromising were the human materials which God chose for the fulfillment of His purposes. Cf. Dt. 7:7, 8; 9: 4, 5.  One secret of how God could do this is described in verses 24, 25a. Is this a secret of victory which you have learnt for yourself? Cf. Phil. 4:13; 2 Cor. 12:9.

     2.     Consider especially Reuben, Judah and Joseph. In whom was the promise of verse 10 fulfilled? (See RSV for sense; cf. Ezk. 21:27.) Cf. also 1Ch. 5:1,2

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STUDY 39

Search The Scriptures — Study 39 — Genesis 47:13-48:22

Study 39 of "Search The Scriptures” Is:

Genesis 47:13-48:22

     1.     By their own confession what did Joseph do for the people of Egypt? How did he remain true to his father’s God amid all the pressures of his office?

     2.     What different points of view produced the two retrospects of Jacob in 47:9 and 48:15, 16? Which is more worthy of our imitation?

3.     Note Jacob’s confident faith and prayer for his two grandsons. Cf. Heb. 11:21; Gn. 18:18, 19; Dt. 6:4-7; Ps. 78:5-7. What can we learn from this concerning the privilege and responsibility of Christian parenthood?

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Study 38