The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
Scripture References:
Matthew 20:1-16
June 6, 2015
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. What do you think of deathbed or death-row conversions?
2. What is the most generous thing anyone has ever done for you?
3. *Who is the best employer you ever had? Why?

Explore It

1. To what situation did Jesus compare the kingdom of heaven? (20:1)
2. Who was the central character in this parable? (20:1)
3. What did the landowner go out and do? (20:1)
4. What wages were agreed upon by the landowner and his hired hands? (20:2)
5. In the parable, what happened at about 9:00 a.m.? (20:3)
6. What wage was agreed upon between the landowner and his workers? (20:4)
7. How many additional times did the landowner go out and hire workers? (20:5-6)
8. What explanation did the last group of workers give when asked why they were standing around doing nothing? (20:7)
9. What happened to the last group of workers? (20:7)
10. What did the landowner tell his foreman at the end of the day? (20:8)
11. What wages did the workers hired at the eleventh hour receive? (20:9)
12. *What did the landowner pay to the men who worked all day? (20:10)
13. *How did the workers respond to the landowner’s system of payment? (20:11-12)
14. *What rationale did the landowner give for his actions? (20:13-15)

Get It

1. In what ways does God’s grace seem unfair?
2. How do our cultural values resist the idea of grace?
3. Why is it dangerous to compare your own situation with someone else’s?
4. How would you answer the argument that God isn’t fair in the way He forgives?
5. How does it make you feel to know that heaven will include ex-murderers, former child molesters, and people who put their trust in Christ only minutes before death?
6. *What would happen if God gave each of us what we deserve?
7. *How can focusing on God’s grace in our lives keep us from becoming jealous of others?

Apply It

1. What can you do today to help someone who needs God’s grace begin to understand the love of God?
2. *In what way can you say thank you to God every day this week for his amazing grace in your life?

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. ⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing ^[a]idle, and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, ^[b]and whatever is right you will receive.’

⁸ “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ ⁹ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰ But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. ¹¹ And when they had received it, they ^[c]complained against the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ ¹³ But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ ¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last. For^[d] many are called, but few chosen.”

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
False Prophets Condemned
Ezekiel 13: 1-23
May 2, 2015
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. For what different reasons do people listen to fortune-tellers and psychics?
2. *When have you refused to face reality in a specific situation?

Explore It

1. To whom did God tell Ezekiel to prophesy? (13:1-2)
2. *Where did the false prophets get the message they were preaching? (13:2)
3. What had the prophets of Israel actually seen? (13:3)
4. To what animal did Ezekiel compare the false prophets? (13:4)
5. *What had the false prophets not done that God expected of His prophets? (13:5)
6. What verbal “signature” did the prophets use to give their words more weight? (13:6-7)
7. What attitude did God take toward the false prophets? (13:8)
8. In what way did the Lord promise to silence the false prophets? (13:9)
9. With what pleasing message were Israel’s prophets leading the people astray? (13:10)
10. What did God predict about the flimsy wall covered with whitewash? (13:11-12)
11. What imagery did God use to portray the fate of the false prophets and their lies? (13:13-16)
12. What practices did God condemn in the prophetesses of Israel? (13:17-19)
13. What did God promise to do for the people who had been ensnared by the prophetesses? (13:20-21)
14. *How did the false prophets have justice completely reversed? (13:22)
15. What would God prove by delivering His people from the false prophets? (13:23)

Get It

1.  Why is it a temptation for human beings to pass off their own ideas as God’s?
2. What do you suppose the false prophets were telling the people of Jerusalem about their relationship with Babylon and their hope for the future?
3. *Why should we be wary of any Christian teacher who makes us feel complacent and self-satisfied?
4. *What forms of “flimsy, whitewashed walls” do you see being offered today for material or spiritual security?
5. If the prophets were at fault for leading the people astray, for what weakness of character did God hold the people responsible?
6. Why do we prefer to deliver good and flattering news rather than painful and difficult news?

Apply It

1. *What false security offered to you by the world should you renounce before God in order to remain faithful to Him?
2. How can you be sure that, when you speak the Word of the Lord, you are accurate to His intent?

Chapter 13

The reproof of lying prophets

1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord;
3 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4 O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5 Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.
6 They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
7 Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
9 And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

and their false visions

10 Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
12 Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
14 So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
15 Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;
16 To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.

Of prophetesses and their magic bands

17 Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,
18 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?
19 And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
20 Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.
21 Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
22 Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
23 Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
Scripture References:
Romans 5:12-21
October 17, 2015
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. What advantages and experiences have you had that many others in the world have not?
2. *In what ways can the decisions of a few leaders change the lives of millions of people?
3. What experiences have you had with death?

Explore It

1. What did Adam introduce into the world and pass on to his descendants? (5:12)
2. What is the root cause of death? (5:12)
3. How did the coming of God’s law affect the presence of sin in the world? (5:13)
4. How did the coming of God’s law affect our understanding of what sin is? (5:13)
5. *What came into the world through Jesus Christ? (5:15)
6. What is God’s solution to the inevitable problem of sin and death? (5:16-17)
7. *In what ways are the acts of Jesus and Adam similar? (5:18-19)
8. What is the relationship between the amount of sin and grace in the world? (5:20)
9. What effect did God’s righteous law have on rebellious people? (5:20)
10. What does sin in this world produce? (5:21)
11. *What does grace given by God to this world produce? (5:21)

Get It

1. In what ways are all people the same?
2. What fears or anticipation do you have about death?
3. What effect did Christ’s death on the cross have on your life?
4. At what point in your life did you realize you were guilty of sin?
5. At what point in your life did you realize God’s love for you?
6. *How can God justly judge us for Adam’s sin?
7. How can a person have his or her sins forgiven by God?
8. *What makes Jesus’ action more powerful than Adam’s?
9. How can knowing you are forgiven and righteous before God through Jesus Christ affect your attitudes and actions?

Apply It

1. In what ways can you thank God today for the grace He has bestowed on you?
2. *What can you do this week for unsaved friends still suffering from the consequences of sin?

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

¹² Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the ^[a]offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. ¹⁶ And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many ^[b]offenses resulted in justification. ¹⁷ For if by the one man’s ^[c]offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

¹⁸ Therefore, as through ^[d]one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one^[e] Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

²⁰ Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, ²¹ so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
The Unbelief of the Jews
Scripture References:
John 10:22-42
November 1, 2014
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. What truths are hard for you to accept? Why?
2. *How did your family typically handle conflict when you were growing up?

Explore It

1. *What question did the Jews ask Jesus? (10:22-24)
2. How did Jesus answer the Jews’ question? (10:25-26)
3. What did Jesus say His sheep did? (10:27)
4. What did Jesus say He gave to His sheep? (10:28)
5. What did Jesus say that no one could do to His sheep? (10:28-29)
6. With whom did Jesus claim to be one? (10:30)
7. *How did the Jews respond to Jesus’ claim? (10:31)
8. Why did the Jews want to kill Jesus? (10:33) How?
9. How did Jesus respond to the Jews’ accusation of blasphemy? (10:34-36)
10. Under what circumstance did Jesus say that the Jews should believe in Him? (10:37)
11. *Why did Jesus say that the Jews should believe in His miracles? (10:38)
12. What did the Jews try to do to Jesus? (10:39)
13. Where did Jesus go after He escaped from the Jews? (10:40)
14. Why did the people across the Jordan believe in Jesus? (10:41-42)

Get It

1. Why do people today fail to realize that Jesus is God?
2. In what way are you Jesus’ sheep?
3. What makes you feel secure in your relationship with your friends?
4. *What makes you feel secure in your relationship with God?
5. How secure is your relationship with God?
6. *Why does Jesus’ claim to be God cause people to oppose Him?
7. Who today would find Jesus’ claim to be God offensive?
8. In what way is Jesus’ relationship with God significant for your relationship with God?
9. Why should people believe in Jesus?

Apply It

1. How will you demonstrate your thankfulness to God today for your secure relationship with Him?
2. *What steps will you take to follow your Shepherd closely this week?

The Shepherd Knows His Sheep

²² Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³ And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. ²⁴ Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in ^[a]doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. ²⁶ But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, ^[b]as I said to you. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and My Father are one.”

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

³¹ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

³³ The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? ³⁵ If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), ³⁶ do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷ If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and ^[c]believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” ³⁹ Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

The Believers Beyond Jordan

⁴⁰ And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. ⁴¹ Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” ⁴² And many believed in Him there.

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
Treasures in Jars of Clay
Scripture References:
2 Corinthians 4:1-18
September 6, 2014
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. What are some things or people in which you have a lot of faith?
2. For what reasons do you most often get discouraged?
3. What areas of life are difficult to entrust completely to God?

Explore It

4. Why did Paul tell the Corinthians not to lose heart? (4:1)
5. What did Paul believe would result from telling the plain truth? (4:2)
6. How did Paul respond to his opponents’ accusations? (4:2)
7. Why did Paul’s opponents not understand his ministry? (4:3-4)
8. Who is the god of this age? (4:4)
9. What has the god of this age done? (4:4)
10. Whom did Paul preach? Why? (4:5-6)
11. What kind of jars contained Paul’s treasure? (4:7)
12. How did Paul contrast his own weakness with God’s power? (4:8-9)
13. What did Paul call his sufferings? (4:10)
14. What value did Paul see in his sufferings? (4:10-12)
15. What motivated Paul to preach the gospel in spite of hardship? (4:13-14)
16. How did Paul encourage the Corinthians to carry on despite difficulty? (4:16-18)

Get It

17. How would you define faith?
18. What elements of the Christian faith that we cannot see are central to our life with Christ?
19. What does it mean for us to renew our faith?
20. In what ways do some religious people distort the Word of God?
21. When have you been discouraged or perplexed in your Christian life?
22. What makes it difficult for us to fix our attention and hope on God?
23. How can God help us through difficult times?
24. When have you felt inner peace in spite of trying circumstances?

Apply It

25. What do you want to remember the next time you feel discouraged?
26. How could you encourage another Christian who is confused or bogged down by the cares of life?

Bible References

Chapter 4

¹ Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.
² But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
³ But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
⁴ whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.
⁶ For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed–
¹⁰ always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
¹¹ For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
¹² So then death is working in us, but life in you.
¹³ And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,”^[2]Psalms 116:10 we also believe and therefore speak,
¹⁴ knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you.
¹⁵ For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
¹⁸ while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
Freedom in Christ
Scripture References:
Galatians 5:1-15
November 14, 2014
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. *If you took up running, would you jog for enjoyment or train to compete in races? Why?
2. Do you prefer group or individual sports? Why?
3. Do you like games with challenging instructions and rules, or games with simple instructions and few rules? Why?

Explore It

1. *What challenge did Paul set before the Galatians? (5:1)
2. Why did Paul challenge the Christians to be resolute? (5:1)
3. What warning did Paul issue to the Galatians? (5:2)
4. How would turning to the Law obligate the Galatian Christians? (5:3)
5. What consequence would seeking justification by Law bring? (5:4)
6. How did Paul contrast legalists and true believers? (5:5)
7. How did Paul sum up the significance of circumcision? (5:6)
8. What really matters? (5:6)
9. *How did Paul describe the Galatians’ Christian experience? (5:7)
10. How had false teaching affected the Galatian church? (5:8-9)
11. Why was Paul optimistic about the Galatians? (5:10)
12. How did the Cross mark the end of the Law? (5:11)
13. What strong words did Paul have for the Judaizers? (5:12)
14. *How were the Galatian Christians to use their freedom? (5:14)
15. What were the Galatians called on to guard against? (5:15)

Get It

1. *What challenge does this passage set before your church?
2. What are the side effects of trying to be saved by keeping the Law?
3. What unnecessary rules and regulations do Christians tend to impose on one another?
4. What difference will it make if you run the Christian race with your attention on Christ?
5. *How do some Christians abuse their freedom in Christ?
6. In what ways are you hindered from loving others?
7. When have you been guilty of backbiting and gossip?
8. Why should you serve the family of God in love?

Apply It

1. Who is one neighbor to whom you can show a gesture of love this week?
2. *As you run your race for Christ today, how can you free yourself of unnecessary rules and regulations that hinder your progress?
3. Whom can you invite to join you in running a good race?

Chapter 5

He encourages them to stand fast in their freedom

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?
8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.
9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.
12 I would they were even cut off which trouble you.

but rather love, which sums up the law

13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
The Death of Jesus
Scripture References: Matthew 27:45-56
 October 4, 2014
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. What is it like to be separated from someone you love?
2. When in your life did you ever feel abandoned?

Explore It

3. What happened from the sixth to the ninth hour (from 12 noon until 3 p.m.)? (27:45)
4. What did Jesus cry out at the ninth hour? Why? (27:46)
5. What did Jesus’ last words mean? (27:46)
6. What did some of the bystanders think Christ had yelled? (27:47)
7. What did one man in particular try to do for Jesus? (27:48)
8. How did the rest in the crowd respond to the gesture of kindness toward Jesus? (27:49)
9. What happened the next time Jesus cried out in a loud voice? (27:50)
10. What supernatural event took place inside the temple when Jesus died? (27:51)
11. How were things in Jerusalem at that time? (27:51)
12. How did the death of Jesus affect activity in some of the area’s cemeteries? (27:52-53)
13. How did a Roman centurion react to the way Jesus died? (27:54)
14. Who else was in the crowd watching the crucifixion? (27:55)
15. Who in the crowd was most prominent at Jesus’ death? (27:56)

Get It

16. What did it mean that the sky turned black as Jesus hung on the cross?
17. How would you explain to an inquiring friend the significance of the veil in the temple tearing in two as Jesus died?
18. Why does it often take drastic measures or life-threatening upheavals to bring people to their senses and persuade them to follow Christ?
19. What situations or events did God use to convince you that Jesus is the Son of God?
20. Why are the women followers of Jesus mentioned, and not the male disciples?
21. What did Jesus accomplish for you with His death?

Apply It

22. In the near future, with whom can you share the good news of Christ’s payment for sin on the cross?

Jesus Dies on the Cross

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

⁴⁷ Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” ⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.

⁴⁹ The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”

⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

⁵¹ Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, ⁵² and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴ So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, ⁵⁶ among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and ^[a]Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Believers Life Style Bible Study
Warning Against Anti-Christs
1 John 2:18-27
Presented by Mike Webb

Open It

1. Who are the enemies of the Church today?
2. What do you think is the best defense against cults and other false spiritual teaching?
3. *What effect do you think warning labels on cigarettes and alcohol have?

Explore It

1. What time did John say it is? (2:18)
2. *Who was coming and who had come at the time John wrote this? (2:18)
3. What did John say about those who had left? (2:19)
4. What did the readers of 1 John have? (2:20)
5. What did the readers of 1 John know? (2:21)
6. How is the antichrist identified? (2:22)
7. *In what way is denying (or acknowledging) the Son related to having the Father? (2:23)
8. *What did John encourage his readers to do? (2:24)
9. What did the Father promise? (2:25)
10. Why did the author write these things? (2:26)
11. What was the relationship between the anointing these believers received and their need to be taught? (2:27)

Get It

1. What makes you think that we are living in the last hour today?
2. What antichrists are among us today?
3. What truths do we know about Christ?
4. What have we been taught by the anointing of the Holy Spirit?
5. How can we remain in or have fellowship with Jesus Christ?
6. *What groups of people are trying to lead believers astray today?
7. *How can we protect ourselves against false teachers and antichrists?

Apply It

1. What will you do this week to deepen your fellowship with Jesus Christ?
2. *What steps do you need to take to better prepare yourself against antichrists and their false doctrines?
3. Who is someone you can encourage in their relationship with Christ this week?

Deceptions of the Last Hour

¹⁸ Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the^[a] Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

²⁰ But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you^[b] know all things. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

²² Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Let Truth Abide in You

²⁴ Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who try to ^[c]deceive you. ²⁷ But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you ^[d]will abide in Him.

Believers Life Style Bible Study
May 3, 2014
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
Matthew 22:1-14
Delivered by Michael Webb

 Open It

1. What do you like or dislike about weddings?
2. What tips might you give to someone planning a big wedding?
3. What is your funniest wedding story?
4. How do you tend to react when long-awaited plans fail to materialize?

Explore It

5. What preparations were being made in this parable? (22:2)
6. What did the king send his servants to do? (22:3)
7. How did people respond to the king’s invitation? (22:3)
8. Upon hearing that no one would come to the wedding, what did the king do? (22:4)
9. How did the invited guests react to the king’s second appeal? (22:5)
10. To what shocking acts did some of the people who were invited resort? (22:6)
11. How did the king deal with the lawbreakers? (22:7)
12. The king went to a “Plan B” that included what changes? (22:8-9)
13. How did the king’s alternative plan work out? (22:10)
14. What did the king say when he spotted an improperly dressed wedding guest? (22:11)
15. What did the king order his servants to do with the man who was improperly dressed? (22:11-13)
16. Why did the king throw out the unwelcome wedding guest? (22:13-14)

Get It

17. What keeps people from accepting Jesus’ offer of eternal life?
18. The wedding clothes in the parable that were needed for admittance to the banquet are meant to symbolize what quality that is necessary for entry into the kingdom of heaven?
19. What events led to your acceptance of Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and heaven?
20. For what reason are there impostors in the church?
21. Why would a non-Christian want to be around Christians?
22. How does God demonstrate His patience to unbelievers?
23. What will happen to those who either reject Christ or try to enter His kingdom on their own terms?
24. In what area(s) of your life have you been putting off a response to what God has asked you to do?

Apply It

25. What response should you give to God this week?
26. To what individuals this week can you extend Jesus’ offer of forgiveness and eternal life?

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

22 And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ³ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. ⁴ Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ ⁵ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁶ And the rest seized his servants, treated them ^[a]spitefully, and killed them. ⁷ But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. ¹² So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, ^[b]take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Apparently, there is a great concern and division among Christians today regarding our attitude while interacting with sinners in general, and homosexuals in particular. While in the past the issue was mostly a moral one, more recently, politicians are trying to exploit the division and merge the legal with moral issue for their political gain. In the OT the capital punishment is prescribed for a variety of offenses; from breaking the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14), disrespecting parents (Deuteronomy 21:18-21), blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16) or gathering firewood on Sabbath (Numbers 15:32-36). Although many Christians are happy to cite Leviticus 20:13 in condemnation of homosexuality, are less enthusiastic to point to other offenses worthy of OT stoning. The lack of consistency is puzzling for many, especially for non-Christians. Another text often cited in condemnation of homosexuality is 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Here Paul lists a number of sins that would undoubtedly separate us from God and eternal life. Sins like fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, greed, alcoholism, etc. Interestingly enough, we rarely hear Christians being outraged about any of the above listed sins other than homosexuality. And in Luke 16:18, Jesus tells “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” In USA the divorced rate is about 50%, while among Christians is slightly lower, 42%. Many of these divorced Christians remarry. Taking Jesus’ words to its face value would mean that lots of adulterous people are sitting in our churches today. Apparently this is not as concerning to many of us as the sin of homosexuality. Recently a few businesspersons expressed concern about being placed in a hypothetical position of being forced to perform services for gay weddings. Baking a wedding cake, or making a flower arrangement for a gay wedding seem to be a big worry for some Christians. Knowing what Jesus said in Luke 16:18 and Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, I wonder if there is any concern of providing services for a divorced couple that is remarrying? I never heard of any refusal of participating on a adulterous weeding and that makes some wonder why the double standard. Opening the door to discriminatory business practices is a dangerous path that some are willing to take. Knowing that worldwide Islam is the fasting growing religion and in the USA atheism is fast growing, I fear that one day Christians might find themselves at the receiving end of religious discrimination if we are so eager to create a legal precedent. In Luke 7:36-39 we read that Jesus was not bothered by an interaction with a prostitute, a woman that the religious leaders of that time despised and marginalized. Also in Matthew 9:10-11 Jesus is having dinner with sinners, practice that bothered greatly the Pharisees. Paul, right after he cites the sins that would lead to death, he makes the following statement rarely mentioned in our churches: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11). My humble suggestion is that rather than trying to divide, point fingers, castigate and marginalize anyone that might be the biggest sinner among us, how about trying to show them the love of Christ and tell them that they too can be washed and sanctified by the blood of Christ, just like some of the Christians in Corinth Church.