The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
Jesus Clears the Temple
Scripture References
Mark 11:12-19
February 6, 2016
Presented by Michael Webb

 Open It

1. *If you could change one thing about your church, what would it be?
2. How well do you think your church fulfills its purpose?
3. Over what are you most likely to lose your temper?

Explore It

1. Where did the events of this story take place? (11:12)
2. Where did Jesus go? Why? (11:12-13)
3. *Why did the fig tree have no fruit? (11:13)
4. *What did Jesus do to the fig tree? Why? (11:13-14)
5. How did this event differ from every other miracle Jesus performed? (11:13-14)
6. *What do both the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple tell us about Jesus’ attitude toward the people of Israel? (11:13-17)
7. What happened when Jesus entered the temple area in Jerusalem? (11:15-18)
8. Whose authority was Jesus challenging when He drove the money changers from the temple area? (11:17)
9. What was Jesus saying about His own authority? (11:17)
10. Why was Jesus so upset about the “marketplace” atmosphere in the temple? (11:17)
11. How did the crowds and the religious leaders react to Jesus’ actions in the temple? (11:18)

Get It

1. Why do you think Jesus cursed the fig tree?
2. How do you think the disciples reacted to hearing Jesus curse a fig tree?
3. *The fig tree had leaves but no fruit; what is one area of your life that looks good, but isn’t producing what God wants?
4. *How can you grow and become more productive in one of your weak areas?
5. What difference does it make to you that Jesus showed anger?
6. What practices in the church today do you think hinder non-Christians from coming to Christ?
7. Where is God’s temple today?
8. How should we treat God’s temple?
9. How do you need to change your attitudes or actions when worshiping?

Apply It

1. *What specific steps can you take this week to concentrate on a weak area of your spiritual life, aiming to bear fruit for the Lord?
2. How can you show respect for God’s temple?

 

The Fig Tree Withered

¹² Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. ¹³ And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.”

And His disciples heard it.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹⁵ So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹⁶ And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. ¹⁷ Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

¹⁸ And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. ¹⁹ When evening had come, He went out of the city.

The Believers Life Style Bible Study

Christian Beginner’s Brief Case for Christianity

10  Things a Christian should know about God and Christianity

Here are the 10 things (not necessarily in any particular order) that I thought a new Christian should sink down deep into his or her heart, head and hands as he or she travels their first year with Jesus:

1. The one thing that the Bible emphasizes more than us loving God and people is that God loves us. He loves us first and most. God isn’t in heaven plucking a daisy saying, “I love you” when you obey and “I love you not” when you sin. He cannot not love you (Rom. 5:8 and 1 Jn. 4:16).
2. Your motivation to and the purpose of learning, serving, worshipping, giving, reaching, reading, praying, etc. is to grow relationally more in love with God and people (Mt. 22:36-40).
3. You not only are saved by grace, but you grow by it, too. A common trap for new and growing Christians is trying to clean up their lives without God’s help. This is a false equation: The less you sin = the less you need God’s grace. You can’t sin less and love more without the strength of God’s grace.
4. Don’t trample all over the Great Commandment (love God, love people) trying to obey the Great Commission (go and make disciples). New and enthusiastic Christians often do this. Instead, lead people to Jesus by loving people to Jesus (1 Cor. 13:1-3). If they ask you why you live the way you do, humbly and simply share with them why you put your hope in Jesus.
5. Love your neighbors—your literal neighbors—the ones you have, not the ones you wish you had. Do this because you are a Christian, not just because you want them to be Christians.
6. Focus on Jesus, His cross, His resurrection and His kingdom. When you confessed Jesus as the living Lord and Messiah, you never said—and will never say—anything more meaningful. Jesus is God with skin. No other “religious leader” (Moses, Buddha, Muhammad) is His equal. They were mere men; Jesus is God who became a man. He is the center and circumference—the hub and rim of all of life and creation. All of the world’s greatest gifts—love, life, truth, grace, etc.—have a name. Jesus.
7. God cares about your whole life, not just your “spiritual life.” It is a mistake to think that God is only concerned about a section of your life called “your soul” or “your spirit.” God cares about and is to be Lord of all of your life—personal, emotional, social, familial, financial, physical, vocational, sexual, intellectual and so on.
8. Love other Christians who go to different churches (or no church at all) and who aren’t like you. Unfortunately, many Christians and churches view their “brand” of Christianity as the only true or most true type of Christianity. They may not think they are the only Christians, but they do think they are the best or most right ones. This is a prideful and sinful attitude that grieves Jesus and dismembers His body. Strive for unity in the body of Christ by praying humbly and thankfully for other Christians.
9. Pray with your Bible open. There are many different spiritual exercises (fasting, solitude, serving, etc.), but the two most important ones are communicating and communing with God through prayer and listening to and learning about God through the Scriptures. Prayerfully read about Jesus (in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Prayerfully read about the beginning of the church in a book called Acts. Prayerfully read some letters written by Christians for Christians—some good ones to start with are James, Philippians and Ephesians.
10. Find a Christian mentor. You will need help and encouragement in this journey with Jesus. Ask an older Christian (of the same gender as you) to mentor you. Look for someone who displays the attitudes and actions that were described above. Be a blessing to them in return.

Christianity is not a list, but a life; it’s not a chart, but a charter. But new Christians will learn new things. Some of those things will be true but not important. Some things will be off by degrees that can lead them astray. Other things will be just plain wrong. Help new Christians learn to follow Jesus by being their best at what matters most to Him.

 

 

25 Scriptures Every Believer Should Know:

The more we know God’s Word, the better equipped we are as believers to minister, teach and model Christ with our very lives. The whole Word of God is important, and no verse less valuable than any other. As we study and memorize the Bible, we do however find some verses that help us understand key truths. If you aren’t already amassing your own list, these are just some suggestions to get you started. Commit the following 25 scriptures to memory–about one every-other week—and you’ll have them in your head in just one year.

The Human Condition
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

God Provides
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

God’s Love
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Know God’s Word
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8

God’s Adoptive Process
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

Trusting God
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

Our Priority
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

The Believer’s Body
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Roman 12: 1-2

Security in Christ
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

God’s Eternal Provision
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:40

The Great Commandment
Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39

Fruit of the Spirit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

One Way to God
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Serving Others
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.  James 1:27

Jesus Foretold
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

The Great Commission
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20

The Nature of Love
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrong.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

True Disciples
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:31-32

What We Should Value
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

God Keeps His Promises
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. Deuteronomy 7:9

God Hears Us
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them. Psalm 145:18-19

Temptation
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

The Beginning
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

The End
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 22:12-13

 

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
Treasures in Heaven
Scripture References:
Matthew 6:19-24
December 5, 2014
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. If you were stranded on a desert island and could have only three possessions with you, what would you choose and why?
2. What valuable possessions do you have that cannot be replaced?
3. What are some things you’d never give up, no matter how much money you were offered for them?

Explore It

4. Where did Jesus urge His followers not to “store up treasures”? Why? (6:19)
5. Why did Jesus discourage stockpiling things? (6:19)
6. What can happen to a person’s material possessions? (6:19)
7. Where did Jesus encourage us to invest our wealth? Why? (6:20)
8. Why is heaven a better place to “bank” than earth? (6:20)
9. What does the location of a person’s treasure say about that person? (6:21)
10. What is described as the “lamp of the body”? How is this so? (6:22)
11. What is the result of “good eyes”? (6:22)
12. When will people’s lives be full of darkness? (6:23)
13. What did Jesus say about serving two masters? (6:24)
14. Why did Jesus say we cannot serve two masters? (6:24)
15. What two masters did Jesus mention in this context? Why? (6:24)

Get It

16. How have you felt whenever you have lost a valued possession?
17. How can we “store up . . . treasures in heaven”?
18. How can we determine where our treasure is (and thus where our hearts are)?
19. What sort of things do you think about most?
20. Where does your mind naturally gravitate to in those moments just before you go to bed?
21. How clear is your spiritual vision right now?
22. What masters most often fight for your allegiance?
23. In what ways do you serve money?
24. In what ways can you master your money?

Apply It

25. How could you make an investment in eternity today?
26. What committed Christian friends could help you evaluate your use of money in the next month?

King James Version – Matt 6:19-24

Where our treasure is to be kept

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

 

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
The World Hates the Disciples
Scripture References:
John 15:18-16:4
February 7, 2015
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. What are some things that you hate or dislike?
2. Why are some non-Christians antagonistic toward Christianity?
3. What causes people to hate each other?

Explore It

4. What did Jesus want His disciples to keep in mind? (15:18)
5. Whom does the world love? (15:19)
6. Why does the world hate Jesus’ disciples? (15:19)
7. What did Jesus want His disciples to remember? (15:20)
8. What difference does it make that the world does not know God? (15:21)
9. Why do the people of the world have no excuse for their sin? (15:22)
10. What is the significance of hating Jesus? (15:23)
11. What has made the world fully accountable for its sin? (15:24)
12. What did the world’s hatred fulfill? (15:25)
13. What would the Counselor do when He came? (15:26)
14. Why did Jesus say that His disciples must testify about Him? (15:27)
15. For what reason did Jesus tell the disciples these things? (16:1,4)
16. What was going to happen to the disciples for following Christ? (16:2-3)

Get It

17. What is “the world”?
18. If you were one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, how would you have responded to His warning about the world’s hatred?
19. How does the world today hate the followers of Jesus?
20. When have you experienced the hatred of the world?
21. How does the world today display its hatred for Jesus and God?
22. How has God chosen you out of the world?
23. How and when do you still feel a part of the world?
24. Who is “the Counselor”?
25. How does the Holy Spirit testify about Jesus to the world?
26. How are you a testimony for Jesus?

Apply It

27. How can you be a testimony for Jesus today? To whom?
28. How should you adjust your expectations of being accepted by non-Christians?

 

 

King James Version – John 15:18-16:4

A comfort in the hatred and persecution of the world

18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

The work of the Holy Spirit, and of the apostles

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

Chapter 16

Christ comforts His disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit, His resurrection and ascension

1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

 

 

The Believers Life Style Bible Study
Presents
The Workers Are Few
Scripture References:
Matthew 9:35-38
April 11, 2015
Presented by Michael Webb

Open It

1. In what situations do you tend to feel compassion?
2. What missionaries do you know personally?
3. *What do you pray about on a regular basis?

Explore It

1. Where did Jesus go? To do what? (9:35)
2. Where did Jesus teach? (9:35)
3. What did Jesus preach about? (9:35)
4. What kinds of disease and sickness did Jesus heal? (9:35)
5. *What emotion did Jesus feel when He saw the crowds of people around Him? (9:36)
6. Why did Jesus feel as He did? (9:36)
7. *What helpless animals were the people compared to? (9:36)
8. In what terms did Jesus describe the situation He and His disciples were observing? (9:37)
9. How did Jesus describe the number of people helping others come to Him? (9:37)
10. Who did Jesus tell His disciples to discuss the lack of workers with? (9:37)
11. *For whom did Jesus tell His disciples to pray? (9:37)

Get It

1.  For what non-Christians do you feel compassion?
2. How would you describe the spiritual and moral state of the majority of the people in your town or on your campus?
3. *Who are the non-Christians in your life?
4. *What can you do to help people see their need for Christ?
5. What skills, gifts, abilities, or talents can you use to help others come to Christ?
6. What barriers stand in the way of people you know listening to the gospel?
7. What can you do to overcome your friends’ and neighbors’ objections or reservations about following Jesus?

 Apply It

1.  *For what non-Christians will you pray regularly from now on?
2. What missionaries can you pray for this week?
3. How can you make a difference today in the life of someone who is “harassed and helpless”?

The Compassion of Jesus

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.^{[a] 36} But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary^[b] and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

 

 

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