Discovering Messages Of NT Books

Transcription

1 Discovering Messages Of NT Books By Berry Kercheville

2 Discovering NT Messages Part 2 Lesson # Book Page(s) Lesson 14: Hebrews Lesson 15 Hebrews Lesson 16: Acts Lesson 17: Acts Lesson 18: Acts Lesson 19: 1 Peter Lesson 20: 2 Peter Lesson 21: 2 Corinthians Lesson 22: 2 Corinthians Lesson 23: Matthew Lesson 24: Matthew Lesson 25: James Lesson 26 I John

3 Hebrews (2 Lessons) Discovering the Author s Concerns for the Hebrew Christians 1. Examine the following texts to obtain a sense of the spiritual condition of these Christians: a. 2:1-3 b. 3:12-13 c. 5:11-12 d. 6:4-6, 9-12 e. 10:24-31 f. 10:32-39 g. 12:3-6 Discovering the Dangerous Teaching into Which the Hebrews Were about to Fall 2. Read the following texts and record what doctrines the Hebrews were accepting that were leading them astray: a. 1:1-3, 13-14; 2:5 b. 2:3-4 c. 3:1-6 d. 6:1-3 e. 7:11-14 f. 7:

4 g. 8:13 h. 13:10-13 Exploring the Warning Sections of the Letter 3. There are five warning sections in which the author suddenly diverts from his instruction to warn the brethren of the spiritual danger they are in if they do not change. Examine the following texts and summarize the warning of each section. a. 2:1-4 b. 3:7 4:16 c. 5:11 6:20 d. 10:26-31 e. 12: Record a summary statement of the message of Hebrews: 3

5 Acts (3 Lessons) Discovering the Primary Purpose of the Letter 1. This is Luke s second letter to Theophilus. Read Luke 1:1-4 and Acts 1:1-5. From this, record Luke s purpose in his gospel and his purpose in his second letter. a. Gospel Purpose: b. Acts Purpose: 2. The following texts will help you see more clearly Luke s purpose. Record your observations from the following texts: a. 1:24 b. 2:4 c. 2:47 d. 3:16 e. 4:33 f. 6:15; 7:55 g. 8:14-18 h. 9:1-5 i. 10:44-45 j. 11:21-23 k. 12:11 l. 12:

6 m. 13:2-4 n. 14:27 o. 15:28 p. 16:6-8 q. 16:14 r. 18:9-10 s. 19:11-20 t. 20:22-23 u. 23:11 v. 28:3-6 w. Conclusion: Why would these texts have been so important to Theophilus? Discovering Luke s Emphasis on Prayer It is noteworthy that Luke mentions prayer 20 times in this second letter. In his gospel account, prayer is mentioned more times than all the other gospels combined. Write your observations on the occasions for prayer from a few of these examples below: 1. 2: : : : :23 5

7 Discovering Luke s Emphasis on the Growth of the Gospel 6. Record your observations from the following texts and determine the lesson for us: a. 2:41 b. 4:4 c. 5:14 d. 6:1, 7 e. 8:1-4 f. 9:31 g. 11:19-21 h. 12:23-24 i. 13:48-49 j. 16:5 k. 19:8-10, 20 l. 28:28-31 m. Lessons: Comparison of Peter and Paul 1. What part of the letter primarily highlights Peter? Paul? 2. How does Luke show unity between Paul and Peter? a. Peter introduced the gospel to Gentiles (10); Paul is sent to the Gentiles (9, 13) b. Paul and Peter both argue for the acceptance of the Gentiles (15) 6

8 c. Peter and Paul both raise the dead (9, 20) d. Both are able to do extraordinary miracles (5, 19) e. Both are shown to suffer for the cause of Christ (5, 12; 16) f. Both saw visions that changed the course of their lives (10, 26) Luke Shows the Unity of the Brethren to Overcome Division 1. Consider the challenge the brethren had in chapter 6: 2. Consider the challenge of the brethren in chapter 15: 3. Lessons we should learn from how the brethren met these challenges: Discovering Messages from the Conversion Stories 4. Luke records conversion stories in the following texts. Each of these stories provide some unique information about coming to Christ that may not be mentioned in the other stories. Record some of this unique information from each conversion. a. 2:14-41 b. 3:12 4:4 c. 8:5-24 7

9 d. 9:1-19; 22:1-16 e. 10:44-48 f. 16:25-34 g. 19:1-6 h. Conclusions from your study of the conversions: Discovering the Message from the Persecutions 5. There are only two occasions in which persecution was not stirred up by the Jews (16:16-40 and 19:23-41). Examine these two texts and draw and conclusion as to why this would have been important for Theophilus to know: 6. What lessons can we learn from how the disciples handled persecution (4:19; 5:29; 5:40-42; 8:4; 12:5): 8

10 1 Peter (1 Lesson) Dispersion (Greek: diaspora) is a technical term used only in Jewish literature during the Greek period and referred to Jews who were scattered at the persecution in Palestine by Antiochus Epiphanes (170 BC). But in 1 Peter, 1:1 and 5:13 form an inclusio, thus the dispersion is most likely from Babylon or Rome. Emperors commonly expelled residents from Rome. Sometimes it was for the purpose of romanizing another part of the empire. Emperors may have most often expelled non-citizens for a variety of reasons and sometimes for no apparent reason. At times it was expel those determined to be disruptive to the peace of the empire. This was the reason Claudius expelled the Jews in Acts 18. Other times, it was because of famines or other shortages. Expelling noncitizens freed up valuable resources. Diaspora has a double purpose in the letter. The original readers were literally displaced from Rome and scattered throughout the region of Asia Minor and beyond. However, Peter intends a broader view as all Christians live as strangers and exiles in a sinful world. Discovering the Condition of Peter s Audience 1. Read through the letter quickly and discover passages that give you an indication of conditions under which Peter s audience are living. [Look on a map to discover the regions in the Roman Empire where these people were living.] a. b. c. d. e. f. 9

11 Discovering the Purpose of the Letter 2. Scan the letter again and jot down the various commands Peter gives these brethren: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. 3. Jot down what you believe would be a key verse in the letter that summarizes Peter s theme: 4. Write a summary statement of Peter s message: 10

12 2 Peter (1 Lesson) Discovering Peter s Concerns for the Brethren 1. Read through the letter and jot down passages that give you a clue to the problems Peter s audience is facing: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Discovering Peter s Prescription for Overcoming Their Challenges 2. Jot down passages and a brief explanation of how Peter answers the challenges faced by these brethren: a. b. c. 11

13 d. e. f. 3. Compare the first 10 verses with the last verse of the letter. Write a summary statement of Peter s message: 12

14 Discovering the Reason for the Letter 2 Corinthians (2 Lessons) 1. Jot down your observations from the following texts in order to get an understanding of the problems facing the Corinthians. (Since the first and second letters are so closely associated, we will also notice some texts from the first letter.) a. 1 Cor. 1:27 2:5 Compare 2 Cor. 10:12-18 b. 1 Cor. 4:3-6 c. 2 Cor. 2:17 3:1 d. 4:2-3 e. 5:12-14 f. 10:1-2 g. 10:7-12 h. 11:2-6 i. 11:7-15 j. 12:11-13 Discovering Paul s Approach to Answering the Corinthian Error 2. Examine the following texts and write a summary of Paul s arguments to the Corinthians: a. 2:14-16 b. 3:1-3 13

15 c. 3:5-13 d. 4:5-12 e. 5:14-21 f. 6:14-7:1 g. 8:17-21 h. 10:3-5, i. 11:18-33 j. 12: Write a summary statement of Paul s purpose for 2 Corinthians: 14

16 Matthew (2 Lessons) As in discovering the messages of any of the Gospel accounts, the key to Matthew will be to draw conclusions about Matthew s purpose by observing those events and teachings that are unique to his account. Bible students have too often mistakenly generalized the Gospels by concluding they are simply records of the life of Christ. But as with all other biblical documents, there is purpose to the account. Therefore, our approach should be to look for: Unique and repeated teachings Words and phrases that are peculiar to the account Clues to the writer s focus audience Questions the author is answering for his audience False teaching the author is correcting Discovering the Geographical Outline of the Book 1. Compare 4:12 with 19:1 to discover where Jesus was working and teaching in most of Matthew s account: 2. Compare 19:1 with 21:1 to discover where Jesus was working in chapters and where Jesus was from chapter 21 and following: 3. Fill in the chart below to have a visual picture of the geographical outline. Judea & Egypt 1:1 4:11 Discovering Matthew s Use of the Old Testament 4. Look up the texts below to discover phrases Matthew repeatedly used to connect his message to the Old Testament: a. 2:5; 4:4, 6-7 (used 9 times in the book): Notice also the verb tense used in this phrase. Why does Jesus use present tense and not past tense? 15

17 b. 12:3, 5; 19:4 (used 4 times): Notice 22:31 How is Jesus criticizing them in this text? c. 1:22; 2:15; 2:17; 2:23 (used 15 times): d. 3:3; 4:14 (used 12 times): e. 5:21, 27, 33, 38, 43 (used 5 times): How does Jesus use this phrase differently than the previous phrases? Discovering Mathew s Teaching on the Kingdom 5. Matthew uses the word kingdom 52 times. He uses kingdom of God five times. What kingdom phrase does Matthew exclusively use that is not used in any other Gospel account (31 times)? Why would Matthew use this phrase? 6. In chapter 13, Matthew records Jesus telling eight parables about the kingdom. Given the audience, what was the primary reason for the parables? 7. When both John and Jesus preach the kingdom is at hand (3:2), and the gospel of the kingdom (4:23), what would their Jewish audience have understood? 8. Matthew is the only Gospel account to use the word church (16:18; 18:15-17). All the Gospels put the emphasis on the coming Kingdom. On the other hand, we have tended to downplay the Kingdom and emphasize the church instead. What is the difference? Why the emphasis on the Kingdom? 16

18 Discovering Matthew s Defense of Jesus The prophets foretold of the Jewish rejection of the Messiah. Therefore, Matthew uses his account to be an apologist for Jesus and answers a number of Jewish arguments that attempted to undermine Jesus as the Messiah. Among these Jewish slurs were: (1) Jesus was the illegitimate son of either Joseph or a Jewish soldier named Panthera. (2) Jesus miracles were magic tricks learned in Egypt. (3) Jesus home was Nazareth and therefore he could not be the Messiah. (4) He was not raised from the dead; his body was stolen by the disciples. 9. Discover how Matthew answers the above slurs using his first two chapters and chapter 28. a. Jesus was illegitimate: b. Jesus miracles were magic tricks: c. Jesus home was Nazareth: d. The disciples stole his body: Discovering Matthew s Disclosure of the Words of Jesus Matthew s account is unique in its revelation of the words of Jesus. Nearly two-thirds of the book contain Jesus words during his ministry. There are nine discourses in the book, five of which are considered major discourses. These major discourses are indicated by their concluding words: When Jesus had finished these sayings, or a similar phrase. 10.Using the above formula, find the five major discourses and give a title to each. Ignore chapter divisions. Some discourses are more than one chapter. a. First major discourse: b. Second major discourse: c. Third major discourse: d. Fourth major discourse e. Fifth major discourse: 17

19 Discovering Matthew s Emphasis on World Evangelism The acceptance of the Gentiles into the kingdom was one of the major stumbling blocks to the Jewish acceptance of the gospel. In at least eleven of Matthew s twentyeight chapters he either alludes to or directly states that Gentiles will be brought into the kingdom. 11.Discover some of Matthew s references to Gentiles in the following chapters: a. Chapter 1: b. Chapter 2: c. Chapter 3: d. Chapter 4: e. Chapter 8: f. Chapter 28: g. For further study, other chapters that also mention Gentiles are: 11, 12, 13, 15, 21, Write a summary statement of Matthew s purpose: 18

20 James (one lesson) Discovering the Conditions Confronting the Brethren 1. Read through the letter quickly and jot down passages that give you and idea of the problems facing the brethren to whom James is writing: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Discovering the Message of James 2. Read through James once more and make a list of direct commands or statements by James that were needed to solve the errors of these brethren: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. 3. Write a summary statement of the message of James. 19

21 Discovering the Reason for the Letter 1 John (1 Lesson) 1. Briefly scan the following sections in 1 John. Look only for the verses that give you a hint regarding the false teachings and problems confronting the first century readers. Jot your conclusions in the space provided. 1:1-10 2:1-6 2:7-17 2: :28-3:10 3: :1-6 20

22 4:7-21 5:1-5 5:6-12 5:13-21 Discovering How We Know We Have a Relationship with the Lord 2. Look back over the texts above and make a list of the ways we know we have eternal life: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. 21