Look Inside: b'Explore (Jul-Sep 2015)'

How to use Explore 1

In this issue

Find a time you can read the Bible each day

The 92 daily readings in this issue of Explore are designed to help you understand and apply the Bible as you read it each day.

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Find a place where you can be quiet and think

It’s serious!

We suggest that you allow 15 minutes each day to work through the Bible passage with the notes. It should be a meal, not a snack! Readings from other parts of the Bible can throw valuable light on the study passage. These cross-references can be skipped if you are already feeling full up, but will expand your grasp of the Bible. Explore uses the NIV1984 Bible translation, but you can also use it with the NIV2011 or ESV translations.

Sometimes a prayer box will encourage you to stop and pray through the lessons—but it is always important to allow time to pray for God’s Spirit to bring his word to life, and to shape the way we think and live through it.

We’re serious!

All of us who work on Explore share a passion for getting the Bible into people’s lives. We fiercely hold to the Bible as God’s word—to honour and follow, not 6 to explain away.

Pray about what you have read

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Ask God to help you understand

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Carefully read through the Bible passage for today

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Study the verses with Explore, taking time to think

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Welcome

Tim Thornborough, Creative Director at The Good Book Company, is passionate about helping people to open up the Bible

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should try to develop your own lists to pray through. Use the flap inside the back cover to help with this. Often our problem is not so much who to pray for, as what to pray for them! That’s why Bible reading and prayer are inseparable. We are reminded from God’s word of what is truly important; it will shape what we pray for ourselves, the world and others.

elcome to Explore—a resource to help you dig into, understand and apply to your life the timeless truth of God’s word.

It can be a struggle to find a daily time to spend with God. Children, the busyness of life, special nights out, holidays, or just sheer exhaustion can all conspire to get in the way.

However, there is no substitute for just getting into a good habit.

Whatever you choose to do, guard your time with God jealously. If you come hungry to learn from the Lord, and to feed on the truth, it will be a place of nurture and growth, and a source of direction and strength for your daily life.

Time: Find a time when you will not be disturbed, and when the cobwebs are cleared from your mind. Many people have found that the morning is the best time, as it sets you up for the day. You may not be a “morning person”, so last thing at night or a mid-morning break may suit you. Whatever works for you is right for you.

Place: Jesus says that we are not to make a great show of our religion (see Matthew 6 v 5-6), but rather, pray with the door to our room shut. So, anywhere you can be quiet and private is the key. Some people plan to get to work a few minutes earlier and get their Bible out in an office, or some other quiet corner.

Share: As the saying goes: expression deepens impression. So try to cultivate the habit of sharing with others what you have learned. It will encourage both them and you. Using the same notes as a friend will help you encourage each other to keep going.

Remember: It’s quality, not quantity, that counts: Better to think briefly about a single verse, than to skim through pages without absorbing anything.

Falling behind: It’s inevitable that you will occasionally miss a day. Don’t be paralysed by guilt. Just start again.

It’s about developing a love relationship, not a law relationship: Don’t think that “doing your quiet time” is an end in itself. The sign that your daily time with God is real is when you start to love him more and serve him more wholeheartedly.

Prayer: Although Explore helps with specific prayer ideas from the passage, you

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Read Matthew 23 v 1-12

The sight issue

Heavy loads

Re-read Matthew 23 v 5-12

y Who is Jesus talking to in verses 1-4? y What is the delicate tightrope that he is walking in verse 3?

y Why is the image of verse 4 such a

powerful evocation of what man-made religion does to people?

Like it or not, that’s how many people feel about all Christians. Perhaps they have had a bad experience with church, or just responded to some terrible news report of corruption. People hate religion-withoutreality—but then, so does Jesus!

Actors in Greek dramas were called hypocrites because they wore a mask. Jesus wants us to know that God isn’t interested in a “mask” of godliness, but the real thing.

Notice how Jesus is being blunt, but not insulting. He is respectful of the law these men are teaching, but his anger is reserved for those who make the law of love into a burden of guilt and obligation.

y Read Matthew 11 v 28-30. How is Jesus different from the Pharisees?

r Apply y Do the examples that Jesus gives in

Matthew 23 v 1-4 chime with any of your experiences with religion? Anything you see in yourself?

y What does Jesus identify as the main problem with the Pharisees’ religion?

y What kind of leadership does he call his disciples to exercise instead?

How is verse 12 both a promise and a y warning? Who is the promise for? And who is the warning for?

Matthew 23 v 1-12

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As we pick up Matthew’s narrative, Jesus has spent the last few days in Jerusalem answering the challenges of the religious leaders. Now he turns the heat onto them…

Wednesday 1 October

MATTHEW: Hypocrites!

TIME OUT

y What titles do you give to those who

pastor and teach you at church? What are the dangers of inappropriate titles, according to Jesus in verses 8-10?

For the leaders Jesus is criticising, it’s all about outward show and the praise of other people. For those who lead in Jesus’ kingdom, it is all about the approval of God— who will raise up the humble servant leader, but will humble those who think themselves something special. And the pattern for this leadership is shown supremely in the Lord Jesus himself, who humbled himself—even to death on a cross—and was raised to life by the Father.

n Pray Pray that those who lead at your church would walk humbly before God, and seek his approval before yours or anyone else’s.

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 27-29 • John 14

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The guest preacher climbs into the pulpit of your church. “Today,” he begins, “I want to tell you why you will go to hell if you keep listening to what your pastor says...”

Matthew 23 v 13-39

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Thursday 2 October

God’s verdict Woe! Read Matthew 23 v 13-39

y If a preacher at your church delivered a

sermon like this about your pastor and other leaders at the church, how would your congregation react?

In y what ways are these leaders and false teachers ruining both themselves and the lives of those they are supposed to protect and nurture? (There are a lot of ways!) y What is the most distinctive feature of their failure as teachers (v 26, 27, 28)?

I suspect that you could have filled the whole page with the jaw-dropping accusations that the Lord makes about Israel’s religious leaders.

y Does Jesus’ vehemence in this chapter make you feel uncomfortable? Why?

A lot of people complain about their leaders; but here Jesus isn’t merely expressing personal disapproval; he is calling down God’s curse on these people. These are the apparent VIPs in God’s kingdom, but Jesus is utterly rejecting them. Religious hypocrites will not escape God’s judgment, whatever position they hold.

Re-read Matthew 23 v 37

y How does this verse help us see that he is motivated by love?

We must understand that Jesus isn’t having a bad day. Jesus is the same glorious, loving Saviour as ever. Far from being harsh, Jesus is heartbroken to have to speak as He does, as verse 37 makes clear.

False teaching isn’t just a sad mistake. It is spiritual abuse and murder of people that Jesus loves deeply. No wonder there is so much fire and ice in this sermon!

n Pray y Aren’t you glad that Jesus’ eyes see right through you?

Pray that you will live honestly before him, before Christians and before the world. Pray that what you are on the outside will mirror what you are on the inside. And that on the inside you may be daily transformed into the likeness of Jesus.

Wow! y Why is the Lord so angry at the false

teachers and bad leaders, do you think?

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 30-32 • John 15

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Friday 3 October

The end in sight Don’t get too bothered by the way this chapter seems to jump between the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world. The one serves as a vivid picture of the other.

It clearly didn’t matter to Jesus that the disciples hadn’t seen they were two different events—the important thing, for both events, was to be properly prepared.

Read Matthew 24 v 1-35

Don’t be deceived y What kind of people will try to deceive us (v 5, 11)?

y What will encourage us to believe them (v 6)?

y What “weapons” will they use (v 24)? y What does Jesus want us to remember

most in the middle of all this chaos and distress (v 13, 23, 26)?

Read the signs Some people suggest that we ignore the signs. Others that we analyse them deeply.

But what is Jesus saying here?

y What things are not signs that the end is near (v 6-8)?

Wars, famines and earthquakes are normal.

So don’t panic! Don’t think things are spinning out of control—it’s just as Jesus predicted. To be sure, they are warnings that the end is coming, that God’s judgment is on its way—but notice precisely what Jesus

says: they are only the beginning of “sorrows” (as the New King James Version puts it), not the end!

y What will show the end is near (v 9-14)?

Not very dramatic signs, and easy to miss if you are not looking out for them. Christians will be more and more marginalised; perhaps there will be just a few “poor fools” who take these things seriously. And yet, at the same time, the gospel will have reached round the world—people will be without excuse. “Then the end will come” (v 14).

Matthew 24 v 1-35

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When is the end of the world? How will we know? What will happen? The disciples were just as interested as we are in questions like these.

Be ready… y How will the real end be unmistakeable

(v 29-31)?

How is this different from what the false y prophets have said (v 23-24)? y What two reactions will there be on that day (30, 31)?

… because he’s coming y What’s the point of the little parable in verses 32-33, do you think?

Just as surely as Jerusalem fell—at that point for those disciples—so as surely Jesus will come again. People say that only one thing is certain—we all have to die. Not so—the one thing more certain than death is Jesus’ coming again (v 35).

y Are you ready? Will you stay ready?

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 33-34 • John 16

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We don’t know when Jesus is coming back. And sometimes it feels as if he never will.

So what should we do in the meantime?

Matthew 24 v 36-51

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Saturday 4 October

So live like this Look after your house

y What must he do? What are the

Read Matthew 24 v 36-44

y How does this connect with chapter 23? y And what special reward awaits those

y How should we react to people who

claim to have worked out when Jesus is coming back (v 36)? y What point is Jesus making with the reference to Noah’s time?

What conclusion does he draw about y how we should live, therefore (v 42)?

Of course, if the house owner (v 43-44)had known when the burglar was coming, he would have done something about it. But now, as he surveys his loss, he can only think of what precautions he might have taken.

But something much greater is at stake than our possessions—and we can’t get insurance to cover us for the loss we will face if we are not ready for the Lord Jesus.

TIME OUT

Read 2 Peter 3 v 10-13

y How does Peter encourage us to stay alert for the Lord’s return?

Look after his house Read Matthew 24 v 45-51

y Who do you think Jesus is talking about in this story? Who is the servant who is put in charge?

consequences if he fails?

who have been faithful (24 v 46, 47)?

Can you see the connection? Pastors… teachers… home-group leaders… Sundayschool teachers… and parents need to be especially careful. When Jesus comes, will he find them watching over the people he has given them to care for? Will he find them “feeding” those people with his truth (see v 45)? Or will they be like the false teachers of the last chapter—looking great on the outside, but utterly corrupt inside?

r Apply The Lord cares passionately about his property. Think about how seriously he takes it when we neglect those in our care (v 50, 51).

y How do Jesus’ words here challenge you?

Are there any ways in which you need to start looking after his house properly?

How do his words encourage you, y because you are already acting as a good servant-in-charge in some way?

n Pray Pray for yourself, and your local and national church leaders. Ask the Lord to keep you and them faithful, watchful and ready for his return.

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 35-36 • John 17

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Sunday 5 October

Small, but potent Read Psalm 117

y Who is the writer speaking to in verse 1? y What should they do? y What two truths about God does the writer pick out in verse 2? y Why do these truths mean that God deserves everyone’s praise?

This psalm is a command. Twice, the writer tells “all you peoples” to “praise the LORD”— to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel, the God of the Bible. There is no place for religious pluralism or relativism here. There is a God—the LORD—and the writer demands that he be praised.

Yet it is also an invitation. Notice the use of the word “us” in verse 2. Who is the “us” who have been loved so greatly by God? Of course, it could be the whole world—all people are made and sustained by God. But his greatest love has been shown to his people, those for whom he sent his Son to die, those who he has brought into his family. And everyone in the world—regardless of creed or colour—is invited to know that “great love” for themselves. If you are reading this outside the borders of Old Testament Israel, you are a walking, living witness to that truth!

experience God’s love, seen most spectacularly of all in the life, death and resurrection of his Son. Read 1 John 4 v 9-10.

And this psalm is a challenge—to us as God’s people. There is no one who cannot praise the LORD; there is no one who does not need to praise the LORD. We can very easily live as functional relativists, where our actions and words (or lack of them) tell those around us that it’s great for us to be Christians, and it’s fine for them not to be.

It’s a psalm that causes us to ask ourselves:

Psalm 117

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This is the shortest of all the psalms—it is only two verses, or 30 words, long. But it certainly packs a punch!

y When was the last time I told someone

outside the church to “Praise the LORD”, because his love is being offered to them? y Is there someone I am deep down assuming is fine even though they do not praise the LORD, so that I can avoid the risk of commanding them to praise him?

r Apply y What are your answers to those two questions?

n Pray y How will this psalm affect your prayers this week?

When the psalm was written, all members of all nations were being invited to join Israel, God’s people, and experience God’s love. Now, all members of all nations are invited to join the church, God’s people; and Bible in a year: Ezekiel 37-39 • John 18 v 1-18

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What do you think about this definition of a Christian? Someone who is ready for Jesus’ return.

Matthew 25 v 1-13

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Monday 6 October

Are you ready?

Jesus tells us a story about ten people who would all have called themselves true believers. But he splits them down the middle...

Read Matthew 25 v 1-13

y What are some of the typical “signs” we look for to see if someone is a genuine believer? y How many of these signs do all the young women in this story display?

It seems that enthusiasm is not a good test of Christianity. They all wanted to look the part; they were keen to meet the bridegroom, and they had shown up for an important occasion. All ten girls were keen, but not all were sensible.

y Do you feel sorry for the foolish girls?

Why is that a mistake?

God holds us responsible for being sensible with our lives. Some people turn out for church every Sunday, but are not ready for Jesus. That’s not just unfortunate; it’s folly.

The missing oil You don’t need a degree to realise you need oil as well as a lamp. These girls were happy to look the part—without any hope of being ready for the bridegroom.

r Apply y Are you happy to be one of the crowd?

Just to look like a Christian? If there is

no oil—none of God’s life in us—then we can never be ready for Jesus.

Drowsy disciples Re-read Matthew 25 v 5-10

y All the girls were sleepy; so what was the crucial difference between the groups?

What point is Jesus making with the y refusal of the others to share their oil?

It is scarily easy to look the part of being a Christian—being part of church; joining in with Bible studies; praying; evangelising others. But unless it is deep-down personal and real, it counts for nothing at all. It will be too late when Jesus returns.

Excluded Re-read Matthew 25 v 10-12 Jesus has a wedding list for heaven. He knows his friends. They have loved him, talked to him and served him—even if they have been sleepy sometimes. There is no gate-crashing heaven. No spare places for those who want to come in, but never got around to coming to Christ.

r Apply The safe definition of a Christian is someone who is ready now for Jesus to come...

y “But I’m alright, because I’m a Christian.” Are you sure?

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 40-41 • John 18 v 19-40

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Read Matthew 25 v 14-30

Investment It’s unfortunate that the traditionally-used word, talent (an ancient currency unit), is identical to our English word “talent” (a gift or ability). Jesus is talking about far more than our gifts.

y What do you think the talents, or “gold”, in the story really represent?

y And what is the key thing to remember about all that “wealth” (v 14)?

We tend to think of things as “ours”. My money, my possessions, my family, my time, my life, my gifts—even my church!

But Jesus’ story makes it clear that they are entrusted to us for a purpose, just as the message of the kingdom has been. They are not mine—they are God’s.

r Apply Take the list in the paragraph above to start with; and then be more specific with other things God has entrusted you with.

y In what ways could you better invest each one for the Lord?

Return It’s often said that Christians are called to be faithful, not fruitful. But that’s not entirely true. When Jesus returns, he will be look-

ing for fruit, for profit. A good and faithful servant will be seen by his fruitfulness.

y If we give ourselves to serving God, what kind of fruit will there be?

y Does this parable say anything to those

who feel discouraged because they think there is little they can do?

What is the fundamental difference in y motivation between the stewards?

Matthew 25 v 14-30

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“Watch! Be ready!” Jesus has been forthright and urgent with us. But how exactly are we to be preparing for Jesus’ return?

Tuesday 7 October

Kingdom profits

r Apply y What will Jesus say to you when he comes again? Will it be v 21 / 23?

What an encouragement to be ready for Jesus by working for him! To see his smile, to hear his pleasure, to enter into his joy.

Relax?

Re-read Matthew 25 v 18-30 We might have thought that the man had really done little wrong in verse 18. After all, he didn’t spend the gold on himself—he only hid it! But Jesus views it very differently; the Christian life is no life for a lazy person. The man buried the gold so he could get on with his own life. It is no use claiming to trust in Jesus if we are only interested in doing our own thing.

n Pray Ask for help to be a “good” servant today.

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 42-44 • John 19 v 1-22

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Who will share eternity with God? Those whom God has chosen? Those who believe in Jesus?

Matthew 25 v 31-46

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Wednesday 8 October

Which side?

Both are perfectly true, but interestingly that is not how Jesus speaks about judgment day in this famous story.

“Come!”

Read Matthew 25 v 31-34

y Can you picture the extraordinary scene that Jesus is describing? Who is there?

Who is missing? y What does he say about those sheep he welcomes? What is in store for them?

“Blessed.” They are highly favoured, privileged, special people. Who says? None other than the King who will pour out never-ending blessing on them.

“Inherit the kingdom.” Inherit? Yes, it’s a royal family matter.

“Prepared for you.” There are no empty places in heaven. Your place, believer, is waiting for you, lovingly prepared.

“Go!” Read Matthew 25 v 41

y What is the horrific punishment for the goats?

“Depart from me.” Banished for ever from the only source of joy, light, blessing, comfort, life and love. That on its own would make hell a place of unutterable horror.

“You cursed.” Think about what it means to be cursed by the only One who can really

bring that curse into effect. God’s burning fury—for ever.

“Into eternal fire.” Always being consumed, but never burnt up. It’s hard to imagine pain more intense than that of fire. And yet on earth a fire never lasts for long.

“Prepared for the devil.” Without Christ— but not without company. Not only evil all around, but the very source of evil, revealed in his true colours.

Why? Re-read Matthew 25 v 35-40, 42-46

y Who is it that Jesus sentences to hell?

And who is welcomed into heaven?

y On what basis is the judgment made?

Notice that what matters is not the good deeds the “saved” had done, but who they had done them for. It was “Jesus” they had visited and “Jesus” they had clothed. They had not realised at the time that it was anything special; they thought it was only a little thing. But it was for Jesus—done out of love for him. And the wicked had done good deeds, yes; but none that had been done out of love for Christ.

r Apply This is very serious. Let verse 46 drive your prayers of thanksgiving, and your cries for those who are not yet true believers.

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 45-46 • John 19 v 23-42

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Thursday 9 October

The hand of history I guess that if we knew people were plotting to take our lives, we would go into hiding.

Not the Lord…

Plots and plans Read Matthew 26 v 1-5 Notice that Jesus knows exactly what will happen to him. He knows who, when, and how. He could so easily have escaped from a death he knew would be infinitely harder to bear than any other.

Poured perfume Re-read Matthew 26 v 6-13

y Are you shocked by the woman’s

behaviour? Do you find it easy to sympathise with the disciples’ viewpoint? y What does this reaction show about their wrong priorities? y What does Jesus value above everything else?

The person who knows the riches of heaven doesn’t care much for the best of this world’s commodities. Her heart is set on other treasure. She values extravagant love.

Think how deeply Jesus cared for the poor.

Think how pleased he is when people “sell all their possessions and give to the poor”, as he challenged the rich young ruler to do (see Matthew 19 v 21). Yet he puts a far higher value on an act of extravagant love towards himself. Though the woman was

doing more than she realised (26 v 12), it was done out of love for the Lord who was about to die (v 11). She alone, it seems, took his words in verses 1-2 seriously.

r Apply

Matthew 26 v 1-16

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Jesus’ public teaching is over. The Jews’ hatred of him has intensified, and now they are baying for his blood.

Would you say your acts of devotion to Jesus, who died for you, were extravagant... decent... cautious... miserly? Is your giving (of money, time, career or whatever) more respectable than lavish? In fact, we should ask ourselves whether it really is in love at all that we give—or merely for appearances.

y In what ways could you demonstrate extravagant love to your Saviour?

Cheap greed Read Matthew 26 v 14-16 Here is one disciple who had never shown extravagant love for Jesus. Jesus’ amazing love in life—and soon in death—left him cold. His greedy eyes were on 30 glittering, paltry pieces of silver.

r Apply y Take a moment to think about your

attitude to wealth. Have you let a love for money sap your devotion to Christ?

Bible in a year: Ezekiel 47-48 • John 20

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There was something very special about eating the Passover supper with their Lord.

And the secrecy meant they sat down to eat with a heightened sense of significance…

Matthew 26 v 17-30

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Friday 10 October

Surprising supper The betrayer Read Matthew 26 v 17-30

y What is the massive bombshell that Jesus drops in the middle of dinner?

y How do the disciples react? What is

healthy about their question?

Why is verse 24 so important for us to y understand God’s sovereign work in the world?

The effect was shattering. At other times the disciples’ reaction might have been rather different: “No way, Lord!” But their reply on this occasion was far more healthy, even though the suggestion filled them with horror.

But there was one disciple whose “Is it I?” was a hollow mockery, designed only to deceive. He was happy to share the Passover feast, while plotting how best to hand Jesus over to the Jews. Judas was not moved by Jesus’ solemn words in verse 24. His heart was now hardened beyond hope.

We must not avoid these verses. There must be many who religiously celebrate the Lord’s Supper who have no genuine love for Jesus. Perhaps they would never betray Jesus openly like Judas, but their hearts are just as hard as his. Jesus knew Judas. Jesus knows us.

When you hear of some scandal or sin in your church, how do you react? We must resist the thought: “I wonder who could have

done a thing like that”. It’s far healthier to come back to ourselves: “I could have done that if God hadn’t kept me”.

The supper Jesus’ farewell supper was not entirely spoiled. He was going to give his disciples something extremely precious to remember him by; something simple but profound, something they ate then but which would continue until Jesus comes again…

Re-read Matthew 26 v 26-30

y What was Jesus really saying as he gave them the bread and wine to eat,do you think? y How do these symbols look both backwards and forwards?

What a priceless farewell gift Jesus has given us—because this supper wasn’t just for one occasion; we are to celebrate Jesus’ supper time and time again, to keep reminding us of his death for us.

r Apply y Do you value Jesus’ Supper as you

should?

Are you glad to meet at his table to y remember his priceless gift to you?

Give thanks for the symbol—but give thanks more for the reality it represents.

Jesus’ body broken, and blood shed so that you can know forgiveness and eternal life.

Bible in a year: Song of Songs 1-3 • John 21

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