April 13, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Blasphemy and Praise

April 13, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Blasphemy and Praise

 Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

“¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Blasphemy and Praise

Matthew 9:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)

“Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ² Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

³ At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

⁴ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷ Then the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.”

Where did Jesus go when he got into the boat (verse1)?

Who did the men bring to him (verse 2)?

What prompted Jesus to say “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why did the teachers of the law say that Jesus was blaspheming (verse 3)?

What did Jesus know about the teachers of the law (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say that the thoughts of the teachers of the law were “evil” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask which is easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’ (verse)?

What did Jesus want them to know (verse 6)?

What is the next thing that Jesus said to the paralyzed man (verse 6)?

What did the paralyzed man do (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what filled the crowd with awe, the forgiveness of sin or the healing of the paralyzed man (verse 8)?

Why did they praise God (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 9:1-8 show us about the Great Commission?

Psalm 103 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
²¹ Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
²² Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

What does David instruct his soul and all his inmost being to do (verse 1)?

Who provides the benefits of the forgiveness of all sins and healing from disease to David (verses 2 and 3)?

Who works for righteousness and justice for all the oppressed (verse 6)?

How is the Lord described in verse 8?

What will God not always do (verse 9)?

How is God’s treatment of us better than we deserve (verse 10)?

In your opinion, is there a better way to describe the tremendous love that God has “for those who fear him” than the way David does in verse 11?

In your opinion, is there a more vivid way to describe how God will removed our transgressions from us than David’s description in verse 12?

How does David illustrate God’s compassion (verse 13)?

What is it that the “wind blows over and it is gone” and “its place remembers it no more” (verses 15 and 16)?

How big is God’s love for those who fear Him and His righteousness for their children’s children who “keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts” (verses 17 and 18)?

Who does God’s kingdom rule over (verse 19)?

Who is to “Praise the Lord” (verse 20)?

Who is to “Praise the Lord” (verse 21)?

Who is to “Praise the Lord” (verse 22a)?

Who is to “Praise the Lord” (verse 22b)?

In your opinion, should we “Praise the Lord”?

In your opinion, how does David’s statements about forgiveness and praising God in Psalm103 compare or contrast with the teachers of the law accusing Jesus of blasphemy in Matthew 9:1-8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Psalms show us about the Great Commission?

1 John 2:18-29 – New International Version (NIV)

^18 “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

²⁰ But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. ²¹ I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is what he promised us—eternal life.

²⁶ I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

²⁸ And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.”

When is the time of the letter to the “dear children” (verse 18)?

What have the “dear children” heard is coming that John confirms have already come (verse 18)?

What did their going “out from us” show (verse 19)?

Who has anointed the “dear children” so that they will know the truth (verse 20)?

Why did John write (verse 21)?

Who is the liar and the antichrist (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what is “what you have heard from the beginning” (verse 24)?

What has He promised us (verse 25)?

What teaches the “dear children” (verse27)?

What do we need to do to be “confident and unashamed before him at his coming” (verse 28)?

Where does “everyone who does right” come from (verse 29)?

In your opinion, how does John’s instruction about Jesus and the antichrists teach us about the response of the teachers of the law in Matthew 9:1-8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 John show us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 13:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

“The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ² The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

⁵ The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. ⁷ It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸ All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁰ “If anyone is to go into captivity
    into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
    with the sword they will be killed.”

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”

Who stood on the shore of the sea (verse 1)?

What came up out of the sea (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what is the meaning of the ten horns and seven heads and ten crowns on the horns (verse 1)?

What did the dragon give the beast (verse 2)?

What caused the whole world to be filled with wonder (verse 3)?

Why did people worship the beast (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what does it show about the beast’s authority was limited to forty-two months (verse5)?

What did the beast do to God (verse 6)?

What authority did the beast have for the forth-two months (verse7)?

Who will worship the beast (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is it about the Lamb’s book of life that keeps the people from worshiping the beast (verse 8)?

What calls for “patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does the contrast between praise in the Psalm and blasphemy in the Matthew 9 passage and the Revelation 13 passage show us?

In your opinion, what does this scripture from Revelation about the dragon and the beast show us about the teachers of the law and Jesus in Matthew 9:1-8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 9:9 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 6, 2014 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Protecting and Punishing

April 6, 2014 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Protecting and Punishing

Matthew 28 - New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

^“18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Protecting and Punishing

Matthew 8:28-34 - New International Version (NIV)

^28 “When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

³⁰ Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹ The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

³² He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. ³³ Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.”

Who met Jesus when he got to the region of Gadarenes (verse 28)?

What kept people from passing that way (verse 28)?

In your opinion, who knew that Jesus was the “Son of God” (verse 29)?

What authority was assumed for Jesus in the questions (verse 29)?

What was feeding some distance away (verse 30)?

Who plead to be sent into the herd of pigs (verse 31)?

How many words did Jesus say (verse 32)?

In your opinion, what does the action of the pigs following the demons going into them show about the motives and desires of the demons (verse 32)?

What did the pig tenders do (verse 33)?

In your opinion, what motivated the people of the town to plead with Jesus to leave their region (verse 34)?

In your opinion, what is shown about the motives of Jesus and of the demons in this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 8:28-34 show us about the Great Commission?

Job 2:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

“On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

³ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

⁴ “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. ⁵ But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

⁶ The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

⁷ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. ⁸ Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰ He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”

Who came before God to present themselves (verse 1)?

Who also came with them (verse 1)?

How did Satan respond to the Lord’s question, “Where have you come from?” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what is Satan insinuating about Job in verses 4 and 5?

How is Satan’s testing of Job limited by God (verse 6)?

What did Satan do to Job (verse 7)?

How did Job respond to the suffering (verse 8)?

In your opinion, how does Job’s wife’s comment affirm Satan’s view (verse 9)?

How does Job, whose understanding of the situation will mature during the course of the book, respond to his wife (verse 10)?

Were Job’s words and actions sinful (verse 10)?

In your opinion, is there similarity between Satan’s actions to Job and the demon’s actions to the pigs in Matthew 8:28-34?

In your opinion, what can the actions of Satan to Job, and the demon’s to the pigs, teach about what the demons were doing to the two demon possessed men in Matthew 8:28-34?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Job and the passage from Matthew 8:28-34 teach us about the actions of God and Satan in our lives today?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Job show us about the Great Commission?

2 Peter 2:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶ if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.”

Who did Peter say would be among us like false prophets were among the people (verse 1)?

What is the ultimate destructive heresy that well be introduced among us (verse 1)?

How will many people respond to the destructive heresies (verse 2)?

What is “hanging over” these false teachers (verse 3)?

Who did God not spare when they sinned (verse 4)?

Who was protected when the ancient world was flooded (verse 5)?

What were Sodom and Gomorrah made an example of (verse 6)?

How was Lot, described as a righteous man, effected by the “depraved conduct of the lawless” (verses 7 and 8)?

What does God know how to do for the godly (verse 9)?

What does God know how to do for the unrighteous (verse 9)?

In your opinion, is it fair to say that there are similarities between the actions of the false teachers in 2 Peter 2:1-9 and Satan in Job 2:1-10?

In your opinion, is it fair to say that there are similarities between the protection of Noah and the rescue of Lot in 2 Peter 2:1-9; the limitations put on Satan in his torment of Job in Job 2:1-10, and in the rescue of the two demon possessed men in Matthew 8:28-24?

In your opinion, how do Peter’s comments here help us understand Matthew 8:28-34?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 2 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 20:7-15 – New International Version (NIV)

^7 “When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Who will be released from his prison (verse 7)?

What will he do (verse 8)?

Who will be surrounded (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why are the nations gathered and marched to surround God’s people?

Where did the fire come from that devoured the nations and Satan (verse 9)?

Who was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the beast and the false prophet (verse 10)?

What and Who appeared (verse 11)?

Who was before the throne (verse 12)?

What was in the first books that were opened, not the book of life but the others (verse 12)?

How were the dead judged (verses 13)?

Where were death and Hades thrown (verse 14)?

Who else was thrown into the lake of fire (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between what Satan does here in Revelation 20:8 and what the false teachers do in 2 Peter 2:1?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between what Satan does in Revelation 20:8 and 9 and what the demons do in Matthew 8:32?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation teach us about Jesus having authority over and casting out the demons Matthew 8:28-34?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 9:1 - (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

March 23, 2014 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Rebuking and Authority

March 23, 2014 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Rebuking and Authority

Matthew 28 - New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

^“18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ 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, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Rebuking and Authority

Matthew 8:23-27 - New International Version (NIV)

^23 “Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴ Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

²⁶ He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the                 winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the                     waves obey him!”

Where did Jesus go (verse 23)?

Who followed Him (verse 23)?

What caused waves to sweep over the boat (verse 24)?

Why did Jesus not do anything (verse 24)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples combine “Lord, save us”, a request of faith, with “We’re going to drown”, a statement without hope (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus “rebuke” (a word of discipline) the winds and the waves (verse 26)?

What did the winds and the waves do after the rebuke (verse 26)?

How did the disciples react to the new reality (verse 27)?

In your opinion, why did they ask “What kind of man is this” (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 8:23-27 show us about the Great Commission?

Isaiah 37 - New International Version (NIV)

“When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. ² He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. ³ They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. ⁴ It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”

⁵ When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, ⁶ Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. ⁷ Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”

⁸ When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and             found the king fighting against Libnah.

⁹ Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the king of Cush, was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word: ¹⁰ “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria.’ ¹¹ Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered? ¹² Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my predecessors deliver them—the gods of Gozan, Harran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar? ¹³ Where is the king of Hamath or the king of Arpad? Where are the kings of Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah?”

¹⁴ Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. ¹⁵ And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: ¹⁶ “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. ¹⁷ Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

¹⁸ “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. ¹⁹ They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. ²⁰ Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

²¹ Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, ²² this is the word the Lord has spoken against him:

“Virgin Daughter Zion
    despises and mocks you.
Daughter Jerusalem
    tosses her head as you flee.
²³ Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed?
    Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes in pride?
    Against the Holy One of Israel!
²⁴ By your messengers
    you have ridiculed the Lord.
And you have said,
    ‘With my many chariots
I have ascended the heights of the mountains,
    the utmost heights of Lebanon.
I have cut down its tallest cedars,
    the choicest of its junipers.
I have reached its remotest heights,
    the finest of its forests.
²⁵ I have dug wells in foreign lands
    and drunk the water there.
With the soles of my feet
    I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.’

²⁶ “Have you not heard?
    Long ago I ordained it.
In days of old I planned it;
    now I have brought it to pass,
that you have turned fortified cities
    into piles of stone.
²⁷ Their people, drained of power,
    are dismayed and put to shame.
They are like plants in the field,
    like tender green shoots,
like grass sprouting on the roof,
    scorched before it grows up.

²⁸ “But I know where you are
    and when you come and go
    and how you rage against me.
²⁹ Because you rage against me
    and because your insolence has reached my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
    and my bit in your mouth,
and I will make you return
    by the way you came.

³⁰ “This will be the sign for you, Hezekiah:

“This year you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
    plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
³¹ Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
    will take root below and bear fruit above.
³² For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
    and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.

³³ “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city
    or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
    or build a siege ramp against it.
³⁴ By the way that he came he will return;
    he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.
³⁵ “I will defend this city and save it,
    for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”

³⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! ³⁷ So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

³⁸ One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.”

Who tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and went into the temple (verse 1)?

Who did Eliakim, Shebna and the leading priests go to see (verse 2)?

What kind of day did Hezekiah say it was (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why is it a day “as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them” (verse 3)?

What might cause the living God to rebuke the field commander of Assyria (verse 4)?

Who is supposed to be prayed for (verse 4)?

What was the Lord’s message to Hezekiah through Isaiah (verse 6)?

What did Hezekiah take to the temple and spread out before the Lord (verse 14)?

In your opinion, how is the plea of the disciples in Matthew 8:25 “Lord, save us” similar to Hezekiah’s prayer in Isaiah 37:15-20?

In your opinion, how is Jesus response in Matthew 8:26 similar to God’s response in Isaiah 37:21-38?

In your opinion, what can we learn today from these two incidents?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Isaiah and the passage from Matthew 8:23-27 teach us about the ability of God to rebuke situations in the world today?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Isaiah show us about the Great Commission?

Jude 1:3-22 - New International Version (NIV)

³ Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. ⁴ For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

⁵ Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. ⁷ In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. ⁹ But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.

¹¹ Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s              error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

¹² These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. ¹³ They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴ Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones ¹⁵ to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ¹⁶ These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

What was Jude eager to write about (verse 3)?

What was Jude compelled to write and urge (verse 3)?

Who has slipped in (verse 4)?

In your opinion, how do they “pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ” (verse 4)?

What happened to the people who were delivered from Egypt but who did not believe (verse 5)?

What happened to angels who “abandoned the proper dwelling” (verse 6)?

Who gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion and serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does Jude say “on the strength of their dreams” these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings (verse 8)?

Who said “The Lord rebuke you” when disputing with the devil for the body of Moses (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why would “the very things they do understand by instinct” destroy the people who dream and slander (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is meant by “shepherds who feed only themselves”, “clouds without rain”, “autumn trees without fruit”, “wild waves of the sea”, and “wandering stars” (verses 12 & 13)?

What is the Lord and thousands upon thousands of his holy ones coming to do (verses 14 & 15)?

Who foretold, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires” (verses 17 & 18)?

How does Jude indicate that we should respond to those scoffers (verses 20-23)?

What is to be hated (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Jude teach us about responding to people who scoff and take without giving?

In your opinion, how do Jude’s comments here expand on Matthew 8:23-27?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Jude show us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 19:11-16 – New International Version (NIV)

^11 “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. ¹² His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. ¹⁵ Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. ¹⁶ On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

king of kings and lord of lords.”

What stands open (verse 11)?

Who is on the white horse (verse 11)?

How does He judge and wage war (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why are His eyes described as “like blazing fire” (verse 12)?

What is His robe dipped in (verse 13)?

What is His name (verse 13)?

How are “the armies of heaven” described (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why is a sharp sword coming out of His mouth (verse 15)?

What does He tread (verse 15)?

What name is written on His robe and His thigh (verses 16)?

In your opinion, what can this passage from Revelation teach us about Jude 1:9, where the archangel Michael in his battle with the devil said “The Lord rebuke you”?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation teach us about the Son of Man rebuking the winds and the waves and having authority over them in Matthew 8:23-27?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 8:28 - (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)