May 4, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Fasting to New Self

May 4, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Fasting to New Self

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.”

Fasting to New Self

Matthew 9:14-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

¹⁶ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷ Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Who came to Jesus (verse 14)?

What were they comparing (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why would Jesus seem to equate fasting with mourning (verse 15)?

When will the guests of the bridegroom mourn (verse 15)?

What happens if unshrunk cloth is sewn into an old garment (verse 16)?

What happens in you pour new wine into old wineskins (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus tell John’s disciples about patching the old garment and storing new wine?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 9:14-17 show us about the Great Commission?

Isaiah 58:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)

¹“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
² For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
³ ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
⁴ Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
⁵ Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
¹⁰ and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
¹² Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Who is to be shouted to with a voice like a trumpet (verse 1)?

What is to be shouted to them (verse 1)?

What do they seem eager to know (verse 2)?

What question is ask of God (verse 3)?

In your opinion, does the question they ask God make it seem like they viewed fasting as a way to get what they wanted from God (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why would the fasting end in quarreling and strife (verse 4)?

Who chooses a kind of fasting that is loosening chains, untying the cords of the yoke, setting the oppressed free, sharing food with the hungry and giving shelter to the wanderer, clothing the naked and not turning away from your own flesh and blood (verses 6 and 7)?

If fasting occurs in this way, what will go before the people of God (verse 8)?

If fasting occurs in this way, what will God say when the people of God cry for help (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is meant by “your light will rise in the darkness” (verse 10)?

When will the Lord guide the people of God, if they fast appropriately, (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the blessing of being like “a well-watered garden” (verse 11)?

What will be rebuilt (verse 12)?

What will be raised up (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does Isaiah’s discussion of fasting help us understand about Jesus’s response to the question about fasting in Matthew 9:14-17?

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

Colossians 3:1-16 – New International Version (NIV)

“¹Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Where, if we have been raised with Christ, should our hearts be (verse 1)?

Where is Christ seated (verse 1)?

What should our minds be set on (verse 2)?

Since we have died with Christ, where is our life now (verse 3)?

When Christ, “who is your life” appears, who will also appear with Him (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why should we put to death “whatever belongs to your earthly nature” (verse 5)?

What brings “the wrath of God” (verses 5 and 6)?

In your opinion, why does Paul say we “used to walk in these ways” (verse 7)?

What are we to rid ourselves of (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why is “do not lie to each other” separated out and included in a new sentence (verse 9)?

How is the “new self” that we have put on being renewed (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why does Paul say Christ “is all, and is in all” (verse 11)?

What are “God’s chosen people, holy and loved” to clothe themselves in (verse 12)?

How are we, as God’s chosen people, to act if we have a grievance (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why is love the virtue that should be put over all other virtues and which “binds them all together in perfect unity” (verse 14)?

What should rule in our hearts (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why would the short command “And be thankful” follow the instruction about peace (verse 15)?

What is to dwell among us (verse 16)?

How are we to “teach and admonish one anther” (verse 16)?

In whose name should we do all things (verse 17)?

To who should we give thanks through the Lord Jesus (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what does the new life and instructions of Colossians 3:1-17 help us understand Isaiah’s discussion about fasting in Isaiah 58?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s new life discussion help us understand the “new wine” that Jesus discussed in Matthew 9:14-17?

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

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

Who should “we ought always to thank God for” (verse 13)?

How were these that thanks should offered for saved (verse 13)?

What were these, called through the gospel, to share (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why does Paul indicate that the “brothers and sisters” are to stand firm and hold fast (verse 15)?

Who “loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope” (verse 16)?

In your opinion, why is the blessing that God “encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” given (verse 17)?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s instruction in 2 Thessalonians expand on his teaching in Colossians 3:1-17?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 2 Thessalonians help us to understand about Isaiah 58 and its teaching about fasting?

In your opinion, what does the 2 Thessalonians brief instruction to the “brothers and sisters” help us understand about Jesus response to the questions about the differences between the various disciples of Matthew 9:14-17?

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

Next, back to Matthew 9:18 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

            

April 27, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Sinners and Sorrow and Repentance

April 27, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Sinners and Sorrow and Repentance

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.”

Sinners and Sorrow and Repentance

Matthew 9:9-13 – New International Version (NIV)

“⁹ As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰ While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

¹² On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Where was Matthew sitting when Jesus saw him (verse 9)?

What did Jesus say to Matthew (verse 9)?

How did Matthew respond to Jesus’s request (verse 9)?

Who came to the dinner at Matthew’s house (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does it say about Jesus and his disciples that they would eat with tax collectors and sinners (verse 10)?

What was the Pharisees question to Jesus’s disciples when they saw the people at Matthew’s house for the meal (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does this indicate that Jesus knew about why He was here (verse 12)?

What did Jesus ask the Pharisees to do (verse 13)?

Who did Jesus come to call (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why would Jesus not come to call the righteous (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 9:9-13 show us about the Great Commission?

Micah 6:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)

“Listen to what the Lord says:

“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;
    let the hills hear what you have to say.

² “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;
    listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth.
For the Lord has a case against his people;
    he is lodging a charge against Israel.

³ “My people, what have I done to you?
    How have I burdened you? Answer me.
⁴ I brought you up out of Egypt
    and redeemed you from the land of slavery.
I sent Moses to lead you,
    also Aaron and Miriam.
⁵ My people, remember
    what Balak king of Moab plotted
    and what Balaam son of Beor answered.
Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,
    that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

⁶ With what shall I come before the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.”

Who does Micah say is speaking (verse 1)?

To whom will the Lord’s case be plead (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why would the Lord’s accusation and the case He is lodging be stated to the mountains, the “everlasting foundations of the earth” (verse 2)?

What question does the Lord ask (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the Lord’s comments in verses 4 and 5?

In your opinion, what should the questions that Micah ask prompt us to ask today (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what point is Micah making in the questions in verse 7?

What has the Lord shown us, as mortals (verse 8)?

What does the Lord require of us (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does Micah’s statements about offerings and what God requires help us understand about Jesus’s response to the Pharisees in Matthew 9:9-13?

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

2 Corinthians 7:8-12 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— ⁹ yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ¹¹ See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. ¹² So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are.”

What does Paul not regret (verse 8)?

How long did Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians hurt them (verse 8)?

Why is Paul happy now (verse 9)?

In your opinion, how could the sorrow of the Corinthians led to their repentance (verse 9)?

What had God intended for the Corinthians (verse 9)?

What does Godly sorrow bring (verse 10)?

What does worldly sorrow bring (verse 10)?

In your opinion, how does Godly sorrow producing earnestness, eagerness to clear, indignation, alarm, longing, concern and readiness to see justice done prove innocence (verse 11)?

Why did Paul write the Corinthians (verse 12)?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion of Godly sorrow help us understand the instructions that Micah gave regarding the command to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

In your opinion, how does Paul’s instruction about Godly sorrow teach us about Jesus’s response to the tax collectors and with the Pharisees in Matthew 9:9-13?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 2 Corinthians 2:8-12 show us about the Great Commission?

2 Peter 3:3-13 – New International Version (NIV)

³ “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. ⁶ By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. ⁷ By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

When will the scoffers come (verse 3)?

What will the scoffers be following (verse 3)?

What will the scoffers say (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did Peter say that the scoffers “deliberately forget” that “by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed” (verse 5)?

By what was the world deluged and destroyed (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why does Peter say that “by the same word” the heavens and the earth are reserved for fire (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why would the present heavens and earth be kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly (verse 7)?

What does Peter say not to forget (verse 8)?

Why does Peter say the Lord is not slow, but is patient instead (verse 9)?

How will the day of the Lord come (verse10)?

What will happen when the day of the Lord comes (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why does Peter say that as we “live holy and godly lives” that we should “look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (verses 11 and 12)?

What dwells in the new heaven and new earth that we are looking forward to (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how does it help us understand God’s patient waiting of 2 Peter 3:3-13 by thinking of the godly sorrow that leads to repentance that Paul discusses in 2 Corinthians 7:8-12?

In your opinion, what similarities do the scoffers of the last days that 2 Peter 3:3-13 discuss and the people that God is making a case to the mountains against in Micah 6:1-8?

In your opinion, how do we combine the fact that Jesus said in Matthew 9:9-13 that he was not calling the righteous but sinners, but Micah says that God wants us to walk humbly with Him, and 2 Peter instructs us to “live holy and godly lives”?

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

Next, back to Matthew 9:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 20, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Empty Tomb to Great Multitude

April 20, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Empty Tomb to Great Multitude

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.”

Empty Tomb to Great Multitude

Matthew 28:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

When did Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb of Jesus (verse 1)?

What natural phenomena occurred (verse 2)?

Where did the angel of the Lord come from (verse 2)?

What did the angel do (verse 2)?

How did the angel appear (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why were the guards so afraid of the angel (verse 4)?

What did the angel first say to the women (verse 5)?

Who did the angel say the women were looking for (verse 5)?

What did the angel say Jesus had done (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did the angel say “just as he said” (verse 6)?

Who, after they had looked to see that Jesus was not there, were the women to go to with a message (verse 7)?

What message were they to deliver (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why were the women “afraid yet filled with joy” (verse 8)?

What did Jesus say to them when He met them (verse 9)?

How did the women react to Jesus (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say “Do not be afraid” (verse 10)?

Who did Jesus have them take a message to (verse 10)?

What was the message they were to take (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 28:1-10 show us about the Great Commission?

Daniel 2:31-45 – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. ⁴¹ Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Who is Daniel speaking to (verse 31)?

What does Daniel describe, that had been seen (verse 31)?

What were the parts made of (verses 32 and33)?

            The head?

            The chest?

            The belly and thighs?

            The legs?

            The feet?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the rock was “cut out, but not by human hands” (verse 34)?

What did the rock do (verse 34)?

What happened to the entire enormous statue (verse 35)?

What did the rock become (verse 35)?

When Daniel interpreted the dream, who was the head of gold (verse 38)?

What is the fourth kingdom made of (verses 40 and 41)?

How is it important that the feet is iron and clay (verse 42)?

What does it mean that the iron is mixed with clay (verse 43)?

Who will set up the kingdom (verse 44)?

In your opinion, why won’t this kingdom “never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people” (verse 44)?

What will the new kingdom that “will itself endure forever” do to all other kingdoms (verse 44)?

In your opinion, why is it significant that the beginning of this vision seemed to focus on an enormous statue, but the end focuses on a “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands”?

What is said about the dream (verse 45)?

In your opinion, what is the connection between the empty tomb in Matthew 28 and the “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” from Daniel 2?

In your opinion, how does the king’s dream and Daniel’s interpretation in Daniel 2:31-45 help us understand Easter morning in Matthew 28:1-10?

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

Romans 8:31-38 – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In your opinion, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (verse 31)?

What did God do for us with His Son (verse 32)?

Who, in spite of charges against Christians by Satan, the world, or even Christians themselves, justifies (verse 33)?

Who condemns (verse 34)?

Where is “Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life” (verse 34)?

What is Jesus doing there (verse 34)?

In your opinion, what is the comfort of (verse 35)?

In your opinion, who do we face death for (verse 36)?

What are we “through him who loved us” (verse 37)?

What will none of the things that Paul listed in verses 38 and 39 not be about to do?

In your opinion, what does “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life” of Romans 8 have to do with the “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” of Daniel 2?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s more that conquerors discussion of Romans 8 help us understand about the empty tomb and the message to the “brothers” through the “women” of Matthew 28?

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

Revelation 7:9-14 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

¹³ Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴ I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  

 

Who was before John (verse 9)?

What were they wearing (verse 9)?

What did they say when they cried out in a loud voice “belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (verse 10)?

Who said “Amen” to the statement that “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (verses 11 and 12)?

Who are the ones in the white robes (verse 14)?

In your opinion, is it possible that the people who have come through the great tribulation in Revelation 7:9-14 may be the same people who Paul says “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” in Romans 8:31-38?

In your opinion, does the statement “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” from Revelation 7:9-14 help us understand the “kingdom that shall never be destroyed” that is formed from the rock “cut from the mountain, but not by human hands” of Daniel 2:31-45?

In your opinion, what is the connection between the statement “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” from Revelation 7:9-14 and the empty tomb on Easter Morning in Matthew 28:1-10?

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

Next, back to Matthew 9:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)