June 15, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Hardening or Loving
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.”
Hardening or
Loving
Matthew 11:16-24
– New International Version (NIV)
16 “To what can I compare this generation? They are like
children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17 “‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He
has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and
they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”
20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his
miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe
to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed
in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more
bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And
you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to
Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in
Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you
that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
Who
is Jesus talking about (verse 16)?
In
your opinion, what would “children
sitting in the marketplaces” be like (verse 16)?
What
did the “others” not do when the pipe
was played (verse 17)?
What did the “others” not do when the dirge was sung (verse 17)?
In your opinion, why did “they say” that John had a demon (verse
18)?
In your opinion, why would “they say” that “the Son of Man” was “a
glutton and a drunkard” (verse 19)?
Why did Jesus begin to denounce “the
towns in which most of his miracles had been performed” (verse 20)?
What did Jesus say that Tyre and
Sidon, despised gentile cities, would have done if the miracles performed in
Chorazin and Bethsaida had been performed there (verse 21)?
When will it be more bearable for
Tyre and Sidon than for Chorazin and Bethsaida (verse 22)?
Where will Capernaum go (verse 23)?
In your opinion, why would Sodom
have “remained to this day” if the
miracles performed in Capernaum had been performed there (verse 23)?
When will it be more bearable for
Sodom than Capernaum (verse 24)?
In your opinion, what does this passage
from Matthew 11:16-24 show us about the Great Commission?
Numbers 20:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived
at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was
buried.
2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people
gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled
with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before
the Lord! 4 Why
did you bring the Lord’s community
into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why
did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or
figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to
the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The
Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take
the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak
to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring
water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He
and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to
them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then
Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed
out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said
to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy
in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land
I give them.”
13 These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites
quarreled with the Lord and where
he was proved holy among them.”
Who arrived at the Desert of Zin (verse 1)?
What was missing at Zin (verse 2)?
How did the people respond to the
shortage (verse 2)?
In your opinion, why is the comparison of
Zin and Egypt taking place (verses 3, 4 and 5)?
Where did Moses and Aaron go (verse 6)?
What appeared to them (verse 6)?
How did God instruct Moses to get water from
the rock (verse 8)?
How did Moses get water from the rock
(verses 9, 10 and 11)?
In your opinion, how did Moses and Aaron
demonstrate they “did not trust in me
enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites” (verse 12)?
What were the consequences to Moses and
Aaron (verse 12)?
What was proved at the waters of Meribah
(verse 13)?
In your opinion, how do the Israelites
at Meribah in Numbers 20:1-13 seem to be like the Israelites that Jesus is
talking about in Matthew 11:16-24?
In your opinion, what does this passage
from Numbers show us about the Great Commission?
Psalm 95 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is
the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today,
if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
Who is to be sung to for joy (verse 1)?
Who is to be shouted aloud to (verse 1)?
How are we to come before Him (verse 2)?
What is the Lord (verse 3)?
In your opinion, how are the depths of
the earth in His hand (verse 4)?
Why is the sea His (verse 5)?
How are we to respond to the Lord our
Maker (verse 6)?
What are we to God (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to “harden your hearts” (verse 8)?
What did the “ancestors” do at Meribah and Massah (verse 9)?
How did God perceive the people at
Meribah and Massah (verse 10)?
Where would the people of Meribah and
Massah not go (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what does Psalm 95 help
us to understand about the Israelite people at Meribah in Numbers 20:1-13?
In your opinion, what do the people of
Meribah and Massah from Psalm 95 have in common with the people of Chorazin and
Bethsaida of Matthew 11:16-24?
In your opinion, what does this passage
from Psalms show us about the Great Commission?
7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from
God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever
does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is
how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world
that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought
to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we
love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has
given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the
Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If
anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in
God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God
is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This
is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the
day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is
no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with
punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever
claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does
not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom
they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone
who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
Where does love come from (verse 7)?
What can be said about “everyone
who loves” (verse 7)?
Why can we say that “whoever
does not love does not know God” (verse 8)?
How did God show His love among us (verse 9)?
In your opinion, why is it love, “not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins” (verse 10)?
Why are we to love (verse 11)?
How is God’s love made complete in us (verse 12)?
Who has God given us that is in us (verse 13)?
Where does anyone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of
God live (verses 15 and 16)?
When love is made complete among us, what will we have on
the “day of judgment” (verse 17)?
In your opinion, why does “perfect love drives out fear” (verse 18)?
How is it possible that we love (verse 19)?
What does our hating a brother or sister in Christ show us
about our love for God (verse 20)?
How are we to feel about our brother or sister in Christ
(verse 21)?
In your opinion, how does in the discussion in 1 John 4:7-21
about loving God help us to avoid the hardening of our hearts in the way that
the Israelites did that was explained in Psalm 95?
In your opinion, how does John’s teaching about the way we
react to a “brother or sister” help
us to understand the way the people of Israel reacted to Moses and Aaron (and
to God) in Numbers 20:1-13?
In your opinion, how does John’s instructions on how to “have
confidence on the day of judgment” help us to understand and avoid the mistakes
of Chorazin and Bethsaida from Matthew 11:16-24?
In your opinion, what does this passage
from 1 John show us about the Great Commission?
Next, back to Matthew 11:25 –
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment