Wednesday, June 11, 2014

June 22, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Hiding and Revealing

June 22, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Hiding and Revealing


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.”

Hiding and Revealing

Matthew 11:25-30 – New International Version (NIV)
25 “At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Who did Jesus praise (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why would something be hidden from “the wise and learned” and yet be revealed to “little children” (verse 25)?

What has been committed to Jesus by the Father (verse 27)?

Who knows the Son (verse 27)?

Who knows the Father (verse 27)?

Where are the weary and burdened to go to receive rest (verse 28)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus talk about finding rest in one sentence and taking His yoke in the next sentence (verses 28 and 29)?

How does Jesus describe Himself (verse 29)?

What will the weary and burdened find in Jesus (verse 29)?

In your opinion, how will the yoke of Jesus be easy and the burden of Jesus be light (verse 30)?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 11:25-30 show us about the Great Commission?

Psalm 135:13-21 – New International Version (NIV)
13 “Your name, Lord, endures forever,
    your renown, Lord, through all generations.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
    and have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
    made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
    eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears, but cannot hear,
    nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them,
    and so will all who trust in them.
19 All you Israelites, praise the Lord;
    house of Aaron, praise the Lord;
20 house of Levi, praise the Lord;
    you who fear him, praise the Lord.
21 Praise be to the Lord from Zion,
    to him who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.”
Whose name “endures forever” (verse 13)?
What will the Lord have “on his servants” (verse 14)?
In your opinion, why do people worship idols that other people, “human hands”, make (verse 15)?
Why do the idols of the nations have mouths but can’t speak and have eyes but can’t see (verse 16)?
What does it mean to say “nor is there breath in their mouths” (verse 17)?
In your opinion, why will those who make them and those who trust in them “be like them” (verse 18)?
How are the Israelites, those of the house of Aaron, and those of the house of Levi to respond to the Lord (verses 19 and 20)?
How are those who fear the Lord to respond to the Lord (verse 20)?
In your opinion, why does this Psalm that deals with idols and their ineffectiveness end with the simple statement to “Praise the Lord” (verse 21)?
In your opinion, how does Psalm 135 that says that all who make or trust in idols will become like them help us understand why the Lord of heaven and earth has “hidden these things from the wise and learned” in Matthew 11:25-30?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Psalms show us about the Great Commission?    
1 Corinthians 2:6-16 – New International Version (NIV)
“We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.”
What kind of message does Paul say is being spoken (verse 6)?
In your opinion, why does God destine a mystery that has been hidden for our glory (verse 7)?
How many rulers of the time that Paul lived understood the mystery (verse 8)?
Has any human mind conceived the things that God has prepared for those who love Him (verse 9)?
In your opinion, how can the Spirit of God reveal things that the mind can not conceive (verse 10)?
Who knows the thoughts of God (verse 11)?
Why do we receive the Spirit of God (verse 12)?
How are spiritual realities explained (verse 13)?
Who considers the things that come from the Spirit of God as foolishness (verse 14)?
What does the person with the Spirit make about all things (verse 15)?
What do we, as Christians, have (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 help us to understand about the people of Psalm 135 who become like the idols they worship?
In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Corinthians help us to understand about the Jesus said in Matthew 11:25-30 who the Son would reveal the Father to?
In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Corinthians show us about the Great Commission?

Galatian 5:1 & 13-18 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
Why does Christ set us free (verse 1)?
How do we avoid letting ourselves “be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (verse 1)?
What were we called to be (verse 13)?
What should we avoid using our freedom for (verse 13)?
How should we serve each other (verse 13)?
What command fulfills the entire law (verse 14)?
In your opinion, how does biting and devouring each other get us closer to destroying each other (verse 15)?
Where should we walk (verse 16)?
How are the flesh and the Spirit related (verse 17)?
Where are we in the law if we are led by the Spirit (verse 18)?
In your opinion, how does comparing Paul’s discussion of being led by the Spirit in Galatians 5 and his discussion about revelation in 1 Corinthians 2 help us understand both being led and revelation?
In your opinion, what does the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit in Galatians 5 help us to understand about the difference between the idols and God in Psalm 135?
In your opinion, what does Paul’s instructions about freedom in Galatians 5 help us to understand about the yoke and burden that Jesus talked about in Matthew 11:25-30?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Galatians show us about the Great Commission?


Next, back to Matthew 12 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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