Sunday, August 10, 2014

August 17, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Hidden Things and Rising to Live


  
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.”

Hidden Things and Rising to Live

Matthew 13:24-43 – New International Version (NIV)
24 “Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable. 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in parables,
    I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.”
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Who sowed the good seed in the field (verse 24)?

When did the enemy come (verse 25)?

How did the weeds show up (verse 26)?

Why would the servants want to pull the weeds (verse 27)?

What did the owner say might happen if the weeds were pulled (verse 29)?

When were the weeds and the wheat separated (verse 30)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say the kingdom and heaven is like a mustard seed (verses 31 and 32)?

In your opinion, how is the kingdom of heaven like yeast (verse 33)?

How did Jesus speak to the crowd (verse 34)?

What kind of things will be uttered in parables (verse 35)?

Who is the one who sowed the good seed (verse 37)?

Who is the good seed (verse 38)?

Who is the bad seed (verse 38)?

What is the harvest (verse 39)?

What will the angels do (verse 41)?

In your opinion, why will there be weeping and gnashing of teeth in the blazing furnace (verse 42)?

Where will the righteous shine (verse 43)?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 13:24-43 show us about the Great Commission?

Psalm 78 1-8 - New International Version (NIV)
“My people, hear my teaching;
    listen to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth with a parable;
    I will utter hidden things, things from of old—
things we have heard and known,
    things our ancestors have told us.
We will not hide them from their descendants;
    we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
    his power, and the wonders he has done.
He decreed statutes for Jacob
    and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
    to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
    even the children yet to be born,
    and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God
    and would not forget his deeds
    but would keep his commands.
They would not be like their ancestors—
    a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
    whose spirits were not faithful to him.”
Who is to hear the teaching (verse 1)?
What will happen to the hidden things from of old (verse 2)?
Who had told these things before (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why are things that “our ancestors have told us” described as “hidden things” (verses 3 and 2)?
What will we tell the next generation (verse 4)?
What were the ancestors commanded to teach (verse 5)?
Who will tell their children (verse 6)?
What will the children of the children not yet born do (verse 7)?
How are the ancestors described (verse 8)?
What was Isaiah to tell the people (verse 9)?
In your opinion, how does the fact that Psalm 78 indicates that the hidden things that are told are things that “our ancestors have told us” expand our understanding of what Matthew is saying when he quotes part of this psalm in Matthew 13:24-43?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Psalms show us about the Great Commission?

 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 – New International Version (NIV)
“For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
Who has chosen the brothers and sisters (verse 4)?
How did “our gospel” come to the brothers and sisters (verse 5)?
In your opinion, why would the “brothers and sisters” welcome the message “in the midst of severe suffering” (verse 6)?
Who did the “brothers and sisters” in Thessalonica become a model for (verse 7)?
What attribute of the “brothers and sisters” has become known everywhere (verse 8)?
What do the reports say that the “brothers and sisters” did (verse 9)?
How is Jesus described:
In regards to where He is from (verse 10)?
In regards to what God had done for Him (verse 10)?
In regards to what He will do for us (verse 10)?
In your opinion, how are the “brothers and sisters” of 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 who turn from idols “to serve the living and true God” different from the ancestors of Psalms 78 “whose hearts were not loyal to God”?
In your opinion, how is the gospel that Paul shared with the Thessalonians related to the “things hidden” that Matthew said that Jesus was saying in Matthew 13:24-43?
In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Thessalonians show us about the Great Commission?
    
John 5:24-30 – New International Version (NIV)
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”
What does Jesus say that “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me” has (verse 24)?
When Jesus expands on the above statement he says that the people will “not be judged” but will have crossed over where (verse 24)?
In your opinion, who are the “dead” who “will hear the voice of the Son of God” (verse 25)?
What has the Father granted the Son (verse 26)?
Why has the Father given the Son the authority to judge (verse 27)?
What time is coming (verse 28)?
What will those who have done what is good rise to (verse 29)?
What will those who have done what is evil rise to (verse 29)?
Why is the judgment of Jesus just (verse 30)?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s statement in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 about the “brothers and sisters” turning from idols to “serve the living and true God” help us to understand the statement of Jesus in John 5:24-30 that “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life”?
In your opinion, how are the words of the Psalm 78:1-8, “I will utter the hidden things, things from of old” completed by the words of Jesus in John 5:24-30 that “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life ad will not be judged”?
In your opinion, how does Jesus’ statement in John 5:24-30 that “those who have done what is good will rise to live” complement His statement in Matthew 13:24-43 that “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father”?
In your opinion, what does this passage from John show us about the Great Commission?


Next, back to Matthew 13:44 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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