Thursday, November 13, 2014

November 23, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Faith and Love


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.”

Faith and Love

Matthew 17:14-20 – New International Version (NIV)
14 “When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17 “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Who did the man approach (verse 14)?

What was wrong with the man’s son (verse 15)?

Who was not able to help the son (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what did Jesus mean by “you unbelieving and perverse generation how long shall I stay with you” (verse 17)?

Who did Jesus rebuke (verse 18)?

What happened to the boy (verse 18)?

Where was Jesus when the disciples ask “why couldn’t we drive it out” (verse 19)?

Why couldn’t the disciples drive it out (verse 20)?
How much faith does it take to move a mountain (verse 20)?
What is impossible (verse 20)?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 17:14-20 show us about the Great Commission?

Zechariah 4:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)
1 “Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.
So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.
“What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

Who returned and woke Zechariah up, “like someone awakened from sleep” (verse 1)?
What did Zechariah see (verse 2)?
Where were the two olive trees (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why did Zechariah ask “what are these, my lord” (verse 4)?
How did the angel respond to Zechariah (verse 5)?
What is the “word of the Lord to Zerubbabel” (verse 6)?
How will “mighty mountain” change before Zerubbabel (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the significance of the bringing out of the capstone to shouts of “God bless it! God bless it!” (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the connection between the “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” in Zechariah 4:1-7 and the “nothing will be impossible for you” in Matthew 17:14-20?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Zechariah show us about the Great Commission?

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

What gives meaning to speaking “in the tongues of men or of angels” (verse 1)?
In your opinion, how does love give value to being able to “fathom all mysteries” and to “faith that can move mountains” (verse 2)?
How much is gained if everything is given to the poor without love (verse 3)?
What is love and what is it not (verse 4)?
What does love not do (verse 5)?
How does love react to truth (verse 6)?
When does love protect, trust, hope and persevere (verse 7)?
What happens to: love - _______________, prophecies - _______________, tongues - _______________, and knowledge - _______________ (verse 8)?
In your opinion, why do we “know in part” and “prophesy in part” (verse 9)?
Where does “what is in part” go when completeness comes (verse 10)?
What changed when Paul became a man (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the difference between the “now” and the “then” (verse 12)?
What is the greatest of the three that remain (verse 13)?
In your opinion, how is the love, as defined in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, of God demonstrated in the statement from the Lord to Zerubbabel that said “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit”?
In your opinion, how does the statement that if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 expand our understanding of the statement that Jesus made in Matthew 17:14-20 that “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”?
In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Corinthians show us about the Great Commission?

1 Peter 4:7-11 – New International Version (NIV)
7 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
What is near (verse 7)?
Why should we be “alert and of sober mind” (verse 7)?
How should we “love each other” (verse 8)?
In your opinion, how does love cover a multitude of sins (verse 8)?
How should we “offer hospitality” (verse 9)?
What should we do with the gifts that we have (verse 10)?
How should the one who speaks speak (verse 11)?
With what should the one who serves serve (verse 11)?
In what should God be “praised through Jesus Christ” (verse 11)?
In your opinion, how does the statement in 1 Peter 4:7-11 to “above all, love each other deeply” amplify the statement in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 that “these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”?
In your opinion, how is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4:1-7 not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” expanded on in 1 Peter 4:7-11 by the instruction to the one who speaks to “do so as one who speaks the very words of God” and to the one who serves to do so “with the strength God provides”?
In your opinion, how powerful is the faith that Jesus demonstrated in healing the demon possessed boy in Matthew 17:14-20 when combined with the love discussed in 1 Peter 4:7-11 that Jesus demonstrated that “covers over a multitude of sins” including all our sins when He went to the cross?
In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Peter show us about the Great Commission?


Next, back to Matthew 17:22 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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