December
28, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Lost Sheep and the
Shepherd
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.”
Lost Sheep and the
Shepherd
Matthew 18:10-14 –
New International Version (NIV)
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I
tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in
heaven.
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one
of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to
look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it,
truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine
that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in
heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
Who
are we not to despise (verse 10)?
Whose
angels always see the face of the Father in heaven (verse 10)?
Where
will the man who has a hundred sheep leave the ninety-nine to look for the one
that wandered off (verse 12)?
In
your opinion, why is the man happier about the one sheep that the ninety-nine (verse 13)?
What does this show us about our
Father in heaven (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what does this passage
from Matthew 18:10-14 show us about the Great Commission?
Ezekiel 34:11-16 -
New International Version (NIV)
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep
and look after them. 12 As
a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look
after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were
scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I
will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I
will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of
Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the
mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down
in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the
mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will
tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the
lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the
weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock
with justice.”
Who is speaking (verse
11)?
What is He going to do (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to say “as a shepherd looks after his scattered
flock” (verse 12)?
What will the day of rescue from all the
places be like (verse 12)?
Where will the scattered sheep be taken to
(verse 13)?
Who will tend the sheep (verse 14)?
Who will have the sheep lie down (verse 15)?
What will happen to the strays (verse 16)?
How will the injured be treated (verse 16)?
In your opinion, why will the sleek and
strong be destroyed (verse 16)?
In your opinion, how does the Sovereign
Lord saying that He will “search for my
sheep and look after them” in Ezekiel 34:11-16 foreshadow Jesus telling the
parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:10-14?
In your opinion, what does this passage
from Ezekiel show us about the Great Commission?
Romans 8:31-39 – 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.”
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 give up for us (verse 32)?
Who justifies (verse 33)?
Who condemns (verse 34)?
What is Christ Jesus, who is “at the right hand of God” doing (verse 34)?
In your opinion, why is it written that “we face death all day long; we are
considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (verse 36)?
How are we “more than conquerors” (verse 37)?
What can “death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation” not
do (verses
38 & 39)?
In your opinion, is there any enemy that
we have that is greater than those that Paul listed in verses 38 and 39?
In your opinion, how does Paul in Romans
8:31-39 help us understand the way that God accomplished the rescue that He
promised through Isaiah 34:11-16?
In your opinion, how does it make you feel
that Jesus promises that “their angels
in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven” in Matthew 18:10-14 and Paul follows in Romans 8:31-39 by
saying that “Christ Jesus . . . is at the
right hand of God and is also interceding for us”?
In your opinion, what does this passage
from Romans show us about the Great Commission?
1 Timothy 2:1-7 –
New International Version (NIV)
1 “I urge, then, first of all, that
petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all
those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness
and holiness. 3 This is good, and
pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all
people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God
and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who
gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the
proper time. 7 And for this purpose I
was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not
lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles."
In your opinion, what does it mean to
offer petitions (verse 1)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to
offer prayers (verse 1)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to
offer intercession (verse 1)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to
offer thanksgiving (verse 1)?
Who are the “petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving” to be made for (verse
1)?
Why should “petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving” be offered for “all those in authority” (verse 1)?
How is God identified in verse 3?
What does God want for all people (verse 4)?
In your opinion, what does it mean that
Christ Jesus is a “mediator between God
and mankind” (verse 5)?
What did Christ Jesus give Himself as (verse
6)?
How did Paul receive his position as “a
herald and an apostle” (verse 7)?
In your opinion, how is offering “petitions, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving” for all people, as Paul instructs in 1 Timothy 2:1-7 a
fitting response to God who Paul confirmed in Romans 8:31-39 “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up
for us all”?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s statement
that “Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a
ransom for all people” in 1 Timothy 2:1-7 expand our understanding of the
Sovereign Lord’s statement in Ezekiel 34:11-16 that “I will rescue them (His sheep) from all the places
where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness”?
In
your opinion, how does knowing from 1 Timothy 2:1-7 that God, our Savior, “who wants all people to be
saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” help us to understand
Jesus statement in Matthew 18:10-14 that “if he finds
it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the
ninety-nine that did not wander off”?
In your opinion, what does this passage
from 1 Timothy show us about the Great Commission?
Next, back to Matthew 18:15 –
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