May 24, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Being First or Being Exalted

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.”

Being First or Being Exalted

Matthew 23:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Who was Jesus speaking to (verse 1)?

Where do the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “so you must be careful to do everything they tell you” (verse 3)?

What are the crowds and Jesus disciples not to do (verse 3)?

In your opinion, how do the teachers of the law and the Pharisees “tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders” (verse 4)?

Why do the teachers of the law and Pharisees do things (verse 5)?

What do the teachers of the law and Pharisees love (verses 6 and 7)?

Who is not to be called Rabbi (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus tell the crowds and the disciples no to “call anyone on earth ‘father’” (verse 9)?

Who is our one Instructor (verse 10)?

Who is the greatest (verse 11)?

What will happen to those who exalt themselves (verse 12)?

In your opinion, how do those who will be exalted humble themselves (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 23:1-12 show us about the Great Commission?

Deuteronomy 11:13-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— ¹⁴ then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. ¹⁵ I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

¹⁶ Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. ¹⁷ Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, ²¹ so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.”

What commands is Moses asking the people to “faithfully obey” (verse 13)?

Why will the Lord send “rain on your land in its season” (verse 14)?

How will people be after they eat (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why would people who “love the Lord your God” and “serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” “be enticed to turn away and worship other gods” (verse 16)?

How will the Lord respond if people worship other gods (verse 17)?

What is God’s recommendation on how to avoid turning away (verse 18)?

When should the children be taught (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why should the words be written on the door frames and the gates (verse 20)?

How many days will the people and their children be in the land if they “fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds” (verses 18 and 21)?

In your opinion, are the phylacteries that Jesus was talking about in Matthew 23:1-12 an appropriate response to the commands of God in Deuteronomy 11:13-21?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Deuteronomy 11 show us about the Great Commission?

1 Timothy 4:7-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. ⁸ For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. ⁹ This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. ¹⁰ That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.”

In your opinion, what are “godless myths and old wives’ tales” (verse 7)?

Where should we focus instead of “godless myths and old wives’ tales” (verse 7)?

What has “value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (verse 8)?

Why do “we labor and strive” (verse 10)?

Who is the “living God” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the instruction of Deuteronomy 11:13-21 to “faithfully obey the commands I am giving you” and the message in 1 Timothy 4:7-10 to “train yourself to be godly”?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the wide phylacteries and long tassels that Jesus talked about in Matthew 23:1-1-12 and the “godless myths and old wives’ tales” that Paul warns Timothy of in 1 Timothy 4:7-10?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Timothy show us about the Great Commission?

3 John  – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “The elder,

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

² Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. ³ It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

⁵ Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. ⁶ They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. ⁷ It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. ⁸ We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.

⁹ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. ¹⁰ So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. ¹² Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³ I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. ¹⁴ I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.”

Who does John describe Gaius (verse 1)?

What does John pray for (verse 2)?

How did John find out about the faithfulness to the truth of Gaius (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why would John have “no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (verse 4)?

Who is Gaius “doing for” (verse 5)?

How should he “send them on their way” (verse 6)?

Why did they go out (verse 7)?

Why should we “show hospitality to such people” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what can we learn about Diotrephes by reading that he “loves to be first” (verse 9)?

What does Diotrephes do to those who want to welcome other believers (verse 10)?

Where is “anyone who does what is good” from (verse 11)?

Who is “well spoken of by everyone” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why would John not want to write Gaius “with pen and ink” (verse 13)?

What blessing does John bestow on Gaius (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the “godless myths and old wives’ tales” that Paul told Timothy to avoid in 1 Timothy 4:7-10 and the “malicious nonsense” that Diotrephes was spreading in 3 John?

In your opinion, how does the command in Deuteronomy 11:13-21 to “be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them” possibly help us understand the actions of Diotrephes in 3 John?

In your opinion, how are the actions and the indictment of Diotrephes in 3 John an example of the statement of Jesus in Matthew 23:1-12 “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 3 John show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 23:13 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)