Sunday, May 24, 2015

May 31, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Doors and the Key of David


  
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.”

Doors and the Key of David

Matthew 23:13 – New International Version (NIV)
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Who does Jesus say “woe” to (verse 13)?

How does He describe them (verse 13)?

Where do they shut the “door of the kingdom of heaven” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why do you think that they do not enter the kingdom of heaven (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how do you think they keep “those who are trying to” enter the kingdom of heaven out (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 23:13 show us about the Great Commission?

Isaiah 22:20-25 - New International Version (NIV)
20 “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. 21 I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. 22 I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 23 I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. 24 All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.
25 “In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.”

How is Eliakim son of Hilkiah described (verse 20)?
What will be handed to him (verse 21)?
Who will he be the father to (verse 21)?
What will be placed on his shoulder (verse 22)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to say “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (verse 22)?
What will he be driven like a peg into (verse 23)?
What will hang on him (verse 24)?
When will the “peg driven into the firm place” be sheared off and fall (verses 24 and 25)?
In your opinion, why are the teachers of the law and the Pharisees that Jesus is speaking to in Matthew 23:13 only able to “shut the door” but the holder of the “key to the house of David” from Isaiah 22:20-25 is prophesied the much greater promise that “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open”?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Isaiah 22 show us about the Great Commission?

Acts 5:17-32 – New International Version (NIV)
17 “Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.
25 Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” 26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
What filled the high priest and all his associates (verse 17)?
Who was arrested and put into the public jail (verse 18)?
When did the angel of the Lord open the doors and bring them out (verse 19)?
Where did the angel tell them to stand and “tell the people about this new life” (verse 20)?
When did they enter the temple courts and begin to teach the people (verse 21)?

In your opinion, why did the high priest and his associates call the Sanhedrin together (verse 21)?

What did the officers find when they got to the jail (verse 23)?

How did the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests respond to the news (verse 24)?

Where were the “men you put in jail” (verse 25)?

Why did the captain and his officers not use force to bring the apostles (verse 26)?

Why were the apostles brought before the Sanhedrin (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what caused the high priest to think the apostles were “determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” (verse 28)?

Who did Peter and the apostles say they must obey (verse 29)?

Who “raised Jesus from the dead” (verse 30)?

Why had God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior” (verse 31)?

Who are the “witnesses of these things” (verse 32)?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the high priest and all his associates who have the apostles arrested and put into jail in Acts 5:17-32 and Eliakim son of Hilkiah in Isaiah 22:20-25?

In your opinion, what does it mean that some of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who Jesus said “shut the door of the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 23:13 were probably part of the Sanhedrin in Acts 5:17-32 who Peter told “the God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead”?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Acts 5 show us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 3:7-13 – New International Version (NIV)
“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Who is John instructed to write to (verse 7)?
How does Jesus describe Himself (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what does it mean that Jesus “holds the key of David” (verse 7)?
What has Jesus placed before the church in Philadelphia (verse 8)?
In your opinion, why did Jesus link the fact that the church in Philadelphia had “little strength” with the fact that “you have kept my word and have not denied my name” (verse 8)?
What will “those who are of the synagogue of Satan” do (verse 9)?
Why will Jesus keep the church of Philadelphia from the “hour of trail that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (verse 10)?
When is Jesus coming (verse 11)?
How will the “one who is victorious” be rewarded (verse 12)?
Who will speak to the churches (verse 13)?
In your opinion, what can we learn from the comparison of the angel of the Lord opening the door to the jail and bringing out the apostles in Acts 5:17-22 and the promise to the church of Philadelphia that an open door that no one can shut has been placed before them in Revelation 3:7-13?
In your opinion, how does knowing that the “key of David” once held by the Eliakim son of Hilkiah in Isaiah 22:20-25 is now held by “him who is holy and true” in Revelation 3:7-13 bring perfection to the idea that “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open”?
In your opinion, how are the limited actions of the “teachers of the law and Pharisees” in Matthew 23:13 in shutting the door to the kingdom of heaven and not letting people enter similar to those of the synagogue of Satan in Revelation 3:7-13 and how is the promise of “an open door that no one can shut” the perfect response by God in this situation?
In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 23:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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