June 21, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – The Tithe and First 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.”

The Tithe and First Love

Matthew 23:23-24 – New International Version (NIV)

²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” 

What do the teachers of the law and Pharisees give (verse 23)?

How does Jesus describe “justice, mercy and faithfulness” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “you should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” (verse 23)?

What does Jesus say that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees “strain out” (verse 24)?

What does Jesus say that the teachers of the law and the Pharisees “swallow” (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 23:23-24 show us about the Great Commission?

Micah 6:6-9 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “With what shall I come before the Lord
    and bow down before the exalted God?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
    with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
    with ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
    the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.”

Where does Micah ask if he should come with burnt offerings and calves a year old (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why would Micah ask if the Lord would be “pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil” (verse 7)?

How did Micah propose to take care of the “sin of my soul” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, who is the “mortal” (verse 8)?

What has the Lord shown the “mortal” (verse 8)?

How does Micah answer the question “and what does the Lord require of you” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what did the people that Micah was talking to in Micah 6:6-9 have in common with the people that Jesus was talking to in Matthew 23:23-24?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Micah 6 show us about the Great Commission?

James 1:19-27 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Who is supposed to “take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (verse 19)?

What does human anger not produce (verse 20)?

How is the “moral filth and the evil” that we are to get rid of described (verse 21)?

Where is the word that we are to humbly accept (verse 21)?

In your opinion, how can we be deceived by “merely” listening to the word (verse 22)?

How should we respond to the word (verse 22)?

Who is someone who “listens to the word but does not do what it says” like (verses 23 and 24)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to look intently “into the perfect law that gives freedom” (verse 25)?

What will be the result for the one who “looks intently into the perfect law” and “continues in it-not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it” (verse 25)?

Who deceives themselves (verse 26)?

What is “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless” (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the people Micah was writing to in Micah 6:6-9 offering wonderful sacrifices, but not acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God and the people that James is writing to in James 1:19-27 hearing the word of God but then not doing it, to the point that James tells them to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep themselves from being polluted by the world?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the teachers of the law and the Pharisees of Matthew 23:23-24 who Jesus recognized for the tithing of their herbs, but rebuked them for neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness and the Christians that James is writing in James 1:19-27 who listened to the word, but then deceived themselves by not doing it?

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

Revelation 2:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

Who is John supposed to write (verse 1)?

How does Jesus describe Himself (verse 1)?

What does Jesus know about the Ephesians (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the Ephesians have “persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary” (verse 3)?

What does Jesus hold against the Ephesians (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to forsake “the love that you had at first” (verse 4)?

How are the Ephesians to respond (verse 5)?

Who will remove the lampstand of the Ephesians if they do not repent (verse 5)?

What is in the favor of the Ephesians (verse 6)?

How will the victorious be rewarded (verse 7)?

In your opinion, is there a relationship between merely listening to the word and not doing it and therefore deceiving yourself as James talks about in James 1:19-27 and the forsaking the love that they had at first that Jesus directed John to write to the angel of the church of Ephesus about in Revelation 2:1-7?

In your opinion, what does the fact that the recipients of Micah 6:6-9 were told that offerings, including ridiculous offerings of “ten thousand rivers of olive oil” were not what God wanted help us to understand about the Ephesians of Revelation 2:1-7 who were praised for their deeds, hard work and perseverance, but were criticized for forsaking “the love you had at first”?

In your opinion, should the statement that Jesus told the teachers of the law and Pharisees in Matthew 23:23-24 that they “should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former” have any place in our discussion of the church at Ephesus who were praised for their deed, hard work and perseverance, but then reprimanded for forsaking the love that they had at first?

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

Next, back to Matthew 23:25 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)