Saturday, July 25, 2015

August 2, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Spirit of Falsehood and Spirit of Truth



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.”

Spirit of Falsehood and Spirit of Truth

Matthew 24:15-25 – New International Version (NIV)
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.”

Where will the “abomination that causes desolation” stand (verse 15)?

Who had spoken of the “abomination that causes desolation” (verse 15)?

What are those in Judea to do (verse 16)?

In your opinion, why would Jesus say that no one on the housetop should “go down to take anything out of the house” (verse 17)?

What are those in the field not to do (verse 18)?

Who will it be dreadful for (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why should the disciples pray that the flight “will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath” (verse 20)?

What will occur at that time (verse 21)?

For whose sake will the days be cut short (verse 22)?

How does Jesus say to react to those who say “Look, here is the Messiah!” (verse 23)?

What will the false messiahs and false prophets do (verse 24)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “see, I have told you ahead of time” (verse 25)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Daniel 11:28-35 - New International Version (NIV)
28 “The king of the North will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country.
29 “At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time the outcome will be different from what it was before. 30 Ships of the western coastlands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. 32 With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
33 “Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. 34 When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. 35 Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.”

Where will the king of the North go (verse 28)?
What will his heart be “set against” (verse 28)?
When willhe “invade the South again” (verse 29)?
What will happen when “ships of the western coastlands” oppose him (verse 30)?
In your opinion, why will the king of the North “vent his fury against the holy covenant” (verse 30)?
Who will the king of the North “show favor” to (verse 30)?
What will his armed forces desecrate (verse 31)?
In your opinion, why will the “abomination that causes desolation” be set up after the daily sacrifice is abolished (verse 31)?
How will he corrupt “those who have violated the covenant” (verse 32)?
Who will “firmly resist him” (verse 32)?
Who will “instruct many” (verse 33)?
What will happen to the wise “for a time” (verse 33)?
In your opinion, why would “many who are not sincere” join the wise when they fall (verse 34)?
Why will “some of the wise” stumble (verse 35)?
When will the “time of the end” come (verse 35)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does reading Daniel 11:28-35, one of the passages where Daniel talks about the abomination of desolation, help us understand what Jesus means when He tell us through Matthew to “let the reader understand” in Matthew 24:15-25?

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”
Who does Paul want “not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us” about “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him” (verses 1 and 2)?
What are people asserting that Paul is saying about the “day of the Lord” (verse 2)?
Who does Paul say must be revealed before the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him” (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why will he set “himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (verse 4)?
What does Paul want the Thessalonians to do (verse 5)?
What is holding “our Lord Jesus Christ” back (verse 6)?
What is “already at work” (verse 7)?
When will “the lawless one” be revealed (verses 7 and 8)?
How will “the Lord Jesus” overthrow the “lawless one” (verse 8)?
How will “the Lord Jesus” destroy the “lawless one” (verse 8)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works” (verses 9 and 10)?
Why do the perishing perish (verse 10)?
What will God send (verse 11)?
Who will be condemned (verse 12)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, does the promise of Daniel in Daniel 11:28-35 that Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time” still apply in the time that Paul is talking about in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 about the man of lawlessness who will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” help us to understand what Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-25 about the “abomination that causes desolation”?

1 John 4:1-6 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”

How are we to react to the spirits (verse 1)?
Who has “gone out into the world” (verse 1)?
How do we recognize “the Spirit of God” (verse 2)?
In your opinion, why is “every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus” the “spirit of the antichrist” (verse 3)?
Where is the “spirit of the antichrist” (verse 3)?
How have the children of God “overcome them” (verse 4)?
Why does the world listen to the “spirit of the antichrist” (verse 5)?
Who listens to John (verse 6)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does John in 1 John 4:1-6 help us to understand how Christians will be able to avoid the “powerful delusion” that Paul says will be sent in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 to deceive who have “not believed the truth but delighted in wickedness”?
In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 John 4:1-6 help us to understand about what the wise that Daniel says in Daniel 11:28-35 will “instruct many” in?

In your opinion, how do the words of John in 1 John 4:1-6 help us avoid falling for the words and “great signs and wonders” of the “false messiahs and false prophets” that Jesus warned us about in Matthew 24:15-25.
In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Daniel, 2 Thessalonians and 1 John show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 24:26 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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