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.”
Mourning and
Confidence
Matthew 24:26-31 –
New International Version (NIV)
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the
wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not
believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is
visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever
there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the
sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And
then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming
on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he
will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect
from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”
What should you do
if someone tells you “there he is, out in
the wilderness” (verse 26)?
How should you
react if some tells you “here he is, in
the inner rooms” (verse 26)?
How
will the “coming of the Son of Man”
be (verse 27)?
In
your opinion, what does Jesus mean by “wherever
there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather” (verse 28)?
When will the sun be darkened, the
moon not give its light, the stars fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies
be shaken (verse 29)?
Where will “the sign of the Son of Man” appear (verse 30)?
How will “all the peoples of the earth” react when the see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven, with power and great glory” (verse 30)?
What will He send his angels “with a loud trumpet call” to do (verse 31)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
Isaiah 34:1-4 - New
International Version (NIV)
1 “Come near, you nations, and listen;
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.”
pay attention, you peoples!
Let the earth hear, and all that is in it,
the world, and all that comes out of it!
2 The Lord is angry with all nations;
his wrath is on all their armies.
He will totally destroy them,
he will give them over to slaughter.
3 Their slain will be thrown out,
their dead bodies will stink;
the mountains will be soaked with their blood.
4 All the stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like shriveled figs from the fig tree.”
Who is supposed to
“come near” and “listen” (verse 1)?
In your opinion, why does Isaiah say “let the earth hear, and all that is in it”
(verse 1)?
How does the Lord
feel about the nations and the armies (verse 2)?
What will the Lord
do to the nations and the armies (verse 2)?
In your opinion,
what does Isaiah want to point out when he says “their dead bodies will stink” (verse 3)?
What will “be soaked with their blood” (verse 3)?
What will happen to the “stars in the sky” (verse 4)?
How will the heavens be treated (verse 4)?
How will the “starry host” fall (verse 4)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does reading Isaiah
34:1-4, the passage that Jesus quotes from in Matthew 24:26-31, help us to
understand more about why the people of the earth will “mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven,
with power and great glory”?
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
– New International Version (NIV)
13 “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you
to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like
the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep
in him. 15 According to the Lord’s
word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of
the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven,
with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call
of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After
that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever. 18 Therefore encourage one
another with these words.”
Why
does Paul not want his “brothers and
sisters” to be “uninformed about
those who sleep in death” (verse 13)?
What does Paul say “we believe” about Jesus (verse
14)?
What does Paul say “we believe” about those “who
have fallen asleep in him” (verse 14)?
Who will not precede those who have fallen
asleep (verse 15)?
Where will “the Lord himself” come from (verse
16)?
What will happen first after the “loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God” (verse 16)?
What will happen “after that” (verse 17)?
Where will the meeting with the Lord take
place (verse 17)?
In your opinion, how can we use “these words” to “encourage one another” (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does the fact that “Jesus died and rose again” that Paul
points to in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 alter the grim prophecy of Isaiah 34:1-4
that the Lord’s anger with and destruction of the nations?
In your opinion, how can the mourning of “all the peoples of the earth” that
Jesus predicts in Matthew 24:26-31 and the encouragement that Paul offers in 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 both be about the same event?
1 John 4:7-18 –
New International Version (NIV)
7 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from
God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever
does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is
how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world
that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought
to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we
love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has
given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that
the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If
anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in
God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God
is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This
is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the
day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is
no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with
punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Why are we to “love each other” (verse 7)?
What does John say about “everyone who loves” (verse 7)?
In your opinion, how can John say that “whoever does not love does not know God” (verse
8)?
How did God show His love among us (verse 9)?
In your opinion, why does John say “this is love: not that we loved God, but
that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (verse
10)?
Why should we love each other (verse 11)?
What happens “if we love one another” (verse 12)?
How do we “know that we live in him and he in us” (verse 13)?
In your opinion, how does love being
complete among us allow us to “have
confidence on the day of judgment” (verse 17)?
Why does perfect love drive out fear
(verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does the information
that Paul gives in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 to help Christians not grieve but
have hope and Johns discussion in 1 John 4:7-18 of love and about how “love that is made complete among us” so
that we can “have confidence on the day
of judgment” give Christians a reason to anticipate instead of fear that
day?
In your opinion, how is the fear and
intimidation that is created by Isaiah 34:1-4 altered by the love that John
explains in 1 John 4:7-18?
In your opinion, how
does your understanding of Jesus’s statement that “all the peoples of the earth will
mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” in Matthew
24:26-31 change any when you consider John’s discussion in 1 John 4:7-18 about
love and the statement that “There is no
fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with
punishment.”?
In your opinion, what do these passages,
from Matthew, Isaiah, 1 Thessalonians and 1 John show us about the Great
Commission?
Next, back to Matthew 24:32 –
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