Saturday, August 8, 2015

August 16, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Words



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.”

Words

Matthew 24:32-35 – New International Version (NIV)
32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

What are we to learn a lesson from (verse 32)?

How do we tell that summer is near (verse 32)?

In your opinion, what will we know is near when we “see all these things” (verse 33)?

What will not pass away until all these things have happened (verse 34)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (verse 35)?

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

Isaiah 55:6-11 - New International Version (NIV)
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

When are we to seek the Lord (verse 6)?
Who will the Lord have mercy on (verse 7)?
What does the Lord declare is different from us (verse 8)?
In your opinion, what does God mean when He says “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts that your thoughts” (verse 9)?
What does the rain and snow do before returning to heaven (verse 10)?
How is God’s word like the rain and snow (verses 10 and 11)?
What will God’s word not do (verse 11)?
What will God’s word accomplish (verse 11)?
What will God’s word achieve (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does God’s promise in Isaiah 55:6-11 that His word “will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” amplify the statement of Jesus in Matthew 24:32-35 that “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”?

2 Peter 3:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”
Why has Peter written two letters (verse 1)?
What does Peter want the reader to recall (verse 2)?
In your opinion, why does Peter want the reader to understand “that in the last days scoffers will come” (verse 3)?
What will the scoffers follow (verse 3)?
What statement will the scoffers use to ridicule “this ‘coming’ he promised” (verse 4)?
How do the scoffers “forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water” (verse 5)?
What was “deluged and destroyed” “by these waters” (verse 6)?
In your opinion, why does Peter say that “the same word” that caused the heavens to come into being and the earth to be formed out water and by water now has reserved “the present heavens and earth” for fire (verses 6 and 7)?
What are “the present heavens and earth” being kept for (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Peter’s reminder that “by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water” in 2 Peter 3:1-7 when combined by God’s promise in Isaiah 55:6-11 that the word that goes out from His mouth will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” add force to Peter’s statement that by the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly”?
In your opinion, what can we understand when we consider that Jesus said in Matthew 24:32-35 that when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door” and that Peter in 2 Peter 3:1-7 said above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires”?

Revelation 1:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
    and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Why did God give Jesus Christ this revelation (verse 1)?
What does John testify to (verse 2)?
Who is blessed (verse 3)?
Why are they blessed (verse 3)?
In your opinion, who is “him who is, and who was, and who is to come” (verse 4)?
How is Jesus Christ described (verse 5)?
In your opinion, who is “him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (verse 4)?
Why are we made into “a kingdom and priests” (verse 6)?
Who will see Jesus when He comes “with the clouds” (verse 7)?
In your opinion, why will “all people on earth” “mourn because of him” (verse 7)?
How does God describe himself (verse 8)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what is the relationship between God’s word that Peter talks about in 2 Peter 3:1-7 and the “word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ” that John is to reveal according to Revelation 1:1-8?
In Isaiah 55:6-11 God promises thatmy word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty”, in your opinion, what are the “words of this prophecy” from Revelation 1:1-8 and the rest of Revelation supposed to accomplish?

In your opinion, how reassuring is it that the “One” John says in Revelation1:1-8 “who loves us and has freed us of our sins by his blood” is the “One” who in Matthew 24:32-35 says heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”?
In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Isaiah, 2 Peter and Revelation show us about the Great Commission?


Next, back to Matthew 24:36 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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