August 30, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Wise and Wicked / Special and Common

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.”

Wise and Wicked / Special and Common

Matthew 24:45-51 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

What has the master put the wise servant in charge of (verse 45)?

When will it be “good for that servant” (verse 46)?

How will that servant be rewarded (verse 47)?

What does the wicked servant say to himself (verse 48)?

In your opinion, why would the wicked servant “beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards” (verse 49)?

When will the master come home (verse 50)?

How will the wicked servant be treated (verse 51)?

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

1 Kings 19:9-18 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. ¹⁶ Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. ¹⁷ Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. ¹⁸ Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Where was Elijah when the “word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah”” (verse 9)?

How has Elijah been “for the Lord God Almighty” (verse 10)?

What have the Israelites done (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why does Elijah feel that he is “the only one left” (verse 10)?

Where is Elijah to go (verse 11)?

Was the Lord in the “great and powerful wind” (verse 11)?

Was the Lord in the earthquake (verse 11)?

Was the Lord in the fire (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that the Lord was in the “gentle whisper” and not the powerful wind, the earthquake or the fire (verse 12)?

How did Elijah respond to the gentle whisper (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why does the Lord ask the same question, and Elijah give the same response (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did God instruct Elijah to anoint the three different people to the three different positions (verses 15, 16 and 17)?

How did God reassure Elijah that he was not “the only one left” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does the statement of Elijah “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” in 1 Kings 19:9-18 show us about what the faithful servant of Matthew 24:45-51 (or faithful servants of today) might feel?

James 4:4-10 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

What does friendship with the world mean (verse 4)?

Who becomes an enemy of God (verse 4)?

How does God long for the spirit He has caused to dwell in us (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does James want us to learn from the quote “God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble” (verse 6)?

How should we respond to God (verse 7)?

How should we respond to the devil (verse 7)?

What happens if we “come near to God” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does James mean when he says “wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (verse 8)?

What should laughter be changed to (verse 9)?

How will God treat us if we humble ourselves before Him (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, how does Elijah’s situation in 1 Kings 19:9-18 illustrate the enmity between God and the world that James wrote about in James 4:4-10?

In your opinion, how do the actions of the two servants that Jesus talked about in Matthew 24:45-51 provide an illustration for the James’s discussion proud and the humble in James 4:4-10?

2 Timothy 2:20-26 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ “In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. ²¹ Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

What kind of articles are there in a large house (verse 20)?

How are the purposes of the articles different (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “those who cleanse themselves from the latter” (verse 21)?

What will those who “cleanse themselves from the latter” and are “instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master” be prepared to do (verse 21)?

How should we react to the “evil desires of youth” (verse 22)?

What should we pursue “along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (verse 22)?

Why shouldn’t we have anything to do with “foolish and stupid arguments” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, why should the “Lord’s servant” not be quarrelsome but “be kind to everyone” (verse 24)?

Why should opponents be “gently instructed” (verse 25)?

What does Paul tell Timothy that opponents need to “come to their senses and escape” from (verse 26)?

In your opinion, why does Paul tell Timothy that opponents have been taken “captive to do his will” (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, how can both James and Paul be right when James says that “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” in James 4:4-10 while Paul in 2 Timothy 2:20-26 says that those who cleanse themselves from “common use” will be instruments of gold and silver used for special purposes?

In your opinion, what can the seven thousand in 1 Kings 19:9-18 that God had in reserve in Israel “whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him” show us about fleeing “the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” as Paul instructs Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:20-26?

In your opinion, what can the wise servant and the wicked servant that Jesus talks about in Matthew 24:45-51 help us to understand about the “articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use” of 2 Timothy 2:20-26?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, 1 Kings, James and 2 Timothy show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 25:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)