October 4, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Generosity and 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.”

Generosity and Love

Matthew 26:6-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Where was Jesus (verse 6)?

What did the woman do with the “alabaster jar of very expensive perfume” (verse 7)?

How did the disciples respond (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples say “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor” (verse 9)?

How did Jesus describe what the woman had done for him (verse 10)?

Who does Jesus say the disciples “will always have with you” (verse 11)?

What did Jesus say that the woman was preparing for (verse 12)?

Where will what the woman did be preached (verse 13)?

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

Deuteronomy 15:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. ² This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. ³ You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. ⁴ However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, ⁵ if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

⁷ If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. ⁸ Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”

When should debts be canceled (verse 1)?

Whose loans shall creditors cancel (verse 2)?

Who may a payment be required from (verse 3)?

Why does there “need be no poor people among you” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the Israelites need to “fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today” (verse 5)?

How will God bless Israel (verse 6)?

What should Israelites not be to the “poor among your fellow Israelites” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, how would you feel if you were to “be openhanded and freely lend” to the poor who at the end of every seven years you would be unable to collect from (verse 8)?

What wicked thought is not to be harbored (verse 9)?

What kind of thought is to be avoided while giving “generously” (verse 10)?

 How will the Lord God bless this kind of giving (verse 10)?

What will there always be in the land (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how does your view of the statement that Jesus made that “the poor you will always have with you” in Matthew 26:6-13 change when you see the context that it was originally used in from Deuteronomy 15:1-11?

Colossians 2:6-15 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

Who have the readers of Paul “just received” (verse 6)?

What are the readers to overflow with (verse 7)?

How could the readers be taken captive (verse 8)?

What lives in Christ (verse 9)?

In your opinion, how can the readers be “brought to fullness” in Christ (verse 10)?

What caused the readers “whole self ruled by the flesh” to be put off (verse 11)?

How was the “whole self” buried with Christ (verse 12)?

When did God make the readers “alive with Christ” (verse 13)?

What did Christ do with the “charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us” (verse 14)?

How did Christ triumph over the “powers and authorities” (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, how is the instruction to “be openhanded” and the “give generously” that was given to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 15:1-11 exceeded by Jesus as He “cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness” by “nailing it to the cross” in Colossians 2:6-15?

In your opinion, how do the actions of the woman in Matthew 26:6-13 as she poured the alabaster jar of very expensive perfume on Jesus show that she had avoided the “hollow and deceptive philosophy” and was “rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” as instructed by Paul in Colossians 2:6-15?

1 John 4:7-12 – 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.

Who does John instruct to “love one another” (verse 7)?

Where does love come from (verse 7)?

Who knows God (verse 7)?

How can we know that “whoever does not love does not know God” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, how can we live through the “one and only Son” (verse 9)?

What is love (verse 10)?

Who was sent as “an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (verse 10)?

Why should we “love one another” (verse 11)?

When is God’s love “made complete in us” (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, how does Christ who according to Paul in Colossians 2:6-15 “canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross” prove what John says in 1 John 4:7-12 that “this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us”?

In your opinion, how does God in 1 John 4:7-12 demonstrate the instruction to “give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart” that Moses instructed the people of Israel to do in Deuteronomy 15:1-11?

In your opinion, how does the love of the woman to Jesus in Matthew 26:6-13 in giving Jesus the very valuable perfume a foreshadowing of the love Jesus showed as He went “to the cross as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” according to John in 1 John 4:7-12?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Deuteronomy, Colossians and 1 John show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 26:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 27, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Conspiracies and 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.”

Conspiracies and Love

Matthew 26:1-5 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

Who did Jesus talk to (verse 1)?

When was the Passover (verse 2)?

What was going to happen at the Passover (verse 2)?

Who assembled at the palace of the high priest (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why did they secretly scheme to arrest and kill Jesus (verse 4)?

Why did they not want to arrest and kill Jesus during the festival (verse 5)?

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

Psalm 2 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain?
² The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
³ “Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

⁴ The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
⁶ “I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

⁷ I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
⁸ Ask me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
⁹ You will break them with a rod of iron;
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

¹⁰ Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.
¹² Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

What do the nations do (verse 1)?

Who do the kings of the earth and the rulers band together against (verse 2)?

How does the “One enthroned in heaven” respond (verse 4)?

What does the “One enthroned in heaven” say to them (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did the Lord say “you are my son; today I have become your father” (verse 7)?

What will be the inheritance (verse 8)?

How should the kings behave (verse 10)?

Who should be served with fear (verse 11)?

Who is blessed (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, how were the “chief priests and elders of the people” of Matthew 26:1-5 conspiring and plotting as Psalm 2 talked about?

Acts 13:26-41 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. ²⁷ The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. ²⁸ Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.

³² “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors ³³ he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:

“‘You are my son;
    today I have become your father.’

³⁴ God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

³⁵ So it is also stated elsewhere:

“‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’

³⁶ “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. ³⁷ But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

³⁸ “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. ³⁹ Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

⁴¹ “‘Look, you scoffers,
    wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
    that you would never believe,
    even if someone told you.’”

Who is Paul speaking to (verse 26)?

What did the people of Jerusalem and their rulers do when they condemned Jesus (verse 27)?

What did the people of Jerusalem and their rulers ask Pilate to do (verse 28)?

When did they take Him down from the cross and lay Him in the tomb (verse 29)?

What did God do (verse 30)?

What did Paul bring (verse 32)?

How did God fulfill the promises to the ancestors (verse 33)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “he will never be subject to decay” (verse 34)?

What happened to David after he had “served God’s purpose in his own generation” (verse 36)?

Who “did not see decay” (verse 37)?

What is proclaimed “through Jesus” (verse 38)?

Who is set free from every sin (verse 39)?

In your opinion, why do the scoffers wonder (verse 41)?

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

In your opinion, how do the “people of Jerusalem and their rulers” from Acts 13:26-41 illustrate the conspiring of the nations and the plotting of the people that Psalm 2 begins with?

In your opinion, how do the words of Paul in Acts 13:26-41 show the success that Jesus was anticipating when He said “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified” in Matthew 26:1-5?

2 Peter 1:3-11 – New International Version (NIV)

³ “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

¹⁰ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, ¹¹ and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

What has God’s divine power given us (verse 3)?

What can we participate in through “his very great and precious promises” (verse 4)?

What causes the corruption of the world (verse 4)?

In your opinion, how do we “make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love” (verses 5, 6 and 7)?

How are kept from being “ineffective and unproductive” in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (verse 8)?

Who is “nearsighted and blind” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, how do we confirm our “calling and election” (verse 10)?

What kind of welcome will we receive into “the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” if we “make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how do the instructions of Peter in 2 Peter 1:3-11 allow us to build upon the good news of the salvation that Paul talked about in Acts 13:26-41?

In your opinion, how does the discussion about the nations conspiring and the people plotting against God in Psalm 2 contrast with the effort that Peter instructs the “brothers and sisters” to make in 2 Peter 1:3-11?

In your opinion, how does the willingness of Jesus to go to Jerusalem to “be handed over to be crucified” in Matthew illustrate the love that Peter instructs all of us to work for in 2 Peter 1:3-11?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Psalms, Acts and 2 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 26:6 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 20, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Love and Judgment

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.”

Love and Judgment

Matthew 25:31-46 – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Where will the Son of Man sit when He comes in His glory with all the angels (verse 31)?

How will the Son of Man separate the people (verse 32)?

To whom will the King say “come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (verses 33 and 34)?

What did the King say that these who are blessed by His Father had done (verses 35 and 36)?

How do the righteous respond to the King (verses 37, 38 and 39)?

In your opinion, why does the King say “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (verse 40)?

What did the Son of Man call “those on his left” (verse 41)?

Where were they to go (verse 41)?

In your opinion, why will they say “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you” (verse 44)?

How does the Son of Man answer (verse 45)?

Where do the righteous go (verse 46)?

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

Daniel 7:13-14 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

What was the one that Daniel saw in his vision like (verse 13)?

How was He coming (verse 13)?

Who did He approach (verse 13)?

What was He given (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did “all nations and peoples of every language” worship Him (verse 14)?

When will His dominion end (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, how does it make you feel that the one “like a son of man” who is given “authority, glory and sovereign power” and who has a dominion that is everlasting and a kingdom that will never be destroyed is the one who tells the “sheep” on His right to “come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world”?

John 5:16-30 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. ³⁰ By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”

Why did the Jewish leaders begin to persecute Jesus (verse 16)?

How did Jesus defend Himself (verse 17)?

Why did this cause the Jewish leaders to try “all the more to kill him” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why can the Son “do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing” (verse 19)?

Why will the Father, who “loves the Son and shows him all he does” also show “him even greater works than these” (verse 20)?

Who does the Son give life to (verse 21)?

What has the Father “entrusted” to the Son (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why is it that “whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (verse 23)?

What will not happen to “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me” and has eternal life (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to have “crossed over from death to life” (verse 25)?

What has the Father, who has “life in himself” granted the Son (verse 26)?

Who has the “authority to judge” (verse 27)?

Who will “hear his voice” in a time that is coming (verse 28)?

What will those who “have done what is good” do (verse 29)?

What will those who “have done what is evil” do (verse 29)?

What can Jesus do by Himself (verse 30)?

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

In your opinion, how is Daniel’s statement that the “one like a son of man” would have an “everlasting dominion that will not pass away” in Daniel 7:13-14 expanded on by what Jesus says in John 5:16-30 “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life”?

In your opinion, how should we reconcile what Jesus says in Matthew 25:31-46 about judgment “he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” with what He says in John 5:16-30 “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life”?

Jude 17-25 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

What are the “dear friends” supposed to do with “what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold” (verse 17)?

Who will follow “their own ungodly desires” (verse 18)?

How are the “people who divide you” described (verse 19)?

In your opinion, how does “building yourself up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit” result in “keeping yourselves in God’s love” (verses 20 and 21)?

What is the “mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ” going to bring (verse 21)?

How should we treat “those who doubt” (verse 22)?

In your opinion, how do we “show mercy, mixed with fear” (verse 23)?

What is Savior able to do (verse 24)?

What is to “the only God” “through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore” (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus statement in John 5:16-30 that “those who hear will live” and the statement in Jude 17-25 that “scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires” help us to understand the sheep and the goats that Jesus talks about in Matthew 25:31-46?

In your opinion, how does it make you feel to know that the one “like a son of Man” who “approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence” in Daniel 7:13-14 is also able “keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior” according to Jude 17-25?

In your opinion, what does Jude 17-25 show us about the sheep and the goats that Jesus was talking about in Matthew 25:31-46?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Daniel, John and Jude show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 26:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)