September 6, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Known and Saved by God

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.”

Known and Saved by God

Matthew 25:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”

What will the kingdom of heaven be like (verse 1)?

How many virgins were there (verse 2)?

Why were the five virgins foolish (verse 3)?

Why did they all become drowsy and fall asleep (verse 5)?

When did the cry ring (verse 6)?

What did the foolish virgins ask of the wise virgins (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why did the wise virgins say “No, there may not be enough for both us and you” (verse 9)?

When did the bridegroom arrive (verse 10)?

Who went to the wedding banquet (verse 10)?

Why did the foolish virgins say “Lord, Lord, open the door for us” (verses 10 and 11)?

In your opinion, why was the response “truly I tell you, I don’t know you” (verse 12)?

Why is the instruction “therefore keep watch” (verse 13)?

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

Exodus 12:21-30 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ “Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. ²² Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. ²³ When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

²⁴ “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. ²⁵ When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. ²⁶ And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ ²⁷ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. ²⁸ The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.

²⁹ At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. ³⁰ Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.”

What did Moses tell the elders of Israel to do (verse 21)?

Where were the Israelites to place the blood with the hyssop (verse 21)?

When could they leave their houses (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why were the Israelites ask to do these things, when the Lord knew who they were (verses 21 and 22)?

What would happen when the Lord went through the land to “strike down the Egyptians” and saw the blood on the top and sides of the door frame (verse 23)?

Why were the instructions to be obeyed (verse 24)?

When were they to begin observing the ceremony (verse 25)?

How were the Israelites to answer their children’s question “what does this ceremony mean to you” (verses 26 and 27)?

What did the Israelites do (verse 28)?

When did the Lord strike down “all the firstborn in Egypt” (verse 29)?

Who got up during the night (verse 29)?

Why was there loud wailing in Egypt (verse 30)?

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

In your opinion, how can the preparations of the Israelites in Exodus 12:21-30 for the Passover show us how to “watch” for the coming of the Lord as Jesus instructed in Matthew 25:1-13?

2 Timothy 2:8-19 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. ¹⁰ Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

¹¹ Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him,
    we will also live with him;
¹² if we endure,
    we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
    he will also disown us;
¹³ if we are faithless,
    he remains faithful,
    for he cannot disown himself.

¹⁴ Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶ Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷ Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Who does Paul tell Timothy to remember (verse 8)?

What is not chained (verse 9)?

Why does Paul “endure everything” (verse 10)?

When will we live with Christ (verse 11)?

When will Christ disown us (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say that “if we are faithless, he remains faithful” (verse 13)?

What is Timothy to warn God’s people about (verse 14)?

How is Timothy to do his best to present himself to God (verse 15)?

In your opinion, how does godless chatter cause those who indulge in it to become “more and more ungodly” (verse 16)?

What will spread “like gangrene” (verse 17)?

How did Hymenaeus and Philetus “destroy the faith of some” (verse 18)?

How does “God’s solid foundation” stand (verse 19)?

What is inscribed on “God’s solid foundation” (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, how does the blood on the top and sides of the door in Exodus 12:21-30 so that the destroyer does not enter the homes of the Israelites in Egypt foreshadow the statement of Paul in 2 Timothy 2:8-19 that “The Lord knows those who are his”?

In your opinion, what does Paul’s discussion in 2 Timothy 2:8-19 show us about the differences between the wise and foolish virgins of Matthew 25:1-13?

1 Peter 1:3-9 – New International Version (NIV)

³ “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

How does Peter describe God, who he praises (verse 3)?

What makes the new birth that God, in His great mercy has given us, possible (verse 3)?

Where is the inheritance that “can never perish, spoil or fade” kept for Christians (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why does the shielding by God’s power through faith end at the “coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (verse 5)?

What do the Christians that Peter is writing to do in spite of having to “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6)?

When will the “proven genuineness of your faith” result in “praise, glory and honor” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does believing in Jesus Christ fill people with “an inexpressible and glorious joy” (verse 8)?

What is the “end result of your faith” (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, how does the statement of Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-9 that our God and Father has “given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” help us to understand the statement of Paul in 2 Timothy 2:8-19 that “the Lord knows who is his”?

In your opinion, how does the passing over of the houses that had the lamb’s blood on the top and sides of the door frame by the destroyer in Exodus 12:21-30 foreshadow the new birth that is available because of the “resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” of 1 Peter 1:3-9?

In your opinion, how does Peter’s discussion in 1 Peter 1:3-9 about “new birth” “inheritance” “faith” and “receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” help us to understand what Jesus is trying to teach in Matthew 25:1-13 when He tells the parable of the five wise and the five foolish virgins?

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

Next, back to Matthew 25:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)