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.”
Deserving Wrath
and Receiving Patience
Matthew 28:11-15 –
New International Version (NIV)
11 “While the women were on their way, some
of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything
that had happened. 12 When
the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the
soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling
them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away
while we were asleep.’ 14 If this
report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
15 So the soldiers took the money and did as
they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews
to this very day.”
Who did the guards
report everything that had happened to (verse 11)?
How did the chief
priests and elders react (verse 12)?
In your opinion,
why did the chief priests give the soldiers a “large sum of money” (verse 12)?
What were the
soldiers to say (verse 13)?
Who was going to
satisfy the governor, if the report got to him (verse 14)?
How did the
soldiers respond (verse 15)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
Exodus 7:1-7 - New
International Version (NIV)
1 “Then the Lord
said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother
Aaron will be your prophet. 2 You are to say everything I
command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go
out of his country. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and
though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4 he will not
listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of
judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5 And
the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord
when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”
6 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. 7 Moses was eighty
years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.”
What did the Lord
say He made Moses to be like to the Pharaoh
(verse 1)?
Who was to say “everything I command you” (verse 2)?
Who was to tell the Pharaoh “to let the Israelites go” (verse 2)?
Why will the Pharaoh not listen, even
though God multiplies “my signs and
wonders in Egypt” (verses 3 and 4)?
In your opinion, why does God say that the
“mighty acts” that He will use to
bring out the Israelites are “acts of
judgment” (verse 4)?
What will the Egyptians know (verse 5)?
Who did “just as the Lord commanded them” (verse 6)?
How old were Moses and Aaron when they “spoke to Pharaoh” (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In
your opinion, why do you think that the Egyptians in Exodus 7:1-7 “will know that I am the Lord” but the
Jews were circulating the story that “His
disciples came during the night and stole him away” in Matthew 28:11-15 in
spite of an even greater miracle being done among them than was done among the
Egyptians?
Romans 1:18-32 –
New International Version (NIV)
18 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all
the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their
wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to
them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the
creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine
nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so
that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as
God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish
hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they
became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for
images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and
reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their
hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They
exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created
things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even
their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In
the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were
inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men,
and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to
retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that
they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled
with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of
envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers,
God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil;
they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no
fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s
righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only
continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
Who is the “wrath of
God” being revealed from heaven against (verse 18)?
Why is the “wrath of God” being revealed (verse 19)?
What has “been clearly seen” since the creation of the world (verse 20)?
In your opinion, why are people “without excuse” (verse 20)?
What happened to people who knew God but
who did not glorify Him as God or give thanks to Him (verse 21)?
In your opinion, why did these people
claim “to be wise” but become fools (verse 22)?
What was the “glory of the immortal God” exchanged for (verse 23)?
Where does the “sinful desires of their hearts” lead them (verse 24)?
Who did they worship after “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie”
(verse 25)?
In your opinion, why did God give “them over to shameful lusts” (verse
26)?
Why does God give “them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be
done” (verse 28)?
What fills people who have been given over
to a depraved mind (verse 29)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to “invent ways of doing evil” (verse 30)?
What do these people who have been given
over to a depraved mind not have (verse 31)?
In your opinion, how is the statement that
“although
they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,
they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who
practice them” a very sad commentary about where
these people are (verse 32)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, might the statement by
Paul in Romans 1:18-32 that God gives those who have “exchanged the truth of God for a lie . . . over to a depraved mind”
help explain how God planned to “harden
the Pharaoh’s heart” in Exodus 7:1-7?
In your opinion, how might the discussion
about the descent of those who have exchanged the “glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a
mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles” as described in
Romans 1:18-32 help explain how the soldiers of Matthew 28:11-15 could leave
the resurrection of Jesus, the greatest event that has occurred in the world,
to go to the chief priests and then agree to take money and lie about the
event.
2 Peter 3:3-9 –
New International Version (NIV)
3 “Above all, you must understand that in the last days
scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 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.” 5 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. 6 By
these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 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.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the
Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The
Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead
he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance.”
Who will come “in the last days” to follow “their
own evil desires” (verse 3)?
What reason will the give for
scoffing at the “coming he promised”
(verse 4)?
How do they “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 waters (verse 6)?
What
is keeping the “present heavens and
earth” reserved for fire and for “the
day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly” (verse 7)?
What
“one thing” are we not to forget (verse
8)?
In
your opinion, what is the difference between being “slow in keeping his promise” and in being “patient with you” (verse 9)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how
is Peter’s statement that God is “patient
with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”
in 2 Peter 3:3-9 a message of hope to all who “have exchanged the truth about God for a lie” and have been given
over to “a depraved mind, so that they do
what ought not to be done” as statement by Paul in Romans 1:18-32?
In your opinion, how is there similarity
between God telling Moses that “the
Egyptians will know that I am the Lord
when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it” in Exodus 7:1-7
and Peter assuring us that the Lord “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance” after discussing the “day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly” in 2 Peter
3:3-9?
In your opinion, how
are the soldiers in Matthew 28:11-15 who witnessed the resurrection of Jesus
and then lied about it because they were paid by the chief priests similar to
the scoffers of 2 Peter 3:3-9 who follow their own evil desires and scoff at
the idea that Jesus will return?
In your opinion, what do these passages,
from Matthew, Exodus, Romans and 2 Peter show us about the Great Commission?
Next, back to Matthew 28:15 –
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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