April 20, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Empty Tomb to Great Multitude

April 20, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Empty Tomb to Great Multitude

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.”

Empty Tomb to Great Multitude

Matthew 28:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

When did Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb of Jesus (verse 1)?

What natural phenomena occurred (verse 2)?

Where did the angel of the Lord come from (verse 2)?

What did the angel do (verse 2)?

How did the angel appear (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why were the guards so afraid of the angel (verse 4)?

What did the angel first say to the women (verse 5)?

Who did the angel say the women were looking for (verse 5)?

What did the angel say Jesus had done (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did the angel say “just as he said” (verse 6)?

Who, after they had looked to see that Jesus was not there, were the women to go to with a message (verse 7)?

What message were they to deliver (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why were the women “afraid yet filled with joy” (verse 8)?

What did Jesus say to them when He met them (verse 9)?

How did the women react to Jesus (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say “Do not be afraid” (verse 10)?

Who did Jesus have them take a message to (verse 10)?

What was the message they were to take (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 28:1-10 show us about the Great Commission?

Daniel 2:31-45 – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. ³² The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, ³³ its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. ³⁴ While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. ³⁵ Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. ⁴¹ Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

Who is Daniel speaking to (verse 31)?

What does Daniel describe, that had been seen (verse 31)?

What were the parts made of (verses 32 and33)?

            The head?

            The chest?

            The belly and thighs?

            The legs?

            The feet?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the rock was “cut out, but not by human hands” (verse 34)?

What did the rock do (verse 34)?

What happened to the entire enormous statue (verse 35)?

What did the rock become (verse 35)?

When Daniel interpreted the dream, who was the head of gold (verse 38)?

What is the fourth kingdom made of (verses 40 and 41)?

How is it important that the feet is iron and clay (verse 42)?

What does it mean that the iron is mixed with clay (verse 43)?

Who will set up the kingdom (verse 44)?

In your opinion, why won’t this kingdom “never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people” (verse 44)?

What will the new kingdom that “will itself endure forever” do to all other kingdoms (verse 44)?

In your opinion, why is it significant that the beginning of this vision seemed to focus on an enormous statue, but the end focuses on a “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands”?

What is said about the dream (verse 45)?

In your opinion, what is the connection between the empty tomb in Matthew 28 and the “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” from Daniel 2?

In your opinion, how does the king’s dream and Daniel’s interpretation in Daniel 2:31-45 help us understand Easter morning in Matthew 28:1-10?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Daniel show us about the Great Commission?

Romans 8:31-38 – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In your opinion, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (verse 31)?

What did God do for us with His Son (verse 32)?

Who, in spite of charges against Christians by Satan, the world, or even Christians themselves, justifies (verse 33)?

Who condemns (verse 34)?

Where is “Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life” (verse 34)?

What is Jesus doing there (verse 34)?

In your opinion, what is the comfort of (verse 35)?

In your opinion, who do we face death for (verse 36)?

What are we “through him who loved us” (verse 37)?

What will none of the things that Paul listed in verses 38 and 39 not be about to do?

In your opinion, what does “Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life” of Romans 8 have to do with the “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” of Daniel 2?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s more that conquerors discussion of Romans 8 help us understand about the empty tomb and the message to the “brothers” through the “women” of Matthew 28?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Romans show us about the Great Commission?    

Revelation 7:9-14 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

¹¹ All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹² saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

¹³ Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴ I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”  

 

Who was before John (verse 9)?

What were they wearing (verse 9)?

What did they say when they cried out in a loud voice “belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (verse 10)?

Who said “Amen” to the statement that “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (verses 11 and 12)?

Who are the ones in the white robes (verse 14)?

In your opinion, is it possible that the people who have come through the great tribulation in Revelation 7:9-14 may be the same people who Paul says “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” in Romans 8:31-38?

In your opinion, does the statement “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” from Revelation 7:9-14 help us understand the “kingdom that shall never be destroyed” that is formed from the rock “cut from the mountain, but not by human hands” of Daniel 2:31-45?

In your opinion, what is the connection between the statement “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” from Revelation 7:9-14 and the empty tomb on Easter Morning in Matthew 28:1-10?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 9:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 13, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Blasphemy and Praise

April 13, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Blasphemy and Praise

 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.”

Blasphemy and Praise

Matthew 9:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)

“Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ² Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

³ At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

⁴ Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ⁶ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” ⁷ Then the man got up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.”

Where did Jesus go when he got into the boat (verse1)?

Who did the men bring to him (verse 2)?

What prompted Jesus to say “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why did the teachers of the law say that Jesus was blaspheming (verse 3)?

What did Jesus know about the teachers of the law (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say that the thoughts of the teachers of the law were “evil” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask which is easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’ (verse)?

What did Jesus want them to know (verse 6)?

What is the next thing that Jesus said to the paralyzed man (verse 6)?

What did the paralyzed man do (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what filled the crowd with awe, the forgiveness of sin or the healing of the paralyzed man (verse 8)?

Why did they praise God (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 9:1-8 show us about the Great Commission?

Psalm 103 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—
¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
    and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
²¹ Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
²² Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

What does David instruct his soul and all his inmost being to do (verse 1)?

Who provides the benefits of the forgiveness of all sins and healing from disease to David (verses 2 and 3)?

Who works for righteousness and justice for all the oppressed (verse 6)?

How is the Lord described in verse 8?

What will God not always do (verse 9)?

How is God’s treatment of us better than we deserve (verse 10)?

In your opinion, is there a better way to describe the tremendous love that God has “for those who fear him” than the way David does in verse 11?

In your opinion, is there a more vivid way to describe how God will removed our transgressions from us than David’s description in verse 12?

How does David illustrate God’s compassion (verse 13)?

What is it that the “wind blows over and it is gone” and “its place remembers it no more” (verses 15 and 16)?

How big is God’s love for those who fear Him and His righteousness for their children’s children who “keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts” (verses 17 and 18)?

Who does God’s kingdom rule over (verse 19)?

Who is to “Praise the Lord” (verse 20)?

Who is to “Praise the Lord” (verse 21)?

Who is to “Praise the Lord” (verse 22a)?

Who is to “Praise the Lord” (verse 22b)?

In your opinion, should we “Praise the Lord”?

In your opinion, how does David’s statements about forgiveness and praising God in Psalm103 compare or contrast with the teachers of the law accusing Jesus of blasphemy in Matthew 9:1-8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Psalms show us about the Great Commission?

1 John 2:18-29 – New International Version (NIV)

^18 “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

²⁰ But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. ²¹ I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is what he promised us—eternal life.

²⁶ I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

²⁸ And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.”

When is the time of the letter to the “dear children” (verse 18)?

What have the “dear children” heard is coming that John confirms have already come (verse 18)?

What did their going “out from us” show (verse 19)?

Who has anointed the “dear children” so that they will know the truth (verse 20)?

Why did John write (verse 21)?

Who is the liar and the antichrist (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what is “what you have heard from the beginning” (verse 24)?

What has He promised us (verse 25)?

What teaches the “dear children” (verse27)?

What do we need to do to be “confident and unashamed before him at his coming” (verse 28)?

Where does “everyone who does right” come from (verse 29)?

In your opinion, how does John’s instruction about Jesus and the antichrists teach us about the response of the teachers of the law in Matthew 9:1-8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 John show us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 13:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

“The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. ² The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. ³ One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. ⁴ People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”

⁵ The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. ⁶ It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. ⁷ It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. ⁸ All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁰ “If anyone is to go into captivity
    into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
    with the sword they will be killed.”

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.”

Who stood on the shore of the sea (verse 1)?

What came up out of the sea (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what is the meaning of the ten horns and seven heads and ten crowns on the horns (verse 1)?

What did the dragon give the beast (verse 2)?

What caused the whole world to be filled with wonder (verse 3)?

Why did people worship the beast (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what does it show about the beast’s authority was limited to forty-two months (verse5)?

What did the beast do to God (verse 6)?

What authority did the beast have for the forth-two months (verse7)?

Who will worship the beast (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is it about the Lamb’s book of life that keeps the people from worshiping the beast (verse 8)?

What calls for “patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does the contrast between praise in the Psalm and blasphemy in the Matthew 9 passage and the Revelation 13 passage show us?

In your opinion, what does this scripture from Revelation about the dragon and the beast show us about the teachers of the law and Jesus in Matthew 9:1-8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 9:9 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 6, 2014 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Protecting and Punishing

April 6, 2014 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Protecting and Punishing

Matthew 28 - 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.”

Protecting and Punishing

Matthew 8:28-34 - New International Version (NIV)

^28 “When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

³⁰ Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹ The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

³² He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. ³³ Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.”

Who met Jesus when he got to the region of Gadarenes (verse 28)?

What kept people from passing that way (verse 28)?

In your opinion, who knew that Jesus was the “Son of God” (verse 29)?

What authority was assumed for Jesus in the questions (verse 29)?

What was feeding some distance away (verse 30)?

Who plead to be sent into the herd of pigs (verse 31)?

How many words did Jesus say (verse 32)?

In your opinion, what does the action of the pigs following the demons going into them show about the motives and desires of the demons (verse 32)?

What did the pig tenders do (verse 33)?

In your opinion, what motivated the people of the town to plead with Jesus to leave their region (verse 34)?

In your opinion, what is shown about the motives of Jesus and of the demons in this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 8:28-34 show us about the Great Commission?

Job 2:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

“On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

³ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”

⁴ “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. ⁵ But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

⁶ The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

⁷ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. ⁸ Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.

⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰ He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”

Who came before God to present themselves (verse 1)?

Who also came with them (verse 1)?

How did Satan respond to the Lord’s question, “Where have you come from?” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what is Satan insinuating about Job in verses 4 and 5?

How is Satan’s testing of Job limited by God (verse 6)?

What did Satan do to Job (verse 7)?

How did Job respond to the suffering (verse 8)?

In your opinion, how does Job’s wife’s comment affirm Satan’s view (verse 9)?

How does Job, whose understanding of the situation will mature during the course of the book, respond to his wife (verse 10)?

Were Job’s words and actions sinful (verse 10)?

In your opinion, is there similarity between Satan’s actions to Job and the demon’s actions to the pigs in Matthew 8:28-34?

In your opinion, what can the actions of Satan to Job, and the demon’s to the pigs, teach about what the demons were doing to the two demon possessed men in Matthew 8:28-34?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Job and the passage from Matthew 8:28-34 teach us about the actions of God and Satan in our lives today?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Job show us about the Great Commission?

2 Peter 2:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶ if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.”

Who did Peter say would be among us like false prophets were among the people (verse 1)?

What is the ultimate destructive heresy that well be introduced among us (verse 1)?

How will many people respond to the destructive heresies (verse 2)?

What is “hanging over” these false teachers (verse 3)?

Who did God not spare when they sinned (verse 4)?

Who was protected when the ancient world was flooded (verse 5)?

What were Sodom and Gomorrah made an example of (verse 6)?

How was Lot, described as a righteous man, effected by the “depraved conduct of the lawless” (verses 7 and 8)?

What does God know how to do for the godly (verse 9)?

What does God know how to do for the unrighteous (verse 9)?

In your opinion, is it fair to say that there are similarities between the actions of the false teachers in 2 Peter 2:1-9 and Satan in Job 2:1-10?

In your opinion, is it fair to say that there are similarities between the protection of Noah and the rescue of Lot in 2 Peter 2:1-9; the limitations put on Satan in his torment of Job in Job 2:1-10, and in the rescue of the two demon possessed men in Matthew 8:28-24?

In your opinion, how do Peter’s comments here help us understand Matthew 8:28-34?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 2 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 20:7-15 – New International Version (NIV)

^7 “When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Who will be released from his prison (verse 7)?

What will he do (verse 8)?

Who will be surrounded (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why are the nations gathered and marched to surround God’s people?

Where did the fire come from that devoured the nations and Satan (verse 9)?

Who was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the beast and the false prophet (verse 10)?

What and Who appeared (verse 11)?

Who was before the throne (verse 12)?

What was in the first books that were opened, not the book of life but the others (verse 12)?

How were the dead judged (verses 13)?

Where were death and Hades thrown (verse 14)?

Who else was thrown into the lake of fire (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between what Satan does here in Revelation 20:8 and what the false teachers do in 2 Peter 2:1?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between what Satan does in Revelation 20:8 and 9 and what the demons do in Matthew 8:32?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation teach us about Jesus having authority over and casting out the demons Matthew 8:28-34?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

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