September 28, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Defiled and Redeemed

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.”

Defiled and Redeemed

Matthew 15:1-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’”

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

¹² Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

¹⁶ “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. ¹⁷ “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. ¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. ²⁰ These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

Who came to Jesus (verse 1)?

Why did they question the disciples actions (verse 2)?

How did Jesus respond (verse 3)?

What command did Jesus quote (verse 4)?

In your opinion, who benefited from the offering that was “devoted to God” (verse 5)?

Could something that was “devoted to God” have been given to “honor their father or mother” (verse 6)?

What did the Pharisees and teachers of the law tradition do to the word of God (verse 6)?

How did Jesus describe the Pharisees and teachers of the law (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what did Isaiah as quoted by Jesus mean when he said “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (verse 8)?

What does having hearts far from God do to the people Isaiah was talking about (verse 9)?

How are people defiled (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why were the Pharisees offended (verse 12)?

What is the destiny of those not planted by the Father (verse 13)?

Where will the blind guides lead the blind (verse 14)?

Who ask for the parable to be explained (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why would Jesus ask “Are you still so dull” (verse 16)?

Why does something that enters at the mouth not defile the body (verse 17)?

Where do the things that defile come from (verse 18)?

What comes from the heart (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 15:1-20 show us about the Great Commission?

Isaiah 29:13-16 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
¹⁴ Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”
¹⁵ Woe to those who go to great depths
    to hide their plans from the Lord,
who do their work in darkness and think,
    “Who sees us? Who will know?”
¹⁶ You turn things upside down,
    as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
    “You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
    “You know nothing”?

How do the people (of Jerusalem) come to the Lord (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why is there a contrast between what the lips say and where the heart is (verse 13)?

What is their worship of God based on (verse 13)?

How will the Lord astound the people (verse 14)?

What will happen to the “wisdom of the wise” and the “intelligence of the intelligent” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why is there woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans and work from the Lord (verse 15)?

How do the people turn things (verse 16)?

In your opinion, why is it wrong for the pot to say to the potter “you know nothing” (verse 16)?

In your opinion, how are the people that Isaiah is talking about in Isaiah 29:13-16 and the people that Jesus is talking to in Matthew 15:1-20 similar?

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

Acts 10:9-28 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. ¹⁰ He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. ¹¹ He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. ¹² It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. ¹³ Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

¹⁴ “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

¹⁵ The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

¹⁷ While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. ¹⁸ They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

¹⁹ While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. ²⁰ So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

²¹ Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”

²² The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” ²³ Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. ²⁴ The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. ²⁶ But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

²⁷ While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. ²⁸ He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”

Where did Peter go to pray (verse 9)?

What opened to let down the large sheet (verse 11)?

What was in the large sheet (verse 12)?

Who instructed Peter to “Kill and eat” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why did Peter say “Surely not, Lord!” (verse 14)?

How was Peter answered (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why did it happen three times (verse 16)?

Who stopped at the gate while Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision (verse 17)?

Who told Peter that three men were looking for him (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why was Peter told not to hesitate to go with them (verse 20)?

Why did the men say they had come (verse 22)?

Where did Peter go (verse 24)?

Who had Cornelius called together (verse 24)?

How did Cornelius respond to Peter (verse 25)?

What did Peter tell Cornelius about himself (verse 26)?

Why was Peter’s visit to Cornelius wrong (verse 28)?

How did Peter explain that his visit with Cornelius was okay (verse 28)?

In your opinion, what is different about Cornelius and the people with him in Acts 10:9-28 that make it okay for Peter to visit them even though they are Gentiles when the people of Jerusalem in Isaiah 29:13-16 were going to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord and did their work in the darkness?

In your opinion, does Jesus saying that “eating with unwashed hands does not defile them” to Peter in Matthew 15:1-20 help Peter understand the message from heaven in Acts 10:9-28 that he “should not call anyone impure or unclean”?

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

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

¹³ “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.”

How should our minds be when we set our “hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed” (verse 13)?

What should we not conform to (verse 14)?

How should we be in all that we do (verse 15)?

Why should we be holy (verse 16)?

In your opinion, why should we live out our time “as foreigners here in reverent fear” (verse 17)?

What did not redeem us (verse 18)?

What did redeem us (verse 19)?

When was Christ chosen (verse 20)?

How do we believe in God (verse 21)?

In your opinion, why does Peter link obeying the truth with having a sincere love for each other (verse 22)?

Through what were we born of imperishable seed (verse 23)?

What happens to the grass that people are like (verse 24)?

What endures forever (verse 25)?

In your opinion, how does Peter’s message to “God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces . . .” that we read from 1 Peter 1:13-25 show his growing understanding of God’s acceptance of Gentiles that began in Acts 10:9-28 with the vision of the large sheet being lowered?

In your opinion, how are the people of Jerusalem portrayed in Isaiah 29:13-16 as those whose “hearts are far from me” a contrast to the “exiles” of 1 Peter 1:13-25 who “have sincere love for each other”?

In your opinion, does the growth of Peter from the one who Jesus asks “Are you still so dull” in Matthew 15:1-20 to the one who explains our redemption through the “precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” in 1 Peter 1:13-25 provide hope and encouragement to all of us?

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

Next, back to Matthew 15:21 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 21, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Jesus Saving

  

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.”

Jesus Saving

Matthew 14:22-36 – New International Version (NIV)

²² “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶ and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.”

What did Jesus make the disciples do (verse 22)?

Why did Jesus go up on the mountainside (verse 23)?

Where were the disciples (verse 24)?

How did Jesus go out to them (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples think that Jesus was a ghost (verse 26)?

How did Jesus comfort them (verse 27)?

What was Peter’s request of Jesus (verse 28)?

How did Jesus reply to the request (verse 29)?

In your opinion, how hard would it have been to step out of the boat onto the water (verse 29)?

Why did Peter, who was walking on the water, become afraid and begin to sink (verse 30)?

Who did Peter cry out to (verse 30)?

What did Jesus do (verse 31)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say “You of little faith, why did you doubt” (verse 31)?

What happened when Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat (verse 32)?

In your opinion, why would the people in the boat worship Jesus at that moment (verse 33)?

Where did they land the boat (verse 34)?

What happened when people saw Jesus (verse 35)?

What did the people beg for (verse 36)?

Who was healed (verse 36)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 14:22-36 show us about the Great Commission?

Job 42:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Then Job replied to the Lord:

² “I know that you can do all things;
    no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
    Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
    things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.’
⁵ My ears had heard of you
    but now my eyes have seen you.
⁶ Therefore I despise myself
    and repent in dust and ashes.”

Who was Job speaking to (verse 1)?

What did Job say that the Lord can do (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why does Job indicate that “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (verse 3)?

Who told Job to “Listen” (verse 4)?

What had Job’s ears heard of (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what changed Job’s perception of God (verse 5)?

How did Job react to his new understanding about God (verse 6)?

In your opinion, how is Job’s reaction to his new understanding of God in Job 42:1-6 similar to the reaction of the disciples to Jesus when he climbed into the boat and the wind died down in Matthew 14:22-36?

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

Acts 12:1-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. ² He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. ³ When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

⁶ The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. ⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. ⁹ Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹ Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

¹² When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. ¹³ Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.”

Who was having people arrested (verse 1)?

Who was put to death with the sword (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why would the Jews approve of the persecutions and the arrests (verse 3)?

What happened to Peter when he was arrested (verse 4)?

Who was earnestly praying for Peter (verse 5)?

How was Peter sleeping (verse 6)?

Who woke Peter up (verse 7)?

What happened to the chains (verse 7)?

Where did Peter follow the angel to (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why did Peter think that everything was a vision (verse 9)?

When did the angel leave Peter (verse 10)?

What did Peter say when he “came to himself” (verse 11)?

Who was in the house of Mary the mother of John (verse 12)?

How did Rhoda respond when she heard Peter’s voice (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did the people who had been praying for Peter not believe Rhoda (verse15)?

What did Peter keep doing while Rhoda was telling her story and people were not believing her (verse 16)?

What did Peter tell the people when they finally opened the door (verse 17)?

In your opinion, do you think that the people who did not believe Rhoda and were astonished when they opened the door and saw Peter in Acts 12:1-17 might have been like Job who, when he saw God with his own eyes and then understood himself and God differently in Job 42:1-6?

In your opinion, is God saving Peter from the prison and the execution that is to occur the next day in Acts 12:1-17 similar to Jesus reaching down and pulling the sinking Peter from the sea in Matthew 14:22-36?

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

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.”

Who is to be praised (verse 3)?

What did Jesus, “in his great mercy” give us (verse 3)?

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

How are we shielded until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed (verse 5)?

In your opinion, how do we “greatly rejoice” even though “now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6)?

Why have trials come (verse 7)?

Who is loved without being seen (verse 8)?

What are Christians receiving as the end result of their faith (verse 9)?

In your opinion, is Peter, who had been in prison in chains in Acts 12:1-17 qualified to talk about being filled with joy in the midst of having to “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” in 1 Peter 1:3-9?

In your opinion, how can Job “despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” when his eyes had seen God in Job 42:1-6 and Peter say that those who believe in Jesus Christ “are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” in 1 Peter 1:3-9?

In your opinion, does Peter, who was lifted out of the lake by Jesus and said to have little faith in Matthew 14:22-36, have a unique understand of the great mercy of God that he speaks of in 1 Peter 1:3-9?

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

Next, back to Matthew 15:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 14, 2014 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Breaking Bread

  

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.”

Breaking Bread

Matthew 14:13-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

Where did Jesus go when He heard that John the Baptist had been killed (verse 13)?

Who followed Him (verse 13)?

How did Jesus feel about the crowd that met Him when He landed (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples ask Jesus to send the crowds away (verse 15)?

How did Jesus respond to the disciples’ request (verse 16)?

What limitation did the disciples indicate to Jesus (verse 17)?

Who did Jesus tell the disciples to bring their limited resources to (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus direct the people to sit down on the grass (verse 19)?

What did Jesus do when He took the five loaves and the two fish (verse 19)?

Who did Jesus give them to (verse 19)?

How did the people feel after they ate (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that the very limited resources at the beginning not only satisfied everyone, but that there were twelve basketfuls left over (verse 20)?

How many people were satisfied (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 14:13-21 show us about the Great Commission?

2 Kings 4:38-44 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁸ “Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”

³⁹ One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. ⁴⁰ The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.

⁴¹ Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.

⁴³ “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.

But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” ⁴⁴ Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.”

What was going on in the Gilgal when Elisha returned (verse 38)?

Who did Elisha instruct his servant to prepare a large pot of stew for (verse 38)?

What was found in the fields and cut up and added to the stew (verse 39)?

What did they realize when they began to eat the stew (verse 40)?

In your opinion, what did adding flour to the stew do (verse 41)?

How was the stew after the flour was added (verse 41)?

What did the man from Baal Shalishah bring (verse 42)?

In your opinion, was this a generous gift (verse 42)?

How did the servant respond to Elisha’s instruction to feed the people (verse 43)?

What was Elisha’s prophecy about the feeding of the people with the limited supply of food (verse 43)?

How accurate was the prophecy (verse 44)?

In your opinion, how is Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Matthew 14:13-21 foreshadowed by Elisha feeding the people in 2 Kings 4:38-44?

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

Acts 20:7-12 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. ⁸ There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. ⁹ Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” ¹¹ Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. ¹² The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.”

What did they come together to do (verse 7)?

Why did Paul keep talking until midnight (verse 7)?

Where was Eutychus sitting (verse 8)?

What did Eutyhus do (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why did Paul throw himself down on the young man (verse 10)?

What did Paul say about the young man (verse 10)?

When did they break bread and eat (verse 11)?

How long did Paul talk (verse 11)?

What comforted the people (verse 12)?

In your opinion, how does Paul gathering to break bread in Acts 20:7-12 compare to the prophet Elisha having his servant give the bread that was given to him to the people in 2 Kings 4:38-44?

In your opinion, how does Jesus feeding the five thousand in Matthew 14:13-21 foreshadow the fellowship that the believers shared in Acts 20:7-12, and how should we view this kind of fellowship today?

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

 

Revelation 3:14-22 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. ²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

²¹ To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Who was the message that Jesus was giving to go to (verse 14)?

How does Jesus describe Himself (verse 14)?

What do the deeds of the people of the church in Laodicea show about them (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus want to spit them out of His mouth (verse 16)?

In your opinion, why are the people poor when they think they are rich (verse 17)?

What kind of gold were they instructed to buy (verse 18)?

How does Jesus relate to those He loves (verse 19)?

Where does Jesus stand and knock (verse 20)?

What will He do with the person who hears His voice and opens the door (verse 20)?

Where will the person who is victorious have a right to sit (verse 21)?

Who is the person who has ears instructed to hear (verse 22)?

In your opinion, how is the fact that Eutychus was waiting to break bread with Paul when he fell asleep and then fell out the window to his death was given life again in Acts 20:7-12 related to the fact that Jesus (who is the source of eternal life) stands at the door and knocks, to enter and eat (break bread) with the person who hears and opens the door in Revelation 3:14-22?

In your opinion, how is Elisha adding the flour and removing the poison from the stew in 2 Kings 4:38-44 a foreshadowing of the counseling of Jesus to purchase “gold refined in the fire” in Revelation 3:4-22?

In your opinion, how does Jesus having compassion on the crowd and healing the sick in Matthew 14:13-21 help us to understand why Jesus would “stand at the door and knock” in Revelation 3:14-22?

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

Next, back to Matthew 14:22 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)