Mission totheUnreached: Part 2

Lesson 11

Mission to the Unreached: Part 2

(1 Kings 11, Matthew 15, Acts 10)

Copr. 2023, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

Introduction: Do you agree with the views of your friends? If you did not, would they be your friends? We are all influenced by our culture, our friends, and what we read and watch. Just because something is popular (or unpopular) does not mean that we should adopt or avoid it. Instead, we must always use the Bible and the direction of the Holy Spirit as our guide. Consider our prior study of Jonah. He was a nationalist, and popular with his people. That is the direction in which God led him. But then God led him in a direction that was more controversial and more dangerous. Jonah had difficulty with that. Let’s dive into the Bible and consider how we need to be careful about listening to our friends and the culture as we share the gospel with others!

1. Solomon
   
   1. Read 1 Kings 11:1-2. Have you heard people say, “Love is love?” Did Solomon believe that love was more important than God’s word? (Verse two explicitly says that God prohibited marriage with the women named in verse one. Verse two tells us that Solomon violated God’s prohibition because he “clung to these in love.”)
   2. Read 1 Kings 11:3-4. How did marriage to these women impact Solomon’s life?
   3. Read 1 Kings 11:6-8. Solomon was one of the most famous people on earth. What has happened to his influence among pagans? (He no longer is an influence for good. Rather, he is an influence for evil. Instead of Solomon being an influence in favor of the true God, his pagan wives are influencing Solomon against the true God.)
   4. Read 1 Kings 11:9-11. What is the personal impact on Solomon for following his views on love and disregarding what God commanded about sexual relationships? (God turned against Solomon.)
2. The Canaanite
   
   1. Read Matthew 15:22-23. Why did Jesus not respond to the Canaanite woman? Is Jesus following the Biblically correct path that King Solomon failed to take?
   2. Read Matthew 15:24-26. What does this tell us is the reason why Jesus did not speak to the Canaanite woman? (She was not “of the house of Israel,” therefore she was a “dog.”)
      1. Was Jesus following the popular prejudices of the day? (That is how it appears. Jesus is showing prejudice by calling her a dog.)
   3. Read Matthew 15:27-28. Now all is revealed. Is Jesus sincere in calling her a dog and saying that He was not sent to help her? (No. He is testing her faith. He tells her “great is your faith,” and then he performs a miracle for her daughter.)
      1. What is the lesson here? Look back at Matthew 15:23. On what side of the prejudice scale were the disciples? (They were in favor of not responding to her.)
      2. What lesson do we learn from the woman? (If you are the victim of bias and prejudice, you need to press forward in your religious faith.)
      3. Is it fair to say that the Canaanite woman based her appeal on her religious faith? (Look again at Matthew 15:22. She calls Jesus “Son of David” and “Lord,” which the Barnes Commentary says meant she thought Jesus was the Messiah.)
3. Cornelius
   
   1. Read Acts 10:1-2. Is Cornelius Jewish? Or he is some sort of “dog?” (He is an Italian centurion with a Roman name. It is unlikely that he is Jewish, even though he is called “devout” and described as fearing God and continually praying.)
      1. Do you know important people who are not members of your church? Are they serious Christians? (My work brings me in contact with powerful people. I have been amazed at how many serious Christians work in high government positions. God has His faithful people everywhere.)
   2. Read Acts 10:3-5. Do angels appear in visions to you?
      1. What does this suggest about an attitude of superiority over members of other churches? (I recall my foolish attitude when I was a young man. My uncle was a man of extraordinary faith and an officer in the Salvation Army. I felt that I was a superior Christian because I kept the Sabbath. While I had a better understanding of the Sabbath, my uncle was a man who walked with God.)
   3. Read Acts 10:9-10. An angel appears to Cornelius and Peter falls into a trance while praying. What do you think is the reason for the angelic message and the trance? (Notice that both Peter and Cornelius are praying. God responds to those who seek Him.)
   4. Read Acts 10:11-16. This raises a very important theological issue. What should you do when the Holy Spirit (or a messenger from God)tells you to do something that contradicts the Bible? (I would assume that the Holy Spirit (or a messenger from God) would not contradict the Bible.)
   5. Read Acts 10:17. What is Peter’s opinion about the apparent conflict? (He is perplexed. He sees the conflict and is not going to simply accept the message in the trance.)
   6. Read Acts 10:19-20. Why would the Holy Spirit have to tell Peter to go with the men? (Read Acts 10:28-29. This reveals the mystery. Peter would not have visited a Roman centurion. But the vision of the sheet is now made clear. It did not refer to eating animals, it referred to associating with people.)
   7. Read Acts 10:34-36. Would Cornelius have sent for Peter without an instruction from God?
      1. Would Peter have visited Cornelius without an instruction from God?
      2. Should we wait for an instruction from God to share the gospel with people who are not worthy? (Our instruction to do just that is found in Acts 10:34-35.)
   8. Read Acts 10:43-47. What happens that confirms the prior messages given to Cornelius and Peter? (The power of the Holy Spirit falls on these Gentiles so that they speak in tongues.)
4. Application
   
   1. Why is the story of Solomon part of our study along with the story of Cornelius? (We need to be alert to God’s leading. Associating with pagans (in Solomon’s case marrying them) can lead us astray. On the other hand, we can and should convert pagans to the gospel.)
      1. Why did Solomon fail to convert his pagan wives? (He rejected God’s directions. Compare this to Cornelius and Peter who followed God’s directions. If you want to covert pagans, as opposed to being converted by pagans, you need to pay close attention to God’s will.)
   2. What do Cornelius and the Canaanite woman have in common? (At least two things. First, they believed in the true God. Second, they were willing to seek a better relationship with God even if they were the victims of prejudice and bias.)
      1. It seems unlikely that Jesus would be calling serious inquirers “dogs,” but He did. What is the lesson in this? (Defeating bias based on race and nationality goes two ways. First, we should not display bias and prejudice. Second, if we are faced with bias and prejudice we carry the burden to refuse to internalize the insult. Combating prejudice with prejudice is not the Biblical approach.)
   3. Are there some barriers of bias and prejudice that can only be overcome with the aid of the Holy Spirit?
   4. Friend, are you willing to put aside the effects of prejudice in order to advance the Kingdom of God? If you struggle with this issue, why not ask the Holy Spirit, right now, to cure this sin problem in your life?
5. Next week: Esther and Mordecai.