1st Quarter 2014 Lesson 10 Discipling the Nations Easy Reading Edition

8/12/2019 1st Quarter 2014 Lesson 10 Discipling the Nations Easy Reading Edition

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Easy Reading Edition March 1–710

READ FOR THIS WEEK’S LESSON: Isaiah 56:6–8; Matthew 11:20–24; John12:20–32; Romans 15:12; Acts 1:7, 8.

MEMORY VERSE: “ ‘For My house shall be called a house of prayer for allnations’ ” (Isaiah 56:7, NKJV).

FROM THE TIME IT STARTED, CHRIST’S MESSAGE WAS FOR EVERYONEEVERYWHERE. Early on, the gospel spread worldwide because it is for every-one. Of course, this idea challenged the disciples’ thinking. For example, their

first reaction to Christ’s talk with the Samaritan woman shows this challenge.They thought that Jesus as the Messiah (Chosen One) was the fulfillment(completion) of only the Jewish prophecies (special messages from God) andhopes. Somehow they had missed or misunderstood the prophets (special mes-sengers from God). The prophets’ messages were for all people. Jesus was forall people. He was not to be limited to one group. Salvation might come fromthe Jews, but it was for everyone. Christ’s followers would rise above nationalborders, international quarrels, language differences, and other difficulties. Thiswas because He Himself had established the pattern of cross-cultural evange-lism (outreach).

As Seventh-day Adventists, we see this call in Revelation 14:6: “I saw anotherangel. He was flying high in the air. He came to tell everyone on earth the goodnews that will always be true. He told it to every nation, tribe, language andpeople” (NIrV).

SABBATH—MARCH 1

Discipling1 the Nations

1. discipling—leading others to Christ.



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Lesson 10 DISCIPLING THE NATIONS

THE WORDS OF THE PROPHETS(Micah 4:1, 2)

Old Testament prophets madeprophecies about the conversion2 ofnon-Jewish people (Gentiles) to aBible-based faith. False gods, falseworship, and destructive ways oflife would end. The Gentiles wouldsubmit (give) their lives to God.Israel’s enemies would stream intoJerusalem begging for more spiri-tual knowledge. Israel’s job was tobroadcast God’s worldwide invitationto the surrounding nations.

Unfortunately, Israel’s missionary3 passion was sidetracked by earthlyevents. God’s grand plan was buriedunder spiritual laziness. But Christ’scoming brought that vision back tolife, at least for some people.

Read Isaiah 56:6–8; Micah 4:1,2; Jonah 3:7–10; and Jonah 4:1.What do these verses teach aboutworldwide outreach? What dothey tell us about how limitedsome people in Israel were in theirunderstanding of worldwide out-reach?

Israel was to be the light of thenations. If heathen (not a Christian)nations saw the wonderful advan-tages that the Israelites had, theywould ask about the Israelites’ faith.

Then many of them would worshipthe true God.

Unfortunately, that is not howthings worked out. This is becauseIsrael became so selfish that it lostsight of God’s larger purpose. Itspeople also failed to see that Godhad offered them so much.

Modern Christians face many ofthe same challenges. Will they giveall they have to push the gospel for-ward? Or will they become so selfishthat they forget their larger purpose?It is easier to fall into this trap thanwe think.

“In the name of the Lord let us liftup our voices in praise and thanks-giving for the results of work allaround the world.

“And still our General [Jesus],who never makes a mistake, saysto us: ‘Advance. Enter new terri-tory. Lift up the standard [flag] inevery land. “Arise, shine; for thylight is come, and the glory [greathonor and praise] of the LORD isrisen upon thee” ’ [Isaiah 60:1,KJV].

“Our watchword [motto] is to be:Onward, ever onward. The angels ofGod will go ahead of us to preparethe way. Our responsibility to helpothers want to live in heaven cannever be let go of until the wholeearth shall be lightened with theglory of the Lord.”—Adapted fromEllen G. White, Testimonies 4 for theChurch, volume 6, pages 28, 29.

SUNDAY—MARCH 2

2. conversion—a change in a person’s beliefs and lifestyle for the better.3. missionary—having to do with the special duty or work that a church sends a person or group out to do.4. Testimonies —the writings of Ellen G. White.



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PIX #37

WOE UNTO THEE!(Matthew 11:20–24)

Read Matthew 11:20–24; Luke4:25–30; Luke 17:11–19; and John10:16. What important messagecomes from these verses? Howcan we take this message and useit for ourselves in our own timeand experience? What principle(important rule) is shown here thatwe have to be very careful about?

Christ’s own people had so manyadvantages. He wanted them to wakeup to what they were called for as apeople. He wanted them to see thatsalvation, even for the chosen nation,was not something that a person is borninto. It was not passed on through bloodor by a birthright (right by birth). It was,and is, something that a person has tochoose to accept. It was a choice thateven non-Jews could, and did, make.

Athletic coaches sometimes chal-lenge their athletes by comparing5 them

with rival (competing) schools or orga-nizations. A coach might say, “If you

would practice as faithfully, energeti-cally, and hard as they do, you wouldenjoy success.” This is because the jobof a coach clearly is to build up his orher athletes’ desires to succeed ratherthan crush their hopes of doing so.

In the same way, Jesus wanted Hisown people to share the fullness ofsalvation as some non-Jewish peo-ple were already doing. No doubt Hiswords made some angry because Hepreached something that they did notwant to hear. But these truths shouldhave already been known and under-stood by them.

Some people might indeed havemany spiritual advantages that othersdo not have. But those who have theseadvantages must understand that allthat God has given is a gift from Him.And this gift is to be used for His glory(praise) and not their own.

What about us? What about allthe advantages that we as a peoplehave been given by God? Why is itimportant to recognize those advan-tages and then humbly understandthe responsibilities that come withthem?

“WE WOULD SEE JESUS”(John 12:20–32)

Read John 12:20–32. How dothese verses show that the gospel

MONDAY—MARCH 3

TUESDAY—MARCH 4

5. comparing—showing how two or more things are the same or different.

Israel was to be the light of the nations.



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message is for all the world?

Jerusalem is buzzing with rumors.Christ’s victorious entry has just takenplace. But praise is quickly replacedby questions. What is going to hap-pen next? Will Jesus be crownedking?

Among the crowd attending forPassover are Greek worshipers.Notice their words to Philip: “Sir,we would see Jesus” (verse 21). Inother words, they want to see Jesus.They want to be with Him. They wantto learn from Him. How deeply thatshows the power of Christ’s love andHis message! How sad, too, thatthose who should have said thosewords are the same ones who wantto get rid of Jesus.

The Greeks probably asked Philipbecause he, too, had a Greek name.Philip came from Bethsaida, whichwas a commercial fishing center andknown as a cultural melting pot (fullof all kinds of people). Philip probablyspoke Greek, too. The verse alsosuggests that Jesus was not there.Perhaps He worshiped nearby inplaces reserved for Jews. But, later,Jesus joined His disciples and theGreek interviewers within the outercourt. He also gave these Greekmen their wish. Notice what He saidto them: “If any man”—meaning anyman, woman, Jew, Greek, et cetera—wanted to “follow” Him, he or shecould, but it would come at a cost.

What was that cost? How do weunderstand the meaning of this?

Read John 12:25.

Then, with these Greek men stillpresent, heaven thunders a support-ive message of judgment and victory.That voice is heard, Jesus says, notfor Him but for them, Jew and Greek,so that their faith can be made stron-ger. Christ’s words quickly show thatHis death is to be for all the world.

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS6 (LUKE 10:27–37)

Read John 7:35; John 8:48;and Luke 10:27–37. How do theseverses show why regional, geo-graphical, and racial barriersshould not exist among Christiansas they go to make disciplesamong all nations?

Some of the leaders hated Jesusvery much. That is sad becausethe very ones who should havebeen the first to accept Him and Hismessage were the same ones whofought against Him the hardest. Inother words, priests of Israel workedagainst the Son of God at the sametime that non-Jews accepted Him asthe Messiah. What a powerful lessonis here for those who think of them-selves as good Christians!

WEDNESDAY—MARCH 5

6. barriers—“blocks,” such as hatred or judgments, that prevent people from working with other kinds of people.



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PIX #38

When criticizing Christ, the priestslabeled Him as having “a devil” (John8:48). And they made it worse bycalling Him a “Samaritan,”7 too. Theyeven laughed at Him for His witnessamong the Greeks. They found itunthinkable that Jesus would con-sider teaching Greeks. This clearlyshowed the leaders’ disgust for thosenot of their own nation and faith.Jesus disagreed by saying that char-acter8 is more important than race.

How interesting, too, that Jesusused the true story of a Samaritan.Jesus wanted to teach a powerfulspiritual lesson about what it meantto obey truly God’s law. Jewish reli-gious leaders had a twisted under-standing of Levitical (from the book ofLeviticus) law. So, they passed by the

wounded man. The hated foreigner,a Samaritan, put aside his prejudice9

and saved the stranger’s life. What astrong witness against all those whorefuse to help someone because theperson is not of their same back-ground.

Think of the last time you per-haps did not help someone in need.What excuses did you make for nothelping? Looking back now, whatshould you have done differently?

PIX #39

THE GREAT COMMAND(Romans 15:12)

Read Romans 15:12; Acts 1:7, 8;John 11:52, 53; and Matthew 28:19,20. What is the important messagehere? How does this message fit inso well with the three angels’ mes-sages of Revelation 14?

THURSDAY—MARCH 6

7. Samaritan—a person from Samaria. When the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the invaders from the north, many Jews intermarried with non-Jews who were among the invaders and settled in an area called Samaria, northof the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

8. character—the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a person that make him or her who he or she is.9. prejudice—hating a person because of his or her skin color, religion, or sex; not liking a person because

he or she looks different or does things differently.

The religious leaders bypassed

the wounded man.

The hated foreigner, a Samaritan, ignoredprejudice by saving the stranger’s life.



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whether the stranger was a Jew or aGentile [non-Jew]. . . .

“So the question, ‘Who is my neigh-bor?’ is forever answered. Christ hasshown that our neighbor does notmean just someone of the church orof the faith to which we belong. It doesnot mean race, color, or class differ-ences. Our neighbor is every personwho needs our help. Our neighboris every soul who is wounded andbruised by Satan, the enemy. Ourneighbor is everyone who is the prop-erty of God.”—Adapted from Ellen G.White, The Desire of Ages, page 503.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

• What does our financial support ofthe church’s worldwide mission showabout our real dedication (strong sup-port; loyalty) to the gospel command?Why must our sacrifice be more than

just financial support? How can fundsfor the church be used for cross-cultural evangelism (outreach)?

• “We are not supposed to feel

that the work of the gospel dependsonly upon the minister [pastor]. To

every man God has given a work todo in connection with His kingdom.Everyone who claims the name ofChrist must be a serious, fair-mindedworker, ready to defend the prin-ciples of righteousness [holiness].Every soul should take an active partin advancing the cause of God. Nomatter what God calls us to do, asChristians we have a work in mak-ing Christ known to the world. Weare to be missionaries [workers forGod]. Our chief goal is winning soulsto Christ.”—Adapted from Ellen G.White, Testimonies for the Church, volume 6, page 427. In class, thinkdeeply about the meaning of what iswritten here. As a class, what morecould you do to help to finish the workthat we have been called to do?

• Think deeply about what Jesussays in John 12:25. What does itmean to “hate” our life in this world?How are we to show this “hatred” inour lives and actions?2

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1st Quarter 2014 Lesson 10 Discipling the Nations Easy Reading Edition

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