Introduction

• “Dealing with Babes” – Greg Gwin
• I Corinthians 3:1-2

Deepen your love for God and others.

• Matthew 22:36-40
• John 21:15-17 – Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him. Love is important!
• I John 4:19 – God loved us first.
• Hopefully, our love for our spouse continues to grow after the wedding day.
• Our love for God helps us be more like Him.
  • Luke 10:33
• We don’t want to stay a spiritual baby forever. We must continue to grow.
• I Thessalonians 4:9-10

Become more fluent in God’s Word.

• I Peter 2:2-3
• The Bible grows with us as we mature.
• If we don’t keep up with our Bible study, we get rusty.
• Hebrews 5:12-14
• Colossians 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”

Continue to repent and grow.

• Acts 17:1-3
• I Thessalonians 1:3-10; 3:2
• II Thessalonians 1:3-4 – They started from scratch, but months later, they were growing!
• I John 2:1-2
• Philippians 1:9 – Don’t stand still. Keep growing!
• II Peter 3:18
• II Peter 1:5-7

A note about Bible language and euphemisms.

• I Corinthians 7:1
• Genesis 16:2, 4
• Hebrews 13:4

This is a blessing from God! Don’t let the devil steal it!

• Genesis 1:27, 31 – Male and female = very good
• Genesis 2:24 (I Corinthians 6:16) – “they shall become one flesh”
• Song of Solomon 4:1-11; 5:10-16 – The joy of marital love!
• Hebrews 13:4 – “the marriage bed is to be undefiled”

What makes this wonderful is that it’s part of a complete relationship.

• II Samuel 13:1-2, 14-15 – Lust and sex are not necessarily associated with true love.
• Genesis 29:30-35 – The bed can be empty and bitter when it’s not part of a true, loving relationship.
• In this class we’ve studied: companionship, love, respect, communication, forgiveness, etc. Now we’re talking about physical intimacy. If any one of these pieces of the puzzle are missing or minimized, the rest don’t fit together as well. As per usual God’s way is the best way.

This is very important to make the marriage happy and to limit Satan’s temptations.

• I Corinthians 7:1-5
  • Mutual obligation
  • “Do not deprive one another”
  • Satan uses that to make headway! This is not a joke!
• Proverbs 5:15-19
  • Sandwiched between warnings about adultery.
  • The imagery here (“cistern … well … fountain”) is a poetic way of referring to marital sex.
• Luke 6:31 – “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.”

Guard your mind.

• Genesis 39:6-7 – Lust of the eyes is not limited to men.
• II Samuel 11:2-4 – One thing leads to another.

Introduction

• God used a question and answer rhetorical technique in Malachi to make His point with Israel.

“How have you loved us?” (Malachi 1:2)

• Malachi 1:1-5
• God punished Edom because of their disobedience but blessed Israel.
• Deuteronomy 4:7
• The audacity of even asking this question is amazing!
• I Peter 1:10 – God has done so much to love us for thousands of years!

“How have we despised Your name? … How have we defiled You?” (Malachi 1:6-7)

• Malachi 1:6-8 – Would you offer this level of sacrifice to even a human ruler?
• Do we offer sorry, insincere worship to God?

“For what reason?” (Malachi 2:14) [God no longer accepted their worship.]

• Malachi 2:13-16
• God is looking at the whole picture of our lives. What we do affects our fellowship with God.
• I Peter 3:7
• I John 4:20-21 – Love God and your neighbors all the time.

“How have we wearied Him? … What have we spoken against You?” (Malachi 2:17; 3:13)

• Malachi 2:17; 3:13-15
• They were not worshiping God well.
• They were looking at serving God as being transactional: If I do this for God, He will do this for me.
• Psalms 73:3, 24-26

“How shall we return? … How have we robbed you?” (Malachi 3:7-8)

• Malachi 3:7-12
• We must be aware of the power of self-deception.
  • Galatians 5:20 – Am I guilty of jealousy?
  • Romans 1:29 – Am I guilty of gossip?
• Notice the word “rob”:
  • Luke 17:7-10
  • God looked at offerings and tithes as things owed to Him. To not give them was robbing Him.

[Unfortunately, about the first 10 minutes of this recording was lost due to technical difficulties. Sorry about that! -MRW]

Luke 11

Luke 11:1-13 – How to pray

• Luke 11:1 – See Luke 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28-29; 22:41-44; 23:46.
• Luke 11:2 – This starts with respect for God and His purposes.
• Luke 11:3 – Thi sis not asking for luxuries or anything beyond the day’s needs. It emphasizes daily dependence on God.
• Luke 11:4 – This reminds us of our needs for forgiveness and the attitude we should have toward others.
• Luke 11:8 – If even a reluctant neighbor can be persuaded to help, how much more so will God?
  • II Corinthians 12:8-9; James 4:3; I John 5:14 – Persistence in prayer is good, but not a blank check.
  • Sometimes God’s answer is “no.” Sometimes it is “wait.”
• Luke 11:11-13 – See Matthew 7:11. God wants to give us good things. Note that v13 says God will give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him. What exactly did Jesus mean by this?

Luke 11:29-36 – Authentic Christian living

• Luke 11:29 – See Luke 16:31. They just wanted to see more signs. They were not willing to believe. Regarding the sign of Jonah, see Matthew 12:39-42.
• Luke 11:31-32 – The queen of Sheba traveled a great distance to hear Solomon. How much more should we strive to hear Jesus?

Introduction

• Our eternity depends on the level at which we examine ourselves.
• Judas was called to be an apostle, but we don’t know his origin story.
• Paul’s life had the opposite direction to Judas’ life.

I Corinthians 9:27

• Paul disciplined himself.

Matthew 26:20-26

• Some translations render this to indicate that Judas was already betraying Jesus.

Honest and detailed self-examination

Acknowledge that we might be wrong

• I Corinthians 10:12
• II Peter 3:17-18 – “be on your guard”

Critically examine specific aspects of our life

• It’s easy to look at the surface only and think we are great. We must look more deeply than that.
• II Corinthians 13:5 – “test yourselves;” “examine yourselves!”
• Luke 18:11 – Don’t be arrogant like the Pharisee here!
• Galatians 6:3-5 – Don’t think you are something when you are nothing.

Look for the warning signs

• An unbelieving heart
  • Hebrews 3:12-14
• A “root” of sin
  • Hebrews 12:14-17; James 1:14-16
  • Fix sin before it gets to be a bigger problem!
• Decreased love
  • Revelation 2:4-5 – Remember how zealous you once were!