Introduction

• Matthew 23

Go back and build the foundation: my heart.

• Acts 8:21-22 – The root problem was Simon’s heart.
• Luke 6:43-45 – Actions come from what is in the heart. You can’t skip the heart and go straight to the actions.
• Matthew 22:37 – The greatest command: love.
• I John 4:19
• It may be helpful to sit and think (meditate) about love.

Be humble enough to remember that I’m a work in progress.

• Romans 12:3
• I need to have an accurate view of myself and be humble enough to see where I need work.
• Stop faking and start learning!
• Luke 18:13-14 – The humble will be exalted.
• I John 1:8-9 – If we say we have no sin, we lie!

Build a faith that is my own.

• Matthew 22:36-38 – Our priority must be loving God.
• I Corinthians 1:12-15 – Paul was correcting misplaced allegiance.
• Our actions must be motivated by a heart that wants to serve God.
• John 7:46-52
• Romans 10:17

[NOTE: Unfortunately, we had a wireless microphone die during this class, so there is a couple minutes of silence that have been cut from this recording at around the 8:30 mark. Sorry about that!]

Genesis 17

• Genesis 17:1-8 - God repeats His covenant with Abraham and changes his name:
  • Abram: exalted father
  • Abraham: father of a multitude
• Genesis 17:9-14 – All males commanded to be circumcised as a sign from God.
• Genesis 17:15-22 – God blesses Sarai and says she will be the mother of nations. God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah. The change is very minor but reinforces the fact that both Abraham and Sarah were given new names by God. God confirms that the blessing will come through Sarah.
• Genesis 17:22-27 – Abraham did as God commanded that very day.

Genesis 18

• Genesis 18:1-8 – Abraham and Sarah are visited by three men. Abraham prepares them a tremendous amount of food (thirty pounds of flour, over thirty loves of bread). Abraham calls one of them lord (H112 adon).
• Genesis 18:9-15 – At some point Abraham realizes that these men are different and that one of them is God. Sarah laughs at herself and gets called out. In Genesis 18:13, one of the men is referred to as Jehovah.
• Genesis 18:16-33 – God tells Abraham what He is about to do to Sodom. Abraham asks God to spare the city. Abraham calls Him adonay (H135), a reverent term for Yahweh (Genesis 18:27, 30, 31).

Genesis 19: Sodom and Gomorrah

• Genesis 19:1-7 – Two men enter the gates of Sodom and Lot invites them to his house. The people of Sodom come to sin with them.
• Genesis 19:8-11 – Lot offers his daughters. Men complain of Lot’s judgment, and they are struck with blindness.
• Genesis 19:12-23 – The men had to drag Lot and his wife and daughters out of Sodom. See II Peter 2:7-8.
• Genesis 19:24-29 – God destroys Sodom and the whole area except where Lot had gone. Lot’s wife looks back (Luke 17:32). Abraham looked on from a distance and saw the destruction.
• Genesis 19:30-38 – Lot’s daughters get Lot drunk in order to have children. The people of Moab and Ammon are born.

Lessons from Sodom and Gomorrah

1. Fame and fortune are not worth your soul.
2. Stay away from things that torment your soul (II Peter 2:6-8).
3. Tradition is not an excuse to sin.
4. Excuses can be made for just about anything.
5. Sin is the worst thing in the world.
6. Be honest when someone is judging you truthfully.
7. Be patient.
8. Alcohol can cause us to do unspeakable things.
9. Bad choices can affect our family for generations.

Traditions

• II Thessalonians 2:15; 3:6; I Corinthians 11:2 – These are good traditions!
• Colossians 2:6-8
• Galatians 1:13-14 – Paul was zealous for the old traditions.
• Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13 – Their human traditions contradicted the word of God.
• A tradition is just something that’s repeated and handed down. There’s nothing inherently right or wrong with that.
• But God’s word itself is the authority, not any tradition.
• Not all traditions are bad. Some are great!
• What’s wrong is if we develop an attitude that says, “That’s the only way it can be dome.”
• It’s impossible to not have traditions.
• Acts 15:1; 16:3 – They were saying circumcision was required. It was not required, but Paul had him circumcised later just to allow him more access to teach the Jews.
• Galatians 2:1-5 – Titus was the inverse case. Paul refused to circumcise him to make a point to those who were trying to force the issue.
• It is wrong to insist on one particular way if there are other God-approved ways of doing something.

Traditions and examining the scripture

• I Thessalonians 5:19-22; Acts 17:11 – We must be discerning and examine everything.
• When I hear about some new belief or practice:
  • What I should not do: just immediately conclude, “Well, that’s wrong because that’s not what I’m used to.”
  • What I SHOULD do: open the Bible and study, being humble enough to realize that I may have been relying on assumptions or traditions.
• The Pharisees were influential in part because they claimed to have all the answers.
• Some traditions to think about:
  • Being baptized by the preacher
    • I Peter 3:21
  • Ending with a “closing prayer”
    • Mark 14:26
  • Putting “church of Christ” on the sign out front
    • Romans 16:16; I Corinthians 1:2; I Thessalonians 1:1
  • Is “going forward” in the last three minutes after a sermon the only way to obey God in certain ways?
  • What if, instead of us all sitting facing the front, we sat in a circle during assembly?
  • What if, instead of passing the Lord’s Supper trays, we walked to the table, and each took some?

Acts 8

• Acts 8:1-3 – Saul approved of the stoning of Stephen. Saul and others greatly persecuted the church at that time. Many Christians were scattered, but not the apostles.
• Acts 8:4 – The people who left preached the word wherever they went. The persecution caused the gospel to spread!
• Acts 8:5 – This is not Philip the apostle. This Philip was one of the seven chosen to attend to the widows in Acts 6:5.
• Acts 8:9 – See Revelation 22:14. God does not look kindly on sorcery. See II Peter 2:2.
• Acts 8:13 – Simon was clearly saved here, having believed and been baptized.
• Acts 8:14-17 – Apostles were sent to transfer spiritual gifts. Philip was able to work miracles but could not pass them on. Only apostles could do that.
• Acts 8:20-24 – Simon had sinned and needed to repent. This causes a problem for Calvinists who believe once saved, always saved.
• Acts 8:26-30 – Philip was not just a robot but eagerly did what the Holy Spirit instructed.
• Acts 8:31 – The Catholic church uses this passage to say that help from clergy is required to understand the scriptures. Today we have the complete Bible, which is a tremendous advantage that the Ethiopian did not have. See Ephesians 3:3-5.
• Acts 8:34-36 – Clearly, teaching Jesus includes teaching baptism.
• Acts 8:37-38 – Baptism is clearly immersion here. They both went down into the water.

The Sermon in Acts 13

• Acts 13:17-22 – Paul starts with some brief history.
• Acts 13:23-25 – Paul skips 1000 years to talk about Jesus and John the Baptist.
• Acts 13:26-31 – Paul has now proclaimed the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
• Acts 13:32-35 – Paul did some convincing, by referencing Old Testament prophecy, which would carry a lot of weight with the Jews.
• Acts 13:36-37 – This is the same point Peter made in Acts 2.
• Acts 13:38-39 – Forgiveness of sins comes through Jesus.

This was a sermon about forgiveness of sins through Jesus

• Acts 13:23 – Jesus was called the Savior. This was probably a new idea to much of the audience.
• Acts 13:38-39 – Christ now offers freedom from sin. See Hebrews 10:1-4, 10-12. The time has come and the Law of Moses is over!
• Acts 13:42-44, 48-49 – The people shared the gospel and were excited to hear more!

God worked for thousands of years to bring about forgiveness today!

• Acts 13:17 – God “chose our fathers.”
• Acts 13:23 – God did as He promises. See II Samuel 7:12; Acts 2:30.
• Acts 13:27-29, 32 – These promises can be tracked all the way back to Genesis (Genesis 3:15; 12:2).
• Ephesians 1:4-5; II Timothy 1:9 – God’s plan started before time began!

It’s possible to go to church every week and still not know the truth.

• Acts 13:15, 38-41 – They were reading the Law and Prophets, but didn’t know what Paul spoke. The quote here is from Habakkuk 1:5.
• Let us be careful to remove our bias and see God’s plain truth!