Introduction

• I Corinthians 14:26

God deserves worship!

• I Chronicles 28:9
• Proverbs 3:19
• Psalms 139:14 – My existence depends on God and David recognized that.
• Psalms 95:1-6
• Revelation 4:11
• Luke 19:36-40 – Spontaneous worship broke out because Jesus deserved it.

Our kids need to be here!

• Mark 9:33-37; 10:13-16 – Jesus loves children! He did not treat them as pests, but as precious souls.

Do some practice outside of church.

• Exodus 12:23-27 – God set up a memorial that He knew future children would ask about.

Teach them to participate as much as possible.

• II Timothy 3:14-15
• Don’t underestimate kids!

Our brethren and visitors need us here!

• Hebrews 10:23-25 – We have an obligation to motivate each other.
• Acts 11:23-26; 15:36-41; 18:23, 27
• When we get together, we strengthen each other.
• I Corinthians 14:26
• Romans 1:9
• Don’t think about what you can get out of worship. Think about what you can do for others.

Galatians 3, continued:

Galatians 3:15-29 – “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed”

• Galatians 3:19 – Moses was the mediator between God and Israel at Sinai.
• Galatians 3:20 – The promise is superior to the Law of Moses in that no mediator is involved. God has promised and will do what He said.
• Galatians 3:22 – See Romans 3:23. All have sinned!
• Galatians 3:25 – We do still have laws to obey under Christ, but it is a completely different sort of system.
• Galatians 3:27 – We cannot be in Christ without being baptized. We are baptized into that relationship.
• Galatians 3:28 – We can all have this blessing of salvation!

Galatians 4

Galatians 4:1-11 – Sons, not slaves

• Galatians 4:4 – God decided precisely when the best time was to bring Jesus into the world. Verses 3 and 4 parallel verses 1 and 2.
• Galatians 4:6 – See Romans 8:15-16. What does “spirit” mean here? See Mark 14:36 for the other use of “Abba! Father!”
• Galatians 4:10 – This may be a reference to elements of the Law of Moses. See Colossians 2:16-17.
• Galatians 4:11 - Now that they had something better, why would they want to go back?

Bible miracles

• Without Bible miracles …
  • The Bible is just another book
  • The God of the Bible is only a god
  • Jesus is merely a man
  • Christianity is just another religious system
• Psalms 77:14 – “You are the God who performs miracles”
• Exodus 34:10 – “Then God said … Before all your people I will perform miracles … it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you”
• Miracles in Luke’s gospel
  • Luke 1:26-38 – Christ’s virgin conception and birth
  • Luke 4:28-30 – Passed through crowd unseen
  • Luke 4:33-37 – Man with demon
  • Luke 4:38-39 – Peter’s mother-in-law
  • Luke 5:4-7 – Draught of fish
  • Luke 5:12-14 – Leprous man
  • Luke 5:17-26 – Man with palsy
  • Luke 6:6-11 – Man with withered hand
  • Luke 7:1-10 – Healing centurion’s servant
  • Luke 7:11-18 – Raising widow’s son
  • Luke 8:22-25 – Calmed a storm
  • Luke 8:26-36 – Demons entering swine
  • Luke 8:40-56 – Jairus’ daughter
  • Luke 8:43-48 – Woman with issue of blood
  • Luke 9:37-43 – Child with demon
  • Luke 9:11-17 – Feeding 5,000
  • Luke 11:14-15 – Man with demon
  • Luke 13:10-17 – Healing woman with infirmity
  • Luke 14:1-6 – Healing man with dropsy
  • Luke 17:11-19 – Healing 10 lepers
  • Luke 18:35-43 – Blind Bartimaeus
  • Luke 22:50-51 – Malchus, high priest’s servant
  • Luke 24:1-12 – Resurrection of Christ
• Miracles in Acts
  • Acts 1:9 – Ascension to heaven
  • Acts 2:1-4 – Speaking in tongues
  • Acts 2:43 – Many done by apostles
  • Acts 3:7-11 – Lame man at temple
  • Acts 4:31 – Earthquake
  • Acts 5:5-10 – Ananias and Sapphira
  • Acts 5:12 – Signs and wonders
  • Acts 5:12-16 – Healing
  • Acts 5:19 – Prison doors opened
  • Acts 6:8 – Those done by Stephen
  • Acts 8:6, 7, 13 – By Philip in Samaria
  • Acts 9:3-9 – Appearance to Saul
  • Acts 9:17-19 – Saul’s blindness healed
  • Acts 9:32-35 – Aeneas
  • Acts 9:39-42 – Dorcas
  • Acts 10 – Visions seen by Cornelius, Peter
  • Acts 12:10 – Prison gate opened
  • Acts 13:11-12 – Elymus
  • Acts 14:3-4 – In Iconium
  • Acts 14:8-18 – Lystra
  • Acts 16:18 – Woman with evil spirit
  • Acts 16:26 – Earthquake, prisoners released
  • Acts 19:11-12 – In Ephesus
  • Acts 20:8-12 – In Troas
  • Acts 28:3-9 – In Melita
• Reliability of Luke in Acts
  • Specific names
    • 95 different people, 62 of which aren’t mentioned by any other New Testament writer and 27 are nonbelievers, mostly civil or military officials.
  • Specific titles
    • Titles of notable persons didn’t remain constant over time.
    • Luke always uses the correct title at the correct point in history.
  • Specific places
    • In Acts, he accurately mentions 32 countries, 54 cities, and 9 Mediterranean islands.
  • Specific events
    • Acts 11:27-30; 18:2 – Drought throughout all the world, expulsion of Jews from Rome.
  • Luke never made a mistake!
• Sir William Mitchell Ramsey (1851-1939)
  • Raised an atheist
  • Trained as an archaeologist, set out to prove Bible, especially Acts, was fraudulent by traveling areas covered by Paul’s preaching tours looking for mistakes Luke made.
  • At conclusion of his travels, he wrote The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament.
  • Ramsey’s conclusion:
    • “Luke is an historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy … this author should be placed along with the very greatest historians.”
• John Warwick Montgomery
  • History and Christianity
  • “The only way we can known whether an event can occur is to see whether is has occurred. The problem of ‘miracles’ then must be solved in the realm of historical investigation, not in the realm of philosophical speculation.”
• 6 alleged trips to the moon
  • 6 manned landings July 20, 1969 – December 14, 1972
  • 12 men walked on the moon
  • Did these alleged events actually occur?
  • What historical evidence (written, audio, video material) is there?
• I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek
  • “Now why would Luke be so accurate with trivial details like wind directions, water depths, peculiar town names, but not be accurate when it comes to important events like miracles? In light of the fact that Luke has proven accurate with so many trivial details, it is nothing but pure anti-supernatural bias to say he’s not telling the truth about the miracles he records.”

Matthew 9

Matthew 9:1-8 – Healing a paralyzed man

• Matthew 9:2 – Jesus’ first priority was to forgive sins – not physical healing!
• Matthew 9:4 – They completely overlooked the fact that Jesus could read their minds!

Do I delight in God’s word?

• Psalms 1:1-6 – Notice the contrast between verses one and two.
• What if we have a problem in our marriage?
  • Luke 17:4
  • I Corinthians 6:7-8
• We can either listen to the world or listen to God.
• I Samuel 16:1, 12; 21:10; Psalms 56:1-4, 10-13 – David was surrounded by the Philistines, but he trusted God and found peace in God’s word.
• Is God’s word my happy place?
• Psalms 19:7-10

Do I mourn for sin?

• Psalms 14:1; Romans 3:9-10 (quotes Psalms 14)
• Romans 1:18
• Amos 6:1-6 – They did not grieve over the sin of the nation.
• Ezekiel 9:4 – Those who grieved over sin were saved.
• Ezra 10:6 – Ezra mourned the unfaithfulness of the exiles.
• I Corinthians 5:1 – They were arrogant about sin!
• II Corinthians 12:21 – We should look back on our sin with fondness.
• Psalms 119:136 – Have you ever cried because of sin?
• Psalms 32:1-5 – It feels good to be forgiven of our sin!
• Psalms 51:12
• Acts 2:46-47, 41 – They were rejoicing after baptism!
• Acts 8:34-38 – The Ethiopian rejoiced!
• Acts 16:34, 33 – The Philippian jailer rejoiced!
• We need to care about sin!

Galatians 3

Galatians 3:1-5 – “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”

• Galatians 3:2 – The word “rejoice” here could refer to several different things:
  • Holy Spirit
  • The gospel (by metonymy)
  • Salvation that comes from the gospel
• Galatians 3:5 – They had been given forgiveness – were they now going to try and be saved by their own effort under the Law of Moses?

Galatians 3:6-14 – “it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham”

• Galatians 3:6 – Three times this is said about Abraham:
  • Genesis 15:6
  • Romans 4:18-22
  • Genesis 22 – Referenced in James 2:21-24.
• Galatians 3:7 – Confess and faithfully submit to God. This is how to be a true son of Abraham.
• Galatians 3:8 – See Genesis 12:1-7. These are the three promises to Abraham.
• Galatians 3:9 – When I have faith like Abraham, I will also be blessed.
• Galatians 3:10 – See Deuteronomy 27:1, 26. The Law was never intended as a way of justification.
• Galatians 3:12 – See Leviticus 18:4-5. If you try to live by the Law, you must perform it flawlessly. No one except Jesus ever has!
• Galatians 3:13 – No one performed the Law of Moses perfectly and thus, all were cursed (Galatians 3:10). This is quoting Deuteronomy 21:23. Jesus was innocent of our sins but was the blameless sacrifice for us. Jesus died physically so that we could live spiritually.

Galatians 3:15-19 – “Now the promises were given to Abraham and to his seed”

• Galatians 3:17 – The Law of Moses did not invalidate the promises to Abraham that predated it.
• Galatians 3:18 – Salvation is through God’s promise to Abraham, which was before the Law of Moses.
• Galatians 3:16 – See Genesis 22:18. God was talking about one seed in particular – Christ.