• Acts 17:11

• I Thessalonians 5:19-22

  • All five of the statements in this verse are related. They are not independent thoughts.

  • v19

    • See Acts 7:51. Moses commanded through writings.

    • Do not extinguish the message from the Holy Spirit.

    • The two most important words in Bible study: Keep reading! Verse 20 explains verse 19.

  • v20

    • Prophecy often means foretelling future events. It can also mean simply telling the mind of God. It can mean both foretelling and “forthtelling.”

    • See Jeremiah 36:19-26

  • v21

    • The meaning of “all things” is context dependent. It very rarely means absolutely all things.

    • I John 4:1 – Check to see whether people and messages are from God!

    • When we find something to be from God, we should hold tight to it. Proverbs 23:23

  • v22

    • “Evil” here refers to teaching that we examine and determine is not good. We should stay away from the teaching. It is not saying we have to literally avoid everything that appears to be evil. That is impossible and Jesus did not even do it.

  • Compare I Corinthians 15:33. The context is false teaching on the resurrection. The “bad company” are the false teachers on the resurrection. If you listen to them and believe there is no resurrection and no accountability, you will start acting like it!

What must I do to be saved?

• II Timothy 3:14-15 – What were these scriptures that Timothy knew? It was the Old Testament! This was sufficient to lead Timothy to salvation.
• James 2:21-22 – Works here = obedience. The way we see Abraham’s faith is by his obedience. Your faith is evident not by just what you say but by what you do.
  • Genesis 22:1-14 – God had promised Abraham a son for 25 years, which he finally had at the age of 100. God then asked Abraham to sacrifice that same son, which surely made no sense to Abraham. God got the sacrifice He wanted – He wanted to see that Abraham was willing to make a great sacrifice to serve Him.

Three things that Abraham sacrificed and that we must also sacrifice

His logic

• II Kings 5:10-14 – Naaman was told to do an illogical thing!

His emotions

• Abraham knew that sacrificing his son would not be quick and painless.
• Matthew 10:34-38 – We may have to sacrifice relationships to serve God, even in our own family.

His will

• Matthew 16:24 – We must give up ourselves – let God rule our lives.
• This is what was instilled in Timothy and must be instilled in us.

About fasting (Matthew 6:16-18)

• There is no general command for fasting in the Old Testament or New Testament. Some specific groups were commanded to fast at particular times. Other times it was done voluntarily.

• Keep it clean

  • Fasting is not to be done for show. God will not accept it as spiritual service if it is done for show.

• What about fasting?

  • Self-denial with purpose – Isaiah 58:3-7

    • Isaiah warned about fasting without dedication.

  • Devotion to prayer

    • Command

    • Necessity

    • Authorization

    • Practicality

Worry and service (Matthew 6:19-34)

• What is prioritized? Matthew 6:19-20

• What is exclusive? Matthew 6:24

• Are these related?

• Concern vs. worry:

  • Concern motivates you to address the problem. Worry only makes the problem seem worse without actually doing anything to fix it.

• Exclusivity demonstrated by Moses – Hebrews 11:24-26

• Choose the right priority

  • The rest will fall into place.

  • II Corinthians 9:10 – As we do good, God increases our capacity for doing good.

Obsess over wealth?

• Don’t obsess – God is in control, not us.

  • Add a cubit?

  • Add an hour?

• Necessity of money

  • “Make” a living

  • Share

• Wealth is neither evil nor virtuous

  • Abraham – Romans 4:9-16; Genesis 13:2

  • Daniel

Introduction

• Galatians 1:1-5

Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:1-10)

• Galatians 5:17 – Desires of the flesh.
• Galatians 5:15, 19-21, 26 – Fruits of the flesh.
• Galatians 5:13-14, 22-24 – Fruit of the spirit.
• Galatians 6:1-10 – Will you really love your neighbor and help when they need it? The helper and the helped have fellowship together in Christ and both benefit.
  • Galatians 6:10 has often been used in the past to support the idea of unlimited benevolence using church funds. Money is not really in this context at all – this is about helping those in sin.

Boast … in the cross (Galatians 6:11-16)

• Circumcision was a big deal under the Law of Moses, but now it was no longer a part of service to God. This was not easy for many to give up!
• Galatians 5:1-6
• Galatians 2:12-13
• Galatians 5:4
• Galatians 1:8
• Ephesians 4:22-24
• I Corinthians 7:19
• Galatians 6:12, 14

The brand-marks of Christ (Galatians 6:17-18)

• Paul was not popular for preaching Jesus.
• Galatians 5:11; 1:10
• II Corinthians 11:23-27 – Paul took a lot of punishment for preaching Jesus. This is the courage we should have!
• Acts 14:19
• II Timothy 3:12 – Christians will be persecuted!

Summary

• Love God when times are hard.
• Love your neighbor when they need help the most.

Put on … love

• Colossians 3:14

Let us contemplate Divine love.

• We ought to just stop and think about God’s love!

  • I John 4:10

  • I John 3:1

  • Romans 8:35-39 – This is not a shallow love!

  • Isaiah 59:14-17 – God’s own arm brought salvation!

• The ultimate expression of that merciful love was the crucifixion of His Son.

  • John 3:16

  • Romans 5:6-8; Titus 3:3-7 – We didn’t deserve God’s love.

Let us reciprocate Divine love.

• I John 4:19 – Why do we love?
• I John 4:20-21 – What does loving God include?
• Matthew 22:36-38; Ephesians 2:4-5 – We can love God back, but on in the same way He loves us. Ephesians 6:24
• One way to love God back is to praise, honor, and show gratitude to Him. Psalms 29:1-2; Luke 17:15-18
• I John 5:2-3 – Loving God includes keeping His commandments.
• Revelation 2:4 – The church in Ephesus had left their first love.

Let us imitate Divine love.

• I John 4:11 – God’s love for us should transform the way we live our lives.

• I John 3:14-18 – Jesus’ sacrifice should motivate us to love our brothers.

• Luke 15

• John 13:34-35; 15:12-13 – Jesus used Himself as the example of love. The apostles did not have perfect moral character!

• Love is a decision we make, a “direction of the will.” Matthew 5:43-44; Romans 5:6-8

• Some thoughts to help us develop love:

  • John 5:28-29 – This person has an eternal soul.

  • Matthew 6:14-15; 7:2; 25:40 – God is watching!

  • I John 4:7-21 – Become an expert at love like God.

Let us prove to be neighbors.

• Luke 10:25-29, 36

• Mark 5:43-48

  • Matthew 7:6

  • Mark 3:5

  • Matthew 18:15

  • I Thessalonians 5:14

• My job is simply to love my neighbor, and I need to be a neighbor to everyone!