csibiblestudy

Galatians 3:1-9

In Galatians 3, God now moves us to the main point of the entire letter. Paul, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, keeps returning again and again to one central question: Are we saved by what we do or by what Christ has done for us? Paul addresses the doctrinal inconsistency of the Galatians.  He exposes the seriously twisted reasoning of these Galatians who had abandoned Christ and His Gospel. In order to show you this, let me begin with a simple theological question:  How good do you have to be to go to heaven?
If you want to go to heaven, you have to be perfect. 100% perfect is the only standard that works.  Nothing short of 100% perfection works.  Either you’re perfect or you’re short of perfection.   Paul wants to show the Galatians that the only way to be right with God is by accepting through faith the gift of salvation that God provides by His grace.  Anything else is a worthless counterfeit

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, begins with a harse greeting—“You foolish Galatians.” Here, Paul flatly accused his brethren of spiritual and intellectual stupidity. J. B. Phillips begins his translation of verse 1 with the words: “O dear idiots!” One writer suggests the word “numbskulls.” This is strong language and most pastors today would have a lot of negative comments made if they preached like this.  Paul is amazed that they are “so stupid”.  He only sees one reason for their stupidity; they have been placed under a magic spell.   Paul wants to know who “bewitched” them. This is a Greek word that comes from the realm of black magic and refers to a spell or a hex or an “evil eye.” In Paul’s mind, it is so inconceivable that the Galatians would turn back to “law keeping” after having come to Christ by faith that he thinks they have been “bewitched.” They had allowed themselves to become “bewitched,” or fascinated, by those false teachers among them who had preached a new gospel of salvation by Christ plus the works of the law. What made this sudden abandonment of the truth so inexcusable was the fact that Paul had personally and explicitly held up (“publicly portrayed”), through his faithful preaching, the “crucified” and risen Christ as the only way of salvation. In other words, they knew better than to fall into such a theological trap. They were all guilty of being neglectful, and without excuse in light of the straightforwardness with which Paul had taught them.

Paul lists four consequences of this grave error of leaving the freedom of grace for the slavery of the law:

First, by leaving grace to return to the law, the Galatians were ignoring the cross of Christ (verse 1). They had forgotten how clearly Christ’s death and resurrection had been portrayed or placarded or visualized by Paul’s preaching. So powerful was the truth that the Galatians had felt they had been there when he died. To leave grace was to abandon the Christ who died for them.

Second, by leaving grace they were contradicting their own experience of salvation(verses 2-3). Paul reminded them that they had been saved by grace through faith. Would they now conclude that God saves by faith but they must somehow continue it by their good works? Will they go to heaven because “God helps those who help themselves?” The very thought was absurd.

Third, by leaving grace they rendered their suffering meaningless (verse 4). Suffering is understood as either physical persecution or the physical experiences of being saved.  Either way, by going back under law, they were making their salvation experience a worthless thing.

Fourth, by leaving grace they were denying the work of the Spirit in their midst (verse 5). God had worked miracles among them and in them personally. They had seen the power of God both internally and externally. Prayers had been answered, lives had been changed, old habits broken, bad relationships ended, broken lives mended, marriages saved, families restored, the lost saved, sins forgiven. The grace of God was allowing the Spirit of God to work in their midst.  By returning to the slavery of the law, they were giving up fellowship and freedom as well as grieving and quenching the work of the Holy Spirit.  What advantage was there to going back under the Law?  That’s the choice they were making.  Paul’s scolding words are seen in a series of four direct questions designed to expose their guilt and drive them back to established faith regarding the basic content of the true gospel.

• Question 1 (v. 2)—“Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” We might put the question this way: “How did your lives as Christians begin? The tension is drawn here between two competing plans of salvation; the only two options available to men. Either one attempts to save himself by means of personal accomplishments, in this case the “works of the Law,” or, one sees salvation purely as a gift of God’s grace that comes “by hearing with faith.” A blend of these two, which seems to have been the nature of the false gospel being taught among the Galatians, is impossible. It is either works or grace. Paul argued in the book of Ephesians that this faith, which links a person to the saving power of Christ, is itself a gift of God’s grace and is not the ground of any boasting whatsoever.
• Question 2 (v. 3)—“are you now being perfected by the flesh?” If salvation is a work of grace, then the transformed life is a work of grace, not works. Sadly, the “foolish” people of Galatia had essentially changed belief in mid-stream! They had, perhaps, been saved by the marvelous grace of God through faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ. However, their trusting the “flesh,” an outward system of conformity to the Mosaic law or the traditions of man would never produce spiritual maturity. Paul saw this as unbiblical and unreasonable and would only frustrate the grace of God.
• Question 3 (v. 4)—“Did you suffer so many things in vain?” Scholars are unsure how the word “suffer” should be translated. It is either physical persecutions or spiritual experiences after reception of the gospel. Whatever they had experienced by virtue of believing in Christ for salvation would be empty and meaningless (“vain”) if there was another way of being made right before God.
• Question 4 (v. 5)—“Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit . . . do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” Paul once again, mentions the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit as an act of grace.  He saw the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of one redeemed as an act of grace on God’s part and not the result of blessing obtained by living up to a standard.  That would minimize the work of the Holy Spirit.  Nothing may be added to the grace of God.

In order to more firmly press his point into their hearts, Paul introduced the patriarch “Abraham” as the classical sinner that God had saved by grace, not through works. Using the Old Testament, Paul made it clear that Abraham had simply “believed God,” and that his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness” in Genesis 15.  Two chapters later, Abraham was circumcised.  Salvation had nothing to do with works in the life of Abraham.  It was an act of grace alone.  This contradicted the message of the Judaizers who considered Abraham the father of the Jewish people. Paul’s point is that Abraham was saved by faith when he believed God and his faith was counted as righteousness.  The Law was given to Moses 430 years later.  Abraham was saved by faith before he was circumcised  and before the Law was given.

Paul then expands the point in verse 7 by pointing out that anyone who believes the gospel is a true child of Abraham. In Paul’s mind, the true children of Abraham were those who like him, were made right with God by grace alone.  Abraham trusted in God’s promises that were made to him and God counted or considered his faith to be “righteousness” in the eyes of God by grace alone. The Law or traditions played no part in Abraham’s standing before the Father whatsoever.  In verse 7 Paul declared that the real “sons of Abraham” are “those who are of faith.” This establishes that God has always had only one plan of salvation through the ages. He saves those who, like Abraham of old, “are trusting God to do what they could not do for themselves.  No works make us right before God.  Paul diffused the Judaizers argument that they were the true children of Abraham and destroyed their basic assertions. Paul, being led by the Spirit, used the phrase “those who are of faith” in direct contrast with “the party of the circumcision” (2:12).

Paul’s argument appealed to “the Scripture”—the Old Testament—which announced the truth that “God would justify the Gentiles by faith.”  Paul claimed that Abraham had actually heard the “gospel” as he received and believed the ancient promises made to Him by Yahweh (Gen. 12:3). This establishes the fact that Abraham was saved in exactly the same way as we are—by grace through faith. While Abraham looked forward through the eyes of faith to the work of Christ on his behalf, we have looked backward to the work and ministry of the same Savior and Lord. As Abraham was justified before God—accounted as righteous in his sight—so are all who believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. In this way, “those who are of faith” share in the very same blessings given long ago to Abraham, “the believer” (v. 9).

We can draw several important truths from this. First, the plan of salvation in every age is always by grace through faith apart from human effort. God has only one plan of salvation—not two or three or four. Don’t let anyone tell you that in the Old Testament people were saved differently than in the New Testament. It’s always by grace, always through faith, and always apart from human efforts to attain righteousness.

Second, God’s plan to include the nations means all are included in the church of Jesus Christ. There is no room for excluding people on the basis of race, ethnic origin, language, appearance, skin color, or any other issue. He wants his bride include all . God’s church is as big as God’s heart.  Christ has built the perfect church for imperfect people.

Third, this is the foundation for world missions. God always intended to save people from every nation. That’s the basis of missions around the world.

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Beginning with praise to our Father- Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

1. Putting our Father in charge of our priorities- Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
2. Relying on our Father for provision- Give us this day our daily bread.
3. Trusting our Father with our relationships- And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
4. Seeking protection from our Father- And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
5. Reminding ourselves about our Father- For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

As I worked on this lesson, I was captured by the thought that as I sat typing, reading, praying and trying to put together a lesson, Christ was with me, helping me and wanting to help if I let Him.  I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives within me!  It is important that we end our praying by reminding ourselves to whom we are praying.  Imagine our lives if we lived with a sense of the presence of God continual with us.  The name “Immanuel” means “God with us”.  In what ways would your life be different?  As you study the Disciples’ Prayer, do you have an awareness that in this room is the Lord Jesus Christ?  Remember His promise, where two or three are gathered, He would be there too.  What would be different about you if you realized that sitting with you was the Lord Jesus Christ?  All of us would have to admit that at times we act as if we are the center of the universe.  With Christ in our midst, that would bring us back to reality.  At night, when you sit down to relax, what would be different with the realization that Christ is with you?  How different would you be at work, at school, with friends, writing on Facebook, and in doing Christmas shopping if you saw Christ by your side?  What would be different about your worship if you saw Christ sitting in the midst of the congregation?  Remember He is there when we wake up and when we fall asleep.  Are we drawing near to Him in our actions and attitudes, or would we seek a break from His presence?  As we draw near to Him, He promises to draw nearer to us.  When you pray, do you see yourself, in His presence, entering into the throne room of the Father?

Notice the parallels with which we start and end the Disciples’ Prayer.  We focus at the beginning on “Hallowed be thy name” and remind ourselves that His is “the glory”.  We pray that His “kingdom come” and then remind ourselves the only true and lasting kingdom is His.  We pray that He accomplish His divine will and then remind ourselves that He can through His unlimited power.  Finally we recognize His control over heaven and earth and then remind ourselves that His control is forever.

I see four major truths for us to focus upon when we end our prayers.  They are included in what we call the doxology.  Jesus knew that if we were to pray without a reminder of the greatness and majesty of God, we would focus on the problems we had just lifted up to God and our hopelessness in providing a solution.  We start by honoring the name of God and end by praising God for His sovereignty and glory.  Prayer is “talking to my Father in a close intimate way to let Him know of my specific needs, admitting to Him my total helplessness apart from Him, and declaring my total dependence on Him”.   Christ knows that I need to be reminded that I can be totally dependent upon Him because of who He is.  These four truths are the ones most helpful to remember that although we live and pray, in a fallen world He is MORE!

The first truth Jesus reminded us was that God is sovereign with the words “thine is the kingdom”.  In John 18:36-37 Pilate listens to Jesus talk about His kingdom and then asks Him is He is a king.  Jesus replies that He became a human through His birth to set up His kingdom.   Later in the Bible we read that Jesus is the King of Kings, , Ruler of the kings of the earth, and King of the ages.

In the book of Daniel we read of a king named Nebuchadnezzar who became so proud and arrogant that he lifted himself about all authorities, including the True and Living God.  His pride led God to humble him by taking away his mind.  For seven years, this proud and arrogant king lived like an animal.  In Acts 12, we read of a similar story involving Herod, who in his pride and arrogance tried to lift himself up before God.  He died and like all, was eaten by worms.  Napoleon Bonaparte, during his last days in exile wrote the following words:

I die before my time and my body shall be given back to the earth and devoured by worms.  What an abysmal gulf between my deep miseries and the eternal kingdom of Christ.  I marvel that whereas the ambitious dreams of myself and Alexander and of Caesar should have vanished into thin air, a Judean peasant, Jesus, should be able to stretch his hands across the centuries, and control the destinies of men and nations.

Jesus is the unparallel King of kings and Lord of lords.  While the earth seems out of control today, just remember that He has allowed Satan, for a short time, to control the earth, within the limits He allows.  Satan has made a mess of things, but soon Jesus will rule over His kingdom and peace and order will be evident.  Satan and his cohorts will be removed, never to bother us again, for they will be cast into eternal fire.  All this happens at the appointed time.  Never forget, that when you pray, He is still in control and when we pray according to His will, He steps up and does things that we never thought were possible.  He far exceeds our expectations with His answers.  Never forget that no matter how depressive the times, our God is in control and He will never let us down.  Everything about which we pray is in His control.

The second truth is tied to the first.  God is powerful.  We often describes His power this way, He is omnipotent or all powerful.  Each day, God is activity energizing this world and keeping everything in order and working.  He never is surprised and He never is left without a plan.  He is so powerful that He will never find anything as difficult.  In Romans 4, Abraham is described as having a body that needed to be “quickened” or made alive.  He erased the inability of both Sarah and Abraham to have a child because of their advanced age and gave them a promised child, Isaac.  Out of an impossible situation came the fulfillment of a promise by an unlimited God who is All-powerful and able to do whatever He determines best, whenever He determines it.  Things that man considers as impossible, God easily accomplishes.  When praying for the impossible, just focus on our God who is so powerful that nothing is impossible.  One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 32:27, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?”  There is no situation so bad, no loved one so lost, no need so big that God can’t take care of it.  He is powerful and there is nothing that is consistent with His nature that He can’t do.  God is powerful beyond our imaginations and we are promised that He is able to do abundantly beyond all that we ask or need Him to do.

The third truth is seen in the word “glory”.  Glory is the splendor, honor, and beauty, and brilliance that is majestic and “heavy”.  “Heavy” is seen in the Old Testament several times when His glory is spoken of as falling out of Heaven and filling the earth as it becomes evident.  Glory is more than the reputation of God.  It is the presence of God.  Jesus was introduced to us in John 1:14 with a statement that said we beheld the glory of the only begotten son of the Father, full of grace and truth.  We clothe ourselves each day with the things we wear, but God is so majestic that He clothes Himself with light in the same way that we put on clothes.  He is brilliant light, without any darkness whatsoever.  We are praying to the One whose brilliance fills the earth.  If He removed Himself, all that would be left would be darkness.  In heaven, there is no need for the sun because His glory lights all.

The final truth is God is eternal.  Turn with me to Isaiah 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”  God inhabits eternity like we inhabit our house.  When we think about eternity, we see the “bigness” of God.  Trying to understand eternity is difficult but if you have ever taken a small child to the beach and tried to explain how big the ocean is, you get the picture.  You go to the shoreline to the ocean and start explaining how big it is by telling them about the continent that is miles away on the other side.  But the small child doesn’t understand because he or she can’t imagine it.  As long as you’re there nearby, the child doesn’t fear the “bigness” of the ocean because they have you as their security.  Remembering that God inhabitants eternity reminds us that He is going to be with us and will never leave us.  With God, every day is the present tense because He is the great “I Am”.  No matter where life leads, He is there and He is in control, powerful enough to let His light shine and take care of us in spite of what we might face.

Let me end with a quiz.

1.  Can you say “our” if you exclude others because of difference?
2. Can you pray “Father” if you have not been born again and adopted as His child through the blood of Christ?
3. Can you say “in heaven” if all your interest and focus are being pursued on the earth through material and temporary things?
4. Can you say “hallowed by Thy name” if you don’t see Him as holy?
5. Can you pray they kingdom come if you’re unwilling or resentful about giving up your independence in order to accept His righteous rule?
6. Have you relinquished your own agenda to pursue His will?
7. Can you do your part in having Him supply daily needs?
8. If you hold a grudge against another, can you pray forgive us?
9. If you choose to remind in situation where you’re tempted, can you pray “lead us not into temptation”?
10. Can you asked to be delivered from evil, if you’re not armed with your spiritual armor?
11. If you fear the limitations others impose on you, can you pray “thine is the power”?
12. If you seek your glory, can you pray “for thine is the glory”?
13. If you’re worried about the here and now, can you pray “forever”?

The key to learning is to put into action that which you have learned.  If we want to see God build the fires of revival here at Vienna that will spread to our community, city, state, and world, we need to start making prayer our priority. Are you in?  Pray according to the pattern Jesus gave and see God begin to work in ways we never have imagined.

Tonight at church, our pastor preached and taught us God’s precious word.  As a part of his sermon, we looked at Galatians 5, specifically comparing the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.  When I read about the works of the flesh, I read of the horrible sins that result and then these words, “and such like”.  While pondering those words, the Holy Spirit ministered to me and reminding me of other scriptures that talked about our attempt to live life by our works.  Flesh represents our natural tendency to live according to what we desire.  I realized that these sins were used in much the same way that “filthy rags” were.  Our attempts at righteousness are worthless and disgusting to God.  I had always understood that the bad results of our sin nature made God sick, but the Holy Spirit put this in context, so are the “good works” we, in our flesh, do to impress God.  Those flesh-motivated attempts at good works are just as vile as these disgusting sins to God.  Only the FRUIT of the SPIRIT are acceptable to God and I don’t produce those, HE does when I get out-of-the-way.  My attempts are just worthless, wasted effort and doesn’t improved my standing before God.  As a result, I frustrate the grace of God and run from the liberty or freedom I have been given in Christ to SERVE others in love.  I had to ask myself, “are you a follower of Christ who loves others as I do myself, or do I make others my spiritual rivals, as I seek for God, my pastor, and my church to approve me above others?”   I read verse 15 in Galatians 5 and asked God to show me if I was attacking others (bite and devour).  Am I trying to build my testimony by destroying others?  Look at the warning at the end of verse 15. If I stab others, spiritually speaking in the back, I need to be careful that I am not treated the same way by others.  The scary thing is, that in me remains an old nature that is capable of living that way.  I am praying that each day, I die to that old, flesh, nature and surrender complete control to the Holy Spirit.  The best thing is that I can know if I am, by what is seen in my life, pathetic, empty, worthless, disgusting works or FRUIT that indicates He controls me!  By the way, control by the Holy Spirit is only true of Christians who have entered a life changing relationship with Christ.  Worthless works show one who is NOT inheriting the kingdom of God.  What about you?

Peter’s Changed Life (23- 29)

 We live in a world that is unfair and shows partiality.  As Christians, we serve a God who is fair and impartial.  So we either stick to our prejudice and rebel against God’s standards or we yield our lives to Him so that He can transform us.  Peter allowed God to change him and his prejudices against Gentiles as seen in this passage.

1.  Peter’s Hospitaliy (23)-  Peter did two things that were completely opposite of his traditions and prior beliefs.  First he took non-Jews into his home and allowed them to stay overnight and then after travelling with these men, he stayed as a guest with a Gentile.  God had transformed him in a remarkable way.
2. Peter’s Humility (24-26)- When Peter entered into the home of Cornelius, the centurion bowed at his feet to worship him.  Notice Peter’s immediate response.  Instead of accepting the praise and enjoying it, Peter told Cornelius, “stand up, I am just a man like you”.  To us we only see a man refusing to be worship, but read the part “I myself also am a man”.  Peter was confessing that they were the same, both men.  Quite the statement for a man who previously considered Gentiles as “dogs”.  When Jesus comes, things are different.
3. Peter’s Honesty (27-29)- Peter starts off telling the large group which had gathered to hear him about the change that God had made in his life.  He recalled his past beliefs and what Christ had done to change those beliefs.  He now came to them, accepting them as equals and desiring to see God work in their lives.

Cornelius’ Response-  Cornelius told of his journey to this point and what God had done to set this up.  He saw the hand of God in all this and had filled the room full of hungry, enthusiastic, winnable people who were ready to hear and response to the gospel message.

 Peter’s Preaching Exalted Jesus and the Spirit Came

Biblically preaching is proclaiming a message which exalts Jesus Christ.  As we focus on Jesus Christ, we welcome Him to our worship and at this time the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to come, glorify God and let His presence and power be evident.  The Holy Spirit looks for these opportunities because He is here to magnify Jesus Christ.  So when we life up the Lord Jesus Christ, we are creating a worship that invites the Holy Spirit to take control.  If we seek God’s power, then Jesus has to be the focus of our life, both in our thoughts and actions.

How Peter Exalted Jesus

Peter, in this sermon, made Jesus Christ the center of every word he spoke.  He put the Lord as the focal point of the service by making sure that the message was full of revealed truth.

The first truth is that Jesus brings True Peace to those of us who are rebellious against God.

Look at the part, “preaching peace by Jesus Christ.  God is seen as the Peacemaker through Jesus Christ.  Compare verse 36 with verse 43.  God is offering terms of peace through Jesus Christ in verse 36 and in verse 43 God offers forgiveness through Jesus.  We have True Peace with God only when His anger over our sins is covered by the blood of Jesus and replaced with the peace of God.  The only way this can happen is the True Peace we desire can only come through a personal relationship with the Peacemaker, Jesus Christ.

The second truth is the Jesus Christ is the Lord of all.  Notice the end of verse 36, “He is Lord of all”.  Peter lifts up Jesus as the Lord of all before Cornelius and his family.  We need to show others that Jesus is Lord of all of our lives by completely and totally turning our entire lives over to Him.  The great thing about this liberating message is the Messenger.  God sent good news of peace by Jesus Christ, the Lord of all.  This shows the importance of this truth.  God didn’t trust this message to anyone but His Son.  Jesus is Lord of all!  Not just Lord of the Jews, or Lord of the Gentiles, but Lord of all.  Lord of humans and spiritual beings.  Jesus is Lord of all the universe and Lord of all that is in it.  Jesus is pictured here as the focal point of everything.  He is seen as being Supreme over every part of His creation.  No wonder that God the Holy Spirit saw this as an opportunity to glorify Christ Jesus.  Our attention had been turned to the fact that Jesus was Lord of ALL!

The third point was that Jesus was a man, anointed with the Holy Spirit and with God’s power. 

Peter lifts up Jesus as a man anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power.It is tremendously important to say the awesome fact that Jesus—the Lord of all—was 100% man. That’s the point of Peter’s identifying him as “Jesus of Nazareth.” He had a hometown. He was known by friends and kinsmen there. He worked in the carpenter’s shop. The Lord of all had become a human like you and me (only without sin).  As a man, Jesus had chosen to limit his powers as God.  He demonstrated what God could do through a life anointed with the Holy Spirit.  One of the promises that Jesus made to us was that He would send a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to permanently indwell all who become the sons of God through faith.  The same power that enabled Jesus to have an extraordinary ministry is the same power that fills and controls us when we allow Him.  Verse 38 ends “for God was with him”.  While on earth Jesus, as a Man, relied upon God, the Holy Spirit, to provide the necessary power for Him to faithfully obey God.

The fourth point in the sermon was that Jesus, as a Man, empowered by the Holy Spirit was, and is, more powerful than sin and Satan

Peter points out that because of the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was more than a match for Satan.  Jesus walked in harmony with God.  The power of the Holy Spirit was a present intimacy because God was with Him.  When Jesus acted, the Father acted, because they were intimate with each other.  Because of the presence and power of God, Jesus acted in a way that was God.   The Bible teaches that Jesus was tempted outwardly by the devil just like we are, but that He always conquered the outward temptation to sin, through intimate fellowship with God.  The power of sin was broken by the presence of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ life.  The miracles and good that Jesus did was by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus rescues those who are oppressed and tormented and tempted by Satan.  Peter proclaims this truth because he wanted Cornelius and all that were with him to have this same overcoming power within them.

The fifth point in Peter’s sermon was that Jesus, who was a good man, without sin, was killed in spite of His sinless life. 

Peter tells the story of how Jesus came from heaven to this earth, clothed with a human body, and lived a life in complete obedience to God’s command and was sinless and then died a death in which He paid for the sin of sinners.

Jesus was killed in spite of the fact that he was God’s Peacemaker, in spite of the fact that he was Lord of all, in spite of the fact that he was anointed by the Holy Spirit and power and was stronger than sin and the devil and that God was with him.

Why did this sinless One die?  There can be only one logical explanation.  God allowed Jesus to die as the payment for man’s sin.  God was intervening in the life of sinful man, allowing a perfect and sinless sacrifice to be offered.  God was at work!

The sixth point is the turning point.  While it was essential that Jesus die for our sin, the transforming event was the resurrection. 

Peter proclaims that Jesus is alive from the dead because God raised him from the dead after three days.  God supernaturally stepped in and resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead.  His payment for sin was accepted by God and He now is alive, able to offer to man everlasting life.  Today, there is salvation in no other name, and He is Lord of all.

Peter also states that God also gave evidence of the resurrection.  Over 500 people saw the resurrected Lord on at least 10 different occasions.  They ate and drank with Him, proving that the resurrected body was flesh and bones and a digestive track.  He wasn’t a ghost or a spiritual being, He has a body that has been resurrected and glorified.  Jesus is ALIVE.

Peter’s seventh point is that the resurrected Jesus has been ordained of God to be the final Judge of all, both dead and alive.  Everyone will appear before Jesus to be judged. 

We all will stand before Jesus Christ as our final judge.  Some will be at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and will be judged for the faithful service we have offered as worship to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Others will stand before Jesus Christ and give an explanation for why they rejected Jesus as their personal sacrifice and Savior.  They will have to explain why they forfeited the right to a personal relationship with God, just to continue with their sinful and selfish life in spite of the knowledge that Jesus had died in their place to pay the price for their sin.  Because of their rejection of Jesus as the payment for their sin, they will be cast into everlasting torment, regardless of the good deeds they may have done.

Where you spend eternity is dependent on what you do with Jesus Christ while on this earth.

The final point in Peter’s sermon to this group gathered by Cornelius is that Jesus Christ is the source of God’s complete and final forgiveness of our sins. 

Peter presents Jesus Christ as the only source of God’s forgiveness for our sins.  Today, you can meet Jesus as the forgiver of all your sins.  Peter starts the sermon by showing that Jesus is the Peacemaker and he ends the sermon by introducing Jesus as the Peacemaker.  By God’s grace, we all can receive salvation by faith through Jesus Christ.  Because of our belief,  we were given the authority to become the sons of God.  This trust will result in us being clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and becoming a son of God.  We receive an inheritance and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.  He uses us as His instrument, doing good works by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We can overcome Satan, self, and sin through the power given us through the Holy Spirit.  Our sins are forever blotting out, covered by the blood of Jesus and removed from us forever.

The final five verses tell us the results of Peter proclamation.

1.  The Holy Ghost came upon them.
2. Jewish Christians were amazed, because Gentiles Christians were being added to the church as equals with them.
3. The Gentile Christians demonstrated the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the same way that the Jewish Christians did in Acts 2, magnifying God.
4. The Gentile Christians were baptized with the same baptism as the Jewish believers.
5. The Gentile Christians were obedient and asked Paul to stay, so they could be taught and grow.

In Matthew 6:11 we read, “Give us this day our daily bread”. 

Let’s review our definition of prayer:  “prayer is talking to my Father in a close intimate way to let Him know of my specific needs, admitting to Him my total helplessness apart from Him, and declaring my total dependence on Him”. 

The next section of the Lord’s Prayer deals with praying for our provision from God.  After focusing on who God is and asking Him to make His priorities our priorities, we are to bring Him our requests about our daily needs.  Remember, that He is concerned about all your needs, both the small, common, everyday needs and the big, special burdens.  There are four basic lessons that Jesus is teaching us concerning our daily needs.  In examining these four lessons we also learn the importance of examining the daily discipline in our lives.  The four lessons we learn are:

1.  “Give”- We come to God and put our full trust in Him to supply every need.
2. “Us” and “our”- We come to God as a part of a body, and not as individuals.
3.  “This day”- We learn to be content by living one day at a time, confident in God’s ability to meet our everyday needs.
4. “Our daily bread”- We pray for our physical needs to be met each day as well as remember that all that we have is provided by God.

When we receive Christ, the Bible teaches us that we become new creatures and old things, including mindsets, attitudes, and philosophies, are passing away.  They are being replaced with new things, including a new way of looking at life and the needs of life.  We are to renew our minds and we do so by going to God’s word and finding what He thinks about our lives.  Remember, we have asked God to make His priorities, or what is important to Him, also important to us.  Now we are to put into practice this total trust of our lives in the everyday needs of life.  As we work on our relationship with God, we learn to depend more on God to provide our basic needs each day.  The psalmist reminds all creation of our dependence upon God in Psalm 104:27-29,    “These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.   That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.  Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.”   These verses sum up all men’s lives.  The conclusion of this summation is that all wait on Jehovah God for our needs to be met.  All God must do is simply open His hand, and they are filled with good.  We all must recognize that since we didn’t come into existence by ourselves, we cannot maintain existence by ourselves.  If God withholds Himself, then man is confused.  If He, the Giver of Breath, should withhold breath, all die.  We are all totally and completely dependent upon the goodness and love of God.  God feeds all, rich and poor, great and lowly, powerful and weak.  God provides food for all each day.  It is comforting to know that He is personally interested in our needs as well.  However, we are faced with two big obstacles to praying and living “give us this day our daily bread”.  In order to pray and live this, we have to have faith that allows us to live one day at a time.  Instead of living for the future, we live in the presence and trust God for supplying my needs each day.  That gets a little scary.  We struggle with trusting God completely and find ourselves gripped with fear.  Remember, fear is the opposite of faith.  For whatever reason, we start doubting God’s willingness and ability to provide our daily needs each day.  We would much rather He give us enough to see us through the rest of our lives without every having to worry about daily needs.  A second reason it is tough to pray this is because we stop praying for needs and start praying selfishly for our wants because we start comparing what we have with what others have.  We want a lifestyle full of things that we have gotten through hard work and blessings instead of being content to have our needs met each day by God.  When we live day to day, we realize that we haven’t fulfilled the American dream.  We want the new car that others get, or the big screen tv which often means other new stuff to get the perfect entertainment experience.  We find it difficult to pray “give” because it somehow diminishes us and our importance.

The word “give” focuses us on a new way of viewing life.  From the Bible, our new relationship with God includes two opposite positions.  We are His children.  As our Father, He is responsible for us.  Every need we have is met by God who gives us what we need.  We are also His servants.  Likewise, a servant is given everything he needs by his master.  The concept of coming to God and putting full trust in Him to supply every need is a difficult one to embrace.  The concept of “give” is the heart of this petition.  By what right can we ask God to “give”?

Turn to Psalm 37 to find God’s promise to give us our basic needs.  Verse 3 states, “trust in the LORD and do good”.  Salvation is believing God and results in good works.  In a sense this shows our doctrine of salvation, we trust and God works through our surrendered lives to do good.  Verse 3 continues “so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed”.  Be what?  Fed.  It appears from the passage that this is talking about physical food.  That’s pretty practical.  But notice in the passage that in order for this provision to be given, we have some responsibilities.  Verse 4, “delight in the Lord”, “commit your way unto the Lord”.  Verse 7, “rest in the Lord” and verse 8 tells us “cease from anger, and forsake wrath”.  In verse 18, we are promised “in the days of famine they shall be satisfied”.  In this section, we also see a comparison between the righteous and the unrighteous.   The unrighteous is described as being “cut off” in verse 9.  In verse 12 the wicked is mentioned and later in verse 13, we are told “the Lord will laugh at him; for he sees that his day is coming”.  Later in verse 20, the wicked shall perish and God’s enemies will be burnt up like the fat of lambs, which really burns.  A great illustration of this is seen in the life of Elijah.  God, during a time of famine and drought, fed him, first by a raven and then by a poor widow.  It was a feast, but it kept him alive.  God gave him what he needed.  Back in Psalm 37, we read the climax of the passage in verse 25, , “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed (doing what?) begging bread.”  We can pray for God to give, because He has promised that He would.  Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, we read of God taking care of those who are His.  We can pray “give” because He has promised He would.

God tells us to pray “give us this day our daily bread” because He doesn’t want us to become preoccupied with our physical needs.  How often do we struggle with this?  I know that I do.  I find myself with a real need and I find my thoughts always coming back to this need.  I can’t delight myself in the Lord, because I am trying to work out ways to supply a need.  I come up with all types of plans and schemes to solve my problem.  I pray about it, but reveal my lack of faith by then looking for solutions myself.  God knows my needs and He promises to take care of them.  He wants me to focus on His kingdom and His righteousness.  I am to invest in His will and His kingdom.  Remember we just have prayed, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”  God promises to supply.  But how?

God may choose to supply food, shelter, or clothing by a supernatural act.  In the wilderness, God provided food by a supernatural act. We can also have our needs taken care of by working.  Back in Genesis 3:19, God tells us to earn our bread by working.  Work actually started in the Garden of Eden.  God wants us to be fulfilled and work is a way of doing it.  However, the fall complicated life.  We now look at work as a way of supplying our needs instead of worship.  So we focus on what we can get out of work instead of what we can give in work.  In everything we are to glorify God.  He gives us strength, abilities, health, and opportunities in which our needs are met through His work.  In the church age, He may choose to work through His people.  In James 2, we read that we are to do more than pat those with a need on the back and tell them we’re praying.  If we have within our means the ability to help others, we should be sensitive to God’s leading.  God often used His people to meet the needs of His servants and those who are unable to meet their own needs through work.  They may be sick, disabled, or have lost a job.  It may be that God has blessed you and He wants to work through you to meet needs of brothers and sisters in Christ.

The second lesson is found in the words “us” and “our”.  These are the seekers of this provision.  Notice it is not “me” and “my”.  God wants to remind us that the church of our God is not isolated and separated.  When I pray “us” and “our”, selfishness disappears from my prayers.  God wants me to see that I am a part of His family.  The prayer; “Give us” embodies all the Christian community.  How can I enjoy my abundance when my brother has less than enough?  It just encompasses that whole concept of sharing.  That’s why we are to pray this way and live this way, even if we are tremendously blessed by God.  We are reminded that everything we have is a gift from God.  We are also reminded of those who are our family in Christ.  God the Holy Spirit often speaks to us through pray.  When I pray this, God may put someone on my mind with whom I can share my abundance.

Few of us in this room have ever had to pray for one day of God’s provision, because He has so generally supplied our need even before we ask for His intervention.  In our world, there are people who pray each day for God to provide one meal of eatable food.  If by His grace we don’t have to worry about eating at least one meal per day, be thankful for His provision.  In American, someone at the poverty line of $11,000 per year is still wealthy enough to be in the top 14% of the global income distribution. There are more than a billion people around the world now living on less than $1 per day.  Except for the grace of God, we could be one of that billion.  Be thankful for His provision.  Even though we are tremendously blessed, we need to remember that if for one moment God would close His hand of provision, we are all in trouble.  Blessed or not, God is the One who puts the food on the table.

The third lesson is found in the phrase “This day.” The exact meaning of this phrase “this day” means for the coming day.  In its simplicity, in its moderation, in its very beauty is an expression that says one day at a time, Father, I accept Your provision. It stresses the contentment that comes when we live with a day by day confidence in God and don’t worry about the future.

Most Christians who worry, worry about what hasn’t happened, yet. We worry because we’re not too sure God’s going to provide our daily bread tomorrow. We are fearful because we doubt  His word. This doesn’t eliminate saving for the future. We need to see big pictures and when God blesses us, then we need to invest either in our future in this world or in our future in the world to come.  We also need to be content to trust God to meet our need in the future. We play the “What if Game”.  We say “what if this happens?” or fret about things maybe happening.  God wants us to remember that we live one day at a time.  Make sure that for that one day, you are bringing glory to God by doing what He designed you to do instead of being a slave to something out of your control. We only ask for physical provisions for this day.

Finally “bread” is the provision of our daily needs.  Here “bread” is referring specifically to our physical needs for each day.  God has to begin with the physical. It thrills me to know that God, the God who is the God of infinite celestial epochs, God who is the God of space, God who is the God beyond time, the God of eternity, God who is the infinitely holy God of the universe who holds all the whirling worlds and the spinning stars in the palm of His hand, that same God cares that my physical needs are met, that same God is concerned with the fact that I have a, a meal to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to rest. It thrills me that that God, that infinite eternal God has come to earth in terms of His caring love, and is concerned that the needs of my life in a physical way and your life be met, and He even sets certain conditions for them being met, we’ll get into that next week. But bread is all of that physical area. Martin Luther had it right when he said, “Everything necessary for the preservation of this life is bread, including food, a healthy body, good weather, house, home, wife, children, good government, peace.” End quote. He saw all of the physical elements of life, the necessities but not the luxuries of life. I don’t think that we can ask God for the luxuries of life based on this verse, but for the necessities. What He chooses to give us by way of luxury is at His gracious hand. But He promises to give us the necessities. You remember back in Proverbs chapter 30? In verses 8 and 9 he says, Lord, don’t give me so much that I forget You, and don’t give me so little that I steal and dishonor Your name. Just give me food that is convenient for me. I … think that’s the heart of this. It isn’t self-seeking, give me more and more and more and more, it’s just saying, Lord give me what I need.

Let us remember that we each face “needs” every day.  Maybe we are struggling with paying bills or have a medical condition or a relationship conflict.  To whom do we go in seeking answers to these needs?  As our pastor stated in a recent sermon and blog, “You will never seek God to do something in your life you believe you can find somewhere else.”  When we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” we are seeking something to put on us (clothes), something to put in us (food) , something to put over us (place to live). In our world today, we might also need a car.  As Christians, we need to feel needed so we might also need a ministry.  Again we go back to praying that God makes His priorities for your priorities.  We might feel like we need a big house because all our friends have one, but what we really need is a small apartment.  Maybe, we want steak each day and God reminds us that vegetables and fruit are better for us.  We need to make sure what are “needs” and what are “wants”.

One question we might ask, is since God knows our needs and He never forgets, why pray each day?  If we don’t have needs, when why do we need to pray this?  The essence of the prayer is really an affirmation that all our substance comes from God.  I’m saying, God, I want to let You know that I realize that You are the source of my life, my food, my shelter, my clothing. It is that constant affirmation. When I call out to the Lord I say, Lord, hear my prayer and answer, and don’t I know that He will and always has? Yes, but He wants me to affirm that confidence because that exalts Him. I may not have to say, Oh God, I don’t have any food for my family, where is it going to come from? But I will ever and always say, God everything I have and all that I share with those I love comes from Your good and gracious hand. And so for us it is an affirmation of the source of everything. A precious thing it is to know that, that our God cares about our physical needs. So bread is the staple of life. And though we may not always be on the edge of hunger we are always to be thankful for all of it comes from Him. The verse that tells us to seek the kingdom of God first follows a verse that tells us that God knows what we need. So why pray each day?  D.L. Moody once said that we can’t stock up on grace for the future but we must draw from it from day to day.  Daily bread is a tangible part of God’s grace.  We are to ask for it, not because God forgets or wants us to beg, but because we have a short memory and often forget that it is Him who supplies our every need.  When we pray for Him to meet our daily needs, we will eliminate pride because we haven’t blessed our lives, He has.  We have been blessed because of His choice, not our hard work.  It also helps eliminates materialism.  Within each of us is a desire to fit into this world system.  John describes this desire as the result of three inner desires in I John 2.  Within each of us is the lust or desire of the flesh, the lust or desire of the eyes, and the pride of life.  God described these inner desires, the desire to experience anything we want with no restraints from a Higher Authority, the desire to possess anything we want regardless of the price, and the desire to be important, regardless of the method use to get there as inner manifestations of our old sin nature.  Notice the second one.  We have a natural tendency to want a life full of stuff.  Advertisers appeal to this inner desire through commercials which speak to our inner need to possess things.  When we daily go to God and remember that He supplies everything we have need of, our minds are turned from focusing on the stuff toward focusing on Him.  If you are bringing all needs to Him, whenever you are confronted with a big need, you will do, like Daniel, what you always do, pray.  Be specific in your needs. In this prayer, our focus is on God receiving glory with the requests to make God’s name holy, to let His kingdom come, and for His will to be done.  God is the supreme issue and then our needs.  We can’t pray for our needs until we have God in His proper place.  A proper understanding of this passage is that by giving us our daily bread, as well as forgiving our debts, and leading in our lives, God is glorified.  When we pray, give us this day our daily bread we are asking God to glorify Himself in our lives for all to see in our lives.  When God provides food or drink and we put it into our body, remember that when we eat or drink we are doing it for the glory of God.  In a real sense, we eat for God’s glory first and then for our benefit.  When we realize that the food we eat is a gift from God, then we can be thankful to the One who provided it, appreciate the taste, and be grateful for His display of love.

Prayer then, beloved, focuses on God as the one who supplies. It acknowledges that He is the source of all our physical needs and it teaches us to live one day at a time in the confidence that He will meet these needs. What a great, great, petition it is. I trust as we pray every day we will pray in confidence that we can focus on the spiritual levels because God is graciously caring for the physical. Oh, don’t get bogged down in the physical. Don’t get your thought patterns at that level. Don’t lose your joy and your opportunity by getting all wrapped up in the mundane. Set your affections on things above. Seek ye first the Kingdom and let God take care of the rest.