Bible Survey Acts-Galatians

Well, we're going to pick up in this session, friends, our Bible survey. Someone told me not to rush through it so quickly this time. So I'm going to slow it down and try to take my time a little more.

We've got so much to cover. I'm trying to fit it all in in our sessions. But we're going to be starting in the book of Acts.

And the central message is this. Acts is literally the acts of the apostles and the record of the apostolic church. It can also be labeled the acts of the Holy Spirit, for he is certainly active in his work as he guides and aids these early Christians.

The book of Acts is also a record of Jesus, as he is still active in his church, the body of Christ, whom he purchased with his blood. These sensational accounts we have here of the early church and its leaders is but an example for us to follow today. How far we have strayed from the apostolic purpose and vision of the early church because Christ in them.

These early Christians perform wonders and wreak havoc in the pagan world around them to the degree was said to them. These have turned the world upside down, have come here also. We see Peter heal the lame and raise the dead.

We see Paul create one right after another about preaching Christ and him crucified. These men shared a common denominator. They had power and authority because of the Holy Spirit in them.

We see the apostolic church going one direction and the world going the other. And when they meet, there is a clash. Not only is there a clash, friends, but wherever they go and preach Christ, there's a commotion.

And not only is there a clash and a commotion, there is a cry. And it says from the people away with him. So the early disciples face persecution constantly.

To be a Christian then meant certain death. Stephen is killed. James is killed.

Peter is killed. Paul is killed. But the aforementioned was worth it to all of them because of the conversions and the certainty of eternity with Christ.

We must ask ourselves, where is the fire today? Who put the flame out? Who will candle it again? As one reads the book of Acts, we wonder, where is the man today? He will say with the apostle Paul, for I'm ready not only to be bound, but also to die a truism for the name of the Lord Jesus. The central events are these. The story of the growth of the early church, as it's seen through the eyes of Luke recorded in the way sections Pentecost persecutions and places where the early church was established.

The central figures are Peter, John, James, Philip, Paul, Luke, Barnabas, Felix, Festus and King Agrippa. The central first friends can be found in chapter one and verse eight. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you should be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

And the central application of acts is this. The key application for today's Christian can be found in the passion of these early Christians, the power they exhibited and the persecution they suffered all in the name of Christ. Can it be truly said of us? These have turned the world upside down, have come here also.

Why not? Why have we become so much like the world that we no longer disrupted? Now we're going to be in Romans and the central message here, friends, is Romans is one of the most important books in the Bible because it's theologies, the foundation of the Christian church. Martin Luther was saved by reading the theme of justification by faith in Romans and Luther's preaching of this theology since shockwaves throughout the established papacy. John Wesley was converted by hearing a preface on the Book of Romans read to him and his heart became suddenly warmed.

He then lit a fire on the established Church of England and revival followed. And the apostle Paul lays out these doctrines clearly in the Book of Romans that man is a sinner and all have sinned, deserve the wrath of God. Through faith in Christ, we're now dead to sin.

I'm no longer a slave. And the law reveals our sin condition. And the spirit of Christ in us frees us from condemnation.

As Israel rejected Christ, she still needs the gospel. And her rejection is not total. And in Chapter 12 through 15, we see our Christian ethics.

This epistle to the Romans contains the basic truths of the gospel. Condemnation, justification, sanctification, glorification. How we are to live as Christians is laid out as well.

The central events, friends, are the plan of salvation stated in its need, method and purpose. The central figures, the apostle Paul and fellow believers, the central verses, Chapter five and verse one. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And the central application is this. The key application for today's Christian believer is foundational to our faith. And that's the theme of justification by faith.

Also, there's liberty in this grand epistle. We are dead to sin and alive to God. When Christ died, we died to knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

In Chapter eight, the Holy Spirit is mentioned 19 times. And this tells us we should walk by the spirit and not the flesh. We can be free from the condemnation of sin through our faith in Christ and we can be free from the domination of sin.

This epistle to the Romans should be carefully studied by every Christian believer until its majestic truths wash us thoroughly and ground us permanently. For we are more than conquerors. Now, I want to look at First Corinthians and its central message.

Friends, First Corinthians is a letter of reproof to the church in Corinth, Greece. Corinth was widely known for its moral wickedness. And in this sense, so soil Paul plants a green church.

It needs care and correction, for it is carnal and condoning sin among its members. The church at Corinth had divided into factions whereby some were in sex following the teacher Apollos and some following Paul. We see the heart of Paul, the pastor in this letter of stern love to the church.

Paul's main purpose with this church is clearly stated. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. In this letter, he instructs the weak believers to heed spiritual wisdom and not worldly wisdom.

He tells the believers not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Corinth was a hotbed of sexual immorality and its pervasiveness was creeping into the life of the church. Paul instructs him to keep the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

For you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is God's concern and spiritual gifts. Paul teaches that though they have diversity, they have one spirit.

Chapter 15 holds thrilling passages on the resurrection. And the apostle Paul states firmly that our entire Christian faith is valueless. If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.

We, too, will have a resurrection body. Paul's final exhortations to them are a watch. Stand fast in the faith.

Be brave. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

The central events are guidance given to the church in Corinth for chastising, cleansing and clean living. The central figures are Paul, Timothy and Apollos. The central verse, friends, can be found in chapter three and verse six.

I planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. And the central application is this. The key application for today's Christian is found in the verse.

Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. The new believers in the church at Corinth were so focused on problematic activity that they failed to examine themselves. It's easy for us to point fingers at others and find faults and fail to recognize faults in ourselves.

Carnal behavior hurts the entire body of Christ. We should each be reminded that there is a day coming where we, too, shall stand at the judgment seat of Christ, where each one's work would become clear for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. We must live holy lives and be mindful that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you.

And as believers, we should have unity and love toward one another and that the church is the earthly expression of the risen Christ who will come again to judge the living and the dead. Even so, Lord Jesus come. And second Corinthians friends, we're going to look at the central message here.

Second Corinthians is a glimpse into Paul's personal life in regard to his care and concern for the church. He expresses concern for their sufferings and triumphs. He exhorts them to be holy and reconciled to God.

He warns them of the spiritual war they will engage and the false doctrines they will face. And his love for them is expressed in his care for them. For a fearless when I come, I should not find you such as I wish.

In this letter, Paul pours out his heart to the church and the struggling believers there. It's a model for discipleship. See how he deploys Timothy to the needs of the church.

And this letter speaks of Paul's suffering for Christ listed in chapter 11. And it tells the Paul's visions of Christ in chapter 12. Paul's emotions show as he defends himself and we see a humble, loving servant of Christ or merge through this mighty man of God.

We see a man who declares for when I'm weak, then I'm strong. His love for the church is profound in this letter as his visions of paradise are exhilarating. The central events are Paul defending his apostolic authority and shows his tender care for the church.

The central figures are Paul and his disciples, Timothy and Titus. The central verse, friends, can be found in chapter three and verse 18. But we all with unfilled face beholden as in a mirror.

The glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as the spirit of the Lord. And the central application is this, friends, the key application for today's Christian believers that the light of Christ gospel should carry us through the darkest hours as we look forward to our rewards in heaven. We will face persecution.

We will suffer for his name. We will endure in the battle and we will win the war. Our lives should be models of Jesus, because if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. We should be humble and not boast as believers, but we should be brave and faithful to the end.

For we have the promises before us and Christ waiting for us when we face persecutions for Christ's sake. And they're coming more and more friends. We too can glory in the knowledge that when I am weak, then I am strong.

And I want to finish our session with Galatians. The central message of Galatians, France, is this. Galatians was written with three purposes in mind.

Number one, to oppose false teachers who had led many in the Galatian church astray, mainly teaching Judaism. Number two, to defend the doctrine of justification by faith. And number three, to reaffirm Paul's authority as an apostle.

The false teachers who came in after Paul's first visit to Galatia had infiltrated the pure gospel message of justification by faith alone and had misled the new converts to adhere to a doctrine of being justified by law seen in chapter five and verse four. This Judaistic form of Christianity was harm in the fellowship of the Galatian church and undermining Paul's work. This letter begs him not to return to the law, but to be justified by faith alone that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.

This epistle contains a secret to the Christian life, how to walk in victory over sin. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's 220. The time verse to Galatians 220 is I say then walk in the spirit and you should not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Chapter five and verse 16. These two verses show the Christian how to have victory over the flesh and joy in Jesus. The central events of this book are Paul's explanation of Christian liberty over Judaism, legalism, and the central figures are Paul Barnabas, Peter and James.

And this key central verse, friends, is found in chapter two and 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ and the central application is this, friends, the key application for today's Christian believer is our walk in Christ. We must heed the words of the apostle Paul and those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. And let us remember that if we pursue the works of the flesh, God is not mocked for whatever a man sows that he will also reap. If our focus is upon Christ throughout the day and our strength is from the spirit within, how can we be defeated? We cannot.

We experience defeat only when we take our eyes off of Christ and rely upon self rather than the Holy Spirit within. A walk in the spirit will then produce the harvest of fruit mentioned in chapter five and verses 22 through 23. The fruit of the spirit is the evidence of salvation, which proceeds from the heart within.