PRINTED TEXT: Matthew 23:25 - 37
CENTRAL TRUTH: Christ is deeply grieved when men reject Him.
OBJECTIVE: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to list reasons why hypocrisy is a sin.
LESSON OUTLINE:
I. Majoring on Minors (Matthew 23:16 22)
II. Emphasizing Externals (Matthew 23:23 28)
III. Condemned by Deity (Matthew 23:29 39)
Focus Text: Romans 3:7-26
Central Truth: Every person stands before God as a sinner.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to list several reasons why every person needs salvation.
Lesson Outline
1. The Sinner's Condition
2. The Sinner's Character
3. The Sinner's Cure
Lesson 5 - January 1, 2017
Focus Text: Romans 6:1-18
Central Truth: The Christian life is yielded completely to Jesus Christ.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to identify specific areas of their life which are yielded to God.
Lesson Outline:
Order your copy of Studies in Romans: Adult Teacher's Insights today!
"Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips." (Romans 3:13)
In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes concerning Romans 3:13:
The first two clauses here come from Psalm 5:9. Having shown that all men are affected by sin, Paul sought to show the extent of the damage. To do that, Paul listed six body parts that are affected. The three body parts mentioned in this verse — the throat, the tongue, and the lips — are each a part of the speech process. The speech of the ungodly corrupts those around him, defrauds those around him, and hurts and/or destroys. The last clause is from Psalm 140:3.
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 11.
This week we will discuss a barrier, that unlike the rest mentioned in these Tips, should be seen as natural, even necessary: sin. The unbeliever who attends our Sunday school and church services is someone by definition who is "dead in trespasses and sins." If we are truly speaking and acting like Christ, and teaching holiness, it will be only a matter of time before the unbeliever experiences conviction of sin. This conviction then presents a choice to the unbeliever: will they confess and repent, or turn away from God?
This barrier of sin is natural, but some churches have created unnecessary barriers around it: such as preaching rules that are not biblical or by attempting to create conviction, condemning various behaviors and attitudes.
When the unbeliever attends your class are they presented with the grace of God that can remove their guilt of sin and forever change their lives for good, or are they given a list of rules they are expected to abide by through their own power?
In "Word Focus" Danny McCain writes:
“Cleanse me from my sin.” The word used here (chatha) is the most common word for sin in the Old Testament. It basically means “to miss the mark” or “to come short of the goal.” Robert Girdlestone says, “If man was originally made in the image of God, it must have been implanted in him as a first principle that he should live as God lives. Every departure, therefore, from the law of right is a coming short of the purpose for which man was made, and a missing of the goal which ought to be reached” (Synonyms of the O.T.).
Source: Studies in the Psalms: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 46.
Lesson 8 - October 23, 2016
Focus Text: Psalm 51:117
Central Truth: Only in Christ do we find relief from the sin problem.
Objective: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to describe what repentance and saving faith are.
Lesson Outline:
Read Isaiah 43:22-28
“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (v. 25).
My desk in grade school had an ink well that held a bottle of black ink. I learned to write with a quill pen. After dipping the tip of it in the ink, I then had to move it lightly across the paper to form neat letters. Lingering or pressing too hard caused the ink to flow and spread, blotting out any letters it contacted. The blot could not be removed, and anything covered by it could not be read. That blotting out was far more thorough and permanent than attempting to erase, for it covered and totally concealed what had been there.
The sins and iniquities of Israel were a record against them, as are ours! Neither they nor we can blot out or conceal our own record, as much as we might wish to do so. We don’t have the power to undo what we have done! However, the LORD says He can, and He will blot out our transgressions, and by choice not remember our sins! The blot on our record indicates past transgressions that no longer bear record against us because He blotted them out! (Rodney Stearns)
They are covered by the Blood; they are covered by the Blood.
My sins are all covered by the Blood.
Mine iniquities so vast have been blotted out at last.
My sins are all covered by the Blood.
— Nellie Edwards
While God never discounts our transgressions, He is willing to blot them out.
This devotional is the Monday, February 29, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.
In "God's Word for Today" David Fry writes:
All of us have been bound by sin; few have been bound by demons. Jesus encountered sinners and demons with the same authority and with the same result. Jesus is greater than any evil that can possess a person.
Then he asks the question: "Why do you think people struggle to accept or believe in Jesus’ power over evil?"
How would you answer this question?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 53.
In "Word Focus" William Sillings writes:
The text says that this man had an unclean spirit (pneumati akatharto — a spirit, an unclean one). Another way to describe this unclean spirit is to say that the man was mad. According to the Talmud, there were four signs of madness — walking abroad at night, spending the night on a grave, tearing one’s clothes, and destroying what one was given. This man had the added characteristic of unnatural, almost supernatural strength. He tore the chains and shackles that had been used to bind him, and no one was strong enough to subdue him (v. 4). Add to this the fact that he was self-destructive and often cut himself with stones, and you have a classic case of extreme demonic possession.
While this definition of demon-possession is intriguing, Sillings' next paragraph exploring the fact that this man had no control over himself is more important...
His name was Legion, he said, for we are many. The word legion is the name of a Roman army unit containing about 6000 soldiers. Even when this man spoke, it was not a man that spoke, but a multitude of demonic spirits speaking through him. What could this person have done to have become so possessed with this multitude? It is clear that the man had not the slightest control over himself, his thoughts, his actions, his words, his feelings, his strength, or anything else. He was a pitiful case. Anyone who is in any way bound by sin is, in some ways, in a pitiful condition, but this man was hopeless.
Discussion: Do you know anyone who, while not demon-possessed, seems hopelessly out of control, spiritually? What is our hope for such hopeless cases?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 52.
