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THE CHURCH ON HIGHER GROUND |
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HOMEPAGE |
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OTHER STUDIES |
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SERMON NETS short messages |
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WHAT IS IN THE NEWS?.. a Christian response |
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THE PLAN...... BIBLE STUDY |
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GREETINGS AND GUIDANCE |
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LESSON OUTLINES |
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ADAM TO BABEL |
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PAGE 1 ADAM TO SETH (1-6) |
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PAGE 2 ENOCH TO JOB ( 5-11) |
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SHORT STUDY FALSE RELIGION |
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PAGE 3 S.S./ORIGIN OF FALSE RELIGIONS #1&2 |
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ABRAHAM'S LIFE |
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PAGE 4 ABRAM/ CALL TO FALL ( 12) |
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PAGE 5 ABRAM'S RETURN/ LOT IN SODOM/ABRAM BUILDS ALTER (13) |
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PAGE 6 LOT'S RESCUE/ABRAM'S VISION/HAGAR (14-16) |
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PAGE 7 ABRAM'S NAME CHANGED/SS-PERFECTION/CUTTING THE COVENANT(17) |
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PAGE 8 ANGELS VISIT ABRAHAM (18) |
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LOT'S LIFE |
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PAGE 9 THE DAYS OF LOT (19) |
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PAGE 10 LOT'S WAY (19) |
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ABRAHAM |
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PAGE 11 ABIMELECH/ISAAC BORN/COST OF SIN (20-21) |
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PAGE 12 (21) |
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PAGE 13 (22) |
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PAGE 14 (22-23) |
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PAGE 15 (23) |
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PAGE 16 (24- |
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PAGE 17 ( |
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PAGE 18 ( |
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PAGE 19 |
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PAGE 20 |
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PAGE 7 ABRAM'S NAME CHANGED/SS-PERFECTION/CUTTING THE COVENANT(17)
LESSON #1 ABRAM BECOMES ABRAHAM Genesis 17:1
LESSON #2 SHORT STUDY/KINDS OF PERFECTION
LESSON #3 CUTTING THE COVENANT
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LESSON #1 ABRAM BECOMES ABRAHAM Genesis 17:1
Feb 12, 2001
There is no doubt that Abram was in a living relationship with God. He had heard the call of God and had followed Him from Ur to Haran. He then heard the call for him to leave Haran and follow God south to the land of Canaan. Abram had shown by hisactions that he was in a livng relationship with God (see lesson #9.) In 15:6 it is said that he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness*. God testifies through Paul in Galatians 3:6 that Abram's faith was counted as righteousness*.
Abram had his ups and downs, he drifted from time to time, but he would come back in repentance. The evidence is clear, Abram was in a right relstionship with God. However, there was something lacking in his relationship. Most people would do well to live as faithfully to God as did Abram, but God was not finished working His grace into Abram. In 17:1 God told Abram, "I am God Almighty; Walk before me and be blameless (perfect)."
We have already seen that grace is not strictly a New Testament concept, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." We have seen that walking in a way which is pleasing to God is not strictly a New Testament reality, "Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him"* and, "...he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God."* "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in time (generation); Noah walked with God."* And Job, "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning from evil."*
It is not popular today, with cheap grace parading as salvation, but God's grace is sufficient to change us, not just our standing with God. His salvation has always been of a life changing and perfecting nature. Salvation is not just a cosmetic job where God "sees" us clean when but leaves us unclean. God has shed the blood of His Son to cleanse us from all sin, not just make us look like we are cleansed from sin.
God had more in store for Abram than he had experienced, but it meant a deeper work of God in Abram's life, a deeper commitment from Abram and deeper relationship than had ever existed between them. There must be a relationship
with God before the relationship can be perfected. There must be life in Christ before there can be a walk in Christ. Abram had a relationship and a life with God and he had begun his walk, but now God calls him to walk before Him and be blameless (perfect). After we meet Christ, we must walk with Him. If we ever intend to reach the levels of grace and maturity He wants for us, we must continue to walk with Him. There awaits us more of God's grace in the future than we have encountered in the past. However, we will never enter the door of a perfect heart if we don't walk the path of faith and obedience. Forget what the world says and forget what other believers say, listen and believe what God says. He says, "I am God Almighty, walk before me and be perfect (blameless)."
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LESSON #2 SHORT STUDY/KINDS OF PERFECTION
Tue Feb 13, 2001
There is much confusion about "perfection." To make it
simple we should understand that there are different kinds of perfection.
* Absolute perfection. Only God has absolute perfection. This is perfection in morals, knowledge, power, wisdom and all other areas consistant with Divine nature.
* Angelic perfection. Perfection belonging to angels and not communicable to other creatures.
* Adamic perfection. Perfection exclusively belonging to Adam before the fall.
* Believers perfection. Usually called Christian Perfection, but I broadened it to cover Old Testament saints as well. Perfection belonging to Believers as obtained by faith and given by God through grace. It is perfection of heart purity and love. It is the perfection that God requires and provides through His saving grace. It is a perfection of quality and not of quantity. It meets up to the perfection required by God at that time and for that person.
I will be glad to deal with this more specifically, but thought this would give us at least an overview and basic
understanding.
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LESSON #3 CUTTING THE COVENANT
Wed Feb 14, 2001
Gen17:2-27 Genesis 17 reads like a legal document, because it is. It is a legal agreement between God and Abram. God tells Abram that He is about to strike a contract with him... verse(2).
* Abram has been overwhelmed by God's revelation of Himself, His calling Abram to perfection, His promise to make a covenant with Abram and to make him the father of a many descendents (2) which would include kings (6).
* Abram falls on his face in honor and submission to God (3).
* God promises Abram that he will be the father of MANY nations (4). This is fulfilled not only through the Jews, and Arabs but more especially through the Gentiles who would come to faith in his God, through Jesus Christ. Think of it, Abraham is the father of Ishmael (the Arabs), Israel (the Jews), and Gentile believers in Christ (he is called the father of the faithful).
* God changes Abram's name to Abraham (5). Basically the addition of an 'h' sound and changes the meaning from "exalted father" to "father of a multitude". Sarai's name was also changed in a similar fashion (15,16). Any further meaning concerning the names goes beyond our intent in this study.
* God promises to be Abraham's God and to be the God of his descendents (7,8).
* God promises the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession to Abraham's family (8).
* God expects Abraham and his children to keep His covenant (9).
* God establishes the rite of circumcision (10). The cutting of the flesh was a sign for the Hebrew male (as the head of his household, he set the standard) that he had entered a blood agreement with God, that he had experienced an humbling and personal commitment and encounter with God.
* This rite was to be entered into by every male of the Hebrew nation, born or bought (11-13).
* The uncircumcised were to be cut off from Israel because he had not kept the covenant (14).
* Abraham laughed and rejoiced to hear that he and Sarah would have a son (17).
* Abraham prayed for Ishmael (18)and God promises to bless him (20).
* God states that His covenant is with Abraham, Sarah and Isaac (19,21).
* God departs (22) and Abraham performs the circumcision on Ishmael and all others in his household (23), including himself that same day. He was 99 years old (24) and Ishmael was 13 years old (25).
When God promised a seed to Abraham, He was promising to send Jesus. Jesus is the seed.
*As God promised Abraham to be his God and to give him an inheritance, He has promised to be our God and to give us an inheritance.
*We need to understand that the cutting of physical flesh in circumcision is not what makes us acceptable to God. It is the cutting away of the flesh from our hearts (our entering a covenant with God as Abraham did in 17:1) that God has always wanted. Cutting of the flesh was only a sign with the Jew, but God always wanted a cutting away of the flesh from man's heart (Deuteronomy 10:16). God wants to cut away our desire for the world and the things of the world.
* Only then can we walk before Him and be blameless (perfect).
Read 2 Cor. 6:17-7:1
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