VERSES: Galatians 1:1-12
MEMORY VERSE: Galatians 1:8 "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Beginning again with the New Testament books, for those who have not learned them, we will strive to memorize all 27 New Testament books. Write "Matthew" on a small slip of paper and hand out to the students at the end of class, instructing them to come back the next week and recite this new book they have learned. In the following weeks, we shall add another New Testament book until the students have, with effort, learned all 27 books.
PRAYER: Pray that all Christians may hold fast to the God's Word and shun the teachings of false teachers. May we read daily from our Bibles, so that we will know what is truly from God and what is from a false teacher.
SPECIAL SONG: Read, Read Every Day (see February 2014 - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #1 on this blog. Click orange circle for the tune of the song.)
VISUAL AID: Bible Map, showing Galatia; Large Activity (see below)
LESSON:
- As we look at this next book or letter to the church at Galatia, we see that the letter was written by the Apostle Paul. How do we know that? Because he signed the letter in the first verse of the very first chapter! (Read Galatians 1:1). We find that Paul calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ in that same verse.
- Paul was amazed that the church at Galatia had so quickly left the teachings of Christ for false teaching. Many false teachers change the pure and simple words of God to make people sin, sometimes changing only one word. That is what the devil did in Genesis 3. What word did the serpent add to God's Words in Genesis 3? That's right! Only the simple word 'not' in the statement "Ye shall not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). That is exactly what the false teachers were doing in Galatia! They were changing or perverting God's Words by adding their own thoughts or taking away God's Words to come up with something different than what God had intended.
- What did Paul say about what was going on in the church at Galatia? He said something very important! He said even if the apostles or even if an angel came down from heaven and preached any other gospel than what Paul and his companions had preached to the church already to let him be accursed! This message was SO important that Paul said it twice! Let's read it for ourselves. Let's turn to Galatians 1:8, 9 and see what it says. (Read the verses). When God says something once, it is important, but if He says it twice, it is EXTREMELY important!
- Paul went on to say that he was not seeking to please men because if he did, he would not be a servant of Christ. He was not a "men-pleaser," but a "Christ-pleaser." In Galatians 1:12, Paul said that men had not told him what to preach and neither had he been taught what to preach, but he had received the teaching by revelation from Jesus. Paul was an apostle and was definitely special. We do not have apostles any longer because we have the Word of God or the Bible to read and when we read, we can believe or not believe it. In the days when Paul was writing his letters to the churches, he was writing the Bible! The people had no Bible then, so the apostles who were inspired or told what to say by God would teach God's Word to the people. Now, there is no need for apostles because we have the Bible to read for ourselves.
- God knows everything. God knew there would be false teachers come and try to persuade Christians to go back to the Old Law which had been taken away with Jesus' death on the cross (Hebrews 9:28; 10:9, 10). He was telling the church at Galatia through Paul that they should not believe any other man's words if he was teaching something different than what Paul and the apostles had already taught the people. If anyone came up with any new thing, they were not to believe them because they were not bringing a message from God! Even if an ANGEL came down from heaven and said something different than what the apostles had taught, they were not to believe the angel either! God says what He means and means what He says. There are always grave consequences for those who do not believe and obey His Word. Everything we need today to be saved is in the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). We don't need anything else. There will not be another book, another gospel, another teaching, another prophet, another apostle, anything else sent by God. Only the Bible will judge us in the last day John 12:48). We need to read and obey.
- There are three warnings written in the Bible, commanding people not to add or take away from God's Words. Read Deuteronomy 4:2, Proverbs 30:5, 6; Revelation 22:18, 19. God says what He means and means what He says.
Materials needed: 9" x 12" blue construction paper, two 5" x 5" yellow construction papers, crayons, scissors, stapler, staples, pencil.
- Hand out blue paper.
- Lengthwise, fold blue paper up to 3" from bottom.
- Vertically, fold paper in half.
- Staple the 3" strip in the middle on the folded line. (A extra long stapler works well, stapling in the middle, but if only a small stapler is available, loosely fold one side of the blue paper, so it will fit into the smaller stapler.)
- Staple 3" strip on the outside edges of the paper.
- Set blue paper aside.
- Hand out yellow papers.
- On one yellow paper, draw a "1," using most of the paper.
- On the other yellow paper, draw a "2," using most of the paper.
- Cut both numbers out.
- On the "1," write "But, though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" and "Galatians 1:8."
- On the "2," write "As we said before, so I say now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" and "Galatians 1:9."
- Set aside the yellow papers.
- On the outside of the folded blue paper, write "Galatians 1:8, 9."
- Open the booklet.
- Above the pocket on the left side, write "If God says something ONE time, it is..."
- On the left pocket, write "IMPORTANT." in red.
- Above the pocket on the right side, write "But, if God says the same thing twice, then it is..."
- On the right pocket, write "VERY IMPORTANT!" in red.
- Place the "1" inside the left pocket.
- Place the "2" inside the right pocket.
- Review by reading the booklets with a friend.
