AL Pastor with Brian Overturf

Sola Scriptura | Galatians 1:11-16a | The Gospel Revealed

Why does the Bible get the last word? In the final message of our "Traditions of My Fathers" series, Pastor Brian walks through the very first Fundamental Truth of the Assemblies of God and shows from Scripture why God's Word is our final authority. It was received as the revelation of God, breathed out by God word for word, and written by holy men moved by the Holy Spirit. So we walk by this rule. For 100 years Arvin Assembly of God has stood on Scripture alone... and we're not moving.

Sermon notes, resources, and the full Galatians series: brianoverturf.com/galatians

CHAPTERS

0:00 Intro

0:27 The Traditions of My Fathers

5:54 Fundamental Truth #1

9:22 Sola, Not Solo, Scriptura

13:15 The Big Question: Why Does the Bible Get the Last Word?

13:33 Reading Galatians 1:11-16a

16:09 Point 1: Because It Was Received

26:50 Point 2: Because It Was Breathed

40:12 Point 3: Because Men Were Moved

51:47 Point 4: So We Walk by This Rule

54:24 100 Years on This Rule

It Is Written | Galatians 1:11–12 | The Traditions of My Fathers, Part 3

Is the Bible enough? Ever since the serpent asked, “Has God indeed said?” in the garden, God’s Word has been under attack. Today the fight is over whether it’s sufficient. In Galatia, nobody was throwing Jesus out. The false teachers were preaching Jesus plus. Paul’s answer: the gospel he preached didn’t come from man. It came by revelation from Jesus Christ.

In this message, Pastor Brian takes the four strongest arguments against the Bible alone, states them fairly, and lets Scripture answer:

1. The Claim: “The Bible never says ‘Bible alone.’”
2. The Command: “Paul said hold the traditions.”
3. The Canon: “The Church gave you the Bible.”
4. The Chaos: “Without Rome you get five hundred denominations.”

When tradition and God’s Word disagree, which one wins?

📖 Sermon notes and resources: brianoverturf.com/galatians

Picture an old balance scale. On one side sits the standard. On the other, whatever you're testing. The standard never moves. The standard decides. For the church, that standard is the Word of God. Every tradition, every teaching, every prophecy, every sermon gets weighed against it.

The trouble starts when somebody sets a tradition on the same side as the Bible, as an equal weight. Paul knew that world. He was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. This week we put our own traditions on the scale first, then read Rome's system in its own words: the Catechism, Vatican II, and the 1950 dogma of Mary's Assumption.

This isn't about people. It's about a system.

When tradition and God's Word disagree, which one wins?

1. The Mirror. Our own traditions go on the scale first, from old holiness rules to Pentecostal excess.
2. The Personal Scale. Scripture plus Tradition, with one teaching office alone to interpret it, is a scale you bring yourself.
3. The Dogma. How a teaching the Bible never gave became binding on every Catholic on earth.

To the law and to the testimony. The Word wins. Every time.

Download the full notes and all other resources for Galatians at https://www.brianoverturf.com/galatians/the-scale

Everybody has traditions. Tamales on Christmas Eve. The same seat every Sunday. Most are good, harmless, even precious. The problem starts when a tradition picks up authority and sits next to the Bible as its equal.

Paul was zealous for the traditions of his fathers. His world had two camps. One added to the Word. The other cut pieces out of it. And Jesus answered both of them the same way. He opened the Scriptures.

When tradition and God's Word disagree, which one wins?

1. The Source. Paul's gospel didn't come from tradition at all. It came by revelation of Jesus Christ.

2. The Fence. The Pharisees added to the Word until the fence became the law.

3. The Scissors. The Sadducees threw out the tradition and lost the Word anyway, by cutting.

4. The Sword. Tradition trained Saul's conscience and put a sword in his hand.

Tradition is what's handed down. Scripture is what God handed over. When the two disagree, the Word wins. Every time. Nothing added. Nothing taken away.

Download the full notes and all other resources for Galatians at https://www.brianoverturf.com

Paul had just called down the curse of God on false teachers. Twice. Then he stops and asks the room a question about himself: do I seek to please men?

This is the Bible study companion to Sunday's sermon. We take one verse slowly, hear what the scholars say, and trace the approval trap from King Saul to the Pharisees to the modern church growth playbook... and then to the one approval that is already settled.

CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro and Opening Remarks

1:50 - The Big Question and Sermon Point Review

5:40 - Learning Objectives

8:49 - Before the Points: Why Paul Stops to Talk About Himself

12:50 - 1. The Pull: Why the Crowd Is So Hard to Resist

24:01 - 2. The Players: Who These Men Really Were

42:28 - 3. The Pretenders: The Ones Crying People Pleaser Were the People Pleasers

1:04:14 - 4. The Price: What Chasing the Crowd Will Cost You

2:00:14 - 5. The Proof: Paul Got Out, and His Life Proves It

2:17:17 - 6. The Prize: The One Approval Worth Your Whole Life

2:32:17 - Pastoral Takeaways: Carry It Home

For the full notes please visit www.brianoverturf.com

Paul had just called down the curse of God on false teachers. Twice. And the very next thing out of his mouth is a question about himself: do I seek to please men?

Somebody had called him a people pleaser. In one verse Paul answers the charge, and in answering it he exposes a trap every one of us walks past. The bait is not money. It is not power. The bait is approval.

Is the crowd's approval worth it?

1. The Pull. Why the crowd is so hard to resist. It took down a king and silenced men who believed.
2. The Players. Who the troublers really were, and the scorekeeping world they came out of.
3. The Pretenders. The men crying "people pleaser" were the people pleasers.
4. The Price. Whoever you have to please owns you, and it costs you the truth.
5. The Proof. Paul got out, and his life proves it. Scars, not accolades.
6. The Prize. You already belong to the only One whose approval settles anything.

No. Approval is a trap. You end up the slave of whoever you have to keep happy. In Christ the verdict is already in. You are accepted in the Beloved.

For sermon notes and more visit www.brianoverturf.com

Paul says it twice: let him be accursed. So who has the right to change the gospel? Nobody. Not the man who brought it to you. Not an angel from heaven. Not anyone who comes after him.

This is the Bible study companion to Sunday's sermon. We slow down on two verses, hear what the scholars say about every move Paul makes, and find out why he hands the measuring stick to the people in the pew.

WHAT WE COVER

• Why the first name on Paul's curse list is his own, and what that proves about who owns the gospel
• The message judges the messenger. Received first, delivered second
• Why Paul reaches for an angel from heaven, and whether the false teachers ever claimed one
• Why Paul says it twice. No angry outburst, a calmly formed warning
• What "accursed" (anathema) meant, and why this is the judgment of God, not church discipline
• Achan, the troubler of Israel, and the Old Testament story standing behind the word
• Is it unloving? The two reasons Paul felt this so strongly: the glory of Christ and the good of souls
• You already have the real one. Two tests for any gospel: is it grace, and is it in the Bible?

For full notes visit www.brianoverturf.com

If there is only one gospel, then somebody has to be in charge of it.

So who signs off on it? Who has the authority to bring it current, or soften it a little, or make it fit the times we are living in? That is the question these two verses answer, and Paul answers it three times without blinking.

Twice he says the same word over anyone who would preach another gospel: let him be accursed. Anathema. And every time you ask who is allowed to change the message, the answer comes back the same. Nobody.

Who has the right to change the gospel?

1. Not the man who brought it to you, because Paul puts himself under the curse first.

2. Not an angel from heaven, because no messenger outranks the message.

3. Not anyone who comes after, because the gospel was finished before they showed up.

4. You already have the real one, because it was placed in your hands in the Word itself.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. There is no other gospel. There never was. Just this one, and it is already yours.

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Download the full notes and all other resources for Galatians at https://www.brianoverturf.com

The Danger of Desertion | Galatians 1:6-7 | Bible Study

In the one letter where you expect a thank you, Paul writes a rebuke instead. A church that had the real gospel is walking away from it, and the word he reaches for is the word for a soldier who left his post.

Is there really only one gospel?

Galatians 1:6-7 · The Gospel Revealed

More at www.brianoverturf.com

Paul opens every other letter with thanks. Not this one.

He goes straight to I marvel, and in his world that was the opening line of a formal complaint. They knew from the first word that something was wrong. What was at stake was the gospel itself. They had the real thing in their hands, and they were already walking away from it.

The world says all roads lead to God. Many ways up the mountain. Just be sincere or jump through this hoop. But what does God say? Is there really only one gospel?

Three answers. Paul wants to remind these churches and US as well of..

1. The gospel you received, because you did not earn it, you were called into it.

2. The only gospel there is, because a different gospel is not another one.

3. The gospel under attack, because somebody is always working to pervert it.

One gospel. One Savior. One way. To walk away is the most dangerous thing a human being can do.

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Download the full notes and all other resources for Galatians at https://www.brianoverturf.com