ANCF-625-140331 - length: 61:37 - taught on Mar, 31 2014
Class Outline:
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
a Christian Church
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
Holy is the Lord
As God prepares your soul to receive refreshment, let’s turn the cares of our lives over to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our God…the living Word…the Light of the World…the Savior of the Universe and the Savior of everyone in the world…and let’s prepare to hear the Lord’s exact thinking through the written Word. We begin by worshipping the Lord in song. The opening song is HOLY IS THE LORD.
HOLY IS THE LORD
We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He
And together we sing
HOLY IS THE LORD
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory
HOLY IS THE LORD
We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He
And together we sing
Everyone sing
HOLY IS THE LORD
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory
HOLY IS THE LORD
Yes…it’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown
It’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown
And together we sing,
And everyone sing
HOLY IS THE LORD
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory
HOLY IS THE LORD
The earth is filled with His Glory
Holy holy is the Lord Almighty,
Holy holy…
Holy holy is the Lord Almighty,
Holy holy…
Holy holy is the Lord Almighty,
Holy holy…
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute
truth...the Word of God…
Thank you for placing us in the dilemma of condemnation at physical birth…thank you for giving us a life that is nothing without You…thank you for highlighting to all of us that we are born sinners, ungodly, and unrighteous…for letting us know that there is none righteous among us not even one…because when we know the fruitlessness of our predicament… when we don’t know where to turn…we see your outstretched hands reaching for us in love to offer us a so great salvation…
Make us as believers worthy ambassadors of your message of mercy and grace…let it resonate in our hearts and let it be on our lips in the presence of everyone we meet.
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
Romans 1: When We Break the Rules, We All Want Mercy
Turn in your bibles to Second Samuel, Chapter 24, Verse 10…
Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people He had taken a census). So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”
For some reason, David conducted a military census. In the context we
cannot tell why he did it, but we clearly know from the context that it was
not what the Lord wanted him to do, thus it was a sin.
When David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer (a prophesier of future events), (with the Lord) saying…
“Go and speak to David (and tell him), ‘Thus the Lord says, “I am offering you three things; choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’”
The Lord is allowing David to “pick his poison,” for he whom the Lord loves He also disciplines…
So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him (the Lord) who sent me.”
Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
David wisely preferred the Lord’s mercy when he broke the rules. By doing so, David put himself in gracious hands.
Welcome to bible study. To the resident members of Barah Ministries and to all those who listen to Barah Ministries lessons who are currently dispersed far and wide throughout the world…and to all of our welcome guests…grace and peace to you from the three members of the Godhead, God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit…and from their physical manifestation…the Sovereign of the universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord is God…Jesus Christ is true humanity…and the full essence of both God and Man are combined in Jesus Christ as a clear picture of our status as Church Age believers. We, too, as beings who were placed into union with Christ at the moment of salvation, have God indwelling our
true humanity to make us a new spiritual species never before seen in the
history of mankind.
Our God has placed us into Satan’s kingdom as ambassadors…Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 20 says…
Therefore, we (believers in Christ) are ambassadors for Christ, as though God (the Father) were making an appeal through us (because He is); we (believers in Christ) beg you (unbelievers) on behalf of (the Lord Jesus) Christ, (to) be reconciled to God.
As ambassadors of the gospel we face a tremendous amount of rejection of our God and of the message. Yet count all of this rejection as joy, believers, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if you lack wisdom during your trials, ask of God in prayer, a God who gives to all generously, and that for which you ask will be given to you. Ask in faith, without any doubting, for when we doubt we are like the surf of the sea, which is driven and tossed by the wind. If we doubt, we ought not to expect that we will receive anything from the Lord, because when we doubt we are being a double-minded man, unstable in our ways. Yet we did not learn Jesus Christ is this way…in the way of doubting…we learned Him in the way of faith…by placing our total confidence in Him for everything.
Turn in your bibles to Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 18…we just completed this passage and we are ready for the next…
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and against the unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…
…because that which is known about God is evident within those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness; for God made knowledge of Himself evident to them.
For since the creation of the world the Lord Jesus Christ’s invisible attributes, His eternal power and His divinity, have been clearly seen by all mankind, being understood through everything that has been made in the entire created universe, so that all mankind, especially those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness are without excuse in the matter of knowing there is a God.
For even though those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness knew there is a God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him for creating them, but instead they engaged in futile speculations about God, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness became fools…
…and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for idols in many forms…they worshipped corruptible man…they worshipped birds…they worshipped four-footed animals…they worshipped crawling creatures.
Who worships man? The Lord says many do…Matthew, Chapter 15, Verse 2…the scribes and Pharisees asked the Lord…
“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
In Verses 8 and 9 the Lord responds…
‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’
It’s easy to worship men instead of God. How many times have you heard a
Christian say they were choosing a church based on the man who is teaching
rather than on the message from God? And when the man is found to be
just another human who has a spiritual gift, it’s time to go on the search for another perfect human at a new church. Who worships birds? In the Hindu culture, birds are considered sacred. The peacock is considered a sacred bird of Hindu. Who worships four-footed animals? In the Thai culture, white elephants are considered sacred and are considered a symbol of royal power.
Who worships snakes? In the Native American culture, snakes are given reverence, as close to home as the Hopi tribe of Arizona where the serpent figures prominently in their tribal dances. Quite often, we think of these forms of worship as ancient, when they are still going on today, and are very much alive and well even though they may exist outside of our experience. Satan worship is alive and well too, but have you ever seen it? It may be in your neighborhood!
In this last passage we learned several things…
All men are born under God. He is the reason we are saved. Acts, Chapter 4, Verse 12…
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”
All men are born under God’s law. In John, Chapter 7, Verse 9, the Lord says…
“Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law?”
How do men respond to God’s laws?
All men are sinners at physical birth…
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
All men are ungodly. Jude, Chapter 1, Verse 4…
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
All men are unrighteous…
…as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD…”
As a result, all men are under condemnation from birth, and no man can save himself. Galatians, Chapter 2, Verse 16 …
…nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith (alone) in (the Lord) Christ Jesus (alone), even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith (alone) in Christ (alone) and not by the works of the (Mosaic) Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Believing you can keep the law, and thus be justified by the works of the law, is self-righteousness…it is the crime of trusting in your own ability in the matter of salvation.
Some men choose to be saved by God. Others refuse to be saved by God for whatever the reason. The passage we just completed calls misunderstanding of whom God is “darkened understanding.”“False speculations” result from darkened understanding…a perversion of God’s laws. In fairness, God proves His case against the unbelieving in the human race.
In Roman, Chapter 1, Verses 18 to 23, God announces His case against the ungodly and unrighteous…they knew God, both through general revelation…in nature…even to the remotest parts of the earth…and through
human nature…God reveals Himself from outside of us…and God reveals Himself from within…in the conscience of man…when we say “I should,” the words of guilt, it’s an indication that we know right from wrong. Romans, Chapter 2, Verses 14 and 15…
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves…
…in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them…
Take a five-minute break…
BREAK
I Can Only Imagine
When I Think About Home
Welcome back! In Roman, Chapter 1, Verses 18 to 23, God announces His case against the ungodly and unrighteous.
They knew the rules…they had a choice to obey…they could choose to fully follow God’s counsel in all matters…they could keep the law and receive blessings…or they had a choice to disobey…they could choose to follow different counsel…they could break the law and pay a fine. When we measure ourselves by our own laws we always measure up to our own relative and constantly moving standard…it’s called self-betrayal…for which we require self-justification…which turns into self-deception…and ends with self-absorption.
The “they” we are referring to in this passage…Roman, Chapter 1, Verses 18 to 23 is the Gentiles (non-Jewish unbelievers). In the next passage of study, we see God’s response to the rejection of His Person and His Laws… and let me say this…like David from our Second Samuel passage, what we hope for when we break God’s law is that He will ignore the law…if God ignored the law for some and enforced the law for others, would God be fair?
God loves us…but He is not sentimental…He is not human…He is not
partial…He can love us while simultaneously being fair to all parties concerned. In Romans Chapter 1, Verses 24 to 31, our next passage, God responds to the rejection of His unconditional love…and all you can say is, “Ouch” …
Therefore GOD GAVE THEM OVER(those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness) in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
For they (those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness) exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason (the worship of creatures rather than the Creator) GOD GAVE THEM OVER to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural…
…and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, GOD GAVE THEM OVER to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…
…being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips…
…slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents…
…without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful…
…and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
GOD GAVE THEM OVER. Those are haunting words when they apply to God as it relates to us. Almost as haunting as the words, “the wrath of God is revealed...”
The next part of this passage is just as bone chilling as the first…we’ll continue to study this passage in our next lesson.
CLOSING
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him (Jesus), And He will make your paths straight.
The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed
Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.
CLOSING SONG
How Great Thou Art
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS
INTERCESSION
PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are an accurate reflection of Your unconditional love, Your person, Your thinking, Your work, and Your essence...we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for listening!
www.barahministries.com
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