ROM-148-151115 - length: 69:11 - taught on Nov, 15 2015
Class Outline:
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
a Christian Church
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a worldwide Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark. Let’s begin the lesson with a few announcements…
BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Pat Collins
November 20
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Tracy Bixby
November 25
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Next Deacon’s Meeting
November 21, 2015
7:30AM MST
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Visit the Vets
December 20, 2015
1:45PM MST
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EVENING SERVICE
December 20, 2015
6:00PM-7:30PM MST
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No Face-to-Face Teaching
December 6, 2015
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No Face-to-Face Teaching
December 27, 2015
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No Face-to-Face Teaching
January 10, 2016
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LESSON INTRODUCTION
We Depend on God for the Holy Life
The holy life is lived based on two ideas. One idea is revealed in John, Chapter 15, Verses 1 to 5. It’s the idea that apart from God we can do nothing…
“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) am the true vine, and My God, the Father, is the vinedresser.”
The vinedresser is the one in a vineyard who cares for the vines.
“Every branch (that professes to be) in Me that does not bear fruit (a reference to unbelievers), the Father takes away; and every branch in Me that bears fruit (believers in Christ), the Father prunes this branch so that it may bear more fruit.”
“You apostles are already clean because of the word (the gospel message) which I have spoken to you.”
Of course all the apostles were “clean” except Judas Iscariot, who was an unbeliever.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.”
Abide here means, first and foremost, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Secondarily, it means to persist in having faith in the Lord when we are one of His believers. The believer who has no faith in the Lord does not bear fruit. John, Chapter 15, Verse 5…
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit (the fruit of the Spirit), for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
So one idea is…
ONE IDEA
The Lord Jesus Christ says…
“Apart from Me you can do nothing”
The other idea is revealed in Philippians, Chapter 4, Verses 10 to 13…the idea that we can do all things through Christ…
But I (Paul) rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you Philippian believers have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
Paul’s contentment is based on his gratitude for the Lord’s provisions, whatever they happen to be.
I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, I have learned the secret both of having abundance and suffering need.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The second idea is…
A SECOND IDEA
The Lord Jesus Christ’s Power
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”
So here are the two ideas together…
THE TWO IDEAS
John 15
Apart from the Lord we can do nothing
Philippians 4
We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us
Dependence. Isn’t it great to be able to depend on the Lord? Welcome to a place where we can learn the contentment that comes from depending on and having faith in the One who keeps on pouring His enabling power into us.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
VOICE OF TRUTH
Casting Crowns
The opening song is VOICE OF TRUTH sung by Casting Crowns.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Thank you for keeping us safe in the storm…thank you for sending your Son to a Cross to shed His blood on our behalf…thank you for resurrecting Him from the dead to prove to the whole world that He is indeed Your Son and the master of the universe…
Incline your ear to our prayers, Father, and give heed to the voice of our supplications…in the day of trouble when we call on You, answer us…
teach us Your ways, Father, and help us to walk in Your truths…and do not let our enemies prevail over us…instead give us the strength to endure the trials You place before us…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
We are Led by the Spirit
The next passage we are studying in Romans 8 is Verses 12 to 17…let’s look at it and listen to it together…
So then, brethren, we believers in Christ are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to guidance from the flesh—
…for if you are living according to guidance from the flesh, you must die; but if you are living by the agency of God the Holy Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, and you will live the resurrection life.
For all who are being led by the Holy Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
For you believers in Christ have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
The Holy Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…
…and if we believers in Christ are children of God, and we are, we are heirs also, heirs of God the Father and fellow heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
We have looked at the detail of Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 12 and 13, the summary verses from the previous passage of study…
So then, brethren, we believers in Christ are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to guidance from the flesh—
…for if you are living according to guidance from the flesh, you must die; but if you are living by the agency of God the Holy Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, and you will live the resurrection life.
...as believers in Christ, we want to live a holy life, the resurrection life…a great way to start the day is to consciously give the controls of your life to God the Holy Spirit. Do you begin the day in prayer…or do you begin the day in the shower? When you awaken each morning, do you give control of your life to God the Holy Spirit or do you give control of your life to coffee?
Last week we began our study of Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 14 and 15…
For all who are being led by the Holy Spirit of God, these ones are sons of God.
For you believers in Christ have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
We were looking at a few of the key expressions in these two verses…led by the Sprit of God…the sons of God…we have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear…we have received a spirit of adoption as sons.
As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we Christians are dependent on the God the Holy Spirit if we want to live the holy life…the resurrection life…the eternal life. What is dependence?
DEPENDENCE
A state of relying on someone or something for aid, for support, or for sustenance
Why are we dependent? We are dependent on God mostly because nothing in the plan of God requires or allows any merit or any work on our part. But let’s take a look at dependence, because that idea confuses most Christians.
It’s easy to see a progression in the spiritual life…the progression from dependence, to independence, to interdependence. The spiritual life progression is much the same progression as we have in our everyday lives. We are born dependent on our parents. In the teen-age years we succumb to the illusion of independence. Truly, it’s the time where we begin to test our decision-making ability. As adults we are aware of our interdependence, our need for others.
These stages of progression work the same in the plan of God. I hear Christians struggle in their minds with the idea of dependence on God. How dependent are we? How dependent should we be? What’s the fine line between being dependent on God and doing things myself? Perhaps an analogy will clarify the situation.
As a parent, when you have a baby, they are totally dependent on you for EVERY SINGLE THING. They are like sheep. They don’t know when to eat. They don’t know when to sleep. They can’t go to the bathroom on their own. They can’t dress themselves. For first time parents, the transition from caring for self only to having total responsibility for another human being is shocking and exhausting. It takes a while to get used to…all the equipment…all the time…all the requirements…with no owner’s manual.
It is no less shocking and exhausting when your aging parents are completely dependent on you. You have to watch them at all times to make sure they don’t hurt themselves. Often, they are like sheep as well. They can’t feed themselves. They can’t clean up after themselves. They can’t go to the bathroom on their own. They can’t dress themselves. It can be shocking and exhausting to care for them, too.
God gave us free will. Our will and His will co-exist in human history. When two people have free will, but one of the people is not in a position to truly express free will…as with babies and the elderly who can’t care for themselves…we get a clear picture of what submission looks like. The person who is dependent on us lines up his will with our will, and accepts the care the other person is willing to give. So it is with our dependence on God. When our will is aligned with His will completely, we are in submission. Yet when someone is COMPLETELY dependent on you, it’s easy to long for the day when they are not going to be dependent on you.
When someone is independent, they are acting unilaterally and autonomously. Teen-agers are a great example. They consider themselves to be independent in that they seldom line up their will with their parent’s will. The easy road to independence is reaction. Whatever the parent tells you to do…do the opposite. This could easily be described as disobedience and rebellion more than submission. The funny thing about teen-agers is that even though they think they are independent they are not…they can’t pay the mortgage… they can’t pay the other bills…often they can’t drive …and their soul is all folly. What they are good at is playing. They are usually not at all good at working.
So it is when we act independently from God. We make our own decisions, and seldom do they line up with God’s decisions for us. We are playing, not working. We are having what we describe as fun, but the bible would describe it as immorality. And we are not on our own. God is providing life and support even when we turn away from Him in disobedience. When someone in your life is completely independent, you long for the day when they realize that they need others.
Adulthood, hopefully, is that time of interdependence. It’s the realization that you need to work in collaboration with others. This is what God longs for in us…not the time when we are totally dependent, although God handles our dependence well…not the time when we are rebellious and disobedient in our independence…although God handles that well…but the time when the best of dependence and the best of independence with the disadvantages of neither come into play.
God wants us to depend on Him for direction, but He also wants us to have the desires of our hearts. God doesn’t want us to hand over every decision to Him as if we don’t have free will. For example, He’s not a matchmaker. Other than giving general direction to His believers about whom to marry, by saying don’t marry an unbeliever…and direction on the sexual orientation of our partners…not ordaining same sex marriages…God leaves the choice of a spouse to us. In other words, there is no fine line.
God expects us to take direction from Him and then to use that direction to make choices. God does not want His people to abandon their will in favor of His. He wants them to use their will in obedience to Him while He takes the desires of their heart into play.
I have the spiritual gift of Pastor-Teacher. God gave me the gift, but He did not tell me how to use it. He leaves that up to me. There are any number of ways I can use that gift.
No one wants a relationship where they have to do everything for the other person. God is no exception (even though He does all things for us). God expects us to engage our will in the spiritual life, and the expression of our will says everything to God about our relationship with Him. There is no fine line. So we understand that we are dependent on God, yet the expression of our will is extremely important to God. He expects us, as spiritual adults, to do our part of the spiritual life while simultaneously requiring only the expression of our WANT TO. Let’s take a music break.
MUSIC BREAK
FEEL IT
Toby Mac
TODAY’S STUDY
We are Led by the Spirit
Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 14 and 15…
For all who are being led by the Holy Spirit of God, these ones are sons of God.
For you believers in Christ have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
We were looking at a few of the key expressions in these two verses…let’s look at led by the Sprit of God. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we areled by the Spirit. Being led by the Spirit is not referring to His guidance…although that form of leading is certainly part of His work with us. Being led by the Spirit in this context is a reference to His complete control of us. The Lord Jesus Christ turned God the Holy Spirit over to us at the moment of our salvation…we became His property and His responsibility.
What are the things that God the Holy Spirit is to us as believers in Christ?
God the Holy Spirit teaches us about the things of God…First Corinthians, Chapter 2, Verses 10 to 13…
For to us God revealed wisdom through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God…
…which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those things taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
As believers in Christ we are born of the Spirit…John, Chapter 3, Verses 5 and 6…
Jesus answered Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, of the water of the Word and born again of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
As believers in Christ, we are living by the Spirit…Galatians, Chapter 5, Verse 25…
If we live by the Spirit, and all believers in Christ do, let us also walk by the Spirit.
As believers in Christ, we are in union with the Spirit (EN PNEUMATI)… Philippians, Chapter 3, Verses 2 and 3…
Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision…
…for we believers in Christ are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in union with Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh…
As believers in Christ, we are sealed by the Spirit…Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verse 30…
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
As believers in Christ, we are indwelled by the Spirit…First Corinthians, Chapter 6, Verse 19…
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of God the Holy Spirit who is indwelling you, whom you have from God the Father, and that you are not your own?
As believers in Christ, we are filled by the Spirit…Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verses 15 to 21…
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men walk, but as wise…
…making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but keep on being filled with the Spirit…
…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord…
…always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father…
…and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
God the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 26 and 27…
In the same way God the Holy Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us when we are praying with groanings too deep for words…
…and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
God the Holy Spirit witnesses in our hearts…Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 16…
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…
When we are being led by the Spirit of God, because we allow it…we can have absolute confidence of our success in every endeavor.
When the Lord Jesus Christ
Promises Salvation, It’s a Guarantee!
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given to mankind by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”
“For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
CLOSING SONG
WORD OF GOD SPEAK
June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION
And we pray that You protect our steps as we go out into the world, Father…and that you keep us on the narrow way, completely dependent on You and Your Guiding, Mentoring Spirit…we ask this in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for listening!
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