(# 328) Romans 9 - Religious Privilege Does Not Save…Sovereign Calling Does

Class Outline:

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Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.

 

Well the presidential election is over here in the United States of America… my vote has been cast…and as usual, the candidate of my choosing has been elected.  Hebrews, Chapter 1, Verse 3 reveals the Person who always has my vote…

 

HEBREWS 1:3

And the Lord Jesus Christ is the radiance of God the Father’s glory and the Lord is the exact representation of God the Father’s nature, and the Lord upholds all things by the word of His power. When the Lord Jesus Christ had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty, God the Father, on high…

 

You see…while there has been a change of government in the Unites States, there has NOT been a change in the government of the universe…nor a change in the One to whom I owe allegiance.  I am confident in Donald Trump, our President-Elect, ONLY because I know He was hand picked for the position by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  In Romans, Chapter 13, the apostle Paul describes the relationship Christians are to have with government…let’s look at Verses 1 to 4…

 

ROMANS 13:1

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those authorities which exist are established by God.

 

ROMANS 13:2

Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God…and

they who have opposed authority will receive condemnation upon

themselves.

 

ROMANS 13:3

For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from authority…

 

ROMANS 13:4

…for authority is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid…for authority does not bear the sword for nothing…for authority is a minister of God…an avenger…who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

 

A friend of mine, when reading these verses quipped, “Even Hitler was established by God?”  Yes.  Even Hitler…and Nero (whom Paul was talking about at the time of writing Romans…probably the most evil leader of all time)…and Sadaam Hussein…and Stalin…and Barak Obama…and everyone who has ever held a position of authority, including you.  And all those who have been put in authority in any realm public or private, have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.  In other words, they are human.  That does not make the Lord the sponsor of evil.  Creatures have free will and can act independently from God.  Woe to those who abuse the power give to them by the Lord!  

 

All who do not like the choice that has been made have recourse…they can go to the God of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, in prayer…First Timothy, Chapter 2, Verses 1 to 3…

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 2:1

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men…

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 2:2

…especially for kings and for all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 2:3a

This is good and acceptable in the sight of the God who is our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…

So let’s keep our souls calm during the transition of power in the United States.  For even though there is a new human leader of this nation, the leader of the universe is still hard at work doing what He does best, that is, allowing divine history to play out until that time when the Lord’s enemies shall be made, by God the Father, a footstool under His feet.  Welcome to a place where you can find the peace of God which surpasses comprehension.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Religious Privilege Does Not Save…Sovereign Calling Does

 

It is not wise to take God for granted…but even if we do, our will does not control God’s sovereign choice.  Rather, God allows our will to play a part in divine history…but our will does not control divine history.  Today we finish up the passage where Paul illustrates this important topic concerning the Lord’s election of a nation and a people.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

A FEW GOOD MEN

Gaither Vocal Band

 

As we turn, for a few moments, from the cares of this life to rest in the

Word of God…let’s listen to…A FEW GOOD MEN sung by the Gaither Vocal Band.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you for the people you put in positions of authority…thank you for creating men and women who are willing to stand at the point of battle…thank you for all those who face sharp and often undeserved criticism from those who sit in the stands of life as critics…thank you for guiding the steps of leaders who seek to do well…

 

Help us to support our leaders regardless of our opinions of them…remind us who is ultimately in control of the universe…Your divinely loved Son… and show us how to handle all situations as He would…even those situations where we disagree with a choice that has been made…handling all things

with Your power, and Your might, and Your dignity…radiating through

us…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...

Amen.

 

A few announcements…

 

BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration

December 11, 2016

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

NO FACE-TO-FACE TEACHING

November 20 and December 4

December 25 and January 1

 

A lesson will be posted for November 20…it’s the New York Pennsylvania Conference message.  A suggested date for the Christmas Lesson is December 23 fROM 6:00p-7:30p…and then perhaps we’ll have a single lesson on New Year’s Day…let me know if those don’t work for you.

 

PRAYERS

Barah Ministries Prayer Request Group

 

Join me in prayer directed at all the intercessions and all the petitions of the

people visiting the Barah Ministries Prayer Request Group.  Please take time to pray for each other.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Pat Collins

November 20

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Religious Privilege Does Not Save…Sovereign Calling Does

 

Romans, Chapter 9, Verses 1 to 5…

 

ROMANS, CHAPTER 9 - PASSAGE 1

 

ROMANS 9:1

I (Paul) am telling you the truth…I am in union with Christ on this…I am not lying to you…my conscience testifies along with me…I am filled with God the Holy Spirit and His enabling power…

 

ROMANS 9:2

…and I tell you that I keep on having great and sorrow and an incessant, haunting grief in my heart (in other words, I am heartbroken).

 

ROMANS 9:3

For if I (Paul) could, I would wish that I myself were accursed (made anathema…sent to the Lake of Fire as a substitute for you), separated from (my union with) the Christ (the Messiah) for the sake of my brethren (the Jews), my “kinsmen according to the flesh” (those Jews who are unbelievers)

 

ROMANS 9:4

…my kinsmen who are Israelites, to whom belongs…the adoption as sons…and the glory…and the covenants…and the giving of the Mosaic Law…and the temple service…and the promises…

 

ROMANS 9:5

…my kinsmen whose are the fathers…and my kinsmen from whose lineage comes the Christ, who became flesh…the Messiah…the One who is over all, THE God, the blessed One forever. Amen.

 

Has God abandoned the Jews…his chosen race…has God abandoned Israel…His chosen people?  Decidedly not…they have abandoned Him…yet He will keep His promises to them.  They have distorted a gift…and made it small…they were chosen to evangelize the whole world, yet they tried to reduce the bigness of God’s gift into an exclusive club.  Ultimately, God does not settle for less than perfection, and this distortion will be eliminated and replaced.

 

We are studying Romans, Chapter 9…the second passage…and the backdrop of this passage is God’s Sovereignty…God is able to do all that He wills.  If creatures don’t respond to God’s will, as the Jewish race has not, it’s not His fault.

 

CHAPTER 9 - PASSAGE 2

 

ROMANS 9:6

But it is not as though the word of God has failed (simply because unbelieving Jews rejected their Messiah). For they are not all Israel (not all spiritual Jews in the eyes of God) who are descended from Israel (as racial Jews)…

 

ROMANS 9:7

…nor are they all children of God (in His eyes) simply because they are Abraham’s descendants…but the Lord says, “Through Isaac (a believer in Christ) your descendants will be named.”

 

ROMANS 9:8

That is, it is not the children…(the born ones) of the flesh…(Ishmael’s seed)…who are children of God, but it is the children (the born ones) of the promise (Abraham’s seed…the born again ones of God that) are regarded (by God) as descendants (of Abraham).

 

ROMANS 9:9

For this is the word of promise made by God to Abram and Sari, “At this time next year I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.”

 

ROMANS 9:10

And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac…

 

ROMANS 9:11

…for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His sovereign choice would stand, not because of works but because of God the Father who calls (by sovereign right)…

 

ROMANS 9:12

…it was said to Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger.”

 

ROMANS 9:13

Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

 

In sovereignty, God selected a nation…Israel…a people…the Jews…and leaders…Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…as His agency to spread the gospel message throughout the world.  He made promises to them…He gave them His word…and it is easy for Him to give His word because God has always been able to do whatever He wants to do.  Why?  It is because the Sovereign God does not answer to anyone.  He created everything and everyone, and it is God’s right as the SOURCE of everything to do as He wills.

 

The Jews made God’s gift small…the dumbed it down…they distorted it as we are all prone to do…yet God does not allow smallness…he demands perfection.  Let’s take a quick music break and we’ll continue our look at the second passage of Romans 9…

 

MUSIC BREAK

HIGHEST PRAISE

Babbie Mason

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Religious Privilege Does Not Save…Sovereign Calling Does

 

Welcome back!

 

If the election results this week teaches us anything, it teaches us what man wants and what God wants are different.  Isaiah, Chapter 55, Verse 9…

 

ISAIAH 55:9

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

God always has plans for us, and when His Sovereign will asserts itself, why are we surprised?  God is sovereign and He can do as He pleases…and He sent a clear message this week concerning who is STILL in charge.

So it is with the Jewish race…they may have abandoned the Lord to go their own way…but the Lord is still in charge.  In Romans, Chapter 9, Verse 8, the Lord sets forth His calling…

 

ROMANS 9:8

…it is not the children…(the born ones) of the flesh…(Ishmael’s seed)… who are children of God, but it is the children…(the born ones)…of the promise (Abraham’s seed…the born again ones of God that) are regarded (by God) as descendants (of Abraham).

 

Why?  God is sovereign.  He is sovereign to elect a nation, Israel, into His service.  He is sovereign to select a people, the Jews, for His service.  And He does just that…exactly as He wills.  It is God’s sovereign calling that matters, not our expenditure of the gift of faith by means of our will.  I am always amazed when I think that an omniscient God, who has always known all that is knowable, including knowing that Judas Iscariot would betray Him, still called Judas Iscariot to be in charge of the treasury.  God always gives us a chance, even though He knows the sad outcome.  Romans, Chapter 9, Verse 9…

 

ROMANS 9:9

For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.”

 

This verse comes from an Old Testament promise by the Lord to Abraham…Genesis, Chapter 18, Verse 10…

 

GENESIS 18:10

The Lord God said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, Abraham…and behold, Sarah your (barren) wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.”

 

Sarah’s response?

 

GENESIS 18:12

Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

 

We often laugh, too, at the Lord’s promises…we doubt…yet Isaac was a promised child and the Lord delivered on His immutable promise.  Romans, Chapter 9, Verses 10 and 11…

 

ROMANS 9:10

And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac…

 

ROMANS 9:11

…for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice (sovereign election) would stand, not because of works but because of Him (the Sovereign One) who calls…

 

God’s purpose according to His sovereign choice…what a powerful set of words…isn’t it nice to be at the right end of that omnipotent power?  How sad to see so few even aware of this power to live a peaceful life.  Not only does the Lord call us to privilege…He ensures our success…as in Numbers, Chapter 24, Verses 17 and 18…

 

NUMBERS 24:17

“I see him, but not now…I behold him, but not near…a star shall come forth from Jacob…a scepter shall rise from Israel…and shall crush through the forehead of Moab…and tear down all the sons of Sheth.

 

NUMBERS 24:18

“Edom shall be a possession, Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession,

while Israel performs valiantly.”

 

Isaiah, Chapter 11, Verse 14…

 

ISAIAH 11:14

They (those of the united kingdom of Israel) will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west…together they will plunder the sons of the east…they will possess Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.

 

Romans, Chapter 9, Verse 12…

 

ROMANS 9:12

…it was said to Rebekah (by the Lord), “The older (Esau) will serve the younger (Jacob).”

 

Prophecy before the children were born…not man’s way but God’s sovereign way.

 

ROMANS 9:13

Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

 

The point?  The SOURCE provides the blessing to whom He wills…it is not the recipient’s response but the SOURCE’S blessing…the SOURCE’S Sovereign calling…that saves us.  We respond to the gospel message because we were given to Christ by God the Father’s sovereign choice as a result of our will expression…and it is His sovereign choice to call those whom He wants to call.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked, “Sirs (talking to Paul and Silas), what must I do to be saved?”

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

ROMANS 10:10

…for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

 

SECOND PETER 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of, but instead He is patient toward you unbelievers, not wishing for any to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

LUKE 19:10

“For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

CLOSING SONG

WHEN YOU SUFFER

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

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Thanks for listening!

 

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