(# 332) Romans 9 - Silence is One of the Best Ways to Get to Know the Sovereign God

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.  We worship the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We call Him Lord because He is 100% God.  We call Him Jesus Christ because He is 100% true humanity just like you and me.  And we worship Him…Psalm 46, Verse 10 says…

/PSALM 46:10

“Cease striving and know that I am God…I will be exalted among the nations…I will be exalted in the earth.”\

God’s enemy, Satan, is always on duty.  He and his demon army are a source of constant irritation in the lives of believers in Christ.  “The flesh” and “the world” are always offering believers the next temptation designed to ruin our lives…designed to steal away our serenity…designed to make us miserable. 

Yet our God, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is always on duty as well…offering us peace…offering us Himself…offering us His unconditional love…going ahead of us…never failing us…never forsaking us…faithful to us…always at the ready to take up for us and to show mercy to those of us who are obedient to Him.

He asks us to CEASE STRIVING…to just KNOW.  What is striving?  It is what we do when we’re trying too hard…when we are exerting ourselves…when are running to the front in our lives when God is already there taking up the battle for us…for the battle of this life is truly the Lord’s.

Welcome to a place of worship…and to a service of worship…where you can simply CEASE STRIVING and KNOW that your God is on duty…where you can silence yourselves for a few minutes, from all the cares of the world…where you can listen to the still small voice that is always talking to you and directing you, when you are silent enough to listen and to hear.

/TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Silence is One of the Best Ways to Get to Know the Sovereign God\

Revelation, Chapter 2, Verse 7 says…

/REVELATION 2:7

“He who has an ear, let him hear what God the Holy Spirit says to the churches.”\

/MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

BROTHER

Need to Breathe\

As we direct our thoughts skyward to our powerful God’s voice, let’s listen to…BROTHER sung by Need to Breathe.

/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 speaking to each of us every day in so many ways… thank you for giving us will so that we can choose to listen to Your still small voice…show us how to unhook ourselves from the distractions of this life that we use to “kill” time, and let us instead prepare ourselves for all the things you have coming up in the near future, both for us and for Your enemies…things that ensure the total victory You have predicted from the foundation of the world…

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

January 8, 2017\

After today’s Lord’s Supper…

/MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

NO FACE-TO-FACE TEACHING

December 25 and January 1\

/MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

CHRISTMAS LESSON

December 23 at 6:00PM\

Live Stream…

/MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

NEW YEAR’S LESSON

January 6 at 6:00PM\

Live Stream…a great way to kick off the year…

/MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

VISIT THE VETS CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

December 18

1:45P to 3:00P\

/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.

/TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Silence is One of the Best Ways to Get to Know the Sovereign God\

In Psalm 62, Verses 5 to 8, David speaks of the Sovereign SOURCE of his strength…

/PSALM 62:5

My soul, WAIT IN SILENCE for God only, for my hope is from Him.\

/PSALM 62:6

He only is my rock (a source of safety) and my salvation (the Deliverer), my stronghold (a fortress)…I can not be shaken (I am secure).\

/PSALM 62:7

On God my salvation and my glory (honor) rest…the rock of my strength… my refuge…is in (my relationship with) God.\

/PSALM 62:8

Trust in God at all times, O people, pour out your heart before Him (in continual belief and faith and trust)…God is a refuge for us.\

Quite often we think we must always be active…always on the go…always on the move to have worth…yet God bids us to wait in silence for Him.  If God were a cartoon character, I think He would be the dead terrorist…I think he would say, “Silence!  I kill you!”  We are doing well when we simply learn the Word of God and then reflect God’s mind with our character, in a purity that adds no interference.Silence is a great way to not interfere with God.  Today, let’s spend time really listening for what God wants to say to us through this lesson.

Let’s listen to the first three passages under study in Romans 9, and let’s see if we can hear what God the Holy Spirit is saying to us through these passages, about our God’s sovereign election of a nation, Israel…and a people, the Jewish race.  Here’s the first passage of Romans, Chapter 9…Verses 1 to 5…listen for a description of God’s heart when He sees His creatures go astray…expressed well by the apostle Paul…

/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 in this matter…\

/ROMANS 9:2

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

/ROMANS 9:3

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

/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 who are of the lineage of the fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)…and my kinsmen from whose lineage comes the Christ, the One who became flesh (and tabernacled among us)…the Messiah…the One who is Sovereign over all, THE God (Deity), the blessed One…who IS forever. Amen.\

In God’s heart there is great sorrow when His creatures wander away from Him…when His creatures think our way is a better way…because HE never wants to see us hurt in any way…especially in light of all the gifts He has given us to protect us and to advance us.

The second passage is Romans, Chapter 9, Verses 6 to 13…

/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 (they are 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.”\

When we wander away from God’s protection in unbelief, it does not alter His plan in any way.  He continues to love us…He continues to bless us…He continues to influence us to come back to His path…He continues to parent us…and He never stops parenting us or protecting us from ourselves and from our enemies. 

The third passage…Romans, Chapter 9, Verses 14 to 18…

/PASSAGE 3

ROMANS 9:14

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? (In other words, God isn’t unfair is he?)  May it never be!\

/ROMANS 9:15

For the Lord says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”\

/ROMANS 9:16

So then it (the election of a nation and a people) does not depend on the man who wills (the one who is trying by choice to earn God’s favor) or the man who runs (the one who is by effort working to deserve God’s favor), but (the election of a nation and a people depends) on God who has mercy.\

/ROMANS 9:17

For (as an example) the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate that My power (works) in (spite of) you (and your choices), and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”\

/ROMANS 9:18

So then the Lord has mercy on whom He desires, and He (allows the hardening) of whom He desires.\

What do you hear as you listen to these first three passages?  If you are listening well, you are hearing the apostle Paul make an argument about God’s sovereignty.  The Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, knows exactly what He is doing.  He has a sovereign plan for all of His creatures.  The enemy of God seeks to distort the truth about God and His plan. So we must be clear, as Christians, concerning the truth of God’s sovereignty and we must be aware of His enemy’s attempts to distort and discredit God in our eyes, hoping we will think God is a bully and tyrant who has robbed us of choice.  As we continue studying Romans 9, the truth of God’s sovereignty is coming to light.  Let’s take a quick music break…and I’ll do my best to help you understand God’s sovereignty in a way you can explain it.

/MUSIC BREAK

AT YOUR FEET

Casting Crowns\

/TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Silence is One of the Best Ways to Get to Know the Sovereign God\

So Romans 9 is an argument…Paul introduces a complex line of reasoning about the nation, Israel, and about the Jewish race.The conclusion of the argument is in Romans, Chapter 9, Verses 30 to 32…let’s take a look at these verses so we know where Paul is headed with this chapter…

/ROMANS 9:30a

What shall we say then?\

“What shall we say then” … means…“to what conclusion are we forced when face-to-face with all these things so far in Romans 9?”

/ROMANS 9:30b

We’ll say that the Gentile (nations), who did not a pursue a righteousness(of their own…self righteousness), attained (absolute) righteousness…even the righteousness which is gifted by God to the Father to those who express faith in Christ…\

/ROMANS 9:31

…but the nation of Israel and the unbelieving Jewish race, keep on pursuing a law of righteousness (the Mosaic Law…designed only to illuminate righteousness or the lack of it)…but the nation Israel and the unbelieving Jewish race did not arrive at that law (of righteousness…they did not fulfill the conditions of the law…as a result, they did not attain righteousness that way).\

/ROMANS 9:32

Why didn’t they obtain righteousness? Because they did not pursue righteousness by faith (alone in Christ alone), but (they pursued righteousness) as though righteousness were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone (they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ)…\

/ROMANS 9:33

…just as it is written (in Old Testament Scripture), “Behold, I (God the Father) lay in Zion (Jerusalem) a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (the Lord Jesus Christ), and he who believes in the Lord (for righteousness, thus salvation) will not be disappointed.”\

Where is Paul headed in Romans, Chapter 9?  He is identifying why the nation Israel and the unbelieving Jewish race are being allowed by God to harden themselves…GOD GAVE THEM OVER…it’s their lack of faith in Christ…unbelief.

How does Paul’s conclusion of Romans 9 connection to God’s sovereignty?  As the Sovereign God of the Universe, God has a right to do anything He wills.  God’s enemy, accuses Him of many things in the use of His sovereignty…among them…

/ACCUSATIONS AGAINST GOD’ SOVEREIGNTY

In sovereignty, God saves some and damns others to hell

God makes and then breaks promises

God’s will for His creatures is connected to their performance\

/ACCUSATIONS AGAINST GOD’ SOVEREIGNTY

At first, God liked the Jews and hated the Gentiles

Now God changed His mind about the Jews…Why?

If God elects someone for a privilege and the person rejects it,

God will get back at him.\

/ACCUSATIONS AGAINST GOD’ SOVEREIGNTY

It’s God’s fault that the Jews rejected Christ

          The Word of God has failed\

Of course none of these accusations have merit.  The truth is this…God alone does not determine who is saved and who is not.  God has a plan to save EVERYONE…WHOSOEVER.  God saves those who express the desire to be saved.  He allows those who want to be condemned to be condemned.  Creatures must accept responsibility for their use of will.

God is willing to be merciful to those who request it and He is willing to GIVE YOU OVER (to harden you) when you request it.

If you want to understand God’s sovereignty, it requires silence.  You have to let God sort out the quandary of His sovereignty for you…I’ll help.  And when you do figure it out, you’ll come to the same conclusion I have…anyone who ends up in the Lake of Fire…anyone who ends up with a hard heart…asked for it.  God had no desire to give either to you.

We’ll continue our study of God’s sovereignty next week.

/GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked (Paul and Silas), “Sirs, 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

HE’S BEEN FAITHFUL

June Murphy\

/CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...\

/Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

www.barahministries.com\