(# 371) Romans 12 - God Would Rather Beg You Than Command You

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.  At Barah Ministries 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.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

God Would Rather Beg You Than Command You

 

Are you taking advantage of the power of God in your life? 

 

God has you covered…past, present, and future!  God the Father blessed us believers in Christ in the past with election…He promises us a glorious future through the riches of His glorious grace now that we are in union with Christ…and the Father keeps on allowing enabling power to be poured into us right now by God the Holy Spirit. 

 

Are you taking advantage of this power from God in your life? 

 

Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verses 13 to 23 describe this power…the Greek words dunamis sphaia…God’s sphere of power

 

EPHESIANS 1:13

In the Lord Jesus Christ, you Gentile believers in Christ also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel message of your salvation—having also believed the gospel message, were sealed in union with Christ by His agent…God the Holy Spirit…whom the Lord promised to you

(in John 16:13)…

 

EPHESIANS 1:14

…God the Holy Spirit…who is given to us by God the Father as a pledge of our future inheritance, with a view to the (ultimate) redemption of the Father’s own possession (our release from all future contact with sins at physical death), to the praise of the Father’s glory.

 

EPHESIANS 1:15

For this reason (our being blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies) I (Paul) too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which exists among you believers at Ephesus (your vertical relationship with God), and after hearing of your unconditional love for all the saints (your horizontal relationship with people)…

 

EPHESIANS 1:16

…do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you (with intercessions for you) in my prayers…

 

EPHESIANS 1:17

…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father to whom all glory belongs, may give to you believers in Christ the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

 

God the Holy Spirit is our spiritual rudder…the One responsible for our sanctification, which is the second phase of the Christian Way of Life.  The Holy Spirit is charged with teaching us the Christian Way of Living…He’s the One who teaches us who God is so that we can know God intimately and personally.  God is not a concept…He’s a Person.  Paul is praying that we, as believers in Christ, come to have what Paul has developed…a deep, intimate and personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

EPHESIANS 1:18

I (Paul) pray that the eyes of your heart may keep on being enlightened, so that you will keep on knowing what is the hope…of God the Father’s calling (of you in eternity past…the absolute confidence in the benefits of your election by God the Father…and), what are the glorious riches of the Father’s inheritance in the saints (the guarantee of a glorious future)…

 

EPHESIANS 1:19

…and that you will know what is the surpassing greatness of God the Father’s power (divine omnipotence, right now, in every circumstance of life, directed) toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength (dunamis) of His might …

 

EPHESIANS 1:20

…which strength and might God the Father brought about in union with Christ, when the Father resurrected Christ from the dead and seated the Lord Jesus Christ at His right hand in the heavenly places…

 

EPHESIANS 1:21

…far above all rule and authority and far above all power and dominion, and far above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

 

EPHESIANS 1:22

And God the Father put all things in subjection under the Lord Jesus Christ’s feet, and gave the Lord as the Head over all things, to the church age believers…

 

EPHESIANS 1:23

…who are His body…the giving of a fullness of Christ who fills everything in every way.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

THY WILL BE DONE

Hillary Scott

 

As we study the Word of God in Romans, Chapters 12 to 16, we will learn one thing…it is best to do things one way…God’s way…the opening song tells us why.  It’s Hillary Scott singing THY WILL BE DONE…and what Hillary is telling us is that God’s will is always what happens…God’s will is always done!  Many thanks for a God who works all things together for our good.

 

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 showing us the way…Help us to choose Your way over our own…

 

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

Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

God Would Rather Beg You Than Command You

 

We’re three lesson into the study of Romans, Chapter 12, which has four passages for us to enjoy…

 

PASSAGE 1

Verses 1 and 2

 

PASSAGE 2

Verse 3

 

PASSAGE 3

Verses 4 to 8

 

PASSAGE 4

Verses 9 to 21

 

Romans, Chapters 12 to 16 detail the DO’s and DON’Ts of The Christian Way of Living.  As we listen to the reading of Romans, Chapter 12, notice the action orientation of the passage…notice the DO’s and DON’Ts…

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

 

ROMANS 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing

of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

ROMANS 12:3

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think

more highly of himself than he ought to think…but to think so as to have

sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

 

ROMANS 12:4

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function…

 

ROMANS 12:5

…so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

 

ROMANS 12:6

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly…if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith…

 

ROMANS 12:7

…if service, in his serving…or he who teaches, in his teaching…

 

ROMANS 12:8

…or he who exhorts, in his exhortation…he who gives, with liberality…he who leads, with diligence…he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

 

ROMANS 12:9

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil…cling to what is good.

 

ROMANS 12:10

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love…give preference to one another in honor…

 

ROMANS 12:11

…not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord…

 

ROMANS 12:12

…rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer…

 

ROMANS 12:13

…contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

 

ROMANS 12:14

Bless those who persecute you…bless and do not curse.

 

ROMANS 12:15

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

 

ROMANS 12:16

Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

 

ROMANS 12:17

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.  Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

 

ROMANS 12:18

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

 

ROMANS 12:19

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

 

ROMANS 12:20

“But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink…for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

 

ROMANS 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

We’ve begun the study of Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1.  Let’s remind ourselves of what we have learned so far. 

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore, I (Paul) urge (beseech) you, brethren (believers in Christ), by the (multi-faceted) mercies of God…to present your bodies (by choice, not by command…as) a living and holy sacrifice…acceptable to God the Father… which is your spiritual service…worship.

 

This verse has a few convenient parts to look at.  What are the parts?  There

are nine of them…

 

THEREFORE

 

I BESEECH YOU

 

BRETHREN

 

BY THE MULTI-FACETED MERCIES OF GOD

 

TO PRESENT YOUR BODIES

 

A LIVING AND HOLY SACRIFICE
 

ACCEPTABLE TO GOD THE FATHER

 

YOUR SPIRITUAL SERVICE
 

WORSHIP

 

So far we have looked at two of the parts…

 

THEREFORE…this word asks you to consider all the wonderful things we have learned in the first eleven chapters of Romans and to keep on bringing them constantly to mind.  THEREFORE is always a “heads up” in the bible encouraging you to look at the things that have come before, and to consider the implications of what you have just learned.  One of the many things we have learned in our study of Romans...God is for us, so who can be successful against us?

 

I BESEECH YOU!  is the next part.  What does it mean to beseech someone?  It means…

BESEECH

To implore…to beg…to urge…to make urgent appeal…to solicit…to ask someone to DO something.

 

What is God begging us believers in Christ to do, through the apostle Paul, of our own volition?  He’s begging us to GROW UP…He’s begging us to SHOW UP in this life.  He is begging us not to sit on our arses!  J

What God is imploring us to do is simple.  Like a good parent He is saying, “In light of all I’ve done to prepare you, through My Word, for this life I have given you…thorough your own volition, do something for Me.”  That something can be as simple as sharing the gospel message, the good news about the benefit of having a deep, intimate and personal relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

The third part…BRETHREN.  Every passage we study in the bible demands a question from us…to whom is God speaking?  Well there are two groups…believers and unbelievers.  God is always talking to one or the other.  Let’s look at First Corinthians, Chapter 6, Verses 9 to 11…to see if we can determine whom God is talking to in this passage…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 6:9

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived…neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 6:10

…nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 6:11

Such were some of you…but you were washed…but you were sanctified…but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in name of the Holy Spirit of our God.|

 

God is talking to unbelievers here.  How do we know?  “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  Unrighteousness is not something believers in Christ possess.  If you don’t notice to whom a passage is directed, it can be a prescription for a bad day.

 

Let’s take a music break…and when we come back we’ll take the offering, we’ll celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and then we’ll move on to the fourth part of Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1…a look at the MULTI-FACETED MERCIES of God.

 

MUSIC BREAK

JESUS THE ONE AND ONLY

Babbie Mason

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

God Would Rather Beg You Than Command You

 

Let’s begin the next portion of our lesson by giving you a chance to make an offering…we need and we value your financial support to continue the work of this ministry…please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

ROMANS 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

Now let’s celebrate the Lord’s Supper…

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

There is No Room for Two Minds in God’s Plan

 

There is a really good reason why we believers in Christ will never be “Christ-like.”  It’s because we don’t, nor can we ever, think like Christ thinks.  We need to…because the way our God thinks is totally sufficient and needs no opinions from any of His Creatures.

 

Today, just as we do every month…we celebrate the Lord’s Supper…a meal of remembrance.  It’s a way to demonstrate our love for the Lord Jesus Christ.  We eat, by breaking bread…we drink, by tasting the fruit of the vine…and we look back to the Cross…one of the most significant demonstrations of LOVE in divine history.

 

At the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ did what was required…the only thing required…to handle the problem of Adam’s sin.  By means of the Lord’s shed blood, we have two possibilities that we can accept as certainties.  First, we have access to forgiveness.  Second, we have access to fellowship with God.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ earned a complete pardon for all creatures at the Cross…forgiveness from every sin we would ever commit, past, present and future.  To our human mind, the Lord doing this makes no sense.  Yet in Isaiah, Chapter 55, Verse 9, the Lord helps us make sense of it…

 

ISAIAH 55:9

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

 

In the mind of God the Father, there was only one way for the sin problem to be dealt with, once and for all time, and that was for God the Son, the Lord, to take on the form of true humanity…Jesus Christ…to live a sinless life for thirty-three years…to go to the Cross…and through His shed blood, not just cover sin, but completely eradicate its sovereignty over us.  Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 2 explains…

 

ROMANS 8:2

For the governing power of the Holy Spirit of life, in union with Christ Jesus, has set you believers in Christ free from the governing power of sin and of death.

 

Second, we have access to fellowship with God by accepting a relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. At the Cross, the Lord tore down the barrier between God and His creatures.  We can now move from the possibility of fellowship with God to the certainty of it, a fellowship that can’t be taken away…a fellowship that can’t be lost.  By accepting fellowship with God, we give Him access to our insides, the only way He develops us.  God indwells us and develops us from the inside, out.  There is no “eye wash” in God’s plan…not those things that are pleasing to you and to others…but only those things that are pleasing to God.  Hebrews, Chapter 10, Verses 11 to 13…

 

HEBREWS 10:11

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same (animal) sacrifices, which can never take away sins (or offer fellowship with God)…

 

HEBREWS 10:12

…but the Lord Jesus Christ, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God the Father…

 

HEBREWS 10:13

…waiting from that time onward until the Lord’s enemies be made, by God the Father, a footstool for Christ’s feet.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ cleansed us on the outside with His shed blood to make us acceptable to God the Father by forgiving all of our sins.  Then the Lord indwelled those of us who ask for a relationship with Him, and gave us God the Holy Spirit to show us how to live a life of single-mindedness, where we learn to do everything God’s way.  All that is not done God’s way is truly worthless.  There is no room for two minds in God’s plan.

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION:

Enjoying the Elements

 

Following God’s request, we keep on celebrating CHRIST and His Cross on a regular basis…we eat to remember who He is as a PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK, the voluntary sacrifice He made at the Cross on our behalf as our sin substitute…and we are grateful for what God has done for us.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 and 24 say…

 

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:23

For I, Paul received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which He was betrayed took bread…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:24

…and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is, and keeps

 on being My body, which is broken for you…keep on doing this celebration

 for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

When we eat the bread during the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the Lord Jesus Christ AS A PERSON. 

 

When we drink the cup, we remember THE WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 25 and 26 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:25

In the same way the Lord Jesus Christ took the cup after supper, representing His death on the Cross, saying, “This cup is a new testament forged with My blood…keep on doing this celebration…and as often as you drink it…do so for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup (as part of the Lord’s Supper Celebration), you proclaim (as a reality and you announce the significance of) the Lord Jesus Christ’s death (on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead) until He comes (again in the second coming).

 

As you enjoy the bread and the cup, enjoy the memory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well. Now and always, let us keep on giving thanks that we are loved unconditionally and accepted fully by THE LORD WHO IS ALWAYS THERE…the One we can depend on…let’s keep on being transformed by His life and His death and His Word…and let’s enjoy His unconditional love Day by Day…and that’s the name of our Lord’s Supper song.

 

LORD’S SUPPER SONG

DAY BY DAY

Godspell

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

God Would Rather Beg You Than Command You

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1…

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore, I (Paul) urge (beseech) you, brethren (believers in Christ), by the (multi-faceted) mercies of God…to present your bodies (by choice, not by command…as) a living and holy sacrifice…acceptable to God the Father… which is your spiritual service…worship.

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1 has a few convenient parts to look at…the fourth part is I (Paul) Beseech You…BY THE MULTI-FACETED MERCIES OF GOD.  The literal translation would be better rendered, “Keep on being persuaded because of God’s many mercies.”  What are some of the mercies of God?  In the time we have left, we can look at one of them…

 

JUSTIFICATION

 

Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 1 and 2…

 

ROMANS 5:1

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we believers in Christ have peace with God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ…

 

ROMANS 5:2

…through Christ also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this sphere of grace in which we stand…and we exult in hope of the glory of God the Father.

 

Having peace with God means having fellowship with God…God no longer has anything against us.

 

What is justification?

 

JUSTIFICATION is a full pardon from being set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…it is the removal of Adam’s sin from us…it is that God never credits our personal sinning to our account…in essence we have diplomatic immunity… instead our personal sinning is credited to Christ’s account, the One who is the only perfectly satisfactory payment for our sins…it is an unbreakable union with Christ…it is being given the righteousness of God as our admission ticket to heaven…it means having God the Father announcing our name regularly in heaven as justified… it is being legally qualified to come to heaven so our relatives in heaven can look forward to seeing us.

 

We’ll learn more about the mercies of God in the next lesson…just know

this…God wants us to volunteer for these mercies.  He doesn’t want to

shove them down our throats.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ROMANS 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God the Father…divine omnipotence…to provide salvation to everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ…to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentiles).

 

MATTHEW 7:13

“Enter salvation through the narrow gate (the Lord Jesus Christ)…for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction…and there are many who enter through it.”

 

MATTHEW 7:14

“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to the resurrection life, and there are few who find it.”

 

JOHN 10:9

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) am the door to salvation…if anyone enters through believing in Me…he will be saved…and then he will go in and out and find pasture.”

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22

For all in union with Adam are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…but all those in union with Christ will live the resurrection life.

 

CLOSING SONG

REDEEMER

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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