ROM-125-150809 - length: 79:27 - taught on Aug, 9 2015
Class Outline:
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
a Christian Church
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Good Evening!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a worldwide Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.
Thanks very much to John and Monica Miller for hosting the fifth annual Barah Ministries Northern Idaho Bible Conference on August 7th and 8th. We had a blast, as usual. The number of participants continues to grow each year, and next year what we hope to do is to advertise the conference in advance, using the powerful tool called “the internet” to attract more people to it.
The highlight of the trip, in addition to the lessons, was a visit into the wilderness to John and Monica Miller’s log cabin home for a bar-b-cue. Now I know John and Monica are probably rolling their eyes up in their heads…oh come on Pastor…it’s not wilderness…but seriously…they live in the “country!” The nearest grocery store is sixty miles away…the nearest hospital takes a day to travel to by horse and buggy, and the journey begins on a two-mile dirt road…rough place to have a heart attack. Okay…I’m exaggerating…but not by much!
But here’s the key. John and Monica, along with Janice Perry West and all our friends up in Idaho, whether they’re in Coeur d’Alene, or in Post Falls, or in Spirit Lake (population 1376) are family. It is a highlight of my life and my year to go visit my Northern Idaho family. I am so grateful for you guys…I’m grateful for your friendship…for your support…and for the fact that we can just pick up where we left off in a conversation every time we talk, no matter how long it has between conversations. That, to me, is the measure of a true friend…when you just pick up the next conversation exactly where you left off in the previous one. There’s a great group of huggers up there, too! John Miller has the best stories…always ready to hear the next one. I just always feel so nurtured and so cared for when I go up there…and I can’t wait for the next adventure to the north.
Thanks to all the people who attended…especially Heather Luttermoser who came in from Michigan, Mike and Merilee Goodwin, Kara Leonard, Alex McLean, Blair Smiley-Rundgren and her mom Linda, Alyssa Horsley (what a sweetheart), Shirley Barrett, Travis West, Dana Alexander and Harvey, Mary Isaac, Toni Crowe, Kara’s Friend….and of course Susie, Mike and Dorothy who made the trip north with us.
We loved the new facility…the Jacklin Arts and Culture Center…we look forward to being back there next year.
You can hear the conference next Sunday, as we’ll post it for your listening pleasure.
Next year, the conference dates are August 5 and 6, 2016, so mark your calendars NOW and start saving your ducats!
Welcome to the place where you can gather with your royal family to sing the praises of the One and Only God, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
JESUS: THE ONE AND ONLY
Babbie Mason
As we prepare for our study of the Word of God, the opening song is about our Savior…it’s called, JESUS: THE ONE AND ONLY sung by Babbie Mason.
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 allowing us to adopt our own family, thanks for the lesson taught by our nuclear family, thanks for adopting us in the Lord Jesus Christ’s royal family…
Let unity be the Christian motto…let our desire for unity separate us from and distinguish us from the ones who are not indwelled by the entire Triune Godhead…let the Holy Spirit guide us to attain the unity of the faith…help us to reflect You in everything we do…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
Will You Allow Yourself the Privilege of NO CONDEMNATION?
If your spiritual life were a relay race, it is a four-leg relay race. The first leg began in eternity past when God the Father, knowing that you would be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, set up a spiritual endowment to care for your every need…in other words, He built the track in which you could run your race…and in so doing, He ran the first leg of your race for you…
Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verse 3…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us believers in union with Christ (who has endowed us) with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…
God the Father is the author of the plan for your “so great” salvation, and being an author requires both planning and sacrifice. Luke, Chapter 14, Verses 28 to 30…
“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”
“Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him…”
…saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”
God the Father then handed the baton to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to execute your “so great” salvation. John, Chapter 6, Verses 35 to 40…
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not (never, not no how) hunger, and he who believes in Me will never (not no how) thirst.
The Lord is our portion…He is our spiritual food…He is our spiritual refreshment.
But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.
Seeing is not always believing…there were many who saw the Lord and did not believe.
All those that God the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out (into the outer darkness…the Lake of Fire).
For I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of God the Father who sent Me.
This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that God the Father has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up (in resurrection from the dead) on the last day.
Your eternal security is affirmed. You believers in Christ CANNOT lose your salvation.
For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life (the resurrection life), and I (the Lord Jesus Christ) Myself will raise him up (in resurrection from the dead) on the last day.”
In the relay race of your salvation the Lord Jesus Christ hands you off to God the Holy Spirit, whose job it is to prepare us for glorification. The Lord announced the handoff on the night before He was crucified…John, Chapter 16, Verses 12 to 15…
“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have many more things to say to you (my apostles), but you cannot bear them now.”
But when He, God the Holy Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for God the Holy Spirit will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
“God the Holy Spirit will glorify Me, for He will take from what is Mine (my thoughts) and will disclose it to you (in revelation).”
“All things that God the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
Therefore, we believers in Christ are to follow the guidance of Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verse 1…
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of Old Testament witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us (buffeting us from all sides), and let us run with endurance the race of our lives that is set before us…
At the perfect time, God the Holy Spirit will pass the baton back to God the Father. Philippians, Chapter 3, Verse 20 reminds us that as believers in Christ…
…our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…
We came from our residence in heaven and we will return there. The bible makes it clear that there is a heaven…Genesis, Chapter 2, Verse 4…
This (Genesis 1:3 to Genesis 1:31) is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven.
The apostle Paul made a journey to heaven…Second Corinthians, Chapter 12, Verse 2…
I know a man in union with Christ (Me!) who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven (the residence of God).
There is also a hell…called the Lake of Fire…and the bible makes it clear what happens there…Revelation, Chapter 20, Verse 10…
And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
As believers in Christ, we will be returning to God the Father in heaven… Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 8…
…we believers in Christ are of good courage, I say, and PREFER rather to be absent from the physical body (physically dead) and to be at home face-to-face with the Lord.
First Thessalonians, Chapter 4, Verse 13…
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren (believers in Christ), about those who are asleep (physically dead) , so that you will not grieve as do the rest (unbelievers) who have no hope.
We continue our study of Romans Chapter 8…as we begin learning about the one who is running the third leg of our “so great” salvation relay race… God the Holy Spirit…and we are studying the first passage of the chapter… Romans, Chapter 8…Verses 1 to 13…
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
For what the Mosaic Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God the Father did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh…
…so that the requirement of the Mosaic Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace…
…because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so…
…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
However, you (believers in Christ) are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that one does not belong to Christ.
If Christ is in you, (and He is for believers in Christ) though the body is dead because of sin (indwelling), yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness (indwelling).
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you (and He does for believers in Christ), He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—
…for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
We are focused on the first two verses…
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
…specifically our focus is one expression…NO CONDEMNATION
NO CONDEMNATION means salvation…when you become a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saved...and when you die physically, you will be with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven for all eternity.
NO CONDEMNATION means no self-recrimination. What is recrimination?
SELF-RECRIMINATION
The act of blaming yourself.
It can be as simple as, “Oh…what an idiot.” How many times do you say things like that in a day, surprised that you actually make mistakes…considering it unusual instead of typical. “I know better than that!” you might say to yourself. Well knowing isn’t doing, is it?
If the bible says NO CONDEMNATION, the Holy Spirit says, “Stop beating yourself up!”
Let’s stop here for a music break, and we’ll continue with our NO CONDEMNATION MESSAGE…then on to celebrate The Lord’s Supper.
MUSIC BREAK
Welcome back!
NO CONDEMNATION means freedom from the past. That’s the one thing that believers in Christ are just unable to do…WE ARE UNABLE to forget the past. In Philippians, Chapter 3, Verses 13 and 14, Paul, the person who had the worst past of any human being, exhorts us to forget the past…
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead…
…I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
What are the things you hold onto from the past? Said another way…what are the things you are unable to let go from the past?
God the Holy Spirit says, “You don’t have to trust people…trust ME!”
If, as a believer in Christ, you trust the Holy Spirit…there is one thing you have to acknowledge. Your past was perfect. Let me repeat that. Your past was perfect. God orchestrated the perfect past for you. Let me repeat that. God orchestrated the perfect past for you.
One of the things that always cracks me up about human beings is how married we are to past events as the shaping events that are responsible for the maladies of today. In other words, we assume the reason we are failing at something today is because of something in our childhood, such as, our parents were ignorant and they didn’t teach us the things we needed to know…or, we assume the reason the people in our lives, whomever they may be, are failing is because they had a disadvantaged childhood. I say bull. For a believer in Christ, I don’t see how we could ever really entertain that notion as true.
If we believe that our God is perfect, if we believe that everything He does is perfect, if we believe that nothing that happens in the whole created universe happens without His permission, is we believe He has always known us, if we believe that He is working all the things that happen in our lives for the good…and He is…then we have to know that everything in our lives that have happened so far are the perfect things that needed to happen to bring you where you are today. God has you right where He wants you.
God picked the perfect parents for us…the alcohol father…the neurotic mother…the asshole sibling…the perverted uncle. All perfect. God allowed us to have the relationships we choose. And when they hurt like hell?
Perfection…the perfect instruction for us. So all the one sided, abusive, “they cheated on me” relationships we got ourselves into, that God allowed, were all for our good…all the circumstances, whatever they happen to be…as painful as they all are. Perfect. Why? Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28…a verse we will study in depth in due time…
And we know that God the Father causes all things to work together for good to those who love God the Father, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Who loves God the Father, the One we will return to when our spiritual relay race is over? All believers in Christ love God the Father…we demonstrated our love for Him when we chose His plan for salvation for our lives. Who are the ones who are called according to God the Father’s purpose? All believers in Christ!
When we can’t let go of hurtful things from the past, WE are handling them. But it’s not your job, believers in Christ, to handle things from your past. It’s God the Holy Spirit’s job. Have you asked HIM to handle them? Have you asked HIM to take the pain away? He will. The scars of the hurts won’t go away. But the pain will. Are you depending on God the Holy Spirit? Do you believe that the condemnation of the past is actually past? Do you know that you are free? First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 7…
…casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION
Looking Back is Good When it is His-Story
History. His-Story.
The Lord’s Supper is a reminder for believers in Christ of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us in the past. In that way, it is a memorial service...yet just like the Christian funeral is a celebration, this looking back to the Lord’s death on a Cross is a celebration as well.
On the evening he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus Christ was eating a meal with his apostles…Luke, Chapter 22, Verse 19…
And when the Lord Jesus Christ had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the apostles, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
They each ate a piece of the bread. When we participate in the Lord’s Supper, we each eat a piece of bread to remember the Lord Jesus Christ as a PERSON. Luke, Chapter 22, Verse 20…
And in the same way the Lord Jesus Christ took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”
When we drink the wine or the grape juice at the Lord’s Supper, we remember that Jesus’ blood was shed for us, and that his blood signified the new covenant. Drinking the cup of The Lord’s Supper reminds us of his WORK on our behalf. Just as the old covenant was sealed by the sprinkling of blood, the new covenant was established by Jesus’ blood. Hebrews, Chapter 9, Verses 18 to 28…
Therefore even the first covenant (in the Old Testament) was not inaugurated without blood.
The Old Testament believers were taught by a series of training rituals involving animal sacrifice and animal blood.
For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Mosaic Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people…
…saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.”
Remember…God’s commands are a request to free will.
And in the same way Moses sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.
And according to the Mosaic Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Bad news for those people who think that confessing your sins is a prerequisite for forgiveness.
Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these (animal sacrifices), but the heavenly things themselves (must be cleansed) with better sacrifices than these.
For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but Christ entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God the Father for us…
…nor was it that the Lord Jesus Christ would offer Himself often (as with animal sacrifices), as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own (the blood of animals).
Otherwise, the Lord Jesus Christ would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin (once, for all time) by the sacrifice of Himself.
And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment (the evaluation)…
…so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
As Paul said…First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26…
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
As you enjoy the bread and the cup, enjoy the memory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well. Now and always, as the Lord’s Supper song reminds us to keep on giving thanks.
LORD’S SUPPER SONG
Give Thanks
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION
Looking Back is Good When it is His-Story
The Lord’s Supper looks back to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Is Jesus’ death a good thing, or a bad thing? There are certainly some very sorrowful aspects to his death, but the bigger picture is that his death is the best news possible. It shows how much God loves us—UNconditionally… and so much that he sent his Son to die for us, so that our sins may be forgiven and so we may live forever with him.
The death of Jesus is a tremendous gift to us. It is precious. When we are given a gift of great value, a gift that involved personal sacrifice for us, how should we receive it? With mourning and regret? No, that is not what the giver wants. Rather, we receive it with great gratitude, as an expression of great love. If we have tears, they are tears of joy.
So the Lord’s Supper, although a memorial of a death, is not a funeral, as if Jesus were still dead. Quite the contrary—we observe this memorial knowing that death held Jesus only three days—knowing that death will not hold us forever, either. We rejoice that Jesus has conquered death, and has set free all who were enslaved by a fear of death. Hebrews, Chapter 2, Verses 14 and 15…
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil…
…and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
We can remember Jesus’ death with the happy knowledge that he has triumphed over sin and death! As Jesus said…John, Chapter 16, Verse 20…
Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.
Celebrating to The Lord’s Supper a celebration, not a funeral.
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
are Guarantees!
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
Jesus said to doubting Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through believing in Me.
He who believes in the Son has eternal life (the ZOE life); but he who does not obey the (command to believe in the) Son will not see (the Zoe) life, but instead the wrath of God the Father abides on him.”
CLOSING SONG
REDEEMER
June Murphy
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 glorious Person, Your lucid thinking, Your impeccable work, and Your magnificent 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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