(# 353) Romans 10 - Is God a Punishing God?
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Evening!
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 Is God a Punishing God?
If He is, His favorite target for punishment might be Unbelieving Israel and the Unbelieving Jewish Race…fortunately for them both, God IS NOT a punishing God.
It’s hard for humans to accept that, because it’s hard for humans to accept that God loves all of us unconditionally. Yes…WITH NO CONDITIONS. When someone has conditions, they require something of you before they are willing to do something for you. People work like that. God doesn’t. God doesn’t require anything from us to love us. He just loves.
That’s hard for humans to accept. People actually have asked me, “You mean God loves Hitler, and Stalin, and Nero, and Saddam Hussein and all of the worst monsters who ever lived…unconditionally?” Yes. That’s exactly what I mean. He does. In fact, why wouldn’t he? If unconditional love isn’t based on your conduct, then why would this be hard to understand?
It’s also hard for humans to realize, as we fight the battles of every day life, that God is on our side. Whether you realize it or not, and whether you believe it or not, God is ALWAYS on your side. Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 28 to 32… ROMANS 8:28 And we believers in Christ 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 the Father’s purpose.
God takes the things that happen to us, and He keeps on making them work out for us. He keeps on delivering us to victory after victory. Does that sound “punishing?” Have you lost your reputation in the eyes of “the good people” of this world? God makes your life a turnaround testimony for “the bad people” of the world.
Who is being referenced in Romans 8:28 as “those who love God?” The ones who love God are “the called ones”…believers in Christ…those whom God the Father summoned and gave salvation to…that’s what is meant by “those called according the Father’s purpose.”
ROMANS 8:29 For those whom God the Father foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son (the Lord Jesus Christ)…so that Jesus would be the firstborn among many brethren…
What is foreknowledge? God the Father knew us before He allowed us to be created…and He had an end in mind with us from the beginning…that we would be just like His Son…perfect in every way in God the Father’s eyes, and blessed in every way by God the Father…
ROMANS 8:30 …and these whom God the Father predestined, He also called…and these whom God the Father called, He also justified…and these whom God the Father justified…He also glorified.
The three steps of God the Father’s plan…He CALLED TO SALVATION all believers in Christ…He JUSTIFIED believers in Christ…pronounced them as absolutely righteous and sanctified them, setting them apart for privilege…and He GLORIFIED believers in Christ …which is in the past tense in the Greek of the New Testament… because even though it is a future event for us, it is already completed in God’s mind and in God’s plan.
ROMANS 8:31 What then shall we believers in Christ say face-to-face with all these things? If God the Father is for us, and He is, who is (ever successful) against us?
Uh…no one!
ROMANS 8:32 God the Father, who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Jesus over (to death) for us all…how will God the Father not also, now that we believers are in union with Jesus Christ, freely give us all things?
He will! No one could ever truthfully call a God who is unconditional toward us and a God who is on our side a punishing God. It just does not compute, unless you take bible verses and biblical situations out of context. Welcome to a place where you can learn how much you are loved, and how much the Lord is on your side, through the study of the Word of God.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
THY WILL BE DONE Hilary Scott
If we want to have a great life…we are four words away…here is Hilary Scott to tell you the four words you always want to say to honor what the Lord wants to do for you…THY WILL BE DONE.
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 being on our side…thank you for loving us unconditionally…thank you for considering our problems to be Your responsibility…thank you for handling all of our problems when we decide to let go of them…when we release them all to You…
Father…erase the lies from our brain that paint you as a punishing, vindictive God who is always looking to hurt us…help us to enjoy the fact that You are on our side…that You are continuously working for our good, and that You are always interested in delivering us to total victory no matter how many mistakes we make…help us to never tire of hearing about Your love for us…and keep words of praise for You coming from my lips… We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name... Amen.
A couple of quick announcements…
BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Caleb Luttermoser March 25, 2017
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Joel and Deanna Perkosky March 31, 2017
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Is God a Punishing God?
Hell no! (No pun intended!)
We continue our study of Romans, Chapters 9-10-11. Before we transition to the third and final chapter of this three-chapter treatise on Israel and The Jewish Race… Romans, Chapter 11…we are taking a look back at the first two chapters to see what we have learned so far. Last week we looked back at Romans, Chapter 9…this week we look back at Romans, Chapter 10.
In witnessing God’s dealings with Unbelieving Israel and The Unbelieving Jewish Race…how He dealt with them in the past in Romans, Chapter 9…how He is dealing with them now in Romans, Chapter 10…and in how He will deal with them in the future in Romans, Chapter 11…a theme of persecution emerges. The Jewish Race is arguably the most persecuted race in the history of mankind. Yet God allows the disadvantages like persecution, so He can deliver us to victory…and that is exactly what will happen with The Jewish Race. God allows suffering for our benefit. It is a reflection of His righteousness, His justice and His love that He would allow us to be persecuted at the hands of the merciless, and then deliver us…and we only have to look at what God the Father allowed with His Son at the Cross to see what He plans for us. Galatians, Chapter 3, Verse 13 says…
GALATIANS 3:13 The Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Mosaic Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—
Cursed is everyone who is crucified…the Lord was cursed so that “whosoever” could have the resurrection life. Let’s take a look back to the four passages of Romans, Chapter 10, to see what we learned…
PASSAGE 1
ROMANS 10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God the Father for Israel and for The Jewish Race is for their salvation.
The opening of Romans, Chapter 9 and the opening of Romans, Chapter 10 are the same…the apostle Paul expressing a heartfelt concern for Unbelieving Israel and The Unbelieving Jewish Race. Paul reminds us that our spiritual life is intensely personal…not as a thing to be hoarded…rather as a thing to be shared, because this is the one part of our lives we want to get absolutely right.
ROMANS 10:2 For I (Paul…can easily) testify about Israel and The Jewish Race that they have a zeal for God, but not at all in accordance with knowledge (of Scripture).
There is no one that knows about zeal more than Paul…and this verse is a PERFECT description of Paul before his trip down the Damascus Road. His zeal for God was so intense that he wanted to wipe out anyone who was not following the God of his choosing the way he believed it should be done! Unfortunately the God he was representing was not the God of the forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as Paul thought. Paul had a zeal for God…he was “boiling over” for God…but not for the God of Scripture, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
ROMANS 10:3 For not knowing about God’s requirement of (absolute) righteousness (in fact, being completely ignorant about it…meaning they ignore it) and instead seeking to establish their own (self-)righteousness (which is a finite righteousness…not an infinite righteousness), Israel and The Jewish Race did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God the Father (through faith in Christ).
Instead of placing themselves under the umbrella of God’s righteousness… like Satan did, this enemy of God, they sought to “Make Themselves Like the Most High” … they sought to create their own righteousness. Well no matter how good their righteousness is, it would never be as good as God’s righteousness.
ROMANS 10:4 For the Lord Jesus Christ is the end…(the termination)…of the Mosaic Law…so that there may be absolute righteousness credited to everyone who believes (in the Lord Jesus Christ through faith alone).
The Lord Jesus Christ, at the Cross, put to death the law of death…the Mosaic Law…a law designed to cause us despair when we realized we could never follow it…the joy of not being able to keep the law is to recognize our complete helplessness, and to realize our help is in the name of the Lord…calling on His Person for salvation. For all those who call on the name of the Lord there is the free gift of absolute righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ is the One to whom the Mosaic Law pointed for salvation.
PASSAGE 2
ROMANS 10:5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on Mosaic Law shall live by that righteousness.
A member of the Jewish Race who does not recognize that Christ is the end of the Mosaic Law stumbles over a critical point…a resurrection life giving point. There is no life in the righteousness obtained from the Mosaic Law. In other words, if you live by the Mosaic Law, you will die the second death in the Lake of Fire by the Mosaic Law. But if you live by the law of absolute righteousness as a free gift by faith, you will keep on living forever!
ROMANS 10:6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down from above)…”
The Lord Jesus Christ came down to earth voluntarily and tabernacled among us…He required no one to look for Him…
ROMANS 10:7 “…or do not say in your heart ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
The Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead by His Father, and by God the Holy Spirit, so no one had to seek Him out under the earth…
ROMANS 10:8 But what does God’s righteousness say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the (spoken) word of faith (the gospel message) which we are preaching…
The word of righteousness speaks from within us…every one of us, when we sin, have a guilt reaction…a knowledge that we have done something against God…and we have no choice but to go to God for the soothing touch that only His forgiveness can provide…a forgiveness paid for in the past by Christ at the Cross and a forgiveness that stands finished forever. And because we are forgiven…
ROMANS 10:9 …if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved…
Alleluia! Praise Jesus! O Glory! Right June?
ROMANS 10:10 …for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Let’s take a music break…sometimes in this life we lose…it feels like a punishment…but we always win with Jesus. EVEN IF by Mercy Me.
MUSIC BREAK EVEN IF MercyMe
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Is God a Punishing God?
Of course not!
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 10:15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
OFFERING FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE Dave McClure, Instrumental
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Is God a Punishing God?
Welcome back! Romans, Chapter 10, Verses 11 to 15…
PASSAGE 3
ROMANS 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whosoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will not be disappointed.”
I am convinced that we have a God who is not one to show partiality… “whosoever” can be saved…anyone…and ALL of the sins of “whosoever” were paid for at the Cross…thus salvation is open to all…and nothing connected with God EVER results in disappointment.
ROMANS 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek…for the same Lord is the Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him…
ROMANS 10:13 …for “whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
God is not going to run out of righteousness…that’s what we meant earlier when we called absolute righteousness an “infinite righteousness.” He has an abundance of righteousness for anyone who wants it.
ROMANS 10:14 How then will Unbelieving Israel and the Unbelieving Jewish Race call on the Lord in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in the Lord whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
ROMANS 10:15 How will the preachers preach unless they are divinely sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
Not to worry…the Lord always sends messengers with “beautiful feet” to spread the good news of the gospel message, so Christ can be heard, and called on, and believed! I am privileged to be one of the divinely sent ones. Yet even when God makes every provision for our righteousness, there are many who reject the gift.
PASSAGE 4
ROMANS 10:16 However, Israel and The Jewish Race did not all heed the good news of the gospel message…for (the prophet) Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”
God gives to all, but His gifts are not taken by all.
ROMANS 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of the Christ (the Jewish Messiah).
Yet there are still those who are eager to hear the message…and it seems that those in the worst shape are the ones who are most likely to take in the message…those who “need” a Savior…the wretches…like me!
ROMANS 10:18 But I (Paul) say, surely Unbelieving Israel and The Unbelieving Jewish Race have never heard, have they? Indeed they have heard…“Their voice (the voice of missionaries) has gone out into all the earth, and their words have gone out to the ends of the world.”
All have heard…
ROMANS 10:19 But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation…by a nation without understanding will I anger you.”
All have understood…
ROMANS 10:20 And (the prophet) Isaiah is very bold and says, “I was found by those who did not seek Me (the Gentiles)…I became manifest (clearly visible) to those who did not ask for Me (the Gentiles).”
ROMANS 10:21 But as for Israel and The Jewish Race the Lord says, “All the day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people (and they have rejected My Hand).”
But those sure of their own righteousness will not hear. Why? Revelation, Chapter 12, Verse 9…God has an enemy…
REVELATION 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…
The liar deceives us…and we believe…why not believe the One who is telling the truth? So is God a punishing God? Let’s hear what David has to say in Second Samuel, Chapter 24, Verses 10 to 14…
SECOND SAMUEL 24:10
SECOND SAMUEL 24:11 When David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying…
SECOND SAMUEL 24:12 “Go and speak to David, ‘Thus the Lord says, “I am offering you three things…choose for yourself one of them, which I will do to you.”’”
SECOND SAMUEL 24:13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return with to Him who sent me.”
SECOND SAMUEL 24:14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
Would David want to put himself in the hands of a punisher? Hardly. Our hope is always in the Lord, the one full of grace and full of truth.
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 the wide gate.”
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 the narrow way.”
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 IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION
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