Romans 089: Romans 1 - Humans Beings Prefer to Learn Things the Hard WayWelcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.
The people who consider Barah Ministries home are Christians. The Person we worship is Christ, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because He is God. We are not religious, because Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in Him, and we are in an unbreakable relationship with Him. He makes us Christians… the Christ. Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17 says…
2CO 5:17 Therefore if (1) anyone is in (union with) Christ (and all believers in Christ are, through the baptism by God the Holy Spirit), he is a new creature; the old things passed away (they lost their power and their sovereignty over us); behold, new things have come.
Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 1 says…
ROM 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in (union with) Christ Jesus.
Our confidence is in CHRIST.
Barah Ministries is a church. A church is not a building. A church is a collection of people who choose to come together for worship. To those of you who are guests, you are welcome to worship with us and we hope you choose to become a part of this body of believers, if this place of worship is a fit for you. Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 12 says that God appoints the Pastor of a church…
EPH 4:12 …for the equipping of the saints (believers in Christ) for the work of service, (a place dedicated) to the building up of the body of Christ (a collection of believers)…
When we come together to worship, we listen to the Word of God together…and its truth transforms our minds…Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2…
ROM 12:2 …do not be conformed to this world (Satan’s system of thinking), but (keep on) be(ing) transformed by (God in the) the renewing of your mind…
Revelation, Chapter 2, Verse 7 tells us how to renew our minds…
REV 2:7 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what (God) the (Holy) Spirit says to the churches.’
As the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ’s exact thinking is communicated here through His written Word, the bible, with this result…Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verse 13…
EPH 4:13 …(the building up…the renewing of our mind continues) until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and (until we all attain) the knowledge of the Son of God, to (become) a mature man, (living up) to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
Our unity as a body is expressed as CAMARADERIE. We hope you find Barah Ministries to be a friendly and edifying collection of imperfect people.
To demonstrate our worship of the Lord, we look to serve others. Our Lord encourages us with these words…in Matthew, Chapter 23, Verse 11…
MAT 23:11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.”
Therefore, as a body, we look for opportunities to serve our COMMUNITY.
That’s what Barah Ministries stands for…
BARAH MINISTRIES
Christ - Camaraderie - Community
Welcome to a place dedicated unity in a world that detests it.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
He is Exalted
We begin our worship service today by worshipping the Lord in song. The opening song is HE IS EXALTED.
HE IS EXALTED
He is exalted, the King is exalted on High, and I will Praise Him He is exalted, forever exalted and I will Praise His Name He is the Lord, forever His truth shall reign Heaven and Earth, rejoice in His holy name He is exalted; the King is exalted on High
HE IS EXALTED
He is exalted, the King is exalted on High, and I will Praise Him He is exalted, forever exalted and I will Praise His Name He is the Lord, forever His truth shall reign Heaven and Earth, rejoice in His holy name He is exalted; the King is exalted on High
HE IS EXALTED
He is the Lord, forever His truth shall reign Heaven and Earth, rejoice in His holy name He is exalted; the King is exalted on High He is exalted; the King is exalted on High 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 providing us with a method to learn things the easy way…
Let this lesson remind us that You and your Word are the easy way.
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY Romans 1: Human Beings Prefer to Learn the Hard Way
What does it mean to learn things the hard way?
LEARNING THE HARD WAY The perspective gained from the experience of trial and error instead of learning by simply taking God at His Word.
When describing people who like to learn the hard way, my mom used to say, “He’s one of those Negroes who doesn’t believe that fat meat is greasy!” What she was saying is that a lot of times, human beings are “have to” creatures. We actually want to abandon our freedom, a “want to” orientation, and be forced into a “have to” course of action. For example, we have diabetes in our family history, yet sugar is our vice. We wait until our pancreas stops functioning to adopt a diet consistent with a healthy lifestyle. We adopt all manner of excuses… “it’s hard to stop eating sugar” yet when the doctor says, “If you keep eating sugar, you’re going to die,” all of a sudden we can stop on a dime. Then when we have proven that we can choose to stop ingesting sugar, we eat it again…we sneak it… “sugar’s not that bad!” is our lie.
We know ourselves well enough to know that we have no willpower, and that left to our own devices, we would most likely take the lousy and self-injurious course of action. Quite often, we much prefer it. Alcohol. Drugs. Sex. Food. You name the addiction. And often, even when it’s clear we “have to” stop, we don’t stop. Human beings prefer to learn the hard way. Turn to Ecclesiastes, Chapter 8…beginning with Verse 5…we listen to the wisdom of Solomon…
ECC 8:5 He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time (to do things) and (the proper) procedure (to use).
A wise person is one who avoids the King’s wrath. We are wise when we use discernment in every decision and when we heed God’s directions in every decision. When we listen to God (the King), when we obey God (the proper time and procedure), we do things the easy way. Wisdom! Verse 8…
ECC 8:8 No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or (no man has) authority over the day of death; and there is no (man who is) discharge(d from the army) in the time of war, and (so it follows that) evil will not deliver those who practice it.
A verse that says, quite simply, don't be stupid. Don't tug on Superman’s cape. Don’t spit into the wind! Don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger. We are under God and we are under God’s laws. Verse 10…
ECC 8:10 So then, I have seen the wicked (unbelievers) buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.
Many unbelievers learn things the hard way. In our current Romans passage, last week we learned how God handles rebellion. GOD GAVE THEM OVER. Unbelievers often have a great life on earth…they flaunt their contempt for God and His Word…they choose a different ‘god’…they live by their own rules…and then they die…and then they are buried…and then they are forgotten…and they learned the worst lesson to learn the hard way…there is a God and His Word is truth. They spend their lives ignoring the things they hear about God. I call this “licking the stick of dynamite and hoping it doesn’t explode.” Verses 11 to 13…
ECC 8:11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly (in human history), therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.
In the human realm, because it appears we get away with things we do that are illegal, we are prone to do more wrongdoing. We wait for the law to come down on us, and we always do the mistake that gets us caught. My mom would say, “He thinks he’s slick…but he can always stand another greasin’ !” I think my mom was obsessed with grease. In divine history, God, too, let us off the hook of our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross to pay for our sins. Quite often we use that as an excuse for licentiousness…rebellion and unrestrained conduct, especially in sexual matters…
ECC 8:12 (In the human realm…and we have seen it)…although a sinner (an unbeliever) does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life (live a long time), still I know that it will be well for those who fear (respect) God, who fear (respect) Him openly.
ECC 8:13 But it will not be well for the evil man (the unbeliever) and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear (respect) God.
As believers in Christ, we can witness what happens to unbelievers and we can realize, without the experience, that disrespecting God and disobeying His requests is not the practice of the wise. God often allows unbelievers to have amazing lives here on earth because He knows they will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. As believers in Christ, we can learn the easy way, not the hard way, if we choose. We can be the people who take the advice of Harvey MacKay…Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty! We can do things the easy way and not the hard way.
Unbelievers often like to do things the hard way. The passage under study, Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 24 to Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 31 highlights the results unregenerate unbeliever’s rebellion against God.
God responds to the rejection of His unconditional love…and all you can say is, “Ouch” …
ROM 1:24 Therefore GOD GAVE THEM (those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness) OVER in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
ROM 1:25 For they (those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness) exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
ROM 1:26 For this reason (the worship of creatures rather than the Creator) GOD GAVE THEM OVER to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural…
ROM 1:27 …and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
ROM 1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, GOD GAVE THEM OVER to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…
ROM 1:29 …being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips…
ROM 1:30 …slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents…
ROM 1:31 …without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful…
ROM 1:32 …and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
GOD GAVE THEM OVER. Those are haunting words when they apply to God as it relates to us. Almost as haunting as the words, “the wrath of God is revealed...”
Take a five-minute break.
BREAK Amazing Grace My Chains are Gone When I Think About Home
Welcome back!
GOD GAVE THEM OVER…what happens when God leaves you to your own devices? What happens when God accepts your disobedience? What happens when you make up the rules?
ROM 1:24 Therefore GOD GAVE THEM (those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness) OVER in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
GOD GAVE THEM OVER. The lusts of the heart are much deeper than the lusts of the flesh. The lusts of the heart will continue into all eternity. Lust…a desire that is never satiated. It’s depravity.
DEPRAVITY Corrupt…wicked…perverted
Sin is depravity. Sin is not okay with God. You should never think so. The lusts of the flesh are sinful. The lusts of the heart are sinful. The bible says that anyone with a sin nature, and that is all of us, are totally depraved form birth. We are not “basically good people” as Satan’s lie proclaims. We are corrupt, wicked and perverted from birth. Jeremiah talks of a time when the Jews turned from the Lord to idolatry, a form of depravity, just as the unbelievers in the Romans passage under study have done…they have even turned their children to the worship of idols…turn to Jeremiah, Chapter 17, Verse 5…
JER 17:5 Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind (for protection) and makes flesh (the sin nature) his strength, and whose heart (simultaneously) turns away from the Lord.”
The problem for unbelievers is that their safety comes from man. That’s depravity.
JER 17:6 “For he (this man who turns away from the Lord…the unbeliever) will be like a bush in the desert and (he) will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant (like the area around the Dead Sea which is unable to sustain life).”
Unbelievers have it rough! For the believer in Christ, a different story…Verse 7…
JER 17:7 “Blessed is the (righteous) man who trusts in the Lord (Jesus Christ) and whose trust (confidence) is (from the Source of) the Lord.”
JER 17:8 “For he (the believer in Christ) will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat (of drought) comes; but its leaves will be green (in times of drought), and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor (will it) cease to yield fruit.”
Believers in Christ always do well because God sustains them. Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 25…
ROM 1:25 For they (those practicing ungodliness and unrighteousness) exchanged the truth of God for a lie (from Satan), and worshiped and served the creature (a created being…Satan) rather than (worshipping) the Creator (who created them and), who is blessed forever (for all ages). Amen.
The Big Lie of human beings … “I’m getting better” … it is polishing a turd The Other Big Lie of human beings is that there is anyone but God…that an exchange of God for a god is of benefit to us…as a result of the exchange from God to god, we manifest total depravity. How do you measure your own depravity? Yes. This does apply to you. Depravity is most easily measured by perversion…and your use of your sexuality is one way you can see a manifestation of your depravity, a witness of your perversion. Most depravity is covered…we are able to hide it in the closet of our minds or the inner sanctum of our homes. Yet in our society today, we are now we endorsing with great comfort, either actively or passively, that perversion not be covered.
Satan is the author of perversion…depravity….sin…idolatry…all the things that destroy the creature. When we engage in those things, there is a result…a fast and obvious downward spiral, caused by self betrayal, that we cover with our self-justification for so long that it turns into a regular program of self-deception (“I’m the type of person who”)…which eventually becomes self-absorption, the total inability and the total unwillingness to see anything from another’s point of view.
When God give us over, we want to learn things the hard way. Quite often, human beings prefer to learn the hard way. Let the lessons of Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 24 to Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 31 be your encouragement to learn things the easy way instead.
We Close with the Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
PRO 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him (Jesus), And He will make your paths straight.
DEU 31:8 The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed
ISA 30:18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.
CLOSING SONG Give Me Your Eyes
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 person, Your thinking, Your work, and Your 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!
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