Romans 253: Romans 8 - Are You Excited for the Apocalypse?

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.  Barah Ministries has a worldwide reach and an intimate impact on lives, through the gracious provision of our omnipotent God, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  One of His many blessings is the internet, and through it, anyone with access can be reached with His Word.

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Good News to Unbelievers Concerning Jesus Christ

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is Looking for You if You are Lost

 

The opening moments of today’s bible lesson are dedicated to anyone who is listening who has not made the single most important decision of this life…the decision to be in a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  If you haven’t made the decision…either because it lacks importance to you…or because you’re confused by a religious upbringing… or because you are negative about the subject of God…this message is for you.  If you haven’t made this decision, the Lord Jesus Christ would tell you  that you are lost.  Yet according to the Lord, being lost is “good news,” because everyone is born that way.   Here’s what the Lord Jesus Christ has to say about you in Luke, Chapter 15, Verses 4 through 6…

 

Luke 15:4

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine sheep who are not lost in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”

 

Luke 15:5-6

“When he has found the lost sheep, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. //And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”

 

God wants a relationship with YOU!  If you are lost, the Lord is looking for you.  He is a Shepherd, and He loves to find lost sheep. When you understand this truth, then you know how much the Lord wants a relationship with you, because you are His sheep.

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Good News to Unbelievers Concerning Jesus Christ

 

You Need To Be Found Because You Were Born Condemned By Sin

 

According to the Word of God you were not only born physically alive, but also you were born spiritually dead…First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22…

 

First Corinthians 15:22

For those in union with Adam at physical birth are all set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

You were born condemned, separated from a relationship with God, in a state of total spiritual helplessness and in a state of utter hopelessness.  It’s not your fault that you were born condemned…spiritually dead…helpless and hopeless…but it is your circumstance.  Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 12…

 

Romans 5:12

For by one man, Adam, sin entered the world and spiritual death was the result of sin, so because of Adam’s sin, spiritual death was passed to all men, for all creatures are considered by God to have sinned when Adam sinned.

 

When you are spiritually dead you cannot have a relationship with God, you cannot save yourself, and you cannot perform any works that would remove the barrier between yourself and God.

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Good News to Unbelievers Concerning Jesus Christ

 

The Lord Jesus Christ Eliminated Your Sin Problem

 

The Lord offers you a relationship with Him while you are condemned.  Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 8…

 

Romans 5:8

God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward all creatures, in that while we were yet sinners (as spiritually dead unbelievers), Christ died instead of us.

 

Would you offer salvation to your enemy?

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Good News to Unbelievers Concerning Jesus Christ

 

The Lord Jesus Christ Wants You to be Saved

 

Knowing you would be in the pathetic state of spiritual death at birth, a just, righteous and loving God, the Lord Jesus Christ, extended His all-powerful hand to offer you salvation.  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

Acts 16:31

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.

 

A relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to salvation.  John, Chapter 14, Verse 6… 

 

John 14:6

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I AM the way to salvation, I AM the truth through the Word of God, and I AM the resurrection life (eternal life); and no one comes to God the Father, but through believing in Me.”

 

The Lord loves His imperfect creatures with a perfect love…a love willing to do EVERYTHING to provide you with salvation.  God is willing to do anything to save you.  First Timothy, Chapter 2, Verses 3 and 4…

 

First Timothy 2:3-4

This is good and acceptable in the sight of the God who is our Savior, the

Lord Jesus Christ,//who desires all men to be saved…

 

Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9…

 

Second Peter 3:9

The Lord Jesus Christ is…patient toward you…and is not willing for any to perish in the Lake of Fire but for all to come a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

But the Lord is not willing to force you to believe.  You have free will and God honors it.  It’s your choice.

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Good News to Unbelievers Concerning Jesus Christ

 

How Can You Be Saved?

 

You can choose to be saved…and if you don’t, you choose to remain condemned.  John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…

 

John 3:36

“Whosoever who believes in the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) has eternal life...but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see (eternal) life (in heaven) but instead the wrath of God (everlasting life in the Lake of Lire) abides on him.”

         

Being saved is a private decision.  It’s a one-time decision that only you can make.  You have a choice.  No one can force you.  No one can “convert” you.  And frankly, no one but the Lord cares that much about your conversion or your salvation.  It sounds harsh, but it’s hard for anyone to care about something he can’t do anything about.  Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 8 and 9…

 

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone; and that grace, that faith, and the resulting salvation is not from the source of yourselves, it is a gift from God;//it is not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 

You can be saved by expressing your faith…not blindly, for there is no blind faith…but after careful examination of God’s reconciliation offer, which you are hearing right this minute.  Your faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the ticket to eternal life.  A short conversation with God the Father results in your salvation.  Faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone is the ONLY way to salvation.  Acts, Chapter 4, Verse 12 says…

 

Acts 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

For a thief being crucified next to the Lord Jesus Christ, it was a nine-word conversation.  Luke, Chapter 23, Verses 42 and 43…

 

Luke 23:42-43

And one of the thieves on the Cross next to Jesus was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”//And the Lord Jesus Christ said to the repentant thief, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

 

Nothing is easier than salvation.  It’s easy for you because it was hard for the Lord Jesus Christ when He laid down His life for you at the Cross. 

 

Now once you have salvation you cannot lose it…John, Chapter 10, Verse 28…

 

John 10:28

And I give eternal life to believers in Christ, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch believers out of My hand.

 

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

The Good News to Unbelievers Concerning Jesus Christ

 

What if You Don’t Want to be Found?

 

It’s your choice!  Religion discourages you by telling you to work you’re your own salvation and to reject the free gift of salvation offered by the Lord Jesus Christ.  And you’d probably want to believe that…“work for it” sounds better than “get it free.”  Yet there are consequences of a “do it yourself” salvation program.  So what if you don’t want to be found?

Revelation, Chapter 20, Verse 15 says…

 

Revelation 20:15

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life at The Last Judgment, he was thrown into the Lake of Fire.

 

If you are still in a state of condemnation at your physical death because you rejected the reconciliation offer of the Lord Jesus Christ…Matthew, Chapter 25, Verse 41 says…

 

Matthew 25:41

“Then the Lord Jesus Christ will also say to those on His left (all unbelieving creatures who rejected the reconciliation offer of salvation), ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

 

The Lord Jesus Christ will accept your rejection of a relationship with Him.  By your own choosing you will live in a place totally separated from the presence of God.  Matthew, Chapter 13, Verses 49 and 50…

 

Matthew 13:49-50

“So it will be at the end of the age; the elect angels will come forth and take out the wicked (a term for unbelievers) from among the absolute righteous ones (believers in Christ),//and the elect angels will throw all unbelievers into the Lake of Fire; and in that literal place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 

If you are an unbeliever, you are lost.  God is reaching out His hand to find you right at this moment.  John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…

 

John 3:36

“Whosoever who believes in the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) has eternal life...but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see (eternal) life (in heaven) but instead the wrath of God (everlasting life in the Lake of Lire) abides on him.”

 

You can spend eternity in the lake of fire, or you can spend eternity in

relationship with the one and only eternal God, the Lord and Savior Jesus

Christ.

 

What’s your choice?  Welcome to a place where you can learn about how to be saved!

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

CALLING YOU TO FREEDOM

June Murphy

 

As we prepare our souls for worship, let’s enjoy the opening song… CALLING YOU TO FREEDOM…sung by June Murphy.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Thank you for sending Your Son to take on a human body and then to die for each one of us, so that we would be reconciled to a relationship with You…thank you for letting the Lord Jesus Christ pay for every sin each of us would ever commit, past, present and future…thank you for imputing those sins to Him and judging them once and for all time… thank you for considering the Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross as the ONLY perfect payment for our sins…help us to know that You do not think of us with our sins in in mind…thank you for raising Your Son from the dead to separate Him from all the pretender gods who allege to be equal with or superior to Him…thank you for always forgiving us, no matter how horrible our errors…

 

Remind us daily, in the depth of our souls, of the eternal power of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ…Your Son…

 

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

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Are You Excited for the Apocalypse?

 

When you hear the word APOCALYPSE, what is the picture that comes to your mind?  In the Book of Revelation, the last, and to “the world” the most “mysterious” book of the New Testament, the revelation that John receives is that the apocalypse is the ultimate victory of good over evil, and it is the end of the present age.  The world sees the apocalypse as a prophetic revelation of the end times.  As believers in Christ, we don’t see the apocalypse that way at all.  How do we see the apocalypse?  And why are we, as believers in Christ so excited that the apocalypse is near?  That’s the subject of today’s lesson.

 

BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Next Deacon’s Meeting

February 27

7:30A-9:00A

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration

February 14, 2016

 

Valentine’s Day!

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

No Face-to Face Teaching

March 6, 2016

 

Lessons will be posted.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Heather Luttermoser

January 27

 

 

 

 

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We’re on at a new time…right before Through the Bible with J. Vernon McGee…a great timeslot.  Lessons are also posted on line at the station’s website and on the Barah Ministries website as well.

 

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.

 

ROSEMARY LOGRASSO

At Home Face-to-Face With the Lord

January 30, 2016 at 12:30PM EST

 

Our love and prayers go out to the LoGrasso Family…to Tony, to his brothers and sisters, and to his dad Sam.

 

<ROSEMARY LOGRASSO SLIDE>

 

We thank the Lord in the midst of our grief for all the years of joy and happiness and struggle that we have as a result of the relationships in our lives…especially the relationship with our parents…and we pray for the Lord’s comfort in our souls in this time of grief in the Barah Ministries Family.  It’s tough to say good-bye to a wife and a mom and a friend.  But we’ll see Rosemary again soon.

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Are You Excited for the Apocalypse?

 

Let’s continue our study of the third passage in Romans, Chapter 8 that extends from Verses 18 to 25…let’s look at and listen to the passage together, as we let the Word of God speak to our souls…

 

Romans 8:18

For I (Paul) know for a fact that the sufferings of this present time (both RIGHT NOW, and throughout the Church Age…this present evil age) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed IN us believers in Christ (IN THE FUTURE).

 

Romans 8:19

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

 

Romans 8:20

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope…

 

Romans 8:21

…that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

 

Romans 8:22

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

 

Romans 8:23

And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

 

Romans 8:24

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?

 

Romans 8:25

But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

 

We’ve covered Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 18 extensively…

 

Romans 8:18

For I (Paul) know for a fact that the sufferings of this present time (both RIGHT NOW, and throughout the Church Age…this present evil age) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed IN us believers in Christ (IN THE FUTURE).

 

We’ve learned that suffering is a gauntlet in this life.  What is a gauntlet?

 

GAUNTLET

A walkway between two lines of enemy personnel.  Once on the walkway, the enemy strikes us multiple times in multiple ways from the two sides as we travel the walkway.  The force of the strikes often devastate us…often knock us down.  We get up and as we progress, God causes us to be edified by the experiences so that we can keep on enduring other more challenging experiences in the future.

 

Here’s the best picture I could find of what a gauntlet looks like…

 

<GAUNTLET SLIDE>

 

…we enter the gauntlet from one side…we suffer our way through it…only to reach glory on the other side.  The way we have said this in lessons of the past, is that in God’s plan, death always precedes life.  Just as we move from suffering to glory…we move from death to life.  As Christians, for example, we will close our eyes in this life…at our physical death…and we will be personally escorted by the Lord Jesus Christ through our very own death shadowed valley…and we will end up on the other side of eternity, face-to-face with the Lord…Psalm 23 says the Lord is our leader…the Lord is the Shepherd…the Lord provides us spiritual nourishment, especially during our tough times…King David says…

 

Psalm 23:1

The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who keeps on shepherding me…I cannot lack anything!

 

The Lord is the provider of our spiritual restoration…

 

Psalm 23:2

He makes me lie down in green pastures…He leads me beside quiet waters.

 

The Lord provides spiritual guidance…He is our lifetime navigator…

 

Psalm 23:3

He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake.

 

The Lord is armed with a Shepherd’s weapons, a rod and a staff, to protect us from our enemies, even in the face of physical death…

 

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through my very own death shadowed valley,

I cannot fear evil…You…with me!  Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

 

Psalm 116, Verse 15…

 

Psalms 116:15

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones (believers in Christ).

 

As a result of our study, our wires are uncrossed…we now realize that suffering is normal…and we realize that the absence of suffering is a short break before we go back into the spiritual gymnasium for more suffering… because suffering always produces its perfect result…endurance…we get so toughened by it that we can handle anything.  Our attitude when we are suffering must be, “Isn’t joy going to follow right soon?”  And the answer is an absolute YES!  Colossians, Chapter 3, Verse 4… 

 

Colossians 3:4

When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you believers in Christ also will be revealed with Him in glory.

 

Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 19…

 

Romans 8:19

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

 

As believers in Christ we are waiting for the apocalypse…we are anxious for it…we wait with excitement in our hearts…because we know what an apocalypse is…

 

APOCALYPSE

From the Greek word apokalupsis…it is the removal of a covering…a revealing…the removal of a veil.

 

The glory that is in you is not yet manifested…it is not yet clearly visible to those around you…right now, no one sees you as you are…as a son of God…as an adopted, adult son of God…as a child of God…as an heir of God.  Yet we believers in Christ are a walking surprise party, and people are going to be genuinely shocked when they find out who we really are.  So for now we groan…and the next two verses tell us why…Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 20 and 21…

 

Romans 8:20

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope…

 

Romans 8:21

…that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

 

In the next lesson we’ll see how the gauntlet of futility results in the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

 

When the Lord Jesus Christ

Promises Salvation, It’s a Guarantee!

 

ACT 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

ACT 4:12

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given to mankind by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”

 

LUK 19:10

“For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

1TI 2:9

…the Lord has saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and through the grace which was granted to us in union with Christ Jesus from all eternity…

 

CLOSING SONG

VOICE OF TRUTH

Casting Crowns 

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION

 

And we pray You protect our steps as we go out into the world, Father…and that you keep us on the narrow way, completely dependent on You and Your Guiding, Mentoring Spirit…we ask this in Christ’s name, Amen.

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

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