(# 322) Romans 9 - The Lord’s Specialty is Loving the Unlovable

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.

 

How many people do you have in your life that keep on loving you when you are at your worst?  From my point of view, this is the truest measure of friendship.  It’s easy to love someone when they are lovable.  But a true friend is someone who loves you after you have betrayed him…who is willing to repair a breach in the relationship.  It is the rare friend who can accept you for who you are and for who you are not…it is the rare friend who can bear the scars of the pain you have inflicted on him and yet come back for more pain…because he loves you.  It is the rare friend who lays down his life for you.  First John, Chapter 3, Verses 16 says…

 

FIRST JOHN 3:16

We know unconditional love by this…that the Christ laid down His life for us…and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

 

Well if you don’t have people in your life who love you when you are unlovable, you certainly have a God who loves you that way.  Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 7 and 8…

 

ROMANS 5:7

For one will hardly die for a righteous man…although perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

 

ROMANS 5:8

But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners (as unrighteous, ungodly, unbelievers), Christ died (as a sin substitute) for us.

 

Our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, specializes in loving the unlovable.  First Timothy, Chapter 1, Verses 15 to 17…

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 1:15

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (ungodly, unrighteous, unbelievers), among whom I (Paul…when I was an unbeliever) was foremost of all.

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 1:16

Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 1:17

Now to the King…eternal, immortal, invisible…to the one and only God, be honor and glory…forever and ever. Amen.

 

Welcome to a place where you can be yourself, and be loved anyway.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord’s Specialty is Loving the Unlovable

 

The Jewish race, most of whom turned on their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, can certainly be thought of as unlovable.  And the Lord Jesus Christ, who was led to the slaughter by His own people, would certainly have cause to look upon the Jewish race with disdain.  Yet the Lord loves them with an indescribable love, and will fulfill every promise He made to the Jewish race.  In today’s lesson, as we move to the second passage of Romans Chapter 9, we’ll begin to see what a Sovereign God has planned for the Jewish race, and what He has planned for each one of us, His believers.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

WHO AM I?

Casting Crowns

 

As we turn, for a few moments, from the cares of this life to rest in His

Word…let’s listen to the perfect song for those who are unlovable…WHO

AM I?…sung by Casting Crowns. 

 

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 loving us unconditionally…thank you for sending Your Son to break down the barrier of the dividing wall that we erected by sinning…thank you for your grace, which allows us to learn from our mistakes…thank you for forgiving us in the past with the result that we stand forgiven forever…and we never have to ask for it again…

 

Help us to know that Your forgiveness is a guarantee…make us stop thinking of You as a God who is disappointed in us…show us how to stop being disappointed in ourselves for not being perfect…help us enjoy Your unconditional love for us…by means of Your Holy Spirit, turn us into the people You have always intended for us to be…people who are a perfect reflection of You…

 

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

Amen.

 

A few announcements…

 

BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Next Deacon’s Meeting

November 5

7:30A-9:00A

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration

November 13, 2016

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

NO FACE-TO-FACE TEACHING

November 20 and December 4

December 25 and January 1

 

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.

 

Prayers especially for our Friend Cliff Spier who is having health problems…

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Alyssa Lopez

October 25, 2016

 

She’s not a teen ager anymore…at least chronologically…  J

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord’s Specialty is Loving the Unlovable

 

As a reminder, let’s take a final listen to the first passage in Romans, Chapter 9…Verses 1 to 5…

 

ROMANS, CHAPTER 9 - PASSAGE 1

 

ROMANS 9:1

I (Paul) am telling you the truth…I am in union with Christ on this…I am not lying to you…my conscience testifies along with me…I am filled with God the Holy Spirit and His enabling power in this matter…

 

ROMANS 9:2

…and I tell you that I keep on having great sorrow and an incessant, haunting grief in my heart (I am heartbroken).

 

ROMANS 9:3

For if I (Paul) could, I would wish that I myself were accursed (made an anathema by God…sent to the Lake of Fire as a substitute) and separated from (my union with) the Christ (the Messiah)…for the sake of my brethren (the Jews who are unbelievers), who are my “kinsmen according to the flesh…”

 

ROMANS 9:4

…my kinsmen who are Israelites, to whom belongs…the adoption as sons…and the glory…and the covenants…and the giving of the Mosaic Law…and the temple service…and the promises…

 

ROMANS 9:5

…my kinsmen who are of the lineage of the fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)…and my kinsmen from whose lineage comes the Christ, the One who became flesh (and tabernacled among us)…the Messiah…the One who is Sovereign over all, fully God (Deity), the blessed One…who EXISTS forever. Amen.

 

Now the second passage…and as we move into this passage, remember that in the backdrop of the passage is God’s Sovereignty…God is able to do all that He wills…

 

CHAPTER 9 - PASSAGE 2

 

ROMANS 9:6

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel…

 

ROMANS 9:7

…nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants…but “through Isaac your descendants will be named.”

 

ROMANS 9:8

That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

 

ROMANS 9:9

For this is the word of promise, “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.”

 

ROMANS 9:10

And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac…

 

ROMANS 9:11

…for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls…

 

ROMANS 9:12

…it was said to Rebekah, “The older will serve the younger.”

 

ROMANS 9:13

Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

 

The insight I take from the first passage of Romans, Chapter 9 is that during those times when we are being unlovable, it is heartbreaking to those who love us.  And Paul expressed His heartbreak over the unbelieving Jews who rejected their Messiah.  Yet Paul knows and we know that no matter how unlovable we think we are…God loves us anyway with an unconditional love that is absolutely indescribable.

 

The insight from the initial study of the second passage reminded me of a think we used to say when we were studying The Creator Clock several years ago…as we were getting to know God…God is the Source and we are the Recipients.  James, Chapter 1, Verse 17…

 

JAMES 1:17

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

 

Everything in our lives is sent to us by God…is allowed by God…for the purpose of revealing Himself as the Source.  And God loves His recipients UNconditionally.  We are the recipients of His love and we don’t deserve it…there is no merit in us…therefore nothing that is lovable in us.  And no works we would ever do would make us lovable.  Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 4 to 7…

 

EPHESIANS 2:4

BUT God the Father, being rich in mercy, because of His great and unconditional love with which He loved us (Jews and Gentiles)…

 

EPHESIANS 2:5

…even when we were spiritually dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…

 

EPHESIANS 2:6

…and raised us up with Christ (resurrecting us from the dead), and seated us with Him in the heavenly places…in union with Christ Jesus…

 

EPHESIANS 2:7

…so that in the ages to come God the Father might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us who are in union with Christ Jesus.

 

God the Father has made Christ’s believers citizens of heaven and has raised them from among the dead ones….and He was willing and able to do this even at the time when they were spiritually dead, on the wrong side of a barrier, helpless and hopeless, and without a relationship with God.

 

Let’s go into the detail of the verses in the second passage of Romans, Chapter 9…beginning at Verse 6…

 

CHAPTER 9 - Passage 2

 

ROMANS 9:6

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For (in God’s eyes) they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel (in other words…all racial Jews are not spiritual Jews)…

 

God has made promises to the Jews…the promises he made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…promising blessing to their seed…announcing Himself as the God of Israel…promising them Palestine by an oath…promising David a line of perpetual royalty on earth…prophesying a great and glorious future for Israel…all in spite of knowing, in omniscience, that they would reject Him and lead him to physical death.  Would you be so gracious to unlovable ones?  Let’s take a music break and when we come back we’ll see how God feels about the unlovable.  Because of the way God loves you, you can be HAPPY!  That’s our music break song…

MUSIC BREAK

HAPPY

Pharrell

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

The Lord’s Specialty is Loving the Unlovable

 

Welcome Back! Romans, Chapter 9, Verse 6…

 

CHAPTER 9 - Passage 2

 

ROMANS 9:6

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For (in God’s eyes) they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel (in other words…all racial Jews are not spiritual Jews)…

 

Isaiah, Chapter 66, Verses 10 to 22 do a great job of capturing the feelings the Lord has for the unlovable, especially the rebellious in the Jewish race…

 

ISAIAH 66:10

“Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her…

be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her…”

 

ISAIAH 66:11

“…that you may nurse and be satisfied with her comforting breasts,

that you may suck and be delighted with her bountiful bosom.”

 

Right now there is no peace in the Middle East…only strife…yet there will be a day when the execution of all of God’s promises to Israel and to the Jews is as real as His Words, penned in Scripture.  For all that God wills to do He is able to do…and He will continue to treat Israel and the Jews as a mother treats a rebellious child…with a grace and an unconditional love and a forgiveness that boggles the mind.

 

ISAIAH 66:12

For thus says the Lord, “Behold, I extend peace to her (Jerusalem) like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream…and you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.”

 

God will be a mother to Israel and the Jews.

 

ISAIAH 66:13

“As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you (Jerusalem)…and you all will be comforted in Jerusalem.”

 

ISAIAH 66:14

“Then you will see this, and your heart will be glad, and your bones will flourish like the new grass…and the hand of the Lord will be made known to His servants, but He will be indignant toward His enemies.”

 

ISAIAH 66:15

“For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind,

to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire.”

 

ISAIAH 66:16

“For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh,

and those slain by the Lord will be many.”

 

At the end of the Tribulation period, the Lord Jesus Christ will inflict His wrath on all who attempt to harm Israel and the Jews…and we, as Church Age believers, the bride of Christ, will watch as He slaughters the many who are trying to kill off the Jews…and we will reign with the Lord Jesus Christ on planet earth for a thousand years during His Millennial reign.

 

ISAIAH 66:17

“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go to the gardens, following one in the center, who eat swine’s flesh, detestable things, and mice, will come to an end altogether,” declares the Lord.

 

ISAIAH 66:18

“For I know their works and their thoughts…the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues…and they shall come and see My glory.”

 

ISAIAH 66:19

“I will set a sign among them and will send survivors from them to the nations…Tarshish, Put, Lud, Meshech, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have neither heard My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare My glory among the nations.”

 

All nations will be blessed through Israel.  Jewish evangelists will be sent in the future to the coastlands to proclaim the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ their Messiah.  And this will not happen because of merit in the Jews, but because of the Lord’s Sovereign decision on their behalf.

 

ISAIAH 66:20

“Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules and on camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the sons of Israel bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord.”

 

ISAIAH 66:21

“I will also take some of them for priests and for Levites,” says the Lord.

 

ISAIAH 66:22

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “So your offspring and your name will endure.”

 

God takes us unlovable people and loves us…and it is this love…the love of the Source, that makes us special.  We are special because the SOURCE loves us unconditionally…and all we have to do is enjoy receiving His love.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked, “Sirs (talking to Paul and Silas), what must I do to be saved?”

 

ACTS 16:31

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

 

ROMANS 10:10

…for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

 

SECOND PETER 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of, but instead He is patient toward you unbelievers, not wishing for any to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

LUKE 19:10

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

 

CLOSING SONG

YOU RAN AFTER ME

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

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