(# 337) Romans 9 - Let This Be the Year When You Do It God’s Way

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.  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

Let This Be the Year When You Do It God’s Way

 

The apostle Paul instructs his protégé, Timothy, concerning what it takes to be a Pastor…Second Timothy, Chapter 4, Verses 1 to 5…

 

SECOND TIMOTHY 4:1

I (Paul) solemnly charge you (Timothy) in the presence of God the Father and in the presence of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and I charge you by His appearing (at the exit resurrection of the Church and at the Second Coming of Christ) and (at the establishment of) His (Millennial) kingdom…

 

SECOND TIMOTHY 4:2

…to preach the Word of God…be ready to preach in season (in good times) and out of season (in bad times)…reprove, rebuke, exhort…with great patience and instruction.

 

To reprove means to gently correct those who are off the road.  When you are off the road, a Pastor is provided for you by God to show you the way to get back on the road.  To rebuke means to express stern disapproval for those who are sinning.  When you are off the road and staying off the road, a Pastor is provided to yank you, if necessary, back to the road.  In my experience, people who want to be off the road don’t like to be yanked back onto the road.  To exhort means to advise others to move urgently in a different direction.  To exhort means to encourage.  For those on the road, a Pastor is provided for you by God to strongly encourage you to stay on the path you’re on.

 

SECOND TIMOTHY 4:3

For the time will come (and that time is NOW) when believers in Christ will not seek out sound doctrine (the truth of the Word of God)…but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves (from among the many false) teachers (those teachers that are) in accordance to their own desires (teachers who tell them that what they are doing is fine when it isn’t…liars)…

 

SECOND TIMOTHY 4:4

…and (the time will come when believers in Christ) will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

 

A myth is a story that has no basis in fact.  There is no faster way for evil to erode the foundation of your life that when you, good men and women, do nothing when you are off the road or when you see others off the road.

 

SECOND TIMOTHY 4:5

But you (Timothy), be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

 

Doing the work of an evangelist means sharing the gospel message at every opportunity.  Are you?  Fulfill your ministry means to do the work assigned to your spiritual gift.  Are you?

 

The Pastor’s job is to tell you the truth, even when you don’t want to hear it. 

 

So here’s a question for you…if an unbeliever inspected your life, let’s say they lived with you for a month and followed you around every minute of every day, would they see a difference between your life and their own?  Would they see a difference between you and them in the matter of your relationship with God?  Would they see a difference between you and them in the matter of your relationship with others?  Would they see a difference between you and them in the matter of your relationship with yourself?  Would they see a difference between you and them in your thinking?  Would they see a difference between you and them in your words?  Would they see a difference between you and them in your deeds? 

When someone tells you that you’re on the wrong road, would you receive it well, appreciating the correction…or would you react like unbelievers do, seeking to justify why your being off the road is okay?  Would you be comfortable with being corrected without feeling the need to have a guilt reaction as if somehow your feeling guilty constitutes penance before God?

 

Welcome to a place where you can ask and answer these questions about your life.  Because here’s the truth…the life of a believer in Christ and the life of an unbeliever have nothing in common.  And if you believe that to be true, you will want to root out from your life everything that makes you look like an unbeliever.  In today’s lesson we’ll ask ourselves what changes we need to ask God to make in us so that we are living the life He intends us to live…so we are doing things His way.  Maybe it’s time to let this be the year when we do things God’s way.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU

Hillsong

 

If this is the year we’re going to do things God’s way, then you have to get to know who your God is…and when you do the investigation, you’ll come to the same conclusion the group Hillsong has come to…you’ll look confidently at your God and say, “THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU!”  Let’s listen…

 

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 the plan You created for all mankind, and the personal plan You have designed for each of us…thank you for Your Son, the Lord, who became flesh, as Jesus Christ, to tabernacle among us so that we could see with our own eyes the glory of the Godhead…thank you for your Holy Spirit, our Guide, our Mentor, and our Teacher who shows us how to live the new self life, the resurrection life, by continually pouring His enabling power into us…and thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ…God Himself indwelling true humanity, who came to sympathize with our weaknesses… who was tempted in all things, yet is without sin…who came to reflect the essence of the Godhead in bodily form so that we would know that it is possible to live this amazing life even while we are imperfect…

 

Help us to do things Your way…instill in us the clarity and the courage

and the confidence to live a life that is clear and distinct from the lives being lived by unbelievers in the world…

 

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

Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Let This Be the Year When You Do It God’s Way

 

When we are doing things God’s way, what exactly does that look like?  It looks like Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 13…

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

As believers in Christ, we don’t believe that we have the power to accomplish…we know ourselves and we know our weaknesses…therefore we summon our strength for the SOURCE of our strength…we summon our strength from our God for all things.

 

As Abraham thought in Romans, Chapter 4, Verses 19 to 21…

 

ROMANS 4:19

Without becoming weak in faith Abraham contemplated his own body, now as good as dead, sexually, since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb (who had been barren her whole life…unable to have children)…

 

ROMANS 4:20

…yet, with respect to the promise of God the Father, Abraham did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God the Father…

ROMANS 4:21

…and being fully assured that what God the Father had promised, He was able also to perform.

 

The apostle Paul was weak.  Abraham was weak.  You are weak.  I can chronicle their weaknesses for you.  In a nutshell, Paul was committed to singlehandedly wiping out the Christian Church…he was not successful.  Paul’s work against the church was similar to Adolf Hitler’s attempt to wipe out the Jewish race.  These two men sought to perpetrate an evil, and God foiled their plans.  Paul’s story ends well…Hitler’s did not. 

 

Abraham “believed” that God the Father would give him a son, but when the son didn’t come quite fast enough, Abraham took matters into his own hands with his wife’s maid Hagar, and had a son with her…Ishmael.  Nothing good came from this illicit union.  God foiled Abraham’s plan.  Simultaneously, God kept His promise to Abraham and Sarah and gave them a son, Isaac, and the Jewish race came through the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob… those Jews who believed in the Lord.

 

You are weak.  What are things that you are doing that God is going to foil? Are you in the faith?  Being “in the faith” means doing things God’s way… Second Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verse 5…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 13:5

Test yourselves to see if you are IN THE FAITH…examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is indwelling you—unless indeed you fail the test?

 

Are you in the faith?  Being in the faith means that you recognize that the Sovereign God of the Universe is indwelling you, and that you are approved when you align your will with His will…when you do things God’s way.

Doing things God’s way means…

 

DOING THINGS GOD’S WAY

 

Placing your needs in God’s hands and then

trusting Him to meet the needs.

 

Are you in the faith?  Most Christians are not.  Most Christians…MOST I say…are out gaming the system and looking to get ahead in their own power instead of trusting the power of their God who is able to accomplish anything on their behalf.  All He wants you to do is ask Him for what you want.  In John, Chapter 16, Verse 23…the Lord Jesus Christ says…

 

JOHN 16:23

Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask God the Father for anything in My name (maybe you will and maybe you won’t…you have a choice), He will give it to you.

 

Doing things God’s way means…

 

DOING THINGS GOD’S WAY

 

Calmly accepting life’s pressures with faith

 

…calmly accepting life’s pressures instead of thinking that you ought to have it easy or that life is not fair.  If an unbeliever looked at your life, would he see a calm and a steadiness in the face of life’s trials?  Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 3 to 5…

 

ROMANS 5:3

And not only this, but we believers in Christ also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance…

 

ROMANS 5:4

…and perseverance brings about proven character…and proven character brings about hope…

 

ROMANS 5:5

…and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God the Father has been poured out within our hearts through God the Holy Spirit who was given to us (as a pledge of our inheritance).

 

When unbelievers look at your life, do they see a calm that is anchored in your faith in God, or do they see a worry-wart who’s life is anchored in doubt?  Dale Carnegie has a great book entitled, “Stop Worrying and Start Living!”  In James, Chapter 1, Verses 2 through 8…from one who has plenty to say about human conduct, come these words of wisdom…

 

JAMES 1:2

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials…

 

JAMES 1:3

…so you keep on knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

 

Are you joyful in the face of trials?  Or are you a grumbling complainer?  Are you ready for God’s tests?  What is a test?  In God’s plan, He gives you the questions that are on the test, the answers to the test, and then He gives you the test, so that YOU can see if you are in the faith…so that YOU can see if you pass.  God wants you to pursue the truth of the Word of God, to perceive the truth of the Word of God, and to practice the truth of the Word of God.  When God gives you a test, do you pass…or do you pass out?  Trials are a test of stamina.  God’s testing of your faith produces endurance…

 

JAMES 1:4

And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

True maturity is achieved when you have contentment regardless of circumstances.

 

JAMES 1:5

But if any of you lacks wisdom, and of course some of you do, let him ask of God the Father, who gives wisdom to all generously and without reproach, and wisdom will be given.

 

JAMES 1:6

But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

 

The one who doubts resembles a drunk…someone who is out of touch with reality and who is all over the place.

 

JAMES 1:7

For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord…

 

JAMES 1:8

…being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

 

God is not fond of double-mindedness.  Let’s take a music break…one day, we won’t be here in Satan’s kingdom anymore…we’ll be with our ever- loving ever-living God face-to-face.  Here’s a song to remind us of what we seek.

 

MUSIC BREAK

I JUST WANT TO BE WHERE YOU ARE

Don Moen

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Let This Be the Year When You Do It God’s Way

 

Welcome back!  What does it look like when you are doing things God’s way?  Paul exhorts Christians to do the things of God in Philippians, Chapter 2, Verses 1 to 13…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:1

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, and there is…if there is any consolation of unconditional love, and there is…if there is any fellowship of God the Holy Spirit, and there is…if there is any affection and compassion, and there is…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:2

…make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same unconditional love, being united in spirit, and being intent on one purpose.

 

Everything in God’s plan for you is FOCUS…everything in God’s plan for you is ONE.  When your life is reflecting this oneness…this unity…this single-mindedness…your life is DEFINITELY different than the life of the unbeliever.

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:3

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves…

How does humility of mind show up in your life, especially with those you despise? 

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:4

…do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also look out for the interests of others.

 

Is your life all about you, and not at all about others?  What is your daily attitude?  There is a conceit…a self-centeredness that Christians have allowed to permeate the faith, and it is evident by how often we share the gospel message with others.  As Christians, we are called to selfless concern for others.

 

Doing things God’s way means…

 

DOING THINGS GOD’S WAY

 

A selfless concern for others

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:5

Have this attitude in yourselves which attitude was also present in Christ Jesus…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:6

…who, although He existed with the very same essence as God the Father, did not regard equality with God the Father a thing to be grasped (seized and held…as would have been His right)…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:7

…but (for your benefit, the Lord) emptied Himself (depriving Himself of the rightful functions of Deity), taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

 

The Lord set aside self-will to be others focused.

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:8

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man.

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:9

For this reason (His humble obedience) also, God the Father highly exalted Jesus Christ, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:10

…so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and of those who are on the earth and of those who are under the earth…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:11

…and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:12

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling…

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:13

…for it is God the Father who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

 

Let this be the year that you do things God’s way!

 

When you inspect your life, what are the things you want God to change so that you are obedient to Him, doing things His way?  Doing things God’s way means…

 

DOING THINGS GOD’S WAY

 

Placing your needs in God’s hands and then

trusting Him to meet the needs.

 

Are you?  Doing things God’s way means…

 

DOING THINGS GOD’S WAY

 

Calmly accepting life’s pressures with faith

 

Do you?  Doing things God’s way means…

 

DOING THINGS GOD’S WAY

 

A selfless concern for others

 

How do you show your concern?

 

Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:117

Therefore if anyone is in union with Christ, and all believers in Christ are, he is a new creature…the old things passed away…behold, new things have come.

 

Let this be the year when you lay aside the old, dead self, and see what God can do when you place your faith in Him.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked (Paul and Silas), “Sirs, 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

BORN AGAIN

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

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