(#442) Romans 13 - Orienting to Authority Means Resisting Lawlessness

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 that makes a difference. My name is Pastor Rory Clark.  At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We make a difference by teaching the Word of God from God’s perspective, and not from man’s perspective. 

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Orienting to Authority Means Resisting Lawlessness

 

Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States of America as a national holiday, on the fourth Thursday of November.  Just three days ago we celebrated the 2018 version of the holiday. Thanksgiving originated as a harvest festival where people gave thanks for the blessings of the harvest.  I wonder if those who were giving thanks for the harvest remembered where the harvest came from…its source. 

 

A friend of mine who is not American said to me recently, “I really respect it that Americans stop everything to give thanks.  It’s really impressive.”  I wonder if they remember the source. 

 

With no reason to make it formal, I give thanks every day to the Source. I am most grateful in my life that THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SOURCE, is all I need. 

 

In Mark, Chapter 8, Verses 34 to 37, the Lord asks a penetrating and personal question…

 

MARK 8:34 Jesus summoned the crowd to join Him and His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me (as disciples…technical students), he must keep on denying himself (rejecting the world and its allure), and must keep on taking up his cross (saying yes to God’s will and God’s way) and following Me.”

 

These are commands…the imperative mood in the Greek of the New Testament.  Taking up a cross described submission to authority and obedience.

 

MARK 8:35  “For whosoever wishes to preserve his worldly life (the psuchikos life) will lose it (will not have eternal life)…but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel’s sake will preserve his life forever (the resurrection life).”

 

MARK 8:36  “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world (worldly pleasures and possessions), and forfeit (suffer the loss of) his soul?”

 

MARK 8: 37  “For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

 

A man who would exchange his soul for the temporary “pleasures” of this life is missing the power of the resurrection life.

 

My soul is not for sale.  

 

I know the Lord has a restraining influence on my soul.  I feel His protectiveness of the possession He has in me.  I feel the gentle directing of His guiding hand steering me away from decisions that are not supportive of how He wants to use me…in many instances in spite of my attempts to have my own way.  

 

It’s funny how the world describes God’s guidance, a way of describing it that immature Christians readily adopt…“I know He’s testing me” … “He hit me in the head with a two by four” … “He’s punishing me” … “He’s pounding me” … “He’s mad at me…”  None of those descriptions adequately describes unconditional love.  Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 38 and 39 describe unconditional love very well…

 

ROMANS 8:38 For I (Paul) am convinced that neither death nor life…nor angels nor principalities…nor things present nor things to come…nor powers…

 

ROMANS 8:39  …nor height nor depth…nor any other created thing…will be able to separate us from the love of God, which comes from being in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Unconditional love is an eternally secure love.

 

I am giving thanks to Jesus…my Redeemer…my Savior…my Lord…my Master…the love of my life…in gratitude that He counts me worthy to be saved through the gift of His blood.  First Timothy, Chapter 2, Verses 5 and 6…

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 2:5 For there is only one God the Father…and only one mediator also between God the Father and men…the (God-)man Christ Jesus…

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 2:6  …who gave Himself up as a ransom payment for all…the testimony given right at the proper time.

 

Welcome to a place where you can give thanks through the study of the Word of God.  

 

Let’s listen to the Maranatha Singers praise the One and Only God…the Sovereign of the Universe…the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…with their song GIVE THANKS.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

GIVE THANKS

Maranatha Singers

 

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 is not enough…the only proper expression of our gratitude is to say nothing…to fall down before You…and to let cleansing tears speak for us…

 

Help us to feel gratitude for You deeply in our innermost being…so we come to appreciate everything You think, everything You say, and everything You do…and out of that gratitude help us to communicate about You to a lost and dying world, one person at a time…

 

…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s

name...Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Orienting to Authority Means Resisting Lawlessness

 

We are studying the first passage of Romans Chapter 13, Verses 1 to 7…

 

ROMANS 13:1 Every BELIEVER IN CHRIST is to be in subjection to the civil authorities in power. For there is no civil authority in power except ones that were put there by God the Father…and those civil authorities which exist in power are established by God the Father.

 

ROMANS 13:2  Therefore whoever rebels against authority has rebelled against the ordinance of God…and they who have opposed the ordinance of God (are rebelling against God as well…and) they will receive (both divine and civil) condemnation upon themselves.

 

ROMANS 13:3  For rulers (in authority) are not a cause of fear for those who have goodbehavior (for those who obey)…but rulers are a cause of fear for those whoindulge in evil (those who disobey). Do you want to have no fear of authority? Keep on doing what is good and you will have praise from the authority…

 

ROMANS 13:4  …for the authority is a minister of God (a diakonos…a deacon)…given as a grace gift to you for your own good. But if you keep on doing what is evil, be afraid… for the authority does not keep on bearing the sword (firearms and capital punishment) for nothing…for the authority is God’s ministering officer…an avenger…who brings wrath (punishment for wrongdoing) on the one who practices evil.

 

ROMANS 13:5  Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection to authority…not only because of (the) wrath (wielded by those in authority…an external reason)…but also for your conscience’ sake (an internal reason…because your conscience is always imploring you to obey God).

 

ROMANS 13:6  For because of authority you also pay taxes (literally…you pay tribute)…for rulers in authority are servants of God…devoting themselves to this very service (to God…full time)…the service called ministering.

 

ROMANS 13:7  Render to all authorities what is due them…tax to whom tax is due…custom to whom custom is due (a duty on imports)…respect to whom respect is due (regarding authority with awe)…honor to whom honor is due.

 

We’re studying the subject of authority in Romans, Chapter 13, and it is an absolute pleasure to study authority.  Why?  It is because discussions about authority and obedience are almost shocking in today’s Age of Individuality…in the “Age of Make Your Own Rules!”

 

A study of authority reminds us that God has an order to things…and authority is a huge part of His order…Acts, Chapter 17, Verses 24 to 28…

 

ACTS 17:24 The God who made the world and all things in it (the Lord…God the Son)… since He is the Lord of heaven and earth…does not dwell in temples made with hands (He can’t be contained)…

 

ACTS 17:25  …nor is He sustained by human provisions as though He needed anything (God is sufficient in Himself)…since He Himself gives to all people…life and breath and all things (the grace of logistical provisions)…

 

ACTS 17:26  …and the Lord made from one man (Adam) every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth…having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation…

 

ACTS 17:27  …that those of every nation of mankind would seek God…if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him…though He is not far from each one of us (God is omnipresent and makes Himself visible to those who seek Him)…

 

ACTS 17:28  …for in union with Him we believers in Christ live and move and exist…as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

 

So in the matter of authority, you can ask yourself a question…“Am I in submission to authority or am I lawless?”  What is submission?

 

SUBMISSION

To render due respect to authority…to obey legitimate requests of legitimate authority

 

Submission and subjection are the same idea…Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verse 22…

 

EPHESIANS 5:22 Wives, keep on being in subjection to your own husbands, just as you are in subjection to the Lord.

 

God asks wives to respect their husbands just as He asks all believers to be in subjection and to respect the governing authorities, whether good or evil. Therefore Trump-bashing is against the ordinance of God…thus it is against God Himself.  When we reject authority, we reject God.

 

The opposite of submission is lawlessness.  What is lawlessness?

 

LAWLESSNESS

Contempt for authority…the spirit of refusing control…the desire to break loose from restraint…to engage in the deception of “free spiritism” or a “pacifist” mentality … an unwillingness to punish crimes and criminals.

 

Some examples of lawlessness…

 

            “I want to do things on my own.”

 

            “I don’t want anyone telling me what to do.”

 

            “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”

 

            Giving people handouts…like welfare

 

            Taking away guns from law abiding citizens

 

            Dismantling the Military

 

            Sharing the Wealth

 

            Rob from the rich and give to the poor

 

            “Save the Planet”

 

…these thoughts become words, and these words lead to rebellious actions. 

 

We have become moral weaklings because of our rejection of authority. 

 

The funny thing is, everyone in a spirit of rebellion is comfortable there until they become victims of crimes that takes away their freedom or their privacy or their property.  

 

When we get back from our five-minute break, Deacon Denny Goodall will take the offering and we’ll continue with our study of authority… specifically with the idea of lawlessness.

  

BREAK

Five Minutes

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Orienting to Authority Means Resisting Lawlessness

 

The end of the year is coming, and it’s a good time to remind you that the Federal Government is willing to be your partner in giving. Your contributions to a not for profit organization like Barah Ministries are completely tax deductible. In light of the financial challenges we have coming up in the New Year as we prepare to build our new facility, I hope you’ll remember your partnership with the government and consider a larger than usual end of the year contribution.

 

Here’s our beloved Deacon, Denny Goodall, with the offering message.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

FIRST TIMOTHY 4:1 But God the Holy Spirit explicitly says that in later times (in every generation) some believers in Christ will abandon the faith…instead paying attention to deceiving spirits and paying attention to the teaching inspired by demons (fallen angels)…

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Orienting to Authority Means Resisting Lawlessness

 

Welcome back!  

There are the wonderful moments of thanksgiving when we realize how much we are loved by the Lord…First John, Chapter 4, Verses 10 and 11 say this…

 

FIRST JOHN 4:10 In this is unconditional love…not that we loved God the Father unconditionally…but that God the Father demonstrated that He loved all mankind unconditionally by sending His Son…the Lord Jesus Christ…to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

Propitiation…one of my favorite biblical words…and it means that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ at the Cross…the shedding of His blood… is the ONLY and the ONE PERFECT payment for the sins of all mankind in the eyes of God the Father.

 

FIRST JOHN 4:11  Beloved (divinely loved ones)…if God the Father so loved us unconditionally…and of course He did…we also ought to love one another unconditionally.

 

Let’s listen to the Maranatha Singers remind us to express our love for the Lord in their song…IN MOMENTS LIKE THESE.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

IN MOMENTS LIKE THESE

Maranatha Singers

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Orienting to Authority Means Resisting Lawlessness

 

We continue our study of Romans, Chapter 13…and right now we are looking at the idea of lawlessness.  Believers in Christ are warned to stay away from lawlessness…here is Solomon talking to his son in Proverbs, 

Proverbs, Chapter 1, Verses 10 to 16…

 

PROVERBS 1:10 My son, if sinners (unbelievers) entice you, do not consent.

 

Peer pressure is powerful.  It’s always attractive to take what seems to be the easy road.  Yet the easy road never is easy.  We’re foolish when we are dazed by the idea that there are shortcuts.  Satan loves deceiving us this way and then dashing our hopes. 

 

PROVERBS 1:11  If sinners say, “Come with us…let us lie in wait for blood (murder)…let us ambush the innocent without cause…”

 

PROVERBS 1:12  “…let us swallow them alive like Sheol…even swallow them whole, as those who go down to the pit…”

 

PROVERBS 1:13  “…we will find all kinds of precious wealth…we will fill our houses with spoil…”

 

PROVERBS 1:14  “…throw in your lot with us, we shall all have one purse…”

 

Clearly sinners are liars…they promise to split the booty and then they kill you or they frame you.

 

PROVERBS 1:15  “My son, do not walk in the way with them.  Keep your feet from their path…”

 

Solomon is urging his son to stay away from the wrong people.  When believers go down the path with wrong people, their course is often irreversible.

 

PROVERBS 1:16 “For their feet run to evil and they hasten to shed blood.”

 

One of the great functions of authority is to restrain lawlessness. God the Father uses God the Holy Spirit to restrain lawlessness…Second Thessalonians, Chapter 2, Verses 7 and 8…

 

SECOND THESSALONIANS 2:7 For the secret power (musterion) of lawlessness is already at work (always has been and always will be)…only he who now restrains (probably God the Holy Spirit) will do so until he is taken out of the way.

 

SECOND THESSALONIANS 2:8  Then that lawless one (The Anti-Christ) will be revealed (during the Tribulation period) whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His (second) coming…

 

Funny thing about the restraining power of authority…even when authority is evil it restrains…Iraq was a pretty “organized” place until Sadaam Hussein was executed…then the place became a hotbed of chaos.

 

As Christians, we are never to be against authority…only for it…never to be proponents of lawlessness…always to be a reflection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

The closing moments of our study are for anyone who does not have a personal relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We want you to know that GOD WANTS YOU.  

 

Religion is the greatest deception in the history of mankind. Satan, the enemy of God, counterfeits the Plan of God for mankind with false religions and false teachers…and he and his disciples deceive many.

 

The Lord condemns those who are religious in Matthew, Chapter 23…here’s a sample of the condemnation in Verse 13…

 

MATTHEW 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees (false teachers)…you hypocrites… because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people (with your false teaching)…for you do not enter into the kingdom of heaven yourselves…nor do you allow those who want to enter to go in.”

 

Most religious churches teach that there is no salvation outside of membership in their church.  In other words, they suggest that you will go to hell if you leave the church.  The religious don’t believe in the sufficiency of the Lord’s sacrifice at the Cross to be enough to save “whosoever.”  They believe that by means of their works and religious acts that they can make themselves right with God.  Of course this is absolutely false.  The apostle Paul condemns such thought in Romans, Chapter 10, Verses 2 and 3…

 

ROMANS 10:2 For I (Paul) testify about the religious ones…that they have a zeal for God (they are ‘God intoxicated’)…but not in accordance with accurate and full knowledge of God.

 

Paul was actually talking about his Jewish brethren, and also about how he used to be when he was religious.  The false gospel only gives part of the story of how to be saved.

 

ROMANS 10:3  For not knowing about God’s (divine) righteousness and seeking to establish their own self-righteousness…the religious did not subject themselves to the (authority of the) righteousness of God (a free gift through God’s grace).

 

Titus, Chapter 3, Verse 5…

 

TITUS 3:5 The Lord Jesus Christ saved all mankind…not on the basis of deeds which we have done in self-righteousness…but according to His mercy…by the washing of regeneration and from the renewing by God the Holy Spirit…

 

Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 8 and 9…

 

EPHESIANS 2:8 For by God’s grace you have been saved through faith (in Christ for salvation)…and that grace and that faith and that salvation are not from the source of yourselves…it is the gift of God….

 

EPHESIANS 2:9  …therefore, being saved is not as a result of works (deeds you have done in self-righteousness)…so that no one may boast (about saving himself).

 

The religious believe they can earn their way to God…they believe they can prove themselves to God.  They can’t. Isaiah, Chapter 64, Verse 6 says…

 

ISAIAH 64:6 For all of us have become like a woman who is unclean (a woman who is menstruating)…and all our self-righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (a used tampon)…

 

God considers religion to be repugnant!  There is only one way to heaven… John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…

 

JOHN 14:6 Jesus said to the doubting apostle, Thomas, “I am the way (to salvation), and I am the truth (through the Word of God), and I am the resurrection life…and no one comes to God the Father (in heaven) but through believing in Me.”

 

But the religious don’t buy it…“There are many paths to God they say” … First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 18 says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:18 For the word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing (religious unbelievers)…but to us who are being saved by God the Father, the Cross is the power of God the Father (divine omnipotence which saves us).

 

The only way to be right with God is if God makes you right with Him…Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verse 7…

 

EPHESIANS 1:7 In union with Christ we have redemption through His blood…the forgiveness of our trespasses …according to the riches of His grace…

 

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.”

 

John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…

 

JOHN 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

John, Chapter 3, Verse 17…

 

JOHN 3:17 For God the Father did not send God the Son into the world to judge the world…but the Father sent the Son into the world that the world might be saved through Him.

 

You don’t have to prove yourself to God…you don’t have to save yourself…you can’t disappoint God…if you want to be saved, don’t be religious…don’t try to save yourself through works…just accept the free gift of salvation by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Do it NOW!

 

Here’s June Murphy with our closing song…I CAN’T DISAPPOINT YOU.

 

CLOSING SONG

I CAN’T DISAPPOINT YOU

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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