ROM-483-240901 - length: 98:23 - taught on Sep, 1 2024
Class Outline:
The answer is revealing.
If you’re in the resident congregation turn off your electronic devices and put them away. Let this be a place where you aren’t distracted by the world.
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with a worldwide impact. My name is Pastor Rory Clark. Thanks for listening to this Bible lesson!
OPENING AGENDA
You may be wondering some things about Barah Ministries, like…
Who is the God we worship?
What is our source of truth?
Who is our enemy?
We’re always happy to begin each lesson by answering these questions after a short, thought-provoking introduction.
Prayer.
As Christians, we have a gift from God called prayer.
What is prayer?
PRAYER
The privilege of sending messages to God
When we pray, things happen. Our requests bring things into being that would otherwise not come into being. Prayer allows us to bring supernatural power to our human experiences.
Many ask, “If God is omniscient…knowing all that is knowable…He knows what wewant and He knows what we need. So why do we have to pray?” We get an answer from the Lord’s half-brother in James, Chapter 4, Verse 2…
JAMES 4:2d
…you don’t have because you don’t ask…
God wants you to ask. You are a child of God, and He wants you to claim your share of His kingdom by asking for it. First Thessalonians, Chapter 5, Verse 17 encourages us…
FIRST THESSALONIANS 5:17
Make it a habit to pray.
When we pray, we communicate our thanks for all God is doing for us…we ask for things for ourselves…we intercede on behalf ofothers…and we pray for our enemies as an expression of unconditional love. We want the best for them…just as Jesus did when He was hanging from a Cross…Luke, Chapter 23, Verse 34…
LUKE 23:34
Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them…for they do not know what they are doing.”
The first martyr, Stephen, did the same…Acts, Chapter 7, Verse 60…
ACTS 7:60a
Then falling on his knees, Stephen cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!”
We come to Bible study to learn many things…like how to pray and what to pray for…certainly not just for material things that cannot make us happy.
Who is the God We Worshipat Barah Ministries?
We worship a Triune Godhead. There is One God who reveals Himself to
mankind as three beings who are separate…distinct…co-equal…co-infinite…
co-eternal Persons…God the Father…God the Son…and God the Holy Spirit.
GOD THE FATHER is the author of the Triune Godhead’s plan for all creatures.
All prayer is directed to God the Father…Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 6…
PHILIPPIANS 4:6
Be anxious for nothing (stop worrying about anything)…but in EVERYTHING…by prayer and supplication…with thanksgiving…let your prayer requests be made known to God the Father.
GOD THE SON (the Lord) volunteered to execute God the Father’s plan…taking on human form as Jesus…the Christ (the Jewish Messiah). Jesus Christ is God.
The Lord is always ready to give us everything…Mark, Chapter 11, Verse 24…
MARK 11:24
Therefore I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you believers in Christ, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them already, and they will be granted you.
There is ONE AND ONLY ONE WAY to heaven. If you invest your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, asking Him to save you…you WILL be saved. To be saved is one of the many things for which you can ask. When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you instantly have the resurrection life…eternal life…in His Name.
We worship GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT. He is our Mentor and Teacher…a guide who is the rudder of a Christian’s life. He is fully God, equal in every way to God the Father and God the Son.He is a Person. He is not a “ghost” as some like to call Him.
Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verses 18 to 20…
EPHESIANS 6:18
With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit…and with this in view…be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…
EPHESIANS 6:19
…and pray on my behalf(as your Pastor)…that utterance may be given to me by God in the opening of my mouth…to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel…
EPHESIANS 6:20
…for which gospel I (Paul) am an ambassador in chains (he was in prison when this was written)…that in proclaiming the gospel I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
When we are speechless, God the Holy Spirit gives us things to say.
In God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit…believers in Christ have a power team that is always on their side…a team specializing in the impossible. Are you calling on them for help in times of trouble?
What is Our Source of Truthat Barah Ministries?
The Bible is the Word of God, and as such it is our source of absolute truth. As Christians, the way we develop a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with the Godhead…the way we get to know God as a Person…is through studying the Word of God.
The Bible teaches us that we have direct access to God through prayer…Hebrews, Chapter 4, Verse 16…
HEBREWS 4:16
Therefore, let us believers in Christ draw near with confidence to the throne of grace in prayer…so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Your source of truth for eternal matters is not an insignificant thing. It has eternal consequences.
The Bible is a supernatural work…breathed into human writers by God. It does not come from man, and it provides us with the only source of absolute truth, especially about eternal things.
Because God is right all the time, the Bible is right all the time. It contains no errors or contradictions. You can trust the Bible as your source of truth. At Barah Ministries, we teach the Bible from God’s perspective, not from man’s perspective. We refuse to teach as doctrinal truth the very fallible precepts of men.
The best thing you can do for yourself every day is to spend time reading,
studying, and reflecting on God’s Word. Schedule time EVERY DAY to study God’s Word and to let it set the direction for your day. The Bible changes your mind!
Who is Our Enemyat Barah Ministries?
GOD HAS AN ENEMY…Satan…whom God made ‘the ruler of this world’ for a finite period. He is the enemy of believers in Christ as well. We don’t like Satan, but we pray for him and his minions…Matthew, Chapter 5, Verses 44 and 45…
MATTHEW 5:44
But I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you believers in Christ…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
MATTHEW 5:45
…so that you may be sons of your God and Father who is in heaven…for God the Father causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good…and He sends rain on the righteous (believers in Christ) and the unrighteous (unbelievers).
Our prayers for the kingdom of darkness pour hot coals on their heads.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON
Why Does God Allow His Christian Children to Suffer?
LESSON INTRODUCTION
The answer is simple…because He is their hope. In today’s lesson, God promises His children an amazing future as they are conformed to the image of the Son by the enabling power and the agency of God the Holy Spirit, even though for a short time we suffer on this earth.
OPENING SONG INTRODUCTION
Let’s hear some music!It’s wonderful to know that the suffering we experience as Christians goes deeper than pain…and Laura Story asks us to consider that the trials of this life could be God’s mercy in disguise in her song BLESSINGS.
MUSIC
OPENING SONG
Let’s Sing the Lord’s Praises
BLESSINGS
Laura Story
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 giving us access to the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit…thank you for using Him to search the depths of our hearts…thank you for letting God the Holy Spirit communicate our desires to You when we pray…thank you for the Spirit’s residence in us as He accompanies us everywhere we go…and thank you for allowing God the Holy Spirit to be our Mentor and Teacher…thank you for His baptism that places us into union with Christ at the moment of salvation…
…let the Word of God in today’s lesson penetrate the depths of our souls…help us to be edified by it…and help us to know that we have hope because of Your divine plan for us…a plan which is for Your children and never against us…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON
Why Does God Allow His Christian Children to Suffer?
LESSON PART ONE
We continue our study of the apostle Paul's letter to the Romans in the third passage of Romans, Chapter 8. Let's remind ourselves of what the first two passages of Chapter 8 taught us by inspecting the KENNETH WUEST TRANSLATION of Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 1 to 17…
ROMANS 8:1
Therefore, now, there is not even one bit of condemnation to those who are in union with Christ Jesus…
ROMANS 8:2
…for the law of God the Holy Spirit, the law of the resurrection life in union with Christ Jesus, freed you believers in Christ once and for all time from the law of the sinful nature and of death.
ROMANS 8:3
For that which is an impossibility for the law…because it was weak through the sinful nature…God the Father having sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin…and concerning sin, He condemned sin in the sinful nature…
ROMANS 8:4
…in order that the righteous requirement of the law may be brought to completion in us believers in Christ who, not as dominated by the sinful nature, are ordering our behavior as dominated by God the Holy Spirit.
ROMANS 8:5
For those who are habitually dominated by the sinful nature (unbelievers) put their minds on the things of the sinful nature…but those who are habitually dominated by God the Holy Spirit put their minds on the things of the Spirit.
ROMANS 8:6
For to have the mind dominated by the sinful nature is death…but to have the mind dominated by the Spirit is the resurrection life and peace…
ROMANS 8:7
…because the mind dominated by the sinful nature is hostile to God…for it does not marshal itself under the command of the law of God…and neither is it able to.
ROMANS 8:8
Moreover, those who are in the sphere of the sinful nature are not able to please God at all.
ROMANS 8:9
But, as for you believers in Christ…you are not in the sphere of the sinful nature… but you are in the sphere of God the Holy Spirit…provided that the Spirit of God is in residence in you (and He is). But, assuming that a person does not have Christ’s Spirit, this one does not belong to Christ.
ROMANS 8:10
But, assuming that Christ is in you believers in Christ, and He is…on the one hand the body is dead on account of sin…but on the other hand the human spirit is alive on account of righteousness.
ROMANS 8:11
And assuming that the Holy Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus out from among the dead ones is in residence in you…He who raised Christ Jesus from among the dead (that is God the Father)…will also make alive your mortal bodies through the agency of God the Holy Spirit who is resident in you.
ROMANS 8:12
So then, brethren, we are those under obligation, not to the sinful nature to live habitually under the dominion of the sinful nature.
ROMANS 8:13
For, assuming that you are living habitually under the dominion of the sinful nature (as unbelievers are)…you are on the way to dying. But, assuming that by the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit you are habitually putting to death the deeds of the body…you will live.
ROMANS 8:14
For as many as are being constantly led by God the Father’s Holy Spirit…these are sons of God the Father.
ROMANS 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery again with resulting fear…but you received God the Holy Spirit who places you as adult sons…by whom we cry out with deep emotion, Abba! … which is Hebrew for Father.
ROMANS 8:16
God the Holy Spirit Himself is constantly bearing joint-testimony with our human spirit that we are God’s children…
ROMANS 8:17
…and since we are children, we are also heirs…on the one hand, heirs of God the Father…on the other hand, joint-heirs with Christ…provided that we are suffering with Him that we also may be glorified together with Him…
Now today’s passage for stuyd, the third passage in Romans, Chapter 8…Verses 18 to 27 of theNEW AMERICAN STANDARD TRANSLATION…
ROMANS 8:18
For I (Paul) consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
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 itselfwill 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.
ROMANS 8:26
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness…for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…
ROMANS 8:27
…and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is…because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
When we return from the break, we’ll take the offering, and then we’ll study the third passage of Romans, Chapter 8 verse-by-verse.
FIVE-MINUTE BREAK
NOBODY
Casting Crowns
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON
Why Does God Allow His Christian Children to Suffer?
OFFERING INTRODUCTION
Did Jesus ever think about money? Rarely! What the Lord did think about was giving. As you think about giving, today and every day, let your attitude reflect the Lord’s giving attitude as communicated in Acts, Chapter 20, Verse 35…
ACTS 20:35b
“…remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, who Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Since you benefit from the Lord’s thoughts in these Bible lessons, it just makes
sense to contribute to the workers who communicate His thoughts to you. Give generously just as the Lord gives and watch what the Lord credits back to your account.
Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with one of his always inspiring offering messages.
THE OFFERING
Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
SECOND CORINTHIANS 12:10
Therefore, I (Paul) am well content with weaknesses…withinsults…with distresses…with persecutions…with difficulties…for Christ’s sake…for when I am weak, then I am strong.
OFFERING SONG
THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU
Instrumental Version
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON
Why Does God Allow His Christian Children to Suffer?
LESSON PART TWO
Welcome back!
Let’s examine Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 18 to 27 verse-by-verse to see what the Lord has to say to His believers in this amazing chapter of the most amazing letter in the Bible. We begin at Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 18…
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 which the Bible describes as “this present evil age”) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed IN us believers in union with Christ (in the future).
Paul continues on the theme of suffering from the second passage in the letter. As we learned last week, the Lord lets His believers suffer their way to glory. As believers in Christ, we suffer now in our time on earth but our glory is coming.
Why do we suffer? Evil. Because evil exists in the world, in Satan’s world system, what has been the fate of many believers in Christ through the years of divine history? Hebrews, Chapter 11, Verses 36 to 38…
HEBREWS 11:36
…we’ve experienced mockings and scourgings…yes, also chains and imprisonment.
HEBREWS 11:37
Some were stoned…they were sawn in two…they were tempted…they were put to death with the sword…they went about in sheepskins and in goatskins…being destitute…afflicted…and ill-treated…
HEBREWS 11:38
…(men of whom the world was not worthy)…wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
We suffer because we are residents of Satan’s kingdom…afflicted by his reign of terror…Galatians, Chapter 1, Verse 4…
GALATIANS 1:4
…(the Christ…the Jewish Messiah) gave Himself (up as a substitute) for our sins so that He might rescue us FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL AGE…according to the will of our God and Father…
The time from the fall of Adam to the present is best described as this present evil age. What are we to do as we live in this evil age? Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verse 16…
EPHESIANS 5:16
…make the most of your time, because the days (on earth) are evil.
Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verse 12…
EPHESIANS 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…our struggle is against the rulers…against the powers…against the world forces of this darkness…against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
The good news? First Corinthians, Chapter 7, Verse 31…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 7:31c
…the form of this world is passing away.
So what’s coming? Glory. And when glory is revealed…when we experience the glory of our God and His kingdom…there will be no comparison to what we experienced here in Satan’s kingdom.
How do we describe the glory that is to be revealed to us? We can’t! The best the apostle Paul can do is state the facts…Colossians, Chapter 3, Verse 4…
COLOSSIANS 3:4
When the Christ, who is our resurrection life, is revealed…then you believers in Christ also will berevealed with Him in glory.
We will see the Lord’s glory…we will share the Lord’s glory…we will be glorified with Him. Our suffering now is nothing when we think of the glory to come. Let’s look at verse 18 again…
Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 18…
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 which the Bible describes as “this present evil age”) are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed IN us believers in union with Christ (in the future).
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.
“Revealing” is an uncovering. The most beautiful statue I have ever seen…the most beautiful work of art I have ever seen…is the statue of David in Florence, Italy sculpted by Michelangelo from a single block of marble. It is breathtaking. Imagine when that statue was revealed for the first time…when the tarp was taken off and it was there for all to see. Imagine the gasps of those who were in awe of the beauty of this magnificent work of art.
So it will be when we, as believers in Christ are revealed. Right now, we walk around the planet and no one can look at us and tell we are sons of the living God. But on a day in the future, it will be obvious to all who knew us just how special we are.Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 20…
ROMANS 8:20
For the creation (creatures on earth…human beings) were subjected to futility by
God…not willingly (on our part)…but because of Him who subjected it on the
basis of hope (the confident expectation ofa great and certain future that comes to us from God…glory)...
Futility is the inability to obtain…a constant search for things to feed a longing we have…but “the itch never gets scratched” …this is what God has put us under the influence of here on planet earth. It’s a form of suffering.
But the destination gift from God is to take us from futility to hope…the absolute confidence in attainment because of what God does for us. God never wanted us to do what Satan wants us to do. God never wanted us to work for His love. He just wanted us to accept it and to benefit from it. So you see the contrast of kingdoms and rulers.
Satan chose to make his life hard. By putting the burden of winning God’s love on himself, an unconditional love he already had, he put himself in a position of futility. He is striving for a thing he can never attain in his own power, and he’s too dumb to see that.
What is the hope that is coming? A Millennial reign of the Christ here on earth…one thousand years of absolute bliss under a perfect ruler without the influence of Satan. Revelation, Chapter 20, Verses 1 to 3…
REVELATION 20:1
Then I (John) saw an angel coming down from heaven holding both the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
REVELATION 20:2
And the angel laid hold of the dragon…the serpent of old…who is called the devil and Satan…and the angel bound Satan for a thousand years (during the Millennial reign of Christ)…
REVELATION 20:3
…and the angel threw Satan into the abyss (a compartment of Hades reserved for the most evil fallen angels)…and shut the door of the abyss and sealed it over Satan so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed…after these things he must be released for a short time.
What else is coming in our futures? A new earth and a new universe…created perfect by our perfect God. Revelation, Chapter 21, Verse 1…
REVELATION 21:1
Then I (John) saw a new heaven and a new earth…for the first heaven and the first earth passed away…and there is no longer any sea.
What is God going to do for us? Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 21…
ROMANS 8:21
...and the creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption (and will be transferred) into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
On earth we are in bondage…in slavery to corruption…in slavery to all forms of decay and disease and suffering and deathand destruction…it’s everywhere— bondage…with only One deliverer…the Lord…Jesus…the Christ (the Jewish Messiah).
The Lord has made us free! He has invited us into the freedom and the glory reserved for the children of God. We are blessed with unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace. We eagerly await the time when our Lord will come back for us.
During the Millennial reign of Christ, here’s what we will see…Isaiah, Chapter 11, Verses 6 to 9…
ISAIAH 11:6
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb…and the leopard will lie down with the young goat…and the calf and the young lion and the fatling will lie together…
and a little boy will lead them.
A fatling is a young animal that has been prepared for slaughter.
ISAIAH 11:7
Also the cow and the bear will graze…their young will lie down together…and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
ISAIAH 11:8
The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra…and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den (without being harmed).
ISAIAH 11:9
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain…for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord…as full as the waters cover the sea.
Finally, there will be a government with the power to protect us. Until then, suffering. Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 22…
ROMANS 8:22
For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
What do we know? For right now…much pain. We are as a woman in childbirth…in pain for now but excited at the hope of raising a child.Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 23…
ROMANS 8:23
And not only this, but we believers in union with Christ ourselves…having tasted the first fruits of our salvation that God the Father has given us...namely God the Holy the Spirit...even we, right now, keep on groaning within ourselves…waiting eagerly for our full adoption as sons…waiting for the redemption of our body.
As Christians, we share in the resurrection life of Christ…we are delivered from sin…we are delivered from law and from all worldly things…we are citizens of heaven…yet we are still living in an unredeemed body that is dying. Our response to our condition? We groan.
As believers in Christ, we are a new creation…we are saints…we know of our absolutely certain future…yet while we exist in the present world, we groan. It’s the pain of suffering. We are in a state of futility until we experience the full quality of redemption after our physical death. Until then we aren’t be satisfied.
Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 24…
ROMANS 8:24
For in hope for the future we have been saved by God in the past…but hope that is seen in the present is not hope…for who hopes for what he already sees?
We don’t. What do we hope for? Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 25…
ROMANS 8:25
But if we believers in Christ hope for what we do not see in the future, and we do, with perseverance we wait eagerly for those things which are to come.
Because we trust God, we wait for what He has promised. His promises always come true. Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 26…
ROMANS 8:26
In the same way (by the agency of the first fruits God the Father has given us)…this God the Holy the Spirit also helps our weakness…for we do not even know how to pray as we should…but God the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words...
Even though we suffer, God the Holy Spirit helps us weak ones…lending His enabling power to elevate us above futility. When we know how deep our weakness goes…when we experience our inability…when we realize our absolute ignorance of the provisions of a righteous God…we groan…and hearing our groaning, God the Holy Spirit comes to our rescue in everything…even prayer.
Again…Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 26…
ROMANS 8:26b
…we believers in Christdo not even know how to pray as we should…but God the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words...
Our prayers are not always words. In fact, sometimes we are speechless when it is time to talk to God. Our prayers come from the deepest part of our being…from the deepest desires of the heart…and God the Holy Spirit is indwelling deep within us to hear them all.
When we pray, we groan…a low, guttural, desperate moan…for groaning is the
habit of those who are miserable. God the Holy Spirit is not miserable but He groans in sympathy with us…passing on our deepest longings to God the Father.
Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 27…
ROMANS 8:27
...and God the Father…who keeps on searching the hearts of those who pray right now…knows what the mind of God the Holy Spirit is through His groanings which cannot be uttered in words…because God the Holy Spirit intercedes for the saints (all believers in Christ) according to the will of God the Father.
What is God the Holy Spirit groaning for? All that we need…all that we want…all that is good for us.
God the Holy Spirit is omniscient, so He knows all that is knowable…and He prays for us with this knowing. He knows our joys. He knows our enemies. He knows of coming dangers. And He is here…groaning on our behalf with unutterable words so that God the Father joins God the Holy Spirit and God the Son in giving us more than we ever imagined…protecting us in ways we could never foresee.
The discerning influence of our Almighty God is our strength and our protection and our fulfillment. Thanks be to God!
Let’s finish this study with a look at the NEW LIVING TRANSLATION of the passage…Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 18 to 27…
ROMANS 8:18
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.
ROMANS 8:19
For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are.
ROMANS 8:20
Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse (because of Adam’s sin). But with eager hope…
ROMANS 8:21
…the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
ROMANS 8:22
For we know that all creation has been groaning…like a woman groans in the pains of childbirth…right up to the present time.
ROMANS 8:23
And we believers in Christ also groan…even though we have God the Holy Spirit indwelling us as a guarantee of future glory…for we long for our unredeemed bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We believers in Christ also wait with eager hope for the day when God the Father will give us our full rights as His adopted children…including the new bodies he has promised us.
ROMANS 8:24
We were given this hope when we were saved. But if we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it.
ROMANS 8:25
But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have from God, we must wait patiently and confidently for it.
ROMANS 8:26
And God the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But God the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
ROMANS 8:27
And God the Father…who knows all hearts…knows what God the Holy Spirit is saying…for God the Holy Spirit pleads for us believers in Christ in harmony with God the Father’s own will.
As believers in Christ, we have much to look forward to, and we are grateful that God has carved a path of success for His believers in a world of futility. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us with the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit.
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
The Good News of Jesus Christ’s Salvation Offer to the Human Race
The next ten minutes could be the ten most important minutes of your life. You’ll be introduced to the good news concerning how you can spend all eternity in heaven when you close your eyes in this life. We want you to know that…
GOD WANTS YOU!
He Wants You Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
…and what he wants for you is that you make the most important decision of your life.
How would it be to know there is someone who loves you so much that their love for you is almost unspeakable, yet you don’t know who they are and you aren’t interested in meeting them? That may be your situation! The Creator of the entire universe created you…He loves you unconditionally…and you may not have a relationship with Him. John, Chapter 1, Verse 3 says…
JOHN 1:3
All things came into being through the Lord, God the Son (He is the Creator)…and apart from the Lord, nothing came into being that has come into being (including you).
You can have a relationship with your Creator! And guess what…He is looking for you! Luke, Chapter 15, Verses 4 to 7…
LUKE 15:4
“What man among youif he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them
does not leave the ninety-nine sheep in the open pasture and go after the
one which is lost (a reference to an unbeliever) until he finds it?”
LUKE 15:5
“When he has found the lost sheep, he lays it on his shoulders, and he rejoices!”
LUKE 15:6
“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!’”
LUKE 15:7
“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner (an unbeliever) who repents (who chooses to have a relationship with Christ)…than over ninety-nine righteous persons (believers in Christ) who need no repentance.”
The bad news? While God is looking for you…you’re DEFINITELY not looking for Him! Romans, Chapter 3, Verses 11 and 12 say…
ROMANS 3:11
No creature understands God or any divine thing…no creature seeks a relationship with God…
ROMANS 3:12
…all creatures have turned aside from God…together they have become useless…no creature does good…there is not even one.
All of us were born in a state of unrighteousness. We were born physically alive and spiritually dead as ungodly, unrighteous unbelievers.
It’s not your fault you were born this way, but it is your circumstance.
Who says so? The Lord says so in His Word…First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 says…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a
For all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human who comes to earth) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…
But in the face of this bad news, there’s good news! The Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, provides a way for you to be saved! The good news is called the gospel message. The Lord has a personal salvation plan to lead every unbeliever to salvation!
Let’s see what happened when the gospel message was preached in a prison in first-century Rome…Acts, Chapter 16, Verses 25 to 34…
ACTS 16:25
…about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God from their jail cells, and the other prisoners were listening to them…
ACTS 16:26
…and suddenly there came a great earthquake…so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken…and immediately all the prison doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.
ACTS 16:27
When the jailer…a prison guard…awoke and saw the prison doors opened…he drew his sword and was about to kill himself…supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
Allowing prisoners to escape carried a penalty of instant execution for prison guards! He was going to do it himself…
ACTS 16:28
But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying to the guard, “Do not harm yourself…for we are all here!”
ACTS 16:29
And the jailer called for the lights to be turned on and he rushed in…and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas…
ACTS 16:30
…and after the prison guard brought Paul and Silas out, he said, “Sirs… what must I do to be saved?”
Obviously, the guard had been listening to the spiritual songs Paul and Silas were singing.
ACTS 16:31
And Paul and Silas said, “BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved by God…you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
BELIEVE! Simply take God’s Word for what it takes to be saved! There are no works of any kind necessary to be saved…it is simply you using the gift of faith given to you by God, placing your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation…and the Lord gifts you with the ticket to eternal life.
How did our jailer friend get saved? In a crisis, he recognized He needed a Savior. He asked someone who knew what it took to be saved. Believers in Christ presented the accurate gospel message. The jailer did what was suggested…and he was saved.
Who is this God who saves you? The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3
For I (Paul) delivered to you as of primary importance the gospel message I also received from God…that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4
…and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Old Testament Scriptures…
The Lord’s shed blood on the Cross paid the price for you to be saved!
Don’t wait for a crisis to be saved! Do it now! The news goes from bad to worse if you choose not to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation. Romans, Chapter 1, Verses 18 to 20 say this…
ROMANS 1:18
For the wrath of God the Father is revealed from heaven against allungodliness and against the unrighteousness of unbelievers whosuppress the truth by their unrighteousness…
ROMANS 1:19
…because that which is known about God the Father is evident inside of them…for God the Father made it evident to them from inside of them.
ROMANS 1:20
For since the creation of the world the Lord’s invisible attributes…the Lord’s eternal power…and the Lord’s divine nature…His Deity…have been clearly seen by all mankind…being understood even through what has been made in nature…the Lord’s creative work…so that all mankind is without excuse before the Lord.
God makes Himself clearly visible in ways that make sense to human beings…both from the inside of them and the outside of them.
So, accept the invitation and heed the warning in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
JOHN 3:36
“He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life (eternal 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.”
The Lake of Fire is a real place, and you don’t have to live there for all eternity. A sixty second decision can change your eternal destiny.
Remember what Paul and Silas said to the jail guard, in Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 and following?
ACTS 16:31
“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved by God, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
ACTS 16:32
And Paul and Silas spoke the Word of the Lord (the gospel message…the good news of Jesus Christ’s salvation offer) to the jailer…together with all the people who were in his house.
ACTS 16:33
And the jailer took Paul and Silas that very hour of the night and washed their wounds…and immediately the jailer was baptized (by God the Holy Spirit)…he and all his household who also believed…(and all of thembelieved).
ACTS 16:34
And the jailer brought Paul and Silas into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed inthe Lord Jesus Christwith his whole household.
Wouldn’t you like to spend all eternity in heaven? Don’t miss your opportunity! Take advantage of the good news of the gospel message right NOW! Believe in the Lord and you WILL be saved!
THE GOSPEL MESSAGE
The Good News of Jesus Christ’s Salvation Offer to the Human Race
CLOSING SONG INTRODUCTION
Let’s close with music! No one has suffered more than the Lord Jesus Christ. What was the Lord’s description of suffering in Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verse 2? He wants us to keep on…
HEBREWS 12:2
…fixing our eyes on Jesus…the pioneer and perfecter of faith…who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross…despising the shame…and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Lord describes the worst suffering imaginable as the JOY SET BEFORE HIM.
June Murphy agrees, and suggests that when we encounter suffering, we COUNT IT ALL JOY.
MUSIC
CLOSING SONG
Let’s Sing the Lord’s Praises
COUNT IT ALL JOY
June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
Almighty God and Father…
Thank you for Your life-changing promises…and thank you for a life-changing gift…God the Holy Spirit…as believers in Christ we have fixed our hope on You and Your Word, and the Bible is filled with Your promises…a constant source of hope…thank you for the lesson today which reminds us why You do the things we question…You let us suffer for a short time in this present evil age because this is nothing compared to the eternity of blessings You have already set aside for believers in Your Son…
…encourage us through the guidance of God the Holy Spirit…help us to proclaim
the gospel message everywhere we go…and help us to remember that God the
Holy Spirit is doing the spiritual work for us…help us to trust in Him…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
THE ANNOUNCEMENTS
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DISCUSSING THE LESSON AND PRAYER CIRCLE
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