ROM-7-140511 - length: 72:12 - taught on May, 11 2014
Class Outline:
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
a Christian Church
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church…my name is Pastor Rory Clark. Barah Ministries is an intimate gathering of Christians who come to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. We have a relationship with the Lord for all eternity, from now until forever. We are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is indwelling us. We are in a deep, intimate, personal and unbreakable relationship with the Lord. He is our Rock, our strength, our security.
He has given us this church, and we stand for what He stands for…we stand for Christ…we stand for unity through camaraderie…we stand for community.
BARAH MINISTRIES
Christ - Camaraderie - Community
We boast of our relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the only Person ever resurrected from the dead…the One who loves us unconditionally…we come together in unity to Him…we have faith in Him …we reflect His compassion to all who are around us.
Our Lord prays for us…John, Chapter 17, beginning at Verse 13…
“But now I (the Lord Jesus Christ) come to You (God the Father); and these things (from the Word of God) I speak in the world so that (my apostles) may have My joy made full in themselves.”
“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have given (the apostles) Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
“I do not ask You (God the Father) to take (the apostles) out of the world, but to keep them from (and protect them from) the evil one (Satan).”
“(The apostles) are not of the world, even as I (the Lord Jesus Christ) am not of the world (because our citizenship is in heaven).”
“Sanctify them (set them apart for a special use) in the truth; Your word is truth.”
“As You (God the Father) sent Me (the Lord Jesus Christ) into the world (Satan’s kingdom), I also have sent (the apostles) into the world.”
“For their sakes I sanctify Myself (on the Cross, separated from the Father, dedicated to His plan), that (the apostles) also may be sanctified in truth (dedicated to God the Father’s plan).”
“I do not ask on behalf of (the apostles) alone, but for those also (I ask for) whosoever believe(s) in Me through (the gospel message of the apostles)…”
“…that (all believers) may all be one (in unity through obedience to You and Your Word); even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You (we are equal), that they also may be in(dwelled by) Us (the entire Godhead), so that the world may believe that You (God the Father) sent Me (the Lord Jesus Christ).”
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to (all believers), that they may be one (in unity), just as We are one (in unity)…”
“I in(dwelling) them and You in Me, that (all believers) may be perfected in
unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them (unconditionally), even as You have loved Me (unconditionally).”
“Father, I desire that (all believers) also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me (unconditionally) before the foundation of the world.”
“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these (believers) have known that You sent Me…”
“…and I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the (unconditional) love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in(dwelling) them.”
Welcome to Barah Ministries, a place dedicated to all the things the world detests...a place prayed for by the Sovereign One of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
A Song for Mama
It’s Mother’s Day. We begin our worship service today with a tribute to the Mothers of the world. The opening song is A SONG FOR MAMA.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute
truth...the Word of God…
Thank you for giving us women whose unconditional love is a true reflection of Your unconditional love and concern and grace toward us…bless them and keep them as they do one of the most significant tasks You have given to mankind…the raising of children…may they train up children in the way they should go...in the way of the Lord…teach them to butt out of their adult children’s lives…teach them that their job ends…help them to learn how not to mistake nosiness for compassion…help them to obey their husbands and to keep the back door of their relationships protected from the insidious penetration of the evil one…extend their days on the earth…protect their health…calm their souls…reward them with your generosity…help them to not be inflected with the disease of self-righteousness and legalism and religiosity…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
Romans 2 -How the Lord Handles Self-Righteousness and Religion
To the resident members of Barah Ministries and to its non-resident
members…all those of you who listen to Barah Ministries lessons who are currently dispersed far and wide throughout the world…to our guests who join us from time to time…welcome…grace to you and peace from the God the Father…from God the Son…from God the Holy Spirit and from the manifest member of the Godhead, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Blessed are all those who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. May all your trials result in the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to you…no matter how things look on the surface, you will be delivered. Press on.
We continue our study of the books of Romans. We are in its second section, studying the consequences of sin.
THE BOOK OF ROMANS
The Consequences of Sin
Romans 1:18 to Romans 3:20
The letter of Paul to the Romans is really the letter of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Romans. The bible is the exact thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to First Corinthians, Chapter 2, Verse 14…
But a natural man (an unbeliever) does not accept the things of the (Holy) Spirit of God, for (the Word of God is) foolishness to him; and he cannot understand (the Word of God), because (it is) spiritually appraised (in the human spirit of the believer in Christ).
But he who is spiritual (a believer with a human spirit) appraises all things (spiritual), yet he himself is appraised (evaluated) by no one (but God…not by unbelievers).
For WHO (among unbelievers) HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD (so well), THAT HE WILL (be qualified to) INSTRUCT HIM (not one, that’s who)? But we (believers in Christ) have the mind of Christ (the Word of God…the bible).
Turn to Romans Chapter 2…let’s look at the verses we have covered so far…through Paul, the Lord Jesus Christ is talking to unbelievers who have developed a lifestyle of self-righteousness or a lifestyle of religion, who thin, somehow, that they are better than the lascivious unbelievers…beginning at Verse 1…
Therefore you (who practice self-righteousness and religion) have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge (condemn) another (like those practicing lasciviousness), you condemn yourself; for you who judge (those who practice lasciviousness) practice the same things (“in the closet”…out of sight…things which are just as bad, perhaps worse).
And we know that the judgment of God (also) rightly falls (not only on those who practice lasciviousness, but also) upon those who practice (self-righteousness and religion).
But do you suppose this, O (men and women who practice self-righteousness and religion), (that) when you pass judgment on those who practice (lasciviousness) and do the same (things) yourself (or worse), that you will escape the judgment of God?
Or do you (who practice self-righteousness and religion) think lightly of the riches of (God the Father’s) kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God (the Father is what) leads you to repentance (a change of mind about Christ)?
Now if anyone has a mind to think that God is partial to some and not to others, as those who practice self-righteousness and religion contend, maybe it’s a good idea to see how God handles those who practice self-righteousness and religion. Turn in your bibles to Luke, Chapter 18, Verse 9…it’s the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector…how does the Lord Jesus Christ handle those who practice self-righteousness and religion? First a look at those who practice self-righteousness…
And (the Lord Jesus Christ) also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt…
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.”
A Pharisee was considered to be a man worthy of praise…a righteous man (even though he is an unbeliever)…a tax collector was considered to be three rungs below a pedophile. Verse 11…
“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people (I’m better than others): (I’m not like) swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.’ ”
“ ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes (10% to the church) of all that I get.’ ”
The Pharisee considered himself to be righteous because of his deeds. He felt he was earning his righteousness. He felt more favored in God’s eyes when he compared himself to those who practice lascivious. Don’t you? Don’t you think of yourself as just a little better than the people who are begging for money by the freeway? Don’t you feel yourself a little better than others who have unfortunate situations? Those who practice self-righteousness always do. Verse 13…
“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ ”
The tax collector was in touch with reality. He knew he was a sinner and needed a Savior. He went home that day saved.
“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Take a five-minute break…then we’ll see how the Lord handles those who practice religion.
BREAK
Better is One Day
When I Think About Home
Welcome back…here’s the Lord’s instruction to us concerning those who practice religion. Turn to Matthew, Chapter 6, Verse 1…
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”
The Lord always checks your motivation.
“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”
You can be honored by God or by men…take your choice. You don’t have to prove your righteousness to men.
“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing…”
“…so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites (those who practice religion); for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”
You can be honored by God or by men…take your choice.
“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
Our prayers are to God, not to men.
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.”
“So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
The Lord makes it clear what the practice of self-righteousness and religion
are…disgusting. Believers in Christ must also beware of visiting this lifestyle. It’s easy for us to adopt the lifestyle of unbelievers…to think we are somehow better than others…and to think our self-righteousness earns special credit points with God. We are not better than others. We are hypocrites who have appropriated the grace of God. Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 8 and 9…
For by grace you (believers in Christ) have been saved through faith (alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone); and that (faith and salvation and grace are) not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;(your salvation is) not as a result of (your) works (the practice of self-righteousness and religion to please God), so that no one (no creature) may boast.
Turn in your bibles to John, Chapter 4…the Lord Jesus Christ, after dealing with the self righteous ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus, a Pharisee in John, Chapter 3, turns his attention to the lascivious woman at the well…she was immoral…it may be interesting for you to note how the Lord deals with the lascivious as well…she was an unbeliever…
Therefore when the Lord (Jesus Christ) knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (that He was getting popular)…
(although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were)…
(the Lord Jesus Christ) left Judea (the place of danger) and went away again into Galilee (a place of safety).
And He had to pass through Samaria (a land which the Jews typically avoided).
The Lord went where there was a need…to the despised ones…the land of the Samaritans. Samaritans were people who were racially mixed.
So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar (soo-car), near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph…
…and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour (noon).
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Talking to women was not normal practice in that day…nor was it normal practice for a Jew to talk to a Samaritan…they hated each other. The Jewish prejudice toward Samaritan women was that they were constantly menstruating, thus drinking from the things they drank from was ceremonially unclean.
Therefore the Samaritan woman said to (the Lord Jesus Christ), “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
She had an attitude of resistance toward the Lord…her tone was sarcastic, even though she was a bit intrigued.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If (2) you knew the gift of God (of My being with you, which you don’t), and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?”
The unbeliever does not understand spiritual things. So she thought he was talking about water from the well.
“You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”
She was expecting a “No” answer…and ironically, Jacob is the founder of the Jewish nation, Israel, of the people and the nation whom the Samaritans hated…yet she was proud of Jacob’s well!
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water (from the well) will thirst again…”
“…but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (regeneration) shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him (from the baptism by God the Holy Spirit) will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”
Once again, the unbeliever does not understand spiritual things. So she thought He was talking about water from the well. Now Jesus gets down to the business of her spiritual need, for the time being putting aside His own thirst…a physical need.
He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.”
Gut punch. Come see a man who knows all about me.
The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband…’ ”
“…for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.”
Then she changed the subject. The equivalent of, “Yeah but what about all the little children in the middle of Africa?”
“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people (you Jews) say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”
Then Jesus changes the subject.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming (my death on a Cross) when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.”
The Cross ushers in the Church Age, the age where every believer in Christ is a temple of worship.
“You (Samaritans) worship what you do not know; we (Jews) worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews (who have been entrusted with the oracles from God).”
“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers (of God) will worship (God) the Father in (the filling of the) spirit and (in the) truth (of the Word of God); for such people (God) the Father seeks to be His worshipers.”
“God (the Father) is (a) spirit (being), and those who worship Him must worship in (the filling of the) spirit and (in the) truth (of the Word of God).”
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”
She rejected his teaching. She was saying, in effect, “I know you’re not the Messiah…but one day He will come and explain what I just asked you about to us.”
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He (the Messiah).”
This was a rare admission by the Lord.
The Lord Jesus Christ was very candid with those practicing self-righteousness…with those practicing religion…with those practicing lasciviousness. There is only one way to salvation…Acts, Chapter 4, Verse 12…
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
Trust in the Lord and do good…
Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord…and He will do it.
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him…
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in (union with) Christ Jesus.
CLOSING SONG
Come See a Man
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS
INTERCESSION
PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are a reflection of Your unconditional love, Your Magnificent Person, Your perfect thinking, Your impeccable work, and Your indescribableessence...we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for listening!
www.barahministries.com
| April 2024 | ||||||
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 31 | 1 Mon | 2 Tue | 3 Wed | 4 Thu | 5 Fri | 6 Sat |
| 7 Sun | 8 Mon | 9 Tue | 10 Wed | 11 Thu | 12 Fri | 13 Sat |
| 14 Sun | 15 Mon | 16 Tue | 17 Wed | 18 Thu | 19 Fri | 20 Sat |
| 21 Sun | 22 Mon | 23 Tue | 24 Wed | 25 Thu | 26 Fri | 27 Sat |
| 28 Sun | 29 Mon | 30 Tue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
 |
1220 S. Alma School Rd. Suite 201 Mesa, AZ 85210 |
 |
(480) 237-9903 |
 |
info@barahministries.com |
