ROM-40-140907 - length: 61:01 - taught on Sep, 7 2014
Class Outline:
Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES
a Christian Church
Rory Clark
Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a worldwide Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark. I am committed to helping you see the Lord Jesus Christ for the Person He truly is and to helping you see the Word of God from His point of view.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
HOLY IS THE LORD
Let’s begin our worship of the Lord in song. Please stand and join June Murphy in singing the opening song… HOLY IS THE LORD.
HOLY IS THE LORD
We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He
And together we sing
HOLY IS THE LORD
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory
HOLY IS THE LORD
We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He
And together we sing
Everyone sing!
HOLY IS THE LORD
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory
HOLY IS THE LORD
Yes…it’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown
It’s rising up all around
It’s the anthem of the Lord’s renown
And together we sing,
And everyone sing!
HOLY IS THE LORD
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory
HOLY IS THE LORD
The earth is filled with His Glory
Holy holy is the Lord Almighty,
Holy holy…
Holy holy is the Lord Almighty,
Holy holy…
Holy holy is the Lord Almighty,
Holy holy…
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God…
Strengthen our faith in the face of the trying circumstances in our lives…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name...
Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
Romans 4
Faith is Placing Your Trust in God Not Self
To Barah Ministries congregation members who reside here in Arizona…to Barah Ministries congregation members who are scattered throughout this country…to our guests who join us from time to time…to those who are joining us via the internet, even from the remotest places in the world…to all of you whom God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ have chosen for the privilege of salvation according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…by means of the sanctifying work of God the Holy Spirit…to those who obey Jesus Christ and who are sprinkled by His blood…may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
We are nearing the end of our study of the fourth chapter of the book of Romans. The subject matter of the passage under study is righteousness and justification and faith…especially faith.
THE BOOK OF ROMANS
Chapter 4
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Your Justification is ONLY by Faith in Christ…
and is never by means of your own works
Passage
Romans 3:21 to Romans 4:25
At the moment you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are made the righteousness of God through your union with Him, by means of the baptism of God the Holy Spirit. Then God the Father keeps on announcing your name throughout the halls of heavens as a justified one. These and the other benefits of the Lord’s “so great” salvation come only one way…through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone…just like Abraham did in Genesis, Chapter 15, Verse 6…
Then Abraham believed in the LORD; and the Lord reckoned it to Abraham as righteousness.
The Lord makes a request of His believers in Christ concerning faith, in Second Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verse 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?
There are always tests of faith for the Lord’s believers. During those times of testing, your faith must be placed in God, and not in self. As we saw last week, Abraham and Sarah placed their faith in the Lord…Romans, Chapter 4, Verses 18 to 21…
In hope against hope (wanting something to happen when you know it is not likely) Abraham believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken to Him by God, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.”
Without becoming weak in faith Abraham contemplated his own body, which
was now as good as sexually dead since he was about a hundred years old,
and he contemplated the deadness of Sarah’s womb (she was barren)…
…yet, with respect to the promise of God, Abraham did not waver in unbelief but was strengthened inwardly by God in faith, giving glory to God…
…and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
I have such assurance today.
The name Greg Eveloff may not mean anything to you.
I consider him a personal friend. He has died. Greg was the owner and Chief Executive Officer of The Clotherie, a men’s clothing store in the Biltmore area of Phoenix. If you wonder why I always look so dapper, Greg is responsible. I’ve known him for a short time…perhaps five or six years…I don’t remember how long…but not long…and I would only see him about four times a year. Yet when I got news of his death, it hit me like a ton of bricks. He was sixty years old.
He was on a vacation in Maui with his family. He was snorkeling with his family. They took a picture of him in the water. He gave them the “thumbs up” sign, submerged into the water, and a few minutes later he was dead.
Greg was one of those rare people who made you feel like you were the most important person in the universe. He always demonstrated a genuine interest in other people and every interaction with him was a treat. He was honest. He was sincere. It’s not that you didn’t think he was human. I’m sure he was. I’m sure he had his moments like all of us. But in the moment of interacting with him you sensed his full engagement in you, just as you suspected he was fully engaged in everything he was doing. He was a man of impact. I guess that’s why news of his death rattled me. It shook me to my core. It was one of those situations where you look to the heavens and say, “Hey God…what the hell is up with that?”
It will take me a while to get my balance back. I’m still shaking my head. I feel for his wonderful family. I feel for his employees. I feel for his
customers. I feel for myself. His death is a loss for me. I’ll miss him. I can’t stop thinking about him.
My only recourse in this situation is faith. My only recourse is to trust the wisdom and the fairness and the power of my God. My only recourse is to know that Greg was here on earth all the days that Almighty God allotted to him a billion years ago, and that he was not going to be here one day more or one day less than God allotted to him. And as hard as it is for us to accept God’s wisdom and fairness and power in this matter, faith says we must accept without any doubting. Turn in your bibles to John, Chapter 20, Verse 24…a passage concerning faith and unbelief…a passage concerning Thomas, the doubting one…
But Thomas, one of the twelve, who was called Didymus, was not with the other disciples when Jesus came after his resurrection.
So the other disciples were saying to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and unless I put my finger into the place of the nails, and unless I put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Thomas answered and said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”
Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 24 and 25…
For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Faith is placing your trust in God, not in self. Faith is placing your trust in God, not in appearances. Faith is placing your trust in God, not in circumstances, especially when you don’t understand them. I have faith in God and I trust His decision even though I am deeply saddened by Greg’s death. I will not doubt my God because I do not see His wisdom and because I do not understand His decision. I ask you to join me in praying for Greg’s wonderful family and to all of Greg’s friends who are grieving, as I do at this time. As for us who remain, Romans, Chapter 1, Verse 17b…
…as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
Hebrews, Chapter 11, Verse 6…
And without faith it is impossible to please God the Father, for he who comes to God the Father must believe that He exists and that God the Father is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Faith is never blind. Romans, Chapter 10, Verse 17…
So faith comes from hearing the gospel message, and hearing the gospel message comes by hearing the word of Christ.
Our faith is established by the facts that the Lord communicates to us in His Word. First Corinthians, Chapter 16, Verse 13a…
Be on the alert (be diligent in carrying out the will of God), stand firm in the faith (not in unbelief…not in false teaching)…
Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 7…
…for we walk by faith, not by sight…
Galatians, Chapter 2, Verse 20…
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Faith is placing your trust in God, not self. Galatians, Chapter 2, Verse 20 with a different perspective…
GAL 2:20 (another translation)
“The ‘I’ life has been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer the ‘I’ life who lives, but Christ lives indwelling me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me unconditionally and who gave Himself up as a substitute for me.”
Take a five-minute break.
BREAK
Always and Forever
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Welcome back. Faith is placing your trust in God, not in self. Gideon missed the message. Turn in your bibles to Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 1…
JUDGES 6:1
Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD (idolatry and other evil practices); and the LORD gave them into the hands of Midian for seven years.
Midian was a son of Abraham and his second wife Katurah. She bore him six sons, of whom Midian was one. Abraham died when he was 175 years old. He lived more than forty years after Sarah’s death.
Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 6…
JUDGES 6:6
So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the LORD.
The Midianites did not occupy the land…they came over every season to rob the Israelites of their sustenance. Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 8…the Lord came to their rescue…
JUDGES 6:8
…the LORD sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and the prophet said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery.’”
JUDGES 6:9
“‘I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land…’”
JUDGES 6:10
“‘…and I said to you, “I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me.’”
The Lord reminded the Israelites that He was their God and they were His people. They didn’t realize that He had brought discipline on them for their evil practices and lack of obedience. Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 12…now the Lord rescues them…
JUDGES 6:12
The angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said to him, “The LORD is with YOU, O valiant warrior.”
Gideon was shaking in his boots when he heard himself being referred to as a valiant warrior…he did not see himself as noble or valiant at all…the Lord always picks the weak among us to humble the strong…but He sees us in our finished condition…not as we are…would you ever consider seeing yourself that way? The Lord was saying, “I am with YOU Gideon.”
JUDGES 6:13
Then Gideon said to the angel of the Lord, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
Gideon ignored the Lord’s comment, “I am with YOU Gideon.” Gideon says, “If you are with US…” Unbelief always creeps in for human beings…and we love listening to the voice of unbelief. It is so romantic and so intriguing to us. Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 14…
JUDGES 6:14
The LORD looked at Gideon and said, “Go in this YOUR strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
The battle is the Lord’s. He will accomplish through Gideon.
JUDGES 6:15
Gideon said to the Lord, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
Whiner. My family is weak and I am the worst of them. I’m the baby!
JUDGES 6:16
But the LORD said to Gideon, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”
JUDGES 6:17
So Gideon said to the Lord (a test), “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me.”
JUDGES 6:18
“Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And the Lord said, “I will remain until you return.”
JUDGES 6:19
Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah (half a bushel) of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to the Lord under the oak and presented them.
<E-FA>
JUDGES 6:20
The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so.
JUDGES 6:21
Then the angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
JUDGES 6:22
When Gideon saw that he was indeed the angel of the LORD, he said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.”
Gideon was a lot like Thomas. Faith is not a result of what we see…rather it is a result of a soul that does not see, yet believes. Hebrews, Chapter 11, Verse 1…
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Then Gideon, in unbelief, asked for more proof…Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 36…
JUDGES 6:36
Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken…”
JUDGES 6:37
“…behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.”
JUDGES 6:38
And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.
The Lord’s second proof, the wet fleece, was met with more unbelief. Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 39…
JUDGES 6:39
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more (ask for more proof); please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.”
JUDGES 6:40
God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.
Next, the Lord slants the odds in the enemy’s favor against Gideon…the Lord reduced Gideon’s force of 22,000 men to 300 men. Judges, Chapter 7, Verse 2…
JUDGES 7:2
The LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’”
Then, with 300 men, an outnumbered force, the Lord did as He promised. Judges, Chapter 8, Verse 28…
JUDGES 8:28
So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon.
Faith is placing your trust in God, not in self. Why have faith?
“For nothing will be impossible with God.”
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
When God makes a promise…
it’s a guarantee!
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
He Remembers to Forget
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION
We pray You continue to shape messages from this pulpit that reflect Your unconditional love, Your Magnificent Person, Your perfect thinking, Your impeccable work, and Your indescribable essence... 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
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