ROM-51-141015 - length: 59:47 - taught on Oct, 15 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. Mark twain made one of many great comments during his life when he said…
MARK TWAIN QUOTE
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
Welcome to a place where you can learn about your destiny, the course of events that our amazing God, the Lord Jesus Christ, planned for us before the foundation of the world.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
DESTINY
As God prepares our souls for learning, let’s hear June Murphy worship our Lord in song. The opening song is DESTINY.
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute
truth...the Word of God…
Help us to understand Your unconditional love and Your grace for us when we were despicable in your sight…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S STUDY
Who Would You Die For?
Think of the most despicable character you can think of…the person or persons you loathe more than anyone…would you die for them? In this lesson we’ll begin thinking about a person who did not hesitate when He was asked that question, the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, a few announcements…
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration
November 9, 2014
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
October 19
MY WEDDING DAY
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
No Face-to Face Teaching
November 16 - December 7 - December 28
Lessons will be provided on line.
Conversational Bible Study
Resident Congregation
Wednesday, October 29
7:00PM-8:30PM
Conversational Bible Study
Non-Resident Congregation
Thursday, November 6
5:00PM - 6:30PM
If you would like to participate, please send a request to pastor@barahministries.com. Daylight savings time will be over at that time. We’ll be back to regular time differences across the country.
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BARAH MINISTRIES
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OUR VISIT TO THE VETS
October 12
THE OFFERING
Deacon Denny Goodall
Let’s take the offering. This is the time when you get to make a sacrifice on behalf of all the people around the world that can’t afford to pay to study the Word of God. Your generous contributions make it possible for them to learn about the Lord Jesus Christ free of charge via the internet or through face-to-face teaching.
Let’s remember to give with the motivation suggested in Scripture
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful (grace oriented) giver.
Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall.
THE OFFERING
Deacon Denny Goodall
Barah Ministries Financial Policy
Even though we are sanctioned by God to charge for the many things we provide so you can worship God, we choose not to exercise our right. Therefore no price appears on any material from Barah Ministries so that anyone who desires biblical teaching may have it free of charge.
Barah Ministries Financial Policy
Even though the materials we provide are free of charge, they are not free of cost. We appreciate it when the Word of God motivates you to give financial support so as to provide biblical teaching, both for yourself and for others. Please be generous in your support of God’s work through this ministry.
OFFERING VERSE
‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
OFFERING SONG
Come to the Well
TODAY’S STUDY
Who Would You Die For?
We continue our study of Romans…Chapter 5…turn there please…
THE BOOK OF ROMANS
Chapter 5
GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND GRACE
Passage
Romans 5:1 to Romans 5:11
…we are taking a look at two subjects in the next part of this passage… God’s unconditional love for us and God’s grace toward us.
What is unconditional love? Not that unconditional love can be defined…
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
An attitude toward others that imposes no prerequisites or expectations on its
dissemination…a demonstration of an unceasing concern for the total well
being of another at your own expense
What is grace?
GRACE
A free gift given to all mankind by the Creator, expressed by His actions of extending mercy, loving-kindness, salvation, and divine assets to His Creatures… a dimension of divine thought in which God meets human
indifference and rebellion with an inexhaustible capacity to forgive and to bless…a divine thought process that underlies God’s entire viewpoint of unconditional love for His Creatures.
<READ ROMANS CHAPTER 5, Verses 1 to 11>
Let’s begin our look into the second half of this passage…beginning with Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 6…
For while we were still helpless (wallowing in the sphere of our sins), at the right time the Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly (the unbelieving…the unrighteous…sinners).
Let’s do away with this Satanic Lie…
A SATANIC LIE
God helps those who help themselves
That’s a lie straight from the thoughts of the liars of the kingdom of darkness. This expression originated, not so oddly enough, in one of Aesop’s fables… the fable of Hercules and the Waggoner…and that’s perfect because it is a fable. The quote actually says…
AESOP’S FABLE
Hercules and the Waggoner
The gods helps those who help themselves!
In the polytheistic Greek culture, many people believed in many gods…the goddess of grain…the god of war…the goddess of love…the god of thunder…much like Hindu today…these “hands off” gods may have left people to their own devices…but the God we believe in is an “ever present help in times of trouble.” He is omnipresent…He is everywhere at the same time…and He is always a whisper away from us.
When the Lord Jesus Christ dies for His enemies…when He dies for those who choose to hate him…it is the picture of grace. When the Lord Jesus Christ helps the helpless…when He helps those who are unable to help themselves… it is the picture of grace. When the Lord Jesus Christ helps the hopeless…those with no confident expectation of an eternal and secure future…it is the picture of grace. Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 7…
For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.
All of us are looking for true love. In fact, all of us are looking for what we think of as the one true love that will last forevermore. We live constantly in that thought, deep inside, but what makes it a fairy tale is that we want that God given desire for one true love to be fulfilled by other human beings. God is the one Person that agrees to be our one true love, forevermore. Yet He is not enough for us. The unconditional, always true love of the Sovereign God of the Universe, is just not good enough for most of us.
In Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 7 we learn that if we die for a righteous man it’s no big deal. Truly it isn’t (even though there are none righteous). It is no big deal if we love a person who is perfect in our eyes…a person whose flaws we cannot see or refuse to see…a person who has never made a mistake at our expense. True love happens when we love someone whom we know is despicable...true love happens when we have no expectations of those who hurt us. Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 8…
But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward all mankind, in that while we were yet sinners (unbelieving…unrighteous… ungodly ones), the Lord Jesus Christ died for us (in our place).
What is the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ dying for the ungodly?
Take a five-minute break and we’ll assess it.
BREAK
Somewhere over the Rainbow
Welcome back!
Domestic violence has been in the news, so let’s reflect on a real situation that might shed some light on what the Lord Jesus Christ’s unconditional love and grace toward us.
This is the story of Kathleen, a Philadelphia mother of two children. Here’s what she says…
KATHLEEN
“Up until three years ago my life was defined by my husband’s moods.”
“Looking back, all the signs were there.”
KATHLEEN
“He would track me down when I was at work; telling me I was a bad wife and a bad mother for having a career…following me to the supermarket or to the doctor’s office.”
What started as a barrage of insults soon intensified into pressure to quit her job and to move away from her family. Finally, one day, Kathleen’s husband attacked her brutally, leaving her with a severe concussion.
KATHLEEN
“The next thing I knew, I woke up at the hospital, and ironically I was actually asking for my husband because I did not remember a thing.”
Kathleen first arrived at the Women Against Abuse Safe Haven after recovering from the violent attack that landed her in the hospital. She had made the difficult choice to relocate with her two children after her husband - who was serving time in prison for the attack - had frozen their bank accounts and drained their retirement funds.
Without resources of her own, Kathleen had to rebuild her life, find a new school for her children, regain control of her finances, and find a permanent home she could afford.
Women Against Abuse case managers helped her develop a plan to get there. On-site therapists partnered with Kathleen to begin the process of sorting through the horrific trauma she had experienced.
With the backing of Women Against Abuse’s Safe Haven program, Kathleen received relocation assistance to transition into a home of her own, as well as community-based assistance to establish skills and resources for long-term safety from her abuser. She reflects, “My case managers were my rock while I was there.”
Kathleen also accessed the Women Against Abuse Legal Center to help her seek advice and referrals for child support and divorce from her partner.
Today, Kathleen looks back, recognizing the tremendous strides she has made as a survivor of domestic violence. Despite the pain she still suffers from her physical injuries and from the ongoing struggle to feel safe after abuse by an intimate partner, Kathleen has become a passionate advocate in the movement to end domestic violence.
Now I ask you…would you die for Kathleen’s husband? The Lord Jesus Christ would. The Lord Jesus Christ did. The Lord died for Adolf Hitler. The Lord died for Joseph Stalin. The Lord died for John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer-rapist who murdered and molested more than thirty teen-age boys. The Lord died for Richard Speck, who tortured and murdered eight student nurses in Chicago. The Lord died for Sadaam Hussein. The Lord died for all creatures past, present and future, no matter how despicable they were…no matte that they were his enemies. Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 9…
Much more then, having now been justified by the Lord Jesus Christ’s blood, we believers in Christ shall be saved from the wrath of God the Father through our union with Him.
The wrath of God the Father is the Lake of Fire.
For the wrath of God the Father is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness…
God’s wrath is directed toward sin and not toward creatures whom He loves in grace, unconditionally.
We believers are exempt fro the wrath of God the Father. Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 9 sounds a lot like Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 21…
But now, apart from the Law, the righteousness from God has been manifested, being witnessed both by the Law and by the Old Testament Prophets…
The Lord Jesus Christ gives us an unconditional love that supersedes our lack of goodness…our imperfection…Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 10…
For if, for the sake of argument, while we were the enemies of God we were reconciled to God the Father through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ’s life.
Being the enemy of God is pretty strong…pretty foul…pretty vile…our enemies are rebellious in spirit toward us…they are completely against us…there is nothing they like about us…and even though the Lord Jesus Christ knew we had this attitude toward Him…He still chose to lay down His life for us…and He didn’t say, “I’ll lay down my life for you as soon as you help yourself and become basically a good person…then and only then will I die for you.” God’s love has no conditions…Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 8…
But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward all mankind, in that while we were yet sinners (unbelieving…unrighteous… ungodly ones), the Lord Jesus Christ died for us (in our place).
Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 10 and 11…
For if, for the sake of argument, while we were the enemies of God we were reconciled to God the Father through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ’s life.
And not only this, but we also exult in God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
What does it mean to be reconciled to God? It means that the Lord Jesus Christ’s work on the Cross restored us to a relationship with the Godhead…it means the barriers to relationship have been removed…it means we now have peace with God…God has nothing against us. Why? First John, Chapter 2, Verse 2 tell us why…because…
…the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
First John, Chapter 4, Verse 10…
In this is unconditional love, not that we loved God the Father unconditionally, but that He loved us unconditionally and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Titus, Chapter 3, Verse 5…
The Lord Jesus Christ saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in self-righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and by the renewing by the Holy Spirit…
We were regenerated when we were God’s enemies. We were reconciled when we were God’s enemies. We were saved when we were God’s enemies. God’s attitude toward us is clear. In spite of our reprehensible approach to a relationship with Him, God is always there for us.
The Promises of the Lord Jesus Christ
When God makes a promise…
it’s a guarantee!
“Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today…”
He gives strength to the weary, to him who lacks might He increases power.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God the Father, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
CLOSING SONG
All Because You Wanted To
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS
INTERCESSION
PETITION
And we pray that You continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are an accurate reflection of Your unconditional love, Your person, Your thinking, Your work, and Your 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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