(# 272) Romans 8 - God’s Dealings with You are Personal Welcome To
BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark. Barah Ministries has a worldwide reach and an intimate impact on lives, through the gracious provision of our omnipotent God, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord for the internet…a place where anyone with access can be reached with Your Word.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON God’s Dealings with You are Personal
Well remind me to never play golf with Mike Embree in a week when I teach a sensitive subject. Every time I hit the ball yesterday, there it was… “Everything happens for a reason!” I really didn’t appreciate it right after I hit one in the water on eighteen…or when I got a ten on the third hole. But the word of God helps me to resist temptation. For example, Joel Perkosky sent this bit of wisdom this week…
INSERT SLIDE When someone says “everything happens for a reason” a fun thing to do is punch them in the face and say, “This was meant to be!”
…I resisted the urge to bring this blessing into Mike’s life…mainly because it is illegal. But Mike wasn’t the only one who poked fun at the lesson this week. And for most of those, this is true…
INSERT SLIDE Everything happens for a reason…but sometimes the reason is that you’re stupid and you make bad decisions.
There…I said it. So thanks for all the feedback! J
We continue our study of the final three verses of the fourth passage of Romans, Chapter 8. As we move to the end of the eighth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans, everything from Verse 26 to Verse 39 is about God…and the passages are filled with the personal things God does for us. Let’s review the whole fourth passage and then get on with our study of it… Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 26 to 30…
Romans 8:26 In the same way we groan within ourselves (Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 23), waiting eagerly for our adoption as adult sons…waiting eagerly for the redemption of our bodies…and waiting eagerly for the freedom of the glory of the children of God…just the way we groan…God the Holy the Spirit, who is called the “first fruits” of our salvation, groans, to help our weakness; for example, we do not know how to pray as we should…but God the Holy Spirit Himself personally intercedes for us in prayer with groanings too deep for words…
Romans 8:27 …and God the Father, who keeps on searching the hearts of all those who pray, 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 (for all believers in Christ) according to the will of God the Father.
Romans 8:28 And we know that God the Father causes all things to work together for good to those who love God the Father, to those who are called according to the Father’s purpose.
Romans 8:29 For those whom God the Father foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son (the Lord Jesus Christ), so that the Lord would be the firstborn among many brethren…
Romans 8:30 …and these whom God the Father predestined, He also called; and these whom God the Father called, He also justified; and these whom God the Father justified, He also glorified.
Last week we began our study of Verse 28…in this lesson we’ll finish it… welcome to a place where you can KNOW GOD through the study of His exact thinking…the bible…the mind of Christ…the Canon of Scripture.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
FLAWLESS Mercy Me
As we prepare our souls for worship, let’s enjoy Mercy Me, singing FLAWLESS.
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Father thanks for being a wonderful example as the source of wisdom, and knowledge and understanding. Thank you for giving us knowledge from above, thorough the inerrant Word of God…and thanks for giving us Your Holy Spirit who helps us understand it…and thank you for letting us make the mistakes of experience so that we can gain tried and true wisdom as a very real part of our spiritual lives…
Help us, Father, to reject the wisdom of the world knowing that it is foolishness in Your eyes…and help us to accept, to embrace and to gravitate to the wisdom that comes only from Your instruction. Give us humble and teachable hearts so that we may love the wisdom of living a godly life, through our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ who called us by His own glory and goodness…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name... Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON God’s Dealings with You are Personal Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28 says…
Romans 8:28 And we know that God the Father causes all things to work together for good to those who love God the Father, to those who are called according to the Father’s purpose.
The verse has several parts…
And WE KNOW…God the Father causes…All Things…To work together for good…To those who love God the Father…To those who are called to God the Father’s purpose…
What do all these things mean? We’ll find out in this lesson…but first, a few announcements.
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TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON God’s Dealings with You are Personal
Let’s dissect Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28…to see the personal nature of God’s dealings with us…
Romans 8:28 And we know that God the Father causes all things to work together for good to those who love God the Father, to those who are called according to the Father’s purpose.
ROMANS 8:28…And WE KNOW
God infuses us with knowledge because God wants us to know Him…remember the Lord’s Prayer in John, Chapter 17? Here’s how it started...
John 17:1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You…”
John 17:2 “…even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
John 17:3 This is eternal life, that they (all flesh) may KNOW You, the only true God, and that they may KNOW Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
The knowing the Lord is speaking of here is the intimacy of a sexual relationship…the Lord’s dealings with you and His thoughts about you are always intensely personal…WE KNOW God cares about the little things…Matthew, Chapter 10, Verse 30….
Matthew 10:30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
God knows everything about you, and He wants you to know everything about Him.
ROMANS 8:28…God causes
God is THE SOURCE. God is THE CAUSE. Because He is the source and the cause, everything that happens to you is personal. So then “everything happens for a reason” … and … “it’s all good” … and … “everything will work out in the end” … are fairy tales that leave God out of the picture and leave our outcomes to fate…to the universe…to the impersonal. Martin Luther disagrees…
MARTIN LUTHER “God the Holy Spirit makes all things, even when they are evil, work together for good.”
Thank you Martin Luther for that insight, and thank you God for what you are able to do with evil (nothing is impossible with God) … because which of our relationships did not start with a bit of evil as part of it? And who of us can do what you do, God? Ecclesiastes, Chapter 7, Verse 13…
Ecclesiastes 7:13 Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what He has bent?
The wonder of God’s working of the evil for the good is mostly unimaginable. Let’s take a quick music break and then we’ll continue.
MUSIC BREAK CELEBRATE JESUS Various Artists
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON God’s Dealings with You are Personal
Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28…
Romans 8:28 And we know that God the Father causes all things to work together for good to those who love God the Father, to those who are called according to the Father’s purpose.
ROMANS 8:28…All Things
All things are the things we see and the things we don’t see. I think about all the people I know who have found out that they have cancer in the last three years, almost all of whom are cancer free now…and I know the things they saw as they were going through the recovery process. But there were so many things God did for them they could have never foreseen. In Psalm 73, Verse 12 to 14…
Psalm 73:12 Behold, these are the wicked; and they are always at ease, they have increased in wealth.
Psalm 73:13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence…
Psalm 73:14 …for I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning.
These are the things the Psalmist sees…there are things that God is working which the Psalmist can’t see, so we wait patiently in faith knowing that all things are being worked out by God for our personal benefit.
ROMANS 8:28…To Work Together for Good
We couldn’t leave you hanging…what happened to Job in Chapter 2? Job, Chapter 2, Verses 1 to 10…
Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God (beneha Elohim) came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.
Job 2:2 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
Job 2:3 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”
Satan gets a bit of a spanking…
Job 2:4 Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin (this for that)! Yes, all that a man has (possessions and children) he will give for his life.
Job 2:5 However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.”
Satan reasons that Job made a trade, and Job didn’t fall apart because his health wasn’t affected.
Job 2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”
Job 2:7 Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils (skin cancer) from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
Job 2:8 And Job took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.
Job 2:9 Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”
Job 2:10 But Job said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
It was probably hard for Job to see, at this point, how God was working all of this together for good…but God did work things out for Job.
ROMANS 28…To those who love God
Who are those who love God? Believers in Christ! Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verse 24…
Ephesians 6:24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.
ROMANS 28…To Those Who are the Called Ones
Here’s the reinforcement that this verse is describing believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a reference to the invited ones … “whosoever” is the set of the invite ones…the “called ones” are those who have chosen God’s solution for salvation and not their own solution for salvation…these are “the called ones.” God begins all of His dealings with mankind with a call that is personally felt and must be personally responded to.
ROMANS 28…According to His purpose
In God’s plan His purpose is absolute, as is everything else in the matter of God’s plan…absolute and definite. Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verse 11…
Ephesians 3:11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which God the Father carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord…
In God’s plan, everything doesn’t have a reason…everything has a purpose…His purpose…Second Timothy, Chapter 1, Verses 8 and 9…
Second Timothy 1:8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God…
Second Timothy 1:9 …who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity…
Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28…
Romans 8:28 And we know that God the Father causes all things to work together for good to those who love God the Father, to those who are called according to the Father’s purpose.
When you think about this verse in the future, maybe, just maybe, you’ll think about how much more personal God’s dealing with you are.
When the Lord Jesus Christ Promises Salvation, It’s a Guarantee!
Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given to mankind by which we must be saved (except the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).”
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door of your soul and I keep on knocking; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, (maybe you will and maybe you won’t…you have a choice) I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Second Timothy 1:9 …the Lord has saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and through the grace which was granted to us in union with Christ Jesus from all eternity…
CLOSING SONG FEAR NOT June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
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