(# 286) Romans 8 - You Believers in Christ Are Destined for AfflictionWelcome 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 teaches the Word of God from God’s perspective and not from the human perspective. We want to know what God has to say to us though His Word, because we’re convinced that God knows exactly what He’s talking about. And our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON You Believers in Christ Are Destined for Affliction
Second Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verse 17 says…
Second Corinthians 4:17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…
In the 1977 song popularized by Lynn Anderson, she sang “I never promised you a rose garden…along with the sunshine…there’s got to be a little rain sometime” … the temporary afflictions we suffer won’t be our experience forever…but our future glory will be for all eternity.
No wonder the messages of unconditional love from our God throughout the New Testament. We continue our study of the last passage in Romans, Chapter 8…but this passage isn’t the only place where the Lord Jesus Christ reveals His fixed attitude toward His believers…His mindset of unconditional love. Ephesians is another great letter to believers in Christ that makes the Lord’s attitude toward His believers absolutely clear. Ephesians, Chapter 1, Verses 1 to 14…
Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, to the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus…
Those of you who regularly attend bible lessons at Barah Ministries (and other places) are the same kind of saints as the believers being addressed by this letter…faithful. The Lord loves the faithful…
Ephesians 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
When the Lord extends His grace and His peace to you, as a believer in Christ, He is saying He has a steadfast love for you and that He has nothing against you…how amazing.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (we as believers are right to speak well of the Father), who has blessed us believers in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…
One with whom we have a relationship, God the Father, and the other One with whom we have a relationship, His Son, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, keep on blessing us with EVERY blessing needed for the spiritual life. God is telling us the when (in eternity past), the what (every blessing), the where (in the heavenly places) and the how (in union with Christ)…all we need to know about how much He loves us.
Ephesians 1:4 …just as God the Father (blessed us by making us the) chosen out ones (election)…to be in union with Christ…before the foundation of the world…that we would be able to stand as holy and blameless before God the Father (in His sight).
Why can we stand before God the Father as holy and blameless? Because we have been given the gift of absolute righteousness through our relationship with Christ by believing in Him.
Ephesians 1:5 In the demonstration of unconditional love, God the Father predestined us (before the foundation of the world) to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will…
Believers in Christ have the same rights and privileges as Christ, even though we weren’t born as a child of God.
Ephesians 1:6 …to the praise of the Father’s glorious grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Every gift was given to us free of charge…God the Father loaded us with love! What we will do for Him in return is praise Him forevermore. And what the Lord does for us in this life…what the Father does…what the Spirit does gives us every reason to praise Them.
Ephesians 1:7 In Christ (the Father’s Beloved One) we have redemption (freedom from slavery to sin) through His shed blood, and we have the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace…
Ephesians 1:8 …which grace God the Father lavished on us.
Ephesians 1:9 In all wisdom and insight, God the Father made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which the Father purposed in Christ…
This is not a mystery in the classic sense…something that is kept secret, that is unknowable, that is impossible to understand…it is a truth that is revealed at the right time…like a secret in a club…the members of the club know the secret…the Church Age was hidden from Old Testament believers, thus it is called the mystery…
Ephesians 1:10 …with a view (in the future) to a dispensation suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Christ…
Ephesians 1:11 …also we believers in Christ have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the Father’s purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will…
Ephesians 1:12 …to the end that we who were the first to hope in union with Christ would be to the praise of God the Father’s glory.
Ephesians 1:13 In Christ, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in union with Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise…
Ephesians 1:14 …who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God the Father’s own possession, to the praise of the Father’s glory.
What a loving tribute God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have given us believers in Christ through this love letter passage. “In Christ” is mentioned almost ten times. To be sure, as Christians, we are destined for affliction…but in the affliction we can always know that we are loved.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
WHEN THE STARS BURN DOWN Phillips, Craig and Dean
The opening song for this lesson is WHEN THE STARS BURN DOWN by Phillips, Craig and Dean.
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 always hearing our prayers! When we cry out to You in times of distress, thank you for inclining Your ear to us. As we encounter tribulation and distresses, thank you for answering us quickly with the perfect answer, even when that perfect answer is silence…even when that perfect answer comes slower than we expect…thank you for Your grace…
Pass along Your grace and peace to us so that we can be stable in the storm, and so we can pass along this grace and this peace that surpasses all comprehension to others with whom we come in contact, especially those in our own homes…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit in Christ’s name... Amen.
Let’s begin this lesson by giving you a chance to make an offering…
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
In just a moment we’ll welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall to take the offering.
One of the best expressions of unconditional love is to make an offering to God from your first fruits…an offering for the benefit of others before you have even thought of taking care of yourself…the opening of your hearts and your wallets, even when it hurts, so that others can have a taste of the Word of God free of charge. At Barah Ministries, we appreciate your generosity, and we always look forward to giving you the chance to display it.
Please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
Deuteronomy 15:10 You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.
OFFERING FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE Dave McClure, Instrumental
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON You Believers in Christ Are Destined for Affliction
We continue our study of Romans, Chapter 8…our focus is Verses 35 and 36…
Romans 8:35 WHO will separate us from the unconditional love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword separate us from His unconditional love?
Romans 8:36 Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
The rhetorical questions Paul asks us to consider in these verses…
PAUL’S QUESTIONS TO BELIEVERS IN CHRIST
WHO will separate us believers in Christ from the unconditional love of Christ?
(Or WHAT will separate us believers in Christ from the Father’s unconditional love?) Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword separate us from His unconditional love?
We’ve discussed the WHO…Satan…now let’s investigate the WHAT that could rhetorically separate us from the unconditional love of God.
Will TRIBULATION separate us from God’s unconditional love?
Decidedly not! Satan would have us think that God turns His back on us when we are going through tribulation…whatever the severity of the tribulation. What is the tribulation in your life that you are experiencing? What is the tribulation in your life that no one warned you about? What tribulation has occurred in your life that no one could have prepared you for? When we encounter tribulation as believers in Christ, Satan, the “roaring lion” asks, “Where is your God now?” And we answer with Psalm 46, Verse 1…
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge (our shelter from danger) and God is our strength…an ALWAYS present (omnipresent) help in times of trouble.
There is no need to fear when God is here! Believers in Christ know why God allows us to endure tribulation…Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 3 to 5…
Romans 5:3 And not only this, but we believers in Christ also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance…
Romans 5:4 …and perseverance brings about proven character; and proven character brings about hope…
Romans 5:5 …and hope does not disappoint, because the unconditional love of God the Father has been poured out within our hearts through God the Holy Spirit who was given to us (as a pledge of our inheritance).
We answer Satan’s question, “Where is your God now?” … with First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 10…
First Peter 5:10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God and Father of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in union with Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
As Christians, we are always at the point of the attack in Satan’s kingdom, planet earth, and we are being persecuted all day long with no time off for good behavior. Yet God works all things together for our good…and uses the tribulation to strengthen us. If we did not have to endure constant tribulation, at every trial we would faint in our souls. Matthew, Chapter 13, Verse 21 describes the person who is not battle tested…
Matthew 13:21 …he has no firm root in himself, but is only able to endure the temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he falls away (he falls apart in his soul).
What God wants from us is described in First Thessalonians, Chapter 1, Verse 6…
First Thessalonians 1:6 You also became imitators of us and imitators of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit…
Our God wants us not to be bothered much by tribulation…First Thessalonians, Chapter 3, Verse 3…
First Thessalonians 3:3 …so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we believers in Christ have been destined for this affliction.
And we take comfort knowing that our God, when He was on earth, endured the same kind of tribulation…Hebrews, Chapter 4, Verse 15…
Hebrews 4:15 For we believers in Christ do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.
In other words the Lord experienced the same tribulations we do…He was begged by “the roaring lion” to act independently from His Father…and He refused EVERY SINGLE TIME so that He could go to the Cross as the Lamb without spot or blemish to take away the sins of the world.
Let’s take a music break and we’ll look at more things that rhetorically speaking might separate us from our God’s unconditional love.
MUSIC BREAK THERE IS NO EQUAL Larnelle Harris
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON You Believers in Christ Are Destined for Affliction
What are the afflictions we believers in Christ are destined for? Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 35 and 36…
Romans 8:35 Who will separate us believers in Christ from the unconditional love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword separate us from His unconditional love?
Romans 8:36 Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Will DISTRESS separate us from God’s unconditional love?
The word distress connects nicely for us during the times when we engage in evil…Romans, Chapter 2, Verse 9…
Romans 2:9 There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek…
Some of the things that constitute tribulation might be inner conflict, health issues, the pain of childbirth, the pain of loss, punishment, worries caused by family or friends, betrayal…a few things without getting too specific so I don’t give you the impression that the Holy Spirit is talking directly to you, because the Holy Spirit would never do something like that (he said with tongue in cheek).
The Greek word for anguish is more intense that tribulation…it means to be jammed into a very narrow and cramped place…to experience a pain that is almost unendurable…when humans experience anguish they have no answer for it…only God has the power to handle the anguish in our lives…Paul describes anguish beautifully in Second Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 8…
Second Corinthians 1:8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction (anguish) which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life…
Paul was in such torment that he believed he was going to die. Have you ever experienced that?
Second Corinthians 1:9 …indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but that we would trust in THE God who raises the dead…
Second Corinthians 1:10 …the God who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will keep on delivering us, the God on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us…
Rarely do people in our lives appreciate the severity of the distresses we experience…and when we tell them, seldom can they really appreciate the affect of the distress…I know as a Pastor, people like dealing with the things I feel in a superficial way…“Oh Pastor you’ll get over it…you’ve got God on your side.” Sometimes I wish my distresses were grotesquely physical so people could actually see the distresses…then perhaps they could have a genuine appreciation for them. Distresses are desperate circumstances where deliverance seems impossible.
Paul describes some of these things he experienced in Second Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 to 28…
Second Corinthians 11:23 Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.
Second Corinthians 11:24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
Second Corinthians 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
Second Corinthians 11:26 I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren…
Second Corinthians 11:27 I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
Second Corinthians 11:28 Apart from such external things, there is the daily (internal) pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
Even the Lord experienced distress…Matthew, Chapter 8, Verses 18 to 20…
Matthew 8:19 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.
Matthew 8:19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
Matthew 8:20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Even the missing “creature comforts” can cause distress. We are destined for application, but that knowledge does not make them easier to deal with. But then, God never promised Christians a rose garden.
GOD WANTS YOU! The Most Important Decision of Your Life Matthew 22:42 “What do you think about the Christ…?”
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.//For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
John 10:9 Jesus said, “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, (maybe you will and maybe you won’t you have a choice) he will be saved, and then he will go in and out and find pasture.”
Luke 23:42-43 And the repentant thief was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!// And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
CLOSING SONG ESSENCE OF GOD June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
THANKS- INTERCESSION- PETITION
We pray that You protect our steps as we go out into the world, Father…and that you keep us on the narrow way, completely dependent on You and Your Guiding, Mentoring Spirit…we ask this in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming! Thanks for watching! Thanks for listening!
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