(# 288) Romans 8 - Sometimes Being a Christian is HumiliatingWelcome 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 Sometimes Being a Christian is Humiliating
Maybe that is not your reality. If you live in the United States, it likely isn’t. At least the humiliation of Christians might not be as apparent here as it is in other places in the world, because in the US there are several places we can hide, within the diversions of the world that keep us from knowing how things really are for our brethren throughout the world…and keeping us from knowing how things really are for us. Never has it been more important for Christians to spread the gospel message in the face of humiliating persecution. Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verses 7 to 13, Paul explains his mission…
Ephesians 3:7 …I (Paul) was made a minister (of the gospel), according to the gift of God the Father’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His Divine power.
God has a plan for Paul’s life…and He has a plan for yours.
Ephesians 3:8 To me (Paul), the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ…
Ephesians 3:9 …and to bring to light what is the dispensation of the mystery (the Church Age) which for ages has been hidden in THE God (the Lord Jesus Christ) who created all things…
Ephesians 3:10 …so that the manifold wisdom of God the Father might now be made known through the Church to the rulers and to the authorities in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 3:11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which God the Father carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord…
Ephesians 3:12 …in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
Ephesians 3:13 Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
Humiliation for the gospel doesn’t feel good. But there is no greater pursuit than stepping up and speaking up for our God, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Welcome to a place where you can learn how to work in the face of adversity.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
OH HAPPY DAY June Murphy
The opening song for this lesson is OH HAPPY DAY by June Murphy.
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Father…You placed us in a world that considers us Christians to be freaks…that considers us as lambs to be slaughtered…that considers us to be punching bags and doormats and targets…we thank you for this blessing… yet it’s hard for us…it puts us in a position to hurt…to feel raw…to suffer… to experience excruciating pain in the physical or psychological realm… thank you for that…because we know You work it for our good…
Help us, and help the brethren all around the world, who are being physically and psychologically abused in Your name, to stand firm…help us to be able to forgive those who persecute us just as You would…help us to experience joy in our souls as we suffer humiliation…knowing we have Your peace available to us…a peace that surpasses all comprehension…
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.
BARAH MINISTRIES FINANCIAL POLICY We choose not to charge for the things we provide to help you study the Word of God. We wish to reflect God’s grace. Help yourselves to bibles, to music, to books, to pamphlets, to anything that would help you, a family member, or a friend learn about God. No price appears on any material from Barah Ministries so that anyone who wants to learn about God can do so free of charge.
BARAH MINISTRIES FINANCIAL POLICY
Even though the materials are free of charge, they are not free of cost. We appreciate the financial support you provide which allows us to share the Word of God with the hearers God brings to listen. Please be generous in your support of God’s work through this ministry.
Please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
Matthew 6:6 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.
OFFERING FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE Dave McClure, Instrumental
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Sometimes Being a Christian is Humiliating
We continue our study of Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 35…
Romans 8:35 WHO will separate us from the unconditional love of Christ? (Or WHAT will separate us?) Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword separate us from Christ’s unconditional love?
Romans 8:36 Just as it is written (in Psalm 44:22), “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
We’ve looked at tribulation and distress and we’ve concluded they can’t separate us from the unconditional love of God.
Will PERSECUTION separate us from God’s unconditional love? What is persecution?
PERSECUTION A program or campaign designed to exterminate, to drive away, or to subjugate people based on their membership in a group that is considered undesirable by the persecutor…to run after someone to catch them for the purpose of hurting them.
Believers in Christ will suffer persecution…John, Chapter 15, Verse 20…the first part…
John 15:20a “Remember the word that I (the Lord Jesus Christ) said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, and they did, they will also persecute you…”
EXAMPLES OF PERSECUTION
An attempted genocide that wiped out two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe.
The Gospel Message An estimated 150,000 Christians are killed annually, solely because of their faith…and countless others are threatened, arrested, or forced to flee their homes because they are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ within nations or territories that are hostile to the Lord.
Legal Persecution Quite often Christians are falsely charged with crimes they did not commit for the purpose of soiling their reputation.
Persecution…when you are persecuted, the Lord has you covered… Deuteronomy, Chapter 31, Verse 8…
Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
The apostle Paul, whose letter to the Romans we are studying, was a persecutor of Christians in the first half of his life…Acts, Chapter 9, Verses 1 to 9…
Acts 9:1 Now Saul (of Tarsus…Paul), still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord (Christians), went to the high priest…
Acts 9:2 …and asked for letters from the high priest to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if Paul found any people belonging to The Way (Christians), both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Paul was committed to eliminating Christianity. He was so passionate about it and so zealous about it that he even wanted to go outside of his home territory to do it. In the judicial system, this procedure is called EXTRADITION, when one nation, upon receipt of a formal request by another nation, turns over to that nation an individual or a group of individuals who have been charged with or convicted of a crime. Paul wanted to extradite the Christians in Damascus and bring them back to his home area for persecution.
Acts 9:3 As Saul was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him…
Acts 9:4 …and he fell to the ground and he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
The Lord Jesus Christ would say, “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers…that you also do unto me.”
Acts 9:5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting…”
Acts 9:6 “…but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”
Acts 9:7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
Acts 9:8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.
Acts 9:9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
After his conversion to Christianity, Paul was then persecuted by his Jewish brethren…you can imagine the intensity of this persecution against him…for turning from his Jewish roots to serve the…ick…Gentiles. Acts, Chapter 26, Verses 6 to 11…
Acts 23:6 But perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in the Council, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee, and a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and the resurrection of the dead!”
Before this comment, Paul had two groups against him. Recognizing his plight, he divided his enemies by getting one side to relate to him as a Pharisee.
Acts 23:7 As Paul said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
Acts 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
Acts 23:9 And there occurred a great uproar; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
Acts 23:10 And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.
Persecution in the United States is often simply verbal. In other parts of the world, persecution can cost you your life. God encourages us to be of good cheer through these things…
Acts 23:11 But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at Paul’s side and said, “Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause (the gospel to the Gentiles) at Jerusalem, so you must you witness to my cause at Rome also.”
The Lord was warning Paul that he was being sent into the two hotbeds of Christian persecution…Jerusalem and Rome. The world system has always thought that death is the way to silence the Christian critic…yet the voice of Christianity is still heard everywhere and cannot be silenced by persecution.
Let’s take a music break.
MUSIC BREAK YOUR LOVE IS EXTRAVAGANT Casting Crowns
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Sometimes Being a Christian is Humiliating
Will FAMINE separate us from God’s unconditional love? What is famine?
FAMINE Extreme lack and general scarcity of food in a country or in a large geographical area.
EXAMPLES OF FAMINE Famine affects nearly one billion of the seven billion people in the world.
In times of famine, someone needs to come through…Acts, Chapter 11, Verses 27 to 30…
Acts 11:27 Now at this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
Acts 11:28 One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this famine took place in the reign of the Emperor Claudius.
Acts 11:29 And in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the relief of the brethren living in Judea.
Acts 11:30 And this they did, sending it in charge of Barnabas and Saul to the elders.
Why does God allow us to go through these tortures, like famine? God is smart enough and gracious enough to allow us to EXPERIENCE the things He experienced, so that we can have genuine fellowship with Him. So when we say to God, I know what you mean, it will be from experience. In addition, God gives us the means to solve these problems. Philippians, Chapter 4, Verses 11 to 13…
Philippians 4:11 Not that I (Paul) speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
Philippians 4:12 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and the secret of going hungry…I have learned about both having abundance and suffering need.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. God provides for us in the sphere of His grace…Matthew, Chapter 6, Verses 25 to 34…
Matthew 6:25 “For this reason I (the Lord Jesus Christ) say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor do they reap nor do they gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
Matthew 6:27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”
Matthew 6:28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin…”
Matthew 6:29 “…yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.”
Matthew 6:30 “But if God the Father so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not MUCH MORE clothe you? You of little faith!”
Matthew 6:31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’”
Matthew 6:32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom (the gospel message) and His righteousness (your sanctification…the ZOE life…the resurrection life), and all these things will be added to you.”
Matthew 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Will NAKEDNESS separate us from God’s unconditional love? What is nakedness?
NAKEDNESS It can be literal, but more often, in the spiritual realm, it is figurative…we are completely exposed as aliens in Satan’s kingdom…we are put in a position to be completely humiliated.
EXAMPLE OF NAKEDNESS
Being in a position that there is no way to wiggle out of…no way to spin…
First Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verses 8 to 13…
First Corinthians 4:8 You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.
Paul hits the deluded Corinthians with sarcasm…the things the Corinthians valued were not always valuable…the surface things of this life.
First Corinthians 4:9 For, I (Paul) think, God has exhibited (in a forum) us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle (a theatron) to the world, both to angels and to men.
First Corinthians 4:10 We apostles are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.
First Corinthians 4:11 To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless…
First Corinthians 4:12 …and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure…
First Corinthians 4:13 …when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
If I am to be humiliated, I am more than willing to be humiliated for Christ’s sake. Are you?
GOD WANTS YOU! The Most Important Decision of Your Life Matthew 22:42 “What do you think about the Christ (the Messiah)…?”
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 OUR GOD Chris Tomlin
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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