(# 343) Romans 9 - When Your Favorite Rejects Your Gifts

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.  At Barah Ministries we worship the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We call Him Lord because He is 100% God.  We call Him Jesus Christ because He is 100% true humanity just like you and me.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

When Your Favorite Rejects Your Gifts

 

What is your attitude toward the gifts God gives you?

 

Barah Ministries is one of Gods gifts to you.  What is your attitude toward this gift God has given you?  Many people have come and many people have gone through the doors of Barah Ministries over the years, some for real reasons and some not.  God gave them this gift.  For those who left for pretense, saying it’s one reason when it is another, I have always considered that unfortunate.  Only one person has ever been kicked out of Barah Ministries.  Excommunicated.  Asked to leave.  Requested not to return.  In fact, he was asked to leave with a letter.  It doesn’t get worse than that.  He was told, in VERY CERTAIN TERMS, that he was never welcome to come to Barah Ministries again.  He was labeled Persona Non Grata.  That’s Latin for “a person not appreciated” … Public Enemy Number 1.  That man is Mike Mihuc. 

 

Now if Mike were normal, he would have listened.  He would have stayed away.  But Mike has Eastern European blood running through his veins.  His ancestors on his father’s side are from Czechoslovakia, and that bloodline has been known to be hard headed.  On his Mom’s side, he’s got a little Irish in him.  I don’t have to tell you about the Irish.  So long story short, he didn’t listen.  He just returned to Barah Ministries one day…he just showed up one day.  And I didn’t kick him out.  Mercy.  We just picked up our friendship where it left off.  I count Mike among my best friends…a man who can be trusted.  I’m sure Mike would tell you that no body parts fell off for the experience.

 

Mike wrote an insightful letter this week about the vessels of wrathvessels of mercy lesson from last week.  In the letter he quoted an anonymous source about the human condition…

 

THE HUMAN CONDITION

“We are very good lawyers when it comes to defending our own mistakes…and very good judges when it comes to the mistakes of others.”

 

In other words, what we do is always fine…what others do, even if they are doing the same things we are, is deplorable.  The words about the human condition are great to remember as we look at the nation of Israel and The Jewish Race in Romans, Chapters 9 to 11.  It’s easy to defend those who agree with us, yet when we are defending people, even when they are wrong, and not counting their mistakes against them, that’s when we are emulating our God.  God’s favorites, the nation Israel and The Jewish Race, are a nation and a people God defends to the death.  Yet for the time they both are rejecting Him, God has allowed His gifts to be enjoyed by others…the Gentiles.  That’s what God does when His favorites reject His gifts.  He redirects the gifts for a time to other purposes, but His plan is not compromised.

 

Welcome to a place where you can learn to love as God loves… unconditionally.  Welcome to a place where you can learn what to do when your favorites reject your gifts.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

THROUGH ALL OF IT

Colton Dixon

 

Let’s begin our lesson by opening our hearts and our ears to the truth in the

Word of our all-powerful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  There are many ups

and downs in this life.  Here’s Colton Dixon to tell you His attitude toward God during those times in a song entitled, THROUGH ALL OF IT.

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Thank you, Father, for allowing us to test our own thoughts about this life…for allowing us to rebel…and for the learning that comes from rebellion…and thank you for Your patience through all of it…for sticking with us just as faithfully as You are sticking with the nation Israel and The Jewish Race…

 

Help us to learn the wisdom of obedience to Your wishes, and the power of reflecting this example to the world…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...

Amen.

 

We begin with few announcements…

 

BARAH MINISTRIES ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Next Deacon’s Meeting

February 11, 2017

7:30A -9:30A

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

The Next Lord’s Supper Celebration

February 12, 2017

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Visit the Vets

February 19, 2017

1:45PM-3:00PM

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Homecoming for the Non-Resident Congregation

April 21-22, 2017

 

Please note the corrected dates.  I had them wrong.  Book your flights now!  Hotel information is on the website.  Is there a registration on the website?

 

PRAYERS

Barah Ministries Prayer Request Group

ON FACEBOOK

 

Join me in prayer directed at all the intercessions and all the petitions of the

people visiting the Barah Ministries Prayer Request Group.  Please take time to pray for each other and for your Pastor.

 

PRAYERS

Tim Mulligan and Pastor John Farley

 

ONE LESSON

Deacon’s Decision

 

Yesterday, we had a “spirited discussion” about this subject.  We decided to go with one lesson for now and to evaluate it after a time.  This will be a year of new direction for us. 

 

YOU BELONG @ BARAH MINISTRIES!

We’re Looking for 20 Families

Help Us Build a Church

 

Let 2017 be the year when we grow our church…and we grow our church by inviting people to come.  We put together a poster and a brochure that we can use to invite people to Barah Ministries.  Stay tuned…

 

FINANCES

Where does the money go?

 

,000…down ,000 from 2015.  Three biggest expenses…. Rent…Pastor’s “salary” … and conferences.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

When Your Favorite Rejects Your Gifts

 

What is God’s response to the nation Israel and The Jewish Race who have

rebelled against Him…who have rejected His gifts to them?  His response is

mercy!  You and I, as Gentile believers, are the beneficiaries of this grace.  Let’s look at the last two passages of Romans, Chapter 9, covering Verses 25 to 33…

 

PASSAGE 6

 

ROMANS 9:25

As God the Father says also in Hosea,  “I will call those who were not My people (The Gentiles), ‘My people’ … and I will call her who was not beloved (who was not the divinely loved Jews…these Gentiles), ‘beloved.’”

 

ROMANS 9:26

“And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people’ … (in the land of the Gentiles) … there they shall be called sons of the living God.”

 

ROMANS 9:27

Isaiah cries out concerning (the nation) Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved…”

 

There are always the righteous few…I stand before the remnant of Barah Ministries and teach…the ones who rebelled have gone and not come back…and I stick with the remnant.  I see God’s lesson in the Barah Ministries circumstance…I see His wisdom in holding me here…teaching me faithfulness…I see that lesson permeating all of my existence.  I respect people like Mike Mihuc who are mature enough to look candidly at themselves in the mirror and who ask themselves what they can change about how they approach life.  I respect the remnant.  I will speak highly of the remnant when I am face-to-face with the Lord.  I don’t know if it will make any difference or not, but I certainly will be eager to give the Lord an account concerning those of you who have supported me through thick and thick.  J  The apostle Paul, the writer of the letter to the Romans, is a Jew who is part of the remnant…He is a Jew who is also a Christian…

ROMANS 9:28

“…for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly.”

 

God keeps ALL of His promises, even the ones related to wrath.

 

ROMANS 9:29

And just as Isaiah foretold, “Unless the Lord of Sabbath (the Lord Jesus Christ) had left to us a posterity (a remnant of believing Jews), we would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah.”

 

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with fire and brimstone, just as the vessels of wrath will be destroyed.  Destruction is not a cessation of being.  Destruction is eternal wrath visited on the bodies of the damned ones.  Destruction is an intense fire.  Destruction is an existence spent out of the presence of the Lord, in fulfillment of the vessel of wrath’s wishes, the ones who reject a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Destruction is the Lord’s withdrawal of mercy and patience…His saying, “Enough is enough.”  Are there any of us who can’t understand how the Lord would eventually accept our decisions?

 

PASSAGE 7

 

ROMANS 9:30

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness that is by faith…

 

ROMANS 9:31

…but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness (The Mosaic Law), did not arrive at (a fulfillment of) that law (and its promised righteousness).

 

ROMANS 9: 32

Why? Because they did not pursue righteousness by faith, but they pursued righteousness as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone…(they missed accepting a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ for the righteousness)…

 

ROMANS 9:33

…just as it is written, “Behold, I (God the Father) lay in Zion (Jerusalem) a

stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (the Lord Jesus Christ…my Son), and he who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will not be disappointed.”

 

Who are the vessels of wrath?  Unbelievers.  Who are the vessels of mercy?  Believers in Christ.  What is God’s attitude toward vessels of wrath?  He “endures them with much patience,” yet there is also a time when God says to the vessels of wrath, “Enough is enough.”  That time comes when God has been absolutely fair to them…allowing them to rebel…patiently waiting for them to return to Him…longsuffering…while being there for them “through all of it,” as Colton Dixon reminded us in our opening song.  This haunting thought for the rebels about the longsuffering of God…Second Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 9…

 

SECOND PETER 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of, but instead He is patient toward you unbelievers, not wishing for any to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

Anyone who ends up being a vessel at whom God directs His wrath CHOOSE that fate…a fate that no one who understood it would wish on his worst enemy. 

 

When your favorite rejects your gifts, you find another place to give the gifts, and you wait patiently for your favorites to return.  I love the Lord for the people He has put in my life to illustrate this lesson, and for how the lessons illuminate my attitude toward rebels, an attitude that needs much improvement.  Let’s take a music break and we’ll learn more.

 

MUSIC BREAK

HAPPY

Pharrell

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

Let’s begin the next portion of our lesson by giving you a chance to make an offering…we need and we value your financial support to continue the work of this ministry…please welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

ROMANS 9:16

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on

God who has mercy.

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

When Your Favorite Rejects Your Gifts

 

Welcome back!  What is God’s attitude toward those who reject His gifts?  He is patient!  We have a God who offers full benefits no matter when you learn the lesson concerning the wisdom of obeying Him.  In Matthew, Chapter 20, Verses 1 to 16 the Lord illustrates His attitude of generosity, longsuffering and patience…

 

MATTHEW 20:1

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.”

 

The twelve-hour workday…

 

MATTHEW 20:2

“When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day (as pay), he sent them into his vineyard.”

 

MATTHEW 20:3

“And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place…”

 

MATTHEW 20:4

“…and to those the landowner said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.”

MATTHEW 20:5

“Again the landowner went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.”

 

MATTHEW 20:6

“And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around…and the landowner said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’”

 

MATTHEW 20:7

“They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ The landowner said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’”

 

MATTHEW 20:8

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group, then on to the first group.’”

 

MATTHEW 20:9

“When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.”

 

MATTHEW 20:10

“When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more… but each of them also received a denarius as well.”

 

MATTHEW 20:11

“When those hired first received just a denarius, they grumbled at the landowner…”

 

MATTHEW 20:12

“…saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the whole day.’”

 

MATTHEW 20:13

“But the landowner answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong…did you not agree with me for a denarius?’”

 

MATTHEW 20: 14

“Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as I give to you.”

 

MATTHEW 20:15

“Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’”

 

MATTHEW 20: 16

“So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

 

God does not direct His unconditional love, and His grace, and His forgiveness to certain ones, but to whosoever, and WHENEVER.  Blessed be the name of the Lord!  Great is His lovingkindness, longsuffering, mercy and patience, both now and always!  Do you test the patience of the Lord?

 

Our God wanted His favorites to have His gifts and to take advantage of them.  They refused.  Second Thessalonians, Chapter 1, Verses 6 to 10…

 

SECOND THESSALONIANS 1:6

For after all it is only just for God the Father to repay with affliction those who afflict you…

 

Those who reject a relationship with Christ will experience affliction…those who believe in Christ and who endure affliction because of it will be comforted.

 

SECOND THESSALONIANS 1:7

…and it is just for God the Father to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus Christ will be revealed from heaven with His mighty (elect) angels in flaming fire…

 

SECOND THESSALONIANS 1:8

…dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

 

I have never liked it when people say God punishes us.  It blames God for a thing we brought on ourselves.  Those who consider themselves “punished” are simply receiving the penalty for their choices.  For vessels of mercy, it is eternal life…the resurrection life…for vessels of wrath, it is eternal death… the damnation life.

 

SECOND THESSALONIANS 1:9

These (unbelievers) will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power…

 

SECOND THESSALONIANS 1:10

…when the Lord comes at His second coming to be glorified in union with His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you (the gospel message) was believed (by you Thessalonians).

 

What is your attitude toward the gifts God gives you?  It is God’s will that you take advantage of them.  Ezekiel, Chapter 33, Verse 11…

 

EZEKIEL 33:11

“Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather I take pleasure that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back…turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

ACTS 16:30

“…the jailer asked (Paul and Silas), “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

ROMANS 10:10

…for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

 

SECOND PETER 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise of salvation, as some accuse Him of, but instead He is patient toward you unbelievers, not wishing for any to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).

 

LUKE 19:10

“For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

CLOSING SONG

HERO

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

 

www.barahministries.com


©® Barah Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved.