(# 385) Romans 12 - Being Transformed Means God is Cleaning Up Our Hearts

 

Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Evening!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church with worldwide impact based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  In John, Chapter 15, Verse 5, the Lord says…

 

JOHN 15:5

I (the Lord Jesus Christ) am the vine, you (believers in Christ) are the branches…he who abides in Me and I indwelling him, he bears much fruit…for apart from Me you can do nothing.

 

We abide in the Lord Jesus Christ when we obey Him, following the Word of His instruction…the Bible.  In Philippians, Chapter 4, Verse 13 Paul proclaims…

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:13

I (Paul) can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

This is a reference to our spiritual sufficiency as believers in union with Christ.  The emphasis is not on the “I can do” of that verse… rather, the emphasis is on what Christ can do through us when we are willing to let Him.  WE can think of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ’s humanity, and her  acceptance of the virgin birth…she learned in Luke, Chapter 1, Verse 37…

 

LUKE 1:37

“For nothing will be impossible with God.”

 

Mary had a virgin birth…and she did not doubt at all that the Lord was able

to do through her, in spite of all the ridicule she was about to face for having a child before she was officially married.

 

These three verses give us the divine perspective…we can do nothing without God…we can do everything through God, and like Abraham, we are never to doubt what God’s ability…Romans, Chapter 4, Verses 20 and 21…

 

ROMANS 4:20

…with respect to the promise of God the Father, Abraham did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God…

 

ROMANS 4:21

…and being fully assured that what God the Father had promised, He was able also to perform.

 

Welcome to a place where you can learn to count on and to use the power of the Sovereign God of the Universe…the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Being Transformed Means God is Cleaning Up Our Hearts

 

God is holy.  Matthew, Chapter 5, Verse 48….

 

MATTHEW 5:48

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

God only expects one thing from us…perfection.  Being transformed by God means He is making us perfect experientially.  Knowing that we’re not perfect might cause a dilemma if it were not for the fact that God considers it to be His responsibility to clean up our hearts.  We’ll see what that means in this lesson.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

THY WILL BE DONE

Hilary Scott

 

One of the things it means is that God’s will is always done.  Here’s Hillary Scott to tell us how God transforms us in spite of our brokenness.

 

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 cleaning up our hearts…thank you for being responsible for doing all the things we cannot do ourselves, and more...

 

Make us aware of what you are doing to us and for us…change our perspective so we see our lives through Your eyes…just as You see them…

 

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

Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Being Transformed Means God is Cleaning Up Our Hearts

 

The current passage under study is Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2…

 

ROMANS 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world (by Satan, by his world system of thought, and by the flesh)…instead, keep on being transformed by (God the Holy Spirit)…through the renewing of your mind (by studying the Word of God)… so that you may see clearly what the will of God is…and the will of God is that which is good and that which is acceptable and that which is perfect.

 

And the perfection includes you, believers in Christ…and one of the ways God makes us perfect is revealed by King David in Psalm 51, Verse 6…

 

PSALM 51:6

Behold, You (Lord) desire truth in the innermost being…

 

Why does God want truth in our innermost beings?  It is because being transformed by God means that God is cleaning up our hearts so that we can reflect His holiness from our innermost being.  In Psalm 51, Verse 10, King David makes a request to God…

 

PSALM 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

 

If you carve chocolate with a knife, as you go deeper, all you’ll find is more and more chocolate.  So it is with the Christian whose heart has been cleansed by God.  As you peel away the layers of a Christian, you’ll simply find more and more truth.

 

When we are conformed we think it is okay to sin.  We commit sins and we feel guilty about it.  Why do we feel guilty?  Why do we get feelings of remorse and confoundedness when we sin?  I think it is because when we are exposed for the truth, we become consciously aware of our shortcomings in relation to the divine standard.  Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 23…

 

ROMANS 3:23

…for all creatures have sinned and fall short of the essence of God…

 

We realize we are not holy and we know that we regularly engage in toxic conduct.  For example, when we are conformed, we enjoy gossiping about others, maligning others and judging others.  We come from the mindset hat we are clean so we can point out the dirt of others.  Yet we are not clean.  The Lord tells us in Matthew, Chapter 7, Verses 1 to 5…

 

MATTHEW 7:1

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.”

 

MATTHEW 7:2

“For in the way you judge, you will be judged…and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”

 

MATTHEW 7:3

“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

 

MATTHEW 7:4

“Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your

eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?”

 

MATTHEW 7:5

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2…

 

ROMANS 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world (by Satan, by his world system of thought, and by the flesh)…instead, keep on being transformed by (God the Holy Spirit)…through the renewing of your mind (by studying the Word of God)…

 

Being transformed means God is cleaning up our hearts.

 

When we are transformed we know that it is not okay to keep on sinning because sinning does not reflect the holiness of God.  And God expects every one of His believers to reflect His holiness.

 

How does God transform us?

 

God cleans up our hearts.

 

Psalm 51, Verse 10, King David makes a request to God…

 

PSALM 51:10a

Create in me a clean heart, O God…

 

We have to acknowledge that we are dirty.  We have to acknowledge that we are nothing at all like God.  He is the Creator.  We are the creatures.  He is absolute.  We are relative.  Take sin, for example.  If you go to a post office and kill 500 people, or if you’re on the phone and you tell someone your friend isn’t home when they are, those two sins are the same to God.  To God, sin does not occur in degrees.  To God, sin is sin.  The sin of fornication (pre-marital sex) is the same as the sin of homosexuality. 

 

As humans, we have pet sins…and degrees of sin.  There are venial sins and

mortal sins according to Roman Catholicism.  There are the okay sins…like

 fornication…and there are the OMG sins like homosexuality. 

 

In God’s eyes…and from God’s perspective… “sin falls short of His glory” and especially for believers in Christ…because God wants us to reflect His holiness to others.  So as Christians, we hate sin.  We love the sinner.  We don’t maintain a sin scale that goes from really bad to not that bad.  We simply hate sin and want nothing to do with it, because when we sin, we are allowing ourselves to be conformed. 

 

Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2…God wants us to be transformed…

 

ROMANS 12:2b

…keep on being transformed by (God the Holy Spirit)…through the renewing of your mind (by studying the Word of God)…

 

Being transformed means God is cleaning up our hearts.

 

Let’s take a music break, and when we come back we’ll see how He transforms us.  There is no need to fear God, but He certainly commands our respect.  Here’s Chris Tomlin to sing WHOM SHALL I FEAR.

 

MUSIC BREAK

WHOM SHALL I FEAR

Chris Tomlin

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Being Transformed Means God is Cleaning Up Our Hearts

 

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.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

ECCLESIASTES 4:9-10

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.// For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.

 

OFFERING

FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE

Dave McClure, Instrumental

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

Being Transformed Means God is Cleaning Up Our Hearts

 

We continue our study of Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 2…

 

ROMANS 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world (by Satan, by his world system of thought, and by the flesh)…instead, keep on being transformed by (God the Holy Spirit)…through the renewing of your mind (by studying the Word of God)… so that you may see clearly what the will of God is…and the will of God is that which is good and that which is acceptable and that which is perfect.

 

God uses the truth to transform us…to clean us up.

 

Once we acknowledge that we are dirty…that we keep on committing sins and we need a cleansing, the Lord uses God the Holy Spirit, indwelling every believer, to keep on transforming us into God’s image.  He cleans up our hearts with truth.  Psalm 51, Verse 6…

 

PSALM 51:6

Behold, You (Lord) desire truth in the innermost being…

 

We travel in a vessel in this life, as if we are a boat.  In God’s mind, nothing is allowed in the boat of a believer in Christ except that which is holy.  Imagine yourself on a journey in your boat, advancing to a destination, and carrying cargo.  Some of this cargo is legal.  Some of this cargo is illegal.  God cleans us up by capsizing our boats to remove all the cargo that is not legal.  And it is a surgical capsizing…only the illegal things are removed.  So it is with believers in Christ.  The Lord is removing all that is not holy from us.  He capsizes our lives with tribulation to remove all that is not holy.  He removes the lies.  He replaces them with truth.

 

The flesh reacts to the removal of the illegal substances.  The flesh wants us to remain dirty and to operate with lies.  God isn’t having any of it.  He wants us to put away from consideration anything that is toxic.

 

I was standing in the market of a hotel recently to buy a snack.  What I noticed is that everything in the market was toxic.  High glycemic carbs, high fructose corn syrup sodas, and alcohol, all sure to produce an insulin reaction in my body that shuts off fat burning.  So it is with the world.  When you decide you want God to make you experientially holy, you will find few things in the world that are supportive of a holy lifestyle.

 

So what does it mean if you don’t consider the daily intake of the Word of God valuable to you?  It means you haven’t got a chance to be a reflection of God’s holiness.  You’re simply choosing to be conformed.  When you choose to be transformed by God you see everything from His point of view.

 

Finally, as God cleans us up He makes room in us to…Reflect His Glory to a Lost and Dying World.  First John, Chapter 1, Verse 5…

 

FIRST JOHN 1:5

This is the message we have heard from the Lord Jesus Christ and announce to you believers in Christ, that God the Father is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

 

If you are to reflect our God to a lost and dying world you must be a reflector of The Light.

 

One of my favorite things to do in Los Cabos, Mexico is to walk the marina. One of my least favorite things about the walk is the solicitation. There are many people imploring me to buy something, whether it is a meal at a restaurant, or Chiclets gum, or a toy. One of my least favorite toys is the glow rope. Glow ropes are sold at night. They are a beautiful neon green or neon pink color. You buy them for an exorbitant sum…as much as when you feel sorry for the person who is selling them. Glow ropes are great on the night you buy them.  But the next morning when you wake up the glow is gone. So you buy them once, and then never again. What I didn’t know is that to reignite the glow rope, you only have to expose it to light for a period of time.  It has no power of its own.  But when it is exposed to light, the light recharges the glow rope, and once again the rope beams with a beautiful electric glow.

 

As Christians, we are like glow ropes. We have no power of our own, so we have to expose ourselves to the light…to God and His word…otherwise we are lifeless.  Most of us are alive when we leave a bible lesson, but the next morning we are lifeless.  When we expose ourselves regularly to the Word of God, we move from lifeless and conformed…to full of life…to ALL IN…to transformed…we keep on being recharged by God so that His Word is the light source that allows us to emit a beautiful glow that fully reflects his Holiness.

 

Being transformed means God is cleaning up our hearts.  He removes all that is dirty…he replaces it with all that is clean…inculcating the truth into the innermost being…and then He makes us reflect His light.  Will you let Him?

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

According to the Word of God there are only two kinds of people in this world…BELIEVERS IN CHRIST…those justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation…and UNBELIEVERS…those who remain condemned in their unbelief by rejecting a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, either through ignorance, or through willful antagonism. The Word of God makes it very clear in John, Chapter 3, Verse 18…

 

JOHN 3:18

“He who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is not judged…he who does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ has been judged already, because he has not believed in the Person of the uniquely born Son of God.”

 

Your soul, once born, never dies…you choose where it spends eternity…in Heaven for BELIEVERS IN CHRIST…or in the Lake of Fire for UNBELIEVERS.

 

Heaven is described as a place of no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain…a place exceeding and abundantly beyond anything we could ever ask or think…a place where BELIEVERS IN CHRIST will be absent from the body and at home face-to-face with the Lord. 

 

The Lake of Fire is described as a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…a place where UNBELIEVERS will suffer soul-racking remorse, eternal torment, and dreadful agony with no hope of escape for all eternity. 

 

If you are an UNBELIEVER, right this very minute, you can choose heaven if you acknowledge a few very important things...

 

ROMANS 3:10

“There is no creature who is righteous, not even one…”

 

This means you…from the moment of your physical birth.

 

ROMANS 3:23

…for all creatures have sinned and fall short of the essence of God…

Once you commit a single sin there is nothing in you that is worthy of consideration for salvation.

 

ROMANS 6:23

For the compensation for sin is death (an eternity in the Lake of Fire)…BUT…the free gift offer of God the Father is the resurrection life for those who choose to be in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

There is your opportunity.  Why believe in Jesus Christ?

 

COLOSSIANS 2:9

For in Christ Jesus all the essence of Deity dwells in bodily form…

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is God!

 

JOHN 1:14

…the Lord…God the Son…became flesh…as Jesus Christ…and lived among us…and we beheld His glory…the glory of the uniquely born One from the source of God the Father…full of grace and full of truth.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to seek you out and to save you!

 

FIRST PETER 2:22

…Christ Jesus…who committed no sin…nor was any deceit found in His mouth…

 

All He had to do to save you is to be righteous…to live a sinless life, to die on a Cross, and to be raised from the dead.

 

JOHN 1:12

But as many as received Jesus…accepting His work as the payment for their sins…to them the Lord gave the right to become the adopted adult children of God the Father…a right given to those who believe in Christ’s Person…

 

If you are an unbeliever, how can you be saved?

 

JOHN 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

So…

 

ACTS 16:31

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

 

Join us believers in Christ in heaven unbelievers!  There will be plenty of room!

 

CLOSING SONG

WHOSOEVER

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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