(#453) Romans 13 - Life is Light When We Lay Aside the DarknessIf you’re in the resident congregation, turn off your electronic devices and put them away. Let this be a place where you aren’t distracted by the world.
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church that makes a difference. My name is Pastor Rory Clark. At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We make a difference by teaching the Word of God from God’s perspective, and not from man’s perspective.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Life is Light When We Lay Aside the Darkness
Romans, Chapter 13, Verse 12 is where we left off in our study…
ROMANS 13:12 The night is almost gone…and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
In today’s lesson, we’ll continue our study of the final passage of Romans, Chapter 13. In addition, as we are commanded by God to do…we’ll celebrate The Lord’s Supper, looking back at all the amazing things Jesus Christ did for us at the Cross.
One month after their marriage, my Mom told my Dad she was pregnant and a surprise package on the way! My Dad was thinking set-up…he suspected that my Mom was already pregnant when they got married. This was the time before DNA tests and paternity tests.
As my Dad considered what to do, his brother Sammy encouraged him to leave. “You can beat that deal, man.” So Dad left and never came back. As God would have it, in my early teen years I ended up working for my Uncle Sammy on a flower delivery truck. He was extremely overweight, about 350 pounds, and my young legs were just what he needed to carry flowers up four flights of stairs. He was a really funny guy so we ended up getting close.
One day, he told me he couldn’t move his foot from the brake to the gas pedal. Of course I thought he was kidding because he was quite a practical joker. I knew he wasn’t kidding at the next traffic light when he started crying because he couldn’t move at all. He was having a stroke. I flagged a policeman and we got him to a hospital within ten minutes.
Uncle Sammy was paralyzed and bedridden from that time until his death ten years later. It was his second stroke, and his doctor told me that if I hadn’t acted so quickly he would have been a dead man.
Whenever I would go to see him, he would reach for my hand, pull me close and whisper in my ear. With tears flowing from his eyes, his words were, “So sorry.” I didn’t really know what he meant until my mother told me the story. For me, there was no need for sorry. He was forgiven. I am forgiven, so it is easy to forgive. In Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verse 32, the Lord says…
EPHESIANS 4:32 Be kind to one another…tender-hearted…forgiving each other…just as God the Father, in union with Christ, also has forgiven you.
Another thing we need to know about God is that He is forgiving. We are forgiven as well. Psalm 103, Verse 12 says…
PSALM 103:12 As far as the east is from the west…so far has the Lord removed our transgressions from us.
All of our sins…past present and future…are forgiven…we do not have a punishing God as God’s enemy, Satan, would like us to believe…Isaiah, Chapter 38, Verse 17…
ISAIAH 38:17 It is You (Lord) who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness…for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
There is never a time for you to worry about your sins…because the Lord’s blood…shed on the Cross…cleansed you from sin. Your religious acts… your guilt…your penance…your regret does not impress God…Isaiah, Chapter 43, Verse 25…
ISAIAH 43:25 “I (the Lord)…even I…am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake…and I will not remember your sins.”
Where there is sin, with God there is forgiveness…God has a divine solution for your human problems…Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 20…
ROMANS 5:20 The Mosaic Law came in so that trespasses might increase (the consequence of law)…but where sin increased…God’s grace overflowed even more…
Spiritual victory over sin comes from God the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence…and it starts this way…Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 1…
ROMANS 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
First John, Chapter 2, Verses 1 and 2…
FIRST JOHN 2:1 My little children (my born again ones), I (John) am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, and of course we do, we have an Advocate with God the Father…Jesus Christ the ONLY righteous One…
FIRST JOHN 2:2 …and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the propitiation for our sins…and not for our sins only (as believers in Christ)…but also for the sins of the whole world (unbelievers as well).
There is ONLY ONE SATISFACTORY PAYMENT FOR SIN in the eyes of God the Father…it’s Jesus Christ. You are forgiven by God in the past…you are forgiven by God in the present…you are forgiven by God in the future…forgiven by a God who is always fair and always forgiving. How forgiving are you? Who do you need to forgive?
How much are you forgiven? Here’s Hawk Nelson to tell us with his song DROPS IN THE OCEAN.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
DROPS IN THE OCEAN Hawk Nelson
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 Your attitude toward us…You have a heart of compassion toward us…a heart of kindness toward us…a heart of gentleness toward us…and a heart of patience toward us…especially toward the worst among us…You love us unconditionally and You are always looking to bear with us as we learn…thank you so much for how You see us and for how You are developing us…
…help us to realize the paid in full nature of Your forgiveness…help us cast out the thought that You are somehow disappointed in us…show us how to live the resurrection life instead of the “I” life…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Life is Light When We Lay Aside the Darkness
We continue our study of the final passage of Romans, Chapter 13, Verses 11 to 14.
ROMANS 13:11 Do this (be in subjection to the governing authorities and have a lifestyle of unconditional love)…knowing the time (the season of the divine plan)… knowing that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep…for now salvation (our final deliverance to glorification by God) is nearer to us believers in Christ than it was when we first believed in Christ.
In other words, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, spiritually speaking, because as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we are a light in this dark world, and we need to have a mindset of preparedness for what’s coming in our spiritual future.
ROMANS 13:12 The night is almost gone…and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
ROMANS 13:13 Let us behave properly as in the day…not in carousing and drunkenness… not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality…not in strife and jealousy.
ROMANS 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ…and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
Out focus is verse 12…
ROMANS 13:12 The night is almost gone…and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Do you live a “drama free” lifestyle? If you really think about the things that make life lousy, they start with the “deeds of darkness” … we nickname it drama. Life becomes light when we lay aside the deeds of darkness. What are these deeds of darkness? A look at how you entertain yourself might reveal a few places to look for drama…television and movies (be careful what you fill your mind with)… alcohol and drugs (be careful what you fill your body with)…sensuality (be careful how you abuse your emotions)…strife (also known as fighting…be careful how you treat others)…and jealousy (be careful what you want, especially when it doesn’t belong to you…electronic devices (be carful how you invest your time). These things contribute little to your serenity, and a lot to your drama.
In Luke, Chapter 11, Verses 33 to 36, the Lord uses an interesting analogy to instruct us on how to use the light He has put inside of us…Himself…
LUKE 11:33 “No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket… but a lamp is put on the lampstand…so that those who enter may see the light.”
LUKE 11:34 “The eye is the lamp of your body…when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light…but when it is bad…your body also is full of darkness.”
Be careful how you feed your mind, your body, your emotions…how you treat others…what you want…and how you use your time…
LUKE 11: 35 “Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.”
Verse 35 isn’t a call to legalism…it’s a call to discernment…it encourages us to change the things we do that are not working. How do you take your light into the darkness? What do you want to do about it?
LUKE 11:36 “If therefore your whole body is full of light…and of course it is…if you allow no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”
Do you have a drama free lifestyle? It’s God’s preference for us… Ephesians, Chapter 5, Verse 8…
EPHESIANS 5:8 …for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord…walk as children of Light…
Is a drama free lifestyle your preference for yourself? We’ll continue our look at this idea next week. Let’s take a five-minute break, and when we come back we’ll take the offering and we’ll celebrate The Lord’s Supper.
FIVE MINUTE BREAK Unconditional Love Donna Summers
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON Life is Light When We Lay Aside the Darkness
Let’s welcome Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
MATTHEW 6:33 “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…and all these things will be added to you.”
OFFERING VERSE
MATTHEW 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow…for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
OFFERING FLIGHT OF THE EAGLE Dave McClure, Instrumental
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION At the Cross, the Lord Taught Us to Finish What We Start
Welcome to The Lord’s Supper Celebration, the most intimate expression of our love for the Lord Jesus Christ in The Christian Way of Living. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ demonstrates His desire for a deep, intimate and personal relationship with His believers by creating a way to keep on sharing His body and His blood with us, just as He did with His apostles on the night before His death. Luke, Chapter 22, Verses 14 to 16… LUKE 22:14 When the hour had come…the Lord Jesus Christ reclined at the Passover table…and the apostles reclined with Him.
LUKE 22:15 And the Lord said to the apostles, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer…”
LUKE 22:16 “…for I say to you I (the Lord Jesus Christ) shall never again eat this Passover meal until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God the Father.”
In First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26, the apostle Paul says, on behalf of the Lord…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26 …as often as you eat this bread (His body)…and as often as you drink this cup (His blood)…as part of the Lord’s Supper Celebration…you proclaim as a reality and you announce the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross…and His resurrection from the dead…until He comes again at the second coming.
For non-resident congregation members, you are invited to join in the sharing of the communion elements with your resident congregation family. Get your own bread and your own cup and celebrate with us. We are one…we in unity with each other…we are in fellowship with each other…so let’s break the bread and drink the cup together in thanksgiving for our Lord and in remembrance of our Lord. This is a celebration for which we set aside time. We don’t do it on the move. It is a happy time and a significant event in the Christian Way of Living.
During The Lord’s Supper Celebration, the Lord Jesus Christ wants His believers to look back to REMEMBER how He rescued us from the kingdom of darkness…the Lord Jesus Christ wants His believers to look back to REMEMBER His sacrifice…the shedding of His blood for us…the Lord Jesus Christ wants His believers to look back to REMEMBER the deliverance He orchestrated into His kingdom of light…the Lord Jesus Christ wants His believers to look forward in ANTICIPATION of His coming again. The Son is coming! First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 24, the Lord says…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:24b “…keep on doing this (Lord’s Supper Celebration) in remembrance of Me.”
During the Lord’s Supper Celebration we REMEMBER that JESUS CHRIST IS GOD, and that He won the strategic victory in the Creator-creature conflict through His work on the Cross.
As we look back, we REMEMBER that the Lord keeps on teaching us many things through the Cross…including the lesson to finish what we start. John, Chapter 19, Verse 30…
JOHN 19:30 Therefore when the Lord Jesus Christ had received the sour wine (as He hung from a Cross), He said, “It is finished (tetelestai)!” And He bowed His head and gave up His human spirit into the presence of God the Father.
TETELESTAI…Greek for finished! Finished said another way … “Paid in full!” The Lord Jesus Christ finished what He started. What did the Lord start?
WHAT THE LORD STARTED He came to lay down His life for us…to pay for our sins…so that we could have the free gift of the resurrection life…a life of abundance…and He finished the job.
John, Chapter 1, Verse 29…
JOHN 1:29 The next day John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Let’s go back to the start. Luke, Chapter 19, Verse 10…
LUKE 19:10 “For the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” It was the Lord Jesus Christ’s will that He voluntarily lay down His life for His creatures…Philippians, Chapter 2, Verses 5 to 8…
PHILIPPIANS 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…
PHILIPPIANS 2:6 …who, although He existed in the exact same essence as of God the Father (as Deity…Jesus Christ is God)…he did not regard His equality with God the Father as a thing to be seized and held onto…instead…
PHILIPPIANS 2:7 …He emptied Himself…taking the form of a bond-servant…and became made in the likeness of men.
PHILIPPIANS 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man…He humiliated Himself…by becoming obedient to the point of death…even death on a Cross.
John, Chapter 15, Verse 13…
JOHN 15:13 “Greater unconditional love has no one than this…that one would lay down his life for his friends.”
<AFRICAN SNAKE STORY>
It was the Lord Jesus Christ’s will that He voluntarily pay for our sins at the Cross…First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 24…
FIRST PETER 2:24 …and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the Cross…so that we might die to the sovereignty of sin and so that we might live to absolute righteousness…for by His wounds you were healed.
At the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ freed us from slavery to sin…Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 21…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:21 God the Father made the Lord Jesus Christ who knew no sin…to be a sin sacrifice on our behalf…so that we might become the absolute righteousness of God the Father in union with Him.
And now sin has no hold on God’s creatures…Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 11…
ROMANS 6:11 Even so, believers in Christ, consider yourselves to be dead to sin…but alive to God the Father in union with Christ Jesus.
We are now creatures residing in the sphere of grace…Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 14…
ROMANS 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you…for you are not under law but under grace.
Once you know this…John, Chapter 8, Verse 32 says…
JOHN 8:32 “…you will know the truth, and the truth will MAKE you free.”
Now, because of the Lord Jesus Christ’s finished work at the Cross…you have been MADE free, not just set free…free at the very core of your being. You are free from many things…and SIN is definitely the main thing. British Missionary Ian Thomas describes our opportunity as Christians…
IAN THOMAS British Missionary
“We must recognize that the enemy within the camp—the flesh…the old nature…the self…the “I” … the old man…from our union with Adam…is a usurper…it seizes and holds our power by force…without legal right to our power. By faith we must consider the Old Man to be in the place that God put him—crucified with Christ. We must realize that now our life is hidden with Christ in God the Father…we must realize that Christ IS our life.”
Galatians, Chapter 2, Verse 20 says it another way…
GALATIANS 2:20 The “I” life has been crucified with Christ…and it is no longer the “I” life that lives…but Christ’s resurrection life lives…indwelling me…and the resurrection life I (Paul) now live in the flesh…I live by faith in the Son of God…who loved me unconditionally…and who gave Himself up for me.
At the Cross, the Lord taught us to finish what we start. What did the Lord start?
WHAT THE LORD STARTED He came to lay down His life for us…to pay for our sins…so that we could have the free gift of the resurrection life…a life of abundance…and He finished the job.
What did the Lord finish?
WHAT THE LORD FINISHED He came to lay down His life for us…to pay for our sins…so that we could have the free gift of the resurrection life…a life of abundance…and He finished the job.
The offer is the same for believers in Christ and for unbelievers alike…our sins are paid in full…and the free gift of the resurrection life is as close as our hearts and our mouths. Romans, Chapter 10, Verses 9 and 10…
ROMANS 10:9 …if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord (that He is God)…and if you believe in your heart that God the Father raised Him from the dead… you will be saved…
ROMANS 10:10 …for with the heart a person believes…resulting in the imputation of absolute righteousness by God (your admission ticket to heaven)…and with the mouth a person confesses (admitting faith in Christ alone)…resulting in salvation.
Once a month, through the Lord’s Supper, the Lord reminds the whole world that it can be saved. He finished our salvation! He paid it in full!
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION Enjoying the Elements
Obeying God’s command, we keep on celebrating CHRIST and His Cross on a regular basis…we eat to remember who He is as a PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK on the Cross…the voluntary sacrifice He made to deliver us….and we remember with gratitude what God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ have done to save us. Matthew, Chapter 26, Verses 26 to 28…
MATTHEW 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take…eat…this is My body (which is being broken for you).”
MATTHEW 26:27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you…”
MATTHEW 26:28 “…for this is My blood…the blood of a new covenant… blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of their sins.”
As you enjoy the bread and the cup, REMEMBER the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us keep on giving thanks that we are loved unconditionally and we are accepted fully by a Lord who is always there for us…the One on whom we can depend…and let’s keep on being transformed by His life… His death…His resurrection from the dead…and His Word.
Let’s listen to raised voices in the communion song…FREEDOM HYMN by Austin French.
LORD’S SUPPER SONG FREEDOM HYMN Austin French
GOD WANTS YOU! Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
The closing moments of our study are for the benefit of anyone who does not have a personal relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We want you to know that GOD WANTS YOU.
As human parents, often we are emotional, arbitrary, and sentimental. We tell our children exactly what we want them to do, expecting that they will do it. Quite often, they do the opposite. And when they do the opposite, often they ask us for an exception to our request. “I know I didn’t do exactly what you asked…but please, please, please…can I do it my way?” Our emotional, arbitrary, and sentimental side kicks in, and we allow them to go against our requests. By doing this, we teach them to ignore our requests.
Many people think God is a similar parent. God tells us exactly what we must do to be saved, and many don’t do it, but they think in the end God will be emotional, arbitrary, and sentimental...and He will let them into heaven their own way. But in John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…
JOHN 14:6 Jesus said…“I am the way (to salvation)…and I am the truth (through the Word of God)…and I am the resurrection life…and no one comes to God the Father (in heaven) but through believing in Me.”
The Lord isn’t emotional, or arbitrary, or sentimental. In Matthew, Chapter 7, Verse 21, the Lord says…
MATTHEW 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven...but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter into the kingdom.”
What is God’s will in the matter of your salvation? Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 says what is not God’s will…
SECOND PETER 3:9b …(it is not God’s will) for any of you (unbelievers) to perish (in the Lake of Fire) but for all of you to come to repentance (a change of mind about having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ).
God’s will makes a simple request…Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…
ACTS 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
If we ignore God’s request, there are consequences… John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
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 if you want to get to heaven, it’s probably just best to do what God asks you to do!
June Murphy remind us that God won’t just leave your salvation up to you…He’ll actually come looking for you…here’s June to sing a song she wrote and produced…YOU RAN AFTER ME.
CLOSING SONG YOU RAN AFTER ME June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
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