(#478) Romans 15 - Are You Living a Spiritual Life?Christian life or carnal life...your choice.
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries… a small, intimate, and local Christian Church with worldwide impact. My name is Pastor Rory Clark. At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God, and at Barah Ministries we make a difference by teaching God’s Word from His perspective, and not from man’s perspective…because how our God sees things is very different from how we see things.
TONIGHT’S BIBLE LESSON - Are You Living a Spiritual Life?
LESSON INTRO
A lot of people think so. They toss around words life religious and spiritual. Well, what do these words really even mean, especially since everyone seems to be using them? The bible tells us these words means nothing for most people. Second Timothy, Chapter 2, Verse 5 says there are a lot of people who are…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:5 …holding on to a (superficial) form of the spiritual life…although they have denied the spiritual life’s power. Avoid such men as these.
The Bible tells us to avoid phony people. A spiritual life is not words…it’s not just talk…it’s not sound bites…it’s not catchy expressions…it’s not a surface approach to life. The spiritual life is an action-packed life…it is built by choice…it is intentional…it is invested in with your time…and it is edified by supernatural means through the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit. If I asked you, face-to-face, if you are living a spiritual life, my guess is you’d probably lie to me. We always want to think we are doing our best…and we’ll think we are, as long as we don’t compare ourselves to what God expects of us. In tonight’s lesson, we’ll ask you to be honest with yourself and to examine what you are doing to build an intentional spiritual life.
ABOUT GOD
At the beginning of every lesson at Barah Ministries, we learn something about God. Today we learn that God expects His believers to be prepared! Matthew, Chapter 25, Verses 1 to 13…
MATTHEW 25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.”
MATTHEW 25:2 “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.”
MATTHEW 25:3 “For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them…”
MATTHEW 25:4 “…but the wise virgins took oil in flasks along with their lamps.”
MATTHEW 25:5 “Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.”
MATTHEW 25:6 “But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’”
MATTHEW 25:7 “Then all the wise virgins rose and trimmed their lamps.”
MATTHEW 25:8 “The foolish virgins said to the wise virgins, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’”
MATTHEW 25:9 “But the wise virgins answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too…go instead to the dealers and buy some oil for yourselves.’”
MATTHEW 25:10 “And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came…and those who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast…and the door was shut.”
MATTHEW 25:11 “Later the foolish virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’”
MATTHEW 25:12 But the bridegroom answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’”
MATTHEW 25:13 “Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”
Living a spiritual life takes spiritual preparation through the study of the Word of God, so when the Bridegroom comes…the Lord Jesus Christ…you, as His bride, will know Him and will be ready to go with Him. The time for preparation is now and always.
SONG INTRO
The believer who is living his spiritual life lives the life June Murphy describes in her new song…MY WORLD REVOLVES ‘ROUND JESUS CHRIST.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
MY WORLD REVOLVES ‘ROUND JESUS CHRIST June Murphy
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 giving every one of your believers a spiritual life…thank you for providing everything we need to grow through Your grace…thank you for sending Your only Son…the Lord…to the earth in human form as Jesus Christ… not only to pay for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to…but also to set the example of what is possible when spiritual beings are leading a spiritual life through the agency of God the Holy Spirit…
Let Your message tonight touch us in the deepest part of our inner beings…let Your message tonight inspire us to intentionally change our lives so that our spiritual life is built on the foundation You intended… CHRIST…and let Your message tonight transform our thinking so that we cast aside the superficial forms of the spiritual life to which we have become accustomed, so we can adopt the genuine and intentional spiritual life You crafted for us…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
TONIGHT’S BIBLE LESSON - Are You Living a Spiritual Life?
Let’s dismiss the suspense for those who do not have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ…those whom the Bible calls unbelievers. If you are an unbeliever, you do not have a spiritual life. You have a SELF-LIFE. You are on a course to hear the words from God that no one would ever want to hear…Matthew, Chapter 7, Verses 23…
MATTHEW 7:23 “And then I (the Lord Jesus Christ) will declare to unbelievers, ‘I never knew you…depart from Me…’”
If you say you know someone, me, for example, we will have spent time together…we will have had several conversations…you’ll be able to tell people a lot of things about me (all favorable, of course)…you’ll be able to tell them what I think, how I feel, what I like, what I don’t like, who my friends are, my favorite food, my favorite color, and what my relationship is with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your attitude toward Jesus Christ determines your eternal future. And if you don’t know how he thinks, how He feels, what He likes, what He doesn’t like, who His friends are, His favorite food, and His favorite color, then you better get to know Christ.
If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you HAVE a spiritual life. It was given to you at the moment of your salvation…Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 17 says…
SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in union with Christ (and all believers in Christ are)…there is a new creation…the old things (the original things) passed away (they died)… behold, new (creation) things have come into being.
The bible calls the believer’s spiritual life the “godly” life…from the Greek word eusebeia…one of my favorite Greek words, which in Greek philosophy indicated a life so awe inspiring that it was in line with the lifestyle of the pantheon of Greek gods…Titus, Chapter 2, Verses 11 and 12 say…
TITUS 2:11 For the grace of God the Father has appeared…bringing salvation to all men…
TITUS 2:12 …(and the grace of God is) instructing us believers in Christ to deny ungodliness and to deny worldly desires and instead to live sensibly…to live righteously…and to live godly lives in the present age…
Are you living a godly life? As a believer in Christ you have two choices…you can live the spiritual life God has given you…intentionally… or you can abandon it, and “create” a spiritual life of your own. Let’s call the spiritual life you create the SELF-LIFE. In the self-life, you settle for a bastardized version of your real spiritual life by allowing the enemy of God to suggest that you add a mixture of things into it that God never intended to be part of your spiritual life. Are you living a SPIRITUAL LIFE? You are either living a SPIRITUAL LIFE intentionally, or you are living a SELF-LIFE by default. The bible describes the SELF-LIFE of the believer in Christ as the CARNAL LIFE…a life of immaturity. It’s the SPIRITUAL LIFE or the SELF-LIFE. There is no middle ground. You can live the godly life or the superficial life. It’s your choice. Living the spiritual life is not just words, it’s backed by action.
Just because you HAVE a spiritual life given to you by God doesn’t mean you are living it. I have a treadmill…but if I don’t use it intentionally, it is of no benefit. All of us have parents. We were born into a relationship with them. But if we never call our parents intentionally, we certainly can’t claim the relationship is important to us. All of us make money. But if we don’t save it intentionally and if we don’t invest it wisely, we can’t claim to be financially sound.
In the matter of your spiritual life, it’s important not to lie to yourself. The spiritual life is your relationship with God. It needs to be nurtured and nourished and participated in intentionally every day. Are you living the spiritual life God intended for you, or are you living a self-created form of the spiritual life? Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 1 reminds us…
ROMANS 8:1 …there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
The status of your spiritual life’s development…when it is inadequate…is not a cause for a guilt reaction. Rather, God would have you make the adjustments as you learn and as you mature, so that you bring your life in line with the perfection God intends for you.
The Spiritual Life is Not a SELF-LIFE
God has an enemy who is selling the SELF-LIFE to believers in Christ. He wants to mix the poison of sin into your perfect spiritual life. Here’s what God’s enemy, Satan, said in eternity past…Isaiah, Chapter 14, Verse 14…
ISAIAH 14:14 ‘I (Satan) will ascend above the heights of the clouds (which means I will take over the functions of God)…I will make myself like the Most High.’ The very first SELF-LIFE. We know that Satan is a liar, and he is the one who keeps on fathering lies…EVERYTHING HE SAYS IS A LIE…so we know that he had neither the desire, nor the ability, nor the intention of taking over the function of God. That would mean he’d have to die for someone. Satan is too selfish to die for anyone. He tempts us to do evil…he laughs at us for believing that what he suggests will work…and he leaves us with the devastation of the lie and a bill for the experience.
God warns us in His word not to fall for the deception…First Timothy, Chapter 4, Verses 1 and 2…
FIRST TIMOTHY 4:1 But God the Holy Spirit explicitly says that in later times (in every generation) some believers in Christ will abandon the faith (going from THE SPIRITUAL LIFE TO THE SELF-LIFE)…paying attention instead to deceitful spirits and to the doctrines of demons…
FIRST TIMOTHY 4:2 …doctrines that come from the agency of hypocritical liars seared in their own conscience (with lies) as if (the lies were cauterized) with a branding iron…
The majority of believers in Christ today don’t believe that Satan, the enemy of God exists. He does. He is a brilliant, gorgeous genius who is the master of deception. We live in his kingdom…planet earth. He is the ruler of this world. John, Chapter 12, Verse 31…
JOHN 12:31 (As a result of the Cross)…Now judgment is upon this world…now the ruler of this world will be driven out (sent to the outer darkness…dethroned).
But Satan never sleeps. He and his demon army always active with the intent to rob believers in Christ of the joy of their already granted victory in the Creator-creature conflict. If you are a believer in Christ, you’ve won. Game. Set. Match. The spiritual life was designed to allow you to enjoy the fruit of the victory provided to you by God.
More warnings from God…Second Timothy, Chapter 3, Verses 1 to 4…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:2 For men will be lovers of self (narcissistic)…lovers of money…boastful (the outward manifestation of an inward quality) …arrogant (the inward quality)… revilers…resulting in disobedience to parents…being ungrateful…being unholy…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:3 …being unloving (devoid of affection)…being irreconcilable…being malicious gossips…without self-control…being brutal…being haters of good…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:4 …treacherous…reckless…conceited…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…
SECOND TIMOTHY 3:5 …holding to a (superficial) form of godliness (the spiritual life)…although they have denied the spiritual life’s power. Avoid such men as these.
Here are a few of the things Satan introduces into the lives of people to ruin them…in this case unbelievers…which all of us were at one time…Romans, Chapter 1, Verses 28 to 32…
ROMANS 1:28 And just as unbelievers did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…
ROMANS 1:29 …being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil…full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice…they are gossips…
ROMANS 1:30 …slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents…
ROMANS 1:31 …without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful…
ROMANS 1:32 …and although unbelievers know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only keep on practicing these things, but also they give hearty approval to anyone who practices them.
This is not the life God wants for His believers. But when we mix these poison ideas from the world into our spiritual life, we become similar in function to unbelievers. What do I mean? We become Cafeteria Christians. We pick and choose what we want to believe. For example…
We become rational…we want to take emotion out of the spiritual life. We become emotional…we want to take rational out of the spiritual life. We are confused when asked a biblical question. We can’t explain with precision God’s exact thinking. If we don’t like a particular idea taught in Scripture, we dismiss it. We avoid the Word of God like it is a plague. We gravitate to false teachers. We adopt a do-it yourself spiritual life. We forsake the gathering of ourselves together.
When we return from our five-minute break, we’ll take the offering and then we’ll continue our look at the spiritual life.
FIVE MINUTE BREAK Unconditional Love Donna Summers
TONIGHT’S BIBLE LESSON - Are You Living a Spiritual Life?
What do you allow to control your thoughts about giving? Scarcity…the thought that there won’t be enough left for you if you give? Or abundance…the faith that God will amply supply? Let abundance always guide your thinking when giving…God will give back to you one hundredfold what you give to His church.
Let’s welcome Deacon Denny Goodall with today’s offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall OFFERING VERSE
SECOND PETER 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
OFFERING SONG MONEY Pink Floyd
TONIGHT’S BIBLE LESSON - Are You Living a Spiritual Life?
SONG INTRO
God wants you to slam all of your cares on His back, because He considers your problems to be His responsibility. Here’s the group Finding Favor to sing about it in their song…CAST MY CARES.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
CAST MY CARES ON YOU Finding Favor
TONIGHT’S BIBLE LESSON - Are You Living a Spiritual Life?
Welcome back!
You are a spiritual being, and spiritual beings must learn how to live their spiritual lives. Spiritual beings are in desperate need of spiritual nourishment, almost as desperately as they need air. How much of your time is being allocated to your spiritual life? You have 168 hours a week…twenty-four hours a day…seven days every week…the average person sleeps fifty-six of those hours…so for 112 waking hours, how much of your time is invested in your spiritual life? You have more than enough time.
Are you living a spiritual life? What is the quality of the time spent in your spiritual life? You need spiritual food just as much as you need physical food. Matthew, Chapter 4, Verse 4…
MATTHEW 4:4 Jesus answered Satan and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone (mere physical food)…but man shall live on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
Is that your reality?
The quality of your spiritual food is critical. If you have a spiritual life, from what source do get your physical food? My source is the Bible…the inerrant Canon of Scripture…the Word of God. What’s yours?
Many people in this world are spiritual anorexics. They are starving for spiritual food because they never feed themselves. Many people in this world are spiritual bulimics. They eat spiritual food but then they puke it up as fast as they ingest it so it has no effect on their soul. Many people in this world are spiritual fast food junkies…they ingest spiritual food that has a lot of calories, but no nutritional value.
We live in a world that supports lies. If we collude, and we all decide to believe the same lies, then our lies are true, right? If we all believe that stealing is okay, it’s okay, right? If we all believe that homosexuality is okay, it’s okay, right? If we all believe that adultery is okay, it’s okay, right? If we all believe that Jesus Christ isn’t God, then He isn’t, right? After all, the Bible is just a book, written by a bunch of guys who were sitting around writing their opinions. And it’s totally out of date, right? False. All of these things are false.
How ridiculous would it be if the Lord Jesus Christ stood before us today, held up the Bible, and said to us…
I am God. The Bible is my exact thinking. Do the things in here and you will have an amazing life!
Every one of us would have an opinion about what the Lord said. We’d like it…or we wouldn’t. We’d agree with it, or we wouldn’t. But few of us would just do what He asks us to do. When God tells His believers that certain spiritual life choices are bad, is it because He doesn’t want us to have any fun? Is it because He wants us to feel guilty? Is it because He wants to impose His rules on us like a tyrant? I have thought those things for most of my life. I can think of times in my life when, if the Lord Jesus Christ was standing before me, holding up the Bible and saying…
I am God. The Bible is my exact thinking. Do the things in here and you will have an amazing life!
I would have asked Him, “What about the Catholic Church? What about the Pope? What about the doctrines of Systematic Theology? Are they more important than You? Are they at least equal to You, especially if I believe they are? There was a time when no matter what Jesus said in His Word, I would have probably stuck to my beliefs, whether they were the truth or not. I had a self-made spiritual life. Does this describe your “do it yourself” spiritual life?
As human beings, we do so many things that are not at all supportive of us. Yet we choose to do them anyway. And because they do not have an immediate disastrous affect, we think we’re getting away with something. In actuality we are doing the equivalent of storing our food without refrigeration and expecting it not to spoil.
Are you living a spiritual life?
A new believer, Lisa, asked a great question at the conference this weekend. She said, “Okay…I’m a believer…what I do next?” If you want to live the spiritual life that God intended for you, here are a few suggestions.
SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
Pick ONE Pastor
Don’t pick a Pastor for his charisma or speaking ability. Pick the Pastor for the accuracy with which he teaches the Word of God.
SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
Listen to at least TEN of the lessons the Pastor is teaching and notice how the lesson informs your life.
New Testament lessons tell you…DO THIS-DON’T DO THAT! Avoid being in the judging condition…I like this…I don’t like that…I agree with this…I don’t agree with that. Instead, be in the learning state…I wonder how these messages God is sending through this Pastor apply to my life. Notice the percentage of the lesson content that is bible verses rather than rhetoric or opinion or appeal or entertainment. Notice if the lesson is uplifting instead of a “downer.” Legalism and sin lessons are a downer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
Check the lesson for accuracy. “What does the bible have to say?”
Be like Bereans…Acts, Chapter 17, Verse 11…
ACTS 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were more noble-minded than those Jewish believers in Thessalonica…for the Berean Jews received the word with great eagerness…yet they were examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things (Paul was teaching) were true.
The spiritual life is an umbrella over the life of the believer in Christ. We concern ourselves more with the pieces of the puzzle, with each individual lesson, and we forget that the pieces form a picture. There is a big difference between knowing you have a spiritual life and doing something to edify it.
Are you living the spiritual life God wants you to live?
When you are, the spiritual life will inform every decision in every area of your life. John, Chapter 13, Verse 17 says…
JOHN 13:17 If you know these things (that I, the Lord Jesus Christ am teaching you), you are blessed if you do them.
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.
What is going to happen to you when you close your eyes in this life? Will you go to heaven or will you go to hell?
Many think the key to getting to heaven is to be a “good person.” According to this standard, a “bad person” goes to hell. The bible obliterates this delusion. Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 23 says…
ROMANS 3:23 …all creatures have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
The bible says we’re all “bad people!” Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 10…
ROMANS 3:10 …it is written “There is no creature who is righteous, not even one…”
First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 says…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a …all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human being) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…
This not your fault, but it is your circumstance.
The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ did something about the problem because He doesn’t want anyone to go to The Lake of Fire…Second Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 9 says…
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 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).
The Lord provides human beings with the bible to illuminate the path to heaven…John, Chapter 20, Verses 30 and 31…
JOHN 20:30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book (the bible)…
JOHN 20:31 …but these things written here have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (The Messiah)…the Son of God (in human form)… and that by believing in Him you may have the resurrection life in Hisname.
The bible contains the Lord’s exact thinking.
How can you get to heaven? Right where you sit, RIGHT NOW, you can tell God the Father that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the moment of eternal life for you. 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.”
Who is this God who saves you? The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ…in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3 For I (Paul) delivered to you as of first importance what I also received… that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Scriptures…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4 …and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Scriptures…
Believing in Jesus Christ is your acknowledgement that you can’t do a thing to get to heaven on your own. Being a “good person” does not cut get you to heaven. You can’t work your way into heaven. Romans, Chapter 11, Verse 6 says…
ROMANS 11:6 But if salvation is by grace, and of course it is, it is no longer on the basis of works…otherwise grace is no longer grace.
If you have to work for a free gift then the work makes you deserve the gift. In salvation, there is no work you could do that is impressive to God. The Lord would never allow you to save yourself! The one way…the ONLY way to get to heaven is through the Lord Jesus Christ…John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…
JOHN 14:6 Jesus said to the doubting apostle, Thomas, “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.”
It’s wise to let God save you, because once God does something He never changes His mind. So, heed the warning in 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.”
Are you ready to join me in heaven when you close your eyes in this life?
SONG INTRO
One of the most misquoted verses in the bible is Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 28…
ROMANS 8:28 And we believers in Christ know that GOD causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
All things don’t work together for good…as many mistakenly say…GOD works all things together for good for His believers. Here’s one of June’s new songs...written to correct the error…GOD WORKS ALL THINGS.
CLOSING SONG GOD WORKS ALL THINGS June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
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