1 Thessalonians 4:8 “He therefore that despiseth, despiseth
not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.”
This week we want to look again at the word “frustrate”
taken from Galatians 2:21 where Paul wrote "I do not frustrate the grace
of God..." that is, he will not render the grace of God worthless or bring
it to naught by saying that salvation is by works. Because it cannot be by both
works and grace because one makes the other worthless. This week we see the
word “despiseth” which is the same Greek word as frustrate. Here Paul writes
that “He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God…” Despising
God here is disobeying what God commands. When Christians disobey God’s word
they are not despising or rendering man’s words worthless, but rather God’s. Your
Pastor does not preach, nor did the Apostle Paul write our own words but the
words of God, therefore to render them useless by disobeying them is to frustrate
God. See God is Sovereign and when people do not recognize God as Sovereign
then they in reality render God useless. People who does not recognize His word
as His Own Sovereign Word, then they fail to recognize His authority. It is the
same in salvation, when men make-up their own salvation then it renders God’s
salvation as worthless, therefore rendering God useless. God designed salvation
to bring Himself and His Son Jesus The Christ glory. Therefore, every time a
sinner is saved then the Angels in heaven rejoice in their praise to God
because He has graciously saved a sinner. This giving all glory to God, The
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for their miraculous act in combining to save a
sinner. Now let us explore some ways that God is frustrated or rendered useless
by Christians, churches, and Pastors, today. When God is taken out of salvation
then God is no longer needed in order for a sinner to be saved. In other words,
if a Preacher is good at convincing a sinner to choose to repent and the sinner
makes that decision, then who is to be praised? Why would the Angels in heaven
rejoice over that? They are created to praise God, not man. Ah, then in this
type of salvation the sinner and the Preacher are to be praised and not God.
God said in Romans 1:24 "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through
the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves:" because they no longer worship God, but themselves
leaving God out of salvation altogether. According to them their salvation is
to their praise and glory because God had nothing to do with it, rendering Him
useless. God said in Romans 1:25 “Who changed the truth of God into a lie,
and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is
blessed for ever. Amen.” Now if you look at real salvation everything praises
God, The Father chooses and predestinated everything, The Son died to furnish
the sin cleansing blood, and the Holy Spirit delivers salvation to the sinner,
this renders man useless instead of God. See God is King in all things and this
is a truth some people have forgotten, refused to believe, or simply have
ignored this truth. God said that salvation “…it is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” Romans 9:16 Therefore
God saves whomever He chooses. See, God has that right since He is the creator
of all things, He has the right to make a vessel unto honor like Jacob, and one
unto dishonor like Esau, whether man likes it or not. Romans 9:21 “Hath not the
potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour,
and another unto dishonour?” Rendering God useless in salvation is rendering
man’s salvation worthless. God saves sinners and man has nothing to do with it.
God blesses us in allowing us to preach the gospel, but God saves sinners and
He does not need man to get it done. Therefore, while so many render God
useless we as Sovereign Grace Baptist praise God and we render man useless. God
needs no one to accomplish His will.
