Reverence God!

“God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.” Psalms 89:7 

God is the creator of everything that exist, from the 3^rd heavens to the heavens to the earth and all that exist in them God created. God is the Potter, and we are the clay, and the Potter has made us as it please Him. None of us has a right to ask God why Thou has created me thus. “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? (23) And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,” Romans 9:21, 23 God’s entire creation should Reverence Him in everything, be thankful in everything, and bring glory to His Holy Name without failure. The Psalmist wrote these words, “His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.” Psalms 72:17 One day all people, even the lost and haters of God will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, they will bow and praise His Holy Name with Reverence. When you study God’s word in truth you discover just how much God is involved in our life. God is involved in our life from eternity past to eternity future and all in between. Paul wrote these words, “For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. (8) For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.” Romans 14:7 – 8 We find that our life was ordained and predetermined by God, therefore I am what God thus made me. Paul also wrote, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29 If you are a Christian or a lost soul God is still the Potter and hath made you what you are. When Paul wrote in verse 23, “…which he had afore prepared unto glory,” This means that God has “fit up in advance us unto glory,” He elected before the foundation of the world in eternity past to be glorified creatures or “…vessels of mercy”.  Therefore, As Christians we are all what God hath made us, and understanding this mercy we have reason to praise God in Reverence as the Triune God of our salvation and spiritual life, Father, Son, and Spirit. Paul wrote in, Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” The words “God hath before ordained” is the very same Greek word (proetoimazō) as verse Rom. 9:23 “he had afore prepared” meaning God in eternity past afore prepared us for His glory and ordained our spiritual walk in this life. God is to be reverenced every moment of our existence for this mercy, He is the Potter, and we are the clay made into a vessel of His mercy and grace. Again, the more Christians understand the workings of God in their life, the more Reverence we will have for our Master. Understanding this, the Psalmist could never stop praising God, David realized and knew these truths.

The lost should Reverence God, not for their lost state, not because that when they die they will spend eternity in hells fires, not even because they were “fitted by God as vessels for destruction, but because God has not already consumed them into everlasting destruction. God said, “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” Lamentations 3:22 This refers to both the lost and saved, the saved in salvation and the lost that they are not already in hells fires. Every second that God leaves these lost souls “fitted for destruction” on this earth is time they can live and sin on this earth. Because once their sinful eyes close on this earth they will awake in the eternal flames of hell, feeling the pains like the rich man. “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. (24) And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.” Luke 16:23 While the lost will not Reverence God on them on this earth, they will one day bow and Reverence God thru Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne. Isaiah 45:23 “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” And Romans 14:11 – 12 “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. (12) So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” After these lost souls stand before our Saviour as the Great Judge, they will bow and Reverence our God as King and Lord. Then they will be cast into hells fires for eternity, oh yes, we Christians should Reverence our Triune God with every breath we take on this earth. Christians, remember these words, “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” 1 Thessalonians 5:8 - 11 

The Church is the Pillar and Ground of Truth.

 1 Timothy 3:15 “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”

This world is fill of special places to visit, see, and enjoy, God has indeed made a beautiful earth. But the most outstanding and most meaningful place for a Christian should be the local churches. The church was established by Jesus Christ during His earthly Ministry and continues to exist even today. Every church is different, their pastors are different, their song services are different, the people are different, and even their services are conducted different. But if that church is a church of Jesus Christ a church of the living God should be the same in Truth, while some may differ in the definition of truth, the Bible is the end results of truth. Truth is not what someone wants it to be, not what people interpret it to be, but what the bible says to be. Truth is being as closely aligned with the scriptures as possible, understanding no church is without error or perfect. The truth of the bible is given to churches as their scriptural guideline in their worship service. In other words, biblical truth has never changed, people and churches have changed, and the truth has suffered weakening in the world, but biblical truth is absolute through all generations until Jesus returns. Some Pastors and church have realized over the years in order to remain earthly strong, that is in size and money, you must evolve with the world over time. This has been the error of many churches through time, causing churches to fall from church status in the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ warned the churches that expanding in error for any reason is reason for expulsion for the entire church, all members are responsible. “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Revelation 2:5 The churches greatest challenge is to remain solid in biblical truth, and it is the Pastors responsibility not to allow the church to wander or stray from biblical truth. The church is God’s, it is the Son’s body, and God called it the Pillar and Ground of truth but let us not forget it is called the “church of the living God”. This is important, it must remain God’s house and she must conduct herself as God’s house, and eventually Christ’s Bride. The church has the right to expulsion of her membership for not remaining in the truth, keeping out the leaven, but only Jesus Christ has the authority of an entire churches’ expulsion. Christians and churches must remain aware of our responsibility to God, Jesus, and the Holy Scriptures. As the Pillar and Ground of truth on this earth, Church members must be aware of our status in the churches, being a member is important and how we conduct ourselves as members is important. As members we all should examine ourselves to make sure we are the pillar and ground of truth that keeps the church in unity together, wearing our scriptural armor as churches just as Christians are to wear them. Every member has a great responsibility to be a part of the pillar and ground of truth, the church is the people and the people are responsible.         

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart.

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

The pure in heart will see God, be with God, and spend an eternity with God, what a blessing! There is no greater blessing for a Christian than the very thought that one day we worship God, and as our Eternal Father. Only the blood of our Great Saviour can make us “pure” because no natural person is pure by nature. The pure in heart are Christians and therefore no one will ever be pure in heart except the blood of our Great Saviour Who has cleansed them.  These Beatitudes were preached to those Christians as Jesus called them out and took them to the top of the mountain were, He preached this message on our blessings. This was the first church; I personally consider this a church service and this church settled in Jerusalem. This is the main focal point, that all of them were believers in Jesus Christ and therefore made pure in heart by Him. These Beatitudes are not conditional for our salvation, they are there spiritual blessings for those who have been saved by Jesus The Christ. We, as believers in Jesus are blessed to be able in this life to do anything that brings glory to our Father and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The natural man receives not these blessings in this life. The lost soul has a dead spirit and therefore no ability to serve God or worship Jesus His Son and our Saviour. John said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 First, the lost soul has no living spirit in which to worship God, and second, they do not understand spiritual and biblical truth. Therefore, it is impossible to worship God, even though some have a great zeal to do so. The difference between true worship and false worship is how we worship, Christians worship to glorify God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The lost, even with their zeal worship themselves, with artificial praise to God while worshipping themselves instead. “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.” Romans 1:25 Therefore, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections…” V. 26 Their hearts are not right, their hearts are not pure, therefore their nature keeps them for God, both now and when they die. Paul wrote “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10 No one outside of Jesus Christ is righteous and until God saves a sinner they will never be righteous. Mankind in their lost state doesn’t care about worshiping God, because they believe righteousness is in their own works, even though God said it is not. So, one might ask, “why don’t they just seek salvation in Jesus Christ”, because they do not want to know the truth. Paul went on to write, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” VV. 11 - 12 This is the mistake the Jews made during the life and death of Jesus; their very rejection of the Messiah is what caused them to reject Him. Therefore, the Religionist Christians of our day claim Christianity, but in vain. They demonize and shame biblical truth in order to reject it. "...The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. (2) The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. (3) They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Psalms 14:1 – 3 In their lost and evil hearts, lost people say, “I will not have this God rule over me”, that is the true God of the bible they reject. The same thoughts about His Son, “we have our own salvation, we don’t need Jesus”, this is exactly their hearts. It is all about a rejection of The Sovereign God and the Sovereign Saviour, in their hearts, neither exist. Therefore, they will never see Jesus not God, not in heaven they will not. But we who have been saved by God through His Son Jesus Christ, we are indeed blessed. We will spend our eternity with God and not in the eternal lake of fire. Because you wicked natural heart was quickened and cleansed by your faith in Jesus the Saviour. His glorious blood has cleansed you from all your sins, giving you a living, cleaned, and pure heart, and for that you are blessed.