Mankind, Even Christians adds nothing to God!

“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:27 – 31

First, one must understand that God is Sovereign in all things, that means God is totally independent in everything. God does not need mankind; mankind needs God in everything. God said, “…no flesh should glory in his presence.” This means even Christians have nothing to glory of because every good and perfect work is from God. God said, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17 Every good and compete work a Christian is a gift from God, therefore it is all by God’s wonderful grace. God is Omniscient meaning God knows everything, God is Omnipotent which means God is all powerful, God is Omnipresent, which means God is everywhere at one time, God is Omni holy, which means He is all Holy, and so on and so on... God is completely full on everything to the point He does not change. God said of Himself, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” The meaning of these two words, variableness, and shadow of turning which means that God does not change, nor does God turn nor has any darkness of error. If God is perfect and truly Sovereign, then noting can be added to God. Paul was truly a great man of God, I’m almost certain that he was probably one of the most dedicated men of his time to God. The Holy Spirit used him to pen more books of the bible than any other person, he was used of God to be that Apostle to the Gentiles and the churches. But with all Paul did he never claimed glory, nor did he believe he added anything to God. God said this about our accomplishments as Christians, “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”   Hebrews 13:20 – 21 Absolutely no glory to man at all, we do nothing pleasing to God or brings glory to God except it is given to us in and through Jesus Christ. Paul said of all his beautiful and glorious works on this earth, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.” 1 Corinthians 15:10 – 11 He was giving God all Glory because Paul know everything he did for God was a gift of grace and sovereignty and not him. In verse 11 Paul said God could have used anyone to accomplish His will not just me. Paul knew that he coming from an evil past of persecuting the church that he deserved never to be used of God to be the Apostle to the church age, but see God know Paul would be perfect to carry out His will to the church age.

God said, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”  Romans 12:3 because “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”  Acts 17:28 This tells us that in Christ: we live in him, move in him, and are in him. Without him we not only can do nothing, but without him we are nothing. God gives us grace and that grace is returned to Him in glory, “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”  Colossians 1:17 Please never be under the illusion that you are special, or smarter, or better, or that you have blessed God, because without God’s gift of grace and power of accomplishment we could never please God, ever!  

Let us Bow to our Great God.

“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,” Psalms 95:6 – 7

God, He is the King of kings, He is the Lord of lords, God is the creator of all things in existence. The Hebrew word for God here is ('ĕlôhı̂ym, pronounced el-o-heem') here it is used in a plural form that includes the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is the name of the Supreme God; it also refers to His Deity. God’s name no matter what form it is used in is Holy, thus it the name pointes to any of the Trinity that name should only be used in a complete Holy and Reverence way. The word Reverend belongs to God not to Ministers, Pastors, or any other created creature. The word Reverend is used once in the entire scriptures, “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.”  Psalms 111:9 however the Hebrew word (yârê', pronounced yaw-ray') is used more than 300 times in the Old Testament where these words are used, (fear, afraid, dreadful, affright, and it means a terrible thing or act). The word is referred to el-o-heem' or the Triune God, not to ministers and Pastors, the word is meant to strike fear into our hearts. Why would the Bible refer to the Triune God as one who should be feared or looked at as dreadful? Why should our loving God be one we fear, He is loving, merciful, gracious, longsuffering, so why should anyone have reason to fear Him? God said, “For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.” Psalms 96:4 It is because He is GREAT and One that should be feared as the Psalmist wrote. God should be feared more than any creature in all creation, even Satan should not be feared. God is Sovereign and it is He who created everything outside of Himself, and it is He that has power and authority of all creation. He should be not only reverenced or feared but He is also to be treated like the Sovereign Creator that He is. God should be highly feared by everyone in creation, but He is not. Even a lot of Christians that do not fear God, but our genuine fear of Him is what causes us to walk upright. The Psalmist wrote these words, “The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.”  Psalms 147:11 that word (fear) is the same Hebrew word as “Reverend” in Psalms 111:9 We also see it in the New Testament, “And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.” Luke 1:50 here the word fear means reverend even in the Greek it is the same as the Hebrew word. So as Christians if we reverence God, He will take pleasure in us and have mercy on us. God is not a man, He is not our buddy, He is not one we negotiate with, and therefore He should be treated and respected as the Great God that He is. He is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords, people and even some Christians bow to earthly kings but not the Great King. They fear government, rulers, bosses, authoritative people, but not God as though God is irrelevant. As Christians we should truly worship God, church is not an option it is a command. Living in righteousness is not an option but a command, our lives are not ours, they belong to God. As Christians we are to “bow down to God” is also not an option it is a command just as “worship” is a command, and as Christians we are to Reverence or fear God enough to rightly worship Him. The Psalmist wrote, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.” Psalms 111:10 If one fails to Reverence God then they will not obey God because mankind obeys what they fear, we fear powerful authority therefore we obey powerful authority. Disobedience is human nature, therefore without fear people will be disobedient to laws and rules. We only obey God because we fear God, therefore we bow to His authority which is the word of God. The world does not fear God therefore they are disobedient and will not bow to or obey God, but the time is coming when they will. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 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. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.” Isaiah 45:22 – 24 This warning to every believer, we must reverence God in fear, we must bow to His authority, because He is a Great and powerful God that requires it, all one day will bow before Him and fear before Him without question.

 

Living Waters Flowing.

“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” John 7:38 - 39

If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a most blessed person. Blessed because God loved you before the foundation of the world, gave you as a gift to His Son Jesus Christ, sent His Son to die for you, Jesus died as your substitute and suffered your penalty for your sins. If you have in your spiritual heart believed this, you are saved and you are most blessed of all God’s creation. This is not Baptist doctrine this is bible doctrine and that makes it Baptist doctrine. Jesus Himself said “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said…” not as Baptist have said, not as John has said, not as anyone else has said, but as the bible has said. Jesus made it clear that the scriptures verified that He is the Saviour of mankind. The scriptures tell us repeatedly that salvation is only possible in Jesus Christ and none other. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 

Once saved then we are God’s children, we are part of God’s family that includes Jesus Christ His Son. God made us a promise, that He would never leave us or forsake us. Heb. 13:5c. Jesus said “…out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” This is also verified by the scriptures, so what exactly does this mean? Jesus said in verse 39 that this flow of living waters is without question is the Holy Spirit. The “flow” of the living waters is the continual working of the Holy Spirit, it flows from our belly because our spirit is our inner man. This human spirit is where the Holy Spirt resides in us. This is from where these blessings of God flow, and it’s a continual flow like a river. For those who believe on Jesus Christ as their Saviour God’s blessings never stop, they continually flow like a living river. Praise God! Just as it is water satisfies our thirst and produces our godly fruit, so the Spirit of God satisfies the inner person and enables us to bear fruit. God’s Holy Spirit given fruits, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." Galatians 5:22 – 24 God also said of our inner works, “flowing like living water from our belly or inner spirit. God also said in For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”  Ephesians 5:8 - 11 Every good thing, thought, or action is a gift from God by the workings and power of the Holy Spirit, it never ends because it is a continual flow like a river of water flowing. How wonderful and beautiful is our great God, Saviour, and Spiritual power? "For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work." Psalms 95:3 - 9