Every Knee shall one day bow to The Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;”

As I drive down the road I see many vehicles with many different types of bumper stickers and I must admit most religious bumper stickers are truly hard to look at. One that comes to mind is the one with a child kneeling at a cross and the words read “every knee shall bow”. Well the statement is so very true, but the image is wrong, every knee will one day bow to the man Christ Jesus but not on the cross but rather at the Great White Throne Judgment. Folk’s the cross is worthless, it is true our Saviour died on a cross but the cross is not to be an image of worship; it is cursed because of its involvement in the crucifixion. The cross is what God calls a false graven image and don’t the Ten Commandments tell us not to worship any graven images? In fact I believe it is the second of ten, the first commandment tells that God will not honor any other gods and the second says “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Exodus 20:4. We are not to have “…any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath…” which would include images of angels, Jesus, heaven, hell, demons, Satan, and yes even the cross. The cross is not our Saviour, it is not Divine, it will not save your soul from eternal damnation, and no, man will not bow to the cross, they will bow to Jesus Christ the Saviour of mankind, the Eternal God and He is not on the cross. A cross of any kind is a false graven image; yes even the one on your church building if they have one. This is true also of pictures of Jesus; they also are false graven images because there are no true pictures of Jesus. There are no pictures of the Lord’s last supper, or etc. Some may ask “what are we to use to make our point about Jesus Christ”? Well I will tell you the same as I would tell these church that have the readable signs in front of their church buildings and put up all of these ignorant saying, how about scripture? What is wrong with simply using scripture on the bumper stickers, or on the signs in front of the church buildings? Why must there be picture’s involved? So you may ask “what makes them false graven images”? Well, they cause you to further break God’s commandment “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;” Exodus 20:5.

Here we see that one day every knee shall bow before the man Christ Jesus in whose hand is put all judgment, of the saved and of the lost. Two separate judgments, with this one happening at the great white throne. Christians have already bowed to the Saviour and will for all eternity, but the lost have yet to do this but will someday. This includes every soul that has ever lived on this earth that was not saved. When they stand before the Lord Jesus Christ recognizing Him for the power, authority, and dignity He is due they will recognize His Majesty and as God, they will recognize His power over them, and they will recognize His authority over them when He cast them into eternal destruction for ever. This will not (like the tribulation period) be a time for grace and mercy but a time for condemnation. They failed to worship the Lord Jesus Christ here on this earth, but at this time they will worship Him as God, only to His pleasure. All of those that mock His blessed name, refuse His majesty, and refuse Him as Saviour will one day admit that He is. EVERY ONE!

When the door is shut, time has run out.

This passage of scripture makes us understand something that is not taught or believed by many today, and that is salvation is limited to mankind both in numbers and in time, and time is running short. Anyone who cannot see the coming of the Lord to be soon are not paying attention to the scriptures. God has promised that during the tribulation period He would send strong delusion that will cause them not to believe in Jesus Christ making it known to us that time is running out on salvation. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 - 12 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (12.) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” While God did say He loved the world (that is all races of the world) He did not say He loved all of mankind and never promised to save all or even a large percentage of mankind, but rather a remnant, we also find Jesus praying in John 17 not for the world but rather for them given to Him before the foundation of the world. The Lord spoke much about an apostasy (or a renunciation of the truth of Gods word) and how people would flock to them that had wonderful words rather than truth and we have reached that time. Time is running out on salvation and while there is some time left we need to focus on the gospel of Christ.

Many today have views that are contrary to the scripture which make people believe they are saved rather than the truth that will actually bring salvation. These are they known as the apostasy, them that were not satisfied with God saving sinners and creating other ways to cause them to be saved but truly are not being saved. There are millions upon millions who attend church every Sunday that think they are saved but do not truly believe in their hearts that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and the Saviour of mankind, but rather have made a decision, a choice or prayed a prayer but have not believed in Jesus Christ. All of these people will walk the wide path into eternal destruction unless a change of heart has been truly made. The path to hell is wide because many more will travel this path rather than the narrow path that leads to eternal life. And we could look at it this way; the narrow path which is salvation through Jesus Christ is simpler and narrower than the path to eternal destruction which is the wide path of salvation they teach.

The Lord reminds us of this very important fact 2 Corinthians 6:2 “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” now is the time for salvation because if Jesus Christ returns today like a thief in the night you will be left behind to suffer the wrath of God. I am a strong believer in the saving grace of God and believe that God saves sinners, however He instructed us (the churches) to carry the gospel to the world and I believe the necessity or urgency goes with it. I will leave you all with this scripture; 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” you’re eternal destiny depends on the out come!

Do Right To Those Under Your Control.

Colossians 4:1 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

As we go through life we should have one single mindset and that is to justly serve the Lord our God in every area in our lives. This becomes much harder as we must learn to live and work is a secular world controlled by Satan. As servants to our employers we must give them a proper day’s work for a proper days pay. And like wise with Christians in charge of both the lost and Christians. It is very difficult to be a Christian and live and work in this world but at the same time it is necessary. However we must understand as Christians no matter if we are employers, employees, or one in a supervisory role we must always respect the other people around us and always treat them in a fair and honest way. Always remembering we are not just Christians on Sunday but rather everyday of our life.

We want to look at two words today, masters and servants. Let us start with the word master, this word comes from the Greek word “kurios” and it means – one who is supreme in authority or as a noun it means a controller. The word master is used not only is slavery but also in our everyday life as one who has authority over others or employers, supervisors or etc. While it is true that a lost master is not bounded to the scriptures however one that is a Christian is and therefore should reflect the scriptures in how he rules over them that are under his control. This becomes difficult when a Christian master is under the headship of a lost master himself, but if that Christian wants to hold this leadership roll in the workplace they must always act according to Gods will. Acts 5:29 “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Even if it goes against your own master, you always conduct your rulership by Gods word and if you cannot then it would be better not to serve that role. I understand that the fleshly nature we have in us has a great desire to control and rule but our spiritual nature must rule our everyday function. The greatest example of this is politics; a Christian should never be a politician because this world is controlled by Satan and therefore Christians must compromise with the lost in order to accomplish anything. They must learn to lie and sometimes give in to secular law in order to do their job, and this is going against Gods word. But to those who are employers, supervisors or etc. please remember God commanded how you treat those under you “…give unto your servants that which is just and equal…” and that means to treat those under your control as you would like your Master (God) to treat you “…knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.”

Now we want to spend a few words on servants. The word servant comes from the Greek word “doulos” and means a slave or one under the subjection of another. As employees God has rules for them also, Colossians 3:22 “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:” As employees are suppose to give your worldly masters an honest day of work for the entire time you are getting paid. The word “eyeservice” means - one that is sight in labor or one that must be watched in order to do your job, this is known as a manpleaser or one who only works when the boss is watching. As a Christian we all should be honest and dependable, working to please God by pleasing our employers or supervisors. A dishonest employee is dishonoring to God just as an un-respectful master is and both need to please God rather than the desires of the flesh.

The Greatness Of God’s Power

Ephesians 1:19 “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,”

The first chapter of Ephesians is a sovereign grace believer’s dream chapter because it is so detailed about God’s plan of salvation. Not to the Jewish nation but rather to the entire elect of God. That is to all of them who will ever be saved regardless of nationality, race, or gender. The religious world (as I call them) would like for salvation to be by mans choice and power but they simply could not be more sadly mistaken. God has promised that man would rather serve evil than good, not because we fail to choose good but rather because we cannot choose good in this flesh. Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” no good at all, in the third chapter of Romans Paul describes the fleshly nature of man and declares that if man could make a choice it would not be to follow God. Romans 3:11 “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Therefore without a doubt man cannot choose his own salvation, and if it was up to man to choose he would choose evil rather than God.

Paul says here in our text “…what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward…” To show us-ward according to verse 18 “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened…” To show us-ward His great power by changing our will to follow Him instead of following Satan. It is Satan that has our eye and mind blinded that we in this flesh on our own will never choose Christ as our Saviour. How is it that some believes in our choice for Christ when salvation comes from the heart (or the spirit) rather than the mind, how can one ever control a dead spirit and force it to believe. But what Paul said is it is God who is showing us His great power by first quickening our dead spirit and then changing our will to trust Christ as our Saviour. It is not just power, lifting a 100 pounds would take a lot of power from us, but making a dead spirit alive and then causing one to change his will to cry our for salvation takes exceeding great power, like creating a man from the dust of the ground or like creating a world out of nothing. But as some would have you to believe that man can do this on his own, that is as silly as believing the bible tells us to choose Christ, it doesn’t exist. Not one single time does God tell the lost to choose Christ for salvation, not one single time does the scripture tell man to pray a prayer to be saved, and if this was true how could God show us His “…exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward…” in salvation.

“…to us-ward who believe… that is to them that have experienced His exceeding great power and are saved. This excludes those who are not saved, how can they see something that they have refused. They refuse because they do not have the power within themselves to believe. This is why it takes the power of God and once that power has come then they have seen how God saves sinners. If you have not experienced this exceeding great power then you are not saved, regardless of how you may believe that you are saved. If you simply made a choice for Christ or if you simply prayed a prayer than regardless of what some preacher or pastor may have told you, you are not saved from eternal damnation. When one is truly saved that means that they “…were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,” Hebrews 6:4 and when that happens then you know something wonderful has just happened and that is called the work of God and His exceeding great power. Have you had that experience?