“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 3rd 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
