Dedicated
to God's glory. Believing God's word as it is written.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Jesus' return different views part 1
Jesus' return hermeneutics part
2 Jesus' return
history of 1st advent part 3
Jesus' return part 4
Who is Your God?
Christ or Caesar?
Will God Accept You?
Audio Recording Church Music
©2019
- 2020 thegospelworks.org All rights reserved
Who
is Your God?
The
Person of God The Power of
God The Provision of God
It is common practice for us to store
things in boxes because it is orderly and efficient rather than let
items lie scattered. The same is true in our mind. We have
“mental boxes” in which we store concepts about our government, other
nations, the auto mechanic, the chiropractor, the dentist and the
church along with many others. These "mental boxes" contain
information based upon a mixture of fact, opinion and emotion.
Everyone has a "mental box" for God. Some insist God does not
exist but the concept of god remains in their mind. For others
it is filled with a god who has been fashioned by their own sinful
mind after the likeness of man or animal. This false god is a
chameleon that changes to match the mood and circumstances of the
person and the prevailing culture.
The correct view of GOD must be outside the box and based upon
scripture alone because GOD cannot be placed in a box. God
cannot be made to fit into any box whether it is called reformed,
evangelical, charismatic or any other religious designation. The
one true God cannot be constrained, controlled, conjectured or
contrived. He has revealed himself through his creation and his
word. He reveals the truth about himself through his Spirit.
The great 20th century preacher A. W. Tozer said, “The low view of
God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of
a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us. A whole new philosophy
of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error in our
religious thinking.”
“When we try to imagine what God is like we must of necessity
use that-which-is-not-God as the raw material for our minds
to work on; hence whatever we visualize God to be, He is not,
for we have constructed our image out of that which He has made and
what He has made is not God. If we insist upon trying to imagine
Him, we end with an idol, made not with hands but with
thoughts; and an idol of the mind is as offensive to God as
an idol of the hand.” [end quote]
Here I should remind the reader that
A. W. Tozer's formal education only extended through the 8th
grade. Fortunately for us he was not a seminary graduate.
His understanding of the God of Abraham and the Bible came through the
guiding of the Holy Spirit and not through education. This is
always true whether a person has little or no education or is awash in
higher educational degrees.
1 Corinthians 1:19 - 29 KJV
"19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and
will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of
this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not
God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them
that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the
Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks
foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the
weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see
your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 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; 28 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:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence."
Matthew 11:27 ESV "All things
have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son
except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and
anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
A correct view of God and the ability
to understand his word is 100% dependent upon God himself. Any
other view arises from the mind and the pride of life, not from
God. Let us consider a correct view of God from the Bible.
Who is your god?
Romans 1:19-20 ESV "19 For what can
be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to
them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his
eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever
since the creation of the world, in the things that have been
made."
Isaiah 40:25 – 31 ESV "25 To whom
then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the
Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who
created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them
all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong
in power not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, O
Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my
right is disregarded by my God”? 28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of
the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his
understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the
faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall
exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall
renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40:18 ESV "To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?"
Isaiah 46:5 ESV "To whom will you liken me and make me
equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?" To whom will you liken me asks the Lord. In
this passage God speaks in the first person, "me"
Consider the person of God.
Can God be measured for size?
Can God be measured by weight?
Can God be measured by magnitude?
Can God be measured by time?
Can God be measured by space?
The creature cannot measure the
Creator.
Our existence is constrained by TIME, SPACE and MATTER. We are
born at a certain time, we live a certain amount of time and we die at
a certain time. We travel a certain distance each day to reach another
destination. It could be only feet away or miles away. It takes time
for us to cover the space between where we begin and our destination.
The world around us and our own bodies are made of matter which we can
see and touch. God is not so plagued by these issues. He is not like
us.
God does not exist within time.
In Isaiah 40:28 we read, "The Lord is the everlasting God, Jehovah
the Lord"
God created time.
IN Genesis 1:5 we read, "God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was
morning, the first day." Time, as we know it, began when
God created the heavens and the earth.
God existed before time.
Psalm 90:1 - 2 "1 Lord, you have
been our dwelling place in all generations. 2
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had
formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to
everlasting you are God."
God is not constrained to a particular
place, rather He is present everywhere.
Psalm 139:7 - 12 "7 Where shall I
go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your
presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take
the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of
the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely
the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be
night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with
you."
God does not consist of matter, rather He
is spirit.
In John 4:24 we read, "God is spirit, and those who worship him
must worship in spirit and truth."
The laws of physics do not apply to God. Physics is a human
science which gives some understanding of God's creation. God’s
person is infinite, having no limits or boundaries in time or space or
extent or magnitude.
We humans tend to think of God as if
he is like us but this is not true.
Psalm 50: 21 "These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I
rebuke you and lay the charge before you."
Isaiah 40:28 "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord [Jehovah
or Yahweh] is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the
earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is
unsearchable."
Isaiah 40:26 "Lift up your eyes on high
and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by
number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and
because he is strong in power not one is missing." The
power of God is absolute and infinite.
Consider the power of God.
Isaiah
40:26-27 "Lift up your eyes on high and see: who
created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them
all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong
in power not one is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O
Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is
disregarded by my God”?
They spoke of
God as if He were a created human like themselves.
Psalm 50: 21 "These things you
have done, and I have been silent; you
thought that I was one like yourself. But
now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you."
Isaiah 40:28
ESV "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord [Jehovah
or Yahweh] is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the
earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is
unsearchable."
Exodus 3:15
ESV "God
also said to Moses, Say this to the people of Israel, The Lord [Jehovah or Yahweh],
the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and
thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations."
Exodus 20:11
ESV "For
in six days the Lord [Jehovah
or Yahweh] made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh
day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it
holy."
Colossians
1:16 "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities—all things were created through him and for him."
Hebrews
1:10 "And, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in
the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; 11 they will perish,
but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, 12 like a robe you will roll them up, like
a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your
years will have no end.” We
understand God’s power in creation by faith in God’s word not
because of science."
There
is a well intentioned movement that seeks to prove by scientific means
that the world was created instead of having evolved over millions or
billions of years. It seems appropriate to examine this movement
here. They speak much about the creation and display scientific
proofs that God is the creator. Does God want us to prove he is
creator or simply believe He is the creator because He has so stated
in the Bible and revealed in His creation?
Can scientific proof cause a sinner to
receive Christ? Is
science a biblical standard for evangelism?
Hebrews
11:1, ESV “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the
conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews
11:3, ESV “by faith we understand
that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is
seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
Hebrews
11:6, ESV "And
without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever
would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that
he rewards those who seek him.”
Romans 10:17, ESV
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word
of Christ.”
Acts
17:24 - 25, ESV “24 The God who made the
world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does
not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by
human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives
to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
Some
within
the creation
movement use Paul’s sermon in Athens to authenticate the need to
prove the earth was created by
God. The evidence shows
that Paul named God as Creator but spent the remainder of the sermon
talking about the Creator NOT the creation.
Our focus must be the Creator, our Savior, Redeemer and King.
We should believe the word of the Creator and not seek a sign or
wisdom to prove God is creator. Seeking
scientific proof is seeking a sign through human wisdom.
Those who
believe in evolution instead of the Creator do not need scientific
proof to be converted but grace which brings the gift of faith whose
consequence is the knowledge of the truth and results in redemption.
God’s Power
cannot be annulled by anything or anyone for God is the Creator who has complete power over all HIS creation. Attempts to
defy God’s power are ludicrous.
Psalm 2:1- 4, "Why do the nations rage and the
peoples plot in vain. The kings of the earth set themselves, and
the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his
Anointed, saying, 3
“Let us burst their bonds [restraint] apart and cast away their
cords [means of control] from us.” 4
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in
derision."
Decrees
of kings nor presidents nor dictators can annul God’s power
Laws
enacted by legislative assemblies cannot annul God’s power.
Rulings
by judges cannot annul God’s power.
Opinions
cannot annul God’s power.
Traditions
handed down by others cannot annul God s power.
Theology
developed by men cannot annul God’s power.
John the
Baptist declared in Matthew
3:9 "And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as
our father,’ for I tell you, God is able
from these stones to raise up children for Abraham."
Luke 19:36 -
40 "36
And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
37 As he was drawing near—already on
the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his
disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for
all the mighty works that they had seen, 38
saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him,
“Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40
He answered, "“I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones
would cry out.”"
Matthew 28:18
"And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me."
Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."
Psalm 33:6 "By
the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his
mouth all their host."
God has
absolute and total power over Mankind
Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 3:22 - 29
"22 Because the king’s order was
urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed
those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished
and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not
cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the
king, “True, O king.” 25 He
answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the
midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of
the fourth is like a son of the gods.” 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the
burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!”
Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire.
27 And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the
king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not
had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their
heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell
of fire had come upon them. 28
Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his
servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command,
and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god
except their own God. 29
Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that
speaks anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins, for
there is no other god who is able to rescue in this way.”
Note that
Nebuchadnezzar also was not hurt by the intense heat.
Pharaoh Romans 9:17-18
"17 For the
Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised
you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might
be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18
So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever
he wills."
Exodus 7:3 -
5 "3
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs
and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4
Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt
and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the
land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5
The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my
hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among
them.”
Animals Obey
God
Look at
Exodus chapter 8 where you find;
verse 4 frogs
obey Him — God covered Egypt with frogs
verse 16 lice
obey Him — God covered man and beast with lice
verse 20
flies obey Him — God covered all Egypt except in Goshen with flies
Numbers 22:22 - 30 Donkeys obey Him -— God made Balaam's donkey speak
1 Kings
17:1-7 Ravens obey Him -— God used ravens to feed Elijah
Daniel 6:22 Lions obey Him — God
closed the mouth of lions to protect Daniel
Matthew 17:27Fish obey Him — Christ directed a
fish to bring tax money to Peter
Pestilence
and disease obey God
Read Exodus 9 verses 3 – 11 and verses 22 - 25
Weather
obeys God
Mark
4:39 "And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the
sea, "“Peace! Be still!”" And the wind ceased, and there was a great
calm."
Consider
God's Provision
Isaiah 40:29 - 31 “29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even
youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall
exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they
shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
This passage in Isaiah describes the grace of God. Grace,
God’s favor cannot be separated from His Power. God grace is
common to all His creation but not in equal measure to all.
All will not enjoy salvation but all will share, to some extent,
in God’s grace.
Grace holds creation together
Colossians 1:17 “And he is before all things, and
by him all things consist (hold together)."
Hebrews
1:3 "Who being the brightness of his glory, and
the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the
word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down. on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”
Jesus Christ holds all things together by the word of his power.
Grace feeds the animals
Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air:
they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than
they?"
Grace brings the sunshine and the rain on all men
Matthew 5:44 - 45 “44 But I say to you, Love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that
you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes
his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
just and on the unjust."
Grace affords every person the knowledge of God
Romans 1:18 - 20 “18 For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God
has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes,
namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly
perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things
that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
God can withdraw Common grace.
He can withhold the rain -— Elijah 1 Kings 17
He can block the sun -— When Jesus died on the cross
He can send fire to destroy whom he wills - Nadab and Abihu
Leviticus 10
He can open the earth to destroy whom he wills — Korah Numbers 26
He can destroy nations, Judah carried away by Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon Jeremiah 21
He can destroy mankind if he wills — Genesis 6:7 So the Lord said,
“I will blot [translated destroy in KJV] out man whom I
have created from the face of the land, man and animals and
creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I
have made them.”
God does not have an obligation to give grace
Jude 1:6 “And the angels who did not stay within
their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling,
he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the
judgment of the great day”
2Peter 2:4 & 9 “4 For if God did not spare
angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed
them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the
judgment; 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly
from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until
the day of judgment,”
God gives particular grace to those who believe
Hebrews 2:16 “For surely it is not angels that he
helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.”
Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of
the Lord.” KJV
Philippians 4:19 “And my God will supply every
need of yours [all the saints in Christ Jesus chapter1:1]
according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Particular Physical
Provision
Matthew 6:25 – 30 "25 Therefore I tell you, do
not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you
will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not
life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"
26 "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not of more value than they?" 27 "And
which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his
span of life?" 28 "And why are you anxious about
clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:
they neither toil nor spin," 29 "yet I tell you, even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of
these." 30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the
field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the
oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little
faith?"
Particular Spiritual Provision
God Loves His Elect
Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in
that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God Redeems His Elect (God buys us back from slavery to Satan)
Luke 1:68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people”
Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the
riches of his grace,”
1 Peter 1:18 -19 “18 knowing that you were
ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers,
not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with
the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without
blemish or spot.”
God Adopts His Elect (God makes us legally his own
children)
Ephesians 1:3 – 6 “3 Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in
Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he
predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his
glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
God’s changes our family relationship.
Galatians 3:11 - 16 “11 Therefore remember that at one
time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by
what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by
hands—12 remember that you were at that time separated from
Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and
without God in the world.13 But now in Christ Jesus you who
once were far off have been brought near by the blood of
Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both
one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of
hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed
in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in
place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us
both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the
hostility.”
The distinction between
Jew and Gentile no longer exists because we are now one body in
Christ. All believers, Jews and Gentiles are now Abraham’s
children and part of the commonwealth of Israel.
God Reconciles His Elect (God makes us to be at peace with himself)
Colossians 1:21 – 22 "21 And you, who once
were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he
has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order
to present you holy and blameless and above reproach
before him,"
God's Justifies His Elect (we become righteous in God’s presence)
Romans 3:20 - 24 “20 For by works of the law no human
being will be justified in his sight, since through the law
comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of
God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law
and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of
God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For
there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a
gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
Christ will gather His elect to Himself
Matthew 24:29 - 31 "29 Immediately after the
tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."
30 "Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and
then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see
the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory." 31 "And he will send out his angels with a
loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
After the tribulation
Christ will return in the clouds to gather his elect to himself
and we will remain forever with Him.
God particular grace is eternal
Romans 8:35 - 39 “35 Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed
all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the
slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
[nothing in creation] shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Hebrews 5:9 “And being
made perfect, he became the author of ETERNAL salvation unto
all them that obey him;”
God’s provision is infinite, having no limits or boundaries in
time or space or extent or magnitude
God is Infinite in His Person. Time, space nor matter are
relevant to His Person.
God is Infinite in His Power over all His creation.
God provides common grace to all creation and particular grace
to those who believe.
Jude 1 “24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from
falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of
his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our
Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now
and ever. Amen.” KJV
To whom do you liken
God? Is your god the God of Abraham? Does your god
have limitations? God is not what man wishes him to
be but God is as He has described Himself.