Praise God For His Help

February 15, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Psalm 146

A wise man once wrote “it is a blessing to know that I am on the Lord’s side but it is an even greater blessing to know that the Lord is on my side”.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not “with him” also freely give us all things?

The more we know about the ways of our God, the less we have to worry about our future!

In the time of the Apostle Paul there were many mysteries of the “Gospel” but there are no mysteries of salvation today.

God has made salvation a simple thing!

We absolutely cannot allow false teaching and even more false religions to confuse the simplicity of the plan of God.

Satan has tried to do this throughout history but when God sent His Son, salvation became a simple thing.

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Help came from on High!

God did not save us and then just go off and leave us.

Until we reach our heavenly home God will help us.

We need to praise God for all His help!

*****Psa 146:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
Psa 146:2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

The Bible is the best commentary of itself and the Bible says that “Praise” is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to the Lord.

“Heb 13:15 “By him” therefore “let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God” continually, “that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

Our praise to God must be “by Him”, the Lord Jesus Christ our Mediator.

Our praise to God is the only thing we can offer here on Earth that will continue when we get to Heaven, so while we are still living we need to be continually praising the Lord!

Continually means without pausing.

Continually means without ceasing.

It is God who creates the fruit of our lips:

Isa 57:19 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

God creates peace, reconciliation and pardon by His “Grace”.

It is from these things that “Fruit” will burst forth from our lips.

It is also these same things that will be our greatest help from others in this world until we get home.

Pro 12:14 A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

Praising the Lord will take our mind off our problems and our own shortcomings and we can just give them to God!

Our praise will lead us to others who also offer praise to the Lord.

Praise will cause us to appreciate all the things that God has done for us already.

Praise takes our focus off this world so we can focus on heavenly things.

Praise will prepare our hearts to receive the love of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, through the salvation plan given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

How can we not praise the Lord the rest of our days here on Earth?

How can we not praise the Lord for His help because we cannot trust this world we live in to be much help to us?

*****Psa 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

It is probable that this Psalm was also written by King David and what does this king say?

David was king and the head of what in history has proved to have been be a good government but David says we cannot place our trust in the rulers of government nor the people that live in this world.

Even in America, so many have been raised up to depend on the government and our leaders who have caused this to happen, take political advantage of them and keep them dependent and even their children, who grow up not encouraged to do better for themselves.

Not only that, but our government insist on allowing and even encouraging strangers to come into America, not those seeking to be a benefit, but those who will seek to be dependent on the government all their days and the days of their children.

This is a government seeking to be in control of it’s people and not a government that serves it’s people.

We absolutely cannot trust these leaders, these princes!

Psa 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
Psa 118:9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

Mankind will never evolve to a point where it can provide salvation to all the people.

This is the theory of evolution at work.

We are not evolving we are in fact d-volving!

2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

The gap between those that do right and those that do wrong is ever widening!

All those that have made a life of deceiving others and have reaped the benefits of that life to a point that they cannot or they refuse to recover themselves from that life and encourage others into the same errors.

These are those that will reach God’s deadline while they yet live!

2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

There is no real help that can come from these princes in this life and no help at all in our future life!

Those that trust in man will suffer the curse of God.

Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

It is those that trust in the Lord who will receive the blessings of God!

Jer 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Even if you could find the best man on this Earth, he would still be just a man!

*****Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

There are some very important things that we must realize before we die.

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

There has never been a time of evolution of mankind!

God made man from the elements of this Earth and then God breathed into man the spirit of life.

These things take place at conception and each individual becomes a living soul!

Each and everyone that comes into this world will exit this world the very day God has written down on His calender!

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

There are things we can do to extend our days but God still knows the exact day of our death and He has been preparing us for that day all the days that we live.

When that day comes certain things happen:

Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

That body will return to the elements it was made from and that spirit of life will return to the God who gave it!

This is the history of mankind but not of animal kingdom:

Ecc 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

Evolution has never been a part of mankind nor that of animal life!

Job 27:3 All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;

All these things have taken place just so the soul of each human has the opportunity to decide it’s fate.

Because on the day of death all our thoughts, all those things we wanted to accomplish in this life will end!

It is that eternal living soul that will live on, either in Heaven with God the owner of that soul or in the Hell and the Burning Lake of Fire that was prepared for Satan and those that place there trust in him!

We can know as we were known:

1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Or we can suffer in Hell wishing we had done differently:

Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Who are those that rejoice? Those that have a personal relationship with their Creator!

*****Psa 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Psa 146:6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:

The only way of true happiness is to rely on the same God that Jacob did!

Other humans cannot bring us to this point of happiness even that one we love the most.

There is not one powerful man on this Earth that can provide what we need for true happiness.

Our happiness can only come from the God that helps us.

Our happiness can only come from our Creator!

The God of Jacob is God’s covenant name in Christ Jesus.

Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Our source of true happiness can come only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

It is the Lord Jesus who is happy to help us in our present life but also our only hope for the future of the eternal living soul!

Tit 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

God will always be true to His nature.

God will always be true to His promises.

God will always be true to His Word.

God will always be true to His personal relationship with each of us.

Because God will always be true to His Son!

And on a sad note to those that reject God’s Son, God will also, always be true in His “Judgment”!

*****Psa 146:7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:

Since the time of Adam, the Bible states that “Mankind”, was created to be responsible for his own actions.

God judged Adam for his sin but before this took place, God had already judged Lucifer and the fallen angels.

2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

God judged the people of this Earth in the time of Noah.

God judged the people at the Tower of Babel.

God judged the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

God judged the Southern Kingdom of Israel.

God judged the early Church, remember Ananias and Sapphira.

And God will judge the people of this present age!

Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Why has God always done this?

Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

All people no matter who they are will come under the judgment of God.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, “but after this the judgment”:

All those that surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ will be immediately judged and justified but the Bible tells us of two more judgments.

1) There is the “Judgment Seat of Christ”.

The Bible says:

2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

The is the judgment of the believer.

This not a judgment for salvation.

Joh 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

This is a judgment for what each believer has accomplished since being in the family of God.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

2) There is the “White Throne Judgment”.

This is the judgment of the unbeliever.

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

We have a righteous Judge who will see that the oppressed will be vindicated.

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

The Lord does much more than just bring justice to this world.

All food comes from God!

All those that are oppressed and all those that are starving can also find help from our merciful God!

God would not say this if it were not true, they need to call on His name.

There is no one that has reached so low in this life that they are out of the reach of the loving arms of Jehovah God!

There are also many who live today who are bound not only by chains, but also by disease, also by unsound and unhealthy bodies, who are weak and feeble and the Lord can also break the chains of these miseries.

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

But there are even more things that Jehovah God will do!

*****Psa 146:8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:

Blindness in the Bible is portrayed as those who are morally and spiritually ignorant of the truth of God!

Isa 59:9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
Isa 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

But only Jehovah God can not only open the eyes of the spiritually blind, He can also open the eyes of those who are physically blind. Those that are born blind and those that become blind by accident.

There is no case of blindness that cannot be overcome by the Lord!

It is also the Lord God Almighty who can raise us up from our lowest point of depression.

So many of our young people are taking their own lives today because they do not see another way out of this depressed world.

There are evil men who take advantage of those young minds and convince them of a false path to Heaven but the only sure path and out of all misery is the Lord Jesus Christ!

Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Who are God’s favorite people? Those that do things the right way!

The righteous are only those that are obedient to the Word of God!

There is only one commandment that has fit this world we live in from the time of Adam until the Lord takes us all home to be with Him!

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Ecc 12:14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

*****Psa 146:9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.

There are too many people in this world who feel like they have been abandoned by mankind. These are not just the oppressed who slip over our national borders but even some here in America who are truly trying to escape oppression and depression.

There are many who come for the right reasons and many who come for the wrong reasons.

Even Jesus turned away those that just wanted a handout!

Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

To seek God just to get our wants supplied is selfishness and gross sin!

To seek any nation only to have your needs supplied is wrong.

A government that provides needs just to make it’s people more dependent on those needs is also evil!

God is interested in that stranger who is seeking a better life.

God does not forbid us to seek happiness but we are to seek it in the proper way. That way begins with seeking the Lord!

It is to the true stranger that God will send the Holy Ghost along with God’s people bringing the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ.

It is also the fatherless who can find the true Father in Heaven.

It is the widow who can find the true Bridegroom.

Jehovah God is the only true Friend to all those who have no earthly protector!

Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

There is no one who still lives that cannot have a Friend in Heaven if they truly seek the Lord!

Joh 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

It is Jehovah, the true God that will reign forever!

*****Psa 146:10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this Earth, He will establish Himself as King in Jerusalem!

Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

It is the covenants that God has made that will insure that there will be a literal and physical return of Christ Jesus to establish His Kingdom.

The Jews will be gathered:

Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Jews will be converted:

Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

There will then be a time of peace that this world has never known since the time of Adam:

Mic 4:2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Mic 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Mic 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

Only believers will enter into this Kingdom:

Psa 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
Psa 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

Jesus Christ will rule as King:

Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

And King David will be Christ’s Regent:

Amo 9:11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

And Jerusalem will then be the center of the world:

Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

This Kingdom on Earth will last for 1000 years but King Jesus will reign forever!

This Kingdom on Earth will end because the Heaven and the Earth will be judged because they were the domain of Satan’s rebellion against God!

2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The eternal state of the Redeemed will then begin:

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

God does not leave any doubt of His future plans.

It is our generation that now have the duty of giving this message to this lost world!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Praising God For His Compassion

February 8, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Compassion

Psalm 145

In the Bible we can see compassion in words such as “pity”, “mercy”, “love”, and some others.

Compassion is a loving feeling for others and is best exhibited by the things that God has done for all people.

Lam 3:22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

It is this attribute of God that we fail to learn the most.

The compassion of our God can be seen in every book of the Bible and compassion is also required of each of us!

Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

In this verse it lists three things that are required of each of us that know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

1) We are to do justly. We are to walk according to the truth of God.

We are to be honest, be fair in our dealings with others, and have integrity.

2) We are to love mercy. As the Lord has been merciful to each of us we are to also be merciful to others.

We are to have compassion not only on all our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we are to have compassion on all other human beings.

3) We are to walk humbly with our God.

We are to live in obedience to the Word of God and have a personal relationship with Him.

We will never walk with God without a firm belief in the “Gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We are to live, act, and behave according to the entire written Word of God, rightly divided!

Why? Because this is the thing that God has done!

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Let’s Begin:

*****Psa 145:1 David’s Psalm of praise. I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.
Psa 145:2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

We see that it was King David that wrote this Psalm or maybe this was King David’s favorite Psalm of praise or both.

David was king of Israel at this time and Israel was therefore ruled by David’s government.

What we see is that David was not praising his own government but he was praising the fact that we are all to be under the government of the true King. That would be King Jesus!

This is where the governments of this world fail!

To “extol” is to exalt and to magnify.

David wrote these words in another Psalm:

Psa 68:4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.

David was king of Israel but his personal King was Jehovah!

We may live under the rule of man-made governments but if we do not acknowledge the absolute government of Jehovah God and be devoted to His rule, then we will fail in this life.

All governments that do not acknowledge the true God of this universe are failing governments.

The government of God refers to the “Providence of God”!

It is Jehovah God who provides the needs of this entire world at His own will(discretion) and is continuously preparing this world according to His own use.

To bless God is to praise God with a personal relationship with Him.

That word “forever” means our relationship with God can never end and when we add “and ever” it means we have made a covenant with our own selves just as God made a covenant with Himself.

So whatever happens on any day or whatever our circumstances, it should be our goal to be a blessing to the Lord!

In other words it should be our goal to bless the Lord eveyday and every hour of each day, because these are the days the Lord has given to us.

And for those that reject the idea of praise we should keep in mind, praising the Lord is the one thing we can do now after we are saved, that we will continue to do when we get to Heaven.

There will be no need of prayer in Heaven, we will be in the presence of God.

There will be no need of hope in Heaven, our hopes will be fulfilled.

There will be no need of “faith” in Heaven, because we will have made it home.

But there will be a continuous want to praise in Heaven!

*****Psa 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Psa 145:4 One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

We already know we have a great big God who is great in all His power and in all His ways!

The ways of God are past finding out by any man!

We should also know then that we should have great praise for our great God!

Praise is not praise unless it comes from the heart and great praise can only come from a fervent heart!

No matter what this secular world says, it is only the wonderful message of God’s work, God’s creation, and God’s deliverance, that has been declared from the time of Adam and Eve.

Isa 38:18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Isa 38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

The truth of God has been passed down since the beginning of time and it is now our job to continue to do so.

It is only the living that can praise God!

It is only the living who can pass the Word of God from one generation to another!

I only began living when I was “Born Again” into the family of God!

*****Psa 145:5 I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
Psa 145:6 And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.
Psa 145:7 They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

Remember David was King of Israel but David was speaking of the honor and majesty of our God and our King.

We must feel the same. Even though all generations are to praise the Lord and speak of His ways, in our day we should be at the head of the line and jumping at the chance to declare the wondrous works of God.

Like David we will also find it hard to find the right words to describe the majesty of the Lord.

How can we describe the “One” that died for our sins, He had none of His own?

How can we describe the “One” that rose from the grave on the third day because He is not bound by death?

How can we describe our “Mediator” between us and a Holy God?

How can we describe the “One” who sent His own Spirit to abide in each believer?

How can we describe the “One” who has placed His own Church in the midst of this world to tell about His wondrous works until He returns to take us all home?

What we should be asking is, “how can we be so silent” in not speaking of the majesty of our Lord?

We can be sure if anything bad happens in this world or in the lives of certain people they will immediately blame the Lord for their misfortune.

The world will call all bad things an “act of God”.

Even insurance companies write this phrase into their policies.

Horrible news will always spread faster than the Word of God.

As the Church we must tell of the wonderful works of God, because God does not do bad things.

The world may talk about the bad things because they are to blind to see the wonder of the God of salvation!

2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Those that do not know the Savior can only speak of what this world has done for them but at some point they will always look back and say, “the world has not done very much”.

Those that come to know the Lord as Savior and Redeemer will speak of the great goodness of the Lord all the days they have come to know true life.

Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles wrote:

Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

How can we not sing of the righteousness of God?

How can we not understand the “Grace of God”?

*****Psa 145:8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
Psa 145:9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.
Psa 145:10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.

What is the nature of our Savior?

If we refer back to the time of Moses we find that Moses made a certain request of the Lord.

Exo 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.

God told Moses no human could see the glory of God and live.

Exo 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

But God said to Moses, I can show you my “Goodness” by my “Grace”.

Exo 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

What was shown to Moses?

Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

King David had finally realized these same things that Moses had seen.

If you surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, you will come to know these very same things!

God has much more “Grace” than He has “wrath”!

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Lord is good to all His creation and even Satan could not deny this!

Job 1:9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Job 1:10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

God is good to all mankind!

Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Kindness is the law of God’s providence.

God created our world so that we might live in happiness.

God may have cursed this world after the sin of Adam but God also provided a cure for that curse.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Our Creator is always delicate with His creations.

Our Provider is always willing to display His kindness.

Our Savior is always ready to forgive!

God does not create disease.

God does not ever promote misery.

God hates pain as much as we do.

God is life and the giver of eternal life because God hates death.

Those that end up in Hell will be there because they chose to be there!

The saints of God already know these things and that is why we can bless the Lord.

Remember we bless the Lord when we have a close and personal relationship with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

How can we not speak of the glory of our God?

*****Psa 145:11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
Psa 145:12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

This is the job we have to do after we have accepted the truth of God!

To the Church, we know that this would be the Second Coming of Christ, the Messiah.

To the Jew, this will be the most important time in their existence, the coming of the Messiah!

The theme of the Old Testament is this fact that this kingdom will be established on this Earth by the Messiah, a Son of David, as written in the Davidic Covenant!

2Sa 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2Sa 7:13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.

2Sa 7:16 And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

That Child to be born was the Lord Jesus Christ in His humanity, 100% Human.

That Son to be given was the Lord Jesus Christ in His deity, 100% God!

Immanuel means God with us:

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

The suffering Messiah and the reigning Messiah are One and the Same, the Almighty Living God!

The suffering Messiah:

Isa 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The reigning Messiah:

Isa 52:13 Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.

We are to speak of the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ and included in that message we are to teach of the Second Coming of Christ.

This will be an everlasting kingdom!

*****Psa 145:13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

When David realized all these things it brought him closer to God.

When we realize the truth of the “Gospel” it will draw us closer to the truth of God and it will also bring us peace in this life.

God has governed His creation since it’s beginning and many of this world will get a full view it’s Creator on this Earth for 1000 years.

But only those that have accepted the truth of God will be a part of God’s everlasting kingdom which will not be on this Earth, at least as we know it now.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Everyone will get the opportunity to live in the city of God!

This Messiah, who will reign with all authority, will also come down off that throne to personally hold up all those that fall.

*****Psa 145:14 The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

All those who look to the Lord for help “with faith” will be raised up to be with the Lord.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

God is always willing to lift those up that call upon His name, while they yet live!

*****Psa 145:15 The eyes of “all” wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Psa 145:16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
Psa 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

All those that fall.

All those that are bowed down because of their burdens.

All those that wait upon the Lord.

As children who look to our earthly fathers in a time of need, so should we “all” look to the Lord who is not only our Creator but who is also our Provider!

God will open up His hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing!

Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who is the source of true satisfaction!

The creature can only find satisfaction in the Creator!

Whether we understand it or not, whatever God does is always the right thing to do!

Psa 33:4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.

God said it was the right thing for Him to do to bring tribulation to all those that rejected His Church!

2Th 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

BUT, God’s justice will always be in harmony with God’s “Mercy”!

Psa 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Psa 85:11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

In God’s government, promises made are always promises that are kept!

God is always closest to those that love Him!

*****Psa 145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, “to all that call upon him in truth”.

What is the facts of God’s Word?

God will never leave praying men and women, who truly confess the Lord Jesus Christ, to battle this world alone!

Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

God is always “very present” in our times of trouble.

Formal prayers and false professions of sin will never bring anyone into communion with the Lord!

We must remember there are some things that God hates.

Pro 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Pro 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Pro 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Jesus said that He was the truth and God expects us to come to Him in truth.

It is only these that know the truth and confess the truth that God will answer!

*****Psa 145:19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

What is the will of God?

1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

How does the will of God fit into our prayer life?

1Jn 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1Jn 5:15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

God will fulfill the desire of all those that respect and esteem His name and His Word!

We must remember, It is God who listens and it is God who will send salvation.

God has never trusted these things to any part of His creation.

It is God who came Himself to save us and it is that same personal God who will hear us and who will deliver us from all our troubles!

Why? Because we serve a compassionate and loving God!

*****Psa 145:20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

To preserve means God will save all of His children from death and destruction but notice it is only those that love Him.

Heaven and Hell are both eternal realities!

There are two ways to travel in this world!

1) There is the humanistic approach that says that all religious beliefs must pass the test of human reasoning and the findings of science. Therefore if Christianity that does not adapt to the modern world then it must not exist.

They insist that the Bible is not infallible and it is only a record of the experiences of others.

The Bible disputes this line of thinking:

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

2) Then there is the right way.

Jer 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

Salvation came to the Church by the “Apostles Doctrine”.

Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

We must continue steadfast in the Apostles Doctrine in order for the Church to continue to grow!

There is only one pathway to Heaven!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way”, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

ALL other paths lead to Hell!

This is why the world hates the Lord Jesus Christ and reject His truth!

*****Psa 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and “let all flesh bless his holy name for ever” and ever.

King David said it does not matter what all others are going to do but with my mouth I will speak praise to the Lord.

David said, I’m doing it now and I will do it forever.

It does not matter from what background we come from!

Every race, every sinner, and from every generation, young and old, we need to unite behind the Word of God and glorify the only Savior of our world.

We should be doing this same thing that King David said.

We need to praise the Lord!

We need to praise Him now and we need to praise Him forever and ever!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Attributes Of God

February 1, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Attributes

Psalm 139

An attribute can be said as something that belongs to someone.

The attributes of God are things that belong to Him and Him only!

Let’s look at a few things we can attribute to God that only He has.

**1) God is spirit.

This does not mean that God is “a spirit”!

God does not have a physical form but “as spirit” God is everywhere. God cannot be limited.

God has substance but not in the material forms that we understand.

Joh 4:24 God a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God is Spirit, just as God is Light and just as God is Love!

God does not have a physical form and it is sinful to make any likeness of Him.

Exo 20:4 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:

This attribute is best described as the Omnipresence of God!

None of God’s created creatures possess this attribute and that includes Satan.

**2) God is self-existent.

Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

God is independent of any part of His creation.

Joh 5:26 “For as the Father hath life in himself”; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Everything that lives is dependant on something or someone to exist and have life, but God is independent of such things.

**3) God is immutable which means God is perfect.

God is devoid of any and all change.

Mal 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not;

Jas 1:17 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”.

This is why the love of God and the promises of God are all certain!

**4) God is “One” God!

The essence of God cannot be divided!

The Lord alone is God, He is not a composite and cannot be divided into parts.

Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

God is “One” in essence but God is “Three” in respect to persons!

God has 3 substances with each substance having the same essence of God, and each having the same fullness of God!

God merely makes Himself known in 3 different ways.

Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

In this passage we have the Lord Jesus Christ speaking of the Holy Spirit, and the Father.

All three in total unity!

All 3 having the same authority!

Joh 5:21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.
Joh 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
Joh 5:23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Mat 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Look at the prophecy of the Messiah in the Book of Isaiah:

Isa 48:16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, “there am I”: and now “the Lord GOD”, and “his Spirit”, hath sent “me”.

We are all to be baptized in the name of the “One” God but also in all His essence!

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

**5) God is TRUTH!

We can only see things as they really are by looking at our world through the Holy Ghost Inspired Word of God!

Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

**6) God is Love!

God’s love is not some emotional impulse. God’s love is rational and is the voluntary affection from our Creator!

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

**7) God is Holy.

Holy means set apart. God is totally set apart from all His creation.

God is the moral and ethical standard for all His creation.

Isa 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

God expects us to exert every effort to be as holy as He is!

There are so many others.

God is eternal.
God is immense.
God is great in all ways.

**8) God is omniscient. God knows all things.

God knows all things that exist.
God knows all the variables of things that exist and all things that have not yet occurred.
God knows all future events.
God knows all these things at the same time.

God’s knowledge is immediate, simultaneous, actual, complete and is according to reality.

**9) God is omnipotent. God is all powerful!

God’s power cannot be overcome by any part of His creation!

God is full of mercy.
God is full of grace.
God is just and the justifier of all His creation.

Psalms 139 will tell us much about our God so let’s begin.

*****Psa 139:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

We see we have another Psalm of David that is given to the chief Musician.

It can be said that the true Chief Musician is our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are things that we know about our own selves that we would never tell to anyone, even the ones we love and trust the most but there is absolutely nothing that can be kept hidden from God.

If we accept this one thing then our conversations with God can be open and real!

No pretended god can know anything about us but the God of truth can understand all our ways because He knows everything that can be known about each of us and He understands our thoughts because He has searched us.

God has given us His Word so we are then able to also know about Him.

It should be very clear from this passage that God has known us even before we were ever born and one of the attributes of God is that God can never forget anything that He knows.

Remember God does not forget our sin, God chooses to not remember our sin against us.

We are pardoned as if that sin never existed!

God said this to Jeremiah:

Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

God had plans for Jeremiah before he was born and God has a plan for each of us even before we ever exist.

*****Psa 139:2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

You see God has personal knowledge of each of us. God sees every move we make. God sees us when we are sitting quietly and God notices us when we stand back up while knowing every thought that makes us do the things we do.

God even knows the thoughts we think even before we ever think them!

God may seem to be far off but He is never very far from those He loves!

It is important for us to realize just how much God knows about each of us.

God has personal knowledge because God wants us all to have a very personal relationship with Him!

*****Psa 139:3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

When I was in Vietnam we would occasionally surround a village for several days and we would keep a close eye on everyone and everything that went on in that village.

The Vietcong had such a fear-hold on many villages that by observing we could sometimes tell if that village was helping the enemy.

The presence of God always has us surrounded and God is observing our every move and God is very acquainted with all our ways.

God may be just observing our reaction to the things that our enemy, the Devil is causing to happen.

We must remember these words:

1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, “who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able”; but will with the temptation “also make a way to escape”, that ye may be able to bear it.

If God were not acquainted with all our ways, He could not be ready to provide that means of escape from our enemy!

*****Psa 139:4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

God knows every word I will speak before I even speak them.

That’s the reason God cautions us to think about what we are about to say, before we speak them.

Sometimes when we speak, what we say can be misinterpreted, but God always knows the true meaning of what we say.

God even knows the reason behind the words we are about to say. God is never surprise at what comes out of our mouths!

For this reason we need to include in our prayers that God will guide the things we say.

Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Our words begin in our heart, so when our hearts are right with God, it will also show up in the words that come out of our mouths.

*****Psa 139:5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

God knows the past, the present, and the future and He knows all these things at the same time because God is not bound by the restraints of time.

Behind us God has recorded our sins.

Upon the acceptance of Jesus Christ, “by Grace”, God has blotted out His remembrance of those sins.

And before us, when God has us within His loving hands, God is recording our deeds so He can give us the proper reward.

What did David say about all these things?

*****Psa 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

It is a foolish thing for us to think we will ever grasp the enormous power of our God!

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

How very precious was the day that our Lord Jesus was crucified and the veil of the Temple was rent into, just so we can have access “at any time” into the throne room of our Father in Heaven!

Until we get to Heaven we will never understand why our Creator would even want to be so close to sinners such as we are!

The theme of these first 6 passages has been the Omniscience of God.

Now we will spend some time seeing the Omnipresence of God.

*****Psa 139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

What is the truth of the omnipresence of the Lord? There is no one on this earth that can escape the observation of the Almighty God and this includes Satan, the Devil!

God is present everywhere!

Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

God is very near to us at all times!

We do not have to wait until the White Throne of judgement because we can be judged now, while we are living.

We do not have to wait until we get to Heaven for safety, God has surrounded us by His Heavenly host and they will guard us against the evils of Satan!

We do not have to wait for God’s inspiration, God is close enough that we can ask for His wisdom on a personal level!

We do not have to wait till we get to Heaven to go before God, God is available to us at any moment of the day!

God dwells in the hearts of those that love Him and God is as close as a silent thought!

If God could be limited by any distance or by any means then God could not be perfect in His divine being!

When we ascend to Heaven either by death or by Rapture, we will find God sitting on His throne.

If we have chosen the wrong path and end up in Hell, we will find that, part of the torment, is that though the Lord is near, we will never find His comfort.

Those that strap on bombs to kill God’s people see this truth immediately at their death as they join all those others that have rejected the truth!

Though we travel in a mighty space ship, we can never go beyond the reach of God’s presence!

Though we seek the depth’s of the uncharted seas to escape, we will find the Lord is already there and even in that place we can know the salvation of the Lord.

Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

There is no darkness that can escape the Shekinah Glory of God!

*****Psa 139:11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

By definition darkness is the absence of light.

Spiritual darkness is chaos, a world without the presence of God.

Darkness is also the curse of Hell the outer darkness of the Bible!

Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Darkness in truth is far away from the “Grace” of God but is also being in the midst of the “Ultimate Wrath” of God!

Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

In this life, darkness may be our oppressor and our enemy, but darkness can never shut me out from the presence of my God.

Evil is said to dwell in darkness but it is impossible for anything to be hidden from the sight of God!

To the Lord, darkness is just another part of the day that He created back in the Book of Genesis.

Job 22:13 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
Job 22:14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
Job 22:15 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men have trodden?

There is no evil that can hide from God and there is no darkness where we cannot reach out to Our Savior, while we are still living!

These things relate to the Omnipresence of God.

*****Psa 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

God does not just dwell in His children:

Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

God does not just just keep a watchful eye on us.

Job 34:21 For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.

God is the possessor of our most secret parts!

That word “reins” actually means the kidneys in the lower part of the back. The Hebrews believed this to be the seat of all our desires and all our longings.

In this verse it probably means the most hidden and vital portion of our true being, the seat of our affections and our passions!

Every new mother today wants to get an ultra sound, to get some picture of their unborn child but the pure truth is that only God knows what we will be be like before we are even born!

Even before we are born we are under the control of God!

Jer 1:5 “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee”; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

*****Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

The word “wonderfully” means “differently”!

Each baby that is born is designed to be like other humans.

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature “after his kind”, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

But, every human being is uniquely different from all others in details!

That word “fearfully” means that every human being from the time of birth will live all his days seeking his Creator because he is born with the knowledge of a Creator.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Solomon wrote these words:

Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; “but they have sought out many inventions”.

Our soul knows the truth, it is our flesh that is blinded by Satan!

We exists as flesh and bones in the eyes of other humans, but God’s greatest creation is the entire human being!

Not one scientist since the beginning of time has been able to completely explain the miracle of child birth along with the DNA structure and the other things that make humans unique in this world.

In fact most scientist have given up trying to explain the Creation of God and just say the human race just evolved by some accident.

How were we made?

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

God first made the elements of the earth, and then God formed man from those elements and only after God breathed into man the breath of His life was man a complete human being.

It is from Adam and Eve that our world has been populated by all other humans!

That phrase “substance, yet being unperfect” means the “embryo”.

God is watching over each and every embryonic human from the the very moment of conception!

There is no act of evolution going on at any time in the life of the human being from the point of conception till the death of that individual.

There are those that say that embryo may not reach perfection for 9 months but the truth is that from the moment of conception until delivery that embryo it is a human being and has a God given eternal soul!

That word “continuance” means that God over seeing the development of that soul and all the substance of that human all the days of his or her life!

That word “fashioned” has the meaning that each and every embryo is fashioned in the same way as Adam!

When we realize that our entire creation came about by the design of God, it’s Creator, we will then begin to understand the thoughts of our God!

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

*****Psa 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Anthropology is the science of studying man and is almost in its entirety based on the theory of evolution.

Man can never be understood when we use evolution as the guideline!

Some old scientist such as Isaac Newton, and Kepler and Maxwell understood and bragged on the fact that God knew their thoughts but there not many around today who will actually say this.

It is only God who knows everything about us as mankind and as individuals!

God knows each of us individually!

God thinks on us as individuals!

A thought is an operation of the mind. It should bring us great pleasure in knowing that the thoughts of God are on each one of us all the time.

It should also bring comfort to us knowing that God is not thinking of evil things about us or to do to us!

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

God simply tells us what will happen if we follow certain paths in our lifetime and God then points out the proper way to avoid all those evil things.

God teaches us His thoughts so we can think more the same way that He does!

Psa 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

If God’s thoughts of us are innumerable, then we must be on the mind of God continuously!

We know that the main thought of God concerns His love for us and that love will never end!

God may limit His acts of creation and His acts of wrath, but God will never limit the power and thoughts of His love for each of us individually.

We absolutely cannot make God stop loving us!

BUT, we will miss out on God’s rewards by not thinking the same way that He does!

If our own thoughts are on the Lord when we go to sleep, then when we awake we will know that God has sustained us through the night or we will wake up in His presence!

No matter where we are we will always be with Him in His thoughts and one day face to face.

These things relate to the Omnipotence of God.

*****Psa 139:19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
Psa 139:20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Psa 139:21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
Psa 139:22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

God will always do the right thing!

We can be sure that the crimes we commit before our righteous Judge will not go unpunished!

If God’s wrath is stirred because of some evil, we can be sure that God will remove that evil thing from His sight!

What does God expect of us?

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Just as God will one day remove Himself from all evil, God expects us to do the same thing during our lifetime!

God has proclaimed the sentence of death to all unbelievers and the sentence of life to all that accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We can be sure that God will slay all wicked things!

Even though the liberals do not agree the Word of God says what it says!

This evil world will always speak against the Lord Jesus Christ and they would remove His name entirely if they could.

This world is all about going their own way and rejecting the purposes of Christ Jesus.

This world ignores the providence of God.

This world strives to remove the commandments of God.

This world is striving to remove God’s people, but if this world will be patient God will do this thing Himself and this world can then come face to face with the God they hate so much!

God teaches us to hate the works of this world but God teaches us not to hate the people themselves.

The Apostle Paul had these same feelings as did David and most of us will also.

Rom 9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Rom 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
Rom 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

The Lord Jesus gave us this command:

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

It is the Lord who will deal with all those that are wicked and evil:

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is alright to be angry with those that hate God, but it is only God who knows His creation best!

*****Psa 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psa 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Here again is some other things we need to include in our prayers.

We need to be saying:

“Search Me Lord”

“Know My Heart”

“Know My Thoughts”

We cannot lose our salvation. If God is powerful enough to save us then God is certainly powerful enough to keep us saved!

We should not have a problem then asking the Lord to search out any sin, minor or major, that we can repent of “while we are still living”.

We should not want any one thing to come between us and our God!

When we are going through something in our lives that we do not understand, we can be sure that God is trying to remove that thing from us, so He can reward us even greater!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Greatness of God

January 25, 2015January 28, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Greatness

Psalm 135

The English word “greatness” can mean many things.

The word “greatness” is used 32 times in the KJV Bible.

The Hebrew word “rob” which is translated into our English word “greatness” on some occasions is actually used 150 times in the Old Testament.

Greatness is describes as:

1) A Large amount, we have a great big God.

2) A high degree, we have a God that sets the highest standards of morality.

3) A high rank, we have a God who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

4) A high intellect, our God knows everything that can be known.

5) A high power, nothing in this world can compare to the power of our God.

In the Book of Psalms God’s greatness is described this way:

Psa 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and “his greatness is unsearchable”.

We should have great praise for our Great God because His greatness is unsearchable!

No one but Jesus knows just how great is our God!

There is no part of the Lord’s greatness that is not worthy of our praise!

6) Our God is most excellent in His greatness!

Psa 150:2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to “his excellent greatness”.

There is nothing in this Universe that has a more excellent greatness than our God!

7) Our God is complete because our God is perfect!

It takes a perfect God to bring a perfect salvation!

Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Let’s Begin:

*****Psa 135:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.
Psa 135:2 Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,
Psa 135:3 Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

What is the reality of our God? The reality of God is that “He is much more greater then our own finite minds can even comprehend”!

God keeps teaching us that when we are in the house of God we need to have a hallelujah time!

Church is not to be some boring, quiet, solemn place!

There is no doubt that that there nations such a China, and North Korea and Iran along with many others where Christians live in fear of their lives and may worship trying to avoid punishment from oppressive governments or even more oppressive false religions but even when these gather together, they need to gather in joy and not in fear.

When the servants of the Lord gather they are to sing hallelujah to Jehovah.

God has revealed to the world His holy nature.

God has revealed to the world His perfect love beginning with Creation and by His Providence.

God has revealed to the world the only means of salvation by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Surely we can praise the name of Jehovah!

Surely we can praise Jehovah-Jireh, the God that provides.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord our banner, the banner of the Christian is the Tri-Une God, Jehovah.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Shalom, the God that brings peace into our hearts.

Or we can praise Jehovah-Shamma, the God who is always present in our lives.

Or Jehovah-Tsidkenu, The Lord Our Righteousness, because our own righteousness is as filthy rags.

Or Jehovah-Sabbaoth, The Lord of all the Angelic hosts of Heaven.

Or Jehovah-Macaddeshcem, The Lord our Sanctifier.

And there is still Jehovah-Rapha, the God that heals and Jehovah-Rohi, the God who is our Shepherd.

When we stand in the House of God, or even in the courts of the House of God surely we can praise Him!

We can sing hallelujah to Jehovah because of all these things, because Jehovah is the God who saves!

The Bible says:

Psa 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

There is great pleasure that comes from praising our God in every House that wears the Banner of the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Psa 135:4 For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.

What is choice? Choice is the voluntary act of selecting between two or more things that which is most preferred.

Why did God choose Jacob?

Deu 7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deu 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Deu 7:10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

God chose Jacob whose children are called Israel, because He loved them.

What are the facts?

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God chose Jacob because He had sworn to keep His oath.

God made an oath to His Son, The Messiah, The Lord Lord Jesus Christ, that He would save all that had “Faith” in Him as God and believed on His Son.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

This is the same as Abraham and is included in the same oath made to Abraham:

Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

God will keep this oath, this covenant, with all that love Him and who keep His commandments because God made this covenant with His Son!

Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Just as the true Israel, is God’s peculiar treasure then the Church is also God’s peculiar treasure!

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Tit 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

God chose this method of fulfilling His salvation plan and this plan has not changed nor will it ever change until it is no longer necessary.

God treasures all those that place their trust in Him and God gives His love and His mercy to all those that believe upon Him!

Jesus said it is a very sad thing that so many will get the opportunity to choose, but will simply not choose or choose the wrong path trying to obtain salvation.

Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

This is why Jehovah is such a great God!

*****Psa 135:5 For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.

We need to praise God for the God given ability to choose.

We need to praise God because of His “greatness”!

We must have the right view of God in order to serve Him!

If we cannot accept that Jehovah God is far greater in power and in all other things, above any other so-called god then we will not have the right view of Christianity!

If we are wrong in this then we are wrong in all things!

God is great in His being.

God is great in His perfections.

God is great in His creation.

God is great in His providence.

God is great in all His Words.

And God is great in the “Gospel”, His plan of salvation!

God does what He pleases and God is pleased with everything that He does!

*****Psa 135:6 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
Psa 135:7 He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

God does not just do what He pleases on this Earth, God does as He pleases throughout all His creation which is our entire Cosmos or some would say throughout our Universe.

That word cosmos describes our Universe as an orderly system,” as it is” and “is not in chaos” as is taught by the theory of evolution.

God is pleased with His cosmos!

Those vapors, describe what is now known in science as the hydrological cycle.

The evaporation of water from the oceans, transported inland by our great atmospheric circulation, with electricity that activates condensation and precipitation and this is also part of God’s clean air filtration system.

Jer 10:13 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

Lightning is not just some lawless force of nature but is actually part of the wonderful machinery God uses to provide much of our needs!

It took a great big God to bring such order throughout all His creation!

Our universe is not in chaos but is in the orderly control of it’s Creator!

God is also great in His providence.

*****Psa 135:8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.
Psa 135:9 Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

God is great in what He can do for mankind.

God gives us many great examples by what He has formerly done with the nation of Israel.

The last plague that came on Pharaoh and Egypt is now celebrated as the Passover.

It was this plague that convinced Pharaoh that he needed to let the children of Israel leave Egypt.

It was the death of the firstborn child that brought deliverance to the people of God.

This is remind us all that it was the death of God’s only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ that has brought deliverance to all of God’s people.

We can just imagine how Egypt was horrified by the greatness of God’s power!

We should also be humbled by the fact that this instant was a reminder to Israel of the providence of God.

Those “tokens” were the plagues and there were 10 plagues recorded that went against Egypt but these are our evidence of the providence of God.

Those “wonders” were judgments and reminders to Egypt that they were serving false gods.

And God did all these things in full view of the Egyptians by the hand of Moses, a servant of the God of Israel, Jehovah the Tri-Une God.

It was not just Pharaoh nor just the people of Egypt that witnessed these things, it was also the false priests and false prophets of the multiple gods of Egypt.

It is Jehovah God who can humble any nation He so chooses!

*****Psa 135:10 Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;
Psa 135:11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan:
Psa 135:12 And gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people.

There is no nation, no matter their military power that can turn the hand of God away.

Israel was a ragtag band of escaped slaves with only Moses who had some military training, yet those nations of Canaan Land never had a chance of defeating them.

Sihon was a man of great courage and a mighty military leader but He fell by the hand of God.

Og was not only a mighty military man but was also gigantic in his size and his stature and ruled 60 city states but he and his army fell by the hand of God.

Even when the other nations pooled all their armies and all their resources together, they could not stand against the hand of God.

It is no different today and even the mighty war machine of America can not stand against a nation that God chooses to defeat them because it is Jehovah God who will fight for His cause against all enemies.

It is by the hand of God that any nation can hold to their lands.

It is Jehovah God that gave the land called Palestine to the children of Israel. This is their heritage and their land and not for anyone else to question!

To the Church we also have a goodly heritage!

Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

These things can only happen because our God is “Great”!

*****Psa 135:13 Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations.

When Moses was at the “burning bush” he asked God what was His name.

God said:

Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exo 3:15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

**1) God first said Moses, I Am That I AM.

This name speaks of the providence of God.

This is God’s absolute control of the Universe. God is independent of His creation. God is independent of all life because God is life itself.

God is complete in Himself!

God is absolute!

The Lord Jesus said:

Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

The Lord Jesus is the absolute image of the invisible God!

Heb 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,

**God next said, I Am The LORD. (Jehovah) The Supreme God.

The self-existing, eternal God!

His name is Wonderful!

God’s name is eternal and God’s name will never change!

Once we come to know the LORD, then we can never forget Him!

It is Jehovah, Elohim who created our universe and abides over it!

Gen 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

It is this same Jehovah, Elohim who will judge this Earth and all who dwell on it!

*****Psa 135:14 For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.

Who are “Jehovah’s people”?

They are the “elect”, they are the “chosen”, they are “the called” of God.

We all know that the wages of sin are death:

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Once we become the chosen people of God, His people, we have already been judged and the LORD has repented from this sentence of death.

Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Only Jehovah has the power to save His people!

*****Psa 135:15 The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Psa 135:16 They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not;
Psa 135:17 They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.
Psa 135:18 They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.

Silver and Gold are valuable commodities in today’s world but to shape them into an image to worship is like taking a dead metal and trying to make it have life.

Whatever is fashioned from dead metals come from the imagination of the man who is forming it.

It takes a fool to worship man-made objects as a god!

Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 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.

What can an idol do for you?

You can ask your idol any question you may have but you will get no answer, they cannot communicate with you.

You may ask your idol to watch over you today but they cannot see.

You can speak to your idol with great worshipping words or in times of troubles but they cannot hear you.

An idol is already dumb as death. All idols are made from something that God has made but they can never have life in themselves.

There is no sign of life in an idol and neither can there ever be!

All those that worship idols will become just like the idols they choose to worship.

What is an Atheist? Those who worship themselves.

Those who worship themselves are just as blind and insensitive as an idol!

They refuse to hear or see what God has to say because they have placed themselves above all others especially above God!

When we place ourselves above the Word of God, we then become idols ourselves!

Everyone that trust in their own selves are blind fools according to the Word of God!

Atheists and Idol worshipers are one and the same they pride themselves in their great wisdom, they boast of their higher learning and they think that they are evolving into a god themselves.

It’s easy to see why God says they are fools, but God also says this:

1Co 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Not one of us are born saved! Salvation comes only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

When you are justified you will not have a problem praising the Lord.

*****Psa 135:19 Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron:
Psa 135:20 Bless the LORD, O house of Levi: ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD.
Psa 135:21 Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

That word “house” as used in this passage means a family of ancestors.

The descendants of Israel would be all 12 of the tribes of Israel.

Israel is still the chosen nation of God and will continue to fulfill the purpose God has for them!

**The house of Israel has no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Amo 5:4 For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:

**The house of Aaron are all the descendants of Aaron who were elected to perform the duties of the high priesthood.

The High Priests were to be the leaders, the teachers, and the example of the worship of Jehovah and therefore above all others.

Psa 115:10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.

**The house of Levi was the specially elected servants of the Lord.

Deu 10:8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
Deu 10:9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.

**The house of Levi had no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Those that fear the Lord are the wisest people on this Earth!

Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Isa 11:3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

**Those that fear the Lord have no excuses for not blessing the Lord!

Zion is the place where Jerusalem had it’s beginning, as a strong hold and became the city of David.

2Sa 5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.

Zion is the place where the Temple was first built and the place where King Jesus will rule.

Psa 2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Zion then was the symbol for the entire nation of Israel.

Amo 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

Zion is the city of God.

Isa 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Zion also refers to heavenly Jerusalem.

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

Zion is the the place where at the Second Coming of Christ, He will redeem Israel.

Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

It is Zion where this world will see the perfection and the beauty of God!

Psa 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

All those that know of Zion have no excuse for not blessing the Lord!

Zion dwells at Jerusalem!

Just as Jerusalem will soon be the dwelling place of God among His chosen nation, then Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of the Church and we will all gather in the city of King Jesus one day soon!

Until that day we need to have a Hallelujah time and just praise the Lord!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Praise God For His Benefits

January 18, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Benefits

Psalm 116

God sincerely wants to have a close personal relationship with each of us individually.

Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, “I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me”.

Jesus Christ is not some aloof Savior waiting on us to run Him down or hiding for us to try to find Him.

Notice it is the desire of our Lord to be a close nit family!

Jesus Christ will not only make a personal visit to your heart and will knock with His own nailed scared hands but He will call out to us using His own Words.

God did not send anyone else to save us, He came Himself!

Before Jesus Christ will come into your heart, He will first introduce Himself and He brings with Him the record of His accomplishments, the Bible, so we can see for ourselves who He truly is.

It’s called choice!

If Jesus did not knock first, we would never come to knock at His door.

God has a loving desire for our salvation!

God will knock on the door of our heart but He will not break down that door.

Jesus Christ is the “I Am” of the Bible and if we have that close personal relationship with our Savior, we will also use that word “I” along with the word “My” in our relationship with Him!

1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Let’s Begin.

*****Psa 116:1 I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.

We have been seeing many things we need to include in our prayer life.

Just to mention a few, we need to praise our Lord, we need to repent of our sin at least daily, we need to walk the Christian path as Christ walked to get our prayers answered.

Because we are not perfect and cannot be in this life, we need to ask for mercy but just maybe at the very top of our list in our prayer life we need to say “Lord, I Love You”.

Remember it was God who made the first move and we can love Him because He first loved us.

1Jn 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

This is a pure fact in Christianity, we can love our God because He first loved us!

All human love is preceded and generated by the love of God!

If we are willing to be channels through which God’s love can flow, we will be able to reach others with the love of God!

If we have that close personal and loving relationship with the Lord, we should be able to say “I Love You Lord” without hesitation.

If Jesus Christ is real to you, then His love is real, and His salvation will then become very real.

We must not just know we love the Lord but we need to also know why we love the Lord!

We have a very good reason! He hears our prayers.

God hears our voice! Jesus said when we pray we need to get into our closet with our private prayer but even in that closet when we are able, we need to pray out loud if for no other reason, so that God can hear our voice.

God is always listening in to what is said by His people and the Lord will keep a good record of what is said!

Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him “for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name”.

God loves to hear our voices!

God already knows what we need.

God has seen what troubles we are going through.

God just loves to hear from us and He loves to hear our voice calling out to Him!

And when we have not reported in for a while, the Lord can look back to see what was said the last time we made contact with home base!

Sometimes we just want to know that God hears us and what we need is not as important as just to know that God is listening and every time our prayer is answered our love will increase.

We show our love by calling out to God and He shows His love by answering our prayers because He is always listening for the sound of your voice if you are saved and the Lord already knows your name!

*****Psa 116:2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

Calling upon the Lord is an act of worship when it is done with our whole heart but when we are discouraged we must remember that God is always near.

God is always listening carefully to every prayer and God answers every prayer that reaches into Heaven!

Psa 4:3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.

Knowing that the Lord is always listening gives us confidence to always seek Him.

We are only foolish if we do not call upon the Lord everyday that we live!

It is always wise to go to the place we are always welcomed and that place is near the heart of our Lord and our God!

*****Psa 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

We must remember who our real enemy is!

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
1Pe 5:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

The only way to escape this enemy is by the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Hebrew word used for our English word “sorrows” in the verse gives us the sense of a noose tightening around our necks or the uneasiness of the pain in our minds for our circumstances.

The Hebrew word used for our English word “pain” in this verse gives us the meaning of tightness, as that noose just gets tighter and tighter and we are choking to death in our own distresses.

We have waited much to long if we have reached this point before calling upon the Lord but it is only too late if we reach that point of death.

We are wrong to think we can hide from sorrow and distress!

We are wrong to think we can hide from our problems!

We cannot ignore the fact that Satan will do all he can to hinder the spread of the “Gospel”.

These things will seek us out, but there is no need to suffer through these things alone.

We simply cannot allow the sorrows and troubles of this world to choke us into submission!

*****Psa 116:4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

There is absolutely no depth of sorrow that can take us out of the ear range of our God.

Here again we see there is only One who we can call on to get some actual help.

Jehovah is the God of revelation and redemption!

It is Jehovah who revealed Himself to Moses.

It is Jehovah who revealed Himself to Abraham.

It is Jehovah who will reveal Himself in our hour of need!

It is Jehovah who will deliver us from our sorrows!

The name Elohim declares God displayed in his power as the Creator and Governor of this physical universe,

The name Jehovah designates God’s nature as He stands in relation to man!

Jehovah is the almighty, true, personal, holy Being, a spirit and “the father of spirits,” the “I Am” of the Old Testament!

When we get personal with Jehovah, He will get personal with us!

Jehovah got real personal with us when He appeared as our Savior!

Joh 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Joh 8:57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

And how do we approach our Lord?

It does not take many words.

“O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul”.

We must pray to the Lord as often as we can and we may use many words trying to describe to the Lord how we feel but in that hour of a specific need, our prayer does not need many words.

Real trouble produces real prayer!

This prayer needs no words added and it explains the complete need!

This prayer brings the greatest benefit!

It is this prayer that will show us the “Grace of God”!

*****Psa 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.

Most of the time, just to know someone is listening to us, itself brings great relief!

God teaches us to come to Him in prayer when we need His help, and there is not a day that goes by that we do not need God’s help.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

God says we can draw near to Him in confidence, knowing He has the power to help us in that hour of need.

The throne of God is a “throne of grace” because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 16:24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
Joh 16:25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.
Joh 16:26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:
Joh 16:27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.
Joh 16:28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.

The throne of God is called “gracious” because we have an Intercessor who sits in the throne room of God!

Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Those that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ cannot open the ears of God and cannot know the mercy of God!

*****Psa 116:6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
Psa 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.

Those that are wise in the wisdom of this world will try to take care of themselves but those that trust in the Lord can depend on God to take care of them.

Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

It is our faith that determines if we get relief from our troubles, from the only God that lives.

If you have known the Lord for any time at all, then you can also say “when I was brought low, He helped me”!

Rest simply means we can be restored to a peaceful confidence in the Lord.

Psa 56:13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?

We are reminded that we can never loose our salvation.

We are reminded that we are not left in this world alone but our Savior is never far from us.

We are reminded that when we walk in the ways of Christ Jesus we are walking in the glory of the Lord.

We are reminded that our God is Good all the time!

God has given us His Son Jesus and in Him will He give us all things!

God has given us eternal life!

*****Psa 116:8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

What a marvelous thing is our salvation.

God has graciously canceled the debt of sin that we could not pay without our own death in Hell.

1Jn 4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God will continuously deliver us from a physical death until a time that He has selected.

Job 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

God will not hold back anything to wipe away our tears and restore us to the joy of salvation.

Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

God will keep us! Satan will never be able to lay his grubby hands on us again!

Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my Father are one.

Death is put away, our tears are dried up, and fear is banished, when the Lord is our Savior and we can walk before Him!

*****Psa 116:9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

This verse means we will walk one day in Heaven where there will be no death!

This verse means we will always live in the sight of God.

Those that continue to walk in this life can only be seen by men and only during this lifetime.

Those that continue to walk in this life, will all their days be subject to human judgment, human opinion, and human results.

Those that know the Lord know that the ever watching eyes of God are on His children.

Psa 57:3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.

These things require our faith!

*****Psa 116:10 I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:

Faith is the only way we can approach God!

Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

That faith must be in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

That faith will show in our walk with the Lord in this life.

Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.

By faith we live! By faith we have deliverance! By faith we can brag on our God!

Without our faith in God our prayers will go unanswered.

Without faith we will remain greatly afflicted.

When we trust in the things of this world we will find out that all men are liars because they that reject the truth have no respect for the truth!

*****Psa 116:11 I said in my haste, All men are liars.

Some times when we are suffering affliction in this world we will become as a pessimist.

A pessimist is any person who has a gloomy, hopeless, and complaining disposition.

A pessimist takes a dark view of everything and sometimes everyone, as did the writer of this Psalm.

But we will see a child of God can only be a pessimist for a short time!

It is a fact that all those that speak against the Word of God are all liars!

But we have no right to distrust all men!

There are many people still in this world who are honest, moral, and conscientious.

To blame everything on this world we live in takes our focus off of the real enemy, who is the Devil!

Faith, says we trust the Lord in all circumstances.

Faith does not mean we can wrongly accuse mankind!

We will never lead anyone to the Lord Jesus Christ by being a pessimist.

What is the opposite of being a pessimist?

*****Psa 116:12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?

The opposite of being a pessimist is when we can say, we can give back to the Lord for all the benefits He has given to us?

This world is not so gloomy that we cannot have joy in serving the Living God!

We need to be searching for ways to serve the Lord and get busy doing so, and this will take our minds off this sinful world.

Each one of us receive a special benefits in serving the Lord, so each of us should have his own special way of of showing his gratitude!

2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

What was the special way, this writer had of showing his gratitude?

*****Psa 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.

The greatest gift we can give back to the Lord is to accept His free gift of salvation!

We must become that new creation of the Lord!

This writer had been drinking from the cup of afflictions and had forgotten all about God’s cup of salvation.

There are no works of our own that can ever repay the Lord for what He has done!

Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

When we forget we are a saved people we will put off our worship of the Lord.

Satan will do anything to hinder the Word of God.

He will sometimes bring one affliction after another to try to break us.

BUT, if we can keep in mind the Salvation that is given to us from the Lord and the benefits that come from our Savior, we will continuously call on the name of the Lord.

Most of us think of worship as something that is only done on Sunday and Wednesdays or what ever days are set aside to worship but this actually is not good for us.

We simply must not reserve our worship for certain times or certain days.

In fact we are worshiping someone or something at all times with our thoughts, or with our words, or with our actions.

Worship is saying that this thing is worthy of our worship when in fact there is only One who is worthy of our worship and it is our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the Lord who gives life.

It is the Lord who gives us the air we breath.

It is the Lord who freely gives us all things.

Act 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

How can we not be continuously worshiping the Lord?

The cup of Salvation of the Lord provides living water!

Joh 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

We must devote ourselves to the worship of the Lord and Him only, all the days of our lives!

What else can we give to the Lord?

*****Psa 116:14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

In our days of being in the family of God most of us have made certain vows. Some of those we have kept but in most cases there are some we have not kept.

Vows that have not been fulfilled are the same as debts that have not been paid!

Deu 23:21 When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.

If we say things in worship and in prayer then, we need to hold ourselves accountable.

Deu 23:23 That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the LORD thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth.

This Psalm writer then went on to say that he would pay his vow before witnesses, in fact in the presence of all God’s people.

God does not allow for secret disciples!

Because every saint of God is precious in the eyes of God.

*****Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

The Hebrew word “chasid” is translated as “saints” in this verse.

The “chasid” are godly people because they reflect the character of God Himself!

It is only because of God’s covenant with Himself and fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ, that every “Born Again” child of God can be called a “Saint”.

A Saint of God is anyone who believes by faith that Jesus Christ is Lord and can then be called Christian if they conform to the image of Christ.

Rom 8:29 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.

So many people abuse the title Christian these days, as the Christian name can only be applied to those who are striving to be like Christ Jesus.

A Christian is only those whose behavior, whose actions, and whose speech are like those of Jesus Christ.

All others are impostors and it is these impostors who give Christianity a bad name!

But all those that are the true Saints of God are very precious in the eyes of God and who die according the way they lived a Christian life.

Precious means valuable.

We think of death as being the enemy of all men, but the Saints of God have no need to fear death.

1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The Saints of God do not have to drown on death’s sorrows.

1Th 4:13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

To the Saints of God, death is only a device or a vehicle that is used to enter into the presence of the Lord.

Mal 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.

What a precious benefit for the Saint of God!

*****Psa 116:16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

There will come a time to almost everyone of us that we will need to rededicate ourselves to the Lord.

This is better stated as surrendering to the Lord!

After all the giving of ourselves to His service is one of the few things that we can actually give back to the Lord for what He has done!

We belong to the Lord by the fact that we are God’s creation!

BUT, we also belong to the Lord by His “Grace”!

We are to be servants of our Lord if we want to meet our Father in Heaven!

Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

It’s a precious feeling to know you are saved!

It’s a precious feeling to know that you no longer serve Satan.

Rom 6:20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
Rom 6:21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The most precious thing we can have is to know that we are now servants of God by Jesus Christ.

We have been loosed from the bonds of sin, of death, and of Hell, so how can we not wear the yoke of Jesus Christ?

Jesus teaches us with these words:

Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Once we have given ourselves to be servants of the Lord we then can begin to offer up our thanksgivings which are another one of the things that we can give to the Lord of our own possession.

*****Psa 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.

The New Testament Church has never been told to offer up animal sacrifices.

The sacrifices that the “Body of Christ” are instructed to make are:

1) The sacrifice of ourselves as servants of God.

2) The sacrifice of righteousness, remembering that our righteousness is by the Lord Jesus Christ.

3) The sacrifice of praise which is due from us all.

4) The sacrifice of thanksgiving for the great benefits of our salvation.

Heb 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Heb 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

5) Then we are to offer the sacrifice of doing good and the sacrifice of telling everyone we meet just how good it is to serve the Lord.

It is only when we drink of the cup of salvation that we can call upon the Lord!

It is probable that David also wrote this Psalm and we know that David’s desire before His death was to build a house worthy of the Lord.

It should also be our desire to build houses worthy of the Lord.

Salvation is still the main objective of the Church but it seems the modern day Church has forgotten the main thing!

*****Psa 116:18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,
Psa 116:19 In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.

We must be determined to keep our word to the Lord.

We must invite all those that know the Lord to observe our walk in this life and point out anything that looks to be a deviation from the Word of God.

We are to exhort and help each other through the trials and afflictions in this life.

We are to comfort each other and we are to do it daily.

Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

This is the duty of each Pastor.

This is the duty of each “Born Again” child of God.

God says we need to have a Hallelujah time whenever we are in the House that is called by His name!

When our own hearts are filled with gratitude, we will want all our brothers and sisters in Christ to join in with that same feeling!

There are truly great benefits in serving the Living God!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Praise God For His Works

January 11, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Works

Psalm 111

We have already established that the phrase “Praise ye the LORD” is the Hebrew word Hallelujah.

This word appears 25 times in the KJV Bible with 23 of those times in the Psalms.

There is 1 instance in the Book of Judges and 1 instance in the Book of Jeremiah.

One of the biggest problems this world we live in has today is acknowledging the works of God.

This world adds to that sin, with it’s objection to the doctrine of salvation by “Grace”.

This lost world and all false religion will tell us that there must be some good works performed in order to be saved.

The pure fact is that all moral men and the chiefest of sinners are all saved the exact same way.

They are saved by God’s Grace and that “Grace” comes by the Lord Jesus Christ!

Today our Psalm teaches us to praise God for His works.

The works of God began with creation by the design of God!

So, All the works of God from creation to salvation are worthy of our praise!

Grace is the single most important gift of God.

Work means to produce by an action.

When God speaks action takes place!

*****Psa 111:1 Praise ye the LORD. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.

How are we to praise God? With our whole heart!

**1) Our praise of our God, Jehovah, the Triune God must come from the heart. Praise is to never be some outward show or our praise will be in vain.

Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Our praise must be carried on in an orderly manner.

1Co 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

Our praise must be about how God has worked in our lives and not about rituals.

Amo 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
Amo 5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Amo 5:23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
Amo 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.

**2) Our praise must be the same no matter where we are located.

The upright are all those who are honest and moral and who have been justified by the Lord.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

3) Our praise must be the same even in a congregation, whether it be family or just a crowd.

Psa 40:9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
Psa 40:10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

The actions of our own praise should instill others to praise!

Many will join us in our praise and many of those who do not will be convicted because they did not join in.

*****Psa 111:2 The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.

We have mentioned many times the providence of the Lord and how He is in control of the world everyday but we have allowed creation by the design of God to come under attack and not many offering any defence of it.

We must praise God for His works and His works include all creation.

Jer 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Jer 32:18 Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
Jer 32:19 Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

When we love our Maker we will delight in His handiwork!

Even the little things that God does are great!

We can read in the Word of God about all the marvelous works that our Maker has done for us but how many of us take the time to just look around us and see the marvelous works that God has done that are in full view.

How many of us set aside time just to view the beauty of God’s creation, the visible things.

And then how many of us take to the time to acknowledge the invisible things such as God’s love and God’s Grace and His loving-kindness.

The works of God are “Great” in size, “Great” in number, and “Great” in excellence!

God works are worthy of being sought out.

There is great pleasure in admiring that mountain range.

There is great pleasure in sitting at the lake fishing or enjoying it’s pleasures.

There is great pleasure in viewing the mighty oceans and all the other wonders of God that we can see but we have to seek these things out because they are so numerous.

Even when we take in the night time sky we can only see a small portion of the heavens.

Not only are the works of God pleasurable but God’s work is honorable and glorious.

*****Psa 111:3 His work is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

Honorable means grandeur which means when you see it you marvel at the greatness of what you are witnessing.

Such as being in the midst of an ocean and seeing nothing but the Sea.

Such as seeing a mighty mountain range.

Such as being in an airplane seeing the marvels of the skies while also seeing the checkerboard of the land.

Glorious means magnificence which means you are in awe of God’s works.

The beautiful sunset or sunrise.

The snow covered mountains.

The night time sky.

That flowery meadow.

These are the things we can see but those things we cannot see are just as honorable and just as glorious, if not more so, because God can only do things that are right!

Righteousness is the nature of our Perfect and Holy God!

The most honorable and the most glorious work of Our Lord is His Salvation!

The “Grace” of God, by the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

The “Regeneration of God, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, our Sanctifier and our Comforter.

The “Eternal Home, the gift of Our Father in Heaven.

None of the other works of God can compare the the honor and glory of His “Salvation”!

God has a plan for every part of His creation and it is all honorable and it is all glorious but His plan of Salvation is just for those who believe Him!

Isa 51:5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
Isa 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

We can be sure that God has never accomplished one wrong thing!

We can be sure that God will never say “well if I done this a little different the outcome would have been better”.

God has the perfect plan and His perfect plan will be remembered by all those that have rejected Him.

Luk 16:20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
Luk 16:21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
Luk 16:23 “And in hell he lift up his eyes”, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luk 16:24 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.
Luk 16:25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Luk 16:27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:
Luk 16:28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

This rich man who’s name did not make it into the Lamb’s book of life was still remembering the wonderful works of God when he prayed that he would never see his family again. He did not want them to end up in Hell as he had. He is forever looking up to try to see the Heaven that he rejected in his life time.

Even Hell is a honorable and glorious place of torment, a perfect place for those that reject the Lord!

*****Psa 111:4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

It is the statue that becomes a memorial of the dead.

It is the Lord’s supper that is our memorial of the death and sufferings of Jesus Christ.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is our memorial because it is salvation that it is the memorial of all those that have gone on home before us.

Our greatest peace in this life comes when we know we and all our family and friends are saved.

As we study the Word of God we must know that the things God has done are not to be read and then forgotten but the Word of God is also a memorial for us to remember what God will do in the future.

The Bible is not a book of fables as some would have you to believe!

The Bible is written about actual people and actual places at specific in the providence of God.

2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
2Pe 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
2Pe 1:18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
2Pe 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

We will never be able remember everything God has written down for us in His Word but we can be sure God has not forgotten one word of what He has said!

God is so full of grace and compassion that it shows in all His works.

It shows in nature, all His design of the things that we can see.

It shows in spirit, by all His character, of love and goodness and greatness and especially His mercy and remember, we were all created to grow into this image.

It shows in His providence, as He guides this world into the completion of His perfect plan.

It shows in His salvation and redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s power is divine.

God’s wisdom is divine.

God’s faithfulness is divine.

God’s goodness is divine.

Because God’s character is divine!

*****Psa 111:5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

God provides for the needs of those that trust Him in faith!

God not only provides for our being but He also provides for our well being!

Act 17:28 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.

When we read about the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, we always remember the manna that came from Heaven.

We always remember the water that was provided, but we always seem to forget that in 40 years of travel many other things were needed.

Deu 8:2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Deu 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Deu 8:4 “Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years”.

God will never forget His people nor the needs of His people because God will never forget the covenant He has made.

Isa 59:21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

This covenant is with God’s Messiah!

Joh 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

This is the covenant that God can never break, the covenant that God made with Himself!

Gen 17:2 And I will make “my covenant” between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

This covenant extends from Abraham and his seed to the Lord Jesus Christ and through each believer, the seed of the Messiah which will eventually include Israel.

This is God’s covenant with Himself and God is ever mindful of His covenant!

And God has shown us all His power to keep His covenants by His own works!

*****Psa 111:6 He hath shewed his people the power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the heathen.

The works of the Lord are never hidden from sight to those that seek to know the truth!

Those that are the lost of this world we live in, are blinded by their own eyes!

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

We may not be able to see Jehovah God at this time but we can certainly see the evidence of Him by His works!

There are only two basic types of miracles.

**1) There are the miracles of creation. The results of God’s creation are in the laws of nature that surround our existence every day.

God created all matter that is visible to the eye, but also the energy, the order of, the information of, and the complexity of life, both biological and also spiritual.

**2) Then there are the miracles of the providence of God. This is God’s absolute control of all the processes He has put in place by His creating power and the timing of the events in all our lives.

Israel had not only witnessed the miracles of God in Egypt and at the Red Sea but also in His provision for them in their 40 year journey to Canaan Land.

Israel had witnessed as God had given to them the land of Canaan by defeating armies that outnumbered them and taking the great walled cities of that time.

There are many today that question the fact that God ordered the destruction of the Canaanites but simply smile when Nebuchadnezzar, or Alexander, or the Ottoman empire or the Roman rulers are mentioned who brought great destruction to many more people than that of Israel.

God removed Israel from their homeland because of sin and scattered them throughout this world and a great miracle that can be seen today is the return of Israel to that homeland.

It is impossible that a nation could retain its identity without a homeland for more that 2000 years but Israel has done so.

It is also impossible that that same nation could return and establish that same homeland again but Israel has.

God will certainly give Israel the heritage of the heathen!

God’s Word means exactly what it says and we are wrong to not take the Word of God as the truth as it is written.

And we must not forget the spiritual message in this passage.

God has also showed all people the power of His works by the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ”.

We have witnessed the miracles of Christ, His resurrection from the dead, His redeeming power, His work of Grace, and the results of changed lives.

The power of God’s works are brought forth by the Holy Spirit.

Rom 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

And the Psalms are just as important to the Church as they are to Israel.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

It is the works of God that teach us truth but it is also the works of God that teach us judgment of God!

*****Psa 111:7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.
Psa 111:8 They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

The works of God are everything that God does on the behalf of all those that believe!

Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

God will always be true to His promises, we can depend on that!

God will always be true in His judgment, we can also depend on that!

God began to fulfill His promise to Abraham by the gift of Canaan Land.

God began to fulfill His promise to those Israelites that were saved by expelling the Canaanites because of their unrepented wickedness.

Deu 9:4 Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: “but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee”.
Deu 9:5 Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Our God does not ever change, it will be because of the wickedness of this world that God will drive out all those that reject Him!

We still have no righteousness in ourselves!

Our righteousness is only in the Lord Jesus Christ!

God has never commanded one thing today and another thing tomorrow, God’s commands have always been consitent with His character!

Our problems come when we treat the Word of God as a book of suggestions and not as a book of commandments.

We need only look at the works of God throughout our history to see that this is true.

God means what He says and He also says what He means!

God’s purpose, God’s commands, God’s actions, and God’s Word will stand forever.

God will do with His works as He pleases!

The laws of God are all good and they are established by faith!

1Ti 1:8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;

The Gospel of God is also an everlasting Gospel.

Rev 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

It is the everlasting Gospel that will be the last thing that many people will ever hear before they enter into Hell.

God’s Word is true even when many simply will not believe.

Rom 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

God’s commandments are sure!

Salvation is then eternal!

*****Psa 111:9 He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.

God’s plan all along was to send redemption to His people!

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

This was the same message that was given to the early church.

1Jn 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
1Jn 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God

The New Testament Church must be centered on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Salvation, by the Lord Jesus Christ is unchangeable and is everlasting!

Isa 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

This salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ has been God’s plan since before creation and God will not alter His plan to suit the modern world!

Psa 89:34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

Eph 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

To the dismay of Satan, who has caused confusion in so many, there is still only one way to reach our Father who is in Heaven.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

To not know the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah is to worship a false god!

Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

There can be no wisdom without the Lord Jesus Christ!

*****Psa 111:10 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.

The One that the world rejects, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the chief element of true wisdom!

The wisest thing a creature can do is acknowledge it’s Creator!

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Only those that are void of understanding cannot realize the truth of God’s Word.

That would be children who have not reached the age of accountability and those that are mentally handicapped.

All others are fools and will remain fools that reject the only Savior to this world!

These are the works of God, open and visible for all the world to see.

The praise of God will never cease because those that acknowledge the truth of the Gospel will never cease to praise Him for what He has done!

Until the Lord returns we are to be witnesses of His goodness and not be judges of this world.

1Co 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

It is the Lord who will judge this Earth!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Praising God For His Goodness

January 4, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Goodness

Psalm 107

We have seen the need to praise God for His glory, for His forgiveness, and for His patience along with many other reasons but there could be none of these things without the goodness of our God!

Goodness can best be described as loving-kindness.

Loving-kindness is the English translation of the Hebrew word “chesed”.

This Hebrew word appears 249 times in the King James Bible.

This word can best be described as the faithfulness of God, despite our unfaithfulness, and is part of God’s character of “mercy”!

This is the love that God has for us and this love remains constant regardless of any circumstance we may be going through!

No matter how extreme things get in our lives, God is able to deliver us through those things.

We all know that old saying “That if God takes you to it, then God will take you through it”.

The theme for this Psalm can be found in the very last verse.

Psa 107:43 Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

Let’s begin:

*****Psa 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

One of the three things that we have that we can give to the Lord is our thanksgivings. This is the least of all things that we can give Him and it cost us nothing but the time to say thanks for what God has done in our lives.

We offer up our moans and groans to the Lord continually and He does not mind this, but to say thanks is to worship Him!

What is the greatest character of our God? The greatest character of our God is that He is good!

If our God was not good, He would not teach sinners the way to get close to Him.

Psa 25:8 Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

God wants us to conform to His own image because we were created in the image of God.

God gave us our example of “goodness” when He gave us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just as our God is from everlasting to everlasting, so is God’s mercy from everlasting to everlasting!

God will always be good!

It is on ly because God is “good” that we can be redeemed!

*****Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Psa 107:3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

If God has redeemed you from the penalty of death, then you need no other reason to praise the Lord for His goodness.

We should say so in our prayers but this verse says we should declare God’s goodness publicly.

In fact we should tell everyone we see just how good God has been!

Redeemed still means to be purchased!

The redeem are all those that have been purchased out of the marketplace of sin, the slave market of Satan!

There was only one payment that was suitable for this purchase.

If you have been redeemed, then you need to praise God for His goodness!

Salvation is not in a feeling, but if you feel you have been redeemed then you need to say so!

Who is our enemy?

When we lose track of who our real enemy is, we will then become enemies ourselves to this world we live in.

We are not the enemy, we are the redeemed who are to tell the world just how good our Redeemer is!

Gathering will always follow redeeming.

No matter what divides us in this world, or what location we live on this earth, The Lord will gather us all into one “Body of Christ”.

There is only One Lord, one faith, and one baptism by the Holy Spirit, and therefore only one “people” of God!

So as we gather in our local assemblies, let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

God has placed us in such varied locations, and from such varied backgrounds that there is always some lost soul that we can relate to.

1Co 6:11 “And such were some of you”: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

*****Psa 107:4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
Psa 107:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Psa 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

Lost, hungry, thirsty and exhausted can be used to describe all those lost in sin, we know that, because most all of us were once that same way.

Once we realized our own condition, we cried out to the Lord and to be redeemed is to be delivered.

Delivered means released from the bondage of Satan but it also means rescued and made free.

Delivered means we know we have no home in this place, our home is in Heaven and Jesus has gone there to prepare us a place. Our home is with our Lord!

What is the right way while we are still in this place?

There are many wrong ways but there is only one right way!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

The Lord will never lead us from one wilderness to another, He will only lead us to the city of God!

Psa 46:4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Psa 46:5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

How can we not praise God for His goodness?

*****Psa 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Over and over again we are reminded that we need to praise God for His goodness because we have been redeemed.

We also need to praise God for His providence.

God created a perfect world.

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God made a way for salvation.

Psa 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

God’s plan of salvation will succeed.

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

God has nothing but good things in His plan for us.

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

And we have been redeemed so that we may also do good to the children of men!

Eph 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.

It is the goodness of God that brings with it, our satisfaction.

*****Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

There is deep satisfaction in having received the goodness of God.

A longing soul, is a searching soul.

I do not know about you but when I was lost I just could not be satisfied, I was craving something that I was not aware that I was missing.

I did not understand why, until I found the Lord Jesus Christ.

God did not just fill my soul with common things but He is continuing to fill my soul with His goodness.

Those who do not know Him or reject Him cannot know these things.

*****Psa 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Psa 107:11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
Psa 107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Most of us look upon those in prison as deserving the circumstances they have caused themselves to be in.

BUT, We have a Savior who loves us no matter how far we have fallen from His grace!

God wants to reach out to those in darkness.

God wants to reach out to those that sit in the shadow of death.

God wants to reach out to those that are bound in the afflictions of this world.

God wants to reach out to all those that are bound by the iron chains of Satan.

God even wants to reach out to all those that rebel against the Word of God and withstand the Holy Spirit.

God has given this job to us, we are to reach out to the lost!

Until someone reaches them with the Gospel, God will keep them busy.

God will humble them under His mighty hand.

God will crush their haughty spirit.

God will crush their pride.

God will bring them to the point of submission!

God will do all these things because of His love and because of His goodness because God wants them to cry out to Him for salvation.

God is always ready to save!

*****Psa 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. Psa 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

As long as the lost feel that the answers will come from this world they will not yield to the Holy Ghost. We that are saved know this very well.

It is so sad that God practically has to force a confession out of us!

Humans will simply wallow in misery for some reason but as soon as that point is reached and we cry out to the Lord, He will save us.

God will immediately send relief from our distresses.

God will never again allow us to be locked in Satan’s prison.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

How can we not praise God for His goodness?

*****Psa 107:15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

Once we understand the good-news of Jesus, that He died so that we can be redeemed, how can we not praise God of goodness?

How can we not brag on our God?

The Lord can break the strongest chains that kept us bound to Satan.

Jesus said:

Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, “ye shall be free indeed”.

Sin makes bondage.

Truth brings freedom.

Freedom comes by Jesus Christ!

Those that reject this truth are fools!

*****Psa 107:17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Psa 107:18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
Psa 107:19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

Many of our sicknesses today are brought about by foolish acts. The disease of aids and other sexual transmitted diseases may top the list but we could also include drunkenness, smoking, gluttony, diabetes, and much of our heart problems just to name a few.

Many of our lusts and passions are our own downfall!

There are way to many of us who have caused ourselves these things and then foolishly continue doing the same old things.

Fools usually bring trouble upon themselves!

It is a fact that most people will lose their appetite when they are sick and many are so nauseous that they cannot even hold the food they try to eat.

Many of them die but many more of them come close to death before they cry out to the Lord.

Those that think that the Lord is not the Healer are also fools!

The Lord not only saves us out of our troubles, He can save us out of all distresses.

How does He do this?

Prayer is as important when we are sick as when we are healthy, God always has His ear turned toward His children.

*****Psa 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
Psa 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

It is also a fact that only our Savior can also break addictions, erase bad memories, and restore broken relationships!

Medicine can be used in the healing process but man is not healed by medicine alone.

Just as God spoke our world into existence, when God speaks the Word, we can also be healed.

We have proof of this in the scriptures:

Mat 8:5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
Mat 8:6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
Mat 8:7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
Mat 8:8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
Mat 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Mat 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Mat 8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 8:13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

We are foolish to forget the power of the Word of God!

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

We are foolish to forget the fulfillment of God’s Word!

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

God will do these things because of His goodness!

Many a person have prayed to be healed of God, making all sort of promises, and after that healing soon forget the promises they made.

It always seems that when ten are healed seldom will more than one return to praise the Lord.

Luk 17:12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
Luk 17:13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
Luk 17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
Luk 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
Luk 17:16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
Luk 17:17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

We are so foolish when we do not show our Great Physician the gratitude that He deserves.

The one thing we can surely offer is our thanks as He requires little else!

If we would do more, then we should tell all others just how good our Savior really is!

*****Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

Since the time of Adam’s sin, mankind has had to work by the sweat of his brow to earn a living.

To be a mariner was a hazardous job because the sea held so many mysteries as it still does.

In that day, sailors were said to be “going down to the sea” but in our day sailors sa they “sailing the high seas”. This is because of the difference in safety in our day.

We can be sure that if there had not been great profit for those that ventured out on the oceans there would have been no seagoing vessels in that day.

No where in the scriptures do we read of men taking great pleasure on the seas.

Mariners were admired in the days of the kings of Israel.

It was these mariners sailing the great oceans that could view vastness of God’s creation.

In the middle of the open sea there are no distractions from the land. The skies could be observed in all their majesty.

The vastness of the oceans themselves were a wonder and we can just imagine the first sight of the great whales and the sea creatures.

There would be storms that would come up all of a sudden and then there would be great calms when not even a wisp of air stirred the sails.

And there would be the great waves.

*****Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

At one moment the small ships of that day would be climbing a wave and see nothing but the open skies and the next moment traveling down a wave and appear to be sailing straight into the deep.

The sailor would be tossed to and fro and stagger like a drunk man.

To the first time sailor they would be at their wit’s end, to the experienced sailor they knew there was no escape from the raging seas.

Many a sailor of that day knew they were at the mercy of the sea and did not possess the skills to overcome their peril.

They were all very glad to reach their destination.

But are we not all like a ship in the midst of the great waters of life?

Is not the weather fouler to some than others?

Is it not God who makes the arrangements for all human affairs?

Are not many souls shipwrecked everyday?

But there is an answer to these turmoils of life!

Heb 6:19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Heb 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

The mistake we make most of the time is that we wait until we reach our wit’s end before we call upon the Lord.

Prayer is good when we are sick.

Prayer is good when we are bound by afflictions.

Prayer is good when we have gone against the Word of God.

Prayer is good when we are on the sea of affliction.

And God can even hear us in any storm!

Why do we not trust the goodness of God and just stay in constant contact with our Savior?

Oh, we are truly a foolish people.

*****Psa 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

When we are at our weakest is the exact same time that we can be at our strongest.

2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2Co 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

There are the trials of life that we must endure but there is also the grace of God that will also endure and God’s grace cannot ever fail.

God loves to come to our rescue!

When God sees our weakness He sees an opportunity to show us His goodness and His great power.

When we feel most secure, Satan sees an opportunity that we may trust in our own power.

God’s way is not to remove our trials but to give His strength during that trial.

We have no testimony until we have been tested!

We can appreciate this verse if we have ever been through a trial in this life that has overwhelmed our ability to cope with it.

We can be glad when that storm in our life has passed on by.

We will one day reach our Heavenly haven and all our trials will all be over!

How can we not praise God for His goodness?

*****Psa 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

Praising the Lord cannot be just reserved for our private prayers, we must praise him for His goodness when we gather in worship of Him.

When we have found peace by the comforts of God then it is a great privilege to brag on our Lord for what He has done.

Psa 66:16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.

It is Jehovah God who is in control of this earth and all the things in all His creation.

*****Psa 107:33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
Psa 107:34 A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
Psa 107:35 He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

Because of the providence of God there have been many a city that no longer exist or are ghost towns.

There are even nations that have ceased to exist.

There are more than 400 ghost towns in America alone.

There are ghost cities where the gold ran out, or the water ran out, or by landslides or earthquakes.

As God deals with rebellion, He will sometimes take away the things that bring the greatest assurance.

It is our God that controls the productiveness of this earth.

God will make fruitful places barren and make barren places fruitful.

When God judges, He will take away things that are important to us.

When God is merciful, He will make even the barren place to produce what is needed.

We need to look no further than Israel to see that a barren land has now blossomed like a rose.

*****Psa 107:36 And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
Psa 107:37 And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

We also know that America, was once a great waste land, and was established by people seeking to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ and now those that are hungry and oppressed seek to make America their home.

God has a reason and a purpose behind everything that He does.

Act 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Act 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

The main intent of the Lord is putting the right people, in the right place, that they will have the opportunity to seek Him and be saved!

This world we live in may have made great strides in education, and the arts and sciences, and even transportation but none of these things have changed the fact that there is still only One Savior and only One Redeemer.

Christianity since the time of Jesus Christ has only one purpose and only one message!

1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

This the greatest blessing we can receive in our lifetime.

*****Psa 107:38 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

It is only by God’s blessings and God’s goodness that mankind can be truly happy.

God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and they did.

This command has not changed.

Those that believe this earth we live on cannot feed the people that God allows to be on it at any given age do not have enough faith to be saved.

When things get unbearable in one place God may be saying move on to a more suitable place.

*****Psa 107:39 Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

As we have seen, Israel’s ups and downs were a direct consequence of her sin and repentance of that sin.

Why are we to think differently in our own lives and our own nations?

Those that seek the Lord are blessed.

Those that reject the Lord are eventually brought low!

As we see the number of Christians diminish in number we must know that we are in the latter days of the Church Age.

2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

If we open our eyes, we can see all these things but we can also see the goodness of the Lord with those same eyes.

*****Psa 107:40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
Psa 107:41 Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

In most all cases it is the rulers in place or the laws and regulations in place that causes the starvation of people.

It is our God that allows certain ones to be in power in the governments of this earth.

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

All those that would see their nation prosper would seek the hand of God!

All those that make themselves out to be something that they are not will be put down.

God has no respect for Kings and Rulers.

If they cause God’s people to suffer they in turn will also suffer.

On the other hand all those that know they are spiritually poor will be raised unto comfort and happiness.

They will be added to the family of God!

No amount of suffering in this world can compare to the peace of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior!

*****Psa 107:42 The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

If we would just allow the Word of God to rule in our lives we would see the hand of God in every action of this world.

God does not cause evil to happen, that’s what Satan does, but Satan has been allowed to do his thing at least for the time being.

If we could see the evil that goes on around us, we would see a very frustrated Satan who has never been able to completely have his way and he never will.

Satan is as much a pawn in God’s plan of salvation as are all of God’s created beings.

God gives us choice!

The power of choosing is something we all have and when we choose righteousness we will stray from iniquity.

Choice is taking great care in what we select.

Choice is skill in selecting what is preferred.

Choice is preferring life over death.

Misery follows bad choices and iniquity, rejecting the Word of God will cause our downfall.

Those that are wise will see the hand of God in everything in this world and know Who to choose.

*****Psa 107:43 Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

Being wise means, when we can see the hand of God working from the first day of creation and all the days of our lives.

What did Jesus say?

Mat 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Mat 7:25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

That rock is the Lord Jesus Christ!

If we cannot see goodness in everything that God does, then we need to take a hard look at our own lives because God does not do evil things.

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Praise God For His Patience

December 28, 2014 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Patience

Psalm 106

The word “patience” means suffering through some afflictions while some period of time passes by without murmuring or complaining.

Not many of us have enough patience but God expects us to be patient because our God is so patient with us.

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our God is very patient with this world He created because He is longsuffering in waiting on that last soul to be saved.

Our God is very patient because He is very sensitive to all those evil the things that are happening to those that have accepted Him for His truth but He withholds His vengeance until the appointed time.

Our God is patient because the lack of patience is our weakness but God’s patience shows us that we serve a God of all power, even power enough to not go against His own passive nature until it is time to do so.

Our God is patient because the plan of salvation is His plan, and He will see it through until His harvest has reached maturity.

God has placed the Church in this Age for one purpose and God is patiently waiting for the Church to complete it’s work.

Mat 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

We must remember the patience God has for each sinner is the only hope they have for salvation!

I’m glad my God was patient in waiting on me and it is now my job to help others come to know Him before His patience runs out!

So let’s begin;

*****Psa 106:1 Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psa 106:2 Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?
Psa 106:3 Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.
Psa 106:4 Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;
Psa 106:5 That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

This psalm is also not titled but this is probably also another psalm of David.

The word “hallelujah” is spelled almost the same in every language and it means only one thing.

“Praise ye Jehovah”

This psalm highlights the confession of the sins of Israel and in doing so, teaches us the great patience our Lord has for the sinner.

At the end of God’s patience lies only one thing:

Psa 104:35 “Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more”. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.

We must praise God for our own salvation.

We must praise God for His patience in dealing with all sinners.

We must praise God for the end result, when there will be no more sin.

It should be the goal of us all to glory in the inheritance of God.

But true Christianity means we must do our very best to keep the commandments of the Lord.

And true prayer means we must identify with our Savior!

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Happiness can only come by being obedient to the Lord!

Happiness can only come when we have been visited with the salvation of God!

There is no salvation apart from the Lord and He must visit us with it or we will never obtain it!

*****Psa 106:6 We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
Psa 106:7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

There is only one way to get our prayers answered and that begins when we can confess our sins.

Psa 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, “the Lord will not hear me”:

God can only visit with His salvation after we have confessed the need of His Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!

The downfall of many sinners begins when they follow in the ways of their sinful parents.

There are the sins of “omission” we commit when we do not walk in the way God has directed.

There are also the sins of “commission” we commit when we know what God has said to not do but we go ahead and do them anyway.

The sin of rebelling against the Word of God must be confessed after we have first asked for mercy.

The Jews at the time of Moses had never understood the great miracles that they had witnessed and had therefore not been able to convince their own children of Jehovah God and His mercy and of His Glory.

But are we so different today?

If we would list all the miracles that are written for us in the Word of God, we would be astounded at what all God has shown to humans through out all our days.

The miracles of God cover every aspect of life.

If we acknowledge the miracles of the Bible, we can begin to see many of these same miracles that God has done in our own behalf, beginning with the miracle of childbirth.

God still performs great miracles everyday and we miss most of them, and those that we see, we do not thank Him enough for.

What is the truth of the salvation of God?

*****Psa 106:8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

When we do not acknowledge what God has already done for us, He certainly has no reason to continue to do things for us.

When God can find no reason for His mercy, there is always a reason for His glory to shine!

Israel did not deserve to be saved but Pharaoh’s pride certainly deserved to be crushed because he was making himself out to be some god.

Today we are no different, we certainly do not deserve to see the “mercy” of God but Satan still deserves to be punished for rejecting the Almighty God.

God will have His mercy but God will also show forth the Glory of His power when He so desires for His Own Names Sake!

*****Psa 106:9 He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.
Psa 106:10 And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
Psa 106:11 And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.
Psa 106:12 Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

There are many theories about what happened at the Red Sea as Israel escaped an evil Pharaoh but the bottom line is that the Red Sea heard the voice of God and obeyed!

God will not allow any obstacle to hinder the salvation of His people. God is bound only by His Own Word to keep His covenants!

God promised Israel a future land, the covenant with Abraham.

God promised Israel the Kingdom rule of the Messiah, the covenant with David.

God promised Israel spiritual blessings, the New Covenant as written in the Book of Jeremiah.

Jer 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Jer 31:32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

God will always save Israel from those that hate them and God will always redeem Israel from the hand of their enemy until these covenants are fulfilled.

God is God and He must hold true to all His character!

When God pledged this truth beginning with Abraham, then He also pledged the fulfilling of His covenants to the Church.

If God breaks one covenant then He could break them all, if God keeps one covenant then He must keep them all!

What did Jesus say?

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Those who do not believe the truth of God are by God’s own words, the followers of Satan.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

What happened to the enemies of Israel at the Red Sea?

The waters covered them in death and not even one of them was left to tell about it.

It took the death of Pharaoh and his army before these children of Israel believed the Word of God.

They had already witnessed the plagues of Egypt.

They had already witnessed the first Passover.

They had walked across the Red Sea on dry ground, but it took the death of Pharaoh before they would believe.

That little bit of faith had saved them but doubt would soon rule in their lives!

Those that cannot believe the “truth” of God’s Word until they see some miracle are not believers at all!

This is not what “Faith” is is all about!

They sang His praise but only because they had escaped death themselves.

Their praise came up short when it ended in complaints!

*****Psa 106:13 They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
Psa 106:14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
Psa 106:15 And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
Psa 106:16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.

We can see that the lust to fulfill their own desires did not allow much time to praise the Lord God Almighty who had performed such miracles before their eyes and brought them to safety.

God had commanded these miracles by His Word just as God had spoke all His creation into existence but these people could not take the time to listen to what Moses had to say, whose councilor was God.

In the wilderness, this new nation of Israel was so intent on getting material things such as food and water they became blind to what God wanted for them.

God had provided all their needs up to this point, why would they think God would stop doing so day by day.

How often do we see this same thing. A lost soul attempts to receive the free gift of salvation and then refuses to see what the Word of God says about walking a Christian life.

Most all the world we live in today are more concerned about personal satisfaction in the things of this world, than spiritual satisfaction that can last throughout eternity!

What is the worst prayer that will sometimes be answered?

It is when we complain enough to God that He gives us what we want, even though He knows it is not good for us to have!

When we do not get what we want, it is because God knows what is best for us!

Instead of happily receiving the “Manna” from Heaven, Israel received the meat of birds which they soon despised.

Num 11:19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
Num 11:20 But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?

It was their own lust for the things of this world that brought on another plague that killed many of them!

Num 11:33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

These people were not satisfied with the bread that God gave them which indeed nourished them for 40 years and they could not be satisfied when they could eat all they wanted of the things they most desired.

This will always bring the wrath of God!

We can see this lesson spiritually if we remember what God says in His Word.

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

When our prayers focus on physical desires rather than spiritual desires, they will go unanswered and we will begin to doubt God and we will waste away physically and spiritually even being of no use to God.

What happened to these Jews will happen to us all.

Notice they even became envious of those God had chosen to lead them and they began to rebel against Moses and Aaron.

These things will always lead to death!

*****Psa 106:17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
Psa 106:18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
Psa 106:19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.
Psa 106:20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
Psa 106:21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
Psa 106:22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.

If there is a place where we can see the end of God’s patience in the Bible, then this is the place.

God had opened wide the Red Sea to deliver His people and God now opened wide the earth and those that rebelled the most went alive, straight to eternal death into the pit that is called Hell.

Not only that, the Levites that stood with Korah perished by fire because they had offered strange fire in the Tabernacle.

When the Tabernacle was first built, the fire in the altar was used to consume the burnt offerings and the incense. The fire was to be kept burning. They were not to ever put that fire out nor allow that fire to go out on it’s own.

To put the fire out was disobedience, to allow the fire to go out was laziness in serving God.

This showed that there was never a time that they would not need to be forgiven of their sin.

This fire was to be started by friction. If a fire was started by any other means such as bringing fire from the outside it was considered “strange fire” and therefore unholy.

Lev 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
Lev 10:2 And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.

The altar of the Tabernacle was the one and only place that sacrifices were to be offered and is in fact a “type of Jesus Christ and the Cross.

God had said that if anyone offers a sacrifice and not bring it to the altar of the Tabernacle then the blood of that person would be cut off from among his people.

You see the lesson we must see is that any substitute of the Cross, God’s Altar, other than Jesus Christ will surely bring eternal death!

There can be no other means of salvation!

Not only that, but in the very place where they had solemnly pledged themselves to obey the Lord they broke the first commandment of God.

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.

While insisting that they would worship the one and only true God they danced and played before some hand-made symbol of a god of Egypt.

They had forgotten their Savior!

And for those that doubt the truth of the flood, God makes sure that we know that Egypt was settled by Ham, the son of Noah.

Egypt is also the Mizraim of the Bible.

The patience of God was wearing thin again with all these things.

*****Psa 106:23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

God had already brought leanness to their souls for their lust of physical things.

God had weeded out the those that rebelled against His chosen prophet Moses and His first High Priest Aaron.

God had removed those that had brought “strange fire” onto the Altar, a type of Calvary’s Cross.

God had decided unless someone would stand in the gap for them, He would destroy them.

Moses was born in a time when Pharaoh had ordered the death of all the Hebrew male babies.

Jesus was born in the time when Herod murdered all the male babies of Bethlehem up to the age of 2 years.

Moses at 40 years old, sacrificed his adopted royalty.

And Christ, being in the form of God left Heaven and became the humble servant of God.

For 40 years Moses dwelt as a lowly shepherd in the land of Midian.

For 33 years the Lord Jesus was a lowly shepherd teaching His flock how to begin the Church.

Moses delivered the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt.

The Lord Jesus delivers all faithful believers in this entire world.

Moses became a great mediator between God and Israel and turned away God’s wrath.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the Church.

1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

But there will always be those that just refuse to believe!

*****Psa 106:24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
Psa 106:25 But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.

These murmuring and complaining Israelites decided that the Promised Land just was not worth the trouble to get there!

It is a bad sign for any Christian to lose his focus on Heaven!

When the things of this world begin to look better than God’s promises then we are perverting the Word of God.

Perverting means we are turning from right to wrong.

These verses give us a great example of what happens when we begin to despise the Word of God.

If we ever settle in our hearts, that Heaven is not what God days it is, then we are also despising the Word of God.

When we reject what God has to say, God will remove His hand of blessing.

*****Psa 106:26 Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:
Psa 106:27 To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.

God did not allow those that of that generation, from 20 years old and upward to enter into Canaan Land, the Promised Land of God to the Jews. Their carcasses fell in the wilderness.

Only Caleb and Joshua and those under 20 years old were allowed into the Promised Land but as God has promised even the seed of all those that rejected the Word of God have been scattered throughout history throughout all the lands of this Earth.

Only since May 14, 1948 have the Jews been allowed to regather in the land promised to them of God.

This maybe the greatest noticeable sign in our own history that we are in the end-times or the latter days as written in the Bible.

Those that rejected the truth of the Promised Land died in the wilderness. The seed of those that died because they never changed their ways were allowed to cross Jordan but they never got the opportunity to make the Promised Land their permanent home.

There are still more Jews scattered throughout this world than there are those who have returned to their homeland!

Why?

*****Psa 106:28 They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
Psa 106:29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

As we witness for the Lord, many of those who are lost and just cannot fathom salvation, may be convinced of their own sin. They may go through one trial just to begin another.

We may threaten them with Hell and even though we point them to Jesus, they continue to travel the same path to destruction.

Baalpeor was an idol of the Moabites.

The name Baal signifies lord or master and was a common name for idols of many nations.

Peor was a high place of worship of the Moabites.

God says: Hos 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.

You see if we choose a false way of worship, we have chosen a false god!

It does not matter if we say we Love the Lord, if we cannot worship Him the way He has said, we are worshipping a false god.

This is still the problem with the Jew as they reject the Holy Trinity.

This still the problem with the Muslim as they reject the Holy Trinity.

This is still the problem with all false religion because they reject the worship of the Holy Trinity.

The Moab women gave themselves as sex objects to their false god and the men of Israel were enticed into this false worship.

Num 25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

Sacrifices were made to lifeless statues of gold covered wood or stone or the precious metals themselves and Israel would then eat of that sacrifice.

Num 25:2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

Those who will not commit themselves to the true Living God will always look to this world to provide them a false god more suitable to their taste.

Those that reject the Word of God, will always seek some perverted version that meets their own requirements!

Num 25:3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

If you call yourself a child of God and then not worship Him as He decides, God will become angry.

When mankind invents new sins, God will also invent new punishments!

*****Psa 106:30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.
Psa 106:31 And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.

All during our study of the Old Testament we see that God had His champions who always stood up in the worst of times ready to battle for the truth of God.

Today in the Church Age God has given us all something to do. We are all to be witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just like Phinehas, we are in a war with evil and God says we must take our stand on His Word of Truth!

Phinehas took a stand when those of false worship tried to bring false worship into the house of God.

Num 25:6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 25:7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;
Num 25:8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

In that day it took drastic actions to not allow false worship inside the Church but we have become very lax in this today.

But God does not change and He still commands us to take a stand on the truth.

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

What was Phinehas’s reward? It was counted unto him for righteousness throughout eternity!

But Israel continued in their sinful ways.

*****Psa 106:32 They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
Psa 106:33 Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

The scene changes, God continues to provide, but sin also continues.

God still held on to His patience but Moses had run out of patience.

Moses was only a man and not God!

It was the sin of Israel that had angered Moses but Moses still had to bear the consequences of His own actions.

Num 20:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

It does not matter how much this world provokes us, there is never an excuse to go against the Word of God!

God will still hold us accountable if we lose our temper and do things we know we should not do!

Patience is a quality that we as men truly have a hard time with.

Moses was the great law-giver and he was held to a higher standard than others if he broke God’s law.

As Christians we are also held to a higher standard than those that are lost!

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Even though the true believer cannot lose their salvation, we will all be held accountable for any action that goes against the Word of God especially those actions that are before the lost.

We cannot speak unadvisedly with our lips!

We are all to obey the Word of God without question, even when we do not understand why!

*****Psa 106:34 They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
Psa 106:35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

We absolutely cannot make peace with evil. This holds true in Christianity and it should also hold true in this world we live in now!

The sin of those that dwelt in Canaan Land had become a menace to all mankind and it was God that decided their time on this earth should cease.

There is no dialog of peace that Satan has any interest in.

But, God has not directed the Church to seek to destroy any people.

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

God did direct the children of Israel to do so!

Why?

When evil is allowed to live side by side with good, the good will be overwhelmed by the evil!

The morals of God’s people were compromised when they became mingled among those that were heathen.

1Co 10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

We are to love our enemies and tell them about Jesus, but we are never to do the things that they do!

What did this cause?

*****Psa 106:36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
Psa 106:37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
Psa 106:38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
Psa 106:39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.

The world of today still serves it’s idols just as those that rejected God in the days of Israel conquest of Canaan Land.

Every commandment God gives us has a specific purpose behind it!

When Israel failed it caused her children to fail!

When we become fascinated by the charms of idolatry our families will always suffer!

When we compromise with the world we are putting the things of this world ahead of the Word of God and that is idolatry and we will serve those things!

These Jews did actually sacrifice there own children to those false gods.

Today as believers compromise with the teachings of the world, our children get caught up in evolutionary teaching and we will have done the same as these Jews and sacrificed our sons and our daughters to devils.

We cannot be servants of sin without trapping ourselves and our families in sin!

We will be just as guilty as these Jews in murdering our own children and no different than those who abort their own children!

The Church is the “Bride of Christ” but when we serve Satan, we are no more than a whore who will cheat on her husband!

When we serve Satan we will always invent some new god or some new thing to worship.

Satan is dead set on destroying the family and when we serve him, we are are helping him destroy our own families!

Certainly God does not like such things.

*****Psa 106:40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
Psa 106:41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.
Psa 106:42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.

God allowed trouble to come to His people but this was done in order for Him to return to help them and reopen their eyes to the truth.

Our troubles are helpful when they humble us back to our knees and sometimes in takes a lot of trouble to humble us.

Our troubles show us who is in charge of this world and drive us back to God. Sometimes God will even have to put us on our backs so the only place to look is up toward Him!

Our troubles will revitalize our prayer life if we allow it.

Our troubles will increase our faith.

Our troubles will make us more dependant on the true God.

Our troubles will point out that the same thing is happening to others and prepare us to help them through their troubles.

But we are still a hardheaded and rebellious people just as these Jews.

*****Psa 106:43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

The Apostle Paul said the Old Testament was our school master to lead us to Jesus.

If we do not learn anything else we can learn of the patience of God in dealing with those that say they believe.

We cannot allow our own self will to be our counselor!

What did Paul find out as He preached the “Gospel” to the early church?

What do we see today in our world? We see a people that are brought low because of their own iniquity!

How patient is our God?

*****Psa 106:44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
Psa 106:45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

If God’s faithfulness to us was limited to our faithfulness to Him we would all perish in that “Burning Lake of Fire!

But God faithfulness is only linked to the faithfulness of His Son, The Lord Jesus Christ and therefore God will always answer when we call.

Our Father in Heaven has a father’s heart and will always respond to His children and will always look upon us with compassion and mercy!

God’s wrath for our mistakes cannot extend past His love for us because of His Son Christ Jesus!

*****Psa 106:46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

Even as the Jews were carried off to be dispersed throughout this entire world, in most every case, God would see that their enemy had compassion upon them.

Though we are yet sinners God will have compassion upon all His children!

God will appoint someone to help us out of troubles!

*****Psa 106:47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.
Psa 106:48 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

God will answer this prayer of David because He has made a promised covenant to do so!

Eze 39:26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
Eze 39:27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
Eze 39:28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
Eze 39:29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

This prophesy began it’s fulfillment on May 14, 1948 but will not be fulfilled until The Lord Jesus Christ sits on the throne of David at the end of the 7 year tribulation period.

Our God is very patient with the plans that He has made for Israel.

Our God is very patient with the plans He has made for the Church.

Blessed be the Almighty God, Jehovah!

And let all people say, Amen!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

Praise God For His Forgiveness

December 21, 2014 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Forgiveness

Psalm 103

What is forgiveness? Forgiveness means that though I am guilty, I will be treated as not being guilty.

By what means have we been forgiven? We have been forgiven by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

If it boiled down to cost, It cost God the death of His Son, as a man, to forgive us but it cost us nothing to forgive each other.

The Lord Jesus Christ paid that cost also!

We must praise the Lord for His forgiveness.

Our praise of God for His forgiveness must be personal!

Let’s begin:

*****Psa 103:1 A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Again we have another Psalm of David.

God blessed us when He provided the means for our salvation but sometimes we get so caught up in the things of this world, we forget all the other things that God does for us every day.

We bless God when we thank Him for all He has done!

Everyone always asks, “what is the will of God for my life”. The will of God begins with our giving thanks to God for what He has already done and thanking God ahead for the things that He is going to do.

1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

It is the will of God that we find joy in prayer through Jesus Christ in every condition of our life.

There is nothing that we have now that has not been given to us by the Lord except evil.

God does not give us any evil thing!

We must realize that the soul is our living being, our essence of true life.

We have a material body and we have a spiritual body.

1Co 15:44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

We can bless the Lord in our physical bodies and be rewarded for doing so, but if we do not also bless the Lord with our spiritual bodies then we are not truly blessing the Lord.

Remember when we are created in the image of God, it has nothing to do with our physical bodies, so it is our spiritual body that is made in the image of God!

We must bless the Lord with all our being that He has given to us or we cannot be a blessing to the Lord!

Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Our relationship with the Lord begins when we bring all we are to Him.

There are great benefits when we give our entire being to the Lord for His use.

*****Psa 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

We bless the Lord when we can stop complaining to God long enough to realize all the good things that God has done for us and praise Him for these things.

Most Christians do not have a problem praying to God before a meal but not many will thank God after eating that meal for what He has done.

Deu 8:10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee.

We have already learned that we need to include a request for mercy in our prayers but we also need to thank God for what He has already done, along with thanking God God for what He is about to do in each and every prayer.

God told Moses to teach the Jews that after they had eaten and were full, it was time to bless God for the good things that He had had given to them.

David is reminding us all of this fact in this Psalm.

What is a benefit?

It can be said that a benefit is an act of kindness. Something that is given for personal happiness. It can be considered a reward in this life for being obedient to the Lord.

So what were some of the things that David wrote were great benefits to him.

Each one of us will have to look at our own selves even though many of our benefits will be the same as those of David.

*****Psa 103:3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

1) What is the very first benefit of knowing the Lord our God on a personal level? He will forgive our iniquities.

An iniquity is more an attitude than an action. Iniquity means we are striving to be crooked rather than to be straight.

Righteousness is doing things the right way. Sin is just the opposite or doing things the wrong way.

Iniquity is a condition of the heart or our inner motives.

Thank God, He will forgive us of our iniquities but we must still realize our sin and ask for forgiveness.

Isa 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Isa 43:26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

The greatest benefit we all have is that we can be forgiven of all our sin!

2) Next David wrote God had benefited many by healing diseases.

Because of our age, we in this “forever young class”, have been healed of many sicknesses or we would not be here today. I myself have been healed of cancer.

It seems that many leave our class and go straight on to the glory world where they are totally healed of all diseases.

They have not only been healed of the known diseases of this world but they have also been healed of the disease of aging, they will age no more and the disease of dying, because they can never die again.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This a great benefit that we sometimes seem to forget.

But are more benefits that these two.

*****Psa 103:4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

3) We have just read where the wages of sin is death, but we have been redeemed if we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

The word “destruction” in this verse means “the pit”.

Psa 30:3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to “the pit”.

We have been redeemed!

We have been ransomed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

How can we ignore such a great benefit as this?

4) We have just spent some time looking at the mercy of God.

God will not only reward us with crowns at the Bema Seat, which we will give back to Him.

But to crown also means “to encircle us” in His mercy in this life we live now, God will surround us with His lovingkindness and His mercy.

Psa 5:11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Psa 5:12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

How can we complain about the things that happen to us in this world and forget such great benefits that God has already given to us and continues to give us everyday?

But that is not all.

*****Psa 103:5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

5) When I was lost and out in this world, I could not be filled to where I was satisfied but my God can satisfy me.

God not only provides the food that I eat to satisfy my physical body but He has also satisfied my soul.

Psa 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

When our mouths are filled with the good things that come from God, how can we complain if we are having that one bad day.

As an eagle grows old grows old and begins to loose it’s feathers it’s upper bill will grow longer than it’s lower bill and the bird will lose the ability to feed itself and will soon die but many of them have found that if they can grind that upper bill down on a “rock” they can again eat and their strength will be renewed.

Psa 92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
Psa 92:15 To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Our “Rock” is the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

This is a great benefit for serving the Lord Our God!

*****Psa 103:6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

6) These things represent the providence of God. Many times God’s providence is labeled as God’s government at this time in all our lives.

Government is direction and regulation.

Today in God’s government, He is preparing this world and everyone in it for His future use, and He has been doing this since before the time of Adam!

Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

The Lord will execute righteousness according to His Written Word.

The Lord will judge according to His Own Character.

The Lord will judge His entire creation according to the work of His Son Jesus.

Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Appointed means that day is already written in on God’s calender.

There are no actions on this Earth that will determine when the exact “Day of Judgment” will take place only God knows.

*****Psa 103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible because God had preserved His Word through the nation of Israel.

The Word of God gives us all a clear picture of God’s character and God’s will for all human beings.

The Word of God is not only God’s instruction manual for this life but the Bible is also God’s Love Letter to each one of us!

If we believe these words, that were inspired by the Holy Spirit but written down for us at the hand of Moses then we should also believe in the Words of our Savior.

Joh 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
Joh 5:47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

Remember Moses wrote down for us the acts of Creation. It seems that the Doctrine of Creation as written in the Word of God, comes under attack by this lost world more than most other doctrines of the Bible.

Creation by the design of God and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation are rejected by most of this world but they are both God Truth!

The truth is still the truth even when the world insists on a lie!

Thank God for His patience.

*****Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psa 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

God deals with sinners by showing His mercy and His grace.

Mercy pardons sin and Grace bestows favour upon all those that mercy pardons.

God is slow to anger because He will always give space for repentance. This is the called the ‘longsuffering” of God.

These things only happen because God is plenteous in mercy, which means God has an abundance of mercy and willing to show that mercy to all His created beings.

To “Chide” means to rebuke, or punish or in some cases dispute.

If we feel as though every time we make a mistake that God is sitting in Heaven with a big stick to knock us down then we may not repent as quickly as we should.

BUT, God does not bear a grudge!

God wants us to confess and repent immediately of any sin because of His compassion for us.

God would truly rather bless us than chastise us!

Only those that reject the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God will see God’s anger throughout eternity!

*****Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

When we get to praising the Lord, we certainly need to praise Him for what He has not done, along with the things He has already done for us!

Remember, the wages of sin are death.

Like David, we deserve to be in the lowest, the most miserable place, in Hell but God has provided us an opportunity to miss out on Hell completely.

Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

God does not deal with us according to our sin.

God does not reward us according to our iniquities.

Why?

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, “which taketh away the sin of the world”.

God deals with us as His children but only because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Mount Calvary’s Cross.

*****Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

The science of astronomy was limited but did exist in the Bible times. Now, there are modern telescopes and some of those are in located above our own atmosphere, but even today no one can give us an accurate measurement of the distance between Heaven and Earth so it is still an infinite measurement.

The Lord says His mercy is even much more infinite that the distance between Heaven and Earth but only toward them that fear Him.

For those that reject the Word of God there will be justice without any mercy at all.

SO, how far does God separate us from our sin?

*****Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

If God had said from North to the South, we all know there is a North and a South Pole so we could be fooled into thinking that was at some point an acceptable distance but God said from the East to the West.

East and West can never meet. Once our sin has been forgiven God separates us from that sin and does not ever remember it again.

When we have been “Born Again” into the family of God we should never wallow in our forgiven past.

God has wiped our record clean!

The one thing that interferes with this process is when we refuse to forgive those that sin against us.

This is the direct command of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mat 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mat 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

The Lord expects us to grow more and more like Him every day!

*****Psa 103:13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

We must know in our hearts that it was our God who created our entire world, the heavens and earth and everything in between.

But we must also know that our God is like a father to his children.

Today Satan has taken direct aim at the family and there not as many families and certainly not as many fathers who take care of their children, but we have a Father in Heaven who will always be our example of how to be a Father!

God is a tender and compassionate Father.

God offers Himself freely to be the Father of all His creation because He is!

Scientist are fast finding out that our world is more fragile than it seems and could not be billions or even millions of years old but our world could not have survived that long. It is only as old as the Bible says it is!

Though God will never allow it, Mankind does have the ability to destroy itself!

We are also very fragile and can only do so much to live healthy lives.

But, our Father in Heaven is “eternal” and “all powerful”.

The world rejects our “Powerful, Creator” God who has such laws to restrict them and who also promises a “Judgment” is coming and in doing so, most of our world never gets to meet our “Compassionate Savior”!

When God directs our lives, He always remembers that we are only human and a part of His own creation.

It is only because of God’s “Mercy”, God’s “Compassion” and God’s “Promises” that we can exist!

Our weakness and our foolishness still cannot be used as an excuse to sin.

God has given us all the ability to make choices but making the right choices is impossible to do without the knowledge of God!

The one thing we have very little control of and in most cases no control over is our death!

We are made of the dust of this earth and when we die we will return to the dust from which we were made!

Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

It is that “Living Soul” that returns to the God who gave it, which is the only reason God gave us the freedom to choose the path of our eternal life.

*****Psa 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Psa 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.

We sometimes use the seasons to teach us about the resurrection of life when we see the new Spring come every year.

BUT, we should also see the lessons of Autumn and the lessons of each passing year as we see our own lives as the grass or as a flower of the field.

Most of us celebrate a birthday every year as we get older, until we realize we really do not want to get older.

The prophet Isaiah explains it this way:

Isa 40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
Isa 40:7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.

When we allow the things that we can see, take precedent over the things we cannot see then our own choices are limited to those things!

Everything in this world has it’s limits and will one day fade away!

The Holy Spirit is only available to us in this life and if we accept Him, by the Lord Jesus Christ, He will remain with us throughout eternity but if not, without Him we will simply blow away until the “Judgment Day”.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

This is what “Mercy” is all about, but there are still some things that we must also do.

*****Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
Psa 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

We are foolish to think our strength and our glory is in this life.

1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

Most everyone one of us are somewhat disappointed in the life we have lived because we can look back at the mistakes we have made.

The only glory we can have is in our good health, our abilities, and our wisdom and all these things are by the hand of God.

God’s mercy is everlasting because God’s Word is everlasting!

1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

The Beauty of the Lord is in His “Mercy”!

We began this lesson by mentioning the benefits of knowing the Lord Jesus as Our Savior.

1) These benefits can only come when we keep His covenants.

In order to get the attention of our Father in Heaven we must be baptized in Jesus Christ.

Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

This not water baptism, this is baptism by the Holy Spirit!

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

2) These benefits can only come when we remember the commandments of the Lord and Then Do Them!

The promise of God’s “Mercy” is only to those that can do these two things.

Our Father will be obedient to His covenants but we as children must be obedient too!

Jesus said:

Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Christianity is not in opinion!

Christianity comes by action and those actions must be in accordance with the ways of Jesus Christ!

Christianity is not in a feeling, Christianity is in conforming to the image of God and He has shown us that image by His Son Jesus.

Christianity is not being legal, Christianity is being holy.

1Pe 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

*****Psa 103:19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

Not only is our Lord holy but He is absolute Monarch over His entire creation!

Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

As God is Lord, He has prepared a plan.

As God is Almighty, He has the power to see that His plan is fulfilled.

As God is merciful, He has limited Himself to only do good.

As God is perfect, He will make perfect all those that love Him!

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

There is only one way to approach our Mighty God.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

*****Psa 103:20 Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Psa 103:21 Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

We can think of Adam who lived more that 800 years and Methuselah who is the oldest man to have ever lived but the angels in Heaven have lived with the Lord and witnessed His magnificence since the first day of creation.

We believe that one third of the angels followed Lucifer but the angels are innumerable so there are still an innumerable number of angels that do the absolute bidding of the Lord.

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and “to an innumerable company of angels”,

Those that are still in Heaven obey the Lord and they accomplish every commandment of His Words.

The angels are the Lord’s ministers, which means they are the Lord’s servants.

The angels are the Lord’s messengers, which is what the title angel really means.

It is the job of the angels to make the Lord happy by being obedient to His every Word.

It is also the job of all of God’s creation to make the Lord happy by being obedient, which includes all humans.

We bless the Lord when we are obedient to His Word!

And in what ever way we serve the Lord, we will to bless Him with our service.

*****Psa 103:22 Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

Everything everywhere are to bless the Lord of all.

What is the whole duty of all mankind?

Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

At the end of everyday before we pray we need to ask ourselves, “Has our life been a blessing to the Lord”.

Then we need to ask for God’s mercy so we can try a little harder if the Lord sees fit for us to awaken to a new day!

God makes this command very simple:

Psa 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

As long as we are breathing God’s air we need to be a blessing to the Lord!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

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Praising God For His Glory

December 14, 2014 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Praise God For His Glory

Psalm 96

Here again we have another Psalm without a title but by comparing this Psalm to the Psalms of David it is probable that he wrote this Psalm also.

The pure fact is, that once we know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and have been “Born Again”, any of us should be able to write this Psalm.

A study of 1 Chronicles chapter 16 will teach us that this Psalm was written at the return of the Ark to the Tabernacle by King David but we should also be able to see the prophesy that is contained in these scriptures.

This Psalm was delivered to Asaph and we know that Asaph was the singing prophet of God!

When we have found the True and Living God we will all sing praises to Him!

Let’s Begin:

*****Psa 96:1 O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.

In the Tabernacle and in the Temple the music was assigned to the Levites and it was only the Levite men who made up the choruses of singers.

It was not that the women could not sing because there are many instances in the Bible where we see the women singing but all these instances are outside the Temple and the Tabernacle.

It may surprise you but in almost every bird species only the male usually sings.

Again it is not because the female bird cannot sing, it is because the female is in search of a mate and their own singing could cause confusion.

God is not the author of confusion even in the animal world!

Women in the Bible times lived in a patriarchal society. The role of the woman was restricted to the home and family.

Women were subjected to the rule of their male counterpart but they were also adored for their beauty and their purity and in many cases in the Bible they actually held leadership roles in government.

But in religious life, women were always subordinate to men.

It was not until the time of Lord Jesus Christ that that barrier for was lifted for the women by Christianity.

We should not forget men and women have always been on equal standing in the eyes of God from their day of creation.

We are all created in the image of God!

Knowing these things we still have our separate roles.

Just as that male bird will sing out to find a suitable partner, only the male who recognizes that the woman, is in all ways his equal, will ever be able to find a suitable partner.

In Christianity we are all made one in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

And we can all now sing a “New Song”!

In the time of David, that new song was about the coming of the Messiah and the practicing Jew is still singing that same song.

But these songs of prophecy go far beyond the coming of the Messiah and point to His return the second time to judge this Earth and sit as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

This will be the time when all false religions will learn to worship and praise the Lord Jesus Christ.

That word “sing” is the command for all of us, male and female, to “praise” the Lord!

Jesus Christ is the “manifested Glory” of God!

Isa 42:5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Isa 42:7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isa 42:8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

At the same time that our Father in Heaven declares He will not give His glory to another, He commands us to give praise and glory to His Son who created all the things we can see and all the things we cannot see.

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

There should be no doubt in our minds who we should praise.

There is no doubt who we should “Glorify”!

There is no doubt why we should be singing a “new song”!

It is the Lord who is our Savior!

*****Psa 96:2 Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.

Three times in these first 2 verses we have seen the command to “sing”.

The number three is a divine number.

Three times in these first two verses we have also seen the title “LORD”.

The thing we know for sure is that the Lord Jesus is:

1) The Way.

2) The Truth.

3) The Life.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

The Trinity of God is a fundamental to the Christian doctrine!

The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost are “the three” who are the completely united persons who form our God.

This must be the truth of Christianity but this truth is rejected by all false religion.

It is only when you know the true God of the Bible that you can sing a “new song”.

God not only reveals His name to us in the Bible but He reveals His true character.

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord our God and we must sing, sing, sing, to praise His Holy Name!

And His name will be blessed forever!

Rev 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

We have no excuses for not showing forth His gift of salvation from day to day.

Even when we are having our worst day, if you know the Lord Jesus, you are still saved!

The greatest thing we can have in this world is the knowledge that we are saved!

1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

All those that say they do not know for sure, need to get back on their knees until they know for sure the salvation of the Lord!

When we know these things we also know that we are to walk in the ways of the Lord and be a witness to His truth of salvation.

We are commanded to sing a “new song” and we are commanded to tell the entire world why we can have that “new song”!

*****Psa 96:3 Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

What then is the subject matter of this new song?

It is the glory of our Lord Jesus.

We need to declare, His name, His praise, His wonders of redemption and His promises.

And who are we to declare these things to? The entire world we live.

Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

And what is that message of our new song? It is the “good news” the “Gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, “how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures”;

We must not think of the wonders of the Lord as just being His miracles.

The wonders of the Lord are shown more in His mercy and in His grace.

The wonders of the Lord are shown in His Love, His wisdom, and in His power.

There is no one on this earth that deserves to be left behind in the hands of Satan when the Lord has provided such an escape to all who will believe.

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

There is nothing more important than this message of God!

Why?

*****Psa 96:4 For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

Our God is great!

God is an invisible, personal, and living spirit.

God is self-existent, eternal and unchanging.

God is omniscient, faithful and wise beyond all knowledge.

God is just, merciful, and loving.

God hates evil and God is omnipotent and cannot fail against evil.

God created humans for one purpose.

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Those that want to spend eternity with our Great God will praise Him according to His greatness!

The difference between the true God and all the false gods of this world is this.

In every false religion it is the responsibility of the believer to make appeasement to their so called god. In other words it rest on that person to provide works that are good enough or a sacrifice that is approved to satisfy the requirements of their false god.

But our Great God, Jehovah, has taken it upon Himself to provide a means of salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our only works is to have “Faith”!

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

All gods of false religion are man-made either by hand or in their minds!

*****Psa 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

An idol is an image or anything else used as an object of worship in place of the true God, Jehovah, the God of the Bible!

Idolatry is every thing which men set up in their hearts to regard, which lessens their reverence of the Lord.

Revered means actual fear mingled with respect and affection!

It is the Lord who is also our Creator!

We did not exist until the Lord spoke us into existence!

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Our God is the author of physical life and also the author of eternal life!

*****Psa 96:6 Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

We have no idea of the splendour of Heaven but God has revealed at least two things here that we know are of Heaven.

Neither strength nor beauty are uncommon but to find this combination in “one” is rare.

In our world, beauty is very seldom strong and those with strength very seldom have much beauty.

The Temple of Solomon was a man-made sanctuary that defined strength and beauty.

1) Strength:

In reality, it is better for all buildings to be strong rather than a thing of beauty.

The same thing is true of our own character.

Atheist are absorbed in their own character and have no beauty.

All false religions rely on man-made character and try their best to beautify it but it is still a false beauty.

It is only the strong earnest character we obtain from a walk with the Lord Jesus Christ that can be called beautiful.

Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Character is the thing that marks a real human being!

2) Beauty:

Most Christians are content with their strength and care very little for the beauty of the Christian life.

We have a tendency to tell the sinner he is bound for Hell and not provide them with the only means of escape.

This is strength that lacks beauty.

If we observe God’s creation we can see that God created beautiful things.

The bluest skies, the beautiful grasslands and flowery meadows, the wonderful oceans and seas, the majestic night time skies and so much more.

It is man-made things that tarnish God’s creation.

The beauty of the Christian is his faith!

The Temple of Solomon may have defined beauty and strength of the man-made but only a God can make a temple that can truly possess these qualities!

1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

It is only the holy temple of God that can have strength first and then beauty!

*****Psa 96:7 Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Psa 96:8 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.

When we began we saw that word “sing” mentioned three times.

We also saw the title LORD mention three times and related this to the Holy Trinity, our Triune God.

We now see the word “give” written down for us three times.

Giving is best described as sharing what you have with others.

We might ask, what do I have to “give” unto the Lord?

The Bible is specific:

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Many may say “well God saved my soul but I continue to struggle with a body that is not worthy”.

Again the Bible is specific:

1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace “sanctify you wholly”; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Th 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

God is in the process of sanctifying our whole body, our whole spirit and our whole soul, surely we can give all our selves to the Lord.

God sacrificed His only Son Jesus in a bloody sacrifice so that we could bring to Him an unbloodied sacrifice!

We are to bring to God a “living sacrifice” which is ourselves and we are to bring with it our thanksgivings.

There are no sacrifices other than these if we include our with these our tithe!

We must give ourselves.

We must give our thanksgivings.

We must give our tithe.

And we must give all these things for the glory of the Lord!

If the Lord is faithful to fulfill His promises and He is, we must be just as faithful to Him!

God says that none should appear before Him with empty hands!

*****Psa 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

We cannot say we are going to worship if we come to God empty handed!

Holiness means we are consecrated to the service of God.

Consecrated means we have separated ourselves from the world and are prepared to follow the will of God.

Following the will of God is first being obedient to God’s written Word and only after that, will God point out any special request He has for us!

Rom 6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Personal holiness can also be called sanctification!

2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Sanctification can only come by the work of the Holy Spirit and it is a beautiful thing in the eyes of God.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

This is our greatest goal in our worship to give ourselves totally to God!

*****Psa 96:10 Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

Though much of this world could care less what will happen tomorrow because they just live for today, those that remain live in fear of our world being destroyed by our own actions or the actions of some evil people.

There are truly evil men in this world who would destroy it in a false hope of an even a more false religion.

The pure facts are, that the world we live in shall be shaken to the point of destruction:

Isa 24:19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
Isa 24:20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

This an absolute fact and all the prophesies of the Bible will be fulfilled, which include the fact that this verse states that a new world will be established that cannot be moved.

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

The heathen are the lost of this world and this is the message that we are to bring to them, beginning with the “good news”, the “Gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God will judge all people righteously before these other things can take place!

It these things that can lead to joy in this life!

*****Psa 96:11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
Psa 96:12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice

The angels in Heaven who have been involved in spiritual warfare from the time of Lucifer’s fall and the fall of mankind, will finally rejoice to see the end of this wickedness.

All God’s creation will rejoice:

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

And all those that know the Lord Jesus as their Savior will rejoice:

Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

If we remember, our world has been under a curse since the time of Adam’s fall:

Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

In the time of the tribulation that curse will devour this world we live in:

Isa 24:6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

But at the end of that 7 year period when the Lord comes to judge this earth that curse will be lifted:

Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
Rev 22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

It will be time to rejoice throughout all of God’s creation!

The King is coming!

*****Psa 96:13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

There is only one other prophecy that has to be fulfilled before this day takes place and that is the “Rapture” of the Church.

1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

There is absolutely no reason, that we that know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, are not rejoicing now knowing all these things.

We have the glory of the Lord within us!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

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LESSONS IN GOD'S WORD

Taking time to read the Bible

Book of Psalms

Praise God For His Help

Praising God For His Compassion

The Attributes Of God

The Greatness of God

Praise God For His Benefits

Praise God For His Works

Praising God For His Goodness

Praise God For His Patience

Praise God For His Forgiveness

Praising God For His Glory