Omnipotent

…The Days of the Upright…

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. Psalm 37:18-19

This is one of the most comforting and encouraging of the one hundred fifty Psalms.

While we know that the LORD is all knowing (Omniscient), it is great to know that He cares for those who are His even in, and especially in times of darkness of evil.

I will share today from Spurgeon’s  TREASURY OF DAVID…

“The Lord knoweth the days of the upright.” His foreknowledge made him laugh at the proud, but in the case of the upright he sees a brighter future, and treats them as heirs of salvation. Ever is this our comfort, that all events are known to our God, and that nothing in our future can take him at unawares. No arrow can pierce us by accident, no dagger smite us by stealth; neither in time nor in eternity can any unforeseen ill occur to us. Futurity shall be but a continual development of the good things which the Lord has laid up in store for us. “And their inheritance shall be for ever.” Their inheritance fades not away. It is entailed, so that none can deprive them of it, and preserved, so that none shall destroy it. Eternity is the peculiar attribute of the believer’s portion: what they have on earth is safe enough, but what they shall have in heaven is theirs without end.

“They shall not be ashamed in the evil time.” Calamities will come, but deliverances will come also. As the righteous never reckoned upon immunity from trouble, they will not be disappointed when they are called to take their share of it, but the rather they will cast themselves anew upon their God, and prove again his faithfulness and love. God is not a friend in the sunshine only, he is a friend indeed and a friend in need. “And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” Their barrel of meal and cruse of oil shall last out the day of distress, and if ravens do not bring them bread and meat, the supply of their needs shall come in some other way, for their bread shall be given them. Our Lord stayed himself upon this when he hungered in the wilderness, and by faith he repelled the tempter; we too may be enabled not to fret ourselves in any wise to do evil by the same consideration. If God’s providence is our inheritance, we need not worry about the price of wheat. Mildew, and smut, and bent, are all in the Lord’s hands. Unbelief cannot save a single ear from being blasted, but faith, if it do not preserve the crop, can do what is better, namely, preserve our joy in the Lord.

I pray you know the All Knowing, All Present, All Powerful One through His Holy, Righteous Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins, was buried and He rose again, proving the word of God to be true including every word He has spoken. Jesus is the Son of God, God the Son.

Know the LORD

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“And they shall know that I am the LORD, that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.” Ezekiel 6:10 (KJB)

The phrase “…Shall know that I am the LORD” is used three other times in this chapter (vv. 6, 13, 14), and it is used at least 59 other times throughout the prophecy of Ezekiel. In chapter 6 it is directed toward the nation of Israel, and they are being reminded of why they are in captivity.

God will have His people know that He is the LORD.  That should be a reminder to all people of all days, times, ages, that GOD will do whatever it takes to make His people holy; because He is holy.

In many of the other 59 times the phrase is used it is toward the nations around them.  The LORD desires that people of all lands know that He is the LORD.

To know that He is the LORD is to know Him personally.  Know Him as our Creator, the All Powerful, All Knowing, All Present, and Immutable [Unchanging]  God; also to know Him as Redeemer, Savior, Lord, and King. To know Him is to see Him revealed in the person of His Son Jesus Christ who took all of our sin upon Himself upon the cross, bled and died, was buried, and He rose from death, conquering death, hell, and the grave; and He forever lives as our Mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).

Turn to Jesus Christ from sin, and know that the LORD, He is the LORD.

The Ever-Present One

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“And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And He said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? What shall I say unto them? 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. 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.” Exodus 3:11-15 (KJV)

The Scripture above gives us Moses’ account of his call of God to return unto Egypt to free the children of Israel from bondage.  This is his first encounter with GOD, and it is awesome.

Moses sees God as holy, all powerful, and all present, and even all knowing in one event.  He also learns His name.  The name says that He is eternal.  Where He is is the present.  He is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.  You will notice it does not say that “He was the God” but “the God of…”  That strongly implies the living, resurrection power of God; the eternalness of God, past, present and future.

His name, I AM, also reveals to us that He is Self-Sufficient; that He is in need of nothing.  It also reveals to us that we need Him.  We do not exist without Him.  We do not breathe without Him.  We do not move without Him.  There is no sunrise without Him.  He gives us each day, each beat of our heart, each step we take.  He is the One who holds all things together.  If He were to remove His hand from this world, and this Universe it would fly into pieces (Colossians 1:16-17).

This Self-Sufficient One desires to come to you today.  Call on Him.  He is the One who provides your salvation, through the cross of Jesus.

God Created

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God Created

Genesis 1:1

1.  The Bible is all about God; His Son; His Spirit and God’s work in the world and the universe.
2.  The Bible always assumes the existence of God without doubt.
3.  The Bible is the only authority for God that we have.
4.  According to Hebrew scholars this first verse is made up of seven Hebrew words; from which we can see seven key truths (from the HCSB Study Bible)

I.  GOD EXISTS (Heb. 11:6).

II.  GOD IS ETERNAL AND EXISTED BEFORE THE UNIVERSE WAS MADE (Heb. 1:10-12).

III.  GOD IS THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE.

IV.  GOD HAS DONE WHAT NO ONE ELSE CAN DO; HE CREATED FROM NOTHING.

V.  GOD IS MYSTERIOUS; ONE, TRINITY, INVISIBLE, IMMUTABLE, OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT, OMNIPRESENT; AND UNEXPLAINABLE.

VI.  GOD IS CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH – ALL THAT IS (Psalm 33:6, 9;  Heb. 11:3).

VII.  GOD IS INDEPENDENT OF HIS CREATION – CREATION IS DEPENDENT UPON HIM (Acts 17:28).

Application –

i.  We in our existence owe it to the One who created us.
ii.  God in His mercy came down to us in the person of His Son, and died for our sins.
iii.  The Creator dying on a part of His creation, for His creation, to have fellowship and life with Him.
iv.  Mankind; The human race is dependent upon our Creator; He is not dependent upon us.
v.  Glorify God by receiving His one and only gift for reconciliation with Him – Jesus Christ death on the cross.

-Tim A. Blankenship

A message preached at Carr Lane Baptist Church in January 2011

The Destruction Of Evil

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I have heard the question asked so many times, “If there is a god, and if this god is good, why does he allow evil?”  I guess I have even asked that question or one similar.  There are many questions that need to asked along with this:  Is God all powerful?  Is God all knowing?  Is God all present?  Is God unchanging?  Is God a god of love and mercy?  If you answer all of those from a Biblical perspective then you can answer the question of evil.

Let’s look at part of the prayer of the Psalmist and his concern about evil.

A prayer of the Psalmist.

“Break Thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till Thou find none.”  Psalm 10:15 (KJV).

One of the first things that comes to my mind as I read this is a question.  “Who are the wicked?”  To be extremely accurate about it, that would mean me, you, all of us.  Because God is holy, righteous, and just, and He cannot look upon iniquity, ie. evil.  Then He must rid the world of us.

I want to assure you that He has broken the arm of the wicked.  The arm of the wicked was broken when sin was put to death with Jesus on the cross.  “Boy, it sure doesn’t seem like it.  Look at what’s happening in the world, and in my life”.  Be assured that all sin has been paid for.

The way God has dealt with my evil and yours is by judging it on His Son Jesus Christ.  He paid the debt for our sin.  Ultimately there will be no more sin.  It will one day reach a height, and plunge into the eternity of nothingness.

When Jesus comes into our hearts to live, abide, and stay evil is banished.  You are no more evil.  That begs another question.  “Then, who are the evil?”  All those who reject the free gift of grace in Christ Jesus.

One day, and it may be soon Jesus will come and all evil will be eternally put away.  Even the lamb and the lion will roam together, and without threat to the lamb.  The small child will be able to play over the den of the serpent without any fear (See Isaiah 11).  There will be no more ruthless rulers in the world.  Jesus will rule in the hearts and lives of people the world wide.

-Tim A. Blankenship