YOU ARE GOD'S WORKMANSHIP (Part 1)

. . . for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

 

We as believers are a peculiar treasure; we are God’s own special people. We are sons of God, we are His purchased possession, we are the bride of Christ, we are God’s inheritance, and we are the temple of God. These are only a very few things that you are, and you must understand as well that God has said things about you that are irrevocable. God has done things for you that no one can make void or change; they are immutable. God has done some things for you that are eternal things. God is presently working in you. GOD IS WORKING IN EVERY BELIEVER. So often we talk about what we can do for God, when we need to realize what God can do for us. We need to know that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think. We need to know that God is PRESENTLY doing in me far and beyond what I am asking or thinking. God is finishing His work in me; God is finishing His plan in me. I MUST BELIEVE THAT because if I am depending on myself to get to heaven, I am finished right now.  You would do well, no matter how much will-power you have – your first name can be Will, your middle name can be Will, last name can be Will, but you don’t have enough will to get to heaven. (smile.) You need Jesus to get you to heaven.

I have told you on numerous occasions that salvation is a God idea. It did not originate with man, nor will it be consummated by man. SALVATION IS GOD’S IDEA. Your job is to BELIEVE what God has said concerning you. When you BELIEVE, you cause a dynamic to happen; God’s work begins to take place, as it were, in an operational sense in your life, in a magnification sense, in exemplifying itself, in showing forth itself, in being evidenced in your life. God’s Word does that as you BELIEVE. It’s an amazing thing that God REQUIRES faith in order to do anything, and He GIVES you faith. God gives you faith to BELIEVE, God gives you faith to continue, God gives you faith to succeed. EVERYTHING that you and I have comes from God. Whenever I hear us talking about what we bring to the table. I am bothered because what you and I bring to the table, if it has any eternal value at all, comes from Him. “All things come of Thee, and of Thine Own have we given Thee” (I Chronicles 29:14). EVERYTHING comes from God. The Bible says that the Gentiles (you and I), were brought to God, made an acceptable offering to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The Bible calls us a sweet-smelling savor, and we are made a sweet-smelling savor by the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit must breathe on us, the Holy Spirit must speak in us, the Holy Spirit must bring us so that we will be acceptable to God.  It is a GOD idea; it is a GOD thing!

KNOWING THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM

It is given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom. Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear. For assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see and did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it (Matthew 13:17).

In the above passages, Jesus tells us that many prophets and righteous men wanted to sit down at the table with God and converse with Him as He unfolded to them the secrets of the ages; many prophets wanted to have what you and I sometimes take for granted. You and I are privileged to have audience with God at any time without a prior appointment or consideration for His schedule or without regards to what He might be doing. Our privilege to call on Him is not diminished because many others are calling on Him at the same time. He is not less attentive because of the “demands” on Him. He is GOD! He is with us. He will never leave us. We are now His house--the place where He dwells! And He is always home! The Bible calls Him a very present help. . . (Psalm 46:1). What an advantage we have! What a privilege! What blessedness! What, then, keeps us from deriving full benefit?

Lack of awareness, or ignorance about His Word, plays a part in our failing to apprehend what the Lord says to us. Consider the verse that follows our key Scripture: “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: when anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart” (Matthew 13:18-19). It is not enough to hear the Word. We must understand it. We must understand it before we can “do” the Word, and the Scripture clearly admonishes us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22). Our God, Who created the ear, can give us the ability to hear. Our God, Who created our mind, our intellect, can unveil the mysteries or the meaning of His Word to us. The Psalmist rested in the fact that God alone dispenses understanding. Within Psalm 119 are prayers to God regarding His Word: “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law” (verse 18), “Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments” (verse 73), and “I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies” (verse 125). God gives us understanding as we meditate on his Word, and even before full understanding comes, we know that if the Word of the Lord is our delight, we will meditate on it, and if we meditate on it, we will be “. . . like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever [we do] shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3).