DIVINE REVELATION

  1. INTRODUCTION:

    1. WHAT IS THIS REVELATION?

      1. The Bible is God’s Divine Revelation.
      2. Man is the creation of God and thus needs to have God’s Will revealed to him.
      3. Man needs direction to know his place, purpose, and plan of God on earth.

    2. MAN IS A DEPENDENT CREATURE.

      1. Man is one of God’s creations and needs the help of his creator.
      2. The Psalmist David wrote in Psalms 8:4-8 "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beast of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas."
      3. We learn from Solomon in Jeremiah 10:23 "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."

    3. MAN IS CAPABLE OF RECEIVING INSTRUCTION AND FOLLOWING THEM:

      1. God placed all things under his feet as we noted in Psalms 8:6-8.
      2. Paul also noted that man could both read and understand in Ephesians 3:3-5 "How that by revelation he made know unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."

  2. DISCUSSION:

    1. GOD IS BOTH ABLE AND WILLING TO FILL MAN’S NEED OF DIRECTION:

      1. Since man is unable to "direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23), help from another man, in the same condition, is useless.
      2. Therefore, that which man does on his own thinking is not acceptable by God and will be destroyed. Matthew 15:13-14 "But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
      3. God made man an intelligent being as noted in Psalms 8:4-8, capable of understanding and obeying his Creator.

        1. However, that does not mean that man has this capability, it does not mean that he will always manifest it as is evident in man’s rebellious attitude, showing less intelligence than a brute.
        2. Consider what the prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 1:2-4 "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doeth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy one of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward."

      4. God’s will is revealed to man but not as it was at first:

        1. God at first revealed His will to man in visions and dreams by prophets. Hebrews 1:1 "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by prophets."
        2. Now has revealed His will for man through His Son. Hebrews 1:2 "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world."

      5. That which was hidden concerning the Gentiles, in former ages, of both them and the Jews being in one body has now been revealed "in Christ Jesus by the Gospel". Ephesians 3:6 "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ Jesus by the gospel."

        1. This is the Word that was with God in the beginning (John 1:1).
        2. Which God manifest to mankind by His Son (John 1:14), that lived and dwelt among us.

    2. MAN HAS A RESPONSIBILITY TO THIS REVELATION FROM GOD.

      1. Man must have faith what God has revealed that will be lasting:

        1. Faith that comes from the reception of it, Romans 10:17 "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
        2. Faithful obedience to the word is the only way to please God. Hebrews 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."
        3. The revelation is now only that which enables one to have faith, but also the knowledge of how to come to God in faithful obedience John 6:45-46 "It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath head, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father."
        4. Thus, every man is obligated to lean of God’s will to please Him and to know what is the duty of man toward God. I John5:11-13 "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 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."

  3. CONCLUSION:

    1. THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S DIVINE REVELATION IS OBEDIENCE. Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hat the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

      1. Man doesn’t have the knowledge of directing his steps (Jeremiah 10:23).
      2. Therefore Peter and the other apostles said in answer to man warning not to preach Christ (Acts 5:28-29) "We ought to obey God rather than men."

    2. JESUS SENT BY GOD TO MAN IS THE AUTHOR OF MAN’S SALVATION: Hebrews 5:8-9 "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."

    3. THERE IS MORE FOR MAN TO DO THAN JUST RECOGNIZE THAT GOD IS THE LORD.
      Luke 6:46       "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

    4. THINK!

      1. If obedience is not required, what was the revelation from God necessary?
      2. Those failing to obey God’s revelation are in a state of disobedience to God’s authority.
      3. Those in disobedience will be ultimately separated (cast out) from God as was Adam and Eve cast out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24; Matthew 25:41).

    5. WILL YOU BE DISOBEDIENT TO THE REVELATION OF GOD – THE POWER OF GOD TO SALVATION (Romans 1:16).

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