THINKING GOD IS LIKE MAN


     "But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my
statutes, And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth, Seeing
that thou hatest instruction, And castest my words behind thee? When
thou sawest a thief thou consentedst with him, And hast been partaker
with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, And thy tongue frameth
deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; Thou slanderest
thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept
silence: Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes"
(Psalm 50:16-21).
     You will note in verse 21 of this context the Lord accused David
and the people, of thinking Jehovah "was altogether such an one as
thyself."  Man acts as he does often because he thinks that God is like
man; that Jehovah thinks as man thinks, acts as man acts; reasons as
man reasons. Man in his own wisdom is not able to elevate himself to
the high and lofty heights of Jehovah, so he attempts to bring God down
to his own level. BUT GOD WILL NOT BE DEALT WITH IN THIS MANNER!! There
are many ways that man seemingly thinks that God IS LIKE MAN!! I would
like to consider some of these things this morning. Get your Bible,
your pencil and paper and be ready to study along with us as we
consider this vital lesson.
     But first, again we express our appreciation to you for tuning in
to this program this morning. Your speaker is Jack Thompson, the
preacher for the White Park church of Christ, meeting between Hankamer
and Anahuac, Texas.  I am curious as to the distance we are covering in
these broadcasts.  I would appreciate hearing from those of you who are
some distance from this station, which is located in Liberty, Texas;
that we ascertain as to how far the broadcast is being heard. Remember,
DO NOT SEND US YOUR MONEY, only your comments. We do not solicit your
money, we do not desire nor want it. The congregation where I preach is
supporting these broadcasts, wholly and completely. It is their desire
to see the truth proclaimed, and their confidence is such that they do
not expect others to pay the bill for them.
     Now to our study: THINKING GOD IS LIKE MAN:
     1. MAN HIDES FROM MAN and he in turn thinks he can hide from God.
In Genesis 3:8, Adam and Eve made a futile attempt to hide from
Jehovah, but they did not succeed. They must have reasoned, "We will
get behind the trees, and He will not see us." But how foolish!! Man
tries often to hid his deeds from God, because he finds himself able at
times to hid his evil deeds from his fellow man. Jesus in John 3:19,
20, states, "And this is the judgement, that the light is come into the
world, and man loved the darkness rather than the light; for their
works were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, and
cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved." Evil doers
seek the cover of darkness, they know the light will expose their evil
deeds. But God knows the actions of man, nothing is hidden from Him.
Hebrews 4:12, 13, "For the word of God is living, and active, and
sharper than any two edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of
soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the
thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature that is not
manifest in his: for all things are naked and laid open before the eyes
of him with whom we have to do." How often men run from the spiritual
light of the gospel, lest their evil lives be exposes. This is why so
few will truly study the scriptures. It is so much easier to throw up a
smoke-screen than it is to take the word of God and intelligently
discuss it.  We need to have it impressed on our minds that the Word of
God will judge us in the last day. Listen to John 12:48, "He that
rejecteth me, and receiveth not my saying, hath one that judgeth him;
the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day." So,
how careful we must be in knowing this word, learning it and doing it.
NO, MAN CANNOT HID FROM GOD, even though he might be able to hid from
his fellow man.
     2.  MAN DECEIVED MAN; therefore, he thinks he can deceive God. We
read of an example of a man and his wife who sought to deceive God.
Acts 5:1-10. You might like to read the complete story of this
incident. Ananias and Sapphira tried to deceive Peter and the rest, but
they did not deceive God.  There is no way to fool the Lord, try as man
might. Men lay awake all night dreaming up ways to deceive their fellow
man, and very often they are successful in pulling the wool over the
eyes of many people, but you just rest assured God will not be mocked.
Galatians 6:7-9 reads, "Be not deceive; God is not mocked: for
whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth
unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth unto the Spirit shall of the spirit reap eternal life." So often
man offers his many excesses for not doing the will of God, thinking he
has deceived the Lord, but actually he has only deceived himself; for
the Lord knows and is able to discern the truth.
     3. MAN IS SLACK IN HIS WORD TOWARD HIS FELLOW MAN -- thus, he is
tempted to think God is slack in His word.  This is but another way
that man deludes himself into thinking that God is like unto man, but
again man errs. Jehovah God means exactly what He says. Hear Him, 2
Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count
slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not wishing that any should
perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord
will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and
the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Seeing
that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and
earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the
heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt
with fervent heat? But according to his promise, we look for new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."  And, again
in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, "And to you that are afflicted rest with us,
at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his
power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God,
and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus; who shall
suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord
and from the glory of his might." From these two passages we learn that
the Lord is coming again, not for the purpose of establishing an
earthly kingdom (and we will have more to say on this subject at a
later date), but for the purpose of judgment. The righteous shall be
rewarded; the wicked shall be condemned. Man is often slack in his
word, but such is not true with the Lord --- He means just exactly what
He has said and man had better open their eyes and recognize this fact.
NOTE: When the Lord returns He shall render vengeance to them that KNOW
NOT GOD and to them that OBEY NOT THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
From this we learn that the gospel is something that man must obey.
Paul in Romans 1:16, states, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; for
it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to
the Jew first, and also to the Greek."  Therefore, only in GOSPEL
OBEDIENCE IS THERE SALVATION. God says what He means and He means what
He says. His word is the final authority in all things pertaining to
the salvation of the souls of mankind. Man need not attempt to fool
himself into thinking that God does not mean what He says. Sometimes we
hear people say, "We do not need authority for everything that we do in
religion," but such is fallacious reasoning. Hear the apostle John in
Revelation 22:18-19, "I testify unto every man that heareth the words
of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall
add unto him the plagues which are written in this book; and if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall
take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city,
which are written in this book." In principle these words apply to all
of God's word. His word includes everything He wants it to include and
He leaves out everything He did not want in it. God's word is both
inclusive and exclusive. This simply means man has no right to come
along and insert something not found in God's word into the work,
the worship, the organization, or any other aspect of the church. For
this reason, if for no other, man does not have the right to add human
arrangements and organizations onto the work of the church. Human
wisdom has no place in figuring out what God wants man to do. The only
solution to knowing what the Lord would have us to do is by coming to
the Book of God, studying the scriptures, determining what He has
commanded of us; and then doing it with all of our abilities.
     I see that our time is about gone and we must close for this
morning. Next week we shall continue with this lesson and point out
other ways in which man seemingly thinks that God is like unto man.
     Let me remind you once again of the location of the building of
the White Park church of Christ. We are located between Hankamer and
Anahuac, one block south of Interstate 10 at Highway 61. You have a
cordial invitation to visit with us at any or all of our services. We
meet each Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. for Bible study, with classes
offered for each age group. Our morning assembly for worship is
conducted at 10:00 a.m.  We meet again at 7:00 p.m. each Lord's Day for
our evening worship. On Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. we meet for
Bible study, with classes offered for each age.
     We continue to remind you that these broadcast are available to
you both in manuscript form and in cassette form. Simply drop us a
request in the mail of your desires and we would be more than happy to
honor your request. Mail your requests to: White Park church of Christ,
Route 1, Box 501, Anahuac, TX 77514. We also have a Bible
Correspondence Course that we would be happy to send you. It will cost
you nothing, except a little of your time and effort to look into God's
word and study. We even include stamped self-addressed envelopes for
your convenience.
     We remind you again, do not send us your money. This program is
paid for by the congregation where I preach. We do not ask you our
listening audience to support this effort. We would ask you to tell
your neighbors and friends about the program. If you have any questions
and/or comments, please feel free to send them to us.  Again, the
address is Route 1, Box 502, Anahuac, Tx  77514.
     And, now, until next week at this same time, I bid you a most
pleasant good morning.

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