In this devotional sermon, M.t. Clark opens with a personal vignette about photographing the historic Crown Point site, using the scene to reflect on human impermanence and the limits of human achievement. He then introduces the series “Lies of the Enemy,” focusing on Lie #13: the claim that Christians are “little gods” or will become gods. Clark cites Psalm 82:6 and its New Testament quotation in John 10:34, but argues—using GotQuestions.org and contextual biblical analysis—that these verses do not confer divinity on believers. He emphasizes that God alone is God, that Jesus is fully divine and human (the hypostatic union), and that humans possess a spirit without divine attributes. Clark reinforces humility with Romans 12:3 and Paul’s experience of weakness in 2 Corinthians 12:8‑10, urging believers to rely on Christ’s power rather than self‑exaltation. The sermon then pivots to the core gospel truth of John 14:6, declaring Jesus as the exclusive way, truth, and life, and warning against any syncretism or antichrist teachings. Clark shares personal updates—feeling low after a rainy Sunday, a job reassignment, and a ministry friend’s recent loss—using them to illustrate reliance on God’s grace in weakness. He concludes with a prayer, invites listeners to visit mtforchrist.org for further resources (A.W. Pink’s “The Sovereignty of God,” discipleship podcasts by Dr. Neil Anderson), and encourages ongoing humility, perseverance, and devotion to Christ.
Chapters
To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of an overcast view of Lake Champlain and the stone ruins of the British Officers' Barracks at the Crown Point Historic Site State Park comes to us from yours truly, as I decided to capture the scene while perched on one of the huge earthen mounds of land that once were part of a mighty fortress. The large mound of earth that I was standing— I was walking across really piqued my interest and caused me to wonder if whether these large mounds were natural or were dug out or piled up to form the star-shaped perimeter of the former fort at Crown Point, even though the wooden walls were gone and the stone ruins of two of the barracks were still standing, I had a sense that these mounds would endure until the time Christ comes back. Crown Point is a— is simultaneously a monument to man's ingenuity and futility, as the work of men who are long dead still stand, but whose purpose now only serves to remind us of our impermanence. Crown Point shows us just what men can accomplish, but reminds us that we are not God. Well, it's Monday, and while my wife and I made the most of the overcast day before us on Saturday, I have to admit that my spirits were brought low on Sunday in spite of some positive developments concerning the new ministry I'll be leading in a few weeks and some lively worship at church. It was raining yesterday after I left worship, and I was tired and out of sorts, and found myself feeling depressed about the state of the world, and triggered over the transitory state of my weekends that involve a return trip to my place down by the river each Sunday. In my estimation, the day was a wash, and at the slightest bump in the road, I abruptly decided that the weekend was over and headed back to my place, where I dove into some much-needed sleep. Apparently I needed it. It turns out work, school, and ministry can take a toll on our souls, and I too am not God. Which brings us to our current series, which is an examination of some of the common lies that the enemy tells us to cause us to doubt our faith, steal our peace, or to influence us to choose not to follow the Lord with the way we live our lives. And today's lie is sort of the polar opposite of doing those things, as it demands great faith, but may cause us to boldly go into heretical error. Today's big lie is Lie Number 13: Christians are little gods, or I am a god, or I will be a god. This lie is of the enemy, would cause us to use our faith or words of faith to twist God's arm to do our will on earth and to cash in on all the precious promises we have coming to us. Has been told from the pulpit of some churches. So to expose this heresy intelligently, I'm going to use the help of our Christian friends at GotQuestions.org to provide a biblical answer to the question of "Are Christians little gods?" with a link on the blog today. From that answer, I will share the following: The basis for the little gods claim is found in two scripture passages. Psalm 82:6 reads, "I said, you are gods, you are all sons of the Most High." Jesus quotes the— quotes this Psalm in John 10:34, "Is it not written in your law, I have said, you are gods?" However, both of these passages include explanations in the immediate context that clearly do not indicate human divinity, end quote. Context is king, and if we intelligently examine the word of God, we will discover that the whole counsel of God can clarify the meaning behind puzzling verses like Psalm 82:6. GotQuestions.org's biblical answer to the little gods question concludes by saying, claiming divinity for Christians is insupportable, especially taking the rest of the Bible into account. God, God is God alone. We have never been God, we are not God now, and we will never be God. Jesus was fully God and man, a combination called the hypostatic union. If the little gods hypothesis is accepted, it imputes to Jesus a lesser divinity of some kind. He became a little god like us. John said that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, but this does not indicate a lesser divinity. Jesus took on human flesh and blood in order to die for our sins. Yet he retained his full position in the Godhead. God created us with a spirit, but that spirit does not hold divine qualities. I recommend— and quote, second end quote— um, I recommend checking out their full answer and to utilize their website to get biblical answers to all your questions regarding our faith. The first that stood out in my mind when I pondered the idea of being a little god, uh, Guided me to humility. I thought of Romans 12:3, which tells us, for I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Thinking that we are little gods may be thinking of myself more highly than we ought. While we can act in the authority of Christ, we should also remember Jesus's example was that of a servant leader, and that we are completely dependent on God and his grace. The Apostle Paul was used by God to spread the gospel, received special revelations, and was given the power to do miracles. But he was also humbled and knew that his, uh, knew where his power came from, uh, reflecting on the, on the thorn in the flesh that he suffered. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, 3 different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, my grace is all you need, my power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. God's grace is all we need, and his power works in us according to his will and purposes. He doesn't want us to exalt ourselves as little gods. He wants us to obey his commands, to share his love. So don't believe the, the lie that Christians are little gods. Instead, listen to the Lord and follow his call on your life to humble— humbly serve and represent his kingdom on earth with humility and love. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is John 14:6. Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Today's verse comes to us from the truth section of our resource, and it is the fundamental truth of our faith. We have shared John 14:6 more than once because in this one statement by Christ, Jesus is telling us that we need not look elsewhere for salvation, truth, or eternal life. He is clear that not only can those things be found in him, He is clear that they can only be found in him. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the— to God except through him. So we need not consider other cultures, philosophies, theories, or religions. Eternal life, salvation, truth, and the way to live our lives here on earth can all be found in Christ alone. We must reject anything that doesn't proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior as antichrist and be uncompromising in our commitment to sharing this truth. All the questions and considerations we have about life can only be adequately answered after we have answered the question of who is Jesus Christ to me. Because if we fail to make Jesus our Lord and Savior, all that we do and say will be meaningless when we are called into eternity and face the wrath of God that will erase our ignorance and any illusions that we were, quote unquote, good people. The rejection of Christ is, is the rejection of, of God. It is, it is cosmic rebellion against the Creator of all things by one of his creation. In rejecting Christ, we commit the sin of Satan, of pride and rebellion. So speak the truth in love without compromise, um, because whatever offense the exclusivity of Jesus to save may cause to the non-believing will pale in comparison to the suffering they will face on Judgment Day. As always, we invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their— in their walk. Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink's The Sovereignty of God, and we're concluding sharing from Appendix 2, The Case for Adam— The Case of Adam. So if you want to see how that wraps up, go to mtforchrist.org., and you'll see that conclusion at the end of today's resource. And if you want to see the first part, you just have to go to Saturday's message. Basically, this is the beginning, so we broke that up over two sessions there. If you want to see The Case of Adam by A.W. Pink, takes, takes, you know, two clicks basically. This, today's message, and yes, well, Sunday's message. I was going to say yesterday's message, but as we know, yesterday was Sunday, and before I had a hissy fit and ran home and went to sleep. Um, I, I was happy to, uh, be at Bible study with Arthur and Susanna Sincotti as we talked about Jesus. And, um, um, you know, basically it was about idolatry and knowing Jesus. Knowing You, Jesus was the title of our Bible study. And if you'd like to check that out, that's on the blog and the podcast and our YouTube channel as as well. Also, we encourage all who hear or read this message to check out the discipleship teachings that we put on the podcast and our YouTube channel for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. Those lessons are all from Dr. Neil Anderson and the Word of God, and we recommend them because they teach about who we are in Christ, the spiritual forces of darkness, and how to experience our freedom in Christ. And we can experience our freedom and still have, you know, not so great days. You know, that's all part of our human experience. You know, becoming a Christian doesn't take away all your problems. It just takes away the biggest problem: our destiny, eternal life through Christ. You know, it's through Christ alone we're saved. And when you have that, the fear of death goes away. And really everything else, no matter what we can take, you know, whatever we have to walk through, we can take in light of that truth that we will live, we are accepted, we are loved, we are significant and secure in Christ. And that truth, you know, is the thing that we can draw from. And to lead us in hope and peace, um, even when we have bad days. But it's Monday, so we have to turn that frown upside down as we face another work a week— oh, week of work. As I said, I'm not a god, um, and we'll have a new assignment because apparently the stress is building up. And when I was questioned last week about, uh, aspect of my job, I, I voiced my, uh displeasure with my job function, and I'm being reassigned today. So, so we got to be careful what we say. Um, I think it's going to be for the good, but you know, you never know, you know. So we have to live with the consequences of the things we do and say, even when we're Christians. Uh, we're not exolved, and we can't just speak our mind to those in authority with without dealing with the possible consequences. So there's that. And like I said, I think it's going to be for the good, but we don't know until we walk through things, you know. But I'm going to walk into today with the confidence that no matter what I have to face, I can face it because I walk with the Lord, and he'll give me the strength and resilience that I need to adapt and overcome to any situation in life, even if it is just to sit and suffer and wait on him in my weakness. And, um, for in our weakness we discover our strength by relying on the Lord. We can't do everything perfectly, we can't do everything, um, right. And, you know, sometimes bad things happen. A dear friend to the ministry's husband passed away, and right now they're in the wake of the a great loss. And even though they know who they are in Christ, they're shaken by the loss. And so we lift them up in prayer today. And, you know, even though you know who you are in Christ, you can have some rough situations that shake your resolve and steal your peace. So we— that's why we recommend Keep Walking. So when you walk through these dark seasons of your life, you're not walking alone. You're walking grounded in the truth and in the presence of the Lord. And so if you're having a Manic Monday and not loving the fact that there's rain in the forecast, at least locally for me, um, you can, you can have some resilience knowing that, uh, the Lord is with you and, uh, that every day, uh, his mercies are new every morning. So Lean on his grace, enjoy his mercy, and, and, you know, feel blessed that you know the fact that Jesus is the truth, the way, and the life, because that's the truth that trumps everything else. Uh, so, uh, with that said, let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for showing us the truth and lifting our spirits and guiding us to care for ourselves by seeking you and your presence, Lord, and your wisdom, and reminding ourselves and our brothers and sisters in Christ just what you've done for us and how you've made us new creations, and that you'll never leave us or forsake us, and that you'll lead us through even the darkest valley. Lord, we thank you for your, for your love and your grace and your mercy and your presence. And Lord, we just pray for you to go before us because we obviously need your help. We need you to be with us. We need you to show us the things you want us to see, and you need us to lead you— uh, we need you to lead us and the things you want us to do. And so, Lord, we just pray for you to go before us today to do those things. And we pray for you to be with anyone who's listening to or reading this message, Lord, that you would come alongside side them and their prayer requests and guide them in the way they should go. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
