There you go, buddy. Put that
on. It's ready to go. It's already on. Thank you. God
bless you. I would like to say thank you
to all of you for Having this meeting, all of us
who have done it know what a big job it is. And we are so grateful. I'm so thankful for you men and
you ladies. Yesterday was a wonderful day
for me. I enjoyed being here with you
men and having breakfast. And I know Hannah enjoyed being
with the ladies. It's just so wonderful to be
together. And I was sitting there just a minute ago thinking, it's
a shame that the whole congregation in Kingsport couldn't have come
with me. Because they just would have loved spending time with
you this weekend. And I hope they can get down
here. You know, everybody's always saying, y'all come see us. Well,
I hope they can come see you. And just love you all. Thank the Lord for you. And I
thank the Lord for all your hard work. And I thank you for the
meal that we haven't even had yet. Thank you for everything
you've done. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Jude. Just before Revelation. One chapter in the book of Jude. I have something very specific
that I'd like for us to look at this morning. I want us to
consider God and what belongs to Him. God and what belongs to Him. Now, one verse will be our text. It's verse 25. It says, to the only wise God our Savior. Be glory and majesty, dominion
and power both now and ever Amen. I love verses like that. Every
time I read a verse like that, I can envision Michael the archangel
heralding that in glory. Can you envision that? This number
no man can number of people all there with one spirit and one
heart and one body, and the archangel stands up and tells everybody,
to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory, and majesty, dominion,
and power, both now and ever, and everybody cries, amen. That's gonna be enjoyable. That's
just gonna be enjoyable. Well, that's our outline. All
right, that's the whole outline. Word by word, we're just gonna
go through that verse. From this, we can already see
God and what belongs to him. Men and women naturally do not
know this God. They do not. We're born into
this world not knowing this God. This God has to be taught. This
God has to be revealed. And you will not find Him in
religion. You can't just go to church and
find out about this God. God has to single you out and
send his messenger, the Holy Spirit, to you, and he has to
reveal this God. It is not in the nature of man's
flesh to know the true and living God. The true and living God. There was a time when nobody
in this room knew the true and living God. None of us. But our Lord said in John 17,
this is life eternal. This is what eternal life is.
That they might know thee. The only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. The apostle Paul said in Philippians
3, and I just, I love this, I enter into this with him. He said,
oh, that I might know him. I want to know Him. I want to
know more of Him. That song says more about Jesus. We need to know Him. We need
to know Him. We don't need to just know about
Him. We need to know Him. And He said that He reveals Himself
to His people through the preaching of His Word, and that's why we're
doing this. That's why we're not just out
in nature somewhere right now, just, you know, let's just go
find God out there. That's why we're here. It's because
He said that He has been pleased to reveal Himself to His people
through the declaration of what He wrote right here. God wrote
His own book. So for that reason, from this
word, I'd like for us to look at God. I'd like for us to look
at who He is and what He's done and where He is right now. God
and what belongs to Him. Now let's see what this verse
has to say about it. Verse 25, it says, to the only wise God. First, here's what we see there.
There is only one God. There's only one God. You know,
men, just so my heart breaks for them, but they're like, well,
you have your God and I have my God and we'll all be just
have these God. There's only one God. there's
only one God, to the only wise God. This word says that man
has made up in his mind and he's fashioned with his hands his
own little g God. All kinds of little g gods. They are the gods of men's imaginations. And because there are so many
of them out there, there are so many of them out there, That's
what has created these religious differences between people. Different denominations, you
know, different doctrines. All that that is is different
gods. That's all it is, just different little G gods. But
all of those gods are no gods at all. They're not. Men and women are right now in
this town, in Crossville, and they are in Kingsport, and they
are in Madisonville. They are all over this world
worshiping gods who are no gods at all. And somebody's gonna hear that
and say, well, why do you have to be so narrow-minded about
this? You know, only one God. Why can't you just let people
do what they wanna do and worship the God of their choosing? And
why do you have to be so dogmatic about this? Here's the reason
why, and I pray, I believe I mean this, but here's the reason why. It's because we care about people. Why do you have to stand up and
be so dogmatic about this? It's because we care about people. We care about men and women's
souls. If we did not love people, we
would not preach the gospel, would we? We care about people. It breaks
our hearts for people that they have no idea that they are worshiping
a false God. They have no idea. Ignorantly
worshiping no God at all. And men and women are going to
leave this world and they're going to go into eternity with
no God at all. And when that happens, the scripture
says there is none to help. There is none to help. There
is only one God. This verse says, to the only
wise God. This is the all-knowing, all-controlling,
all-doing God. There's only one. He said, I
am the Lord, not a Lord. I am the Lord, and there is none
else, there is no God beside me. Now, if that is the case, if
that is the case, how can we know if we are worshiping the
true and living God? All right, if people are blind
and they're sitting there in their pews and all these churches,
how can we know if we are worshiping the only God that
there is? How can we know if we have not
fashioned a little G God in our own minds? How can we know if
we're right? and worship in the true and right
God. Well, here's how we can know.
Turn with me over to Psalm 115. We just had verse one read to
us last night from this chapter, Psalm 115. And I pray God will open our
eyes to this. Psalm 115 verse 1 says, Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for
thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear
not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk
not, neither speak they through their throat. They that make
them are like unto them, so is every one that trusteth in them. How can I know which God I'm
worshiping, the capital G God or the little g God? How can
I know? Here's how we can know. A false
little G God can't unless you do it for Him. Here's how you can know. That's
how we can know the difference in the one true and living God,
the all-knowing, all-controlling, all-doing God, and the many,
many false little g-gods who are no gods at all. Verse 3 right
here says, Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever
He hath pleased. And the rest of those verses
said, if you don't do it for that false God, it's not gonna
be done. If you don't let Him, and if
you don't help Him, and if you don't do it for Him, it can't
be done. Why is that? It's because that
God is not God. That's the reason why. There
is only one God, One true and living God. And who is it? Who is it? Who is God? The only God that there is. We'll go with me back to our
text. In Jude. Verse 25 says, to the only wise God, our Savior. Who is the only God that there
is? Jesus Christ, our Savior. When men and women think of Jesus
Christ, they only think of Him usually as the middle man who
can get them to God. And their worship, and let's
see if we can enter into this, their worship bypasses the Lord
Jesus Christ. They have them, and in their
mind, in the fashion of their mind, they envision, he doesn't
have an image, they don't know, but it's God. And then somewhere
in between, and maybe even just push him to the side, just a
little bit, is Jesus Christ. And in their worship, They are
bypassing the Lord Jesus Christ. They're going around the Lord
Jesus Christ in their mind to something or someone who is higher
than Him. A mightier God than Him. And when they do that, they have
missed the only wise God that there is. And they're worshiping
a false God. They're worshiping, even though
they, in their mind, see Him to be higher, they're worshiping
the God of their imagination. And it's a God with no image.
No image. The only wise God that there
is, is God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me over
to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy 3 verse 16 says, and without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God himself, the only wise God,
is the one who was manifest in the flesh. God himself is the
one who came down. Not God's helper. Not God's second in command.
The only God that there is came down. Somebody will say, well
what about the Father? Jesus Christ is the Father. Hebrews 1 says Jesus Christ is
the express image of his Father's person. Christ said if you have seen
me, you have seen the Father. He said I and my Father are one. I adore Isaiah 9 verse 6. It says a child is gonna be born,
a son is gonna be given. What's his name? What should
we call that little child? Call him the everlasting Father. There are three persons. There
are three persons. But there's only one God. The
Spirit is the Spirit of Christ Himself. It is Christ's Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God in us
is Christ in us. There are three persons, but
there's one God. And I really can't, my mind hadn't
gotten a hold of that. I can't even explain that, but
we can declare it. And by God-given faith, we can
believe it. There are three persons. There's one God. There's just
one God. The true declaration all through
the Word is, our God is our Redeemer. all through the Old Testament.
I am your God who redeemed you. The one who redeemed us and gave
his blood for us is our God. He's our God. He's the only God
that there is. Now, go with me back to Jude, and let's see what
belongs to the only God that there is, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 25 says, To the only wise God, our Savior. Our Savior. Number one, we belong to Him. We belong to Him. All of His
chosen people that the Father gave to Him, the Father chose
a people and it was a people who was lost. We were lost. and
undone without God's precious Son. We were lost and we were
ruined. And we were just like every other
sinner born into the world. There was no difference. But
God came to us. He sought us. He sought us. And He bought us by purchasing
us through that precious blood. We weren't redeemed with corruptible
things like gold and silver. We were redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lamb Himself. And the moment that that purchase
was complete, He said, you are mine. You're mine. I am yours and you are mine.
And all of His people cry, praise the Lord. I'm His. Thank God we belong
to Him. We do. Psalm 100 says, know ye
that the Lord, He is God. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. So enter into His gates with
thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto
Him and bless His name. And all of God's people do, don't
we? We all worship Him and we see Him to be the only wise God
that there is. So that's the first thing, we
belong to Him. Verse 25 says, to the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory. All glory belongs to Him. Glory means judgment, and it
means exaltation. God our Savior is highly lifted
up. Exaltation. Highly exalted. And His name is above every name. And God's people are so glad. Just so glad. There's no other
name given among men. At the hearing of His name, and
I can't wait to see this, and I can't wait to do this. We do
it in heart now, but we're gonna do it in presence. At the hearing
of His name, I can't wait to hear His name audibly. At the hearing of His name, every
knee bows and every tongue confesses He is Lord. Every time the herald
goes out, Jesus Christ, He is Lord. I believe we'll spend a lot of
time on our knees crying, He is Lord. All the glory belongs to Him.
All the glory. We just read in Psalm 115, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.
All of it goes to Him. So we belong to Him. Glory belongs
to Him. And verse 25 says, to the only
wise God our Savior be glory and majesty. All majesty belongs
to Him. Majesty means greatness. And it means fullness. All fullness
belongs to Him. All the fullness dwells in Him. Somebody will say, the fullness
of what? Well, just name something. Just name something. If all the
fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, then what is anything
else? The length and the breadth and
the depth and the height, that's the majesty. The fullness of
God's love. All of it dwells in Him. All
the love of the Father for His people is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The fullness of God's judgment on His people, all of it dwells
in Him. The fullness of God's wrath and
punishment on the sin of His people, all of it was in Him. All the fullness and all the
majesty belongs to Him. Number four. Verse 25 says, to
the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion. All dominion belongs to Him.
Dominion means sovereignty. It means control. It is the territory
of a sovereign. You think about a king's dominion.
It's the territory of a sovereign. In Genesis 1, when God said,
let us make man in our image and let them have dominion over
the fish and the birds and the cattle and the creeping things
and all that, that word dominion meant let them reign over. Let's give them the right to
do with the others as they see fit to do with the others. Well,
the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof
is of the Lord. And the truth is, there is only
one sovereign over all of this earth, and his name is Jesus
Christ. Everything is in his hands. Everything
is in his control. All dominion belongs to him. And the last thing that our verse
mentions this morning is verse 25 says, to the only wise God
our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power. All power belongs to Him. That means not only does He have
the right to do what He wants with whom He wants, but He has
the ability to do whatever He wants. with whom he wants. He has the force. That's what
power means. He has the strength. This is
what it means. When he cried, it is finished,
it was finished. That's what it means. It means
he did not try to save anybody. Our Lord has never tried to do
anything. Not one time did he ever try to do anything. Our
Lord is not waiting on anybody to accept Him. He's not begging anybody to come
to Him. What it means is when He calls,
we come. And this is what I love about
preaching the gospel. I don't have to give an altar
call. I don't have to beg anybody. We're going to keep playing until
somebody gets the courage to come down here. No, we're not.
We're going to say amen and be done. And God's Holy Spirit is
going to go get God's sheep. And He's going to say, come,
and they're going to come. They're going to be made willing
in the day of His power. I'm not going to do it. I'm not
going to do it. God is going to do it. And aren't
we so happy about that? When He draws, we come. We come. He has power over our
heart in the matter. Not only over what we're going
to do, He has power over our heart in the matter. He can turn
this heart. He has power to Keep us, He has
the power to calm us. He has the power to speak peace
and to speak comfort to our hearts. I love this poem right here. God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. He plants His footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, don't we have
so much to be afraid of? Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread.
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense. As we turn on the news and look
around, judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for
his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. His purposes, not plan, he does
not have a wonderful plan for anybody's life. His purposes
will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter
taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure
to err and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter and
he will make it plain. Just wait on the Lord. So, the
only wise God, our Savior, number one, we belong to Him, glory
belongs to Him, majesty belongs to Him, dominion belongs to Him,
and power belongs to Him. Now, last question. When will
this belong to Him? And how long will this belong
to Him? Verse 25 says, to the only wise God our Savior, be
glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forevermore. Amen. All right, thank you.