Isaiah chapter 45. I've told you here hundreds of times,
I guess, over the years, knowing God is not walking an aisle,
making a decision, having some kind of an experience. But knowing
God is life. Knowing God is through the revelation
of God to our hearts. Paul said it like this. He said,
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness back
in creation, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I want to read you a few things
in the Scriptures, and I want to talk about one who is God
by nature, by His very nature, by what He is, what constitutes
Him, His attributes, His characteristics, His disposition. He's God. He's God. Isaiah chapter 46,
verse 20. Assemble yourselves and come,
drawn near together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They
have no knowledge that set up the world would of their graven
image and pray unto a God that can't save. Those who worship
wooden, handmade, man-made idols, they have no knowledge. They
know nothing about the God of this book. Tell ye, bring them
near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside
me. There's only one God. And that's Jehovah, God of the
Scriptures. There's only one God. And He's
set forth in the Scriptures. He's described in the Scriptures.
His attributes are clearly manifest, set forth in the Scriptures. This One who is God alone. There
is no God else beside me. I'm a just God, and I'm a Savior. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no
other. There's no other God. He's the
only one. I have sworn by myself The word
has gone out of my mouth, in righteousness shall not return,
that unto me there's only one God. Now listen to this further.
One day every man is going to acknowledge that God. Every knee is going to bow, every
tongue is going to confess that he is God alone. But he is God,
the only God, the true God. Surely shall one say in the Lord
of our righteousness and strength, even to him shall men come, and
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel And that includes me and you
who are believers. Be justified in the Lord. Shall
we all be justified? Now, if you would, drop down
to verse 5 in the next chapter. Look at this. To whom will you
liken me? To whom will you make me equal?
Whom will you compare me that we may be alike? Men lavish gold
out of the bag, weigh silver in the ballast, hire a goldsmith,
he makes it a god, gold and silver, wood, gold and silver, all of
these things. And they fall down, yea, they
worship. They bear him on their shoulder, they carry him, set
him in a place, and he stands. From his place shall he not remove. Yea, once you cried to him, yet
can he not answer, nor save him out of the trouble. Remember
this, show yourselves, men. Bring it again to mind, oh, you
transgressors. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God. There is no other. All these
idols are nothing. Nothing. I am God and there is
no other. I am God and there is none like
me. I declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times,
the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand. This God can speak. The others
have mouths, but they can't speak. These idols have ears, but they
can't hear. They have feet, but they can't
walk. You put them in one place, and He can't remove out of that
place. Just an image created in somebody's imagination. He's
no God at all. He's nothing. He's nothing. My
counsel shall stand, I'll do all my pleasure, calling the
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel
from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it, I bring
it to pass. That's the God of this book.
I've purposed it. I'll do it. I'll do it. Hearken
unto me, ye stout-hearted that are far from righteousness. I
bring near my righteousness. I shall not be afar off. My salvation
shall not tarry. I will place salvation in Zion
for Israel, my glory. God is glorified in His people. They're the glory of the Lord.
They bear the glory of the Lord. Now, I want to talk to you a
few minutes this morning about the true God, the best I can,
the true God of the Bible. The idea of God, the worship
of God, is as old as the human family. Since there have been
men, there's been worship. And since there have been men,
there have been false worship, people sincere. But listen to
me. Sincerity. Doesn't matter anything. If sincerity is not based on
knowledge, it's no better than the grossest superstition. That's
all it is. You know, women in the Old Testament,
I haven't gotten over this yet, they used to take their little
infant children that they gave birth to, that they loved, cast
them into the fire. People of Israel did that. Don't
tell me they weren't sincere. They believed they were going
to get something out of that. They were sincere, but sincerity
without knowledge is superstition. That's all it is. Superstition. Superstition. Whether it's in the name of Jehovah
Jesus or Buddha or any other name, God or idol, it's just
superstition. Superstition. God told Israel
a long time ago, and this is still true in our day. He said
in Psalm 50, He said, You think that I'm altogether such a one
as yourselves. You think that I'm like you. You think that I think like you
and act like you and respond like you. You think I'm like
you. God like you. But He's not. They form their God, their own
image, based upon their own thoughts and ways. Twice in the book of
Proverbs, there is a way that seems right to men, but the end
thereof, the end thereof, What men thinks right, what sounds
right to them, what seems right to them is a way of death. Way
of death! Oh, that men would once again
read the Word of God. Read the Word of God. Oh, there
is a way which seems right to men, natural man. Seems right
concerning God, what He's like. It seems right to them. It seems
that's the way he ought to be. He ought to be kind of like us,
you know. That's the way of death. Concerning worship, there's a
way that seems right. I think we ought to do this and
that and the other and institute this and create a new program
here. It seems right. It'll draw attention. It'll draw people. It's fun. Way of death. Way of death. Way of death. There is a way
which seems right, but it's a way of death. You can look at these
idols. Paul said in Corinthians twice,
he said, these Gentiles, they have their idols. To us, they're
nothing. To us, they're nothing. You can
look at 1 Corinthians 8, 4 through 6. 1 Corinthians 10, 19, and 20. But
look with me at Galatians 4 just a moment. Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4. Look at verses 8 and 9. Before
you knew God, you Gentiles, Paul writing to the Galatians, Before
you knew God, you did service unto them which by nature are
no gods. By nature, they couldn't be God. They're no gods at all. But now
after you've known God, or rather are known of God, how turn you
again to the weak and beggarly elements whereunto you desire
again? You desire again to be in bondage?
Well, being in bondage, how in the world can you turn back to
these things? How can you do it? There is a
God, verse 8 here, there is a God who is God by nature. By His very nature, He is God. By His very attributes, characteristics,
you can identify Him as God. These idols, they're no gods,
they're nothing. They're superstitious idols,
that's all they are, all they ever will be. It's to profess
the true God, seek to worship Him and will worship, no good. That's what they want to go back
to these do's and don'ts. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. Paul said, no, sir. You go back
to circumcision, you've lost the gospel. Gospel be no profit
to you at all. To seek to worship God in a false
manner is no better than worshiping demons. Now let me call your attention
to this particular thought for a few minutes. By nature, they
are no gods. Just a few minutes. By nature,
these idols, whether it's just in men's minds or whether they
take it out of their mind and carve it into wood or silver
or gold, no gods. Paul said, there's nothing, nothing
in this world. Superstition. Superstition. By nature there is no God. Now
this is what I mean by nature. I say there is one who by his
very nature is God. To be God, one must be absolute. There is no other. He must be
the supreme being, high above all others. He must have the
glory of one who is God. He must be eternal. He always has been God, always
will be God. He must be immutable. He never
changes. If God ever changed, it'd have
to be for the better or for the worse. No God. But there is one by nature who
is God. And this God of the book is omnipotent. Has all power in heaven, all
power in earth, all power in the sea and deep places, all
power over all things. All power over all flesh, He's
God. By nature, by His very nature,
He is God. His omniscience has all wisdom,
knows all things, declared the end from the beginning. He said,
works out His counsels and His purposes, He's God. He decides
to do something, that's what He does. He can't be slowed down
in His purpose, nor speeded up, nor restrained in any way. He's
free. He's God. He's the Almighty. And this God is more than that.
He's omnipresent. He's everywhere. Had a boy walking
home from Sunday school one day, and this would-be atheist asked
him, said, I'll give you a dime if you tell me where God is.
That boy said, I'll give you a quarter if you tell me where
He isn't. He's everywhere. He's here at this church this
morning in all the fullness of His presence. Not a part of God
over here and a part of all of God in the immensity of His person. He's right here this morning.
He knows our hearts. He's omniscient. I've said this
before here too, He knows our words before we ever speak them.
And He knows our thoughts before they ever come to mind. What
a God that is. He knows every star and has given
each one of them a name and set each star in its own place. What
a God. By His very nature, He's God.
This God of the book, this God of the Bible. And this God has
moral qualities and characteristics and attributes. His name is Holy. That means that he cannot look
upon sin with the least, without being upset, without being anger
turned against it. Sin is opposite everything he
is. He can by no means. He's just. Holy and just. He cannot clear
the gifted. He cannot let sin pass. It must
be punished. It shall be punished. Count on
it. Every sin and transgression shall receive a just, just recompense
of reward. He's God. Now listen to this.
Nature, those essential and fundamental qualities and attributes and
dispositions necessary to constitute God. And there is one in this
world, in this universe, who has all of the moral attributes,
all of essential attributes and fundamental attributes to make
Him God. You stand back and read about
what He is, that's God. None else. No equal. None to compare Him to. He's
God. He has the nature of God. You
worship one that by nature ain't no God at all. No God at all. Look at, if you will, look back
at Acts just a moment, chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. Paul gives them an illustration
here to say what I've been trying to say. In Him, in the true God,
the God you don't know, in Him we live and move and have our
being. As certain also of your own poets
have said, we're the offspring of God, for as much then as we're the
offspring of God. How in the world can you think
of God as being gold or silver or stone or a piece of wood?
How can you do that? That's no God. The God of this book made us,
created us, sustains us. He's our benefactor. I sustain
or I support or I judge. And in Him we live and move and
have our existence. These gods you make, they have
ears, eyes, but they don't see. They can't see. You carved out
and painted their eyelashes and their eyes and all of these things
out of gold or silver or wood, and they have eyes, but they
can't see. And they have ears. You were careful
to give them ears, one on each side of the head, but they can't
hear. Been very careful to give them
a mouth. but can't say a word. Yet you fall down and worship
these idols. They're no gods. By nature, no
god at all. They have feet, but you carry
them around and set them in one place and they can't move. You
cry out to them, they can't move. You call upon them, they can't
answer. They can't come to you. They can't help you. They can't
hear. Dead idols, that's all they are. That's all they are. Dumb idols. By the very nature
of things, they couldn't be God. Even your heathen poet said,
we're the offspring of God. He made us. He's not one you
can carry around and put in a temple here and set him on a place over
there. No, he's God in heaven, God in earth. Maker of heaven
and earth. Verse 25, Acts 17. Look at verse
25 just a moment. Neither is he worshipped with
men's hands as though he needed anything. They make these idols
so carefully and paint them up and carve them up real good.
They bring offerings and sacrifices, the work of their own hands.
God's not worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything. Seeing it, it's this God, the
one who's God by nature. That gives us all things. He
made us. We are His offspring. He sustains
us. He gives us breath. In Him we
live and move and exist. Anything less, anything else,
He's no God. He's no God. No God at all. By virtue of the true God's nature,
His favor cannot be obtained by any gift from any sinner. Christ told the apostles in his
day on earth, he said, when you've done all that's required of you,
then say, we're unprofitable servants. Your righteousness
don't reach that high. Never has, and it never will,
except in a mediator, a priest, the Lord Jesus. Now this is getting down to what
I came to mind when I read this eighth verse of Galatians 4.
You worship those who by nature are no gods at all. By their
nature, it's just the nature of a piece of wood, the nature
of metal, gold, silver, brass, no god at all. But the people
sincere. But sincerity, I repeat, without
knowledge is superstition. Nothing more than superstition.
Now, if we aren't careful in our day, this enlightened age
in which we live, if we aren't careful, we may be guilty of
preaching a God who is by nature no God at all. No God at all. We might be preaching one who
is inconsistent with the nature of God. Inconsistent with the
nature of the true and living God. We might be preaching one
who couldn't be a God at all. He's just nothing. Nothing. I have four or five points. You
can write them down or just make a mental note of them, but think
about it. Four or five points because it greatly affects our
generation. Number one, if the One we worship
is not eternal and unchangeable, He's not God. If He's not eternal and unchangeable,
He's not God. By His very nature, He's not
God. Otherwise, there was a time when there was no God. Perhaps
there was a time, as some sects and cults say, that He was not
God yet, and He later became God. But God said, I'm the Lord,
I change not. Therefore, that's the only reason
you sons of Jacob are not consumed, because I don't change. I purpose
it, I bring it to pass. I never change. No change can compose or constitute
the true God. He is the eternal Creator who
never changes. I am the Lord. I change not.
Number two. Number two. First of all, if
the God we preach and worship is not eternal and unchangeable,
He's not God. It's a figment of our own imagination. Number two, if the one we preach
is not absolutely and eternally sovereign over all things, He's
not God. By the very nature of things,
He's not God. The God of this book is absolutely, absolutely,
unchangeably sovereign. Sovereign over all things. Sovereign
over all flesh. He's the ruler. He's God. To
preach one who is not sovereign is to preach another God who's
not God at all. That's just so. You say, well,
they just have different ideas of God. No! They have a different
God. Different God. Different God. Do you think it's possible that
God created something He couldn't control and rule over? Believe He created this world
and everything went chaotic and got out of control? Not the God
of this book. Nothing's ever gotten out of
His control. Everything's always been under His control, under
His dominion, His sovereign. He said, I do what I please.
In the heavens, in the earth, in the sea, all deep places.
I rule in the armies of heaven. I rule among the inhabitants
of this earth. None can stay my hand or question
what I do. I am God. And Job wrote in chapter
23 and verse 13, he's a one man. You can't turn him. And whatever
his soul desires, that's exactly what he does. And that can only
be said of one being in all the universe, one who is God. He does what He pleases, when
He pleases. He does only as He pleases. He
does always as He pleases. He's God. If He didn't and couldn't
do those things, He wouldn't be God. He'd be a lesser God,
no God at all. He does what He pleases. It would
be to impugn His power and His wisdom to say He created this
world and now He doesn't control it. Now He doesn't rule over
it. The Bible said He does. He sits upon the circle of this
earth, I say afforded, and all the inhabitants thereof are just
like little grasshoppers down here. He's God. Thirdly, if the one who is being preached
does not demand payment for sin. And He's not God. God cannot just arbitrarily overlook
and forgive sin. He can by no means, Exodus 34
says, He can by no means clear the guilty. He can't do it. He's holy and just. Unchangeable. Unchangeably holy and just. His
name is holy. He's the holy one of Israel.
His name is holy. His law, like his nature, is
unchangeable. As I said before, every sin,
every transgression, every disobedience shall receive a just recompense
of reward. By nature, he must punish sin. Can't be otherwise.