Do you know God?

Q: What does the Bible say about knowing God?

The Bible teaches that knowing God is essential for eternal life, as stated in John 17:3. The Bible clearly states that to know God is the essence of eternal life. In John 17:3, Jesus affirms, 'This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.' This knowledge encompasses not just an intellectual understanding, but a deep, relational knowledge that transforms a person's life. The emphasis is on knowing the one true God as He has revealed Himself, primarily through Christ, rather than through man-made religions or interpretations.

Q: Why is knowing God important for Christians?

Knowing God is vital for Christians as it establishes the foundation of their faith and shapes their lives. Knowing God is crucial for Christians because it forms the core of their faith. It is not merely about knowing facts about God; it's about having a personal and transformative relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. This relationship enables believers to trust in God's sovereignty, goodness, and love. As Greg Elmquist emphasizes, knowing God leads to life eternal and it empowers Christians to navigate the struggles of earthly life with the assurance of God's character and promises. Without this foundational knowledge, faith can become superficial and vulnerable to doubts.

Q: How do we know that God is sovereign?

The sovereignty of God is evidenced throughout Scripture, demonstrating His control over creation and salvation. The sovereignty of God is a foundational doctrine in Reformed theology, asserting that God is in complete control of all aspects of the universe. Scripture provides numerous examples, such as Ephesians 1:11, which states that God works all things according to the counsel of His will. Furthermore, passages like Romans 8:28 highlight God's providence, where He orchestrates events for the good of those who love Him. Understanding God's sovereignty gives believers confidence that nothing in their lives is outside of His control, and that He is working all things for His glory and their ultimate good.

Q: How does God reveal Himself to us?

God reveals Himself through Scripture, specifically through the person of Jesus Christ. God manifests Himself primarily through His written Word, the Bible, where He discloses His nature, attributes, and will for humanity. The ultimate revelation comes through Jesus Christ, as He is the perfect image of the unseen God (Colossians 1:15). In John 17:6, Jesus states that He has manifested the Father’s name to those given to Him, highlighting that knowing Jesus is equivalent to knowing God. Through preaching, teaching, and personal study of the Scriptures, believers encounter God and come to understand His character and purpose in their lives.

Q: What does it mean to have faith in God?

Having faith means trusting in God’s character and His promises revealed in Scripture. Faith in God, as outlined in Reformed theology, involves a deep trust in His nature—His goodness, holiness, and sovereignty. This faith is not merely a mental agreement but a heartfelt reliance on Jesus Christ as the only source of salvation. As Greg Elmquist points out, believers may not understand everything about God but they trust Him completely based on His revelation and promises. The assurance of salvation springs from the belief that God has done the work necessary for redemption and that He is faithful to uphold His covenant with His people.

Thank you, Joy. Look with me
in your Bibles, please, to Psalm 40. Psalm 40. I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard
my cry. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock
and established my goings." If the Lord's pleased to lift
us out of the miry clay of our own sin and place our feet on
the Rock of Ages, the Lord Jesus Christ, oh, what a blessing that
we'll have received a hymn here this morning. We'll read some
more from that in a moment. Tom's going to come lead us in
the hymn on the back of your bulletin. And if the Lord does what He
said in the first two verses of Psalm 40, then He will have
put a new psalm in our mouth. Even praise unto our God. We'll praise Him because we'll
know that He did it all. Many shall see it and fear and
shall trust in the Lord. blessed is that man that maketh
the Lord his trust now make sure you don't get that in reverse
don't don't don't read that if I make God my trust then he'll
bless me that's not what it says it says if you make God your
trust it's because he blessed you big difference and respecteth not the proud,
nor such as turn aside to lies." What is it to turn aside to lies?
It's to give heed to the false gospel. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done. and thy thoughts which
are to usward. Mercy and the grace of God is
toward his children. It's not towards the reprobate.
It's toward his people. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. Oh, we can't do
God justice in speaking of him, can we? Sacrifice and offerings thou
didst not desire. The Lord's not looking to you
and to me to make some sacrifice or some offering in order to
appease him or win his favor. He's not looking to us. Sacrifice
and offerings thou did not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. You
gave me ears to hear the gospel. You caused me to hear it. burnt
offerings and sin offerings has thou not required?" The only
offering that God requires is the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus
Christ made of himself to the Father for the sins of his people.
Then said I, here's Christ speaking, lo I come in the volume of the
book it is written of me These are they which testify of me.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the sum and the substance of all
the decrees of God and all the word of God. In the volume of
the book it's written of me, what does it say about me? I
delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my
heart. And because he delighted in that,
God was delighted in him. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest." Christ declared himself as our righteousness. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. Men, by nature, go about trying
to establish their own righteousness. They're ignorant of the righteousness
of God. I have declared thy faithfulness
and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness
and thy truth from the great congregation. Withhold not thy
tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy lovingkindness and thy
truth continually preserve me. for innumerable evils have compassed
me about mine iniquities have taken hold upon me this is Christ
speaking and he's calling the sin that God imputed to him on
Calvary's cross mine iniquities God made him who knew no sin
sin so that he owned them he offered himself up not for his
own sins but for the sins of his people but when charged to
his account they became his so that I am not able to look
up They are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart
faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded
together that seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be driven
backwards and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate
for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha, they wag
their heads. And they said, if he be God,
let him come down. Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such as love thy salvation. Do you love God's salvation?
To love God's salvation is to love the way God saves in Christ. say continually the Lord be magnified
let him receive all the praise and all the glory and all the
honor for he's done it all but I am poor and needy yet in spite
of my poverty in spite of my need the Lord thinketh upon me
thou art my help and my deliverer make no tearing oh my god verse 17 summarized says save
me save me truth is God's people never quit asking the Lord to
save them we don't look at our salvation
as a past tense event We don't say, well, I got saved. We don't
talk like that. We don't talk about our salvation
as if it was some sort of past experience that that's settled
down. Let's move on to something better. We're always needing
to be saved. Lord, save me. Let's pray. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we're so very grateful that you charged your dear son as our
sin bearer. You charged him guilty of all
the sins of all of your people and satisfied your divine justice
with the sword of your wrath. pleasing you to bruise him for
us. Lord, we confess to you right
now that our need is to be saved. Our need is to have you to manifest your glory
to us and cause us to find our hope, our salvation in Christ. We ask it in His name. Amen. Let's all stand together again. Wayne, could you check the back
air conditioning? I don't think this one's working.
I had it set on 72 and it's already 74 in here, so turn the fans
on. We open your Bibles with me to
the 17th chapter of John. John chapter 17. Do you know God? Do you know God? Do you know about Him? Do you know Him? Our Lord makes it clear in John
chapter 17 verse 3 that eternal life is summarized in knowing
God. If you have an interest in your
soul, if you have an interest in life eternal, if you have
an interest in life that's beyond this world, which is very temporal,
Somebody asked this morning how my foot was. I broke it, you
know, some time ago. And I said, well, I never did
heal right. It still hurts. I guess it's always going to
be that way. But I don't need it much longer. And that's true. That's really
true. I believe that. I'm not going
to need it much longer. And you're not going to need
yours much longer either. Do you have an interest? in life
that is eternal. Eternal life. If God puts that desire in your
heart, you'll believe that this life is truly a vapor. It's just not much to it. this is you see that in John
chapter 17 verse 3 this is life eternal now the scripture often
speaks of eternal life which is life after death with Christ
in heaven but here he's saying this is true life this is real
living and it's also eternal this is life eternal that they
might know thee the one true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. To know God is to have life,
real life and eternal life. I want you to know God. I want
to know God. I want to know Him. If we're to know Him, He's going
to have to make Himself known to us. He's gonna have to manifest
himself to us. No man of himself seeketh after
God at any time. Now people by nature are religious. All people are religious. Everybody's
got some form of religion. But that's not what we're talking
about. We're not talking about some sort of man-made religion
in order to worship the God of your imagination. We're talking
about worshiping the God who is, the true living God. You see that verse? This is life
eternal that they might know thee the only true God, the one
true God. This is not knowing some idol
that's been fashioned in your imagination. This is knowing
the one true God. If that's going to be, then verse
4 says, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. What was the work that
God the Father gave the Lord Jesus Christ to do? The salvation
of his people. That's the work he gave him to
do. He sent him here as our sin bearer. to suffer the wrath of
God's judgment for all the sins of all of God's people and establish
a righteousness for us that we could not establish for ourselves
you shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
I must be about my father's business it's finished he he finished
now he's our Lord is talking to the father this is the high
priestly prayer this is the Lord Jesus Christ interceding to God
for us and he's and he's praying that we would know God and he's
affirming to the father the basis on which this knowledge of God
is made and that is that he finished the work that the father sent
him to do he was confident have you ever finished anything I can say I've never, not really,
not really finished anything. You know, it's just always something
that could be done to improve anything I've ever done. Anything
you've ever done. When the Lord Jesus Christ said,
I finished it, you can't improve on it. You can't add to it, you
can't take away from it. He finished it perfectly so that
God was satisfied. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. God the Father sent the Lord
Jesus Christ in the full anointing of the Spirit of God to accomplish
the salvation of his people. And he's telling the Father,
Father that they might know thee because I finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. Verse 5, And now, O Father, glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was. In other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ is appealing to the Father to receive him back into glory. The Lord Jesus Christ stepped
down from his lofty throne of sovereign control and was dressed
in the likeness of sinful flesh, born of a woman, born under the
law. Born in this world as a man,
taking upon himself the form of a man, considering equality
with God not something to be robbed. He knew that he was equal
with God, but he made of himself of no reputation. He made of
himself a servant. And now he's saying, Father,
I finished the work that Thou sent me to do in the body of
this man, and now I appeal to You. to receive me back to glory
where I once was with you. I, verse 6, have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Who
does God manifest himself to? He doesn't. Our God's not a frustrated
God. He's not trying to save anybody. He's not manifesting himself
to everybody in the world, hoping that they'll be able to see.
No. He said, I have made myself known to those which thou gavest
me out of the world. And thine they were. They were
yours, Father. You gave them to me. I made you
known to them. Everything that you and I can
possibly ever know about God. I open this message by saying,
do you know God? Everything that you'll ever know
about God, you'll discover in the God-man, the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. When Thomas asked the Lord, show
us the Father, and it sufficeth us. The Lord Jesus Christ made
it clear to Thomas, have I been with you so long that you know
not that if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, for I and the
Father are one. God makes himself known to his
people in the person of Christ. So to know God is to know Christ. There's no difference. I have
manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out
of the world, thine they were, and thou gavest them me." God
the Father gave the Lord Jesus Christ in the covenant of grace
before the world began the names of those whom God chose. God elected a particular people
and he gave them to Christ as his bride. And now our Lord's
praying. He said, Father, thine they were,
thou gavest them to me. They were in the world, but I've
taken them out of the world and I've manifested myself. I've made myself. I've made you
known to them. Now they have known. How do I
know that I know God? They have known. that whatsoever
thou hast given me are of thee. In other words, they believe
that everything I've done and everything I've spoken came from
you. They believe that I am the way, the truth and the life.
They believe that no man comes to the Father except by me. They
just believe that. Why? Because I've manifested
that to them. I've made it known to them. for
I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me how much of God's word does a
believer have to believe to be a believer? how much? every word of it so you put too
much on believers no I'm not no I'm not believers They just
believe. That's the nature of a believer.
A believer believes. It just believes God, whatever
God says. I'm not saying that every believer understands everything
God says. Matter of fact, I would say you
don't really understand anything God has said, but you believe
it. You believe it. You can't fully comprehend it.
You can't understand it. You just believe it. When God does a work of grace
in the heart, he gives his people faith to believe. And they just believe what God
says. I have given unto them the words
which thou gavest me and they have received them. They just
believe it. It may be bitter to their belly. When the prophet took the scroll
and he ate it, he said, it was sweet like honey to my taste,
but when it got to my belly, it was bitter. And oftentimes
the word of God is like that, isn't it? The belly is a picture
of the flesh. And there's a conflict. there's
a conflict in the flesh there's a conflict between the spirit
and the flesh so that when we receive the word of God it's
sweet to our taste it's like honey but when it gets to the
belly oh it just creates it creates a conflict doesn't it doesn't
mean we believe it any less it just means that the word of God
exposes our fleshly nature so that the flesh warth against
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh so that we cannot be
what we would be long as we're in this body but we still believe
it or say I've given them your word and they've received it
they've eaten it they've believed it and they have known they've known
what do you know for sure what do you know for sure I mean for
sure You would rest your eternal soul
on this truth. What do you know for sure? I
don't know much. And there's very little I would
rest my soul on. Except what God has said. And
what Christ has accomplished. And I'm just... Well, I'm persuaded. Are you
persuaded? I mean completely persuaded that
He is able. His ability begins where yours
ends, but He's able. He's able. I have given unto
them the words which thou gavest me, they have received them,
and they have known surely that I came out from thee. They believe
that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's what
Philip asked the Ethiopian, didn't he? The Ethiopian said, after
hearing the gospel, he said, what doth Henry be baptized?
And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart. Do you
believe with all your heart? In other words, your loyalties
aren't divided. You're not hedging your bets.
You're not hoping in Christ plus. it's Christ alone that's what
it now believe with all your heart doesn't mean that you've
got perfect faith it doesn't mean you've got perfect faith
but it means that the one you have faith in is perfect and that he's the only one you're
trusting for your salvation Philip said if thou believest
with all thine heart thou mayest and what the Ethiopian said I
believe that that one you just preached to me from the book
of Isaiah, Isaiah 53, that suffering servant that you just declared
to me, I believe that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living
God. That's what the disciples said. Lord, we've got no place
else to go. When the Lord invited them to leave, he said, will
you depart also? And what did they say? Lord,
thou alone has the words of eternal life. And we know and are sure
that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. We don't
know much, but we know that. We believe you. You've made us
to believe you. We've got no place else to go.
What are we going to do in this? Where are we going to go in this
world? What answer does man have for my sin problem? What's religion
going to do for me? I've got a concern for my eternal
soul. I want to have life and I want
to have it eternally. Lord, I need to know you. If
I'm going to know you, it'll be by your word. I have given
them the words which thou gavest me, they have received them,
and have known surely that I came out from thee." They know that
Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one sent
of God into this world with the full anointing of God's Spirit
in order to accomplish the salvation of God's people. They just believe
that. They've got no place else to
go. this is life eternal that they
might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
has sent and they have believed that thou didst send me they
believe that would it be possible for God
Almighty to send his son into this world on a mission and somehow his son failed to
accomplish what the father sent him to do. It wouldn't be possible, would it?
It wouldn't be possible. Now, I mentioned that this is... Turn
to me to 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. This matter of knowing God, this
matter of having life and having it eternal, is not a matter of
knowing things about God. James put it like this, he said,
you believe that there is one God? You do well. That's a good thing that you
believe that. But you need to know that the devils in hell
believe that and they tremble. Just believing about God is not
knowing God. Knowing God is loving the things
that are true about God. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. verse 10 and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish because here's why men
perish here's why men go to hell here's why men live their lives
in this world deceived and died deceived because they had no
love of the truth that they might be saved. So
knowing God is having a love of the truth. To end with God, one must begin
with God. If we're going to, do you have
an interest in ending your life in this world with God? Do you have an interest in that?
If you do, then you must begin with God. Do you have an interest
in having some hope and understanding as to the circumstances of your
life? then you must begin with God isn't it amazing that God's Word
begins and ends with God Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 in
the beginning God and Revelation chapter 22 before the benediction
which is the very very last word verse but the verse before that
our Lord Jesus Christ speaks and he says surely I come quickly
amen amen this book begins with God and
ends with God For us to end right, we have to begin right. What
did John say in response to what the Lord Jesus Christ said? Surely
I come quickly. Amen. And John said, even so
come Lord Jesus. Come. You're my life. You're my hope. Come. God is the cause. and the conclusion
of all things revelation chapter 4 verse 11
says thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power
for thou hast created all things in the beginning God created
and for thy good pleasure they are and were created So God is
the cause of all things and He's the conclusion of all things.
He's the one who made us and He made us for His glory. Now I have five brief points
to make about knowing God. About loving God. Knowing Him for who He is. not
for who you might imagine I noticed Wednesday night they finally
took it down but right down here on OBT before you get to Maitland
Boulevard right there at the intersection of Maitland and
441 for months there was a huge black billboard up there and
the billboard said Jesus is and a line with a period He's anything you want Him to
be. You got a financial need? He'll be your bank. You're stressed
out? He'll be your therapist. You
got problems in a relationship? He can fix that. You're sick? He'll be your doctor.
Whatever you want Him to be, He'll be for you. Jesus is blank. He's just, He's just subject
to whatever you want Him to be. That's men's view of God. What
I'm saying to you right now is that God is who He is, not who
we make Him to be. Let men in the imagination of
their own minds fashion a God that is altogether as they are
themselves. That's what men do. But the God
who is doesn't change. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He is immutable. He doesn't mutate. He is immutable. So it's incumbent and necessary
for us that we have him manifest himself to us for who he is. Not for who we want him to be
or who we think he should be, but who he is. And that's what
this book is all about. God making himself known in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ to his people father I have manifested
by name unto them which thou gavest me out of the world all
Lord I wanna know you I don't wanna I don't wanna be guilty
of idolatry I wanna be guilty of just fashioning in my mind
that Jesus that somehow you know I just at my whim? To be whatever I want him to
be? Here's what our Lord said, I
change not. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. The immutability of God is the
basis of our hope. that God would have established
in eternity past a covenant of grace to save a particular people
and that nothing any of those people do or don't do can change
that covenant grace? That's the immutability of God.
I mean, I'm as mutable as anybody. Are you mutable? Do you find
yourself, circumstances, you know, you can be happy, you can
be sad, you can be glad, you can be down the dumps, you can
just, you know, you can be committed and you can be not committed.
It's just, you know, you just, we're just so fickled, aren't
we? We're just up and down. Our lives are like a roller coaster,
I mean, we just... And if our salvation is determined
by anything in us, we're in trouble. You know, you'd be on the top
or be on the bottom. I change not. Nothing you do
changes what I've decreed and what I've purposed in saving
a people. What the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
on Calvary's cross can't be changed. It can't be changed. Everyone
for whom he died was redeemed at his death. That can't be changed. You can't
change it. The Old Testament speaks of it
as the decrees of the Medes and the Persians. God's written it
down. He's etched it in stone. It cannot be changed. Do you love a God who is immutable? Do you need a God who changes
not? Do you need a God, if he did change, he'd have to
consume you. The world has a mutating God. Oh, he loves some at some time
and loves them less at other times. He wants to save everybody,
but his hands are tied because he can't really accomplish what
he wants to do. He just, well, 2 Thessalonians,
that passage we just looked at about loving the truth. The previous
verse to the one we read says that man has set himself up on
the throne of God and worships himself as God. Now that's just
what men do. The God who is, is immutable. He changes not. And I'm so thankful
for that. I need a God. who never changes,
who's always the same, and who loves me the same regardless
of how I am. Secondly, I need a God that's
God. Do you need a God that's God?
Do you love God being God? Now what I'm saying to you, you
know, people say that Jesus is God they'll say Jesus is Lord
and then they will strip him of his deity by making him subject
to man that verse that I just tried
to quote in second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 4 man opposes
and exalts himself He opposes himself and he exalts himself
above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that
he as God sitteth on the temple of God showing himself that he
is God. That's just what men do. Men
make themselves to be God. They make their will to be sovereign. They make their works to be effectual. The God who is, is God. Which just simply means that
you and I aren't. He's God in creation. This world
is so consumed with man-made global warming and evolution
and All this foolishness that man has come up with, believing
himself to be somehow in control of creation, the radical environmentalist
has stripped God of being God when it comes to creation. And
I can hear the fundamentalist right now saying, Amen, preacher,
tell him. Well, God is God not only in creation,
but He's God in providence. He's God in providence. Whatever
he's ordained is right. And he hath done whatsoever he's
pleased to do. The old hymn writer said, whatever
my God ordains is right, his holy will abideth. Whatever my
God ordains is right. He never will deceive me. He
leads me by the perfect path. I know, I know He will never
leave me. Whatever my God ordains is right,
though now this cup in drinking may bitter seem to my faint heart. I take it, unshrinking. Moses put it like this in Deuteronomy
chapter 32 verse 4, he is the rock. His work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment,
a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. Our God is immutable. Our God
is sovereign. He's sovereign in creation. He's
sovereign in providence. and he's sovereign in salvation,
aren't you glad? Aren't you glad that God predestinated
a particular people according to his own good pleasure and
will before the foundations of the world? Aren't you glad that
Christ successfully redeemed those whom God chose? That he sovereignly saved his
people? Aren't you glad that the Holy
Spirit is sent in power to make you willing and to fetch you,
to open the eyes of your understanding, to regenerate you, to give you
the gift of faith and cause you to come to Christ? Aren't you? If he wasn't sovereign in salvation,
we wouldn't be saved. If he depended upon us to make
any contribution in the salvation of our souls, we would leave
this world without God. He's sovereign in keeping us
and presenting us faultless before his throne. Our God is immutable. Our God
is God. He's omnipotent. He's all-powerful. The God who is, is holy. He told Moses in Exodus chapter
3 verse 5, put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place
where thou standest is holy ground. What made that holy ground? God
was there. God was there speaking to Moses
from that burning bush. That bush that was burning with
fire and yet not being consumed. A picture of the Lord Jesus Christ
on Calvary's cross. That was Christ speaking to Moses.
Burning with the fire of God's wrath and yet not being consumed.
Satisfying God's justice. A holy God. He's separated from
us. He's not like us in any way. When Isaiah saw Him in Isaiah
chapter 6, He declared what the seraphim were hailing as they
hovered over the throne of Christ. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts. Heaven and earth is filled with
His glory. He's holy. He's holy. He's not
like us. turn to me to Isaiah chapter
40 look at verse 13 Isaiah chapter
40 verse 13 who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being
his counselor, hath taught him. With whom took he counsel? And
who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment,
and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, look at this, consider
this, the nations, the nations, this is God speaking. The nations
are a drop in a bucket to him, as counted as a small dust in
the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles
as a very little thing, and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor
the beasts thereof sufficient for a burn offering. All the
nations before him are as nothing, nothing. And they are counted
to him less than nothing vanity. Our God's holy. This is the God
that is. The God that is, is not wringing
his hands in heaven. The God that is, is not frustrated. He's not desperate. He's not
anxious for men to let him have his way. He's not dependent upon
you or me to add anything to him. He's the glorious I am. He's self-sufficient. Look at
verse 25 of that same passage. To whom, then, will you liken
me, or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One? This is God speaking. He's immutable, He's sovereign,
and He is holy. listen to me carefully he said
you can't fashion with your hands anything in my likeness don't
do it God reveals himself to his people
by his word you know the I guess it's a Chinese proverb
that says a picture tells a thousand words. You know that's just the
opposite of the truth. That's just the opposite of the
truth. The truth is a word tells a thousand pictures. The power is not in a picture,
the power is in the word. Let me illustrate that. One word, fire. I don't know
how many people we've got here, but there's that many pictures
going on right now in your mind. Some are thinking of a match,
some are thinking of a house on fire, some are thinking of
a building on fire, some are thinking of a little campfire.
You see? Fire. You see what I'm saying?
And now, even as I make those illustrations, your pictures
are changing, aren't they? The Word gives a thousand pictures,
not the other way around. God uses His Word to reveal who
He is. He said, thou shalt not make
any graven image of any likeness of anything that is in heaven. Now, you know what the height
of blasphemy is? To take a sinner like you or
me, put long hair on him and some sort of puppy dog eyes,
and place him in a first century setting and call him Jesus it's the height of idolatry I hope I know you already know
this but I'm just affirming what Hollywood has done this week
and releasing a movie called The Son of God. It's blasphemy. It's absolute,
total blasphemy. And it ought to offend you to
see them dress up a man and call him Jesus? He's holy! You can't fashion
him into the likeness of anything in this world. He makes himself
known to his people by his word, through preaching, through the
gospel, and by his word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
comes by the word of God. Our God is holy. He's immutable,
he's sovereign, he's holy, and he's just. He's just. He said he will by no means clear
the guilty. His holiness will not allow him
to overlook sin. There is no God else beside me,
a just God. A just God. Our sin must be paid
for. God can't overlook it. He can't
sidestep it. He can't just ignore it. It has
to be paid for. Every sin will be paid for. And so the next verse says, look
unto me and be saved all ye ends of the earth for I am God and
there is none else. I'm a just God and a savior. God almighty satisfied his divine
justice when he made the Lord Jesus Christ to be the sacrifice
for our sins. God is immutable, God is sovereign,
God is holy, and God is just, and God is love. His love. God is love. Herein is love,
not that we love God, don't measure love by our love for God, but
that he loved us and gave his son as a propitiation for our
sins. Greater love hath no man than
this, that he lay down his life for his friends. The demonstration
of God's love is seen in the sacrifice of Christ for his people.
There's the love of God. People like to talk about unconditional
love. God cannot love you unconditionally. He cannot. He can only love in righteousness. He said, I hate wickedness and
I love righteousness yes nothing can separate us from the love
of God but the love of God is only in Christ Jesus it's conditioned
the love of God is conditioned on the person and accomplished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ herein is life eternal that they
might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou
hast sent. Do you love the God who is God? The God who doesn't change? The God who is holy, separate
from sinners? The God who demands justice? and the God who has demonstrated
his love in the sacrifice of his son. That's the gospel. To end with God, one must begin
with God. That's who God's manifested himself
to be, at least in part, isn't it? pray the Lord would give
us the love for Him. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we're so very thankful that you've not left us to the
devices of our own perverted, darkened imagination. We're thankful
that you're not counting upon us to make a contribution to
our salvation. We're thankful that we have an
advocate in heaven, Jesus Christ, the righteous one, who ever lives
to make intercession for us. We rejoice in believing that
thou art God and that there is none else. We rejoice in knowing
that thou art holy and just, that thou art unchanging. and that thou art a God of love,
conditioned on the sacrifice of your dear son, the one who
was slain before the foundations of the world, the one in whom
we have life eternal. We thank you for this table and
how it reminds us of his life and the sacrifice of his death. We pray that you would give to
your people faith now as they receive it. We ask it in Christ's
name. Amen. I'll ask the men if they'll
come and distribute the bread and the wine. We're going to
sing number one in the soft back tenor. You can remain seated. See-

Do you know God?

What does the Bible say about knowing God?

Why is knowing God important for Christians?

How do we know that God is sovereign?

How does God reveal Himself to us?

What does it mean to have faith in God?

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Do you know God?

What does the Bible say about knowing God?

Why is knowing God important for Christians?

How do we know that God is sovereign?

How does God reveal Himself to us?

What does it mean to have faith in God?

Sermon Transcript

About Greg Elmquist

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