All right. Let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Micah. Micah, chapter 7. I'd like to read one verse of
scripture. Micah 7, 18. like unto thee, that pardoneth
iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage. He retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy. Who is a God? like our God. Now I've got three points that
I'd like to consider very briefly. Three points concerning who is
a God likened to thee. Three points, three things, three
truths that permeate all of scripture, three things that everybody,
everybody that's ever been born in this world is gonna consider
in this life or in the next. Here's my first point. It's gonna
be very simple, very simple. That's the way I like it. I like
to keep it simple. Who is a godlike unto thee? None. Who is a God like unto
thee? There is no other God but God. Scripture says in Mark 10, 18,
and there is none good but God. Who is a God like unto thee? There's none else because God
alone is good. He is good. God is good. Now, who is a God like unto thee? Except God. Nobody else. Nobody. Psalm 107,
verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Capital
L, capital O, capital R, capital D, all caps. Oh, give thanks
unto Jehovah. For he is good. He's good. I know we talk about
people, he's a good man. Oh, he's a good man. There's
none good but God. God almighty. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. And all that he has done, all
that he does and has done is good. I was looking in the
first book of the Bible, in the first chapter of Genesis 1. Seven times I counted in the
first chapter of Genesis, scripture declares that God saw in creation. All he had done was good. The Lord saw it was good. And God saw it was good. And God saw seven times it was
good And the reason that everything God did was good was because
God is good. God is good. I want you to just take your
Bible and turn to Genesis. Genesis chapter 2, verse 8. Genesis 2, 8. Genesis 2, 8. What God did for man in the garden Genesis 2, 8 and 9. And the Lord God planted a garden
eastward in Eden, and there he put man whom he had formed out
of the ground, made the Lord God to grow every tree that is
pleasant to sight and good for food, a tree of good and the
tree of life also in the midst of the garden and in the tree
of knowledge of good and evil. All that God is, is good. All that God does is good. God is good. And the Lord created man and
he planted a garden in this world. It was an especially prepared
place, a special place for man. And this garden, in this garden
was everything that was needful and good, which pictured the
provision of the Lord for his people. God Almighty made this
world to be inhabited. It's a place that is good in
creation. It was good. God is good. All the goodness of God toward
mankind. The Lord made man in his own
image and likeness. Let's make man in our own image
and likeness. That's good. Man. He allowed man to have dominion
over the sea, the fowl of the air, the cattle, every creeping
thing that creepeth up on the earth. He allowed man to... He gave man some responsibility. That's good. That's good. And God blessed everything that
He had made. He made everything that God made,
he made to be fruitful and to multiply and replenish the earth
for his glory and for the good of mankind. He placed man in
a garden. A garden of God's making. And
everything that God did was good. God saw it was good. He made
it, put man there. did it for his glory, for man's
good, because God's good. God is good. But in the midst of God's creation
for man, there was one stipulation that
was levied toward man. One stipulation. God is good.
Everything he made was good. It was perfect. God saw it. God said it was good. And if
God says it's good, it's good. There's one stipulation. And if this stipulation was broken,
it carried a severe penalty, severe penalty. Genesis chapter
2, verse 15, 17. And the Lord God took the man
and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it, to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the
man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day Thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Who is a God like unto thee? He is good, but he is just. God is good, and God is just. I want you to turn to Isaiah
45. Isaiah 45, 20, 21. Isaiah 45, 20 and 21. Assemble yourselves,
come drawn near together, that are escaped of the nations,
they have no knowledge, that set up the wood of their graven
image and pray unto a God that cannot save, tell ye and bring
them near, yea, let them take counsel together, Who hath declared
this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time
that have not I, the Lord, there's no God beside me, a just God,
and a Savior? There's none beside me. God is
good. God is good. God is just. God's a just God. He's a just God. God Almighty
had made all things needful for man's comfort, for God's glory. He had freedom, man did. He had
freedom with God's creation, but only as far as the Lord permitted. And man, in the midst of a place that
God had created that was perfect. It was good. God made it. God saw it was good. And in the
midst of that place that God said was good, man with his eyes
wide open to God's word with the Lord's
explicit command still fresh in man's ears when man was confronted with
temptation to disobey God. He did that very thing in a place
where everything was good. Everything
was of God. And in that place, when man was
faced with disobeying God, he did. He did it. Something that would seem to
our natural understanding, just listening right now, if you're
in a perfect place of God's making, God Almighty is in that place,
God made it, God saw it was good, and something that to our way
of thinking would seem to be unimaginable. We see here the evil of man being
left to his own will. I can't come to the depth, I
can't grasp hold of the depth of except that God Almighty ordained
it. He allowed it. He suffered it. He saved whatever you want to
say. God Almighty can stop anything. God Almighty can do anything
God wants to do. He's God. How did, in a place
like that, how could that have happened? He ruleth in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. Nobody stays his hand
but almighty God in his infinite wisdom and to display the infinite
immeasurable mercy of God. Man did just exactly what man
wanted to do. Why don't you just turn over
to Genesis chapter 3. Let's just look at verses 1 to
7, verses 3. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, yea, as God said, you shall not eat of
every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent,
we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit
of the tree which is in the midst of the garden. God has said,
you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you
die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, you shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the
day that you eat thereof, then your eyes will be opened. You
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both
were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed
fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. Man, in a place that was good, made
of God, man disobeyed God. And now we see, who is a God likened to thee? Who is a God likened to thee?
Well, he's a good God. He is a just God. He's just. God's judgment comes
with a penalty. He's a good God. He's a just
God. Exodus 34, 7 declares concerning
God and concerning disobedience, concerning evil. Here's what
Scripture says. This is Exodus 34, 7. I will
in no wise clear the guilty. I will in no wise clear the guilty. I wanted to know exactly what
that word clear meant. So it's best to look it up. I
will in no wise make them innocent or exempt. He's a good God. He's a just
God. I will in no wise, no possibility exempt them. Heard me say this before. God
didn't just sweep it under the rug. I will in no wise clear
the guilty. And are we not all guilty? How then Will we come before
God with any hope whatsoever of life? How are we going to
come before God? The Lord promised life for obedience
and death for disobedience. He said, I'm a good God and I'm
a just God and I will in no wise exempt you. I'm not gonna pass by. I'm not
gonna pass over it. God Almighty promised death. And every man now born into this
world is born bearing the penalty due of his sin. And he has nobody to blame but
himself. Nobody. Adam tried that. Eve tried that. Adam said, well, the woman. Well,
the circle. No. We're all guilty. God is good
and God is just. From the beginning, the just
and good God laid bare His goodness and justice before mankind and
He openly declared His reward for obedience and is justice
for disobedience. And there's not a person in this
room that's not guilty. We're all guilty. Everybody's
guilty. And God will, in no wise, clear,
exempt, pass over it, sweep it under the rug. You say whatever
you want to say. Make it sound the way you want to say it. We're
guilty. And in ourselves, we're liable. It ended right here. What can
man say except I'm guilty? I'm personally owed
what God Almighty says I'm going to receive if left to myself. Here's my last question. Who
is a God like unto thee? He's merciful. He's merciful. but not at the expense of his
justice. Not at the expense of justice.
I'm a just God. Now, this whole thing, this whole
message, you try to change any of the points, you try to, you
know, if God is just and you're guilty and God is just, you have
no hope You can't switch these truths around and say, well,
if you take this and put it over here, then if we take this and
we'll change it to here. But no, God is good. God is just. And that part right
there is what's going to get a man except almighty God does
what only God almighty can do. Job said in Job 33, and he is
gracious unto him and saith, deliver him from going down to
the pit. Now here's the wonder of salvation. I have found a
ransom. I found a ransom. Oh, what soul comforting words. God Almighty, has eternally beheld
the Lord Jesus Christ to be the ransom, the surety of his people. But how? You've heard me say this before. If you can try to make this to
be where I myself though I am truly guilty, and God just made a sacrifice and said, okay,
well, I'll have to, I'll apply it to you. If you could try to
make it, but that's not what the scripture says. The scripture
says, for he, that is God, hath made him sin for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Here's the only hope
that any sinner has got. God Almighty, who knew no sin,
who knew no sin. How many times have you ever
heard me say, He was not a sinner. He was not a sinner. He wasn't
made a sinner. He who is just and good was made
sin. He was made what we are. Christ Jesus was made to be the
guiltiness. These things we just believe
by faith. Before, I can't explain this. I can't explain the depth
of it. But He was made the guiltiness. made himself to be the one who is answerable. It won't be, well, I know he
did. I know he didn't do it. He knew no sin. I'll agree with
you. But when it says he was made
sin, What it's saying is he is made, he was made to be, without
being the sinner, he was made to be what we are. Made himself
to be the one who owed the debt. My iniquities are more than the
hairs of my head, he said. My iniquities. He took. He owned the debt before God. He owned it. He took it. He bore it. I don't know any
other way to say it. And by his own shed blood, which
was the payment due before God, what he made himself to be. He
brought his people out of the hands of the law's justice. And the debt he paid was the
ample debt for the guilt of his elect that he made himself to
be. Guilt that was made to be his
own guilt, and he knew no sin. Now, this is where the scripture
says, Psalm 85, 10, where mercy and truth are met together, and
righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Turn over to Exodus 33, I'm gonna
wrap this up. Moses speaking, Exodus 33. Exodus 33, verse 18, 19. Moses is speaking unto God and
he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. He said, I will make all my goodness
pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord
before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom
I will show mercy. You know who said that? The just
God who would in no wise clear the guilty. God Almighty did
not clear any guilty people. He was made to be what they are.
He didn't clear them. He was made to be what they are.
He didn't clear them. I will in no wise clear the guilty.
I can say that a hundred times and it'll never change. It's
the same. I will in no wise clear the guilty. He didn't clear us.
He didn't just say. He was made to be what we are. and all of the indescribable
mercy of God, whereby God himself can be just and justify a sinner. He can be just in dealing with
sin and justify a sinner. Remember what justify means?
I've told you before, I'll tell it again. I like to hear it again
too. No charge. No charge. There's no charge
here. Just and justifier is found only
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus bore the
guilt of his people, the people of his eternal choosing, and
paid their debt before the law. It was his debt. This is what
he owed by his own admittance. I made it to be mine. Made mine. And not only did he pay the debt
before the law, he also robed them in his own perfect, holy
righteousness. Wasn't play-like. That's what
I used to do, play-like. I used to play cowboys and Indians. I wasn't really a cowboy. I wasn't
really an Indian either. I just play-like. He didn't play-like.
He was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Oh, I love to rehearse this blessed
truth as it's clearly set forth in all the scriptures, that truth
that has been told from the beginning. Last scripture, you can turn
over to Genesis 3. Verse 20, this marvelous truth. God is good. God is just. But this glorious truth, God
is merciful. God is merciful. That message
right there, God is merciful, merciful, merciful, was set forth
even in the garden. Look at Genesis chapter three,
verse 20 and 21. Genesis three, 20 and 21. And Adam called his wife, his
wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all. Unto Adam also, to his wife did the Lord God make
coats of skins and clothed them. You know when God did that? Just
look, it's in Genesis chapter three. Whenever man fell in the garden,
God, who is good, set forth that he's just. And his indescribable mercy,
pictured in those skins, he made up coats of skins, he clothed
them. setting forth that which God
does for his people. He robed them in his perfect
righteousness. Robed them in that which set
forth his own sacrifice whereby he made himself sin. Robed them in skins. God is good. God is just. And God is merciful. Who is a God likened to thee?
passeth by the iniquity of the remnant of his heritage. Who is a god like unto thee?
There's none good. There's none but God. May God
bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake.