Verse 5, Psalm 147, verse 5, Great is our Lord, and of great power, His understanding
is infinite. Let's pray together. Our Father, as we meet this morning,
we do thank You for the blessed privilege that we have to come
and approach You in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing
that in this place He is here. We are confident, having met
in His name, that by His Spirit, Lord, You teach. We ask You to
bless the Word to our understanding and cause us to hear. We pray
for Brother Scott, Brother Don, and for others, Lord, that are
in our midst that are sick and going through trials. Lord, You
know all these things. And we ask You, according to
Your good providence and counsel and will, Lord, have mercy upon
us. In these things we ask for Christ's
sake. Amen. As we continue our study in the
little series, the God that we worship, I would like to consider
the omniscience of God. That means the all knowing. Almighty God is incomprehensible. That means there is no limit
to Him, and we as frail creatures are absolutely incapable of knowing
Him in His fullness. We know Him, but we know in part. You consider Almighty God and
we are absolutely too frail, too ignorant to absolutely know
who He is. His omniscience. The more you
consider the Scriptures of who He is, His power, His holiness,
His knowledge. You're lost in the wonder of
what you're considering. He knows all things, all persons, all events, He not only knows
what will and will not happen because He's ordered all things. Why should He not know all things?
He works all things after the counsel of His own wills. But not only does He know what
will and will not happen, but He absolutely knows for a certainty what would have happened had
he so ordered things differently. I want you to turn to Matthew
11. Now you think about this. What will and will not happen,
the Lord knows. But what would have happened
had he ordered it differently. Matthew 11, verse 20. Matthew
11, 20, Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his
mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee,
Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For
if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, They would have repented long ago in cycloth
and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for thee." Now you think about what he just
said. He said, I didn't send the gospel
to Sodom and Gomorrah. I didn't send it to Tyre and Sidon. If I had,
they would have repented. You don't even try to start entering
in. Had I done it, they would have
repented. Had I sent it to Sodom and Gomorrah,
that city would have remained until this day. The Lord is gracious to whomsoever
He's pleased to be gracious. Salvation is by the grace of
God. If you this morning possess a
heart of love for Christ, a heart and a desire to hear His gospel,
to be obedient, to walk after Him, to hunger after Him, to
thirst after Him, It is by the grace of God that God showed
you mercy because He has the right to show mercy to whomsoever
He will. Now, all of these things, you
know this, have been ordained from before the foundation of
the world. God Almighty knew He has never learned anything. He has known eternally exactly
what He was going to do in time, what He would not do, what He
would withhold, how. We're just ignorant of the fullness
of God. Just considering the omniscience
of God. We've looked at God's holiness
and God's purpose. Lord willing, next week I'll
look at God's sovereignty. But you stop and think right
now what Almighty God knows. He knows when we speak before what we're going to speak. The wiser a man is, the more
he realizes how ignorant he really is. Said before a believer talks
like a believer. Or when you talk to a believer
and. These are the things that you
began to hear a believer say. I just I don't see myself as
able. I just I realized how ignorant
I. My. My inconsistency, and that's
how a believer talks. That's how a believer acts. A man is going to renounce his
own ability when God reveals to him Himself. Proverbs 3, 5
says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not
to thine own understanding. Just realize that He who has
known all things has eternally known you individually. He who is able to hear simultaneously
billions and give them absolute personal audience when Almighty
God He hears the heart and the prayer of His people. They are
speaking to Him and He hears. He knows. David said in Psalm 139, 1 and
2, O LORD, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest
my down setting and mine up rising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. When we sit down to read, to
pray, to meditate upon His Word, upon Him, He knows our thoughts before
we ever think them. It would be wise before you read
the Scriptures, before you ever begin and let your eyes rest
upon his word, ask him, Lord, would you help me? Help me to
read. You know why I say that? Because
I realize somewhat my desperate need of help. I found myself
reading sometimes and all of a sudden I'm at a passage and
I'm thinking, let me back up. Let me just start over. And then
the next time I read something, I didn't even remember reading
that. How incapable. The Lord told Peter, talking
about before you ever said it, He knew you were going to say
it. The Lord told Peter that all
of His disciples would be offended because of it. Peter said in
Mark 14, 29, Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended,
yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily,
I say unto thee, that this day, even this night, before the cock
crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. Three times, Peter, you're
going to deny me. And Scripture says that when
Peter Heard the cock crow the second time. He had denied Him
three times. He went out and wept bitterly. Where is a man going to hide
from the omniscient God? You're sitting here this morning
and you realize this. You're not hiding anything from
God. Men think that they they are
able to somehow kind of, you know, slip around, get away with
and stuff. Daniel 2.2 says, He revealeth
the deep and secret things. He knoweth what is in the darkness,
and the light dwelleth with Him. Psalm 139, 3 to 6. Psalm 139. Thou compasseth my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. There is not a word in my tongue,
O Lord, but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast
beset me behind and before, and laid Thy hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it. When I stop and realize He's known eternally every thought
that I would ever think, every thought of disobedience, every
thought of desire to be obedient, and the frailty of those thoughts,
my embarrassment whenever I say I want to seeking in His Word
and my failure within myself to do it. And then finding myself
in an apologetic way saying, Lord, I'm so sorry because I
know I haven't hidden anything from You. You know just exactly what I
was thinking. Oh, the knowledge of His omniscience.
What reverence that should cause us to have for Him. What respect. Nothing concealed. Not the outward acts. I'm not
talking about that. I can see the outward acts, but
the inward thoughts. Ezekiel 11 verse 5, For I know
the things that come into your mind, every one of them. Doesn't that make you just want
to be quiet? Just be quiet. Don't try to justify yourself
before God. He said, I know. I'm telling
you that as I was studying on this portion, the omniscience
of God, I thought to myself, Lord, what do I say? In that great
day of judgment, Revelation 20, 12 says the books were open.
The books of man's works? Yes. Oh, but my friend, the thoughts. Every idle thought. A man will give account for it.
Every insignificant, disobedient thought. But that thought be found under
the blood of Christ, forgiven, paid for, atoned for, covered. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. Lord, thank You for that. All
because, my dear friends, how frail, how empty, how nothing
I have to be able to answer for. in myself." The books were open,
and then the book of life to be found in him. The unbeliever should tremble. Listen to Hosea
7. And they consider not in their
hearts that I remember all their wickedness. The believer finds great comfort
though in closing in God's omniscience. Great comfort. That I know that He remembers
and sees and knows my frail thoughts. That in itself causes me to cry
out for mercy and say, Lord, please forgive me. Please forgive
me. I'm so sorry. But then to consider
also in that omniscience, listen to this, Psalm 25, 6,
Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies and Thy loving kindnesses,
for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth,
nor my transgressions according to Thy mercy. Remember Thou me
for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord. Almighty God knows all things
that He's purposed according to His will. Known unto the Lord,
Acts 15, 18, known unto God are all His works from the beginning.
We don't know what a day is going to bring, but I'll tell you what
we do know. We do know that He who is omniscient,
who knows all things. He who remembers that everlasting
covenant to show mercy to His people. Aren't you thankful that
Almighty God, who knows, beholds and sees that blood that
has everlastingly stood When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you." Lord, thank You for that great knowledge and for
the mercy that You've shown this frail creature. For Christ's
sake, Amen. Let's take a few minutes break.