If you have your Bibles, please
turn back to the text that the brother just read, Acts 17. Acts 17. I've titled this message, The
God of Holy Scripture. And as we know, most of the people
in this world today, the God of Holy Scripture is unknown
to most people. One preacher said long ago to
another preacher, he said, your thoughts of God are too human. Behind the pulpits of today in
false religion it's being preached that God's hands are tied unless
man helps him to accomplish his will. And they're looking to
their own religious works to save them. I know this because
I was there for most of my life. You would hear comments like,
Well, I'm going to wait a while, then I'm going to decide to get
saved after I get out in the world and do a few things. Or
I'm going to go get baptized, and they tell me when I get baptized,
I'll be saved. And there's all kinds of things
out there. If you'll take the first step, God will help you
take the rest. Someone once said, if I can take
that first step, I don't need God to help me to take the rest.
But that's the God that is worshiped in most of today's pulpits. The
God that is preached in most religious services today, he's
a disappointed, dissatisfied, defeated being. The last time
I was in an Armenian church, first thing the preacher said
when he got up was that God loves everybody, and that hell is full
of people that God loves. Preachers and false religion,
That's what it is. It's false religion. And that
is not the God of the Holy Scriptures. That's not the God that we worship.
Isaiah 43, 10, and 11 says, Before me there was no God formed, neither
shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and beside
me there is no Savior. And Paul's getting ready to tell
the people here. If you look in this chapter here,
look at verse 22 and 23 of Acts 17. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Morris Hill and said, you man of Athens, I perceive that
in all things you are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription. to the
unknowing God whom therefore you ignorantly worship. And listen
to what he says. Him declare I unto you today. Paul is getting ready to tell
them about the truth and the living God. You know the holy
scriptures speak of the triune God. Three persons all equal
but one God. It says, for there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, which is Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Our text
today is going to be taken from verses 24 through 26, and we
want to look at the three characteristics or attributes of the God of Holy
Scriptures. When we talk about the attributes
of God, we talk about His character. and to form a proper estimate
of God's character and ways is impossible for a man to fully
understand because he is God. God has given us a revelation
of his mind and in that revelation he plainly states, he says, for
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,
saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55, 8, and 9. But in our
text, we're going to see, in part, the sovereignty of God,
the solitariness of God, and the supremacy of God. The supremacy of God refers to
his absolute highest position of authority, meaning that no
one is above God, while sovereignty refers to God's active exercise
in that supreme power. You know, our God has absolute
control over all things, and he acts as he will over all of
his works. And when we preach of the solitarity
of God, we're preaching about during eternity's past, before
the beginning of time. God, in the unity of his nature,
the creative God, equal in three divine persons, he dealt all
alone. You know, when I was in religion,
it was often taught about God being in eternity. But you heard
very little about him being in eternity's past. He existed at
a time when there was no heaven, there was no earth, there was
no angels, there was no universe, there was nothing. No one but
God. And that was from eternity, from
everlasting during eternity's past. Now listen to this, God,
this is something that is a conflict in today's religious world, but
God was alone, He was self-contained, self-sufficient, self-satisfied,
and He was in need of nothing. Let's read our text here in verse
17, verses 24 through 26. Chapter 17, God that made the
world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven
and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped
with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing that
he giveth to all life and breath and all things, and hath made
of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on the face of the
earth, and have determined the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation. If creatures, if he had created
the heavens and the earth or created angels or human beings,
if they had been necessary to God in any way, they would have
existed from all eternity. But the creation of them, when
he did, it did nothing to add to his character or to his nature. Malachi 3.6 says, I am the Lord,
I change not. When we think of our Holy Father,
our Heavenly Father, how unto, it says in 2 Timothy, now unto
the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, and the only wise
God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. I once heard
a preacher say that God is under obligation to come to every human
being at least one time. But God was under no constraint,
no obligation, no necessity to create. And him choosing to do
so was purely a sovereign act on his part. But why did he do it? He determined
it, but he done it on account of his own good pleasure. He is of good pleasure. If you
will, look at Revelation 4.11. Please. As I said, he was under no obligation
to anything or anyone. Revelation 4.11 plainly states,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor, and power, for
thou have created all things. Why? And for thou pleasure they
are and were created. You know, most people don't like
to hear this, but God is God, and man is nothing. In his flesh,
there's nothing good about it, and we know that. But in God's
Word, he says that we are the clay, and he is the potter. And we are the work of His hands,
Isaiah 64, 8. And the Lord is absolute sovereign
in all things, creation, providence, salvation. And it says here that
the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and
the clouds are the dust of His feet, Nahum 1, 3. Back in our text in verse 24, It says here that God that made
the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven
and earth, dwelt not in temples made with hands. Our Lord's supremacy
and sovereignty is spoken of throughout the scriptures. And
it says in the book of Isaiah, it says that He sits on His throne,
the throne of the Most High. Isaiah 61 says, In the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord setting up on the throne,
high and lifted up. And we're talking about the God
of the Holy Scripture here. It says, For of him, and to him,
and to him are all things. In other words, in the beginning
God, in the center God, and the end God. If you would, we'll
look at Scripture, Revelation 1.8. The brother read it this morning,
but it's well worth repeating. Revelation 1.8. He says, I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which
is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. He is the Almighty God. If you would, turn over to Romans
11. It says, That one preacher said,
Your thoughts of God are too human. Romans 11, verse 33. It says, of the death of the
riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable
are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who hath
known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor,
or who hath first given to him, and it shall be reprehensed unto
him again. And for of him, and to him, and
to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. The late Charles Hayden Spurgeon
wrote, there is no attribute that is more comforting to his
children than that of God's sovereignty. And when we speak of his sovereignty,
as we said before, he is sovereign in creation, salvation, and in providence. And that's
something that brings me great joy knowing that. God is sovereign. It's not left up to me. God is
sovereign in providence. We are what we are by the grace
of God. But he said, there is no act to be more comforting
to his children than that of God's sovereignty. Under the
most adverse circumstances and the most severe trials, God's
people, they do, they truly believe that sovereignty has ordained
their affliction, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty
will sanctify them. There is nothing for which the
children ought more earnestly to contend than the doctrine
of their master over all creation, the kingship of God over the
work of his hands. The throne of God and his right
is set upon that throne. You know, in our text, in Acts
24, It says, God hath made the world and all things therein,
saying that he is the Lord of heaven and earth. He dwells not
in temples made with hands. You know, he says over in the
book of Daniels, I do it according to my will in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth. He is the Lord of
the Lord and the King of kings, both in the physical and spiritual
world. In verse 25, here it says, as
though he needed anything. You know, as we said before,
the solitariness of God. I've heard people say, it's not
what God can do for me, but it's what I can do for Him. But as
we said before, during the return of his past, the cry, God was
alone, he was self-contained, self-sufficient, self-satisfied,
and he was in need of nothing. And the only reason he chose
to create was because of his own good pleasure. And there
was nothing outside of himself to cause him to do that. And
then in the latter part of verse 25, He giveth to all life and
breath and all things. You know, everything that we
have in this life, it comes from the Lord. Whatever we are in
this life, it's because He's allowed us to be that. He has
absolute control over all things. I know that Jeremiah 9.23, it
says, Ves saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom. If a man has wisdom, it's because
the Lord gave it to him. And neither let the mighty man
glory in his might. If he's strong and young and
very healthy, God gave it to him. It's only because of him.
Then it says, let not the rich man glory in his riches. Regardless
of what he's got in his life, it's because God allowed him
the ability to obtain it. And the bottom line is, though,
it all belongs to him anyway. And then it goes on to say, but
let him that glory, glory in this, that he understand and
know of me, that I am the Lord. One thing that God's children
lust to glory in. What are we glory in? That verse
in Psalms 115. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name we give glory. Unto thy name we give
glory for thy mercy and thy truth's sake. If you will, look at Acts
26 here. It says, And have made of one
blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and have determined the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation. This verse here has special meaning
really for God's people. And the reason for that is that
we know that we are in His hands. It says in Ephesians 1, blessed
be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings. He's not going to.
He's already done it. In Christ Jesus. Why? In verse 7 it says, in whom we
have the redemption, whom we have the redemption through his
blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his
grace. You know, here's a short resting
place for our heart. Our lives are neither the product
of faith, nor blind faith, nor the result of chance, but every
detail of our lives was ordained from all eternity and ordered
by God. You know, as I said before, God
is the reigning king over all his creatures and all the seed
of Adam. Our Lord Jesus Christ is Lord
over all. In Philippians it says that every knee shall bow and
every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord and
the glory of God, the Father. But God has a people, a particular
people that he chose before the foundation of the world. And
that's something that the world has to hear. But he chose a people
before the foundation of the world according to his own good
pleasure, and he placed them in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And in a time that was appointed by the Father, the Lord Jesus
come into this world, and he come into this world to die for
his people, his chosen people. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, who have
saved us and called us with a holy calling. A holy calling, not
according to our works. And I thank God for that. We're
able to rest in His works. It's not our works, it's His
works. But according to his own purpose and grace which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world begun. You know, he that
made a woman was born of a woman. He was born under the law, and
that's why he came into this world, to be our substitute and
to die. as payment for our sins. You
know, all of God's elect understand this one thing. It's not about
us. It's all about Him. All about
Him. I love this over here in the
book of Colossians where it says in Him dwell all the fullness
of the Godhead body. And we are complete in Him. Too
many times I want to look at me and think, well, why me, Lord? He ain't got nothing to do with
me. He ain't got a thing to do with me. It has everything to
do with God, with our Lord. And then I love it where he says
there in the book of Corinthians, our first chapter, it says, but
of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has given us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. And in doing
so, it says, according as it is written, he that glory, lay
him glory in the Lord. We have no right to glory in
anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ. It says over in
the book of Psalms, O praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise
Him, all you people. For His merciful kindness is
great toward us, greater than we can even begin to comprehend.
And the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord. I thank God for that. I want
to leave you with one verse I found in Job chapter 21, verse 21.
You know, the Bible says that we are to grow in grace and in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he says, acquaint
now thyself with him and be at peace. That's the only place
there is peace, is in the Lord. Then it goes on to say, whereby
good shall come to thee. And I thank God for that. I pray
that that may have been a blessing to someone. Eddie.