Turn with me, if you would, back
to the book of Jude. I have something very specific
that I would like for us to look at this morning. I want us to
consider God and what belongs to him. That's what I want us to look
at. and what belongs to Him. That's
our subject matter. That's the title of this message.
One verse will be our text. It's verse 25. It says, to the only wise God,
our Savior, be glory and majesty Dominion and power both now and
ever. Amen. I love verses like that. I absolutely love verses like
that to the only wise God, our savior be glory and majesty,
dominion, and power both now and ever. Amen. That's our outline. We just looked at our outline.
We're going to go word by word through that verse. And from
this one verse, we're going to see Lord willing, we're going
to see God and what belongs to him. Men and women naturally do not
know this God. It is the reason for preaching.
God-ordained preaching because men and women naturally, meaning
how we are born into this world, how we all come forth into this
world, men and women naturally do not know this God. It is not in the nature of man's
flesh to know, as the scripture calls him, the true and living
God. Think about that. The true and
living God. But our Lord said in John 17,
this is life eternal. This is eternal life. That they might know thee, that
we might know him. There was a time when none of
us, none of us in this room knew the true and living God. But our Lord said, this is life
eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians
chapter three, oh, that I might know Him. That I might know Him. We need to know Him. We need
to know Him. We don't just need to know that
there is a God. We don't just need to know that
God exists. We need to know Him. We need to know Him. This is
life eternal. That we might know Him. He said
that He reveals Himself. God reveals Himself. So many people have no idea who
God is and they don't expect to ever know who God is until
they go meet Him and stand before Him. But we don't want to do
that. He reveals Himself to His people
through the preaching of His Word. This is why He ordained
preaching. The declaration of what He has
written concerning Himself. So for that reason, this morning
from His Word, I'd like for us to look at God, who God is. What a thing to know if somebody
came up and said, who is God? Who God is, what God has done,
where God is right now. God and what belongs to him. Now let's see what this verse
has to say about that. Verse 25, Jude verse 25, it says,
to the only wise God. What do we see in that? First,
we see that there is only one God. There is only one God. To the only wise God, there's
just one. There is just one, this word
says, and it is so true. It says that man has made up
in his mind. He's fashioned with his hands,
all kinds of little G gods. We read about them, little G
gods, the gods of men's hands, the gods of men's imaginations. And because there are so many
of them out there. That's what creates religious
differences between people. If everybody worshiped the one
and only true and living God, there'd only be one denomination.
That's all that's in heaven. One denomination. But because of all these imaginary
gods, these little G gods, it's created all these different denominations,
all of these different doctrines. And all that that is, is little
gods, different gods, little G gods. But all of those gods
are no gods at all. All of them. They are no gods
at all. Men and women are right now in
this town, in this state, in this country, all over this world,
worshiping gods who are no gods at all. Now, somebody is going to say,
why do you have to be so narrow minded? Really, that's how you're gonna
be? That's how you're gonna treat people? Why you have to be so
narrow-minded about that? Why can't you just let people
worship the God of their choosing? Here's the reason why. And I
say this, I believe with absolute sincerity, I believe I do, it's
because I care about people. If I did not care, you know,
if you don't love somebody, you won't tell them the truth. I sincerely worry about people.
My heart honestly breaks for people. It really does. So many men and women have no
idea that the God that they are, as the apostle Paul said, ignorantly
worshiping. As far as man is concerned, I
see good people, fine church going people, attending faithfully
a house of some type of worship. trying to live right and trying
to do right. And those people I believe are
kind to me and kind to others and I like them. And my heart
is for them. But based on the message that
is preached in the place they attend, they have no idea that
they are ignorantly worshiping a God who is no God at all. No God at all. And then when
those men and women leave this world and they go out into eternity,
they're gonna go out with no God at all. And when that happens, the Word
of God says, at that point, there is none to help. It is too late. You know, in Noah's day in the
flood, there was one ark. How many people do you think
just in case made boats? How many boats were already there? Noah and his family got in that
ark, and for seven days, God's mercy and God's goodness, Noah
was a preacher of righteousness for 100 years, 120 years, however
long it took him to build that ark. He was preaching God's righteousness,
his holiness, his justice. Be warned, there's mercy, there's
still time. Moses sat inside that ark for
seven days, and don't you know he was hollering through the
door, enter in while there's time. There's mercy in here. You need to get out of that boat.
There's one arc. There's only one arc. And once
the judgment falls, once God shuts the door, it's too late. The other boats won't float.
Don't you think that Noah had something in his heart for men
and women? Don't you think his heart was breaking for men and
women? Get inside this arc. You know the only reason Noah
and his family was inside the ark? You know the only reason
why? God put them there. Had God left Noah alone? Had
Noah not found grace in the eyes of the Lord, Noah and his family
wouldn't have been in that ark. How does a person get in Christ?
God puts them there. But the message goes out, there's
one God, there's one hope, there's one way. And when God in mercy
does a work of grace in the hearts of His people, they say, I hear
that and I'm coming to it. I'm coming to Him. So there's only one God. There's
only one God. This verse says, to the only
wise God, there's only one all-knowing, All controlling all doing God
only one. He said, I am the Lord Jehovah
and there is none else. There is no God beside me. All
right. Now, if that's the case and it
is, if that's the truth and it is. If that's the case, how can
we know? How can we know if we are worshiping
the true and living God or one of these false little G gods
made up in our mind, made up in our fashioned by our own will
and our own desire? How can we know? How can we know? Turn with me to Psalm 115. Oh, I love this Psalm. Psalm
115, verse one says, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but
unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Their idols, meaning little G
gods, these gods that they have fashioned, their idols are silver
and gold, the work of men's hands. And that's a key line right there,
the work of men's hands. The work of men's hands. They
have mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear
not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk
not. Neither speak they through their
throat. They that make them are like
unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them. How can we
know which God we're worshiping? How can we know whether or not
we're worshiping a false God? A false little G God can't unless
you do it for him. A false little G God Cannot unless
you do it for Him. Cannot. Can't see. He can't see all my sin. He can't
see what's not only on the outside, but on the inside. Can't hear. He truly can't save. You have to save yourself. Now,
you need to save yourself. They have hands, but they handle
not. He has no hands but your hands. Your hands are His hands. Feet, it can't walk. Now, He's
not coming to you. You got to come to Him. He has nothing to say. He doesn't
speak through his throat. You. Well, now, you know, God says,
but it's nowhere to be found. Where did he say that? No, no
words, no words of that God. And they that make them are just
like them dead, just dead, dead. A false God can't. unless you do it for Him. Now
that's how we can know the difference in the true and living, wise,
all-knowing, all-controlling, all-doing God and the many, many
false little g-gods who are no gods at all. No gods at all. Verse 3 says, Our God is in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. And the rest of those verses
say if you don't do it for Him, it's not going to be done. It's
just not going to be done. No God at all. There is only
one God. One true and living God. Now
here's the question. Who is it? Who is it? Who is the only God that there
is? Turn with me back to Jude. Jude verse 25, it says, to the
only wise God, our Savior. Our savior, who is the only God
that there is Jesus Christ, our savior, Jesus Christ. This is eternal life. This is
life eternal that they might know the only true God. Jesus Christ, our savior. When men and women think of Jesus
Christ as only being the middle man who can get them to God,
which is how a lot of people think. That's how they view him. They see him as the middle man
who knows the way and came to show the example of the path
to get them to God. When they bypass Him, when their
worship bypasses Him, He's kind of over to the side right here,
and they bypass the Lord Jesus Christ, and they imagine a higher
being than Him, a mightier, higher God than Him. When they do that,
they have missed the true and living God. The only wise God
that there is. And they are worshiping a false
God. They're worshiping the God of
their imagination. The God who has no image. The only wise God that there
is, is God our Savior. God our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn with me if you would to
1 Timothy chapter three. First Timothy three, verse 16,
it says, and without controversy, gray is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God, the only wise God, is the
one who was manifest in the flesh. John 1 says, in the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word
was God. And it goes on down to say, and
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. God himself is the
one who came down. God himself. As poor wretched
sinners, no God and no hope, it seemed there was no one to
help. But God, in His mercy, salvation supplied, emptied heaven,
and came down Himself, and a ransom was found." God Himself is the one who came
down, not God's helper, not God's second in command. The only God that there is Came
down. God came himself. You say, somebody will say, but
what about the father? But what about the father? Jesus Christ is the father. Hebrews 1 says, Jesus Christ
is the express image of His, the Father's person. Christ said, if you have seen
me, you have seen the Father. He said, I and my Father are
one. Isaiah 9, chapter 9, verse 6
says, a child is going to be born. A son is going to be given. What's his name? The everlasting
father. That's his name. Now, there are
three persons. Are there three persons? Absolutely. Is there a father? Yes. Is there
a Son? Yes. Is there a Spirit? Yes. Are there three persons?
Yes. But there's only one God. The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ
Himself. The Holy Spirit of God in us
is Christ in us. We talk about Christ being in
us. The Holy Spirit of God is Christ in us. There are three
persons, but there's only one God. Somebody will say, explain
that to me. I am trying to, but I can't. I
can't. I just cannot. All I can do is
declare it. If the Spirit of Christ will
give us faith, His faith, it's called the faith of Christ. If
He'll give it to us, we'll believe it. We'll believe it. But the true declaration all
through this word is our God is our Redeemer. Our Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel, the One who redeemed us is our God. And He's the only
God that there is. The only God that there is. Now
let's go back to Jude. And let's see what belongs to
the only God that there is. Jesus Christ the Lord. Okay,
five things. I'll be very brief with these.
Five things are mentioned back to back. Jude verse 25 says,
to the only wise God, our Savior. Our Savior. Number one, we belong
to Him. We belong to Him. All of His
chosen people that the Father gave to Him, we were lost, we
were ruined, just like every other sinner born into this world.
But He came to us, He sought us, He bought us by purchasing
us with His own precious blood. And the moment that that purchase
was complete, He said, you're mine. I bought you, you're mine. I'm yours and you're mine. And
all of his people cry, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Thank God we belong to him. Last Wednesday night, we looked
at Psalm 100, which says, know ye that the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. So enter into His gates with
thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto
Him and bless His name." And all of His people do. They do. All who worship Him and see Him
as their Savior and their God, the only wise God that there
is, all of them praise Him and bless His name. They cry, thank
God we belong to Him. We belong to him. That's the
first thing. Verse 25 says, to the only wise God, our savior,
be glory. All glory. All glory belongs to him. Glory means judgment. When you look up the word, it
means exaltation. Judgment and exaltation. God our Savior is highly lifted
up, highly exalted, and His name is above every name. At the hearing
of His name, every knee bows, every tongue confesses that He
is Lord. He is Lord. That means all the
glory belongs to Him. None of God's people try to share
it with Him. None of them. All the glory belongs to Him.
Psalm 115, we read it a moment ago. It said, not unto us, O
Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, give glory. Give all the
glory. So we belong to Him. Glory belongs
to Him. And verse 25 says, to the only
wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty. All majesty belongs
to Him. All of it. Majesty means greatness. It means fullness. All fullness
belongs to Him. All the fullness dwells in him.
All of it. The fullness of what? Name something. Just name something. If the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in him, that's what the word says, all
the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him. If the fullness of the
Godhead dwells in him, then what other fullness is there? but all fullness dwells in him."
The scripture says, oh, the length and the breadth and the depth
and the height, the fullness, the majesty, the
fullness of God's love. We talk about the love of God.
The fullness of God's love is in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
the days of Noah, God said, Noah built an ark. All of God's love
was inside that ark. All of it. If there was any recipient
of love, that recipient was gonna be inside that ark. And that's how it is with the
Lord Jesus Christ. All the fullness of the love of God is in Christ.
All the fullness of the judgment of God is in Christ. The fullness of God's wrath and
punishment on the sin of his people. I am a sinner. I wish I wasn't. And so did the
apostle Paul. But we are, and you are. And
my sin deserves judgment and wrath and punishment. It can't
be swept under the rug. God is holy and he must deal
with my sin. And all of his judgment on my
sin was in the Lord Jesus Christ. He poured out all of his wrath
on me and all of his punishment on me and everything I deserved. I got it in the Lord Jesus Christ. All the fullness of the majesty
belongs to Him. Number four, verse 25 says, to
the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion. All dominion belongs to Him.
You know what the word dominion means? Sovereignty. That's what it means. It means
control. It is the territory of a sovereign. That's what dominion is, the
territory of a sovereign. In Genesis chapter one, when
God said, let us make man in our image and let them have dominion
over the fish and the birds and the cattle and the creeping things.
When God said that, that word dominion means let them reign
over. Let's give them the right to
do with those others as they please to do with those others.
Let's give them dominion over them. Well, the lot is cast into
the lap, scripture says, but the whole disposing is of the
Lord. It's all of the Lord. And the truth is, there is only
one sovereign over all things and his name is Jesus Christ. All dominion belongs to Him. And the last thing that our verse
mentions this morning is verse 25 says to the only wise God,
our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion, and power. All power belongs to Him. That means not only does He have
the right to do what He will with whom He will, He has the
ability to do what He will with whom He will. All power. It means He has the force. He
has the strength. It means when He cried, it is
finished, it was finished. Salvation is finished. All that power was in His hands.
All of that ability was in His hands. He came to save His people
and He saved His people. He came to do something and He
did it. He had the right to redeem and
He did it. Salvation is finished. It's not
what I'm going to do to add to it. It's not what I'm going to
do to accept it. It's finished. He is not waiting on anybody. The message of a false God is,
now come on now. Come on, somebody get out of
your pew and come down here and do something and give your heart.
This is not the true and living God. The true, the message of
the true and living God is He did it. He did it. This all sovereign, all powerful
God has done it. He did it for a group of people
who couldn't do it for themselves. Why? Because of the fullness
of His love, because of His mercy, because of His grace, and He's
not waiting on anybody. Thank God He's not waiting on
me to accept Him. Aren't you so glad for that?
Because my flesh is wicked, sinful flesh. Thank God he's not waiting
on me to come to him. If you'll just come to him, he'll
have you. No, no, no man can come to him
except the father which sent him draw that man. And Christ
is the one who raises the man up at the last day. When he calls,
thank God we come. When he draws, we're drawn. and we're happy to be so. He has power even over our hearts
in the matter. The scripture says that He makes
all of His people willing in the day of His power, all of
them. So the only wise God, our Savior,
we belong to Him, glory belongs to Him, majesty belongs to Him,
dominion belongs to Him, and power belongs to Him. When will this belong to him
in closing? All right. Last question. Last
thought. This is it. How long will all of this belong
to him? The end of verse 25 says both
now and forever. Amen. I love saying that. I'm so glad
I get to say that. He shall reign over the house
of Jacob. Jacob, Jacob, sinner, sinner,
supplanter, trickster, Jacob. He'll reign over the house of
Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will
be no end. That's glorious. Let's all stand
together.