Alright, go with me if you would
back to Psalm 48. Psalm 48. The definition of the
word gospel. We are here to preach the gospel. We are here to hear the gospel
and believe the gospel. The definition of the word gospel
is good news. That's what the word means. It
means glad tidings, glad tidings. And that's what I have for us
this morning. I have wonderful news, wonderful news. Look with me, if you would, at
verse 14, Psalm 48, verse 14, it says, For this God is our God forever
and ever. He will be our God even unto
death. This God is our God forever. That is wonderful news. That's
wonderful. That is glad tidings. This God of the Bible, This God
is our God forever. Just think about that. Enter
into that forever, forever. This God is our God forever.
Now, there are some things that we can know based on the wording
of this verse. Just in breaking down the wording
of the verse, the first thing is, He is speaking of a specific
God. He said this God. He's speaking
of a very particular God. The second thing we can know
is this God is not everybody's God. This God is not their God. This God is the God of a very
particular people, a specific God. of a specific people. This God is our God. The third thing that we can know
is this God truly is God. I mean God. Nothing and no one
can dethrone Him. Don't you love knowing that?
This God is our God forever. Forever. He said, and ever. If forever is not long enough,
add and ever. Forever and ever. Now, I want
us to spend the majority of our time on the two words, this God. This God. We're gonna spend most
of this message on those two words, this God. I want us to
know who our God is forever. I want us to get to know him.
That's the goal of the message this morning. I want us to get
to know Him. How can we know Him? How? What is the only way that we
can know Him? The answer is through His Word. That's the only way through His
Word. This God, this God right here
has declared who He is in His Word. If the God, if the little
g God, as we read this word, we're going to see the name God,
little g, lowercase g. If the God that, that man, men
and women, If the God that men and women worship, the God that
they worship in their mind, in their heart, if their God does
not match the description that is given in this word, as we
search through this word, if the God of men and women does
not match the description of this word, their God is not this
God. And if their God is not this
God, their God is no God at all. No God at all. So our hope of
salvation and our good news is only in knowing that this God
is our God forever. That's the only place that salvation
is. That's the only place that hope
of eternity is in knowing that this God right here is our God
forever. Now, who is this God? Who is
this God? We're going to skim the Word
a little bit. We're going to let the Word tell
us who this God is. We're going to let God tell us
who He is. This is the Word of God. I will
tell us that as we read this Word, we need to know that God
is the Lord. God is the Lord. That's what
Psalm 118 tells us. God is the Lord. So whether we read God is or
whether we read the Lord is in both cases, the word is speaking
of this God in both cases, the God who is our God forever. Now
let's start with this right here. Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45, verse 20. It says, assemble yourselves
and come. Draw near together, ye that are
escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that set
up the wood of their graven image. This image that they've made
up in their mind, imagined. They have no knowledge that set
up the wood of their graven image and pray unto a God. You see that lowercase G? They
pray unto a God that cannot save. Multitudes of people are doing
that right now. Multitudes of people are praying
unto a God of their imagination that cannot save them. Verse
21 says, tell ye, tell them, you tell them, and bring them
near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there
is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior." A just God
and a Savior. There is none beside me. There
is none beside me, he said. There are countless, and I mean
countless. I don't think they could be counted.
Countless little g-gods that cannot save. Countless. They exist in the minds of men
and women all throughout the world. In great error, in not knowing
the scriptures, that's the great error, not knowing the scriptures,
men and women have made up in their mind what they imagine
God to be like. Everybody has. They have it in
their mind, they imagine what they think God is like. And in the process of doing that,
men and women have formed in their mind a little man-made
God, a little idol. You hear about men bowing down
and worshiping their idols in the Old Testament and you think,
well, we don't do that here. Oh, but we do. Men and women
have made a little idol in their mind. They've imagined, they
say, well, this is what I think God is like. Well, I think God
is like, that's an idol in the mind. That's all that He is though,
an idol in the mind, that little G God. He's just a God that cannot
save. Men and women are imagining,
they're praying to, they're worshiping a God that cannot save. There is only one true alive
God. There is only one living God. This word tells us exactly who
it is. Exactly who it is. I want to
know who it is. I want you to know who it is.
So let's continue in the word so we can for certain know who
he is. All right. Turn with me now to
numbers 23. Numbers 23 verse 19, it says, God is not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should repent, that he should
change his mind. Hath he said and shall he not
do it? Or hath he spoken and shall he
not make it good? Here's the first thing that we
need to understand about this God, the God. Here's the first
thing we need to understand about him. God is not a man. Now, we're gonna see in just
a moment that God made himself to be a man. He prepared a body for Himself. God did. He took upon Him the
likeness of sinful flesh. He made Himself to be in the
form of a man. And that's the form that He's
still in to this very day. That's still His form to this
very day. But God in His person is nothing
like a sinful man. Nothing. Men and women hear that
man was made in God's image. That's what Genesis says. Man
was made in God's image. So they assume that God is like
man. If man was made in God's image
and they can see man, they think they can see something of God
in man. God is nothing like sinful man. Nothing. Psalm 99 says God is
holy. God is holy. We're not. Not in
this flesh, we're not. We're sinful. We're wretched.
We're the exact opposite of holy. God is holy. We just read in
Isaiah 45 that God is a just God. Man is not. Not in His flesh,
He's not. 2 Chronicles 12 says, the Lord
is righteous. Righteous. What all that means is the Lord
God is perfect. That's what it means, perfect.
It means He is spotless. He is pure. He is right. Everything He does is right.
Inside, out, nothing but right. Shall not the judge, the just
judge of the earth, do right? That's all He can do is right. Because of that, all of His ways
are spotless, perfect, pure, right, everything. Isaiah 55
says, His thoughts are not our thoughts. Whatever we think about
something, well, I think, that's not what God thinks. His ways are not our ways. Normally when we see His working
hand in something, we in our flesh say, that's not how I would
have done it. His ways are not our ways. As the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways
and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. When we in our mind imagine Him
to be like us, this is what we do. We bring Him down. When we imagine Him and we try
to fit Him into the mold of what we think He is, when we try to
compare Him to a sinful man, oh, we bring Him so far down.
Our tongues lie. God is not a man that He should
lie. God is never told one lie. Never. It's not a possibility.
Cannot lie. God who cannot lie. Our minds
change. That's all we do is change our
mind. That's all we do. Not Him. We are as weak and we
are as unstable as water. Not Him. God is nothing like
that. Nothing. We try to do things. We hope to do things. Sometimes
we succeed, sometimes we don't. God is nothing like that. Nothing. He said, right here, he said,
if I said it, it'll be done. He said, all my counsel shall
stand. He said, I will work and no one
can stop me. I love this God. I hope you do
too. I love this God. Whatever this
Word says He is, He is. Whatever it says He is, He is.
Turn with me now to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse
23. It says, take heed unto yourselves,
lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which He
made with you, and make you a graven image. He said, take heed. Don't
imagine something God's not. Don't make a graven image. Or
the likeness of anything which the Lord thy God hath forbidden
thee, For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous
God. What does he mean God is a consuming
fire? What does he mean by that? Look
at Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy 6 verse 13, it says,
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God. That's an amazing statement. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy
God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name. You shall
not go after other gods. He said, don't do it. You shall
not go after other gods of the gods of the people which are
round about you. For the Lord thy God is a jealous
God among you. Lest the anger of the Lord thy
God be kindled against thee and destroy thee from off the face
of the earth. Destroy me from off the face
of the earth. Somebody will say, well, that's
not the God I had made up in my mind. I know. I know. Somebody else will say,
yeah, but that's the Old Testament. You're back there in the Old
Testament. God's not like that anymore. God has changed. That
was the God then. Well, not only did this God say
in Malachi 3 verse 6, I am the Lord, I change not. Not only did he say that, but
along with that, turn with me over to Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 30. Hebrews 10 verse 30
says, For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto
Me. I will recompense, saith the
Lord. Do you see that capital L, lower
case O-R-D? We're going to find out who that
is in just a moment. I will recompense, saith the
Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. This New Testament
current today God. This God. Look with me at Hebrews
12 verse 29. Hebrews 12 29 says, For our God. This God is our God. Our God. Our God is a consuming fire. This God has not changed. In spite of the fact that many
men stand in pulpits and lie to people and tell them God has
changed. God has not changed. Look at Hebrews 13 verse 8. It
says, Jesus Christ The same yesterday and today
and forever. The same, the same. Exodus 15 says, the Lord is a
man of war. In Deuteronomy 32, 39, this God
said, I kill, I make alive, I wound, I heal. I'm the God that executes justice. I'm the God. I'm the just God. Psalm 7 verse 11 says, this God
is angry with the wicked every day. Psalm 75 says, this God
is the judge of all mankind. And he's going to judge man for
his sin. Second Thessalonians 1 says, this God is coming back
With his mighty angels, people talk about his return. One day
he's coming back. He's coming back. Well, when
he comes back, second Thessalonians one, you read it. Second Thessalonians
one says he's coming back with his mighty angels. All of them,
an innumerable number of mighty angels in flaming fire. to take vengeance on them that
know not God, this God, and have not bowed the knee to Christ. It says He is going to punish
them with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of His power. Can we see that this God is not
the God of man's imagination? When you go around and talk to
people, And you, in the course of conversation, find out who
do you believe God is? What do you think God is like?
Can we not see that the God of the Word is not the God of man's
imagination? Man has imagined a weak God like
him, like man. Well, I'm weak and I'm made in
God's image, so God must be weak. He must need my help. Man has imagined an unjust God,
like he is, like man is, who will turn a blind eye to sin.
That's what man will do. Oh, let's just forget about that.
That's what he imagines God to be. Man has imagined a God who
is trying to do things, but he has to get man's permission first. Because that's what man has to
do. Man can't hardly do anything without getting permission first.
So he thinks God has to get permission first. And he's just hoping that
the devil won't mess everything up in the process. That God is
not this God. That God is no God at all. No
God at all. This God is our God. This is the God with whom we
have to do. And He is a just God. That's what we read and clearly
He has proven that to us. He is a just God. He is a just God. But here's
the truth. That's not all that He is. That's
not all that Isaiah 45 said about Him. It said this God is a just
God, thank God, and a Savior. He is a just God and a Savior. If this was not in the Word of
God, I would not be able to preach this to you. But thank God it
is. This is what He has revealed
about Himself. About who He is. This is what
He wrote. This God is the Savior. Men are looking for salvation.
They're looking for the Savior. The Savior is this God. The Savior is this God. We're
searching the scriptures to find out who this God is, this just
God, this God of little G gods. Who is this God exactly? Who
is it exactly? Who is He exactly? Turn with
me over to 1 Timothy 3. Back just a few pages to 1 Timothy
3. First Timothy 3 verse 16, it
says, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. Do we enter into that? Do we
understand what that's saying? was manifest in this flesh. Who
is this God? The God of the Bible, the God
from the beginning, this just God and holy God. Who is this
God? Isaiah 7, 14 says, behold, a
virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name
Emmanuel, God with us. God with us. Isaiah nine, verse
six says unto us, a child is born unto us. A son is given and the government
shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful
counselor, the mighty God. The everlasting father, the prince
of peace, the mighty God. People have it in their mind.
They've made it up in their mind that Jesus Christ is just God's
son. Absolutely not. He is the son
of God. He is the son of God. The father
is the father of God. Think about that. The Father
is the Father of God. The Spirit is the Spirit of God. These three are one. God is three
equal persons. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, if
you have seen me, you've seen the Father. To see Christ is
to see God. Isaiah 40 said that John the
Baptist would come. Isaiah 40 was prophesying of
John the Baptist. It said he would come and he
would prepare the way he would announce the coming of the Lord. That's what he would do. And
what was John told to announce? What was he told to say? Behold
your God. That's what he was told to say.
You tell them, behold your God. John 1 verse 1 says, In the beginning
was Christ the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. Verse 14 says, And the Word God. was made flesh and dwelt among
us." God came down. God came down. Hebrews 1 verse
8 says that, God the Father said to God the Son, Thy throne, O
God, is forever and ever. It's what the Father said to
the Son. This God, the just God, the Savior, is our God. He is our God. He's our God. Now, how do we know that He's
our God? How do we know that? How can
we say that? How can we say that? How can we be so sure and so
confident as to say He is our God? Look across the page here
with me at 1 Timothy 1 verse 15. It says, this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. How do we know that He's our
God? It's because this God says He is the God of sinners. That's how Paul could say, I
know, I'm sure, I'm certain, I'm persuaded that this God is
my God because he said He came to save sinners and that's what
I am. He said, I'm the chief. I'm the
worst. I'm the worst of the worst. He
has to be my God. It pleased the Lord to make sinners
His people. Sinners. Now here's the question.
Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? Answer that
in your heart. Answer that in your mind. Take
just a moment. As the scripture says, examine yourself. I'll
examine myself. Let this question come to you.
Give an answer. Are you a sinner? And not just
a little sinner. A head-to-toe, in-and-out, filthy,
ruined sinner. Are you a ruined, wicked sinner? Are you wicked? In your flesh,
are you wicked? If a person says, no, which I
have very sadly heard often. You'll hear that often, no, no.
If a person says no, then that person cannot say that this God
is his God. Can't do it. That person cannot say that this
God is his saving God and his calling God because this God
came to save sinners. This God came to call sinners. He said, I did not come to call
the righteous. I came to call sinners. So I
ask again, I ask one more time, are you a sinner? Are you a sinner
like I'm a sinner? If you are, then here's the message
of good news for us. This is the gospel of good news.
This God took our sins and our sorrows and he made them his
very own. This God had all the sins of
his people, all the sins of his sinners, who cry, I'm a sinner
before you and I see your justice, I see your holiness, I see that
you must punish sin, and my only hope is that you came to save
me. When you were manifest in the
flesh, my only hope is that you were manifest for me. This God
had all the sins of those people laid on Him. That's the only
reason He came. He came to bear the sins and
the iniquities of His people. The things that His people hate
about themselves. The things that they say, I don't
know why, why. He took every one of them. off
of His people, and He laid them all on Himself. He came to die
in order to put all of those sins away. He did not sweep them
under any rug. He openly bore them to the judgment
throne of God. And He suffered the wrath, He
suffered the punishment. He took what they deserved, every
sin. He put all of them away forever. Forever. And because He finished
the work of redemption, this is the message right now. The
work is finished. Salvation is complete. There's
nothing left for you to do. If anyone is sitting right now
listening to this thinking, well now what do I have to do to seal
the deal? Christ has already sealed the
deal. It's done. You just rest, you just trust,
just believe. He has finished the work and
because He did, because He washed all of His people in His own
blood, because He made us to be after that pure and clean
and acceptable in Him, because of that, this God has said, And
this is so wonderful. Because of that, because of what
Christ did, this God has said that He is not ashamed to be
called our God. That's what He said. I'm not ashamed to be called
their God. He said He will be our God and we can be His people. Psalm 68 verse 20 says, He that
is our God is the God of our salvation. in His own blood,
through His own blood, by His own blood. He's the God of mercy. He's the God of grace. He's the
God of compassion. That means He loved us. Therefore,
He gave us a substitute lamb, a shedding of blood, and mercifully
poured out all His wrath on our substitute. Psalm 116 verse 5
says, Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. This God is our God and our God
is merciful. This God is merciful to sinners. And if you're a sinner, this
God will be merciful to you. He will. Call this God Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. That's who this
God is. And this is the best news I know
to tell us this morning. This right here. This God is
our God forever. Is that relieving to you? Forever
and ever. His throne is forever. His mercy is forever. Forever and ever. When that announcement
comes to a sinner, when it comes into the heart and not just the
ear, many people will hear this announcement. But when that announcement
comes to the heart, and not just the ear of a sinner, that sinner
has received the gospel. When it comes all the way into
the heart and a sinner believes it and a sinner rejoices in it,
that sinner has received the gospel. This is my prayer. I
pray that might be the case for both of us today, all of us today.
I pray that God might cause this to enter our hearts. calls us
to believe and calls us to be thankful. Thank God, this God
is our God forever. All right, we'll close with a
hymn.