In a moment, we will be looking
at Psalm 115. Psalm 115, if you would like
to follow along in your Bible. Now, many, many times in God's
Word, particularly in the book of Isaiah, the Lord God says
this, I am the Lord. I am God. There is none else. I am the Lord. There is no other
God beside me." He says this over and over again. Now, why
does he keep saying this? Because, unbelievable as it may
seem, few people believe that God is God. The name God, the title God,
means absolute. That means irrefutable, undeniable,
absolute creator, owner, ruler, controller, judge. The name God means omnipotent
or all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent. So, very few believe
that God is God in the real sense of that name. The Lord Jesus
Christ said in John 17 3, this is eternal life, that they might
know thee the only true God, or that is, God who is God. And Paul the Apostle, in writing
to the church at Thessalonica, thanked God that they turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God. the living
and true God as opposed to an idol. What about you who listen
this morning? Do you know and believe the living
and true God, or do you worship an idol? Someone may say, well,
of course I worship the living and true God. I don't worship
a statue or an image. Well, the word image comes from
the word imagination, or rather, imagination comes from image. And an idol is a man-made image
of God, or that which man imagines God to be. Now, do you believe
in a God the way you think He is, the way you imagine Him to
be, the way you want Him to be? or the God described in the Bible,
the living and true God. David, the psalmist, the king
of Israel, in Psalm 115 briefly describes his God, the God of
the Bible, as opposed to most gods, small g. He begins by saying
where all glory and credit and honor is due in verse 1, He says,
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory,
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Not unto us, not unto us,
but unto thy name give glory. Why, this is the most fundamental
truth in worshiping God, that God gets all the glory. since he is the creator of all
things, the sustainer, the controller of all things, since he is the
first cause of all things, the source of all things, the author
and finisher of all things, since he is the God of creation and
the God of salvation, the God who purposes, chooses, predestinates,
calls, justifies, and glorifies, the one who gives repentance,
who gives faith, who gives a new heart, therefore God gets all
the glory. All the glory. Unbelievable as it is, man insists
upon sharing it. Man even puts his name on his
church house. Names like Wesleyan, Lutheran. Incidentally, Martin Luther would
not have allowed that. Oh no, that's idolatry to put
a man's name on the church house. Well, man does it, puts his name
on the church house, and instead of glorifying God, his name,
instead of glorifying God's will and purpose, why, man even puts
this on top of his church house. Free will. He puts that up there
to exalt man's will, not God's. Up there where it can get the
glory. Man's will. Free will. Why, on this very day, this day
which is in the Scriptures called the Lord's Day, this day which
is set aside to worship the Lord, to praise, exalt, honor, extol,
remember, tell of, worship the Lord, why, on this very day,
the Lord's Day, there will be millions all over the land saying
more about their mothers than their God. Well, David goes on
to say, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. For thy mercy. All glory to God
for his mercy. Now, mercy. The word mercy means
not getting what we deserve. Not getting what one deserves.
or being spared justice, not receiving just due. That's what
mercy means, not getting what one deserves. Grace means getting
what we do not deserve, getting what we do not deserve. Well,
David says, all glory to God for his mercy. Jeremiah said,
it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Man is a
guilty, vile, hell-deserving creature in the words of Scripture.
And the only reason God spares any of humankind is mercy. Well, how many today believe
that man needs mercy? Very few. And He says, "...for
thy truth's sake." Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory for thy truth's sake. For God's Word, His truth, Say,
how many really believe that there's absolute truth? That
this book that I'm reading from is absolute truth? It is God's Word, infallible,
inerrant, not up for debate or argument, absolute truth? How many believe that? Very few. Well, then David says something
about those who do not believe the true God. He is God. He says in verse 2, Wherefore
should the heathen say, Where is now their God? Why should
those who don't believe my God ask me? Or do they ask me, Where
is your God? Do you want to know where my
God is, David says? Verse 3, he says, Our God is
in the heavens. That's where He is. In another
place it says, the heavens cannot contain him, but the earth is
his footstool. God doesn't dwell in houses made
with hands, but everything is in his mighty and big hands. Well, he goes on to say, that's
where our God is, in the heavens, and this is what he does. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. He's in the heavens. That's where he is. And this
is what he does, whatever he pleases. That's my God, David
says, and that's the living and true God. What about your God? All who listened this morning,
what about your God? Where is he? What does he do? Now, I did not ask you what can
he do. I hear that all the time. My
God can this, can that. I'm not interested. And what
he can do, I'm interested in what he does. What about your
God? Well, David says about all other
images or idols, he says in verse four, their idols, their gods,
their imaginations of God are silver and gold, the work of
men's hands, the gods they have made up. are the work of men's
hands. In other words, they are in men's
hands to do with as they please. Have you ever heard a preacher
today say that? Why, I have. I've heard them
say this very thing. What will you do with Jesus as
if he is in our hands? The Lord of glory. as if he's
in men's hands. That's what they say today, literally.
Folks, that's not the Lord Jesus Christ sitting on a throne in
glory. That's an idol named Jesus. That's
a Jesus doll or something that you can do with as you please. This Jesus who supposedly is
standing at hearts' doors and can't get in, standing out in
the rain, men won't let Him in, that's an idol. That's not the
Lord Jesus sitting on the throne of glory, reigning and ruling,
the one who gives new hearts, not knocking at hearts. The Lord
Jesus Christ is on His throne, and we are in His hands to do
with as He pleases. The question is not, what will
you do with Jesus? No, sir. The question is, what
is he going to do with us? I read on in verses 5 through
7. David says, 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. Have you ever heard
a preacher today literally say this, that God has no hands but
your hands, no feet but your feet? Have you ever heard one
of these preachers say that? I have. Well, is that your God? I ask you, those who hear this,
is that your God who has no hands but yours, no feet but yours,
a helpless, dependent, who can't do anything unless you let him,
who wants to say but can't unless men decide to, who loves everyone
but stands by idly while Satan has his way, who has done all
he can do and must wait on man to do something for him? Is that
your God? Well, I'm here to tell you that's
an idol, if it is. That's no God at all. And David
says it plainly in verse 8, are made up these gods are like them,
are like unto them. So is everyone that trusts to
them. They that make them or trust in them, they have no eyes
either. They have no eyes to see who
God is or ears to hear his word. And so I ask all who hear this
message this morning, why would you ever even need a god like
that? Why bother? If it is all ultimately up to
man, why bother with a god? Why do you need one? Well, fact
is, that is no God at all, but the God of the Bible is absolute
creator, ruler, controller of all things, all people and all
events, working everything according to His will, His all-wise, unchangeable
purpose. I close by reading a few scriptures
which God says concerning Himself. In Deuteronomy 32, Verse 39,
he says this, 39 and 40, I see now that I, even I am he, and
there is no God with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound
and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. I lift up my hand to heaven and
I say, I live forever. That's the God of the Bible.
And I'm reading from Isaiah 45. which says in verses 5 through
7, I am the Lord, there is none else. There is no God beside
me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they might know from the rising of the sun
from the west there is none beside me. I am the Lord, there is none
else. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create
evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. And finally, in Daniel 4, verse
35, which says, the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing,
and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stag God's
hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?" That's the God of the
Bible in whose hands you and I are. I ask you, where is your
God and what is he like? Until next Sunday. May the Lord
reveal himself to you.