If I were to ask the average
person to describe God in a word, I'm quite sure that most persons
would say God is love. But while love is a wonderful
part of God's character, yet it is not his chief characteristic
or attribute. If God is nothing but love, why
is there a hell? What about diseases and sicknesses
and calamities and disasters? What about death? These things
cannot be answered by saying merely that God is love. And many so-called preachers
today reveal their utter ignorance of God by saying, in answer to
that, that, well, God has nothing to do with those things. That's
the devil doing those things. Well, Those men do err not knowing
the Scriptures, such as Isaiah 45, 7 and Deuteronomy 32, 39,
which Scriptures clearly say that God does do these things. And it is as these preachers
say, that God doesn't have anything to do with these things, that
He doesn't want these things to happen, but the devil is doing
them. Then I ask, why doesn't God do
something about it? Maybe the devil is stronger than
he is. If he loves us so much, why doesn't
he do something? You know, if folks would stop
and consider these things, would ask those questions, they would
see how foolish the modern idea of God is. You see, the average
preacher has stood up so long and told everyone how much God
loves them, that everyone believes it. And there's now no fear of
God in anyone. Why should they fear God? He
loves them. And so the holy name of God is
on everyone's lip, on everyone's bumper sticker, on everyone's
t-shirt, on bathroom walls, Everybody talks about God, about Jesus,
about the Holy Spirit, like they were talking about the man next
door. And it doesn't matter who they
are, what they've done, what they are doing now, how they're
living, no matter how wicked or whatever. It's all right.
God loves me. The preacher tells me so. Well,
this whole religious world is in for a rude awakening when
they face the God of the Bible. Listen to this verse of Scripture,
these verses of Scripture. Proverb 1-7. Listen very carefully. Proverb 1-7 says, The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverb 9-10, The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of
the holy is understanding. Fear of the Lord. Fear of the
Lord. Fear of the Lord. Used to be,
when you described a man or a woman who truly believed God, you would
say why he's a God-fearing man. Not anymore. That's why anything
goes today. That's why any and all manner
of perversion and wickedness and religious blasphemy is accepted
today. There's no fear of God today. Isn't that the popular phrase
we allow our children to wear on their shirts? No fear? When the scriptures plainly tell
us to bring them up in the fear of the Lord. Well, if you'll
turn to Psalm 99, the 99th Psalm, and it should be easy for you
to remember later on. In 1999, let's look at Psalm
99. And while you're turning, let
me say this. The prophets, the prophets in the Old Testament,
such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, and on and on.
The prophets never stood up and told anyone that God loved them. Never. You won't find it. Look
for it. The Apostles, yes the Apostles,
never preached to anyone. They never stood up, not once,
and said, smile, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for
your life. Never. You won't find it. If
you'll read in the Book of Acts, now the Book of Acts is all the
recorded public preaching by the Apostles. and even some deacons
such as Stephen. In all the Book of Acts, the
word love is not mentioned one time. Not one time. You'll never find the Apostles
standing up and telling men, God loves you. But what they
did stand and declare to men and women was this. Psalm 99,
the Lord reigneth. Let the people tremble. The Lord
reigneth. God reigns, or rules, or that
is, God is absolutely in sovereign control over all persons, places,
and things, and events, and circumstances. God is not in our hands, as some
suppose. No, sir. We are in His hands. The question is not What will
we do with God or what will we do with Jesus? No, the question
is this. What is God going to do with
us? What is Jesus Christ going to
do with us? He whom the scripture says has
the keys of hell and death at his side. What is he going to
do with us? Our life, our breath, our soul
is in His hands, not vice versa. In His hands to do with as He
sovereignly pleases. Now that should put the fear
of God in us. I'm still reading from Psalm
99, verses 1 through 3. The Lord reigneth. Let the people
tremble. He sitteth between the cherubim. Let the earth be moved or staggered. The Lord is great in Zion. He is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and
terrible name, for it is holy." There it is. There is the clearest
description of God. Did you hear it? Holy. Three times he declares himself
in this psalm as Holy. God is holy. It says His name
is holy. His heel is holy. His footstool
is holy. Holy, holy, holy is what the
seraphims continually say as they fly around the throne of
God in Isaiah 6. Holy, holy, holy. More than any other description
in all the Bible, this is what God Himself uses to describe
Himself, holy. Now that means far more than
you suppose it does. It means far more than moral
purity, as I heard one ignorant preacher say of the holiness
of God. Far more. You see, Man cannot
begin to understand what holy means, because we, or that is,
mankind, is unholy, the opposite of God. God said it Himself. He said, as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts, and
my ways than your ways. over and over through the book
of Isaiah, God says this, to whom will you liken me or compare
me? To who or what are you going
to compare God to? Why, man doesn't have a clue. He said in the psalm, in one
place, he said, Thou thoughtest I was altogether such a one as
thou sent. Man thinks God is like a man,
but he's not. There is no comparison. If we can understand what the
Apostle Paul meant in Hebrews 12, verse 29, when he said this,
I'm quoting Hebrews 12, 29 verbatim, or that is, word for word, it
says, Our God is a consuming fire. If we could understand
what Paul meant when he said that, then we might, we just
might come close to understanding a little bit of what it means
for God to be holy. Our God is a consuming fire,
he said. I ask you, when, if ever, do
you hear today such terms as these in reference to God? I'm
just using scriptural terms. And it uses these in this psalm
and many, many other passages of Scripture. It speaks of the
just God. You know, when God declares Himself,
He says first, I am a just God. The justice of God. The oldest
book in all the Scripture is Job, the book of Job. Did you
know that? And the question is asked in
the book of Job, how can God be just? How can man be just
with God? How can man be just with God? The justice of God, the wrath
of God is mentioned over and over. Yes, the hatred of God,
over and over and over God speaks of persons whom he hates. Yes,
persons. I hear the silly saying that
God loves the sinner but hates his sin. Well, it doesn't say
that anywhere in all the Bible. It doesn't say that anywhere
in all the Bible. As a matter of fact, there's
many scriptures which declare that God hates certain people.
The anger of God, God's anger God's angry with the wicked every
day, the scripture says, the vengeance of God. These terms
are found throughout the Word of God, Old and New Testament,
to describe God Almighty. Unless someone say or argue,
well, that's the old-fashioned God. That's the God of the Old
Testament. I believe in Jesus. I believe
in a God who loves everyone. Well, God has never changed. He himself said in Malachi 3.6,
I am the Lord, I change not. Hebrews 13a, Jesus Christ the
same yesterday, today, and forever. The same God in the New Testament
is the same God of the old. And having read that, I have
read that verse in Hebrews 12.29, our God is a consuming fire.
And the whole book of the revelation is a solemn declaration of the
judgments and wrath of God. Yes, wrath of the Lamb, or that
is, Jesus Christ. The wrath of Jesus Christ against
an unbelieving world. Yes, wrath, judgment, and even
hatred of persons. And so, one either believes this
book to be the word of God and a true description of God written
by God Himself, or you don't. And you might as well throw it
away. That's what I say. Either believe it or throw it
away. Bow to it or throw it away. And
my advice is, if you want to listen to one preacher, listen
to this advice. My advice is, stop listening
to all these preachers. Open up a King James Bible to
Romans chapter 1 and ask God Almighty to show you the truth,
to show you who He is, what man is, and who Jesus Christ is and
why He came. I hope you will do that. Until
next Sunday. good day.