We're just going to go ahead
and start here. In our world, there are those who lack the
glory in their accomplishments, so they have these events called
the Emmys and the Oscars, the Grammys, the Espys, and many
other little glory fests that some even consider important.
I want to look at what I'm going to call the Omnis. In the Omnis,
there's only one participant, and that is the Triune God, that
we serve and worship. And another major difference,
the omnis are wrapped up in the glory of God. They have true
glory. So let's go to the Lord and order
prayer, then we'll begin. Father, we come before you just
thankful for this time that we can gather together. Just thankful,
Father, that in your divine purpose, you've given us this opportunity
to once again, look at your word. We would just pray, Father, that
you would bless the word as we look at it today. And we thank
you for each and every one that's here. We pray, Father, for those
that are away. We just pray your blessings upon
them. Keep them safe in their travels. Those who are working,
those who are ill, we would just pray that whatever the needs
are, that you would bless them. And we just ask now, Father,
that you'd take this time and do with it as you will. It's
the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen. So Omni means all. Our God is omnipotent, all powerful,
meaning God Not only is the ultimate power over all things, but he
also is the source of all power. Though he has set limits on all
his creation, he himself is limitless in strength, wisdom, love, holiness,
and the performance of his own sovereign will. Our God is omniscient,
all-knowing, is defined as the state of having total knowledge,
the quality of knowing everything, It means God has infinite awareness,
understanding, and insight. It is a universal and complete
knowledge. And then our God is omnipresent.
It means that he is everywhere. He is in all places. He is not
bound. He has no boundaries. God is
transcendent. He exists in his own time and
space, but yet he is at the same time eminent. existing in our
time and space. He is not confined by human-like
body. He is a spirit, so therefore
he can be in heaven sitting on his throne, but also yet be here
on earth dwelling among men. When you look at all three of
these attributes of God together, it says one thing about him that
can be said about none other. He is the one true sovereign
over all creation and all that resides within it. He is timeless,
meaning He has always been and always will be. He is the Alpha
and the Omega. What confidence that knowledge
brings to His people. We serve a sovereign Lord and
there is no power that can separate us from Him. So if you would
like to turn to Ephesians 1, we can explore how He guarantees
that promise to us. Our lives are fully invested
in Christ and Him alone. Our destiny is sealed by the
Holy Spirit himself. The Holy Spirit, as one part
of the three in one, has the omnipotence, the omnipresence,
and the omniscience to be able to guarantee each of us this
very promise. So Ephesians 1, reading verse
13, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth.
the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who was the
guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession to the praise of His glory." So that is a great look
at how these attributes of the Triune God all work together,
together and separately in our daily lives and our spiritual
lives, and how they bring security, hope and confidence to each of
us. And that is what I wish to explore today, how these three
Omnis work together in our lives, both our everyday lives and our
spiritual life. So as we mentioned earlier, God
transcends time. A day is like a thousand years
and a thousand years is like a day. In God, there is no beginning
of time and there's no end of time. He has no deadlines. but
he does have set times that dictates when things that he has purposed
will happen. So let's begin looking at God's
omnipresence by turning in our Bibles and Psalm 102. We'll be reading verse 12, but
102 verse 12. The psalmist is definitely in
a time of distress when he wrote this, though this is really a
lament of the nation Israel. The first 11 verses are the prayer
of one who is afflicted, who as he grows faint, he pours out
his lament before the Lord, a desperate plea to God to not turn his face
away, but to hear his call for deliverance and answer quickly.
As we look at beginning at verse 12 of Psalm 102, the subject
now changes from his view of his desperate moral life to now
speaking to the forever life of God. Psalm 102 12 but you
Lord sit enthroned forever your renown endures through all generations. This verse refers to the Lord's
presence being a forever presence his omnipresence. We go on to
verse 13 where he sees hope as the Lord has revealed that he
will soon deliver Zion. So verse 13 you will arise and
have compassion on Zion first is time for it is time to show
favor to her the appointed time has come on zion for the time
to favor her yes that set time has come this verse emphasizes
god's intention to rise and extend mercy to his people there is
a declaration of hope that the appointed time for israel restoration
has come showing the certainty of divine intervention despite
the troubling circumstances as we will see in verse 24 the psalmist
pleads that he not be taken away in the middle of his life as
he wants to witness this restoration of Zion but before we read verse
24 just a reminder of what was mentioned earlier the Lord does
not have deadlines but he does have set times And verse 13 serves
as a reminder that God is ever attentive to the needs of His
elect. The establishment of a set time, the appointment, implies
that God's timing is precise, purposeful, and all appointed
before time began. Continuing to look at our God's
omnipresence in time, let's read verses 24 through 28 there in
Psalm 112. Or 102. Oh my God, do not take
me away in the midst of my days. John Gill interpreted this plea
as a judgment, as a token of God's sore displeasure in what
only befell wicked men dying in the first half of their lives. He refers to Psalm 55, 23, which
says, but you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit
of decay that bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half
their days." Gil's explanation certainly follows with the desperate
plea for deliverance that we referred to earlier in the lead
up to the verse 12. So finishing our reading there
in Psalm 102 verses 24 through 28, your years are throughout
all generations, speaking of his omnipresence, of old you
laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work
of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, they
will all grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will change
them, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your
years will have no end. The children of your servants
will continue, and their descendants will be established before you."
So the psalmist leaves no doubt about the presence of the Lord
in the past. And by the past, I mean before,
time as we know it. Before the heavens and the earth
were ever created, it also speaks to how his presence transcends
all time. And one more thing to point out
about that is what we just read is how God's omniscience is also
in full display. The psalmist once again refers
to the set time that the Lord will favor Israel, which clearly
speaks to God's knowledge of what was determined back in a
time past when he had appointed that very time to deliver Zion. We will be seeing more of this
as we move on through the study. Now if you will, turn with me
to the book of John chapter 17. Another thing to look at is Christ's
eternal presence in eternity. We talk about the triune God
as being one, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but
they are often treated as separate entities throughout the Gospels
when we see them in God's Word. Let's look at a few things about
the Son himself. We will begin reading in verse
1 of John 17. Jesus spoke these words, lifted
up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
your Son, that your Son also may glorify you. As you have
given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life,
that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom
you have sent. I have glorified you on earth.
I have finished the work which you have given me to do. And
now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory
which I had with you before the world was. That's a long time
ago, before the world was. So I read all five of the verses
because I wanted to point out yet another example of Christ's
omniscience. He was fully aware that the set
time established before the foundation of the world had come. Father,
the time has come. But also in verse five, we are
reminded that Christ, before the world was, had his everlasting,
eternal, omnipresence in heaven with the Father. Now, this is
all good news to God's elect, because this brings us to the
next event that was made possible by the triune God's presence
in heaven. They, in the council halls of
eternity, put together the plan to redeem a people, all for the
glory of God the Father. Turn in your Bibles now, if you
wish, to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. At the beginning of the chapter,
Paul speaking to the saints in the church there at Corinth is
emphasizing it is not man's wisdom or spoken words that they should
be adhering to, but instead their faith should be rooted not in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. I want to pick
up right after that in verses six through eight, 1 Corinthians
2, verse six However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature,
yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age,
who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the
ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew,
for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. So there in verse 7, the hidden
wisdom which God ordained before the ages. The three in one's
omnipresence together establishing the time, place, and manner in
which the sacrifice for God's elect would happen. The redemption
of God's elect. In other words, God's plan of
salvation. That is what is so special about
all this. It happened in God's mind in
eternity. before the creation of the world,
before man was created. It happened in God's mind before
the fall in the garden had ever transpired. Saved in eternity
would make a beautiful song to sing. God's wisdom is made very
apparent in verse 8, which none of the rulers of this age knew,
for they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. So God in his omniscience knew that if those rulers would
have known what the result of Christ's crucifixion was going
to be, hidden from them in that hidden wisdom of God, ordained
before the ages, they would not have crucified Christ. But God
hardened their hearts, blinded their eyes to the truth, because
the plan of salvation drawn up in the council halls of eternity
was not going to be thwarted by man. God's omnipotence, omniscience,
and omnipresence ruled over man in every way. God's vindication
over sin and death at the cross was going to happen, and we praise
Him continually that it did. So far, we have been focusing
mostly on God's omnipresence. There is so much more we could
look at, but we are now going to change gears and focus on
His omniscience, His all-knowing of everything. Let's start by
looking first at Psalm 139, where we will get a close up and personal
look at how God has known us from the very beginning. We will
see here how his knowledge goes back to even before we were in
our mother's womb. He knows our every thought, our
every move. In Matthew, it tells us he knows
the number of hairs on our head. Proverbs tells us he determines
our every footstep. God's omniscience affects all
things in all minutes of our lives. So reading now in Psalm
139, beginning with verse one, you have searched me, Lord, and
you know me. You know when I sit and when
I rise. You perceive my thoughts from
afar. You discern my going out and
my lying down. You are familiar with all my
ways. Before a word is on my tongue,
you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me, too lofty for me to attain." These six verses of Psalm 139
emphasizes how deeply God knows us, wherever And whenever we
are a knowledge so wonderful, so lofty, we as humans cannot
attain it. His knowledge of us pursues us
from the cradle to the grave and even onward to heaven. He
knew us when he was forming us in our mother's womb, and he
knew even back then what every day of our lives on earth would
be. So now let's make a move over
to the New Testament, and let's go to the book of 1 John 3, and
we'll be looking at verses 18 through 20. 1 John is known as the book of
love, and that is what is being talked about here. John is encouraging
the saints to remember that in love, Christ laid down his life
for his sheep. So in our love for our brethren,
we should have the attitude that we would lay down our lives for
any of us. Verse 18 picks up by John encouraging
believers to not love in just word or tongue. In other words,
all words and no action. But instead, we need to love
in deed and in truth. So let's read, picking up in
1 John 3, 18. My little children, let us not
love in word or in tongue. but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are
of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if
our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he
knows all things. So this was a quick read, but
it's a good verse about God's omniscience. No matter what our
heart thinks or feels, God is greater than our hearts, and
he knows all things. If we had continued just a little
farther in Psalm 139, we would have read, where can I go from
your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
And a little farther down in the Psalm, if I say, surely the
darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,
even the darkness will not be dark to you. There is no hiding
from our Lord, from his omniscient and omnipresent presence. He truly does know all things. Now, let's turn back to Ephesians
1, if you will, as we have more to see there about his omniscience. There is, without a doubt, a
connection between God's omniscience and us being chosen by God. An event that happened before
the world began in the council halls of eternity, and then an
appointed time was manifested in his people when it pleased
God to reveal his son It wonderfully demonstrates his knowing whom
will be accepted in the beloved. So beginning at verse three,
blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
in Christ. Just as he chose us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. having predestined us to adoptions
as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure
of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which
he made us accepted in the beloved. He chose us, he predestined us,
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms
in Christ, and accepted us in the beloved, all before the world
began. How much forethought What is
it that would cause the potter to determine which of the vessels
he created would become vessels of glory and which would become
vessels of destruction? You can't help but ask, why me,
Lord? But he knows, the all-knowing
God, he knows. And just one more passage of
scripture to look at before we move on to the third of the omnis,
Let's take a look in our Bibles at what the Apostle Paul has
to say in his second letter to Timothy. If you would like to
turn there, we will be reading from 2 Timothy 2, verses 8 through
11. In this chapter, Paul is encouraging
Timothy to preach the gospel without fear. Do not be ashamed
of the gospel. God has given a spirit not of
timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. He goes
on with this advice for Timothy which applies to all believers.
In verse 8 of 2 Timothy chapter 2, Therefore do not be ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share
with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power
of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time
began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior
Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher,
an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. I think the best commentary I
can give on this passage of scripture is to just read it again. I will
paraphrase it, though, and look at the things that caught my
attention when I first looked at this for our study. We see
once again Christ's presence in the heavens before time began. That is quite a presence to have,
an eternal presence, a presence before time. Then we see again
the Godhead transcending time as God's purpose and grace has
now been revealed to us by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ. And that presence continues even
now as God continues by His grace to reveal His Son to the yet
lost sheep. And that presence will continue
until the last of His sheep is called into the fold and God
then ushers in the new heavens and the new earth, where the
lamp that lights the new world will not be the sun and the moon,
but instead will be the lamp of the Lamb of God. And now let's
begin our look at the third omni, the omnipotence of God, all power
over all things. This verse in 2 Timothy is a
good segue because it brings out two important manifestations
of that power. It mentions the power of God,
which gives strength to those who suffer because of the gospel.
It also mentions that the power of God is displayed in the gospel
itself. Mike read this in his study earlier
this morning in Romans chapter one, where Paul talks about the
gospel of Christ being the power of God unto salvation for everyone
who believes. What is meant by the gospel of
Christ is the power of God unto salvation. Well, in the book
of Acts chapter 4, Peter gives a very clear and definitive answer
to that question when he says, salvation is found in no one
else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind
by which we must be saved. That is true power. Jesus was
our substitute, but there is no substitute for Christ. No
other gods, no other saviors, no works of our own saves us. Our parents or our spouses can't
save us. Our friends can't save us. There's
only one with the power to save, and that is Christ our Savior.
that only makes sense. That is what omnipotence is.
All power over all things. There is nothing that can stand
in the way to prevent him from carrying out his will. It is
very common for preachers of God's sovereign grace to proclaim
Christ paid it all or it hasn't been paid at all. If you have
all power, you have complete control over who you share your
space with. And with God, there is none other
but him. There just simply is no other
name under heaven with that power. There is no other will that has
that power. It is, as we also love to proclaim,
it is Christ and Christ alone. God also exercised all power
over Christ's death and resurrection. How, when, and where were completely
under his purview. Back in my singing days, I sang
a song that went like this. He grew the tree he knew would
be used to make the old rugged cross. From that, we can also
say he formed the hill where the cross would be planted. It
was the Father's will being carried out that day. So let's take a
quick look in the Gospel of John chapter 10. And we'll be starting
out in John chapter 10, reading verses 17 and 18. But leading into this passage
that we are going to read, Christ is establishing himself as the
good shepherd. He states that a good shepherd
lays down his life for his sheep and goes on to proclaim that
this is what he is going to do. He goes on to declare that the
father knows him and he knows the father, essentially establishing
that the two are one. He then goes on to make clear
the sovereignty he has over his own life. John 10 verse 17, therefore,
my father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take
it up again. No one takes it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to take it up again. this command i have received
from my father so clearly no matter what the powers to be
thought they were accomplishing when they sentenced jesus to
death they were actually unknowingly doing god's will christ did not
die on the cross by their power but only by god's predestined
plan did he die and that's what we heard from with norm was going
through Acts chapter 2 just recently that it was God's deliberate
plan and For knowledge that Christ would be hand over to wicked
men who put him to death by nailing him to the cross and as Christ
said it was by his power and Authority that he laid down his
life and by that same power and authority He as it was predetermined
to happen even before the world was he took it back up again. I So staying in John chapter
10, let's drop down to verses 27 through 30, where we will
take a look into how God our Savior and Christ our Savior
as one work together for the sheep, making it impossible that
any power could ever take his sheep from the caring hands of
Christ or God the Father. John chapter 10, verse 27 through
30, My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me
and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.
Neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hand. My father who
has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to
pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. I think we sang a song about
that a little bit earlier this morning. So Christ is talking
about the sheep given to him by the father, who has charged
the son to protect and care for them, and he has put them in
his hand, guaranteeing their eternal life. He promises no
one will ever pluck them out of his son's hand. And then just
in case the Jews that were questioning Christ and his authority had
doubts, Jesus adds verse 29 and 30 as he's speaking to them,
My father, who is greater than all, has them, meaning us to
his left, in his hand, and no one is able to pluck them from
his hand. Then the topper in verse 30,
I and the father are one. I like what John Gill had to
say about the hands of Christ and the hands of the father coming
together to provide a double security for all believers. He
wrote, these sheep have a double security. They are in the hands
of Christ, and they are in the hands of the Father of Christ.
Wherefore should it be thought, which ought not to be, that they
could be plucked out of Christ's hands, yet it can never be imagined
that any can pluck them out of the hands of God the Father.
And there's no more reason to think that they can be plucked
out of the hands of the one than there is that they can be plucked
out of the hands of the other. And that is exactly what Christ
said earlier there in John chapter 10. that they will not be plucked
out of his hands and they can never be plucked out of the hands
of the Father. And then Gil goes on to say about
verse 30 though as he kind of rounds it up, but the souls of
the righteous are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch
them. The power of Christ and the Father
being as one, none could ever go against them. The omnipotence
that all surpassing power provides a double security that all believers
are blessed with, no torment shall they ever know." Now I would like to turn to Romans
8 for our closing read. We so far have had a pretty narrow
focus on omnipotence, but you could spend weeks on each one
of these attributes, the omnis, as we are calling them. The power
of God in creation alone is mind-blowing. But you look at all the stories
in the Old Testament, the parting of the Red Sea, the world standing
still for a day, the fall of Jericho, the many adventures
in the study of Daniel that we just went through with Brother
Mike Baker. But my intent, which I'm not
sure I stuck to that well, was to take a brief look at all three
of the Omnis and how they all work together, separately or
together, in our salvation. And so continuing in that vein,
let's look here in Romans 8, starting our read at verse 28.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those
who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For
those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image
of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers
and sisters. And those He predestined, He
also called. In those he called, he also justified. In those he justified, he also
glorified. So in these few verses, we see
so much of what we have been talking about today. God is truly
the omnipotent sovereign. The omniscience and knowing all
those he would call, predestine, justify, and glorify through
his foreknowledge that he speaks of earlier with his sovereign
power, he will conform all that he calls to the image of his
son. And now, let's look at, drop
down to verse 31, and read through the end of the chapter here.
Verse 31 through 39. What then shall we say in response
to these sayings? If God is for us, who can be
against us? He who did not spare his own
son, but gave him up for us all, how will He not also, along with
Him graciously, give us all things. Who will bring any charge against
those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who
then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died,
more than that who was raised to life, is at the right hand
of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is
written, for your sake we face death all day long. We are considered
as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced
that neither death nor life, Neither angels nor demons, neither
the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate
us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
A long read, but I will keep the comments short. When we look
at all that he says here, is there any question of God's omnipotence? of the triune God's all power
over everything and all his creation. This speaks to him being our
advocate and our judge. Who can find problem with that? It speaks to how his power, his
omnipotence will protect us and keep us from all who would try
to harm us or turn us, even our own will, perhaps our own worst
enemy. It all goes back to what Jesus
has said in chapter 10, the father gave him his sheep to care for,
to protect, to redeem. He put them in his charge, into
his hand, and because of the deity relationship, it was also
putting them into the father's hand. They would not lose one,
no, not one. Can you think of any reason why
Paul should not have that confidence as he speaks to being convinced
that neither death nor life neither angels nor demons, neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. So in conclusion, I like to say
that we have a sovereign Lord and Savior. He rolls with an
iron fist, especially when it comes to providing and caring
for his chosen race. He loved us so much that he sent
his son to die on the cross for us. We can all put our confidence
solely in Christ. He is it, he's all there is,
he's all we have, but he's all we need.