I'd like to conclude a lesson
we started last week with regard to the great power that God has
and is demonstrated in the word of the Lord in Revelation chapter
5 there where it says he had seven horns. And the Bible is
filled with the power of God from Genesis to Revelation. Overwhelming
power. power that is termed like this,
I am the Lord God Almighty. We found that there is none that
can hinder him. He's not hindered by storm. He's
not hindered by issues. He's not hindered by governments.
In fact, the government rests upon him, on his shoulder. And so he has that power, seven
horns, demonstrated in the scripture as having all power, or his omnipotent,
the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Now in the book of Revelation,
when that is mentioned, and we remember who that book was written
to, It was written to a bunch of Christians. And I didn't realize
until this morning I was reading, or maybe this afternoon, that
there are two monuments that were raised up by a Roman emperor
that he had stamped out Christianity. That was what the monument said.
He had been faithful in stamping out Christianity. And it had
to do with the second psalm. Might have been in Spurgeons
or I'm not sure where I read it, but he was so proud that
that is what he had done, is stamped out Christianity. Well,
he hadn't. The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Now it was serious, serious times
at the writing of the book of Revelation. And to hear someone
bring that letter to them, to those seven churches, or to any
other group where God's people were meeting, and have read from
the pulpit, or have read in a group, or have read personally, the
Lord God omnipotent reigneth. They could say, I can sleep tonight. I can rest tonight. The Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Well, we got partially through
the next section where that lamb has seven eyes and that symbol
is he has all knowledge. He knows all things. And we looked
at some verses of scripture that shared that. The Bible is filled
with that too, that he is omniscient. And one of the things that we
realize when we see that he's omniscient is he knew exactly
who he was dying for. It was not a surprise. He was
laying down his life, a ransom for many, but he knew the names
of those he was laying down his life for. It was not a gamble. He was not trying to gamble here
and try to make the best of things. He was fulfilling exactly what
had been determined in the Council Halls of Eternity in the Covenant
of Grace. And it was required if Those
that the Father chose in that covenant of grace, if they were
to be saved, He must be their substitute. He must be their
atonement. He must be their scapegoat. He must be their sacrifice. And
He was willing and willingly went to the cross. And in that,
we have the fact that He knows all things. He is knowledgeable
of all things. So let's begin, if you would,
with me over in the book of First Chronicles, as we look at this
dear subject for the saints of God. to realize, to review, to
go over again, to have our soul nurtured by the word of God and
comforted by his word to know that he is a knowledge of all
things, that nothing catches him unawares, that he is not
caught off guard. I'm just, I'm so thankful for
that, that the events that take place are not something he doesn't
know about and he has to react to, but they have been purposed
by him. I just heard, I'm not one that
spends a lot of time watching the news. The news is tainted. It is so
tainted today. But there was a bunch of people
in Oklahoma that got a surprise the other day. A February tornado. And it went through a town like
like a thrashing machine. You know, God didn't have to
react to that. He didn't even have to act on
it. He sent the wind that started it. Now, we don't know the purpose
of it. I'll never know, except it is
for the furtherance of his gospel and for the good of the church.
I know that. But to know more than that, I
don't know. But he is in charge of all things. Now here in the book of Second
Chronicles, we went, excuse me, First Chronicles, First Chronicles.
We were in this subject matter some time ago when we were going
to the book of First Kings. We looked at a lot of things
in the book of First Kings that are repeated in the book of First
Chronicles. And one of those is the dedication
of the temple. Now turn with me, if you would,
to First Chronicles, chapter 28. First Chronicles, chapter
28. And there was a ceremony that
went on. I enjoyed Exodus too. It had
been some time since I'd gone over the building of that tabernacle
and the Ark of the Covenant and those things. And one of the
things that struck me as we went through there was when they put
those staves through that ark to be carried, they were not
to take it out. Now here, when the temple was
dedicated, is the first time since it was made that those
staves were pulled out, pulled out and laid down. And it was
a symbol that was temporary. This is permanent. That was the
children of Israel wandering in the wilderness. This is there
in their homeland. And, uh, here in first Chronicles
chapter 28. Well... Verse 9. No. Where did... I don't know. Well, let's go to the Psalms.
I read that before the service tonight too, but it wasn't with
that address. Psalm 147. Psalm 147 and verse 5. Great is our Lord and of great
power is understanding is infinite. He has perfect understanding
of all things. He has perfect understanding
of me. He has perfect understanding of you. He has perfect understanding
of the church and all that's going on there. Perfect understanding
of how his gospel is going out to the world. Perfect understanding
of the Holy Spirit's move throughout the world and reaping the harvest.
He has perfect understanding. He's omniscient, and he has perfect
understanding. And turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Proverbs, chapter 15. Proverbs, chapter 15. Proverbs, chapter 15. And verse three. Proverbs chapter 15 and verse
3, the scriptures share this. The eyes of the Lord are in every
place, beholding the evil and the good. The eyes of the Lord
are in every place. Now, would you go back with me
to the book of First Chronicles? I was there. I didn't think that
was the verse I wanted, but it is. First Chronicles, chapter
28, verse 9, and we're going to look at a passage that has
to do with Solomon. That's one I anticipated. But
this is First Chronicles, chapter 28, and verse 9. And it tells
us here, the Lord searches the hearts. 1 Chronicles 28 verse
9, And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father,
and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind.
For the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all imaginations
of the thoughts. if thou seek him he will be found
of thee but if thou forsake him he will cast thee off forever
the lord searches the hearts and understandeth all the imagination
of the thoughts now that's positive And that's negative. I'm thankful
the Lord looks at us through grace. He looks at us through
the mind of his son and forgives us all our iniquities. If the
Lord should regard iniquity, who shall stand? You'll be alone. you'll be alone. All right, turn
with me if you would over to the book of Ezekiel chapter 11.
As we look at the omniscience of God, that he knows all things
and particularly he knows all those that belong to him, all
his sheep, the sheep of his pasture. And here in the book of Ezekiel
we find this message again. The Bible is filled with the
subject of God's omnipotence. The Bible is filled with the
subject of God's omniscience. He knows all things. No one can
get up on God. He has knowledge of all things.
All things work out infinitely for His glory. for his honor
and for his praise, and for the praise and the honor of his church. Here in the book of Ezekiel chapter
11 and verse 5, we find here that Ezekiel was used to write
these words with regard to the Lord of glory. Ezekiel 11, verse
5, the scripture says, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me and
said unto me, Speak, thus saith the Lord, thus have ye said,
O house of Israel, for I know the things that come into your
mind, every one of them. As he's speaking about Israel,
and Ezekiel was used to write about Ezekiel in some of his
lowest period of time. away from God, and yet God said,
I know every thought you think, as he wrote of Israel. Now, that
can be positive and that can be negative. I'm thankful God
knows us in grace. Every pleasant thought that God
the Son ever had towards God the Father are the thoughts that
God the Son has in us for God the Father. He knows our frame,
and he is the one that bears us along. He's the one that bears
us up. He's the one that sustains us
and lifts us up. Our thoughts, we don't want to
go there. His thoughts we want to meditate
on day and night. His thoughts are the ones we
want to wake up to in the night. Our thoughts, let's not go there. All right, and turn with me,
if you would, to the Book of Acts. This is an experience here. The church had lost one of their
elders. No one seemed to suspect that
this one elder had anything in mind except the glory of God,
and yet one day the opportunity arose, as the Lord had already
said, and he took counsel with a bunch of priests on selling
the Lord Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. I just read that again
today. He sold the Lord Jesus for 30
pieces. He had an opportunity for gain. And he sold the Lord Jesus, identified
him with a kiss. Now it's hard for me to imagine
as often as the Lord was in and around people, that they had
to have someone identify him. It just, it shares with us that
men's knowledge is not very good. God's knowledge is excellent,
but men's knowledge is not very good. Sold for 30 pieces of silver. And then it says, and it's not
the same word as we often find in scripture, but he repented
and took the money back, threw it on the floor of the temple,
and went out and hanged himself. And they says, well, we can't
do anything with this, putting it in the treasury. We'll just
buy a field, a potter's field, so the poor people can be buried. But he went out. Now, the scripture
says that another man is going to take his office. And at this
meeting that was held, Peter got up and was reminded of that
passage of scripture. And there needed to be, for God's
purpose, needed to be someone to take his place. Now I've had
preachers tell me that's Paul and he made a mistake. Well,
that's not what we find in the scriptures. We find that this
man, though he is never mentioned again by name, was counted with
the 12. And I think it's three or four
times in the book of Acts that he was counted with the 12. Paul
was never mentioned with the 12. He visited them. came back
and reprimanded him a couple times, but he was never counted
that way. Now, notice here this knowledge,
and we depend on this. We are so dependent upon this
that God would give us an insight of judgment, that God would give
us an inside track in decision making, particularly in the church. Now, we have great counsel here.
But we just need Lord show us which direction to go. Now, not
that we want to go to the right hand or the left hand on the
gospel, but they're just decisions that God has us make. And we
need his inside information. We need to know what he wants
and Lord help us to seek that. And here the church, this local
body of believers needed some help. And it tells us here in
the book of Acts chapter one and verse 24, and they prayed. And said, Acts chapter one, verse
24, there's an issue come up, but the scriptures needed to
be fulfilled. And it was brought to Peter's
attention that it needed to be fulfilled, and he brought the
verse of scripture up that needed to be fulfilled. And it goes
down through there, and then in verse 24, it says, and they
prayed and said, thou Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men,
Show whether of these two thou hast chosen. Now we're dependent
upon this information. We need, you have knowledge of
the hearts of both of these men that are here. We need to know
which one you've chosen. And it says that he may take
part of this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression
fell, that he might go to his own place And they gave forth
their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered
with the eleven apostles. They understood what omniscience
is. They took counsel in the omniscience
of God. They desired the omniscience
of God to be revealed to them, in this case at least. Now there
are many things we'll never understand. God knows, but we don't need
to know. He understands, we don't need
to understand. But this is one place, and there
are others too, that God demonstrated and showed them, this is my choice. Because, now, I can't feel that
the other man that wasn't chosen went off in a snobbish rage and
says, boy, they did wrong there. He was in the prayer group and
says, we want who you want. And that's who they got. And
his name was Matthias. Last time he's mentioned in all
the Bible, except there are several times he's mentioned with the
12. And that's God's choice. And they depended upon the omniscience
of God. What do you want us to do? how gracious God is to reveal
his will to his people, as he did in this passage of scripture.
And one other place that we want to look at is found in the book
of Hebrews. Hebrews, here in Hebrews chapter four, verse 13. Hebrews chapter four and verse
13, the subject of omniscience, God has all and perfect knowledge
of all things. I'm ever learning. I hope I never
get too old to learn. And that's just about things
this world has and spiritual matters. Hope I never get too
old to learn. Learn about my job, learn about
things and learn about people and learn about the scriptures.
But God has all knowledge about his word. He had it in his mind
before the foundation of the world and he picked out Moses
to be the penman for five books. Moses had never seen the flood,
but he wrote about it with perfect clarity because God gave him
the words to write. He never met Adam, but he wrote
about his creation with perfect clarity, because God gave him
the words. And the same is true about all
the books of the Old and New Testament. Here in the book of
Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 13, it says, neither is there any
creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have
to do. That's why we don't want to come
to God with our own righteousness. We just want to be found in his
righteousness. You know what? That's a covering.
That's his covering for his people is the righteousness of Christ.
But he has full knowledge of all things about us. He knows. We looked at old Peter. Thou knowest. He had to come
to that conclusion and that's the only place we can come. Thou
knowest whether I love you. I can say it. thousand times
a day. But Lord, you know whether I
love you. And if I do make it plain, and
if I don't make it plain, make it plain. Let me know that. All
right. Now, the last thing that we found
in that passage of scripture was that the Lord Jesus has perfect
omniscience. I didn't put it into a light
that it should have been until I read this verse of scripture
along that line, and that's found over in the book of Matthew chapter
18. Would you turn there with me?
Let's just put it right down here on the ground for me. Matthew
chapter 18. Now, I don't know how many people
of God are in the world today, and I don't know how many people
of God met in the world today. And I don't know how many people
met yesterday where there's already the new day. I just don't know. But I'm convinced that there's
people of God around this world in all kinds of languages, in
all kinds of tribes, and peoples, and kindreds, and tongues around
the world. New Guinea. They can't understand
their neighbor, but they can understand this. The gospel has
come to them. Certain of them can. Mexico down
there in the Yucatan Peninsula and Places around this world
where the gospel is being proclaimed Now this really came home to
me this omniscience of God and that is there on the presence
of God That is he is every place at the same time and it's brought
out here in this verse of scripture Matthew 18 and verse 20 for where
two or three are gathered together in my name and There am I in
the midst of them. And I was overwhelmed by that.
What a simple way that God left for us to understand a little
bit about His omnipresence. That in the foreignest country
to us, the far awayest land to us, where two or three are meeting
together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the gospel.
He's in the midst of them just like he is in the midst of us
at the very same time and comforting and directing and guiding them
as he is comforting and leading and guiding us at the very same
instant. Yesterday, today, and forever. Doing exactly the same thing
for all his children, all over this world, all at the same time.
We don't have to wait for a phone. What's that new thing they got?
Where you call up and if you want somebody, you gotta dial
one. If you want somebody else, you
dial phone tree. We're not on a phone tree with God. We're
not on a waiting list with God. We got direct contact with God
100% of the time. In the night seasons, in the
day seasons, he is always there walking beside us and knows perfectly
what's going on with us at that time. In fact, has prescribed
it to go on at that time for us, in us, and with us. Turn
back with me if you would just a little bit into the book of
Jeremiah chapter 23 and we find here again that this omnipresence
of the Lord, this seven spirits, perfect omnipresence. He has perfect presence with
all his people all at the same time. Indwelling them, comforting
them, leading and directing them with regard to the scriptures
and how it applies to them. Here in the book of Jeremiah
chapter 23 verse 23 and 24. We read these words about God's
omnipresence everywhere at the same time. Jeremiah chapter 23,
verse 23, the scriptures say, am I a God at hand, saith the
Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret
places that I cannot see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill
heaven and earth, saith the Lord? Now that's how he's omnipresent.
Do not I fill heaven and earth. That's a great God. I was impressed
one time when I was driving along between Mullin, Oregon and Klamath
Falls, and there is a mountain there. Kind of sits out by itself. And my son, in those days, you
didn't have to have everybody in a seatbelt. And my son crawled
across my lap and looked out the window as I was driving along.
He says, God must live up there. And I said, why would God live
up there? He says, that is a big mountain. God, what's it say? Do not I
fill heaven and earth. No place where he is not. Above
the earth, in the earth, below the earth, under the earth. He
is there. And then turn with me if you
would over to the book of Ephesians chapter 1 verse 23. I took this verse of scripture
and put it right at the front of Leviticus. It took on new meaning when I
read through the book of Leviticus and found out all he has done
for me. Every sacrifice, every wave offering,
every I just can't imagine going to the preacher with a white
hair on my face and saying, is that leprosy? And if they say
it is, I got seven days to spend over here all by my lonesome.
And then I come back, and they look at it again. It says, well,
we're not sure. You got seven more days. And then he come back
and says, yes, it is, or no, it isn't. If it isn't, go home. If it is, you're without the
camp. Oh, my goodness. the penalties. And that one boy, he's had an
Egyptian father and an Israelite mama, and he cursed God. He's arrested, taken before Moses,
and Moses has stoned him to death. Oh, now this verse just made
a whole lot more sense to me when I read through the book
of Leviticus and saw all the things that I couldn't do. He
is my all and in all. He's filled every gap. He's taken
every position. He's filled all my needs. Ephesians
chapter one, and there in verse 23, the scriptures say this,
in verse 22, and hath put all things under his feet and gave
him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all. He fills it all,
but he's in all. He has a capacity about himself
that means he's omnipresent and omniscient and omnipotent. And he is it for the church.
And he's filled every capacity that I was unable to fill. He
has taken care of all issues that I couldn't deal with. He
is my all and in all. And then would you turn with
me back to the book of Psalms 139. Psalm 139, this passage
of scripture shares with us God's great ability to be with his
people in whatever capacity. Now, there's a whole bunch of
people that didn't want to have anything to do with John Bunyan
when he was in Bedford prison, but God was with him. I read
about Joseph down in Egypt. It says, Joseph was in Egypt
and the Lord was with him and he was a prosperous man. What's our prosperity? That's
Christ. We didn't have a dime and he's
with us. We are prosperous people. Now notice here in Psalm 139. Psalm 139, beginning with verse
3. Psalm 139, verse 3. Thou compassest
my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou
knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and
before, and laid thy hand upon me. I think of that passage of
scripture, we know not how to pray as we ought, but he maketh
groanings which cannot be uttered. He dispenses our prayer for us. Says there, not a word in my
tongue, but lo, Lord, thou knowest it all together. You know what
I want to say. And one of the writers says,
that's why we find so much comfort in the Psalms. It puts our prayers
to words. and we can bring them before
God. Words we can't say, we can find there and present them.
Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid my hand upon
me. Were you taught that the whole
armor of God, you just couldn't turn your back towards the enemy
because you didn't have anything back there? My goodness, our
backside is covered by the Lord. just like our front side is.
We don't have to worry about being shot in the back. He covers
us. We're up against him. He has
beset me behind and before and laid thy hand upon me. Such knowledge
is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain to
it." He just said, it's too big for me. I just can't comprehend
it, but I'll enjoy every minute of it. Whether shall I go from
thy spirit or whether shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend
up into hell and sometimes that songwriter prone to wander, Lord,
I feel it. I'm thankful he's got me pinned
down, pinioned. He has me and he's going to hang
on. If I ascend up into heaven, thou
art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say,
surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light
unto me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shineth as the day, and the darkness
and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed
my reins, now has covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise
thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are
thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. And then finally
turn with me if you would to first Kings chapter 8 first Kings
chapter 8 as we talk about this omniscience and omnipresence
of the Lord. Here is an illustration that
God gave to us when the temple was completed. There was, well,
let's just read here, 1 Kings chapter eight, and there's so
much here, I was gonna read verses one through 11, but I'm just
gonna read verses 10 and 11. They'd put the ark in the Holy
of Holies, pull those staves out, it's home. And they'd completed
it, completed the building, as beautiful as it was. And it says
here in verse 10, it came to pass when the priests were come
out of the holy place that the cloud filled the house of the
Lord. And that's how God fills with
his people and this world. It's like smoke in a house. There's
not a corner that's not filled everywhere. And he goes on to
say, so that the priest could not stand to minister because
of the cloud, For the glory of the Lord hath filled the house
of the Lord. And that's his omnipresence with
his church. The glory of the Lord hath filled
his people to capacity. Whether they speak Russian or
Spanish or Ukrainian or some African language or some New
Guinea language, The glory of the Lord hath filled the house,
his church. Where two or three are gathered
together in his name, there is he in the midst of them. Adeline, you had a song earlier.
Do you have that? the top of page seven. Would
you join me at the top of page seven in your hymn books? And this is sung to the tune
we sing, Majestic Sweetness Sits Enthroned, all due to grace by
Horatio Bonar. All that I was, my sin, my guilt,
my death.