God's Absolute Knowledge

Q: What does the Bible say about God's omniscience?

God's omniscience means He knows everything completely and intimately, as expressed in Psalm 139. The Bible teaches that God's omniscience, or all-knowing nature, is a central attribute of His divine character. In Psalm 139, David illustrates how God searches and knows him fully, understanding his thoughts, actions, and intentions. This theme is reinforced in passages such as Hebrews 4:13, where it states that all things are naked and open to God's eyes. Furthermore, God's omniscience ensures that nothing escapes His knowledge, underscoring the comfort it provides to believers; He knows us better than we know ourselves, including our past, present, and future.

Q: How do we know God is all-knowing?

God's omniscience is confirmed through Scripture, showcasing His intimate knowledge of all creation. The understanding of God's omniscience is rooted in the Scriptures, which repeatedly emphasize His comprehensive knowledge. For instance, Psalm 139 details how God knows every detail of our lives, from our actions to our innermost thoughts. The declaration that God sees everything, even before it happens, reinforces that He is aware of all realities and possibilities. This divine knowledge is not passive; it actively influences His governance of the world and comfortingly assures believers of His presence and care in all circumstances. Furthermore, God’s ability to know what is to come further solidifies His omniscience as a defining characteristic.

Q: Why is knowing God’s omniscience important for Christians?

Understanding God's omniscience is crucial as it assures believers of His constant presence and care. For Christians, the implication of God's omniscience is both profound and comforting. It reassures believers that they are fully known and understood by God, regardless of their circumstances. This truth cultivates confidence in prayer, as He knows our needs and desires even before we articulate them (Isaiah 65:24). Moreover, recognizing that God knows every thought and action encourages believers to approach Him authentically and with humility, knowing they cannot hide anything from Him. Such knowledge inspires worship and reverence, as His perfection in understanding contrasts with our limited perspectives. Ultimately, it reinforces our relationship with God, highlighting His intimate involvement in our lives.

Q: What does omniscience mean in relation to God's love?

God's omniscience assures us that He loves us deeply, knowing all our flaws and still choosing to love us. Omniscience, as an attribute of God, means that He possesses complete and perfect knowledge of everything, including our strengths and weaknesses. This profound understanding underscores the depth of God's love for us. As Romans 5:8 indicates, God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Knowing our flaws and shortcomings, God willingly extends His grace and mercy. This assurance encourages believers, reminding us that we do not have to hide from God; His love is steadfast regardless of our failings. In this light, God's omniscience becomes a source of comfort, as we can approach Him with honesty and trust in His love.

And this morning we talked about the decrees
of God, the purpose of God. Tonight I want to talk about
God being omni. God being omni. That means it's
the knowledge of God. It's the knowledge of God. But here in Psalm 73, David talks
about the wicked and the proud. that go through life, and they
live their life, and they say, verse 11, look at it with me,
verse 11, they're fat, they're wealthy, they've got pride all
about them, their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more
than their heart could wish, and they say, how does God know? And is their knowledge in the
Most High? Is there knowledge in the Most
High? Does God really know? Does He know who I am? Does He
know where I am? Does He care about me at all?
Does He care what I do? Does He care what I do? And Job,
they ask the same question in Job. You don't have to look there,
but in Job 22, 13, it says this, And thou sayest, How doth God
know? Can He judge through the dark
cloud? When the cloud is dark, can He see through it? Can He
bring judgment? Can He look through a dark cloud? Well, I'm going to try to answer
that question. Does God know? Can He see through
the dark cloud? How does He judge? Well, God
is omni, and omni means all. It just means completely. He
is omnipresent. He's all-present, everywhere,
at all times. He's omnipotent. That means He's
all-powerful. All-powerful. All power in heaven
and earth is His. And then He gives all power in
heaven and earth unto His Son. All power over all flesh belongs
to His Son. That He should give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given Him. But I want to deal
with His omniscience. His omniscience. That means He's
all-knowing. And He knows everything completely. Everything intimately, everything
from top to bottom, inside, outside, anywhere it can be viewed, God
knows it. He sees it. He sees all. Some
say God doesn't know. They question whether God is
all-knowing. But oh, but now look with me
over in Psalm 139, just a minute. Look in Psalm 139. They say,
does God know? Does He know? But now here's what Davis said.
He's a believer. He knows God. He knows God. And he said here in Psalm 139,
verse 1, he said, Oh Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou know my downshedding and
my uprising. You know when I'm down. You know
when I'm lazy. You know when I'm slothful. You
know when I'm resting. And you know my uprising, whenever
my heart gets stirred up, whenever my will gets stirred up, whenever
my affections get stirred up, whenever somebody gets me stirred
up. You know my down-setting and uprising. Thou understands
my thought. Thou compasses my path and my
lying down. Watch this. And you're acquainted
with all my ways. I love this. And there's not
a word in my tongue but, O Lord, Thou knowest it all together. That's omniscience. That's omniscience.
You know, when we talk about God knowing it all together,
knowing Him all together, knowing us all together, knowing everything
all together, that means, beloved, that God not only knows everything,
everything that there is to know, but He knows everything that
is possible, and He knows everything that is actual. He knows not
only what could be and what is possible to be, but He also knows
what actually is, right now. And it's right now, in this moment
in time, of all the people that's on the topside of God's earth.
God Almighty knows every thought, every word, every motive. By Him, actions are weighed.
He knows not only what you do, but He knows why you do it. He
knows what you say before you say it. He knows what you think
before you think it. That's God's omniscience. We're
open and naked before Him with whom we have to do. But you see,
you and I, we wonder what we'll be. God knows what we'll be. We wonder what has been. God
knows what has been. He knows all events. He knows
all creatures. He knows the past. He knows the
present. He knows the future. Look what
David said here in verse 6 of Psalm 139. Such knowledge that
you know me so intimately, that you know my thoughts, you know
my words, you know my down setting, you know where I go in, I come
out, you know everything there is about me. Such knowledge is
too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it. And he says, Whither shall I
go from thy Spirit? Where shall I flee from your
presence? If I was to try to get away from you, where could
I go? Where you wouldn't know me, where you couldn't see me,
where you couldn't search my heart, search my thoughts, search
my tongue, where could I go? What's this? If I ascend up into
heaven, and heck, you're there. If I even make my bed in hell,
and hell and destruction are naked before Him. If I take the
wings of the morning, blow them out of most parts of the sea,
Even there thy hand shall lead me, thy right hand shall hold
me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night
shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee, but the night shines like the day. The darkness and
the light, the light are both alike to thee. Where am I going
to go? Well, you don't know. And oh, look over in Hebrews
4.13 with me just a moment. Hebrews 4.13. You know, you've met people that, you know,
say, boy, he thinks he knows everything. You ever met anybody
like that? I've got a couple of friends
that they just got a head full of useless knowledge. Ain't nothing
you can say that they don't know something about. When you run
across somebody who knows everything, you keep your mouth shut because
you don't know nothing compared to them. Well, listen, somebody
who thinks they know everything, God don't think He knows everything,
He actually knows everything. There's no pretending with Him. And God's knowledge, and look
over here in Hebrews 4.13, which says this, there's never a creature,
there's not a creature, that has not manifested His sight.
The creature, any creature, man, angel, principalities, powers,
devils, spirits, snakes, everything, deer in the field. He said, I
caused the hind to can. I'll feed the sparrows, I'll
feed the birds, and every creature that's not manifested, but watch
this, but all things are naked. And opened under the eyes of
Him with whom we have to do. You and I wouldn't get naked
before nobody. Not among ourselves. But God
says when I look at you, you're just naked. I see you inside,
outside, I see you like you really are. We dress ourselves up. Put on, smell them, take showers,
we shave, and God, we dress ourselves up and God looks at us and says,
you're just naked. You're just naked. I see everything
there is about you. And oh, beloved, God's knowledge
is perfect. He never errs, never changes,
never overlooks anything. He told Israel, He says, I looked,
He told Ezekiel, He said, you go tell Israel. He said, I know
the mind, the thoughts that are in your mind, and this is what
you think about me, and I want you to know that I know what's
in your mind. And old Ezekiel went and told him, he said, God
knows what's in your mind. And oh, beloved, listen, nothing,
nothing, absolutely nothing escapes the omniscience, the knowledge
of God. Now, He's invisible to us. He's invisible to us, but
we're not invisible to Him. You know, you take Adam, when
he was in the garden, when he fell, he went, hid behind the
bush, got in a fig leaf. Before he'd been there, him and
his wife had the beautifulest wife. Eve, no doubt, was the
most beautiful woman that ever lived. Adam, no doubt, other
than Christ, was the handsomest man. There they were, they were
in the garden, they were in paradise, they were naked and they enjoyed
themselves, they enjoyed one another, and they ruled and reigned.
They are in paradise. Lord over the earth. Well, God
told him not to eat the fruit of the knowledge of the tree
of good and evil, and he did. And immediately his eyes was opened.
He had been naked from the day God made him. But he experienced
thanks, he never experienced shame for being naked. He experienced fear. He said,
I got to hide my nakedness from God. Not only do I got to hide
my nakedness from God, but I got to hide myself from God. And
so he put on that fig leaf. Let me tell you something about
fig leaves. Every time you pull a fig leaf, it's going to start
dying. And after a while, it's going
to dry up and you're going to have to pick another one. And
that's what all religion does. It's just trying to keep folks
covered, nakedness covered up with fig leaves, with morality,
soul winning. God's doing the best He can.
You need to straighten up. You do the best you can. Fig
leaf after fig leaf after fig leaf. Boy, it starts dying. And then after a while, you gotta
go get another one, and another one, and another one. And oh anyway, he said, I'm gonna
go over here and hide. I'm gonna go over here and hide.
He honestly thought he could hide his nakedness from God.
And hide himself in a bush. You know, we play hide and seek
with one another. And everybody, you know, you've done that when
you're a kid. Everybody played hide and seek. And you're trying to
find the best place in the world to hide. Sometimes they couldn't
find you. But there's no one. God said to Adam, Adam, where
are you? Now God didn't ask Adam, see, listen. He thought he was
going to hide from God. But God said, Adam, where are
you? And He didn't ask him for your geographical location. He
wasn't saying, you know, I need a GPS to find you. He wanted
Adam to know where Adam was. He said, I'm naked. Who told you you was naked? Who
told you? Who told you? Oh my, he thought
he could hide, but God saw him where he was. No one saw Cain
slay Abel. Nobody saw Cain slay Abel, but
God did. Cain? Where's your brother? Am I my brother's keeper? He
said, Cain, your brother's blood cries to me out of the ground. Now, no one knew Achan had stolen
the golden wedge when they went down to Jericho. And God said
that a cursed thing. And he went down there and nobody
saw him take that golden wedge. Nobody saw him take those clothes. Nobody saw him take it in his
tent. Nobody saw him bury it under his clothes and hide it
there. But God did. David sinned. Tried to cover
it up. He took Bathsheba. Tried to kill
her husband. Tried to cover it up. He said,
Oh, I got by with it. Oh, I'm fine. I got me a new
wife. I'm happy and her husband's gone.
Things is well. God sent a prophet to him and
said, David, you're the man. You're the man. And, oh, beloved, people say,
well, God don't know. But, listen, God knows where
we are. And, ah, listen, God said that
He's going to have the day when He's going to judge the secrets
of men's hearts by the gospel. Ain't that right? And, Jared,
you know it says in Numbers 33, 32, 23, be sure, be sure, your sin will
find you out. And now, let me tell you this.
God knows. I mean, He knows. We may think
that nobody else knows, but God knows. When you're all alone
and there ain't nobody but you, God sees. God sees. Before anything comes out of
your mouth, God knows. He knows you all together. But to me, and this to believers,
this is one of the most comforting truths that there are to God's
people. God knows me. God knows me. He knows me better than I know
myself. He knows me better than my wife knows me, knows me better
than my children. God knows me. He knows what I
was. He knows what I am. He knows
what I'm going to do. He knows what I'm going to be.
Paul said it like this. He said in Galatians 4 and 9,
After you have known God, or rather are known of God, None
of God. And beloved, Paul said this,
he said, Oh my, that that I would do, I don't. That I wouldn't
do, I do. That that I hate, I do. And that that I love, I don't
do. They said, I see this war going on. Oh my, I wouldn't do
this, but I do it. And that that I hate, I do. I
wouldn't do that, but I do. And this I would love to do,
but I don't do that. The will is present with me,
but how to perform, I don't know how. Oh, wretched man! He knew himself. Oh, wretched man! Who's going
to save me, deliver me from this body of death? Oh, my! He has found great comfort in
all. Thanks be unto God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He owned up to
what He was. Owned up to what He was. And that's what we do. God's
the only person in the world. Listen to what Rothbard used
to say, and I've heard Henry say it, God does not send honest
men to hell. And you know, beloved, no, God
can only be the one to make you honest. He lays your heart bare,
and you come clean with Him, and you know you can't hide nothing
from Him, and you don't try to. You find great comfort in laying
yourself out and saying, Lord, you see me, you know me. Right here, right now, in the
presence of this world, in the presence of angels, in the presence
of God, in the presence of Christ, in the presence of heaven, in
the presence of this present company, I say, oh God, you know
me. You know me. You know my pride. You know my hypocrisies. You
know my exaggerations, which is nothing but lies. You know
me. You know me. And yet, beloved,
He not only knows what I was and what we are, and yet He loved
us. He gave His Son for us. God commended
His love toward us in that while we were what? Yet sinners. Yet sinners, Christ died for
us. My soul. He said, I know my shoes. I know them. I know who they
are. I know where they are. I know
what they do. And I want to listen. There's
two kinds of sheep in this world. Saved sheep and lost sheep. He's
going to find you a lost sheep. And you know when he finds you,
when he brings you, he don't turn goats into sheep. He just
goes after the sheep. And that's what we're on. We're
on the trail of God's sheep. Oh, I've called thee. He said,
I've called thee by name. Oh my, not only does He know
us, but He knows what we'll do. Look over in Job with me, just
a moment. Job 23. He not only knows us personally,
but He knows what we'll do. He knows what we'll do. Old Scott Richardson called me
one time and he was talking to me about this verse of Scripture.
He said, God knows us. He knows not only that, but He
knows what we're going to do. Look what it says here in Job
23.10. God's trying Job, you know that.
He's trying him severely. Oh, He's got him in the furnace.
He's got him in the furnace of affliction. And then look what
it says. God's, now look on the left,
and God's not there. Look on the right, and He's not
there. He hides Himself from you. I can't see Him, but watch
this. Verse 10, But He knoweth, knoweth the way that I take. When He hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. He said, you know, I didn't know
the way I was going to take, but He knows the way I'm going
to take. He knows the way you're going to take. He knows the way
I'm going to take. He knows the way you're going to take. When He
tries you, puts you in the fire, He knows the way you're going
to take. He knows the way. Oh, He knoweth. That's what it
says, He knoweth. I may not know what I'm going
to do, Which way I'll go. My friends may not know, but
He knows. He knows. In weakness, in weariness,
He knows. The Scripture said, As a father
pities his children, even so the Lord pities them that fear
Him. For He knoweth our frames. What are we? Dust. Dust. He knoweth. He knoweth our frames.
When our souls are in doubt, look what He said again in Psalm
139. when our souls are in doubt. And we're suspicious of ourselves.
Do you ever get suspicious of yourself? Huh? Do you ever get suspicious of
yourself? I know we get suspicious of everybody else. You know, I said one time I was
preaching, I said, you know, no, no, I was
preaching and a fella said to me, he said, you know, he said,
I know I'm saved and I'm looking for those other seven that's
going to get on the ark. He wasn't suspicious about himself,
but you never get suspicious about yourself when your soul's
in doubt. Do I know the Lord? Do I know
how to honor Christ? Do I wait on Him? Am I patient? Do I manifest the love of Christ,
the grace of Christ, the character of Christ? Am I forgiving? Am
I gentle-natured? Am I gracious? Am I willing to help? Am I willing
to do? Am I willing to be all things?
Am I willing to suffer? Am I willing to be put down so
others can be lifted up? And when our souls are in doubt
and we are suspicious of ourselves, look what David said, and this
is what we do in verse 23, Psalm 139, search me. He just got through
saying, you know me. You know everything there is
about me. But he says this, search me, O God. Know my heart. Try me. Try me. Put me. Do what you've got to do, but
know my thoughts. And watch this, and see when
you search my heart, and you try my thoughts, and see if there
be any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting. Take that from me. Get me away
from that. What do you say? And oh beloved,
He knows us. Knows what we'll do. Knows your
frame. We cry out, search me. And when
we fail miserably, He stumbled badly, not acted as a believer,
honoring his master. And the Lord Jesus comes to us
like he did Simon Peter, and he said, Oh, Simon. Simon had
denied him three times. Simon went back fishing. Everybody
went with him. Then the Lord Jesus said, Simon,
do you love me? Yes, Lord, I love you. Feed my
lamb. Simon, do you love me? Yes, Lord,
I love you. Feed my sheep. Simon, lovest
thou me? You know what he said? He said,
Lord, thou knowest. Thou knowest all things. Thou
knowest all things. Hey, oh Lord, why do you keep
asking me? You know all things. You know
I love you. You know I do. You know I do.
And all beloved, God's knowledge is why we pray so earnestly.
That's why we pray so earnestly. Let me show you this in Isaiah
65. This is why we, because of God's knowledge, is why we pray
so earnestly. You know, in Psalm 65 and verse 24, or Isaiah, excuse
me, 65 and verse 24. You know, it's because of God's
knowledge, God's omnipotence, that's why we pray so earnestly.
Ain't that what He says here in Isaiah 65, 24? And this shall come to pass,
that before they call, I'll answer. And while they're, yes, speaking,
I'm going to hear. Because God knows we're calling.
I'm going to hear, and I'm going to answer before they start.
You know, the answer may not get back to us immediately, but
the answer is on its way. It's on its way. It's on its
way. You see, He knows the thoughts. He knows the intents of the heart.
He knows the sighs. You know, have you ever, you've
been around folks and you know your wife or you or somebody
you love, you hear them just give out an awful sigh. You know that they're heavy hearted.
You know that they're troubled. They have a sigh. God knows every
sigh. Every sigh you have. He knows
your groans when you're laying in wait and you're groaning.
Oh, you're groaning. You're groaning over your situation.
You're groaning over your children. You're groaning over the church.
You're groaning over your job. You're groaning over your children.
You're groaning over things. And He knows your tears. The
scripture says that He takes our tears and puts them in a
box. And He knows us individually, each and every one of us individually,
and He don't overlook the first one. Don't overlook the first
one. He does not. Well, how important, how important
is it to know God? And to know that He's omniscient,
that He knows all, sees all, absolutely has perfect knowledge
of everything, me, you, everything that's going on. How important
is it to know it? Well, it's this important, that
if anything were to happen without God directing it, without God
permitting it, it means he didn't know, and he has ceased to be
God. Ain't that right? You see, God's knowledge is the
determining factor of what happens in time, what happens in the
future. You know, he said in Daniel 4.35,
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he
doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. And when he stretches forth his
hand, who's going to pull it back? You know, I could reach
out for you and start to do something. You grab my hand, stop me. But
who's going to grab God's hand and say, now you ain't going
to do that. You're not going to do that. You're not going
to treat me that way. You're not going to reach for
me. I'm not going to have your hand deal with me like that.
Now, who's going to do that? Oh no, His hand's going to do
what it wants to. And nothing, nothing in the future
is uncertain as far as God's counsels and will and purpose
and knowledge is concerned. You know, Romans 4.17 says, He
calleth the things that are not as though they were. Something
that don't even exist, He calls it like it did. You know why? Because it will. Because it will. As you know,
every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights,
and there's no variableness about Him. There's no shadow of turning.
I mean, He's the same. There's light. I mean, He never
changes. And He called all things that
would happen before they happened. Everything concerning his son,
everything concerning us, everything concerning the fall. And his
knowledge, his omniscience, wasn't the cause of it happening. Just
because he looked down time and said, well, I see that's going
to happen. It happened because he willed for it to happen. That's
why he knows everything. You know, when you will everything
and you direct everything, then you know everything that happens.
You know everything that happens. And He knows all, for He willed
all. And what should we do with a
God like this? How should we act? How should
we consider Him? How should we be? Adore Him? Reverence Him? Worship Him? Bless
His holy name? Lay ourselves before Him? Say,
Lord, here am I. Abraham sent Hagar out with a
bottle of water and a loaf of bread, her and Ishmael out. She was hid out there. She thought
she was going to die. She just drunk the water. It
was gone. She was just going to sit down there and her and
her child was going to die. And God came to her at a well, and
she sat there. And she said this, she said,
Thou God that seest me. She was in trouble, dying. No
bread, no water. God came to her and she said,
this is the well of thou God seest me. Thou God seest me. Here I was. Abraham didn't care
about me. Sarah didn't care about me. But
thou God seest me. And oh my, what a blessed thing.
Everything in my life is open and naked before Him. And yet,
and yet, He thinks on me, the way I am, the way I am. Not the way I want to be, not
the way I hope to be, but the way I am right now. He thinks
on me. Our Father, our gracious, eternal
God in heaven, how gloriously wondrous is Your name, Your person,
Your power, Your knowledge, As David said, such knowledge is
too wonderful for me. I cannot attain to it. And oh
Lord, we adore You and bless You that You know us. You know
our frame. You know our groans, our sighs,
our tears, our worries, our fears, our anxieties. You know our motives. You know our uprisings and downsheddings.
You know when we go out and You know when we come in. You know
our hearts. You know everything about us.
And, O Father, we thank You that You know. And in knowing us,
O Lord, You love us yet. You love us still. You receive
us still. You hear us still. Accept us
still. And that You love us. Lord, blessed
be Your name, that You take us, me, me, as I am, with all the
weakness and inability, powerlessness, impotence, And yet, Lord Jesus,
You think upon me. Oh, blessed be Your name. Thank
You for this service tonight. Thank You for these dear saints.
Thank You for their attention. And bless the Word to their hearts
and their understanding. Encourage them. Thank You for
the food. Thank You for this dear preacher
and his wife and the fellowship we've enjoyed. We thank You in
Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Thanks.

God's Absolute Knowledge

What does the Bible say about God's omniscience?

How do we know God is all-knowing?

Why is knowing God’s omniscience important for Christians?

What does omniscience mean in relation to God's love?

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God's Absolute Knowledge

What does the Bible say about God's omniscience?

How do we know God is all-knowing?

Why is knowing God’s omniscience important for Christians?

What does omniscience mean in relation to God's love?

Sermon Transcript

About Donnie Bell

Comments

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