Bacchic and Micah, the Old Testament,
Nahum chapter 1, small book, three chapters long. We're going
to look at the first chapter here, a couple things in the
first chapter. Now, we're going to look at six
attributes of God today, six different points. within this
passage of scripture, which bring forth six attributes of God.
Now, if you ask a hundred people in religion or in the world what
they think of God and who he is, you would get a hundred different
answers. You'd get a hundred different
answers. But here we're going to look
today in the scriptures, what the scriptures declare of God,
not what man thinks who God is, but what the scriptures declare
about God. Because ultimately this book
is our final authority, isn't it? And our God reveals himself
to us in the scriptures. And think of this, there's more
to God than we'll ever learn in this word. Brother Norm Wells
said that. This is all he's revealed to
us. There's so much more about him that we don't even understand
or don't even fathom. When we think of holiness, he
is the ultimate one. He's the holy one. We think of
justice, pure justice. His justice is pure. My oh my. Here we're going to
look in these verses, we're going to look at verses 2 to 7 today,
in Nahum chapter 1. Again, I'd like us to consider
six divine attributes of God, of our great and glorious God.
What he says about himself. Now the dictionary definition
from Merriam-Webster for attributes is a quality character, a quality
character, or characteristic ascribed to someone or something.
An attribute is a noble characteristic. When we speak of attributes belonging
to God, we are speaking of those which are of the most noble. And these things are essential
to His being, without which He would not be God. And in these six verses of inspiration,
the prophet Nahum gives us six distinct attributes of our God.
Let's look at verse two to seven. God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth. That's
Jehovah. Elohim, Jehovah. Elohim is jealous,
and the Jehovah revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious.
The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth
wrath for his enemies. That's what that verse declares
about God. It kind of goes against when it
says God loves everybody, doesn't it? It says, he reserveth his wrath
for his enemies. Now look at this. Praise God,
this is here. The Lord is slow to anger. We're
so quick to anger. We can go off like a cannon,
can't we? slow to anger, and great in power. Think of that. Aren't you glad
God's slow to anger? Because He's great in power.
He'd wipe us all out just like that. And will not at all quit the
wicked. Justice will not wink at sin. The justice of God will
not wink at sin. God will not wink at sin. Ah,
well, you know, he tried his best. Nope. Nope. The Lord hath his way in a whirlwind
and in the storm, in the clouds and the dust of his feet. He
rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry. My. At a word, the sea can dry right
up if he wills it. My. Dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languishes, and Carmel,
and the flower of Lebanon languishes. Mountains quake at him." Think
of the great mountains that quake at him. There's nothing in his
eyes. I've got a picture on my computer
now of a nebula called the doorway. I said, Vicki, look at that.
It's this picture that's out in the stars, and it's like a
little archway. with all this, I don't know what
that stuff even is, out in the galaxies. Looks like a doorway,
behind it all kinds of other stars. We could never see that
with the naked eye. Someone took a picture of that
with some super powerful telescope and now we get to look at that.
Look at some pictures, just type in nebulas and stars on the internet,
it'll blow your mind what's up there. He just spoke it all into existence.
And what does it do? We never saw that until they
got modern technology, right? What was it doing before that?
Glorifying God. What about a flower in the middle
of nowhere? Neil's got some flowers. They pop up only in the springtime
for eight or nine days on his property. Beautiful, beautiful.
Why do they only spring up and the rest of the season they just
look like plants in there? It all glorifies God, beloved.
It all glorifies God. That nebula wasn't seen by any
of us for years and years and generations and generations,
but it was there glorifying God. What about a flower in the middle
of nowhere in the Amazon? Grows up, grows and dies, but
what's it do? It glorifies God. It magnifies His glory, beloved.
We might never see it, but look at the beauty, look at the things
we're discovering in the ocean, the creatures down there, some
that you go down so deep and they illuminate. They glorify
God, beloved. Everything is under His control,
everything. But look at this, the mountains
quake at Him, the hills melt, and the earth is burned at His
presence. Yea, the world and all that dwelleth therein, You
know, and men just shake their fist at him. No wonder the scripture
says he laughs at their calamity. Some says, I don't believe in
God. I don't believe that Bible stuff. Doesn't change the fact that
God's absolutely sovereign. Doesn't change the fact that
this word says the mountains quake at him and the hills melt
and the earth is burned at his presence. And it will be at one
time, won't it? When there's a new heaven and a new earth,
this old earth is going to roll up like a scroll, beloved. There'll
be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. This is His creation. We're just
stewards. We're just renting the places
we live. We're just here temporarily.
This is His world. Look at this. Who can stand before
his indignation? People shake their fists and
say all this stuff about God. You know they're going to face
him one day. Oh my. And aren't you glad as a believer
that that great day when we face him, we're clothed in the righteousness
of Christ just like we are right now. That anger we see here, that
wrath. And remember, this is righteous anger. Because God
don't sin when he's angry. He doesn't sin. When he's jealous,
he doesn't sin. when we're jealous, we sin when
we're angry. He doesn't sin. This is righteous. Righteous
anger. Who can stand before His indignation?
Who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured
out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. The Lord
is good. We can just sit right there,
can't we? The Lord is good. Jehovah's good. We, as people,
we cry that out all the time. Oh, Lord, you're so good to me.
You're so good. You're so merciful to me. You're
so wonderful to me. The Lord is good. He's a stronghold. In the days of the Romans and
all those, some of those tribes in Gaul, there was one tribe
that built their forts on rocks and everything, way up in northern
Gaul. And the Romans couldn't get them.
They just went right by him. They're in a stronghold. You
go up, they're going to be rolling rocks down on top of you and
throwing stuff on top of you. And I'll tell you, a rock, just
even a small rock, coming from the top of a gate down on your
head, that sure hurt. My, they just went right by him.
He's a stronghold for us. When? In the day of trouble.
When are we not in trouble? Trouble on this side, trouble
on that side, Trouble behind us, trouble before us. Gods are
strong. We just keep going forward, don't
we? Look into Christ. Look into Christ, as I was taught
this week. Just look to Christ. Keep your eye on Him, man. My,
it's so for every one of us, isn't it? Keep our eye on Him.
And He knoweth. He knoweth, then, that trust
in Him. Look at that. He knows us. Yeah, intimately He knows
us. In Sunday school, we saw when
Paul was going out and murdering Christians, he was arrested by God, stopped
in his tracks by God on the road to Damascus. And the Lord said,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? He knows us so intimately. Where
is body, beloved? He didn't say, Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou my people, which I mentioned in Sunday school.
He didn't say that. He said, why persecutest thou me? because he's the head
and we're the body, beloved. My. Now note in verse 2, our
first point, God is jealous. God is jealous. God is jealous. And with God, jealousy's not
a fault. With us, jealousy's a fault. But with God, jealousy's
not a fault. It's an attribute as it is right
for God to be jealous because he's perfect. He's jealous over his son, isn't
he? He's jealous over his son. Ask those who crucified him. He's jealous for his honor and
glory. Ask Moses if this is so. Moses found out it was so lame. He's jealous for his worship
in ordinance. Ask Uzziah. Remember those ones
who put their hand on the ark? They weren't supposed to, were
they? Gone. And God is jealous for his people.
You know who to ask about that one? Ask Pharaoh. God's jealous for his people.
And he's also jealous for his glory, isn't he? Ask the Galatians who received
a letter from Paul talking about the one true gospel. I'll tell
you why. Any assault upon God's persons
or resistance to His will, rebellion to His will, or objection to
His purpose is evil. It's evil, beloved. It must be
punished. And we clearly see in this verse
that God will avenge His own elect. He will avenge them. Look at this verse. It says,
He'll destroy His enemies. Look at the latter part of the
verse. The Lord, being Jehovah, will take vengeance on His adversaries,
and He reserveth wrath for His enemies. I always say this, don't
mess with God's people. Don't. My, oh, my. I've seen stuff in my life where
you just don't mess with God's people. Johnny Bauer says, God
takes care of his people. He protects them. And it's true.
He watches over us, beloved. Man, he'd take care of things. We just have to sit back and
watch. My, oh, my. Our God is no one
to be trifled with. People talk flippantly about
Him. He's no one to be trifled with, beloved. And He's the Almighty. He's the one true living God. That's who He is. Now note the second attribute
of God which we see in this text. And I'm so thankful for this.
It's found in verse 3. Let's read. The Lord is slow to anger and
great in power and will not and all acquit the wicked, the Lord
hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds
are the dust of his feet." Look at that there, second point there,
the Lord is slow to anger. Aren't you thankful? Oh, I'm
so thankful. I'm so thankful he's slow to
anger. He's the great and terrible God,
right? In the sense of his wrath and his jealousy for his son.
And he's jealous of his people. And again, this is righteous. And he can be furious with his
righteous anger, and it's righteous anger. But look at this. We see here
he's patient, long-suffering, and forbearing. Turn, if you would, to 2 Peter.
2 Peter. Peter wrote of this. You know,
God's not in a hurry to punish sinners. People say, well, where
is he? Y'all been saying he's been coming
back for all these years. Where is he? Well, God's long
suffered him, beloved. He's not willing that any of
his elect shall perish. And when that last sheep is saved,
it's all over. Well, how do we know that? Scripture declares that. He's
not in a hurry to punish sinners. His judgment's sure. It's going
to happen. It's sure. That's what should
make people tremble. It's sure. Sure as the sun comes
up each day. His judgment's sure. It's going
to happen. Because he said it was. But he defers his wrath, giving
sinners space for repentance. One true living God is gracious.
He is long-suffering. He is merciful. He is a God ready
to pardon and willing to be gracious. Look
at this in 2 Peter 2. 2 Peter 2. Look at this. Look at verse 9. The Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of temptations. and to reserve
the unjust until the day of judgment to be punished. They're not going
to escape. You see these people committing atrocities in the
world through the ages. They've not escaped the judgment of God. Just ask Hitler. He's not escaped the judgment
of God. Genghis Khan wiped out millions of people. Stalin These
people have not escaped the judgment of God. Look at this. He keeps us, delivers
us out of temptations. He keeps us. We know that, right?
Protects us. And to reserve the unjust until
the day of judgment to be punished. My. But chiefly then that walk
after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despised government.
Presumptuous are they, self-willed, Well, that explains us in our
natural state, doesn't it? They are not afraid to speak
evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, which are greater in
power and might, bring not rarely an accusation against them before
the Lord. But these are as natural brute
beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the
things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their
own corruption. and they will still receive the reward of unrighteousness. Now we were deserving of that
too, weren't we? But God had mercy on us, beloved. That wrath that was due us for
our unrighteousness fell on Christ. Looks what it says here. Spots,
they are in blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings,
while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery that cannot
cease from sin. Beguiling unstable souls and
heart, they have exercised with coveted practices, cursed children,
which have forsaken the right way. Remember, we saw in Sunday
school, there's only one way. And God's people at one time
were called the people of the way, in the book of Acts, chapter
nine. There's only one way. Christ said, I am the way. One,
singular. The King's highway. The Lord
Jesus Christ. Look at that. Which are forsaken the right
way, and are gone astray, fall in the way of Balaam, the son
of Bosar, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked
for his iniquity. The dumb ass speaking with man's
voice, forbid the madness of the prophet. These are wells
without water, clouds that are carried with the tempest, to
whom the midst of darkness is reserved forever, for when they
speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure us through
the lust of their flesh, through much wantonness. These are those
that were clean, escaped from them who live in error." Now
we who are the redeemed of the Lord, we know that our Lord is
slow to anger. We've experienced it in our lives, haven't we? God doesn't give us what we deserve. My! He's long-suffering. And I can
look back at my life even before the Lord saved me, and I can
see how He was long-suffering with me. He was so long-suffering
with me before I was saved. And He's even more long-suffering
with me now. In my eyes. In His eyes, He's the same. He
doesn't change, right? But in my eyes, oh my. How long-suffering
He was. How long-suffering He was. Now
let's look at the next attribute. In verse three again, the Lord
is slow to anger and great in power. Slow to anger and great in power.
Beloved, he's the supreme one. He's Elohim. He's the strong
and mighty one. Now again, I've often said we
may desire to do things, but we don't have the strength to
do things. Right? Man desires to be saved
by their own works, but we know that damns the soul to hell. We don't have the strength. We
don't have the power to save ourselves. We're not perfect.
We're full of sin. So then the perfect one, the
Lord Jesus Christ, redeemed us from our sins, saved our souls. The one who has power, all power. How do we know Christ has all
power? Because he's the creator. We know that from scripture.
If he just spoke the world into existence, surely he has power
to save us. Surely he has power to keep us. And he declares himself, the
Lord is greater in power. He's matchless in power, beloved.
We think of people that are in power in governments, and they
have a lot of power. It's nothing compared to the
power our Lord has. Think of this. He speaks and
angels do whatever he wills. The elect angels, they do whatever
he wills. Even the fallen angels and the Satan can't do nothing
without his permission. Satan's on a leash, beloved.
He can't do anything without the Lord's permission. How do
we know that? Well, he goes to Job. He goes to the Lord about
Job. He says, just put that, just
put that hedge down you got around. That's a protection you got around
the Lord. Just put it down a little bit. Ah, here, here, Christian."
God says, no, I won't. The devil's mad, isn't he? The
Lord knows everything, the end from the beginning. He knows
it all. His sister Diane said once to
me, he's a created being. He's a created being. God is
the one who made him. And yet he thinks that, well,
people think that he has the same power as God. No, he doesn't.
God is of great power. And he said, he said, just let
me, just let me at him a little bit. Lord said, okay, you can,
you can go and you can't take his life. Well, we know what happened to
Joke, right? Oh my. But God protected him through
it all, didn't he? And then he revealed himself even more to
him. I love that statement by Job. I know my Redeemer liveth. I know He does. I'm going to
see Him. That's what we as believers say.
And how do we know that we're going to see Him? Because God's
great power. He saved me. He can keep me. And He does.
And He's going to present me faultless before His throne,
Jude says. That Christ is going to present
us faultless. Faultless. That means without blemish, without
sin. Faultless before his throne. Faultless before God. With exceeding
joy, it says. The Lord's going to do that with
exceeding joy. This is my bride. This is the ones that I redeemed
with my blood. These are the ones I gave my life for. And
I did it willingly to bring you glory, Father. Oh my, it's wonderful. He's the supreme almighty, our
God is. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 46. Keep your finger in Nehemiah there. We'll be going
back. But Isaiah chapter 46. My, oh
my. Our God, He's a great God. He's not weak in power. You know, man-made God is weak
in power. He can't do anything. Oh, He
can't do anything. His hands are tied. He can't
do anything unless you let Him. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible has great
power. You think, how can, oh, and I know I was there, I was
there. How can men think that God has to wait upon us? We're
little pieces of dust. The God of the Bible has great
power. He's not a weak God. He's not
frustrated with the things that men do. A weak God is no God at all.
A weak God who can't do anything, just an imaginary God. That's
all they are. Look at this in Isaiah, look
at this. Isaiah 46 verse 9. Remember the former things of
old, for I am Elohim, the strong and mighty one. Oh my. And there is none else. That's
a declaration of God, of who He is, and that all those, you
know, The Romans, they had all these different gods, Jupiter
and Fortuna and all these other, nothing. Just imaginary things
made up by man. Just made up by man. And listen, look at, and he declares
it. He's the one true living God and there is no other God.
And there is none else. I am God and there is none like
me. No one's like me. This is what he's saying about
himself. declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient
times the things that are not yet done. Saying, look at this, my council
shall stand. No one can change his mind, beloved. Presidents, they get all these
councillors around them, and this councillor might say, well,
I think you should do this. And someone says, well, he's
got three or four other guys. Well, we think you should do
this. Well, I'm going to go with these guys over here. Or, well, I'm going
to go with this guy, even though you're all saying I'm going to
go God doesn't seek counsel from anybody. And his counsel shall stand.
So that means if we're saved, we're saved. Eternally saved,
right? Oh, what comfort that gives our
souls. Look at what he says here too. My counsel shall stand,
and look at this, and I will do all my pleasure. Sister, it was his pleasure to
save you. Oh, isn't that wonderful? Oh my, that's wonderful. That's
wonderful. And what he wills will come to
pass. It'll come to pass. And sure
as the sun will come up if he wills the next day. Look at this. Call on a ravenous
bird from the east. What did he do? He had ravens
bring Elijah food. Ravens! Birds! People read that and say, how
can that be true? Because he's God. How can Jonah survive three days
in the belly of a whale? Because God kept him. Oh, my beloved. See, people have
the wrong perspective of God, of who he is. He's of great power.
It's nothing for him to have a bird bring food to us or to
Elijah. No, it's nothing for him. That
was nothing. My, you ever wonder what it was? It was food of some kind. But
he bought him food. Oh, the man that executed my
counsel from a far country. Yay, I've spoken it. If God speaks
something, you know what? Look what the scripture declares.
And this is without doubt, I will also bring it to pass. God said,
Christ said. Come unto me, all ye that labor
in our heavy labor, and I'll give you rest." Right? Have not we who are the
people of God experienced that what God says is true? We found
rest in Christ, haven't we? He says, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, shall come to me, and I will in no
wise cast him out. The scripture says that God's
able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Christ. Isn't that wonderful? My. He brings the past. The fleet
of Christ. Oh, my. Then he says, I purposed it.
I have purposed it. I will also do it. He told us in the Old Testament
the Messiah was coming into this world, didn't he? All those Old
Testament prophets, they spoke of Christ. He's coming. The Messiah's coming. He told
that lady at the well, remember that lady at the well? She said,
we know Messiah's coming. He said, I that speak unto thee.
Oh, I'd marvel at that verse. He confounds all those religious
folks. And then he reveals himself to
his little lost sheep, a woman who was despised of all others,
despised in the community. You're mine. Oh, my. Wonderful. He says, hearken unto me, you
starved hearted. Are you running from God? He hearkened to him.
Flee to him. Flee to Christ. He's the only hope for sinners.
Hearken unto Him. That are far from righteousness,
look at this, I will bring near my righteousness. That's Christ.
Has He not revealed Christ to us, beloved? Oh, my. It shall not be far off, for
my salvation shall not tarry. And I will place salvation in
Zion. That's us. That's the church. For Israel,
my glory. Why does he save us? For his
glory. To magnify his glory. All according
to his will and purpose, which he purposed in himself. And what
he purposed, we just see. He's going to come to pass. Think
of that. Think of us who are believers
here. Anyone who will hear this message who's a believer. It
was purposed by God that you'd be saved in Christ. And what
he's purposed, it's come to pass, hasn't it? Oh, glory to his name. Glory to his name. Oh my. So our great God has all
power to keep his word. Our great God has all power to
accomplish his purpose. And our great God has all power
to accomplish the salvation of His people, and to keep those
whom He saves. And again, present us faultless
before the throne of God. Let's look at verse 3 again,
in Nahum. Nahum chapter 1 verse 3, it says, The Lord is slow
to anger, praise be to God, and great in power, and will not
acquit the wicked. The Lord hath His way in the
whirlwind, and in the storm and the clouds, are the dust of his
feet." Notice there it says, the Lord will not acquit the
wicked. This brings forth the fourth attribute, which is that
our Lord is a just God. He's just. This is another attribute of
God. Justice and truth are the habitation of his throne. Though
he's long-suffering, his long-suffering is not a lack of his will or
ability to punish his enemies. No. God's great in power. He's therefore, and therefore
his justice demands that the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Demands that, right? And God will not clear the guilty.
A just God cannot just wink at sin. A just God cannot clear
the guilty. If a murder was brought up to
a judge and the judge just let him go, we wouldn't think that
that judge was very just, would we? If it was thought out that
the guy was guilty or the girl was guilty, we would think, that
judge is not very just. God's justice must be satisfied.
It must be. And if God is just and must punish
sin, how can any sinner ever be saved then? Because we're
sinners from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet. Will
God just lay aside his justice? Nope. Will he just lay aside his justice
and he might be merciful? No, he cannot. Because justice
is part of his essential character. How then can he save us? Well,
there's only one way, beloved. Substitution. Substitution. And this is the good news of
the gospel. Listen to what Job proclaims. in Job 33, 24. Then
he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going
down to the pit. I have found a ransom. Beloved,
we who are the people of God have found a ransom, a ransom
for our soul. The Lord Jesus Christ, he paid
the ransom for our soul, didn't he? All according to the will
and purpose of God. Because we saw there that what
God purposes comes to pass, comes to pass. Listen to this in Romans
3, verses 24-26, it says, "...being justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Now we are
freely justified by the grace of God through the redemption
that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. "...whom God set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His
righteousness for the remission of sins." That's my sins, that's
your sins. Christ is sinless. He's dying for us. He's dying
as a substitute to pay for our sins. To declare his righteousness
for remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say at this time, that he might be just,
that his law might be upheld in the justifier, the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. The question is, do you believe
in Christ? Have you cast your soul upon Him? Have you trusted
Him as Savior and Lord? He is the only Savior for sinners.
May God make it so, if you haven't. Oh, may God come to you and show
you that you're a guilty sinner, just like He showed me, and just
like He showed others in this room. And we still know we're
guilty sinners, but we're forgiven, forgiven by the grace of God. God Almighty saves a guilty sinner
and forgives forgives our sins. And in doing that, three things
must be done. The sinner must be punished to the full satisfaction
of God's justice in order for us to be redeemed. Well, Christ
dies as our substitute. Christ dies to the full satisfaction
of God's justice. He dies as a substitute. In order
for us to be redeemed, God's justice must be satisfied. And
then, in order for a guilty sinner to be forgiven all our sins,
our sins and our guilt must be totally removed. Do you know our sins and guilt
being totally removed? Isn't that wonderful? That's
wonderful, isn't it? My, how? By the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Redeemed our souls, beloved. Purchased with the blood of Christ. Christ cleanses the saved sinner
from all our sins, not just some of them, not just the ones we
did in the past, but no, all of them, beloved. All of them. And our guilt is removed. Our
pardon is sure. It's sure. It's not some imaginary
thing. No, it's sure, beloved. And it
can never be bought against us again. Oh, my. God doesn't say, well,
you know, I kind of let you off easy over here. No, he didn't
let us off easy at all because his wrath fell on Christ. Somebody paid. You remember when
them Israelites, remember when they, remember when they were
to put the blood on the lentil and God would pass over them?
Well, there was an innocent lamb slaughtered for every one of
them lentils being, wasn't there? The hymn hadn't done nothing. Picture Christ, the sinless one
dying for sinners. And then the third thing that
must happen is we must become perfectly righteous. How is that going to happen?
We're sinners from the top of our heads to the bottom of our
souls. Our best prayers are full of sin. How is that going to happen?
The believer is clothed in the best robe, beloved. You know,
it says when the prodigal came home, he was clothed in the best
robe. That pictured the righteousness of Christ. The best robe. Believers clothed in the spotless
righteousness of Christ. They were still sinners. Yet
again, God looks upon us now and sees us clothed in Christ.
When I see the blood, I'll pass over you. Oh, it's wonderful. That's the
best news sinners can hear, isn't it? Oh, scripture says that, that
come, oh, what's that one in Isaiah about, though your sins
be as scarlet, you should be white as snow. Come, let us reason
together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they should be white as snow. Double die red, that means. My. White as snow. That beautiful
snow when it first fell, you know how pretty that is, and
that white, and that, oh, it's so beautiful. When not even an
animal's walked on that snow, it's so white, whiter than that,
beloved. Oh my, and these three things
can only be done by the great substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ.
It can only be done by him. God incarnate in the flesh. the
sinless, spotless Lamb of God. Now let's read Nahum chapter
one, verses three to six. We'll see the fifth attribute
here, which is the fact that God is sovereign. He is absolutely
sovereign. Now people, I'll tell you, I'm
gonna tell you a little story. I remember a friend of mine talked
to a lady one time, professed to be a believer and all this
stuff. He bought his Bible over. He
was doing some work. He was cleaning the windows. He had a window
cleaning business and he was cleaning the windows and he came
and she was asking him questions about what he believed in. He
was a sovereign grace believer. And he said, well, I believe
God's absolutely sovereign. And she said, what do you mean?
And he says, well, he says, well, I believe that God chooses a
people and those he chose, he saved and, and, um, She asked,
where did you find that in scripture? So he opened up the scriptures
to her, and they were looking at the scriptures, and she said,
I don't believe that. If what you're saying is true, then God's
a monster. This is a person who professed
to believe the Bible. And when she was confronted with
the truth from the Bible, she called God a monster. Because it went against what
she believed. You know what we do, believers? I've told you
guys, when somebody told me about election, I went backwards and
just couldn't believe it. But now I bow. It's wonderful.
It's one of the most wonderful doctrines in the whole scripture.
God chose us in Christ based upon absolutely nothing in us.
Why? Because he's absolutely sovereign.
He can do whatever he pleases, beloved. A governor can pardon whomever
he wills, despite what anybody says, right? A president, at
the end of his term, he can pardon whomever he wills, no matter
what people say. He's got that right, not authority,
right? Look at this, though. Look how sovereign God is. Verse
3, the Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not
at all quit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and dryeth up
all the rivers. Bashem languishes in Carmel,
and the flower of Lebanon languishes. The mountains quake at him, and
the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence. Yea,
the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before
his indignation? No one. No one. And who can bide
in the fierceness of his anger? No one. His fury is poured out
like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. And notice
in verse three it said, the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind.
He has his way, beloved. He's sovereign. He has his way
in this world, no matter what people think. He's absolutely
sovereign. He has his will in our lives. Isn't that wonderful, though? He who has his way in the whirlwind
has his way in everything. This is bringing forth that he's
in total control of everything. Everything. That's what this
scripture is bringing forth. He's absolutely sovereign. This is
the one who saved our souls, beloved. He's absolutely sovereign. And he's sovereign in all times,
in all places, and in all things. The Lord hath his way. You know
what? People just don't believe that. Man's got free will to do whatever
he wants. Man's will is bound to his nature.
And if he has a dead nature, he's bound to sin. And the only
reason we hate sin now as believers, we would still be loving it if
we weren't born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Listen to these scriptures here.
And I ask you, who are God's people? I ask you, who are God's people?
Do we rejoice to know what he does? Do we rejoice to know that
he's absolutely sovereign? Oh my, listen to this. Here's
some things that he does. Isaiah 45, 7. I form the light
and create darkness. I make peace and create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. Isaiah 45, 22. Look unto me and
be saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God, and there is none else. Isaiah 50, verse 2. Wherefore
when I came, Was there no man? When I called, was there none
to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?
Is God's hand shortened, that He's got a role in the world
in the purpose of man? No! No. Or have I no power to deliver? God's done all He can do, now
the rest is up to you. They're saying He don't have
no power. God's a great power. He's a great
power, does whatever he pleases. Behold, at my rebuke I dry up
the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness, the fish stinketh, because there's
no water, and dieth for thirst. Isaiah 51, verses 10 to 12. Art
thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters, the great
deep, that hath made the depths of the sea away for the ransom
to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the
Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting
joy shall be upon their head. They shall obtain gladness, and
joy, and sorrow, and mourning, and shall flee. I, even I, am He that comforteth
you. Who art thou, that thou shouldst
be afraid of man, that shall die? Why should we be afraid
of man who is going to die? And of the Son of Man, which
shall be made as grass. He parted open that sea, didn't
he, that Red Sea, all by his sovereign power. He did it. And when the enemies
of God went flying in after those Israelites, their wheels fell
off their chariots, and they were stuck in there, weren't
they? And then when that last Israelite was on the other side,
what happened? Oh, that sea just folded down on top of them. We
just seen with that narrative of what happened of what happened
to those Egyptians we've seen. In verse 2, the Lord will take
vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his
enemies. Think of that. That happened at the Red Sea,
didn't it? When all those Egyptians were just drowned in the water. The last point I'd like to consider
is found in verse 7. It says, the Lord is a great
stronghold in a day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust
Him. Our God is good, beloved. He's so good. He's so good. He's
so good. He sovereignly chose to save
a people, His own people. And He sovereignly purposed the
way they'd be saved. In and through His Son, His dear
Son, the Word of God. He made His own Son to be our
sin-atoning Savior. our sin atoning substitute. So
marvel that this great God, this great one who has all power,
he's our Savior. He's our Savior. Nahum declares
the Lord is good. The prophet had been talking
about the storm of God's wrath, the terror of his justice, the
greatness of his anger, the whirlwinds, the shaking mountains, melting
hills, and burning earth. And then he comes to this blessed,
calm, serene island of rest. And he says, the Lord is good. Oh, he's so good. Oh, and we
who are the people of God, we know that God is essentially
good, isn't he? Goodness is essential to our great God. Without it,
he would not be God. Goodness is so essential, so
essentially the character of God that as John Gill has observed,
there is nothing but goodness in God, and nothing but goodness
comes from him. My, He's so good. James says
this, Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God.
For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempted He any
man. But every man is tempted when
he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. It's our own flesh. The reason we're tempted is because
of our own flesh, beloved. God is eternally and immutably
good. He doesn't change. Praise God He doesn't change. The goodness of God never varies,
never varies, never changes, never alters. He is good, always
good, good in each of His glorious persons, good in God the Father,
good in God the Son, good in God the Holy Spirit. He is good. And we know that scripture that
says, For I am the Lord, I am Jehovah, I change not. Aren't
you thankful He doesn't change? He is unchangeable. That means
His love never changes for us. That's just wonderful. Therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. God's good in all his acts of
grace. God is good in all his works
of providence. God is good in all that he has
done. Everything. And he's good in all that he's
doing, isn't he? Even the things we don't understand. He's good. He's good. God is infinitely,
incomparably, immeasurably good. And who can measure the goodness
of God? Can you measure it? Can you plumb the depths of it?
No. Can you plumb the depths of His mercy and His love and
His grace? Can you plumb the depths of it?
No. No. No, He's good beyond our
highest estimation of what good is, isn't He? Oh, my. And God is good to His elect,
isn't He? He's good to we who are His people. Ask Him. Ask God's people. Ask
God's people if He's good. Ask each other. This encourages
us. Is He good? Oh, He's so good to me. He saved
my soul. Saved me from all my sins. He's
so good to me. Oh. And eternity will prove that
out, won't it? Eternity will prove out that
God's good to us. We'll be worshiping him forever,
beloved. No sin. All the sheep of God will be
praised in his name. My, and do you know this? Think of this
too. As we go through things in this world, his goodness is directed
at us at all times. There's not a time while we're
here on this earth when his goodness is not directed on us. That's
comforting, isn't it? That's so comforting. Let's look
at verse 7 once more. The Lord is good, a stronghold
in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him.
O beloved of God, let us ever trust the goodness of God. Let
us ever rest in him. I like what Gil said, an island
of rest. An island of rest he is for us. Even when we can't see his goodness,
he's good to us. All the time. So let us flee and abide in our
mighty Savior, who is our stronghold, the verse brings forth here.
He is our stronghold. He's our city of refuge. Remember
the manslayers chasing that one? Just got to get to that city.
Just got to get to that city of refuge. And once they were
inside, they were safe, weren't they, from the manslayer. And
you know when they were released? when the high priest died. We fled to that city of refuge
and we've been released when our high priest died, didn't
we? We're free, beloved. I owe God
so good to us. And if the Lord who is good knows
me, I don't want anything else to satisfy me. Just him, just
him. He knows all things eternally.
He knows all things perfectly. May our great God give us grace
and strength just to trust Him more and more. Heavenly Father,
we thank Thee all for Thy Word. We thank You for what we've seen
today.