A Word Most Important

Okay, here we go. It's good to be here. Now, what is the most important word that you think of when someone asks you, what's the most important word in the Bible? Well, I could ask that question to probably 100 people and get at least 50 different answers. There'd probably be a few people that would say the same thing. But the true answer to that question is not love, It is not salvation or faith or heaven or eternal life.

The most important word in the Bible, the most important theme in the Bible is God. God is the most important theme in the Bible and God spends a lot of time explaining about his name. There are many names mentioned in the Bible, and every one of them is given by God, because God is the author of the Bible. Now, he used men to write it down, but it was he, the Holy Spirit, that gave him the words to write down, gave each of them, and also when it came to the New Testament. Now, in the Old Testament, there are many times God's name is mentioned, and every one of them carries a great deal of significance.

And my friends, if we have a little bit of understanding about the name of God and who he is, it is going to clear up a lot of other things for us about spiritual things. All right, the first place I wanna go is over in the book of Genesis chapter 14. I'm gonna read a verse of scripture or two over in the book of Genesis chapter 14. And in that passage of scripture, we have a name given to us We have a name given to us here by God, about God. Most important name in all the Bible is God. In the beginning, God. Boy, grab a hold of that. Grab a hold of that. In the beginning was God. There was not a man, there was not a theology, there was not thinking, there was God.

All right, in the book of Genesis chapter 14, and there in verse 18, it says, and Melchizedek, king of Salem. Now he's a very important king in the Old Testament. Not much is said about him, but it says he was Melchizedek, king of Salem or king of peace. brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. Melchizedek was the priest of the Most High God.

Now, there's a lot of gods mentioned among religion today and in Old Testament times, but there is only one that is Most High, and he is the creator. He's the God that gave us the Bible. It is his name that is the most important thing that we could ever discover or have revealed to us. The name of God. And in that same chapter, in verse 22, and Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God. Abraham understood a little bit about the most high God. He was not a medium God.

I remember being asked to visit a man one time. He and his wife asked me to come over. And when it first happened, I thought things are not going to turn out very well. Well, we sat down and he said, Norm, I've been all over this community and I'm looking for a church where God's not in a wheelchair. And I thought about that and I said, well, I know a God that's not in a wheelchair. That's the God of the Bible. The God, the most high God.

He's never been in a wheelchair. He never has to ask permission. He never had, I wish I could do something. He has always been so positive about himself that what he sets out to do, that's exactly what he does. He is God. Well, it tells us there in the book of Genesis 14, 22, he says, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth. So everything that we can see is his possession. It belongs to him. He has a house. It's a heaven and earth. And in that house, everything belongs to him. And he rules and reigns over it as he sees fit.

Well, again, in the book of Genesis chapter 21, In the book of Genesis chapter 21, as we think about the most important word in all the Bible, it's not man. It's not theology, it's not religion, it's not worship, it's not God's. It is God, most important word in all the Bible. And God makes sure that when he shares with us his name, that it has some significance about it, that we can comprehend a little bit about it, just as we do here. It says in Genesis 21, 33, And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. God from eternity to eternity, never has been a time when he has not been.

Now that is difficult for me to comprehend, everlasting. I'm a creature of time. Time was created by God for you and I. So we can measure time, but God is not affected by time. You know, he explained it this way. A day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day.

It makes no matter to him, to us. We live out our time. We say, I don't know about you, but I think the month of June just passed like that quick. and the month before, that quick too. And next month will probably pass that quick too. But with God, there is nothing like that. He is not even concerned about time.

He is the everlasting God. Before there was a heaven and earth, God was in his glory. I remember hearing a story about a man traveling in the South many, many years ago, and he saw a church building over there, and people were standing outside of that building. The building was so full, There are people standing out at the windows. And he says, I gotta go listen to this guy. So he got over there and this preacher said, where was God before he created the heavens and the earth? Where was God before he created Adam and Eve? Where was God before all things took place?

And then he screamed at the top of his lungs, in his glory. Never was a time he's not been in his glory. And he will continue that throughout all eternity. He's glorious. As it says there, he's the everlasting God. In Genesis chapter, I'm gonna back up just a little bit. In Genesis chapter 17 and verse one, as we look at this name of God, again, most important word in the Bible is the God and his names as he reveals them to us. as he shares with us his character and his qualities. He does that by giving us the name about himself, the everlasting God, the Lord God Almighty. And here he tells us in the book of Genesis chapter seven, verse one, and when Abraham was 90 years old and nine, that's 99 years old, Abraham was 99 years old, his wife is 90.

Guess what? God's gonna tell them they're gonna have a baby. Abraham and Sarah both were awestruck. They never expected to have a child. The Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the almighty God. Now, if he's the almighty God, he can come upon a woman when she's 90 years old and she can have a baby. And that's exactly what happened. Sarah had a child. We know him as Isaac. the head of the patriarchs. So God Almighty, Abraham, God came to him. God came and says, I am the almighty God.

Nothing is too hard for me. Everything I purpose to do, I can handle. There's not a orbit of a planet that is not in my control. You know, I took a short class up here at the college on the stars and planets and so forth, and all the planets are turning one direction except one, and that one really messes up modern science. How can one planet be going backwards to all the rest of them when it just happened with a big bang? Well, God just leaves his mark, doesn't he? He puts his mark everywhere he goes. He is the Lord God Almighty.

In the book of Isaiah chapter, excuse me, I'm gonna go to Joshua first. Joshua chapter three, verse 13. In Joshua chapter three and verse 13, we have these words recorded that gives us more information about this most important word that we find in the Bible, and that is God. In the book of Joshua chapter, 3, in verse 13, it came to pass, as soon as the souls of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the waters of Jordan.

Here we have another part of his name, the Lord of all the earth. You know, even in those tribes and those places where he wasn't looked at as God, where they had idols, Baal, Ashtoth, and other kinds of gods, stone gods, silver gods, gold gods, and all these other things, he was still the Lord God of all the earth, even there. He was not exempt. He was not thrown out. He was not relegated to the outside. He was still the Lord God of all the earth. Even in that condition, they were worshiping all kinds of nonsense. And yet he was the Lord even there.

We find this great truth about God. Isaiah records several things about Him. One of them is found in Isaiah chapter 40. In the book of Isaiah chapter 40, there in verse 28, Isaiah 40, verse 28, we read these words that God left us about Himself. The most important word in all the Bible is God and His description of Himself for us.

He is God most high. There's no higher being, no higher God. He is the everlasting God. He is the almighty God. He is the Lord of all the earth. And here we find in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 28, hast thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, one more time, he brings up the subject. I'm the everlasting God. There is none that can compare with me when it comes to longevity.

All the prophets are gone. All the priests are gone. Old Testament prophets, Old Testament priests are gone. You know, that was a problem that they faced. They couldn't continue because of death. But this God is an everlasting God. And then he goes on to tell us here in that same verse, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, I saw a book one time in the library, and I wish I'd have borrowed it and never taken it back. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. My son, I could have had him borrow it and never take it back. But in there, it took, from standing right here, every picture was 10 times bigger going out that way.

And it just kept going and going until you're out in the solar systems and way, way out there. And then the guy went the other way and he went smaller and smaller by 10 until there were particles inside of particles that were inside of particles in our atoms. There's no end to God's creation, and all of it is in His absolute control. It is by Him that all things consist or are held together. Not one atom is out of control when it comes to Almighty God. We may get concerned about it. We may worry about it. We may worry about a storm. We may worry about a hurricane. We may worry about a drought.

You know, God has used droughts in the Bible in the most positive way. One time he had a drought and two people, a husband and wife and their two sons says, we gotta leave the place, there's no way we can grow any more food. And they went over to a place called Moab and got over there and guess what? They took the gospel with them. And there was a lady by the name of Ruth that was saved as a result of that drought. God uses droughts. He uses hurricanes. They're all in his control. Nothing is out of his control. He has everything. He is the Lord God almighty. He's the everlasting God. He is the Lord. He is the creator of the ends of the earth. Everything.

Every once in a while, the science says, we just found a new bird. We just found a new mosquito. We just found a new bug. We just found something new. God knew about it all the time because he's the creator of all things. He has known that. I am the Lord. I'm the Savior. I am the Redeemer. This is what God said about himself. The most important thing that we can find in the Bible, the most important word, the most important theme is God Almighty. What think you of God? What do you think about God?

Is He something to be manipulated or is He in absolute control of all things? Well, I trust you will be able to say, He is in control. Now, sometimes His control goes out of my way. Sometimes it brushes up against me, but He is in absolute control of all things.

In the book of Psalms, The psalm, Psalm 24, we have this wonderful statement made here by the psalmist. Psalm 24 in verse 8, the Bible shares this, and everything I've been reading is out of the Bible. I didn't make this up. This is God. And you know what? It makes me so pleased that I have that God. as my ruler, as my caretaker, as my governor, as the one who has saved me by his grace. He has promised never to let go. He has promised to present me spotless. Well, here in the book of the Psalms, Psalm 24, excuse me, Psalm 24 and verse eight, we read this. Who is this king of glory? The Lord strong and mighty. Who is your king of glory? The Lord, the Jehovah, strong and mighty.

In the Old Testament, we very seldom run into the name of God by the term Jehovah. There are three or four times Jehovah was translated Jehovah. Most of the time we run into it with capital L, capital O, capital R, and capital D. That was the way that the translators let us know that this particular word was Jehovah. That's what we have here in this word.

Jehovah, strong and mighty. Jehovah, mighty in battle. Who would you want to go into battle for you? Jehovah. The wonderful thing about this Jehovah, about the Lord, the I am that I am, he went into battle for his church. He went into battle for his people. He came down to this earth as God Almighty.

He came down as the eternal God, the all-powerful God, and he had a purpose in mind that God in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in covenant mercies together said, the only way we can save our people is to pay for their sin debt. And it has to be made by someone that is bigger than man. Man cannot pay for his own debt. But Jesus Christ came and went to the cross on the behalf to pay the sin debt of his people. How could he do that? He's the Lord God Almighty. How could he perform that? He's the God of heaven and earth. How could he do that? He's the I am that I am. So we have this great God.

The last thing I want to mention, because our time is about up, but the last thing I want to mention is there are 244 times in the Bible that the Lord is called the Lord of hosts. God is called the Lord of hosts. Now, sometimes the translators missed a good point. They put Lord of Hosts and it could have been translated Lord of Armies. Armies, Lord of Armies, Captain of Armies. And it is brought out in his clearest form in the book of Daniel when Nebuchadnezzar got his mind back from spending seven years out in the field eating grass and having his fingernails and toenails look like fangs on a hawk.

He came to himself, God brought him out of that scooper, and he confessed this, that the Lord is the God of the army of heaven. He has all the angels under his control. Every demon is under his control. Oh, Satan's running rampant. He's God's Satan, and he has a chain on him, and he can only go this far.

He cannot destroy any of God's people. He tried to destroy Job. Lord said, you can go to this point. You can take his family, you can take his property, and you can take his health, but you can't take anything else. And that's as far as he could go. Now we say, oh, that was terrible of God. Job would answer differently.

Job came out of that whole thing and said, I have heard of you with the hearing of my ear, but now my eye seeeth you. He came out seeing the God of heaven, the God of gods, the eternal God, the Lord of hosts, the King of glory. He came out and saw him in his glory. So he would say, you know, I'd do it all over for that kind of view of God. What a blessing God gives to us to get to see him. So the most important word in all the Bible is God.

What think ye? Jesus asked that question one time, what think ye of Christ? What think ye of God? What do you think of the God of the Bible? And some people went off and murmured and said, well, he's just Joseph's son. And some people went off and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. We'll leave that with you and Lord willing, we'll be back the fourth Sunday of July again. Mike, if you'll come and bring us a final hymn in closing.

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