So our message title this morning
is simply this. Who is our God? Who is our God? And I wanted to speak plainly
to you about this this morning. I may never have an opportunity
to speak to some of you again. I may never have the opportunity
to speak again myself. None of us have a promise of
tomorrow. And we're all older than we were yesterday. So today
is the day that we talk about this. Who is our God? And to put it bluntly, it is
God's mercy that characters like you and
I are not in hell this morning. Now do not bother to try to credit
it to anything else. It is God's mercy. You say, I
don't believe in hell. Well, you will. You will. Verse 2, Wherefore should the heathen
say, Where is now their God? In other words, what right do
the heathen have to say, Where is their God at now? There was a lot of people saying
that this past Tuesday night. I heard numerous preachers and
religious broadcasts all last weekend and all day Monday and
Tuesday urging people to vote, and they were absolutely sure
that God wanted the election to go the other way. Let me tell you a little secret
about who God is. That's what we're talking about.
Who our God is. If He had wanted it to go the
other way, it would have gone the other way. And that's exactly
what the next verse says, verse 3. But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. I don't understand what God's
purposes are in a lot of things and the reason for a lot of things,
and neither do you. But I do understand that whatever
happens in this country and whatever happens to this country won't
be anything we don't deserve. Now that's a fact. We voted God
out a long time ago. And there's no need to be confused
about it. about what he's doing, this verse
tells us what he's doing. Verse 3, he's doing exactly what
he is pleased to do. And there are many scriptures
which declare this same truth. Ephesians 1.11 says that he worketh
all things, not some things, but all things according to the
counsel of his own will. I get so tired of hearing whining
preachers. Now let the Lord have His way.
He does. He does. Who do you think He
is? He makes the sun to shine on the evil and on the good,
He said. He lets the rain fall on the
just and the unjust. Talking about who is our God.
Now, verses 4 through 8, Describe, we're in Psalm 115, 4 through
8 describes the idol gods of men, lifeless statues and shrines
that men worship. And the psalmist declares the
worthlessness of them. Let's read it. Verse 4, their
idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have
mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear
not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk
not. Neither speak they through their throat. Now in verse 8
is a charge against those who would worship any such. He says,
they that make them are like unto them." In other words, anybody that
would be dumb enough to worship an idol is just as dumb as the
idol. They that make them are like
unto them, so is everyone that trusteth in them. Now, no one
here this morning, I hope, would dare bow to a statue, an idol,
and call it God. We just wouldn't do that. But
the truth here is much bigger than that. You see, idolatry
is in the mind. It does not require a tangible,
visible, material idol or statue. Any concept in your mind of a
God that is contrary to the God of this Bible is a false God.
and you're guilty of idolatry. I am fully convinced today that
95% of all religious activity today
of any kind is idolatry. Now I'd like to think that percentage
is not that high here, but it may be. This TV crowd has messed our
minds up. What good is a God that caters
to you? You may be praying for rain,
and I may be praying it won't rain. Who's He going to please, me
or you? Well, the answer is neither. Again in verse 3, He hath done
whatsoever he hath pleased." Proverbs 19.21, there are many
devices in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord, that shall stand. His eternal decrees are not altered
or changed at our whims and whining. Isaiah 26.10, declaring the end
from the beginning. That's who our God is. Declaring
the end from the beginning. I'm giving you these scriptures
because what I have to say to you is not my opinion. It's not
tradition. It's not what you've always heard.
It's what God's Word says. And if you missed it all this
morning, and you may miss some of it, we'll gladly get you a
tape of it, or you can listen at us online. I hadn't mentioned
this from the pulpit before, but for several months we've
been putting some of our messages online. Freegraceradio.com. Freegraceradio.com. All one word. Not that I'm worthy to be heard,
but the one I'm talking about is worthy to be talked about.
Not that I'm qualified, to preach His precious Word, but that He
whose precious Word I preach is worthy of being preached.
And so we're here because He put us here, and I'm done too
old and wore out to start sugarcoating it and trying to make people
happy. I want to tell you what God said,
and that's what we need to hear. Now, back to that verse, Isaiah
26.10, declaring the end from the beginning. That's who He
is. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I
will do all my pleasure. You thought God was some feeble
old greyhead trying to get people to cooperate. No. He doesn't try anything. He just
does what He wants to do. When He's ready for your cooperation,
He'll have it. All right, who is our God? I've
got four or five things here, and I've done God ahead of myself.
Number one, our God is sovereign, and verse 3 said it. He's in
the heavens. He's doing whatsoever He pleases. That's what sovereignty is. It
means accountable to none. Over in the old country, they
call some of the leaders, kings, monarchs, call them a sovereign.
Uh-uh. They have to answer to God. They've
got a coin over there. They call it sovereign. But it's
not really sovereign. It'll only buy so much, and then
it runs out. See, only God is sovereign. The
little prefix of that word, sov, S-O-V, it means highest, highest
of all. And of course, the suffix reign,
you know what that means. To reign means to rule. So the
word sovereign means highest rule. There is none above Him. There is none to whom He is accountable. He is God, sovereign over all. He is not grieving over anything
He wants to do and can't do. That's the God you've heard about
all your life. You've heard that He'd love to accomplish a lot
more than He's able to get done. No. He's doing everything He
wants to do. Nothing more. Nothing less. He's saving everybody He's purposed
to save and damning the rest. That's who God is. He's never
been distressed. He's never been discouraged.
He's never felt like giving up. He's never been disappointed.
He's always done and done perfectly whatever He wants to do. He's
never been disappointed in Himself because He's never failed. He's never been disappointed
in you because His confidence has never been in you. It's who
God is. He is sovereign. The old prophet
Nahum, chapter 1, verse 3, the Lord is slow to anger and great
in power. And will not it 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." In the whirlwind and in the storm,
he's God. I read a headline a week or so
ago about the recent storm Sandy. up in the northeast, and it said
this, people are angry. Who are they angry at? They're
angry at God. He controls the weather. Mother
Nature don't exist. It's our God they're angry with. Who is our God? He is holy. He
is so holy that with one sin, the single act of disobedience
of our father Adam, God rejected and alienated Adam and all his
posterity. Romans chapter 5 verse 12, wherefore,
as by one man sin entered. and death by sin. And so death
passed upon all men for that all have sinned in Adam. We are all Adam by nature. You weren't born innocent. You didn't grow up and decide
to be a rebel against God. You were born a rebel against
God. It was not your decision. You have the sinful nature of
Adam. Psalm 58, 3, we come forth from
the womb, speaking lies. These little ones, these babies,
we say, They're so innocent. Are they? Are they? By action, maybe. By nature,
no. We came here deceived, selfish,
hating God, and would be our own God. That's the way all Adam's children
are born, live, and die. unless God intervenes. We all
came into this world determined to go to hell. And if God leaves
you alone, that's exactly what you'll do. It's not a question of some religious
nut talking you into coming down the aisle and making a spectacle
before men unless the eternal, holy God and His Spirit comes
to you in quickening power and gives you spiritual life resulting
in repentance and faith in His Son, then you'll surely perish. He could do it in the church
house like this. He could do it when you're driving down the
road. He can do it when you're lying in bed in the stillness
of the night. But if you don't do it, you'll perish in your
sins. It's not what you can do about
it, it's what He must do about it. I'm not talking about religion, I'm
talking about condition of heart. Condition of heart. See, let's
get this straight about the nature business. God is not mad at you
over what you've done. He's mad at what you are. What
you are. See, what you do is just an expression
of what you are. The trouble's in here. The trouble's
in here. And what you are is a corrupt
sinner by nature. You say, I used to be a sinner.
No, you still are. You still are. A lot of religious
folks got that warped up. We used to be a sinner. Now we
are Christian. No, if you're a Christian, you're still a big,
big sinner. The Apostle Paul, later on in life, he said that
Christ Jesus came to save sinners of whom I am chief. Not used to be, still am. A lot
of people have trouble with this thing of representation in Adam. But just read your Bible. Just
read your Bible. Don't listen to what somebody
says. Don't just listen to what a preacher says. Read your Bible.
Let me put it like this. If you're bitten by a grown rattlesnake,
are you just going to kill that one adult rattlesnake? You wouldn't
kill all the baby rattlesnakes, would you? They hadn't bitten anybody. They're innocent. Or are they? In action, yes. In nature, no. you'll kill them all. And we're all in Adam. God did
not alienate Adam as an individual, but as a representative of the
entire race. And the race goes on, generation
after generation after generation. Born a rebel against God, die
a rebel against God. Born a rebel against God, die
a rebel against God. On and on and on and on, unless
He intervenes. You're not going to intervene.
You don't want to. You won't change anything. You
can't change anything. John 6, verse 44, Jesus said,
No man can come to Me. Oh, won't you please come to
Jesus? He himself said, no man can come to me except the Father
which hath sent me. Draw him. Draw him. Jonah 2.9, salvation is of the
Lord. Not just from the Lord, but of
the Lord. He's the only one interested
in it until he Pricks your heart. You're not interested in it.
But the only God some of you have heard about is the God that
says your salvation is up to you. The decision is yours. I'm telling
you that's idolatry. They're telling you that you
need to accept the Lord. No, it's not him that needs accepting.
It's you. You made your decision in Adam and you haven't changed your
mind and won't. Unless God steps in, any and every man will perish
in his sins. So God is holy, so holy as to
condemn Adam and all his posterity. over one sin. Number three, who
is our God? He is gracious. He is gracious. In eternity past, He chose from
Adam's fallen race, a race yet uncreated, He chose a people and called
them His elect. and gave them to His Son before
He made the world. It is God's love for His Son. Therein does He love His people. Therein and therein only can
He love the likes of you and I. So God is holy. God is gracious. He cannot love any child of Adam
outside of his son, Jesus Christ. You say, well, don't God love
everybody? He never said he did. He said he hated Esau. He hates
all Esau. Romans 9, 15, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It is not of him that plays religion.
It is not of him who lives up to a bunch of rules. Salvation is not in our professions,
it's not in our performances, it is not of him that willeth,
it is not of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It's not a matter of you straightening
up, you can't straighten up enough. It's not a matter of you turning
over a new leaf, you done done that a hundred times and it's
just as dirty on one side as it is the other. You ain't got
no new leaf to turn over. It's not a matter of you coming
to church. Who cares? I am saying, except God Almighty,
in His mercy and grace, lasso your heart and change your heart
toward Him, you will perish in your sins. It's not about you hating religion.
I hate it too. I really do. But it is about
you hating God and His authority. You say, I don't hate God. You
don't hate your God. You don't hate that idol you've
conceived in your mind. That God that's nothing more
than a Santa Claus. Just listening to folks read
off their wish list. But no, the God of this Bible,
who is gracious because He is gracious. He is not gracious
because He sees something in you He likes. If God only looked at you and
you, you could not possibly be the
subject of His mercy and grace, but only of His wrath. He sees
His children in His Son. He'd have to quit being God to
approve of such characters as we are. You know that. He approves us in Christ. That's
why we sing, My Hope is Built, on nothing less than Jesus' blood. and righteousness. I dare not
trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name."
You say, well I'm just hoping my good will outweigh my bad. It'll never happen. Christ is the only hope for the
likes of us. From eternity, when He chose
a people in His Son, And that's Ephesians 1-4, according as He
had chosen us in Christ. Gave them to His Son. The only
way God accepts us is in Him. Who is God? He is just. Just. He would be just to put all Adam's
race in hell. He sure would. Sins must be paid for. God provided for this in eternity
past. That's why the scripture says
that in the mind and purpose of God, Christ was a lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. You see, the crucifixion of Christ
was no accident. It was a certainty. It was a
fixed certainty from eternity. God ordained it. Why? To pay
for the sins of His elect people. And the God some of you have
heard about all your life sent His Son to die for all men. All
that are in hell and all that are going to hell. What a tremendous
failure that God is. He's false, by the way. But here's who our God is. Matthew
1.21, before Jesus was born, the angel
said to Joseph, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sin. Christ never came into this world
and died to try to get Him a people. He came and died for a people,
His people, already His, from eternity. Now God is just in
that He suffered His only begotten Son to go to a cross and die
in the stead of His people. It is in Christ that any are
accepted with God. There's a lot more to it than
coming down to the front and apologizing to God. It's not
what you can do about it. It's what He's done about it. And God's forgiveness is not
Him just erasing the board as if there were no charges against
us. No. Sin must be paid for. And that's why Christ died. And
justice was satisfied. Our God is just. Lastly, and I'm looking at my
watch and I haven't told you what it means. Who is our God? Our God is faithful. And what
I mean by that is that He is faithful to Himself. He don't owe us anything but
hell. And we all earn it a thousand times a day. But He is faithful
to Himself. He is faithful to His character.
He is faithful to His promises. And He's going to follow through
with His eternal purpose. He chose a people. He gave them
to His Son. His Son came in a body of flesh
and died for them. And not one for whom Christ died
shall ever perish. God will faithfully and effectually
call and convince everyone for whom Christ died to bow to Him,
to acknowledge Him as the Sovereign, to trust Him as our hope, to
worship Him as our Redeemer, to obey Him as our Lord. You say, well, I know somebody
who became a Christian and it never changed their lifestyle
at all. No, you don't. You know somebody who got swept
into somebody's religious game. Bright lights and balloons. I
want to tell you something. Our God is faithful to win the
hearts of His people. That's who our God is. It's not Him that makes you clean
up and come to church. The devil can do that. He does
a lot of it. Our God is faithful to win the
hearts of His people. That's who He is. Has He won
your heart? Your rump being on the pew every
Sunday is not the answer. Your heart being turned toward
Him is the answer. And only He can do that, and
He does do that for His own. Our God is not into religious
pretense, professions, or performances. You can have that God. Our God
is faithful to win the hearts of His own. Those whom He loved
from eternity and gave to His Son and died to pay for our sin
God is faithful to finish the job. 2 Timothy 1. Paul is writing to Timothy. He's
not writing to a God-hating world. And we make the mistake of trying
to give these precious New Testament epistles to the heathen world.
No. They're written to believers.
Every one of them are written to believers. the New Testament
epistles. And here's one believer saying
to another, Paul to Timothy, 2 Timothy 1.9, God hath saved
us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Oh Lord, save that soul that's
nearest hell. Not one of God's elect, chosen
in Christ in eternity, has ever been within a million miles of
hell. Mark her down. I'll tell you
who our God is. Who is our God? He's not like
us. He's not operating on a plan-as-you-go
basis. That's about all we can do one
day or the next. But our God, from eternity past,
He knows every tomorrow because He's decreed every tomorrow. So many unfit parents say, well,
that child was a mistake. Not with God it wasn't. He ordered it. He ordered it
just like it is. He hadn't missed anything. Nothing's
ever happened that surprised Him. He's never slipped up. He's never meant to do something
and didn't. He's never wanted to do something
and couldn't. Our God is God. He's not a dumb
idol. He's not one you've made up in
your mind that would never cross you. He's God Almighty. And apart
from His Son, He must cross you. And apart from being accepted
in His Son and His shed blood at Calvary, He must reject you. Our God is alive. He's aware.
His eyes see. His ears hear. His hands move. His feet walk. His mouth does
speak. But He speaks nothing contrary
to His Word. You better watch this TV crowd.
Oh, I just got a fresh word. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. God said it right here. This
is not all God knows, but it's all He wants you to know. You ever hear this term, extra-biblical
revelation? You better run the other way.
If God had it to say to you and I, He said it right here. So all I'm saying is, if you're
going to believe in a God at all, don't believe in one who's
a failure. Don't believe in one who is frustrated
over the condition and the course of this world. Don't believe in one who is unsuccessful
in changing the hearts of men. He does change hearts. He changed
mine as a boy with no direction in life, had no idea. If I had another hour, we'd talk
about that. I finished high school as dumb and as ignorant and as
without direction as anybody ever has. Went to work in a grocery store,
then a cotton mill, then back to the grocery store. And I could
just go on and on and on and run down every pig trail looking
for satisfaction, relief, help and hope, value in life. But God, but God stepped in and
made the difference. Made the difference. Well, we
don't have that other hour, but don't believe in a failing God.
He changes hearts of those he wills to change. And the rest
are left to themselves. And you know plenty of them.
The rest are left to themselves to cuss God, criticize the church,
criticize God's people, live out their days and plunge into
hell where they belong. And God is just in it. He is
absolutely just in it. Who is our God? I've tried to
tell you who my God is. I don't need a God who needs
me. That would make me bigger than Him, wouldn't it? I'm not bigger than Him. I need
Him. Don't lose this verse. Psalm
115. But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. If He saves you by His grace,
it will be to the glory of His grace forever. But if He puts you in hell because
of what you are, He's done right. He's done right. I'm telling
you who God is. Thank you for listening. All
right, let's stand together.