I would like to address you this
morning in the context of the all-seeing eye of God. It is my constant prayer to God
that he give me the message that he wants to deliver through me. And this is the case here and
now. And I pray that you will find yourself being instructed
in the faith of Jesus Christ as we together, by the leading
of the Holy Spirit, contemplate a little of the greatness of
the all-seeing eye of God. Scripture tells us from Acts
15, verse 18, that known unto God are all his works from the
beginning of the world. The word world there is the Greek
word aion, which is more accurately literally translated age. So we actually have a reference
here not to the habitable world, not to the cosmos world that
we see and behold, that we touch, taste, feel, but to time. So this is a reference to eternity. And of all the attributes of
God, the fact that he is omniscient is one of the most expressive
attributes of his eternal character. Ephesians 1, verses 5 and 6 declares
of God's dealing with us that our entire existence is to be
viewed as his Having predestinated us, the tense used here substantiates
the absolute predestination of us by God. Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children, or literally unto the adoption
of our sonship by Jesus Christ, the eternal, only begotten Son
of God to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise of the glory of his grace. In other words, according
to his eternal good pleasure and unto the eternal praise of
the glory of his grace. wherein he hath made us accepted, or
wherein he hath dealt graciously with us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1 verse 11 then goes
on to substantiate this truth when it says, in whom, that is,
in Christ, in eternity, Also, we have obtained an inheritance. Again, the tense used here serves
to authenticate an already completed occurrence. Being predestinated. Here again, completely corroborating
what is communicated in verse 5. Being absolutely predestinated. according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."
That is, eternal God, in accordance with his eternal will and purpose,
is the source of the power that is performing right now, in present
time, everything that the great almighty triumvirate has determined
and purposed from eternity to be done where our inheriting
eternal life and salvation is concerned. Wow. This truth is
presented in the Holy Spirit inspired preaching of Peter at
Pentecost. where God's omniscience is specifically
referred to in that very notable sermon, Acts 2.23. Him, that is Christ Jesus, being
delivered, that is presently given up by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, that is by the eternal determination
of triune God's omniscience. Peter declared to those Jews,
those scribes, those Pharisees, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. God's omnipresence and power
perform his eternal purposes, but it is his omniscience that
conceives, decrees, and then determines all that he has eternally
done. Time, present time, right now,
is the staging arena, the platform if you will, upon which God has
determined to display all that he has purposed to be done in
eternity for his eternal glory. Therefore, his omniscience is
profound in that it penetrates into the very fabric of the eternality
of his purposes. God Himself states this truth
quite plainly. Isaiah 14, verse 24, The Lord
of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so
shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it
stand. Regrettably, however, the omniscience
of God is grossly understated and even purposefully ignored
where human fallenness is concerned. Fallen human reasoning cannot
even compute what it means to be continually scrutinized, inside
and out, from beginning to end, by the all-seeing eye of an wholly
omniscient God. For example, Psalm 139 makes
such descriptive statements as verse 1, O Lord, thou hast searched
me, or thou hast intimately examined me and known me. Verse 2, thou
knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising. You understand, and
understanding is the evidence of really and truly knowing,
you understand My thought afar off. Verse 4, For there is not
a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together. Verse 6, Such knowledge is too
wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it. Verse 17, How precious also are
thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they
are more in number than the sand. What exactly, therefore, is the
verse really telling us when it says, Known unto God are all
his works from the beginning of the world? Why was James,
lead of the Holy Spirit, to make such a remarkable announcement
as this? The immediate context of this
verse in Acts 15 is the fresh realization that God has revealed
His eternally saving claim on a chosen people that is multinational
and not just Jewish. Acts 15, verses 7-9 tell us,
And when there had been much disputing, disputing concerning
the increasing numbers and numerous occasions of the Gentiles coming
into repentance and faith in Christ, when there had been much
disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren,
you know Or literally, you are quite acquainted with the indisputable
facts and you understand how that a good while ago, as is
recorded in Acts chapter 10, God made choice among us that
the Gentiles, by my mouth, should hear the word of the gospel and
believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts,
Or literally, God who is the heart-knower of all mankind. If you question such a truth,
may I refer you to Psalm 33, verses 13-15, which says, The
Lord looketh from heaven, He beholds all the sons of men from
the place of His habitation, He looketh upon all the inhabitants
of the earth, He fashioneth their hearts alike, He considereth
all their works. And then there's Acts 124, which
declares of God, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all
men. Peter simply brings this up,
this truth he brings forward. And God, which knoweth the hearts,
bear them, the Gentiles, witness. in giving to them the Holy Spirit
even as He did unto us. And He put no difference between
us and them. Literally, having purified their
hearts by the faith. Peter in verse 11 makes the additional
astounding statement of conclusion. Literally, it would be rendered
this. concerning the Gentiles, comparing
them to themselves, to himself as an apostle. But by the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, he says, we believe to be saved
in the same manner as they also. Or we believe to be saved ones. Or we believe that we indeed
are saved ones by the grace of Christ Jesus, just like they
are. He did not make the comparison
that they are just like us. He made the comparison that we
are just like them. Peter made this Holy Spirit-inspired
declaration, and then, where there had been much disputing
concerning all of these Gentiles coming unto repentance and faith,
suddenly, after Peter makes this adamant declaration of God's
sovereignty over who are and who are not his chosen, Scripture says there came upon
them a profound period of silence. It fell upon everyone who was
there. A silence that was only to be
broken by the Apostle James, who spoke up and said, Acts 15,
verses 13 through 18, Men and brethren, hearken unto me. Simon
hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles
to take out of them, or to take out from all other nationalities,
a people for His name. And to this agree the words of
the prophets. Literally, as it has been written. And then James quotes from the
prophecy of Amos, which says, After this, I will return. This is the Lord declaring through
Amos these things. I will return and will build
again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down, and I will
build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up that the
residue of men might seek after the Lord. And all the Gentiles,
upon whom my name has been called, saith the Lord, who doeth all
these things." Then the great statement from James, known unto
God are all his works from the beginning of the world, or all
his works from eternity. It is God's omniscience that
settled the matter of the fact of what was right then happening
in and among the disciples, the apostles, and all those around
them. Acts 15 verse 12 relates how
Paul and Barnabas told the others of their wonderful experiences
in evangelizing the Gentiles. This was the reason for all the
much disputing. James then brings out how God
declared in advance through the writing of His prophets that
this time would indeed come to pass. And He has led up the Holy
Spirit to declare that God from all eternity has purposed all
of his works in regard to the salvation of all of his elect. All of God's works of saving
grace have been completely accomplished from the beginning of the world
through the eternal Son of God. The sinful flesh of all of fallen
mankind, on the other hand, does not really want to even think
about the fact that nothing that happens is independent of God's
omniscience. Nothing among men that is willed,
wanted, or worked out ever escapes God's all-inclusive omniscience. He foreknew that it would be
because he predetermined that it should be and he has in essence
described all that we are or all that we ever will be in his
holy word. His word is a holy mirror that
gives forth a true reflection of the state of our souls. He sees us, each one, through
and through. He knows us, each one, even better
than we know ourselves. Our entire being, from the very
origin of our physical existence, along with our ultimate spiritual
experience, after this life is over, has been seen and known,
has been purposed, fixed, and accomplished in complete accordance
with the word of holy, holy, holy God. In fact, it is holy
scripture that dogmatically declares from Psalm 100 in verse 3 in
Acts 17 verse 28, Know ye that the Lord, he is God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. Holy Scripture also explains
in no uncertain terms that in Him we live and move and have
our being. We are here in this fallen world
because He has indeed eternally purposed a place in this fallen
world for our existence. And He being God, as He alone
is, Having purposed a place for us in the existence of his vast
creation has also seen to it that each of our destinies have
been determined according to an accountability that we have
to his holy word that none of us can escape having to face
up to. An accountability for each of
us to be A fulfillment of what his word describes. Either of
a sinner that is lost in their flesh, in their sins, or a sinner
that is saved by God's grace through the person and work of
God's only begotten Son. We all are either a sinner that
lives out his time here in this world serving only himself, or
a sinner that by God's grace lives to serve and glorify the
eternal Savior and only substitute for sinners that there ever was,
is or ever will be the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no getting around
it. It will be one way or the other. Once again, the Word of Truth
says from Hebrews 9, 27 and Romans 14, verse 12, And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, and after this the judgment, so then every one of
us shall give account of himself to God. And it is most certain
and sure that a holy and just judgment will take place upon
our God-ordained and totally accountable immortal souls. It will take place. The Word
of God boldly and plainly attests from 2 Timothy 1, verse 10, regarding
His saved ones, that His purpose and grace which was given to
them before the world began, it says, is now made manifest. Or, in other words, it is now
revealed by the appearing, by the revelation of our Savior,
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and
immortality to light, or life and incorruptibility He has brought
to light. How? Through the Gospel. through the gospel. Nothing escapes
God's omniscient notice. He does not overlook even the
most trivial aspects concerning that which makes up our whole
lives. The deepest, darkest secrets
of our hearts are entirely exposed to the sight of his holy This is true of every man, woman,
or child in and throughout all the generations of the history
of fallen humanity. All of us are held in strict
account with that which His Holy Word describes. For it is descriptively written
from Hebrews 4 verses 12 and 13 concerning his holy word that
the word of God, it says, is quick, or living, and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit. of the joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. Beloved, this includes the very
willingness of human behavior itself. It goes on to say that
neither is there any creature that is not manifest, is not
revealed in His sight. But all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Or more literally,
to whom we must give account. Now then, what exactly does this
mean about who we really are in this fallen world? This means,
my friends, that one is either a lover, a follower of the Lord
Jesus Christ, or they are not. The foreboding reality of our
current culture that at present claims so much to be Christian
is that people's beliefs about the Lord Jesus Christ are so
much inundated with iniquity. perversions of the truth. And the fact is that these perversions
of the truth directly concern what the Word of God plainly
teaches is the only true, pure, and sound doctrine of the gospel
of God's grace. And errors and heresies serve
only to further defile the already flesh-oriented mind of fallen
man. They serve to further confuse
his flesh-oriented judgment. They serve to further corrupt
his flesh-oriented affections. This is true of all unregenerate
believing sinners. of iniquitized Christianity everywhere. And it is in the reality of this
situation that makes it so profound to realize that God's holy omniscient
eye, His most penetrating holy gaze of perfection, sees clearly
the truth of this matter among us and within us. Isaiah 64,
verses 6 and 7 tell us, but we are all as an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And we all
do fade as a leaf. And our iniquities, our perversions
of the truth, like the wind, have taken us away. And there
is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself
to take hold of thee. And our accountability to this
word of truth is just waiting to be revealed and reckoned upon
us. Therefore, since the Bible plainly
states that whatsoever is not of faith is sin, what a day of
reckoning that will truly prove to be. God has manifested, God
has revealed His pure word of truth, His holy word of faith
in His eternally Beloved Son, who is our Lord and Savior, Jesus. John was inspired by the Holy
Spirit to declare from 1 John 1 verses 1 through 3. He wrote,
that which was from the beginning, literally that which was from
eternity, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes. Beloved, this is the hearing
ear and the seeing eye of Proverbs 20, 12. That alone experiences
Christ. That alone comes from the Lord. That which we have seen with
our eyes, that which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled. Or in other words, which we experience
firsthand during our lifetime in this fallen world of the Word
of Life. Or that life which is the divine
source of our accountability. Even the very Son of God Himself. For the life, John writes, That
is, the only life that truly pleases God and is accepted by
Him into holy heaven, for that life was manifested, was revealed,
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show, or literally,
and announce unto you that eternal life which was with the Father,
and was manifested, again, was revealed unto us. That which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you. Once again, the
same word in the original. We announce unto you that you also may have fellowship
with us. What kind of fellowship is that,
Bob? May I tell you? It's that like-minded and like-kinded
fellowship of what he's trying to so profoundly communicate
in this opening of this epistle. And he adds, and truly, our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. That's just
the first three verses of 1 John. John writes after this fashion
concerning the Lord God that was personally revealed unto
him. Beloved, before God can be known by fallen man, God must
reveal Himself unto that man. And this revelation of Himself,
He has done. He has accomplished in Jesus
Christ. Triune God sent the Son of God
into this fallen world to be the Son of Man. The God-Man was
sent into the age of sin and death to do this work of divine
revelation unto certain fallen sinners in this fallen world.
These certain fallen sinners are all that comprise God's elect
unto eternal salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's
true and only perfect representation of Himself before sinners of
this fallen world who have been chosen to receive the revelation
of Himself. And He, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is the true and only perfect representation before God of
sinners who have also been chosen to be redeemed, reconciled, represented
by, saved by Him. His representation as being the
eternal Son of God is made before the sinners He has saved to show
them that He is their Savior. And His representation as being
the eternal Son of Man is made before God on behalf of these
same sinners in order to show God that these are His saved
ones, His sons. His children of the light in
which there is no darkness at all. This truth is so important
for us to come to understand, especially when we contemplate
the omniscience, the all-seeing eye of Almighty God. Proverbs 15 verse 3 boldly declares
that the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the
evil and the good. And as far as that is concerned,
it is written in the record of Scripture from 2 Chronicles 16,
verse 9, during the reign of Asa, the king of Judah, somewhere
around 940 B.C., these words For the eyes of the Lord run
to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong
in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. But the one and only omniscient
God has this to say from Jeremiah 17 verses 9 and 10 concerning
the heart of fallen man. He declares to us, the heart
of fallen man is deceitful, is crooked, is fraudulent above
all things, and desperately wicked, incurably sinful. Who can know
it? And then he himself answers the
question. He says, the Lord I, the Lord,
search the heart. I try the reins. That is, he
sees the inward parts and the downward depths of the sinfulness
of our hearts. He says, I, the Lord, search
the heart. I try the reins, even to give
every man according to his ways. and according to the fruit of
his doings. The heart of fallen man is altogether
corrupted by sin, and it is holy God that sees it and says that
it is so. What a solemn reality this indeed
is. Your heart, my heart, with all
its unspeakable pride, and all of the depths of its deceitfulness
and fraud is completely exposed to holy and just God. There is
not a wish that rises up within us against God or a thought of
our mind that revels in rebellion against His sovereignty that
goes unnoticed by Him with whom we have to do. And this naturally
raises the question as to which one of us then has a heart that
is perfect toward God. Indeed, Ecclesiastes 7.20 boldly
states that there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth
good and sinneth not. And Ezekiel 18.20 has God telling
us, the soul that sins it shall die. These are two terse statements
of undeniable and inescapable truth. Is it any wonder why the
second and third verses of Psalm 14 declare, the Lord looked down
from heaven upon the children of men? That is literally the
omniscient eye of holy God thoroughly scrutinized all the sons of Adam. To see if there were any that
didn't understand and seek God They are all gone aside. They
are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. This describes all of fallen
humanity without a single exception. Unless there come to pass a major
transformation that affects all of our entire being and a state
for all of eternity, it is certain that we will be eternally lost
to a most miserable and unfavorable judgment. The very next phrase
of Holy Scripture from this psalm poses a most foreboding question. It asks, Have all the workers
of iniquity no knowledge and call not upon the Lord? Holy God must render, must render
a holy justice upon anything and everything that is unholy. It is impossible for Him to do
anything less. Think about it. The omniscient
eye of God's holy justice examines thoroughly everything that makes
you to be who you really are in your entire fallen condition. Every unbelieving thought, every
wicked desire, every selfish and covetous motive, and every
idle word that is uttered is a focal point. for the execution
of the holy justice of omniscient God. Do you believe this? Whether you do or not is irrelevant
to the fact of its reality upon all of us. When we are murdering
someone by hating them, the all-seeing eye of God's justice beholds
that as murder. When we are casting untoward
and lustful looks, the all-seeing eye of God's justice sees those
looks and regards them as actual acts of immorality. When we are
caught by God's holy gaze with a covetousness in our hearts,
even for just a brief second, Our whole eternity is by this
determined to be done. And when God, by His Holy Spirit,
truly reveals the reality of this truth unto your understanding,
guess what? When the Holy Spirit reveals
this truth to your understanding, you will suddenly experience
and discover that you do have a conscience in regards to the
way that you live in this fallen world. You have a quickened and
an awakened conscience of thinking and an awakened conscience of
speaking because now it is realized That you have an accountability
before God that is directly related with and to a pure, uncompromised
knowledge of His holy word. Forget about your responsibility. You're grossly, encourageably
irresponsible. Now you have a knowledge of His
word of truth. of which you were before so ignorant. But your ignorance is no defense
for your lost estate. And this Holy Spirit revealed
pure knowledge and understanding of the truth is not so much a
knowledge and understanding that you've gotten a hold of, but
rather it is a knowledge and understanding that has gotten
a hold of you. And by that hold on you, it changes
you. For with this Holy Spirit given,
and grace obtained, knowledge and understanding of God, you
cannot think and speak of things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ
in the same way that you used to think and speak. You don't
dare to do that. Purity permeates and pervades
the performance of your whole being. Praise the Lord God of
all grace. Being enlightened to the omniscience
of God illuminates the reality that sinners desperately need
a mediator, a substitute on their behalf, a savior. The Word of God reveals that
God's justice God's justice, beloved, is most glorified in
the damnation of sinners? No. In the salvation of sinners. Think about that. His justice
is most glorified in the salvation of sinners. How can that be?
Sinners such as we are. And in short, the explanation
of this truth is this. 1 Timothy 2.5, there is one God
and one mediator between God and man. The man, Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all. And this, 1 Timothy 1.15,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Here indeed
is another inescapable aspect of God's omniscience. Namely,
that the all-seeing eye of His inflexible and His infinite justice
upon sin and certain chosen ones of all the sinners that sin has
made is focused not on them at all, but upon the man Christ
Jesus, their mediator. He it is that gave himself to
be their ransom. The word of grace and truth of
the faith of Jesus Christ declares concerning him who his own self
bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead
to sins should live. unto righteousness." 1 Peter
2.24. And again, the Word of God plainly
puts it. For he hath made him to be sin
for us. Him who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5.21. God's all-seeing eye of justice
sees Him as our sin, as well as the fact that it beholds us
as the pure, the precious, and the pristine righteousness of
Jesus, whom alone holy God is pleased with. This is my beloved
Son, in whom I'm well pleased. All of this is viewed by God
upon, in, and through the eternal person and work of His beloved
and only begotten Son. In fact, it is in and through
the context of the person and work of Christ as being the propitiation
for elect sinners that the truth that declares, known unto God
are all His works, from the beginning of the world, from eternity,
comes forth. He, Christ Jesus, the eternal
Son of God, is alone worthy of all the glory for the eternal
salvation of his entire church. God himself boldly declares from
Isaiah 45, Verse 21, who hath declared this from ancient time,
or from antiquity, or from eternity? Who hath told it from that time,
or more literally from the Hebrew, from that place before time? Have not I the Lord? And there's
no God else beside me. A just God and a Savior. Don't you see? He is both the
distributor of divine justice and the only Savior from His
full execution that there is. There is none like Me, He says. And again, from Isaiah 46, verses
9 through 11. For I am God, and there is none
else I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from
the beginning, from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Yea, I have spoken it, I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will also
do it. Note that God's justice and God's
grace are both brought into perspective where the sinner's salvation
through the person and work of Christ is concerned. It has to
be this way, you see. It cannot be any other way. The word of His perfect justice
and grace declares these precious statements of description From
Isaiah 53, verses 10 and 11, listen to these statements of
description. The Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, he shall see the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. He shall bear their iniquities. Praise God. Praise God. Psalm 115 verses 1-3 declares,
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory,
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. Praise God! He has done it. And He has done it from all eternity
for all eternity. This is indeed the way that He
in His holy omniscience sees it. And may we, by His grace,
be granted to see it this way too. For the fact is, exactly
as 2 Timothy 2.19 tells us, the foundation of God standeth sure,
having this seal. The Lord knows them that are
His. Let everyone that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity. May God grant that Romans 15
verse 13 deliver to us this very apt benediction. Now the God
of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you
may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen.