Would you turn back to Acts chapter
four? This Saturday, we will not be
having the preacher's class, and we're gonna resume it again
in February, the first Saturday in February, and we won't be
having services tonight, but Happy New Year, everybody. I want to preach upon this subject,
the God that is. the God that is. Peter and John had been arrested,
put in jail for healing a man that was born lame. They were put in jail for that.
It's kind of unusual, isn't it? And the reason they were incarcerated
for this was because they had done it in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. So they were arrested. Think
of that. They were arrested for healing
a man in the name of Christ. Now, beginning in verse 21 of
Acts chapter four, So when they had further threatened them,
they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them because
of the people. For all men glorified God for
that which was done. For the man was above 40 years
old on whom this miracle of healing was showed. Now, these men couldn't
keep them in jail because they were afraid. The people were
excited. They glorified God seeing this
miracle that had taken place. And these men couldn't hold up
to their own convictions when they thought it might cost them
something. They thought they might get in trouble if they kept them
jailed. So they let them go. Verse 23,
and being let go, they went to their own company. I love that
phrase, their own company. That's the church of the living
God, their own company. And being let go, they went to
their own company and reported all that the chief priests and
the elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, now
the they is the church. Now, what I find so amazing about
this is this is just two or three days after the Sermon on Pentecost. These people had only been saved,
regenerated for two or three days. They were newborn believers. And yet, as we read this passage
of Scripture, what depth of understanding they had. You read this in your
thinking this is the prayer of newborn believers. Yes, it is. You see, when God reveals himself,
you know him. That's the only thing this can
be attributed to. God made himself known to these people. And when
God makes himself known, you know him. Not until then. I remember always thinking about
this statement Brother Mahan always made. You don't come to
Christ through doctrine. You come to your doctrine through
Christ. What's that mean? That means when Christ is revealed,
the doctrine becomes obvious. You believe it all. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God. and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. God made himself known to these
people, so they know. The God that is. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. God's isness. He is who he is. No apologies. No apologies. God's isness is
not determined by man's thoughts. God is as he is, and those who
know him know him as he is, and the God that is is described
in this prayer of the early church. Prayer is a supernatural thing.
You know, people say, I'm going to go say a little prayer. There's
no such thing as a little prayer. If you've got a little God, you've
got a little prayer. But true prayer, it comes from the heart,
inspired by the Spirit of God, tells us who God really is. And if you want to know the God
that is, hear this prayer of the early church. Verse 24, and
when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God. with one accord, with one mind. And those that know the God that
is are unanimous concerning him. All believers are at agreement. They are of one accord regarding
his isness. All believers. Now listen to
me. There's not disagreements. There's not differing opinions
and ideas in the church of the living God. There's not. They're
all of one accord. They're all at complete agreement. There is no jarring chord of
descent to mar the heavenly melody. One accord. True unity. That is so in the church. Believers believe the same thing.
And look what it is they believe. And when they heard that, they
lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord. Now the word Lord here is not
the word that's generally translated Lord. The word, I'm sure you've
heard of it, kurios. I don't know if I'm saying it
right. I remember one time I tried to say something in Greek and
somebody said, You're saying it wrong." And I remember I thought,
how do you know? You've never heard anybody speak
Greek. I mean, that's a dead language. Nobody knows what it
sounds like. But at any rate, I'm giving a
shot. Curios is what it's usually called. But here, it's the word
where we get the word despot from. Despot. What's a despot? A despot is
someone who exercises absolute rule and control. This is talking
about the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. He's the despot. He has no checks. He has no balances. He has no one that he answers
to. He has no law above his head.
He rules and reigns as a despot in absolute control. He's in
control of me. He's in control of you. He's
in control of everything because he's the Lord. He's the despot. He exercises absolute sovereignty. Being omnipotent, he always does
exactly as he pleases. That's who he is. This is the
God that is. I love the way Peter began the
sermon on Pentecost. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Now this is the God that
is, the one who is absolutely sovereign, the one who always
does exactly as he pleases. He has a will. He has the power
to perform His will. He has the right to perform His
will. Can I not do what I will with my own? And He always does
His will. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He. That's who he is, and any God
that is not like that is a false God, a peanut God, a pygmy God,
the figment of man's imagination. The God that is is the absolute
despot, the one who rules and reigns. Now, let me say this. You will only worship this God. If you can control God, if you
can manipulate Him, if you've got a free will that can thwart
God's will, you'll never worship that God. You'll only worship
a God in whose hands you are. He is the Lord. And look what they said next
in our text in verse 24. And when they heard that, they
lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord,
thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea
and all that in them is. The God that is, is the creator. The God that is is the God that
made all things from nothing. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. The God that is is the God who
creates. Now I realize a large proportion of people would claim
to be atheists. A lot of people claim to be atheists. They do not believe there is
a God. They think that it's contrary
to science. It's irrational to believe that
God is and that God created the universe and they are atheists. Now, those who are atheists did
not begin atheists. You see, everybody knows by the
light of nature that somebody made all this and nobody made
him. Everybody knows that intuitively.
They know it by the light of nature. This powerful God, everybody
knows this even, this is the only thing that makes sense.
Somebody had to cause this. Things don't just happen. Life
doesn't just all of a sudden, there it is. It wasn't, now it
is. Someone had to cause all of this. It takes a blind leap
of faith in the dark to become an atheist. Now, atheism is its
own religion. It has its own beliefs, but atheism
is irrational, illogical, and intellectually indefensible. Most atheists claim to believe
they have this some kind of wisdom that makes them not believe that
God is creator, but it is foolishness. God is. Now notice what he says next
in verse 25. When the early church prayed,
they understood something about the scriptures that God speaks
from the scriptures. They understood he's sovereign
Lord. They understood he's the creator.
And next they understood that he speaks from the scripture. Look what verse 25 says. Who
by the mouth of thy servant David has said, why did the heathen
rage? And the people imagined vain
things. Now who was speaking by the mouth
of David? God was. Now understand this,
the God that is makes himself known in this book we call the
Bible. Now you can know there is a God,
you can believe in his existence without the Bible. Everybody
believes God is, we're born believing that way. I know I lie, like
I said, some people become atheists, but they don't begin that way.
But we can't know God. We can't know what God's like
apart from this book called the Bible, who by the mouth of thy
servant David spake. This is God speaking in this
word. This is God speaking. Somebody says, how do you expect
me to believe that this book is the inspired word of God?
Well, I expect you to believe this book is the inspired Word
of God, just like I expect you to believe that God made the
universe. When He created, He demonstrated
omnipotence. Oh, what power in creating the
universe! And if He is able to create the
universe, He is able to inspire men to write a book. And he is
able to cause that word to be preserved. And right now we are
looking at the inspired word of God. The God that is, is the
God that speaks from this book. Now you and I better pay attention
to what it says. We better believe what it says. We better ask the
Lord to reveal to us what it says because this book is his
word. The God that is, is the God that
speaks from this book. And the early church understood
that, didn't they? They knew right off the bat that
when David was speaking in the Psalms, it was actually God speaking
through him. And they quoted Psalm 2, why
do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? Now, look
in verse 25 again. The God that is, and this is
very important, The God that is, is the God that men are against. The God that is, is the God that
mankind is opposed to. Now let's look at this from the
scripture. Verse 25. Now the God that is, is the Lord
He's the God who creates. He's the God who speaks from
the Scriptures. He's the God men are opposed
to. Verse 25, "...who by the mouth of thy servant David hath
said, Why did the heathen rage? And the people imagined vain
things. The kings of the earth stood
up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord." And
against. his Christ, for of a truth against
thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and
Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were
gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Now, Lord, behold their threatenings. This is the God The true God,
the living God, he is the God that all men are against. Now, there is a God that nobody's
against. Small g. There is a God that
nobody's mad at. Nobody's mad at a God they can
manipulate. Nobody's mad at a God that they can control. Nobody's
mad at a God who they can thwart his will with their free will.
Nobody's mad at that God. Nobody's mad at a God who can save people without his justice
being satisfied. Nobody's mad at that God. Nobody's
mad at a God who's absolutely sovereign. I mean, they're not
mad at a God who's not absolutely sovereign, whom they can control,
manipulate. There's a God that nobody's mad at. But that God's
a non-existent. That's not the living God. But
all of mankind is opposed to the God that is. The heathen raging and the people
imagining a vain thing. Their cry, we will not have this
man to reign over us. God knows for you, he does reign
over you. right now. That's the God who is. But a
God that humanity likes, who humanity is pleased with, that
is not the God of the Bible. Now let's go on reading. Verse
26. The God that is, is the God that
men are opposed to. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ, his anointed for of a truth against thy holy
child, Jesus, whom thou has anointed. Now the God that is, has a holy
child, the Son of God, God's Christ, God's anointed. This is the God is. He's got
a holy child who created the universe. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. He is God's
anointed, God's Christ. You know what that means? In
the Old Testament, there were three offices that were anointed. God's prophet, he was anointed
with oil as the very spokesman of God. God's priest, the one
who could bring God's sacrifices, not everybody could. And God's
king, rise and anoint the king. Now, no man held all three of
these offices and they were simply typical of the Lord Jesus Christ,
God's prophet, God's priest. and God's King, this One who
is God's Son, the Creator, the Second Person of the Blessed
Trinity, God over all, blessed forever. He is the Word of God. He is God's Prophet. This is
my Beloved Son. Hear ye Him. He's God's Priest. He's that priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. I love Hebrew 725, wherefore
he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God
by him. And that's the way we come to God, isn't it? By him.
By him. No other way. By him. He is able
to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them. That's God's priest. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ died, yea rather that's risen again, who's even at the
right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. I need him
to represent me. He's God's King, God's anointed
King. I love that passage of scripture in Hebrews 1. It's
a quotation of the Psalms where God said to Christ, thy throne,
O God is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Now, I need him to bring me the
word of God as God's prophet. I need him to represent me before
God as God's priest. And I need him as king to cause
me to do his will. to cause me to believe, to cause
me to repent, to grant me these things. The King's the one who's
in control. The God that is, is the God who
has a holy child, the eternal Son of God, Christ Jesus, the
Lord. Now let's go on reading. Verse
27, for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast
anointed, And remember, this is the prayer of the church that
was only two or three days old. Look at the depth of understanding
they had. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel, that's the entire populace, that's everybody,
were gathered together Verse 28, for to do whatsoever thy
hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. Now that word determined before
is the same word that's usually translated predestinated. Now the God that is, he's the
Lord, he's the creator, He's the One who speaks from His Word. He's the One that the natural
man's against. He is the One who has a Holy
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners. And He is
the God of absolute predestination. The God that is, is the God of
absolute predestination. What happened when the Lord was
nailed to a cross? God's predestined purpose being
done. Now, if I'm not worshiping a God of
absolute predestination, I might as well be worshiping a totem
pole. That's the truth. The only God that is, is the
God of absolute predestination. And if your God is not a God
of predestination, you're worshiping an idol. You're worshiping a
non-existent false God. Now, here's my question. I mean,
yes, God is the God of predestination. What did he predestinate? What
did he determine before to be done. You know, I ought to spend
a whole message on this. I realize that maybe next week
I will. I don't know. But God being the God of absolute...
He said, these men were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and counsel determined before to be done. Well, what
did He determine before to be done? Well, we know from Revelation
13, 8 that Christ is called the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And you know what that tells
me? This universe was created for one purpose. The cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why this universe was
created. And my purpose and your purpose
has something to do with the glory of the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now understand this. The cross
is not God's response to the fall of Adam. It's not God's
response to anything. The reason for the fall is the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ where God makes known who He
is. God, the God that is, is manifest. He makes known who He is. in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what he's predestined.
Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
and through Christ, the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world, he takes people like me and you, and he predestinates
them to be just like Jesus Christ. perfectly conformed to His image. For, whom He did foreknow, them
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among every creature. Moreover,
whom He did predestinate, them He also called, whom He called,
them He also justified, whom He justified, them He also glorified.
What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now that is the glory of the
cross of Jesus Christ. How glorious, how glorious. That's God's purpose. The God
of glory is the God of absolute predestination. And if your God
is not a God of absolute predestination, you are worshiping an idol. Let's go on reading verse 29. And now, Lord, behold. Behold their threatenings. Now, what that tells me is that
the God that is is a God that beholds. He's not a God afar
off. He's not a God detached. He's
the God that beholds. Thou, Lord, seest. me. He beholds. The Lord looked down from heaven
and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. The living God is a God who beholds. Behold their threatenings. Behold
their threatenings. Verse 29, and now Lord behold
their threatenings and grant, give unto thy servants that with
all boldness they may speak thy word. The God that is, is not
only a God that beholds, he's a God who grants. He's a God
who gives. Grant boldness. If you don't
give it to us, we won't have it. Grant forgiveness. If you don't forgive us, we won't
have it. Grant repentance. If you don't
give it to us, we won't have it. Grant faith. By grace are you saved through
faith in that, not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. The God who is is the God who
gives. If you knew the gift of God,
the Lord said to that woman at the well, and who it was that
saith to thee, give me to drink. If you knew, you'd ask. If you
knew, you'd ask. And he would give unto thee. Now listen to me, this God we're
speaking of who is absolutely sovereign, that doesn't take
away from the absolute truthfulness of this. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
to you. There's nothing discouraging
about God's absolute sovereignty. It simply means that he can give
if he wills to do it. You ask, you receive. You ask,
he'll give. He'll give you mercy. You know,
there's never been anybody in the history of the universe who
asked for mercy that God refused him. Hadn't happened once. Somebody
that sees that they're evil and that it's all their fault, they
can't blame God, their sin is their own fault, and they say,
oh, please have mercy on me. He gives mercy. Let not conscience
make you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. The only fitness
he requireth is to have a need of him. Do you need him? He healed
them that had need of healing. This is the God who gives, and
this is the God who is to be preached with boldness. And now,
verse 29, Lord God, behold their threatenings and grant unto thy
servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. Now,
what does it mean to speak with boldness? Well, you can speak
with boldness and whisper. Here's what boldness is. This
God's the only God. All other gods are idols. That's the truth. A God that
is not exactly as the God that this passage of scripture describes
is not a God at all. It's the figment of man's imagination,
an idol that couldn't save anybody. That is what it is to preach
God with boldness. He is the God that is. Now look in verse 29 and 30,
and now Lord, Behold their threatenings, and
grant unto thy servants with all boldness they may speak thy
word by stretching forth thy hand to heal. The God that is,
is the God who stretches forth his hand to heal. Now, when he's talking about
healing here, I understand this is not a reference to physical
healing. People put so much emphasis on
that, and I understand that. When you're sick, you want to
be healed. I've never been sick when I didn't want to feel better.
I guarantee you, Lynn wants to feel better. She's feeling better.
She's had the flu for two weeks. Anyone who's sick wants to feel
better, and I understand that, but this is not a reference to
physical healing. Somebody says, don't you believe
God heals? Sure, I believe God heals. If you're healed, He healed
you. You know, I've had cancer twice and God healed me twice. Why? Because it wasn't my time
to die yet. But something's going to get me. Something's going
to get me. I'm going to get sick that I'm not going to get better
from something if the Lord doesn't come back. It may be the disease that's
going to kill me. I've already got it right now. It's just going
to manifest itself sometime. We're all going to die. You're
going to be sick of something that you will not be recovered
from. That's OK. I look forward to dying. I like
living, but I look forward to dying. I look forward to when
I die, I'm going to put off this body of flesh. I'm not going
to sin anymore. I'm going to be perfectly conformed to Christ's
image. The best day of my life is going to be the day I die.
So he's not talking about physical healing. Now here's what disease
is to a believer. Sin. Sin. The disease of sin. And Peter tells us, quoting from
Isaiah chapter 53 and 1 Peter 2, 24, speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the
tree that you being dead to sins should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes, listen to this, you were healed. Not by whose stripes you will
be healed if, fill in the blank, but by whose stripes you were
healed. When Christ said, it is finished,
I was healed. That's the kind of healing he's
speaking of. By stretching forth thy hand to heal. That's the
healing I want. I want to be healed of my sin.
I want to be made just like Christ. I want to have no sin. I want
to be perfect in God's sight. Now look what it says next. By
stretching forth thine hand to heal, that signs and wonders
may be done. Look at me. You're looking at a sign and
a wonder. It's a wonder that God loves
me. It's a miracle of grace. What a sign. I stand amazed in
the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love
me. A sinner, condemned, unclean. For me it was in the garden.
He prayed, not my will, but thine. He had no tears for his own grief,
but sweat drops of blood for mine. He took my sins and my
sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. When
with the ransomed in glory his face I at last shall see, it
will be my joy through the ages to sing of his love for me. Oh, how marvelous, oh, how wonderful,
and my song shall ever be. Oh, how marvelous, oh, how wonderful,
is my Savior's love to me. Now that's the sign and wonder.
Every believer knows that they're a miracle of grace. You know,
it took more of a miracle to save a sinner
than it did to create a world. That's how miraculous this is.
This is the sign and wonder that somebody like me could be perfect,
just like Christ. I'm a sign and a wonder. Every
believer is a sign and wonder, a trophy of the grace of God. Now, this God that is, is a God
that stretches forth his hand to heal by sovereign, irresistible
grace through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he makes
signs and wonders. How? By the name of thy holy
child, Jesus. Now, how can you be saved? How can I be saved? For his name's sake. You will not be a sign and wonder
because of something you've done. You will be a sign and a wonder
for his name's sake. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Salvation is for His name's sake,
by His name. Now, you know what that means?
That means when I stand in glory, the only reason I'm gonna be
there is for His name's sake. You believe that? That's the
God who is. The God who saves in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Verse 31, and when they had prayed, the God that is is the God who
hears and answers prayer. And when they had prayed, the
place was shaken, showing the almighty power of God where they
were assembled together. And they were all filled with
the Holy Ghost. And here's the answer to prayer.
They spake the word of God with boldness. I love what they prayed
for. Give us the grace to speak your
word with boldness, not get us out of this mess and get us out
of this trouble and deliver us from these afflictions, but give
us the grace to speak the word of God with boldness. And that
prayer was answered. Now, this is the God that is. The God whose Lord The God who creates, the God
who speaks from his word, the God who all men are against,
the God of predestination, the God who beholds, the God who
grants, the God who stretches forth his hand to heal, the God
who's to be preached in boldness, the God who hears and answers
prayer, the God that is is Jesus Christ, the Lord. And he is all my salvation. And he's all my desire. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you
are the God who is. And Lord, how we thank you for
your isness. How we thank you for your isness
that's manifest in the glorious cross of thy son. How we thank
you that he is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And Lord, our prayer is that we might be found in him, not
having our own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness, which
is of God by faith. Oh, that we might know him and
the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings
being made conformable unto his death. If by any means we might
be, we might attain the resurrection of the dead. Lord, how we thank
you for your glorious son and for your glorious gospel. Forgive us of our sins for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen. We're closing in.