Would you turn to 2 Samuel 22.
Verse 47 of 2 Samuel 22. Just the first phrase, "...the Lord liveth." Jehovah liveth. Whatever's going on with me and
you, the Lord liveth. That's the ultimate reality.
The Lord liveth. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you for who you are. How we thank you that you live. Lord, teach us what that means. Lord, we can't find You by our
searching and our effort. Lord, apart from Your grace,
we're ashamed to say we wouldn't be interested in finding You. Oh Lord, deliver us from that
and cause us to hear Your gospel in the power of Your Spirit.
Now bless us for Christ's sake. Forgive us of our sins for Christ's
sake. And Lord, be with all your people wherever they meet together.
And Lord, those of our number that are sick and going through
the trials that you send their way, we ask that you would bless
that for their good and your glory. And Lord, we pray for
healing for the Lord's sake. Once again,
we thank you for Christ, and we thank you that all you require
of us, you look to Him for, and Lord, we're so grateful. In Christ's
name we pray, amen. I feel a little bit overwhelmed
with my subject, and I think you could probably see why. The
Lord liveth. This is the ultimate reality,
whether we're conscious of it or not, the Lord liveth. Now this speaks, and I'm, like
I said, I feel overwhelmed with my subject, and I should feel
that way, but this speaks of his eternal isness. the isness of him who can only
be known by revelation. And when I'm talking about the
Lord liveth, I'm talking about a being, a divine eternal being
that we cannot possibly know unless he is pleased to make
himself known. we're shut up to revelation.
Canst thou by searching find out God? The answer is no. You
can search all you want. And he's so far beyond anything
that we can conceive that our only hope is for him to be pleased
to make himself known. Now, his isness, the Lord liveth. His isness is found in this book.
And this book cannot be known except he is pleased to make
it known. It's not intellectually understood, it's spiritually
understood. And the only way we can know
this book and the God of whom this book speaks, the eternal
God, the Lord who lives, is if he's pleased to make himself
known. We're shut up to revelation.
Turn with me for a moment to Matthew chapter 11. Matthew 11. Verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
You have hid these things from the wise and prudent and has
revealed them unto babes. Even so, father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my father, and no man knoweth the son but the father. Now the Lord is saying, I'm so
great. I'm so infinitely great that the only one who can comprehend
me is the Father. Isn't that glorious? And no man knows the Son, but
the Father neither knows any man the Father save the Son and
he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. And the only way
we can know him who liveth is if he's pleased to reveal himself. Lord, reveal yourself to me.
Don't leave me to myself. Turn with me to 1 Timothy 6. This is one of those passages
it's almost impossible to comment on. Just read it and it speaks
for itself. Verse 14 of 1 Timothy 6, that thou keep this commandment without
spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only potentate,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man can approach to, whom no
man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. The Lord liveth Once again, this
speaks of His eternal isness, which is infinite and cannot
be bound by space or time. I almost have to laugh at myself
when I'm trying to talk about this because I know so little
of what I'm speaking of. But his isness is eternal, unchangeable,
and independent. I love thinking of him having
no needs. He says, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. Now, how often does the Lord
say throughout particularly the Old Testament, there's none like
me? There's none like me. Who can you compare to me? There's
nothing in the earth that we can say, that's like God. Nothing. He's beyond anything we can even
imagine. And that's why idolatry is so
evil. It's trying to make a God that
we can understand, make a God that we're comfortable with,
make a God that's like us. He said, you thought I was altogether
such a one as yourself. Now that is why any form of God's
like this, no, he's not. No, he's not. He's not like anything
that we naturally think. Now, before time, before creation,
the Lord liveth. When there was no universe, when
there was no stars, no sun, no moons, no planets, nothing material,
all there was was God in the trinity of his sacred persons. The Lord liveth. Utterly independent with no needs. I like what, I love what the
Lord said. He said, as the father hath life
in himself. Do you have life in yourself?
No. How close are you to death? Real
close. All God's got to do is take away
that last breath. And the next breath you take,
it'll simply be because God willed it. but He has life in Himself. He's not dependent upon anything
the way you and I are. He has life in Himself. As the Father hath life in Himself,
so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself, that all
men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. The Lord liveth, of him and through
him and to him are all things. He's not worshiped with men's
hands as though he needed anything. Now, when we speak of the Lord
living, we're speaking of his attributes. I have attributes that identify
me. You have attributes that identify
you. God has attributes. And these
attributes are not something he communicates to anybody else.
They belong essentially to him. And he makes these attributes,
he makes himself known in this book we call the Bible. This
is a supernatural book. It's written by God and it has
this purpose, for Him to make Himself known. The reason for
the cross. This is so important. The reason
for the cross is for Him to make known His attributes. All that
He is, is revealed in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
glory of the cross. God making himself known. Now, the Lord liveth and everything
he does, he does for himself to make himself known. Somebody
says, well, isn't that kind of self-centered? If I did, it would be. If I did,
it would be totally self-centered, wouldn't it? If you did, but
not God, he's altogether lovely. What a glorious thing that he
makes himself known. The Lord liveth the one who has
decreed all things. The scripture says he worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Now, here's
something that I don't understand, but I know it's so. There was one act of his infinite
mind that decreed everything that was, is, and shall be. One act of his infinite mind. He's not like us, bound by a
sequence of events. We're just waiting to see what
happens next. Not him. By one act of his infinite
mind, he decreed everything that was, is, and shall be. What a glorious God. Now, to deny this, that God is
a God who decrees all things, and His decrees are all wise,
uninfluenced by anything outside of Himself, eternal. To deny this, is to say that
blind chance, blind fate is in control. But thank God that's
not the case. Everything that is happens because
of his own great mind. Now I think of the Lord liveth,
I think of his knowledge. His knowledge. He never learns
anything. He's never taken by surprise.
He never thinks, oh. He's never informed. I think
of His knowledge of His people, whom He did foreknow, know beforehand. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. That's true of every believer.
There was an intimate acquaintance before time began that's always
been between God and His people. Now, do I understand that? Of
course not. Do I believe it? With all my heart. Paul said to the Galatians, now
that you know God or rather are known of God. Paul said, then
shall I know even as also I am known. The knowledge of God. The Lord liveth in his supremacy. That means he's Lord over all
and he does all things for his own glory. I love that scripture.
The Lord hath made all things for himself. Yea, even the wicked
for the day of evil. Now that's what the scripture
says. Now let me remind you, if we're believers, we're on
the Lord's side. We're on the Lord's side. And
that is, we're fine with whatever He does. He is, the Lord liveth
in his absolute sovereignty. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?
The Lord liveth in the supremacy of his sovereignty. The Lord
liveth in his absolute immutability. He's incapable of change. Don't
you love that? He's utterly predictable. You
know, I've heard people say, I don't want to put God in a
box. I hate it when people say that. Nobody's worried about
you being able to put God in a box. It ain't gonna happen.
But God is utterly predictable in the sense that he's always
holy, he's always just, he's always sovereign, he never changes. You can count on who he is. He is utterly predictable. The Lord liveth in his holiness,
his otherness, his inability to accept anything short of absolute
perfection. The scripture actually says only
thou art holy. The Lord liveth in his goodness,
in his power. I love to think of his omnipotence.
What would the decrees of the Lord be if he were omnipotent
and able to make whatever he wills come to pass? The Lord
liveth as he is revealed in this book. The Lord liveth in his
faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. Now, everything we have comes
from him. Turn with me to Acts chapter
17. This is Paul's message on Mars
Hill. Verse 22, Then Paul stood in
the midst of Mars Hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive
that in all things ye are too superstitious. You're too religious. Superstition is anything that's
not founded on the Scripture. Any religious belief that's not
founded on the scripture is superstition, and that's all it is. And he
said, I perceive that in all things you're too superstitious,
for as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar
with this inscription, to the unknown God. Now what were they
doing? They were covering their bases,
just in case we left something out. We're going to make this
inscription to the unknown God, just in case. Now, if somebody
doesn't have real confidence in what they believe, and if
they have no true peace from knowing that Christ is their
peace, they're going to be tolerant of other religions and other
views, just in case they're true. I want to cover my bases. Well,
that's what they were doing here. They were covering their bases
to the unknown God. Now, let's go on reading. whom
therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you, God that
made the world and all things therein, seeing that he's Lord
of heaven and earth. He dwells not in temples made
with hands, neither is he worshiped with men's hands as though he
needed anything, seeing he giveth to all, everybody, everybody
on the other side of the world, every animal, he gives to all
life and breath and all things. Now what you are is what God
made you. He determined your genes. He
determined everything about you. And He hath made of one blood
all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and
hath determined the times before appointed. He's decreed everything
and the bounds of their habitations that they should seek the Lord.
Now that is the God we seek and worship. And everything we have
comes from him. Joe McSherry always made this
statement after services. I heard him say this, I know
a hundred times. We're utterly dependent on an
independent God. It's a good statement, isn't
it? Utterly and entirely dependent on an absolutely independent
God. You know, the Lord said in John
14, 19, because I live, you shall live also. You know, I've heard
people say Jesus is alive and well. You know, that's blasphemous. He's not alive. He's life. He is life. The Lord liveth. He is life. great mysteries of the gospel
we preach and believe and rejoice in. One of the great mysteries
is Him who is life dying. Can you get hold of that? How
that Jesus Christ, the Eternal Creator, the One who is life,
died. He said, I am he that liveth
and was dead and am alive forevermore. Now, how could this one who is
life die? I don't know, but he did. I know that. He did. And the
only way I can have life is through His death. His life, His death,
and Him living again, and being raised from the dead to die no
more. He is life. He said in John 8, verse 12,
I am the light of life. He's the light of how me and
you can have life. Now, here's the kicker. This,
once again, is one of those mysteries of the gospel that are so glorious. His life is my life before God. And if you want to know the truth
about me, the truth about me, and the truth about my life,
Look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is my
personal life before God. That's my justification before
God, His life. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. Paul said in Colossians 3, 4,
when Christ, who is our life, shall appear. I love thinking
about this. I've got no skeletons in the
closet. I have nothing to hide. Put my life on a big screen,
and all you're going to see is absolute perfection, the life
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the believer's righteousness
before God. When we talk about Him that liveth,
we're talking about Him who is our life. That's my life before
God. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter 7. I love it when Mary or Martha says, I know that
my brother will be raised on the resurrection. And the Lord
looked at her and he said, I am the resurrection and the life. The resurrection is not an event.
I'm it. I'm the resurrection and the
life. No man comes to the Father but by me. Now look here in Hebrews
chapter 7, verse 25. Before I read this passage of
scripture, I wonder how often men have made wills. My last
will and testament. And after they died, they would
be contested. Somebody would not think it's
fair, or they would not like what they're getting in it, or
they're trying to take some of it, and their will will be contested.
And the will may be changed. That's happened many times. A
contested will where it's actually changed because of some kind
of new evidence brought forth and all that kind of stuff. Well,
wherefore, verse 25, wherefore he is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth. to make intercession for them.
Right now, there's a man in glory. He's not dead, he lives. Oh, what a description of him,
he liveth. He liveth, the Lord liveth. And
this living Lord is gonna make sure his will is done. And no one can contest that.
And he said, Father, I will. I love the way that he says this
to the Father. Can you imagine saying to the Father, Father,
I will that you do this? We cringe in thinking that. But
he could say to the Father, Father, I will, that they whom you have
given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. Now, he ever lives to make intercession
for everyone who comes to God only by him. Now, how do you
come to God? You come in your works? No, if you're a believer, the
only way you come to God is by him. And he ever liveth to make
intercession for all those who come to God by him. Now turn with me to Luke chapter
24. The Lord liveth. Now this is after His resurrection. He lived,
He died, And he was raised from the dead. Now, verse one of chapter
24. Now, upon the first day of the
week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher,
bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others
with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher. And they entered in, and found
not the body of the Lord Jesus." Now, why didn't they find the
body of the Lord Jesus? Well, you know the answer to
that. He had been raised from the dead. But they didn't know
this was taking place. They should have, but they didn't.
He told them this would take place. Verse 4, And it came to pass,
as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them
in shining garments." Now these were angels. These were not men
like you and I are. These were angels in shining
garments. And as they were afraid, I guess
me and you would have been too, wouldn't we? As they were afraid
and bowed down their faces to the earth, they, these two angels,
said unto them, what a question, why seek ye
the living among the dead? And my marginal reading says,
why seek ye him that liveth among the dead? Now that question,
why seek ye him that liveth among that which is dead? He's not here, verse 6, but is
risen. The Lord liveth. That's the ultimate reality and
the only way we can know This living Lord is by Him being pleased
to make Himself known. So what do we say? Lord, make
Yourself known for Christ's sake to me. Amen.