Psalm 62, I have entitled this message,
God Only. God Only. I began to entitle this message,
Only God. But it didn't seem right for
anything to be before his name, so I decided God only. God is, in the beginning, God. He said it himself in Exodus
chapter 3, verse 14, I am that I am. Never does he say I was. Never does he say I will be. Never does he say I should be. Never does he say I could be.
I am that I am. is so transcendent, so other,
and that's what holy means. Other. It means he's not like
me and you. Other. Separate. That only he is God, and there
is none like him. He said in Isaiah 46, 5, to whom
will you liken me? And make me equal. And compare
me that we may be like, I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none beside
me. And there's an oneness about
God in there. I don't know how else to say it, but there is
an oneness about God. There was a time, if I can use
that term, because there wasn't time during this time, but there
was a time when all there was, was God. There was no creation,
no angels, no matter, no space, no universe, no man, only God
Even then, in the beginning, what Duane just read, was the
Word. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The same was, eternally was,
in the beginning with God. He is called, in 1 Timothy 6.15,
the blessed and only Potentate, the Lord of Lords and the King
of Kings, the only Potentate. Now, that word Potentate is the
only power You know, we just read in Psalm 62, God had spoken
once, twice, if I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. Only to God does power belong. Now, what is the power of God?
I think this is as good a definition as I can think of when we talk
about the power or the omnipotence of God. Here's another word for
the power of God. He's the cause. He's the cause. He's the cause of creation. He's
the cause of everything that takes place in Providence. Everything
that happens, He's in control of. He's the cause of salvation. His power is His cause. He is that blessed and only potentate. And what would God's will be
if He didn't have the power to perform it? In Revelation 15.4, we read,
Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou
only art Holy! What did the seraphim cry as
they flew around His throne? Holy! Holy! Holy! If the Lord God of hosts,
the whole earth is full of His glory, only He is holy. Utterly, immaculately holy, and
only He is holy. All other holiness comes from
Him. It's His holiness. If I'm a holy
man, it's because He's made me holy. My holiness came from Him. Only He is holy. We read in Romans 16, verse 27,
that He is the only wise God. I love the word only before God,
don't you? He's the only wise God. Oh, the depths of the riches,
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, said in John chapter 17, verse 2, as thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the what? only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent." Now, David said in Psalm 62,
verse 1, truly, my soul weighteth upon God, from Him cometh my
salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly Look down in verse 5. My soul wait thou only upon
God, for my expectation, all my hope is from him. He only
is my rock. He only is my salvation. He only is my defense. And because of that, I shall
not be moved. Now, why does David say, he only
is my rock? He only is my salvation. He only is my defense. Why does
David make that statement? Why does he say, oh, my soul,
wait only upon him? And this word only is very important. And here's why I want you to
turn with me to Genesis chapter six and. This speaking about
this, this is one of the most important verses in all of the
word of God that we're getting ready to look at Genesis chapter
six. Now here's why that he only is
my rock, and that he only is my salvation, and that he only
is my defense. Here is why. Listen to the language
of this verse of Scripture. Verse 5, And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was what? Only evil. Non-stop. Now, that being the
case, that being a description of me, that every imagination
of the thoughts of my heart, what I am in and of myself by
nature, is only evil nonstop, continually. If Genesis 6-5 describes
me, and it does, only he can do something for me. I can't
do anything for myself. I am described so clearly in
Genesis 6-5. This is me. Only evil continually. And here's what's so scary about
this. This state of sinfulness and wretchedness is all my fault. I'm not a victim to be felt sorry
for. Oh, poor Todd. He's got that sinful nature he
was born with. He can't help it. Poor Todd.
As if he's, you know, you pity a victim. And we do. We pity
a victim. Someone who's been victimized. We do pity. But if
it's all my fault, listen to this scripture. Exodus chapter,
I mean, Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse 29. The wise man said,
This only have I found, that God created man upright, and
he hath sought out many Now, this evil nature that I'm born
with, I'm not a victim of it. It is my fault. When Adam sinned,
I sinned, and it's all my fault. Therefore, I can't say, well,
how can God hold me to be responsible for something that I can't help?
Well, it's my fault. It's my fault. Now, because of
the sad fact that every thought I have is only evil continually,
I'm like that leper who had to stay outside the camp, defiled
and unclean, and it says concerning him alone, without the camp,
shall his habitation be, David said, against thee and thee only
have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Now, God is only
holy. I am only sinful. Now there were four men that
had a friend who was paralytic. And they knew that the only one
who could do him any good was the Lord Jesus Christ. So they
brought their friend to him. Would to God that that could
be our mission in this world to bring men to Him. There's nothing we can do for
them. But, oh, we want to bring them to Him who can do something
for them. And they come in and our Lord
is teaching. And the place is crowded and they can't get in.
So they climb up on the roof, they break up the tile, and they
let the man down. Can you imagine what people looking
up and the ceiling breaking up and they let the man down? There
he is on the bed, unable to move. And the Lord looked at him, and
he said, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, he would have been good
cheer, no doubt, if he would have said, You're a yokel of
your plague. But he said, Thy sins be forgiven thee. What if
the Lord said that to you? Would you be of good cheer if
you heard from the Lord's mouth, Thy sins, which are many, be
forgiven thee? So some people were listening,
and they criticized the Lord for what he said. They said,
who can forgive sins but God only? Right on. They were right about that. But
they were wrong about who this one is they were speaking ill
of. This is God only, the one who
has power and authority to forgive sins. I tell you what, when I
hear preachers present the gospel in such a way as, oh, God wants
to forgive you, Christ wants to forgive you, won't you accept
his forgiveness? I think, what? That just goes, that's contrary
to anything that even makes any sense. You don't let God forgive
you. Forgiveness is in His hands.
Now, I'm totally sinful. He's totally holy. He can forgive
me. He can pass me by. But only He can forgive sins. In Matthew chapter 17, our Lord
is transfigured before His disciples. You can read about it in the
first eight or nine verses. He takes up Peter and James and
John. And the Scripture says at that
time, his raiment became white as the light and his face did
shine as the sun. And he was transfigured before
them. At this time, his deity burst
through his humanity. And Peter answers. Lord, it's good for us to be
here. Let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses,
one for Elijah. What a stupid thing to say. And
you and I are capable of making such a stupid statement ourselves,
making idols of men. And the scripture says when he
said that, a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came from heaven
From that, out of that cloud saying, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. And at that time
they hit the dirt, scared to death. And the Lord reached forth
and touched them. And the scripture says, when
they looked up, they saw no man save Jesus only. Now, where did Moses and Elijah
go? Were they still there? Perhaps. But you can see the stars when
the sun's not up. But when the sun comes up, those
stars are there that you can't see them. If you can see them,
you don't see the sun. When you see the Son of God,
you see Jesus only. How can someone described in
Genesis chapter six, verse five, who is only evil continually? How can somebody like that be
saved? Jesus only. The words go together, don't
they? Jesus only. Why did God create the world?
Jesus only. What's the Bible all about? Jesus
only. Why does God save sinners? Jesus
only. Concerning those sinners He saves,
we read in Deuteronomy 10, 15, only the Lord had a delight in
thy fathers, to love them. And he chose their seat after
them. Thank God for electing grace.
And there's only one reason for election. Jesus only. He chose us in him. And Christ
came to save those sinners. And there's an onlyness in his
redemption. He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath
of God Almighty alone. When he had by himself, I love
that scripture, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat
down on the right hand of the majesty on high from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. Is Christ mighty to save? He is. And I love what that Roman
centurion said to him, Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. This is what made David say in
Psalm 71 16, I've made mention of thy righteousness. even thine
only." Now, why is his righteousness
the only one David mentioned? Because his righteousness is
the only righteousness there is. That is my righteousness
before God, even thine only. Now, seeing the onlyness of God,
and the onliness of salvation, the onliness of Jesus Christ.
Now what? What am I supposed to do? In Jeremiah chapter 3, verse
13, we read, Only acknowledge thy transgressions. Only. That word is very important. Only acknowledge that transgressions,
because here's where we get messed up. When we talk about our transgressions
and then start making promises and talking about the things
that we're going to do, that just negates it all. That means it's
not even a true confession. Only acknowledge what you are
before him. That's what he requires of you. Only Acknowledge thy transgressions. David said, Against thee and
thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that
thou mightest be clear when you judge and justified when you
speak. Whatever you do is just and right. Only acknowledge your
transgressions. Have you ever done that? I want
us all to ask ourselves that question. Have we ever acknowledged
our sin before God? Have we ever confessed our sin?
And the only time you've ever confessed it is when there's
an only to it. You confess it and go no further.
Not make all kinds of promises about what you're going to do
or try to figure out how you're going to make up for that. No, you
only acknowledge your transgressions. Now, our Lord was on his way
to heal the daughter of Jairus. And as he almost was there, a
group came and said, Don't trouble the master. She's already dead. It's too late. You know what
the Lord said? Fear not. You know what comes
next? Only believe. Only acknowledge your transgressions
and only believe, and she shall be made whole. Now, the only
evidence, if so, is his naked word. He said, fear not, only
believe. Is anything else needed? Not believe and believe only. If only is not there, faith is
not there either. Believe only. See Christ only
as all in salvation. There was a woman. The reason
I'm telling these stories, I looked up the word only and the same
word is generally translated also alone. These two words go
together. And there was a woman. In John
chapter eight, you can read about her. I love this story. She was taken in adultery in
the very act. She was caught red-handed. There wasn't any way of getting
out of this. And they bring her up before the Lord. I guess these
fellows had set her up. They were spies and they bring
her to the Lord. And they said, now we caught her in adultery.
In the very physical act, there's no doubt she's guilty. Now, Moses
in the law said that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? You see, they thought they had
him trapped. They thought, well, if he says
stoner, we could say, thought you were merciful, thought you
were gracious. If he says, let her go, they
could say, where's your respect for God's holy law? Oh, they
thought they had him trapped. And he stooped down and wrote
on the ground, the scripture says, as though he heard them
not. I love that. He's ignored. Don't
you hear us? No. No. What you're saying is not even
worth listening to. And so they kept going, kept going, and he
raises up. And he looks at those fellows,
and he says, He that is without sin among you, you fellows, throw
the first stone. And he's talking about this sin. He's not talking about sin in
a generic sense. He's talking about this particular
sin. And if you haven't done it physically,
you've done it in your heart. And the Lord says, Whoso lusteth
after a woman in his heart hath committed adultery already with
her in his heart. That's what the Lord said. Now,
anybody that's not guilty of this sin, throw the first rock.
And the scripture says that they all, in shame, began to leave,
being convicted by their own conscience. If they would have
been convicted by the Holy Spirit, they would have stayed and come
to Christ. But no, they were convicted by their conscience. They knew
they were hypocrites. And they began to leave. And
the Scripture says, and she was left alone with Jesus. She was left only with Jesus. If all you've got is Jesus, you're
in good shape. He looked at that woman and he
said, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? She said, No, man, Lord. He said,
Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. You see, when she's alone with
him, He can say you're not condemned. Now, how is that? She was guilty.
That's the very mystery of the gospel. That's the very glory
of the gospel. Our Lord could look at this woman
and say, I don't condemn you. And here's why. Because there's
nothing to condemn her for. That's why. My sin became Christ's. He paid for it. It's God. There's nothing to condemn me
for. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he to condemn? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather
that it's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us. Woman, where are those thine
accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? No
man, Lord, neither do I. All your accusers, listen to
me, every believer, whoever would accuse you, they're going to
be shut up because they've got nothing to accuse you of. Every
single one of them. Jacob has been plotting and scheming
and planning about how to stay out of trouble. He's trying to
butter up his brother. He sends presents and he sends
gifts and he sends all kinds of people ahead of him. Trying
to butter him up. Trying to make it to where he
can get out of trouble. He's doing everything in his power
he knows to do. And finally, he's left alone
one night. He's left alone. All by himself. And the scripture says an angel
came. A man came and wrestled with
him. from the break of day to the
break of day. Now, this was nobody less than
the Lord Jesus Christ, because he goes on and says, I've seen
God face to face and lived. He was wrestling with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And it was the Lord who initiated this wrestling
match, not Jacob. The Lord did. I've read where
people said, you know, Jacob showed this mighty faith. He
was going to wrestle with the Lord and get him to get his blessing
and so on. No, the Lord put him down. And the scripture says
he touched the hollow of his thigh. His hip was brought out
of joint. He became crippled. As a matter
of fact, he walked with a limp the rest of his life. But you
know what he said after his hip was knocked out of joint? He
said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. You haven't
got enough boldness to do that with the Lord. I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me. You can knock me off, but I'm
not going to let go, except you bless me. Would to God that somebody
in here right now will say that. And the Lord said to him, what's
your name? He knew what his name was, but
he's making him confess. What's your name? Jacob. Cheat. Supplanter. Deceiver. Worm. That's my name. And the Lord
looked at him and said, You're not Jacob anymore, but you're
Israel. For as a prince, thou hast power
with God, and you've prevailed. That describes every believer,
God's true Israel. When was Jacob brought to be
Israel? When he was left alone. Now, there is a real onlyness
in the gospel. There's a real onlyness with
God. There's a real onlyness in our relationship with God.
There's no question about that. There's a real onlyness in the
gospel. But there's a whole lot of onlyness.
Now, what do I mean by that? Elijah, in 1 Kings chapter 19, is in
utter discouragement. And he says, I'm the only one
left. Nobody else is telling the truth.
I'm the only one left. And they're sinking my life.
And the Lord said, no, Elijah, I've got 7,000 men that have
not bowed the knee to Baal, nor taken the kiss from his mouth.
You don't know about him, but I do. The Lord knows all of his
onlys, and there's a whole lot of them. God is God only. We are only evil. He only is
salvation. We look only to him. And let me close with this thought.
I want you to chew on this. The Lord said in John chapter
five, verse 44 to the Pharisees. How can you believe? Which receive honor. From one
another. and seek not that honor that
cometh from God only. Let's pray.