We'll be looking in the book
of Proverbs chapter two, if you'd like to turn there. Proverbs chapter two. Our subject tonight and our title
is the one true God, the one true God. There's many gods in
the world, not real gods, but there's many spirits of antichrist. There's many that go forth, and
there's going to be an article in your bulletin that Daniel
Parks, Moose Parks wrote, talking about making an idol. A man would
go and begin the thought of fashioning an idol. He goes to the tree,
and he cuts down the tree that's going to be his idol, and he
drags the tree to his shop and saws down the tree the way he
wants it to look and throws away the parts of his idol he doesn't
want. He paints it the color that he wants, he sets it up
to worship it. Whenever things are going good,
he gives credit to the idol. And whenever things are going
bad, he thinks he angered the idol. And we all are able to
say with certainty, none of us do that, right? But it's in the
heart men do this. In the scripture, in Romans chapter
1, he talks about how that men change the incorruptible God
to things that are corruptible. They worship and serve the creature
more than the creator. And we are the creature that's
mentioned there. It's not that we put, and there's
certain trinkets and things that people have, but ultimately it
comes down to worshiping self, doesn't it? Children of Israel,
whenever they part, think about God parting the Red Sea for them,
what they saw. All of the plagues, everything
that happened, the whole sea swallowed up Pharaoh's army,
they're safe on the other side, and just a short time later,
They offer all their gold unto Aaron to make them a calf, and
they make this calf. They call its name Jehovah, and
they say, here be our God that brought us out of Egypt. And
this is all men by nature. We want something we can see,
something we can feel, something that's exciting. And they danced
around the calf, and they said that they were worshiping God.
This is what all men do by nature and religion, but worship To
the one true God is in the heart and it's by faith and it's by
his spirit. That's what the Lord told the
woman at the well. God is a spirit and they that worship must worship
in spirit and in truth. Tonight, I hope that the Lord
calls us to worship in spirit and in truth. The one true God is not dependent
upon you and I like all other false gods. If I was to ask myself,
do I believe in the one true God? Am I resting in the one
true God? Is my hope built on nothing less
but Jesus Christ, his blood and his righteousness? If I ask that
question, If I say, am I worshiping and serving the one true God?
The answer can come simply by saying, are you doing anything
to help your God? When it comes to the true, the
one true God, he doesn't need our help. He's not waiting on
us. He's not depending on us. He's
not relying upon us to do something. No, it's finished. He's the God
of scripture, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the eternal
I am. He's the sovereign creator of
the universe. Men were talking this week, and
I heard several people mention about the eclipse. Some of you
probably saw it, and what a miraculous thing that that is, something
different that the Lord allowed to happen, and people were talking
about how they have to relate it to their God somehow. It's
a sign of the end times. We had an earthquake recently.
Now it's an eclipse, and it's just, oh, it's the judgment of
God coming. I mentioned this Sunday, God
doesn't give partial judgment, does he? No, it's either 100
or it's none. And to the Lord's people, we
look to these miraculous things and we rejoice in knowing the
moon and the earth and the sun that's on its axis. Our God hung
that on nothing. Hung it on nothing. Spoke it
into existence. And it revolves according to
his will and his purpose. This is the one true God. He's
sovereign and successful in salvation for his people. And he's seated.
He's seated. It's truly finished. Salvation's
truly accomplished. He's the God of everlasting purpose,
the God of sovereign power. He's the God of the Bible. Men
preach the God of the Bible and don't know who He is, but that's
who He is, is the God of this Bible. He's the Word of God.
He's the singular God. Paul went to Athens, you remember,
and he gets up and he observes all these philosophers that were,
it was the Epicureans and the Stoics, weren't it? Well, some
of them thought, well, true happiness comes from within. The other
ones thought no true happiness is what you do on the outside.
And you had the philosophers and this and that, and they had
all these gods set up, didn't they? And I think there was 12
total, if I'm not mistaken, but all of them had names and everybody
recognized who this one was, and this one was, and this one
was. But at the very end, it said, to the unknown God. So
just in case we haven't covered all the bases, we're going to
make sure that we put that one in too, in case we don't know
the God. He got up and said, I perceive that you're superstitious.
The first thing he told him, you're superstitious. And that's
what all religion is, is it's superstition. Believing that
they can do something or not do something to gain favor with
God. But he told them, he said, the unknown God, that one, that's
the one I'm gonna preach to you. The one true God, and he did.
He preached the one true God. That's what I hope to do tonight
for us, if the Lord would be pleased. Let's read our text
here. In Proverbs 2, and we're gonna
read verses six through nine. For the Lord giveth wisdom. Out
of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth
up sound wisdom for the righteous. He is a buckler to them that
walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment
and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand
righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path. If we are to have understanding,
it is the gift of grace. It's a gift of grace. Understanding
can't come through and by studying. Understanding can't come through
and by gaining knowledge of anything. We can't just study the Bible
and have understanding of who God is. It's a revelation and
it's all by grace. If it's not given freely by the
one true God, it'll never be given. But how is it, and he
says here, how is it that he giveth, that he layeth up, that
he is a buckler to his people, that he keepeth and he preserveth? Well, it's because he's God.
He's the only one with that right and those abilities to do so.
You and I can't keep ourself. We can't preserve ourself. We're
not a buckler to ourself. We can't gain knowledge and wisdom
and understanding on our own. This is the gift of grace in
the heart of the Lord's people. He alone has the power to do
according to his will. He alone is sovereign and holy
and good and true. And all of his statutes are good
and true. He is the one true God. Tonight,
I want us to look at five things about our God, five distinctions. about the one true God that sets
him apart from every other God, every other God. Now there is
no other God, first and foremost. Scripture is very clear on this.
We know that to be true. But if we want to know who God
is, this is one way we can know is these five distinct descriptions. I hope the Lord would reveal
the truth to us tonight mentioned here in the text. May he give
us this wisdom that he mentioned. He tells us right here, the Lord
giveth wisdom. Lord, give us your wisdom right
now. Right now, that's our heart's prayer. First thing about our
God, about the one true God, he cannot lie. He cannot lie. He can't tell a white lie. He
can't tell a partial truth. He cannot lie. Turn with me to
Hebrews chapter six. We're gonna have five places
to turn to tonight, so bear with me. Is my God the one true God? Well,
can my God lie is the question, because the one true God cannot
lie. Hebrews chapter six, look at verse 17 through 20. Wherein God willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel.
You know what immutability means? He can't change. We're gonna
get to that in a minute. He confirmed his word, his promise
with an oath. Verse 18, that by two immutable
things in which it was impossible, it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us. Which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil. Whether the forerunner for us
has entered, even Jesus made a high priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. Why is it we have strong consolation
from the one true God? Because it's impossible for him
to lie. It's impossible for him to lie.
His word is truth, everything that he declares is truth. It's
true because he says it, and he says it because it's truth,
and it can't be changed. Numbers 23, 19 says, God is not
a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should
repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken,
and shall he not make it good? God's not a man that he can lie
like you and I are. It's not possible for him to
lie. We don't understand that, do we? Because in the flesh,
we're capable of lying. Whether it's a white lie, whether
it's deceit, whether, we deceive ourself, don't we? The Lord leads
us to ourself, we deceive ourself. Our heart is deceitful. But it's
impossible for him to lie. Impossible. This brings comfort
to the believers because he says this in Matthew, and you know
this verse very well. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sin, and he cannot lie. That's comforting,
isn't it? That's comforting to the believer.
The Lord's people, he shall save his people from their sin. He
can't lie, and that includes breaking His covenant. The covenant
of grace before time ever began, between the Father, between the
Son and the Holy Spirit, and the salvation of His elect. He
can't lie about redeeming His people. He said, I will elect. And Christ said, I will redeem.
And the Spirit said, I will regenerate. This covenant was before time. And all who were given to Christ
by the Father, He redeemed them successfully. We have the promise.
It is finished. And He cannot lie. He cannot
lie. Psalm 89 says, My covenant will
I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips once
I have sworn by my holiness that I will not lie. Our God promised
to redeem his elect, his sheep, his people, and he cannot lie. Lord Jesus Christ said, All that
the Father give me shall come to me and I will not lose one.
And he cannot lie. He cannot lie. Jeremiah 33 20
says, thus saith the Lord, if you can break my covenant of
the day and my covenant of the night, I love that. Don't you?
Can you break the Lord's covenant of the day and the covenant of
the night? We can't make the sun rise. We can't make the moon
rise. We can't put a star in the sky
or bring a star down from the sky. Can we? He can. He did. Can we break the covenant of
the day and of the night? He says, as if you can do that,
The day and the night and their seasons, then may also my covenant
may be broken. Can't do it. It's impossible.
We can't mess it up. We can't break the covenant of
the Lord and he won't break his covenant because he cannot lie.
The one true God keeps his word. He keeps his covenant and he
cannot lie. Second thing, as I mentioned,
we were gonna look at is he can't change. One true God cannot lie. Second of all, he cannot change.
Turn with me to Malachi chapter three. I want to read one verse, just
verse six. It's right before Matthew, Malachi
chapter three. Verse six says, for I am the
Lord. I change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. I am the Lord. That's the statement
that we see that the Lord makes all throughout scripture. He
is the Lord. He is God. That capital L-O-R-D
is Jehovah. He's the self-existent one is
what he's saying. And he does not change. Not for
me, not for you, not for anyone. He cannot change. I am the Lord. I change not. I am the alpha. I am the Omega, the beginning
and the end of all salvation, of all life, of everything. That's
who God is, this one true God. This is who he is. He's the one
who spoke all things into existence according to his will and his
purpose. He's the one, and this is something we declare that
me and you cannot wrap our minds around, but he has always been.
Never had a beginning. Can you explain that? No. Do
you believe that? Yes. Truth, Lord. never had a
beginning and you'll never have an end. From everlasting to everlasting
thou art God and he cannot change. He's called the everlasting father,
the prince of peace. He's called holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners. This is who he is in Hebrews
7, 26. Hebrews 13 says, Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, today, and forever. Now, everything around
us and everything in us, I was just talking to somebody before
service. been working, and things are
hurting that used to not hurt. And I'm young, but I kind of
understand some of that. I'll do things sometimes, and
I've had to roll out of the bed before. That was never an issue
in my 20s, you know what I'm saying? I don't have nowhere
to talk, I know. But understand, everything about
us is changing. These bodies are dying. They're
dying. They're every second that ticks
by. That's what our bodies are doing. Everything around us decays
and thank the Lord. He gave us these seasons to where
everything doesn't remain dead. It comes back, but still yet
heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.
No, it's forever settled in heaven. Everything around us and about
us is changing. Our opinions change. Our thoughts
change, not God. Everything that he has spoken
from the beginning, he's speaking right now and will always be
what he has spoken, what he's going to speak. He's God. He's the one true God. He does
not change. Psalm 90 says, Before the mountains
were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Before time was, he is God. After time, he'll still be God. He created time. He created time. We just declare
it. He created time for his own will,
for his own purpose. He created all things for his
glory and his honor. Psalm 102 says, but thou art
the same. and thy years have, they shall
have no end. I like how David says that your
years will have no end. It'll just year after year after
year. And we, we associate with years,
but scripture, and there's things that men have said in the scripture.
That's true. A thousand years is one day unto the Lord. And
one day is a thousand years. But even that doesn't begin to
describe his vastness is in his infiniteness. He's forever and
He doesn't change. He's the same. He's the same. His covenant is the same as it
always has been. The only way you and I can be
redeemed is the same way that anyone is redeemed and it's by
the blood of Christ alone. He doesn't change. He doesn't
change. This is the one true God revealed
by grace alone. He cannot lie and He does not
change. Now the third thing is God's
purpose cannot be stopped. God's purpose cannot be stopped.
Look with me in Daniel chapter four. We looked at this Sunday, so
this will be familiar to some of us, but Daniel chapter four, we're gonna
read two verses, verse 34 and 35. And at the end of the days, you
remember the account. I should probably preface this
by saying Nebuchadnezzar has now found himself being a beast,
eating grass like an ox, and seven years have passed over
to him. He's lost his mind because he was lifted up in pride. This
is where we're at. He says, at the end of the days,
I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven. Mine understanding
returned into me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised
and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation,
and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.
And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Boy, that's straightforward,
isn't it? His purpose cannot be stopped.
Whatever He has purposed is going to happen. Matter of fact, it's
already happened. The Lord's seated on His throne
as the successful Redeemer, as the sovereign ruler. It's already
accomplished. Everything is coming to pass
according to His will. His purpose cannot be stopped.
So many men preach about how that Somehow God has an unstoppable
power but our will is an immovable force so we can somehow stop
him from doing something or make him do something. His will and
his purpose cannot, cannot be stopped, cannot be changed, cannot
be altered. He's forever and everything about
him is eternal and everlasting. It doesn't change. His purpose
standeth sure. Unless the Lord reveals the one
true God in this revelation that Nebuchadnezzar has. All the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth. None can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou?
Unless the Lord reveals that to you and I, we don't know who
the one true God is. That's him. That's him right
there. He alone chooses to love. He
alone chooses in purpose to redeem. It's good news to a wretched
sinner. David Edmondson said recently, and I'm going to keep
saying this, I love it. He said that the Lord showed
me what I am. And that showed me the only way
he could love me is freely. Freely. I love that. It's true,
isn't it? He chose to love, why? Freely,
by his grace, nothing in us. And his purpose in that cannot
be changed, cannot be stopped. Second Timothy 1.9, you probably
have this one memorized by now, it's on our bulletin. God who
hath saved us and called us, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose, his own purpose and grace given
to us in Christ Jesus before the world began. God saved, God
called according to his purpose. According, all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them we're called according
to his Everything, there's a purpose to all things. I started this
message actually going down the path of the purposes of the Lord. It's appointed unto men once
to die. All things are purposed under heaven. Everything is purposed
of our Lord and nothing can stop His purpose. Even the entirety
of salvation in His purpose cannot be altered or changed. Turn to
Ephesians chapter one. When you and I try to do something,
we can say that we purposed to do that. Everybody that's here
tonight purposed to come here tonight. But when God purposes
something, it's not the same as when you and I purpose something.
I can purpose to do a lot of things. I can purpose to drive
home safely. But if the Lord purposes something,
it's going to happen. It's ordained of him. It's declared
of him. It's settled. by His Word. It can't be changed or altered.
This is His purpose. It's the difference between His
and ours. Ours is not the same purpose as His. Look in Roman,
I'm sorry, Ephesians chapter one. Let's read a few verses
here. Verse three, blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glory, to
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the beloved. in whom we have redemption through
his blood and the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches
of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence. Now here's why. Having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure,
which he hath purposed in himself. That's why. That's why. If anyone is going to be saved,
it will have to be because God purposed to save them. God did
all the saving. Verse 10, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on
earth, even in him. In whom? In the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him. who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will, that we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. It's all about His
purpose, and His purpose cannot be changed. Salvation is of the
Lord, successfully accomplished on Calvary's cross by the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood that was shed, the offering
made unto the Father by the Lord, it was purposed. The Lord came
on purpose. The Lord intended and did exactly
what He intended to do, and it couldn't have been stopped or
changed. It wasn't even an attempt. It was, we were given to Christ
before the foundation of the world. That's how sure salvation
truly is. Rest in the fact that he is the
one true God, therefore his purpose cannot be stopped. Isaiah 43
says, yea, before the day was, I am. Before the day was, I am. And there is none that can deliver
out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
it? What does that mean? Who shall
let it? Who's going to stop it? Who's going to allow God to do
what he does? Who's going to prevent God from
doing what he does? Who's going to make God do something
they want him to do? Nobody. Nobody. He's God. He is the one true God, the God
of election, the God of predestination, the God of sovereign, precious
grace for his people. One true God cannot lie. He cannot
change. And his purpose, his purpose
cannot be stopped. Now the fourth thing about our
God is that he cannot exact justice twice. He cannot exact justice
twice. He cannot demand justice twice. An example I would give you is
if someone commits a crime and they are sentenced to go to prison. The crime was bad enough for
them to go to prison for a duration of time. Let's say they had to
spend a year in prison. After that year is up, they are
then declared free to go because the sentence for that crime has
been paid. Under no law in man's law would
a man ever say, okay, now you have to spend another year in
prison for the same crime. That's injustice. Likewise, and
more so abundantly more so, when the Lord Jesus Christ died upon
Calvary's cross, he was bearing the burden, the guilt, the shame,
the sin of his people. He was taking the penalty and
the punishment of our sin, which was death. Not only did he die
on the cross of Calvary, but he poured out his soul upon the
cross of Calvary as payment for his people, for his people to
be set free. And justice was satisfied on
the cross of Calvary. Justice cannot be exacted twice. To say that he did that for everyone
means that everyone without exception is going to go to heaven. God
is not gonna send someone to hell that has no sin. Think about it. God is not gonna
send anyone to hell that has never sinned one time, that is
perfectly holy, that is perfectly righteous. That can't be. Justice would not be right then,
would it? And so it is when we come to the truth of the knowledge
of the Lord's gospel, everyone that Christ died for has been
made perfectly righteous. And those that Christ did not
die for are not perfectly righteous. It's his purpose. It's his doing. It's his salvation and justice.
The one true God, his justice cannot be exacted twice. Lord Jesus Christ bore the sin
of his people and died for them. You know, we talk about the sword
of justice. Have you ever thought about in
the Garden of Eden, the sword, the fiery sword that was put
at the front of that? That's exactly what that sword
was. No one could enter into the garden
of Eden. They would have died because of the sword of justice.
But our Lord was the only one that could enter in. Our Lord
was the only one that took that fiery sword into himself. And
he absorbed all of that fire from that sword for his people. And justice was satisfied. God was well pleased with his
son. How do we know? He resurrected
him. He resurrected Him. He was well pleased with Him.
He was raised because of our justification. God was satisfied
with that offering and everyone that was given in Christ by the
Father before the foundation of the world had been made the
very righteousness of God in Him. Christ extinguished. That's the
word I wrote down, extinguished. The fire of God's wrath. There's
no more fire for the believer. No more fire for the elect. Just
like the children of Israel that got the four Hebrews got thrown
into the furnace, they didn't even smell like smoke, did they?
That's us. That's the Lord's people. This
is what the one true God did for his people. He satisfied
justice by himself on the cross of Calvary. And as we've heard
in Hebrews even recently, When he had by himself purged our
sin, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
Satisfied justice and justice cannot be exacted twice. The one true God. One true God
cannot lie. He cannot change. His purpose
cannot be stopped and his justice cannot be exacted twice. Now,
lastly, the fifth one. God, the one true God, cannot
stop. He cannot ever stop loving his
elect. He must always love his elect. Why? Because we're in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He says in Jeremiah 31, three,
the Lord hath appeared of old saying unto me, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. One true God has always, always
loved his people. Always. There has never been
a time where he has thought ill of them. There has never been
a time when he was angry with them. There's never been a time
where he did not see them as perfectly righteous. He has loved
them with an everlasting love. That love never had a beginning
and it will never have an end. He can't stop. He always will
love his sheep. given to Christ before the foundation
of the world because of the finished work of Christ. God's love for his people never
had a beginning nor an end. It was all his choice to love,
wasn't it? I wanna turn to Deuteronomy chapter
seven and then we're gonna go back to our text and read that
in closing. Deuteronomy seven. He can never stop loving one
of his people. I love that. I can't change it. I can't. Now, some of y'all have
been married and you know what it's like to fall in and out
of love. You get on each other's nerves. Well, you have to work
on marriage, don't you? I mean, it's just true. You have to. If you
don't, then... There's ups and downs and whatever else. That's
why divorce is at an all-time high. Marriage is about giving.
The Lord's the one that did all the giving. I can't mess it up. What I do doesn't determine his
love for me. Isn't that amazing? No, the love
was given in Christ Jesus. That's the glorious news of the
gospel. I can't break it. I can't mess it up. He's never
gonna leave his people nor forsake them because it's not based upon
them. He did it for his purpose, for
his glory, for his honor, for his namesake. chapter seven of
Deuteronomy. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people for you were the fewest of all people. But because the
Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath, which he
had swore unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out
with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage
from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know therefore that
the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth
covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments
to a thousand generations. Why did he love? He chose to. He chose to all according to
his will, according to his purpose, not because we're the greatest
nation, not because we're the best looking individuals, not
because we're the smartest, not anything about us. It was nothing.
Matter of fact, we were polluted in our own blood dying. We were,
we were uncovered. We were naked. We were. We were
hell bound, we were dead. And he said, I spread my skirt
over you. He said, our time was a time
of love. He said, I've swaddled you, I've
nursed you, I've taken care of you, put a robe on you. This
is what the Lord did for his people. He loved his people all
by grace, everlastingly. He kept his oath. He promised
it. Then he did it. He said, this
is what I'm going to do. And then he did it. And now he
says, this is what I've done. And you and I are just the benefactors
of it. That's all by grace, isn't it?
What did we have to do with it? Nothing. He did it. He did it
all. This is what the one true God
did. This is who he is. It's all because he cannot lie,
he cannot change, his purpose cannot be stopped, his justice
cannot be enacted twice, and he cannot stop loving his elect. He can never stop loving his
chosen people. They have always been seen in
Christ, whom he is well pleased with. In closing, let's go to
Proverbs 2. Let's read our text one more
time, Proverbs 2 verse 6. For the Lord giveth wisdom, out
of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth
up sound wisdom for the righteous. He is a buckler to them that
walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment
and preserveth the ways of his saints. Then shall thou understand
righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path. I started this message by asking
this question, how is it that the Lord giveth? How is it that
he layeth up? How is it that he's a buckler
to his people? How is it that he keepeth? How
is it that he preserveth? Because he is the one true God.
He's the only one that could do all those things. And he did
it because of who he is and the fact that he cannot lie. He cannot
change. His purpose cannot be stopped.
He cannot exact justice twice, and he has an everlasting love
for his people, his bride. He is the one true God. He is
the one true savior of his people. He's who we hope in. Let's pray. Father, cause us to believe.
Thank you for you being so other than we are and accomplishing
such a great salvation for your people. In Christ's name, amen.