The Observer and the Observed

Q: What does the Bible say about God's omniscience?

The Bible teaches that God's omniscience means He knows all things, including our thoughts and actions (Psalm 139:1-4). God's omniscience is clearly revealed in Psalm 139, where it states, 'O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me.' This affirms that God understands every detail of our lives, from our daily activities to our innermost thoughts. David expresses that before we even speak, God knows what we will say, emphasizing His perfect knowledge of every aspect of our existence (Psalm 139:4). This understanding serves as both a comfort and a reminder of our accountability to Him.

Q: Why is God's omnipresence important for Christians?

God's omnipresence assures us that He is always with us, no matter where we go (Psalm 139:7-10). The omnipresence of God means that He is present everywhere at all times, as depicted in Psalm 139. David poignantly asks, 'Whither shall I flee from thy spirit? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there' (Psalm 139:7-8). This profound truth reassures believers that they are never alone, regardless of their circumstances. When life poses challenges or when we feel distanced from God, His omnipresence reminds us that He is always nearby, guiding and supporting us.

Q: How do we know that God searches our hearts?

God's searching of our hearts is affirmed in Scripture, illustrating His deep knowledge of our inner being (Psalm 139:23-24). Psalm 139 encourages believers to invite God to search their hearts, stating, 'Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts' (Psalm 139:23). This invitation is an acknowledgment of God's ability to discern our true intentions and motivations. Knowing that God searches our hearts is crucial for genuine worship and self-examination, prompting us to reflect on our spiritual condition. The recognition that nothing in our lives is hidden from Him leads us to a place of humility and sincerity in our relationship with God.

Q: Why is sincerity in worship important for Christians?

Sincerity in worship is vital because God despises hypocrisy and desires genuine relationships (Psalm 139). Sincerity in worship is paramount for Christians, as God values truth and authenticity over outward appearances. In the sermon, it is emphasized that God knows our hearts intimately, understanding our true feelings and motives behind our worship (Psalm 139:1-4). When individuals feign sincerity or engage in hypocritical worship, they not only deceive others but also themselves, as God sees through their pretense. A genuine relationship with God can flourish when we approach Him sincerely, acknowledging our flaws and seeking His grace.

Psalm 139. I thought of many
titles for this message. It says in verse 1, O Lord, thou
hast searched me and known me. I thought about calling it the
searcher and the search. It ends up on that note, too,
down in verse 23. He prays, Search me, O God. The searcher and the search.
And then I thought about the seer and the seen. You know, Hagar called the Lord,
Thou God, seest me. Thou God, seest me. Our Lord said to Nathanael, Behold
an Israelite in whom there is no guile. Nathanael said, How
do you know me? He said, Nathanael, before the
disciple found you under the fig tree, I saw you. I saw you. Thou God seest me, the seer and
the seen, or the God who knows us. Stay with the title. I gave this Sunday school lesson
years ago. The Observer and the Observed. That's what
we'll call it. The Observer and the Observed. Now what's so clear in this scripture? I read it a few moments ago to
you. What's so clear in this scripture?
is the omnipotence, the power of God, the omniscience, the
knowledge of God, and the omnipresence, God everywhere, at all times. His power, His knowledge, His
presence, and that seems somehow to have escaped this generation
of religious people. seems to have eluded today's
religionists, God's omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience. Even some who call themselves
grace people seem to have missed this. Otherwise, why would any
person who has any understanding at all of God's power presence
and knowledge, why would any person who has any understanding
of God's power, knowledge, and presence pretend to be what he's
not? Now tell me, why would they?
Pretend to be what they're not. Pretend to be in public what
they're not. Or why would anyone with any
understanding of God's God's all-seeing eye, knowledge, he
knows all things. He said, Nathaniel, before Philip
found you, I saw you. Thou, God, seest, not have seen
me, seest me. God looks on the heart. Why would
anyone be insincere in worship? or insincere in this matter of
faith, or misuse finances for their own gain. Why would they
do that? And deceive people who are giving
to support them. Why would they do that? Knowing that it's not man to
whom we're accountable, but to God. Why? Why would preachers stand in
the pulpit today and utter words that are not true? And they know
they're not true. To win the favor of men. When
it's God who looks on the higher, why would they do that? Well,
somehow, who God is, and what God is, has escaped them somehow. Why would any person who has
any concept at all of God's omniscience and omnipotence and omnipresence
seek his way, our own way, our own glory, our own honor, or
the honor that comes from men? When it's God to whom we must
give an account, it's before God that we must stand. Now,
I know this, in secular affairs. I know in secular affairs, in
the business world, I know this and you know this, in politics
or whatever, there's much to be gained by saying what men
want to hear. That's just facts of life. That's
the facts of life. That's in the secular world,
in politics or in whatever, business or whatever, you say what men
want to hear, say what men approve and what they applaud, use flattery
and insincerity or whatever you want to, but before thou God
seest me, any pretense and insincerity is foolish. It's fatal. It's
stupid. I started to write that down
and I didn't. I wrote the next word, foolish and fatal. It's
stupid. Look at this psalm here. Psalm
130, the Observer. The Observer. Oh Lord, thou hast
searched me, searched me. You ever been searched by God?
Yes you have, I have too. You've searched me, every nook
and cranny. You know me. I know I'm such
a small part of this universe. I know that. And you might be
sitting there thinking, I'm just a kid. I'm just a child. I'm just an old person. I'm not
important. Oh yes you are. Oh Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. I'm a small part of this universe,
yet God has examined me minutely and searched me individually
with his all-seeing, all-knowing eye as if I were the only creature
on this earth. God knows me like I know the back of my hand.
That's the innermost thought. That's what Paul said in Hebrews.
He said, everything's naked before the eyes of him with whom we
have to be. I tell you, you only have to
fear this arrangement if you're insincere and dishonest. You
don't have to fear, oh, that troubles me. No, it doesn't trouble
you Oh, you're frail, and he remembereth our frame, he knoweth
it with dust. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity, I'm not denying that, that's true, God knows, but God
Almighty hates insincerity and hypocrisy. Now that's where our
Lord Jesus Christ didn't have any unkind words for sinners,
he had unkind words for religious hypocrites. You look through the whole New
Testament, you'll hear our Lord, the woman found adultery. I don't
condemn you, there's no man condemning you, neither do I condemn you.
Go and sin no more. The naked, demon-possessed man
in the tombs, the thief on the cross, today you'll be in paradise. Our Lord's kind words were all
the way to sinners, coming to me, all you little laboring heavy
laden, I give you rest. But when he met these insincere
preachers and religious people who used God and used the Word
and used the ceremony and used the people and profited with
them and by them. He said, you're a generation
of snakes. That's what he said. Vipers. How can you escape the damnation
of hell? You don't have to fear this arrangement
if you are sincere in your worship of God and honest in your relationship
with God and say before God, forgive me, I'm a sinner, let
thy loving kindness and thy mercy be upon me in Christ. Someone
wrote this, think and be careful what you are within. For there's sin in the very desire
of sin. But, think and be careful in
a different case. There's grace in the desire for
grace. You get that? Oh yeah, think
and be careful what you are within. There's sin in the desire of
sin. No man without sin. Our Lord said to hate a man in
your heart, be guilty of murder. We know that, don't deny that.
To look with lust is to be guilty already of adultery. Yes, oh
wretched man that I am. But think about this and be thankful
in a different case. There's grace in the desire for
grace. God knows. God knows, and I'm
glad he knows. I feel like what David says here,
O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Peter took comfort
in that. When he was sitting here by the
fire and the Lord said, Do you love me? He said, Yea, Lord,
I love you. Peter, do you love me? Yea, Lord, I love you. Peter,
do you really love me? Lord, what did he say? You know
all things. You know I love you. Now, Peter
took comfort in that. And a man who's sincere and honest,
and a woman, in their worship of God, no matter how frail they
are, no matter how small their faith, no matter how rugged their
walk, or no matter how weak they are, they still take comfort
in the fact, God knows me. God knows me. That's what they
would say. God is searching. God knows me.
That's right. He said, listen, how far this
extends. He said, you know my down sittings
and my uprisings. You know my depression. You know
my elation. You know when I sit down to read,
when I rise up to walk. You know when I sit down and
contemplate and consider things. You know my motive, and you know
the motive of my actions. That's right, my down sittings,
my uprisings. God knows me. God knows me. Listen to this, he said, you
know my thoughts. You know my thoughts are far
off. You know my thoughts before my thoughts are my thoughts.
Is that something? You know my down setting, my
up rising, you know my thoughts are far off. That's not that
you're far off from me, God is now unto us. But he said, you
know my thoughts before they're my thoughts. I wonder why Ananias and Sapphira,
I wonder what was going through their minds. People back in those days were
selling their property and things like that, and bringing and giving
it to the apostles to be distributed among poor believers, and Ananias
and Sapphira were saying, let's get in on that, let's get in
on that. Peter and the apostles are bragging on these folks,
and unless we've got a little piece of property down here we'll
sell, but now let's just say this is what we're sold it for,
let's keep back part of it. And they came before Peter and
they said, we've sold this property, we're going to give it all to
God. He said, all of it? Yeah, all of it. He said, and
an ounce? Why'd you do that? Why did you say this is all of
it? This is not all of it. It was yours. You didn't have
to sell it. You've lied to the Spirit of
God. Why would you lie to the Spirit of God? God knows our
thoughts. Look at verse 3. Thou compassest
my path and my lying down. You are acquainted with all my
ways. You encircle me whether I am
asleep or awake, and you are acquainted with all my ways.
In verse 4, listen, there's not a word in my tongue that's not
registered with God. Now that's frightening, isn't
it? But not really, God knows us. Listen, I try to make this as
clear, just don't make it a phony word. Now if you're going to
say hallelujah, mean hallelujah, just don't say it. If you're
going to say praise the Lord, be sure you're praising the Lord.
but not to make somebody think you're praising the Lord. God
knows my words. He knows the source of them.
He knows, listen, thou knowest it altogether. That's an important
word there, altogether. You know, there's a scripture
that says Christ is altogether lovely. Altogether lovely. That means there's not any part
of him that's not lovely. Altogether lovely. So when he
says he knows my words, all together. The source of them, the reason
for them, and God have mercy, the results of them, all together. Verse 5, listen, don't let me
worry you, but this is, Thou hast beset me behind and before. He goes before me. He set me
behind and before and laid his hand on me. He goes before me, that is, he
chose me. He goes behind me, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And he lays
his hand on me. Try to think of an illustration
of him laying his hand on me. Hold that right there and turn
to Luke chapter 13. Listen to this. Luke chapter
13. This is the way he laid his hand
on me. Luke chapter 13, verse 11. Luke
13, 11. And behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity,
18 years, and she was bowed together, just bent way over and bowed
down with crooked bones and joints. She couldn't, no wise, lift herself.
Couldn't lift up herself. That's me, bowed down with sin
and corruption. No way I could lift myself. When
Jesus saw her, he called to her. And he said to her, Woman, you're
loose. from their infirmity, and he
laid his hand on her. And immediately she was made
straight and glorified God. That's what he did here. He beset
me behind and before, he hedged me about, he went before me in
choosing me, electing me, he follows me with his love and
mercy, called me by his grace, and thank God he laid his hand
on me. He laid his hand on me. Yeah, I believed on Christ, but
he accepted me. I didn't accept him. He accepted
me. He laid his hand on me. And verse 6 says, listen, such
knowledge is just too wonderful for me. This knowledge of the
presence of God, and the power of God, and the knowledge of
God, that's too much for me. I tell you, man at his most enlightened
state. And through these years, we have
studied the Word, haven't we? And we've grown in some knowledge
of the Word of God. And we feel like that we can
preach and teach others about God. But I tell you, when I start
reading Scripture like this, I say with David, it's just too
much for me. It's just too much, it's too
wonderful. His every attribute is still higher than the heavens
and deeper than hell and broader than the sea, isn't it? His every
attribute. Such knowledge is just too wonderful. God's attributes make sure His
promises, but His attributes are too high for me. How can
I understand omnipresence? How can I understand omniscience?
Omnipotence. How can I understand incarnation?
God became a man, and yet Christ is a complete manifestation of
himself. He that has seen me has seen
God. His redemptive work, the guarantee of our salvation, that's
too high for me. God becomes a man and God in
the flesh dies on a cross bearing my sins? The Son of God died and was buried
and rose again, and his resurrection is my resurrection, his exaltation
is my exaltation, and as a man in glory at God's right hand,
a man of flesh and bone. It's how I cannot attain unto
it. I cannot understand it, no. Believe
it, yes. And my friends, let me warn myself
and you too, every one of us, and this is what bothers me about
much of today's religion and today's preaching, even the books
on systematic theology, trying to explain the grand and glorious
themes of redemption so that people can understand them. It
cannot be done. This is David, man after God's
own heart. This is David, one of the most
brilliant men who ever lived, who ever lived on this earth.
This is a man God gave a brain as big as a washtub. A man who walked with God, talked
with God, and yet when he comes to the presence of God and the
power of God and the knowledge of God, he said, it's too much
for me. I wish some of these doctors of divinity and masters
of theology and doctors of ministry had junction enough to say that
about themselves. It's too much for me. And all these fellas got all
the answers. They get on television, some
of them I tune in, and you'd think they're God's private secretary,
press secretary or something. They know everything. have a preacher friend that has
a question-answer period. All you do is call up and ask
him a question. I'd be scared to death if I do that. I can't
attain unto this. I don't understand this. It's
too high for me. My thoughts are not your thoughts,
as the heavens are higher above the earth, so are my thoughts
higher than your thoughts. Understand them? No. Believe
them? I do. Martin Luther said one time,
I don't need a God I can comprehend. Someone might ask, where is God? Let me ask you this, where is
he not? David said, Whither shall I flee
from thy spirit? Whither shall I go from thy spirit,
or flee from thy presence? If I ascend into heaven, thou
art there, the highest. If I make my bed
in hell, or the lower part of the earth, thou art there, the
lowest. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the
uttermost parts of the sea, that's the remotest, the remotest. Even there shall thy hand lead
me and thy right hand shall hold me. Well, I say, surely the darkness
will cover me. God's not here. Even the night
shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not
from thee. The night shineth as the day. The darkness and
light are both alike to thee. That's the observer. And in him we live and move and
have our being. The highest, the lowest, the
remotest are his dwelling places. Night and day are the same. My
observer, sovereign over all, the Lord reigneth! Let the whole
world rejoice and be glad. Isn't that what David said? The
Lord reigneth. I'm glad. I tell you, young people, this God I can worship. That
impotent God that I hear preached, that peanut God, that's just
doing his best and can't get the job done, who wants to do
this and people won't let him, whose hands are tired, who has
no eyes but your eyes and no feet but your feet, no hands
but your hands. I have no regard or respect for such a God. I'd
just as soon bow down to an idol in a heathen temple as worshipped
the God of 1993 on earth. I'd rather bow down to a graven
image, Moloch or any of the rest of them. A God who can't is not
God. The only thing God can't do is
lie. That's because he's true. I can worship this God. And I'll
tell you something else, I can find salvation in this God. He's
able to save. If He sets out to save Zacchaeus,
He'll save him. If He sets out to call Noah,
He'll call him. Abraham, He'll call him. Saul
of Tarsus, He'll call him. Nothing too hard for God. He'll save whom He will, when
He will. That's my God. And I'll tell
you the third thing, I can worship that God. I can rest and trust
in that God to save me, and raise my vile body and make
it like his own, and I can rest and find comfort in that God. God goes everywhere. The night is light about you.
All right, now, let's see about the observed. That's the observer. Now let's look at the observed.
Who are the observed? Well, let me turn to one scripture,
John 17. John 17. You see, in my text, he talks
about these people here, and then he talks about God going
to slay the wicked. A different group. God made a
distinction between Israel and the world. He made a difference. There is no difference, all is
sin, but God made a difference when he took away our sin. There's
no difference in Jew or Gentile, but God made a difference between
Israel and the world. In John 17, verse 9, you got
it? John 17, 9, our Lord said, I
pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. and mine
are thine, and thine are mine, and I'm glorified in them." You
see that? That's who's with this. Now,
this is the observer. Now, here are the observed. Verse
13 of Psalm 139. Let's look at the observed now. Verse 13, Psalm 139. You ready? Thou hast possessed my reins.
In other words, God owns I'm not my own, I'm bought with a
price. God owns me and you. He owns us. Thou hast possessed
my reins. What is, what are our reins? All right, listen to me. The
reins, R-E-I-N-S, signify the hidden part, the vital part of
a person. That person's person. That person's
desire and yearning. That person's existence. My son,
give me your heart. God owns my heart. He possesses
my reins. Listen, he covered me in my mother's
womb. Jeremiah, before I formed thee
in the belly, I owned you. I knew you. Before you came out
of your mother's womb, that's how long God's owned you. I came down now and gave my heart
to Jesus. Well, maybe you did. But if you
did, it's because he did. Before you was ever born, he
looked over that egg and seed and possessed you. Oh, verse
14, I'll praise thee for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.
That fearfully and wonderfully made is in my entire fourfold
state. Back when I was created in the
atom, I was spiritually and wonderfully made. The life of the flesh is in the
blood. We were talking about that this morning, how a doctor
can take a vial of blood out of your arm and run it through
different tests and tell whether you're anemic or whether you
have a disease or whether your heart's bad, just everything
about you. If you've got an ingrown toenail,
it tells in the blood. Almost the life of the flesh
is in the blood. The seeing eye, the hearing ear,
the beat of the heart, the hearing heart. A man told me this week,
how many times your heart beats in a 70 year lifetime. It's uncanny. Uncanny how many times the heart
beats. And there's no, I'm not plugged
in anywhere, and I don't have any alkaline batteries anywhere,
my heart's just beating. What makes, who makes it beat? It just keeps going. But there's no, you can't make
anything work like that. Some guy had gasoline or electricity
or steam or something to make it go. But I go without any outside
influence. I'm wonderfully amazed. Not only in my state in Adam,
but my God kept me in my sins, and then he put me in Christ. I'm fearful and wonderfully made
in Christ, and you, when you see me in glory, I'm looking
forward to seeing you too. My, how you've changed. Oh, we're
going to be something. We're going to be like Christ. Oh, fearful and wonderfully made.
And listen, marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth
right well. My substance, what is my substance? That's my being, that's my strength,
that's my body, that's my life, my future. My past, present and
future was not hid from thee when I was made in secret, conceived
and curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth in my
mother's belly. Your eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect, yet being just a tiny, I don't
know why they're whole, the anti-abortionists hadn't picked up on this right
here, yet being just the formation of the tiny, unperfect, not developed,
God saw my substance, listen, and in your book, all my members
were written in God's book, my name, written Which incontinence were fashion,
when as yet there were none of them? You saw me unborn, you saw me
undeveloped, you wrote my name in your book, all my days, my
life, my ups and downs, everything was written in God's book. Every
sermon I've ever preached was written in his book. deed you've ever done, written
in his book, every step you've ever taken, all of it decreed,
all of it fashioned by God, because, verse 17, listen, how precious
also are thy thoughts unto me, O God. How great is the sum of
them. You know, when you hear the average
religious testimony, it's always what I've given up for Jesus
and done for Jesus and gave to Jesus. You know what David declares
and rejoices in? How precious are your thoughts
unto me. Not too many things in the Bible
are called precious. Precious blood unto you that
believe. He is precious, like precious
faith. Precious in the sight of the
Lord, the death of his saints, but his thoughts toward us in
Christ. Oh, how great is the sum of them.
If I should count them, they're more in number than the sand. More in number than the sand. And listen to the last line.
And when I awake, I'm still with thee. Turn to Psalm 17. And I'll quit. Psalm 17. When
I awake, Psalm 17, 15. And as for me, I'll behold thy
face in righteousness, and I'll be satisfied when I awake with
thy likeness. My friends, that's the sum and
substance of the God we preach and the God of the Bible and
the God we believe. Almighty, Sovereign, Omnipotent,
Omniscient, Omnipresent. The Lord Omnipotent reigneth.
The Lord reigneth. If we set out, if we get our
thoughts and gratitude, thanksgiving, and conduct and before God. That's where it is. And if it's right before God,
it'll be right before men. But sometimes the thing that
pops into our minds is, what will others think? Well, no matter
what you do, sometimes they think wrong. But what was he thinking?
That's what this God said. That's where it is. That's where
salvation is, life eternal. If God is my hope here, He'll
be my hope and glory. If God is my strength here, He'll
be my strength and glory. If God is the object of worship
and the object of faith, He'll be that and glory. Isn't that
going to change? And I can be sure, He is my rock and He's my refuge,
and I can be sure of that, I can rest in Him. As the days go by
and I get older and frailer and weaker and all these things,
I may someday not know my name. Maybe not his name. But that's
not the vital issue, just he know my name. That's the key
thing. And I thank God he does. We take
comfort in it. All right, let's turn in our
hymn books to 475. That's Mike Lee's, 475.

The Observer and the Observed

What does the Bible say about God's omniscience?

Why is God's omnipresence important for Christians?

How do we know that God searches our hearts?

Why is sincerity in worship important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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The Observer and the Observed

What does the Bible say about God's omniscience?

Why is God's omnipresence important for Christians?

How do we know that God searches our hearts?

Why is sincerity in worship important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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