If you will, turn with me in
your Bibles to the book of Philippians. I'm reading from Philippians
chapter 3, beginning with verse 8. My subject tonight is knowing
God, knowing God. Philippians 3 verse 8 says, Yea,
doubtless, and I count all things but loss. for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and I do count them, but know that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith." that I may know
him." Now, here's a verse I picked out of Job 22. I want you to
look over there with me, Job chapter 22. Paul says that I
may know him. I count everything but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ my Lord. Here in Job
22, one of the friends of Job made this statement, chapter
22, verse 21. Whether or not he spake the things
of God as he ought to, I do not know, but this is a good statement.
Acquaint now thyself with him. Acquaint now thyself with him. That's speaking of our Lord.
And be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee. Acquaint
now thyself with him. the 9th chapter of Jeremiah,
verses 23 and 24. Thus saith the Lord, Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. A man
is going to have something to glory in, he is going to find
something to glory But he says, verse 24, let him that gloryeth,
glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me. That's the thing
in which we can glory, that we know him, that we know him. That I am the Lord which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for
in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Now John 17, another
verse. John 17, verse 3, and you recognize immediately this
is the priestly prayer of our Master, in which he prayed for
those whom the Father had given him. In John 17, verse 3, our
Lord said, And this is life eternal, that they might know thee. Oh,
that I may know him. Acquaint now thyself with him. If any man glory, let him glory
in this, that he knows me. And here our Master said, This
is life eternal, that they might know thee, that they might know
thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
My friends, a spiritual, that is, a heart knowledge not a theological
knowledge, not a head knowledge, but a spiritual heart, scriptural,
scriptural, and saving knowledge of God is the greatest need of
every person here. A scriptural, spiritual, saving
knowledge of God is the greatest need of every person here. An
unknown God, an unknown God can neither be worshipped, you cannot
worship an unknown An unknown God cannot be trusted. An unknown God cannot be believed. This is what Paul said when he
gave that great definition of faith. He said, I know whom I
have believed. I know whom I have believed.
I am persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed unto
him, but I know him. I know him. I know whom I have
believed. Christ brought this charge against
the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day. He said,
you neither know me nor my Father. You don't know me and you don't
know my Father. And he said to the woman at the
well, listen to him, if you knew, if you knew the gift of God,
if you knew who was speaking to you, if you knew, you'd ask
of me and I'd give you living water. If you knew, if you knew. Now, is there a God Turn to Psalm
19. Is there a God? There are two
ways that God and his existence may be known. There are two ways
that we can come to some understanding of the fact that there is a God,
and that is the creation and the scriptures. In Psalm 19 it
says, "...the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
showeth his handiwork." And you're familiar with that scripture.
And then verse 7 says, "...the law of the Lord," that is, the
word of God, "...is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony
of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." There is a God.
God reigns. The heavens tell us that. We
have the revelation of creation. God is seen and God is perceived,
his eternal power and Godhead in the things that are made,
and then the scriptures declare the character of God Almighty.
But how does a man, I mean more than that, I want to go one step
further than that. I want to go one step further
tonight than just knowing there's a God. The heavens declare the
glory of God, the scriptures reveal there is a God. But I
want to go one step further than that and ask this question, but
how does a man in his heart, spiritually and scripturally
and savingly, How does a man in his heart actually know, not
know about now, but know, not hear about or read about or be
mentally aware of or accept mental facts about, but how does a man
actually spiritually and scripturally and savingly, how does he actually
come to know the living God? And the answer is twofold. One
answer was given by our Master. The disciples said, show us the
Father, show us God. And Christ said, he that hath
seen me hath seen the Father. God is revealed in Christ. No
man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will
reveal him. I'm not talking just about the
doctrines of Christ now, I'm talking about the person of Christ.
A man knows God in Christ and then secondly it's twofold because
you cannot separate the incarnate word from the written word. You
cannot separate the living word from the written word. God is
revealed in Christ and God is revealed in his word. Now Luther once said to the great
writer Erasmus, great scholar they say, I know little about
him, but Luther said this about to him. He said, Your thoughts
of God are too human. Your thoughts of God are too
human. And I bring this charge against
the preachers and religionists of our day. Their thoughts of
God are too human. Let's look at Psalm chapter 50,
the 50th Psalm. I'm saying the same thing that
Luther said to this man, Erasmus. He said, Your thoughts of God
are wrong. Your thoughts of God are too
human. Your thoughts of God far below
what your thoughts of God ought to be. And this is what our Lord
is saying in Psalm 50, verse 21. These things hast thou done,
and I kept silent. Thou thoughtest, thou thoughtest
your thoughts of me, your opinion of me. Thou thoughtest that I
was altogether such a one as yourself. Your thoughts of God
are too human. I don't want to know the popular
God. I don't want to know the God particularly of this generation. I want to know the God to whom
the scriptures refer, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of
this world, the living God, the one David was talking about when
he said, My soul panteth for the living God. The one of whom
our Master spoke when he said, eternal life is to know the living
God, the true God. Now, my friends, the God of 1983, and I'm sure that the scholar
Erasmus got provoked at Mr. Luther for bringing this charge
against him. That's a serious charge. Your
thoughts of God are too human. Your thoughts of God are too
human. But I bring this charge against the religionists of 1983.
I'm saying that the God of this year resembles the sovereign,
supreme Lord and God of heaven and earth. It resembles him no
more than a flickering candle resembles the glory of the New
Day sun. That's about as close as this
God comes to being like the God of the Bible. That's why I know
that's a serious charge. and saying that the God of 1983
no more resembles the sovereign, supreme Lord of heaven and earth
than a flickering candle resembles a glowing noonday sun. No closer. Now listen to me.
Today's God is moved by sentiment, emotion, and impulse. That's
the way today's God operates. That's the way he moves. He's
moved by sentiment, he's moved by emotion, he's moved by impulse. The living God of heaven and
earth acts according to justice and the principles of righteousness
and holiness. That's how he acts. The God of
this day is moved by sentiment. The God of the Bible acts on
principle, justice, righteousness, and sovereignty. Turn to Psalm
89. Psalm 89, he will not even redeem a sinner without his justice
being satisfied, his righteousness being exalted. In Psalm 89, listen
to verse 14, it says, justice and judgment are the habitation
of his throne, justice and judgment. Mercy and truth shall go before
thy face, but justice and judgment are the habitations of his throne. Don't you think this is true?
Today's God has a will. He wills to do things. They say
this, they say God wills to do this, God wants to do that, but
His will, the will of the God of this day, is defeated not
only by men, but by Satan. He desires, but He can't accomplish
it. He wills, but He can't perform it. The living God, the Scripture
says, worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
He does according to his will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. Turn to Isaiah chapter 46. It's
a different God. The God of this day no more resembles
the God of heaven than a candle resembles the noonday sun. Listen
to Isaiah 46 verse 9. This is the God of the Bible
speaking, the God of creation. He said, Remember the former
things of old, I'm God, there's none else, I'm God, there's none
like me, I declare the end from the beginning. And from ancient
times the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall
stand, I will do all my pleasure. calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executed my counsel from a far country,
yea, I've spoken it, I will also bring it to pass, I've purposed
it, I will also do it." That's the God of the Bible. Today's God waits on the creature. I've heard preachers say so often,
I've read this, God's waiting on you to do something, God's
waiting on you to do something, and yet the scripture says that
men are to wait on the In Psalm 27, verse 14, it says,
Wait on the Lord. Again, I say, Wait on the Lord.
The Lord is not waiting on you, you wait on him. This is different. Today's Jesus, I'm not going
to call him the Christ because he's not the Christ. Today's
Jesus is another Jesus. Today's Jesus offers eternal
life to as many as will let him save them. The Christ of the
Bible gives eternal life to as many as the Father gave him.
You know that so, listen to Romans chapter 9. Turn over to the 9th
chapter of Romans. Today's Jesus offers salvation
to as many as will let him save them. The Christ of the Bible
gives eternal life. It says that he has given us
eternal life. Eternal life is the gift of God.
In Romans 9, listen to this. verse 11, talking about the children
of Rebekah, says, Even when they were not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to
election, might stand not of him that works, but of him that
calleth. It was said to her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. Now, what shall we say to these
things? is the unrighteousness of God, God forbid, he said,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion, so then it's not of him that
will it, it's not of him that run it, it's of God that shows
mercy. God shows mercy. For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it's
the gift of God. Listen to this. Today's God,
you hear this all the time, has a wonderful plan for your life.
if you'll just fulfill the necessary requirements and conditions.
But the Scripture says, the living God worketh in you both to will
and to do his good pleasure. Turn back to Romans 8. Scripture
I quoted a while ago in the prayer, and we know that all things,
Father, Son, Holy Spirit, all things past, present, and future,
all things good and bad, all things big and little, all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the cause according to his purpose. Today's God has provided a remedy
for sin. He has provided a remedy for
sin, and that remedy for sin will work. It will work if the
sinner will only cooperate with God. But the Scripture tells
us that the living God has provided a perfect righteousness and an
effectual atonement through the obedience and death of his Son
for all his elect. That's what the Scripture says
about the living God. So I bring this charge that the
God of 1983, of the average pulpit and the average religionist and
the average church, no more resembles this independence. Almighty,
Supreme, Sovereign, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Living
God of creation and election, and the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the God of today, no more resembles Him than a flickering
candle resembles a noonday sun. And I'm saying this to you, there
is no possible alternative. between a sovereign, omnipotent,
supreme God who does as he pleases, when he pleases, with whom he
pleases, there's no possible alternative between that God
and no God at all. And when you think about that,
I'm saying that there's no possible alternative. He's either God
in every respect of the world, in every aspect of the world,
or there is no God at all. That's what David is saying.
Turn to Psalm 115. You can't have a God who's frustrated.
He's not God. You can't have a God who's defeated.
He's not God. You can't have a God who wills
and can't accomplish it. He's not God. If there's any
power that can withstand him, or any power that can resist
him, or any power that can change him, he's not God. That power
is God. Psalm 115, verse 2, Wherefore
should the heathen say, Where is now their God? David said,
Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Turn to Psalm 135. Psalm 135 says practically the
same thing. Verse 5 of Psalm 135, For I know
that the Lord is great, that our Lord is above all images,
all ideas of God, all idols, the Lord our God is above all
idols and false gods, because whatsoever the Lord please, that
did he in heaven and earth and the seas and in all deep places. There's no alternative. Your
God is either sovereign, supreme, almighty God, or there is no
God. You worship an idol, you worship
an image, you worship a figment of your imagination. He's not
God. Turn to Daniel chapter 4. Let's look at this. Daniel, the
4th chapter. These things are so vital that
I'm trying to say. They're so vital. Your God, he said, your thoughts
of God are too human. My friend, let us be accused
of going to seed on sovereignty. Let us be accused of overemphasizing
the grace of God, but never let it be said that we make God less
than he is. Never let it be said that we
make God less than he is. Let's have wrong thoughts of
ourselves, and let's have wrong thoughts of our possibilities,
and let's have wrong thoughts of what we will, but let's don't
tamper with the character of God. Let God be God, and every
man a liar. That's what Scripture says. And
what I'm trying to enforce upon you is that today's God is not
God. He's no God at all. This God is no God at all. There
is no middle ground between an infinite, unchangeable, all-wise,
all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal, supreme God and no God at all. You've got to go from one extreme
to the other. In Daniel 4, verse 34, at the
end of the day, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes to And mine
understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High,
and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, his eternality,
whose dominion is an eternal dominion. His kingdom is from
generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing, as nothing, as nonexistent. And he doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of this earth, and none can stay his hand, and none
can say unto him, What are you doing? Give an account of your
work. He won't do it. A God who has
to give an account of anything that he thinks or purposes or
does to his creature is no God. He's no God. You've got an idol.
You don't have a God. You have an idol. He's absolutely
sovereign. in creation, in providence, and
in salvation. Now listen to this. I picked
this up the other day. A quote-unquote God, a God whose
will, whatever that will may be, whether it be the salvation
of some men or all men or nobody, a God whose will can be successfully
resisted, a God whose designs can be defeated. or frustrated. A God whose purposes
and counsel depend in any way, in any way, on the help or cooperation
of any creature has no claim to deity. Now you think about
it, he has no claim to deity. He is not God. Instead of being
an object of your worship, he merits nothing but your contempt. That's right. That's what I'm
saying. You've either got the Augustinian,
Pauline, Calvinistic, Lutheran God of all power and man nothing,
or you've got no God at all. No God at all. Your God is not
worthy of worship. He's not worthy of the time of
day. He's not worthy of anything but utter contempt. That's what
I think about it. That's what I think about it.
No wonder the world laughs at religion. No wonder the world
mocks and laughs at the God of modern religion. He's a figment
of man's imagination. He wasn't born of the Word, he
was born out of their own evil heart. That's where they got
him. He's going to do what they let him do. He waits around on
their minds to be made up. He's the invention of foolish
men's minds. Now, brethren, think about it.
I'm saying three or four things that to me are vital and essential
and the foundation on which we rest. You know God in Christ through
the Word. And how I want to know the living
God, not a God, not a God, because I believe that the God of this
day, the God of modern religion, just doesn't even resemble God.
They don't even talk like he's God. They don't even use his
name with any reverence at all. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. They fear men, but not God. Charles
Spurgeon said this, there's nothing, nothing more comforting to a
believer than God's immutable, absolute sovereignty. Nothing. Under the most adverse circumstances,
under the most severe trials, We believe that God has ordained
even our afflictions and that God overrules them and that God
will sanctify them for his glory and our good. And there is nothing
for which a believer ought to contend more earnestly and dogmatically
than the truth of God's sovereignty over all things and over all
creatures. The throne of God and his right
to sit upon it is what we believe. We proclaim an enthroned God. We proclaim his right to do as
he wills with his own and to dispose of his creatures as he
thinks best without consulting them in the matter at all. It
is God on the throne I worship, God on the throne I trust, and
God on the throne I pray." That's what made old Queen Mary
say she feared the prayers of John Knox more than she feared
the armies of England, because he believed God. Let me take
in the next few minutes just a few of God's glorious attributes
and comment briefly. Turn first of all to Genesis
1, and I'm confident of this, you
cannot, we cannot, I cannot give him too much glory. It's absolutely,
utterly impossible for the heart of a man or the mind of a man
or the tongue of man to exalt God too highly or to put man
too low. That's an impossibility. Don't
ever be afraid of that. You'll never give him too much
glory. I tell you, the charge brought against us is not that
we give him too much credit and too much praise and too much
glory. We give him too little. That's the charge brought against
us. But it says here in Genesis 1, Verse 1, in the beginning,
God. In the beginning, God. Let's
look at His eternality. In the beginning, God. What is
this saying? Well, it's saying this. Now,
listen. In the beginning, God. Now, I can't handle this too
well, but there was a time, if the word time can be used. I
doubt the word time can be used. There was a space, there was
a time, for the sake of a word. When God, when God, this God
of glory, this God of the universe, this God and Father of Christ,
there was a time when God in the unity of his triune person
and nature dwelt alone. There was a time when God dwelt
alone. Do you believe that? Has to be.
Because from him all things came. By him and through him all things
can sit. Everything that was made was
made by him. So there was a time when he,
in his triune person, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, existed and
dwelt alone. There was no heaven where his
glory was manifested. There was no earth to engage
his attention. There were no angels to sing
his praise. There was no universe to be upheld
by his power, there was no sun to shine in his universe, there
was no moon or stars, there was God. He said, I just can't handle
that, I can't either, but he said, no, it's so. There was
God. In the beginning, God. No earth,
no moon, no stars, no sun, no angels, no devils, no demons,
there was God. From everlasting to everlasting,
that God. You know what Scripture says?
That God. God was self-contained, self-sufficient, and self-satisfied. He needed nothing and no one.
Is that right? Has to be, because He's God.
God. His essential glory cannot be
added to nor diminished by anything you say, do, or are. Well, you
think, isn't that right? Has to be right. God. If He needed a world to make
Him complete, He's not God. If he needed an angel to add
to his glory, he's not God. If he needed a universe to govern,
he's not God. But the Scripture says, in the
beginning, not half a God, or a third of a God, or a quarter
of a God, or almost. He said, in the beginning, God.
And, brother, God spake and said,
Let there be light for his own purpose according to life because
God Almighty spake it into existence. And he spake a man into existence,
made him out of clay, and put his breath of life in him. And
that creature's got nothing to say about the way he's made,
when he was made, how he was made, or what he was made for.
God made him in the beginning Whatever he willed, that's what
scripture says. Turn to Colossians 1. This is
what I'm saying. Oh, I'm saying this. You can't...
Old Scott called me the other day and said, Henry, here's a
message for you. I said, shoot. Go ahead. He said, well, I just
got one sentence. You'll have to work up the message.
I said, all right, let's have it. He said, God won't take no
for an answer. God won't take no for an answer. Think about it a little bit now.
God won't take no for an answer. He's God. He's God. Colossians 1 says, verse 16,
"...by Even the thoughts going through
your mind right now, by him were all things created, all things,
whether they're in heaven, whether they're on earth, whether they're
visible or invisible, whether they're thrones or dominions,
whether they're principalities or powers, whether they're in
heaven, earth, or hell, whether they're in the mind of men or
the mind of Satan, all things were created by him and for him,
and for him. All things! He was before your
redemption. He was before your submission. And by Him all things
consist. You take the next breath. Enabled
by God. You take the next breath. I guarantee you, you're in His
hands. That's God's eternality. In the
beginning, God. In the beginning, God. What about
his counsel? Let's turn to Acts 15. When you
use the word counsel, what are you talking about? Well, let's
put it in these words. His counsel is his will. His counsel is his purpose. His
counsel is his design. His counsel is his decree. And
his counsel has reference to everything from the time in the
beginning God His counsel or will or purpose has to do with
everything from that point on, everything from that point on.
Does that make sense? That's why, in that the person
of God is eternality, is independent, is self-contained, self-sufficient.
Our God is God. Nothing can be added to Him.
So His will, whatever He willed, whatever He purposed, whatever
He, in His divine counsel and decree, decided. would be done,
in the way that it would be done, from that moment on, everything
that was made, everything that was brought into existence, everything
that was decreed or permitted, is his counsel. Who else is counsel,
could it be? He's the counselor. All right,
look at Acts 15, verse 18. So known unto God are all his
works. What are his works? Everything
that's working. He's working. Everything is working, everything
is existing. No one under God, oh, who works
from the beginning, in the beginning, God, and from that point, everything
he willed or intended or decided or purposed to do, was done. It was done in the mind and will
of God. It was done. He never learned
anything after that. He never forgot anything. That's
just so. Good and evil, great and small,
angels and men. Life and death! Everything works
according to his will. There's not a grain of sand that
is not well known to God. There's not a hair on your head
that isn't numbered. There isn't a sparrow that falls
to the ground without your having to fight. He's as much sovereign
over the movement of an angel wing as he is the wing of a fly.
That's all. He's as much sovereign over the
rays of the sun as the glimmer of a glow worm out there in the
forest. That little glow worm, it just pops its light. God's just as sovereign over
that. He's just that bright, ultraviolet ray that comes from
that noonday sun. That's God. A royal inventory. He says, I number the hairs of
your head. Infusions, you say you're getting
God too big. Ain't no way. Now, that's one
thing I'm not afraid of. I'll tell you what I'm afraid
of. I'm scared to death I'm not going to preach him big enough.
Ephesians 1, 5, he predestinated us to the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ himself according to the good pleasure of whose
will? His will. Now, you run around
here arguing all day about man's will and God's will and free
will and all the different wills, but my friend, it all comes down
to this. his will shall be done." I don't know what it is, I just
know it's going to be done. Look at verse 11, in whom also,
Ephesians 1, 11, we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things, all things,
in heaven, earth, and hell, after the counsel of his own will. He said, I purposed it, and I'll
do it. I've decreed it, and I'll bring it to pass. His counsel
is eternal. He said, He has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. His counsel is wise. I used to
hear Brother Barnard say, The Lord will save all whom he can
wisely save. I know what he was saying. Turn
to Psalm 104, and let's see if we can get some help. Psalm 104. The Lord will save
all whom he can wisely save. Psalm 104, verse 24, listen to
this, "'O Lord, how manifold are thy works in wisdom, in wisdom
hast thou made them all.' Where is his workmanship created in
Christ Jesus? See what I'm saying about it? He's not just talking
here. When he talks about the works
of God, our minds go to the trees and the flowers and the earth
and all, but his work, his greatest work, is the redemption of his
people. In wisdom hast thou made them all. The earth is full of
thy riches. The kingdom of Christ is full
of thy riches. He's going to show you eternity,
the riches of his grace in us, the riches of his grace in us.
This counsel is wise. Proverbs 3.19, that's the official
here. That was a reference in our center
reference there, Proverbs 3.19. The Lord by wisdom hath founded
the earth. My understanding has to establish
the heavens. Are you with me? I'll tell you
this. He talked about God in whose
eyes everything is naked and open, with whom he is the one
with whom we have to do. Now, here's the thing. Somebody
said to Brother Barnett one time, well, that God's a monster. Then
he said, get ready to face a monster, because this is that God. Call
him what you want to. He goes by a lot of names. His
people call him Beloved. saints of God call him precious.
For you that believe he's precious. To you he's a monster? That doesn't
matter. That doesn't matter. I didn't cut him in half. Call
him what you want to. But one day you'll say, Lord, everything
in heaven, earth, and hell is going to bow to me, and with
a tongue confess that he's Lord. Call him what you want to now,
but he's God. I'm reading from his word. And the only way you
can know him through his son is his word. His counsel is free. It's unconditional. It's not of him that will it.
It's not of him that runs it. It's of God that shows mercy.
His counsel is unchangeable. Turn to Malachi 3. I'm saying,
in the beginning, God. God. And everything from that
point, everything that's done and decreed and designed is his
counsel and his will, and he knows it. And he's not going
to change. He said in Malachi 3.6, I am
the Lord, I change not. I know we love these little clichés,
prayer changes things. Well, I don't have a great deal
of argument with that, just so God is not included under things.
It doesn't matter to me what you put under things. Prayer
changes things. Put anything you want under it,
don't put God under it, because he doesn't change. A prayer may
change you, it may change your attitude, God may use it as a
means or an instrument to bring to pass a great work. Whatever
you say, the prayer doesn't change God. Nothing changes God. He
said, I'm the Lord, I change not. The gift and calling of
God are without change. It's unchangeable, his capacity. The third thing now, his knowledge.
Here's a verse I just tried to quote, Hebrews 4, verse 13. Now, stay with me. I want to
understand it loud and clear. I'd like to have the whole ear
of the whole nation right now. This is what I believe about
God. This is what I believe the Scripture teaches about God.
I believe that today's generation doesn't know the living God.
I'm not saying that we do, but I sure want to. I sure want to. And these things that I know
about him is eternality in the beginning God, the unchangeableness,
the wisdom, The freeness and the glory of his counsel, his
will, is going to be done. Now, his knowledge, Hebrews 4.13. Hebrews 4.13, neither is there
any creature, any creature, cherubim and angels and demons and devils
and men and dead and living, any creature that is not manifest
in his sight. All things are naked, naked,
bare, new, open, open, revealed under the eyes of Him with whom
we have to do. There is not a word in my mouth,
O Lord, that thou dost not know it altogether." Not just the
word he knows, he knows the meaning of it. He knows the motive of
it. He knows the aim of it. He knows the direction of it.
He knows the intent of it, not a word in my mouth. God doesn't
know, altogether. I tell you, that's something,
God's omniscient. God's omniscient, He knows everything,
past, present and future. David said, such knowledge is
too wonderful for me. Turn to Psalm 139. This is so
vital. Stay with me patiently, will
you? Psalm 139. Psalm 139, I worked on this,
it's worthy of your consideration. Verse 2, Lord, you know my down-sitting,
you know my up-rising. Verse 1, let's go to verse 1
of Psalm 139, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. You
know my down-sitting, my up-rising, you understand my thought afar
off. my path, my lying down, are acquainted with all my ways.
There is not a word in my tongue, not a word, but Lord, O Lord,
thou knowest it all together. Thou hast set me behind and before
and laid your hand upon me with such knowledge too wonderful
for me. I can't, it's how I can't attain
unto it. Whither shall I flee from your
presence? Whither shall I go from your spirit? Send into heaven
your bear, for make my bed and in the morning dwelling there
in most parts of the sea. Even there shall thy hand lead
me, your right hand hold me. I say, surely the darkness shall
cover me, even the darkness shall be light about me. The darkness
hideth not from me. The night shineth like a day,
and darkness and light are both alike to the head." This is what Peter said. Peter appealed to their Lord
said, You love me. He said, You know everything.
You know I love you. You know everything. You know
everything. Is that your God? Now let me
tell you this. Please, please listen. I'm going
to get a little stronger on God's knowledge. His knowledge is inseparably
connected with His foreknowledge. What are you talking about, preacher?
Well, God doesn't merely know something that will happen. It
happens because he ordained it to happen. That's right. 1 Peter 1, 2. Listen to me. It's the God of
the Bible. We are led, 1 Peter 1, 2, according
to the foreknowledge of God, the foreordination of God. Now,
my friend, let me illustrate. I know that Paul follows someone. and winter follows fall. I know
that. I know it's going to happen.
Falls come and winters come. If God Almighty lets this earth
survive fall, the seasons are not going to stop until Christ
comes. I know that. God knows it, too. But I don't
know it like God knows it. I know it because He said it,
and He knows it because He willed it. You see what I'm saying?
That's why He knows. He knows it because he willed
it. Isaiah knew that the substitute would die. He said he's wounded
by a transgression. Isaiah knew that, but God knew
it because he ordained it. God knew it because he ordained
it, and that's what I'm saying. The knowledge of God is inseparably
connected with his poor knowledge. He knows. People think they're
bragging on God when they say, well, he knows who's going to
be saved and who's going to... Yes, he surely does. Because
if anybody is saved, he saved them. He ordained their salvation.
Romans 8, listen to it. I'll read it to you. It says
this in Romans 8. It says, verse 29, For whom he foreknew, he
predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And whom he predestinated
to be like his Son, to whom he called. Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
That's how he knows it. His knowledge is inseparably
related to his foreknowledge. Now then, His holiness. Turn
to Psalm 99. I'm just going to give you two
more. Two more. Psalm 99, one of the
best books on this, and one I use so much in this message, was
Pent, Attributes of God. I think it's just a marvelous,
marvelous book. Look at Psalm 99. The Lord reigneth.
Let the people tremble. The Lord reigneth. You've got
a right to tremble. If you're not in accord with
his reign, you've got a bigger right to tremble. If you can't
say, Let the Lord reign, you've got a right to tremble even more.
He sits between the cherubim, let the earth be moved. That's
the Shekinah glory. The Lord is great in Zion, he's
high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and
terrible name, for it is holy." It's holy. God is called holy
in the Scripture more than he's called almighty. Did you know
that? Isaiah said, the seraphim said, holy, holy, holy, Lord
God of hosts. His holiness is his chief attribute
and is the glory of all the other attributes. The priest, this
is in Scripture, holiness to the Lord. The name of our Lord
is his holy name. He's never called in the scripture,
he never calls himself our loving Heavenly Father, he calls himself
the Holy Father. The tabernacles call the holy
place and the holy of holies. He's holy in all his works. His
holiness is manifested in His law. His holiness is manifested
more than any other place at the cross, and His holiness demands
a full and perfect righteousness of all who would stand in His
presence. Turn to Psalm 24. Psalm 24, reading verse 1 through
4. The earth is the Lord's, and
the fulness thereof the world, and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon
the floods. Who shall ascend unto the hill
of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? Who shall
stand in his place, he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart,
who hath not lifted up his soul unto thine." Well, that's got
to bring us to the next and final point. We've talked about his
eternality, we've talked about his decree or his will or his
counsel, we've talked about his foreknowledge and we've talked
about his holiness. Now, what about his grace? Turn
to Genesis 6, his grace. And this is the thing I've been
wanting to get to, because the other is so dreadful without
his grace, the other is so terrible without his grace. There's not
a word of comfort in the law, there's not a word of comfort
in these things. There's comfort in his grace.
In Genesis 6, verse 5, And God saw the wickedness of man, the
wickedness of man was great in that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented
the Lord that he made man on the earth. It grieved him at
his heart. And the Lord said, I'll destroy
man. I'll destroy man whom I've created from the face of the
earth, both man and beast and the creeping things and the fowls
of the earth, for it repenteth me that I've made them. Now here's
the verse, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Now listen to me, and I'll tell
you a little bit about grace, and this is so important. And
that's the law of first mention, that first time grace is mentioned
about Noah found grace in Nazareth. And usually, when you find something
mentioned the first time, that's the primary meaning all the way
through the world. in a world of sin, in a world of wickedness,
in a world of corruption and depravity, there was a man who
was a partaker of, a recipient of, the free, sovereign grace
of God. Now listen to me. God's grace,
God's grace is a perfection of the divine character which is
exercised only toward his elect. Now think with me. God's grace,
Noah found grace in the house of the Lord. God's grace is a
perfection of his divine character that is only exercised only toward
his elect. You won't find in the Old Testament
or the New Testament the grace of God ever mentioned in connection
with mankind in general, only toward his elect. His grace,
his grace, only toward his elect. Now, grace is distinguished from
mercy, for the mercy of God is over all His works. Anything
this side of hell is mercy. Anything this side of hell is
mercy. Any man tonight that's not in hell is under the mercy.
Here's what I'm saying. Turn to Psalm 145. I hear this word grace loosely
used everywhere. Everywhere. It only applies to
the elect. It only applies to the believers.
It only applies to the people of God. It's not used. His grace
is never mentioned in connection with mankind in general, only
his elect. Now his mercy, that's different.
Mercy. If a fellow is holding a gun
on you and doesn't shoot you, that's mercy. That's right. If he just cuts your arm off
instead of your head, that's mercy. That's right, that's mercy. In Psalm 145, verses 8 through
10, the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. He's slow
to anger and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all. His
tender mercy is over all his work. But, my friend, grace,
grace. Grace is the fountain from which
flows his love, his love. Grace is the fountain from which
flows his salvation. Grace is the fountain from which
flows his heart, and grace is unmerited, unsought, unearned. It cannot be bought or deserved,
for if men could earn it or deserve it or buy it, it would cease
to be grace. If the recipient has a claim
to it, it's not grace. And the grace of God is always
manifested in, by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me
show you that. Turn to John 1, verse 17. I'm wearing you now,
I've gone too long, but I want you to see this. His grace is
manifested in, by, and through Christ, John 1, verse 17. The
law was given through Moses. The law was given through, not
by Moses, God gave the law through Moses. Does that make sense?
It was a bad choice of words, that. Grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. It came not only through him,
but by him. He's the author of it. He's the
author of it. He's the fountain of it. He's
the originator of it. He's the cause of it. Grace is
through Christ. Romans 5. Let's go to this. Romans
5. Listen to this. Romans 5. You know, actually, I'm talking
about Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Those people
who died in the flood for 120 years were under mercy. That's
right, mercy. They ate, and slept, and walked
about, and married, and given in marriage, and all this, until
the flood came and swept them away. But Noah was always under
the grace of God, the mercy, forgiveness, and love of God.
I never knew you, Christ said to those in Matthew 6. He always
knew us. I've known you from your mother's
womb, he said. Now, Romans 5, verse 15, let's look. But not
as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the
offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and
the gift by grace, which is by one name, Jesus Christ, hath
abounded unto me." Where does grace come from? Jesus Christ.
He's the fountain of it, the author of it, the source of it.
For if by one man's offense death reign by one, much more they
which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness,
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Verse 21, that is, sin
hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, sovereign
grace, it reigns, sovereign grace. It reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life in one place, by Jesus Christ. It reigns over
you as you are in Christ. Sovereign grace. Remember grace.
There are three principles of grace. Remember this real quick.
There are three principles of grace, and what I'm saying is
true. Grace is the perfection of the divine character which
is exercised towards his elect. It's grace, and grace is always
threefold. It's eternal. He has called us
not according to our work, but according to his eternal purpose.
Let's read that. In grace which he gave to us
in Christ, 2 Timothy 1.9. Let me read. who hath saved us,
and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Jesus Christ before the world began." It was given us in Christ. His grace is in Christ, and it's
eternal before the world begins. Secondly, grace is free. We are
justified freely by his grace. Thirdly, grace is always possible. He said, I'll be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. I'll be merciful to whom I will,
I'll be gracious to whom I will. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, not of him that runneth, but of God that shall have mercy."
The final conclusion, if a man can come to understand something
and know something of the greatness of God, then that man will engage
in some form of worship. Secondly, if a man or woman can
come to some conception or understanding of God's power, greatness, glory,
and majesty and sovereignty, then he can have some kind of
confidence that in that God he can find salvation, that that
God is able. This is what Abraham believed,
that God was able to do what he said. He said, You're going
to have a son. This old man is all but dead.
But as only one person, it can cause him to have a son. That's
a sovereign, supreme God. And he believed God was able
to do all that he said, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
The only place a man finds salvation is in the hands of a sovereign
God who is able to overcome our enemies. Our enemies. Satan is
more powerful than we are, but he's no more powerful than God.
The prince of this world has come and found nothing in me.
I cast him out. You can't cast him out, Christ
can't. So salvation, I tell you, salvation. If God Almighty has
to wait for you to help him save you, he may have to wait for
you to help him raise you, and you may have to wait for him
to help you open the heavens of gates, and the gates of heaven
take you in, and he might have to wait for you to help him keep
you. And he could, if there's somebody
that can resist him, might lose you after it's all said and done.
There's just one place to find redemption, and that's from the
hand of God who holds everything in his hand. and disposes of
it as he pleases. Now thirdly, if a man can come
to some kind of understanding of this character and nature
and awesomeness and terribleness of God's power, and ability to
do with his own what he will, and everything else too, that
he can have some confidence that what's happening in his life
is for his good. He can have some kind of confidence. He can have some kind of understanding
that no matter how dark the road or heavy the cloud, rough the
road, no matter how short the road, that God works with all
things for his glory and my good. But he has to control everything.
If there's a pinpoint somewhere that he doesn't control, you're
in trouble, real trouble, because Satan could get it and mess up
the whole universe. If there's one satellite out
there God doesn't control, Satan could throw this whole thing
into confusion just by putting it where it's not supposed to
be. But he reigns over all, and his reign is a wise and just
and righteous reign. That's worship God. We're glad to have Hap and Evelyn
here tonight from Florida. Glad to have you all here tonight.
What number are we going to sing? 352. 352.