So last week we looked at kind of the first section of Genesis 18 where kind of the the main
topic that's being mentioned is just having
hospitality and now we're looking at kind of the middle section because the end section is very different and in the middle section what we
See are the attributes of the Lord now when it comes to the attributes of God. There are many different attributes
We obviously know God is holy God is long-suffering
But I'm looking at specific things that make God
You know prove who he is meaning omnipotent
omniscient things that obviously we are not but God is and the first one I want to look at here in Genesis 18 is
The omniscience of God meaning that God is all-knowing. He knows
Everything now in verse 9 notice what the Bible says and they said on to him
Where is Sarah thy wife and he said behold in the tent now
You might look at this verse and say well this verse almost looks like the opposite of omniscience because he's asking
You know, where's your wife, but I would say this
Before I even get into this that oftentimes you ask questions and you already know the answer
For example, your child acts up and does something and you know what they did you saw it, but you still ask them, right?
So just because you're asking a question doesn't mean you don't know the answer. Okay?
Obviously God is aware where Sarah is, of course, we know that now I'm assuming the angels with him would also be aware
I'm assuming that they were told as well because it says they said on to him
Where is Sarah thy wife, but this is actually significant when you carefully read what's being said here
So they asked him where Sarah and he said behold in the tent now
Here's the thing if Sarah was in the room with them and they would say what do you mean? Where is Sarah? She's she's right here
right
He they're obviously mentioning Sarah because she's not in the room where they're having the conversation, right?
Isn't this basic common sense because he he says in the tent indicating it's not here, right?
If I said, you know, where's Miguel you'd be like, what are you talking about? He's right there
Right, but if they're outside, it's like where's Miguel? It's like oh he's in the tent. He's outside or whatever, right?
So obviously she is not in the room with them when this conversation is taking place
then it says here in verse 10 and
he said I will certainly return on to thee according to the time of life and lo Sarah thy wife shall have a son and
Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him
So Sarah is close enough to hear what's being said
But she's not actually there when the conversation is taking place
Do you understand what I'm saying?
It'd be like for example, if we speak very loud someone on the outside of this wall might be able to hear us
Right and so Sarah's in the tent door, but she can actually hear what's being said, but she's not visibly there now
Of course God is already aware of this. Okay, he knows that she can hear what's being said, but if you told me, you know
Hey
Sarah's in the tent
I wouldn't know whether she could hear or not because she's not there and I can't see a reaction to see if she's
Hearing what I'm saying. So
He says, you know Sarah is in the tent and then he said in verse 10 and he said I will certainly return to thee
According the time of life and lo Sarah thy wife shall have a son and Sarah heard in the tent door
Which was behind him now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age and it ceased to be with Sarah
After the manner of women so when the Bible talks about the manner of women the Bible also talks about the custom of women
Obviously, you know, we know that there's like a monthly time for women
That is very unique to women as opposed to men
But eventually you reach an age where that time is going to go away and you can no longer have children after that point
When women reach the age of menopause which the age can be different depending on a myriad of factors
Well, the Bible is telling you very clearly is it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women meaning logically
She can't have kids anymore
scientifically medically it's impossible right because it ceased to be with her after the manner of
Women which would mean she no longer has that capacity to have kids from a logical
Scientific medical standpoint without a miracle. There is no way Sarah's going to be able to have kids
Now notice what it says here in verse 12
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself
So remember they're having this conversation and Abraham says Sarah's in the tent
But they can't actually see Sarah and Sarah laughs on the inside
She doesn't even make it
You know audible on the outside now if I was talking to somebody and they didn't believe what I was saying
And they thought it was a joke
Even if they didn't say anything you might be able to tell just from nonverbal communication
That would be a possibility but this is not the case here because Sarah is not visible when this is taking place
Right. So we're paying very clear attention. She's not in the room, right? She's in the tent or laughing within herself
So she's not making any noise just on the inside it to me when it says laugh within herself
It sounds kind of like she's saying yeah, right it's like that's not gonna happen
We've heard this promise before we've been hearing this for decades
We're gonna be given a child and then you keep saying it and it's not taking place
So inside she just doesn't believe what God is saying, but she doesn't say it audibly out loud and you know, honestly
You know a respectful and kind thing to do is if you don't agree with people to just keep it to yourself
So I'm not trying to be super critical of her because obviously this is a miracle that she's being told and she's not being rude
Because she's not just like laughing out loud and just like, you know mocking God or whatever and you know, she's not even around
Where God is when she's doing this she's in the tent which is nearby
But she can actually hear what's being said so she laughs within herself saying after I am waxed old shall I have pleasure
My Lord being old also and when she says my Lord she's referring to Abraham
you know her being the leader of the home the head of the home and then verse 13 and
The Lord said unto Abraham wherefore did Sarah laugh saying shall I have a surety bear a child which am old, right?
So picture what's being said, you know, I'm using Miguel as the example because he's front row here tonight
But let's say for example, you know, we're having a conversation and then all of a sudden
I'm just like why did Miguel laugh and you'd be like, what are you talking about? Miguel's not even here
What do you mean did he laugh right?
You know because Sarah is not in the room when this is taking place
So it's not just that God knows what's on the inside
I mean literally Sarah is not even in the room and then he says to Abraham, you know, why did your wife laugh?
You know, I can imagine Abraham being like what what are you talking about? Right? She laughed
Right, and he said, you know, why did she laugh saying shall I have a surety bear a child which am old?
What what God is doing here is he's proving his omniscience
He's proving the fact that he is all-knowing. He knows everything. There's nothing that God does not know
Right. He knows Sarah can hear what's being said. He knows what she's thinking on the inside, right?
He knows that she laughs at this and does not believe it. What he does is he proves his omniscience
Then it says here in verse 14 is anything too hard for the Lord?
Now this is one of those phrases in the Bible that you know what I've committed this to memory and it's something I quote on
A regular basis and I don't even quote the whole verse just the phrase itself
Is powerful because you know, it's it's a rhetorical question
I mean, obviously the answer is nothing's too hard for the Lord and yet we doubt things that God says all the time and
Sometimes we just need to be reminded. Hey is anything too hard for the Lord?
Now what we're seeing in this story is a miracle taking place
Right. Sarah's gonna have a child when she has passed the point it ceases to be with her after the manner of women
So logically medically scientifically no way she's gonna have a child
But the question is this is anything too hard for the Lord and obviously the answer to that question is no
Nothing's too hard for the Lord. So God says something God promises we can take it to the bank
It's gonna happen now, of course, we're not gonna have God visit us and have a direct conversation with us
but you know
There's many promises found in the Word of God that we can just take for a fact and believe them
But it's something we have to take by faith because it's not something we see with our eyes
Immediately or visibly we just got to trust in God that it's the case, right?
Is anything too hard for the Lord at the time appointed?
I will return unto thee according the time of life and Sarah shall have a son
So there's certainty in what the Lord says he says I will return unto thee
According to the time of life and Sarah shall have a son
Then Sarah denied saying I laugh not for she was afraid and he said nay, but thou didst laugh now
The Bible does not directly tell us here in verse 15
But the way I picture this because Sarah is not in the room according to what we read in Genesis chapter 18
God says you know what Sarah is gonna have a child and of course Sarah is nearby
So I kind of imagine Sarah just kind of walking in saying I didn't laugh
Right, and so that's the picture that I see in Genesis chapter 18. So Sarah denies us and says you know, I didn't laugh
Right because oftentimes we don't want to admit things that would make us look bad or an embarrass us and she's like I didn't laugh
And the reason why she did that is she was afraid she was afraid with making God upset
She was afraid with God being angry at her and he said nay
But thou didst laugh right now this this verse is always pretty funny
If you listen to the audio Bible with Alexander Scorby because just kind of the way he says it he kind of paused
She's like she didn't I laugh not he's like nay, but thou didst laugh right and he's saying you know what?
I know what you were thinking on the inside. I know it wasn't out loud
I know it wasn't audible, but you know what?
I know that you laughed and you didn't believe what I said, right?
The reason why she denies it is she's afraid and of course
This is a natural response people have if they're in trouble for something
Lying is usually the first thing we try to do to get out of it, right?
We just try to deny it and that might work on somebody else
Doesn't work on the Lord God's like hey, I'm all-knowing. Okay. I know you laughed
Go to Genesis 17 Genesis 17 real quickly
Genesis 17
Now the truth is this that I'm not really being harsh to Sarah because honestly her response is better than Abraham's
Right because if you look at Genesis 17 notice what it says in Genesis 17 verse 17
This is after God's promised Abraham
You're gonna have a child
Then Abraham fell upon his face and laughed and said in his heart shall a child be born unto him that is in hundred years
Old and shall Sarah that is 90 years old old bear
So when I'm reading Genesis 17, I mean Abraham literally falls on his face and he laughs
I mean it does say said in his heart
But I kind of see this as a little bit of laughing on the outside as well and not just merely in his heart
And I mean, it's kind of hard with the wording to fully tell but I mean there's a visible reaction from Abraham
This is obviously a much more rude response in Sarah's
Right. I mean God says you're gonna have a child and then Abraham falls upon his face and it's just like we're gonna have a child
It's like come on you expect me to believe that and then he says shall a child be born unto him
That is a hundred years old and shall Sarah that is 90 years old bear and Abraham said unto God
Oh that Ishmael might live before thee
I mean what an insult to say to God where it's like just you know
Take Ishmael that would be good enough because we know that we're not going to have a child now
Of course when we're looking at a hundred years old in
90 years old that's not like a hundred years old like we would look at a hundred years old
obviously Abraham lived a lot longer than we're gonna live and
Obviously Sarah lived longer than we're gonna live they live longer lives back then but they also weren't living to be 900 years either
So this is obviously at an advanced age
But it's not like someone who's about to die and then they have a child. It's not quite like that
Okay, go to Psalm 44 Psalm 44 right in the middle of your Bible Psalm 44
Let me just give you a few verses that show that God is omniscient he knows everything and
Obviously we're aware of that but it's also good to find some verses that we can prove this and
See what the Bible says about the omniscience and you know, this is a major attribute that separates us from God
We are never going to be all-knowing
It's not possible
Right. You say what what about becoming a psychic brother Stuckey doesn't happen
Right now I do believe people can get possessed by devils and happen to know certain things
But they're not all-knowing even with the help of a devil
Possessing them right? I mean, there's something called a mentalist which is someone who?
From my understanding just can use various clues to figure out what people are thinking
They're very, you know clever, but it's not that they're all-knowing. They're just very clever about finding things out
Nobody is all-knowing except obviously God
Some 44 verse 21 shall not God search this out for he knoweth the secrets of
the heart
The Bible says he knoweth the secrets of the heart and the truth is that God knows our heart better than we do
Right because our heart deceives us but God is aware of what's inside the heart
He knoweth the secrets of the heart go to someone 47 someone 47
someone 47
The
Bible says in Psalm 147 verse someone 47 verse 5 Psalm 147 verse 5
The Bible says great is our Lord and of great power his understanding is
Infinite so when we say infinite or infinity, it's basically, you know the maximum
Right and
so we when you think of in terms of time infinity means basically forever and his understanding is infinite meaning
There's nothing God doesn't know he's aware of absolutely everything that is going to take place now
Of course, that doesn't mean that we don't have free will obviously we have free will just because God knows the future
Doesn't mean he forces the future. We understand that this this Saturday
I'm actually gonna be preaching against Calvinism as the false philosophy and look God does know the future
He's all-knowing that doesn't change the fact though that we have free will to make our choices
One of the examples I like to give is if if I were to ask my son, you know Zeph
Do you want you know potato chips or do you want you know pretzels?
My son's gonna pick potato chips every single time
But he has a free will choice to make it
It's not that I'm making the choice for him just because I know what he's going to decide
Right, and of course our understanding can be at a certain level to know certain things
Like for example, you can ask my wife and she can confirm this after the service
But the other day, you know, she was ordering something to eat and she asked me what I wanted
I said, you know, I don't I don't care whatever and then like a couple minutes later
I said so you got Chow King, right? I knew she was gonna pick. She's like, how did you know that?
I was like, I don't know. It's just obvious. You haven't had Chow King recently. It's in the rotation
I did I was like, I don't know. I just knew I mean it was it was obvious not it's it's not being psychic
It's just the fact that you're married for a while and you can kind of figure these things out, right?
There's certain things, you know, but our understanding only reaches to a certain level
God his understanding is infinite, right?
Go to 1st John 3, 1st John chapter 3
1st John 3
1st John chapter 3
I mean, obviously these are things we know about God
We know that God is all-knowing but you know, it's not just having verses to prove this which is important
Even though it's something we already know
I think this is something that's good to be reminded of because when we understand that God is omniscient it really kind of
Humbles us down to a level where we realize we're nothing compared to God
Because oftentimes we think we can figure out our future. We know our future. We know what's right. We know what we're doing
Honestly, we don't
Right. We need God's help in our lives 1st John 3 verse 20 for for heart condemn us
God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things now
Here's what the Bible saying here in 1st John 3 verse 20
The Bible is talking about getting right with God and being right with God and the Bible says that you know
What if inside of your heart your heart condemns you and you feel guilty and you know, you're not right with God
You know what? God is greater than our heart knoweth all things
Meaning if you think you have this much sin in your life, you've got like this much sin
You think you've got just a few things you got to work out God's like, you know what? I know all things
I know every single secret of the heart every single bad thought every single thing that you're not doing right and it's like we
Oftentimes want to justify our own actions
So we'll do things that are wrong and just think well
It's not that big of a deal and the Bible saying you know what God is greater than our hearts if you feel bad
Or guilty in your heart
You better get right with God because God says I know all things and there's a lot of things that you need to get right
Turn your Bible to Genesis 20 Genesis 20
Genesis 20
One application is the fact that we don't know the future right? We have no idea what's going to take place in the future
But God doesn't know the future
The Bible speaks about being on the right path in life and God guiding your steps
And of course we have free will to make our choices, but you know when we're right with God, honestly
We're just following the steps that God has for us now. We sin every single day
We understand that but what I'm saying is this if we trust in God and we're right with God, honestly
We're just trying to follow the steps that he's doing because that's what God gives us the desires of our heart
When we're right with God our desires line up with God's desires and he is directing our path and look
I believe that if you're serving God and doing right you have God's protection and blessing upon your life. That's what I believe
Right and look at an uncertain world, that's a very important thing to have God's blessing upon your life that he's guiding your steps
We don't know the future
So it makes sense just to trust in God who does love you and care about you and he does know the future
He knows what's right
let me just give you a couple quotes here from a few false religions on the topic of omniscience because
There's actually a few religions that do believe that you can become omniscient all-knowing in
This life
One of those religions is a religion of Jainism now
We talked about Jainism recently as they're known as the world's most peaceful religion
but you know and I didn't go super into it for sake of time in that sermon because I was really trying to focus on the
Idea of world peace. I wasn't trying to get into rabbit trails because all of these false religions have a million things wrong with them
But with Jainism it says they say omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain
Omniscience is considered the highest type of perception in the words of a Jain scholar the perfect
Manifestation of the innate nature of the self arising on the complete annihilation of the obstructive veils is called omniscience
so in
Basic English because that's a very confusing thing what he just said you can end up knowing everything
Okay, it's kind of funny because they're a religion that believes the earth's flat
It's like wow, you're all knowing and yet you still think the earth is flat
It's like apparently you messed up on that one, right?
Jainism views infinite knowledge as an
As an inherent capability of every soul
Ari Hanta is the word used by Jains to refer to those human beings who have conquered all inner passions like attachment greed pride anger
And possessed Kavala jhana
Infinite knowledge they are said to be of two kinds one is Samanya Kavali
Omniscient beings who are concerned with their own liberation and human beings who attain omniscience and then help others to achieve the same
so basically the idea in Jainism is you want to stop being reincarnated and
Really that takes place once you become God because once you become omniscient, which basically means your God
Then you stop being reincarnated and they believe that's possible
Once you reach omniscient and you're all-knowing that is when basically you're no longer going to be
You know
reincarnated unless according to this you stay to help other people reach that liberation you might choose to stay to help other people get
Liberated but basically in Jainism you stop being reincarnated once you become God
What a blasphemous and garbage teaching and Jainism for a religion that claims they don't believe in a creator God
And we're not sure if we believe in God
But you can become all-knowing he can be as gods as the devil said in Genesis 3
Buddhism is another example in Buddhism. Here's a few quotes on this as many teach that the Buddha became
Omniscient which is like becoming God say just as Satan said you shall be as gods knowing good and evil
So Buddha supposedly reached a stage and from what I've read in documentaries
I've seen this is the general teaching in Buddhism that Buddha reached the stage of having
infinite and all knowledge and it's something that Buddhism teaches that you can also achieve and
That's the liberation of the soul and you won't be reincarnated anymore. So also in Buddhism you can basically become God
That's what they teach. And so it's there's nothing I mean it there is nothing new under the Sun
Right. I mean it's like we it amazes you with all these false religions how they teach such stupid things
Same false things in the Bible long before Buddhism and Jainism
We have Genesis chapter 3 shall be as gods and yet that's what they're teaching in their religions
You can have all knowledge and know everything and no longer being reincarnated because basically you become God
right, but look according to the Bible omniscience is a characteristic that only God has and
Our knowledge is so small compared to God. It's so little
Right. I mean you can study and study and study and study your whole life on various things and you're never gonna know everything
About any any topic you can spend your whole life studying on one thing and you're still not going to learn everything about it
Yet God knows the very hairs of our head. The Bible says they're all numbered and
By the way, let me just say this that when we get to heaven, we're not going to become God either
We're not going to become all omniscient and know
Everything right now. I personally believe that basically in heaven
We're going to be learning the Word of God all the time and just learning new things that we never noticed and never knew
Obviously we do have a glorified body
Obviously, there's some changes that take place
You know, I've heard sermons that kind of study it out and show the various things that take place
But one thing that's not taking place is becoming God, right? We're not going to become omniscient and become God
That's not going to take place
point number one
attributes of God we see the omniscience of God
Another thing that we see is the omnipotence of God now
Obviously we already read in Genesis 18 about what God's saying
He's going to do a woman who has passed the age of having children and he's going to bless her and
She's going to end up having a child which is going to show the omnipotence or all-powerful
ness of God
Okay
So Genesis 20 let me just show you because this is something that comes up quite a bit when it comes to God being all
Powerful is the idea of a woman's womb being opened Genesis 20 verse 17
So
Abraham prayed unto God and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants and they bare children for the Lord
Had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah Abraham's wife
So we see her in Genesis 20 that God has the power to actually close a womb
Right, and this is something that does take place in in this example
It's because of of sin, but that isn't always the case though
A woman's womb might be closed and we don't necessarily know why but for whatever reason, you know
God didn't you know bless them with a child at that time, but we see that God is all-powerful
He has the ability to open and close the womb go to Genesis 29 Genesis 29
Genesis 29
In
Genesis 29 verse 31
And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren
So in Genesis 29 verse 31, you know, it doesn't say that Rachel committed some awful sin
Which is why her womb is closed what the Bible says is he opens the womb of Leah for the fact that her husband
Actually doesn't really love her her husband
You know cares more about Rachel as opposed to her and so the Bible says God opens her womb go to Luke chapter 1 in
your New Testament
Luke 1
Luke chapter 1 and in Luke 1 we see a couple different stories on this idea and
all of these things show that God is all-powerful because remember the quote was is anything too hard for the Lord and
That was in reference to God opening up the womb of Sarah it says in Luke 1 verse 5
There is in the days of Herod the king of Judea a certain priest named Zacharias
Of the course of Abia and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth
They're both righteous before God walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless
So here in Luke 1
We see a husband and wife that are godly people. They've been serving God
I'm sure that means they're soul winners. They read the Bible. They memorize the Bible
They're obeying God's commandments, but it says in verse 7 and they had no child
So this shows you that you know what you can do everything correctly
You can live a godly life and pray but that you could still be barren, right?
There's nothing that they did that was wrong and yet they don't have a child at this point
And it says because that Elizabeth was barren and notice this and they were both and they both were now well stricken in years
So I believe well-stricken in years
The Bible is indicating that basically it ceased to be with Elizabeth after the manner of women as well now, of course
For men men are capable of having children at an advanced age
So even if he is well-stricken in years, obviously, I don't know exactly how it is
It could still be possible to have children at that age, but obviously for ladies
there's only a general window and eventually, you know, that window is going to run out and
So go to verse number 13 verse 13
But the angel said on to him fear not Zacharias for thy prayer is heard and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son
And thou shalt call his name John and thou shalt have joy and gladness and many shall rejoice at his birth
The indication is that these God fearing people they were still praying that God would bless him with a child
Even when they thought it was impossible
Right, even when they thought it was scientifically and medically impossible and God says, you know what?
I've heard your prayer and I'm gonna bless you with your request, right?
for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink and he shall be filled with
the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb and
many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God and he shall go before him in the spirit and power
of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make
Ready of people prepared for the Lord and Zachariah said unto the angel whereby shall I know this?
For I'm an old man and my wife while stricken in years and so Zacharias hears this and it's just hard to believe
Right. I mean we can imagine that because he's being told that a miracle is going to take place
He's like, how can I know this is really going to take place? I'm an old man
I'm not young anymore and my wife is well-stricken in years verse 19 and the angel answering said unto him
I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God and I'm sent to speak on to thee and show thee these glad tidings and
Behold thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed
Because thou believe it's not my words which shall be fulfilled in their season
So the result for Zacharias who this is really no different than Abraham or Sarah
He doesn't believe the promise coming from the angel and as a result the Bible says he becomes dumb and when we say dumb
We're not saying Bobo. We're saying not having the ability to speak is what the Bible says
So, you know like deaf and dumb meaning you can't hear you can't speak
So when it's saying that he's dumb what the Bible saying is he doesn't have the ability to speak for a time period
And if you remember the story, he's not able to speak until he just says his name is John and everyone's like, whoa
Wow, we can talk again right go to verse number 26 verse 26
verse 26
And let me just say this that no
I believe it makes sense that
When we think about the power of God
because in
Genesis 18 is anything too hard for the Lord is being linked to God opening the womb of Sarah and
Then of course we see Zacharias doubting God's promise
But you know, it makes sense that this would be applying to you know childbirth and delivering children because honestly
I think anytime a child is born. It's basically a miracle
I mean, it's just amazing the way that God has has has done things
I don't understand how someone can see a child be born and
I mean with as detailed and as intricate as it is and then say that they don't believe in God
It's like are you an idiot?
How could you say that a childbirth could take place
Just you know without a God, it's just random chemicals and the world evolved. I mean, that's so stupid
Right. It's it's so dumb to sit here and say there is no God when you witness things like that that are obviously
You know miracles that are taking place
God has just designed everything so perfectly and so it makes sense that when we're talking about God being all-powerful
It's oftentimes shown by the fact that he opens and closes the womb
Luke 1 verse 26
and
in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin espoused a man whose
Name was Joseph of the house of David and the Virgin's name was Mary and the angel came in unto her and said
Hail thou that art highly favored the Lord is with thee blessed art thou among women
and when she saw him she was troubled as saying cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be and
The angel said under her fear not Mary for thou hast found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring
Forth a son and shall call his name Jesus now, of course, you know at this time, you know, Mary is a virgin
So, you know being told she's gonna have a child
It's like well, that's not even possible, right logically speaking. This is
scientifically medically just logically impossible to have a child right and
Then it says he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give on him the
Throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom
There shall be no end then said Mary on the angel. How shall this be seeing? I know not a man
and so Mary's saying how is this even possible because I
Haven't been with any guy so it's not
Possible to have a child how is this even possible because obviously, you know, we know about the virgin birth because
The foundation of our faith is is largely based on the virgin birth. That's a large part of our faith, right?
But this is obviously before this has taken place for her. So she's hearing this. It's kind of hard to believe
We just kind of grow up and we're taught the virgin birth and we believe it and of course I do right
But she's being told something that is basically a miracle now, I think we're all aware of this
But let me just say this that after Jesus is born
Mary actually has a lot of children
So she didn't stay a virgin forever, I mean she was married right so she was married to Joseph and they
Did actually come together as husband and wife and have children after this but the Catholic Church will say no no
She was perpetually a virgin and it's just like well, what about all of the brothers and sisters of Jesus?
Well, they were just all cousins. Well, then why does it say they're his brothers and sisters?
Right and it's weird because the Catholic Church used to teach kind of bizarre things as if like that was a sin
It's like no that's actually part of of being married
It wouldn't make any sense for her to stay a virgin as a married person, right? So that's really bizarre, but
Obviously at this time though, she has not known a man. So this is a miraculous event that's taking place
Verse 35 an angel answered and said unto her the Holy Ghost shall come upon me and the power of the highest show
overshadowed thee therefore also that holy thing what shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God and
Behold thy cousin Elizabeth
She hath also conceived a son in her old age and this is the sixth month which with her who was called barren
for with God
Nothing shall be impossible. This is another one of those quotes is anything too hard with the Lord with God
Nothing shall be impossible. Right? God has the ability to do things that logically don't make sense
scientifically impossible, but God is
Omnipotent meaning he is all powerful. He has the ability to perform miracles
When people try to question the Bible and say that it's not accurate and it's not correct
They'll bring up stories and say well that's not possible
Why I agree
It's called a miracle. There are things that take place that are not possible
There are things that just aren't possible
They could never happen
But they are a miracle that takes place because God has the ability to perform miracles
We believe in things that are not scientifically logically possible, but they happen you say why because God performs
Miracles now we see major miracles that take place in the Bible, but even in our personal lives
I think we've all experienced things that are kind of like many miracles where you know
God is protecting you or guiding you, you know
Things would not have taken place if it weren't for God helping out right go back to Genesis 18 Genesis 18
Point number one we see the omniscience of God God is all-knowing. He knows that Sarah laughs
He knows that Sarah can hear what he's saying
We also see the omnipotence of God God, you know declares that
Basically, he that Sarah's gonna have a child is anything too hard for the Lord
It shows how he is all-powerful
But number three, I want to also talk to you about the omnipresence of God now
Omnipresence meaning that God is everywhere right when we speak about God we say that he's all-knowing all-powerful and he's everywhere
He's omnipresent right now. This is one of the major things when you're describing God
When you describe it to your children, this is how I describe to my son Zeph that's old enough to understand certain things
I tell him God is everywhere
God is all-powerful
God is all-knowing
I mean aren't those three of the major things that you describe about God to help people understand because sometimes it's easier just describing his
attributes and they can understand you know, because it's
Obviously, it's hard to describe God because none of us fully grasp God right, but we know that God is omnipresent
He's everywhere. He's omniscient. He knows everything. He's omnipotent
He's all-powerful
Right and when it comes to being omnipresent one thing you could look at is the fact that he knew Sarah
You know was able to hear him you could look at that as being omnipresent as well either all-knowing you could say or the fact
That he's everywhere. So he's there to see, you know, you could look at it kind of either way
but notice what it says in Genesis 18 verse 16 and
The man rose up from thence and looked towards Sodom and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way and the Lord said
Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him
So this is the chapter
Obviously Genesis 19 is a more famous chapter than Genesis 18
and basically what we're going to see in this chapter is God is going to have a conversation with Abraham which we're going to look at
next week and
Basically, you know God tells them that he's going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and then Abraham tries to bring down the required amount of
Save people so it will be spared and everything like that and he's saying to the angels
Should I hide what I'm going to do then?
He says this for I know him that he will command his children in his household after him
So once again, it declares the fact that he's omniscient because he says I know Abraham. I know
What he's going to do
I know he's going to command his children in his household and they shall keep the way the Lord to do justice and judgment
That the Lord may bring upon Abraham that thing which he had spoken of him and the Lord said
Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grievous
I will go down now and see whether they have done all together according to the cry of it
which has come on to me if and if not, I will know so
God comes down from heaven to begin with this is you know an Old Testament appearance of the Son of God and
He comes down and he's planning to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness that's taking place
He's already aware of what's taking place there. I mean obviously he's omniscient, but he's also
Everywhere and the whole reason why he's here is because of the fact he knows Sodom and Gomorrah is wicked
And he says I'm going to destroy it because their sin is very grievous now, of course in verse 21
He says I will go down now and see whether they have done, but he already knows this
Okay, and the whole reason why he's there to begin with is the fact that he knows what's going on
It's just a matter of actually, you know speaking with Abraham in person and it's it's sort of like a way for Abraham to fully understand
How wicked they are and obviously it's a story for us to understand but this doesn't negate the fact that obviously God is everywhere
That's the whole reason why he's there is because he's already knows what's going to take place here
He knows what is taking place inside of me Gomorrah and the men turned their faces from thence and went towards Sodom
But Abraham stood yet before the Lord now go to Psalm 139 Psalm 139
Psalm 139
You know a kind of a way to look at this is you know
Think of the story of Nineveh in the Bible and in the story of Nineveh God declares he's going to destroy Nineveh
But then when they find out in Nineveh, they actually turn to God they actually make changes
Obviously this did not take place in Sodom and Gomorrah, right?
I believe at this point it's like well, it's far too late. There's not enough saved people
God says he's going to destroy it
But it's kind of like, you know, he was planning to destroy Nineveh and then they ended up turning back to him
So this is sort of like, oh, you can't say that God didn't give him a chance is what I'm basically saying
Right, they're aware of it
God says all you need is ten people saved at the end of it and it's just like you know
What Abraham is frantically going and trying to explain I mean a lot I should say not Abraham
I mean once a lot finds us out he goes and speaks to his sons-in-law
They say that they date to them. It's like he's mocking them, right? It's like what the Lord you've never cared about God before
right
They never turn to God Psalm 139 Psalm 139 and let me just go give you a clear verse though
Showing you that God is omnipresent
Psalm 139 verse 7
Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold our there and the Bible says
Is there anywhere on earth that you can go and God is not there? I mean whither shall I go?
Whither shall I flee from thy presence? Is there anywhere I can go where you are not there God
It's like if I go to heaven you're there if I make my bed in hell thou art there now
Obviously a person cannot literally go to heaven or hell while they're on earth, but it's just speaking so we can understand this
Go to Revelation 14 real quickly
Revelation 14
You say brother Stuckey
How is it that God said that he's in hell like if you make your bed in hell God is there I thought hell
Was separation from God?
Right isn't that what people teach?
That hell is separation from God
And you know what I've had plenty of
Conversations with people about this because I've been in a lot of different Baptist churches as have all of us right different Baptist churches
People believe different things and I've asked people this before when this conversation comes up
I'd be like, but you believe God's everywhere, right and then everyone's gonna be like, yeah, you know God's everywhere
So is God in hell? I mean if he's everywhere
Is
He there or not and then it's like people really don't know how to respond to that
They've never thought about it
And then I've heard people say like the best answer I've heard is like well in a sense
He's there but in a sense he's not I mean, there's no answer
He's either everywhere or not
Right. That's a tough question. It's such a basic and simple question
But they can't answer it. It's like well, they're like, well, no, no hell separation from God
God is not in hell. His presence is not there but you believe God is everywhere. Yes
Does that mean he's in hell?
It's like I mean, you can't have it both ways. I mean either he's
Omnipresent or not. I believe God is omnipresent. I believe that God is everywhere
Everywhere in this world God is there is nowhere where we can go
Look, if you commit some sin and nobody sees you and nobody knows about it. I mean be not deceived
God is not mocked for what's our man. So if that's Shelley also reap you say why because God knows what took place
God's presence is there
I mean the Bible speaks about how we can grieve the Holy Spirit of God
Because the Holy Spirit of God is going to go with you no matter what you do
So if you go out and get drunk you go out and commit sins
You know what? You're grieving the Holy Spirit because basically the Holy Spirit has to be there when those sins are taking place
Right. God is everywhere revelation 14. Let me just show you real quickly here
Revelation 14 verse 10
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation
and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and
In the presence of the Lamb so the Bible says it's in the presence of the holy angels in the presence of the Lamb
You say how is this possible?
Because of the fact God's the one who created hell not the devil
God's the one who keeps it hot
God's the one who sends people to hell
It's not the devil
I mean the devil's not in hell with a big pitchfork and ruling it like ha ha ha I got you down here
He's gonna be cast into hell also
Right God created hell God's presence is there and and let me just help people out with something because here's the thing
Unsaved people that are rejecting God they want to be separated from God. I
mean people people
Quote things and say things and you hear them so often that you know what you end up just believing it
But it doesn't make any sense
They'll say I mean the most painful thing
Most painful thing about hell is being separated from the love and the presence of God
You know that sounds sweet, but you know honestly the worst thing about hell is the fact that you're on fire forever. I
Mean there's a lot of bad things about hell the fact that it's dark. Well. That's not good
It's a bottomless pit the ever the feeling of always falling. That's not good
I'd imagine the smell is terrible. I'd imagine people are itching. I mean no sleep day or night
That's a pretty terrible thing right never
Sleeping forever throughout all eternity that would be pretty miserable
There's a lot of bad things about hell, but for me the worst is being on fire forever
Right the fact that it's forever because here's the thing if hell was just 10,000 years
That would be terrible, but eventually there's an end to it
Even if it was a million years. I mean it would be terrible
I mean it would be awful going through that but eventually it would have an end
There is no end to it
It's not just that it has no ending
I mean the worst part the thing we think about is the fact that you're on fire forever that you're burning forever
I mean and the reason why we think about that is because that's what the rich man said in Luke 16
that's the thing he's thinking he's I mean there's a lot of bad things happening to the rich man a
Lot of terrible things in hell, but the thing he's saying is can I have just a drop of water?
Right the agony the pain look all of us have probably burnt ourselves
At one point or another whether it's a small burn or a bigger burn
It's like the most miserable feeling in the world and it even a small little burn on your finger
And it's just so painful
Right I remember I remember being as a kid, and I remember burning myself on my finger one time
And you know what I remember just being in so much agony
And I just walked back and forth for like three or four hours with ice
And it was just like so painful, and it was just a very basic burn
I mean it wasn't like you know this major major burn that took place, but that's how much pain it is
right
The worst part about God or worst part about hell is the fact that you're on fire forever
They're not being separated from God
How can you be separated from God when God is omnipresent?
God is everywhere. I mean it's just very basic very basic common sense and let me just say this we understand these attributes
We understand that God is all-knowing all of us would say we believe God is all-knowing
All of us would say that God is all-powerful right all of us would say that God is everywhere
But you know honestly sometimes we live our lives as if we don't believe these things
God says things we don't believe it. Why because we don't really believe God is all-powerful
I mean we know he's all-powerful, but yet. It's like we don't believe it on a practical level sometimes
Or or how about this?
I mean
Think about this you know if we live during the time of Jesus Christ
Right there are certain things that we would not do while Jesus was around
right
But if he wasn't there
I mean as they say in the expression when the cat's away the mice will play like for example the disciples are arguing about who's
the greatest and
Then all of a sudden when Jesus asked them hey, what were you guys talking about?
And then they're quiet because they know what they did was wrong
But it's really foolish because the fact God's everywhere anyway
Right I mean even though Jesus wasn't literally that I mean God's everywhere. He knows he's all-knowing. He's everywhere
He's all-powerful yet sometimes
We live our lives like little kids live their lives kids do something wrong
They get in trouble, and they figure they can just put a blanket or a pillow over their head and then
Magically mom and dad don't know
Right no mom and dad still know
Right it's it's it's like the ostrich defense where they bury their head in the sand right and
Enemies coming to kill you just put your head in the sand and you're going to be okay
Right, but yeah, that's how we are as people sometimes
Right it's very foolish. Let me say also this that not only should we live our lives if these things are true
I do believe personally. This is a great way to just describe who God is to our kids
Something we should be reminding them that hey, you know what God is everywhere
Right when your kids do something wrong. You know tell them hey, you know what God saw what you did
Maybe I didn't see you son
Maybe I didn't see you daughter, but you know what God saw what you did
God's not happy with what you did and
Describe to them you know what God is all-powerful
God is everywhere. He's all-knowing. He knows everything you're doing all of your thoughts
these are three major attributes of God, and this is what makes God God and
Makes us not God. Let's close an order prayer dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for allowing us to be here today
And getting to see your word in this topic and help us just be reminded of these things that we know God
Help us live our lives as if we actually believe these things that you are all-powerful. You are everywhere and you are omniscient