Amen. Alright, we were there in Revelation chapter number 19 and like we announced this morning and this evening, tonight we're getting back into a Sunday night series that we started at the beginning of the year.
So if you remember at the beginning of the year, we started a series called Declaring Doctrine.
And the point of this series was to take every Sunday night for several, many months worth of Sunday nights and to systematically study through the major doctrines of the Bible.
And my goal for you, for our church, we've talked about this recently, is that you would be able to teach others also that you would know what we believe and why we believe it and be able to prove it from the Bible.
And really the goal of this series is just to make sure that you are the most theologically educated church in town.
And we want you to know what the Bible says. And so we started this series on declaring doctrine and we started the first Sunday night of this year.
And the last sermon I preached on that subject was March 8th of this year.
And of course, because of COVID-19 and shutdowns and things of that nature, we actually took a break from it, paused it and we're getting back to it now in September.
But I want to pick up on this doctrine. Actually, where we left off was actually kind of a good place to stop because I actually preached seven sermons in this series at the beginning of the year.
And it all had to do with the same section. We were dealing with the Word of God.
So I don't know if you remember, but if you do remember, in the first week of this year, I preached a sermon called The Importance of Doctrine that kind of laid the foundation for this series.
And then in the second week, I did a sermon called The Doctrine of Revelation. In the third week, I did a sermon called The Doctrine of the Word of God.
Then we spent several weeks talking about the Word of God. Week four, what is the Bible? Week five, is the Bible reliable? Week six, The Doctrine of the King James Bible.
Week seven, comparing the King James Version to other Bible versions. That was the last sermon in the series.
And that was fine because we kind of finished that section on the Word of God.
Tonight, we're going to begin a different section that we're going to spend several weeks in, studying another kind of major heading of doctrines in the Bible.
And we're going to spend the next several weeks studying the Godhead.
So we're going to be learning about the theology of God.
And tonight, I'm preaching a sermon called The Attributes of God.
So it's going to be very teachy. We're going to turn to a lot of passages.
I hope you brought something to take notes with. And of course, on the back of your course of the week, there's a place for you to write down notes.
And I hope you have a pen and all of that.
I'm going to ask you to write certain things down.
And of course, I'm going to give you application as we go and definitely an application at the end.
But I want you to write down some statements.
We're going to talk about the attributes of God. The attributes of God.
So when we talk about the attributes of God, what are we talking about?
And what that means is, these are the things that make God, God.
Alright? This is the difference between God and us.
Now, I know today people think that we are God.
And that we are gods. And they think that this is it.
You know, we are evolving into these superior beings.
And one day we're going to be mutants that are flying around and have superpowers or whatever.
But the Bible does not teach that.
The Bible teaches that there is one being who exists in three persons and he is God.
And there are some attributes about God that make him God.
Now, there are some attributes in regards to his being.
That's what we're going to talk about tonight.
Next Sunday night, we're going to talk about the moral attributes of God.
And I'll explain that next week as we go on.
So I'd like you to write these down.
And I'm going to give you four thoughts tonight in regards to the attribute of God.
Point number one, I'd like you to write this word down or this phrase down.
We're going to talk about the omnipotence of God.
The omnipotence of God.
Now, let me just kind of define this for you so that you can have it.
It's going to be on the test, so you want to, I'm just kidding, there is no test.
But there probably should be a test.
In West Virginia, Pastor Robinson at the end of the Sunday night service, he quizzes people about the sermon.
And mainly the kids, but he asks questions and he gives them candy or stuff.
So maybe I should do that, probably keep you guys awake a little bit.
But the omnipotence of God.
So let me just kind of define some of these things.
The prefix omni or that word omni means all or of all things.
It comes from the Latin and it means everything, including everything, all things, of all things.
And then the word potense is the word power. It means power.
So when we talk about the omnipotence of God, we're talking about the fact that God is all powerful.
That God has all power.
Now, sometimes when you use these terms, and I believe when we preach that we should use plain words
and we should try to not confuse people.
In this series, obviously, we're trying to teach you doctrine, so I'm going to give you some theological terms.
But sometimes you use these words and people criticize you, like, I don't think you should use those terms.
But the interesting thing is that this is actually a word found in Scripture.
Revelation 19, look at verse number 5. Notice what the Bible says. Revelation 19, verse 5.
Of course, Revelation 19 is a famous passage where Jesus is coming down on a white horse.
And we're not going to develop all that, but look at verse 5.
And a voice came out of the throne saying, praise our God, all ye servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
Notice verse 6.
And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, notice these words, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
I want you to notice this is actually a Bible word, a biblical concept.
The Bible says that the Lord God is omnipotent.
He says the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. What does that mean?
That means that God is all powerful.
That means that God has all power.
When we're talking about the omnipotence of God, we're referring to the fact that God has all power.
Call me, if you would, to the book of 1 Timothy, 1 Timothy chapter number 6.
Now, sometimes when I preach stuff like this, I think, you know, I wonder, do I really need to say these things?
Is this something that needs to be said in Scripture?
But the truth is this, that it's always good, of course, to review and to be reminded of certain things,
but a lot of you may be newer in the faith or newer in church, and this might just be something you've never been taught, you know.
And as a pastor, I have to remind myself that if I don't teach these things, then who is?
Who is going to teach you these things? It's my job to teach you these things.
So sometimes we look at these things and you might think, oh, they're kind of basic, but not everybody knows it.
And to prove the fact that not everybody knows it, you know, realize that there are some religions out there that teach that we will one day be gods, you know.
And one of the most famous religions that teaches that is the Mormon Church.
The Mormon Church teaches that we will one day be gods and we'll become gods, and if we're good Mormons, we'll be god of our own little world, our own little universe,
and God's going to give us our own world and we're going to be the god of that world.
Look, this is not true. You say, why? Because of the fact that God has all power.
Now here's the thing about God having all power. When someone has all power, that means that he's the only one that can have all power.
If two or three or five or a thousand Mormons all have all power, then God doesn't have all power. Do you understand that?
So this is something that makes God unique and this is why you and I will never be God.
Even if you buy into evolution and you think that we're just getting better and getting stronger, we're never going to get, no human being will ever get to the point where we are just all powerful.
Where we have everything under control. 1 Timothy 6, 1 Timothy chapter 6, look at verse 15.
And this is something that the Bible says is an attribute of God. 1 Timothy chapter 6, look at verse 15.
The Bible says this, 1 Timothy 6, 15, which in his times he shall show.
And this is of course referring to the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ and I don't have time to develop the context there but if you want to look at verse 14 and study the passage, this is talking about when Jesus appears.
It says which in his time he shall show who is blessed and only potentate.
And again that word means powerful. Notice, he is blessed. And by the way, this scripture and this is a sermon that will come at another time but this passage proves the deity of Christ.
The fact that Jesus in his times he shall show who is blessed and only potentate. So it is Jesus who is only powerful. Why? Because Jesus is God.
But here's the point. The point is that God is the only one that is all powerful. That is omnipotent. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Go to the book of Job. Job chapter 42. And by the way, let me just say this. We're a family integrated church.
Which means that we don't run off our kids out to some Sunday school or children's church. We keep them in the congregation the way that it's patterned in scripture.
So maybe as you parents, you know, I'm not going to quiz your kids after Sunday night service but maybe you should quiz your kids after Sunday night service.
You might be sitting there thinking like, oh well I already know this. Okay, but does your nine year old know all this? Does your eight year old know all this? Does your twelve year old know all this?
So it's good for us to learn these things and maybe mom and dad, you know, you should talk to your kids about this afterwards and make sure they understand and grasp these doctrines that are the foundations of the things that we believe.
You're going to Job 42. Look at verse number 1. Notice what Job said. Job 42 and verse 1.
Then Job answered the Lord and said, notice what Job says to God, I know that thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
So notice the Bible says that God, Job acknowledged the fact that God can do everything. That God can do everything.
You don't have to turn to these. I'll just read a couple of these for you just to prove the point. If you want to write these down for your own reference, you can do that.
Jeremiah 32, 27 says this, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?
God asked this question. He says, is there anything too hard for me? And of course, it's a rhetorical question and the answer is no.
There is nothing too hard for the Lord. God can do everything. Matthew 19 and verse 26, if you want to jot this down.
Matthew 19 and verse 26, the Bible says this, But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
And you know, sometimes we read those verses and we think, oh, that's just a nice little verse, a little nice thing that Jesus said and we can put that on a Hallmark card and send it to somebody.
But the truth is this, it's not just encouraging, you know, with God all things are possible. With God, literally, all things are possible.
Because God is omnipotent. He is the only potentate. He is the omnipotent God. Like Job said, thou canst do everything.
So the first thing we need to understand when it comes to the attributes of God is the omnipotence of God. God is all powerful.
But there's a second thing that I'd like you to be aware of and it's not only the omnipotence of God, but it is the omniscience of God.
The omniscience of God. And the way you spell that is omni science. So the same way you spell the word science is omniscience of God.
Omniscience. Now again, the word omni coming from the Latin means all or of all things.
And the word science, when we think of the word science today in English, we think of a type of study or learning where you are observing and testing and predicting certain things.
But the word science comes originally from a Latin word which means knowledge or knowing. The word science means to know or to have knowledge.
Which is why, you know, kids go to school and they study science. Because you're observing nature. You're observing things in our universe.
You are testing it. You are predicting it. But you're gaining knowledge. You're learning. But the word science means knowledge.
So when we talk about the omniscience of God or the omniscience of God, what are we referring to? We're referring to the fact that God knows all things.
So not only does God have all power, but God has all knowledge. God knows everything. He has all knowledge. Are you there in Job 42?
Look down at verse number 2. Because in this verse, Job acknowledges two of the attributes of God. Notice what he says, Job 42 verse 2.
I know that thou canst do everything. That's the omnipotence of God. And then he says this, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
That's the omniscience of God. He says, I know that you can do everything and I know that you know everything. No thought can be withholden from thee.
So please understand this. When we talk about the omniscience of God, there are kind of two categories to the omniscience of God.
The first category is the fact that God knows everything, meaning he knows everything about everything. There's no question, there's no answer that God doesn't have.
God knows the answer to every question in the sense of nature and science and that way that you and I would think. But more than that, God also knows everything about you.
God knows everything you think. Every thought you have, everything you've ever done, God is aware of it. That's why Job says, no thought can be withholden from thee.
There's no thought that crosses your mind that God is not aware of. Because he's an omniscient God. Let's run a couple of verses just to show it to you.
Go to Psalms, if you would. You're there in Job, just turn over to the book of Psalms, Psalm 147.
Psalm 147, and look at verse number 5. Psalm 147 in verse 5.
Psalm 147 in verse 5, the Bible says this, great is our Lord, notice these words, and of great power.
Now that's the omnipotence of God, right? If you don't mind writing your Bible, you can write a little note next to those words, great power, and write omnipotence.
Great is our Lord and of great power. But then notice this, his understanding is infinite.
So he says, great is our Lord and great power, that's the omnipotence of God. Then he says, his understanding is infinite, that's the omniscience of God.
The fact that God is omniscient, his understanding, the Bible says, is infinite. What does the word infinite mean?
It means that it's limitless, it's without end. God's understanding has no end.
Go to Psalm 139, Psalm 139, you're there in Psalm 147, just flip back to Psalm 139 and look at verse number 1.
Psalm 139 in verse 1, notice what the Bible says to the chief physician, a psalm of David, oh Lord, thou has searched me.
Notice what the psalmist says, he says, and known me. He says, Lord you have searched me and you have known me.
And he's referring to the omniscience of God, the fact that God knows everything.
Look at verse 2, thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising. What's he saying? Here's what he's saying.
God, you know when I sit down and you know when I stand up. You know when I do anything. You know when I do everything.
He says, thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising, thou understandest my thoughts afar off.
He says, you understand my thoughts, those words afar off, the idea is there, when my thoughts are afar, when my thoughts are away, here's what he's saying.
He's saying, you know my thoughts before I know my thoughts. You know what I'm gonna think, you know what I'm going to say,
you know how I'm going to respond before I even know what I'm going to think, what I'm going to say, what I'm going to respond,
because you are the omniscient God. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising. Thou understandest my thoughts afar off.
And please understand this. You say, well, you know, is this really a big deal? Is this a big doctrine?
Look, these basic fundamental doctrines are important because this is where we lay the foundation for greater understandings that we have.
For example, there's a whole lot of so-called Christians out there called Calvinists who preach a false gospel,
who believe, you know, incorrectly about the word of God, and a lot of them just have a misunderstanding or they don't acknowledge the omniscience of God.
Because they look at verses that say that God has elected, that God has chosen, that God has predestinated, and they say,
well, therefore God forced those people, God made those people, God made it so those people would get saved.
But wait a minute. God says whosoever will may come. God says that he has given us free will.
The theological term is individual soul liberty. We'll get to that eventually in this series as well.
And you've got these contradictions. What they don't understand is that those verses are referring to the omniscience of God.
God chose you, he elected you, he predestinated you, not because he made you get saved, he just knew you would get saved.
He just knew how you would respond. He just knew that when you got the gospel, that you would believe it and accept it,
and because he knew that of you, he predestinated you, he chose you, he elected, how can that be?
Because thou understandeth my thoughts afar off. You know my thoughts before I even know my thoughts.
That's not God forcing you. That's not a Calvinist God. That's an omniscient God who just knows you
and knows what you're going to say and how you're going to say it and how you're going to respond before you even do it.
Look at verse 3. Thou compasses my path and my lying down. That word compass means to surround.
He says you surround my path and my lying down. We'll come back to that later. Notice, and art acquainted.
The word acquainted means to be aware of or be familiar, notice, with all my ways.
He says you are acquainted with all my ways. You are familiar with all my ways.
You are aware of all my ways. Notice verse 4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
He says I can't say, you know what, you can't say anything without God hearing you.
You know what, you can't think something without God knowing what you've thought. This is the omniscience of God.
Now keep your place right there in Psalm 139. We're going to come right back to it.
And go with me to the book of 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles 28. 1 Chronicles 28.
If you find the 1 and 2 books, they're all clustered together for 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles.
In the Old Testament, 1 Chronicles 28, and look at verse 9. 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9.
1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9, the Bible says this, And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father,
and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. Notice how David is telling Solomon, you need to know.
He says, know thou the God of thy father. That's what we're doing tonight. That's what we're doing in the study.
We're getting to know God. We're getting to know how God operates, what God thinks.
He says, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind,
for the Lord searcheth all hearts. He says, look, the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.
He says, God says, I know all your thoughts. I know all your imaginations. The Lord searcheth all hearts. He understandeth all of it.
He says, if thou seek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever.
So here's what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that God is omnipotent. What does that mean?
That means that he's all powerful. There's nothing too hard for the Lord. With men, it may be impossible, but with God, all things are possible.
Then the Bible says that God is omniscient. What does that mean? That means that he knows everything.
No thought is hid from him. He understands everything. His understanding is infinite. He knows everything there is to know, and he knows everything about you.
In fact, he knows everything about you. He knows you better than you know you, because he knows how you will respond and what you will think and what you will say in different situations.
Go back to Psalm 139. Let me give you the third theological term. The first one is the omnipotence of God. God is all-powerful.
The second is the omniscience of God. God is all-knowing. The third is the omnipresence of God. The omnipresence of God. What does that mean?
Well, again, the word omni means all or of all things, and the word presence means the state of being present. What does that mean? Here's what it means.
It means that God is everywhere at once. So God is not only all-powerful, God is all-knowing, and God is everywhere. God is present everywhere all at once.
Are you there in Psalm 139? Look at verse 5. Notice what the Psalmist says. Psalm 139 and verse 5, the Bible says this,
Thou hast, thou hast beset me behind and before. The word beset means to surround. The Psalmist says,
You have beset me, you have surrounded me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto it. Notice verse 7, wither. Now that word means to what place?
I want you to notice what he says. He says wither or hither. He says to what place, notice what he says, shall I go?
Because he just got done saying, God, thou besettest me behind and before. You are everywhere around me.
So then he asked this question, he says, wither shall I go from thy spirit? He said, to what place shall I go from thy spirit?
Or wither shall I flee from thy presence? He said, where can I go to get away from the presence of God?
Notice verse 8, if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, he says, if I get in a ship and go out to just the middle of the ocean,
just get lost in the middle of the ocean, notice verse 10, he says, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me.
What does this mean? This is the belief of the omnipresence of God. And look, you teach these things and people act like,
oh, you know, do we really need a whole sermon about this? But then you have, you know, the average evangelical Christian today,
you've got famous preachers like Billy Graham who say, well, you know, hell is separation from God.
And the really bad part about hell is the fact that you're not going to be, you know, you're going to be separated away from God.
Well, wait a minute, I thought this was a basic thing we all knew, the omnipresence of God.
Whither shall I go from my spirit or whither shall I free from my present if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Look, the point is this, you will never get away from God.
And God is in hell because of the fact, the Bible says that the people in hell are going to be tormented in the presence of the lamb.
You say, well, why is God in hell? Because God is everywhere. And by the way, God's the one who created hell.
People get this idea like, oh, the devil's running hell. No, the Bible says that hell was created for the devil and his angels.
It is God who is tormenting people in hell. It is God who is running hell. Hell is not separation from God.
You say, what's the worst part of hell? Is it separation from God? Well, if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
You say, well, then what's the worst part of hell? I'm going to go with the answer Jesus gave, the fire, the torment,
the fact that you're tormented day and night, forever and ever. But you have the omnipresence of God, the fact that God is everywhere.
You know, you teach these things and people act like, come on, pastor, we already know this.
You know, but then you got Jonah's. Jonah's a prophet of God. You think Jonah would know a basic thing like the omnipresence of God,
but yet what does Jonah do? He gets on a boat and he tries to run away from God.
I mean, if I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me.
And let me tell you something, there are Christians all day every day trying to run away from God,
getting backslidden, making bad decisions, chasing the wrong thing and just running from God.
And they go from this church to another church. They go from there to there.
They run away just, oh, things got hard and things got difficult and they run away.
Well, let me tell you something, you can run away, you can try to run away, but you can't run away from God.
You can run from God, but you can't outrun God because wherever you go, God is there.
And you say, oh, well, I'm going to go to a different church. Okay, but you're going to have to deal with the same God.
Well, I'm just going to go do something else. Well, that's fine, but if you're a child of God, God's going to be there with his spiritual belt ready to spank you because you can't run away from God.
So people act like, ah, do you really need to be teaching these basic things? But obviously we're not getting it. God's everywhere.
Where shall I go from my presence? I can't walk away from God. I can't get away from God. He's everywhere.
People get this idea and they think, oh, well, you know, I just need to get away and get away from God.
It doesn't work that way. Go to Malachi chapter three, if you would. Malachi chapter three, last book in the Old Testament.
And again, you know, you teach these things, right? Tonight I'm going to preach to you. I'm going to teach you about the omnipresence, the omniscience, and the omnipotence of God.
And people are, like, rolling their eyes, like, oh, brother, we already know this, pastor. Okay, explain this to me.
If you already know this, then why is it that, you know, for the last ten years of ministry that my wife and I have been a pastor and a pastor's wife,
you know, we've run into people out, you know, just at whatever store, just out in the neighborhood, and they're not dressed appropriately?
And it's, you know, it's just like, we run into church people and they're not dressed right, it's like.
I mean, it would have been more obvious if you just walked away, like, we would have noticed you.
You know, it's just like, hide, hide, you know, hiding what's in their cards. Don't look at what's in my card. Kids, get the beer out, get the beer out.
And then I get up and I say, hey, I'm going to teach you about the omnipresence of God, and people are like, that's ridiculous, we're aware of that.
Okay, well, if you're aware of that, then aren't you aware of the fact that God knows what you buy at the store?
Aren't you aware that God knows what's in your cabinet? Aren't you aware that I'm not God?
You're like, we don't want the pastor's wife to see how we're dressed. Hey, why don't you worry about God seeing the way you're dressed?
Why don't you worry about what God thinks? You know, Pastor Jimenez is not with you, he's not omnipresent, and let me tell you something.
Pastor Jimenez is just a man, we love you, we're not going to judge you, we're not going to criticize you for how you dress or what you.
That's between you and the omnipotent, omnipresent, omni-science God that knows everything about you anyway.
So look, if you're ashamed about how you dress or what you drink or what you watch at home, you know, I don't do this because of the fact,
you know, I just start randomly showing up at church people's lives like, turn that TV off!
But do you know that God sees what you're watching?
Oh, this is a really basic lesson, Pastor. Well, it seems like most Christians don't understand it.
God knows what you watch. God knows what you drink. God knows what you have in your cabinet right now.
God knows how you dress. God knows all of it. So why live this fake Christian life meant to impress us?
Look, we are sinful men. We are sinful women. What we need to understand is that we serve a God that is omniscient.
And it'll change the Christian life. Look, it'll change your Christian life when you begin to live in the presence of God.
When you begin to live your life with the understanding that it doesn't matter if the pastor sees me, it doesn't matter if the pastor's wife sees me,
it doesn't matter if the staff guy sees me, it doesn't matter if so-and-so sees me or sisters.
It doesn't matter because God sees everything. Because God knows everything.
Because His eyes are everywhere going to and fro, the Bible says.
So before you, you know, roll your eyes and say, Pastor, this is really basic, we don't really need this.
Okay, well let me ask you this. Are you applying in your life? Are you living in the presence of God?
Are you living in the understanding that God knows all things, hears all things, understands all things?
It'll change your life. If you learn basic doctrine, the omnipotence of God, the omniscience of God, the omnipresence of God.
Let me give you a fourth one. The immutability of God. The immutability of God.
What does that word mean? It means unchanging or unable to change.
You know what makes God God? Is that He is unable to change. He is unchanging.
The immutability of God, Malachi chapter 3. Malachi chapter 3, look at verse 6, the Bible says this,
For I am the Lord. Notice these words, I change not.
You can't say that. I can't say that. But God can say that.
He says, I am the Lord. I change not. Go to Hebrews chapter 6.
Hebrews chapter 6, if you begin at the end of the New Testament and head backwards, Revelation, Jude, 3rd, 2nd, 1st John, 2nd, 1st Peter, James.
Hebrews chapter 6. And then you got Hebrews, James, Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 6.
And look, please understand, if we run into you out and about and you're not dressed or whatever, you know, the way that we would preach,
look, we don't care. We love you, alright? We want to help you grow or whatever. And God sees you anyway.
That's why I don't understand, look, we teach and preach that women should dress like women and men should dress like men.
The Bible says that a woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that doeth her abomination.
And look, I realize that not every lady in our church agrees with that or believes that.
They put on skirts just out of respect for our church and I appreciate that and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but please understand.
I never really understood this idea like, well, in church we dress this way and then at home we dress a certain way.
It's the same God that sees you at home and at church. He's omniscient. He sees everything. He knows everything. He knows everything about you.
So what's the point of acting a certain way around church people? We're not God. God is God.
God is God. So we have the omnipotence, the omniscience, the omnipresence. Then we have the immutability.
For I am the Lord, I change not. Hebrews 6 17, wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise, notice, the immutability of his counsel.
Confirmed it by oath and he goes on. I want you to notice that he talks about God's counsel, he talks about the immutability of his counsel.
You know that God doesn't change and God doesn't change his mind? This is so basic. Oh, really? Then why is the average Christian today saying,
well, God used to not like homosexuals, but now he likes them. No, we serve the immutable God. His counsel's never changed.
You know that God feels the same way about divorce today as he did in the Old Testament when he says, I hate putting away?
You know that God feels the same way about sodomites today in the same way that he felt in Genesis 19 and Judges 19 and Leviticus 18?
You know that God still feels about fornication today the same as he felt in the Old Testament when he killed tens of thousands of people for the sin of fornication?
Oh, this is real basic. Well, apparently we're missing it somewhere because God said, I am the Lord, I change not.
He says the immutability of his counsel, he says my counsel, my advice does not change.
So why are Christians today changing what God says? Well, no, God used to, but now he, well, you don't know God because God doesn't change.
See, we believe in the immutability of God. We don't really need, yeah, but you know what? The reprobate doctrine is based off the immutability of God.
The anti-dismissational sin we take is based from the immutability of God.
Many of the things that we believe are founded and grounded upon these basic beliefs that the Lord does not change, that his counsel is immutable,
that he does not change his mind. Look at Hebrews 13 and verse 8. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 8. Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 8.
Hebrews 13 and verse 8, the Bible says Jesus Christ, notice these words, the same yesterday and today and forever.
What is that? The immutability of God. God does not change. God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
James chapter 1, if you would, you're there in Hebrews, just turn over to the book of James. James chapter 1 and look at verse 17.
James chapter 1 and verse 17, the Bible says this. James chapter 1 and verse 17, the Bible says this,
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, referring to God the Father.
Notice these words, with whom is no variableness. The word variable or variableness means subject to variation or change.
And with the Father of lights, there is no variableness. There is nothing in him that changes. There's nothing that's subject to change.
There's nothing that might change. He doesn't change. He is immutable. Notice neither shadow of turning.
In other passages we're told, we're going to look at some here in a little bit, that God is not a man that he should lie and God is not a man that he should repent.
Now of course God does repent, but what that means is that God doesn't have to repent if he doesn't want to.
And of course you need to understand that repenting in the Bible is not always referring to repenting of your sins because God doesn't sin.
But it refers to changing your mind. And sometimes God changes his mind, but if he changes his mind it's because he chose to, he doesn't have to change anything.
He could go ahead and just destroy Nineveh if he wants to. God doesn't need to change anything. But look, you and I are not God.
We make decisions that are wrong decisions that head us in the wrong direction and God says, hey son, hey daughter, you need to change.
And you and I try to say, no, no, we're going to practice the immutability as well. I want to keep going in that same direction.
And God says, well, you know, I'm going to spank you, I'm going to correct you, I'm going to beat you spiritually till you change.
Because God doesn't have to change, but you do. God is going to make you change and the Bible even talks about the fact that sometimes God just kills people who choose to refuse to change.
So the immutability of God is that there's only one being in this entire universe who doesn't have to change and that being is God.
With whom is no bearableness, neither shadow of turning.
Now these are the major attributes of God. The omnipotence of God, he's all powerful. The omniscience of God, he's all knowing.
The omnipresence of God, he's everywhere present. The immutability of God, he's not changing.
And people say, we don't really need a sermon. But yet I gave you application after application, example after example of Christians today who are ignoring these basic fundamental beliefs.
That God knows everything. That God has all power. That God doesn't change his mind. That God is everywhere at once.
So let me just end with giving you just kind of some applications just for our personal life and I'm going to run through several verses and I want you to just try to keep up with me.
Just some encouraging thoughts regarding the attributes of God. Because we learned tonight that God is omnipotent, all powerful.
Well here's an encouraging thought. The all powerful God wants to meet your needs.
I mean the God who can do anything in this universe says, call unto me and I will answer thee. And show thee great and mighty things which thou knows not.
You're there in James 1.7, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
You say, pastor, I already know all about omnipotence. I don't need a whole sermon on omnipotence. Okay, well how's your prayer life?
Well I don't pray very much. Why don't you pray? Because if you really understood that there is a God that is all powerful who wants you to pray and ask him.
He says, ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened. Maybe you don't really have a thorough understanding.
Or maybe you don't have a real belief of the omnipotence of God. I mean if we really believe that we can speak to the God who created the universe, who has all power.
Maybe we'd start asking him for stuff. I already know everything about omnipotence. I don't need you to show up for the Sunday night sermon.
Well apparently your prayer life doesn't really show as you do. Because every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, the Bible says.
So if we really believe in the omnipotence of God, here's an encouraging thought for you. The all powerful God wants to meet your needs.
So maybe you should ask him. You have not because you ask not. And it's not that you have not because God can't.
You have not because we don't ask. And of course we understand that we must pray according to the will of God and in the name of Jesus Christ and in all those things.
But the point is this that we have an omnipotent God who says ask me. The all powerful God wants to supply your needs.
Go to Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah 29. Let me give you another encouraging thought. This doesn't sound very encouraging.
Well you're telling on yourself because if you had an active prayer life you'd be encouraged.
If I had an active prayer life I'd be encouraged. The omnipotence of God.
Here's an encouraging thought. The all powerful God wants to supply your needs. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.
Let me give you another encouraging thought. The omniscience of God. The all knowing God.
You know the God that knows all things and that is aware of everything? The God that is aware of everything in the universe.
I mean think about that. He knows all your thoughts. He knows all my thoughts. He knows all the thoughts of every person on earth. He's omniscient.
And you know that that God thinks about you. Jeremiah 29. Look at verse 11. Notice what God says.
He says for I know the thoughts that I think toward you sayeth the Lord.
Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end.
Here's an interesting thought to me. It says that God who can know everything, who knows everything, who has every thought revealed to him.
I mean the Bible says, the Bible says for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.
Piercing even into the shining asunder of soul and spirit of the joints of marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intent of the heart.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. But all things are naked and open unto him with whom we have to do.
God knows everything. Everything is naked and open to him. He sees everything revealed. He knows everything and that God chooses to think about you.
That's an amazing thought. An amazing thought that God would say I know the thoughts that I think toward you sayeth the Lord.
Go to Matthew chapter 6. Keep your place right there in Jeremiah. We're going to come back towards it.
Matthew chapter 6. Look at verse 8. Let's talk about prayer again for a second.
I know about the omniscience of God. Okay well, Matthew chapter 6 verse 8. The Bible says be not ye therefore like unto them.
Think about this. This is what Jesus said. He says for your father knoweth what things ye have need of.
He says God knows everything you need. Here's the omniscience of God before you ask him.
Before you ask, God knows what you need. Before you pray, God knows what you need. Why? Because God is omniscience.
So think about this. The all powerful God wants to supply your needs. The all knowing God thinks about you and he knows what you need before you even ask it.
How about the omnipresence of God? Go to Isaiah 41. If you kept your place there in Jeremiah, just flip back. Backwards to the book of Isaiah.
Here's an encouraging thought about the omnipresence of God. An encouraging thought of the omnipresence of God is this.
Because the omnipresence is the fact that God is everywhere. God is everywhere present.
An encouraging thought about the omnipresence of God is that God is always with you. Now that could be discouraging based on what we do and how we live our lives.
But an encouraging thought is this that God is always with you. Isaiah 41 verse 10. Fear thou not. You ever been afraid?
You know what God, God says you never need to be afraid. You never need to be afraid. You say why? He says fear thou not for I am with thee.
Be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteous.
This is by the way, this isn't part of my sermon but doesn't that sound a lot like what the Bible says about Job?
Job, we learned on Wednesday night, he upheld people, he strengthened people, he encouraged people. God says I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee.
You say, you know, are you saying Job is God? No, what I'm saying is this, that we need to be doing the work of God.
Job is doing the work of God. When I strengthen someone, I'm doing the work of God because God says I'm going to strengthen you.
When we uphold others, we're doing the work of God because God says I will uphold thee. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of thy righteousness.
You don't have to turn there, Hebrews 13 5, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he had said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
Oh, you're going to lose your salvation. Well, wait a minute, God says he'll never leave you. And God can actually say that because he is, I'm not present.
Psalm 23, most famous psalm in the Bible, you don't have to turn there, but the psalmist says this, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
Referring to the fact that when we're going through the process of death, when we will, like we all will unless we live to the rapture, find ourselves transitioning from physical life to physical death.
That's what he's referring to. He's using poetic language to describe someone dying. He says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
He says, even on my deathbed, even as I'm dying, even as I'm giving up the ghost and in the process of dying, he says, I will fear no evil.
He says, even as I die, I don't need to fear anything. You say, why? For thou art with me.
That's the Ammonite presence of God. God is always with you, so you never need to be afraid. God is always with you, so you never need to be fearful.
Because even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I know that thou art with me. Go to Numbers 23, this is the last one we'll look at tonight.
Numbers 23. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Numbers 23. Just giving you some encouraging thoughts.
An encouraging thought on the omnipotence of God is that the all-powerful God wants to meet your needs.
An encouraging thought on the Ammonite presence of God is that the all-knowing God thinks about you, and he knows what things you have need of before you ask him.
An encouraging thought about the Ammonite presence of God is that the Ammonite presence, God is always present with you.
An encouraging thought on the immutability of God, the non-changing God, is that God will never change his mind.
You say, what's encouraging about that? Here's what's encouraging about the immutability of God.
The immutability of God is that a God who never changes his mind will never change his mind about you.
Are you there in Numbers 23? Look at verse 19. God is not a man that he should lie.
What that means is that God is not a man that he needs to lie.
Now the Bible says, in hope of eternal life, which God cannot lie promised before the world begins.
The Bible says that God cannot lie. He's not able to lie.
We'll talk about that next week when we talk about the moral attributes of God.
But this verse is not saying that God cannot lie. This verse is saying that God doesn't need to lie.
There's never a situation where God needs to lie.
Because think about it. Why do we lie?
Because there's a situation that, you know, we're afraid of. We're scared of the consequences.
We did something wrong and the authority is going to punish us, so we lie to try to minimize that or lie.
God says, I never have a need to lie. There's no one I'm afraid of that I ever need to lie about.
There's nothing wrong I ever do that I need to try to cover up.
God says men lie, but he says, I am not a man, God is not a man that he should lie.
Neither the son of man that he should repent. And again, God can repent, but he doesn't need to repent.
He doesn't have to repent. But here's the immutability of God.
Have he said, the immutability of God is this, have he said, and shall he not do it?
Here's what he's saying. When God says I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it.
Now when men say they're going to do something, the faithful fail from among the earth, right?
When men say they're going to do something, you're like, I don't know, hopefully they do.
They just committed to do X, Y, and Z. We'll see what happens.
But God says, when I commit to do something, he says, he says, hath he said, and shall he not do it?
Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
You know that God never goes back on his promises.
You know that God never promises you something, and then takes it away?
I mean, one of the greatest doctrines that we believe in, the eternal security of the believer,
is based on the immutability of God, that when God decides to save you, to forgive you, to give you eternal life, he'll never take that from you.
Have he said, and shall he not do it? Or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
When you enter into a covenant with God, God always makes his covenants good. His word is always good.
He never changes his mind, and here's the encouraging part, he'll never change his mind about you.
He'll never change his mind about me.
Because of the immutability of God, that we serve a God that does not change.
So these real basic thoughts, the attributes of God, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, they're all basic.
But on these basic thoughts, we lay some heavy doctrines.
They're the foundation of some very important things that we believe about God.
That he's all powerful, that he's all knowing, that he's everywhere at once, and he does not change.
Let's bow our head to that word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word, thank you for the fact that you've given us a Bible that we can learn of you, that we can study you, that we can study God.
And Lord thank you for allowing us to know about the attributes that you have, because these attributes give us confidence in you.
And these attributes should help us in our Christian life to live in the presence of God.
Because you know everything, you are everywhere, you can do anything.
Lord help us to pray to you, help us to serve you, help us to love you with our lives.
In the matchless name of Christ we pray, amen.