It's the third day of November 2024 in the year of our Lord at Zion Baptist Church We'll be turning to Isaiah 45 today Isaiah 45 And we will read Verse 5, and then we will ask Brother Gerald Phil to lead us in thanksgiving to the Lord for the offerings today and also for the blessings on the sermon today. I am the Lord and there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee thou hast not known me." Now, I want to read this also in the English Standard. I am the Lord and there is no other. Besides me there is no God. I equip you though you do not know me. Well, Gerald, Our Father in Heaven, Lord, we thank Thee, Lord, for this day and the opportunity, Lord, to be in Your house this morning, Lord, to hear Your Word preached, Lord, and hear it expounded upon, Lord, and to worship You, Lord. We thank Thee, our God, for Jesus, Lord, that died upon the cross of Calvary, became an advocate for us before God, so we can enter in and speak to Him. Lord, we thank Thee, Lord, for all Your many blessings We just pray, Lord, that You would accept these tithes and offerings, Lord. As a token, Lord, of our esteem for Thee, Lord, and our gratitude for who You are. Lord, we just pray, Lord, that You would send the Holy Spirit fully down here this morning, Lord, and engulf us, Lord, and increase our gladness, Lord, be, Lord, counted worthy, Lord, to be in that kingdom, Lord. We just praise Thee, Lord. We thank Thee, Lord, here this morning. And thanking You, Lord, for all of Your many attributes, Lord, meaning all of Your wonderful ways, Lord. We thank Thee, Lord, for this. We thank Thee, Lord, for Your creation, Lord. We thank you, Lord, for creating us, Lord, in your image, Lord. We thank you so much, Father. Help us, Lord, to live our lives, Lord. It would be pleasing to be, Lord. Cause us to be good servants to thee, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for the faith you've given us, Lord. And thank you so much, Lord, for the opportunity, Lord, to be here this morning, Lord. We just pray, Lord, that You would bless Brother Glenn here this morning, Lord, be with him, Lord, and give him, Lord, the message, Lord, the words, Lord, the authority, Lord, to bring us this message, Lord, that we need. And we ask and we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. You know, we don't have many to come to church here. That's probably my fault. Without question, but I appreciate those that come and bring their children, like my children, bring their children. It's very important. There are a lot of folks that say, well, we've got to find somewhere to go where they've got a lot of children and they have children's programs. And, well, I don't think that that is one of the things that you look for in a church, is to make sure they got programs for the children. where they hear the truth of the gospel is the most important thing that you can look for when you're looking for a church. Is the truth of the gospel being preached? Is the same gospel that the Lord Jesus and the apostles preached, is it still being preached today the way they preached it? people have weird ideas about setting priorities. Now let's read from verse 1. Isaiah 45, we'll read through verse 8. Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand have I grasped, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him, that gates may not be closed. I will go before you and level the exalted places. I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hordes in secret places that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name. I name you though you do not know me. I am the Lord. There is no other. Besides me there is no God. I equip you though you know me not. that the people may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none besides me. I am the Lord and there is no other. I form light and create darkness. I make well-being and create calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things. Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness. Let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit. Let the earth cause them both to sprout. I, the Lord, have created it." The title of the message today is said, besides me, there is no God. He was talking to Cyrus, who was not even yet born. King of Persia! It was Babylon that was coming, but it was Cyprus. Cyrus, I'm sorry. Cyrus! It was Cyrus that the Lord would have him send the Jews back home to rebuild Jerusalem, the Temple. and give them the gold and the silver and the things that they needed to do it with. The King of Persia, I am the Lord and there is no other besides me, there is no God. We need to contemplate on that a little bit, think about that a little bit, so that we understand that everything's not horizontal right here where we live. We need to look up to the skies and to the heavens and know the Lord, see His glory all around us in everything that we do and everything that we say, and cry out to our God to come down and come to sin Himself to speak to us and to lead us and to guide us to other people, to our own children, to our own families, to neighbors, not leave any aside. We are His witnesses. It is our responsibility to go and tell people and witness to them about the Christ and say, well, you haven't seen anything that He's done. You wasn't there when He done the miracles and you wasn't there when the Lord stood the waters back and let them walk across. I don't have to be there. I have faith. I believe it because the Lord has made it clear to me and He will to you. The Lord is the only Savior. He's the only God that there is. What about the God of this world? Satan, Lucifer, the fallen angels. They appear to be the gods of the people of this earth, most of them. People do not understand that He's coming back and He'll bring judgment with Him, righteous judgment with Him, and that's what He's saying there, "...Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness." He is making sure that Cyrus, who would be the king of Persia, understood that he is the Lord. Cyrus probably was thinking, hmm, that's the Lord of the Jews, that's the Lord of Israel, but I am the Lord of Persia. He may want to have a sit down with me about my political and my military campaign that's going to go on here. God didn't give him time for that. He told him real quick, I am the Lord and there is none other. Not you, not Lucifer, not anybody else. I am the Lord. Besides me, there is no God. Do you ever wonder who God is? Do you ever wonder what God is? Do you ever wonder why God is? Why is there a God? What's the purpose of it all? And how do we know How do we know that we know that we know there is a God at all? How do we know? The world certainly does not believe there's a God. Most church folks that we know don't believe there's a God. Oh, they go through the They go through the ordeal every Lord's Day and do what they're supposed to do. It keeps them in contact with other people instead of using Facebook or all those other social medias. I'm not sure, but you'd think if they really believe that there is a God and that He is coming back, and He's bringing judgment with Him, righteous judgment. You'll be judged out of everything that's in the book. We'd live different lives. We'd do the things that we're supposed to do. Preachers have messed people's heads up so bad, telling them that it's just what's in your heart, not what you do, but what's in your heart. The Bible makes it very clear if they'll just read the book. Whatsoever proceeds from your mouth is what's in your heart. That's what's really in your heart. What proceeds from your mouth. In the 14th verse of the same chapter, he says, Thus saith the Lord, The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and of the Sabines, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine. They shall come after thee in chains, they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee, and there is none else, there is no other God. Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior. They shall be ashamed and also confounded. All of them they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. but Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God Himself that formed the earth and made it, He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited, I am the Lord, there is none else. He meant for Cyrus to understand that He was Lord of all. He's the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He will judge the earth. You can read the Scriptures from the front to the back, and from the back to the front, and if you can't understand from reading all of that, that He requires holiness from His people, His chosen, like Israel. like Jacob and Isaac, Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah, all the prophets, and all the saved down through the ages, He requires them to keep His commandments. I don't know why it's hard for people to understand that, but evidently it is very hard, because they have no desire to keep His commandments. I'm amazed at the people that I meet in different places, wherever I go, and tell them about Christ, tell them about the gospel, that it is all about Christ, because if you ask them what the gospel is, you're going to get some of the craziest answers you've ever heard about what the gospel is. He requires his people to keep his commandments. Tell ye, and bring them near. Yea, let them counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior? There is none besides me. Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. Fear not, nor be afraid. Have I not told you from old and declared it? And you are my witnesses? Is there a God besides me? There is no rock. I know not any. Remember this and stand firm. Recall it to mind, you transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose." Now how many times in the 45th and 46th chapter did God say, I am God, I am the Lord, and there is none else. There's none besides me. I'm the only one. There is no other. I think Cyrus probably understood. After so long, he understood well because he did send God's people home and give them all the provisions that they needed. People today just do not understand why there's a God and be sure that there is a God. The youngest apostle, John, wrote his gospel last, wanting to be sure that everybody understood who Jesus was. They had a hard time in the first century after the apostles were gone, and the second century, and the third century, They had hard times understanding all the things that the Apostles taught and preached, especially about Christ and about God. John wanted to be sure that they understood who Christ was, that He was not some being that was a little lesser than God. He wanted to be sure they understood what He says in the very first verse of the very first chapter of the Gospel that he wrote. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Verse 2. John wanted to be sure that people understood who Christ was, that He is God. There's God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You can call Him God the Holy Ghost. He's referred that way in the Scriptures many times. There's one God, one essence, three persons. Three persons and one God, one essence. They all agree. They're all holy, perfectly the same. They are God. All things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. That's Malachi. I didn't mean to read that one right in there with John. John 1 through 5. Now, I meant to read verse 10 of Malachi. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." Say, how does that fit in with who God is? He said, put me to the test. Try me. Test me like Gideon did with the fleece and the dew. try me the Lord says if you're not sure that he is try him and see if he's not God in the beginning Genesis 1.1 says in the very beginning God That's mighty simple, isn't it? In the beginning, God. You see, His people have no problem in knowing that there is a God. Those that are born from above by the Spirit of the Living God know Him and they follow Him. They keep His commandments. They trust in Him. They depend upon Him. They believe that this book here is the Word of God and that the Word of God was in the beginning with God, God the Son. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. Why? Why is there a God? That seems like a real difficult question, doesn't it? Why is there a God? Why not? Why not there is a God? There is a God because God cannot be not God. He is God. He is Lord of everything. He created everything. He's God. Why not? There is a God. He always has been. The lost people and the people who come against the church and just like they come against The black justice, Supreme Court, trying to think of his name, how they come against him about natural law. Ask him did he believe, one of those senators when he was being confirmed, ask him did he believe in natural law. He said, well, of course. How could I not be? And be a constitutional lawyer. because it is embedded in the Constitution of the United States. It is embedded in the Bill of Rights that there is a God and there is a natural law that is put into the hearts of men so that they know how to behave themselves and they know what not to do. There is a natural law. And the Senator replied to Judge Thomas, You really can't believe that. Nobody believes that anymore. God's people believe that. It is burned inside us. It is burned in our hearts, in our minds. Not our brains, but our minds. Our soul. That God is. He is truly God. And He is coming again. Now, everybody will not believe that, nor can they believe that, but in the beginning, God. In the beginning, God. He created everything that there is. There was two little boys playing, and they come up to the question, one of them asked the other one, who made that grass? The other boy replied, God did. He said, well, who made that dog? God did. Who made those trees? God did, the other little boy answered. He said, well, who made God? What did the other little boy say? and ask Him, who made God? It wasn't God. God couldn't make Himself. If He made Himself, that means He had to be somewhere when He wasn't. When He never was, He couldn't be there to make Himself. Why is God And how is he God? He always has been. They say the Big Bang. It's what they talked about years ago, a few years ago. The Big Bang started everything. It was the Big Bang. There was nothing before the Big Bang. Well, we know that's not right. What caused the Big Bang? God has always been. He is of necessity. He is necessary. Everything that is made, God made. These glasses here, somebody had to make them. They didn't make themselves. God didn't make himself. He always has been. There was never a time when there was not God. In eternity past, there was God. He always has been. He has no beginning and no ending. The very simple things, like He didn't make Himself, is things that we need to remember and teach our children and to teach other people to understand that God always has been. There's never been a time when God was not. He is of Himself. And He has a purpose for everything He does. For every one that He made, His own. His own chosen people. There's a purpose why He chose them. It's a purpose when He calls them by His grace and they come. Born from above by the Spirit of the Living God. We ought to know what our purpose is on this earth. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. So God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one God. You say, well, it just doesn't seem Logical. Doesn't seem that they're three, but yet they're just one God. It's a mystery. The birth of Christ, the conception by Mary is a mystery. Sometimes my wife asks me things that are not shown to us in the Scripture. I just have to tell her I don't know. God didn't say. And if he didn't say, I'm not going to question him. I'm not going to speculate on what is not written in the scriptures. What's not made plain. I do know God's always been. He's always existed. and He created everything that there is. You see, we say that God is immutable. The attributes of God Himself are man trying to explain who and what God is. And to be immutable just means that you're not changing. That's what immutable means. It's not something that he's doing. It's something that he's not doing. He's not changing. He's always the same. He lives in eternity. That's where his residence is. It's in eternity. And he's never changed. When He come to this earth, He never changed. If He ever changed, He wouldn't be God, because there would be some reason that He had to change. But He's perfect in every way. So He never changes. He never changes His mind. He didn't change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. He's always been the same. He always will be the same. That's one of the comforts of knowing God is that He'll never change. He'll never change His mind. He'll never change His love for His people. He'll never quit being God. He's God. I am the Lord and there is none beside me, He said. There is no other God. He's God. I wish we could understand as much as we possibly could about our holy, unchanging, immutable, infinite. There's another word, infinite. That's an attribute of God. What does it mean? Infinite. Not finite. That's all it means. Not finite. You and I are finite. You and I are mutable. We change all the time. You've changed since you've been here. Some way or another. We're always changing. And we're finite. We're temporary. We're temporal. We're only gonna be on this earth for a while. Then we're going on. I don't see how people can live their life and not believe that there's a God. What's on the other side? What's in eternity? There is eternity. They used to believe that the universe was one enclosed deal. It was self And that was it. Now they know. It is indefinite. It is eternity. It goes on forever and forever and forever. You'll go crazy thinking about that if you think about it too much. Well, what's at the end? Big wall? What's on the other side of the wall? If there's something on this side of the wall, there's got to be something on the other side of the wall. He's eternal. He lives in eternity. And He is our God. He came once to fulfill His Father's will, to fulfill the Word of God, all the commandments, to do them, to make it complete, and give his life a ransom for many and to go back and be with his father until he comes a second time. Don't get discouraged. Don't stop having faith and believing that he's coming back again. He's coming again. Dear Pappy, would you ask the Lord's blessings on us and we'll be dismissed.