Well, today we continue our evidence for the Christian faith series. And this is part three on the reality of God. We have seen so far evidence of his existence. That was the first message in this series. And last week we looked at the defense for his tri-unity. I'd just like to review these statements. The father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. The baptismal formula in Matthew 28 indicates one name, yet three persons. The attributes of one person are also shared by the other persons of the Trinity, showing equality. The triune God exists as three persons, yet one essence. plural pronouns in the plural form of El, Elohim, leaves room for the New Testament revelation of the Trinity. And the us, the plural pronouns show a plurality in the Godhead. Well, today we would like to look then at part three for the reality of God, descriptions of his attributes. Now, this is first Sunday. And over the last few years, we have on first Sunday studied attributes of God. So this is part of the series, The Reality of God, and we're going to give a list of several attributes. Some of these we have studied in detail, some we've not studied yet, but here is a catalog. It's not exhaustive, but here are some that we want to look at and have a text to show this particular attribute so that we can appreciate who our God is. The scriptures, nature and reason point us to an all-powerful, glorious, divine, triune being who created the world and who provided redemption for it. And as we've said, while the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit is necessary to convince a darkened heart of the reality of God, There is so much reasonable evidence that points us to this divine all-powerful being. So let's consider these descriptions of his attributes. What is God like? Let's pray. Father, open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, our hearts to understand, and to apply who you are to our lives, to our situation. We thank you that you are all glorious. You are magnificent. We thank you, Lord, that you're gracious, full of grace. Speak to us, teach us today that we would know you better, that we can make you known in a more simple and a clearer way to a world that desperately needs you. In Jesus' wonderful name we pray, amen. So let's start off with this attribute. all-knowing, omniscient. And you can be on your toes to see which blank needs to be filled in in your notes. God is omniscient. He is all-knowing, all-knowing. And let's look at a few verses. I want to start with Psalm 33. This is not in your notes. How much does God know? Does God learn? Or does he know it all at the beginning? Psalm 33, notice these comforting words. Verse 13, the Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. All of us? Seven billion people on the earth? Does he see them all? Just that thought flips a breaker. He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling, He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashions their hearts. Individually, He considers all their works. He knows all about all of us. Psalm 139, David sinned, he tried to hide from God, and then he came crashing down from that delusion with the realization that God is everywhere. Psalm 139, verse one. Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. Verse two, you know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought of far off. You know my thought before I think it. You comprehend my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. I've not counted these, probably you haven't either. How many times in a day we sit down and rise up? You know my sitting down, my rising up. You comprehend my path. You comprehend my lying down. You're acquainted with all my ways. There's not a word on my tongue, but behold, oh Lord, you know it all together. You've hedged me behind and before and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain it. What a beautiful picture of God's omniscience. He knows everything, omniscience. Now go to Matthew chapter 10 in verse 29. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. God knows the smallest detail about us. And these little sparrows that flit about, not one falls to the ground without the father knowing, because he knows everything. And then Hebrews 4 verse 13, are we accountable to God? Absolutely. Look at verse 13, Hebrews 4. There is no creature hidden from his sight. But all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. And it's so interesting that this verse follows verse 12 about God's word. For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It can uncover the thoughts and intents of the human heart. God sees and knows everything. The Word of God is convicting. It goes right to the heart of the matter. And it's very convicting when we try to hide from God. Once in the Air Force, we were having a mobility exercise, an exercise as if we were going to war. And we were in the hangar for airplanes. It was the staging area. So I was in line as the chaplain, and a couple of people around me just were going off in just awful, vile language. And we got on the airplane, we flew to where we were gonna have this exercise, and we got into the tent area. And I was in the tent with that guy. And he said to me, oh, sir, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were a chaplain. I'm sorry for all my language that I was using back there. I said, hey, man, it's OK. There's someone else who's always listening. What was my point? You don't have to be sorry to me. You've got to be accountable to God. God is always knowing and seeing And we can't hide anything from him. And this is the essence of character for all of us. But young people, listen to this. You may think, my mom can't see me. My dad can't see me. Grandma can't see me. It doesn't matter. God sees you. God sees you. For us adults as well. Thou God seest me, Hagar said. God sees us, he knows everything. And so it should comfort us on the one hand, but it also should convict us to do the right thing because he's watching, God is seeing. So Paul tells us in the New Testament epistles that our work ethic should not be with eye service. What does that mean? The boss has his eye on me, I work, he's gone, The cat's away, the mice play. I don't have to work, because the boss isn't watching. That's not a Christian work ethic. God is always watching. So I'm going to do what I need to do, whether anybody sees it or not. And it's also a comfort. We may think, well, I deserve some recognition for this or that that I did for the Lord. Nobody noticed. God did. And he's the one that counts. He's all-knowing. All right, Jeremiah 32, God is all powerful, omnipotent, all powerful. Jeremiah 32 verse 17 expresses this. Ah, Lord God, Jeremiah says, behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power. An outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you. Those of you who were on the trip to the Creation Museum, the Ark, how many of you went to the planetarium? So here we are in this chair, reclining, looking up, and this ceiling is turned into the skies. And you see these planets and the stars. It took us into outer space and brings us back to our galaxy. And you begin to feel rather small. We're not even a speck on planet Earth. And God made all of this. And our galaxy, the Milky Way, is not all there is. There are so many more out there beyond us. And Jeremiah says, Lord, you made the heavens and the earth by your great power. How many of you went in the museum, the Fearfully and Wonderfully Made exhibit? How many saw that? Amazing. Amazing. Human life begins And what the mother provides in the early stage is about the size of a grain of salt. And it becomes a human being. Isn't that amazing? The power of God. You've made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. No wonder the devil attacks this so much. Because look at this. There's nothing too hard for you. He is all powerful. He has made the heavens, the earth, the solar system, all the stars, and he's made human life. He is all powerful. Praise the Lord for our wonderful, wonderful God. And look at this in the gospel of Luke. Mary understood this. Luke chapter one, she was visited by Gabriel. He announced to her, that she without a husband, that is without a father figure was going to conceive and bring forth a son. She did have in a betrothal period, a husband, but without Joseph, she would have the Messiah, the Holy One. And notice these words from the angel. Verse 36, Luke 1, 36. Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. That was a miracle. For with God, nothing will be impossible. Then Mary said, behold, the maid servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her. So we're going a long life and all of a sudden we're faced with some great challenge. If you're a student, it could be an assignment, it could be a test, it could be an exam. If you're working, it could be something in your job and it's absolutely impossible as far as you're concerned. You have no answers, could be a relational issue, no answers, it's impossible. And you begin to panic. All we need to do is to run to God. and say, Lord, nothing is impossible with you. Nothing's too hard for you. And I'm bringing my care, my concern to you. That should be our response. And as we grow in the Lord, I think maybe we learn a little bit about doing this first instead of last. We got to bring this to the Lord. We get all panicked. Oh, wait a minute. Did I really take this to the Lord? Let me take it to the Lord. Nothing is too hard for Him. He is all-powerful. You made heaven and earth. You created human life. You're bigger than this problem that I have. I believe the Lord wants us to do that continually, from the smallest thing to the largest thing, because nothing is too hard for Him. Now, we gather here in Brooklyn, New York today to worship the Lord, but there are believers gathering around the world or maybe they've already gathered on the Lord's day. Is God present in all of these meetings of the believers? Yes, he is at the same time. He is everywhere present, omnipresent. Psalm 139 again, let's go back there. David's wonderful psalm. Notice verses seven through 10 as he teaches us this attribute of God. everywhere present. We can only be at one place at one time. I believe that to be the case also with the devil. He is not omnipresent. He's not on a par with God, but God is everywhere present. And so David says in Psalm 139 verse 7, he says, where can I go from your spirit, or where can I flee from your presence? And he gives these possibilities. If I ascend into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, I go into the grave, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there your hand shall lead me. I take the wings of the morning, I go east. I dwell in the sea, through the west, the Mediterranean. Even there your hand shall lead me. Your right hand shall hold me. If I say surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light about me. In that display at the ark, On snakes. Some of you went to that. I went to that. We were sitting on the front rows. Fascinating. I'm intrigued by these creatures. And we learned that snakes have good night eyesight. That's not so comforting, maybe, to us. Absolutely amazing creatures there. Can God see in the night? Can he see in the dark? Does he know where we are? If I say, surely the darkness shall fall on me, even the night shall be light about me. As far as you're concerned, God, it's like turning the lights on. Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to you. God is everywhere at once. So we can trust him. We can depend on him. When we're going through what seems like darkness, he's there. And he's not leaving us. He's protecting us. He's keeping us. And now here's a cluster and they each deserve their own study, but we put them together. God is loving, gracious, and merciful. God is loving, gracious, and merciful. Let's start with Lamentations chapter 3. And here's what Jeremiah in the Lamentations tells us about God. Lamentations chapter 3 in verse 22. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Look at this, mercy, compassion, faithfulness. It's great. It's renewed day by day. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Thursday, we drove up to Delaware, Ohio, and then back down to Columbus. And Friday we drove from Columbus to here. Probably there's been a study on this, but I like to know what driving in an automobile at 70 miles an hour, what that does to the human body. You know, you stop and you feel like you're still going. And you think, this is crazy. You know, 10 feet away is somebody else going 70 miles an hour. And you just thank God for protection. And all those who came back in the bus. And yesterday morning, I'm walking the dog, and I hear a lady screaming, yelling. And I look, and right there on Farragut is an accident. And this car smashed another car, smashed a parked car. And a neighbor comes over, and I said, you know, I just got back from Ohio. And here I'm two blocks from my house, and I see this accident. And I was a little later going. Otherwise, I would have walked on the side of the street where the parked car was smashed. And I wasn't there at that time. I don't know that I would have been hit necessarily, but you see how fragile life is? It's the Lord's mercies that were not consumed. His compassions fail not. They're new every morning. Praise the Lord for his unlimited mercy and compassion. and faithfulness. Verse 24 says, the Lord is my portion, says my soul. Therefore I hope in him. The Lord is good to those who wait for him. Another attribute there, to the soul who seeks him. Praise God for his mercy. Ephesians chapter two. In our inquires class, we're studying right now the doctrine of salvation. We were in this passage this morning. What an amazing passage, so amazing. Ephesians chapter two, notice verse one. And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works, and the sons of disobedience. Among them also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, in the same verse, mercy and love. He's rich in this, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. Mercy, love, grace, right here. And He raised us up together, made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Praise God for his grace. For we are his workmanship, creating Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. They're religious movements that have no place, no understanding of grace, of forgiveness, that it's God's unmerited favor, not what we've worked, not what we've deserved, unmerited favor. all of His grace, and that's our salvation. And I believe that one reason the Lord gave us the Lord's table was so we would never forget grace. If I forget grace, then I'm going to be proud? I'm going to look down my nose at people? What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you? And I'm going to be condemnatory toward people that have not come to know Christ as Savior, forgetting that either I was where they are now, or I could have been exactly where they are. God saved me by His grace and spared me from it. God does not want us to forget this attribute of His, that He is gracious, is full of grace. The other thing that I could be, and probably there are others, not only proud, or I could be very weak in my Christian life, thinking it's all about me. I could be, I'm very fearful. Oh, if I mess up, God's going to send me to hell. No, that's forgetting grace. And Jesus took all our sins on himself and we trust him. We rely on him. We praise him for his grace and we don't forget it. One page over in my Bible, probably yours is Galatians chapter six and verse 14. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. We must never get far removed from the cross, from the grace of God. 1 Timothy 1, I don't think Paul ever got far removed from this. Look at these words, 1 Timothy 1 and verse 14. and the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus exceedingly abundant. Isn't that great? with faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying. And worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And the apostle Paul says, of whom I am chief, I'm at the top of the list. And Jesus can save me and he can save you. Verse 13, he says, I obtained mercy. So the mercy, the grace, the love of God to be appreciated, to be experienced, to be held on to. And just for a second, go back to Ephesians chapter three. Notice this prayer of Paul in verse 14, Ephesians 3, 14. For this reason, I bow my knees to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. He's omnipotent according to the power that works in us. To him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. I want Christ to dwell in your hearts through faith. I want you to be rooted and grounded in love. I want you to know the breadth, the length, the depth, the height, the love of Christ that passes knowledge. Isn't that amazing? I want you to know something that passes knowledge. In other words, we're never gonna get to the end of the love of Christ. There's more to know all the time. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Paul never got over it. He never got over what God had done for him in saving this Christian killer This one who arrested and imprisoned Christians, he said there's the grace of God. The amazing grace of God, and it was abundant. May we never get over God's grace. 1 John chapter 4, and notice verse 8. How important is the love of God in the life of the believer? 1 John 4, 8. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love and this the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him and this is love not that we love God but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation the substitutionary satisfactory sacrifice for our sins and if God so loved us we also ought to love one another. Our God, loving, gracious, merciful, put that all together and it certainly spells out his goodness. And that should be motivated to us to love brothers and sisters in Christ and to look on a lost dying world with compassion. Proverbs 21, God is sovereign. God is sovereign. Proverbs 21 in verse 1. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. Like the rivers of water, he turns it wherever he wishes. So the reality of God, the God that we're describing has all of these characteristics, these attributes. And this is such a key attribute. He is sovereign. He holds in his hands the king's heart. And he's able to turn it this way and that way. He is sovereign overall. He does according to his will and the army of heaven, the book of Daniel tells us. God is sovereign. He's in control. He hasn't lost control. He didn't have a lapse. Oh, that happened today? God never says that. He never thinks that. He's in control. What are those people doing down there? No, he knows exactly. Well, what about our lives? Some people get very angry at God. They say, this shouldn't have happened. This happened in my life, whatever it is. And they want to get mad at God. The Bible says that to God's people, all things work together for good. to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. We have a little rug. It's very special to me, to us. It is a woven rug, I guess you would say. And on the top side, you see all these colors. And I think it was made out of rags, probably leftovers. I understand it was made by my grandmother. You turn it over on the back side, and you can see the knots where those pieces of fabric were tied. On the top side, it's very beautiful. Oftentimes, we only see the knots in life. We don't understand certain things. One day, I believe we'll see the top side. If we don't see it now, in the meantime, we have to trust, Lord, you know what you're doing. You're sovereign and I'm trusting you. And these naughty things in my life, knots, these naughty things form a beautiful tapestry in your plan. And so I'm trusting you. I'm relying on you. All things work together for good. God is sovereign. And I believe we'll stop with number six, John 1.18. God is invisible. You say, wait, I knew that. But how is it that God appears? Well, let's just take the first verse, John 1.18. In God's essence, in God's glory, no one has seen him. He reveals himself, certainly he revealed himself in Christ, Christ is God. He took on human flesh. We have seen him. Moses saw the backside of God. God allowed Moses to see something of him, but of his glory, his essence, no one has seen him. In the Old Testament, there were appearances of God called Theophanies or Christophanies. But look at John 1, 18. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten son who is in the bosom of the father, he's declared him. He explained him to us. And so Jesus says to Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the father. I'm what God is like. I am God. You see me, you've seen the father. But God is invisible. He's everywhere at the same time. Do I fully understand this? No. Are we praying to someone who's invisible? Yes. And praise the Lord that he's so far above us and beyond us. And yet, as we read in Luke, the kingdom of God is within you. It's in your midst. He is near to us. His presence is near. He is not limited by spatial restrictions. He's invisible. Look at 1st Timothy chapter 6 and verses 15 and 16. And Paul says here, back up to verse 14, that you keep this commandment, 1st Timothy 6, 14, without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ appearing. which He, the Father, will manifest in His own time. He will manifest the Lord Jesus in His own time. He who is the blessed and only potentate the Sovereign, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone has immortality, another attribute, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen. There is an element of depravity. that wants to create an idol that can be seen and worshiped. And God strictly forbade that. You shall not make unto you a graven image, no idols. Don't try to limit me to something of wood or stone or the creation of man. I'm beyond that, I'm above that, don't do that. And yet through the centuries of human civilization, we see idolatry after idolatry after idolatry saying, this is your God, worship it. No, our God is beyond and above all that. He's invisible and he's all glorious. And he has revealed himself in the person of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he deserves honor and he wants our faith. He wants us to trust him. So go to Hebrews and let's finish with this. Hebrews chapter 11, a great chapter right after being to the Ark and the Creation Museum. Hebrews 11.1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I don't see the true God. Verse 3, by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible because God said the word and it was. So evolutionists and others tell us the world is and they give exact figures, 59 million years old, 2.2 billion years old. You say, how do you know? Were you there? By faith, you say that. Well, we say this by faith. No, God was there and he created the world and it wasn't all that long ago. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, verse six. But without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is. We don't see him. He's not an idol. He's invisible, but he's everywhere and he's all powerful and he's full of love and grace and mercy. We come to God, we must believe that he is. Let's stop right there. Someone is without Christ. They're not saved. What do they need to do to come to God? To come to the cross and believe, Lord Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross. You were buried, rose again the third day. I believe that. A believer sits down for a daily quiet time. Lord, I thank you that you are here, right here. You are your presence. He must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. If you've not trusted the Lord Jesus to save you, come to the cross. Believe that he is, that he will save. Call on him and he will save you. Our God is a great and awesome God. Let's bow our heads together and prepare our hearts for the Lord's table. Let's rejoice in His grace and His goodness, His mercy and His love. In these quiet moments, let's prepare our hearts. Let's confess sin. Let's worship, let's rejoice in Him.