1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,040 We are at that time of years, we particularly remember those things, but I hope that they 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:14,040 never are far from us, our awareness, and that it always causes us to tremble with a 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:22,520 mixture of reverence and joy as we consider what our Lord has done on our behalf. 4 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:24,840 I hope you got an outline as you came in tonight. 5 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:29,840 We are going to this evening continue this study that we initiated some time ago regarding 6 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,960 what God is like. 7 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:41,040 We are looking particularly at the omniscience of God this evening. 8 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:48,960 There are several characteristics of God or attributes of God that we use in connection 9 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:54,260 with this word omni, which simply means all. 10 00:00:54,260 --> 00:01:01,440 We speak of God's omniscience and it refers to His knowing everything. 11 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,340 All knowledge is God's. 12 00:01:04,340 --> 00:01:11,920 We have already talked about some of the essentials of His nature, His spirituality that God is 13 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:23,760 Spirit, His personality that He has the characteristics of a person, His tri-unity. 14 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:32,840 God has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and His eternity. 15 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:40,400 Tonight we begin another aspect of His description as we talk about these attributes of God. 16 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:46,680 We want to talk first about the explanation of omniscience. 17 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:53,800 We have briefly defined it as God's perfect knowledge of all things. 18 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,200 We see that a number of places in the scriptures. 19 00:01:56,200 --> 00:02:00,200 Let me just read some verses to you that you need not look up, but you may want to jot 20 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,440 down the references for future use sometime. 21 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:13,120 Isaiah 40 verse 28 includes this statement, there is no searching of His understanding. 22 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:18,920 In other words, God has complete understanding of everything. 23 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:28,640 It is impossible for man to search out God's understanding. 24 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:34,920 The most dedicated and skilled theologian of all of history has only skimmed the surface 25 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:38,520 of what God knows. 26 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:47,400 Job 37 verse 16 quotes Elihu as saying this, the wondrous works of Him who is perfect in 27 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,600 knowledge. 28 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:56,800 Psalm 147 verse 5, His understanding is infinite. 29 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:03,000 First John 3 verse 20, God knows all things. 30 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:12,000 Then Romans 11 verse 33, how unsearchable are His judgments and ways past finding out. 31 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:18,080 We see throughout the Bible illustrations of the omniscience that is spoken of in these 32 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:19,880 verses. 33 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:24,560 We see it illustrated for example in the activities of men. 34 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:32,180 In Proverbs 15 verse 3, it says the eyes of the Lord are in every place keeping watch 35 00:03:32,180 --> 00:03:36,840 upon the evil and the good. 36 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:42,520 God does not actually have eyes as we have eyes because He is spirit. 37 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:48,600 And yet God describes His knowledge in those terms so we can try to understand what it 38 00:03:48,600 --> 00:03:52,240 means that God sees everything. 39 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:56,080 The eyes of the Lord are in every place keeping watch. 40 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:02,220 And in Proverbs 5 verse 21, for the ways of men are before the eyes of the Lord and He 41 00:04:02,220 --> 00:04:07,400 pondereth all His going. 42 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,520 It is impossible for us to hide from God. 43 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:16,640 We may hide our activities from the eyes of men but we cannot hide our activities from 44 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,080 God. 45 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:23,820 Even our secret sins are known to Him. 46 00:04:23,820 --> 00:04:27,960 Those things about us which no one else in all the world knows and we all have some of 47 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:33,680 those, God knows. 48 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,860 God's omniscience is also illustrated by His knowledge of all nature. 49 00:04:37,860 --> 00:04:44,560 In Luke 12.6 for example, it says, are not five sparrows sold for two farthings and not 50 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,120 one of them is forgotten by God? 51 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:55,720 God even knows the sparrows, those lowly little creatures. 52 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:02,200 It says, He telleth the number of the stars, He calleth them all by their names. 53 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:10,240 So whether we talk about inanimate or animate aspects of nature, God knows all about both. 54 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,040 Of course that's because He is the creator of it all. 55 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:21,080 His omniscience is further seen and illustrated in human experience and thought. 56 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:30,440 I would ask you to turn with me to Psalm 139 which is one of the great theological Psalms. 57 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:38,360 In fact several aspects of God are revealed here in this Psalm, several attributes are 58 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:39,360 revealed. 59 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:47,720 We'll read the first six verses. 60 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:53,440 Psalm 139, oh Lord you have searched me and you know me. 61 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,960 Well that's an amazing statement. 62 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:02,400 God has searched us and God knows us. 63 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,200 There's great comfort in that. 64 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:09,560 There's a two edged sword, there's not only great comfort, there can be great fear in 65 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,960 that depending upon what there is to know about us. 66 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:21,640 Verse two, you know when I sit and when I rise. 67 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,280 You perceive my thoughts from afar. 68 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:31,580 You discern my going out and my lying down. 69 00:06:31,580 --> 00:06:34,400 You are familiar with all my ways. 70 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:43,840 And look at this, before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, oh Lord. 71 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:49,480 Before we can transfer our thoughts from our brains to our tongues, God already knows what 72 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:51,760 we're going to say. 73 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:57,320 He says, you hem me in behind before. 74 00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:58,920 You have laid your hand upon me. 75 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,920 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. 76 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,120 In other words, it causes wonder. 77 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:09,160 He says it is too lofty for me to attain. 78 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:14,280 So we see the perfect knowledge of God in human experience, even in the simple things 79 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:20,480 like sitting down and standing up, and we see God's knowledge of every aspect of our 80 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:22,440 thinking process. 81 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:30,280 In 1 Kings 8, 39, it says, thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children 82 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,520 of men. 83 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:42,240 I don't even know my own heart very well sometimes, let alone the hearts of those close to me. 84 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:47,360 But God knows the full heart of every person who has ever lived. 85 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,280 He knows what you're thinking about right now. 86 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,520 He knows what it is that is troubling you. 87 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:57,000 He perceives your thoughts. 88 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:02,860 He knows the experiences that you've been through this week. 89 00:08:02,860 --> 00:08:05,960 God knows the experiences that haunt you from your past. 90 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,320 He knows all about them. 91 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:14,640 Those greatest joys, those experiences that come once in a lifetime that you've enjoyed, 92 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,480 God knows those. 93 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:22,960 Because God knows everything about human thought and human experience. 94 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:24,920 Thus saith the Lord. 95 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:30,040 Thus have you said, O house of Israel, for I know the things that come into your mind, 96 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,820 every one of them. 97 00:08:32,820 --> 00:08:38,640 Even the thoughts that we don't like to acknowledge to ourselves, God knows them. 98 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,680 And then God's omniscience is also illustrated in human history. 99 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:49,400 For example, in Acts 15 verse 18, known unto God are all his works from the beginning of 100 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:50,400 the ages. 101 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:56,280 Someone has said history is his story. 102 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:02,720 History is the outworking of the purposes of God. 103 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:14,600 There is very little freedom within the channel that God has chartered for history. 104 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:16,680 God has determined where it began. 105 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:18,680 He determines where it's going. 106 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:23,200 He determines its destiny. 107 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:24,880 All of human history is known to God. 108 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:31,200 And finally, I'd like to say that his omniscience is illustrated by his knowledge of the future. 109 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:36,760 In Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10, it says this, and I'm leaving out part of that. 110 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:42,880 I am God, declaring the end from the beginning. 111 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:47,640 It's hard for us to understand, isn't it, how God can know the future? 112 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:53,400 We can perceive how he might know the present, how he might know the past, because we know 113 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:58,360 a little bit about the present and a little bit about the past, though God has perfect 114 00:09:58,360 --> 00:09:59,360 knowledge of both. 115 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:04,440 It's difficult for human beings to understand how God knows the future. 116 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:05,440 How does he know the future? 117 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:11,640 Well, God is timeless, and this is where his attributes complement one another. 118 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:13,920 God's eternity we've already talked about. 119 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:21,840 He is timeless, and thus he looks at all of time as though it's already all fulfilled. 120 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:24,480 God's knowledge is perfect of the future. 121 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,320 Thus we have prophecy in the Bible. 122 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:37,920 For example, in Daniel chapter 2, do you remember the statue, the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw 123 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:39,280 and Daniel described? 124 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:41,840 There we go. 125 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:47,480 The image was gold in his head and then silver in his chest and arms. 126 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:55,300 The belly and thighs of it was bronze, and then iron in the legs, and finally the feet 127 00:10:55,300 --> 00:11:02,200 made of a mixture of clay and iron. 128 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,040 Nebuchadnezzar pondered over the meaning of that. 129 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,280 What could be the significance of that vision? 130 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,160 He inquired of all of his wisest men. 131 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:16,480 None of them could give him an answer, but Daniel knew the answer. 132 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:23,720 He explained it all to Nebuchadnezzar, and finally he says, God has showed you this. 133 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:29,720 What it was was an outline of Gentile world history, an outline that we're still participating 134 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,720 in today by extension. 135 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:38,480 It was the prophecy of the kingdom of Babylon and the Medes and the Persians and the Greeks 136 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,120 and the Roman Empire. 137 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:43,080 All that is made very clear. 138 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:48,800 The best part of the whole vision was that little stone that caused the whole image to 139 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:51,000 come crashing down. 140 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:54,560 That stone, Daniel says, is Christ. 141 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:59,920 He will establish a kingdom which will destroy all the Gentile powers and kingdoms, and his 142 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:03,400 kingdom will last forever. 143 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,600 That is God's omniscience, revealing the future and what's going to take place. 144 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:13,620 Let's think about some of the implications of what we've said about God's omniscience. 145 00:12:13,620 --> 00:12:19,040 The first implication I'd like to mention is that God does not reason or compute. 146 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:22,520 We do, don't we? 147 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:26,640 But God does not have to think through things. 148 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,120 He knows all things intuitively. 149 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:35,560 God did not go to class somewhere to learn to be deity. 150 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:37,880 God did not study what it means to be God. 151 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:42,680 He did not have to observe and draw conclusions as we do. 152 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:48,160 But God knows everything all the time. 153 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:53,400 I've heard some people compare God's knowledge to computer, and even that is faulty, because 154 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:55,800 a computer only knows what it's been told. 155 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,720 The old saying is garbage in and what? 156 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:00,260 Garbage out. 157 00:13:00,260 --> 00:13:03,600 Computer just knows what it's been told, and it's able to assimilate those facts and arrange 158 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,800 them and draw certain conclusions out of them, but it takes time for the computer to do that. 159 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:09,440 It doesn't take time for God to do anything. 160 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:10,440 He just knows it. 161 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,440 It's all right there. 162 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:13,440 Everything. 163 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,300 So God doesn't reason. 164 00:13:16,300 --> 00:13:19,000 He knows. 165 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,560 Another implication is that God knows what would have happened if something had happened 166 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:24,800 which did not happen. 167 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:25,800 Got that? 168 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:33,720 In other words, God has knowledge of all the possibilities of things. 169 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,200 He knows how our lives would have been different if we had made other decisions than the ones 170 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:39,540 we did make. 171 00:13:39,540 --> 00:13:42,320 How many decisions do we make in life? 172 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:47,240 Well, I hate to think about it. 173 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,080 And God knows how every decision would have affected us differently and what the outcome 174 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:55,720 of that would have been. 175 00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:01,640 Just as an example of how God knows all possibilities, turn to Matthew chapter 11 for a minute and 176 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,840 notice one of the statements that Jesus makes. 177 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:17,160 Matthew chapter 11 verse 23. 178 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:22,520 Jesus pronounces judgment here upon some of the cities around the Sea of Galilee which 179 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:24,880 had rejected His message. 180 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:32,920 And He says in verse 23, And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? 181 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,840 And you will go down to the depths. 182 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:40,240 The word really there is Hades in the Greek. 183 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:50,360 He says, If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would 184 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:52,840 have remained to this day. 185 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,920 You see what He says there? 186 00:14:55,920 --> 00:15:01,440 He says, If Sodom and Gomorrah had had the privilege that you've had to hear the message 187 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:06,200 you've heard and to see the works that you've heard to have known Me, then it would have 188 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,560 repented and remained to this day. 189 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:10,560 The knowledge of possibilities. 190 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:12,280 There are many other passages. 191 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,240 Let me just suggest a couple to you. 192 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,760 First Samuel 23, 12. 193 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:21,880 Isaiah 48 verse 18. 194 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,360 Psalm 81 verses 13 and following. 195 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:34,840 There are a few of the passages that talk about God's knowledge of all possibilities. 196 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:36,920 Someone has asked, Well what about prayer then? 197 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:44,080 If God knows everything that's going to take place, why do we have to pray about things? 198 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:47,480 If God knows a person is going to be saved or isn't going to be saved, why should I pray 199 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:50,440 for him? 200 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:57,280 If God knows a person is going to live or die, why should I pray for that person? 201 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,600 How do our prayers relate to God's omniscience? 202 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:05,500 That's an excellent question and one that we really can't answer in its fullness. 203 00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:09,440 The two do relate and I think Richard DeHaan has a good statement in his book The Living 204 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,960 God which I'd like to read to you. 205 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:19,320 He says, Since He is aware of everything from and into all eternity, God knows ahead of 206 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,160 time about our prayers. 207 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,840 And knowing that we would pray under certain circumstances, He has woven our prayers into 208 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,000 the fabric of the universe. 209 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,560 That's an interesting statement. 210 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:37,440 Even as the mother of a sick and feverish child anticipates the need of her little one 211 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:43,520 during the night and has all the medication in readiness, so God has framed history in 212 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,800 the expectation of our intercession. 213 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:50,480 As our Heavenly Father, He has looked ahead to our prayers and has already made provisions 214 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,880 for the answers. 215 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:57,040 I think that paragraph pretty well summarizes about the best answer that can be given to 216 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:01,900 this matter of how our prayer works together with God's omniscience. 217 00:17:01,900 --> 00:17:05,360 And God has perfect knowledge too of our hearts. 218 00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:10,320 Even when we cannot express our thoughts in prayer, God knows our thoughts. 219 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:15,040 Isaiah 65, 24, And it should come to pass that before they call, I will answer. 220 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:19,240 And while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 221 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,800 Have you ever gotten to the place that you simply did not know how to pray? 222 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:30,480 Well, in those times, the Spirit Himself intercedes for us according to Romans chapter 8, according 223 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,640 to the will of God. 224 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:37,200 He helps us in our weakness, in our infirmities. 225 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:44,040 You see, there are times when we cannot form the words to express the burdens on our hearts, 226 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:52,720 yet God reads the burden and knows it. 227 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,900 I hesitate to mention this lest it be misunderstood, but I will say it. 228 00:17:57,900 --> 00:18:01,400 I don't know how to explain it except just to tell you the experience and perhaps some 229 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,840 of you have shared in it. 230 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:10,160 There are times when I'm going down a prayer list that I maintain. 231 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:18,120 But I'm able to enter into it and I'm able to know needs that people have. 232 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:19,600 And those are very fulfilling times. 233 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:24,720 And yet there are other times when I'm going down the same prayer list, perhaps. 234 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:30,840 And perhaps time is short and I don't have time to really think through the needs of 235 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,360 each individual there. 236 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:38,800 Have you ever experienced God just reading your mind? 237 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:43,360 So that instead of you even having to say the name out loud or even fully explain the 238 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:47,680 request, as that thought passes through your mind, you're aware of the fact that God has 239 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:52,720 picked that up. 240 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,940 God knows our thoughts in prayer. 241 00:18:55,940 --> 00:19:01,520 And even when we may not know how to express or the time limits us from fully expressing 242 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,320 our thoughts, as those things pass through our mind much more quickly than we could ever 243 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:10,040 say them, God reads them and knows them. 244 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:16,080 Perhaps one of the greatest disciplines that can be undertaken by any of us is the discipline 245 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:26,680 of silent prayer, of praying in our thoughts. 246 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:31,920 Tonight I'm going to include in this matter of God's omniscience another omni, which we 247 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:40,160 don't often hear about, but it's called omnisapience, which means that God is all wise. 248 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:44,720 He is perfect in the display and in the exercise of his knowledge. 249 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:52,200 He not only knows all the facts, but as he uses those to accomplish his purposes, God 250 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,480 is all wise in so doing. 251 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:55,480 That's omnisapience. 252 00:19:55,480 --> 00:20:04,400 That's why in Romans 11, 33 the apostle says, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom 253 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:10,480 and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. 254 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:16,820 In Ephesians 1, 8, according to the riches of his grace, in which he has abounded toward 255 00:20:16,820 --> 00:20:23,120 us in all wisdom and prudence, or intelligence or knowledge. 256 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:28,600 So God is not only all knowing, he is all wise as he uses that knowledge to accomplish 257 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,680 his own purposes. 258 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,120 Now let's talk about some application of this doctrine to our lives and then we will 259 00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:36,920 go to the Lord's Supper. 260 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,900 I'll just mention several quickly. 261 00:20:39,900 --> 00:20:47,000 One application is this, that nothing can befall me which surprises God. 262 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,600 Things can happen that surprise me, that's for sure. 263 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:56,680 That nothing ever takes God off guard because he knows all things. 264 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,680 As Job said, he knows the way that I take. 265 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:05,000 I'm glad for that. 266 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,400 Another application that I see is that he is better able to direct my life than I am 267 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,680 myself because he has all knowledge. 268 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,800 I don't. 269 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,960 Jeremiah said, Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. 270 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:26,600 It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 271 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:32,260 The psalmist said, For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust. 272 00:21:32,260 --> 00:21:37,960 We don't know our own frame sometimes and we make some pretty stupid decisions that 273 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:39,960 would break us. 274 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:46,200 But God knows our frames and if we will listen to him, he will direct our lives. 275 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:53,280 I know some people think that there is a special glory to the person who burns out for Jesus. 276 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:58,160 I'd like to say to you that nowhere in the Bible we are told to burn out, we are told 277 00:21:58,160 --> 00:21:59,160 to live out. 278 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:04,680 I remember as a teenager in the Vangels who got up and said, We either rust out or burn 279 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:05,680 out. 280 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:06,680 No. 281 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:11,400 God's purpose is that we live out and we can only live out our lives to the fullest as 282 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:17,760 we allow him to give us direction and wisdom in the use of our time. 283 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:23,680 Then a third application that I would point out is that he knows the truth about me even 284 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,520 when others fail to understand. 285 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:32,960 Have you ever been in a situation where you've been misunderstood and consequently people 286 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:41,920 have heaped coals of persecution and derision upon you? 287 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:43,760 I think all of us have. 288 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,520 There have been times when everybody else has misunderstood what we've tried to do. 289 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,840 Our blessed comfort is that God knows. 290 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,480 He knows the truth about me. 291 00:22:54,480 --> 00:23:00,000 I think Peter reflected that in that time when he had a discourse with the Lord and 292 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:04,520 Jesus said, Feed my sheep, and remember that? 293 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:06,280 He kept saying, Peter, do you love me? 294 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:08,200 Do you love me? 295 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:13,240 And finally Peter said, Lord, you know all things. 296 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:14,960 You know that I love you. 297 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:19,320 You see, Peter had blown it not too long before that. 298 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,880 He had denied the Lord. 299 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:25,000 And the disciples around would have said, Well, Peter says he loves the Lord, but you 300 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,000 know what happened. 301 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:34,040 Peter says, Lord, you know all things, you know that I really do love you. 302 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:38,200 A fourth application is that I cannot hide from God. 303 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:42,400 Adam and Eve tried it. 304 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,880 God found them. 305 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:52,360 David tried to hide from God and after a period of time, God uncovered his sin when Nathan 306 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:56,120 came and said, You are the man. 307 00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:02,760 Hagar gave up and went into the wilderness and God found it there and her response was, 308 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,160 Thou God seest me. 309 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:08,680 You see, we can't hide from God. 310 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:18,440 We can try to get so involved in work that we think somehow we're putting layers between 311 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,180 ourselves and God and we cut off consciousness of Him. 312 00:24:22,180 --> 00:24:28,200 But even though He may be out of our consciousness, we are not out of His consciousness. 313 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:33,440 We can't escape God. 314 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,360 And then there's a fifth application that brings hope to us and that is that every prophecy 315 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:42,160 is certain and every promise is sure. 316 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:49,760 Because God's purposes, as we've already said, are intertwined with His knowledge. 317 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,920 In Proverbs it says, There are many devices in a man's heart. 318 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:57,120 Nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand. 319 00:24:57,120 --> 00:25:00,280 Men devise all kinds of things, don't they? 320 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,240 We do. 321 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:08,320 We make plans and we decide we're going to do this or that, but what God purposes always 322 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:13,120 comes to pass, while ours often falls short. 323 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:18,280 An example of that would be our Lord's crucifixion. 324 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:23,360 It is sometimes asked, Who killed Jesus? 325 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:28,600 And there are those that point the finger at the Jews, and that's true. 326 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:33,280 They did reject Him and put Him on the cross. 327 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:39,240 There are others that say, No, it was the Romans, because Pilate allowed Him to be crucified, 328 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,480 and that's true. 329 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,800 It was the Romans. 330 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:46,800 Pilate did make that decision. 331 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,600 He died on a Roman cross. 332 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:54,300 Others say, No, it was you and me. 333 00:25:54,300 --> 00:25:59,680 We sinners, it was our sin that put Him there, and that's true. 334 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:01,900 We crucified Him. 335 00:26:01,900 --> 00:26:05,520 We made His death necessary. 336 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,600 But the greatest truth of all is not that the Jews killed Jesus, that the Romans did 337 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:17,160 it, but that the truth is that God gave His Son. 338 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:24,440 As Isaiah put it in Isaiah 53, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. 339 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:29,480 It was the plan of God. 340 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:39,840 Turn with me to Acts chapter 2 as we see another verse that relates to this. 341 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:51,000 We're going to look here at the sermon of Peter, the day of Pentecost. 342 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:58,200 He talks here about Jesus Christ, obviously. 343 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,000 And frankly, Peter doesn't mince many words. 344 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:06,280 In verse 36, he says, Therefore let all Israel be assured of this. 345 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:14,160 God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. 346 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:16,040 That's one aspect of it. 347 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:23,400 The thing I want to point out is verse 23, where it says, This man was handed over to 348 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:30,480 you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge. 349 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:35,280 And you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 350 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,320 But God raised him from the dead. 351 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,320 Amazing statement there. 352 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:49,640 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge. 353 00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:53,520 The idea of foreknowledge, by the way, is not just that God knows something ahead of 354 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:54,520 time. 355 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:56,520 That's involved. 356 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:04,320 But the language here suggests that God's foreknowledge includes a predetermination 357 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:10,240 of things. 358 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:19,200 And so it was the predetermination of God that by His foreknowledge He purposed Christ 359 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,560 to be crucified for the sins of the world. 360 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,240 An amazing truth. 361 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,520 What we celebrate this evening in the Lord's Supper is not a celebration of something that 362 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,000 got out of hand. 363 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:40,000 It's not an accident that God brought out for good, but it is the very purpose of God 364 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,840 that we celebrate here tonight. 365 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:49,760 It is the offering up of the body and blood of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world. 366 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:55,880 It is a blessed truth that although God knows everything, there are some things that God 367 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:57,960 chooses to forget. 368 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:04,000 Specifically, I refer to our sins and iniquities. 369 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:09,240 Because in the book of Hebrews it says regarding those who belong to Him under the new covenant 370 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:17,560 in Christ's blood, their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 371 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:25,880 It's not that God carelessly forgets, but it's that God chooses to forget your sins 372 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:32,680 and mine when we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior. 373 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:37,460 The offering up of His body, the shedding of His blood makes that possible, else God 374 00:29:37,460 --> 00:29:39,600 could never forget our sins. 375 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:45,440 They would always be held to our account, but because of what Jesus did on our behalf, 376 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:54,320 by God's own purpose He is able to forget our sins, to put them under the blood. 377 00:29:54,320 --> 00:30:06,720 There is not one of us here tonight who could not stand up and name even heinous sins that 378 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:14,720 we have committed, if not enacted in thought. 379 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:23,880 Things that we would not want anyone to know about is a blessed truth, folks, that no one 380 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:35,040 will ever know about those sins because God has chosen that they be set aside and forgiven. 381 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:43,800 The very records of heaven have been wiped clean so that those sins are gone. 382 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:52,140 Remember the children's chorus, gone, gone, gone, gone, yes, my sins are gone, buried 383 00:30:52,140 --> 00:30:54,280 in the deepest sea. 384 00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,200 What's the next phrase? 385 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:58,200 I've forgotten. 386 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,720 Yes, that's good enough for me. 387 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,360 I hope that's good enough for you. 388 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:09,960 So often we confess our sins and then we allow those things to come back into our memories 389 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:15,260 and the devil gets them out of our minds and forms a whip out of them and begins to flog 390 00:31:15,260 --> 00:31:19,160 us with sins that we remember and God's long forgotten. 391 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:25,400 I may be speaking to someone tonight who is just burdened and depressed because of sins 392 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:29,200 that you've committed and they seem to come back and haunt you. 393 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:37,840 Will you please forgive yourself as God has forgiven you for Christ's sake? 394 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:42,880 And will you then claim your forgiveness and cleanness in the sight of God and allow those 395 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:47,760 sins to be permanently put away, buried in the deepest sea? 396 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,520 Yes, that's good enough for me. 397 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:57,760 As we come to the Lord's table tonight, it's a normal time, a natural time for us to examine 398 00:31:57,760 --> 00:31:58,760 ourselves. 399 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:05,680 We are commanded in fact in Corinthians that we should do that and ask God to reveal to 400 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:11,120 us, to search our hearts according to His perfect knowledge of us, to show us what is 401 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:13,520 on the inside that needs to be confessed. 402 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:20,280 And then of course having confessed and to claim cleanness and forgiveness. 403 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:27,160 It's appropriate for us to bow together as we come to the Lord's table and to search 404 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:28,160 out our hearts. 405 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:32,440 I'd like for us to do that now. 406 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:37,160 As we come to this table, it is the Lord's table and not the table of grace church. 407 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:42,360 If you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and you are walking in obedience to Him and fellowship 408 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:47,240 with Him, we invite you, even though you may not be a regular part of our fellowship, to 409 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:51,160 share with us in partaking of these elements. 410 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:53,920 What we are doing is not adding grace to us. 411 00:32:53,920 --> 00:33:02,640 We are not somehow becoming more saved or gaining favor with God by doing this, but 412 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:07,540 in obedience to our Lord who has saved us by His grace. 413 00:33:07,540 --> 00:33:12,200 We tonight want to remember. 414 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:18,480 As we do that, let's first examine our hearts so that we partake of this Lord's table in 415 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,480 a worthy manner. 416 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:26,760 Let's pray. 417 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:49,760 Father, we thank you tonight for the provision that you have made for our forgiveness. 418 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:56,200 We confess before you our sins. 419 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:00,040 I am sure that there are some things in our lives that we do not even recognize as being 420 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:06,760 sinful which are an offense to you. 421 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,680 Forgive us even of those careless things. 422 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:19,080 Reclaim your promise in 1 John 1-9 if we confess our sins, that you are faithful and righteous 423 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:27,160 to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 424 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:33,960 As we come to this table tonight, if there is sin that is in the conscience of each one 425 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:44,080 of us or any one of us, I pray that we will be honest and humble to bring that up right 426 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:49,880 now and confess it before you. 427 00:34:49,880 --> 00:35:00,120 We do so in faith, we do so in obedience, we do so with sorrow, but we also do it with 428 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:11,920 joy because we know we find forgiveness because of Jesus. 429 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:27,600 I would like for us to sing the chorus, His name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord. 430 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:31,800 I think it is number 65 in the hymnal if you need it. 431 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:33,640 I think most of you probably know it. 432 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,520 Let's sing it together, His name is wonderful. 433 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:42,560 As we sing that I am going to ask our men to come as we prepare to observe the Lord's 434 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:43,560 Supper. 435 00:35:43,560 --> 00:36:10,400 His name is wonderful, His name is wonderful, His name is wonderful. 436 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:17,400 Jesus my Lord, Jesus my Lord. 437 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:41,400 He is my King, Master of everything, His name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord. 438 00:36:41,400 --> 00:37:03,400 He is the great shepherd, the rock of all ages, Almighty God is he. 439 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:30,400 All around before him, above him the glory, His name is wonderful, Jesus my Lord. 440 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:41,880 Our Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread and gave thanks for it. 441 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:47,640 I would like for us to bow together in thanking God for the bread that we are about to eat, 442 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:53,040 a symbol of Christ's body broken on our behalf. 443 00:37:53,040 --> 00:38:05,360 Lord, we remember the words in Hebrews that tell us that you have come to do the will 444 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:11,960 of God as you offer up your body. 445 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:20,000 How we rejoice tonight in the truth of the Incarnation, that you as God Almighty became 446 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:29,320 flesh, that you lived among us for a little while with the express purpose of tasting 447 00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:37,640 death for every man, that you might take those who believe to glory. 448 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:51,640 As we partake this evening of this bread, we do so in humility and with deepest thanks 449 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,640 for your sinless body offered up on our behalf. 450 00:38:54,640 --> 00:39:09,640 Amen.