God Alone
By Rev. James May
We live in an hour when everything about God is being questioned. The faith of those who would trust in him is being tested, tried and proven by the words of men, the circumstances of life and the pressures to fit into the mold that has been set before us. Which mold will we conform to? What if we choose the wrong mold?
The world would try to say that God is dead, but by saying that God is dead, they are already confessing that there at least was a God, and if there was a God, how can they prove he died? Have they found his tomb where he is still lying, turning to dust like mortal men? Have they found evidence that God no longer exists? Evidence is everywhere, in whatever direction we turn, that God does exist and that is He who has designed all things.
How could man declare the death of God, when any God, who is truly God, has to be eternal, supernatural and alive. Only false god’s and idols die, but the True God lives on. He was, he is and he shall be, forever God, and God alone.
When an atheist says that they don’t believe there is a God, why do they even have to say so, if there is no God? By their own words they confess that there is a God that they refuse to believe in. If God doesn’t exist, then why argue the point? The problem is that deep in their hearts, they know God exists, and so they must try to deny his existence in order to live without conviction for the rebellion in their hearts against a God that they don’t want to admit exists.
Christians are living in confusion; bound by the chains of doubt and often led astray by the wisdom of men that is nothing but foolishness in the eyes of the Lord. Can we not understand that God’s ways are far above our ways; that His thoughts are far above what we are able to fully comprehend; and that He is a God that does exist, that never changes, and that is personally involved in the affairs of men and the operations of all things in Creation? Only a fool would dismiss the fact that God exists. Only a fool would cast aside his only hope of eternal life. Only a fool would refuse to try to know a God that has his very life in his hands.
The absolute most important question of your life is this; “Is there truly a God, and if there is, what impact should God’s existence have on my life?”
Let’s turn to the Words of the True God; listen and learn of him. If God doesn’t exist, let’s find a way to prove it, and we have lost nothing but a little time. But if God does exist, and we fail to serve him and know him, then we lose all time and eternity.
Why is it that men so often deny the existence of God and refuse to believe that even if God does exist, that he has no interest in what is happening in their lives?
The first step in discovering whether God is Real, or if He is the Living God, is to take a leap of faith and believe, until your belief is proven false, that God is. For a moment, let that faith that is in every man, come alive and believe that He is and if he is, then we must also believe the Word that he has given in the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is an inspired book – divinely inspired by the Holy Ghost as He alone moved upon the hearts of men over a 1600 year period to write words on 66 different books that all agree together to tell one single story. This alone has to be a great proof of God’s existence.
Throughout all of the history of mankind, dating back about 6000 years of recorded history, there is no other book that is written in such a manner. No other work of literature or history can be combined from so many authors, from so many various locations, that write their own personal words in a letter, or a record, that all agree completely, without any faults or disagreements in any area. Yet all of these separate books, written by many authors over a 1600 year period of time, when combined together, tell one single story – the story of Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, from Creation to Revelation, it’s all about Jesus. Every book, in its own way, tells us of the coming of a Messiah, One who would make a way for all men to be reconciled back to God.
Man has written his own books and recorded history, but there are often discrepancies in the facts, and often we find that history is re-written to try and prove that something happened differently in order to push the agenda of whoever is doing the revision.
But the Word of God, though it has gone through many translations, and has faced the scrutiny of scholars and historians like no other writings on earth, has never been altered to the point that its message is changed. Even through all the efforts of those who have tried to disprove its divine origin, the Word of God still stands as the only firm written standard by which all men can live. It is a firm foundation because the God that inspired it, designed it to be so. God never changes, so why should his Word change?
Secondly, that Word never fails. Its prophecies have never failed, its facts are undeniable, and it’s message is clear and concise. Only God, in His great foreknowledge and wisdom could have established such a written record as the Bible that will remain true forever.
The Prophet Isaiah was called to minister to the nation of Israel, more specifically, the Southern Kingdom of Israel known as Judah and several of her kings, namely Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.
As it is in our day, so it was in the days of Isaiah, that the working of God in the nation of Judah was often hidden in obscurity. Like today, they often didn’t see the hand of God. They couldn’t hear his word because their minds were too conformed to the world around them.
Isaiah gives us an insight into this problem in Isaiah 45:15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.
God works in our lives in many ways, but most often, his workings in us are behind the scenes in ways that we can’t see. His wisdom and plans seem elusive, and its often that we can only see what God is doing in us after a long list of events have come to pass that reveal God’s will working in us.
We can’t explain why God does what he does, or how he brings his plans for our lives to pass; he just does it. But in the end, after many days of just trusting him to bring us to a place that we are pleasing to him, we suddenly realize that he was there all the time, guiding us, leading us, watching over us; and bringing us to his expected end.
We give up on him, but God never gives us on us. He’s ever trying to reach us, but we just don’t see it. God’s desire is to save every man and he is always working in the shadows of our lives, bringing us to a place where we will stop and see his handiwork around us.
Isaiah 45:16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
The neighboring nations around Judah often did their best to convince Judah that the God of Israel was dead, or that their idols were greater. There were a lot of idols around to believe in if you wanted to.
The question has always arisen in my mind, “Why would I want to believe in any other god, if I already know, believe in, trust in, and have a personal experience with the True and Living God who is God Alone?” I think the problem lies in the fact that so often we don’t have that personal relationship with the True God, and therefore, we don’t know who God really is, and it’s easy to be persuaded to doubt him.
But the Word of God in Isaiah tells us that all of the nations and people who worship, or trust in idols, will reach that point when they will have to bow their heads in shame. All of the things that they believe in will fail. They will stand before the True God without hope for their idols can do nothing.
How can any man create an image out of blocks of wood or stone, cover it with a thin coat of gold or silver, or carve it out of a precious stone and then declare what he has created to be his god? The True God has declared that there are no other gods but that He is God Alone. Anyone, and everyone, who trusts in, or believes in idols, or refuses to believe in the True God, will stand before the God that they denied one day, and they will stand there in shame and disgrace. Their idols will not help them then.
Isaiah 45:17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
Though Isaiah’s words are directed at Judah, and the nation of Israel, they are also directed at everyone who is engrafted into the “spiritual Israel”. In other words, all of the people of God shall be saved with that eternal salvation, and we have no reason to be ashamed. We will enter in that eternal world where we shall live with our Eternal God, our God who is God Alone, and will dwell there forever.
How do we know these words of Isaiah pertain to all who are “in Christ”? The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 2:28-29, "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
We who trust in God who is God Alone, the One True God, the Lord Jesus Christ, will never be ashamed, for our God will never fail. Christ is always able and willing to be our friend and rescue us in times of trouble. We will never regret that we placed our trust in him!
Isaiah 45:18 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; and there is none else.
When we think of what God has done to prove himself to us, its mind-boggling. God Alone, for no one else was there when he did it, formed and created all things. God Alone spoke in the days of Creation, bringing forth light, forming the earth and making it an inhabitable globe in the vastness of the universe where every other planet or heavenly body has produced no signs of the ability to support life as the earth does.
God didn’t create the earth just to be another planet in the solar system, but it was created with one purpose, to be the home of his own children that he created. God created this world for it to be a place that would support life, have the right climates, the right soils for reproducing fruit, the right atmosphere for breathing, the right water, enough land mass to live on, the right amount of heat and light from the sun and the right gravitational pulls of the moon. God alone created all of the forces of nature and physics to make this earth what it is, the only inhabitable planet in creation.
It is God Alone who has done this, and though man in all of his efforts would try to disprove it; no man was there to see it happen, and all of the scientific theories of man could never disprove it. The Truth will stand as truth, and all of man’s efforts to try and make it appear wrong will fail for they are based upon lies.
Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
While most of those who worship idols today can never seem to get an answer from their gods, the God who is God Alone speaks to his people all of the time, either through His spirit, or through His Word, or through the hearts of those who will hear him. He is not a God of secrets, but he is a God of great depth that we are ever learning more about.
I have noticed that those who worship false gods often live in so much confusion and fear, for they never know what is truly expected of them. There is never a secure knowledge of eternal salvation, because there is no salvation. They constantly seek answers, sometimes searching in dark places where evil reigns to find their God, but never seem to really know what their god wants of them.
Talk to any other faith that you want to, whether its Muslim, Buddhism, Hinduism or whatever, and you’ll never find one person who can say without any doubt that they will be saved. They are always performing some works to try and qualify for a higher existence.
But the True God Alone gives us a promise of salvation. A Christian is assured of salvation by repentance of sin, and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord. Your assurance and mine are in the blood of Jesus and His Righteousness. I know that I am saved today! I have no doubt whatsoever that I am going to Heaven and dwell there eternally! I HAVE BEEN GIVEN THAT ASSURANCE BY THE WORD OF GOD ALONE, AND HIS WORD CANNOT FAIL!
When I pray, it is not a vain exercise, but a real communication between me and my Living God. He speaks and if I listen, I hear his voice. I speak, and he always hears and answers. It is not so with any other god that men worship. They cry, pray, work and do everything they can, but all they ever get is silence because a dead god cannot hear nor speak. And, when my God speaks, his words are True and will come to pass. He never misleads me, but always leads me to Truth. He is God Alone.
Isaiah 45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
Here is the True God’s solemn appeal to all men who will desire to know him.
Come, assemble yourselves together and come! Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest! Come unto me and you will find rest! Come unto me, lay your burdens at the altar and leave them there! Come unto me, for only in Christ is there eternal life.
Why trust in your own knowledge and confusion? Why trust in the words of other men who are in no better place than you were? Why believe in the lies of the devil, or the lying words of self-proclaimed wise men of the world, when you can place your trust in the Truth of the Word of the one who is God Alone!
You, who have been given a way of escape from the chains of sin that bound you among the nations; you, who have been set free from the bondage of sin; You, who have been called and chosen to come out from among the rest of the world, from the nations of men who are forever lost in the darkness of sin; Come out from among them, assemble yourselves together before the one who is God Alone!
The false gods of the world, and the words of worldly wise men cannot save; but the Word of the True God of Heaven can and will save! Come to Him! God Alone is your only hope!
Isaiah 45:21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take 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 Saviour; there is none beside me.
The True God of Heaven issues a challenge to all who would try to question his existence and says, “Bring it on! Come near, let’s reason this out together. Who else but the True God could know the real Truth, reveal the real Truth and know all of the correct answers? No one else can! No one else can tell it like it is, like it was, like it shall be, but God Alone, because He alone was, is and shall ever be there to make it come to pass.”
If we will but go to him in sincerity, seeking to know the Truth, we will discover that He is a Just God; and the only God that can offer salvation; the only God to send mankind a Savior; and that in fact, he is God Alone, for there is no other.
Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Get your eyes on Jesus, for he is God Alone! There is no other Savior; no other God; no one like him!
The gospel of Jesus Christ is offered to all men, everywhere! No one on earth is excluded from his open invitation to be saved. Even to the most remote people on earth, the Holy Spirit reaches out, sends the gospel in an effort to reach them. God offers this invitation and then refuses no one who will accept it.
How many today are left out of their own religion?
Slide 15
Are some Buddhists never good enough to reach their desired state of enlightenment?
Are some Mormons never allowed in their own temple?
Are some Jehovah’s Witnesses never good enough to be counted among the 144,000 who will reach the pinnacle of their life after death?
Are some Muslims never good enough to inherit their 40 virgins in the afterlife?
Do the 40 virgins stand a chance for a happy eternal life?
Even in some denominations that call themselves Christian, there are those who are excommunicated, cast out and forgotten because they disagree with church leadership and man-made doctrines.
Are any of them truly assured of reaching their own idea of heaven? NO! NO! NO!
But the gospel of Jesus Christ offers the same salvation to all men, regardless of who or where you are, or what you have done! We all have the same eternal home!
How can Jesus be the only God that assures salvation – Because he is the only True God, the only Living God and he is God Alone! There is no other!
Isaiah 45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
This is God making an oath, or a promise, and swearing to its truth by the only means available. He swears it by himself, for there is no higher authority or power upon which to base his Truth.
God has spoken what shall be, what is, and what shall come to pass. What he has spoken will never be changed, altered or failed. His Word will never return without accomplishing what he has spoken. His Word has power to create, to build or to destroy and kill. He is Almighty God.
And what has God spoken? He has said that when all is finished, and the plan of God has been fulfilled, “Every knee will bow, every tongue shall swear that He alone is God and there is no other!” Whether they kneel and confess in righteousness and free will to worship, or kneel and confess in shame, disgrace and forced worship, all will kneel and all will confess. Which crowd will you be in? You will be there, so choose which crowd you want to be a part of right now!
Isaiah 45:24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
Count on it! God has spoken it and it will come to pass. Jesus Christ has all power in heaven and earth. He is our Righteousness and strength. Unto Jesus, all men must come.
Even those who are angry with him, deny him, refuse to serve him, curse his name, preferred to serve idols, cared not to recognize that he existed – all of them will stand before him in shame and be forced to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
Isaiah 45:25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.
Do I worry that I have somehow believe a lie all of these years? Do I fear that I have served the Lord in vain? Do I fear that I have been fooled, and that somehow I have missed the best things in life because I believed in Jesus and served Him?
Oh there are times when we all wonder about things. Satan loves to play tricks with our minds, trying to get us to doubt the reality of God and the truth of God’s Word. We all go through that.
But in reality, I dismiss those thoughts quickly and refuse to give place to the devil. I know in whom I believe. I know that Jesus is able to take care of me and that he will fulfill his promises to me in that great day of the Resurrection. All who will believe in Jesus and put their trust in him for salvation will be counted among those who are the “seed of Israel”. We shall all be justified by the blood of the Lamb of God that takes away all sin. We shall all glory in his presence on that day!
What a promise to those who will believe in the God who is God Alone! It is God Alone who will fulfill his word and promises to us, if we will only believe in him and serve him!
Will You be in that number when the saints go marching in? Will you be among the people of God when we stand before the God who is God Alone!
The only way to have an assurance that God is Real, is to have him living within you. Each of us must have a personal relationship with Jesus. There is no other way.
