THINGS MOST SURELY BELIEVED AMONG US
Text: Luke 1:1
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand - to set forth in order a declaration…
Of those things which are most surely believed among us."
Are you sure of what you believe?
Because this weekly Bible study is all about opening the Word of God...
To see - those things which are most surely believed among us.
You see, once we know and understand exactly what we believe,
Then we can answer God’s purpose and calling for our lives by sharing those beliefs with others.
This is the “Great Commission” that Jesus revealed to us in Matthew 28
He said …Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
Jesus said “Reach out to others throughout the world”.
We are to share...we are to proclaim...we are to teach everyone, everywhere the things we believe.
The Bible declares: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world…
for a witness unto all nations; - Matthew 24:14
Confident In Our Beliefs
So the question then needs to be – do you know what you believe?
Because here’s the thing – In order to reach out and share the truth with others,
We need to first be confident in what we believe.
Last week – we just kept things simple...
And we started by affirming the fact that We Believe In GOD.
And Brethren – I have to tell you...
This isn’t just a broad statement and vague idea,
Because we believe specific things about God – as revealed to us through the Scriptures.
And as we touched on last week – we can’t even begin to cover everything we believe about God,
In just one lesson – and so it will take many, many lessons to explore our faith with Chapter & Verse.
a) Existence of God
In way of an introduction, last week we looked at three things:
Firstly, we saw the Existence of God
A lot of people chose to believe in “this” or “that” - well we believe in God!
We believe that God is real and that He Exists.
And what’s more than that – the Bible tells us that,
God has always been – and will always be.
God doesn’t need anyone or anything to exist – He’s just always been there!
God declares this reality to us in Revelation 1:8 which says:
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Amen – God exists - this is what we believe!
b) Evidence of God
Of course, we don’t just believe in the Existence of God
Because we also believe in the Evidence of God.
In fact, the evidence is all around us – for those that have the heart to look.
Psalm 19:1 says, The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Here the Psalmist says, the very sky and all the stars above shows us God’s work,
And day after day, and night after night...
Their very presence cries out to us - that God is real. Amen.
Add to this what Romans 1:20 which says:
For the invisible things of Him, from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that people are without excuse:
Guys there will be no entering into eternity and saying,
“Well I just didn’t know God was real”...
Because God declares His reality not just through His Word,
But also through all of creation around us.
There is no room for excuses – not when the evidence is so clear.
This is what we believe!
c) Eternal Nature Of God
And this brings us to the third thing we discussed last week – God is Eternal
Deuteronomy 33:27 simply says
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:
Psalms 90:2 adds to this by saying:
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
You see, these are things we believe – and are most assured of:
The Existence of God...The Evidence of God...and...The Eternal Nature of God
And that’s just the beginning.
INTRODUCTION
Today I want to look at three more things concerning the Lord...
As we broaden our knowledge through the Scriptures - concerning what we believe.
And for today’s lesson, this is what we most surely believe:
God is All Present, God All Knowing...and God All Powerful.
1) God Is Always Present (Omnipresent)
Ok so first point – “God is always Present”.
A fancy way of saying this is that God is Omni-present...
In others words - He is everywhere all at the same time.
And you ask “Well how does that work?”
Well friends - how does the air work?
It’s everywhere, and all around us, and it covers this entire world all at the same time.
From one end of the globe to the other - mankind breaths the air...
And none of us question it, doubt it, or ever give it a second thought.
And tell me, who do we believe created the air that we breath?
In the beginning God created…Genesis 1:1 – This is what we believe!
God Is Everywhere
Now Is God over all of His creation or not?
Is His presence (just like the air) the same in Africa, India and Pakistan - as it is in NZ?
Can God do that?
Let me ask you - Is His presence not in the heart of every saved believer?
Is His presence not promised to reside within every Scriptural Church?
Do the Scriptures not declare to us that God sees and hears all,
Even knowing our very thoughts and intents.
How does God do that? Well quite simply He is Always Present.
Turn with me to Jeremiah 23:23-24
23 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
My presence is everywhere God says and I see all.
Turn with me to Psalms 139:7-10.
Here the Psalmist is trying to come to terms with God’s unending presence – and he says this:
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
The Psalmist says – “There is no escaping God’s Presence.”
He is everywhere – all at the same time.
It doesn’t matter who you are – righteous or unrighteous...
Because there is no hiding from God’s presence – He sees, hears and knows all.
God Is A Spirit
So how is this possible?
Well for me – a big secrete to this truth actually rests back up in verse 7
The Psalmist asks - Where shall I go from thy Spirit?
You see – God exists in three parts and reveals Himself to us a “Holy Trinity”
And one distinct facet to our Lord is the Holy Spirit.
John 4:24 simply declares that - God is a Spirit: - and I hope you can understand this,
Because even though we can’t see God Physically...
Doesn’t mean He can’t have a presence upon this earth - Spiritually.
In fact, it is in this respect, in Spirit, that God is present, everywhere all at the same time.
You know what else Genesis Chapter 1 says – it says:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
You see – there is a spiritual side to the Lord,
A presence that exists outside of any physical body,
And resides outside of our conventional understanding of time and space.
Jesus even spoke to Nicodemus about this when trying to explain...
How he needed to be born again – not born physically - but born spiritually.
And to really emphasise this point – Jesus even uses the very same example of the wind and the air.
In fact, in John Chapter 3 verses 7+8 – Jesus says:
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
“Don’t get all hung up and confused about this” - Jesus says, consider this…
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth [wherever it wants], and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
“You can’t see the wind, and you can’t control the wind – but the wind is there,
And so is my Spirit” – Jesus says.
You see, spiritual things are not always readily seen or understood by this world...
But that doesn’t mean that the spirit of God is not there.
There’s an interesting verse found in 1 kings 8:27 where Solomon...
Considering the sizeable task of building a Temple for the Lord simply said;
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
You know Solomon said this – because He understood that God was great...
And that His presence was everywhere.
Even Christ Himself declared as He gave the Great Commission...
Just prior to His ascension into Heaven:
… lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Mat 28:20)
Now Jesus was leaving this world for a time…
And even the disciples saw Him ascend into Heaven physically.
And yet, Jesus said – “Look, and pay attention to this...
I will be ever present with you – even upto the end of the world.”
Now how is God’s presence able to remain upon this earth...
And be everywhere and watching everyone all at the same time?
Well it’s kind of like the air - isn’t it,
Because even though Gods Spirit cannot be seen or touched – it’s is still there.
So that is the first point today – We believe that God is All Present
His Spirit is always there.
2) God is All Knowing (Omniscient)
The next point I want us to touch on today...
Is the fact that God is All Knowing.
Simply put God knows everything – and His wisdom lacks nothing.
Every answer, every mystery...the solution to every problem – God Knows it all!
Please Turn with me to Isaiah 40:28
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding.
The Prophet says – “There is just no limit to what God knows.”
You can’t exhaust it...you can’t stifle it...or restrict it in any way...
Because there is no searching out His understanding of things!
And I like how this verse is put - don’t you?
“Do you not know... have you not heard...that the everlasting God,
The creator of the ends of the earth – is All Knowing!”
Turn with me to Psalms 147:4+5
4 He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite.
Wow – there is no ending to the things God knows and understands.
I might struggle with spelling and with knowing mathmatics...
But God does not struggle with anything – He knows all the answers!
The Name Game
I wonder if any of you struggle with remembering people’s names?
I do – I think we have about 80 odd people at the place I work right now,
And I find it tough remembering all their names.
But do you know who is not bad with names...
Our God - Because He is All Knowing
He knows everyone and understands everything...
Even to the point of knowing the number of the stars – and each and everyone of their names.
That’s cool right!
This is what we believe!
3) God Is All Powerful (Omnipotent)
God is All Present...God is All Knowing...and... God is All Powerful.
Read with me again verse number 5: Great is our Lord, and of Great Power:
That word Great in the Hebrew means: “abundant” or “abounding”
While the term power itself really refers to ones “strength” and “ability”
Now Superman, Batman and all the Xmen need to step aside...
Because this is a level of “Power” none could ever imagine.
God is All Knowing – yes... but He is also All Powerful!
His power abounds – and to His Strength and Ability has no end!
You know, for all of the Hollywood super heros that have graced the movie screen,
None have ever boasted to have this kind of power...
Not only has God spoken all of creation and the limitless galaxies into existence but...
He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names. That’s Great power!
Turn back with me to Jeremiah 32:17
Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy Great Power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
What kind of power does God have? – He has “Great Power”.
He has not only the power to create the heavens and the earth
With a stretched out arm - (that pictures and signifies strength),
But ...there is nothing too hard for Him.
Can you imagine having a level of power – where you could do anything at anytime,
So that nothing would ever be unattainable or out of reach? This is the Power God has:
Part the Red Sea – no problems...
Get Water from a Stone... consider it done,
Feeding of 5000 with nothing but five loaves and two small fishes...absolutely,
How about healing the lame, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead – Because Jesus did it all.
And while we are at it - How about saving the World...And everyone in it... for all of eternity,
Who could ever do or accomplish such a thing? Well – God can through His Great Power.
Turn with me now to Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.
How can all things be made possible – it’s because God is All Powerful.
This is what we believe!
Conclusion
So in summary then – are you sure of what you believe?
Because through the Word – we can have absolute assurance.
Today through the Scriptures, I hope you have gained some certainty in this,
Because we believe whole heartedly in God.
And more specifically, we believe that God is All Present
We believe that God is All Knowing...
And we believe and are assured of the fact - that God is All Powerful
Forasmuch as many have taken in hand - to set forth in order a declaration…
of those things which are most surely believed among us. (Luke 1:1)
This is what we believe – Thank you my Brethren. God Bless. Please join us next week.
