That is, we do not know all the facts about a certain situation and so we assume something that later proves to be an inaccurate assumption.
Let me illustrate…
Illus: This was an actual news story from a San Diego newspaper! (The actual AP headline was WANTED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER)
The story goes like this…
“Linda Burnett, 23, a resident of San Diego, was visiting her in-laws, and while there went to a nearby supermarket to pick up some groceries.
Several people noticed her sitting in her car with the windows rolled up and with her eyes closed, with both hands behind the back of her head.
One customer who had been at the store for a while became concerned and walked over to the car. He noticed that Linda's eyes were now open, and she looked very strange.
He asked her if she was okay, and Linda replied that she'd been shot in the back of the head and had been holding her brains in her hand for over an hour.
The man called the paramedics, who broke into the car because the doors were locked, and Linda refused to remove her hands from her head.
When they finally got in, they found that Linda had a wad of bread dough on the back of her head.
WHAT HAPPENED!!!
A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded from the heat, making a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot, and the wad of dough hit her in the back of her head.
When she reached back to find out what it was, she felt the dough and ASSUMED it was her brains.
She initially passed out, but quickly recovered and tried to hold her brains in for over an hour until someone noticed and came to her aid.”
So many things in life we DO NOT KNOW THE FACTS OF THE SITUATION BUT WE START ASSUMING AND WE LATER FIND OUR ASSUMPTION IS NOT ACCURATE!!!
But THE GOD OF THE BIBLE never has to assume or guess about anything. HE IS OMNISCIENT …HE KNOWS EVERYTHING!!!
For example, God knows everything about us.
We see that clearly in Psalm 139:1-6. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. God is ONNISCIENT!!!
But today we want to look at Psalm 139 that tells us the GOD OF THE BIBLE also is Omnipresent.
Look at Psalm 139:7-18, we read, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN WE SAY THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS OMNIPRESENT?
It means God is everywhere ALL at same times!
There is no place you can go that God is not there already there waiting on you!
He is PRESENT everywhere at the same time and He can see the GOOD AND THE BAD WE DO.
Let me illustrate…
Illus: A mother brought in a plate of sweet cakes and laid them upon the table before a little boy and his sister.
• The little boy said to his sister, “I want one of those cakes! He jumped up as soon as his mother went out of the room and was sneaking toward the table.”
• No, No! Said his sister, pulling him back. No, you must not touch them.”
• The little boy said, “Mother won’t know it. She did not count them.”
• His sister said, “Perhaps not, but God counted them.”
How often we forget that the God of the Bible is OMNIPRESENT.
A lot of folks would not do and say the things they say and do if they KNEW GOD WAS THERE WATCHING THEM!!!
Illus: Two boys were in a watermelon patch one of them said, “I am going to steal us a watermelon.”
Before he stole one of the watermelons he looked:
• To the north
• To the south
• To the east
• To the west
To see if anyone was watching. He saw no one in sight.
The other boy said to him you forgot to look in one direction, you forgot to look up because God is watching!
A lot of folks would not do the evil they do if they were only aware that the GOD OF THE BIBLE IS OMNIPRESENT.
HE IS EVERY WHERE ALL THE TIME!!!
Illus: Some children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Christian school for lunch.
At the head of the table was a large pile of apples.
• Someone had written a note and placed it next to the apples. It read, "Take only one, God is watching."
• Moving through the line, to the other end of the table, was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies.
• One little boy wrote his own note and stuck it next to the cookies, "Take all you want, God is watching the apples."
Listen, he was wrong! God see everything, the APPLES and the COOKIES, all at the same time.
Two times in Psalm 139 David reminds us that "Thou art there".
Illus: Just think if God was present in our worship service IN A PHYSICAL FORM and WE COULD SEE HIM I can guarantee:
• Those who do not participate in the SONG SERVICE they would be singing with their mouths wide open, and you could hear them singing in the next zip code.
• Those who do not participate in the GIVING of our worship service they would be grabbing for their wallets and check books.
• Those who are playing with their telephones during our worship service would be listening attentively and reverently.
• Those who are frowning during our worship service would be smiling from ear to ear.
I HAVE SOME NEWS FOR YOU!!!
YOU CAN NOT SEE HIM BUT THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS HERE!
He is the Omnipresent God of the Bible!!!
God’s Omnipresence is one of the most difficult doctrines of the entire Bible.
WHY IS IT DIFFICULT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND?
Because we do not have anything to relate HIS OMNIPRESENCE to in our life.
Illus: For example, how could you describe a beautiful red rose to a man that has been blind all his life? He has no idea what color is like.
When it comes to color, there is nothing you could relate it to so he could understand.
We have a difficult time understanding God’s Omnipresence, because humanly speaking it is impossible for us to be in two places at one time.
Because God’s Omnipresence is difficult for us to understand, David had some questions about the Omnipresence of God.
Look at Psalm 139:7-8, we read, “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”
David asks two questions –
1) Where can I go from your Spirit?
2) Where can I flee from your presence?
Then in verse 8, HE ANSWERS THOSE TWO QUESTIONS.
He said – “If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there…If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there”
Notice, he chooses two places…heaven and hell.
Illus: In other words:
• If I go up there…you are there!
• If I go down there…you are there!
Its David way of saying God you are OMNIPRESENT; YOU ARE EVERY WHERE!!!
It is absolutely impossible for us to go anywhere and find that God is not there.
HIS PRESENCE IS EVERYWHERE ALL AT THE SAME TIME!
• If you go on visitation, He is there
• If you go to church, He is there
• If you go to the ball game, He is there
• If you go shopping, He is there
• If you go to the night club, He is there
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW THAT GOD IS EVERYWHERE?
Because God cannot judge us fairly if He is not there to see what we have DONE and SAID.
But God is everywhere, and whatever we do or say, He will be able to say on the Judgment Day:
• “I SAW YOU,
• I HEARD YOU,
• I WAS THERE!”
Since God is Spirit, He can pierce and penetrate us. It is impossible to get away from Him.
Preacher what do you mean God can PENETRATE US?
That is, God is ALL AROUND US AND ALSO GOD IS INSIDE OF US!!!
He can see our:
• Thoughts within.
• He Knows our Motives within us.
That is why when you pray, we might as well LAY IT ON THE TABLE…WE CANNOT HIDE ANYTHING FROM THE GOD OF THE BIBLE THAT KNOWS WHAT IS WITHOUT OR WITHIN OUR LIVES!
Illus: For example, when you are praying you might know someone that you literally hate. But as you pray you do not say God, I hate that person because that sounds bad and you do not want God to think bad of you, so you dress up your prayer and say, God I dis-like that person.
Listen the Omnipresent of God knows you hate that person and so you might as well confess to God what He already knows…you hate that person!!!
You can fool man with your words, but you cannot fool the OMNIPRESENT GOD OF THE BIBLE.
Let me give you a few examples…
(1) For example, I pray for our church service like I hope you do.
Sometime in my praying I will ask the Lord to give us a good crowd for our worship service.
Now when I do this the Holy Spirit reminds me why am I praying for a good crowd.
• Is it because I can boast and say WE HAD A BIG CROWD to others.
• Is it because I want to reach as many souls as I can with the gospel of Christ.
So, when I pray, I lay it on the table because the GOD OF THE BIBLE IS OMNIPRESENT and He knows my motives when I pray and pray for a big crowd.
(2) Also, many pray for God to bless them with wealth. When they pray for wealth, they need to ask themselves WHY ARE THEY PRAYING FOR WEALTH.
• Is it to help others
• Is it for selfish gain.
God knows why we pray for everything. We cannot hide anything from the God of the Bible that is OMNIPRESENT!!!
(3) Also, we can pray for God to give us GOOD HEALTH. Why are you praying for good health.
Is it because…
• Want to serve Him in a greater way
• Want it for selfish reasons
We cannot hide anything from the God of the Bible is OMNIPRESENT.
God’s Omnipresence covers the OUTWARD parts of our live and even the INWARD parts of lives.
God is EVERY WHERE ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!
Illus: Sometimes when we face difficult things in life we would say, “If I had wings, I would fly away”.
But listen, if we had wings and we could fly away, we could not fly away from God.
Look at Psalm 139:9-10, we read, “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.”
It is impossible to run away from God that we would be out of the reach of God.
Illus: Sometimes a teenager will get rebellious and run away from home to get away from their parents, but listen, whether we like it or not, we are STUCK WITH GOD because GOD IS EVERYWHERE!
Illus: The prophet Jonah found this out the hard way.
God told him to go to Nineveh and he tried to run from God and went to Tarshis and became fish bait!!!
Preacher, do you really believe Jonah was swallowed by a whale…SURE DO!!
Illus: A Sunday school teacher read a passage from the Old Testament Book of Jonah to her class in Jonah 1:17-22 and verse 10.
Which read, "Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice..... And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land."
When she had finished reading, the teacher said, "Now, children, you have heard the Bible story of Jonah and the whale. What does this story teach us?"
Ten-year-old Mark shouted out: "You can’t keep a good man down!"
The teacher chuckled and went on with the lesson that went like this….
We read in chapter one that he was commissioned by God to go and preach against the great city of Nineveh. He was to tell them how wicked they were.
Jonah didn’t like his assignment, not because he was not in favor of telling off the Ninevites but because he knew that God was going to show them some mercy and grace. These people were the mortal enemies of Israel, and Jonah wanted no part of God’s redemptive plan for these barbarians.
SO, WHAT DID HE DO?
He tried to flee from God.
In fact, we know that instead of heading to Nineveh, he booked passage on a boat that was sailing in the exact opposite direction. HE WENT WEST INSTEAD OF EAST.
He probably breathed a sigh of relief when the ship sailed away from the shore. He thought he was in the clear, that he had outwitted God.
But what Jonah found out was that God was with him on the ship and would soon be with him in the belly of the whale.”
Because there’s no place to hide from the GOD OF THE BIBLE!!!
Psalm 139 helps us understand more about HIS OMNIPRESENCE.
Look at verse 12, we read, “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee...”
Notice these words, “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee…”
• Criminals love the darkness of night (Why? They think God cannot see them!”)
• Rapist loves the darkness of night (Why? They think God cannot see them!”)
• Thieves love the darkness of night (Why? They think God cannot see them!”)
• Fornicators love the darkness of night (Why? They think God cannot see them!”)
But notice, what the Bible tells us again, “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee..”
• God of the Bible tells us whatever evil men may do whether it is night or day, the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
• But let me also share with you the positive side of this when it comes to night or day, the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
The curtains of the evening will no more cover us than the wings of the morning will allow us to escape His presence.
Everything we do, whether we think we can be seen or not, is done in the full presence of our holy, majestic, and ever-present God of the Bible.
God knows all about us. He is…
I. THE OMNISCIENT GOD OF THE BIBLE
II. THE OMNIPRESENT GOD OF THE BIBLE
God is PRESENT here in our midst.
If you do not know Him as your Savior, I want to encourage you to come from your seat this morning and I will be glad to pray with you and invite this WONDERFUL GOD OF THE BIBLE TO COME INTO YOUR HEART TODAY!
To help you know the GOD OF THE BIBLE next week I will be preaching on the THE OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD. If you want to know the GOD OF THE BIBLE, I encourage you to be here next Sunday.
Note: You can hear this sermon preached by Dr. Odell Belger on YouTube July 28, 2024, after 1 A.M.
