Seven Things God Does Not Know
Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church
June 4, 2006
Introduction
What a great joy it is to be in this place of worship with each of you today as we celebrate 49 years of God using our church to minister to the people of Denison, Texas and the world at large. On the first Sunday of June, 1957, a small group of people met and organized Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church. Today that small group has grown and many people have come and gone through the years. Many lives have been touched, many souls have been saved, and the Word of God has been planted in the hearts of many others of whom we may never know.
I am thankful to be a part of this body of believers. God has brought each of us together for this time and place to be a witness unto Him. He has fitly joined us together to reach a community that is starving for the glory of God and doesn’t know it. He has called us today to worship His Son Jesus Christ: not our church, not our members, not our history, but His Son! And if we will be faithful to do that – then I believe God will continue to use us for many more years to come.
There have been several preachers pass through our history, and one of the most beloved of them by many of you was Brother Sulton. While he never pastored here, we cannot deny the love and affection he had for this church. I watched him weep many a time tears of joy and gratitude for God allowing him to be part of such a loving group of people. I heard him pray many a prayer thanking God for giving him such a wonderful church home, and I share that sentiment.
Brother Sulton passed from this life into glory, but thanks to Sister Gwen his words can live on. A couple of months ago she gave to me a shoebox full of old sermons Brother Sulton preached years ago, and today I want to share with you one of those sermons. If you knew him at all you know that this is a message he would love to share. According to the notes he made on the back of the page I have copied for you in your bulletin he preached it on May 22, 1960 and again at another church on October 14, 1962. Today I want to share that message with you.
God is the all-powerful, ever-present, omniscient God. He knows everything. The Bible teaches us that He lives in an eternal present: knowing the beginning from the ending and He sees it all as though it were but a passing moment. According to the Bible He knew you while you were still in your mother’s womb. He chose to extend salvation to you before He created the earth, and while we may not understand why He did what He did, we know that He knew Adam would sin before He told him not to, that the world would be flooded before He had to do it, and He knew that today you would be sitting in that pew before you ever got out of bed. Yet in spite of all that God knows, I want to share with you seven things God does not know.
He does not know one person that does not sin
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” I like to think of myself as a pretty good guy, and I’ve known lots of “good old boys” through the years, but I’ve never met anyone who did not sin because “all have sinned.”
Right now there are over six and a half billion people in the world, and not one of us is perfect and sinless, not even you. Paul said in Romans 5:12
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
You see, the wages of sin is death. God already knows all of us are sinners, but because we forget what God already knows we have a daily reminder that sin is in the world. That reminder is death. Every day 155,000 people die. That means that 6,500 people die every hour. That comes to 108 people every minute, which again means that somebody somewhere in the world dies every 1.8 seconds. Every 1.8 seconds you and I are reminded that there’s not one person on planet earth that does not sin – I don’t care how godly you think you are.
This week at Pine Springs church camp one of our pastors was leading a music service. After the service his wife was talking to some of the teens about what a great evening of worship they had. While she was talking she told her husband that she was feeling faint. He said she was dead before she hit the floor. The wages of sin is death – not necessarily some sin she committed, but “as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, because we all have sinned.” God doesn’t know one person in all of the six and a half billion who is not a sinner: not even you.
He does not know a lost person that He does not love
It seems the whole world knows John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
But I fear that many will never understand that His love has been extended even to them. There’s no one, not even the worst among us that God does not love. In fact, the Bible says that “God commended, or extended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God didn’t wait for you or me to get cleaned up to love us. He is not the kind of God who makes you do this or that or be good or measure up in order for Him to love us. He loved us while we were still sinners! He loves us in spite of our sin!
How do we know the love of God? He laid down His life for ours! His love is infinitely greater than ours. It is infinitely more wonderful than ours. It is unconditional, unstoppable, unbeatable, and undeniable. God loves you more than you will ever know – and He sent Christ to die on the cross of Calvary to prove it to you.
He does not know any way to save sinners except through Jesus Christ
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” In John 10:9 He said,
“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Ask around in the street and you’ll hear a thousand ways to get to heaven or have eternal life. “You’ve got to be good enough.” “You’ve got to love people.” “You’re good works have to out-weigh your bad works.” “All religions get you to heaven.” “God and Buddha and all the others are one and the same. You just have to believe.”
The list goes on and on, but the Bible says that there’s only one way to heaven and to eternal life, and that’s through Jesus Christ. There are no other ways! If there were other ways then God is a liar and He is of all gods most cruel. After all, why crucify your only begotten Son if eternal life could be gained some other way? There is no other way!
Jesus said it in various ways: “I am the door…I am the way…You must eat my flesh and drink my blood…You must believe…” but they all boil down to this: if you are going to have eternal life, then you must repent of your sin and place your faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on your behalf.
He does not know a better place than hell for Christ rejectors
In Matthew 25:41 Jesus said,
“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Sometime in eternity past the Bible tells us that Lucifer was one of the archangels, but in his pride he led a rebellion against the very throne of God, thinking himself to be God. But there is only one God, who says His glory will He not share with another. He cast Satan and his followers from heaven and created the place called hell as their eternal destination. In fact, some of the demons are being held there now.
I say all that to say this: that hell was not created for man. It was not created for you and me. It was created for Satan and his angels, but God determined that all who rejected Him by rejecting the Son He sent would go there as well.
After this life there are only two destinations: heaven and hell – and my friend don’t be mistaken in any way – hell is the final stop for all who refuse to repent of their sin and trust Christ for eternal life.
He does not know a lost person that can be saved after death
Do you remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus? Luke 16:19-25 tells us that…
“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember…”
“Son, remember…” Those words would haunt that man the rest of his miserable lonely existence. There are no more chances after death. God gives us every opportunity to know Him in this life – but “it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.” The rich man would play over and over every opportunity he passed up for all eternity. For eternity he would suffer the consequences of rejecting Christ, and he would remember every rejection he made.
Listen to me, every sermon you hear is an opportunity to be saved. Every time you read your Bible, hear the gospel, experience the conviction of God and refuse to repent and believe you are building up a storehouse of memories that you too will remember after death. There are no other chances. The moment you pass from this life will be a moment too late. Why? Because…
He does not know a better time to be saved than now
Isaiah 1:18 says,
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 55:6 says,
“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Today is the day of salvation! Why put it off any longer? Why keep pushing the Lord away? Why wait another moment? You can be saved right now! Would you? Would you acknowledge to the Lord Jesus Christ that you know you are a sinner by birth and a sinner by choice? Would you acknowledge that it was your sin that caused Him to be crucified? That His death was for you? That you are sorry for what He had to do, but that now you will trust Him for salvation? Would you admit to God that without what Christ did for you you could never have eternal life? Would you be saved today?
He does not know a better place than heaven for saved people
Folk, this is my favorite part! The final resting place for all God’s saints is glory! We read in our Sunday School class today about the glory surrounding the throne of God – the majestic beings surrounding the throne, the beauty of His holiness and the majesty of His being and the 24 elders bowing in His presence singing praises to Him! It’s going to be glory! Here a glory, there a glory, everywhere a glory, glory glory! And the great news for you and me is that we get to be a part of it, not because of what we have done, but because of what He has done.
Hebrews 9:27-28 says,
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
You are more familiar with 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, which says,
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of god: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Conclusion
Are you going to be there? Are you going to be in the number of the redeemed? Have you heard the song “He Bore It All?”
My precious Savior suffered pain and agony
He bore it all that I might live
He broke the bonds of sin and set the captive free
He bore it all that I might live
He bore it all that I might see His shining face
He bore it all that I might live.
I stood condemned to die but Jesus took my place
He bore it all that I might live
They placed a crown of thorns upon my Savior’s head
He bore it all that I might live
My cruel man, with spear, his side was pierced and bled
He bore it all that I might live
We as sinners by nature need a sin bearer. We had a debt we could not pay, and Jesus paid a debt He did not owe. He truly is our sin bearer. He bore your sins and mine, dying on the cross of Calvary to satisfy the righteous demands of a holy God. If you are lost today, if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior then you need to realize now, today, that God has done all he can to save you. The rest is up to you.
