No One like God
Isaiah 46:5-9
All through the scriptures, God shows that He is jealous god. He even included it as one of the 10 commandments.
In fact, He deemed it so important that it was the very first commandment for us to live by.
Exodus 20:2
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (3) You shall have no other gods before Me.”
I am that God that:
· Saved you from a devil’s hell
· Brought you out of that abusive relationship
· Gave you your job when you were not qualified
· Gave you a raise twice in 6 months
· Answered your prayer concerning your kids
You have to understand - God is a jealous God
And He will not permit any man-made God or religion to take His title of Almighty God.
READ ISAIAH 46:5-9
God specifically was asking Israel in verse five if there was anyone or anything that could even compare to Him.
Not only was there no one greater than Him, but there was no one beside Him... no one equal or close to equal.
So why do we has children of God try to bypass Him?
Why do try to get things accomplished on our own?
Why do we think we know best?
God tells us in verse 8:
Remember this and be assured
Recall it to mind
Remember: Where I have brought you
What I have given you
What you deserved that I didn’t give
And when you call these things to mind –
You have to proclaim verse 9 -
“I am God, and there is no one like Me.”
God has proven Himself over and over to you.
In 1st Corinthians 1:9 – He said is faithful
Has He not been faithful to come to your rescue?
· Needing encouragement –
o He has someone call or stop by
· Needing Financial Assistance –
o You get a IRS refund or money in the pockets
· Needing a Healing –
o Doctors find the problem and give the medication
In 1st John 4:8 – God is Love
o When you felt like no one else cared –
§ God did and does
o When you felt alone –
§ You felt His presence
o When you needed a hug –
§ God provided that through your child or close friend
In Romans 8:28 – God is in control of all things
o When our country is at war –
§ We have sons and daughters on foreign land
o When our families seem to be falling a part
§ He works to put back the pieces
o When our month out last the money
§ He causes things to work in our favor
And if we have a God who is faithful to us, who loves and one who is in control of all things –
Who can we compare Him to?
Buddha?
He died between 486 and 480 at the age of eighty… He adopted Buddhism - A moralistic religion to escape reincarnation determined by bad karma
We have to depend on karma – something that is taking place due to “cause and effect”. And by believing in Karma, you believe that the deeds done in your body now will never leave you that once you die and are reincarnated, those deeds follow you and produce other events in your life.
So now you have to believe in karma and reincarnation.
1. Romans 8:28 – God is that one that causes all things to work.
2. 2nd Corinthians 5:8 – To be absent from the body we are present with the Lord. Not in the form of a cow and large jellyfish.
God and Buddha? No comparison
What about Baal?
The worship of Baal (the sun god) extends back into the 14th century and to the descendants of Shem, the oldest son of Noah. People would fall and worship the sun god for the dependence of their crops. The ceremonies would include incense and often-human sacrifices.
The bible refers to Baal as Beelzebub, one of the fallen angels of Satan in Mark 12:24.
So when God says in Isaiah 46:9 that there is none like Him, He is telling you the truth.
§ What god would have you depend on your thoughts and deeds to determine where you end up in the after life?
Psalms 103:12 – “So far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
§ What god would have you offer sacrifices for acceptance?
1st Corinthians 15:57 – “…but thanks be to God, who gives us our victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 12:12 – “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher (perfecter) of our faith.”
This tells me that Jesus Christ has finished paying for all that is to be paid when it comes to sacrifice for our sins.
God provided us with a High Priest that could take care of our sin debt with his death on a cross.
He fixed it so you and I would not have to continue to offer the blood sacrifice for our sins.
-Under the old covenant
Leviticus 23:19 – they had to offer one male goat for a sin offering.
-Under the new covenant
Hebrews 10:12 – “But this man (Jesus), after he had offered one sacrifice for all sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
We serve a God that loves his children so much that He prepared a way for an escape by giving up His only Son to die the ultimate death for sin.
And when we say sin, we mean:
Past Sins – the old way you use to be
Running around with women
Drinking it up
Lying and Cheating
Now Sins – those things that you deal with now
James 4:17 – “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
One Sacrifice for all sins…that can only come from a God who knows what He is doing.
Isaiah 46:9
“For I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is no one like Me.”
No one in the past, present or future!
He is a God that deserves our:
§ Praise
§ Thanks
§ Dedication to Him
But there are three things that I feel God deserves more than anything.
Because it is through these three things in our lives that we are able give Him praise, thanks and dedication.
1. Time = the amount of time you give to God.
We always have plenty of time for:
Sleep – 2,920 hours a year
Food – 60% of men and women are over weight
Play – 1996: $70mill spent by anglers and hunters
But what are we doing for God?
It seems that He just gets what is left over:
§ If I don’t have anything else to do, I’ll go to church
§ If I don’t have to get up early – I’ll read my bible
§ “But Sundays, are my only days off”
Did you know if you gave God 10% of your time:
§ 2 hrs. 40 minutes per day
§ 18 hrs. 6 minutes per week
Your time is what God would use to equip you and get you prepared to accomplish the things your life that He wants to accomplish.
2. Talents = those things that you enjoy doing
Are you doing them for God?
What do you enjoy doing?
§ Gardening – give some crops to needy families
§ Cooking – cook a meal for a family who needs to be in church
§ Fishing – carry a teen boy or girl who needs an adult figure in their life
§ Talking – call people who miss church / check on elderly
Take what you enjoy doing and do it for God!
Some of you are sitting back and doing nothing with the talents God has given you.
§ Singing – solos or choir
§ Teaching Others – some people have a knack for it
§ Instruments – not good enough? Practice with us!
But by all means, get to doing something.
And you will enjoy working for God if you are doing something you like.
Noah – construction worker – good with his hands
He was slow (took 120 years to build it) but he got the job done. After the flood, he became the first tiller of the soil and keeper of the vineyards.
Peter – fisherman – which taught him patience and persistence.
Matthew – tax collector – good with numbers
Luke – a doctor – spent many times with Paul
John - first to develop the literary form of “the Gospels”
Paul – a leader; a student of early church history
He new how to talk to intelligent people
So you see all through the scriptures how God used the talents of individuals to accomplish his will for them.
I can praise God through my Time, through my talents and through my:
3. Tithe = giving back one tenth of what God has blessed me with.
The custom of paying a tithe was an ancient practice found among many nations of the ancient world.
The first recorded instance of tithing:
Genesis 14 – After returning from rescuing Lot and defeating his enemies, Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe of all the goods he had obtained in battle.
The law of Moses prescribed in detail what was meant by tithing.
Leviticus stated the tithe of then land would include the seed of the land and the fruit of the tree.
Hebrew people were also required to set apart every tenth animal of their herds and flocks.
8 times in the New Testament, tithing is mentioned. And in all the instances, it was referring back to the Old Testament.
Nowhere in the New Testament does it command Christians to tithe.
But just because you don’t see it in the New Testament:
You don’t commit murder
You don’t commit adultery
You don’t steal
But isn’t funny how we pick and choose what we want to believe and abide by?
§ We won’t commit murder because we say that it is wrong
But
§ We skip verse 8 -10 of Exodus 20 where it says:
“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God.
§ We’ll shout from the housetops that you had better not commit adultery on your spouse
But
§ We’ll not see anything in working from dawn until dark, coming home after the family is in bed and leaving before they get up.
§ We will condemn those that steal from others
But
§ We won’t take into consideration that when we are withholding our own money from God that we are stealing what belongs to Him.
Malachi 3:8
“Will a man rob from God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, how have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings
Understand that God doesn’t need your money to accomplish what He wants to accomplish.
But He does need you sold out to Him 100% and if you cannot let go of your money…then your bank account has just become another god to you. And that is no worse than worshipping Buddha or Baal.
God says in Malachi 3:10
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”
This giving thing is not for God…it’s for YOU!!
It’s not for God’s benefit…It’s for YOU!
It’s not so God can get rich…It’s so you can be blessed!
§ Buddha can’t give you peace
§ Baal can’t help you get through your cancer
§ Money can’t buy you joy
These things only come from our Heavenly Father, who is like no other!
Isaiah tells us these words from the Lord in
Chapter 46:3-5
“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been born by Me from birth, and have been carried from the womb; Even to your old age, I shall be the same. And even to your graying years I shall bear you! I have done it and I shall carry you; And I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you.
Why? Because He says:
“I am God, and there is no one like Me!”
