The Attributes Of God - 'A' for all-knowing

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well tonight we're going to continue with our series that we've just started on the attributes of God certainly there are more attributes than 26 but in the next 26
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Sunday nights as the Lord allows me we want to talk about a different attribute beginning with the letter
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A. we're going to do this in an acrostic format going A through Z with 26 different attributes for the 26 letters.
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who can tell me what an acrostic even is? what is an acrostic? yes
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Mike? okay great and it could match a letter to start a few letters, a whole word i found this interestingly it comes from the greek word acrosticon two words across extreme stichas verse extreme verse it all lines up are there any books in the bible that are acrostically written am
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I just making this up A to Z? yes psalm 119 is the most famous acrostic for the jewish consonants how many jewish consonants are there?
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22 consonants we have vowel pointing but there are 22 letters as it were psalm 119 is the most famous one there are others though how many other acrostic psalms are there?
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that would be right there are eight other ones very good by the way congregation and mike and his family are fairly new to the church on sunday mornings uh...
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it's best to have the kids go to the bathroom and try to take care of the kids maybe junior church and this or that and we want to try to encourage the kids to learn uh...
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but on sunday nights i want you to bring your kids and i want you to train your kids to sit and listen this is a time where if we have a few singings and speaking in tongues and other things it's okay it's a church family certainly if it's distracting so much that some kids yelling bloody murder screaming bloody murder then you know take a lap around the sanctuary i don't know but we it's it's fine by me the preacher it's fine by the church and we want you to train your children to be in the sanctuary to worship with the parents bruce ray has a great book about uh...
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discipline it's called withhold not correction he talks about the family worshiping together so when i hear these voices i'm not disturbed although i did hear a cell phone this morning and it kind of got me off track uh...
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just hearing some cell phone go off where was i acrostics there are nine songs that are acrostically written
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Psalm 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145 i came across an acrostic poem written by edgar allen poem and it was entitled elizabeth and it goes like this and the first word of each line spells out something it spells out elizabeth elizabeth is not vain you say love not thou sayest in a so sweet a way in vain those words from thee zantippes talents had enforced so well ah if that language from my heart arise breathe it less gently forth and it goes on and on why am i reading poe from the pulpit i don't know every letter starts off with us uh...
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thinking about something in a good memory format the book of lamentations is also acrostically written and it's just a good way to go ahead and do it so tonight is letter
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A there are many attributes that start with A can you think of any i'm gonna pick a different one but which one would you think luke almighty yes hayley can you think of one amazing that's a good one isn't it amazing would have been excellent awesome good all -powerful good i should have asked you before i did the series because i've already picked all twenty six anyone else atoning great that is excellent anyone else while we're thinking yes astounding good let's keep going this is fun when we're going to yes all -knowing that's the one we're going to do tonight all -knowing god is what omniscient god is all -knowing tonight we're going to look at the doctrine that god knows everything god knows everything who can tell me omniscience the two words that make up omniscience what are the two words and what do they mean yes barry omni it means all good that's okay i would have said it okay good all -knowing basically we get it's kind of like science of knowing science all -knowing and basically omniscience means that god knows everything he knows everything actually he knows everything that is possibly to be known he knows it effortlessly and as one man said he knows it equally well god knows everything can you imagine everything he knows i did a little research this week and i found out in the library of congress in the united states the world's largest library we have a collection there of one hundred and nineteen million items in four hundred and sixty languages maps monographs dissertations periodicals voice and music recordings and four million images and god knows them all james boyce said omniscience involves not only god's knowledge of us but also his knowledge of nature the past the present and the future it involves everything we can possibly imagine and much more besides and the thing is god knows it now he knows himself he knows all things actual and possible and he knows it all in one eternal now that blows my mind that is to quote some of the theologians here that is astounding and that is amazing that god knows everything and he knows it right now arthur pink said god knows everything everything possible everything actual all events all creatures of the past present and future he is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in heaven and earth and in hell nothing escapes his notice nothing can be hidden from him nothing is forgotten by god god is all -knowing matter of fact if you'll turn your bibles to isaiah forty one let me show you that this idea that god knows everything is proof that god is god compared to the false idols compared to the man -made handmade idols how can god be different from an idol well god knows everything this shows that god in fact is god heathen gods could never measure up to god who knows it all isaiah chapter forty one i'm just going to read several verses from several chapters so you can see that god knows everything every detail and this sets him apart it sets him apart as different than all these false gods and it's just a brilliant challenge here from god to those that would believe in less than god isaiah forty one twenty one present your case the lord says bring forward your strong arguments the king of jacob says isaiah forty one twenty two let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place as for the former events declare what they were that we may consider them and know their outcome or announce to us what is coming if you call yourself a god you should know these things verse twenty three declare the things that are going to come afterward that we may know that you are gods indeed do good or evil that we may anxiously look about and fear together behold you are of no account and your work amounts to nothing he who chooses you is an abomination verse twenty five i have aroused one from the north and he has come from the rising of the sun he will call my name and he will come upon rulers as upon mortar even as the potter treads clay who has declared this from the beginning that we might know our former times that we may say he is right surely there was no one who declared surely there was no one who proclaim surely there was no one who heard your words if you are god by definition you should know everything jump down to chapter forty four the same book please isaiah forty four six it's the same refrain god is the one who knows everything and that by definition shows that he is god because of his intense and in -depth knowledge isaiah forty four six thus says the lord the king of israel and his redeemer the lord of hosts i am the first i am the last there's no god besides me beside me and who is like me let him proclaim it and declare it yes let him recount it to me in order from the time that i established that ancient nation and let them declare to me to them rather the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place he says the same thing in chapter forty five and in forty six as well god knows everything and he is set apart from other gods because he does know everything well one of the things i want to do with this series is make it expositionally based that is to say i don't want to just give you a bunch of random bible verses to create the doctrine of all -knowing god the omniscient god i want to go to one main passage and preach that so you see it in context and that passage tonight is psalm one thirty what one thirty nine let's go to psalm one thirty nine and see this very personal psalm and i'm going to call this psalm the fireworks psalm the fireworks psalm how many people love fireworks fourth of july or any other time i do i like roman candles matter of fact we used to like to pick up roman candles when we were kids because you could kind of shoot them we don't want to do that as children do we i think massachusetts outlaws all fireworks anyway so it doesn't really matter but there are four kind of flares that shoot up four bursts of praise four bursts of things about god that are just awesome we went to the is it half shell or hat shell in boston hat shell but it looks like half a shell to me is it half shell?
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H -A -T oh hat shell i was wrong on both counts it was not a half shell or a hat shell it's a hat shell oh it does look like a hatch okay well good i'm not omniscient thank you sometimes you sit there and you watch this the big fireworks and what does everybody do kind of under their breath or out loud especially if you have kids up goes the rocket and then you see the lights before you hear the explosion and you see the light then hear the explosion and what's the underlying kind of crowd murmuring you can say it out loud and that's exactly what happens with this psalm you can't believe that god knows everything and you just sit back and you go wow there's four kind of fireworks blast we're only going to look at the first one but the four are god knows you god is with you god's power extends to you and god's holiness should affect you in other words it talks about his omniscience his omnipresence his omnipotence and then how it's practical these four kind of roman candlelight things that show how great god is and frankly if i could just let down my hair for a minute i can't stand when people go around trying to tell me how great they are and it starts back with muhammad ali and even goes back farther and people put great in front of their name greatest show on earth the great houdini alexander the great catherine the great went to see napoleon's crypt in paris have you ever been to napoleon's crypt and it's set up in such a way that his crypt is down really low and the story goes that when you see him up above and look at him way down in the crypt there he wanted to set it up so everyone would have to bow to him to see him when he was dead and in fact to see him you have to look down and in a sense you're bowing to napoleon's crypt because he was such a great man i don't like that i like bishop massalon instead in 1715 king louis the 14th of france died after a 72 year reign and his nickname that he gave himself was the great and he made this famous statement that you may remember in history i am the state funeral is spectacular his body is in a golden coffin he gave orders that the cathedral should be very dimly lit with one special coffin candle that sat on top of it to dramatize his greatness the bishop began to speak he snuffed out the candle though and said only god is great this psalm shows how great god is it is a wonderful song that you could read in the morning and in the night because it is wonderful and we're only going to look at the first six verses god's omniscience psalm 139 verses 1 -6 it shows that god knows everything each one of these sections, these four roman candle blasts have six verses and there's two parts to those six verses the first four verses describe what's going on and then the next two verses are reflective that is to say they're statements of fact and then kind of practical application and you'll notice when we get going in this psalm that this is not one of these doctrinally cold psalms this is doctrine through god who's very personal to david who's a person as well this is kind of knowledge and theology that you can use very very practical, intensely personal and i'll read the psalm and you can see at least the first six verses how many times you is used and how many me is used and i and let's just let me read it and you can see how personal god relates to david oh lord you have searched me and known me you know when i sit down and when i rise up you understand my thought from afar you scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways even before there is a word on my tongue behold oh lord you know it all you have enclosed me behind and before and laid your hand upon me such knowledge is too wonderful for me it is too high i cannot attain it very very personal psalm this is not abstract theology it matters
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Leslie Allen a great commentary writer said it is applied theology and all kinds of words are used you think you're looking up a thesaurus with all these verbs search, examine, know, perceive, understand, discern, sift the comprehensive knowledge that god has of us and let's just jump right into the text psalm 139 and it says for the choir director this psalm is to be what?
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sung a psalm of david and then it says oh lord thou has searched me and known me if you think this is going to be a very personal psalm and god is going to call himself a name do you think he'd call himself the name
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Adonai he's in charge he's sovereign he's the ruler if it was going to be a personal psalm do you think he'd call himself god this powerful god elohim or do you think if it was going to be a personal psalm god would call himself by his personal name
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Yahweh which one would you pick with a very personal touch to it it's
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Yahweh and that's exactly here do you see all the capitals this is the personal name for god and it just starts off like a gun the center and theme of this chapter is god he knows everything about david and what happens it says there oh lord
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Yahweh thou has searched me and known me thou literally the word search means to examine carefully to dig it's like a search and seizure for drugs kind of intense sometimes when i was in logan they have a little beagle walking around and the beagle has a a little kind of chap over it or some kind of clothing and it says something like a drug sniffing dog just walking around from place to place examining investigating this is this kind of scrutiny reminds me of the story that has nothing to do with this but when my mother had to go to awana the final thing i had an old dog and taught her all kinds of tricks her name was marley and so my mom had to figure out the council time for the last awana deal and so she made marley an awana vest and put the awana vest on marley to come do the tricks for the awana closing far removed from logan airport dogs i know this means to dig to closely investigate one commentary in the seventies said this means god really digs you this has nothing to do with god digging you in the seventies discussion no this is more like god has dug into you and found out everything about you he knows everything about you it's like taking a magnifying glass better yet a microscope and just examine your whole being when i was in college i started off as a chemical engineer major and we were given a little packet of white powder in one of the classes and we were trying to find out exactly what was in that white powder what was that experiment called i can't remember but we have to do titration analysis and precipitate some of the things out and we had to say that powder contains exactly this percent of that element and this percent of that element detailed that's exactly what's happening here god thoroughly knows david he has examined him minutely i can't even figure out what's going on in your mind let alone god knowing everyone's minds and by the way david is what what kind of position does david have is he a serf or a peasant or who is david a king think about the king if you came to me and i was the king i didn't even have to tell you my name i didn't have to tell you what i liked or disliked i didn't have to tell you anything proverbs 25 .3
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says as the heavens for height and the earth for depth so the heart of the kings is unsearchable yet god knows everything about david and us as well this word to search or to dig is found in job 28 talking about mining operations man puts an end to the darkness and to the farthest limit he searches out the rock in gloom and deep shadow this is used for spying in judges 18 to spy out the land and to search it god knew every detail of david perfect knowledge and then it says if you continue looking at the verse thou has searched me and known me isn't in the text god you have searched me and you just know matter of fact i love 1 samuel 2 verse 3 it says god is a god of knowledges not just knowledge but knowledges god knows he knows everything if you have not read tozer's book on the attributes i encourage you to do so tozer said about this god knows instantly and effortly all matter and all matters all mind and every mind all spirit and all spirits all being and every being all creaturehood and all creatures every plurality and all pluralities all law and every law all relations all causes all thoughts all mysteries all enigmas all feeling all desires every unuttered secret all thrones and dominions all personalities all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven and hell and god knows you god knows you psalm 1 says the lord knows the way of the righteous think about how knowledge how it explodes over time in 79 there were more than 2000 pages a minute that were being published even in 1979 if you read 24 hours a day from the age of 21 to 70 retained all that you read you would still be one and a half million years behind when you finished and god knows everything and god doesn't have to learn he knows everything perfectly at once it blows my mind that god has never learned anything he knows us and look at the extent of god's knowledge if you're taking notes let me give you 5 things that god knows verse 1 was the general statement god knows everything now let me give you 5 particulars number 1 god knows what you do found in verse 2a the extent of god's knowledge number 1 god knows what you do you see that in verse 2 thou dost know when
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I sit down and when I rise up thou is emphatic god is the one who knows it's the same word for know in verse 1 he knows when we have a passive life sitting down resting reclining sitting sleeping and he knows when we rise up working standing being busy and everything in between god knows no action is lost nothing is overlooked he knows things about us that are common that are casual that are easy that are hard when we're at the top of our game when we're at the bottom of the barrel from one shining moment in an
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NCAA basketball song to the agony of defeat at wide world of sports he knows it all now let me ask you this question if god knows what you do why would that be practical?
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remember when you preach you want to try to preach and answer this question so what? god knows everything I do how does that make you feel?
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what does that make you think about? what would that make you do or not do? give me some answers congregation if you would please if god knows what you do so what?
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yes mark okay if he knows everything that you do and there's no darkness for him you can't hide in the dark you can't do anything kind of secretly you want to please him excellent good our future is secure because he knows everything in the future good so it's not only we want to watch our step but we also can be comforted that god knows everything about us good is it easy to do you think to be a hypocrite if god knows everything?
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I like the Alexander the Great story they ask him why he could sleep so soundly in the midst of all this danger and he said the reason
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I can sleep so soundly is that Pomeranio his faithful guard was watching him god knows god knows everything about us god cares well let's keep going god not only knows what you do god knows what you think that almost fits in with this morning sermon found at the second part of verse 2 god knows what you do number one number two god knows what you think thou dost understand my thought from afar more than perceive but he really knows more than surface knowledge he knows carefully he interprets he knows our thinking our reasoning he understands all that Deuteronomy 31 says of god for I know their intent
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Luke 11 17 of Jesus but Jesus knew their thoughts god knows exactly what you're thinking he's not distant he knows
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I love Jeremiah 23 am I a god who is near declares the Lord and not a god far off I guess
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I'm a product of pop culture it is not as if somehow your thought life has a little cone of kryptonite over it so god's laser beam superman eyes can't see through it everything god knows a man who is no great theologian
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Mr. Beecher said before men we stand as opaque beehives they can see the thoughts go in and out of us but what work they do inside a man they cannot tell before god we are glass beehives and all that our thoughts are doing within us he perfectly sees and understands never been misunderstood by god he knows exactly what we think at all times if god knows what you think so what?
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should it change what you think? absolutely number three we need to keep moving god knows what you do number one god knows what you think number two god number three knows where you go verse three god knows where you go thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways i love the word there for scrutinize it just means to winnow and basically david takes something from everyday life and you can have wheat and chaff that are together and you throw the wheat up and what happens to the chaff?
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if there's a wind the chaff blows away and you're stuck with that kernel as if we have our lives and god just takes us and he knows us intimately he knows everything that we do and every place that we go it's like we have global tracking system on ourselves at all time he knows and the text says he's intimately acquainted he knows where you go to work where you go to school where you go to vacation all your ways all your behaviors job 31 verse 4 says does he not see my ways and number all my steps?
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absolutely but furthermore god knows what you will say number four god knows what you do god knows what you think god knows where you'll go where you do go and number four god knows what you will say sometimes we don't even know what we're going to say sometimes
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I come on Sunday nights just because I want to know what I'm going to say like to know what I'm going to preach about verse 4 even before there's a word on my tongue behold oh
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Yahweh thou dost know it all now if anybody does math really well here you might want to take some of these numbers down and help me
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I found this week that the average words per day that people speak are 20 ,000
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I kid you not there are differences between men and women but I won't tell you who speaks more and who speaks less because that's not for tonight but men speak less but anyway seriously look at the internet it's like 20 ,000 for men
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I mean for women 15 ,000 10 ,000 for the men you can just study that on your own some think it's about 25 ,000 a day compared to men who are 12 ,000 a day it doesn't really matter let's just say everybody speaks 10 ,000 words a day times 365 per year what does that give us?
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my calculation was 3 ,655 ,000 words per year that each individual speaks there are 300 million people in America that gives me
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I think over a billion people I mean a billion words how many people are in the world total?
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can you imagine that God knows every one of those words and he knew every one of those words before they even said it here's how
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I have to do it in my mind it's football season and so sometimes when I go back home to Nebraska I'll go to University of Nebraska football game and I'll sit there and I'll see 76 ,000 people around me with red and white and that's the largest group of people that I can think of all at one place and I think
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God knows every one of those people he knows what they're thinking he knows what they're going to do he knows what they've done he knows 76 ,000 people he even knows what the coach is going to do and sometimes nobody knows that but God does 76 ,000 people how about everybody that's ever been born?
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I sometimes gauge people's intellect by how many languages they can speak no matter what language it is
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God knows it and he knows it before they even speak James Boyce said omniscience involves not only
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God's knowledge of us but also his knowledge of nature the past, the present and the future and what we speak it's amazing to me he knows what is said and he knows what we meant when we said it
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Thomas Watson, the great Puritan said what care here's a so what question answered what care would people have of their words if they remembered
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God heard and the pen is going on in heaven the divine pen is going on as we speak
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God knows a lot he knows what you do he knows what you think he knows where you go he knows what you will say and he knows what you need number 5 here's the last one and this is very comforting some of the others might kind of scare us and we want to be scared into sanctification with fright here this is very comforting verse 5 thou enclosed behind me and before and laid thy hand upon me enclosed means surrounded it means protected it's like a city that was hemmed in by a siege no way out but this is a positive thing that God is all around us he's all around us knowing us and protecting us he's on every side of us hemmed in and surrounded by God and the text says there with a language of protection and blessing and you laid your hand upon me you can study
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Genesis 48 and Exodus 33 that this is a divine hand that protects and comforts and blesses
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I like Exodus 33 -22 when God told
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Moses that no one could see him and live he did go on to say how he would shelter him and protect him with his hand and it will come about that while my glory is passing by that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by God has enclosed us by himself and has laid his hand on us and knowing that God knows what we'll do what we'll say where we go and everything else the response is some of the
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A's that we heard earlier with astounding and amazing here's the response the built -in response and you see it in verse 6 how should we respond to a
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God that knows everything? it is inconceivable that from eternity past to eternity that comes in the future
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God knows everything he doesn't have to have ginkgo biloba to remember he's never going to have
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Alzheimer's what should our response be? and you can see what the response is it should be praise it should be like the fireworks that go off when we just say
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God you're wonderful when's the last time you were astonished about anything? here is you should be astonished by what
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God knows verse 6 such knowledge is too wonderful for me it's too high I can't attain to it in English it doesn't work so well but in Greek and in Hebrew if you put a word right up at the front it emphasizes it and if you had to pick one of these words in your
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English text in verse 6 that was very very important that would be emphatic in your mind theologically what word do you think is at the very front of the
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Hebrew sentence? wonderful emphatic it is wonderful it is extraordinary it's surpassing to our mind this theme overwhelms
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David he can't understand it and can it be? he's praising
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God doesn't forget God doesn't have memory loss when was the last time you said to yourself or to God God you are awesome because you know everything
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David says it's too high I can't attain to it sadly our society people relegate
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God to a curse word sometimes and speak of God flippantly David knows about God and he says you are just to be praised you are to be praised
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God's knowledge is eternal God didn't ever learn anything He started His knowledge before time says the
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Lord who makes these things known from old Acts 15 ,18 God's knowledge of the future you can just think of prophecy and just say the wonder of God God's knowledge is independent nobody has told
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God anything verse 13 of Isaiah 40 who has directed the spirit of the Lord or as His counselor who has informed
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Him answer no one God's knowledge is extensive Psalm 147
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He counts the number of stars He gives names to all of them God's knowledge is primary
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He is the pattern for all knowledge it's instantaneous I just got a new computer a church computer my old one was
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I think 94 pounds when it was packed in the bag and now I got a new little 4 pound one and I'm so happy because I have 2 gigabyte
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RAM random access memory so the thing just comes right up God doesn't have random access memory why?
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because there is nothing to access because He knows it all now and that kind of knowledge should make us praise
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God let's get really really practical for a minute if you know God knows everything about you and God has had
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His son die for you and you are a Christian why would you worry about losing your salvation?
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because there is a sin in the future that you committed that God didn't know about because if He didn't know about it
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He wouldn't have ever chosen you friends God's not taken off guard when we sin
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God knew the worst about you He knew the worst about me and He still had His son die for us true?
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He didn't say well you know so far not too bad but if they do anything worse then you know out of the family
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Arthur Pink just with piercing words says the whole of my life stood open to His view from the beginning
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He foresaw my every fall my every sin my every backsliding yet nevertheless
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He fixed His heart on me oh how the realization of this should bow me and wonder and worship before Him of course we shouldn't sin but our sins can't get us out of the family when
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Jesus dies for sins past present and future I love Tozer no tail bearer can inform on us no enemy can make an accusation stick no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some closet to abash us and expose our past no unsuspected weaknesses in our character can come to light to turn
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God away from us since He knew utterly all about us before we knew Him and He called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us
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God knows you perfectly how could He be surprised or amazed when
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He would never learn anything God knew the worst about us and He still saved us let me give you some other things that are practical very down to the shelf, low shelf when you pray, do you inform
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God of what's happening in your life when you pray, is it an informational setting where you're going to let
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God know the latest with you God, I've got a few things to tell you because you don't really know what's going on let me just share with you prayer doesn't inform
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God but prayer certainly deepens our trust confidence in God it helps line up our will to God's will
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He likes to hear what's going on and He likes to hear from us as His children but we're not telling
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God anything that He doesn't already know He already knows things instantly anyway in all causes how else can this doctrine really help me we mentioned it earlier and I'll say it now about the futility of hypocrisy we might as well just play it straight with God because He knows everything about us could the trees of the garden hide the sin of Adam and Eve could the tent that what's his name who stole a bunch of things conceal it who was the man who stole everything and here's how you memorize that by the way his name was
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Achan because he was what Achan to steal something that's right so could that tent hide the things from God no
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Sarah was in her tent laughing derisively but God could see through that I wrote down on my notes the concept of staring sometimes it's good and comforting to know
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God knows all about us but has anybody ever stared at you for a long time I get kind of unnerved when people do that I mean how about if I was just preaching so I'm just preaching this morning and I just preach the whole time and I just look at Mark everything
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I say this morning last week, tonight I just continue to look at Mark when I preach about God and He knows you
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He knows everything about you Mark, God knew what you did this morning He knew what you did before you were saved
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He knows what you're thinking about right now He knows all about you I mean it's just unnerving and here we know
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God sees us that's why I preached before and certainly I am far from the sinless one
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I'm not but when we sin it's as if we just go up into the presence of God and say I'm going to sin in front of you anyway and I don't care that you know this but I'm going to just sin because who cares when
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I think of God staring at us I think of Jeremiah 16 -17 for my eyes are on all their ways they are not hidden from my face nor is there iniquity concealed from my eyes
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I don't want to be a hypocrite knowing the sovereignty of God and knowing
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His omniscience that helps me I think also about God knowing us when
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God knows us it should help us when it comes to people who are lonely God knows all about us and He's still a friend that sticks closer than a brother but lastly if you'll turn to Hebrews chapter 4 as we wrap up tonight there's a
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God who knows all about us but He knows about us in a special way too and that way is how we started the sermon today with Philippians chapter 2 in the
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Incarnation God not only knows from afar God has made His love very obvious for us and He has cloaked
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Himself with humanity and Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity did come 2 ,000 years ago and He did something for us that we could never do for ourselves and He knows us now as even through another human being's eyes certainly when you read the warning passages in Hebrew they are difficult and when we read things like verse 12 we always talk about it as the
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Word of God but it's discussing Christ the Sabbath and people who are being disobedient and then it says for the
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Word of God is living and active in Hebrews 4 .12 and sharper than any two -edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit which is impossible but it still can do of both joints and marrow and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart who could stand up like this?
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verse 13 there is no creature hidden from His sight but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do laid bare sacrificial language do you remember what the sacrificial language is talking about?
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if you are going to kill a lamb how do you kill a lamb? just when it comes over just kind of point your knife here and there and stab at it no, you grab the lamb you can put your leg over the lamb as it were and you take the neck and you spread the neck way out so the jugular vein is exposed that's the word laid bare here before God no creature is hidden from His sight as we have an open and laid bare neck before Him with this
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God what? in verse 13 at the end with whom we have to do if Hebrews ended at the end of verse 13 we are undone but verse 14 starts with a therefore and it's a wonderful therefore and He says to the
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Hebrew readers some saved, some not saved particularly now
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He says we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens
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Jesus, the Son of God let us hold fast our confession we are not going to be like those people talk about in verse 11, these disobedient ones 4 verse 15 we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin here we have a
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God who knows all about us and He also knows not just in the heavenlies as a God who is triune and who sits in the heavens does doing whatever
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He pleases but He also knows us in a close way as a man the
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God -man verse 16 so what does that spur us on to do if there is a God who knows all about us but we have one who is a great high priest, a mediator someone who can sympathize with our weaknesses someone who is tempted but doesn't sin who could be our propitiation verse 16 therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of what?
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you've heard me preach it many times what is the throne room for in the Old Testament? during the
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Bible time it's always the throne of what? forever and always you walk into the throne room of Solomon there's the lions there and the lions on this side and you walk in and sometimes they'd take the prisoner and they'd put a knife underneath the chin and they'd have to look up at the king or sometimes they're not even allowed to look at the king and they'd bring in people like an
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Esther and they had to shame their eyes it's almost like people who get arrested and the police camera comes up and they just have to hide their eyes in the
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Old Testament it is forever and always a throne of what? judgment because in the judgment hall where the king is he gives judgments and here for the first time
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I think in all the Bible I can't find it anywhere else because of what Christ has done it says, so therefore draw near with confidence priestly language of drawing near to the throne of grace and at this grace there are many things to be bestowed so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need
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God not only knows everything but he also knows everything through the eyes of his son who is still to this day the incarnate one
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God's knowledge is not just theoretical it is experiential we have a great high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses my response only is this such knowledge is too wonderful for me it is too high
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I can't attain to it if you like homework before next
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Sunday I challenge you to get the Tozer book and the Pink book which is actually online and read the
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Omniscience of God and remember that God knows everything about you everything and it should affect the way we live well, let's bow in prayer thank you
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Father for tonight thank you that we can come to you as a God who knows everything and you knew about the series you knew about the message you know about our frailties and yet you still love us you knew about our sin and yet you had your son die for us
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Father, you know what's going to happen in the future and we know that there will be grace there you know how we're going to die and we know that you'll be with us when we do
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Father, you know about the trials that will start tonight or tomorrow you knew about John Zook and his trials and Father, you know all these things and in a splendid and wonderful way you cause all these things to work together for our good and that good is conformity to Christ's image we thank you for that Father, would you help us this week to not think about ourselves and our own trials but to think about you and your goodness and your greatness that you know everything you're a
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God that knows everything we praise you for that we thank you for that nothing can catch you off guard when it comes to the political elections coming up in November you know everything only your vote counts when it comes to the nuclear bombs it could be in countries that are in rogue states you know all about that you know about 9 -11 you know about everything and Father, there's something to be said for children that go to their dads and the dads know about all their troubles the dads know about how to comfort the children the dads know so much more than the kids and the kids can receive comfort and so Father, with greater comfort would you comfort us knowing that you're a
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God who knows everything and you've known every trial you've known every mishap you've known everything about us and yet you still are on the throne and you still work these things out in a way that's wonderful Lord, as an addendum as it were
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I pray for our church, Bethlehem Bible Church Father, it is up to you to either grow our church in maturation in numbers or to close us down who knows what you have in store for us but we would ask that you'd have us to be faithful you know us and you're intimately acquainted with our church and we would ask that you'd be pleased to have our church be a beacon of gospel ministry here in New England and that you would have a revival that we might be like Jonathan Edwards saying give us
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New England lest we die and we know you know all about it, Lord and if it would please you and if we would match up to your sovereign will we'd ask that you'd let us do things that people might sit back and not say oh,