GRACE FOR TODAY Radio Message #537
Pastor
Don Fortner
Grace Baptist Church of Danville
2734 Old Stanford Road
Danville,
Kentucky 40422-9438
“So Worship I The God of My Fathers” Acts 24:14-16
The
god of this apostate generation no more resembles the God of the Bible than a
gnat resembles an angel. The puny, pigmy, frustrated god of our earthly fathers
is an idol carved from the trees which grow wild in the dark forests of their
depraved minds. The God of our spiritual fathers, the God of the Bible is
infinitely and indescribably above the gods of man’s imagination.
·
The
God
of the Bible makes his worshippers (Isa. 43:7,14,15, 21); whereas
the worshipers of idols make their gods .
·
The
God of the Bible is known by his self-revelation of the truth in his Word by
the power of his Spirit (Matt. 11:25-27); whereas all the gods of men are known
by teachers of lies, and their character changes from age to age, place to
place, and circumstance to circumstance.
·
The
God of the Bible inspires and causes chosen sinners to worship him (“From me is thy fruit found” Hos. 14:8;
Phil. 2:13); whereas all worshippers of idols inspire and cause themselves to
worship their gods.
·
The
God of the Bible commands his position of sovereign supremacy and universal
dominion by the might of his own power; whereas the breathless idols of men are
manipulated by the hands and wills of men (Hab. 2:18-20).
·
The
God of the Bible performs all his mighty deeds by his own mighty hands, and
commands his worshippers to be still (Ex. 14:13-14); whereas the gods of men
sit still while their worshippers busy themselves with religious commotion.
Do
you see the difference? The God I worship, “the
God of my fathers,” the Lord who is THE
GOD cannot even be compared to the gods of Arminian, freewill, works
religion (Isa. 46:9-11). That God who truly is God has distinct attributes
which set him apart from all the gods of men, four distinct attributes which
specifically set him apart from the imaginary god of this apostate generation.
Sovereignty -Our God truly is God. He
rules all things, everywhere, at all times absolutely. A god who wants or
desires, or wills what he does not have, or what does not come to pass is no
God at all (Isa. 45:7; 46:9-11; Psa. 115:3; 135:6).
Holiness - “Holy and
reverend is his name.” When Isaiah saw the Lord in
his holiness, sitting upon his throne, high and lifted up, when he heard the
seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full
of his glory,” he fell on his face and confessed his sin before the thrice
holy God (Isa. 6:1-8).
Justice - The God of the Bible is, unlike all the gods
of men, just and true. He always deals with all his creatures upon the basis of
strict justice. He will by no means clear the guilty (Ex. 34:7). Yet, this great
sovereign, holy, and just God is infinitely and indescribably…
Gracious. - He says, “I
will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” He found a way to deliver his
chosen from going down to the pit (Job 33:24). That way is the satisfaction of
justice by the substitutionary sacrifice of his own dear Son (Isa. 53:4-6, 8,
9-11; 2 Cor. 5:21).
AMEN.