What Does God Know and When Does He Know It

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Good evening. It's good to be in the house of the Lord tonight and to be able to share in this final service of this Bible conference. and I'm going to break one of the rules of public speaking right off the bat [00:00:33] and that is you should never start a presentation with an apology but I'm going to apologize for something and the apology is that I have not been here throughout the weekend and so when I heard that it was in August I just knew right away that it was going to be tough to be here We were down at the Miami Correctional Institution Friday evening and all day yesterday, and so it's been a busy weekend, and so I trust that you will forgive me for my absence. [00:01:07] It doesn't do very well for the chairman of the FCM not to be at the conference when it's in his home community. But having said that, we do greet you in the name of the Lord And I want to look at this subject this evening, which is a tremendous subject And I'd like for you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Isaiah, the 46th chapter John Wesley said, bring me a worm that can comprehend a man [00:01:39] And then I will show you a man that can comprehend the triune God In other words, what he was saying is that impossible as it is for a worm to comprehend and understand a human being It is that much, in comparison, impossible for finite man to comprehend an almighty God So what man has attempted to do through the years is, since we cannot get up to God's level He's attempted to bring God down to our level [00:02:11] And that can't be done and still have a God Because God by definition is an all-powerful, almighty, omniscient being And Isaiah over and over through this chapter God is contrasting himself through this book God is contrasting himself at various points with the gods of the nations and the idols around them. [00:02:43] I'd like to begin reading at verse 5 through about verse 11. To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me that we may be alike? They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship. They bear it upon the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it standeth from its place, shall it not move? [00:03:17] Yea, one shall cry unto it, yet can it not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves, men. Bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like me. And then I want you to notice how he defends himself as God, in contrast to the idols of the heathen. [00:03:50] He says, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure now when he's when he's contrasting himself with the gods of this world he says that one of my characteristics is that I have declared He has declared to you the end from the beginning and the ancient things that are not yet done. [00:04:23] In other words, he is declaring to them the future because he alone has knowledge of the future. And then he says, my counsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country, yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it. The question was asked a number of years ago, about two years ago, for the 9-11 commission that was investigating the 9-11 tragedy. [00:05:04] The commission wanted to, in my opinion, wanted to try to pin something on President Bush to make him look like he was somewhat responsible or somehow responsible for the 9-11 event. And I remember hearing over and over and over as that commission was going through its procedures, what did he know, the president, and when did he know it? And then they would ask out of various branches of government, what did the Pentagon know and when did they know it? [00:05:34] What did the CIA know and when did they know it? Trying to think that there was somehow some special information that was being withholden from them that was so important in their description of what things happen. Well, we ask the question tonight, what does God know and when does he know it? And the crux of the issue is, what kind of a God do we serve? One who is all-knowing or one who maybe has a kind of a vague sense of the future [00:06:10] but doesn't really know it until you get there and you make some choices and then he can kind of move forward. So in other words, that kind of a God is always learning. He is a God who is in process. In fact, many of the liberals today believe in process, that God is developing. He is learning. He is becoming more and more God-like. That's not the God that we serve. The God that we serve tonight is an omniscient God. And I approach this subject from that belief, that conviction from the Word of God. [00:06:45] What kind of a God do we serve tonight? One who is sitting around with questions about the future? Or one who not only knows the future, but has ordained certain things in the future that he is bringing to pass himself. Do we serve a God who is growing in his understanding? Or do we have a God who the Bible says of Jesus Christ, in him is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Do we have a God tonight who is one who is kind of sitting on pins and needles [00:07:21] to see what kind of choices you're going to make So he knows what the next step would be in this redemptive process for this world? Or do we have a God who is filled with wisdom, whose ways are past finding out, and who is unequaled in his wisdom and knowledge? Let's look at some general verses this evening that would give us some indication of the God that we serve. Psalm 147 verse 5 says, Great is our Lord and of great power. His understanding is infinite. [00:07:55] Now if something is infinite, it means it has no limit. It is complete in itself. And of course this passage of scripture that we just read, I'd like to read you part of it from the ESV, which makes it a little bit more clear. It says, and I will accomplish all my purpose. The real issue before us tonight is, is God in control of this world? [00:08:27] And is he accomplishing his purposes for his universe or is he a victim to the choices that you and I make? Now this message tonight in no way is meant to undercut or diminish the fact that God has given to us free will. God has given to us as His creatures made in His image the ability to make choices and the freedom to make choices. [00:09:01] And one of the primary choices He has given us to make is whether or not we will serve Him, whether or not we will love Him. Whether or not we will cooperate with him in the purposes that he has, not only for the world, but for our lives. But let me tell you tonight, that whether or not you choose to serve God or not, is not going to change the purposes of God. The purposes of God will go forward, the option you have is to be a part of it or not. In fact, I've often described it something like this, and this may be getting off my subject a bit tonight. [00:09:35] but I believe in a, we can look at sovereignty, the sovereignty of God something like this that down here on this earth you have the free moral agents, mankind, that are making their choices that think that they are in charge of their world and in some respects they are but over above that you have another layer of the forces of darkness and how many of you know that the forces of darkness do have some influence on people's choices down here In fact, Jesus said, the night before he went to the cross, he said, this is your hour and the power of darkness. [00:10:16] So independent man, thinking he was acting independently, was actually a pawn of the enemy to crucify Jesus Christ. But how many of you know that that layer was also, had someone controlling it? and that is the sovereignty of God, almighty God whose purposes are just and sure and right and will be accomplished and if you look at the whole, just the crucifixion, you'll find that while man thought he was acting independently [00:10:51] and Satan thought he was manipulating behind the scenes, that over it all was God God using the choices that Satan and man had made to accomplish his redemptive purposes. And so what we have is God moving all of history to a culminating point and having full awareness and full understanding of when and where and how that culmination shall take place. [00:11:23] Not hindering the choices that man is making But all the while moving things in a grand design To accomplish his purposes for this world This very much, the subject tonight, very much overlaps with the sovereignty of God We believe that man has free will And that God does not interfere with that But we also believe that man cannot thwart the plans of God. [00:11:55] So we come to our first part of our question this evening, what does God know? Well, He knows, we could say, everything. He knows everything. Number one, He knows what's going on in His universe. He's fully aware of what's taking place in every part of it. He is not the God of the deist. Deism is a belief that God created the world, spun it into existence or spun it out from himself in whatever way, shape or form and then stepped back from it and allows it to function on its own while he goes about some other business totally uninvolved, totally unconcerned with this world. [00:12:41] That's deism. We do not believe in deism. The Bible does not teach deism. The Bible teaches that God created the world. He put it into motion. Yes, it is governed by many of the natural laws that he instituted, but that he at any time is able to intervene in those natural laws and is fully involved, fully engaged, and fully aware of everything that's happening in his world. The Bible says in Psalm 147 verse 4 He telleth the number of the stars [00:13:12] He calleth them all by their names I'm intrigued every once in a while you hear an advertisement on the radio for a star registry That you can name a star after one of your loved ones and they'll put it in the Folks the stars already have a name, save your money, okay God put the name there He's very much involved in what's happening in his universe. In fact, just read the last several chapters of the book of Job. You find out that God makes a strong case for the finiteness of man and the infiniteness of himself. [00:13:48] He knows the boundary of the sea. He knows the depths of the sea. He knows the gates of death. He knows the breadth of the earth. He knows where light and darkness dwell. He knows where the treasuries of the snow and hail are. He's acquainted with the ways of the wild ox, the hawk, and the eagle, and the wild horse. And he goes right on down the list of all the creation and says, I know all the secrets that there are to know. And Job, you know very few of them. [00:14:22] God, secondly, knows what's going on in nature. Not just out there in the universe, but in nature. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 10 verse 29, Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your father he's aware of even the tiniest sparrows that should be of great comfort to us the omniscience of God is of great comfort to us to know that God knows what I'm going through he knows the details of my life [00:14:54] he knows the number of hair on my head he keeps a running tally he doesn't just take a check up once a month Do the inventory. It's a running tally. Not so much as a hair falls from your head, but God changes the tally. That's how much he knows about us. He knows about all his creatures. Psalm 50 verse 10 and 11. For every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. He knows it all. Everything about the creation. [00:15:31] And while the earth is ordered by natural law, yes we see that, and you can study the earth and you can study the atmosphere and you can make some predictions about weather patterns, well at least they attempt to anyway, he is at liberty at any time to overrule those laws, to suspend them, to redirect them, to fulfill them, it is his world and he knows everything about nature. The third thing is he knows who's going to be born and their calling in life. [00:16:07] You recall what God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah chapter 1. Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. I knew thee. And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. I believe that is not just true of Jeremiah but that is true of everyone who has ever been born God knows our frame, He knows our name, He knows the setting that we'll be born into [00:16:40] He knows the personality that we shall have, He knows the gifts that He will give to us He has the purpose planned out for our lives Now we of course have the option of denying His purposes for our lives and living in rebellion But he even knows that while still giving us the freedom to make that choice He knows those that are seeking him and those who will seek him with their whole heart 2 Chronicles chapter 16 verse 9 says that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth [00:17:14] To show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him Herein thou hast done foolishly, therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars In other words, what he's saying is, I am looking, I am running to and fro, I am observing the hearts of all mankind to see whose hearts are being turned toward me. And then, of course, we know the Bible says that those who will seek him will surely find him if they seek for him with their whole heart. And that leads us to our next point, that God knows what's going on in the heart, in the heart of man. [00:17:48] Way back in Genesis, the Bible says that God saw the wickedness of man, that it was great in the earth. And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. God saw that. He saw that there was nothing good, that society and mankind had sunk to such a level of depravity that there was no other choice but to destroy them in an attempt to start over [00:18:20] and limit their lifespan so that the iniquity would not compound quite as rapidly. 1 Kings chapter 8 verse 39 says, Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways Whose heart thou knowest, for thou even thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men. He is acquainted with our ways. He knows our thoughts. He knows our mind. He knows our hearts. He is intricately involved in searching out. It says that he tries the reins and the hearts. [00:18:58] Jeremiah 17 says, I am the Lord. I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins. Even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings Do you get the impression that God knows quite a bit? Ezekiel chapter 11 verse 5 And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me and said unto me, Speak, thus saith the Lord Thus have you said, O house of Israel, for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them [00:19:29] John chapter 2 Speaking of Jesus, said, And need not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. In Hebrews 4.13, that great passage which shows us, lays us out as an open book before God, says, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do. We cannot hide from God. We cannot fool God. God, He knows what's going on in the heart and He knows our thoughts. [00:20:04] Then He knows what's going to happen in the future. He knows what's going to happen in the future. He knows what will happen in the future with the nations. He prophesied and predicted and spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15, 13, what would happen with his descendants. He said unto Abram, Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs And shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years [00:20:36] He had the details all planned out Now did he actually cause Joseph's brothers to out of their anger and hatred sell their brother into slavery? It was part of his plan We cannot say that he caused it, but he at least knew that it would happen. And at very least knew how Joseph would get down there and used the choices of sinful men to further his purposes. [00:21:11] We know from Daniel that God not only knows about 400 years in advance, but he knows thousands of years in advance. He showed to Daniel the visions of the creatures that represented certain kingdoms. He even revealed to Nebuchadnezzar a certain order of nations that would flow out for several thousand years. [00:21:44] And God knew all of that, revealing it to whomsoever he will, so that men might know that God is not like the idols, but that God is in control. By the way, Daniel's visions are so detailed and so exact that many of the liberals who do not believe in the omniscience and omnipotence and sovereignty of God said there's no way that a man could know that. And so what must happen is that Daniel must have written after the events. [00:22:21] And so they believe, many of them believe in maybe two Daniels, one that wrote early and one that wrote late. They do the same thing with Isaiah or with Isaiah. Isaiah's prophecies are so exact. And I'll go, I'll show you one here in a few minutes. But they are so exact and so detailed, even naming names of men who would not live for 150 to 200 years. And so some of the critics of Isaiah have said, well, there's no way that God could have revealed that [00:22:51] And there's no way that Isaiah could have received that revelation So it must be another Isaiah that wrote later on and wrote as history instead of prophecy If that's what you believe, you have a God who is much too small You have a God who is much too small The Bible tells, God tells us that he knew what Pharaoh's response would be when he would come and deliver his people in response to their cry. Exodus chapter 3, 19, God told Moses, he said, you're going to go down there [00:23:25] and he said, and you're going to tell Pharaoh to let my people go and this will be Pharaoh's response. I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go. No, not by a mighty hand. So God told Moses right up front what Pharaoh's response would be. And then God refreshed that with Moses a little bit later on when he said in chapter 7 verse 4, But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt and bring forth mine armies and my people, the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, by great judgments. [00:24:00] Now there would be some people that would look at that and say that God hardened Pharaoh's heart And that's what the Bible says God hardened his heart So did Pharaoh not have a choice? Was Pharaoh merely a pawn under the hand of a sovereign God? No, Pharaoh had a choice Because the Bible also said that Pharaoh hardened his own heart There was a contest there It seemed to who could harden the heart the hardest Pharaoh hardened his heart and then God hardened his heart Pharaoh hardened his heart some more and really what God did was took what was in Pharaoh's heart and intensified it [00:24:36] And accomplished his purposes through it. I don't understand it. I don't understand how it all works I'm just the worm trying to look up at the man and figure out how who that man is And we're just the man trying to look up to God and saying God teach us about yourself because we don't know otherwise Exodus chapter 11 verse 1 then When the plagues came down and Pharaoh's response, you see in open theism which Brother Paul referred to, God would not have had certain knowledge about Pharaoh's response. [00:25:12] He would have only had just a clue by observation. He would have just had a belief that that would probably be the case that Pharaoh would not let them go. But that's not what God is saying. He says right up front, I know it. And then at the 11th or at the 9th plague after that and the 10th one coming on, then God said, the Lord said unto Moses, yet will I bring one more plague upon Pharaoh. Not going to take two or three or five or ten more. [00:25:45] So I'm going to take one more and upon Egypt and afterwards he will let you go. And when he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether. God knew. He knew. And he knew it in advance. Not just by observation did he have a hunch, but he had certain divine foreknowledge. Foreknowledge. Now, he also knows the return of Christ. The Bible says that God the Father knows the day and the hour. No one else. No one else. Not even the Son at that point. [00:26:23] And we could argue whether or not the son now having been glorified with the father has access to that information. We don't know. That's not for our purposes here tonight. But nevertheless what our purpose is is that God himself knows. That is locked in the mind of God. The day, time, hour, minute, second of the return of his son. Now, God also knows what Christ would suffer and why. He knew that man would sin. [00:26:56] And that's a difficult one for us to figure out. If God knew that man was going to sin, why would he place him in a garden? Why would he even give him the opportunity to sin? Nevertheless, God knew. He knew because the scripture says that the Lord Jesus Christ was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 1 Peter chapter 1 He says that Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world But was manifest in these last times for you [00:27:29] So before Adam was created Before sin was found in the garden Christ was foreordained There was a knowledge in the heart of God and in the mind of God That Christ would be sent into a sinful world to redeem the cosmos for almighty God. Acts chapter 2 verse 23 says of Jesus that he was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. [00:28:01] You have taken him and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. There you have those three tiers. Man thinking he was in control, exercising his free will and he was exercising free will. Satan behind the scenes manipulating, putting in the heart and mind of man how he should deal with Jesus but God in his sovereignty moving those choices to accomplish our redemption not at all surprised by what had taken place in his world [00:28:36] now we've asked the question and I think we've answered it What does God know? But we have one part of this question of this topic tonight yet to discover and that is when does he know it? When does he know it? I believe that he knows all of the things that we're going to talk about in advance. He knows the general things of history. [00:29:08] We've already discussed this a bit. The configuration of the nations throughout history. How that they were to be aligned when Christ came the first time. He knows how they will be aligned when he comes the second time. And he has shared some of that knowledge with us. He knows which nation will be invading which nation. In fact, he even speaks of the nations as putting hooks in their jaws and drawing them into conflicts. to render judgment upon other nations. [00:29:42] He knows that. He knows and knew the intricacies of the Messianic prophecies. He knew the birthplace of his son. He knew the life details. He knew the betrayal. He knew the suffering. He knew the death. He knew the resurrection. In fact, those who have studied this say that there are 300 prophecies that relate to the first coming of Jesus Christ. I have encountered them, but those who have made a study of it say there are around 300. [00:30:19] Statisticians have looked at that and said, what is the probability of those 300 prophecies being fulfilled in one man's life? What is the probability of that? Those who work on statistics said that the probability of all 300 of those prophecies, which by the way were spoken over at least a thousand years, the probability of those happening in one man's lifetime to that one man is 1 to 1 to the 93rd power, or 1 to 1 followed by 93 zeros. [00:30:54] In fact, it's impossible for anybody to know that kind of knowledge unless you're God. And unless you're an omniscient God. Now, so far many people could probably say, yes, we can agree with everything that you're saying. But we're still not sure that God knows the specific choices that people will make. Yes, God knows about the nations. God knows about his son. He orchestrated all of that. [00:31:30] But does God know what I'm going to do tomorrow? Does God know who I'm going to marry? Does God know when I'm going to die? Does God know if I'm going to be faithful to the end? I would say a resounding yes. He knows it all. And this is the crux of the issue right here. Can God know those things and still maintain your freedom to make choices? [00:32:03] And I believe that he can. The way that he has instituted his world and the way that scripture speaks, I believe that he can. Now, I want you to take your Bibles and I want you to look with me at several scriptures. Go back to the Old Testament, 1 Kings chapter 13. What we're talking about right now is does God know the specific choices and the specific details of a person's life before he makes those choices? [00:32:34] Does God's foreknowledge extend that far? 1 Kings chapter 13 tells us of the prophet who came to pronounce judgment on Jeroboam and on the altar at Bethel. You recall Jeroboam had caused Israel to set up an altar in Bethel so that they would not go back down to Jerusalem and therefore threaten his hold upon them and reunite with Judah. [00:33:06] And so he set up the altar at Bethel. And verse 1 of 1 Kings 13 says, And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense, and he cried, and this is the man of God, cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord, behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name. And upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places who burn incense upon thee [00:33:41] And men's bones shall be burned upon thee And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out Now, go to 2 Kings chapter 23 Verse 16 Josiah, born, anointed king, meeting God, and reforming the nation. [00:34:17] And part of that reform, as Josiah rediscovered the altar, or the scrolls, the law of God, and repented, and the nation begins its reforms. In 2 Kings chapter 23 verse 15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, same altar, same place and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin had made both that altar and the high place he broke down and burned the high place [00:34:48] and stamped it small to powder and burned the idol. And as Josiah turned himself he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount and sent and took the bones out of the sepulchers and burned them upon the altar and polluted it according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed who proclaimed those words. How much time had elapsed between the prophecy and the fulfillment? Between 250 and 300 years. [00:35:21] Now did God know the specific choices that a specific king by the name of Josiah, who hadn't even been born yet or conceived, much less named. Did God know the details of that man's choices before he made them? Absolutely. Let's go to the book of Isaiah, chapter 44. You know your Jewish history? [00:35:55] You know that the kingdom of Israel was overtaken by the Assyrians and subsequently the kingdom of Judah was conquered by Babylon. Babylon took them captive and for 70 years God said you will be in captivity at the end of 70 years. I will release you and send you back to the land. That prophecy came through Jeremiah. It was of great comfort to Daniel when he counted the number of years and he came across and he was acquainted with Jeremiah's prophecy and he counted the number of years and he realized we're right on the verge of God moving. [00:36:39] Well, how much of that did God know in advance? And how about the specifics? Well, Isaiah chapter 44, verse 28, the end of the chapter. God is speaking through Isaiah about this captivity and this return to the land of Judah. And he says this, Who saith of Cyrus, verse 28, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the temple thy foundation shall be laid. [00:37:21] chapter 45 verse 1 thus saith the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus whose right hand I have held to subdue nations before him and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him the two leaves gates and the gates shall not be shut I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight I will break the pieces in pieces the gates of bronze and cut in center the bars of iron and we could read on but you get the point God's saying there's going to be I'm going to be a king by the name of Cyrus. He's going to do my bidding, and he's going to issue the decree for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. [00:37:56] Alright? Go to the book of Ezra. And let's look. Did it happen? Did God get it right? Of course he did. Ezra chapter 1 Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia So that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled [00:38:27] The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia That he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom And put it also in writing, saying Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth and hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Cyrus gave the command. He gave the decree. Who is there among you of all his people? Has God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel? [00:39:00] He is the God which is in Jerusalem. Now how long between those two passages of scripture? How long between when Isaiah named him by name and the specific decree that he would make? Between 150 and 200 years between that decree and the actual implementation of it by Cyrus. Does God know the choices that people are going to make? That's the question. [00:39:31] And the answer is yes. 1 Samuel chapter 23, you don't have to turn to it but you recall how that David when he was on the run from Saul Saul was attempted to kill David, David found a haven with the people of Keilah And the people of Keilah embraced David because he delivered them from the Philistines who would come down out of the hills And raid their crops and kidnap their wives and just wreak havoc on that town David came in and he sent the Philistines packing and delivered the people of Key Island [00:40:07] He was a hero for a while But then Saul found out where David was The rumor mill worked even back then And David said, let us go to the Lord and ask the Lord what we should do And David asked the Lord, will Saul pursue me? Now, if God is not omniscient, how would God be able to answer that? Well, David, I'm sorry, but I can't really tell you that because Saul has to make up his own mind. [00:40:38] And when he makes up his mind, I'll let you know. That's not the way that God operated. God simply said, yes, Saul will pursue you. Alright, well, God knew Saul, maybe we could just say that God said the odds are pretty strong But then David asked him, will the people of Keilah offer me up? Or will they protect me? God's saying, well, Saul, or well, David, God didn't say, David, I don't know what they're going to do until they do it [00:41:11] And I'm just kind of sitting back here with kind of bated breath on pins and needles, David Did it just wait to see what to tell you until they actually get the council together and make the decision? Not at all. God said, they shall offer you up. They will. He knew. He knew. Now, did that absolve them of personal responsibility? Was God forcing them to give him up? No, they were exercising their will, but God knew it. His foreknowledge. His omniscience. And I say, well, Brother Todd, that's all well and good, but that's Old Testament. [00:41:47] And those are still things that God could have kind of figured out just by having a general sense of human nature. Well, let's look at one more in Mark chapter 14, verse 30. My friend, God knows. God knows who you are. He knows what you're doing. He knows what you will do. He knows it in advance. [00:42:19] And He knows it down to the intimate, intricate details. Mark chapter 14, verse 30. Jesus confronting Peter Jesus saying unto Peter Verily I say unto thee This day, even this night Before the cock crows twice [00:42:52] Thou shalt deny me thrice Does God know the details of your life? Does he know the details of your choices? Absolutely. He told Peter, Peter be on your guard. Peter, Satan has desired to sift you like wheat. Peter, you're going to fall. But he also knew that Peter would repent. He said, and when you are converted, strengthen your brethren. [00:43:26] Folks, that is not just a general sense of human nature. That is an omniscient God who sees through time and knows the answer. He knows everything about everything and he knows it in advance. I want you to look at a couple more verses in Isaiah because I'm going to make a statement. That you may have to chew on a bit. I've been chewing on it. [00:44:04] But I believe that it is true that if God is not omniscient, he's not much better than the idols. I didn't take that home with me and chew on it. But if God is not omniscient, he's really not much better than the idols of the nations around us. And he makes this case himself. Isaiah chapter 44, verse 7 and 8. [00:44:41] Again, he's contrasting himself as the true God with the false idols and the false gods that the people were worshiping. And one of his, quote, if you pardon the vernacular, one of his claims to fame, one of his claims to being the God of beyond all gods, is his omniscience of the future. Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts [00:45:13] I am the first and I am the last and beside me there is no God And who as I shall call and shall declare it and set in order for me Since I appointed the ancient people And the things that are coming and shall come Let them show unto them Fear not, neither be afraid Have not I told thee from that time and have declared it? Yet are ye even my witnesses? Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God, I know not any. [00:45:47] In other words, what he's talking here is about having the knowledge and sharing with them the knowledge of the future before it happens. As one of the attributes that is missing from the idols. Isaiah 42 verse 9 is another verse, 42 verse 9, behold the former things are come to pass and new things do I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them, I know it's going to happen, I can handle the one to the one, the probability of one to one to the 93rd power, before they happen I [00:46:38] Let me tell them to you. No God of the idols, no idol God can do that. Chapter 48, verse 5. I have even from the beginning declared it to thee, before it came to pass I showed it to thee, lest thou shouldst say mine idol hath done them, and my carved image and my melted image hath commanded them. You see, God again comparing himself to the idols and wanting them to know that the idols are nothing, that he is the true God, and the way to verify that is his omniscience. [00:47:17] Before it happens, I'll tell you the day, the time, the place, the person, the name, the number of cock crows, and the number of denials. He knows it all. As the transcendent God, we need to change our view of God. He is the transcendent God who looks at history and at time different than we look at it. [00:47:51] We look at time as being flat. Starts here, ends here. We weren't here and we won't be. Well, we might be here, but we don't know for sure where we are in this thing. But, you know, we really can't understand anything until it happens. God being transcendent and timeless knows the end from the beginning because from His vantage point He sees it all. He sees it as already accomplished. We can't grasp that. [00:48:22] Again, we're the worm trying to look up and figure out the man. We're the man trying to look up and figure out the God. Let me let you know that if you could figure out God, you would be God and you wouldn't need Him. The transcendent God, He does not have to wait for us to make our decisions, but rather as the God of eternity has already seen us make them. Figure that out. Without interfering with our freedom to make those choices. [00:48:53] This brings us, and you're probably wondering when I was going to get there and conclude this subject tonight and this conference. Psalm 139 ties all of these concepts together. O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising [00:49:28] Thou understandest my thought afar off What does that phrase afar off mean? Does that mean that God is way out there And he's looking through binoculars And he's figuring us out Like the man one day who, a man by the name of an astronomer by the name of Mitchell He was observing the setting sun through a large telescope And gradually as the sun set he fixed upon a mountain not too far about seven miles away [00:50:03] Where he saw some boys stealing apples Is that what this means? Now understand this my thought Far off by distance? God isn't distant from us The Bible says in him we live and move and have our being. So this does not refer to distance. It refers to time. He understands our thoughts a long time before we think them. That's what he means by afar off. [00:50:39] Long time before you ever have a thought, God knows you're going to have the thought. Because he knows what's in your heart. He knows what's in your mind. He's omniscient. 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, Lord, thou knowest it all together Before it even gets from the thought to the expression God knows the word [00:51:11] He knows the words Before they're formed as words Thou hast beset me behind and before And laid thine hand upon me What is the behind and before me? Could that have reference that God's hand is upon us out there and back here before we get there and after we've been there? Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain to it. [00:51:46] And this omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, holy, loving God Caused David to just lay himself out before God And say, God, there's only one response to that kind of a God And that is to search me And know my heart, try me and know my thoughts I give you permission to go down there where you're already at and reveal the wicked way in my life. [00:52:22] God knows the heart. He knows the universe and nature. Verses 8 and 9. He talks about going up into heaven, making a bed in hell. He talks about the wings of the morning, taking those of the morning and dwelling in the uttermost parts of the sea. Even there thy hand would be. Verse 15 and 16. He knows who would be born. He knows when they would be born and their place in life. He knows the future, the wings of the morning. He's already there. When you get there, He's been there. [00:52:55] When you get to the end of your life, He's already there. When you get to eternity, He's there too. Well, what does God know? Everything. Everything about everything about everything about you And when does he know it? Long time before you ever figured it out And I find great comfort in that [00:53:29] I tell you I'm not comforted by a God who is still learning Not comforted with that at all We got enough people like that I'm not comforted by a God who's still developing. I'm not comforted by a God who has to have contingency plans based on the disaster and the way people respond to it. But I am comforted by a God who knows all, is everywhere present, is all powerful, and who loves me. [00:54:05] I'm comforted by that, and I hope that you are too. Heavenly Father, we would know nothing much about you had you not put a revelation of yourself in a book and given us that book so that we might know things that only you could tell us. Lord, we would be so handicapped if all we had was nature. [00:54:37] And you've said that there are some things we can learn about you through nature, but not much. We can know that you are, and we can know that you're powerful. We would never know about your love. We would never know the plan of salvation. We would never know that you care for us through nature. But we know it through the book. And Lord, we would just thank you that you have shared with us certain pieces, yet just very small bits of information that we can respond to. [00:55:14] And we as finite creatures tonight confess, Lord, that we don't know much. We don't know much about the world. We don't know much about you. But what we do know, Lord, we believe. And I pray, Father, that you'll not allow people to be swayed from their faith by people who have tried to analyze and through human reasoning tried to figure out God. Don't let us be influenced by those people, Father. Place a hedge of protection around our churches and around our families and around our faith [00:55:49] so that we might truly just trust you that what you've told us about yourself needs no explanation. It only needs faith. We thank you for this Bible conference. Thank you for each one who has shared. We thank you for this host congregation. May you lead them into years of fruitful, faithful service until Jesus comes again. In his name, amen. God bless you