Who Is the Lord?

This is a sermon that uses various Scripture texts to emphasize why it is so important to know God in a personal relationship and to correct some of the common misconceptions some people have concerning God. A video recording of the worship service in which this sermon was presented can be viewed by clicking here.

Written Excerpts:

Exodus 5:2 ^(NKJV) And Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go."

Introduction:

The title of my message today is a phrase that appears in Ex. 5:2. Moses and Aaron had gone to Pharaoh as directed by the Lord and requested he let the Israelites travel “into the desert” to worship the Lord. Pharaoh responds to the request that he views as absolutely ridiculous by asking, “Who is the Lord…?” As the ruler over a land in which multiple pagan deities were acknowledged and worshiped, Pharaoh wonders, “Who is this god that requires his subjects to travel out into the wilderness to perform sacrifice? He then replies, “I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”

My message today is not specifically about the miraculous story of deliverance that this text is leading up to, but I want to use this phrase to introduce a message about the identity of the Lord who had sent Moses to Pharaoh.

The question, “Who is the Lord?” is a question that many people have asked in their own hearts and minds. There are other people who should be asking this question because they seriously need to re-examine their own concepts of God and bring them into agreement with the Scriptures.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, I would like to speak to you, first of all, about why it is so important to know God as He really is, then I want to illustrate some misconceptions people have about God by using biblical stories/examples. These examples are not out of date or irrelevant, because they truly represent the kinds of attitudes people still demonstrate these days.

I.          Why should I know who God really is?

If you were attending this church about 11 years ago and have a good memory, then some of these things will sound familiar to you, because I shared some of these thoughts at the beginning of a sermon series I preached on “Proper Concepts of God.”

Who is the Lord anyway? Obviously, we cannot address this question as it should be without repeating the entire series I shared before, and then some. But the sad fact of the matter is many people professing to know God and have trusted in Christ for salvation, still do not have a working biblical knowledge of God as revealed in Scripture.

Is that so bad? Why is it so important to know who God really is? Here are some answers that others have offered:

A. The knowledge of God is at once humbling, stretching, and consoling to my heart, my spirit, and my life.

Charles Spurgeon wrote a rather lengthy introduction to one of his sermons that was quoted in the book, Knowing God by J. I. Packer.

Listen closely to this quote from Spurgeon.

…“There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity…. No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God…

“But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He, who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe… The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnifies the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.

“And, whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a [comfort] for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a [salve] for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the [the knowledge of God]; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout [seeker] musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you this morning….”

Avoiding any deep study and meditation about God guarantees that I will remain an intellectual and spiritual “midget.” But more than that, knowing God and seeking to know Him better will have an immense effect in every sphere of my life.

B. The knowledge of God will help me avoid errors of faith and practice.

A former Christian Missionary Alliance theologian, A. W. Tozer, stated, “There is scarcely an error in doctrine or… ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and [dishonorable] thoughts about God.” He also said this, “No people has ever risen above its religion, and… no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God.”

Pagan cultures were filled with detestable practices, which could be traced to the kinds of deities they worship who were virtually no higher or better than they. In many cases, the deities were even more vile and more sensual and more violent. Here in our nation, our morals and ethical behaviors have consistently eroded and decayed in direct proportion to our national acceptance of a flawed and debased concept of God. Our society has become a people who flaunt some of the most immoral lifestyles and believe that God approves and condones anything and everything that we have decided is right.

There was a time when people knew and understood the differences between vice and virtue. Even those who were not living virtuously knew they weren’t and when confronted, readily admitted their behavior was wrong. But today, by mere human edict, we have turned vices into virtues, claiming the approval of God, all the while condemning those who insist on biblical distinctions between right and wrong.

C. A God I do not know cannot be trusted, served, nor worshiped.

A theologian from many decades ago by the name of Arthur Pink made the statement I just shared. If I could apply his assertion to modern human relations, I could compare it to this:

Let’s say I introduce you to a complete stranger and then immediately ask you to cash in all of your retirement savings and let him invest it for you a better return. Would you want to do that? Or what if I introduce you to a total stranger and then immediately ask you to commit the next 5 years of your life working for that person. OK? Or maybe I describe the most magnificent musician you will ever hear and then I ask you to write a detailed report extolling the praises of the performer you have never met or heard.

In all of these hypothetical situations you immediately detect the absurdity of it all. How could any person ever trust, serve or worship someone they have just casually met? Yet, in the spiritual realm, people making their way to church buildings and worship services everywhere attempting to worship a God they barely know. Is it any wonder that so many other pursuits are far more appealing than gathering for worship?

II.        What are some misconceptions about God we see in Scripture?

A. Some have thought that God was no different than humans.

This goes along with what I mentioned earlier – social ethics and morals in pagan cultures were so morally depraved because that was their perception of their gods. A verse I have shared numerous times in the past specifically points out this truth. After giving a whole list of sins that were described in the preceding verses, God says,

Psalm 50:21 (NASB) These things you have done and I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

There are plenty of examples we could give from our society how many people assume that God is okay with our sins because they don’t really bother us anymore. We have gotten so accustomed to immorality around us that we have collectively begun to think that God approves of it all too. As a result, it is very common now days for people to talk as if everyone goes to heaven when they die. It doesn’t seem to matter if they have been living in regular drunkenness, fornication, adultery, sodomy… you fill in the blanks.

B. Some thought God was confined to certain spaces.

Read 1 Kings 20:23-28.

2 Kings 18 - Sennacherib king of Assyria boasts about how he will destroy the Jews, and claims that the gods of other nations (or lands) were not able to deliver their people from his army, so neither will Israel’s God. His boast implies a belief that each country or nation had gods that were primarily responsible for protecting that region.

Sometimes people today talk and act as if God is only present in some places and not in other places. I have heard people who seem to indicate there are things they wouldn’t say in God’s house or in the presence of a preacher, but they don’t have a problem saying it elsewhere. I’m not implying we should bring our standards for God’s house down to match the rest of our lives. No, we should bring the standards in our everyday lives up to match what’s appropriate for the house of God!

III. What kind of God do we want?

If we look at the history of Israel and Judah, we find that they repeatedly abandoned the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They would serve the Lord for a period of time, usually when there was a strong godly leader in power, then they would start setting up idols and sacrificing to the pagan gods of the nations around them. Why? Maybe they never completely got away from what they learned in Egypt. Maybe there was something appealing about the idea that the gods could be controlled. (Oswalt) Gods were part of the cosmos, so if you needed certain benefits, you manipulated (by appeasement) the god that was connected to that part of your world.

Far too often, the problem in the American church and society today is this: We want a God we can control and manipulate. (Pray the right prayer, give a big enough offering, attend enough church services, etc., then God is obligated to provide what we want/need.) We want a God who will respond to our cries for help and rescue us from the consequences of our bad/sinful choices (Thank God, sometimes He does do that, but often He doesn’t.) We want a God who will deliver us from the pain of abuse, the grief of losing a loved one, or some other trauma we have experienced. (And He often does ease our pain, but many times He gradually heals us as we learn to trust Him.)

But God created us to love Him and trust Him and worship Him with no strings attached – just because He is worthy. He made us for a relationship built on love, trust, and loyalty.

Conclusion:

Knowing God requires an honest, diligent search in the Scriptures for they reveal His nature. But study alone will not bring about a true knowledge of God. Yes, there will be a greater intellectual understanding and knowledge about God, but you still won’t really know Him. To really know God requires a genuine relationship with Him and that can only be found through Jesus Christ.

When we confess and abandon our past and present sins, seek His forgiveness and grace, then love Him with all our heart, it will start us in a relationship that has the potential to grow and expand for the rest of our lives. It truly is possible to love Jesus more than we may think. He makes the difference!

Closing song: Oh, How I Love Jesus