The Essence of God, No. 2

RV84-01

© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1993)

We are in Revelation 4:6-11, studying the worship in the throne room of God. This is segment number nine. Revelation 4:8 describes a scene which John observes in heaven. God's throne is surrounded by four living creatures (cherub type angels) – each of them pronouncing together 24-hours-a-day, an expression of divine praise in the words "Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God Almighty, Who was; and is; and is to come."

This is a very simple expression, but it has enormous significance. It refers to the holiness of God; it refers to the deity of God; it refers to the Creator capacity of God; it refers to the fact that God is all powerful; and, it refers to the eternity of God. When you put all that together, you come out with a very distinctive kind of God – a God who is a personal living Creator God, and Whom the Bible describes in very specific details, attributing very specific attributes such as belong to a person. There are in the world today two powerful wills which dominate all human thinking and actions. That's what we're talking about. There are two powerful wills dominating all human action and all human thinking.

Satan

The first of these is, of course, Satan. Satan is a powerful will in the universe. Satan, as such, has a line of thought that he is teaching mankind. What Satan teaches, he teaches to all his agencies. Very often, we will study what cult groups believe. So, we come over here, and we say, "Here is what the Jehovah's Witnesses believe. Here's what Mormonism believes. Here's what Transcendental Meditation believes. And here's what the religions of the world believe." We do it piece-by-piece. What we are trying to do in this series now, while we will get to some of the details of that nature later, is, first of all, to teach you what the Bible refers to as "the doctrine of demons." If you get what this mastermind teaches, then you will discover an amazing thing. All of the various religious expressions, in one way or another, basically teach the same thing. They are variants to appeal to different types of personality. Then, suddenly, you realize that you're dealing with one mastermind behind these doctrines – one powerful will.

What Satan teaches is a big lie in order to countermand what has been stated here in Revelation 4:8, as well as other places of the Bible – namely, that there is a personal Holy Creator God. The big lie of Satan is that there is no such personal Holy Creator God. Instead, Satan teaches man that God is a single universal mind of which all creation is but an expression. There is a single universal mind. It's not a person. It is just a force – a powerful, universal mind that exists, and all of creation (all of life and all of nature) is part of that universal mind. All creation is an expression of it. Consequently, you don't have a Creator who has created something separate from Himself. Creator and creation are now one.

Pantheism

The usual word for that is pantheism. Man himself, thus, is part of God along with nature. All share the same divine essence. Man and nature are all one. They are part of the universal mind, which is a universal life force. So, man himself is part of God because he's part of that universal life force. This is subtle, and sometimes perhaps you have to stop and think about that a little bit to grasp it. But that is a very critical point of modern man's thinking. As you go along, you probably are going to be startled as you realize that there are little pieces of this that have filtered into your thinking. You don't realize that this is what you think.

I would suggest, as we go through this series, you're going to find some things that are going to be undoubtedly hard to believe, particularly when we get to psychiatry, and we start laying out the fact that psychiatry is one of the greatest witch-doctor, voodoo systems that the human race has ever come up with. It is one of the greatest frauds. I'll put it up front, so you can vibrate for a few weeks – those of you who are sympathetic to the psychiatric system. The fraudulency of this is coming down even to the common man because of the Hinckley trial. Suddenly, you see the whole ludicrousness of human beings who can have the audacity to claim that they have the omniscience to be able to look back in a point of time, and declare to us what the state of a human mind was at the performance of a certain act. It is just too unbelievable that anybody would have the gall to do that, particularly when you sit there, and you watch in the same courtroom, the same officials (so-called professionals), all giving you contradictory results.

However, there is a reason for that. It goes back to Mr. Freud, who himself was involved with these same satanic concepts that we are talking about. Psychiatry was the consequence of the concept that there is no personal God; there is a universal mind; there is a universal life; there is universal force; and, when mankind understands that, and the powers that reside within him, he will then come to a balanced mentality. But when he thinks that there is a personal Holy God to whom he is accountable for right and wrong, then his mind is all out of kilter. Then he is thinking in an aberration. Then he is mentally disordered. That's why psychiatry, from the time of Freud, hates biblical Christianity with a vengeance, because it sees that as man's basic problem.

I told you about the little boy that we had in summer camp whose father had been sending him to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist talked to the boy, and said to the father, "The trouble with this kid is that he thinks that there's a creature that exists like the devil." So, the father paid huge sums of money to clear this boy's mind of the fact that there really was a personality; a living creature; and, a living being who can think and move, called the devil – that there was actually a person like that. Immediately, psychiatry goes after the fact that there cannot be these personal forces. So, finally, the boy was cleared. He no longer believed that there was a devil. Unfortunately, he came to summer camp and demonstrated to all of us that there was, by the way he acted, and, consequently, the way we had to deal with him. But in any case, do not take this lightly. There is a powerful will in the universe: Satan. And he is a mastermind who has created a line of thinking to oppose God. That line of thinking to oppose God is what we are going to try to differentiate for you in this particular series.

A Universal Mind

So, Satan teaches a universal mind. All creation is part of it, and man is part of it. So, therefore man himself is God. Man has the same divine essence. Satan tells people that the problem is that they have lost their awareness of their own deity, and they need to achieve self-consciousness in order to realize their true self – to realize what they are as gods.

The Spirit World

This pantheistic deity of Satan expresses itself in powerful, mystical forces which pervade the universe. This is a force which is more powerful than atomic energy, and which can be activated by those who know its secrets. There is such a force. We're talking about the angelic warfare now. There is such a powerful force, and it is a greater than atomic energy. It is the force of the spirit world. It is the force of the demonic world. Indeed, that force can be harnessed by human beings to be used by them if they know how to do it. Those who learn to control the force are gods, in effect – having superior power of witchcraft over an advanced stage of technology. That's what Star Wars was all about. It wasn't just how the future is going to be. It wasn't just space adventures. Throughout the movie, if you have a chance to see it again, watch it with this frame of reference – that it is a demonstration of the power of the force of witchcraft over advanced technology. Of course, the force that is out there which is being dealt with is the force of Satan and the demonic world.

The secret weapon of the two master magicians in the Star Wars movies was this force, which is God. That's how Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi were in conflict with one another. They both were tied into the force, and they were both opposing one another with the same force. That was the secret weapon. It was the power of what is called "the old religion." Of course, it was used for both good and evil. One of them was using it for evil, and one of them was using it for good. But one could not be condemned over the other. If it was a universal life power (a universal force), then it's all the same. There is no good, and there is no bad.

This force is a universal mind, in effect. Therefore, it knows everything, and it controls everything. I hope by now you've caught that there's a connection between the cult and the occult. The cults are into the occult, and the occult is a powerful force. And the force of Satan today, as it's expressed through Eastern mysticism, is the same occult force that has come down from ancient times, and which is another variation of what began in the counterfeit religion of Nimrod – that God is not personal; God is not holy; and, God is not a creator, but there is a powerful force that has always existed out there, and all of the world and all of life is an expression of that force. It is part of it. If you know how to tap into that force, then you are able to express your deity, because you have all of this knowledge at your command.

That's why the college student is told: "Clear your mind. Tie into the universal mind, and then you will have access to knowledge and powers like you wouldn't believe." The trouble is that, as Christians, we have dismissed that. The truth of the matter is that it is real. And that's the first thing we must understand if we are to deal with modern man. This is real, and this is being increasingly promoted and accepted by the American conscience. This all began in the 1960s with the youth culture revolution which moved off to drugs. Satan has tied it into the "old religion," and the concept of this universal mind.

So, Satan's message is to look for psychic miracles and Eastern mysticism for ultimate salvation. If you want to be saved in the satanic system, look for these powerful psychic miracles, and look to the Eastern mysticism practices for your salvation. Since man is God, all that he does is an expression of deity, you can't divide it into good and evil. It is just two sides of the same force, so nothing can be rejected as sin. Man, therefore, is not sinful, but rather he's evolving by stages, through reincarnation, into the consciousness of his deity. There are seven stages, generally, that are listed out there in the occult world, that man is rising through, until he finally comes to cosmic consciousness, and he realizes his own personal deity.

Since man is God, that also tells something else. Satan says, "If you understand that you are God; that you are part of this universal mind; and, that you are part of this force of life, then you must realize that all truth lies within you. Therefore, when you want to know what's true, look inside yourself."

The rock music culture has frequently, in its lyrics, promoted that very thing. The lyrics of rock music have been devoted to the promotion of Eastern mysticism and this whole concept of the universal mind, and of the universal force.

Satan tells us, therefore, to view truth as something that is subjective. Look within yourself. Everyone is part of the universal mind. Therefore, you potentially know everything, and you can do everything if you tune into the force. So, the Bible itself, as an objective source of truth, is rejected as being misleading. Reality is evidenced, furthermore, by one's personal experience, and how one feels about things. Then you say, "The truth is in me. I look within myself to find what is true."

Mormonism

Mormonism is an example of what I mean – that the cults all have a common ground of truth. The prime argument of the Mormon to you, as to the reality and the truth of Mormonism, is to look within yourself – to ask God, and to look into your own heart. That idea is repeated again and again. If you ever take a tour in Salt Lake City, you will inevitably have that brought to you as the prime basis for you to find truth. What are they saying? They're giving you the devil's lie about the fact that truth is subjective – the fact that their gods would not distress a Mormon. That's what he's after. He views the fact that ultimately he is going to be a god. He views the fact that someday he will have a goddess who becomes the mother through sexual relations out in another planet where he will create spirit children, and create his own world, and go through the whole system all over again. This is what Mormons are after, because he has accepted Satan's view that he is God. Deity is part of him. It comes in a variety of ways. But basically, the bottom line of every doctrine is the same.

So, man is to look for his own experiences. What you feel about things is what's going to tell you what is true or not – not on some objective, external standard. Man is led to believe, therefore, that he is sovereign in creation, and that all he desires can be indulged, and all that he desires can be accomplished, because he is God. He has the force, if he is tied into it. Therefore, he can do his own thing.

The power of the universal life force is expressed in psychic experiences, and that's the work of demons. This is what Uri Geller is doing on a large scale. He is demonstrating amazing psychic experiences, and he is impressing people that there is indeed a power out there that man can be tied into. The Eastern meditation techniques, and the psychedelic drugs, lead one into communication with demons and their doctrines, which 1 Timothy 4:1 refers to as the doctrine of demons.

God's Will

Now the other will that is in the universe is, of course, God. Therefore, there is the other mind. Satan has a mastermind, and God has a mastermind. It's important to reduce everything to these two basic lines. God's will, totally opposed to Satan, reveals Himself to man as a personal Holy Creator who is separate from His creation. Man, instead of being presented as deity, is presented as a finite creature whom God made. Since God is holy, there is a difference between absolute good and absolute evil. God is not the author of evil. And there is a difference between holiness and unholiness. Truth, God tells us, is something which is objective. It comes to us as a revelation from God, and it's recorded in an inerrant Scripture, which gives us an objective standard by which to compare ourselves. Thus, reality is not found in one's personal experiences, nor is determined by how one feels about things. God is the sovereign authority in the universe – not man. Therefore, it is God who makes the rules as per His own essence. Man's eternal destiny is determined by His relationship to Jesus Christ as Savior. There is no second chance after death. There is no progression upward. Hebrews 9:27 makes it very clear that: "It is appointed unto man once to die, and then face judgment."

These are world views. They are cosmologies. Both of these originate in a mastermind. God's mastermind plan is expressed in Judeo-Christianity. Satan's mastermind plan is expressed in Hinduism. All other religious systems fall under one of these two. The basic world views that Satan and God present are found, in one way or another, in all of the religious systems that are below them. A single mind is behind each world view in its individual expressions.

Satan is gaining acceptance for his lie about the nature of God and the destiny of man through occultism – the practice of contact with the spirit world. Modern science increasingly believes that there is a powerful, nonphysical dimension beyond the material universe. Originally, in ancient times, the priests were the scientists, and they used to deal in the occult. And science and the occult were closely tied together. Science, under the priesthood, was a powerful, impressive force in ancient paganism. Then in modern times, following the Renaissance, the Word of God was restored. When the Word of God was restored in the Renaissance, the basic principle evolved on the basis of Scripture that A is not B; that things are different; that there is a differentiation; and, that there is a powerful God who controls natural forces. So, there are natural laws. The universe operates on a systematic basis which is controlled by laws which this God has created.

Modern Science

Consequently, modern science was born. Until the era of the Reformation, modern science was not possible, because it was allied with the priests; with the occult; and, with the magic. Then science would have nothing to do with anything that was non-material. It would have nothing to do with anything that was conceived as of having to do with a spiritual realm. That is no longer the case. Today, in the laboratories of our country, and around the world, experiments are being conducted, under scientific conditions, which are demonstrating the same realities that the witch doctor has demonstrated around his jungle fires. Science is now looking to the occult to try to find the spiritual dimension that lies beyond the material world.

So, we can have an astronaut who goes to the moon; who has an occult experience; and, who has a mind-expanded consciousness experience on the moon, because he is into this, and because he is seeking to verify that these forces do exist. For example, these powers include mental telepathy – the power of moving objects simply by the powers of one's mind. All of these things are being revealed now as being realities beyond the physical dimension, and science is coming back to its original relationship to the religious system. It is turning back to religion to explore the supernatural realm of psychic phenomena.

So, it's realizing there is such a thing as ESP; there is such a thing as UFOs; and, there is such a thing as levitation – the capacity of the human mind to pick up something like this pulpit and make it float across the room. There are people, human beings just like yourself, who could walk right in here and do that. The astral projection is at the heart of the Hindu worship system. When the Hindu sits in his lotus position, and he is doing his meditation, he enters the psychedelic world just like the person who is on psychedelic drugs, and he is experiencing astral projection. His body is here, but his soul has moved off into outer space, and into communication with demonic beings. He moves among them, and he talks to them, and he hears them, and he learns from them, and he asks them questions. There is such a thing as precognition, telepathy, and clairvoyance – knowing what's going to come in the future.

So, what was once paranormal powers of witchcraft and séances is now being demonstrated in the laboratories of science. Science is coming back to its original witchcraft relationship. And the union of science with Eastern mysticism is, of course, preparing the world for the false God, the antichrist. This is how the antichrist is going to perform his miracles. This is what's going to make the antichrist great and impressive, because the antichrist is going to be the par excellent manipulator of the occult. He is going to be the supreme practitioner of the powers of the force of Eastern mysticism.

Therefore, Satan today is promising bliss, relaxation, peace, and realizing one's full potential through tapping into the secret godlike powers that a human being has by means of yoga, meditation, mantra repetitions, tarot cards, self-hypnosis, astrology, Ouija boards, psychedelic drugs, and many other things. These are mind sciences which declare that man has the power to control it all. Therefore, there is no sickness, and there is no reality of death. These are all illusions, and there is no judgment of a holy personal God on sin. All of this is the consequence of negative thinking. It's a consequence of failing to tap into the powers of deity which lie latent in man's subconscious mind. Human consciousness can will and create its own universe. That's the concept. And there are a variety of self-help techniques. Here is one place that sometimes we as Christians get involved in this same concept of the devil – that we have the power, by self-help, to bring things about. If you are really God, and if you are tapped into the force, what is there that you want, that you can't get by using a technique?

Maybe you don't think you're good looking. So, you go to a weekend clinic. You go to a little campout where they sing some inspirational songs, and then they give you talks on how to think yourself more beautiful. So, you stand up in front of your mirror in the morning, and you say, "Hello, good-looking. You are really a beauty." So, you think yourself beautiful. Suddenly, you walk around and people say, "Boy, you sure are getting good-looking." Or you think yourself successful: "Hello moneymaker. Have a good day." And you think of yourself as making money. You're successful. You don't fail. We call that "psyching ourselves." You think that that's just a little cute word we use: "psyching ourselves." Oh, it's more than that.

You might say "I want to shape up my body. So, you look in the mirror, and you see this dumpy thing, and you say, "Hi, beautiful body, shaped-up Mr. America. Let's see it there." And you work the muscles, and pretty soon you think of yourself as really somebody that's mighty powerful and wonderful looking. You're psyching yourself."

Look in your newspapers. There all kinds of self-hypnosis books you can send for. There are all kinds of literature you can send for. There are all kinds of study groups you can go to, in which the mind is presented to you as having the power to bring about anything that you want, including some marriage partner. I've seen them where they give the descriptions: "Here is this girl. You get in the same room with her, and you look at her, and you project your thoughts into her mind. You project so that she just can't wait to have you to be nice to her." That is this whole concept of the power of the mind that can move other people. We laugh at it, but don't kid yourself. If you get tied into the force, and if you get tied into this world of reality that is out there that Satan manipulates, then these things do come about – self-help techniques.

Miracles

Consequently, the biblical miracles are viewed as mere natural events of those with the right state of consciousness. The liberal does not simply dismiss the miracles as a figment of the imagination now. They used to do that. Now they say, "Oh, yes, Jesus did those things, but Jesus did those things because he was a psychic who had achieved a higher state of consciousness. He had tied into the force, and he had all those mysterious powers of the human mind so that He could perform those miracles. His mind could bring those things about, and this same mind exists in all of us. It merely waits our being enlightened enough to use it." The God of the Bible, consequently, is nonexistent. Christianity is an outmoded mythology. Religion turns to science to eliminate the mysteriousness of the miraculous, and to escape an accounting to a personal God.

Positive Thinking

There are a variety of expressions for this deception of mind techniques. One expression is positive thinking. Another, in Christian circles, is possibility thinking. In the charismatic circle, it is called "claiming your healing." There is the system in Christian psychology of visualizing oneself in a variety of roles that you would like to achieve, and so on. This is all presented as ways to get God to answer prayer.

So, what have you done to God? Christians do not realize that when they do these things, they have reduced God to a cause-and-effect God. They have reduced God to a force. They have reduced God to an impersonal thing that they can manipulate at their own sovereign control. But God does not respond to magical powers of the mind or the magical powers of rituals, but to His own sovereign will. He deals with sinners in grace based upon the death of Christ, and He deals on the basis of His own essence. There is no secret little technique to get God to do what you want him to do – to get God to give you what you want.

The Essence of God

So, it's important to have a clear idea of the biblical revelation about God – that God is one. He is three Persons who have an identical essence. This essence, we have seen is, first of all, that this God is a God who is sovereign. That means he is the Supreme King. For example, in 2 Chronicles 20:6, we read, "And said, 'O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in Heaven? And don't You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? And in Your hand isn't there power and might so that none is able to withstand You?" God is sovereign.

We have seen that God is righteousness. He is not just relative righteousness with man, but absolute righteousness. We've seen that God is justice. He is perfect justice. He is absolutely fair. The qualities of God's righteousness and justice constitute His Holiness. We have seen that God is love, and we have seen that God is eternal life – life without beginning, life without ending.

God is Omniscient

Now we will continue to look at the basic concepts of God. This is important. We're going to look at a lot of Scripture. You may want to turn to those Scriptures so that you can read them, or maybe you just want to follow along with us. This is number six in the series of the fact that God is omniscient. That means that God knows everything. God has all knowledge. In Colossians 2:3, we read, "In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Omniscient means that God knows everything that was, or is, or ever will be. There is nothing that God has not known. God knows everything, and has always known everything. You must grasp that concept of omniscience.

Election

Otherwise, when you get to election, you might say, "Well, election means that God looked down the corridors of time. He saw that Joe Blow there was going to accept the gospel. So, God said, "He's elect." However, if that's how God discovered that Joe Blow was going to be born again, then that means that God discovered something. God learned something by looking down the corridors of time. No, God already knew, because He always knows what is, and it is God's sovereign elective choice on Joe Blow that has brought him to accept Christ.

So, there are a variety of Scriptures that establish to us that we have a God that knows everything – not a force, but a personal living being. Job 31:4 says, "Doesn't He see my ways and count all my steps?"

Job 34:21: "For His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He sees all his goings."

In the book of Psalm, the same principle is reiterated in Psalm 147:5: "Great is our Lord and of great power. His understanding is infinite. There is no limit.

Proverbs 15:3: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good."

Hebrews 4:13: "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight. But all things are naked and opened up to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."

1 John 3:20 says, "For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things."

It is this picture of God that Satan is trying to counterfeit. It is this picture of God that Satan is trying to produce in his universal mind concept.

God Reads our Minds

The Bible tells us, furthermore, that God reads our minds. 2 Timothy 2:19: "Nevertheless, the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal. The Lord knows them that are His, and let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." There are many people who associate with Christians who pretend to be believers who are not. Since God knows the minds of men, God knows those who are real and those who are not. And God knows everything else that we think. He is party to all of our mental practices.

Romans 8:28 tells us: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them, who are the called according to His purpose." God's omniscience is used to work everything for our good. He knows it all. Therefore, He puts it together for our blessing.

1 Corinthians 2:16 says, "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ." That is an amazing statement. We Christians are not like Satan says – tied into a universal mind. But we Christians, through the Word of God, indeed are tied into the mind of God. We have the mind of Christ.

Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joint and marrow, and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." The Word of God gives us the discernment of the mind of God.

Then in 1 Corinthians 2:9-12, we have that great passage that says, "But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His spirit, for the Spirit searches all things; yea, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of man except the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, no man knows the things of God but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." So, we are given the benefits of God's omniscience.

2 Timothy 2:15: "Study to show thyself approved onto God, a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. So, the study of the doctrines of Scripture introduces us to the omniscience of God. That is a fantastic thing.

You can see how Satan has looked at this quality; this part of the essence of God; and, this characteristic of God, and he says, "I've got to counterfeit it." So, he created this concept of the universal mind, which is available to all men because they're all part of God. They are given the illusion that they are tied into a powerful truth, and that truth is instead Satan's lie. But there is the source of omniscience to the believer.

God is Omnipresent

Another characteristic of God is omnipresence. God is omnipresent. That means that God is everywhere at the same time. In Genesis 28:15, this concept is alluded to: "And behold, I am with you. I will keep you in all places to which you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you until I have done that which I have spoken of you." This was God's promise to Jacob. The same could be said to every other believer. God does not leave us.

Deuteronomy 4:39: "Know, therefore, this day, and consider it in your heart that the Lord, He is God. In heaven above and about the earth beneath there is none else." God is in charge because He is present in heaven, and He is present on earth.

Joshua 1:9: "Have not I commanded you to be strong and of good courage? Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." How could that be said unless the God we worship is a God who is capable of being everywhere at the same time?

In Psalm 139:8, the psalmist says, "If I ascend up into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there."

Proverbs 15:3 says, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good." Therefore, it is clear that because God is omnipresent, man cannot hide himself or his sins from God.

Psalm 139:7-12: "Where shall I go from Your spirit, or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend up into heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall lay hold on me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will cover me, even the night shall be light upon me. Yea, the darkness does not hide from You, but the night shines as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to You." From a God who is omnipresent, you cannot hide. So, we can faith rest any situation that comes into our lives because we know that God is always there.

In Matthew 20:20, Jesus said, "Teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the age. Amen."

So, God is omnipresent. That is not true of the deities of Eastern mysticism.

God is Omnipotent

Then God is omnipotent; that is, God is all powerful. There is no limit on His ability, and no limit on His authority. In Job 26:7, Job says, "He stretches out the north over the empty space, and hangs the earth upon nothing." This illustrates the power of God as Creator.

Job 42:2 says, "I know that You can do everything, and that no thought can be withheld from You."

In Psalm 115:3, the psalmist says, "But our God is in the heavens. He has done whatever He has pleased." God has all power.

Then Psalm 136:4 says, "To Him who alone does great wonders, for His mercy endures forever." Then it goes on and reiterates the powerful things that God has done because He has all power.

Habakkuk 3:6: "He stood and measured the earth. He beheld and drove asunder the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered. The perpetual hills did bow. His ways are everlasting."

Matthew 19:26: "But Jesus beheld them, and said to them, "With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible."

Matthew 28:18: "Jesus came and spoke unto them all: 'All authority is given unto Me in heaven and earth.'"

Mark 14:36: "And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible unto You. Take away this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will." Jesus is recognizing, in His moment of agony, the fact that God was all powerful.

Luke 1:37: "For with God, nothing shall be impossible."

Then in Revelation 19:6, we have that same concept: "And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty peels of thunder saying, 'Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns.'"

In Hebrews 1:10, we have a good statement: "And You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands." So, God is all powerful. Therefore, He has power to save man.

Hebrews 7:25 says, "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing that He ever lives to make intercession for them."

Furthermore, after they are saved, 1 Peter 1:5 tells us that He has the power to keep us saved: "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time."

Furthermore, He has the power to raise us from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15:43: "It is sown (the human body is sown) in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power." Sooner or later, the fact that God can raise from the dead is going to be a point of great comfort to you.

Philippians 4:13, therefore, says, "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me."

These are the three "omnis:" the omniscient God; the omnipresent God; and, the omnipotent God. This is a God who is totally alien to all the concepts of the mind of Satan; to all the concepts of the universal mind; and, to all the concepts of universal force that Satan is presenting as the truth. Next time we will look at two more of them, and then at what this powerful God is able to do.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1982

Back to the Revelation index

Back to the Bible Questions index