Sermon Transcript
The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.
- Introduction
- What Infinity Means
- God Is Omnipresent
- God Is Eternal
- Do Not Limit God
- His Presence Brings Peace
- The Guarantee of the Church’s Mission
- Set Your Mind on Eternity
Introduction
But who is able to build Him a temple, since heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him?
(2 Chronicles 2:6)
The heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. Now turn over to 2 Chronicles chapter 6. In the intervening chapters here we have the account of Solomon actually building the temple, and here in chapter 5 we have the dedication of the temple to Jehovah. And then Solomon, in verse 12 of chapter 6, it says:
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands (for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven); and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants [audio unclear] this temple which I have built.”
(2 Chronicles 6:12–14, 18)
One more. [audio unclear]
Just as they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations, so will I choose their delusions, and bring their fears on them; because [audio unclear] “Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy.” But they shall be ashamed.
(Isaiah 66:3–5)
In all of these passages we are told that God is so great, God is so majestic, God is so infinite, that the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. So this morning we’re going to talk about His infinity.
What Infinity Means
What do we mean when we say God is infinite? Infinity means that which does not admit of any limitation. God is infinite in that He has no bounds and He is measureless. There is no limit that can be assigned to His being or His perfections. Now, when we talk about the difference between finite and infinite, we have to understand that we’re not talking about a quantitative difference, but a qualitative difference. Let me explain. Imagine, if you will, a picture of the Milky Way. That’s a big place, isn’t it? Then imagine millions and maybe billions of stars. We can see millions of galaxies. The universe is so big that it is truly beyond our comprehension. That’s the created universe. So how big is God? But God isn’t big, because when we think about God being infinite, [audio unclear] it means there are no bounds, no limits. He cannot be measured, nor His perfections. It has nothing to do with physicality. God is a completely different order of being. He is not large, but He is not finite. So He is infinite. He is not limited. He cannot be measured, so He is infinite. And when we think of God’s infinity, it has to do with both His essence and His attributes. His essence knows no limitation or defect. He is without growth or addition or development. God doesn’t come to know things. God doesn’t develop in His character. God doesn’t get better. God is. And when God appeared to Moses and he said, what am I going to tell Pharaoh? Who are You? And God says, tell Pharaoh, I AM. And one of the names of God is the name Yah. It’s a shortened version of the name Jehovah, or Yahweh. And Yah simply means He is. He is. God’s essence doesn’t get better, it doesn’t get bigger, it doesn’t get stronger. God is who He is. And this applies to all of His attributes. They do not increase or decrease because they are infinite. The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him because He is measureless and no limit can be set to His being. So when we think about God’s infinity, His infinite nature, it implies other attributes of God. Think about infinity as it relates to space, and we learn that God is omnipresent. He’s everywhere because He’s not limited by space. The big word for omnipresence is ubiquity. You like that one? You can impress some people with that one when you go to work tomorrow. You can say, did you know God’s ubiquitous? God is omnipresent because He’s not limited in space. God is also eternal because He is not limited in relationship to time.
God Is Omnipresent
So first of all, when we think of God’s infinity, we think of His omnipresence. Look at Psalm 139, if you will. Psalm 139, verse 1:
O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.
(Psalm 139:1–12)
So, because God is infinite in relationship to space, He is ubiquitous, He is omnipresent. Present means He’s here. Omni means He’s everywhere. It means all. He’s here in all places. That is to say, God’s presence is universal. God is everywhere here. He’s near everyone, everything, every place, all the time. He’s omnipresent. And what’s beyond our comprehension is that God is everywhere in His fullness. It’s not part of God is here and part of God is there, but God is omnipresent in His fullness. He’s everywhere. Yet, when we think about His presence, we can distinguish His presence in several ways. You know, it’s interesting when we worship, in some of our songs, we’ll worship and we’ll say, Lord, come, Lord Jesus, or God, come and be in our midst, as if He’s not here. Well, if God’s omnipresent, He’s here, right? If God’s omnipresent, He’s in your car when you leave today. If God’s omnipresent, He’s in your home. If God’s omnipresent, He’s at your work. If God’s omnipresent, He’s at the store, He’s at the theater, He’s everywhere you go. God is there because He’s omnipresent. So what are we doing when we say, Lord, come, or Lord, we want to experience Your presence, as if His presence isn’t here? Is that what we’re saying? No. We have to distinguish what is known as God’s glorious presence, which dwells in heaven, His governing presence, which fills the earth, and His gracious presence which dwells in the earth. So when we sing, we pray, Lord, be present with us, we’re not saying He isn’t here, because He is. But rather we’re asking that God would make His presence sensed or known or felt, whatever word you want to use, and this is called His gracious presence, or His manifest presence.
God Is Eternal
God is infinite in relationship to time. [audio unclear] He always was and He always will be. I don’t know about you, but if you have kids, every one of my children have come to me at some point when they were little and said, you know, I’ve been thinking about God and I don’t understand how He could have always been. Did you ever do that thought experiment? I remember I did it when I was younger. I thought about God and I went back and I said, okay, God created everything, so let’s get rid of that. And then there’s God. But what was before God? God. Psalm 90:
Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
(Psalm 90:1–2)
You are the eternal God. And because God is eternal, that means that He had no beginning and that He has no end. It means that He is not subject to the limitations of time. With Him there’s no distinction between past and present and future. In fact, when we think of God in relationship to time, it’s really inaccurate to say that God has existed for a long time. Because in fact God exists outside of time. Time does not apply to His mode of being.
Now you’re probably all thinking, pastor, I didn’t make enough coffee to follow this this morning. This is all kind of highbrow stuff. What does this have to do with, you know, life? Actually it has a lot to do with life, because the most important thing about our life is who our God is and what He [audio unclear] of the truth that God is infinite. And the first is this, that because God is infinite, therefore, do not limit God. Do not limit God.
Do Not Limit God
Look at Psalm 78, since we’re in Psalms. Psalm 78. Psalm 78, there’s a psalm about Israel’s history, and parts of it are very depressing because of Israel’s waywardness, their proneness to idolatry, their proneness to disobedience, in spite of God’s marvelous works, His miracles in delivering them from Egypt, His provision in the wilderness. And it says here, verse 36:
Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue; for their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant.
(Psalm 78:36–37)
Now if you remember last week when we talked about God being a spirit and how we’re supposed to worship in spirit and in truth, that is to say that our worship is to be coming out from a heart that is true, a heart that is faithful, because God doesn’t see as man sees, but God sees the heart, right? So when we worship Him, God not only looks at our expressions of worship, our raising up the hands or kneeling or singing, but He’s looking at the [audio unclear] “God, You’re really awesome. God, You’re really holy. God, You’re really all these things,” but not really believing in our heart. And so it’s flattering. They lied to Him with their tongue because their heart wasn’t steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant.
But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath; for He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again. How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power.
(Psalm 78:38–42)
They limited the Holy One of Israel. This word limit is very interesting because it can be translated pained, but what it means literally is to mark. It’s the idea of marking a boundary. That is to say, when you mark a boundary, you set a limitation, right? So they limited God, they set boundaries and limits upon God. How did they do that? They did that through their unbelief. By not believing that God was able to provide, that God was able to lead, that God was able to bring them into the Promised Land, they limited God through their unbelief. Because God is infinite, we must not limit Him, because He has no limits. Someone say amen. He has no limits. So do not limit Him by unbelief. Do not say God can’t. Because the only thing God can’t do is God can’t sin. That’s really the only thing He can’t do, and He can’t do it because He’s holy and pure, and He will not ever choose to do it. God can do whatever God pleases to do, because with God all things are possible. Therefore we must not limit God in any respect. We must not limit Him in His power. We must not limit Him in His wisdom. We must not limit Him in His mercy or forgiveness, because our God is an infinite God. There’s no problem beyond His solving. There’s no pain beyond His healing. There’s no trial beyond His delivering, because our God is an infinite God. J. B. Phillips wrote a book, and the title of the book—I mean, the title says it all. And you know what the book’s called? It’s called Your God Is Too Small. Your God’s too small. And the premise of the book is very simple, and that’s this: the reason so many people don’t worship God is because their God isn’t worthy of worship. He isn’t worthy of reverence. He isn’t really worthy of honor, because their conception of God is so distorted, so limited, so untrue to the revelation that God has given us in His Bible. There’s no limit to what God is able to do. There’s no limit to what God determines to do. So we cannot say God cannot do it. We should not limit Him by our unbelief. Amen?
His Presence Brings Peace
Secondly, because God is omnipresent, that is to say, He is everywhere in His fullness, this should bring us peace and comfort. That really is the point of Psalm 139 when David is talking about the Lord being with him. No matter where I go, the Lord’s hand is there. The point of the psalm is that this was a psalm of reassurance, a psalm of reassurance that no matter where I am, I am never outside of the Lord’s care, because He is there. Wherever He might send me, He is there, always with me. Psalm 23, a well-known psalm, but let’s look at it. David is essentially saying the same thing as Psalm 139 in different words, with the same heartbeat here. It says:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
(Psalm 23:1–4)
Why? Why? Why can you walk without fear? Why will you not walk in fear of evil? Because You, Jehovah, are with me. God is with me. Wherever He might lead, wherever I go, He is there. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies—even in the face of my enemies, even in hostile situations, even in difficulties. God, You are with me. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. That is God’s gracious presence right there. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of Jehovah forever. Because God is omnipresent, this ought to be a great source of peace and comfort for God’s people, knowing that because He is everywhere, He is always there for us. He is always present in whatever our need might be.
The Guarantee of the Church’s Mission
Secondly, God’s omnipresence guarantees the church’s success in its mission. Look at Joshua chapter 1. Okay, are you in Joshua 1? Okay, hold your finger in there and now go to Exodus 33. You all know the story here in Exodus where Moses goes up, he gets the tablets, he comes down, they’re committing idolatry, he breaks the tablets in anger, then he goes back up to get the law again, and he’s praying to the Lord after he intercedes for the people. And he says here in verse 12, chapter 33 in Exodus, that Moses said to the Lord:
“See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”
And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth.”
So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”
(Exodus 33:12–17)
What is the thing that marked off the people of God from the heathen nations? It wasn’t the temple. It wasn’t the ritual. It wasn’t the tabernacle. It was the gracious presence of Jehovah in their midst. And Moses knew enough to say to God, if You don’t go with us, if Your presence is not with us, then I’m not going, because it’s not going to work. Now Moses knew that God was infinite. He knew He was the great God, the one and only God, the God that fills the heavens and the earth. So when he says, Your presence must go with us, he’s not imagining that he could go somewhere where God was not. He knew God was everywhere, but he wanted God’s gracious presence to go with them, because that was the guarantee.
Joshua chapter 1, we see the same thing. In Joshua verse 5 of chapter 1, God speaking to Joshua:
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.
(Joshua 1:5–6)
Why can we be strong and courageous? God says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. That is to say, I am with you at all times. I am with you in all places. Wherever God leads, He feeds, amen? And where He guides, He provides, because God is there. He is already there. His name, one of His beautiful names in the Bible is Jehovah Shammah, and it simply means Jehovah is there. The Lord is there. The Lord is there, so we need not fear. Amen. His presence is the guarantee of our victory. And that’s why in Matthew 28, if you want to turn there, when Jesus commissions the church, He says this, He says in verse 18 of Matthew 28:
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.
(Matthew 28:18–20)
Is that the commission? Is it over? Are we going to go do this in our own power? In our own wisdom? By our own strength? “Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” That is the guarantee of the church’s victory, that God is with her at all times, in all places. So when we think of God’s infinity, of God’s omnipresence, it’s not an abstract doctrine. It is the bread of life. Our God is with us at all times and in all places. And in all of those times and in all of those places, we can call upon Him who is limitless in His resources. Limitless. There’s no need that we have that He cannot fill. Amen. There’s no problem He can’t solve. There’s no difficulty that you are in that God cannot extricate you from. Do you understand that?
Set Your Mind on Eternity
Thirdly and finally, God is eternal because He’s infinite in relationship to time. He’s eternal. Therefore we need to set our minds on eternal things. It says in Colossians 3 that we are to set our affections on things above, that is, eternal things, and not on things on the earth, because these are temporal things. We should understand that our life is short. Our days are brief, but a day with the Lord is as a thousand years. Time does not limit Him, time does not impact Him, time is nothing to Him. So our time is short and we’re speeding toward eternity. We had a beginning. God did not. But we have no end. And so we are heading into this timeless state called eternity. And what we do in time determines how we will spend that eternity. Both rewards and punishments are eternal. They will last forever. Service here will bring rewards later. A temporal loss now will bring eternal gain later. Whatever we might have to give up now, God will repay later. And what He repays us with is not temporary. It says that we will receive a crown of glory that will not fade away. It says there is reserved in heaven for us an inheritance that will not fade away, because it’s eternal. And all the things in life are passing away. Everything about us is decaying. Even we ourselves are dying. But God never changes. He never passes away. And when we join Him in eternity, what He gives us will never rust, will never corrupt, will never decay, but will last forever. Then eternal happiness will replace temporal heartache, and pleasure will swallow up pain. And the Word of God says that He will wipe away all tears from our eyes. There’ll be no more crying and no more sorrow forever.
In light of eternity, in light of eternal reward, in light of an eternal heaven, is there anything too great to give to God? Is there any sacrifice too great to make for God? Oh, how we clutch onto things, our possessions, our money, our relationships. We hold these things, we treasure these things, we want security from these things and comfort from these things. And all of these things will fade away. God, Thou art forever. From generation to generation, from everlasting to everlasting, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, that is our God. So how ought we to be people whose minds are set on eternity? Because we are speeding on our way, if we know Jesus Christ, to heaven. And the day is fast approaching, and I for one am eager to go there. How ought we, in light of eternity, to be a people with a passion for the lost? Because the Word of God says that those who die without Christ, they will live forever too. But they will not live in eternal life. They will live in eternal death. They will be separated from Jesus Christ forever. And it’s a terrible, terrible fate. It’s so terrible that the mind cannot truly comprehend what awaits those who reject the love of God expressed in Jesus Christ. So we know from the Word of God that there will be a day when we stand before the eternal King, and that King will look at all the nations and He will say to those on the right, come into the kingdom that I have prepared for you, an eternal kingdom. But then He will say to those on the left, depart from Me, I never knew you. He sends them to the place prepared for the devil and His angels. And so in the final analysis, the only things that are going to live forever are God and us. The only things that matter in the long run are God and people’s souls. That’s all that really matters. And we get caught up in so many things, in our work, in our jobs, in our families, in this and that, and we’re just all ensnared in all these things. And we need to ask God to open our minds so that we might just, just for a moment, see the things above. See what awaits us. And then we might begin to live, not for this life, but for that life. Begin to live not for the here and now, but for the hereafter. Because that’s where we’re going to spend eternity.
I want to say eternity is a long, long time, but it isn’t. It’s beyond time, beyond our comprehension. Tozer said, “Far better than the attempt to understand is the humility that admits its ignorance and waits quietly on God for His own light to appear in His own time. We will be better able to understand when we have accepted the humbling truth that there are many things in heaven and earth that we shall never be able to understand. It will be good for us to accept the universe and take our place in the mighty web of God’s creation, so perfectly known to Him and so slightly known to even the wisest of men. The meek will He guide in judgment, and the meek will He teach His way.” So as we contemplate God’s infinity, His eternality, His omnipresence, these are concepts that are truly beyond our comprehension, and that is good for us. Because it ought to humble our pride. He goes on to say, “To those who have degraded their conception of God to the level of their human understanding, it may appear frightening to admit that there are many things in Scripture and more things about the Godhead that transcend the human intellect. But a few moments on our knees looking into the face of Christ will teach us humility, a virtue whose healing qualities have been shown by God’s elect from time out of mind. Lastly, the pitiable attempt of churchmen to explain everything for the smiling unbeliever has had, in effect, exactly the opposite to that which was intended. It has reduced worship to the level of the intellect. It has introduced the rationalistic spirit into the wonders of religion.” We need to ask God to open our eyes to see who He is. Amen? Because He is truly beyond our comprehension. And when we get just a small glimpse of God, it transforms our worship. And worship isn’t a music. Worship becomes awe. Worship becomes adoration. And the problem with so many Christians is that their God is way too small. And their worship reflects it. Their apathetic worship reflects their puny God. If God is infinite, limitless, measureless, if He’s all in all, then He deserves our all. He deserves your full attention when you worship Him. He deserves your full passion, your full volition when you worship Him. When you call on His name, you are calling on the infinite God who is great in majesty, who fills the heavens and the earth.