Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Only gods. Is omnipresent, you say, Well, what about Satan? He is very powerful, but he is not omnipresent. Satan is a created being, and he can only be in one place at a time, but God is everywhere.
That's one of the attributes of God. This is what makes God God, that He is omnipresent. Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Today, John invites us to marvel at the omnipresence of God. as we think of his immense yet intimate presence.
Will see that no matter where we go, at work, at school, to the local coffee shop, or on a hike through the Himalayas. God is always there.
So continuing in our series called What Would You Ask God?, here's Pastor John Monroe with today's lesson. Augustine said that God is an infinite circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere. That's worth thinking about. That is God is everywhere. God is omnipresent.
In our current series we're asking a lot of questions about God. Here is today's question. Is God everywhere?
So often our God is too small, a God made in our own image. A God who agrees with our own opinions. Is that your idea of God? But as always, we're looking to what the Bible teaches.
So we can deepen our understanding of the one true God, the God who created the universe.
So today, let's consider why we can trust that God is everywhere. And why this is significant as we seek to know, love, and worship this God. G.K. Chesterton said, When people deny the biblical God, It's not that they believe in nothing. But that they believe in anything and everything.
It seems to me that increasingly in our society we are constructing our own view of God. We want to bring God down We want to have a God that we can manage. A God that we can use, a God that makes us feel comfortable. a kind of user-friendly God. As we do that, We are in great danger, are we not, of trivialising and domesticating God.
Over against such low views of God, and indeed false views of God, is the God of the Bible. The God that we're learning about, who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The God who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the true God, the Eternal God. The living God, and this is the God.
That we must know, that we must love, that we must serve. And worship with all of our hearts. In a series of questions we would ask God, we asked the question, Does God know everything? And we said, Yes, God knows everything about everything. This morning our question is Is God everywhere.
Let me invite you to open your Bibles to Psalm 139, which is a Psalm of David.
Now we're going to look at verses 7 through 12 as we try to answer this question: Is God everywhere? Psalm 139. Verse seven. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me. And your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, surely the darkness shall overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night.
Even the darkness is not dark to you. And the night is as bright as the day. darkness and light. are alike. To you.
Psalmist is telling us indeed that God is everywhere. The theological word for that is God is omni-present. God is everywhere. And the omnipresence of God is a. A logical Deduction, it is an inference from what we have already learned about God.
We have been learning over these weeks that God is infinite. When we say that God is infinite, we are saying that God has no limits. We are finite beings, we have Many limitations, God has no limitations, He is infinite, and God. In particular, having regard to our question today, God is infinite as to space. He is immense.
How big is God? The little boy asked. God is so big. That years. everywhere.
The great Saint Augustine said, God is an infinite circle whose center is everywhere. and whose circumference is nowhere. That blows the mind, doesn't it? The point is that God is so awesome, God is so immense that He cannot be limited as to space.
So when Solomon is considering building the temple, He says, The whole heavens and the highest heaven cannot contain God. How can you put God in a box? God is so big that He is everywhere, He is immense. That is, God is. Transcends all spatial limitations.
He is immense. But although God transcends all spatial limitations, He is present. In every point of space, with his whole Being. Mind-blowing, isn't it? When we think of God, we can say these two things about God in this connection: that God is transcendent.
When we say that God is transcendent, we mean that God is so majestic that He is above and beyond all space. God is eternal. He is outside of time. He is transcendent. That's a great theme of worship as we say how great you are.
He is the transcendent God. We are locked into time and space as human beings, but not so God. God is outside of time, outside of space, he is transcendent. But also, we can say that God is imminent. God is in space and God is in time.
And that's what we're celebrating at Christmas: that this God who is. Transcendent is now imminent in his Son. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.
So we can say that God is everywhere. everywhere wholly and completely. You say really? Yes. It's not the case that there's just a little bit of God.
Here, another little piece of God. down the street. Another little piece of God in Los Angeles. Another little piece of God in Alaska. A wee bit of God in Scotland?
No, not at all. God is everywhere. And wherever God is, He is present in the fullness of his being. Would you meditate on that this week? Let me repeat it.
Wherever God is, He is present in the fullness of his being.
So all of God, not just part of God, all of God is in the sanctuary this morning. God fills every point of space with his whole Being. That's why. Over and over again in Scripture, we are told, reinforced by the Ten Commandments, that there is no other God. God is unique.
He's totally different from all others. There is no other God beside this true, eternal God who is omnipresent. Only God Is omnipresent, you say, Well, what about Satan?
Well, Satan is very cunning. Uh he is very intelligent, he is very powerful, but he is not omnipresent. Satan is a created being, and he can only be in one place at a time, but God is everywhere. at every point. Of time, that's one of the attributes of God.
This is what makes God God, that He is omni-present, little girl. Went every week to church and Sunday school with her. A mother Her dad was an atheist. was really anti the church, anti the Bible. and was concerned about what his little daughter was being taught in that church And so he tried to speak to her as well.
And one day, when she came home from church, he wrote on a piece of paper, God is nowhere. And he asked the little girl to read it. And she said, that's right, dad. God is now here. God is now here.
That's true. God is now here because God is everywhere. God is. Omnipresent. As you got up this morning, God.
was there. She went outside to get the Sunday newspaper and looked across at the neighbour's house. God. was there. As you sat down for breakfast this morning, God was at the breakfast table.
When you got in your car and drove to church, God was in your car, He heard your conversation. And he'll hear your conversation in the car after church, so be careful what you say about the pastor. Because God is listening. When you get on the school bus tomorrow, God is already on the school bus. When you go to the office and sit down, God.
It's right there. As you leave the office and make a call on a customer or a client to do a business deal, remember God is there listening. To you. She stands by the kitchen sink washing dishes. God is right.
Yeah. As you play basketball tomorrow in the gym, remember God. is there, so keep your elbows to yourself. Children? Your mom and dad tucked you in tonight in bed?
God It's there. Because God is everywhere.
Now let's look at this Psalm, Psalm 139, verses 7 through 12, to see some of the particulars of the subject which David is teaching us. We see from verses 7 through 12, the basic point David is saying, we cannot escape or hide from God. Why? Because God is everywhere.
It's impossible to escape from God, and it's impossible to hide from God. First of all, verses 7 through 10, we cannot escape from God. David is saying there is no escape. from the presence of God. Verse seven, where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence? Is there anywhere in the whole universe that I can go, Lord, to get away from you? That's. The question. The answer is Verse eight, if I ascend to heaven, you're there.
If I make my bed in Jeol, hell, the depths, behold, you are There. No, there is no escape in either heaven or hell.
However high you go, David, up to heaven itself, or however low you go, to Sheol, to Hades, the depths. See all, however far down you go, God is there. Heaven and hell are vertical polar opposites, but however high you go or however low you go. God. is There, that's verse.
Eight, verse nine. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Could I get away from God then? No. David, regardless of how fast you run from God, there is no escape. God is there.
Now in verse nine, we have beautiful poetry. The psalmist is looking east and sees the beautiful rays of the dawn. If I take the wings of the dawn, He's using a figure of speech. He's comparing the rays of the dawn. To the wings of a bird.
He's saying, If it's possible for me to fly as fast, As the rays of the dawn that would be flying at the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, if I could fly that fast. If I could go that fast, if I could take, as it were, the wings of the dawn still. That would not be fast enough. to run away from God. It still would not be fast enough to escape from the presence of God or the knowledge.
of God.
However fast you run from God, There is no escape.
Furthermore, regardless of how far you run from God, there is no escape. If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there will your hand will lead me, and your right hand will lay hold of me. David has looked to the east, the rays of the dawn, now he looks to the west, he's in Israel. As he looks to the west, what sea does he see? The Great Sea, the Mediterranean.
And he's saying, if I could dwell in the remotest part of the sea, on the far side of the sea, if I could be like Jonah and get away, remember how Jonah wanted to go to Tarshis at the very end of the Mediterranean? Failed to do so, of course. But David is saying, if I could go. as far west as possible to the remotest part of the sea. I still Can't get away.
from God. Whether east or west, These are horizontal polar opposites. East or west, whatever direction I go, however fast I go, however far I go, I still cannot get away from God. There is no escape.
However, fast I run from God. Or however Far I run from God, God is there. From heaven to hell, from east to west, from north to south, whether vertical polar opposites or horizontal polar opposites makes no difference. There is no place. Where David can go.
to out distance God. Wherever he goes, God is there. That's verses 7 through 10.
Now verses 11 through 12. We can't hide from God. Have you ever tried to hide from God? Of course you have. You've tried it, I've tried it.
Does it work? Verse 11. If I say Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. And the light around me will be night. Even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night. It's as bright as the day. Darkness and light. Are alike. to you.
Regardless of the darkness of the night, David is saying, there is no hiding place, God is there. We like the dark sometimes, don't we? Why do we like the dark? Because we can hide from people, we can hide things. If I am doing something in the dark, you can't see me.
You can do things in the dark, and no one will ever know about it. It's in the secret. That's why it says Jesus loved the dark because our deeds are evil. But whatever you do in the dark, remember this: you'll never get away from the presence of God. He says verse Eleven.
Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. I'm reading from the New American Standard Version.
Some versions say cover or hide. Literally, the Hebrew verb here is. To bruise. Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. Surely the darkness will bruise me.
David again. Remember the Psalms are poetry? He's using a figure of speech. He's saying, if the darkness were so thick, that it was like a crushing, bruising weight on me. If you could imagine that kind of darkness, not just normal darkness.
But the thickest Heaviest darkness that you could ever imagine. Even if I was in that kind of darkness, so that the darkness was so thick and so heavy, it was bruising me, it was like a heavy weight on me, even if I was in that kind of darkness, I still Couldn't hide. From God. Why? The Lord.
Is there?
Furthermore, darkness and light are the same to God. Do you really think that God can't see you in the dark? I can't see in the dark. And that kind of darkness You wouldn't see your finger if you put it in front of you. But As far as God is concerned.
darkness. and light. Are the same. Don't think you can escape. or hide from God.
Don't think you can do things or say things in the secret. And fool guards. Because God is everywhere and Like David. You will never ever be able to escape. or hide from God.
Because God everywhere.
Now, let's draw two applications from the truth that God is everywhere, that God is omnipresent. First of all, As you think of this truth that God is everywhere, as you think of the omnipresence of God, It is a great challenge, isn't it? The omnipresence of God challenges us. In particular, as I thought about this, God's omnipresence challenges us Certainly challenges me, I trust you, to live a holy life. clean life.
We learned that David can't run from God. You can't run from God. Jonah couldn't run from God. You will never outrun God. You'll never get away from God.
From time to time, I meet people, particularly men, who say they're really tired of their home situation. They no longer love their wife, they say. Their kids are a burden to them, and it's time they live their own life. Usually they've met almost invariably, they've met someone else that they think is more exciting. more fulfilling, and so they're going to abandon Their family.
and disappear. Start out with a new life all to myself.
Well, you may do that, sir. But let me remember. Remind you. That wherever you go, You're not g you're not. get away from God.
You may get away from your wife. You may w get away from your children. You may get away from a bad situation at work, you may get away from some financial ruin, but you'll never ever get away from God. Many a young person has left home. trying to get away from the restraints of parents.
or the church or godly influences to find this wherever they go. In the darkest of nights, in the busiest of cities, in the remotest parts of the earth, in the most isolated island on the world, God. is there. And God is always there. Don't think that because you are not conscious of God, That God doesn't see you.
He is omni present. Don't be like the little girl who stole a cookie. and then put a blanket over our head. Thinking that because she couldn't see her mom and dad, they couldn't see her. Don't be like that, but That's exactly how we are sometimes.
We think if we cover it up If it's not known to someone, we're hiding it. You may hide it from your best friend, you may hide it from your parents, you may hide it from your spouse, I may hide it from my colleagues, but I'll never ever hide it. From God. And so, when you're tempted to sin this week, as you're going to be. Remember.
God Is there? You see, an understanding that God is Here. Promotes holy living. What soldier would commit a dishonourable deed before his general? What criminal would commit a crime before a police officer?
What student would cheat in front of the teacher? What Christian would sin? In the presence of a holy God. That's it. That's it.
Living Life. in the presence I've got my grandmother After my grandfather died used to spend the winter months with us and In Scotland, leaving our own little home, coming and spending the worst of the winter with us. My brothers and I were leaving the house, possibly to go out for an evening or to go off to. College, or whatever we're doing, invariably my grandmother would say to us, we thought with monotonous regularity. Have a good time.
Take care. But remember whose you are and whom you serve. Quoting Paul's words in Acts 27, 23. Remember whose you are and whom you serve. It was great advice.
We said it ruined many a good knight. Hearing these words. But my grandmother was reminding us. That whatever we did And wherever we went, We should never ever forget whose side we were on. We should never ever forget That God Was with us.
We might be with the most ungodly people. But God's Was there. Last week we learned that God's eyes on the sparrow. This week, we're learning that not only is God's eye on the sparrow, God's eye is on the sinner. When you gossip.
God is there.
When you lie, God is there. When you're cheating student on that test, When you're using someone else's assignment, pretending it to be your own, And you're saying, well, half of the school is doing that, that may be, but God is there. When you're doing that business deal. When you're shading the truth a little bit. When you're so eager to get the deal, so eager to get that promotion.
That you're compromising your integrity, remember, remember this. that God It's there. and God. is watching and you will never ever get away from it. God.
This great truth, then, that God is everywhere, challenges us to live pure and holy lives. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are, and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God.
To help he do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict. org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry.
Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte.
We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? This is a mind blowing truth, isn't it? Think of a God who transcends all spatial limitations. A God who is present in every point in space with his whole being. No wonder we sometimes sing, How great thou art God is great and greatly to be praised.
His greatness is unsearchable. Don't try to hide from God, but rather worship this God who in Jesus Christ is Emmanuel. God with us. And join me next time as we continue to try to answer the question: is God everywhere? Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict.
I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. M
