[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:15] All right, take your Bibles if you would, turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 35. Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 35. God is clearly establishing with Israel that there is no other God like their God.
[0:31] And that's true for us. There is no other God like our God. The Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 35, unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know that the Lord, he is God, and there is none else beside him.
[0:50] You should underline this, the Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh, he is God. There is none else beside him. I want to show you some of the reasons he names in this chapter, that he's such a great God.
[1:04] He is the only God. There is no other God like them. And the first is that he made Israel a great nation. He made Israel a great nation because he's a great God with a great word and great truth.
[1:17] Look, if you would, in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 6, the Bible says, keep therefore and do them. This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
[1:36] Everybody around Israel was going to begin to notice that there was something very different about God's people, that they were a wise and an understanding people. And that's because God gave them his law.
[1:50] God gave them his word. The Bible says in Psalm 119, 98, thou through thy commandments has made me wiser than mine enemies for they are ever with me.
[2:04] Verse 99, he said, I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation. In verse 100, he said, I understand more than the ancients because I keep thy precepts.
[2:17] It made them know how to live. There was something different about Israel. They were wiser than their enemies. They could understand more than their teachers. They were, they knew more than older people than them because they had God's word.
[2:32] God taught them how to live. God said, you're a great nation. I make you a great nation because I'm a great God. What makes you a great nation is you have a great God and he was a God who was close to them and heard and answered their prayers.
[2:45] Look at verse seven. If you would, there is no other God like the God of Israel. Verse seven, for what nation is there so great who has a God so nigh unto them as the Lord our God and all things that we call upon him for?
[3:02] You understand? We're the only nation who has a God that's as close to us as our God is and he hears us and he answers our prayers. Gods you make with your hands can't answer prayers.
[3:16] Gods you make will only be close to you when you carry them. Gods you make can't make you. So these false gods never made a great nation. The nation made their God, but God made this nation.
[3:30] God gave them good and true laws that were right for everyone. Look if you would in Deuteronomy chapter four and verse eight. What nation is there so great that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?
[3:47] Is there any other nation that would have such good laws? Is there any other nation that would have such powerful laws that would protect the people and make life comfortable? They do not think of the little people, but God did.
[4:00] When other people make laws, they don't think of the little people, but God did. They don't think about the poor, but God told his people to care for them. They don't balance power and truth so that the little man gets a fair trial, but God did.
[4:13] God gave them perfect law. God gave them his law, but he never showed himself. That way they'd never get confused. They heard a voice. They got the words, but they never saw him, so they would never corrupt themselves.
[4:28] Look at chapter four, verse 16. And they would corrupt themselves by making false gods. The Bible said, unless you corrupt yourselves and make you graven images, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female.
[4:41] He gave them ten commandments. He gave them laws about how to live. He gave them the sacrifices, but he was never something small enough they could understand. His revelation of himself was his word.
[4:55] Can I stop right there and tell you that's how he reveals himself today? Amen? It's through his word that he reveals himself. God made them. He says, there's no other God like me.
[5:05] All the other nations have gods, but nobody else has a God like you got a God. Check out what he says in chapter four, verse 20. But the Lord has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance as you are this day.
[5:23] You should underline in that verse, he took you, he brought you to be unto you, to make you a people of inheritance. He brought, he took them out. He brought them out.
[5:33] He's taken you and he's brought them out. It's all God doing it. He took them, he brought them, he made them a people of inheritance. Look on God as power and not you.
[5:44] By the way, when you doubt your salvation, and some of you may go through times and you're just not sure you're saved and you're beginning to wonder, have I lost my salvation? Is my salvation secure? The reason you doubt your salvation is because you put your emphasis on you and what you do and you are up and down, in and out and fickle.
[6:02] You could be changing, but if you're saved by an unchanging, all-powerful God who did it all, you can trust him to do what he said and keep what he said. Amen? So that's the reason we have eternal security.
[6:14] You put the emphasis on the wrong person, on the wrong thing. You think in terms of your faith and not what your faith was put in. Remember this, you're not saved by faith.
[6:26] You're saved by faith in God. It's a major difference. I can have all the faith I want to have in something and it not be true. But when you have faith in God, God is true.
[6:37] It was God who was doing everything. And he was saying, I'm the God of heaven. There is no other God like me. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 21 if you would.
[6:47] Furthermore, the Lord was angry with me for your sakes and swear that I should not go over Jordan, that I should not go into the good land which the Lord thy God, underline, gives thee for an inheritance.
[6:59] Underline it. God gives you for an inheritance. You see, the whole Bible was something really clear for us. It's not you doing it. It's not Israel doing it.
[7:10] It's not my power doing it. It's not my wisdom doing it. It's God doing it. Again, it's God that gave them the inheritance. They didn't earn it. They were going to go fight, but the battle was already won.
[7:24] They were going to go fight, but the battle was already won. They needed to know that it was God who won the battle. Now, stop a second. Remember, Deuteronomy is written right before Joshua.
[7:36] Don't forget, Deuteronomy is Moses ending up things and Joshua is Joshua taking over things. Don't forget that when Joshua starts, that's when the war starts. But when Moses spoke to Deuteronomy, he said, it's God giving it to you.
[7:48] Because God knew, Moses knew, Joshua knew. We're going to win the battle because God gave it to us. Who is it that's won your salvation for you?
[8:01] Who is it that gives you victory in your Christian life? Is it you or is it him? If I'm saved today, I'm saved because of what he did. Amen? If I have victory over porn, if I have victory over lying and stealing and cheating, if I have victory to live a Christian life, it's because of the power of God at work in my life.
[8:21] I have every battle won because greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world. Greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world. And you know what? I can do all things through Christ and strengthens me.
[8:33] It's Jesus who gives me victory. In Deuteronomy chapter 4, God says, there's no other God like me. I don't want y'all to get that clear. And that's why he hates other gods. He hates them.
[8:45] And he makes it clear. Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 24. You got your Bible open? For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. He just flat out tells you, I'm a consuming.
[8:58] I'll burn them up, buddy. I'll destroy them. I'm the one and only God. Those gods can't do anything. Those gods have no power. I'm God, and I'm the consuming fire.
[9:09] He was a consuming fire against idols and those that made them and those that worshiped them. He was jealous. That means he wanted their exclusive love.
[9:20] He wanted their exclusive love. Wouldn't it be strange if he said, well, I could take you or leave you? Not that important to me. I'm glad he's a jealous God, aren't you?
[9:30] I'm glad he looks at us and says, I love you, Austin, and I want you, Austin. And I don't want you loving anybody else. I've chosen you for me, and I want you to love me. His love is greater than just here it is.
[9:42] He loves us. By the way, in the New Testament, you find the same thing. A verse I didn't understand for so many years because I couldn't put these words together. But look at James chapter 4 and verse 5. He's a consuming fire.
[9:54] He's a jealous God. He loves you and he wants you. The Bible says in James 4 and 5, do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit dwelleth in us, lusteth to envy?
[10:07] He wants us. He desires us to the point of being jealous of us. He wants us for himself. It hurts him when you walk in sin.
[10:18] It hurts him when you would choose other things. It hurts him when you would think about another God. Because he said, there is no other God but me. I'm the only God. Why would you want another God?
[10:30] He promised that they would be on the promised land. But that was conditioned on them not making false gods. Look at chapter 4, verse 26.
[10:41] You see, what he says to them is this. You're not going to lose your salvation. I'll show it to you in a minute. But this is what he said. If you guys, as long as you love me and you look out for me and you serve me, then I'm going to take care of you. But when you walk away from that, there will be conditions.
[10:52] There will be consequences. Chapter 4, verse 26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land where until you go over Jordan to possess it.
[11:04] You shall not prolong your days upon it but shall be utterly destroyed. And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations and you shall be left few in number among the heathen whether the Lord shall lead you.
[11:15] And you'll serve gods, little g-gods, the work of men's hands, wood, stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. You want to choose to make idols.
[11:26] You want to choose to end up serving some little piece of wood or piece of gold or piece of clay or piece of mud. You lose my blessings. You lose my promises.
[11:38] Here's what he's going to tell them. I'll restore you. I won't forsake you. But you do lose the blessings. Your salvation isn't conditional. But you're enjoying the benefits are conditional.
[11:51] Now this is what I'm going to tell you. If you're saved and you're saved by the grace of God, you're not going to lose that salvation. But there's no place in the Christian life for saying, I'm saved by grace.
[12:02] I live like I want to. Grace saves me so I have a license to sin. You have a liberty to serve, not a license to sin. And when you mess with sin, you won't lose your salvation.
[12:13] I'm going to prove it to you in this passage because God's going to tell it to us. But he's going to say to you, hey, you want my blessings? Obey me and honor me. In fact, as in Psalm 51, 12, when David has committed adultery with Bathsheba and David's messed up, he says, Restore unto me the what?
[12:30] Would you say the word with me? Restore unto me the what? The joy of my salvation. The joy of thy salvation to uphold me with thy free spirit. I know I'm saved, but I lost my joy.
[12:41] That porn stole my joy. That adultery stole my joy. That lying and cheating and doing wrong stole my joy. I didn't lose my salvation, but boy, I don't have the joy I had before.
[12:52] You see, our God is a God of grace. He never leaves you. Look, if you would, at chapter 4, 26, 27, 28, where he said, mess up. Mess up and you'll lose it.
[13:03] Mess up and you'll be scattered. Mess up and you'll lose all the blessings. I promise. I've given you the promised land, but you can lose it. You can lose it. Then he says in verse 29, man, I hope you got your Bible open there.
[13:18] He said, but if, put a circle around, but if, but if, but if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, you'll find him. If thou seek him with all thy heart, with all thy soul.
[13:31] When you're in tribulation and all these things are come upon you, even in the latter days, if you'll just turn to the Lord thy God and be obedient to his voice. Then you should put a circle around, but if.
[13:44] You mess up. You say, I'm going to make some little idols. I'm going to play around. I'm going to do what I shouldn't do. I'm going to mess with sin. I'm going to pretend that God ain't as important as he is. I know he's a jealous God.
[13:54] I know he's a consuming fire. You know, he really wants me. This isn't a game. It's real. It's life. It's everything. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. But I'm saved by grace, so I don't have to.
[14:07] He says, okay. But if you do that, I'll leave you. You won't get my promise. You won't stay there. I'll let you die. I'll let you lose it. I'll let your family fall apart.
[14:17] I'll let bad stuff happen so that some tribulation, I hope you underline that in verse 30, when thou art in tribulation. When your sin and your stupidity leads you into trouble and you get hurt enough, you call, I'll come running.
[14:32] They just had to realize that they were wrong and could get back into his blessings. It often takes tribulation and problems and hurts to cause us to come back and turn.
[14:46] God loves you. He wants you to be enjoying his promises. He's ready for you to turn back to him. If you're off track, then realize that the hurt isn't him doing it, but you and the consequences of your disobedience.
[15:01] Turn. He is ready to help. But Christians can't play with it. You see, there's a real problem. It's inherent in this understanding of grace.
[15:11] You get a hold of this grace idea and you're kind of like, well, man, I'm saved. So I'll just do anything I want to do, live any way I want to live. And he says, okay, you're mine. I love you. You can mess up and you can do stupid stuff and I'll still love you and I'll still be there for you.
[15:26] But believe me, you can be scattered. You can be losing it. You can be dying. You can be sick. You can have all that junk come on you. And when a lot of trouble comes, you just call.
[15:36] I'll come back. But it'll be when you figure out my sin brought me this trouble. How many of you have ever wandered out to the, like the prodigal son who wanders out to the pig pen and wakes up one day saying, man, I am stupid.
[15:50] I've wasted everything God gave me. I've messed my life up. I've played with sin. I've toyed with sin. And life is hard and God's mean. The truth is God's not mean.
[16:01] Because look at what it says. He's good. Chapter 4, verse 31. This is the Old Testament. Maybe you're thinking, boy, he's mean, isn't he? He said he'd save you if you turn. But look at chapter 4, verse 31. For the Lord thy God is a merciful God.
[16:15] Man, underline that. The Lord thy God is a merciful. This is the Old Testament. This is the book where everybody says he's mean. But in the Old Testament where he's mean, he said, by the way, I'm a merciful God.
[16:26] Could you say amen right there? I'm a merciful God. He will not forsake thee. He will not dump you. He will not walk away from you. He will not destroy you.
[16:37] He will not forget you. Neither destroy thee nor forget the covenant. He said, I gave my word. Even though you act like a jerk and I have to let you suffer the consequences, I don't forget my promises.
[16:48] All right, Israel, you can act like a jerk if you want. You go make you some little idols and you can deny the Messiah. You can deny Jehovah God. You can deny it all. But I'll keep being the good God I am.
[17:00] Even though you're not faithful, I can't deny myself. By the way, he reminds them in chapter 4 and verse 32 that he is their creator. He's the creator God.
[17:12] Verse 4, chapter 4, verse 34. For ask now of the days that are past which were before thee since the day that God created man upon the earth.
[17:23] And ask from the one side of heaven unto the other whether there be any such thing as this thing is or hath been like it. He's the creator God. If you take the literal creation out of the Bible, you're going to have a whole lot of holes in the Bible.
[17:37] God is showing us that he is being super good to his people because no one has ever been like him. And no one's ever seen anything like this in history. He had given them his word.
[17:49] What other God? Everybody else is making their gods. Everybody else is forming their own little gods. Everybody else goes out in the wood, cuts out a tree, burns some of the tree to make supper with it. And makes a god out of the rest of it.
[18:00] But our God said, I just made the tree. I made you. You didn't make me. I made you. They got little gods they make. I'm the big God. I made you. Chapter 4, verse 33.
[18:12] He said, did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire? Has you have heard and lived? Ever been anybody else like that in your life? You ever known anybody else had a god like that?
[18:24] Verse 34. He said, I'll turn some nobodies into some somebodies. Look at verse 34. Or that God had the saved to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation? Look at what he said at the last part of that verse.
[18:37] The Lord your God did for you in Egypt. Boy, God's been good to you. He went right down to the sin pit. Got you out and brought you. Got you out of there and brought you into the promised land.
[18:49] God wanted them to know that he was a one and only God of eternity. There's only one God. There's only one God. Let me explain to you. Muslims don't know God.
[18:59] Let me explain to you. Let me explain to you. Buddhists don't know God. Let me explain to you that nobody else knows God. There's only one God. The God we serve. He's the God of Israel. He's the God of Israel.
[19:10] Chapter 4, verse 35. Unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know. He said, I've let y'all see all of this so you'll know that the Lord, he is God. And there's none else beside him.
[19:22] He is God and there's none else beside them. He had given his word. Verse 36. Out of heaven he made thee hear his voice that he might instruct thee.
[19:33] I got to rush. So let me just say this. Do you understand what he did? He did. He said, you guys can make little gods if you want to. But y'all didn't make me. And I made all y'all come. And it wasn't Moses that told you what I said.
[19:45] Because I was afraid you might think Moses made me up. So I said, y'all gather around. And then God boomed out his voice. He said, he made you hear his voice.
[19:56] Verse 37. He loved them. It says, and because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them and brought them out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt.
[20:08] He said, I did it. He chose them on purpose. Verse 37. To drive out the nations. In verse 38. To take them to the promised land.
[20:18] To make them blessings. Get blessings. They were recipients. Not doers. That's who we are. We're just the getters. He gives it to us. That's the great and wonderful thing about being saved.
[20:31] And he said, I want you to know why. So that you know there's only one God. Look at verse 39. Know therefore this day and consider it in your heart that the Lord, he is the God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath.
[20:45] And there ain't nobody else. There's but one God. There is but one God. He gave his word to bless them. That caused it to go well for them.
[20:57] His word was for them. In verse 40 he said, thou shalt keep therefore his statutes and his commandments. Which I command thee this day that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee.
[21:09] And that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth. The Lord thy God giveth thee forever. Now it's time to quit. But just let me show you something. There's no other God like the God of the Bible.
[21:21] There's no other God like the God of Deuteronomy chapter 4. There's no other God like the God of Israel. That's the only God. There's no other God. No other God. Every other God.
[21:31] I've been all over the world. Well I've stood beside idols that would fill this room up. But they were made by man. God says in this chapter. Y'all make gods and I make you. Y'all make your little idols but I make you.
[21:44] I am the creator God. I create. But not only that. I did something. I gave you something far above anything anybody could ever made up. I gave you my word.
[21:55] And my word made you wiser. My word made you powerful. My word brought you salvation. And it was my word not Moses' word. Because I told you come here. And I will speak to you. And you'll hear my voice.
[22:07] I got a key word for you and I quit. Look at the last word in verse 40. Forever. And when he gave these promises to Israel. He ends chapter 4 with.
[22:17] Or not that. But this passage with. Forever. Forever. It is God that's given them everything. It's God that saved you. And that's why you can trust his salvation. Forever.
[22:29] You should know that God is being kind to you in all that he's doing. He's a good God. He's a forever God. He's not the God of Deuteronomy 4. He's not the God of Israel.
[22:40] He's the only God. There is. No other. In Deuteronomy. Moses wanted them to understand something. And well y'all are going to be going into this promised land. There are going to be gods everywhere you turn.
[22:53] There's going to be Baal and Ashtaroth. And there's going to be all kinds of other gods. But let me tell you. Everybody made them. But our God made you. We didn't make our God.
[23:03] We don't carry our God around. We make no images to look like our God. Because we don't know what he looks like. All we got is his word. And we will honor it. It's pretty nice.
[23:13] So if you can have a little. If you got a God you can polish. Kind of feels good probably. When you got a God that polishes you. It's a little bit different. Isn't it? And our God says.
[23:23] You just sit down and be quiet. I got my word. And I'll talk to you. Know this as you leave tonight. There is no God. Like our God. Father in heaven. I love you. I thank you for the opportunity to serve you.
[23:36] And I pray that your name will be glorified and magnified. And I pray you'd help us to realize tonight. You are only God. There aren't other gods. And so if we don't take the gospel to the rest of the world.
[23:47] They won't know the one and true God. If we don't tell the people in Thailand. And if we don't tell the people in Russia. And if we don't tell the people in China and India. And if we don't tell the people all over the African continent.
[24:00] If we don't tell them no one will ever know. There's only one God. I know they serve gods. I know everybody has gods. But you're the only God. God. And we must be missionary people.
[24:11] So they know that you're the God. And we want to magnify you. God do a work in our hearts. With your heads bowed. Your eyes closed. When's the last time you told him. I know you're God.
[24:22] And there is no other. When's the last time you said. I worship you. Creator God. When's the last time you said. I'm sorry. I mess around with sin. And you realize he loves you.
[24:34] And he gave you the promised land. But when he gave you the promised land. He said. Hey I'm giving you this. But if you mess up. You can deal with the consequences. When's the last time that happened in your life. And tonight's your night.
[24:47] Tonight's your night. Just say God you're God. There is no other. God I know that there's no other God. And there's no way I can make up my own God. You're God. Would you tonight honor him.
[24:59] Would you tonight tell him. I know you're God. Would you tonight say. You're better than my sin. I know you're a jealous God. And a consuming fire. And I'm not going to play around with sin anymore.
[25:11] That porn. That adultery. That lying. That pride. That insecurity. That bitterness. Has no power in the presence.
[25:24] Of the great God of heaven. Will you trust him. Will you honor him. Father deal with our hearts. Draw us closer to you. Magnify yourself.
[25:35] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church. In Alfred, Georgia. For more information.
[25:46] Log on to www.visionbaptist.com Where you can find our service times. Location. Contact information. And more audio and video recordings.
[25:56] . Thank you.