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November 17 Today’s Reading: Acts 22-24

“So Worship I the God of My Fathers”

Acts 24:14

The god of this apostate generation no more resembles the God of the Bible than a gnat resembles an angel. The puny, pigmy, frustrated god of our earthly fathers is an idol carved from the trees which grow wild in the dark forests of their depraved minds. The God of our spiritual fathers, the God of the Bible is infinitely and indescribably above the gods of man’s imagination.

· The God of the Bible makes His worshippers (Isaiah 43:7, 14, 15, 21); whereas the worshipers of idols make their gods.

· The God of the Bible is known by His self-revelation of the truth in His Word by the power of His Spirit (Matthew 11:25-27); whereas all the gods of men are known by teachers of lies, and their character changes from age to age, place to place, and circumstance to circumstance.

· The God of the Bible inspires and causes chosen sinners to worship Him (“From Me is thy fruit found.” Hosea 14:8; Philippians 2:13); whereas all worshippers of idols inspire and cause themselves to worship their gods.

· The God of the Bible commands His position of sovereign supremacy and universal dominion by the might of His own power; whereas the breathless idols of men are manipulated by the hands and wills of men (Habakkuk 2:18-20).

· The God of the Bible performs all His mighty deeds by His own mighty hands, and commands His worshippers to be still (Exodus 14:13-14); whereas the gods of men sit still while their worshippers busy themselves with religious commotion.

Do you see the difference? The God I worship, “the God of my fathers,” the Lord who is “the God” cannot even be compared to the gods of Arminian, freewill, works religion (Isaiah 46:9-11). That God who truly is God has distinct attributes which set Him apart from all the gods of men, four distinct attributes which specifically set Him apart from the imaginary god of this apostate generation.

Sovereignty

Our God truly is God. He rules all things, everywhere, at all times absolutely. A god who wants or desires, or wills what he does not have, or what does not come to pass is no God at all (Isaiah 45:7; 46:9-11; Psalm 115:3; 135:6).

Holiness

“Holy and reverend is His name.” When Isaiah saw the Lord God in His holiness, sitting upon His throne, high and lifted up, when he heard the seraphim cry, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory,” he fell on his face and confessed his sin before the thrice holy God (Isaiah 6:1-8).

Justice

The God of the Bible is, unlike all the gods of men, just and true. He always deals with all his creatures upon the basis of strict justice. He will by no means clear the guilty (Exodus 34:7). Yet, this great sovereign, holy, and just God is infinitely and indescribably…

Gracious

He says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” He found a way to deliver His chosen from going down to the pit (Job 33:24). That way is the satisfaction of justice by the substitutionary sacrifice of His own dear Son, our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Isaiah. 53:4-6, 8, 9-11; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s