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The newest Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday Bible study sermons from Pastor Matt Nettesheim at Chesapeake Baptist Church. Listen to faithful Bible preaching and teaching from our church. Learn more at https://www.chesapeakebaptist.info/.
Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11, the great faith chapter, leading you and I to have faith, trust, and belief in God. And we have a great God. We have a great God. We are going to look at the great God that we have. I was thinking about my life, our church, and my privilege to be pastor here at Chesapeake Baptist Church.
Everywhere I go across Chesapeake, you see a world living or walking in darkness and I look at it and I say then there's hope for those people. There's hope for people that are walking in darkness but they desperately need the light of the gospel. They need to realize that there is a God and they need salvation through Jesus Christ. And I see hope.
You see sometimes bumper stickers all around us. I see bumpers that have filthy cuss words on there and it irritates me. And the answer is not necessarily to yell at them. Can you imagine me, hey? And yelling, I feel like it sometimes, but their answer is they need the Lord and they need to understand that Jesus loves them. We have a Bible.
And thinking about that, I started working on our church and thinking about a visitor that comes into the church and somebody thinking about coming to our church, leading them down a path. And the first path that I want to lead them down is to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. But that starts with realizing there is a God. And that's going to be the title of the message tonight.
There is a God. And you know there's a difference between believing there is a God and living with the reality where you don't just think there's a God, but you live and know that there is a God and he has power. He's holy and he created us. He gave us life. He's worthy of our worship. He's worthy of us taking our life and not living for ourselves but living for him.
Let's stand and read the first six verses of Hebrews chapter 11 out loud this evening. Ready?
Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:2 (KJV)
“For by it the elders obtained a good report.”
Hebrews 11:3 (KJV)
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Hebrews 11:4 (KJV)
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”
Hebrews 11:5 (KJV)
“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
And oh, he is. He is before anything else. God is. He is. And we begin to think about that. There's a difference between living a life for self and living a life knowing that he is God. And we have a God. There is a God. There is a God. And that's the message tonight. It begins with realizing there is a God. It's going to be a Bible study.
We're going to go to a lot of verses. In some ways, I don't think that everybody's going to be able to keep up with us. So, if you have a notebook, write some of these verses down. And we ought to become familiar with these verses tonight. It's a study on realizing that there is a God. Let's pray. Dear father in heaven, we love you.
And I am thankful for people that are interested in your holy, precious word. And thank you for moms and dads bringing their children to our Patch the Pirate Kids Club. Thank you for them opening up your holy word. And I pray that you help us all to open up our hearts to your word. Help us to see who you are and how you've given us life and how you've given us breath and how we ought to live for you.
And I pray that you help us to draw close to you and help us to all become a little bit brighter in our walk with you, Lord, and help us to make a difference out in the community. We need you, Lord. We need you, Lord. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. And before we get to this, this is a Bible study.
The Bible: faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And our faith in realizing that he is God. We're going to come back later on in the Bible study back to Hebrews chapter number 11:6. But without faith, without faith, it is impossible. It's impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God, cometh to God takes a step towards God, draws closer to God.
He that cometh to God must believe that he is. He is what? He is God and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And so it's important for us to realize he is God. There is a God. And as we go through this, we go to Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. You know the verse. If you don't know the verse, go there, mark it down.
But Genesis chapter 1, what does it say?
Genesis 1:1 (KJV)
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God. Now, you think about it. The Bible doesn't begin, let me prove to you first that there is a God. It doesn't start that way. It states a fact. In the beginning, God. You think about before the universe, there was God. Before mankind, God. Before America, God. Before Chesapeake Baptist Church, God. Before Matt Nettesheim, there was God.
And by the way, before you ever existed, there was God. God is. And as we go through there, God did not begin when I first began to believe in him. And people mistake that. They think, well, if I don't believe in him, well, it doesn't matter whether you believe it or not. God is. And God does not exist because men believe. God is.
In Exodus chapter 3, you can turn there and we're going to go through here. Exodus chapter number three and verse number 14. This is amazing.
Exodus 3:14 (KJV, excerpt)
“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:”
And he doesn't say I am that I was or I am that I became. And he said I am. “I am”—those two words. Think about it: I did not begin. I did not become God. He's saying I've always been God. This idea is I am God. So I want to say that statement again. What is God saying? He's saying I did not begin.
I did not become God. He's saying I've always been God. And you know think everything else has a beginning. And you had a beginning. This church, in 1969 as Grace Baptist Mission in South Norfolk, had a beginning. Me, April 3rd, 1975. You're getting old, pastor. I know. But I had a beginning. And you had a beginning. And this building had a beginning.
I think we started it, Brother [Payton?], in like [year unclear: 2006 or 2016]. But it had a beginning right there. But with God, the world had a beginning, but God's never had a beginning. He simply said, "I am." And he's from everlasting to everlasting. And God's existence did not depend on anybody or anything. God has always been. And we'll look at a verse a little bit later.
It says from everlasting. And I was trying to think about it. From everlasting to everlasting, think about everlasting going in the past. Everlasting—there's no beginning. My mind can't comprehend not having a beginning, but God's always been. And it says from everlasting to everlasting, there's always going to be a God. It's imagining, you remember the Bible where it talks about our sin being as far as the east is from the west.
That's a long ways. And you think about God, he's everlasting to everlasting. Go to Psalm 90. There is a God. There is a God. There is a God. Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses. In verse 1:
Psalm 90:1 (KJV)
“Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.”
By the way, that's not the sermon, but Moses is saying, you've been my resting place. And think of all that Moses had gone through. He'd gone through a lot. Remember he grew up in Pharaoh's household and he had riches and the Bible says that he forsook those riches. Rather than enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season. That's by faith he did.
That's Hebrews chapter number 11. And then next thing you know he kills an Egyptian. Then he's running for his life. But where his resting place was not in his circumstances. He goes to the land of Midian. Difficulties and struggle, but his resting place was in God. And when he came back, God spoke to him in the burning bush. He came back to Egypt.
Where was his resting place? In God. In the Lord. Yes. And the reason I say this though, it's not the sermon. We go through battles. Brother Pete Wilson. Where can we find rest? Miss Donna Wilson. In the Lord. Where can we find rest? Brother Ronnie [Deal?]. And I love brother Ronnie [Deal?]. But it's hard not in our circumstances but in the Lord.
And where can you find rest? Sometimes not in your service. Sometimes you're on a mountain top. Woo glory. But life's not always mountain tops. There's valleys. There's mountain tops. But we can always find rest in the Lord. Verse number two.
Psalm 90:2 (KJV, excerpt)
“Before the mountains were brought forth,”
Before the what? Mountains. Yeah.
Psalm 90:2 (KJV, continuation)
“or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
I got ahead of myself, but from everlasting to everlasting, no beginning, no end, thou art God. When Moses realized that he is God. Remember, he went to Pharaoh: “Let my people go.” And we would almost think about going to Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world. We'd be fearful and trembling because he has power, the ability, the army right there. But Pharaoh had nothing compared to the great God that Moses had and we have.
And we've got to remember that he gets to the Red Sea. God directed him out there and then the Egyptian armies behind him. The Red Sea's out there and the people are trembling. I understand the trembling. I'm not going to complain about that. Moses lifts up his staff right there and his resting place was in God. God parted the Red Sea. Remember the children of Israel, the 12 spies went in and we look at Joshua and Caleb, their rest came from God.
They said, "Man, we see God." The 10 spies who doubted God, their circumstance were all around them. They didn't find their resting place in God. There is a God. There is a God. Now, we go a little bit further in here. Everything I know had a beginning. God did not. God's eternal. He always was and he always will be. And then in Genesis 1:1, quote it to me again.
Genesis 1:1 (KJV)
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
In the beginning, a little bit later in Genesis chapter 1, and I'll read verse 27, you can mark it down, but Genesis, same chapter,
Genesis 1:27 (partial reading with a question)
“So God created man in his own”—what?
So God created man. So there is a God. God is everlasting to everlasting. We understand that. But not only that, but God made me. God made me. In Psalm 100, verse 3. I'll read this:
Psalm 100:3 (KJV, excerpt)
“Know ye that the LORD he is God:”
Oh, that's hard to skip over so many verses, but it's saying, know ye that the Lord, he is God. You need to know this. It's important that you know that he is God. And it is he that hath made us. That's pretty plain and simple. The hard King James Bible:
Psalm 100:3 (KJV)
“Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
He hath made us. Now watch this. There is a God. He made me. He made you. So in other words, I Matt Nettesheim am not an accident. You're not an accident. My life, by the way, when I say that, my life, your life—it's not meaningless. I'm not simply a product of random chance. There is a creator. I am his creation. God gave me life.
God gave you life. And that's important when you realize that God's allowed you to live. God chose you to live. And that's amazing. God allows that right there. It leads us to Acts chapter 17. Remember Paul in Acts chapter 17. If you want to turn there, Paul goes to Athens. Do you remember that? He gets to that city and he looks and it's a city wholly given to idolatry.
And in other words, idolatry. There's idols everywhere he looks. You can almost see the Apostle Paul: there's that tomb to the unknown God, whom ye ignorantly worship. But then in Acts chapter 17 25 it says this,
Acts 17:25 (KJV)
“Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;”
The breath that you and I just took, God gave us that. Life came from God. Life came from God. Your life came from God. There is a God. God gave you life. If God gave me my life—God gave me life— In reality, I need to remember that my life belongs to God. Amen. Chop suey—I don't know if that's my good word right there, but I think about it all the time.
Have you ever disappointed the Lord? Me and a few other people. And sometimes I'm thinking, you ever had a thought that you shouldn't have had? We have all that in there. You ever said something that you look back, you're like, I can't believe I said that. And all of that. And sometimes when I think that I say, "God, please don't zap me.
Forgive me because I know God has given me life." I look at this and I was talking to brother Shelton Smith and 83 years of age and somebody talks about retirement. I think this is what he said: “What would I do?” If he retired, what would he do? He doesn't go to work because work's not work to him. It's exciting. He's leading that newspaper.
He gets to preach and I think retire to golf, hitting a golf ball. And man, I like to golf, but I don't want to live to golf. And you think about that in our lives. The scary thing, though, we were talking about what if I disappointed God where he no longer allowed me to pastor or allowed me to have my wife or allowed me to raise my children.
There's so many things. I don't want to disappoint God and God just chops it. Do you ever chop it? There it goes again. I'm sorry. It's in the original languages. That's what it looks like to me. But when we take the Lord's supper and you don't take it seriously. All of a sudden somebody takes the Lord's supper. They're sitting in the church and in their mind they're not taking God seriously.
They're not seeing there is a God. He's almighty. He's all powerful. That God's created them. That their life belongs to God. They have unconfessed sin. And they go there and there's no understanding. And so they take it unworthily. The Bible says because of that, he uses the word sleep, S-L-E-E-P, but it's basically saying that because people don't honor the Lord or realize there's God, sometimes people die.
God allows them to die. That's Bible. That's not me. And that's the seriousness of not realizing God's the one that gave you life. And so we need to say what? Not what do I want to do with my life? When we realize there is a God, we need to say, "God, what do you want me to do with the life you gave me?" So, go to Psalm 139.
There is a God. God is. God made me. Can I take you back a little? Hold your spot there before I get to Psalm 139. Do you remember Psalm 19 verse one?
Psalm 19:1 (KJV)
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”
The heavens declare the glory of God. It's very similar to Psalm chapter number eight. David, paraphrasing Psalm 8:3–4: “When I consider the sun, the moon and stars which thou hast ordained, what is man?” And he sees creation. Psalm 19 is a Psalm of David and he's saying the heavens declare the glory of God. The other day I was driving nighttime and the moon was gigantic and it was just beautiful when I saw the moon in my mind and immediately I said wow look what the Lord has done.
It reminded me of God. It declares the glory of God. And in other words, creation declares that there is a creator. Creation declares that there is a God. Creation preaches the heavens declare. They're yelling loudly, “Somebody made this.” God made this. In Romans chapter 1, verse 20:
Romans 1:20 (KJV, excerpt)
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,”
When you look at creation, it's shouting from a mountaintop, “There is a God.” It says:
Romans 1:20 (KJV, continuation)
“being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead;”
Then it says:
Romans 1:20 (KJV, continuation)
“so that they are without excuse:”
We don't have an excuse not to believe in God. The heavens declare the glory of God. And then creation does not tell us everything about God, but it does say very loudly. Remember that creation doesn't say everything about God, but creation without a doubt says there is a God. So we go back now to this verse right here in Psalm 139. Psalm 139 and look at verse number one.
Oh, what? Is it capitalized in yours? You've got to say it loud. When we do Bible prayers, we read the Bible out loud. We do every other verse. I get to read verse number one and then the family reads verse number two, but I sort of like it when I get to do the verse by myself because I get a little more dramatic.
And so you're reading it. And so we've read through the Bible so many times. I think probably we're getting close to 30 times going through the New Testament as a family now. I mean out loud, and it is amazing. It gets to “O Lord,” and you almost want to shout it from the mountain. Oh Lord. So just say those two words loud.
Oh Lord. We get that.
Psalm 139:1 (KJV)
“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.”
And by the way thou hast searched me and known me. So let's dramatize it. This is the Chesapeake Baptist dramatized, not Bible because we're not doing the whole Bible verse. So, Psalm 139, verse 1, dramatized by the Chesapeake Baptist Church. Ready?
Psalm 139:1 (KJV)
“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.”
That was pretty good. We could try that. Maybe this New Year's we'll go through the whole Bible. But God, thou hast known me. Known me. Verse two,
Psalm 139:2 (KJV)
“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.”
I'm going to read that verse now. I'll read it. Think about what it's saying. Thou hast known me. God knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. I think that's saying when I sit down and God knows when I get up. Verse the next part. Thou understandest my thought. That's not my words, but my thought. Maybe I'm wrong here, but [Brandy?], I appreciate you chiming in. [unclear] think it's thought.
I think it says thought. I believe it says thought, but it's just not saying my words. It's saying that it says my what? My thought. Afar off. And verse three,
Psalm 139:3–4 (KJV)
“Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.”
Thou knowest it all together. So known me, thou knowest. And then it says, thou knowest it all together. God knows. In other words, this is the point. God, there is a God. God is everlasting to everlasting. God made us. Creation declares that there is a God. And then the thought, God knows me. God knows me. God knows where I am. God knows what I am doing.
God knows what I am thinking. Sometimes that's not good, is it? Brother Mitch, when you, I do that chop suey or something like God knows what you don't say it, but God knows what you're thinking. And it's not very nice. God knows what you think. God knows what you say. That can be pretty scary when you realize God and not only scary, but it's also very good because there's a lot of times when all of a sudden nobody else knows what you're thinking.
You're thinking right. You're doing good and you're living for God. And that's what we should be. I maybe side on the problems that we have, but I believe probably in this church most of us we're trying to live our lives doing truth and right. We hear God's word. We're trying to live a life of holiness and righteousness. We should, amen. But sometimes we think nobody knows.
God knows. God knows you, and that's a tremendous blessing. In Hebrews chapter 4, I'll read this:
Hebrews 4:13 (KJV)
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”
And so there's not a creature that is not manifest. There's not a creature. In other words, God knows everybody. Oh yeah. God knows the preacher. Woo. But man alive, God knows those little children. Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not. And children [unclear] second-rate citizens. I don't know how I was sitting there, but I got in a conversation with a fella of a different color than me and he was saying, “Can I go to your church?” And I was like, “What do you mean, can you go to my church?” And well, he said, "My color." And I'm like, “What do you mean, can you go to our church?” And it makes no sense.
White people are not second rate citizens, but any other color is not second rate citizens. God knows you. God cares. We're all of one blood. And the Bible says that in the book of Acts right there. And so God knows you. And that's sobering, but it's also comforting. When I sin, God knows. When I hurt, boy, sometimes there's a sorrow, there's a hurt deep down inside of you, a pain.
God knows and God does care. When nobody understands, often you try so hard and it doesn't seem like anybody cares or sometimes anybody understands, but God knows. Sometimes you're afraid of doing right. Afraid of so many different things, responsibility. But God knows. When I'm praying there's sometimes when I pray and the words don't even come out and it's groanings which cannot be uttered.
God knows and understands. I put in my notes again your dad, Sister [Cantrell?]. God knows. I don't understand, but God knows and God loves your dad, loves your family so very very very much. I can't explain why but I know God loves your dad very very very very much. We move on to Isaiah chapter 6. You should turn to this one. Mark this one.
And this is really good. I didn't put it in my notes, but it makes me want to. You'll see. You'll see. You'll see. It naturally comes out. Isaiah chapter number six, verse number one.
Isaiah 6:1 (KJV)
“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”
There's a song in the year that you remember this, Brother Mike. In the year that King Uzziah died, I also saw the Lord. That one part's the NIV, though. It used to be a scripture song, brother Mike, but they broke it a little bit. But he was high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. Verse two,
Isaiah 6:2 (KJV)
“Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”
Verse three:
Isaiah 6:3 (KJV)
“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”
And you get to the book of Revelation chapter 4.
Revelation 4:11 (KJV)
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
The beast just before that said,
Revelation 4:8 (KJV, excerpt)
“Holy, holy, holy,”
Remember, there is a God. God has always been and always will be. No beginning, no end. God made me. Creation declares that there is a God. God knows me. But we have to realize that God is holy. What does that mean, that God is holy? There's absolutely no sin in God. God is perfectly pure. Perfectly pure, without spot, without blemish. By the way, Jesus is God.
And he was the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Without blemish, without sin, who knew no sin. And we think about that. And so when we think about God's holiness, he's perfectly righteous. He's perfectly good. He is perfectly true. God never lies. God never sins. God never does wrong. God never makes a mistake. You could do a whole study on holiness.
But in 1 Peter chapter number one, it says,
1 Peter 1:15–16 (KJV)
“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Now, who God is affects how we ought to live. God is a holy God, but his holiness should lead us to realize how we ought to live. It says in Romans chapter 1.
Romans 12:1 (spoken quotation and self-correction; wording differs from the KJV)
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto him. Oh, holy and acceptable unto God. I think it's God. You're right. I misquoted. Holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
And we think of his holiness. It should lead us to holiness. Now I'm going to fast forward because we are close to being done. So in Jeremiah chapter 9, thus saith the Lord, this is verse 23. Jeremiah 9:23 says,
Jeremiah 9:23 (KJV; reading with repeated emphasis condensed)
“Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:”
So you have mighty in his might, wise in his wisdom, the rich man in his riches. Verse 24,
Jeremiah 9:24 (KJV, excerpt)
“But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD”
And in other words, the idea is when we realize there's a God, God's always been, always will be. God made me. The heavens declare that there is a God. God knows me. God knows me. God is holy. But God wants me to know him. God wants you to know him. God wants a relationship with you. And he wants it to be not just that you know about him, but you walk with God.
You walk in a close relationship.
Galatians 5:16 (spoken paraphrase; “you” in place of KJV “ye”)
“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
There's so much here. But it's absolutely amazing that God wants you to spend your day with him. He wants you to get up: “Good morning, God.” Acknowledge God. God, good morning. Our father which art in heaven, you're a holy God. Hallowed be thy name, God. Today, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Today, I'd like your will to be done in my life.
Lord, as I'm walking this path, as I'm meeting people, as I'm speaking, let my words, let my action, let my thoughts honor and glorify you. And that's a walk with God. It's a closeness to God. James chapter number two 19,
James 2:19 (KJV)
“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
So merely saying, I believe in God, that's not the goal. The goal is to walk with God. Amen. And we talk about salvation. Salvation is through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. This is the very end of it. God's always been, always will be. There is a God. God made me. God knows me. God is holy. I could have said and added in God loves me.
Praise God for his love. And we could have gone into salvation about how Jesus saves right there. We didn't. God wants me to know him. So what should I do? And I want to say that this is where we began.
Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)
“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
So God is saying hey without faith it's impossible to please him. There is a God. He rewards us for diligently seeking. So, as we go through and we realize that God, can we spend our lives seeking God? Can we spend our Wednesday nights [unclear]? That's why we're here because we're interested in things of God. Sunday night, well, oh man, there's a lot of football games on Sunday night.
And that's okay. I like football. But a lot of times people prioritize a dumb game over God. And—“Pastor, [I?] was with you until you said dumb game.” I get it. I like football, but compared to God, it's a dumb game. It's a dumb game. And the most important thing we can do is realize there is a God and spend our lives seeking him.
That drive you took to get here tonight was worth it. Boy, the pain and the effort. Maybe some of you didn't eat tonight. You came here because you love God. You were seeking him. It's worth it. Worth it. God's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven, we love you. Thank you, Lord, [unclear]. I mean, you're everlasting.
Everlasting. You gave us life. Thank you for that moon or that bird that reminds us of you. And Lord, I pray that you help us to realize that you know us. You know our thoughts. You know what we say. And you know our heartaches. Help us to be reminded that you not only know us, but you desire us to know you. Help us to spend our lives walking with you, God.
I pray that you help us to remember that our lives, we ought to glory in you. I pray for every one of us tonight. If there's somebody not saved, help them get saved. But the majority here, the saved, help us to daily seek you. We love you. Thank you for this good night in Jesus' name. Amen.
Lightly edited for readability.