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I KINGS 8:22-23

"THE INCOMPARABLE GOD"

Intro: Solomon, king of Israel was kneeling in the magnificent tempt he
       had lust built  to worship God. 900 yrs. earlier God had called
       Abraham from the polytheistic  Babylon.

I. "JEHOVAH GOD OF ISRAEL, NO GOD LIKE THEE."
        A. Solomon's kingdom many forms of idols and gods.
        1. What do all these forms of worship tell us?
                        a. Man must worship something.
                        b. Man instinctively reaches out beyond himself
                           for purpose  and meaning.
                        c. The marvelous designs in nature compel us to
                           believe in a  designer.
                        d. The awesome infinite functions in life forms
                           demand an  infinitely wise creator.
        2. Man had created his own gods.
                        a. A projection of himself.
                        b. If I were god this is what I would do and be.
        1. This is how I would have man discover and worship  me.
        B. The God of Israel could not be represented by a form.
                1. Any attempts to confine Him to a form, wrong.
                2. No idols, graven images, representations.
        C. The God of Israel could not be contained in a house made by man.
        1. The heavens of heaven cannot contain Him.
                        a. He should never be thought of in terms of
                           locality.
                                1. He is with us here.
                                2. He is with you as you ride home.
                                3. He is with you at the beach, or
                                   mountains.
        D. The God of Israel kept His word.
        1. He would speak of things in advance of the fact, then He would
           do it.
                        a. This He did as a proof that He was truly God.
                        b. He promised this land to Abraham's seed 900
                           years earlier.
        
        1. Now here they were dwelling in it.
        E. He promised to prosper and bless them.
        F. He promised that if they forsook Him and worshipped other Gods,
           He would forsake them and they would be driven from the land
           and dispersed.
        G. He promised that in the end times He would restore the land to
           them. That the nation would be reborn in a day. That they would
           build again the  waste places, that they would blossom and bud
           and fill the earth with  fruit.
        1. Looking at the nation Israel today, one must surely exclaim,
           "O  Jehovah God of Israel, there is no God like thee."
        H. The God of Israel was a merciful God.
                1. He is described as full of compassion and plenteous
                   in mercy.
                2. He is understanding and forgiving.
                3. He is not willing that any should perish.
                4. He desires your fellowship and love.
        To know Him is to understand life.
To serve Him is to live within the highest potential of man's being.