“ Summary, Part 4 (final) ” JAMES 1:13 – when Satan and man changed the creation through sin, God began to deal with us as sinners; He cannot be tempted, nor does He tempt. SUMMARY STATEMENT: With respect to alternation and change, God is unchangeable; this is God’s immutability. In relation to decay and death, it is God’s incorruptibility. PRACTICAL LESSONS FROM GOD’S SUPREMACY: 1. GOD ALONE IS WORTHY OF OUR HUMBLE, ADORING WORSHIP [45:02]. 1 TIMOTHY 6:15 – this is our creator and redeemer. He knows our nature: we are but dust. 2. WE SHOULD GIVE GOD OUR ABSOLUTE TRUST AT ALL TIMES, ESPECIALLY IN TIMES OF NEED [48:08]. DEUTERONOMY 33:26-27 – He not only created us, but our needs as well. He did this to show His strength and faithfulness to us. 3. GOD ALONE SHOULD BE SOUGHT FOR PARDON FROM OUR SINS [51:00]. MICAH 7:18 – We can’t seek it anywhere else, as nothing else can save.
“ Summary, Part 3 ” C. GOD ALONE IS INFINITE [29:02]. God’s infinity means that He is limitless (PSALM 145:3, 147:5; ISAIAH 40:28) and illimitable (1 KINGS 8:27). All other beings are finite. Contrary to what Frank Peretti’s novels suggest, God and Satan are not competing for control. SUMMARY STATEMENT: With respect to limitation, God is infinite; this is God’s infinity. In relation to space, it is God’s omnipresence. D. GOD ALONE IS ETERNAL [32:33]. God’s eternity means that only God is an eternal Spirit, without origin (PSALM 90:2, JEREMIAH 10:6, 16). All other spirits are originated; we all have a beginning. Though we may be eternal from the point of creation, only God is without origin. SUMMARY STATEMENT: With respect to origin and duration, God is infinite; this is God’s eternity. In relation to time, it is God’s everpresence. E. GOD ALONE IS UNCHANGEABLE [34:46]. God’s immutability means that He alone is without alteration or change (PSALM 102:25; HEBREWS 1:10-12). All created things are mutable and changeable, but God cannot develop, improve, mature, age, decay, weaken, or grow weary (after all, he gives strength to men). MALACHI 3:6 – the precious capital of God’s covenants with His people. JAMES 1:17 – imagine a fitful, temperamental God. All other spirits can change.
“ Summary, Part 2 ” A. GOD ALONE IS IDEAL: THAT IS, INHERENTLY AND INFINITELY PERFECT [19:21]. Perfection relates to completeness and flawlessness. All God is and does is perfect: absolutely complete and flawless. PSALM 18:30 speaks of His blamelessness. ECCLESIASTES 3:14 tells us that God’s actions are perfect, complete, and unchangeable. ROMANS 11:35-36 tells of God’s self-counsel. EPHESIANS 1:22-23 speaks of His perfect work in Christ. He cannot be improved, be tempted, or fall (EXODUS 15:11; JOB 4:17-18, 15:15; JAMES 1:13), and that makes Him unique. Angelic spirits are capable of falling and improvement (1 PETER 1:12), as is man (HEBREWS 12:23, MARK 10:18). SUMMARY STATEMENT: With respect to completion and flaw, God is ideal; this is God’s ideality. In relation to lack, need, flaw, and sin, it is God’s inexhaustibility and impeccability. B. GOD ALONE IS SELF-SUFFICIENT [26:26]. When only God was, He was perfectly happy and content in Himself (JEREMIAH 10:16, JOHN 5:26). God alone is the rock on which all rests (ACTS 17:25, 1 TIMOTHY 6:16). The creation didn't fill any need that He had, for He had no needs. God’s self-existence is his aseity. SUMMARY STATEMENT: With respect to dependence and support, God is self-existent; this is God’s aseity. In relation to creatures, it is God’s independence.
“ Summary, Part 1 ” [Pastor Nutter credits his former professor, Pastor Greg Nichols of Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the outline of this message, which can be found in Pastor Nichols’ book, *What does the Bible say about God?: The Biblical doctrine of God*.] After a quick review of last week’s message, we move on in Part Three to II. THE SUPREMACY OF GOD [starting at 3:00 of the audio]. The Old Testament stresses God’s peerlessness, and the New His spirituality (and vice versa). Yet we must not conclude that the Testaments view God’s nature from completely different perspectives. Throughout Scripture, we see statements containing the idea of God’s supremacy. Starting at 5:45 of the audio, Pastor Nutter reads a list of them and asks us to note in each one the thought concerning God’s uniqueness: EXODUS 9:14, 15:11; DEUTERONOMY 3:24, 4:35, 39, 6:4, 33:26-27; 1 SAMUEL 2:2; I KINGS 8:23, 27; PSALM 86:8, 89:6, 113:5; ISAIAH 40:17-18, 25, 28, 46:5, 9; JEREMIAH 10:6, 10, 16; MICAH 7:18; MARK 12:29, 32; JOHN 5:18, 10:30, 33; 1 CORINTHIANS 8:4, 6; PHILIPPIANS 2:6; and 1 TIMOTHY 6:15 [ends at 15:25]. God does what He does because He is who He is. His attributes are â€existential’, since each relates to being or existence. We now explore five of them.
“ Summary, Part 5 (final) ” This leads us back to God’s incomprehensibility. The LBCF says that God’s “essence cannot be comprehended by any but Himself” (1689 LBCF, 2:1). B. THE PRACTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL APPLICATIONS OF GOD’S SIMPLICITY [41:19]. 1. GOD’S SIMPLICITY OFFERS THE COMFORT THAT WE CAN KNOW GOD AS HE REALLY IS [41:48]. This frees us from the bondage of searching for a concealed essence of God, distinct from His attributes, which would define who and what He really is. If we know what His word reveals about Him, then we can know Him. 2 TIMOTHY 1:12 – Paul didn’t know God exhaustively (and neither do the angels), but he did know Him, and that give him confidence in his execution. 2. GOD’S SIMPLICITY IMPLIES THAT THOSE WHO KNOW GOD WILL REFLECT WHAT HE REALLY IS [45:09]. John did not say that “God is love” or that “God is light” to encourage philosophical speculation about God’s essence or attributes. 1 JOHN 1:5 – for John, God’s simplicity was very practical. 1 JOHN 4:8, 16 – an unselfish disposition of giving and caring displays fellowship with the God who is love. A lifestyle marked by separation from the vices of the world displays fellowship with the God whose being excludes all worldly vice. The true Christian is a reflection of his God.
“ Summary, Part 4 ” First [29:07], in EXODUS 3:14, God says “I AM THAT I AM”, or “I AM WHAT I AM”. This reflects His self-existence and eternal being. He is no more or less than what the Bible reveals Him to be. Looking beyond it to some secret essence is to get lost in the abyss of utter mystery: there is no reference point there for us. Expressed in the third person, it would be “God is what He is.” Second [31:57], 1 JOHN 1:5 says, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” It would be wrong to say that â€light is God’, and it would be wrong to say that God is *only* light. His character is so pure that it excludes any and all moral impurity. In that same spirit, 1 JOHN 4:8, 16 says that “God is love”. As humans, we are characterized by incompletion, flaw, limitation, dependence, among other things. But God has no such limitations; He is incapable of them. 2. NEVERTHELESS, GOD’S ATTRIBUTES ARE DISTINCT ASPECTS OF HIS NATURE [35:50]. Some have carried the first aspect of God’s simplicity to an extreme. They reason that if each attribute is essential to His nature, then what we call â€God’s attributes’ are really just different names for the same thing. God’s simplicity doesn’t mean that He lacks variety. He is unitary; He is all of everything that He is.
“ Summary, Part 3 ” A. THE SUBSTANCE OR MEANING OF GOD’S SIMPLICITY [25:46]. In his *Systematic Theology*, Charles Hodge warns us about two extreme views of this matter that we must avoid: “In attempting to explain the relation in which the attributes of God stand to His essence and to each other, there are two extremes to be avoided. First, we must not represent God as a composite being, composed of different elements; and secondly, we must not confound the attributes, making them all mean the same thing, which is equivalent to denying them altogether. The Realists of the middle ages tended to the former of those extremes, and the Nominalists to the other.” 1. GOD’S NATURE IS UNITARY: HIS ATTRIBUTES ARE WHAT HE IS [27:07]. Human nature is composed of two parts: one part material (body) and one part immaterial (soul). God’s nature, however, is not composite but unitary (one). God is not â€part love’, He is love. But He is not only love: He is also holy, and the two are not the same. Removing an attribute leaves you with something that is not God. [Back to the Catechism’s answer: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”]
“ Summary, Part 2 ” With the indefinite article (“God is a Spirit”), the Greek emphasizes His being. That “Spirit” is capitalized indicates that He is different from any other spirit. Second [15:01], the supremacy of God is a foundational aspect of His nature. Scripture teaches that our God is unique and peerless; one of a kind (PSALM 89:6, ISAIAH 40:25). Many spirits exist, but only one God. To assign spirit only to God is to risk rendering Him unknowable, but to neglect the uniqueness of God as Spirit is to risk agnosticism. Third [17:43], “God is love” (1 JOHN 4:16) implies His simplicity: a third fundamental property of His nature. This simplicity leads us to consider the interrelation of His characteristics. EXODUS 3:14: “I AM THAT I AM”. God’s unity is a harmony. The Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 1, stresses this simplicity. Our own London Baptist Confession of Faith states it less emphatically: that God is without parts (1689 LBCF, 2:1). I. THE SIMPLICITY OF GOD [20:16]. EXODUS 3:14, 1 JOHN 1:5, 4:8, 16 combine to attest to the fact that we must know about God before we can live a life that reflects Him. If there is not a theological doctrine of simplicity, then we cannot do that.
“ Summary, Part 1 ” [Pastor Nutter credits his former professor, Pastor Greg Nichols of Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the outline of this message, which can be found in Pastor Nichols’ book, *What does the Bible say about God?: The Biblical doctrine of God*.] This week, we move on to Part Three of the Existence and Attributes of God Series: THE SPIRITUAL, SUPREME, AND SIMPLE NATURE OF GOD. INTRODUCTION [starting at 3:00 of the audio]. This is the heart of this study. God’s nature is an all-encompassing term that embraces His being, His form, and His personality. God’s attributes are the essential traits that distinguish Him: what and who He is. When we examine this subject, we must proceed with caution and reverence. If we leave out any of God’s traits, we will fall into grave error and misrepresent our God (JAMES 3:1). First [7:08], Christ’s words in JOHN 4:24, “God is a spirit”, provide the most concise definition of God’s nature in all of Scripture. The usual â€omnis’ (omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent) are often used without the noun they modify. The answer to Question 4 of the Shorter Catechism leads off with God’s quality: “He is a Spirit”. In the Greek, the absence of the indefinite article (“God is spirit”) emphasizes His quality of spirituality.
“ Summary, Part 5 (final) ” In *Pilgrim’s Progress*, we meet Christian in his despair. But he never fell away because he persevered. 3. The true Christian will and must bear fruit. JOHN 15:8 – fruit-bearing glorifies God, proves the disciple, and marks him with holiness. The Christian and the worldly man are different in appearance, but much more in soul. 4. Narrow is the way, and few find it. It grieves us that many will fall away, but it shouldn’t surprise us. 5. How far professing believers may press on, yet never be believers at all. This is the most sobering consideration, but shouldn’t surprise us, either. We’ve known of people who threw themselves into faith, only to be lured away by some worldly distraction. 6. Paul’s encouragement to persevere. From verse 10, he reminds us that the good Christian work that we do must never cease; it will make our salvation not actual, but sure.
“ Summary, Part 4 ” 5. They are nominal Christians; unsaved people who identify with the Church and sit under Biblical teaching, but never come to faith [35:45]. This is the correct interpretation. The most extreme example is Judas, who was no less than one of Jesus’ disciples for three years. Much less extreme are the ones who sit in our midst for a time, even a long time. It is tragic indeed when they fall away, for what other gospel could convict them if the true one never did? D. CONCLUSION [39:30]. 1. THE INSTRUCTIVE ILLUSTRATION. Verses 7-8 tell us that the same gospel rains upon everyone, but their fruits are very different. This fruit reveals the true Christian and the nominal one. 2. THE PRONOUNCED PERSUASION. Verses 9-10 tell of Paul’s faith in his audience and his encouragement of them to press on to the end. E. CONSIDERATIONS [42:50]. 1. The only safe course in the Christian life is forward progress. Growth in faith is just that; we call it sanctification. In HEBREWS 10:38, Paul reminds us of Habakkuk’s warning: that God has no delight in the soul that draws back. 2. All sin is evil, but not all sin is apostasy. Even the best Christian sins. David sinned grievously, but he never fell away. God was always willing to restore him.
“ Summary, Part 3 ” 1. They are Christians who fell away [26:25]. In the immediate sense, this is the most apparent. Verses 4-5 indeed sound like believers. But Scripture interprets Scripture. True believers are regenerate: born again. When the Father delivered us to the Son, it was for keeps (cf. JOHN 6:37-40). So believing these people to be Christians would defy God’s faithfulness to Christians, not to mention so much else in the Bible. 2. That they are Christians who failed to heed these present warnings [29:50]. But though we agree that such warnings are means of grace to keep Christians to the narrow path, this interpretation defies the spirit of the passage’s context: that Christians must press on beyond these very fundamentals. A further clue is the first person tense of verses 1-3, and the third person tense of verses 4-5. 3. They are potential Christians [32:35]. That they received infant baptism or some form of prevenient grace, but never embraced the “final justification” of true, saving faith. But such a doctrine isn't in the Bible, which tells us that we are justified by faith apart from works, once and forever. 4. They are true believers under some temporal judgment [35:00]. However, that does not accord with the passage's warnings and is not rectified "crucifying Christ afresh".
“ Summary, Part 2 ” We are not destined to build foundations for the rest of our lives, but to build on them; not just individual Christians, but churches fall into this trap as well. They may do it for the sake of visitors and new Christians, but the older flock will wither and starve. But as verse 3 indicates, it is God Himself who determines our progress. This does not conflict with Paul’s exhortation to press on: we are to press on, and our sovereign God will set the limits. At verse 4, we begin to see the rationale of the passage. We press on to not get caught in an impossibility: the renewal of apostates who have fallen away. It is possible for such people to fall away, but it is impossible to bring them back. Doing so would require another sacrifice of Christ. Biblical theology makes it plain that Paul’s language here is hypothetical: Christ’s atoning sacrifice was once and final for all eternity. The thought of such a requirement is blasphemous, but what does the Roman Catholic Mass do every week, and how many Reformation martyrs were murdered for calling that what it is? C. CONUNDRUM, or CONTROVERSY [25:30]. Who is being described here? A number of explanations have been offered.
“ Summary, Part 1 ” [Starting at 6:56 of the audio]. Narrative and historical portions of Scripture are relatively easy to understand, but passages like our source text can be thick and dense with no clear path, even to the point of discouragement. HEBREWS 6:1-10 is such a passage, with verses 4-9 deserving our careful attention. A. CONTEXT [8:30]. The book of Hebrews is a diverse terrain, containing the plains of repeated themes, but with lofty peaks of important truths rising out of them. Among the peaks is 1. THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS [9:30]. In this subject, we see what we need to do, and why we need to press on in the faith. Essential to this perseverance is 2. THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS. Though the book of Hebrews doesn’t deal with this very much, it does visit it here and there. It is point is that God keeps His own unto eternal life. Running underneath are 3. WARNINGS. Lest we presume upon our preservation, we are given cautions. If we turn away from the gospel, how shall we escape His wrath? B. CONSTRUCTION [14:13]. HEBREWS 5:12ff leads directly to the source text. Christians who have sat under gospel teaching for a significant time need to move on beyond the basic truths.
“ Summary, Part 4 (final) ” In verses 15-18, David describes his brittle, pierced, agonized, humiliated state in an unmistakable picture of the Lord hanging on the cross. Yet he again pleads for God’s presence in verses 19. But does he terminate his faith in verses 20-21? No. The deliverance for which he asks is for his soul: he accepts his fate, but asks to be spared from annihilation. Despite this, he proclaims his witness in verse 22, as Jesus proclaimed it to be finished before He gave up the ghost (JOHN 19:30). LESSONS [39:00] 1. When we feel forsaken and abandoned, we must remember that the Lord walked that road before us. 2. Always pray, and never lose heart. 3. Jesus’ manner of death was designed to draw men near. 4. Christ will see through all that He died for. 5. God’s past faithfulness is a plea for the present. 6. Our ancestral brethren are examples to us. 7. We must not limit ourselves to a confessional relationship with God. That relationship must be rich, vital, and wholehearted.
“ Summary, Part 3 ” Jesus too knew man’s history: not only that men had trusted and been redeemed, but that man fell in Adam and needed a Redeemer. B. THE INDIGNITY OF DISHONOR [25:25] PSALM 22:6-8 – man is the crown jewel of creation. Unlike any other creature, we feel the pain of injustice acutely; how much more so does the Creator? But aren’t we supposed to forsake the words of men? In light of JOHN 15:18, we Christians sense the world’s mockery of Christ when we ourselves are mocked. When we sin, we feel the shame of offending God. The disciples fled, leaving Jesus to bear punishment alone. But in the spirit of PSALM 22:8, Jesus didn’t leave His Father. And in the spirit of verses 9-11, Jesus never called for that legion of angels to rescue Him, but only that His Father be with Him. C. THE OVERPOWERING OF ENEMIES WITH ITS ATTENDANT PHYSICAL SUFFERINGS [31:45] In PSALM 22:12, David refers to the warriors surrounding him as bulls: fierce, merciless beasts. Such surrounded Jesus. In verse 14, David describes his utter weakness, the same of which Jesus felt on the cross.
“ Summary, Part 2 ” I. THE PRICE OF PEACE, OR THE SUFFERING SAVIOR [10:55] This part subdivides in to THREE CONFLICTS OF FAITH: forsaken by the Father (vv. 1-5), the indignity of dishonor (vv. 6-11), and the overpowering of enemies with its attendant physical sufferings (vv. 11-21), with a concluding consolation in verse 22. A. FORSAKEN BY THE FATHER [12:29] Though only the first two verses are quoted in the New Testament, the entire psalm is a clear allusion to Christ’s suffering. Verse 1 contains Jesus’ cry in MATTHEW 27:46. But did God really forsake His Son? This must be considered from the perspective of Christ as our mediator, with His dual nature in mind. God does turn His face from the man Jesus, leaving Him to bear our sins in Adam. But even then, it was as true as ever that the divine Christ and the Father are one. Even in His cry, the Lord addresses the Father as “my God”. Back in PSALM 22:3 [21:47], David understands his position: though he is in despair, he still knows that God is righteous. In the garden of Gethsemane, the Lord asked for the cup of wrath to be passed from Him, but that the Father’s will be done. David then remembered his own fathers: that they trusted in God, who delivered them. Not only is God righteous, but He has always been righteous (cf. PSALM 77:10).
“ Summary, Part 1 ” [starting at 4:28 of the audio] When we hear of “the gospel of peace” or the “gospel of hope”, what is meant by “peace” and “hope”? Both terms necessitate a negative context: peace implies some sort of conflict, and hope implies some sort of despair. But here they modify something specific: “the gospel”. So we must be careful to not modify the holy gospel with worldly understanding. Much earthly peace (“don’t rock the boat”) means distress for those who suffer under the status quo, and much earthly hope (“tomorrow is another day”) is dismissive of unavoidable despair. Neither are worthy of our Lord. The gospel of peace is the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to take our just punishment, and the gospel of hope is the truth of His resurrection and glory, which means our own. In PSALM 22, David’s own suffering is a clear allusion to Christ’s suffering on our behalf. This psalm divides into two parts: the price of peace, or the suffering savior (vv. 1-21) and the fruit of righteousness, or the reigning victor (vv. 22-31), the first of which we will study today.
“ Summary, Part 4 (final) ” 4) Arrive early enough so that you can adequately and quietly ready your heart to meet the Lord so as to not be a distraction to other worshipers. We must awake into the Sabbath; it does not begin when the service begins. UPON ENTERING THE BUILDING AND BEFORE THE SERVICE [47:10]: A focused, edifying, and smooth service requires adequate time to deliver the food and tithes we bring, leaving children in the nursery, using the facilities, greeting the brethren and visitors, settling into our pews and praying once more before the service begins. We know that coming to work in a hurry is a bad start; how much more so to come to church the same way? The point of all of this is for us to realize that our time belongs to God. As the Westminster Confession of Faith says about the sanctification of the Lord’s Day, our worldly affairs should not be an impediment to our heavenly God on His Day.
“ Summary, Part 3 ” VI. IF WE WOULD PROPERLY PREPARE FOR CORPORATE WORSHIP ON THE LORD’S DAY, WE MUST READY OURSELVES THROUGHOUT THE PREVIOUS WEEK AS WELL AS ON SUNDAY MORNING. [35:55] PSALM 87:2 – God loves corporate worship even more than private worship. Corporate worship on the Lord’s Day here is a dress rehearsal for our worship in glory. Our personal and family worship is preparation for our worship each Lord’s Day. HOW SHOULD YOU PREPARE AT ENTER GOD’S PRESENCE ON THE SABBATH? [39:22] AT HOME ON SATURDAY NIGHT 1) Give special attention to mental preparation (commitment to the service, letting the kids know what Sunday service will bring and addressing proper behavior), physical preparation (sufficient time, cars ready, clothes set out, food made, kids’ Sunday supplies laid out), and spiritual preparation (prayer for the pastor, the brethren, and the service; ask God to come down). 2) Retire early enough to get sufficient rest. ON SUNDAY MORNING: 1) Rise early enough not to be rushed. 2) Spend time alone with God preparing your heart. 3) Pray with your family before leaving home.
7/14/14 4:12 AM
