O How He Loves You and Me (32mb)

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This sermon is the eighth in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message continues the category of attributes that some theologians refer to as the "Moral Attributes" of God. The topics covered in this sermon include: love, mercy and grace.

Written Excerpts:

1 John 4:16 “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

Introduction:  There are a number of words in our vocabulary that have changed in meaning over time – some with little consequence and others with a great deal of consequence. A word that I believe has changed in some pretty significant ways over the course of time is the word “love.”

Far too many people have a distorted concept of love. Some, if they were honest, would admit that they see love as synonymous with lust. Others think of love as a warm, fuzzy, emotional feeling that inspires thoughts of admiration, etc. towards another person.

As we continue to study about the nature of God and the qualities that are attributed to him in the Bible, we find an abundance of passages that speak of the love of God. Yet, many people today have a rather unbiblical and misinformed idea of God’s love.

In our discussion of the love of God, we are going to also include the concepts of mercy and grace.

III.       Moral Attributes

A. Holiness, Righteousness and Justice.

B. Love, Mercy and Grace

Today, we are talking about attributes that we could say are the exact opposite of those discussed last week.

1. Definitions of the terms.

Love – Have affection for; take pleasure in; be devoted to, with the result of benevolence (i.e. gifts or favors).

Mercy – The quality of love demonstrated in the withholding of judgment that is deserved.

Grace – The quality of love demonstrated in the granting of favors, gifts or blessings that are not deserved.

Both mercy and grace are rooted in the Love of God. It is because of His love that He gives grace and extends mercy.

2. Important Observations from Scripture.

a. Love, like holiness, is what God IS, not what He HAS.

Last week we read the scripture where God declares, “Be ye holy for I am holy.”

Today, I would point out two verses in 1 John where it says God is love. (4:8, 16) “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love…. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”

Some theologians have even stated that the core of God’s nature is holy-love and everything else springs from that absolutely perfect balance of holiness and love.

b. God’s love is universal. That is, He loves everyone in the entire world.

John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9

If God’s love is universal, meaning that no one is left out, then it must also be..

c. God’s love is unconditional.

That means we do not have to measure up to certain requirements in order to get Him to love us. Romans 5:8.

d. God initiates love before receiving any love in return.

That is, He makes the first move toward us without waiting for us to come asking for His love.

1 John 4:10, 19

Squire Parsons wrote the song titled, “He Came to Me.”

The gulf that separated me from Christ, my Lord,
It was so vast the crossing I could never ford;
From where I was to His demands, it seemed so far;
I cried, "Dear Lord, I cannot come to where you are."

He came to me, O, He came to me.
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
That's why He died on Calvary;
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.

e. God’s love is costly.

It is a costly love because it is a self-sacrificing love. John 3:16 “God so love the world that He gave….”

A self-sacrificing, costly love is also a principled love. That is, it is a love that calculates the risks, but is demonstrated and expressed anyway because it is worth the cost.

f. God’s love is a jealous love.

Exodus 34:14. In the context of this verse, the Lord warns against intermarrying with the Canaanites and adopting their worship of idols and pagan gods. As He gives this warning, the sin of idol worship is described as “playing the harlot” – terminology used to describe marital / sexual unfaithfulness.

Deut. 4:24. We tend to think of jealousy as a negative quality; a trait that has negative connotations or meanings. Yet, the Bible is describing God as a jealous God.

If you stop and think about it, it makes complete sense. If there was no level of jealousy at all then there would be a positive reason to question the amount of love the person has.

There is an exclusiveness about love that is God-given and the way God created it.

g. God’s love is constantly in tension with and in harmony with His holiness.

There is never any contradiction between the holiness and love of God. Yet, it is difficult for us to understand the harmony between them.

Over emphasis on the holiness of God; excluding his love leads to a view that sees God as a tyrant, or harsh dictator that can never be satisfied or pleased. Over emphasis on the love of God; to the exclusion of His holiness leads to the idea that God is tolerant of everything and permissive.

The Apostle Paul addresses this tension even as he exhorts believers to “Let [your] love be without dissimulation [hypocrisy]. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.” (Romans 12:9) If someone does not have the capacity to hate what is evil, then it is doubtful they have the capacity to love what is good, or to even love at all.

For love to be genuine, it must seek to conquer all enemies of love that would seek to destroy it.

Conclusion:

So, what does all this mean? Why is it so important to know that God loves me?

1. To really grasp the full meaning of God’s love for me should motivate me to respond by loving Him in return.1 John 4:19.

My back was turned to Him. I didn’t know Him or want Him, but He sought me and came to me and died for me.

2. I should love those that He loves.

1 John 4:11. My love for others needs to have the same qualities that God has for me.

It cannot be based upon their “worth” or “likeability” but base upon the love of Christ working through us.

Remember, the kind of love I’m talking about here is not warm, fuzzy emotional feelings, but a principled compassion that recognizes how much God loves us and wants to pass that on to others.

There are a lot of people who have never known or sensed the love of God, because they have never felt it or sensed it from any of God’s people. This is the kind of love that will do the right thing and what is needed whether I feel like it or not.

The next sermon in this series is: To Tell You the Truth (link is located in blog archive on right)

Our Gloriously Holy God (38mb)

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This sermon is the seventh in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message begins to discuss the category of attributes that some theologians refer to as the "Moral Attributes" of God. The topic covered in this message is the holiness of God including His righteousness and justice.

Written Excerpts:

Exodus 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

Introduction:

Remember that I stated at the outset of this series that we were going to be learning more about God so that the knowledge we gain will lead us to a personal and intimate knowledge of God.

In order for that to happen, it will require for us to do some thinking, meditating, and studying on our own. It will require us to spend time dwelling on His perfections and then worshiping and adoring Him as He is.

Today we are going to begin talking about a new category of attributes – Moral Attributes.

III.       Moral Attributes

Moral Attributes are those qualities that are not only true about Him, but they are qualities that He shares, in some degree, with mankind, who was made in His image. They are qualities that refer to God’s governance over free and intelligent moral beings.

A. Holiness, Righteousness and Justice.

It appears that these qualities are very closely related to each other, so we will consider them together.

1. Definitions of the terms.

Holiness – Supreme moral excellence; the absolute exclusion of every conceivable principle of moral evil, and the possession, in an unlimited degree, of every conceivable principle of moral good.

Exodus 15:11 “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

Righteousness – God’s attribute of holiness considered as the standard for all His actions.

Ps. 145:17 “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.”

Justice – The administration of God’s holiness in the form of rewards and punishments.

Ps. 9:7-8 “The LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.”

2. Important Observations from Scripture.

a. The holiness of God is underived.

In other words, just as we said previously about other attributes of God, He does not conform to some outside standard of holiness; He IS the standard of holiness.

Exodus 15:11 “Who is like you O Lord…glorious in holiness….”

Lev. 11:44 “…You shall be holy; for I am holy.”

In the Exodus passage, the implication is that God stands alone in regards to holiness, just as He stands alone in all of His divine perfections. There is no one or nothing that measures up to His holiness.

“Glorious in holiness” – has been translated by some scholars as “glorified in holiness.” I understand that to mean that God’s holiness, moral perfection, or infinite purity is the thing that causes His name to be exalted, glorified and adored by the hosts of heaven and the entire creation.

In the Leviticus passage, God is telling the people of Israel that the underlying reason they need to be holy is because He is holy; He is the standard. (I’ll have more to say about that later.)

b. God’s holiness is the principle for His own activity.

Everything He does is ultimately an expression of His holiness.

Ps. 145:17 “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.”

God has manifested his holiness in various ways throughout the history of mankind as recorded in scripture.

For example:

·          The giving of the Law; including the content of the Law, as well as all the circumstances surrounding that event. (Fire, smoke, thunder, warnings of sudden death, etc.)

·          In the various ways that God punished the wickedness and evil of the heathen as well as the unfaithfulness and rebellion of His own children (Israel). (Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant)

·          In the death of His own Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross.

c. God’s holiness is the standard for His children.

Peter quotes the passage we referenced earlier in Leviticus when he says, “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.” (1 Pe. 1:15-16)

Please notice and understand, dear friends, that God did not say, “Be holy because the world is so wicked.” That statement would imply that the world’s wickedness is the standard that we should measure ourselves by, and as long as we are better than the rest of the world, then we are doing quite well.

No. God said we are to be holy because He is holy. HE is the standard by which we must constantly measure ourselves.

If we keep comparing ourselves with ourselves, then our attitudes, behaviors and lifestyles will eventually become as corrupt and immoral as the “wicked” people were a decade or two ago,.

Why is this trend inevitable? Because we tend to become desensitized and accustomed to evil the longer we are around it.

We are a lot like the wicked that God addresses in Psalms 50:21 “These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.”

It’s no wonder that Isaiah’s experience is described the way that it is in Isaiah 6. After he had a revelation of God “high and lifted up,” and the angels crying “Holy, Holy, Holy;” his response was a passionate “Woe is me!”

For many people today, whether in the church or out, when they are asked about their conduct or their attitudes, they are apt to reply that they are as good as (or better than) most other people. Well, dear friends, that is the problem. We must not compare ourselves with other people. The real question is, how do we measure up with the holiness of God?

We may be tempted to feel like there is no hope; there is no use trying; we can never measure up. That certainly would be true if we were left to our own efforts. But God has provided a remedy! The plan of redemption is adequate!

1 John 3:8b “For this purpose was the Son of God manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

I’m not implying that we will be or can be absolutely perfect, or reach the point where we never make mistakes or can never succumb to a temptation. I am saying that the remedy for sin and impurity that was accomplished through the shed blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient for the problem we have.

That means we must not make excuses for sin! We must not justify it, nor condone it.

To be holy, means that we are repulsed by sin just like He is. It means that our supreme desire in life is to be like Jesus.

d. God’s justice is based on His holiness and is administered in truth.

Again, we have become so accustomed to perverted justice in our courts and governments. Sometimes the innocent are convicted and the guilty go free. This will never happen with God.

The Psalmist says His judgments are “true and righteous altogether.” (19b)

The justice of God knows all things and judges all things not according to our perspectives and our “excuses,” but according to His truth and especially according to His provisions that He has made to overcome all sin.

We might have an excuse when we stand before God, if there was no Calvary. We might have an excuse, if there was no empty tomb. We might have an excuse if there was no Pentecost; no Holy Spirit to bring God Himself into our very own hearts and lives.

But there is a cross and an empty tomb that testify God has done everything that is needed for us to be redeemed, forgiven, cleansed and delivered by His blood and power of His resurrection.

He has given us His Holy Spirit to live within our hearts and lives enabling us to be holy and righteous before God.

Conclusion:

I hope that your heart has not only been convicted this morning, but inspired and challenged to seek after God.

I hope that the Holy Spirit has created within your spirit a discontent for living according to the status quo of this world and its standards.

I hope that He has inspired a passionate desire in the depths of your soul to constantly seek and exemplify the holiness of Christ in attitudes and in conduct.

The next sermon in this series is: Oh How He Loves You and Me (link available in the blog archive on the right)

God Is So Good (31mb)

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This sermon is the sixth in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message continues to discuss what some theologians refer to as "Relative Attributes" and specifically covers the wisdom, goodness and faithfulness of God.

Written Excerpts:

Currently we are discussing the…

II.   Relative Attributes – Those aspects of God’s being that directly relate to His creation and His interaction with it. They refer to God’s mode of operation and activity within His creation and with His creatures.

Last Sunday we tried to cover the topics of Omnipotence; Omnipresence; and Omniscience.

A. Omnipotence – God is unlimited in power, might and ability.

B. Omnipresence – God is present in all space at all times.

C. Omniscience – God is infinite with regards to knowledge and understanding.

Today we will continue by looking at the attributes of Wisdom; Goodness and Faithfulness.

D. Wisdom – In general, wisdom is the adaptation of knowledge in order to achieve desired ends.

In regards to God, we understand God’s wisdom to be the use of infinite knowledge within the context of eternity to achieve goals and purposes that glorify God.

1. Wisdom operates without restrictions of time.

Job 12:12-13

Job seems to be comparing the wisdom of God with the wisdom of old men who, in his day, lived to be hundreds of years. In spite of all the knowledge and wisdom they would accumulate in their long lives, God’s wisdom is greater.

The message in context seems to be that their long life is nothing compared to the eternal God, who has a view and perspective infinitely greater than theirs.

We have the ability to compare situations and events with others that exist in our short memories, but God has the ability to orchestrate events and situations according to His eternal perspectives and His eternal purposes.

2. Wisdom is active in all God’s works.

Ps. 104:24; Ps. 136:5

God does everything from creation of the world to working out little details of our lives with infinite, eternal wisdom that is geared to accomplish His eternal purposes and promote His eternal glory.

3. God is the source of wisdom.

Prov. 2:6

The book of Proverbs is full of verses that exhort us to seek and get wisdom from the Lord. In fact, there are many verses written in such a manner to portray God as the personification Wisdom.

The goal for each of us as Christians should not be simply to have extensive knowledge of truth, but to have God’s wisdom to know how best to apply the truth in accomplishing God’s purposes.

As we are trying to apply God’s wisdom to the situations we face in life, we always need to remember that God’s point of view is far better than ours. James 1:5

E. Goodness –

Exodus 34:6  (see Ex. 33:19)

(Packer) Within the cluster of God’s moral perfections there is one in particular to which the term “goodness” points…. That is the quality of generosity.

Ps. 84:11 “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

1. The goodness of God is underived.

Since God is eternal and infinite in all His divine perfections, then “goodness” as described already above, is also eternal and infinite. Therefore, God’s goodness is inherent within His own being and He does not gain goodness from anyone / anything else.

God does not conform to some independent standard of goodness in order to be considered good. God IS the standard of goodness.

2. God alone has the unique perspective to know what is truly good and what isn’t.

As mentioned earlier with regards to the subject of wisdom, our perspective is so limited in time and scope. We tend to judge the “goodness” of something based upon situations and events that are somewhat isolated. But, God has the unique perspective of eternity.  

We’re not the only ones that are observing the activity of God. All the heavenly created beings are also watching and observing the activity of God within this world and throughout the universe.

3. God is not the originator of evil.

There is a passage of scripture that declares, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Is. 45:7)

However, the context here denotes “evil” as disaster or calamity in the natural world.

(John Wesley) “Why is evil in the world? Because man was created in the image of God; because he is not mere matter, a clod of earth, a lump of clay, without sense or understanding, but a spirit like his Creator; a being endued not only with sense and understanding, but also with a will exerting itself in various affections.

 “To crown all the rest he was endued with liberty… of choosing good and evil. Indeed had he not been a free as well as intelligent being, his understanding would have been as incapable of holiness or any other kind of virtue, as a tree or a block of marble. And having this power…of choosing good or evil, he chose the latter, he chose evil. Thus sin entered into the world.”

This same freedom of will and ability to think, reason and choose was apparently also once afforded to angels who rebelled against God even before Adam and Eve. Thus, the origin of Satan.

4. Our goodness is derived from God and we are to do good unto others.

None of us have any inherent goodness in ourselves. Any ability or desire for goodness that we have is a gift of God’s grace.

As Christians, we are urged to perform good deeds and acts of kindness and generosity to others. Why? Because that is the nature of God, whom we are to imitate.

F. Faithfulness

Hebrew root from which the words translated "faithful" and "faithfulness" in the Old Testament are derived means "to prop" or "stay" or "support." The word "faithful", as applied to a person, means someone a person can safely lean upon. The Greek word used in the New Testament means trustworthy or to be relied upon…. (This definition taken from: Whatthebibleteaches.com)

Deut. 7:9 “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God."

The faithfulness of God is inseparably connected to all His other perfections (as we have been emphasizing about all of them), but especially seems related to His immutability.

The very reason that God can be ‘leaned on’ or trusted is because His nature never changes.

1. God is faithful to His own nature

2. God is faithful to His children.

Again, we must remember that when men “judge” God and declare that God let them down and wasn’t there when they needed them, they do so because of their limited perspective on life.

They cannot see what God sees.

The next sermon in this series is: Our Gloriously Holy God (find it in the blog archive on the right)

The Sanctity of Human Life by Bonnie Schaefer (37mb)

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On January 30, 2011 our church had a guest speaker in observance of the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Our guest speaker was Bonnie Schaefer who is the Director of the Slippery Rock Pregnancy Center located in Slippery Rock, PA. This message focuses on the pro-life message, specific testimonies of past SRPC clients, and current needs of the center.

The Omni Traits of God (32mb)

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This is the fifth sermon in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message begins the category of attributes that some theologians refer to as "Relative Attributes," and it focuses on the attributes of omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience.

Written Excerpts:

Today, we are going to continue our study by moving into the next category of attributes.

II.   Relative Attributes – Those aspects of God’s being that directly relate to His interaction with the creation. They refer to God’s mode of operation and activity within His creation and with His creatures.

The six attributes we will be talking about in this category include: Omnipotence; Omnipresence; Omniscience; Wisdom; Goodness and Faithfulness.

I plan to try to cover three of these today and the other three next Sunday.

As you may have noticed, the first three of the six attributes I mentioned a moment ago all started with the prefix “omni,” which is the reason I chose the title for the message that is printed in the bulletin.

According to the dictionary, “omni” is a prefix that means “all, everywhere.”

Taking the terms in alphabetical order, we will try to explain each of the three terms that all begin with “omni.”

A. Omnipotence – God is unlimited in power, might and ability.

Jer. 32:16b-17 “…I prayed to the Lord, saying: ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.”

Psalm 115:3 “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.”

The putting these two verses together led one theologian to explain:

Omnipotence is “that perfection by which God is able to do all that He pleases to do.” (H.O. Wiley)

1. Expressions of God’s power

God expresses His power in creation.

Jeremiah 10:12; Psalm 89:10-11

These and many, many other verses reveal the unlimited, unimaginable power of God that is displayed in creation. When we look around us at the wonders of nature, it certainly reveals the power of God.

God expresses His power in sustaining creation.

Take a good look around at the world of nature here on earth and in the larger picture of the starry heavens, then turn your eyes away from the telescope and look into the microscope.

Our study of molecules and atoms in the tiniest realm of nature demonstrates the unbelievable complexity and design. But it also reveals the awesome power in holding it all together.

Hebrews 1:3

God expresses His power in miracles.

Abraham & Sarah giving birth at their old age; Crossing of the Red Sea (Both of these O.T. examples are used many times in Scripture as the classic examples of God's power in the O.T.)

2. Distinctions about God’s power.

God will not do anything against His own nature or will.

For example, since He obviously created mankind with a free will, He evidently restrains His own power in order to allow humans to exercise their freedom with which they were created.

We believe that God certainly has the power to prevent any human decision or action from thwarting His overall will for things like redemption and the culmination of earthly life (i.e. return of Christ, judgment of mankind, etc).

Yet, we believe that man, being created with freedom to choose either good or evil; right or wrong, can make decisions and take actions that are contrary to the will of God. This is only possible as long as God chooses to limit His sovereign power.

God gives power to His creatures, but He never gives it away.

If His power is infinite, then He cannot relinquish any of His power. It is never diminished. He can do anything as easily as everything else. All of His actions are done without effort. He expends no energy that must be replenished. (A.W. Tozer)

B. Omnipresence – God is present in all space; He is not bound by limitations of space. Last week we spoke of His immensity, which emphasized the “distance” of God beyond the bounds of space. Now, we are emphasizing the “closeness” of God within all space.

You and I cannot go anywhere to “escape” the presence of God, or to suddenly find ourselves beyond the “reach” of His “hand.”

Classic passages on this topic: Psalm 139:7-10; Jer. 23:24

God is not present in the same manner in all places.

Isaiah 63:15 “Look down from heaven, and see from Your habitation, holy and glorious.

Isaiah 64:1 “Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down!

 “The omnipresence of God with finite beings or things must ever be different from His presence with Himself in His Glory.” (H.O. Wiley)

C. Omniscience – God is unlimited and infinite with regards to knowledge and understanding.

Psalm 139:1-6

1. God’s knowledge is infinite.

Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite.”

Therefore… He possesses perfect knowledge and therefore has no need to learn… He has never learned and cannot learn. (A.W. Tozer)

He knows everything actual and everything possible. (A. Pink)

God not only knows every choice we will make, but every alternative choice we could have made. (Dale Yocum)

2. God’s knowledge is founded in eternity.

Acts 15:18 “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.”

Since God’s knowledge is founded in eternity, which is outside the bounds of time, therefore we affirm that God’s knowledge is not “causative.”

How can God know something for certain without causing it to come true? I believe the answer is because His knowledge is founded in eternity. That means, even though God created time, and He certainly can relate to time, and go with us as we mark off time, yet He is also above all restraints of time, and can see and know past, present and future all at once.

He can obviously see every event and detail that is yet in the future as if it was in the present. To explain how he can know for certain what is going to happen without causing it to happen, let me say it like this:

I know with absolute certainty that each of you are sitting here listening to my sermon in the sanctuary of Wayside Community Church. The reason I know it with absolute certainty is because it is presently happening. But, I didn’t cause you to sit here and listen to me. You made that choice and decision yourself.

In the same way I believe that God knows with absolute certainty every person that will be saved and every person that will be lost, because He sees the future as well as the present. Yet, He can still give us the choice to accept or reject His grace and the plan of salvation He provided.

To the Christian, it is a great source of comfort to understand that God knows all about us. He understands our deepest desires and motives even when we are misunderstood by others.

“He knows our frame and remembers that we are dust.” Ps. 103:14

To the unbeliever and the hypocrite, it should be a source of great discomfort.

Hebrews 4:13 “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

Conclusion:

As we bring this message to a close I just want to emphasize that each of these traits we have discussed today truly reveal the awesomeness of our God. My mind cannot fully grasp or fathom the reality.

When we begin to meditate and dwell on each of them we can certainly understand how comforting and disturbing these thoughts can be, depending on whether we are saved or lost.

The next sermon in this series is: God Is So Good (listed in blog archive on right)

Our Absolutely Awesome God - Part Two

This is the fourth sermon in a ten-part series regarding the attributes of God. This message speaks about more of God's "absolute attributes."

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Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

We are continuing our series of messages on the attributes of God as we try to emphasize the importance of having a proper concept of God.  Are you ready to have your mind stretched today?

We talked about the fact that it is impossible to truly worship God (i.e. ascribe worth, honor, value and importance to him), if we do not really know him.

The first category of attributes we started discussing last time was:

I.    Absolute Attributes

We already talked about two of the absolute attributes.

A. Spirituality - God does not possess a physical body. He is spiritual, not material substance. “God is spirit and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (Jn. 4)

B. Immutability - God does not change in His nature or essence. “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.” (Jas.1)

Today, we are going to talk about the remaining absolute attributes:

C. Infinity – Infinity is the quality of having no bounds or limits in any aspect of the divine nature.

There is only one passage of Scripture that uses the word infinite in the KJV, and that is in reference to God’s knowledge.

Psalm 147:5 “Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”

A.W. Tozer says, “Infinitude can belong to [only] One. There can be no second.” “All that [God] is, He is without growth or addition or development.”

This attribute forms the ground for understanding all of the other attributes. God is infinite in every aspect of his being; infinite with regards to time, space, knowledge, love, holiness, etc., etc.

As one reads through the Bible and learns more and more about the nature of God we understand that God is infinite in all his qualities or he isn’t God.

There are two aspects of infinity that we want to cover within the discussion of absolute attributes.

1. Eternity – The quality of infinity with regards to time. It is the quality of not being limited or bound in any way by time. God exists beyond the realm of time.

Before time began, God was. After time ends, God will be.

Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (A Psalm of Moses)

A. W. Tozer – “ ‘From the vanishing point to the vanishing point’ would be another way to say it quite in keeping with the words as Moses used them. The mind looks backward in time till the dim past vanishes, then turns and looks into the future till thought and imagination collapse from exhaustion; and God is at both points, unaffected by either.

2. Immensity – The quality of being infinite with regards to space. God is above and beyond the limitations of space.

Immensity does not refer to the mere extension of space without end, but it refers to being above and beyond it.

Some have said that space is born out of immensity just as time is born out of eternity. Both eternity and immensity are beyond time and space.

Two parallel passages in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles recording the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple relate this concept about God. In his prayer, Solomon prays, “… will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built?”

D. Perfection – That attribute which describes the quality of absolute flawlessness in every respect. It represents the condition that can never be improved upon.

Matt. 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

I quoted Tozer earlier as saying, “All that [God] is, He is without growth or addition or development.”

If God could grow, develop or be added to in any of His being and nature, then God would not be perfect and would cease to truly be God.

E. Self-Existence / Self-Sufficient – Because God is infinite, perfect, eternal and unchangeable, He is also self-existent and self-sufficient. He is the only one that has always been or has always existed, and therefore He is the One who causes or brings about the existence of everything else.

He is the un-derived source of every perfection shared with His creation. The source of life, love, goodness, holiness, etc. etc.

His absolute self-sufficiency means He is in need of nothing from anyone to satisfy any lack or deficiency.

Conclusion:

This survey today pretty well sums up the attributes that we have categorized as “Absolute Attributes.” That is, those qualities that reflect on God’s mode of existence rather than His mode of operation and activity. It refers to those qualities that do not speak of His interaction with His created order.

Before we close this morning, let me just summarize what we have been saying by again proclaiming that OUR GOD IS ABSOLUTELY AWESOME AND AMAZING!

The next sermon in this series is: The Omni Traits of God http://waysidepastor.blogspot.com/2011/02/omni-traits-of-god-32mb.html

Our Absolutely Awesome God - Part One

This is the third sermon in a ten-part series on the attributes of God. This message speaks about some of the attributes that have been referred to as absolute attributes by some theologians.

(To download an MP3 file of this file, click on the title above. To listen online now, click on the play button of the audio player shown above. The download is 33 mb in size.)

Written Excerpts:

Introduction: What is an attribute? It is a description or quality that is true about something or someone. For example, the attributes of a car include: an engine; a body; a frame; wheels; etc.

When we think of the attributes or qualities that are true about God, we must remember that since He is infinite, there is no way our descriptions can adequately measure up to what He really is.

We often have a problem organizing our thoughts about God. I have read through comments by many different theologians as they have listed and tried to describe the attributes of God. Every one of them has a slightly different way of categorizing or organizing the attributes in their attempts to make them understandable.

I doubt that any one method is better than another, but for our purposes in this study I have chosen categories used by an old Nazarene theologian, by the name of H. Orton Wiley, to serve as the main divisions or categories by which we will examine the attributes of God.

However, I will not be presenting each category exactly in the way that Wiley does. I will mix and mingle thoughts from other writers into his outline.

Wiley uses three main divisions or categories when he speaks about the attributes of God.

Absolute Attributes – Those attributes that describe God’s nature, being and existence apart from everyone or everything else in His creation. They represent qualities that refer to His mode of existence, distinct from those which refer to His mode of operation or activity. They include qualities that He does not share with any other being or creature.

J.I. Packer says, “There are certain qualities of Deity which set God apart from men and mark the difference and distance between the Creator and His creation.”

Relative Attributes – Those attributes that arise out of God’s relationship with His creation. They include qualities that define God’s mode of operation and activity within His creation and with His creatures.

Moral Attributes – Those qualities of God that not only describe His own nature, but they are qualities that he shares with mankind, who was made in His image. They also can refer to God’s governance over free and intelligent moral agents / i.e. human beings.

We must remember that all of these divisions or categories are only designed for our ease and convenience in understanding them. God isn’t made up of separate or divided qualities that He slips into and out of as needed. No matter how we study them, they are all completely and continually who He is.

God always exists in all of His attributes at the same time. He doesn’t lay aside one quality in order to express or demonstrate another.

I.    Absolute Attributes - Those attributes that describe God’s nature, being and existence apart from everyone or everything else in His creation. They represent qualities that refer to His mode of existence, distinct from His mode of operation or activity. They include qualities that He does not share with any other being or creature.

A. Spirituality

God does not possess a physical body. He is spiritual and invisible, not material substance.

John 4:24 “God is spirit and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Deut. 4:15 “Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire.”

This attribute is contrasted with flesh and blood which characterizes mankind and other creatures.

There are several truths that this attribute teaches us.

1. Unity and Simplicity – Since God is spirit, He is not composed of different or separate parts such as body, soul and spirit. Simplicity does not mean “easy to understand / comprehend” but not composed of many different parts.

Deut. 6:4 “…the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”

Even in the concept of the Trinity, which we talked about last week, there is no separation or division, but perfect unity and harmony.

2. Figurative “body” language conveys concepts, not literal appearance.

Since God is spirit, then all language in the Bible describing “body parts” of God are not to be understood literally. They are used for our human understanding. (Theology term – anthropomorphisms.)

“Eye/Ear of the Lord” – God’s constant awareness of everything.

“Hand of the Lord” – The activity of God

“Arm of the Lord” – The strength of God

3. Our worship must be spiritual in nature as well.

The earlier reference mentioned (Deut. 4:15) was given in the context of warnings against making images to represent God or assist in worshiping God. This is also included as part of the Ten Commandments.

Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman that the core of worship or central focus of worship is not about location and position, but it is all about connecting in spiritual communication and adoration.

If God had a body, then location would matter. If God had a physical body, then He could not be present everywhere, and the best worship would be that which was nearest to Him.

Rev. Gordon Warner stated once, “To the extent that we need images, pictures, buildings, etc. to assist us in worship, it is to that extent we fail to perceive the reality that God is spirit.”

Our goal in worship then is to somehow connect with God’s Spirit by our spiritual nature in a communication that is quite beyond expression; beyond image and shape.

B. Immutability

God does not change in His nature or essence.

Mal. 3:6a  “For I am the Lord, I do not change…”

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

“…God, at all times and in all His relations with the world, perfectly corresponds to His own idea. He is at all times like Himself….” (Rothe, quoted in Wiley, p.340)

Immutability refers to the essence or attributes of God, and not to His operations in creation and providence.

When Scripture says God repented of something He had intended to do, it simply refers to His change in actions/operations in order to keep in harmony with His nature.

Conclusion:

Today we have considered two of the attributes of God that we refer to as Absolute Attributes. We will continue exploring more of the absolute attributes in our next message.

The next sermon in this series is: Our Absolutely Awesome God - Part 2 http://waysidepastor.blogspot.com/2011/01/our-absolutely-awesome-god-part-two.html