Greatness Of The Godhead (part 2)

Father in heaven we thank you for this morning.

For your grace even as we see the the temperatures changing.

We're just reminded of your constant care for the planet for us how you

transform Things from season to season father.

We would pray for your blessing this morning as we look to your word and look at how you have

Really revealed yourself to us that we might know you that we might trust you that we might grow in grace.

Father I pray that you would bless this time and bless each one here in Christ's name.

Amen.

And for those in the kitchen, well We You know, we

often talk about Doctrine and some people kind of you know.

They there's just there's just too much emphasis on doctrine and I was thinking about this morning really it is like

It is like in my old line of work.

We used to talk about training a lot and I remember When a well, I mean let's put it this way you

ever watch a police show and you know What happens the bad guys always run?

What I really hate though, you know, I I'm just sitting there watching and I'm thinking myself would I do it this way?

You know like let's say I'll just back up a little bit, you know I'm the cop and we'll just make Pat

the suspect and they go

Hey Pat, we just have a couple questions for you and she knows she's guilty, right?

So what does she do?

She takes off running and it's you know, I'm just like why do they do that?

They're to go.

I don't know why this is this thing is making so many funny noises

I don't know what that's about.

But anyway, I always think you know, that's just loopy.

To do that and to give them like a heads -up so they can take off running and then what I really enjoy of course is like one of the

partners is 300 pounds and You know,

I'll get the car, you know kind of thing.

But I just think back to when I was doing that and I and I just thought what if I weighed 300 pounds, you know.

And a guy took I did have a few people run on me on my day I'll just tell you a little story.

This is a fun story and I just feel like telling it.

The very first night I was in a radio car.

We had a guy and I'll shorten it but we had a guy we were working the foothills above Los Angeles and we had a guy

and we took him for possession of coke and marijuana and open container in his vehicle and

He managed to escape out of our vehicle because we didn't have a cage or anything Training officer was showing me something and so he

went running down this turnout of this hill and

Instead of running down the turnout the road he went straight over the edge of the cliff well

well, we caught him and So I'm really shortening the story, but we caught him and then like

maybe about three or four weeks later.

We had a guy different area but still the mountains and we were taking him because he had

a $10 ,000 warrant I think and the other people in the vehicle were

Heavily under the influence of marijuana.

So they were going to jail, too.

And This guy I told him put a big guy.

I mean he was much bigger than me.

So, you know, he was a big guy.

I Said put your hands behind your back and as soon as I did that he turned around and took a swing on me.

So I just kind of moved out of the way like this and he just kept going and he went straight over the side of the cliff

so the next night the next night We're having our briefing and this guy who

I just saw got promoted a commander.

Which is pretty high up there in the sheriff's department.

He was just a deputy like me and he Name was buddy and buddy says so who

you guys gonna throw over cliff tonight.

I Just want to share that so.

But training is important.

Let me give you another illustration.

Well, let's talk about why It's important and why we need to get our minds to think, right?

There's a situation where a man who ironically was from Afghanistan Went in to

settle a child custody dispute with his wife and he took the

standard ar -15 into that's a assault weapon into the

house to settle this and We had a couple units respond and

a Sergeant went in the front window along with another deputy and I was like the third person there

at the scene.

Which really is immaterial except for the next part there was a standoff and The sergeant

eventually shot the suspect.

And I walked in and I just remember seeing the sergeant.

Just he was sweating and breathing heavily and I thought he was gonna like die right

there.

Because he just so much stress and everything like that.

And then I realized a week before that he'd ridden around with me for an eight -hour shift and then gone to the hospital for stress

and so I thought you know, I might have contributed to that, but I Just thought

it hit, you know, he was a little bit older.

Not in good shape, and I just said, you know what you really have to.

It's a job that demands a lot, you know, even if it's not physical.

It can take a physical toll on you and when we think about the Christian life, I think it demands a lot.

Because when we wake up in the morning, we might think I mean, I hope our first thought is what a great

God I have who would save me and I look around at all the blessings He's given me and I don't just be filled

with thankfulness.

But a lot of times I get out of bed and what's the first thing I think?

My heel hurts.

My back hurts.

My shoulder hurts.

My neck hurts.

I Wait to get some coffee.

And just gonna get going here.

We've got to keep our minds right because we don't what happens the cares of the world the aches and pains just everyday

life.

Can just sign kind of consume us.

So as we turn here to look at this at the Godhead I think

it's important for us to just think rightly about God because when we think rightly, what do we do when

crisis comes?

We act rightly we respond rightly and you know what let me just say this

if you don't respond rightly.

Initially sometimes what happens is Is this tell me if this has ever happened to you?

You don't respond rightly when something doesn't go your way and then you think about it for a minute and you go

in light of what I know, is that a good response in light of All

that the all that God has done on my behalf is that the right thing.

You know I had this thought in my head this morning that I saw or that I heard pastor Dave in the hallway and now I see

Deb hi.

I thought I heard Dave and I'm going that's my imagination.

Because anything could be you know.

But it's so important that we train ourselves to think rightly and so we've come to this.

Talking about the Godhead and talking about different aspects of

God and his.

I guess we could call it attributes some of them.

And last week we talked about several and we began talking about three in particular on omnipresence.

Omnipotence and omniscience.

I always want to say omni science.

Yeah but it just means all -knowing but.

And so we've talked we've been talking about that and let me just kind of back up and we'll just start with that the

omnipresence of God.

Famous Baptist theologian once wrote in the totality of his essence without diffusion or expansion multiplication or

diffusion.

Penetrates the universe in all its parts.

That's what God does in his omnipresence.

Now.

I'm sure that was a blessing to you.

What does that mean?

That means everywhere you go God is there and he's no less in one

place than another and

He says we've already met this idea under the eminence of God the nearness of God.

But this idea is hard for us to grasp.

Why is that hard to grasp?

Because we can't do that.

We're not God and what else do we do?

I mean, I don't know about you guys maybe you guys are just better than me probably are I Tend to a lot of my

thoughts tend to be about what?

It's it's sad, but it is true.

A lot of my thoughts are about me and I don't I I

don't think often enough God is here.

How am I how am I thinking about God?

What is my you know thought process?

What am I even thinking about that junk for?

But it he goes on to say even though God is pure spirit.

And I like this children and naive adults.

Almost necessarily think of God and corporeal images.

So we talked a little bit about paintings and stuff like that last week but if we think about God

as having a local presence as having a body

then we're thinking about him wrongly and.

So now we're here something new here this morning theologians have always found God's omnipresence in other words.

They've always believed it the widely witnessed to be in the Bible.

It's hard to formulate as doctrine, right?

I mean, we would say that I mean that is difficult.

Carl Bartz.

I Just kept this in here because I thought this part was funny.

Carl Bartz not a typically thinks everyone else has it wrong and that Omnipresence does not belong to God's

infinity, but the attribute of love and freedom now.

Why did I like that because he thinks everybody else is wrong.

That's Carl Bartz for you dead German.

He promises to give God's unity and omnipresence a more biblical and therefore Christian basis than it

had in the early church the Middle Ages and prophet anyway.

50 pages later He discussed God's simplicity faithfulness and so on but leaves omnipresence more

mysterious than before.

Listen to this.

This is from a man named Ludwig Ott who says the first monograph on the substantial presence

of God in the whole world and in all its parts thereof and on the indwelling of God in the just was written by

Augustine.

So we're talking 1 ,600 years ago.

Men were wrestling with this and we're still wrestling with it now.

Now what's the first if you think of a Bible passage that talks about the omnipresence of God?

What's the most obvious one Psalm?

139.

Okay, so why don't we turn there?

Psalm 139.

And If somebody would read verses 7 through 10.

Maybe is he is David bugged by that is he put off

by this idea that there's no place He can go to escape from the presence of God.

What's that?

He's happy.

He's rejoicing now.

What do you suppose?

What's the significance of that comment about the sea?

From a Jewish mindset, you know, is he thinking?

Hey, it's great to go hang out at the beach.

We'll go out and go for a little ocean swim.

Notice what he says there read that again Bob.

Just the part about the the sea

even there why.

Because it's a place of fear

trepidation one of the Pictures of heaven is you know that there's a place where there's no

sea.

So David's saying look even in the worst place I can possibly be.

You're there, I mean it reminds me of Psalm 22 right the shadow of the valley of death

even there.

There is no place that God is not and that should be a great comfort to us.

For the unbeliever.

What is that?

It's it's horrible, there's no place he can go no matter how much he'd like to pretend.

There's no place he can go and be away from the presence of God.

Let's look at Jeremiah 23 verses 23 and 24.

Jeremiah 23 verses 23 and 24 and who

would read that?

Mark go ahead.

Those are questions that obviously demand.

Well, they don't really demand any kind of answer, but I mean you would answer them in the.

Can a man hide himself?

No, is there a place where we can go?

No, I mean, you know, we like to talk about locking ourselves in our prayer closet.

Some of us like to talk about that.

Well, you know the unbeliever liked to lock himself in a sin closet.

But wherever he goes God is there now again.

Culver notes this that Christians must be on guard to think to not think of God's omnipresence in any material

tangible sense whatsoever.

Now listen to this.

I like this example a youthful hippie known to me converted to Christ at a charismatic retreat.

Thought the rising mist of early morning must be the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Kind of wacky as It was essential being it is false and fatal to any true religious

spirituality to think of God as materially Sensible that is understandable in any manner

whatsoever.

All sorts of crass forms of mysticism grow in the soil of material Conceptions

of God's omnipresence.

So what's he saying there?

You know, there was a heavy sense that the Lord was in that place the anointing filled the building.

His spirit was exceptionally Whatever.

I Mean we hear people talk like that.

What what there should be is there was a heavy conviction of what the holiness of God.

There was a heavy conviction of our sinfulness.

There was a heavy conviction of the wonderfulness of Christ.

Now, what are the practical benefits of just thinking about the omnipresence?

Well, obviously as we've been discussing it's beneficial for devotion.

We can never be in any place where God is not present.

It is also beneficial for assurance.

We can never Just scratch your head, okay.

Okay.

Oh.

We can never be physically or geographically beyond God's help for he is present whether in a prison.

With Joseph in a den of lions or in the Emperor's presence.

According to Psalm 107 God is a present help or he's present to help when lost in the desert when in prison.

When on a sickbed and when in storms at sea, I was thinking You know talking about the geographical

separation.

I was thinking about a bogus email.

I received from Frank Ritolo one time it was one of those, you know, Frank got hacked and he was in London for a

conference and.

And I thought well, I'd like to help you Frank, but I'm geographically unable to do that

but.

But God is never unable to help us.

Bob.

Yeah, that's what Culver saying.

I tend to agree with that because I think we can almost walk ourselves into a

Soft form of idolatry.

Well, you know what?

That's a good point because the the Hebrew word For glory, you know the kavod

Depicts weightiness, but does it mean physical weightiness.

No.

You know, it just means it like they used to say of Dick Cheney, you know, they use this word.

Yeah.

All the time gravitas, there's a certain gravitas that he has that the president doesn't have, you know,

etc, etc.

There's just you know, there's just a weightiness like In a personal way when somebody

walks in the room.

I mean, this is just true, right?

I remember I used to say this of Lewis Brown When he walked in the room, you just knew he was

there because there was just kind of like You know a tilt in the room.

The the whole respect thing just kind of, you know tilted.

I don't I don't know how that happens.

But and he wouldn't have to say anything and in a non physical sense.

There's just a weightiness and a gravity of the presence of God.

So yeah, I think it would be wrong to think of it in that kind of charismatic sense, right?

And now he says there's a problem how can an omnipresent God be said to dwell in heaven and

Come to travel back and forth from earth to heaven in Genesis 11 5.

Well, what are you supposed to answer that is.

How is it that God dwells in heaven.

John, okay.

Well, that's true, right.

Second person in the Trinity.

Yeah Brian, okay.

He doesn't have to travel.

That's true.

But why would the Scriptures ever use that language?

I think in some cases it does You know comport to Christ it

would be attributed to him but why do you suppose the Bible uses language like that.

Maybe when it's not specifically referring to Jesus.

Excellent anthropomorphic language to give us a sense of what's going on.

You know language that speaks as if God were a man so that we can understand what he's

doing so that we get kind of a Picture in our minds not of God but of

his actions.

Yeah, I mean there is a sense in which he's above it and then there's a sense that he's in it and so I think all these things are just

helpful to kind of for us to sort of Understand the flow of thought

rather than I mean, it would be difficult to write or even to read something where I just said

God this and God that and God without any any sort of transportation language or anything to where we

understood that he was addressing a particular problem or whatnot, so.

But yeah, I would say that he definitely true that he's outside of creation.

Bob.

Right.

Yeah where it says in the Psalms that he's in heaven and he does what he pleases that does give us a sense of his throne.

But that doesn't mean that he's not here or that he's not ruling and reigning here in some sense.

Yeah, Brian,

right well, okay Brian's

question is you know, if we're not to worship any kind of image now or even kind of

Strive to have an image in our heads.

Well, then what about when Jesus was on the earth and people did bow and worship to him in a few occasions and

it's interesting that you know, like when they would fall at a man's feet.

What would the you know, usually an apostle what would they say, you know get up don't don't work or an angel.

You know, don't don't worship me, but Jesus didn't say that to people.

But so what do we do with that?

What do we do with that idea there that it was okay to worship Jesus in the physical body.

But not okay to you know.

Have a picture in our head now.

Yeah, and and Peggy I think is exactly on the right track.

I mean we have to think about why they would do that.

I think you know often it was they were undone, you know.

By their own sinfulness or or what have you and we certainly don't have that physical presence now,

and I think that's the issue.

Any kind of picture whether it's in Spain.

Pictures I really should I want to bring in a graphic that you know the before and after if you haven't seen it.

It's really worthwhile looking at because it's terrible.

But whatever.

Whatever picture we can conjure up it doesn't it wouldn't match Jesus and it wouldn't be him.

So That would be the the issue.

But he says here and I think this is right to think about in heaven he says he is perfect or he's permanently manifest

in a special way in heaven and Hence is said to dwell there.

So there is a special presence of God there that

is Unrivaled anywhere else and so he said to dwell there.

But he also as he chooses specially manifests himself on earth at various times and places and hence is said to Come

to those places even the tabernacle in the wilderness the first temple.

And Certainly we have in the Old Testament his Shekinah.

His glory is there and it was visible they could see it.

So the omnipresence of God.

Now we come to the omniscience or the omni science the all -knowing aspects of God.

This term designates God's cognitive awareness he has perfect immediate knowledge of all things

and events whether actual or conditional upon the acts of free beings free

being in quotation marks.

Whether the events are or things are possible or only actual and whether they are past present or future.

Now as we said in many occasions, this doesn't mean that God has some kind of event chart flow

chart you know as it were where you know, gee there were Five possibilities of clothing

that Steve could have worn this morning and based on a you know.

This is gonna happen B C D and you know and then kind of branches off of that God

knows.

What's the difference?

Well, let's let's just Get off this for a minute and let's just think about this.

What's the difference between?

What will happen and what has what God has commanded?

Is there any difference at all?

What will happen and what God has commanded?

Okay, he had already determined before anything had happened what the plan was.

Okay.

Is that the same as God's command?

Anything let me say it again.

Is there any difference between what will happen and what God has commanded?

Yes, I am John.

Okay.

Okay.

I see some other hands Erickson.

That is an excellent point.

Do people obey what God commands?

He gave the Ten Commandments.

How many of you broke those this week?

You're laughing so

What will happen?

Let's just differentiate here.

You're gonna say who?

Okay Bruce Bruce understands what I'm getting

at.

So the difference is here's what God

Commands.

Which you know, we could have the Ten Commandments we could even have the two commandments in the New Testament.

Which is just love the Lord God with all your heart soul mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

How many of you broke that this week and then what he

decrees is actually everything that comes to pass so, you know and and

the Church fathers those who wrote things like the Westminster Confession of Faith

are very careful to say things like God ordains them or decrees events to

come about in such a way that what?

He is not the author of sin and how does he

do that by using Secondary agents us

knowing what we will do and ordaining that but not Causing us to do it.

We do we sin of our own will.

Now just a word and I know pastor Mike's gonna talk about election tonight.

But what is.

Let's talk just a second about free will.

What is free will

Brian?

That's great.

That's perfect.

Brian said whatever whatever Nature you have you are free to choose within that nature

and you know to illustrate that you can tell your A

dog to go to the refrigerator and get you a root beer all day long and guess what?

That dog unless he's really smart like Kona won't Won't be able it

Come is kind of vertically challenged.

So I don't know if he can do it or not.

He's not gonna get it.

Why not because it's not in his nature.

He doesn't understand English.

First of all doesn't understand German.

Doesn't understand anything But understand certain voice Sounds or whatever, but

He doesn't have the physical capacity to go to the refrigerator and open it up and get you and he doesn't have opposing thumbs the poor little guy.

You know, you can tell a butterfly to mop the floor.

It's not gonna do it.

Why.

Because he's constrained by his physical nature.

Well, it's so hard for us to get that if things are Constrained and restricted by their physical

nature then why aren't people? constrained and restrained by their spiritual nature and

The Bible would teach that they are.

You know when Paul writes the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 2 and he says you were dead

in your sins and trespass trespasses.

He didn't he doesn't go on to say but you.

Because of that small little bit of life you still had chose to believe.

He says even as pastor Mike was saying this morning, but God and we see that over and

over again it's God who's the actor God who goes first.

Why.

Because our will is not free and I think that's important when we just consider

Decree and what God has ordained and what ever comes to pass.

So with that said We we go into the omniscience of God what he

knows and how he knows it and He has perfect knowledge but in as

much as the scriptural statements are overwhelming in detail.

Let us give them full opportunity to speak.

God has perfect knowledge.

Listen, listen to this language.

No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed laid bare.

To the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

There's nothing that he doesn't see there's nothing that he doesn't know.

You know, and how does that come into play?

Well a lot of times like, you know when we pray if we leave out something and we go.

Oh, I forgot to tell you.

Well, he knew that already prayers for us and we talked about that but.

Listen also the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to give strong support to those whose

heart is blameless toward him.

God's immediate knowledge or immediate awareness is not based on experience deductions or inductions of fact or

truth.

He doesn't learn he doesn't grow.

He's not acquiring new knowledge.

This is good he says here for God's knowledge of all things is eternal present

and always in his mind.

He knew as surely 10 ,000 years ago or however long ago the earth the

earth was founded 6 ,000 years ago, whatever it was.

He knew exactly then everything that he knows.

Now he's learned nothing and he will learn nothing.

He doesn't need to learn anything because he's the source of all knowledge.

In fact, let's go to Isaiah chapter 46

and I think I mean I knew I had this.

I think I wanted some specific verses.

So I'm gonna.

I think it's 7 to 11, but I'm gonna read that.

I

don't know.

It's later than that.

Okay.

Yes verses 8 through.

Well, it doesn't matter I'll read until I'm done starting at verse 8.

Remember this and stand firm recall to mind you transgressors stuck in Israel sinning.

Remember the former things of old for I am God and there is no other I am God and there is none like

me.

Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done

now notice.

I just want to stop there for a couple reasons here.

First of all, he's talking to them because they were in idolatry and he says

There is no other I am God and there's none like me.

They were trying to create gods and he says you guys are wasting Your time.

There's no one like me and he says you you want evidence declaring the end from the beginning.

In other words from the beginning of time, I told you what the end was going to be like and From

ancient times things not yet done.

My prophecies come to pass.

My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purpose.

Calling a prey a bird of prey from the east.

He's talking about another country the man of my counsel from a far country.

I have spoken and I will bring it to pass.

I have purposed and I will do it.

Listen to me you stubborn of heart you who are far from righteousness.

I Bring my near my righteousness.

It is not far off and my salvation will not delay.

I will put salvation in Zion for Israel my glory, I Mean I read that and I'm going

you know over and over again We see God saying what he will do what we don't see is him making

things contingent upon.

You know Israel gee, you know what Israel if you'll just leave open the gate at midnight.

Then I'll send somebody in or we don't see anything like that.

God always brings his purposes to Pass that's what he does.

That's why he's God now.

He says Does God know therefore conditional events of the future even events depending

dependent on the future acts of free beings and again, the answer is yes, he knows and

They're not actually free they choose according to their nature.

There's no mystery to God when someone chooses to sin when someone chooses to repent when

someone chooses what whatever it is.

Because he knew from the beginning all these things that were going to be.

Modern liberal writers of theology quite uniformly deny this.

Why do they deny this?

Just a just a little sidelight about liberalism.

What is it when we say liberal theologians?

What are we talking about?

Okay, no absolute truth.

I mean that's certainly become true now.

I I don't you know in the beginning.

I don't think they would have said there's absolutely no truth.

They the liberals would have said that the Bible isn't.

Yeah, it contains truth, you know, that's kind of the neo -orthodox II approach to it but

liberals are those who primarily like Thomas Jefferson only maybe not with scissors want to cut out the

supernatural from the Bible.

They're always looking for a physical explanation.

Why is that?

Why are they looking for physical explanations?

Well, Peggy said because they don't want to be judged and I think that's true.

But I think it goes beyond that because they don't believe they're not believers.

They don't want there to be a supernatural power to whom they are accountable for and so they like kind

of the trappings of Christianity they like some of the goals and the ideas of Christian a Christianity

is a fine social construct and If you know you just view

religion as a social construct then Christianity is as good as any.

But this whole idea of a personal God who invades the space of The

earth of people who changes lives.

They don't go for that.

They say they were they would say something like this.

The knowledge of God must be limited if there is a God.

But they would say he must be limited by his own nature and purpose.

If he has put a check on his power to give man freedom of will then he must have somewhat limit somewhat

limited knowledge of the future.

Which I Think is at least consistent if you believe that God gave man a free will well truly free will means

what I mean.

I've even as I've read I've been reading Norman Geisler a lot for this class I finished reading his book and I think I can

uniformly say speak for the students of the class.

It was horrible but Here's part of the issue because he says that

God Knows all things and he knows all people and he knows who's going to believe he doesn't cite the

quarters of time view.

But the end result is the same.

But if God knows all things perfectly

let's let's just think about this for a minute if he knew for example that I was not going to

believe and Therefore he didn't choose me.

Well when that point comes where I hear the gospel do I have do I still have a free will?

It's kind of dicey isn't it?

Because if I if it's set in stone from the beginning of time that I can't choose then do I have a free will and

I?

Get right back to it to this we get back to right back to what Brian was saying that I can only choose according to My

nature.

Well if I can only choose according to my nature, then how does my nature change?

Well the Arminian says It's me.

I choose to change my nature.

They say well, it's not works, and I'm going well.

How can it not be works in fact?

He has a whole couple sections in his book about faith preceding regeneration and

If faith precedes regeneration then that means the unsaved person has to

Generate his own faith has to choose to believe.

So you run into problems like I I'm I couldn't even make this up if I wanted to he comes to Ephesians

Chapter 2 verse 1 dead and sins and trespasses and guess what do you mean what he says?

It doesn't mean that you're all the way dead.

And here's why it doesn't mean that because you still are an image bearer now.

Just think about it.

Just think about Ephesians 2 1 and what's there and think if this sounds like it's there even anywhere in the

context he says Even though you're spiritually dead.

You're still an image bearer and Because you're still an image bearer then you still have the ability to choose.

Yes, but it is talking about death it is necrotic and it does mean dead, but he says well.

Wait a minute.

It can't be that word because in Revelation that word is used of annihilation.

And if it's an error, it's also used and he says if it's annihilation in

Spiritual annihilation in Ephesians 2 1 then it must be spiritual Annihilation in Revelation 20 which would mean that

you're annihilated forever and you there is no actual hell well the problem with that is you have to look at the

context and explain in the context and if you think of Ephesians 2 1 and You think this?

Dead in your sins and trespasses and then he goes on to say I'm gonna have to go over there.

He he skips over verse 2.

But I remember it like it was yesterday because it was one of these nightmares from which you can't wake up

he says about he skips over verse 2 and Then he goes to verse 3 and he says

this that Among whom we all

once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body in the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of

mankind he says well, it can't mean that This was your permanent

nature because obviously you had to choose and he starts going to Isaiah and talking about

you know How we have to be reasonable because in Isaiah 1 it says God

says let us reason together and he goes to all these different verses and here's what you find out.

That for somebody like dr. Geisler the Bible is Great and

it's true and it's right and he upholds the authenticity of it.

But when he can't get the doctrines he wants out of a specific passage, what does he do?

He starts doing what cults do Sorry, which is going from one verse to another to another to another to

another and you know What's strange about his treatment of Ephesians 2 is he never goes to Ephesians 2

verse?

4 the very next verse and explains away why it doesn't mean that you know, I mean here we have it.

I mean if you just read this you would never think well there must be human choice involved here.

Listen to verse 3 and then I'll read verse 4 among whom we all once lived in the passion of our flesh Carrying out the desires of the

body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind but

I being smarter than most wait.

But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our

trespasses.

Made us alive together with Christ.

He skips over all verse 4 and 5 and Then conveniently later on he goes back to verses 8 and 9

and shows how You have to generate the faith yourself.

It is just it it's not exegesis.

And the reason I wanted to do that is just to show that We're going to be talking about the will of God and when we think about that We need to

consider our own will we have to consider all that God has done and you know I was talking to some

people the other day.

People with difficulty in their lives, I mean you might say Tragedy, you know, why did this happen?

Why did that happen?

How could God allow that?

What do you say to somebody like that?

You don't look at what you look at who and you just here's what I say.

You know what?

It's easy to say to yourself God loves me because of all the blessings that he's given me.

I mean I when I think of my grandkids I just can't I kind of get Crazy because I just think about what God

has blessed me with.

But when God brings difficulty into your life, do you just tell yourself this is the same God and Here's what I

said to those people.

I said God works all things together for good all things

and there's a Puritan book that talks about all things and it talks about every manner of Event that could possibly happen in your

life.

God brings all or works all things together for good not just the things that we count as good but

even difficult Tragic things and In times of trouble in times of

stress It's what we think about God is how much we trust him how much we love him and how much we

understand him that controls our response if we

know that God loves us that God has set his affections on us that he has promised us heaven and

That even if we have to go through temporary things right now that it's for our own good.

Then we have a completely different picture of our lives and a completely different picture of God.

Let's pray Father in heaven.

We just love you.

We worship you.

We're thankful for who you are we're thankful that you're in control and that we're not and Most of all father we're

thankful that you set your affections on us for reasons that we cannot fathom other than to glorify yourself as

We look around the room and even around the church this morning father.

We think we are not the great ones.

You are the great one who has taken the the the refuse of the world and

made us Pure and spotless before yourself because we couldn't do it on our own.

We would never choose you Father, we praise you and just I would pray for each one here that we would think

rightly of you That our thoughts would be glorifying and honoring of you in Jesus name.

We pray.

Amen.