Theology Proper | The Person of God (08/05/2001)

Good morning all we had a

Good Sunday school lesson this morning. I Enjoyed that it's always it it's always exciting to hear some of the comments made in the class and Some of the topics that are discussed especially thought it was fascinating the idea that the fact of the tribes of Israel being configured in a cross that brother

Roger alluded to Just a few minutes ago and As brother

Otis said the only one who could see that was God looking down upon it looking at that cross as as the people moved

What an amazing thing it's It's brother Clarence was telling me he on this vacation.

They heard a preacher preach that was talking about And I I'm not clear on this

Correct me on this if you if you figure out which way it really was But I think what it was if you started with the names

In the genealogy starting with in the from the beginning and going to the flood

Was that what it ended up being that the meanings of the names would give the gospel story.

It's had amazing or what? and God has put all kinds of facts around his own that we may see these facts and to God's own children

With these the our faith is built upon those facts and the facts just continue to Be found as we study and study and it's all there and yet to the lost

It's total blindness. They don't see any of these things and Apologetics, I don't think is designed to get the blind to see

I think it's designed just to encourage and and God's children to encourage us and bring joy to our hearts as we find these little nuggets as We turn over the rocks and look around at all that God has made and all that God is well

This morning. We're moving into a new section on our study of theology and we move into a section that's called theology proper

We're going to skip part of that for the most part we'll skip the part that deals with Theology from the point of view of just cycle psychology and some of the different Theological systems that are non -biblical.

We're not going to get into that. So we're going to move straight into biblical theology this morning, so this will be the introduction to that section of our studies and So now we've laid the groundwork of each of us agreeing that the

Bible is God's Word. We've spent quite some Weeks even into the months on discussing the

Bible itself and what the Bible says about itself But unless one understands that he cannot move forward, but we're beyond that point now

So now we're going to move into the wonder of the Lord himself and what he has revealed for us

Let me start this morning With a quote from a book called the

God of the Bible by Robert Leitner And You'll know that this is true.

You've observed it and it breaks your heart as it does mine But he says this God's existence is being denied or his non existence assumed on every hand today

From the classroom the lecture hall the pulpit and the printed page The anti God philosophy of atheistic evolution undergirds all of modern education

We are being told directly and indirectly that there has been a funeral for God Very naturally it follows that the met the man on the street soon sees no need for God and Seeks to get on with life without him from every quarter and in every walk of life men live and learn as though God did not exist if You want to really see that look around Europe today where it's been happening a little bit longer than it has here it's frightening thing to see

May I ask you a question this morning? What is eternal life? What is eternal life?

Turn to John 17 and verse 1 with me Let's go to the

Lord Jesus and ask him what eternal life is What is eternal life John chapter 17 verse 1?

These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said father the hour has come glorify thy son that glorify thy son that thy son also may glorify thee as Thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as Thou has given him

I Look at the next verse and This is life eternal.

I think he's about to give us a definition This is life eternal That they who is they before we move on in?

This sentence who is they? We end They is as many as thou hast given him they includes that number of People that were in the love gift of the father to the son

And look what it says It says and this is eternal life that they might know thee the only true

God and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent Knowing God is eternal life.

It is a relationship May I ask you another question? What brings the most contentment in life

Most all of preaching that will take place in this country this morning will have to do more with how to make you happy than anything that has to do with knowing

God how to make you successful and They're all noble things because it's how to have a successful marriage how to have successful child rearing how to be successful in business and Finances and all the different things and all of these things are touched upon in God's Word But how really might we find true contentment in life turn to Jeremiah chapter 9 in verse 23

Jeremiah 9 23 Thus saith the

Lord let not the wise men glory in his wisdom So contentment doesn't come from learning and wisdom

Neither let the mighty man glory in his might it doesn't come from power Either military or financial

Let not the rich man glory in his riches doesn't come from money But let him that gloryeth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me

Contentment comes from knowing God That I am the Lord which exercised this exercise loving -kindness

Judgment and righteousness in the earth or in these things I delight saith the

Lord And let me ask you a third question What state of man

Gives God the most pleasure Turn with me to Hosea chapter 6 in verse 6 for I desired mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings

God desired that you have knowledge of him more than he desired the burnt offerings of the

Old Testament economy Is that amazing? You see the Jews got a little bit off because they focused on the things they focused on their rituals

They focused on the sacrifices They focused on the works in the tabernacle and then later the temple and the law itself and the commandments

God said you would have Brought more pleasure to me if you had focused on the knowledge of God knowing

God Knowing God is eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ says knowing

God is what brings contentment to life The great Jeremiah said under the inspiration of the

Holy Spirit and knowing God is what causes God to be pleased with us More than any other thing we can do if you want to talk about the doings the works

So I think it's important that we know God Let me read something to you that fascinated me.

This book is Called knowing God It was completed in 1972, which was the year

I graduated from high school It was completed four years before I was saved

But it is truly a wonderful books one of the first books. I read after I got saved But I want to quote to you passage that J .i.

Packer quoted in this book Follow along very carefully with me It has been said by someone that the proper study of mankind is

Man I Will not oppose this idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God's elect is

God And that's something now when this was written

Someone had been known to say probably some great College professor of the day some

Perhaps agnostic or possibly even atheists it made the statement that the proper study of man is man

But this person whom Packer is quoting says I believe that the proper study of a

Christian is the Godhead the highest science the loftiest speculation

The mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God is the name the nature

The person the work the doings in the existence of the great God whom he calls his father

There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of divinity

It is a subject so vast that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity So deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity other subjects we can compass and grapple with and then we feel a kind of self -content and Go our way with a thought behold.

I am wise But when we come to this master science Finding that our plumb line cannot sound its depth and that our

Eagle I cannot see its height we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise but he is like a wild asses cult and with solemn exclamation

I Am but of yesterday and know nothing No subject of contemplation will lead more to the humble to humble the mind than thoughts of God But while the subject humbles the mind it also expands it

He who often thinks of God will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow narrow globe

The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and him crucified

I Know nothing which can so comfort the soul so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief

So speak peace to the winds of trial as a devout musing upon the subject of the

Godhead It is to that subject that I invite you this morning These were the words of CH Spurgeon in 1855 when he was 20 years old

And do you hear that young people? He was preaching this sermon when he was 20 years old, and I just quoted what he said

Sounded like a 70 year old to me But he had been in the word at the age of 20

Spurgeon was known as the most well -read man in England and So he had read a lot

And he came back to the Word of God and he said the only science that has compelled my mind to grow is to know

God The personality of God let's discuss that for a few moments it's always interesting to me to to read after different theologians and And See what they say.

It's especially interesting when they disagree When they seem to disagree and they may both be men that we admire

One time I preached a message that had a lot of quotes from MacArthur On his book about salvation and then

I had a lot of quotes from Ryrie on his book on salvation MacArthur was Ryrie student and they just were really disagreeing

And it was real interesting to read both points of view I'll tell you this does not point out their inaccuracy as much especially when they're speaking of things of God it doesn't really point out the inaccuracy of the two scholars as much as it does the immensity of God and The relative inability of our finite mind to comprehend all of him

So Often these different men are not really disagreeing but they're just seeing different little bitty parts of the existence and being of God Sometimes they tend to attack one another because they don't understand that the other is looking at a different part

And then they may not even really be disagreeing. They just talking about a different aspect of the enormity of knowing

God Archbishop King wrote a book called sermon on divine predestination and foreknowledge and I want to quote a little bit

From this man. He says because we do not know what his faculties are in themselves and he's speaking of God we give them the names of those powers that we find would be necessary to us in order to produce such effects and We call them wisdom understanding or foreknowledge

Yet at the same time we cannot but be sensible that they are of a nature altogether different than ours and that we have no direct or proper notion or conception of them speaking of the fact that for us to understand the infinite

Measure of God is so nearly impossible that all we can do is try to give it some words in our own feeble vocabulary

But then I quote Lewis Barry Schaefer in his great systematic theology work and he is speaking about Archbishop King's quote that I just read you and look what he says

Objection must be entered against this representation of God It is true that but little can be known of all that God is

But it is not true that God is so different from man that no proper conception of God is possible in the matter of faculties and properties there is resemblance and in mental and moral attributes there is

Correspondence in nature of them though they are incomparable as to the degree of perfect perfection

Volition love truth faithfulness holiness justice or realities which belong to both

God and man Though the degree which they represent may be separated immeasurably

The nature of these characteristics is the same in each sphere

The point at issue is that God asserts that there is correspondence between himself and man and he quotes

Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 and 27 and God said let us make man in our image after our likeness

Verse 27 so God created man in his own image in the image of God created him man

Created him male and female created he them image means in the

Hebrew resemblance But it has more of the idea of an illusion.

It can even be translated a phantom or a shade But it does mean a resemblance or representative figure the word likeness means a resemblance but more in the concrete more of a concrete model or shape of something and Schaefer quotes this verse and says that God himself

Says he has made God and has made man in his own image in his own likeness So Schaefer continues upon the principle which this affirmation

Publishes man is justified in tracing the divine characteristics from the pattern though and complete

Which is own being supplies Now go with me. I want to read a couple of quotes of men

Great scholars who spent their whole life doing nothing but studying God and their thoughts on this

Obviously, we've seen two slight differences One man has stated that God is so enormous that even the words that are used in the

Bible describing Are just words we use Schaefer comes back and says well, there's a partial truth to what you're saying

But in fact, it would be so cynical to say that that we would think we could never know

God Therefore we must understand that God did say he created man in his own image and likeness so it is not an error to look at the likeness and image of man and use that as a model or some way to slightly understand

God Well, we have some more information in a book called the principles of theology by wh

Thomas He says when we act when we attribute to God emotions and sensibilities.

We mean to free him of all the imperfections attaching to the human conceptions of these elements in revealing himself

God has to descend to our capacities and use language which can be understood and Then in a book called the

Institutes Written by Richard Watson. He says the nature of God and the nature of man are not the same but they are similar

Because they bear many attributes in common though on the part of the divine nature in a degree of perfection infinitely

Exceeding I like that one. That's very well worded and then

There's a book called Christian dogmatics by Jacoby which says in creating man

God Theomorphic sized and what he means by that is that God made man like himself

Therefore man necessarily Anthropomorphic sizes which means when he talks about God he uses human

Words he uses attributes that humans have to describe how God is God condescends to us in order that we may rise to him

Anthropomorphism is the imperfect approximating expression of eternal truth and In the interpretation our part is simply to trace out as far as possible

The truth underlying such expressions in other words where the Bible talks about the strong arm of God We're not to picture him having an arm a physical arm

Necessarily, we're supposed to picture the underlying spiritual truth that this is teaching about the way

God is he is strong and so he says we must Try to dig for the truth underlying such expressions in doing so we must take care that we explain the

Anthropomorphic conceptions by the more purely spiritual ones and not the converse in other words

There are many people who've made the error of creating whole denominations such as the

Mormons, by the way based upon these Anthropomorphisms of God in other words where the

Bible uses human Attributes to describe God they say well God is is just like that This is a physical picture of a physical

God and that's not what it's all about It's a physical picture teaching some spiritual truths about a spiritual

God that we can't see being physical and The way that we can come closer to seeing them is that God gives us these physical examples

That's why Jesus taught in parables or the predominant reason that he taught one of the reasons he taught parables is he taught physical truths

Are examples that were common in everyday life usually agricultural life

In order to teach the deep spiritual meanings, so he goes on and he says The more purely by the more purely spiritual ones not the converse and that we are guarded by certain spiritual

Tact against quote thinking after an earthly manner Be very careful

Even though the Bible describes God in human terms Not to get earthy about it and to describe

God in an overly earthly manner realizing that we are

Finite and we're trying to understand an infinite God So Schaefer then comes back and gives a warning this way

This is a different warning, but it's also something we need to think about before we move on and he puts it this way

There is always a danger that the human conception of God will pause and be satisfied with the apprehension of the divine performance and Not go on to behold the more consequential features of his divine person now

Sir Isaac Newton you're familiar with him He wrote a book called institutes and in the first part of his book he made this very short concise

Sentence it is not now. Remember he was a scientist but he said it is not eternity and infinitude but the eternal and infinite being

Do you hear what he's saying? We can get all caught up in trying to contemplate eternity and that's fun

We can get all caught up in trying to contemplate Infinity and let our minds go out into dimensions far beyond our world

But he said that is not the important thing. Eternity is not the important thing. The eternal one is the important thing

It is not not enough to discern the works of God in his characteristics The heart must come to know

God as a person So let's sum up what some of these scholars have said just as a little introduction of our going into a study of God They have said on the one hand that God is so immense and so enormous and so above our ways and what above our thoughts

That even the words that are used in the Bible to describe him are really human words that we use to describe ourselves

Schaefer comes back and says no, that's not completely accurate it's partially true that God is that enormous that God himself intended for us to know him and therefore he created us in his image and He told us that and then he uses our image throughout the

Bible to describe himself Because we can understand our image and we cannot understand his and Schaefer says that is not to say that we don't

Gain an awful lot of information about this enormous God So don't be discouraged

Schaefer would say and then you come into these Others who pretty much said the same thing.

They said that even when we understand that the Bible uses anthropomorphic Descriptions in other words the

Bible uses descriptions of man himself to describe God that this is the way

God did it on purpose and That we are to get beneath those and beyond those and understand the spiritual truths that they teach and Then sir,

Isaac Newton sums it all up So succinctly when he says it is not eternity and infinitude, but the eternal and infinite being

That is important. We must know him as a person. Well, we're going to divide our study into two

Major divisions here on this study of the person of God and let's think of it this way.

Let's divide them into revealed facts about God which number one Constitute his essential being and number two characterize his essential being

We're gonna divide it into those two areas now, there's a subtle difference but an important difference the first one

We're going to talk about things that That God are they have to do with his very being and secondly, we're going to talk about things about him or that describe him or things that he does or characteristics of him and they're all important or you could put them all under the big topic the character of God if you wanted to but We're trying to be a little bit more

Specific than that we'll start off talking about things that are essential to his being things that would define him if there is such a thing as Being able to define him a

Schaefer argues that that can be done not completely and perfectly But from the point of view of making him

Distinguishable from all other things that exist it is possible to define him and then secondly

We will talk about things that characterize him. Let me give you an example of difference What if we had the little sentence that says grass is green?

Well, that is true. But the color green is not grass You see the difference

Green is a characteristic of grass So there are some things about God that describe him

But they are not God and then there are some other things that when you say this concept It's just fact

God it's just flat God and there's no other way to describe what it is that would have to do with his essence or his being the

Other things have to do with his characteristics such as the grass is green green being a characteristic of grass

It doesn't totally define the grass does it and so you can divide these things into those two categories

We'll start out this morning with a little bit of time that we have left after this introduction We'll start out talking about some things that are essential to his being so let's talk about the personality of God as We discuss what personality is or in other words, you might put it this way

What is it that makes something a person rather than a thing? Most scholars and theologians will give you three points that if it fits these three points it is a person

Number one it must have intellect Number two it must have sensibility

I Could use the word emotions for that, but it wouldn't totally describe it

But it gives you an idea of what sensibility means things like love joy justice

Hate things like that sensibility and the third thing is will There Must be a will

To do something So we have intellect sensibility and will you can kind of remember it this way intellect must direct

Intellect must direct Sensibility must desire Will must determine

I Start to get a pretty good Understanding of God is for those three words

Will he direct will he does he desire and does he determine? So when we talk about the intellect of God we normally place that under the subject the omniscience of God So we'll begin to use one of our theological terms this morning the omniscience of God.

You cannot use that for any other being Other beings that are persons have intelligence but only one intellect has omniscience because the word omni means all are all -encompassing and Since comes from the if you look at it looks like science omniscience

God knows all things He's the only one like that, but we instead of using intellect when we're talking about God Let's use the word omniscience for that, but it has to do with this aspect of being a person

Where are some Bible verses that give us these facts about God that he is intelligent or in other words, he is omniscient

He knows all things psalm 147 and verse 5 says great is our

Lord and of great power his understanding is infinite

How big is infinite? I'm Not gonna ask my left -handed mom that question if you were in Sunday school, you get the you'll get that but how big is infinite?

There is no end to his understanding So Psalm 147 5 says that God does have intelligence

In fact, you can't even call it intelligence You must call it omniscience because it means there is no end to his understanding

Acts 15 18 says known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world

Known unto God are all things Hebrews 4 13 says neither.

Is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight? But all things are naked and open unto his eyes to the eyes of him with whom we have to do

He is all -knowing. He's all -seeing. He is all -understanding So that does fulfill the first attribute of a person does it not secondly

God possesses sensibility We all know that he loves righteousness and hates iniquity

In fact, we know in this church most churches don't realize this but he also hates the workers of it

So God can love God can hate We know that the Bible teaches he has tender mercies and tender compassion

He has sensibility His infinite love has moved him to the supreme

Sacrifice in the giving of his only begotten Son He has love He desires

So he has sensibility first John 4 6 says and we have known and believed the love

That God hath to us God is love and He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him

So we have established that God has intelligence. He has sensibility now What about will does

God have will Psalm 115 3 that our God is in the heavens? He hath done whatsoever

He hath pleased That doesn't fit too. Well today does it? But it does if you know him

You don't want anyone else to be doing that you want him to be the one that does everything that he pleases

So he does have a will Isaiah 46 10 says

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

That's omniscience Saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure.

That's will So exhibits two aspects of personality in that scripture Sensibility and will and Daniel 435 which is well known around this these parts

Daniel 435 and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doeth according to his will in The army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say to him what doest thou?

So we see omniscience we see sensibility We see will God has a personality in this

God and thus God is a person who knows all things Who loves and feels who exhibits tenderness and wrath and anger and heated affection?

Who determines wills? Creates and upholds all things

This is what made Moses and Joshua and Caleb Different than all the others in their day rather than focusing on the attributes of God in the works of God They focused upon the person of God turn with me if you would to Exodus chapter 33 in verse 1

Now we are three with our introduction we're going into the study We we won't we'll stop when you

Tell me to with your faces and countenances and body language But as We'll get into the scriptures and we begin to see the personhood of God The person of God and the importance of having a relationship with God after all

Jesus said eternal life is knowing God Eternal life is not a religion. It's not a set of works and a set of rules.

It's knowing God Having joy in the life having fulfillment in life having pleasure in life

Has not to do with the things that we have It has to do with knowing God And bringing joy to God if we want to see him as a father and see ourselves as children with whom he is pleased

Has to do with knowing God Well Moses understood this and so did

Joshua and I believe Caleb did too though not as much as written of him But in Exodus chapter 33 verse 1, let's look at this amazing passage of scripture and let's see this relationship that is being developed between Moses and This person

God now remember as we study God we call him a person We have to erase from our minds all of the negative weak attributes of being a person that we think of when we think of a man

We're only talking about in the spiritual sense that he has knowledge that he has

Sensibility and that he has will and that he is a person and we must remember we are created in his image and not vice -versa

We cannot make God be us But at the same time we can look at us and see some kernels of truth about how

God is well First one and the Lord said in the Moses depart and go up hence

Thou and the people which thou has brought up out of the land of Egypt and to the land which I swear unto

Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob saying and to thy seed will I give it notice the phrase will

I give it? Do you see here the will of God? we see the will of God God has a will and he says that he had said go and Unto thy seed will

I give it? He doesn't say I might give it. He doesn't say it could happen if all you guys do the right things

He didn't say that Well, I'm gonna respond to what man does and I hope man does the right thing so I can do the right thing

God didn't say that. He just said I will I will And underlying everything in our lives is

I will God has a will for your individual life. He has a will for this local church body

He has a will for the church at large in these last days He has a will for history in these last days and guess what?

He says I will give it I will perform it. It will be done and nothing will stop it

So here we see the great attribute of God's personhood is his will he has a will now

We look at ourselves as human beings is one of the things that makes us different Than some of the animal kingdom is that we can think about something we can purpose something in our hearts and then we can do it

We can carry it out People can do that. Why because they're made in God's image

Now it goes on let's look at verse 2 and I will send an angel Before thee and I will drive out the

Canaanite the Amorite the Hittite and the Pezzerite Parasite I'm sorry in the Hivite and the

Jebusite all the ite brothers and sisters and uncles and aunts are going to be exterminated

Or close to it at least removed from the land now Look at this phrase.

I Be honest had never seen this till this week studying this I had not seen it for what it is when he said

I will send an angel I Had so quickly read over this before. I Assume okay.

He's talking about Jesus or something like that You know, I didn't even stop to think about it really and the Lord arrested me on this phrase

Just this week and it really we start to understand it as we read on So let's read on a little bit and we'll come back

Take a glance at what this angel concept is. God says I will send an angel before thee now look at verse 3

You're going to go into a land flowing with milk and honey for I will not go up in the midst of thee that explains the angel

See, I never really I should have I mean I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't see this But this was not a positive thing when he said

I'll send an angel because what he was saying is I'm not going to go with you I'll send one of my angels before you to protect you, but I'm not going with you

And now Moses wasn't like me. I mean he caught it immediately Moses caught this

But look what he says He says I will not go up in the midst of thee for you are a stiff -necked people lest I consume thee in the way

He says it's gonna be better for you. If I just don't go Because I'll destroy you now

Look how this goes on now remember though That we we have a conversation going on here

Between the Lord who is a person and Moses who is a human person.

It is a conversation God has condescended

As brother Otis teaches so much in his teaching So that we can understand him and he's speaking to Moses in Moses his language

Well, how do Jews talk to each other? well, they they are not always to the point and Sometimes they're too much to the point

But sometimes they'll go around in a circle to get to a place to get to arrive at the place they want to reach and So God is doing this with Moses He said no,

I'm not gonna go with you because if I do I'll destroy you and he's making a point and God knows the Whole time he's going with him.

That's not the point. The point is he's making he's teaching Moses a lesson well verse 4 said when the

P and the people as well because when the people heard these evil tidings they mourned and No man did put on his ornaments

For the Lord had said unto Moses saying to the children of Israel ye are a stiff -necked people

I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment and Consume thee therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee and I that I may know what to do unto thee

Imagine how they waited to see what that was gonna be How do you think they felt while they were waiting? I'm gonna think it's like God saying

I'm gonna think about what I'm gonna do for you Have you ever the favorite place in my home is my study?

I'll say to one of my children go to my study. I'll talk with you in a few minutes and they know it's bad It is not the place they want to go and wait because they don't know what's gonna happen, but they know they're in Trouble that's exactly what the

Lord did here. He said you just wait and I'm gonna think about this for a minute Now does

God really have to think? No, so we're Anthropomorphizing Here we're thinking of him like we do because that's the only way we can think of him

Especially as we first start out learning about him later. We can Expand that out a little and say well, it probably is not really just like that But it's far greater than that, but we have some kernel of truth here

One thing that we do see here is that God has sensibility Just as a father will send the child to the study so that he can go in the kitchen drink a cool glass of water

Before he goes and picks up the paddle He doesn't want to kill him. He just wants to correct them right

There's a bit of godly wrath there now. I've heard many Secular psychologists,

I'm gonna get on the slight rabbit trail if you don't mind just for a second, even though we're almost out of seconds I've heard him say, you know never spank in anger

I've always wondered why that's true because God always did it in anger. Maybe that's though because he's

God and he can control himself But The truth is I think you should from time to time let your children see the anger the wrath behind the spanking because you can

Control it, too Especially if you go get that glass of water first Cool down just a little bit and do it on purpose.

Let them know that you're displeased Let them know that you're angry at whatever the sin is.

God always did this when he he does it right here He says, you know take your ornaments off. I'm gonna think for a minute what

I'm gonna do to you I may just consume you right here. And they're they're pulling these earrings off their necklaces and they're sitting waiting and The children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the

Mount Horeb and Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it Outside of the camp afar off from the camp and called it the tabernacle of the congregation

Now this is not the same as the wilderness tabernacle It's before it but it is a place that he built

Outside of the camp where people would have to go to this place if they wanted to be with God It's kind of like James talked about show me your faith by your works

Moses is saying show me you want to be with God by going out there to this place It's a fearful place the presence of God that hovers over it.

Will you go out there? Well, most of them didn't they just stayed in their tents. They stayed in the camp You can never worship

God inside the camp because the camp pictures The religion of the world the camp pictures the safe Place where people will be pleased with what you say and what you do and everything will be cool

Religiously as long as you do what they say you got the peer pressure You got the peer pressure on what you believe on how you talk on the verbiage

The the words you use the jargon it all has to be just right the thing how you act how you behave

Everything about your religion fits in a perfect place so that you can please men You can't worship

God there. You have to go outside from that comfortable camp And so he built this tabernacle of congregation

And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out into the tabernacle of the congregation Which was outside the camp or without the camp and it came to pass when

Moses went out into the tabernacle that all the people rose Up and stood every man at his tent door Stood they didn't walk they stood and looked after Moses probably with a kind of a you know, it's kind of a longing but frightful look

Except for Joshua And they looked after Moses until he was gone into the tabernacle and it came to pass as Moses entered into the tabernacle the cloudy

Pillar descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the Lord talked with Moses Sensibility we see here personality we see communication here, which is an attribute of a person and All the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door and all the people rose up and worshipped every man in his tent door

Why not at the tabernacle? Because God was at the tabernacle So they created a human

False form of worship that looked good to everyone and felt really it just felt real good to kneel down on those knees and and to think about God and yet they were not in the presence of God and The Lord spake unto

Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend Do we not see the personality of God here?

We use the concept that we understand so much face to face You know, it's one that's like I think in Sunday school brother

Jesse made the point well, you know We can see each other every here and now at church. That doesn't mean you know me

You know me if you come into my home sit down face to face and we have talks we get and we spend time together

And this is what Moses and God did and God spoke to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend but those other people who were out in the

Opening of their tent door out away from this place did not have this relationship Now they were talking to him.

Maybe try and talk to him with a telegram or something, but not face to face They really didn't even want to do the presence of God He just wanted to sit there with him to kneel in his presence and stay as long as he could and he didn't want that Moment to end have you ever had a moment like that with God?

Where you said I just wish I could be like this all the time and then sooner or later the moment ends and we go on about our work

But we ought to have many such moments and the thing that we have that they didn't have in this dispensation

Is we rather than the tabernacle being outside the gate where you had to walk to it. It's right here

It's right here. We have access What an amazing thing we live in the best day of the days so far, don't we?

And The Lord spake to Moses face to face and Joshua the son of none a young man departed not out of the tabernacle sensibility the friend of Moses Jesus said in 1513 you are my friends

He says love one another Great sensibility we see as God speaks through his son

Jesus Christ in Luke 12 for he said and I say unto you my friends

Be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do to you

Wow, what a friendship Don't fear man my friends

Jesus Christ God incarnate said my friends don't be afraid of men

Because the one who can kill the soul throw it into hell is looking at you and I'm gonna protect you

So if I'm with you who can be against you that was said somewhere else through Paul Romans chapter 8 but it was said by the same one

It's not amazing friends We see the personhood of God He calls us friends

Just like he called Moses friends But he didn't call the rest of the children of Israel friends because they didn't come out to the tabernacle

To have a personal face -to -face relationship and all of that, of course was within God's sovereign plan and will and so forth

But we still learn lessons from it Will you be one who stays in the tent door? Are you will you be one who likes to be like Joshua and sit in his presence?

Or will you be one like Moses who enjoys sitting in his presence and looking at him face to face and getting his marching orders?

Well, we can't do any of that if we don't understand that God is a person he is not a thing he is not a

Super energy power as even those in the scientific community who will even acknowledge his possible existence say he's the great force

That caused all things. No, he's not. He's the great he that caused all things

And we go back into our little passage in Exodus verse 12 says and Moses said unto the Lord See thou sayest unto me bring up this people and thou has not let me know whom thou wilt send with me

He's still thinking God's gonna send this angel Yet thou has said

I know thee by name You see the relationship between the persons.

I know thee by name And now has also found grace in my sight

We're not through looking at this story, but we kind of know the end of the story this morning God did go with him.

He went with Moses, but because of that all the people gained the benefit of it

But there was a great personal relationship between Moses and Joshua and the Lord So we begin our study of God this morning and we're going to go

Deeper than we've been in a long time in the days to come as we begin to take our finite minds and only by the revelation and Enlightenment of the

Holy Spirit of God. Can we know the deep things of God? But we can know some of those things and what a joy it is.

Let's stand and have prayer together father We thank you for your word We thank you for how you use it and by your

Holy Spirit you quicken it and it becomes alive And your spirit teaches us the deep things of God of whom only he knows these things

We thank you that you are a person that you have created us in your image and that you have communicated to us

Your sensibilities your love for us your mercy your tenderness your kindness

You've also warned us about The wrath against sin and iniquity and your hatred of it

We thank you for all that you have spoken to us and for the new things we learn in your word

That's been here forever as your Holy Spirit teaches each of us individually Things every day we hadn't seen before What a wonderful relationship we have

Help us to learn more and more about you in these days to come as we study What you have said about yourself and as your

Holy Spirit reveals you to us and then may we be lights and salt in our generation

May we be those who as we walk about? In this world as we go out and come in That others might see that our face glows a bit

And that they might ask us questions and we might ask them questions and that we might get them thinking about you

And it as they sit in their tent door gazing out affectionately as they see us go to the tabernacle and spend time

With you that some of them someday will follow And Lord, we trust you in all things.

We're thankful that you are the sovereign God We're thankful that you've chosen to work in us and with us

Help us to be the best servants and children that we can be because of our knowledge and understanding of the

Lord Jesus Christ And the revelation that you give us and our knowledge of you. We pray in Jesus name