Why Study the Attributes of God? (Part 2)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth and it is Friday, I don�t know what the date is of the 20th. I can�t tell, my phone is being used. This is a Facebook Live for the NoCoClosed group.

I don�t know about that. Do we keep doing that? I have no idea. But once in a while, we just put the live on. I�m usually going over sermons when I do this, since it�s a workday, and we�ve got to feed the No Compromise machine.

You can invite me, Mike, at NoCompromiseRadio .com, or if you want to just bug Spencer, info at NoCompromiseRadio .com. I think over the years, Spencer has weeded out most of the angry people. There are some people that don�t really want to dialogue or talk or anything.

They just want to be mean. While we have our own views here at this show, since it�s our show, we can have our own views. I try not to be mean about it, at least most of the time. No mean radio. So anyway, we�re talking about attributes of God.

The Nature of God as a Difference in Kind

I have always been fascinated by the nature and the character of God, because He is so unlike me. He�s so unlike celebrities, sports stars, anybody you could think of. We said on last show that this is not a matter of degrees, it�s a matter of essence.

In other words, if I�m smart, then there are other people who are smarter, and then God is the smartest. If I am just, then there are other people who are less or more just, but God is the most just. That�s a difference of degree, but we�re talking about a difference of kind, and therefore I like to study things that are so wonderful like that, except of course this isn�t a thing.

I mean, theology is a thing, but God, He is a person. God in three persons, blessed Trinity. So why do we study God? Well, what did we say last time? Because it�s humbling, number one. Number two, you�ll want to study Him more.

And then number three, because there are so many false gods in the world today. So that�s what we�ve done so far, class, for our review, and maybe I�ll start off with a Spurgeon quote. �The proper study of a Christian is the Godhead.

The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the intention of a child of God is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings and the existence of the great God whom He calls Father.

Now, I gave that last show, but it�s still such a great quote. I gave that probably 20 shows ago, but I love thinking about who God is. I mean, that�s why we�re doing this show. Remember last time I started off by saying, �Please, dear pastor, please, dear Sunday school teacher, please, dear mom and dad around the kitchen table teaching children, please, VBS.

We have a VBS... is it a class? What are they called? VBS Outreach? VBS School? VBS School? VBS? Teach the people who God is! If the just shall live by faith, faith has to have an object. So tell them about the object in whom they must believe, or if they do believe, in whom they believe so that they might keep, what, believing.

That's the point. All right, what else is going on here? If you want to go to RiverbendChurchNZ, there are the videos there from when I was with Matthew Johnston and his associate pastor, Andrew, and we had a great time in New Zealand.

I talked about the Holy Spirit and the covenant of redemption, the Holy Spirit and assurance, the Holy Spirit and sovereign regeneration, and then what if the Holy Spirit left the church? That is what the Holy Spirit does now, besides, you know, people think, well, just sign gifts and tongues and healings and all that stuff.

And then we did some leadership stuff with some of the pastors there. I love the people in New Zealand, and I was able to ride a bicycle, able to go in some jet boats, some type of hot springs. I ate quite a bit of lamb, matter of fact.

The first day I was there, I thought, oh, I hope I get to eat some lamb with a little mint jelly. And what did I get served that night? Asking you to receive? I didn't even ask anybody, I just thought it, and I got some mint jelly.

What else did I have there? They have these little chocolate covered, it's almost like, what are those kind of chewy square things that people get, candies that are pretty chewy. They're almost like gum, but they're not.

And Starburst, they have like a Starburst, but it's pineapple. So it's yellow, probably artificial colors. And then on the outside it's chocolate, and sometimes you can put them in the freezer if you'd like.

And I think they're called Yumyums, pineapple Yumyums. Those are pretty good. I brought some home. I didn't think my kids, they're going to go, oh, dad, you know, pineapple, but they liked them. And the missus liked them too, Yumyums, I think that's what they're called.

Anyway, a great time in New Zealand. I hope I go back one day, although the flight, six hours to LA, and then 13, 12 and a half to Auckland, and then another hour down to Hastings. As they say in South Southern California, dude.

Worshiping God and Praising His Majesty

Number four, the fourth reason why we should study the person and work of God. Why study the attributes? Number four, we were born to praise God and his attributes, that is, not praise his attributes, you know.

You know what that reminds me of? Remember the Jack Hayford song, majesty, worship, majesty, worship his majesty, no, no, no. I don't know, how does it go? Majesty, worship his majesty, no, no, no. I can't do it.

Glory, honor, and praise, majesty, worship his majesty, something like that, right? It's like worship is an attribute, no, I'm worshiping God, so I stand corrected. So you know, cards and letters, large gifts, just go ahead and send those off to someplace else.

Your very existence has a purpose. Purpose-filled life is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. His praises, there you go, Susan just said unto Jesus glory and honor and praise, that's right. What a great post-millennial song.

I used to, Susan, you don't know this, but I started dating Kim. She didn't think it was dates yet, but I started dating Kim, and we would go to Jack Hayford's church, church on the way. I mean, it was on the way.

And you know what I didn't like is they would get in these little prayer circles and stuff, and it was kind of hard to pray when you weren't a Christian, but I liked the girl. So you follow Kim across the church on the way, worshiping his majesty, and see what happens 30 years later.

We're still married. 30 years, I've been married 30 years now. That's older than some of our listeners, although most of our listeners are old like me. I always think, you know, my demographic must be 25-year-old, you know, hipsters, and they're really, you know, 60-year-old men and their wives.

Do you know what you'll do throughout all eternity? You will worship the majesty, Jesus Christ, and you will think about him and worship him for the rest of your existence. Here is Revelation 5, 9, "...worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals, for you were slain and you purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.".

That's what you'll be doing forever and ever. And as you study the person and work of God now on earth, you'll be impressed, right? When Jesus preached in Mark 1, it said his fame—I think it's ESV—his fame increased.

And so what I want is when I study God, I want his fame to increase in my heart. And if praising God, Spurgeon said, is one of the highest and purest acts of religion, then that's what I want to do. I mean, I was born to praise.

I watch people at Foxboro, and they're praising Tom the Patriot Brady. Patriot games? People praise, and you know, I don't care. That's fine to go do. And you have a baby that's born, you have a new grandchild, and oh, I'm so excited.

But you know, when it comes to praising God, we have to kind of calm down a little bit. You see how Jude ends, and there's all kinds of issues with these false teachers and issues, but how does he end?

"...Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Glory, majesty...".

There we go. "...worship his majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, now and forever.". I mean, if there is a person who can make you stand in God's presence without getting obliterated, without some nuclear winner, without just total annihilation, and I don't mean annihilationism, but just a nuclear bomb effect because God's holiness would just disintegrate you because of your sin, if there's somebody that can make me stand in God's presence, that person deserves praise and honor and worship, and that person is the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We praise a lot of people. As a matter of fact, you know what, I'll take that back. We live in a day and age where it's hard to encourage one another, and when I have my preaching discipleship class with the men here, and they have to get up to say something that they've prepared, let's say justification by faith alone, I make all the other guys say to those men, here's something that you did well.

It's reserved for me to say, work on these other things, but I want these men to publicly affirm, to publicly encourage, because we don't encourage. I used to write, I don't know when the last time I ever did, here in my study, a little yellow post-it and say, encourage, and an exclamation point, just to figure out ways to encourage people.

I didn't say flatter, I didn't say manipulate, I didn't say any of that, but just to encourage. I could put it this way, dear listener, dear watcher, dear viewer, do you like when somebody encourages you?

Doesn't that really help you? Can't you go the rest of the day running on the fumes of that encouragement in the discouraging world with all kinds of bad news? The answer is yes, and so I think we ought to go out of our way to encourage other people.

What does that have to do with any of this stuff? I have no idea, that's why it's live radio, it's unscripted. Thomas Watson, strong words. If I did not praise and bless Christ my Lord, I should deserve to have my tongue torn out by its roots from my mouth.

If I did not bless and magnify his name, I should deserve that every stone I tread on the streets should rise up to curse my ingratitude. For I am a drowned debtor to the mercy of God. Over head and ears, to infinite love and boundless compassion, I am a debtor.

Are you not the same? Then I charge you by the love of Christ, awake, awake your hearts now to magnify his glorious name. And therefore, one of the reasons we study God is as you study him and see him revealed specifically in scripture, you will be impressed, you'll think there's no one like him, no one talks like him, no one acts like him.

You watch the Lord Jesus and how he deals with a centurion, how he deals with a leper, how he deals with Peter's mother-in-law, how he deals with Peter, how he deals with James and John, how he deals with the father on the Mount of Transfiguration.

What does he do? How does he do it? What does he say? What does he not say? What about the parables? How does he craft Matthew 20 in the parable? What goes on when it comes to the Olivet Discourse? How he cares for his disciples even though they're weak and they're going to turn their backs on him?

What he says to the people on the road to Emmaus, and you begin to watch and study and learn and you think, I am impressed, right? There's lots of people I've met in my life where I think, you know, they're pretty impressive, but nobody that I've ever met, I don't think in my entire life, what I think to myself, I think my reflex action, I think my gut reaction is to get down on my face and kiss your feet, right?

I mean, so when you do see someone so exalted, so magnified in Scripture, there's a response. So, you know, this is good medicine for all of us. Number five, the fifth reason why you should study the attributes of God, no particular order.

Don't you hate it when people say that? I don't even know why they say it. I'm going to give you four reasons for such and such, no particular order. I don't know. Do people just order things generally?

Is number one always the most important? The first thing you say, what if I'm building up to something? What if there's this, there's this kind of a motion and this downhill motion where I'm trying to get some momentum, the mighty mo.

What if I'm after that? I guess what I'm gonna have to do right now is we're going to have to have a little deviation because it's ADD radio. We have our strength, find strength through adversity. That's exactly what it says backwards.

Did you know Nebraska backwards is exarban? But that's another story. That's what the horse race is. Exarban. It used to be. All right. So I like to have a little strength through adversity. This is from the Joel Osteen game.

I wonder if he designed it. All right. In 1926, I'm reading this by the way, in 1926, MGM's Louis B. Mayer told a young cartoonist that a rodent would never be popular in movies because women are frightened by mice, Mises.

Rejected by MGM, Walt and Roy Disney distributed Mickey Mouse movies on their own. Now, that by the way, hey, Joel, good job. That's very interesting to me. I'd save for that. But here's the point. Here's the part of the game.

This is the game. I mean, this is, what games do people play now? The Gamesters of Triskelion. I mean, I don't know. What are the games that they play? Here's the game that this is in front of me. Tell about a time when you overcame rejection.

Oh, yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. Well, it's like a sales call, right? Selling begins with the first no. I mean, come on. Let's see. This is the whole point. When you watch Joe Osteen or these people on TV, just think, theology of glory, best life now, get all you can now, health now, wealth now, fun now, exciting things now.

Friends, this isn't heaven. Heaven's heaven. This is earth and does not mean we cannot have great fun and joy and enjoy God's gifts here on earth. But the theology of the cross is it's suffering then glory, not glory and then no suffering.

So when I watch those guys on TV and I watch all this stuff and all this human focus, I'm just thinking this is all anything but the theology of the cross. Number five, knowing the attributes of God will help you evangelize.

So think about it. For the Christian, if you know attributes, it'll help you praise. By the way, when you think of prayer as acts, A, adoration, C, confession, T, thanks, and S, supplication, this will help you as you're evangelizing people.

Because people that you evangelize, they tend to think of God after their own devices. They make up a God and they think that's God. He's got extra wrath. He's got extra love. He's got this. He's got that.

They create this caricature so that they don't have to believe. They don't have to submit. They don't have to give obeisance. I just try to throw in big words once in a while so you think I'm not a hick from Nebraska.

I'm a hayseed. But now when you evangelize, one of the things you're going to have to do is you're going to have to tell them who God is because we live in an illiterate, biblically illiterate, theologically illiterate society.

People don't know. In the old days, at least they knew Noah. They knew about David. They knew about Peter. They knew about Jesus. They don't know hardly anything today. So you're going to have to inform them about the creator who's also therefore the judge who thankfully is a savior.

Peter says in 1 Peter 2 .9, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. I won't talk about dispensational covenant stuff there. A people of God's own possession that you may. Now listen, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

And I think the more you study the holiness of God, for instance, and realize therefore God has wrath since he's so holy that you'll go, wait a second. While wrath is never going to come down on my head because Jesus extinguished that wrath.

He assuaged that wrath. He made propitiation for that wrath. It's coming down on other people's heads. And so therefore I want to tell them about this God who, although they deserve that wrath, he the son will be a savior for all those who will call on him.

If you think of excellencies of him, I think of attributes. And as you study them and understand them and you understand God's character, that will help you evangelize. As David Brainerd, the missionary to the North American Indians here, matter of fact, in Massachusetts.

Sometimes I meet people, they don't even know how to, let alone spell Massachusetts. They can't say it. They're the same kind of people that can't say sushi. They say sushi, sushi, sushi, sushi. They can't say Massachusetts.

Sometimes when the people say that in my mind, I just go M-I-S-S. Not because that's how you spell Massachusetts, but that's Mississippi. So sometimes people from Mississippi. Do we have anybody from Mississippi?

Out of the two people watching today, Bill and Susan, I know you're not from Mississippi. Susan, you're from, well, you live around here and Bill, you're one state up. David Brainerd, I cared not where or how I lived or what hardships I went through so that I could but gain souls to Christ.

I continued in this frame all the evening and night. While I was asleep, I dreamed of these things. And when I waked, the first thing I thought of was this great work of pleading for God against Satan.

In other words, for the lost. That's all I could think about was the lost. People are going to die and stand before a thrice holy God. And if they don't have a mediator, it is going to be very, very, it's an understatement, difficult for them, an eternal difficulty.

Dying Well in the Hope of Christ

Okay. Oh, you know what? I just flipped ahead. I was wondering where that is. Number six, why do we study the attributes of God? Number six, so we can make fun of Joe Osteen's game. No. Number six, they'll help you die well.

They'll help you die well. John Knox, the great Scottish reformer, on his deathbed couldn't speak very well. And the sickness was preventing him from talking like he wanted to. And there was a server there, a helper, an attendant.

And that attendant was asking him about his faith. And he said, do you still believe? And as one account says, do you still believe in the law-free gospel? That is, there's no law you have to do in order to receive this gospel.

The law would show you you're condemned and you couldn't save yourself so that you trust in the Lord Jesus who did, in fact, keep the law for people as representative and then died for the lawbreakers as a substitute and was raised from the dead.

Do you preach that your whole life, John Knox? Do you still believe it? Do you still believe the law-free gospel? And he couldn't talk. So they said, well, just raise your hand if you affirm that still.

And the story goes, he raised his hand three times to affirm emphatically with emphasis, with a declaration that all would know even though he couldn't talk. Yes, it's true. And I think Wesley was right.

I mean, Wesley's not right on a lot of things. But when he said Christians die well, I think there's a lot to be said about that. Mature Christians who understand who God is, I think they die well. J. Gresham Machen, what we call a lion of the faith, the man who makes me want to be a Presbyterian, even though I won't be, shouldn't be, might be.

Just kidding. He's exhausted. He's suffering. He's in his mid -50s. He's got pneumonia in, of all places, I think North Dakota, South Dakota, MISS. And he's about ready to die. And as most of you know, he dictates the telegram to his friend and comrade at Westminster Seminary, John Murray.

And here's how the telegraph ends. I'm so thankful for the act of obedience of Christ. No hope without it. How can Machen entrust his soul, tainted by sin, to the hands of the eternal Holy One? Well, Christ's imputed righteousness.

When you understand who God is, it'll help you die well. Excuse me, 2 Timothy 4, 6, 7, and 8. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure, our exodus, Paul said, has come.

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, hallelujah, but also to those who have loved his appearing.

I think that will help you die well when you have a high view of who God is. Well, there's a lot of other things I could talk about, at least one more, but I do not have the time. That's what we need more on this radio show, is more time.

Richard Feynman said, I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring. Leonard Nimoy, the actor, right here, his final tweet, a life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.

LLAP, LLAP, live long and prosper.

I know. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church. Firmly committed to unleashing the life transforming power of God's word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.